The RPG Thread -> 2023 was a banner year for RPGs. What was your favorite?

[Bad Religion]

From the 30 minutes I listened too, it's pretty dry but very detailed. I may give it a few episodes

 

[danger style]

Is it any good?

I’m a fan of Resonant Arc. Those cats are JRPG gurus. They revamped their content a few years and now focus on deep dives of JRPGs. I believe they’ve done FF6, FF8, Nier Automata, Tactics Ogre, and several others.

I’ll say it’s not for everyone though. They tend to do upwards of 10+ episodes on some of these guys and each episode can last a few hours.

Resonant is on my **** list until they drop the updated FF retrospectives. Bros been hyping it up since 2020

 

[Ricky D]

Resonant is on my **** list until they drop the updated FF retrospectives. Bros been hyping it up since 2020

Yeah the old retrospectives were good but I was def hyped for the newer more detailed ones. I still enjoy their current content though.

 

[Beruseruku Desu]

ffxv disrespect gotta stop

 

[Ricky D]

I have to replay XV one day. I don’t think it was bad. I just remember it being a huge open world that was empty. The bros road trippin’ was a cool concept though.

 

[Bad Religion]

XV Royal Edition is a good game.

 

[biggie62]

I have to replay XV one day. I don’t think it was bad. I just remember it being a huge open world that was empty. The bros road trippin’ was a cool concept though.

I heard some of the later DLCs were good. But I never picked it up after I beat it.

 

[danger style]

ffxv disrespect gotta stop

Ain nobody checking for 15 bro

 

[Ricky D]

I heard some of the later DLCs were good. But I never picked it up after I beat it.

Same here. I also played it at 30fps on my base PS4. I bought it super cheap on PC and never booted it up.

 

[stay lurkin]

I have to replay XV one day. I don’t think it was bad. I just remember it being a huge open world that was empty. The bros road trippin’ was a cool concept though.

No shade, but isn’t this pretty much all JRPGs? I feel like environments are usually pretty empty.

 

[Ricky D]

No shade, but isn’t this pretty much all JRPGs? I feel like environments are usually pretty empty.

Idk man, XV felt lifeless

 

[stay lurkin]

Idk man, XV felt lifeless

It definitely did.

 

[dakingii]

Funny thing about my FF15 experience is that i almost exclusively played the game during day time . If it wasnt mandatory i would always rest/tent when it started getting dark out in game.

 

[MajinZuub]

Apparently the Royal edition is better but XV is bottom tier FF.

 

[Belgium]

Finished Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth today.Yes there are some ridiculous plot points in the story at times but it’s a Yakuza game, it comes with the territory.
Beware: Very lengthy review incoming

As for the main story overall, it’s quite different from the first Like A Dragon.
This story isn’t quite as intriguing and full of crazy twists. It has twists but it is very heavily focused on being a character driven story, especially anything involving Kiryu.

Personally I absolutely loved both Like A Dragon games’ story modes but to me, this one was more enjoyable overall. The cast played a big part in loving the first game, and it’s even better this time. That goes for some of the key villains too, one in particular.

The character writing is genuinely some of the best in the business. Especially Kiryu and his relations with the rest of the cast. It’s elite tier across the board but one of the villains has particularly stellar writing too.

When it came to the final scenes of the story, I was even brought to tears. I have very limited emotional empathy due to my childhood for example I experience no emotion or stress in very serious situations such as finding a dead body as a nursing student) so I was shocked the finale managed to bring me to tears. The stunted emotions are a long story so I won’t elaborate on it here for lack of relevance.
I think the fact it made me of all people cry is a testament to how incredible the finale was.

When it comes to the Sub-Missions (side quests), a lot of them are less goofy than in LaD 1. There’s a bit more balance between extremely goofy and genuinely heartwarming this time, which is another positive change imo.

When it comes to combat, zero complaints. I love the turn-based combat centered around jobs, and it has has some great improvements.
You can move around during your turn, and the area of movement is affected by your agility. This allows for more combo setups, team positioning,environmental damage, …

The jobs feel more useful overall too. There’s much less of the same attack with a different name like the first game had.

Overall, 10/10 and one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played.
However… I have one major complaint that doesn’t affect me because I have the deluxe edition but a ton of players are in for a terrible surprise when the credits roll.

