Help me choose among these PS2 games (edited)
- Thread starter Johnny Novgorod
- Start date
Rebel_Raven said:
I'm getting interested in this. I like emergent gameplay and the Samurai Champloo vibe. I don't really care how short a game is, it's really all about trying fun and "new" stuff on the PS2. I've already played pretty much everything everybody always insta-recommends so I'm hunting for oddball games that are just as good and inventive but never really took off for whatever frivolous reason. A similar line of inquiry has already led me to a lot of "underrated gems".King of Asgaard said:
For Round 2, I love all three of them. You would be doing yourself a disservice by choosing one over the others.
Round 1! Star Ocean, I'm currently playing it right now and its actually really good. The combat is pretty good, you can customize what moves you want to use in combat and it while it does sound like it doesn't work, it really does.
Also the combat actually rewards you based on how good you are at it, you fill a bonus meter til its full and you just keep on fighting and with each round you will get more and more bonuses, such as Triple the amount of XP, extra items and double the amount of money you get. But the bonus meter will break if you take too much damage(not really sure how much, but it just breaks if you take damage).
Story is pretty decent and the voice acting is what you would expect out of a JRP. By the way, don't read too deeply into the extra information stuff. If you do, you will actually end up spoiling the later part of the stories because of one character page and that character doesnt show up until after about 20 hours in the game.
Round 2! Rogue Galaxy
So yeah, GO PLAY STAR OCEAN AND ROGUE GALAXY!
Also the combat actually rewards you based on how good you are at it, you fill a bonus meter til its full and you just keep on fighting and with each round you will get more and more bonuses, such as Triple the amount of XP, extra items and double the amount of money you get. But the bonus meter will break if you take too much damage(not really sure how much, but it just breaks if you take damage).
Story is pretty decent and the voice acting is what you would expect out of a JRP. By the way, don't read too deeply into the extra information stuff. If you do, you will actually end up spoiling the later part of the stories because of one character page and that character doesnt show up until after about 20 hours in the game.
Round 2! Rogue Galaxy
Like he said, its a really good game. It's got the same grid based skill tree that Final Fantasy 10 has and the plot is really fucking good. The game looks nice and the combat also feels nice to use. I don't want to say anything more about this game because I want you to explore it by yourself and discover what makes this game so good without me trying to shove it down your throat.hazabaza1 said:
So yeah, GO PLAY STAR OCEAN AND ROGUE GALAXY!
I'm really drawn towards survival horror and I've been going on a binge lately of obscure titles like Kuon and Rule of Rose. I was interested originally in Echo Night because it was from the same people who made Kuon, which I more or less liked (it's gorgeous anyway). One thing I always ask about these games though, are there any instances of Lost Forever? Because I hate it when that happens (i.e. when you screw the game or your chances at doing or getting X past the point of no return).Deadagent said:
Dark Cloud 2 for sure. The first was an excellent test, but just that: a test. I think Level 5 used Dark Cloud 1 to really see what worked and what didn't, then fixed all that for the sequel. I will demonstrate the pros and cons of each game (though it will be a lot of comparing between each)
Dark Cloud 1:
Pros:
Shorter levels (that, or they seem shorter with Dran's Feather)
DRAN'S FEATHER (nuff said)
Nice long-term trading side quest (BUT it is glitched where you HAVE to trade the foundation with the guy once he asks for it, cause he will NEVER go in his house again after you leave)
Auto-Repair Powder (though it really only is a pro because of the related con)
Cons:
Limited inventory space
Weapons are gone forever when broken
Low customization for the villages
6 characters, gotten throught the game (to the point where grinding is a necessity if you want to balance them)
Glitches
Dark Cloud 2:
Pros:
Photography and invention mechanic
2 character, 2 weapons each. Easy to balance (even easier with the weapon charts)
Awesome story (which doubles as a philosophical demonstration of the destructive effect of humans and war on the world)
Partner NPC system to suit your personal needs (free items, healing, weapon bonuses, auto-unlock chests, etc.)
