Four Things That Make JRPGs Great

What Makes A Great JRPG?

           

There’s something almost intangible about what makes an RPG truly special. Sometimes, the game’s mechanics, storyline, and presentation all come together and make a truly great experience, one that is more than the sum of its parts. Of course, sometimes one aspect of a game can be lacking, but it will have other features in excess, and it will still end up being enjoyable. Still other games just flat out suck, and fail to grasp even the fundamentals of good game design, making for a joyless, soul-crushing experience.  

            

Now, I came off from playing Xenosaga Episode 1 (which is one of those games that flat out sucks, just so we’re clear) and was feeling very, very disengaged from gaming afterwards. A double dose of Ocarina of Time and Shin Megami Tensei IV provided a cure of sorts, and though the Xenosaga games left a bitter taste in my mouth, they got me thinking about what makes the RPG genre tick for me. Where do some games succeed where others fail? I don’t really have any grand thesis where this topic is concerned, since a lot of it boils down to personal preference, but there are a few things that I think makes RPGs that much more enjoyable. Interestingly, these are all things that Xenosaga Episode 1 completely failed to provide, so consider this a protracted takedown of this awful, awful game, as well as an opportunity to remember some truly fantastic games that are far more deserving of a player’s time.

           

I will, for the record, leave my original review of Xenosaga 1 on the site, even though it really isn’t representative of my opinion of the game anymore (I would have been much, MUCH harsher).

Number One- Have an Exciting Beginning

         

Top Ten Battle Music

As promised, here is a second top ten list of video game music, this time focusing on battle themes.

Honorable Mention: The boss battle music from Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga.

While I’m not sure this song was good enough to make the top ten, a friend of mine brought it up recently, and Superstar Saga is an awesome game that deserves at least an honorable mention. What I didn’t know back when I played the game was that the soundtrack was done by none other than Yoko Shimomura. No wonder it’s so good.

Top Ten Pieces of Game Music

Whether you are watching a film or playing a game, music can play a large role in defining the experience. Those memorable pieces stick with us long after we’ve shut our systems off or walked out of the theater, and they’re a large part of what makes visual media so engaging. Being a fan of RPGs, I have heard many wonderful pieces of music from many talented composers. What follows are ten pieces of non-battle music from games I have played. A list of battle music might come somewhere down the road.

10- The Poem for Everyone’s Souls (Persona 3)

Xenogears: First Impressions

So, Xenoblade Chronicles recently saw its US release to great critical acclaim and (so far) success. But, while I did preorder and receive a copy of this wonderful RPG, and play a little bit of it, I simply do not have enough access to a Wii in order to properly sink the required time into a massive title such as Xenoblade. You see, the Wii in our house belongs to my sister, and me being the ever-so-gracious person that I am, I decided not to impose upon her belongings and will wait to play Xenoblade and The Last Story for when I get my own Wii somewhere down the road.

That said, I wanted to start something. So, in the spirit of all things Xeno, I started playing Tetsuya Takahashi’s original masterpiece, the 1998 Squaresoft classic Xenogears. I’ve always admired Takahashi for being such an ambitious storyteller in his games, but I’ve never actually played Xenogears, despite having bought it on PSN shortly after it was rereleased.  So, what are my initial thoughts on this classic? Well, after playing the game for a couple hours this morning, I have come to a few conclusions:

My Review: Radiant Historia (DS)

One of the sad truths of the current generation of gaming is that there has been a noticeable lack of truly great traditional roleplaying games. That’s not to say there haven’t been good ones, but as good as Lost Odyssey, Dark Souls, and Tales of Vesperia are, this generation has been marked by disappointment. Final Fantasy XIII wasn’t what everyone hoped it would be, Eternal Sonata was kind of preachy, and Hyperdimension Neptunia is absolute shite and I’m sorry for anyone who spent money on that travesty (I kid, I kid). While the blame for this may or may not be placed on these games developers, or on shifting perceptions among the gaming community, and the situation actually seems to be looking up as of late with great titles such as Xenoblade Chronicles just around the corner, there just doesn’t seem to be many modern RPGs that live up to their predecessors. Enter Radiant Historia, a game released in 2011 by Atlus, which clearly draws inspiration from the classics of old, such as Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI. Does it succeed as a great RPG experience, or is Radiant Historia a doomed pretender? Well, let it be known here and now- Radiant Historia is one of the best games to be released in a long time.

