Vagrant Story

[.Sigurd]

not an rpg

Hell Yeah! Who cares about character stats determining the outcome of his actions!? I want C&C, I mean, it's only RPG when you can choose what the character will say like in these adventures games, amirite?

Stats determining actions isn't exclusive or unique to the RPG genre.

And C&C is?
Now, stats determing actions accompanied with dice rolls is something that you will find in all RPGs, both table-top or cRPG. C&C you can find in all genres but it's required in none, you can make a dungeon-crawler or roguelike without C&C but you cannot make one without stats determing actions accompanied with dice rolls otherwise it will be only an action or strategy game.

 

[Severian Silk]

Played it when it came out in Japanese, so I have no idea what the story was about. I thought the graphics were impressive at the time. It had an interesting real-time combat system, in some ways better than the typical mouse-driven RTwP combat of RPGs in the 2000s. Better than a lot of the bastard platformer/FPS hybrid systems as well, too. The crafting/weapon customization was interesting. I think it captured the "dungeon crawl" feeling pretty well. I.e. it felt more like D&D than other (console) RPGs I'd played up until that time. Less "cutesy" feel is a plus. Asschaps are a minus.

 

[.Sigurd]

Played it when it came out in Japanese, so I have no idea what the story was about. I thought the graphics were impressive at the time. It had an interesting real-time combat system, in some ways better than the typical mouse-driven RTwP combat of RPGs in the 2000s. Better than a lot of the bastard platformer/FPS hybrid systems as well, too. The crafting/weapon customization was interesting. I think it captured the "dungeon crawl" feeling pretty well. I.e. it felt more like D&D than other (console) RPGs I'd played up until that time. Less "cutesy" feel is a plus. Asschaps are a minus.

Funny thing is that Square Enix wanted to make a spiritual sequel and Final Fantasy XII was meant to be that but halfway through the development they dropped the idea.

Basch was initially meant to be the main character of the story, but the focus was eventually shifted to Vaan and Penelo when the two characters were created later in development.[66] The development team explained that their previous game, Vagrant Story, which featured a "strong man in his prime" as the protagonist had been unsuccessful and unpopular; the change regarding Final Fantasy XII from a "big and tough" protagonist to a more effeminate one was thus decided after targeting demographics were considered.

Now the only chance of playing a game like that set in Ivalice (the setting of Vagrant Story and FFXII) is Fortress, action game that was being made by the Swedish developer GRIN but now is on the hands of Eidos Montreal.

 

[jancobblepot]

not an rpg

Hell Yeah! Who cares about character stats determining the outcome of his actions!? I want C&C, I mean, it's only RPG when you can choose what the character will say like in these adventures games, amirite?

Stats determining actions isn't exclusive or unique to the RPG genre.

And C&C is?
Now, stats determing actions accompanied with dice rolls is something that you will find in all RPGs, both table-top or cRPG. C&C you can find in all genres but it's required in none, you can make a dungeon-crawler or roguelike without C&C but you cannot make one without stats determing actions accompanied with dice rolls otherwise it will be only an action or strategy game.

Stats determining actions is a form of C&C, except when you can't choose which stat you wish to 'pump' (like in many JRPGs).

 

[Radisshu]

I actually thought Final Fantasy XII was pretty cool, compared to the other titles, but it always felt like those two kids' presence in the plot didn't make any sense at all.

 

[.Sigurd]

I actually thought Final Fantasy XII was pretty cool, compared to the other titles, but it always felt like those two kids' presence in the plot didn't make any sense at all.

Yeah, Vaan go through most of the cutscenes mute and when he opens his mouth only retarded shit like "I want to be a Sky Pirate!" comes out. Basch, the original main character, and Balthier do most of the talking, even better, their speeches are very well written and the voice acting is excellent.

What a game could have been if they stayed true to the original concept...

 

[Zomg]

Couldn't get very far in FF12, I was like, "Why are they trying to insert MMO maps and mechanics into their franchise, no one plays WoW because it is inherently fun they play it because they are vile and need to express that part of themselves"

 

[DakaSha]

mediocre game

 

[Kaanyrvhok]

And C&C is?
Now, stats determing actions accompanied with dice rolls is something that you will find in all RPGs, both table-top or cRPG. C&C you can find in all genres but it's required in none, you can make a dungeon-crawler or roguelike without C&C but you cannot make one without stats determing actions accompanied with dice rolls otherwise it will be only an action or strategy game.

