There is nothing like these JRPGS today and instead we are just getting cookie cutter Neptunia rubbish, Nippon Ichi games, a generic Atelier game every 6 months. Just bland unexciting JRPGS that dont stand out. None of these are anywhere near as good and all we get now is bone chucked at us to munch on occasionally like every 2-3 years such as FFVIIR or a Nier Automata. Why has the JRPG genre regressed? I want another Breath of Fire in the vein of 3 and 4 or Wild Arms type JRPG that isn't a cheap imitation like I Am Setsuna.
What are everyone's thoughts on BoF3/4 Wild Arms 1+2?
I played through BoF1 last year for the first time and it was a bit pants tbh. The story made no sense...it was very sparse felt like I was just going to places and the npcs had nothing to say in comparison to Cold Steel 3. The story in BoF2 (fan translation) I beat a few days ago it was a lot better but still felt more close to BoF1 than 3. The music was really really bad to the point I muted it sometimes. Some tracks repeat after 10 seconds. Gameplay wise it felt lacking and more like a prototype to Dragon Quest 1. It also had the most BS final dungeon I've come across in a while. It just draaaags. The encounter rate is increased too in this final area to every 5 steps instead of 20....These old SNES JRPG's simply don't tell you where you have to go next either or make you talk to specific people in a specific order to progress? FFVI and Chrono were one of the few that didn't really do that and felt like they had a proper narrative.
The SNES hardware simply wasnt cut out to handle good deep RPG's I think. They felt extremely limited in their scope most of the time? FFVI / Chrono Trigger were about the only two that were deep and fun. Are there any others? Lufia 2 was pretty good too I think. The rest are simple affairs with little to no story and basic movements and lack of depth to anything.
I played Breath of Fire 3 and 4 back when they came out on PS1 and they simply blow 1 and 2 away. The first two don't even come close. Like these are legit good games even today and are better than JRPG's we get today like Atelier or random JRPG from Idea Factory. What does everyone think of them now? I am replaying 3 again since 1997 and it holds up. I'm still early on but It's sooooo much better than the first two its not even funny. The music, characters, pixel art, graphics, gameplay is fun. The only negative is the stupid camera is designed deliberately to hamper you and its easy to miss items because its hidden behind the camera. You have to keep rotating it and then it locks back once you let go. The encounter rate isn't ridiculous like 2 was at least. I beat BoFIV back on its release but seem to remember it not being as good as 3? But tbh I can hardly remember it. The music wasn't as good and it came out too late when I moved to PS2 so maybe thats why? I can't remember much about it other than I think it was pretty hard? Did they sell? I think they got decent reviews at the time?
Wild Arms 1+2 were two more good JRPGs on PS1. They had decent Zelda like puzzles, cool setting demons mixed with wild west and amazing soundtracks. The graphics were better than FFVII too as it came out before FFVII yet still had 30fps battles as opposed to 15fps on FF PS1 games. It had a decent mix of cool gameplay, turn based fighting, puzzley dungeons and a cohesive narrative. I didn't care much for the art style in battles though with the characters having big heads as if they were Funko Pop figures lol? The Art design on enemies in battles was actually pretty ugly too but it had its own charm. I don't understand why the first two Wild Arms games got 60s in the reviews when they came out. Why didn't people like them?
Playing them now and they are much better than most of the JRPG schlock that comes out today.
Anyway what I'm trying to say these games are really unique and refreshing to play today and did things that still no other JRPG has bothered with. Breath of Fire 3/4 had amazing pixel art graphics mixed with cool 3d backgrounds and story with jazzy blues kinda soundtrack. Wild Arms had turn based battles that although traditional had Zelda like gameplay in between and felt great when you got to a new town. TONS of secrets and cool story and setting.
What are everyone's thoughts on BoF3/4 Wild Arms 1+2?
I played through BoF1 last year for the first time and it was a bit pants tbh. The story made no sense...it was very sparse felt like I was just going to places and the npcs had nothing to say in comparison to Cold Steel 3. The story in BoF2 (fan translation) I beat a few days ago it was a lot better but still felt more close to BoF1 than 3. The music was really really bad to the point I muted it sometimes. Some tracks repeat after 10 seconds. Gameplay wise it felt lacking and more like a prototype to Dragon Quest 1. It also had the most BS final dungeon I've come across in a while. It just draaaags. The encounter rate is increased too in this final area to every 5 steps instead of 20....These old SNES JRPG's simply don't tell you where you have to go next either or make you talk to specific people in a specific order to progress? FFVI and Chrono were one of the few that didn't really do that and felt like they had a proper narrative.
The SNES hardware simply wasnt cut out to handle good deep RPG's I think. They felt extremely limited in their scope most of the time? FFVI / Chrono Trigger were about the only two that were deep and fun. Are there any others? Lufia 2 was pretty good too I think. The rest are simple affairs with little to no story and basic movements and lack of depth to anything.
I played Breath of Fire 3 and 4 back when they came out on PS1 and they simply blow 1 and 2 away. The first two don't even come close. Like these are legit good games even today and are better than JRPG's we get today like Atelier or random JRPG from Idea Factory. What does everyone think of them now? I am replaying 3 again since 1997 and it holds up. I'm still early on but It's sooooo much better than the first two its not even funny. The music, characters, pixel art, graphics, gameplay is fun. The only negative is the stupid camera is designed deliberately to hamper you and its easy to miss items because its hidden behind the camera. You have to keep rotating it and then it locks back once you let go. The encounter rate isn't ridiculous like 2 was at least. I beat BoFIV back on its release but seem to remember it not being as good as 3? But tbh I can hardly remember it. The music wasn't as good and it came out too late when I moved to PS2 so maybe thats why? I can't remember much about it other than I think it was pretty hard? Did they sell? I think they got decent reviews at the time?
Wild Arms 1+2 were two more good JRPGs on PS1. They had decent Zelda like puzzles, cool setting demons mixed with wild west and amazing soundtracks. The graphics were better than FFVII too as it came out before FFVII yet still had 30fps battles as opposed to 15fps on FF PS1 games. It had a decent mix of cool gameplay, turn based fighting, puzzley dungeons and a cohesive narrative. I didn't care much for the art style in battles though with the characters having big heads as if they were Funko Pop figures lol? The Art design on enemies in battles was actually pretty ugly too but it had its own charm. I don't understand why the first two Wild Arms games got 60s in the reviews when they came out. Why didn't people like them?
Playing them now and they are much better than most of the JRPG schlock that comes out today.
Anyway what I'm trying to say these games are really unique and refreshing to play today and did things that still no other JRPG has bothered with. Breath of Fire 3/4 had amazing pixel art graphics mixed with cool 3d backgrounds and story with jazzy blues kinda soundtrack. Wild Arms had turn based battles that although traditional had Zelda like gameplay in between and felt great when you got to a new town. TONS of secrets and cool story and setting.