Top Five Favorite Games

I wanted to do a top ten list at some point, but unfortunatly, it's been more difficult than I thought to compile a list of ten favorite games. What I could figure out, though, was my top 5 favorites. Consider this a 'preview' of a top ten list to come somewhere down the road. When I actually make the list in question, I'll describe each entry in detail.

My rules for making a list such as this are simple: I can only have one game per series of games that I like on the list (otherwise, Final Fantasy would completely dominate it). The only exception to this rule is if the games are different enough to warrant their own spot, or if I like them for different reasons.

5

4

3

2

1



My Review: Chrono Cross (PS1)

My Review: Chrono Cross (PS1)

            If you were to ask me what the definition of a ‘perfect’ video game was, I’d probably show you my copy of Chrono Trigger and answer, “This”.  Squaresoft’s Super Nintendo classic combined the talents of prominent developers from both Squaresoft and then-rival Enix, and this mixture of developer talent created one of the most beloved RPGs of all time, featuring a cast of lovable characters, gorgeous graphics, and a fantastic soundtrack composed by Yasunori Mitsuda and Final Fantasy standby Nobuo Uematsu. To this day, there hasn’t been an RPG quite like Chrono Trigger- it’s a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Needless to say, when Squaresoft began working on a sequel for the Playstation, expectations were justifiably high. Chrono Cross, released in 2000, distances itself a bit from its predecessor, featuring several new gameplay and storyline features. This was, I fell, a wise decision, because once it steps out of its predecessor’s shadow, Chrono Cross is just as ahead of its time and imaginative as Chrono Trigger.

            STORY

            Fate has no forgiveness for those who dare stand against it.

Chrono Cross- Dragons!

High time for another Chrono Cross update, isn't it?

Anyways, my current party is Lynx, Norris, and Fargo. Lynx is fully outfitted with Stone Armor, while the others have a mix of Mythril and Stone equipment (the required materials to forge Stone equipment have so far been hard to come by). I've defeated the Blue and Yellow Dragons, and am in the process of finishing the Mastermune side quest (which will nab me Serge/Lynx's ultimate weapon).

One thing I like about Chrono Cross is the number of different perspectives on the story you can get. Despite having so many potential party members, the story remains cohesive- plot-centric characters will be at important events wether you have them in your party or now, and having certain party members can trigger different scenes (If Norris is in your party at The Dead Sea, for instance, you can find information about Lavos, the parasitic monstrosity from Chrono Trigger). It adds a bit of personality to the game, as the party members you've chosen change the overall feel of the story just enough to develop their characters, but the story as a whole doesn't change. I like this.

As a side note, the scene at the end of The Dead Sea (and the accompanying music, 'Prisoners of Fate') has got to be one of the most haunting moments I've seen in an RPG. The entire Dead Sea section, as a matter of fact, was excellent. Chrono trigger never stopped to wonder if there would be negative repurcussions because of the player's action, and Chrono Cross dives into some pretty deep territory here. Also, Norris is a surprisingly awesome party member. His special attacks are great.

I'll hopefully have Cross wrapped up in a week or two. With exams coming up, I probably won't be playing much next week, but I'll do my best to finish the game and have a review up before Christmas and 2012-RPG release-geddon (XIII-2, Type-0, Xenoblade Chronicles, Ni no Kuni, and Tales of Graces F have been confirmed, and Im holding out hope for The Last Story and Versus XIII as well. I'm going to be a busy gamer).

Chrono Cross: The Dead Sea!

Just a quick Chrono Cross update, I'm on the section where you play as Lynx instead of Serge, which takes up a surprisingly large portion of the game. I just finished the S.S. Zelbess portion of the game, which means it's on to the Isle of the Dead and The Dead Sea next. This is a part of the game I've been looking forward too for a long time, because it sets up a lot of the connections between Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross.

