I really like strategy RPG’s - the subgenre of video game popularized by the Ogre Battle and Final Fantasy Tactics series - they’re basically RPG’s where the story is thrown out the window in favor of just focusing on the battle systems, and those systems are usually made incredibly deep and fascinating to compensate.
But most SRPG’s are clearly aimed at the hardcore nerds - those that will play the game nonstop and easily log between 80 and 100 hours of play time “maxing out” all of their characters and items and so on. Lately, it feels like most SRPG’s have tipped over in favor of that “hardcore” demographic to where you must log that many hours to get through the game. A recent example is Disgaea 2, where every single item in the game, from your weapons to random potions and so on could be entered like a dungeon, each having 99 levels. By beating these levels, you could power up the item. It turns out that you had to do this for many items in order to progress through the game’s story, which itself is made up of stage after stage after stage and takes an estimated 40 hours to get through.
I understand that that’s an SRPG nerd’s wet dream, but I say “no thanks.”
So what SRPG’s are there out there that are fun and engrossing but that don’t demand this level of commitment?
Ah, Nippon Ichi, devourer of my soul. (Let me tell you about this little concept called “reincarnation”, aka “transmigration”, where you can regenerate your character at level 1 with the bonuses you accumulate. :eek: I’ve blown through a couple hundred hours each on Disgaea, Disgaea 2, Makai Kingdom, and most recently Phantom Brave, although I think I might be ready to stop…I hope. crosses fingers)
I can’t recommend anything because I get suckered into the whole powerleveling business (because it does become fun to whallop the enemy, and in NI games you can eventually do millions, even billions, in damage) - but expect to drop at least 20~30 hours in any SRPG.
Maybe someone else can give their opinions on what’s on the Wiki for SRPGs
Ahhh, SRPGs, quite possibly my favorite sub-genre of console game. Though I’m also pretty frustrated at how the Nippon Ichi style has seemingly taken over the new offerings. Not a fan at all of a lot of the little things about those games. Little things, as in pretty much every quirk that is consistent between their games and in their general style.
I do find it a little silly that you describe the SRPG genre like that (battle system in lieu of, or at least more important than, the story), and then list the two SRPGs that probably excel at storytelling more than any other.
“Probably”, because the other big SRPG (though the genre is really more tactical RPGs, but I digress) franchise out there that you need to know is Fire Emblem. The battle system is deceptively simple on the surface, but very effective with all of the checks and balances in play. All of the numbers that go into calculating damage and such are right in the open. They’re challenging but not unbeatable, and only hardcore in that if someone dies… well… they’re dead. So if you’re the kind of person (like me) who can’t stand for losing characters permanently, you may have to replay some stages a few times. On top of it all, though, the stories are generally excellent throughout the series. There are two GBA installments and one GC installment available in the US - the rest of the series, unfortunately, was Japan-only, though there are some good translations in all the usual places on the 'net.
The other names you need to know go something like:
Shining Force (Sega Genesis/Sega CD, simple but classic)
Advance Wars (contemporary series on GBA/DS, more military than fantasy, well-reviewed by all)
Um… I’m sure there are more out there, but I’m drawing a blank. There certainly aren’t a LOT more out there. There was a Suikoden Tactics that didn’t get half bad reviews, I think.
There’s a really popular mecha-based series in Japan that translates loosely to Super Robot Anus Wars, but that’s really just more of the hardcore, level-to-ridiculous-ends, do billions of damage at once stuff. Okay, so that’s not REALLY what it translates to, that’s just what we called it whenever my housemate in college went through one of his obsession phases with it.
Looking at that wiki… ugh, it looks like I didn’t really miss that much of importance after all. We could really use some new blood here… it’s sort of a niche subgenre, though, and unfortunately a large part of that niche is served by the Nippon Ichi type stuff.
Meanwhile, my kingdom for another Ogre Battle or FF tactics-based game. And my kingdom ain’t half bad!
Played Hoshigami on the PS…argh. I found it to be a more slow, annoying version of FFT. (Although maybe someone else would find their “combo” system interesting.)
Again, NI games have eaten my soul…not necessarily because they’re that good, but because they’re so damn addictive.
Hooray for Fire Emblem, I say. Hopefully the new Wii one’ll be out here soon.
Disgaea 2 I enjoyed up to the point where I was on my third go round of upgrading my characters and then raising them up again from level 1. And I like hidden characters as much as the next person, but generally if you need a strategy guide and powerlevelling to get them all, I say boo.