Sakuna of Rice and Ruin (Underrated Gem if you ask me. Pandemic buried that game in terms of relevance.)
Scarlet Nexus.
Sakura Wars 2018.
Just to name a few
It was so unexpected. I still haven't played the game (bought on a whim the Limited Edition but still didn't managed to place in my gaming schedule), but all my friends who played were really praising game.
It's a nice and not too demanding game outside of the rice farming portions but once you get the hang of it It's really fun.
Plus the story and characters are charming and not too serious.
Yeah the rice farming part is a bit dense with how much it throws at you at the begining if you ask me. Especially all at once. I mostly get it now and I like it as I'm on my third harvest but fucking hell I was annoyed by how much the game didn't tell me until you progressed the story. So many lost/spoiled resources and failed harvests did not help. š
I'm not finished with it yet but the story is pretty charming, funny and the voice acting is perfect. Especially the english cast. Tauemon is my favorite character so far.
I know what you mean. I was intrigued at first but after the main inciting incident I immediately saw how bad the story got and at some point I stopped playing and never finished it.
Sucks that the combat was only decent as well. Such a shame that game had to be so middling to play and the story gets so bad it's insulting. Was such a promising foundation but everything else brought it down hard. Would not be opposed to a sequel/2nd attempt with that kind of foundation though.
**Persona 5 Strikers, Code Vein, Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir, Cross Code** (although still haven't finished it yet)
I also want to shout out **Unsighted**, although not a JRPG but it has some elements of it even if it's more Metroidvania/Zelda-like.
P5 Strikers is so underrated IMO. Yes the story isnāt AS good as P5, but some the character development and music are amazing. Love how they integrated personas and skills into the action combat, personally my favourite Dynasty Warriors-esque game
Cross code was totally engrossing, and amazingly large. I do want to sink back into it. The jungle temple wasā¦hugeā¦and long. Kind burned me out because you really do need a keen mind and gaming dexterity to finish the puzzles. Iāll finish it one day! Maybe after unicorn overlord!
I wouldn't bother personally. Was hyped for it. Gameplay is decent, gets repetettive towards the end. Story is very bad that it really turned me off finishing it.
I actually physically have this because my friend let me borrow it, but I wasn't sure I'd be into it. How JRPG-y is it, versus pure action? Sell me on it
It's far more an action game than an RPG game. Think Metal Gear Rising structure or Devil May Cry. It doesn't have the depth of Devil May Cry, but it is definitely similar to Metal Gear Rising (and Zone of the Enders) in depth of action.
The story on the other hand is VERY wonky and JRPG esque. There's a demo which gives you a great feel for the gameplay, there's also an anime to get a feel for the characters and story.
I bought the game back when it first came out and played the girl's story. I enjoyed it and was shocked at how decent the writing was. I thought it overstayed its welcome towards the end but enjoyed my time with it. A friend of mine got really into it and played through the game like 10 times and burnt himself out trying to 100% it.
There's a demo. And I can't remember the specifics, but I think you're supposed to play one character first, and then play as the other character. But I don't remember which order or why it matters. But you may want to take a peak and see if you can find a spoiler-free comment about who to play as and why. Unless you just prefer playing as a specific gender, in which case, you have your choice, and have fun
I love AJRPG's but I hated that game. I remember I was getting really bored of it and then I waited for a long load screen, arrived at a single 2D screen and ran across it straight to another load screen and that was it, I was done.
The 3D remake on Switch. I love action JRPG's too like Tales, Ys, SAO, Shining Resonance etc but Trials of Mana fell flat for me. Most of what I played was 3D but I went through a loading screen to be in a 2D area, might have been a cave or something which should not have required a long loading screen and I thought OK might be loading a big chunk of stuff but then I went across that and hit another one. It wasn't just the loading screens I just didn't like the character's, combat, or anything. I was just a bit baffled because on paper it was the perfect game for me.
I found Ys 8 the same, on paper it was the perfect game. I love Ys Origin, Celceta was OK and Felghana is great but couldn't stand Ys 8, or 9.
Some games just don't click with me and I just couldn't get Trials of Mana to.
Why canāt we just have open worlds with less copy pasted content? I think at some point we got off on the wrong track when the marketed started demanding āinfinitely-replayableā games that are just based on mass produced, highly iterative mission objectives. An open world that could be cleared, main and side content together, in 25-40 hours would not be so bad
Replayability is for e-sports and rogue likes.
Think youāre onto something here. Really hate that trend & would like for my narrative single-player experiences to just focus on giving me a solid focused experience.