Both post-game (Premium Adventure) and New Game+ are locked behind a substantially pricey DLC.
Apparently it’s not the first time the developers have done this but it is criminal.
If you don’t have the DLC, your game is just done when the credits finish. No more completing side-content, no finishing up bonds, …
The “Premium Adventure” allows you to switch between Hawaii and Japan at will, change the time of day, …
Additionally, regular enemies are now at least lvl 50 and there’s a new dungeon to conquer that goes up to lvl 65 or 70, I forgot which.

The Posr-Game is a great way of preparing for New Game+, which also introduces difficulty settings and extra achievements tied to it.
Once again to emphasize: all of the above is paid DLC.

 

[2sappy]

 

[Ricky D]

Damn, RIP

 

[Beruseruku Desu]

Finished Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth today.Yes there are some ridiculous plot points in the story at times but it’s a Yakuza game, it comes with the territory.
Beware: Very lengthy review incoming

As for the main story overall, it’s quite different from the first Like A Dragon.
This story isn’t quite as intriguing and full of crazy twists. It has twists but it is very heavily focused on being a character driven story, especially anything involving Kiryu.

Personally I absolutely loved both Like A Dragon games’ story modes but to me, this one was more enjoyable overall. The cast played a big part in loving the first game, and it’s even better this time. That goes for some of the key villains too, one in particular.

The character writing is genuinely some of the best in the business. Especially Kiryu and his relations with the rest of the cast. It’s elite tier across the board but one of the villains has particularly stellar writing too.

When it came to the final scenes of the story, I was even brought to tears. I have very limited emotional empathy due to my childhood for example I experience no emotion or stress in very serious situations such as finding a dead body as a nursing student) so I was shocked the finale managed to bring me to tears. The stunted emotions are a long story so I won’t elaborate on it here for lack of relevance.
I think the fact it made me of all people cry is a testament to how incredible the finale was.

When it comes to the Sub-Missions (side quests), a lot of them are less goofy than in LaD 1. There’s a bit more balance between extremely goofy and genuinely heartwarming this time, which is another positive change imo.

When it comes to combat, zero complaints. I love the turn-based combat centered around jobs, and it has has some great improvements.
You can move around during your turn, and the area of movement is affected by your agility. This allows for more combo setups, team positioning,environmental damage, …

The jobs feel more useful overall too. There’s much less of the same attack with a different name like the first game had.

Overall, 10/10 and one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played.
However… I have one major complaint that doesn’t affect me because I have the deluxe edition but a ton of players are in for a terrible surprise when the credits roll.

Both post-game (Premium Adventure) and New Game+ are locked behind a substantially pricey DLC.
Apparently it’s not the first time the developers have done this but it is criminal.
If you don’t have the DLC, your game is just done when the credits finish. No more completing side-content, no finishing up bonds, …
The “Premium Adventure” allows you to switch between Hawaii and Japan at will, change the time of day, …
Additionally, regular enemies are now at least lvl 50 and there’s a new dungeon to conquer that goes up to lvl 65 or 70, I forgot which.

The Posr-Game is a great way of preparing for New Game+, which also introduces difficulty settings and extra achievements tied to it.
Once again to emphasize: all of the above is paid DLC.

did you play in japanese sub or dub?

kiryu’s voice acting in japanese in the end when he’s begging the guy to not kills the yakuzas was top tier. right before he passes out on top of him (pause)

 

[Bad Religion]

 

[Bad Religion]

Lunar Silver Star Complete is one of the first JRPGs that I remember having to call Blockbuster once a week to renew for like 6 weeks.

 

[Belgium]

did you play in japanese sub or dub?

kiryu’s voice acting in japanese in the end when he’s begging the guy to not kills the yakuzas was top tier. right before he passes out on top of him (pause)

Japanese. To each their own but I never watch or play anything dubbed.
Voice acting was stellar across the board, but yeah that scene was fantastic

 

[Bad Religion]

Well!

 

[1995]

 

[Bad Religion]

Interesting chart that lists spin-offs:

 

[2sappy]

Interesting chart that lists spin-offs:

once again, FF9 showing that it encapsulates the perfect game. No prequel, sequel, or spinoff media needed. Every other game has an arrow pointing to something else or is in the graveyard/trash bin while FF9 is staying in its own lane.
I choose to ignore FF16 at this moment for unrelated reasons.