Guess I'll talk about Metal Saga a bit for anyone that's interested. Somewhat scattered recollection as I haven't replayed it in like over 10 years.
This was one of the many PS2 JRPGs that never came to PAL-land aka Europe, and thus was one of the many games I imported back in the day. And what a game it was. Closest comparison is its almost like a Japanese take on Wasteland. At least in terms of setting and humour. Sure, there's a bigger focus on vehicles but the wacky/silly enemies, factions and scenarios are mirrored in both series. Both are post-apoc settings with small communities getting by.
The vehicle art kinda remind me of little matchbox toys or those seen in the isometric Strike series, recovered vehicles can be customised quite heavily and given custom paint jobs. It's really satisfying watching your vehicle collection grow over the course of the game and as you gain access to some of the harder to obtain tanks.
I did recently read that the Japanese release of Metal Saga had more content, not sure if this is correct though. As it stands though, the American release has at least one bugged, unfinishable quest (big medal quest) - it's a collectable quest though and I don't think you miss much.
There's loads of fun references and homages to other media, one minute you'll be on a bounty job tracking down a hostile school bus in the middle of the desert (found by waiting at a bus stop there) the next you'll find yourself forcibly entered into an extreme bodybuilding cult based out of a monastery who worship St. Arnold.
The basic premise is you striking out into what is a pretty wide open game world, and you're pretty free to do that however you wish, though your first steps should be to find a vehicle and mechanic companion. Vehicles act as rideables and can be employed in most battles, except some interiors you might want to explore, so you need to keep both your vehicles & team in good shape throughout. Enemies can target, damage and break particular components of your tank, so you can find yourself with the main cannon disabled at an inopportune moment. I *think* you also have to manage vehicle fuel or risk stranding your vehicles, though buying a teleporter accessory for your vehicles somewhat mitigates this. Finding a new vehicle isn't the end though, you need a spare companion available to pilot it back to your garage.
There's a nice ability to speed thru battle anims by holding L2 I think. It's a godsend because it lets you blast through fodder enemies in <2 seconds, so random battles aren't much of a hindrance.
The game is chock full of Bounties to hunt down, these are all basically optional bosses/super bosses and range from the mildly threatening to a huge flying sky fortress you'll likely catch a glimpse of way before you can challenge it.
Imo, the game is highly addictive, it's a real unsung gem of the PS2 Atlus localisation era.
The game has loads of random events & premature endings, you can end up married to the female mechanic in the 2nd town (I think), play the longer game and try to marry childhood friend Rachel at the bar (longer sidequest required iirc), get challenged to tank duels from a trio of friendly rivals you make in one of the towns, there's just too many to list really, but combined with the core game loop of exploration, bounty hunting, vehicle acquisition and customising, it makes for a very satisfying, yet laid back, chill experience in a open world you tackle at your pace.
I'd gush some more as I love this game but I can't remember many of the finer details/nuances to it beyond the above and wouldn't want to spoil it for anyone that's interested. For anyone even mildly interested though, Metal Saga is a fun, relaxing slow burn game that can easily gobble up hours of your time. I sincerely hope the new sequel follows in its footsteps.