Cons:
Bonus material a plenty (if you are a completionist, good luck)
Monster Transformation system is useless
Fishing is VERY hard to get into
Unbalanced weapon build-up choices (Max has 2/3 branches of build-up while Monica has a LOT)
Invention mechanic is too extensive to get everything without a guide
LOTS of missable stuff, some important, some not
Overall:
Dark Cloud 1: 7/10
Dark Cloud 2: 9/10
Dark Cloud 1:
Pros:
Shorter levels (that, or they seem shorter with Dran's Feather)
DRAN'S FEATHER (nuff said)
Nice long-term trading side quest (BUT it is glitched where you HAVE to trade the foundation with the guy once he asks for it, cause he will NEVER go in his house again after you leave)
Auto-Repair Powder (though it really only is a pro because of the related con)
Cons:
Limited inventory space
Weapons are gone forever when broken
Low customization for the villages
6 characters, gotten throught the game (to the point where grinding is a necessity if you want to balance them)
Glitches
Dark Cloud 2:
Pros:
Photography and invention mechanic
2 character, 2 weapons each. Easy to balance (even easier with the weapon charts)
Awesome story (which doubles as a philosophical demonstration of the destructive effect of humans and war on the world)
Partner NPC system to suit your personal needs (free items, healing, weapon bonuses, auto-unlock chests, etc.)
Cons:
Bonus material a plenty (if you are a completionist, good luck)
Monster Transformation system is useless
Fishing is VERY hard to get into
Unbalanced weapon build-up choices (Max has 2/3 branches of build-up while Monica has a LOT)
Invention mechanic is too extensive to get everything without a guide
LOTS of missable stuff, some important, some not
Overall:
Dark Cloud 1: 7/10
Dark Cloud 2: 9/10
Rogue Galaxy is great fun JRPG stuff.
May not be revolutionary, and not much is that new, but overall the whole package is very enjoyable.
I played Dark Cloud 2 before the first one and having done so DC1 is vastly inferior in my irrelevant opinion.
DC2 was just everything from the first game, but done better.
There's TONS to do in DC2. You've got a crazy fun crafting feature which requires you to take pictures of new items to make new things. These things can be new weapons, new things to build with, and upgrades for your barrel robot.
The dungeons are multifaceted in their goals. On the most basic level it's just a dungeon crawl, but there is also a minigame known as Spheda, which is basically a variation on golf, but much more fun (and frustrating).
Your weapons grows depending on how you want to develop it, and there are a good number of final variations you can end up with. You can hunt for monster badges, build your villages, and just explore all the areas of a dungeon. Lots of hidden stuff to find.
Be warned though the story is awful terrible awful boring stupid shit.
May not be revolutionary, and not much is that new, but overall the whole package is very enjoyable.
I played Dark Cloud 2 before the first one and having done so DC1 is vastly inferior in my irrelevant opinion.
DC2 was just everything from the first game, but done better.
There's TONS to do in DC2. You've got a crazy fun crafting feature which requires you to take pictures of new items to make new things. These things can be new weapons, new things to build with, and upgrades for your barrel robot.
The dungeons are multifaceted in their goals. On the most basic level it's just a dungeon crawl, but there is also a minigame known as Spheda, which is basically a variation on golf, but much more fun (and frustrating).
Your weapons grows depending on how you want to develop it, and there are a good number of final variations you can end up with. You can hunt for monster badges, build your villages, and just explore all the areas of a dungeon. Lots of hidden stuff to find.
Be warned though the story is awful terrible awful boring stupid shit.
Am I the only one that enjoyed Dark Cloud 1 more than Dark Cloud 2? The first game was way more daring in how it was executed, and it didn't hold your hand throughout the game in the same way Dark Cloud 2 did. Having six playable characters, with certain levels being locked to one specific character, only served to add difficulty to the game and there were no grinding whatsoever required (I cleared the final 100 level tower dungeon without ever grinding to powerup the hammer guy or ring user, only had to think a little while playing). There's also the slight puzzle section with organizing the villages.
When I bought Dark Cloud 2 a few years ago and played it I was very disappointed since Dark Cloud 1 had been one of those games that I spent 100s of hours playing as a child. The gameplay was dumbed down and the characters were horrible (let's not even talk about the voice acting). Sure there were some new features that were cool, but it just didn't feel a whole lot like Dark Cloud at all.
When I bought Dark Cloud 2 a few years ago and played it I was very disappointed since Dark Cloud 1 had been one of those games that I spent 100s of hours playing as a child. The gameplay was dumbed down and the characters were horrible (let's not even talk about the voice acting). Sure there were some new features that were cool, but it just didn't feel a whole lot like Dark Cloud at all.
