My RPG backlog

[Ichirou]

Man..I have a backlog of games I started and then stopped playing:

1. Wild Arms Alter Code F: The horrible translation and lack of dubbing (instead of translating the Japanese voice to English, they just cut out ALL voices in the game) made me stop playing this.  I'm about halfway through, if I remember the original game correctly.  I should get back to it.

2. Tales of the Abyss:  Backtracking, horrible loading, choppy frame rate...I had to quit playing because of this.  Too bad, because the game has so much other stuff going for it.  They should've just released this on GameCube so it would be nice and smooth like Symphonia.

3.  Super Robot Taisen Original Generation 2:  Fun game, but I think after finishing OG1 twice (as both characters), I've become a bit burned out on it.  I should start playing this again soon...

I hate having a backlog of games...right now I'm playing Odin Sphere and once I'm finished with that, I can get back to one or two of these games.  I will update this thread with my progress, for my own benefit (I don't really expect anyone to comment in such a boring thread, hehe).

[demi]

Only RPG I want right now is BLUE DRAGON

[Himu]

Is Wild Arms 4 good. The trailer made it look awesome. I may pick up WA4 for the hexes alone.

[Mr. Gundam]

My RPG backlog:

Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner
Suikoden V
Metal Saga
Atelier Iris 1
Code Age Commanders
Rogue Galaxy
Xenosaga II
Xenosaga III
Enchanted Arms
Baten Kaitos

I don't even want to see how large it is when I throw in all the non-RPGs...

[Mondain]

Mine's much, MUCH bigger than yours. But it's normal to always have a huge backlog. It's abnormal if you complete all your games.

OH NO, I'M GOING TO BEAT MYSELF UP AND BEAR HOURS AND HOURS OF ABJECT FRUSTRATION JUST SO I CAN PRIDE MYSELF WITH HAVING SEEN A SHITTY CGI ENDING FMV!

[Himu]

I finish most of my games, in time.

[Ichirou]

Is Wild Arms 4 good. The trailer made it look awesome. I may pick up WA4 for the hexes alone.

No clue, I'm not playing WA4, I'm playing Alter Code F.  WA4 uses the save file from ACF, so I want to finish that before I start on WA4.

In terms of backlog, I am only counting games I already started...if I started all the games I own but haven't even started yet, it grows:

Tales of Legendia
Dragon Quest VIII
Wild Arms 4
Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy III DS
Dragon Quest Heroes Rocket Slime
SNK Vs. Capcom Cardfighter's Clash DS (played it for a couple of hours, it was definitely "MEH")
Mario Superstar Saga (Picked it up 'cuz I played through Partners in Time and loved it and this one's supposed to actually be better)

[demi]

WA4's transfer doesnt do anything special, it just gives you bonus items.

[Ichirou]

WA4's transfer doesnt do anything special, it just gives you bonus items.

Bonus items.

Anyway, I'm sort of anal retentive when it comes to RPGs.  If I start one, I want to finish it.  Even if it takes me a while, I come back to it to finish it. :/

I'm not even counting my non-RPG backlog in this thread, it would be huge...HUGE.

[Beezy]

My RPG backlog:

Dragon Quest VIII - Tried it out when I first bought it, didn't actually do anything...

Dark Cloud 2 - Tried it out when I first bought it, didn't actually do anything...

Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter - Tried it out when I first bought it, didn't actually do anything...

Yggdra Union - I played it for a while on a GBA emulator. I stopped to study for some test, and haven't played it since...

Wild Arms 4 - Played for like 15-20 hours, then I bought BK Origins...

Baten Kaitos Origins - Played for over 30 hours, got up to disc 2, then I bought FF12...

Final Fantasy XII - Played for like 12 hours, tried to juggle it and BK Origins at the same time, then Fall semester finals came up...

Age of Empires: The Age of Kings - There are like 5 different campaigns in the game got to the final mission in the 3rd one and was overwhelmed by the amount of units that my small crappy army was up against.

Odin Sphere - I'm at the last part of Gwendolyn's story, nephew wanted to play his PS2 and took it back upstairs, then I bought EO...