Yes it is. Most RPGs dont have it but just about every game that does is an RPG. The influance of stats relates to any game that has character development, or simulated actions. Its common in sports, strategy, and action games.

 

[Hobo Elf]

I actually thought Final Fantasy XII was pretty cool, compared to the other titles, but it always felt like those two kids' presence in the plot didn't make any sense at all.

That's because some faggots working high up for Square told the dudes to add Vaan and Penelo so that the game would have more appeal for the younger crowd. They were never intended to be in the game.

 

[GMonkey]

I actually thought Final Fantasy XII was pretty cool, compared to the other titles, but it always felt like those two kids' presence in the plot didn't make any sense at all.

That's because some faggots working high up for Square told the dudes to add Vaan and Penelo so that the game would have more appeal for the younger crowd. They were never intended to be in the game.

I think a similar thing happened with Last Remnant. The bad guy was originally supposed to be the player character but, for the sake of marketing, Square decided to make an androgynous teen the star of the show.

 

[Mrowak]

The Witcher fans should check it out: the two games are alike, except VS has better combat and better crafting. In fact, I'd really like to see another game that revolved so much around weapon crafting.

You say so... Ok, will be acquiring it in a moment.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

I think a similar thing happened with Last Remnant. The bad guy was originally supposed to be the player character but, for the sake of marketing, Square decided to make an androgynous teen the star of the show.

More or less. Both were supposed to be main characters.

http://www.1up.com/news/square-rpg-remnant

New Square RPG: The Last Remnant

Maybe Takai's learned something since his, uh, PlayStation 2 launch title seven years ago. The Last Remnant's main characters have a pretty unique styling to them, as well. You choose between the two, but Square Enix's anticipating the decision ahead of time -- one character, Rush, has been artistically styled as a traditional Square Enix hero and the other, generically titled The Conquerer, is a dark anti-hero meant for Western games.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_R ... Characters

The protagonist is Rush Sykes, an 18-year-old Mitra boy from a peaceful island. His 14-year-old sister, Irina, is kidnapped at the start of the game, and finding her is Rush's impetus for leaving the island.

[...]

The main characters oppose the Conqueror, a Mitra who during the course of the game attacks many city-states of the world with his army. He is helped in this regard, first in secret and then openly, by Wilfred Hermeien, an older Mitra who is both the leader of the city-state of Nagapur and of the ruling council of all of the city-states. He is also assisted by Wagram, a powerful Mitra sorcerer.

[...]

GameSpot, in their review, also praised the game's story as "epic", in contrast to many of the other reviews, though they noted that Rush wasn't "the most interesting leading man" and preferred when the story focused on the Conqueror.

 

[.Sigurd]

And C&C is?
Now, stats determing actions accompanied with dice rolls is something that you will find in all RPGs, both table-top or cRPG. C&C you can find in all genres but it's required in none, you can make a dungeon-crawler or roguelike without C&C but you cannot make one without stats determing actions accompanied with dice rolls otherwise it will be only an action or strategy game.

Yes it is. Most RPGs dont have it but just about every game that does is an RPG. The influance of stats relates to any game that has character development, or simulated actions. Its common in sports, strategy, and action games.

By stats I meant a ruleset where the chance of sucess of the character actions is determined by dice rolls. What you have in most of the games (like sport, strategy, action, etc...) is a fixed chance of sucess, you don't have a 20 sided dice or something like that. You will deal 100 of damage with the assault rifle if you shoot the guy in the head, there's no chance that you will miss or the guy will dodge or the bullet will only scratch hence dealing less damage (except if there's another hitbox on the side of the head), if you miss it will be your fault because you didn't aimed correctly, if the game was a RPG the chance of missing the shot or anything like I said before would be determined by the stats of the characters and the dice roll.

If we say that RPGs are about C&C like jancobblepot said Far Cry or any other game with different ways of doing things (and the game world reacting to it) would be a RPG, afterall, I can choose to snipe the bad guys from a distance and they will start to search me, if I stormed the camp instead of going through the sneaky way they would set off the alarm and shoot at me.

 

[lightbane]

Random question: Is this The Last Remnant worth of "acquiring", or is it absolute popamole shit? It cannot be worse than FF13...

PS: Oh, and Vagrant Story was great for having a character that was an actual man and not an angsty emo teenager faggot.

