Board 8 > Help me decide which JRPG to get.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Been wanting to play a JRPG, specifically one from a series I haven't played any of.

Narrowed it down to two choices, Atelier Ryza and Trails of Cold Steel.

B8 likes JRPGs, which one should I go with?

My JRPG tastes...
IX, X, and VI are my favorite FFs
SMT Nocturne is like my third favorite game of all time
Ogre Battle 64 is in the top ten
I can easily get lost in the minutiae of systems like Pokemon breeding or Disgaea item worlds for hours working on making the best possible Pokemon/item/team/whatever

Both games seem up my alley, slightly leaning Trails as it's a bit cheaper and actually has a dub with VAs I like.

Help

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Always choose Trails

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This board will 100% direct you to Trails.

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I would personally choose trails but based on your taste I would direct you to the atelier series, for sure. It sounds like a good fit.

So if you've played SMT, I assume you've tried the Persona series?

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Trails (but if possible I highly recommend playing Sky first)

and if you're going Atelier do Ayesha DX first. It definitely has very in-depth crafting you can put way too much effort in

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TheRock1525 posted...

So if you've played SMT, I assume you've tried the Persona series?

Yep!

And I knew the board leaned Trails, but I'm pretty sure there's a diehard Atelier fan or two here.

The item crafting there is what interests me the most for sure.

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Cold steel is good for sure

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mnkboy907 posted...

This board will 100% direct you to Trails.

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If you get lost in the crunchy mechanics of Pokemon and Disgaea than Atelier is right up your alley.

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If you like Persona and breeding, give the Conception series a try. The main character creates children with the female party members that also become party members. Creating the perfect battle children becomes addicting.

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NFUN posted...

Trails (but if possible I highly recommend playing Sky first)

and if you're going Atelier do Ayesha DX first. It definitely has very in-depth crafting you can put way too much effort in

Yeah, I can't speak towards Ryza, but the Dusk Trilogy is an ideal starting point for Atelier.

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pay Cold Steel 1 and 2, and if you like, play the Trails in the Sky series before playing CS3

never played an atelier game though

Conferred with the girlfriend and since Trails seems more her style and Atelier more mine, we just got both. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

NFUN posted...

Trails (but if possible I highly recommend playing Sky first)

and if you're going Atelier do Ayesha DX first. It definitely has very in-depth crafting you can put way too much effort in

I'll keep Ayesha in mind if I like Ryza.

StifledSilence posted...

If you like Persona and breeding, give the Conception series a try. The main character creates children with the female party members that also become party members. Creating the perfect battle children becomes addicting.

Sounds interesting, I'll look into it.

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The Atelier games since the PS3 have all looked and felt budget as hell. Trials of the other hand is a masterpiece.

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Ayesha is definitely the starting point for anyone thinking of playing an Atelier game. Ryza is very different and atypical of other games in the series.

I wouldn't recommend starting Trails with Cold Steel either. The games are very much building on what previous games in the series do, so I would recommend Trails in the Sky first if you go that route.

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B8 got me to try out both series (hi VGM crowd)

Picked up Atelier Sophie from a Steam sale, wasn't bad but it didn't really hold my interest, currently sitting in my list of games to complete eventually.

Played Trails FC and couldn't put down the game, already a good ways into SC.

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