Etrian Odyssey - I got to the 2nd Stratum, would be much farther if it wasn't for work...

Grandia Xtreme - I bought it on Wednesday, still haven't played it, will most likely return on Monday or Tuesday...

Final Fantasy VIII - I borrowed my friend's PS1 in 7th or 8th grade and borrowed FF8 from another friend. I got to the final area/castle/whatever and got pissed off because they took away all my abilities, even saving and using limitbreaks, and you had to get each one back one by one by defeating these minibosses.I stopped playing the game and returned the PS1 and FF8 to my friends.

Fast foward to the fall semester of my 2nd year of college. The friend who lent me the PS1 found his old memory card and said that my FF8 save file was still on it. So I borrowed it from him and borrowed FF8 from a cousin a few months ago. I have yet to touch the game.

I won't be adding the non-RPGs either...

[Himu]

For some reason, I like the original Dark Cloud more than the sequel, even though I admit the sequel made many improvements.

Don't sweat it if you don't beat the games, Beezy. Just work on them slowly, one game at a time and you should be able to beat them.

The only rpgs in my backlog are Baldur's Gate 2 and Princess Crown. BG2, I may not even include, because it may be in my backlog for years since it has hundreds and hundreds of hours of content. Before this week, I'd add Final Fantasy XII to that, but hey, I'm going through it now. I finish every rpg, or game period, that I like. Eventually. Of course, my non rpg pile is bigger, but I try to work on em one at a time.

If I don't like it, I don't finish it.

[MrAngryFace]

I played through the 4 .Hacks, playing through .Hack GU and GU 2 then Dawn of Mana and Odin Spehre.

[Beezy]

Don't sweat it if you don't beat the games, Beezy. Just work on them slowly, one game at a time and you should be able to beat them.

Yeah, I'm just sticking with Etrian Odyssey and Odin Sphere for now.

Final Fantasy IX is also kind of a part of my backlog. I was playing it on epsxe 2 years ago (I actually had the disc) and I got to what I believe was the last area of the game. I had downloaded some other game though and I was trying to get it to work, so I changed around some settings in the emulator. I got that game to work, but I did something to my FF9 save files and I can't remember what. I don't know if I deleted it saved over it or put it in another folder, but they're nowhere to be found.

I plan on playing it over again one day with my friend's PS1 memcard and my nephew's PS2. I really love that game.

[MrAngryFace]

.Hack GU 1/2 > FF 12

[Ichirou]

For some reason, I like the original Dark Cloud more than the sequel, even though I admit the sequel made many improvements.

Don't sweat it if you don't beat the games, Beezy. Just work on them slowly, one game at a time and you should be able to beat them.

The only rpgs in my backlog are Baldur's Gate 2 and Princess Crown. BG2, I may not even include, because it may be in my backlog for years since it has hundreds and hundreds of hours of content. Before this week, I'd add Final Fantasy XII to that, but hey, I'm going through it now. I finish every rpg, or game period, that I like. Eventually. Of course, my non rpg pile is bigger, but I try to work on em one at a time.

If I don't like it, I don't finish it.

You already finished the Sakura Taisen games, then?  How'd you like them?

[Beezy]

You already finished the Sakura Taisen games, then?  How'd you like them?

Eh? Aren't they all in japanese? How could he have played any of them?

[Ichirou]

There are pretty comprehensive translations for most of the games available online, plust the game interface is rather intuitive.  And besides, I think Himu took Japanese classes.

[demi]

Himuro knows about as much japanese as your typical gaffot i.e. none

[MrAngryFace]

i.e. lol

[Ichirou]

That's not even the point.  The games are perfectly playable as long as you have access to GameFAQs.

[MrAngryFace]

Who wants to devote the time

[Himu]

I forgot about Sakura Taisen. I have beaten 1 and 2. Started 3, but haven't gotten far.

I have not taken Japanese classes.

[Ichirou]

What'd you think of 1 and 2?

[ananus]

I beat Tales of the Abyss last night. It was pretty awesome, my favorite RPG this gen. You should give it a try.