Rogue Galaxy all the way!
I love that game. Every character is fun, though I used Lilika primarily. I spent a lot of time doing that bug minigame, probably as much as the rest of the game lol.
I can't think of another RPG that has so many good alt costumes. Rogue Galaxy, Shadow Hearts series, and DQ 8 would be my favorite PS2 RPGs by far.
I love that game. Every character is fun, though I used Lilika primarily. I spent a lot of time doing that bug minigame, probably as much as the rest of the game lol.
I can't think of another RPG that has so many good alt costumes. Rogue Galaxy, Shadow Hearts series, and DQ 8 would be my favorite PS2 RPGs by far.
ROUND 2 Answer:
Dark Cloud 1, 2 may not have the strongest stories, but the gameplay is where they shine.
They're one part dungeon diving in randomly generated dungeons, complete with random loot and other typical features of roguelikes, including the permadeath (though it's less permadeath and more game over, but you get my point) and one part building settlements to repair the world which has been damaged.
Where the gameplay shines is in the way it refines roguelike tropes and adds a twist. Since permadeath is limited only to your last save point, the permanent loss comes in the form of your weapons which have a durability gauge that when depleted will result in your weapon vanishing forever. Now, the risk comes in the form of upgrading your weapons. Your starting weapon can't break, it's reduced to virtual uselessness, but the rest, when broken, will lose all upgrade items assigned to it, and upgrade items are both rare and expensive, so losing them as well as your +10 sword of anti-everything is a massive disadvantage.
The city building comes about by finding materials in the dungeons, which are also randomly placed in the dungeons. Once procured, you return to 'town' and rebuild said town as you see fit, though if I recall correctly, it's aesthetic only, and all building materials must be placed to continue the game, but I'm going on memories from close to a decade ago now, so the minutia may not be as accurate as I want.
All I can offer is my recommendation; I had a ton of fun playing both titles years ago. They have a certain addictiveness rarely found in games, I feel.
Dark Cloud 1, 2 may not have the strongest stories, but the gameplay is where they shine.
They're one part dungeon diving in randomly generated dungeons, complete with random loot and other typical features of roguelikes, including the permadeath (though it's less permadeath and more game over, but you get my point) and one part building settlements to repair the world which has been damaged.
Where the gameplay shines is in the way it refines roguelike tropes and adds a twist. Since permadeath is limited only to your last save point, the permanent loss comes in the form of your weapons which have a durability gauge that when depleted will result in your weapon vanishing forever. Now, the risk comes in the form of upgrading your weapons. Your starting weapon can't break, it's reduced to virtual uselessness, but the rest, when broken, will lose all upgrade items assigned to it, and upgrade items are both rare and expensive, so losing them as well as your +10 sword of anti-everything is a massive disadvantage.
The city building comes about by finding materials in the dungeons, which are also randomly placed in the dungeons. Once procured, you return to 'town' and rebuild said town as you see fit, though if I recall correctly, it's aesthetic only, and all building materials must be placed to continue the game, but I'm going on memories from close to a decade ago now, so the minutia may not be as accurate as I want.
All I can offer is my recommendation; I had a ton of fun playing both titles years ago. They have a certain addictiveness rarely found in games, I feel.
If you're looking for an oddball game, Way of the Samurai is it. I think the Way of the Samurai series stands alone as a whole, and it generally keeps trying to improve with every installment. It especially improves in character customization with every installment, IMO.Johnny Novgorod said:
It's very much an interactive story with multiple endings and action.
There's a running theme across all of the games of the series, and I won't spoiler unless you want me to. Links that are strong enough to appreciate them, but not strong enough that you need to play the previous games to enjoy the game.
Way of the Samurai 2 is also on ps2. I hadn't played it (though I'm really starting to want to find a copy somewhere) but I've enjoyed the 1st, 3rd, and 4th installments of the series. I'm fairly confident it won't dissapoint.
As for round 2, I definitely suggest the Dark Cloud series.
P.S. When are the winners going to be announced?
That's actually quite a statement. Rogue Galaxy had piqued my curiosity, and now it's definitely piqued my attention.hazabaza1 said: