|
Here's a hypothetical situation: Gather about fifteen gamers who have played a decent number of RPGs and ask them what their favorite RPG series is. Some might disagree with me, but my theory is that more than half of those gamers will name the Final Fantasy series. This would be completely understandable answer to hear. Final Fantasy has been the most popular and widely known Japanese RPG series in the U.S. for years. Even the worst of the Final Fantasy RPG is better crafted in terms of gameplay, storyline, and characters than many other RPGs that could be named (let's just ignore Dirge of Cerberus, okay?). And thanks to re-releases and ports to handhelds, American gamers now have access to almost every single game in the series.
Great, right? But maybe you've grown tired of those similar fantasy worlds that are presented in each game, the same magic spells and summon spirits, and the familiar themes. Or, if you're like me, you own pretty much every single Final Fantasy related title that you could get your grubby little hands on. What then? Sure, you could drool over those Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII pictures and trailers until your keyboard shorts out from the excess moisture, and count the days until Crisis Core and Revenant Wings come out for their respective handhelds. And I suppose you could replay your old Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games until the discs are worn down to the size of GameCube discs (quarter-sized if you're playing Crystal Chronicles). But there's been a huge offering of RPGs streaming into the U.S. since the PS2 was launched, and while it used to be that Final Fantasy was one of the few RPG series worth playing, several new quality series have been created. So maybe it's time to step back from your moogles and over sized chickens, and take a gander at the some other RPG offerings.
Now while I do enjoy the Final Fantasy games, if you asked me what my favorite RPG series was, I would immediately point to Shin Megami Tensei. There are well over a dozen games in the series, but unfortunately few have been released in America. And while Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is actually the third game in the series, the other titles available (Digital Devil Saga, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army, and the Persona games) are actually spin-offs. With the emphasis on collecting demons to form or augment your battle party, the Shin Megami Tensei series may seem like a more mature version of Pokémon. But the games' overall dark themes, highly complex plots, and sophisticated character designs make for a great gaming experience. And the departure from the fantasy world settings that you normally see in RPGs is a welcome change of pace.
Another RPG series with dark themes and settings is Shadow Hearts. If you're a fan of Lovecraftian horror, then you'll find plenty to enjoy in these games. While there are only four titles in the series (and good luck finding the first game, Koudelka), Shadow Hearts is worth a look not only for its horror-based features and its reimagining of real 20th century historical events, but also for having some of the most bizarre gaming elements since players had to dress up Cloud all pretty. And Shadow Hearts is the only series to have such playable characters as a vampiric wrestler, a man-sized cat that drinks to excess, and Princess Anatasia.
But maybe you still want fantasy rather than realism in your RPG. Maybe you'd also like some anime mixed into the batch. Grandia and the Tales series should serve your purposes nicely. While Grandia isn't the strongest series in terms of story and characters (though Grandia II was pretty good), it has one of the most engaging and strategic battle systems you can get in a turn based RPG, as well as a fun magic system. Also, Grandia has never been big on side-quests, which is actually kind of nice if you just want to play through the main story without doing all those extra fights and quests that most RPGs have.
The Tales series, if you're not familiar with it, are those games that have titles that always start with 'Tales of'. The art style in the series has always been anime based, and the overall goal in the games is usually that run-of-the-mill save the world theme. But what really shines in Tales is the likable and interesting characters that make up your teams. The Tales games are really good at delving into their characters' personalities and pasts, and the interaction between your team members is often fun and heartfelt. Like Grandia, Tales also has a unique battle system. Rather than being turn-based, the games feature an interesting real-time system, in which you control only one character directly while the other characters are controlled by the computer. You can play the sword-wielding main hero in one fight, and then switch to the demure white magic girl and handle healing your party in the next. You also have freedom to move around the battle field to avoid attacks. You can preset characters to focus on defending, healing, or attacking, and you can pause the battle at any time to select a character for a specific action.
There are so many good RPGs out there. Final Fantasy is an excellent series, but you shouldn't limit yourself to it exclusively. Gamers have a huge selection of games to choose from now-a-days, and if these series I've mentioned don't interest you, just head over to whatever place you get your games from and take a closer look. You're really missing out on a lot of great titles if you don't try a new series once in a while.
|
RSS feed
iTunes