Cross is still an excellent game, and playing as Lynx allows a number of new techniques and party members to be experimented with (FeralCats FTW). My current party is Lynx, Harle, and Norris, all outfitted with Mithril equipment.

11/21/2011 Chrono Cross Update

I'm about ten hours into Chrono Cross right now, and I'm surprised that I'm actually a bit further along than I thought I was. I'm ready to head to Mt. Pyre, which is right before the second encounter with Lynx (and a rather important story moment). Chrono Trigger wasn't an incredible long game, so I guess it's no surprise that Cross follows suit.

My current party is Serge, Kid, and Glenn, and I use Guile whenever Kid isn't in the party. Serge and Glenn can use a Dual Tech called X-strike, a very powerful ability that also references Crono and Frog's Dual Tech in Trigger. Everyone has a full set of Iron armor and whatever accessories are necessary.

I'm also getting used to Chrono Cross's level up system. Essentially, every boss fight earns the party a new star, which usually adds a new Element Slot for each character and provides a large stat bonus. From there, characters occasionally gain HP and other stat bonuses after normal battles.

Chrono Cross remains an excellent game, and I'm looking forward to playing more of it over Thanksgiving break. Look for a review in a few weeks.

Chrono Cross: First Impressions

It's impossible to say just how excited I am to be finally playing this game. Chrono Cross, the sequel to Square's SNES classic Chrono Trigger, was released on the PSN this past Tuedsay. Trigger remains one of the best role-playing games ever made, and Chrono Cross has a lot to live up too.

It was perhaps wise of the developers to not try to capture lightning in a bottle again. Chrono Cross is technically a direct sequel to Trigger, but features enough changes to make it stand out on its own. It bears a few stylistic and gameplay similarities to it's predecessor, but as a whole Chrono Cross is it's own beast.

While the game does feature some of the time-travel that served as Trigger's main element, Chrono Cross instead focuses primarily on parallel worlds, with two similar-yet-different worlds that the player sqitches between. This mechanic is quite similar to the Time Gates from Trigger. I haven't played enough of the story to write about it yet, but the game features an entirely new cast in the world many years after Trigger ended. From what I can gather, there have been many changes in this time, so it'll be interesting to see exactly what happened. There have been a few references to Trigger already, including in the way we meet the main character (being woken up by his mom).

Gameplay-wise, Cross retains it's forbear's lack of random encounters- all enemies are in the field and can be avoided. There are also no enemies in the Overworld, which makes getting to your next destination much easier. Combat, however, is quite different from Trigger. Battles transition to a seperate field instead of seamlessly occuring in the area you were exploring, and the combat is a more traditional turn-based system rather than the active-time battles from Trigger. That's not to say Cross doesn't have it's share of innovations. I don't have a full grasp on the mechanics, but characters are allowed to attack multiple times a turn until their 'stamina' depletes. Character attacks have three levels- weak, strong, and fierce- and by successfully landing blows, the odds of landing another attack increase. Also, by successfully landing blows, you become able to use more powerful special skills known as Elements, which are similar to the Techs from Chrono Trigger. Speaking of things I haven't figured out yet, characters don't seem to 'level up'- sometimes characters earn stat bonuses after battle, and every so often they gain a new Element Slot to equip Elements with, and gain several stat bonuses, which is sort of like leveling up, but I'm not sure what triggers it. Hopefully I'll figure out more about how Cross plays quickly.

From what little I've played so far, Chrono Cross is a very enjoyable RPG. I can't quite say whether it lives up to the timeless classic that preceded it, but we'll see.

Chrono Cross is Out Today

In case you haven't heard, Square's 2000 classic Chrono Cross was rereleased on the PSN today for $9.99.

I just downloaded it and played the first five minutes, and I am very excited. Chrono Trigger remains one of my favorite games, and is perhaps the perfect 16 bit RPG (I like it even more than Final Fantasy VI). Needless to say, Chrono Cross has a high pedigree of excellence to live up to.

With classic Square games, one can expect quality. When a game is a sequel to a masterpiece like Chrono Trigger, quality is essential. I'll have a first impression of the game up once I've played more if it, and I sincerely hope Chrono Cross ends up appealing to me as much as it's predecessor did.