Also, there are a lot of sidequests and they usually expand on either the story or the characters, so if you're not planning on replaying it you should use a FAQ to get the most out of it.

[Ichirou]

I'm about 3/4 through the game, but the loading and choppiness and backtracking is fucking annoying so I stopped playing.

[Yeti]

Okay, here's my backlog, not too RPG focused.

Yoshi's Island DS- I was really in a mood for platformers when this came out, so I bought it and New Super Mario Bros. I ended up beating New Super Mario Bros., and that was enough of platformers for a while. I'll probably pick it up again in a while when I feel the need for platformer action again.

Contact- I started to play this but got bored of it after a little while. I wasn't really enjoying the battle system, and the story and quirkiness, which started off so strong at the start of the game, was pretty much nonexistent afterwards. I might start it up again some time.

Fable- I bought this and Jade Empire a little while ago used, and I was going to play it right after beating Jade Empire, but then I got Pokemon Pearl and it kinda swallowed my soul. I'm getting to the point in Pokemon where I only need to play for a little bit a day to do all the daily tasks, so I might have time to start up Fable soon.

Final Fantasy 7-I bought this off of Ebay, and I had never played it before. I got up to the point where there is a motorcycle minigame escaping from Shinra headquarters, when the game always just fucks up and goes to a black screen where you can still here the music playing. I don't know if I'll ever play this again, because buying it on ebay is too unreliable.

The 3 Burger King Games- I got these, and then I saw that they were xbox 360 compatible so I figured I'd wait until I bought a 360 so I only had to play them once for the achievements. 

Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2- I wanted to have played Final Fantasy 7-10 before playing these, now it looks like I'm not going to get to. 

Grand Theft Auto Vice City- I bought the Grand Theft Auto Double pack for Xbox, and I had fun with III but I wasn't enjoying the later missions, so I ended up just messing around and listening to the custom soundtracks I had made for it. Then I moved and didn't have access to my xbox for a while, and by the time I did, I had moved on to other games.

[MrAngryFace]

My backlog is so huge

[Mana Knight]

My RPG backlog is over 100, but that's because I owned around 200 RPGs.

[Ichirou]

My RPG backlog is over 100, but that's because I owned around 200 RPGs.

So really, if you look at it a certain way, you're already halfway done!

[Junpei the Tracer!]

.Hack GU 1/2 > FF 12

What lies you spew.

[MrAngryFace]

Its the truth. I find all the .hack games far more compelling than FF12

[Ichirou]

.Hack GU 1/2 > FF 12

What lies you spew.

I keep looking at your avatar hoping there'll be one final frame where she's naked.

[bluemax]

I don't even consider my RPG backlog so much anymore. I think I've had all I can take of JRPGs for awhile, so until they start innovating (as if) or some decent next gen ones come out (Blue Dragon is the only one that looks remotely interesting at this point) then I'm just gonna skip the genre.

[trippingmartian]

I've kind of given up on RPG's that aren't WoW for the moment. The last one I got into was Oblivion, which I played for about 50 hours. Time well spent.

I'm looking forward to at least trying some of the next gen RPG's that are coming out on 360, but other than WoW I've only been playing the odd RPG on my portables (Shadowrun Genny, FFVIA, etc.)

It's a shame the Mother series never came to portables in NA, because frankly the PSP SNES emu sucks sweaty balls.

RPG's I'd really like to finish: Final Fantasy VI Advance, Earthbound, Shadowrun Genny, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (and Innocent Sin whenever it gets translated.)

There were no console RPG's in the PS2/GC/Xbox generation that really struck a chord with me, with a couple of notable exceptions: Fable and Phantasy Star Online

I would still like to try FFXII sometime, though it's not a series I throw money at anymore. Maybe when it hits $20.

[Vizzys]

It's a shame the Mother series never came to portables in NA, because frankly the PSP SNES emu sucks sweaty balls.

god bless you sir  :'(

[Himu]

What'd you think of 1 and 2?

Enjoyed them quite a bit. Reading translations was a bit tiring but oh well.

[MrAngryFace]

Im maybe 45 hours from having played all teh .hack games. Still need the third GU title tho. GU series am rox.