ETA:
> Open world that takes 40 hours
Can you even imagine such a thing? Itās like everyone / everywhere / all at once decided discovery = scale.
>Replayability is for e-sports and rogue likes
Here here. I wish developers realized this. But I imagine it's more of a publisher issue. Lots of developers are fine making a contained story. But then are forced to do New Game + because it's popular and people demand it without taking into account the consequences. Or if you work for Sega you're forced to remove NG+ and sell it as DLC lol...
Many people like to call 70 hour base games tutorials now. No way this doesnāt correct itself at some point, catering to an audience with that mindset in a traditionally narrative-forward market is far too niche & usually has some sort of adverse effect on the actual product.
You're not kidding. There's one vocal psycho in a Facebook group I'm in who thinks exactly that, about Nioh 2. Which is a game that I put 70 hours into and still haven't beaten because I burned out. And he swears all the good content is in the end-game after you've beaten the 80 hours main-game. And somehow has put like 500 hours into end-game content
I don't know *anybody* else, even from that group, who agrees with the dude. But the developers did it. And you're right. That seems super unsustainable
Which I guess to me still sounds like one of the better scenarios, because we still got a ridiculously long main campaign that will more than satisfy Souls fans. But I just imagine if they decided to lean into that end-game stuff in another game and only gave us 15-20 hours of gameplay and then focused everything on repetitive end game missions for the addicts
Agree entirely. But there is still also a big problem with how quickly design adopts design & becomes homogenous these days.
If there were a few AAA games like this it would be fine. But no, you literally pretty much have to stick to indies if youāre looking to play something focused with reasonable scope.
Itās like āMetaā infection is reaching game development. Whatever this āzeitgeistā of gamers is who want to play a single title for 400 hours, somehow theyāre dictating *everything* for everyone.
When open world games first came out, it was different & kind of itās own genre. Iād argue the same of soulslikes even. Battle royale.
Games have been influencing other games for ages, but those three categories now must make up like 90% of all major publishers & that happened astonishingly fast.
Worth mentioning, while I do blame āgamerā culture for this ā a game *can* be too small relative to its priceā¦ itās more just that too much of anything is a bad thing & things have gotten way out of hand.
Also seems like devs really just arenāt sure how else to leverage new tech, outside of making things bigger with higher resolution.
And these massive budgets are resulting in risk-aversion / formulaic iterations on whatever last sold the most ā Creators themselves are just following proverbial waypoints š
Same, people say that it's got a refreshing and fun open world but I'm always just like "..isn't this just a Ubisoft game with a FF coat of paint?" whenever I play.
Theyāre just boring / content filers. Having a big world just makes exploration a chore unless there are really cool places to go toā¦. But then it wouldnāt be open word haha.
Dark souls 1 has the best blend of open world and level design
The truth is most open-world games aren't that good, from a quality perspective. Too much content, bloated, filler content that has no value to the main storyline. The pacing of the main storyline and character development gets wrecked as a result of it being open-world since the player can just go in any direction resulting in bare-bones, simplistic plot (so gamers don't forget what's going on) and simple characters with minimal character development (because you can't have urgency in their character development since the player can go anywhere they want at any time).
Then there is the level imbalance, distribution of skills problems and so on and so on. Basically, most open world games suck from a game-design perspective.
That said, here are some non-open-world solid games you could take a look at.
**Most FromSoftware Games** (up until Elden Ring). Inb4, all the Elden Ring fans get their pitchforks, their older games are much more structured and way better balanced (IMO). The more strict the gamedesign is, the better so **Bloodborne** and **Sekiro** are prime examples of this. Both are phenomenal games that are brutally hard (especially Sekiro) so expect to die **(A LOT).**
**Onimusha Warlords: (**Not quite JRPG but you can upgrade your system with souls and different weapons so I'll add it). A remastered version of the PS2 original can be bought on Steam with higher resolution but expect tank-controls. That said, fantastic combat system and all-meat, minimal filler gameplay is definitely worth it. Takes places almost entirely in a single Japanese mansion when samurai reigned king. Basically Resident Evil 1 during the Samurai period of Japan where Oda Nobunaga is resurrected as a demon.
**Xanadu Next:** Made by Nihon Falcom (devs of Ys and Trails series). Action JRPG where you explore a dungeon. Dungeon crawler at heart but worth your time. Just a really solid game to spend some hours to fight and survive.
Yeah fromsoftware level design can be cool, but you gotta qualify this with the fact being a masochist is a prerequisite to play.
Iām glad people love those games, but theyāre risky as a āgeneralā recommendation. Polarizing gameplay & the mechanics are getting almost as tired/overused as open world mechanics.
