Board 8 > Sell me on these PS1/PSP JRPGs

(+) Yeah! (+)

Looking to grab some games before the PSN store shuts down. I generally prefer RPGs with strong storylines (bonus points for darker atmosphere/themes), but if the gameplay shines, I can look past a so-so story.

PS1:
Alundra
Arc the Lad 1-3
Dino Crisis 1-2 (not RPGs, but I'm considering them)
Grandia (vs. the HD version?)
Legend of Dragoon
Threads of Fate

PSP:
Jeanne d'Arc
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (is this the best version?)
Persona 1 PSP
Ys: The Oath in Felghana (vs. the Steam version?)

Definitely grabbing Persona 2 Innocent Sin (PSP) & Eternal Punishment (PS1) as well. Stupid question, but play Innocent Sin first, right?

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I was expecting to tell you that something is bad, actually, but I haven't really played these. I played a little of Jeanne d'Arc and had a positive impression.

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I can't speak for the PSP games, but I don't believe any of the PSX you listed have particularly great storylines.

I can vouch for Alundra and Lunar

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ChainLTTP posted...

I can't speak for the PSP games, but I don't believe any of the PSX you listed have particularly great storylines.

can't say any of those games have very complex stories or characters but that's pretty standard for PS1 games in general

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GranzonEx posted...

I can vouch for Alundra and Lunar

I heard somewhere that Alundra is the best Zelda ever, so that one I'll probably snag.

Lunar is one of those 90s JRPGs that I've always thought, "Yeah I'll play that someday," but I never took the plunge.

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Silver Star Harmony is generally considered better than the GBA version, but not as good as the Sega CD or PSX version.

Felghana is good, but on the pc as well so as far as Falcom games go I personally think it's better to consider Brandish: The Dark Revenant since it's digital only in the west and hasn't been rereleased on the PC like most of Falcom's other psp games. However, I will say that it probably isn't what you are looking for since it's a dungeon crawler and a bit of an acquired taste. Since despite the overhead perspective it's not like zelda or ys, but it's trying to be more like dungeon master or eye of the beholder.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsaE-nF7Np0

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I haven't played these but I did make a topic that included some of these games and people recommended/derecommended some (Alundra, Arc the Lad, Dragoon, P2),: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79388742


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threads of fate has a very unique, evocative soundtrack
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andylt posted...

I haven't played these but I did make a topic that included some of these games and people recommended/derecommended some (Alundra, Arc the Lad, Dragoon, P2),: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79388742

Good call! Thanks

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completed Jeanne D'Arc, it's a very basic and easy SRPG. I enjoyed my time with it.

Persona 1 is absolute trash, including the PSP version. Not worth it unless you really want to see how the series started.

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Arti posted...

completed Jeanne D'Arc, it's a very basic and easy SRPG. I enjoyed my time with it.

Persona 1 is absolute trash, including the PSP version. Not worth it unless you really want to see how the series started.

@Arti How's the story in Jeanne D'Arc? A historical fiction about Joan of Arc sounds great in concept.

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It's more of a high fantasy historical fiction story, really.

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paperwarior posted...

It's more of a high fantasy historical fiction story, really.

Even better.

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Jeanne d'arc isn't really "historical". It's fantasy, where she gets a bracelet that turns her into a magical knight.

I liked Persona 1, but it definitely sticks closely to the style of older SMT games (despite some changes to the graphics and music to appeal more to nu Persona fans) so people who like the gameplay in SMT from Nocturne on up or nu Persona wouldn't necessarily like it (while Persona 2's kind of in between I guess? I still need to finish up IS and start EP).

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Alundra is worth it. Pretty good Zelda substitute. Everyone should play Grandia at least once, but the HD version is probably the way to go now.

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I remember really enjoying the story to Jeanne d'Arc but I also don't remember THAT much of it to say confidently it was good it was so long ago now.

I did like it, though.

Legend of Dragoon and Threads of Fate 11 year old or so me really enjoyed, but I haven't played them since. Ditto with Lunar.

Persona 1 isn't great IMO, but its also not like, horrible either. It's just kind of painfully average.

Ys sucks.

PS1:
Alundra - pretty meh
Arc the Lad 1-3 - also pretty meh
Dino Crisis 1-2 (not RPGs, but I'm considering them) - hated these
Grandia (vs. the HD version?) - All time classic, get it for sure
Legend of Dragoon - the definitive average jRPG
Threads of Fate - fun little game, probably has aged terribly

PSP:
Jeanne d'Arc - bad game
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony (is this the best version?) - decent game
Persona 1 PSP - never played
Ys: The Oath in Felghana (vs. the Steam version?) - never played

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Grandia and Grandia II have amazing music.

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Ys is one of the best RPG franchises going, and while Oath has frustrating platforming, it is still really good.

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plasmabeam posted...

I heard somewhere that Alundra is the best Zelda ever, so that one I'll probably snag.

Lunar is one of those 90s JRPGs that I've always thought, "Yeah I'll play that someday," but I never took the plunge.

Overlooked this post - while I think Alundra is pretty good, I'm hard pressed to say it's better than any Zelda game.

I never played the PSP Lunar. The PSX complete versions were pretty essential at the time, but I imagine they've aged worse than most.

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Oath is the worst Ys game I've played but some people like it
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The only one of these I've played is Jeanne D'Arc. It was a pretty enjoyable tactical rpg, not too crazy gameplay wise it was pretty standard, but the plot was fun. I'd recommend it

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Mac Arrowny posted...

Oath is the worst Ys game I've played but some people like it

I didn't like Origin anywhere as much as I liked 8/9, so I'll probably pass on Oath.

Probably gonna buy Jeanne D'Arc and Alundra.

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Legend of Dragoon is the slowest paced RPG I've ever played, by far (including the loadfest that is FFIX on the PS1), and the writing was ho hum. It got you from point A to point B, but it was very basic and felt like it was going through the motions. I dropped that one within 15 hours. This is quite possibly my #1 pick for worst RPG I've put any meaningful amount of time into.

..And the combat system gets much, much slower than it already is at the beginning - If you can even do it. The reason I actually started playing the game to begin with was because of someone I knew who *could not do the battle system*, but was interested in the game itself. It's all based on precision timing. If you're not the type who can adjust to timing patterns, you're going to have a really hard time. This isn't like SMRPG or M&L's gigantic window for Timed hits - It's a short-at-first window that gets even shorter as the game progresses, and you have to repeatedly hit those windows multiple times (more as the game progresses) per attack in order to do any meaningful damage, and it's the same for defense in order to block any meaningful damage.

Jeanne is "alright". Nothing special there, but not terrible either. The plot is a bit nonsensical, but it at least tries and successfully weaves it's narrative. You get a borderline broken character far too early in the game, and a few more as it goes along. I guess it falls squarely into that "7/10" range for me.

For some reason I have never played Grandia, though everyone I know who did never actually finished the game.

I feel like I have played Arc the Lad, but I don't remember a thing about it.

I know someone who is a big fan of Alundra, but he doesn't like Alundra 2. I haven't played either, myself.

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Crescent-Moon posted...

Legend of Dragoon is the slowest paced RPG I've ever played, by far (including the loadfest that is FFIX on the PS1), and the writing was ho hum. It got you from point A to point B, but it was very basic and felt like it was going through the motions. I dropped that one within 15 hours.

This was very close to my experience with the game, except Im not sure I even played it that long. I wouldnt say I hated it, but I was very bored.

Jesse_Custer posted...

bored.

Yep. This. Absolutely this. The game was a dreadfully dull slog.

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threads of fate has terrible voice acting but is otherwise pretty ok

Grandia great battle system, grrat music simple story. Nothing wonng with that

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Grandia got a little boring to me, but it was very charming.

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With a disclaimer: I don't think I've played anything listed here in 15 years, so my memory could be foggy and I can't speak to the ports.

If you think that FF6 was the pinnacle of Final Fantasy story telling, Arc the Lad 2 is probably up your alley. It is expansive, with loads of characters with interacting motivations and story lines. And there's a side-helping of optional hunt-style material, plus capturing and leveling up monsters to fight for you, and tactical style combat where weapon ranges and positioning really matter.

The plot follows from Arc the Lad (1), which is a short and EXTREMELY basic RPG that (apart from the CD-quality introductory theme that remained largely unchanged through the PS2 era) feels like it was from for the previous generation of consoles. Should only be played through quickly to get the backstory of 2, or if you need a game to teach someone who never played an RPG before. Arc the Lad 2 had a companion arena combat game that you could port saves back and forth from -- not a huge deal if this is missing from the PSN version.

The Grandia series still has possibly the best combat system ever. Saying that you have a "Grandia-like combat system" is still used as a selling-point to this day, even though many only manage to copy about half of it. It allows you to time your attacks to cancel the most damaging enemy actions, and ALSO allows you to line up for area and line attacks. The story is initially saccharin-sweet and never strays far from that tone even as you learn more about the world. Which was off-putting to me at the time, but would probably be nostalgic if you grew up on Pokemon. In core RPG ways, it compares favorably to the game that blew it out of the water on sales: Final Fantasy 7. (Google says contemporary reviews agree with me, such as: "Grandia beats out FF7 in all of the ways that matter" https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/grandia-import-review/1900-2533932/ . I'll disagree with that review in that I'd give FF7 the edge on music and sound design though.)

Grandia pushed the limits of the PS1s capability a bit, and as a result suffered slow-down and camera problems. I can only hope that playing it on a PS3 or PS4 emulation or a remake would fix some of that. Grandia 2 (for the Dreamcast/PS2) is my favorite of the series.

I have some fond memories of playing Legend of the Dragoon, but I can't recommend starting it vs. modern games. It's a long haul.

Dino Crisis is one of the pinnacle examples of the survival horror genre. Take the mold RE helped popularize, replace zombies with dinosaurs, and you get the initial idea for what DC entails, but it goes beyond that: dinosaurs easily provide a tougher challenge, and so resource and ammo conservation becomes all the more important to manage correctly. Additions to your arsenal, such as sleep darts and medicine mixtures, become a whole mini-game onto themselves, while learning to use your environment to your advantage becomes critical as well. The game really tests your mettle and critical thinking skills not only in its minute-to-minute gameplay, but with the engaging puzzles in the DDK system, which ramp up in difficulty over the course of the game, and has you breaking codes to unlock doors. Of course, a horror game is nothing without a fantastic atmosphere, and the game's quiet, sterile hallways combined with a minimal electronic-pulsing score juxtaposes cleanly with the fantastic scenarios you find yourself in, especially in the game's gorier moments. You may find the story a little goofy, but the characters are endearing for the most part and there's even some story choices you can make for extra replayability.

DC 2 pushes the survival horror into the background for a more action arcade-focused experience that's a ton of fun! It instead focuses more on blasting dinos and racking up combos than exploring the environment and puzzle solving, but there is still some of that to be found here too. Story is even more batshit crazy. Great game but it depends on what you're in the mood for, and I prefer the first myself.

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The Legend of Dragoon is a very good game with a pretty good but predictable JRPG storyline. I recommend it to JRPG fans.

Play the PSP version of Persona 1. It is much better than the PS1 with it's terrible load times, cut content and the abomination of a overworld map in that version.

As for Persona 2 IS and EP. I kinda liked playing the fan translation of IS (which is very good) and EP on the same console. The PSP version is just as good though.

However do not expect Persona 1 and the 2 games to be anywhere near the level of 3, 4, 5. Keep your expectations in check and those will be ok to good games.