 

[ghostdog]

VG was great. Dungeon crawling could get a bit repetitive, but all and all it's one of the best jrpgs.

Random question: Is this The Last Remnant worth of "acquiring", or is it absolute popamole shit? It cannot be worse than FF13...

If by "aquiring" you mean not removing from an inventory, then... maybe. It had some cool features but the main story was absolutely uninteresting and the combat was a mixed bag. It had some nice tactical options but in the end it basically played itself. Nice graphics though and characters that at least weren't angsty emos... mostly. I say give it a "try". I got bored hlaf-way but I had some fun with it.

 

[Azrael the cat]

not an rpg

But what is an RPG? First we must define RPG before we know what is and isn't an RPG.

But first before we define what is an RPG, we must, beforehand, know what is a definition.

codex breaks down

welcome to 2011

Surely we need to know what knowledge is before we can even attempt to know what a definition is . And before we can embark on that course of epistemology, we need to know what the self is, in the sense of 'we'. And all so we can choose a good rocket propelled grenade.

OT: is anyone up for inventing a standard response whenever someone comes along and argues about whether something is or isn't a rpg, especially if it's someone new. As in, something like 'it's only a rpg if it runs in 1024 x 728 resolution, because anything else breaks immersion'? I'm just curious to see if we could get that to spread

 

[.Sigurd]

OT: is anyone up for inventing a standard response whenever someone comes along and argues about whether something is or isn't a rpg, especially if it's someone new. As in, something like 'it's only a rpg if it runs in 1024 x 728 resolution, because anything else breaks immersion'? I'm just curious to see if we could get that to spread

The guys from Bethesda Forum say that RPG are all about freedom while the 'tards from Bioware say that RPG is all about story.
Take your pick.

 

[Radisshu]

The only definition that works for me revolves around (controllable, e.g through leveling) stats, everything else makes either Halo or Monkey Island RPGs.

 

[Excidium]

RPG for me is a game where the player has the ability to influence the outcome of situations through his character's decisions and/or abilities (which are represented by a number of statistics and rules).

OT: is anyone up for inventing a standard response whenever someone comes along and argues about whether something is or isn't a rpg, especially if it's someone new. As in, something like 'it's only a rpg if it runs in 1024 x 728 resolution, because anything else breaks immersion'? I'm just curious to see if we could get that to spread

The guys from Bethesda Forum say that RPG are all about larping while the 'tards from Bioware say that RPG is all about emotional engagement.
Take your pick.

fixed.

 

[GMonkey]

Random question: Is this The Last Remnant worth of "acquiring", or is it absolute popamole shit? It cannot be worse than FF13...

The plot and the writing are mostly horrible and the lead character is horrible. However it most definetly isn't popamole. The combat is nicely tactical, filled with options and squad based. You create squads of soldiers where you pick the units, the formation and the equipment, and while in combat you give general instructions like attack, use support magic, heal yourself or whatever. The combat is kind of like turn based Kohan.

The biggest problem with the combat is that it takes a long while to get interesting, as at first you only control one squad. Once you have all the options available it becomes a lot of fun, and rather unique.

In a nutshell, endure the combat at first for great gameplay rewards later, and ignore or laugh at the plot during exposition.

 

[SuicideBunny]

Most RPGs dont have it but just about every game that does is an RPG.

awesome rpgs like wing commander 4, those bullet hell shooters black cat was raving about, facade, most if games, or all those japanese visual novels...

 

[DwarvenFood]

 

[felipepepe]

Sadly, that doesn't work on SuicideBunny.

ressing this to ask if y'all niggas know of any similar games to it?

Similar in what sense? The dungeon crawling, the combat, the story? Vagrant Story's visuals always remind me of Arx Fatalis, but I don't know many games with similar gameplay... maybe Xanadu Next?

And the emulator definitely improves the graphics, but the UI and the textures were made for 360x240 resolution, so keep your expectations grounded.

 

[No Great Name]

I think Vagrant Story's weapon and combat system are a one-of-a-kind type deal since I haven't the slightest clue of any other game even remotely similar to it both in content and in scope. I've seen Parasite Eve often brought up as a comparison, but other than having a similar targeting system, they are not much alike.

As for the graphics, emulators can improve the resolution of your game screen, but it can't improve the resolution of the textures used by the game. Considering that it's a PSX game, I think the textures are adequate. They're not meant to be viewed from close up.