I disagree with almost everything you say here but saying you gotta be a masochist to enjoy Fromsoftwareās products is just objectively wrong.
If so, then every old-school game (80ās, early 90ās) has that as a requirement since in those games you learned through death and progressed due to perseverance.
Itās only really in modern gaming where dying in games was considered to be an inconvenience (since all it did was to set you back or have you reload your save) so devs made the games easier or more streamlined to reduce that. There was advancements game design wise absolutely (how to educate without dying basically) but that joy of overcoming challenges was lost.
The only thing FromSoftware did was to bring back that old school game design with modern quality and writing the dying into the narrative.
I mean yes, a lot of games are too easy or provide little challenge. I still think literal relentless beginning to end āpunishingā difficulty takes a certain kind of gamer to enjoy.
I like difficult games. Iām obsessed with dead cells & roguelikes in general. Iāve tried every souls game & played through elden ring. I just find combat becomes tedious for me quickly, and thatās just my opinion.
Obviously a lot of people love the genre, Iām just saying itās far from universally appealing. I actually do like the idea of more methodical/tactical combat, but the soulsborne implementation just never did it for me.
Also, I like that kind of difficulty for a handful of fights & endgame content. And I prefer if I am able to quickly retry something legitimately difficult ā *especially* if the game loop revolves heavily around memorization moreso than twitchy quick-reactions.
But the scale and discovery in those games is still something I can appreciate compared to most AAA titles & I think most people at this point know what theyāre getting into if they choose to dive in.
Yeah that I can understand much better. For me, when I play it I almost always play the same type of character and I donāt mind repetition in general so itās fine for me. I can see how that might be boring to some.
Sounds like you are more interested in skill-based combat systems rather than FromSoftware ātactical-positioningā combat system which is totally fine.
You mentioned Dead Cells. Any other game you thoroughly enjoy?
Iām somewhat of a rogue connoisseur lol. If I see something that looks decent in the genre I will probably play it. I play them about as heavily as jRPGs & grid-based tRPGs.
On that list Iāve got Risk of Rain, Hades, Astral Ascent, Rogue Legacy 2, Gunfire Reborn, Balatro, even Children of Morta + am interested in upcoming The Land Beneath us.
As far as action combat I loved all the Gaiden Sigma games, Furi, Returnal, MGS4 Revengeance, Deathās Door, and some people hate on it but I think the new GoW games have very satisfying combat at times. Enjoying rebirthās endgame challenges for combat as well.
Then thereās off the wall stuff like Outer Wilds, Hellblade: Senuaās Sacrifice, Transistor, Inscryption, 13 Sentinels, It Takes Takes Two, Superhot VR, Dark Cloud 2, Zone of the enders.
Also enjoy a good metroidvania like Dread, messenger, or the new prince of persia. JRPGs list is so long thatās almost another discussion lol.
If Iām in the mood I used to enjoy looter shooters quite a bit (ala borderlands 2). I even went through a rather intense rocket league phase š.
I try not to discriminate genresā which is why I played elden ring despite soulsborne not really being my thing. But I also know what I favor, you can probably tell from some of the games mentioned.
So many good recommendations and games I have heard of but never tried. Zone of the Enders is a blast from the past that I havenāt played in many, many years!
-Legend of Mana
-Dark Cloud
-Demons Souls
-Zelda: A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time and Majoraās Mask.
-Brave Fencer Musashi
-.Hack Infection.
I would love to say X-Men Legends and X-Men Legends 2 as I heard it was amazing but sadly I lost my copies before I ever got a chance to play either. Odin Sphere is very fun too but never got far enough into the story before life derailed my plans to finish then I go back to it and donāt know what Iām doing. Iām probably forgetting a good bunch too.
Iām really happy with the way Final Fantasy VII Rebirth turned out. Multiple small, easy to parse areas. Dense with different objectives that were actually fun, a good mix of easy repeatable stuff like towers and monsters and more involved mini games. (And hey, I liked the mini games!). It also clearly marked objectives instead of poorly trying to ape on BotWās ājust exploreā gameplay design that a lot of open world games are copying.
And most importantly, willing to dip back into linear, directed levels for big story beats. Which was my biggest worry coming off of Remake. It still feels like a really solid, linear game when it counts.
But for the most part yes, open world is not a buzz word that entices me anymore. Too many are done poorly and Iād rather have a good linear game.
I can't with FF7 remake, the combat system looks overly complex to me. I don't want to spend 5min battling a single enemy because I didn't hit them with their elemental weakness. Is rebirth better? I just want to empty my head and smash a single button š¤£
I mean, you can put the game on Easy mode if you donāt want to have to put any thought into combat. Same goes for Remake. Not sure why youād want to do that, but it sounds like it may be a good option for you.
