Hoping to make your life's design a bit more dynamic!

Zetshiro,

What game systems do you usually play? Since it sounds like you have an XBox 360, you should try out Lost Odyssey, Magna Carta 2 and maybe even Last Remnant although I think Red Soul will disagree with me on that one. Obviously theres also a lot of retro SNES RPGs many of which you have already enjoyed, but you might want to try Metal Max Returns and the upcoming Hourai High.

The most insanely hard final boss battle I can remember is Zophar in Lunar: Eternal Blue, but you should probably play the prequel, Lunar: Silver Star Story, first and fight its final boss, Ghaleon. You have several ways to go with the Lunar series, the original Sega-CD versions on emulator or a number of remake options, including the PSP's Lunar Silver Star Harmony.

One thing we try to do in our English localizations here at D-D is clarify the story from the beginning and logically connect the action as the game progresses. From the translation data available, in straightforward language and without spoiling the suspense, we try to make sense of why the world is in turmoil - in other words - explain or demonstrate why the most adventuresome kid in the village must fight slimes in the countryside in order to level up and take on bigger challenges. Many early commercial games ported in English did indeed appear to have confused, disjointed story lines.

Your favorite game - Chrono Trigger - starts out with a lethargic lad who awakens and must be coaxed by his mother to walk into town and enjoy the Millennial Fair. He gets pulled into the huge saga that follows almost subtly, but this formula still works, somehow. I believe this is party because of the larger ambiance suggested by the opening imagery with its green countryside, exploding fireworks, soaring balloons, and CT's amazing sound track.

Maybe it was because I just finished replaying it a while ago, but I'd have to give Suikoden III a thunbs up for hard boss battles all the way through. Not just the ending. You could be kicking butt just fine on the monsters that were around and still get the floor wiped with you on bosses. I'd won more than one battle with only one guy standing at the end.

However, for bosses, RPG's are fine but I'll be darned if Gex 1 didn't take the cake for the hardest darn boss I ever played. And it wasn't even the final boss. It was the middle boss in the game. That stupid thing where you have to climb the cliff and avoid the dragon coming out of the holes. I got there after stocking up on lives in an earlier level. Had like 95 lives. I finished that boss with like 7 lives. That was THE #1 hardest boss I ever remember. I miss the days of good platformers. Sure there are some still today but the quality just doesn't stand up to the old days. They're too busy making them pretty instead of making them as fun as possible. (And no, I'm not saying Gex was a great platformer, but it wasn't half bad. The sequels are another matter.)

I've been meaning to play Lunar: Silver Star. But I'm quite confused as to which one to play, there's the Sega-CD, PS1 and PSP versions. From what I've heard, they're really different from eachother. Although to me, the SegaCD version stands out.

When I first played Chrono Trigger, I couldn't get into it. I thought it was a little too linear, and the start happened too fast.
But after playing it again, and giving it another hour I came to love it. The atmosphere it gives it really strong (probably because of the soundtrack). Walking around the world map in 2300AD is amazing.



I'm mainly looking for 2D RPG's to play. For some reason, It's really rare for me to get into 3D games. Which is a shame because I have ALOT of PS2 RPG's I've yet to even look at.

Heh. I bought Lunar: Dragon Song some years back, I was immensly disappointed. 'Can't believe I wasted £35 on that, it was the first Lunar game I tried.

Is the SegaCD version that much harder? For some reason I just feel more drawn to that version.

Personally, I recommend the Sega CD versions. I think the micronising of the world maps for the PSX+ versions was a major mistake. It really made the games shorter and feel much less epic feeling. The Sega CD version really feels like a nice adventure. But the PSX version just doesn't. Sadly, why is it that RPG's are going to that system now more and more.

The PSX version IS worth playing for other reasons. So you shouldn't just say hey I played one, so there is no reason to play the other. Maybe you wait a while between plays or something. They actually made some changes to the story itself for PSX+. Especially to Lunar 1. Most of these happen earlier in gameplay but are there. The Boat Song in the PSX version alone is worth it for Lunar 1

Avoid the PSP and any other XSeed version. I wouldn't bother with the Ubisoft GBA version either. Its GBA compared to real consoles. Enough said. As for the PSP version, they (XSeed) found a way to ruin a classic. I know some people weren't that keen on Working Designs dubbing (I liked it personally) but man that PSP version makes the Working Designs version seem like a masterpiece in comparison. But it isn't just that. The classic Working Designs humor, gone. The script, about as sharp as a new undrilled bowling ball and dry as the Sahara Desert. Characters lacking any personality. Too bad Working Designs is gone, and even more a shame that Xseed is allowed to even localize RPG's. I guess it is nice that some games we might not get any other way, but they are by far one of if not my least favorite US localizers ever.

Wow, there are some pretty mediocre titles on that list of top 50 RPG's. I think there are far better ones you forgot that could have taken the place of many of those you included. But that is my opinion.

Wow! That's a big list.

Thank you. I'll come back to that when I need a new game to play.

You have mentioned quite a few games that I've been looking into - Breath of Fire III, Persona 2, Star Ocean, Dewprism, Grandia, Xenogears, Tales of Destiny, Thousand Arms, Suikoden I/II & Chrono Cross. (to name a small few~)

I tried Emerald Dragon not too long ago, but I just couldn't get used to the battle system. Which is a shame, because I know it's a great game. 'Catchy music too.

Also, from your list. I played the hell outta' Grandia 2, Nocturne & Final Fantasy VIII when I was a littl'un. Can't remember much about them anymore, but I have such a familar feeling when I see them.

...I need to replay Alundra, Dragon Quest 5 and Mother 3 when I get the chance. As they all decided that It'll be a grand idea to corrupt the save file like 15+ hours in.