What happened to the RPG?

[DigitalEmperor]

Seriously, what happened to the RPG genre??

I was just watching a video review for a game I was somewhat looking forward to. Infinite Undiscovery. The review bagged on the game hard for pretty much doing some stuff that's already been done, but worse, and with a bad story. That seems to have been the norm for awhile now. I tried finding some RPGs for PS3 and I came up with Oblivion and that's it.

Over on the Xbox 360, I found a Blue Dragon. Sure there is Mass Effect a KoTR style RPG, but I am looking for some honest to goodness Final Fantasy X style RPG action and apparently I am going to have to hope and pray Final Fantaxy XIII is good.

Am I missing out on a major blockbuster RPG that flew under the radar? Who killed the genre?

[cthulhuiscool]

it seems they are making all the turn bassed classic rpg's for handhelds. Consoles need to have awesome graphics to sell so classic rpg's can't appeal in that market, unfortunately.

[forsberg78]

RPG = Final Fantasy series.

That said, I cannot wait for FFXIII

[IcedEmotion]

Seriously, what happened to the RPG genre??

I was just watching a video review for a game I was somewhat looking forward to. Infinite Undiscovery. The review bagged on the game hard for pretty much doing some stuff that's already been done, but worse, and with a bad story. That seems to have been the norm for awhile now. I tried finding some RPGs for PS3 and I came up with Oblivion and that's it.

Over on the Xbox 360, I found a Blue Dragon. Sure there is Mass Effect a KoTR style RPG, but I am looking for some honest to goodness Final Fantasy X style RPG action and apparently I am going to have to hope and pray Final Fantaxy XIII is good.

Am I missing out on a major blockbuster RPG that flew under the radar? Who killed the genre?

Lost Odyssey is supposed to be good for 360. I think reviewers are a little jaded though. JRPG is sub-genre, I'm not sure how you could really do it differently without making it something else. It kinda confuses me as to what the reviewers are after, yet I bet the next FF will do the exact same thing it's been doing for years and get rave reviews.

Some other games you missed are Disgaea 3, Tales of Vesparia, Eternal Sonata. All got average to above average reviews, yet I'm sure if you're into the JRPG genre you could find them entertaining.

[IdiotCow]

If you like final fantasy, Lost Odyssey is for you.

I'm in it right now... just got it so I'm still on the first DVD. But so far it's better than FFX ever was... feels like VIII without the crap magic system and 100x better story.

Some clunky dialog bits, but that's just the nature of JRPGs... the overall plot and characters are phenomenal (so far, like I said I'm just like 4-5 hrs in)

[idividebyzero]

More like "what happened to Square"

They used to raise the bar so high that all other companies were forced to bust their ass just to compete with them. Now theyve stopped making RPG's except for the occasional FF, giving other companies the greenlight to half ass every game without fear of Square taking their business.

Square needs to come out with another new and original game like Xenogears to shake things up.

[MooMooCow]

Reviewers tend to pan any game that comes out now days without "innovation," even if the game is relatively well done. Take Lost Odyssey for example, great game by most people's standards, but mauled by critics.

[DigitalEmperor]

Sounds like I need to go hit Gamestop for a copy of Lost Odyssey .. 25% off used 360 titles + 10% with edge card = wallet emptying time.

[Psychotext]

Lost Odyssey is fantastic. Reviews were hard on it because it's old skool, but that's how I like my JRPG. Easily one of the best JRPGs I've ever played. :D

[MooMooCow]

Lost Odyssey is fantastic. Reviews were hard on it because it's old skool, but that's how I like my JRPG. Easily one of the best JRPGs I've ever played. :D

Haha, I love turn based JRPGs more than anything else in the world. Sadly, most games aren't turn based anymore though

[Michaelius]

Yeah I turned out to console gaming in search of more turn based RPGs only to find out they are dying breed here too.

I hope there won't be a time when we will need to learn japanise in order to play any new turn based jRPGs when they will become more niche titles.

[Technoob]

lost oddyssey
blue dragon
eternal sonata
mass effect
oblivion
infinite undiscovery
enchanted arms
fable 2
tales of vesperia
the last remnant

[Wondernerd]

Japan happened.

[Mav451]

Sounds like I need to go hit Gamestop for a copy of Lost Odyssey .. 25% off used 360 titles + 10% with edge card = wallet emptying time.

Lol - as "hot deal" as it is, you end up building a massive backlog. More like CAG's anonymous if you will haha.

[heatsinker]

After the Playstation era, the jRPG really hasn't been quite the same. I wouldn't say it's headed for a face plant, but it's definitely looking for a way to reinvent itself. Personally I blame Squaresoft; first they buy out their only legitimate rival, put out a steaming turd that people call Final Fantasy X, and pretty much sit on their laurels for the rest of the PS2 generation.

Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy X were both the first Final Fantasy games to hit their respective platforms and they both scored a 9.5 at IGN. Can anyone honestly tell me how you can even begin to compare these two? You stumble the RPG narrative back a few generations, slap on some new graphics, so-so voice-acting, a new level up system and instantly you have a classic? Yeah, there's something wrong here. The worst part is that more developers are following this lead, especially with the added pressure of becoming "next-gen".

[BladeVenom]

The RPG I'm most looking forward to is Dragon Age. I'm not sure if they'll port it over to consoles though.

[jedolley]

The RPG I'm most looking forward to is Dragon Age. I'm not sure if they'll port it over to consoles though.

Dragon Age is supposed to come out for the 360 in addition to the PC, not sure about the PS3

[TheToE!]

You need to play Lost Odyssey! Dont waste another minute talking on these forums.

[The18thLetter]

I blame the Square Enix merger.

RPGs haven't been the same since...

The only RPGs to really look forward to are White Knight Chronicles (Level 5-developed), FFXIII + Versus... that's about it, actually.

It's sad.

I'm hoping Konami gets off their asses and makes a PROPER Suikoden VI (not that DS crap) for PS3, though.

[HeavensCloud]

I blame the Square Enix merger.

RPGs haven't been the same since...

The only RPGs to really look forward to are White Knight Chronicles (Level 5-developed), FFXIII + Versus... that's about it, actually.

It's sad.

I'm hoping Konami gets off their asses and makes a PROPER Suikoden VI (not that DS crap) for PS3, though.

+1 After the merger they released a few games rapid fire that just sucked.

[Michaelius]

I blame the Square Enix merger.

RPGs haven't been the same since...

The only RPGs to really look forward to are White Knight Chronicles (Level 5-developed), FFXIII + Versus... that's about it, actually.

It's sad.

I'm hoping Konami gets off their asses and makes a PROPER Suikoden VI (not that DS crap) for PS3, though.

Well we can hope Persona 5 comes to next gens , and maybe some other Shin Megami title.

[erwos]

Lost Odyssey is fantastic. Reviews were hard on it because it's old skool, but that's how I like my JRPG. Easily one of the best JRPGs I've ever played. :D
I was astonished at how good the game was - the reviews were giving it so-so to good scores, but I found it to be one of the best JRPGs I've played this year, only a notch or two under Persona 3 FES. That could be because I like my RPGs with a touch of darkness and some deep thoughts, but it really is pretty awesome, and I would love a sequel.

Blue Dragon wasn't bad, but suffered from some banal dialogue and some _very_ poor balancing decisions. Ditto for Enchanted Arms. I never got a chance to play Eternal Sonata, but I am hoping to pick up the PS3 release.

That said, I'm guessing the OP has missed some of the smaller stuff from NIS and Atlus - Disgaea 3, Valkyria Chronicles, Persona 4, and Ar Tonelico 2 are coming out this year, and should be excellent. Certainly, if you haven't played Persona 3 FES, you're seriously missing out.

[Loggahead]

Seriously, what happened to the RPG genre??

I was just watching a video review for a game I was somewhat looking forward to. Infinite Undiscovery. The review bagged on the game hard for pretty much doing some stuff that's already been done, but worse, and with a bad story. That seems to have been the norm for awhile now. I tried finding some RPGs for PS3 and I came up with Oblivion and that's it.

Over on the Xbox 360, I found a Blue Dragon. Sure there is Mass Effect a KoTR style RPG, but I am looking for some honest to goodness Final Fantasy X style RPG action and apparently I am going to have to hope and pray Final Fantaxy XIII is good.

Am I missing out on a major blockbuster RPG that flew under the radar? Who killed the genre?

Lost Oddyssee bro. Don't forget about Last Remnant that will be out sometime in November from SquareEnix.

[Loggahead]

Oh yeah, don't forget about Tales of Vesp and Eternal Sonata... Both of which you could playing tonight... on 360 that is.

[pigwalk]

That said, I'm guessing the OP has missed some of the smaller stuff from NIS and Atlus - Disgaea 3, Valkyria Chronicles, Persona 4, and Ar Tonelico 2 are coming out this year, and should be excellent. Certainly, if you haven't played Persona 3 FES, you're seriously missing out.

Are any of those turn based and available at an affordable price? I've been going hard on the PS2 lately, just because that seems to be where all the great RPG's are at. On Suikoden Tactics and I'm thinking of finally capping off Suikoden 3 afterwards. I don't see any reason to rush to any next-gen consoles yet, especially with all the great games at great prices on the PS2.

Gotta agree though, not enough turn based ones lately. Lots and lots of Tactical games and action RPG's (Rogue Galaxy was fun) but I loved the old school turn based chillness of FFX.

[erwos]

Are any of those turn based and available at an affordable price? I've been going hard on the PS2 lately, just because that seems to be where all the great RPG's are at. On Suikoden Tactics and I'm thinking of finally capping off Suikoden 3 afterwards. I don't see any reason to rush to any next-gen consoles yet, especially with all the great games at great prices on the PS2.
Ar Tonelico 2 and Persona 4 are classic turn-based. VC and Disgaea 3 are strategy turn-based.

Affordable? There's no way we can answer that. D3 is $50, P4 and AT2 will be $40, and I assume VC will be $60. I would say that's affordable, unless you're averse to spending more than $20 on a game.

[MooMooCow]

That said, I'm guessing the OP has missed some of the smaller stuff from NIS and Atlus - Disgaea 3, Valkyria Chronicles, Persona 4, and Ar Tonelico 2 are coming out this year, and should be excellent. Certainly, if you haven't played Persona 3 FES, you're seriously missing out.


Oh wow, somene else who played Ar Tonelico. Didn't expect those people to exist. :p

@pigwalk

Keep in mind that most of Atlus's releases are extremely limited in quanity. So don't wait around after the game comes out, or else you're gonna have a hell of a time finding it.