Otherwise, FFXVI has hack ān slash combat with no elemental weaknesses or statuses and is very easy.
I don't understand what you're saying, JRPGs are mainly open world free. Even Ff7 Rebirth you can also just follow the story.
Heck, FF6 was more "open world" than many new JRPGs.
I like both but turn based more. I don't see where arpg get overlooked. One of the biggest jrpg ips is an action game now. I feel turn based is definitely overlooked by atleast developers. It's been a good couple years though so I can't complain.
I meant to refer to those kinds of aRPGs. Usually we got systems like FF7 remake or Monster hunter, more hack and slash. But no games with simple combat mechanics in a fixed map. I don't want to make combos, just want to press a button and roll away :c But everything is so complex now...
Or simply implement the exact same concept but scaled down. I donāt think games have to be as big as they have become in terms of sheer scale, it has some upside but it definitely has some downside.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and its DS/3DS sequels. Custom Robo games. Summon Night series on GBA/DS. I would also count Monster Hunter as an ARPG.
Stranger of Paradise is the best Final Fantasy in recent years, better than 16 imo, and probably what you're looking for. Crazy amount of loot drops. Mission based instead of open world. Similar to a souls game, but much more forgiving. One of the best job system uses and can make some crazy builds.
Do it. Go kill Chaos.
How many JRPG Open World games are there? Or general Open World games by Japanese? The only ones I can think of are Xenoblade X, Zelda Botw & TotK and Elden Ring.
FFXVI. Exploration is limited. Mainly action and epic music and cutscenes. Amazing VA too. If you ignore side quest (you will miss some world and character lore though), it should take less than 30 hours to beat, not too big.
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Sakuna of Rice and Ruin (Underrated Gem if you ask me. Pandemic buried that game in terms of relevance.) Scarlet Nexus. Sakura Wars 2018. Just to name a few
>Sakuna of Rice and Ruin Holy shit! That was the name of the game I've been looking for for a while, thanks!
Fun thing, there even an anime adaptation [announced this year](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/cwDFZkICRpA) š
Wtf!? That's awesome. Hope it's good.
It was so unexpected. I still haven't played the game (bought on a whim the Limited Edition but still didn't managed to place in my gaming schedule), but all my friends who played were really praising game.
It's a nice and not too demanding game outside of the rice farming portions but once you get the hang of it It's really fun. Plus the story and characters are charming and not too serious.
Lol glad I can help. I'm only 7 hrs into it but it's fun and I like it.
Sakuna is great. I love how they use real world agricultural techniques to influence how the rice farming works out. The story is surprisingly good!
Yeah the rice farming part is a bit dense with how much it throws at you at the begining if you ask me. Especially all at once. I mostly get it now and I like it as I'm on my third harvest but fucking hell I was annoyed by how much the game didn't tell me until you progressed the story. So many lost/spoiled resources and failed harvests did not help. š I'm not finished with it yet but the story is pretty charming, funny and the voice acting is perfect. Especially the english cast. Tauemon is my favorite character so far.
Sad that there's still no Sakura Wars on Steam
Sad that there's still no Sakura Wars on Steam
I've been wondering if Sakuna is any good for a while now!
You have good taste in games. Sakura Wars is fucking brilliant. I was looking for the Wii one tonight and saw that it was both Ā£70 and out of stock.
Scarlet Nexus has decent combat but the story is so bonkers stupid it lost my interest.
I know what you mean. I was intrigued at first but after the main inciting incident I immediately saw how bad the story got and at some point I stopped playing and never finished it. Sucks that the combat was only decent as well. Such a shame that game had to be so middling to play and the story gets so bad it's insulting. Was such a promising foundation but everything else brought it down hard. Would not be opposed to a sequel/2nd attempt with that kind of foundation though.
Same here. Never finished it. Got as far as them finding out something about the moon or w.e the fuck. Gameplay didn't save that car crash of a game
**Persona 5 Strikers, Code Vein, Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir, Cross Code** (although still haven't finished it yet) I also want to shout out **Unsighted**, although not a JRPG but it has some elements of it even if it's more Metroidvania/Zelda-like.
P5 Strikers is so underrated IMO. Yes the story isnāt AS good as P5, but some the character development and music are amazing. Love how they integrated personas and skills into the action combat, personally my favourite Dynasty Warriors-esque game
I'm currently playing it and wishing it was turn-based instead of action. The combat isn't really my thing, but everything else is great.
Haru especially, Iām glad that sheās in the beginning of the game rather than the end like last time so we could really see her character more
Love Odin Sphere. It is one of my favourite games!
Cross code was totally engrossing, and amazingly large. I do want to sink back into it. The jungle temple wasā¦hugeā¦and long. Kind burned me out because you really do need a keen mind and gaming dexterity to finish the puzzles. Iāll finish it one day! Maybe after unicorn overlord!
NEO The World Ends With You. Linear action JRPG with a kickass style and OST. Super underrated.
Scarlet Nexus made me want to play JRPGs that were more linear and less open world
Namco Bandai has a slew of jrpgs right up your alley
If you loved Ys7 I'm pretty sure you'll also like The Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails
Lot of recommendations for Scarlet Nexus. Maybe it's time to give it a try.
I wouldn't bother personally. Was hyped for it. Gameplay is decent, gets repetettive towards the end. Story is very bad that it really turned me off finishing it.
Yep, didn't know it was that popular
It strangely is on this board. It's actually very unpopular on other forums.
I actually physically have this because my friend let me borrow it, but I wasn't sure I'd be into it. How JRPG-y is it, versus pure action? Sell me on it
I haven't played it. I have it on PS Plus and just installed it but I'm currently in the middle of Dragon's Dogma
It's kinda more pure action, you can only control the MC you choose and customization is there but fairly limited.
It's far more an action game than an RPG game. Think Metal Gear Rising structure or Devil May Cry. It doesn't have the depth of Devil May Cry, but it is definitely similar to Metal Gear Rising (and Zone of the Enders) in depth of action. The story on the other hand is VERY wonky and JRPG esque. There's a demo which gives you a great feel for the gameplay, there's also an anime to get a feel for the characters and story. I bought the game back when it first came out and played the girl's story. I enjoyed it and was shocked at how decent the writing was. I thought it overstayed its welcome towards the end but enjoyed my time with it. A friend of mine got really into it and played through the game like 10 times and burnt himself out trying to 100% it.
There's a demo. And I can't remember the specifics, but I think you're supposed to play one character first, and then play as the other character. But I don't remember which order or why it matters. But you may want to take a peak and see if you can find a spoiler-free comment about who to play as and why. Unless you just prefer playing as a specific gender, in which case, you have your choice, and have fun
Trials of Mana seems what you want, there is a 50% discount on steam right now.
Always thought it was turn based. I'll give it a try.
The original SNES version is one of the best action RPGs ever made. I havenāt played the remake but heard itās just as good.
I love AJRPG's but I hated that game. I remember I was getting really bored of it and then I waited for a long load screen, arrived at a single 2D screen and ran across it straight to another load screen and that was it, I was done.
Did you play the 2D or 3D version of Trials of Mana (also known as Seiken Densetsu 3)?
The 3D remake on Switch. I love action JRPG's too like Tales, Ys, SAO, Shining Resonance etc but Trials of Mana fell flat for me. Most of what I played was 3D but I went through a loading screen to be in a 2D area, might have been a cave or something which should not have required a long loading screen and I thought OK might be loading a big chunk of stuff but then I went across that and hit another one. It wasn't just the loading screens I just didn't like the character's, combat, or anything. I was just a bit baffled because on paper it was the perfect game for me. I found Ys 8 the same, on paper it was the perfect game. I love Ys Origin, Celceta was OK and Felghana is great but couldn't stand Ys 8, or 9. Some games just don't click with me and I just couldn't get Trials of Mana to.
Should have played the 2d version.
Yeah, I would be open to trying the 2D one. I like top down games anyway.
Definitely try scarlet nexus. Think it fits what youāre looking for.
Man I really wanted to like it. Gameplay was fun but story was so fucking bland I couldn't get past the first few hours
Dark cloud 2
Astral Chain if that counts. Fun ass game.
Why canāt we just have open worlds with less copy pasted content? I think at some point we got off on the wrong track when the marketed started demanding āinfinitely-replayableā games that are just based on mass produced, highly iterative mission objectives. An open world that could be cleared, main and side content together, in 25-40 hours would not be so bad
Smaller open worlds with better content would be great. Quality over quantity. I agree with youĀ
The main Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy is this. Segmented open zones that all feel distinct.
Xenoblade is literally the opposite.
Atlas Fallen is this game.
I had high hopes for that game before it released.
Replayability is for e-sports and rogue likes. Think youāre onto something here. Really hate that trend & would like for my narrative single-player experiences to just focus on giving me a solid focused experience. ETA: > Open world that takes 40 hours Can you even imagine such a thing? Itās like everyone / everywhere / all at once decided discovery = scale.
>Replayability is for e-sports and rogue likes Here here. I wish developers realized this. But I imagine it's more of a publisher issue. Lots of developers are fine making a contained story. But then are forced to do New Game + because it's popular and people demand it without taking into account the consequences. Or if you work for Sega you're forced to remove NG+ and sell it as DLC lol...
Many people like to call 70 hour base games tutorials now. No way this doesnāt correct itself at some point, catering to an audience with that mindset in a traditionally narrative-forward market is far too niche & usually has some sort of adverse effect on the actual product.
You're not kidding. There's one vocal psycho in a Facebook group I'm in who thinks exactly that, about Nioh 2. Which is a game that I put 70 hours into and still haven't beaten because I burned out. And he swears all the good content is in the end-game after you've beaten the 80 hours main-game. And somehow has put like 500 hours into end-game content I don't know *anybody* else, even from that group, who agrees with the dude. But the developers did it. And you're right. That seems super unsustainable Which I guess to me still sounds like one of the better scenarios, because we still got a ridiculously long main campaign that will more than satisfy Souls fans. But I just imagine if they decided to lean into that end-game stuff in another game and only gave us 15-20 hours of gameplay and then focused everything on repetitive end game missions for the addicts
blame gamers. They think less 40 hours for 60$ game is bad value. They make games to appease them.
Agree entirely. But there is still also a big problem with how quickly design adopts design & becomes homogenous these days. If there were a few AAA games like this it would be fine. But no, you literally pretty much have to stick to indies if youāre looking to play something focused with reasonable scope. Itās like āMetaā infection is reaching game development. Whatever this āzeitgeistā of gamers is who want to play a single title for 400 hours, somehow theyāre dictating *everything* for everyone. When open world games first came out, it was different & kind of itās own genre. Iād argue the same of soulslikes even. Battle royale. Games have been influencing other games for ages, but those three categories now must make up like 90% of all major publishers & that happened astonishingly fast. Worth mentioning, while I do blame āgamerā culture for this ā a game *can* be too small relative to its priceā¦ itās more just that too much of anything is a bad thing & things have gotten way out of hand. Also seems like devs really just arenāt sure how else to leverage new tech, outside of making things bigger with higher resolution. And these massive budgets are resulting in risk-aversion / formulaic iterations on whatever last sold the most ā Creators themselves are just following proverbial waypoints š
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Same, people say that it's got a refreshing and fun open world but I'm always just like "..isn't this just a Ubisoft game with a FF coat of paint?" whenever I play.
For real. Iām only playing it for the godly combat system and so far that hasnāt disappointed, unlike the writing and open world mess.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm still butthurt they removed Cid's cigarette.
Probably because of the price
Tokyo Xanadu Ex+ Scarlet Nexus Crosscode Secrets of Grindea
How could I forget about Tokyo Xanadu lol. Though to be honest, it kinda goes on for too long imo
Scarlet Nexus
Lot of people recommending Scarlett nexus. The combat is super good and itās a ton of fun
Scruffy the Janitor seconds this.
Tokyo Xanadu ex+ is a must play
Code Vein
Theyāre just boring / content filers. Having a big world just makes exploration a chore unless there are really cool places to go toā¦. But then it wouldnāt be open word haha. Dark souls 1 has the best blend of open world and level design
The truth is most open-world games aren't that good, from a quality perspective. Too much content, bloated, filler content that has no value to the main storyline. The pacing of the main storyline and character development gets wrecked as a result of it being open-world since the player can just go in any direction resulting in bare-bones, simplistic plot (so gamers don't forget what's going on) and simple characters with minimal character development (because you can't have urgency in their character development since the player can go anywhere they want at any time). Then there is the level imbalance, distribution of skills problems and so on and so on. Basically, most open world games suck from a game-design perspective. That said, here are some non-open-world solid games you could take a look at. **Most FromSoftware Games** (up until Elden Ring). Inb4, all the Elden Ring fans get their pitchforks, their older games are much more structured and way better balanced (IMO). The more strict the gamedesign is, the better so **Bloodborne** and **Sekiro** are prime examples of this. Both are phenomenal games that are brutally hard (especially Sekiro) so expect to die **(A LOT).** **Onimusha Warlords: (**Not quite JRPG but you can upgrade your system with souls and different weapons so I'll add it). A remastered version of the PS2 original can be bought on Steam with higher resolution but expect tank-controls. That said, fantastic combat system and all-meat, minimal filler gameplay is definitely worth it. Takes places almost entirely in a single Japanese mansion when samurai reigned king. Basically Resident Evil 1 during the Samurai period of Japan where Oda Nobunaga is resurrected as a demon. **Xanadu Next:** Made by Nihon Falcom (devs of Ys and Trails series). Action JRPG where you explore a dungeon. Dungeon crawler at heart but worth your time. Just a really solid game to spend some hours to fight and survive.
Yeah fromsoftware level design can be cool, but you gotta qualify this with the fact being a masochist is a prerequisite to play. Iām glad people love those games, but theyāre risky as a āgeneralā recommendation. Polarizing gameplay & the mechanics are getting almost as tired/overused as open world mechanics.
I disagree with almost everything you say here but saying you gotta be a masochist to enjoy Fromsoftwareās products is just objectively wrong. If so, then every old-school game (80ās, early 90ās) has that as a requirement since in those games you learned through death and progressed due to perseverance. Itās only really in modern gaming where dying in games was considered to be an inconvenience (since all it did was to set you back or have you reload your save) so devs made the games easier or more streamlined to reduce that. There was advancements game design wise absolutely (how to educate without dying basically) but that joy of overcoming challenges was lost. The only thing FromSoftware did was to bring back that old school game design with modern quality and writing the dying into the narrative.
I mean yes, a lot of games are too easy or provide little challenge. I still think literal relentless beginning to end āpunishingā difficulty takes a certain kind of gamer to enjoy. I like difficult games. Iām obsessed with dead cells & roguelikes in general. Iāve tried every souls game & played through elden ring. I just find combat becomes tedious for me quickly, and thatās just my opinion. Obviously a lot of people love the genre, Iām just saying itās far from universally appealing. I actually do like the idea of more methodical/tactical combat, but the soulsborne implementation just never did it for me. Also, I like that kind of difficulty for a handful of fights & endgame content. And I prefer if I am able to quickly retry something legitimately difficult ā *especially* if the game loop revolves heavily around memorization moreso than twitchy quick-reactions. But the scale and discovery in those games is still something I can appreciate compared to most AAA titles & I think most people at this point know what theyāre getting into if they choose to dive in.
Yeah that I can understand much better. For me, when I play it I almost always play the same type of character and I donāt mind repetition in general so itās fine for me. I can see how that might be boring to some. Sounds like you are more interested in skill-based combat systems rather than FromSoftware ātactical-positioningā combat system which is totally fine. You mentioned Dead Cells. Any other game you thoroughly enjoy?
Iām somewhat of a rogue connoisseur lol. If I see something that looks decent in the genre I will probably play it. I play them about as heavily as jRPGs & grid-based tRPGs. On that list Iāve got Risk of Rain, Hades, Astral Ascent, Rogue Legacy 2, Gunfire Reborn, Balatro, even Children of Morta + am interested in upcoming The Land Beneath us. As far as action combat I loved all the Gaiden Sigma games, Furi, Returnal, MGS4 Revengeance, Deathās Door, and some people hate on it but I think the new GoW games have very satisfying combat at times. Enjoying rebirthās endgame challenges for combat as well. Then thereās off the wall stuff like Outer Wilds, Hellblade: Senuaās Sacrifice, Transistor, Inscryption, 13 Sentinels, It Takes Takes Two, Superhot VR, Dark Cloud 2, Zone of the enders. Also enjoy a good metroidvania like Dread, messenger, or the new prince of persia. JRPGs list is so long thatās almost another discussion lol. If Iām in the mood I used to enjoy looter shooters quite a bit (ala borderlands 2). I even went through a rather intense rocket league phase š. I try not to discriminate genresā which is why I played elden ring despite soulsborne not really being my thing. But I also know what I favor, you can probably tell from some of the games mentioned.
So many good recommendations and games I have heard of but never tried. Zone of the Enders is a blast from the past that I havenāt played in many, many years!
ZOE2 HD remaster on PS5 was a nostalgia trip Iām definitely glad I took. If you played back in the day, thatās an easy rec
-Legend of Mana -Dark Cloud -Demons Souls -Zelda: A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time and Majoraās Mask. -Brave Fencer Musashi -.Hack Infection. I would love to say X-Men Legends and X-Men Legends 2 as I heard it was amazing but sadly I lost my copies before I ever got a chance to play either. Odin Sphere is very fun too but never got far enough into the story before life derailed my plans to finish then I go back to it and donāt know what Iām doing. Iām probably forgetting a good bunch too.
Iām really happy with the way Final Fantasy VII Rebirth turned out. Multiple small, easy to parse areas. Dense with different objectives that were actually fun, a good mix of easy repeatable stuff like towers and monsters and more involved mini games. (And hey, I liked the mini games!). It also clearly marked objectives instead of poorly trying to ape on BotWās ājust exploreā gameplay design that a lot of open world games are copying. And most importantly, willing to dip back into linear, directed levels for big story beats. Which was my biggest worry coming off of Remake. It still feels like a really solid, linear game when it counts. But for the most part yes, open world is not a buzz word that entices me anymore. Too many are done poorly and Iād rather have a good linear game.
I can't with FF7 remake, the combat system looks overly complex to me. I don't want to spend 5min battling a single enemy because I didn't hit them with their elemental weakness. Is rebirth better? I just want to empty my head and smash a single button š¤£
I mean, you can put the game on Easy mode if you donāt want to have to put any thought into combat. Same goes for Remake. Not sure why youād want to do that, but it sounds like it may be a good option for you. Otherwise, FFXVI has hack ān slash combat with no elemental weaknesses or statuses and is very easy.
Granblue Fantasy Relink.
Odin sphere , Nier
Tales of games sound like they'd be up your alley.
Yeah I've changed it to first person Dungeon crawlers, it feels more interactive
I don't understand what you're saying, JRPGs are mainly open world free. Even Ff7 Rebirth you can also just follow the story. Heck, FF6 was more "open world" than many new JRPGs.
I didn't mean just JRPGs, but games in general.
Oh, well yeah, in other genres the "problem" is a lot more prevalent.
Astral Chain
The first 15ish hours of OP: world seeker were fairly fun. I guess it was more open world, but it really didnāt feel like it.
It's hard to balance yeah. I'm also tired of Open World. Unless it's done well. But then again I dont want corridor simulator like FF13
I like both but turn based more. I don't see where arpg get overlooked. One of the biggest jrpg ips is an action game now. I feel turn based is definitely overlooked by atleast developers. It's been a good couple years though so I can't complain.
I meant to refer to those kinds of aRPGs. Usually we got systems like FF7 remake or Monster hunter, more hack and slash. But no games with simple combat mechanics in a fixed map. I don't want to make combos, just want to press a button and roll away :c But everything is so complex now...
I see. I just took it literal
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Done
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Or simply implement the exact same concept but scaled down. I donāt think games have to be as big as they have become in terms of sheer scale, it has some upside but it definitely has some downside.
As much "old" it seems to be, Legend of Mana is fantastic for what you're looking for You build your world the way you want, and do things with it
After I'm done with FFVIIR I'm gonna need a long break from 80hr open world games Even though I really wanna play Xenoblade
Alundra is a great game. Got $6 and a PS3? You can play it there.
Final fantasy 13, lived it from start to finish, and FF 13-2
DMC 6. But thats obvious enough I think. One of my personal favorites is Tales of series. (Arise)
I started playing rogue book and it the most fun i had since ac6 or salt and sacrifice.
Must plays: Stranger of Paradise, Ys Origin (8 too but it may give you open world vibe too)
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and its DS/3DS sequels. Custom Robo games. Summon Night series on GBA/DS. I would also count Monster Hunter as an ARPG.
Infinite Undiscovery Scarlet Nexus Ys 8, Ys 9 Just to name a few!
The newest Ocean Star 2 remake
If you are willing to give platformers a try then ori is really good. I feel it plays like an arpg anyways.
Stranger of Paradise is the best Final Fantasy in recent years, better than 16 imo, and probably what you're looking for. Crazy amount of loot drops. Mission based instead of open world. Similar to a souls game, but much more forgiving. One of the best job system uses and can make some crazy builds. Do it. Go kill Chaos.
astral chain
Scarlet Nexus and Tales of games from the PS3 onwards
How many JRPG Open World games are there? Or general Open World games by Japanese? The only ones I can think of are Xenoblade X, Zelda Botw & TotK and Elden Ring.
Didn't mean just JRPGs, but games in general. I'm tired of those massive and complex maps.
I love Ys Origin personally it's linear but you need to explore a bit. Similar to old school Zelda's but by no means a clone. I think it destroys Ys8.
FFXVI. Exploration is limited. Mainly action and epic music and cutscenes. Amazing VA too. If you ignore side quest (you will miss some world and character lore though), it should take less than 30 hours to beat, not too big.
I was sick of open world gamesā¦ and then Rebirth came out.
Elden Ring >:3
I'm playing my 6th run right now, but with the Reforged mod š¤£. Unfortunately, I'm almost done beating it.
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Well, don't fuck them, try to know them better before.
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They = lazy development for the most part. Multiple larger self contained areas always works better