[Mondain]

I don't even consider my RPG backlog so much anymore. I think I've had all I can take of JRPGs for awhile, so until they start innovating (as if) or some decent next gen ones come out (Blue Dragon is the only one that looks remotely interesting at this point) then I'm just gonna skip the genre.

Lost Odyssey really looks much more epic and interesting, really it seems like it's on a whole other level, at the end of the day, Blue Dragon will be yet another corny console RPG with a cliched plot and cliched characters that copies the Final Fantasy IV formula

Uematsu seems REALLY inspired musically for this title too, when you consider the quality of the music that played in the japanese demo of the game

[bluemax]

I don't even consider my RPG backlog so much anymore. I think I've had all I can take of JRPGs for awhile, so until they start innovating (as if) or some decent next gen ones come out (Blue Dragon is the only one that looks remotely interesting at this point) then I'm just gonna skip the genre.

Lost Odyssey really looks much more epic and interesting, really it seems like it's on a whole other level, at the end of the day, Blue Dragon will be yet another corny console RPG with a cliched plot and cliched characters that copies the Final Fantasy IV formula

Uematsu seems REALLY inspired musically for this title too, when you consider the quality of the music that played in the japanese demo of the game

Blue Dragon does look pretty cliched, but there's something about it that seems relaxed enough that I could get into it. Plus I hear comparisons to FF5 gameplay which is nothing but good times. Also it sounds like it has a reasonable length. If it is over 40 hours then there's no way I'm touching it.

Lost Odyssey looks like over wrought shit to me. I'm not feeling it at all. And what little I've seen of the game play looked like a pale rip of FFX. I liked FFX's gameplay, but this I dunno, just wasn't feeling it.

[MrAngryFace]

.Hack GU is one of the more original feeling RPGs ive played lately.

[bluemax]

Does it require as much grinding as the first .Hack? I tried to play that one but got bored of grinding and I'd die every time I tried to do a dungeon.

[Himu]

Traditional != bad

There are SOME traditional rpgs that are absolutely amazing, because they've got the tradtional aspects perfected.

[bluemax]

My problem with traditional JRPGs is that they're almost all built around ancient out dated mechanics.

Grinding was okay back in the day because it made you think the 15 hour game was 30 hours long. Nowadays its just bad design.

[Himu]

But most of the traditional rpgs these days have little grinding. It's the most non conventional rpgs these days that emphasis the grinding (FFXII for instance) aside from rare throw backs like Etrian.

[tiesto]

Yeah, whenever people claim that the majority of RPGs aren't innovative or have gone stale, it just shows me that they've opted to not play anything outside of a few well-regarded mainstream hits. The worst though are the people who come into every RPG thread bitching that they don't like turn-based battle systems... So, fans of turn-based battles should suffer because of a few jackasses? They should just go and play DMC or something if they want action so bad.

[Himu]

Action rpgs suck for the most part imo.

[tiesto]

I absolutely LOVE classic, 2-D action RPGs. SoulBlazer, Terranigma, the Ys series, Secret of Mana, Crusader of Centy, etc.. nearly all the big 3-D action RPGs I can think of suffer from really shitty cameras and bothersome platforming elements. Dark Cloud 2 was one of the better action RPGs I thought, but the dungeons dragged on FOREVER and the story got really goofy towards the end.

[bluemax]

The majority of action RPGs are awful. It seems like with a few exceptions the Japanese are terrible at action games, especially of the 3d variety.

I have tried a bit more than just the more mainstream JRPGs but genre weariness keeps me from digging down and trying the more mediocre/niche ones for something different.

For the most part I recognize that the genre has become stale to me and just isn't designed or created with people like me in mind. I think the classic design works somewhat still, but only for about 20 hours or so of game play. That's about how much I got out of DQ8 before shelving it. If developers wanna give me a good 20 hours of NES era game play then fine. But when they expect me to play 100 hours of that shit, forget it.

[MrAngryFace]

Does it require as much grinding as the first .Hack? I tried to play that one but got bored of grinding and I'd die every time I tried to do a dungeon.

Actually WAY WAY less. This series is completely different from the first. WAY more story, WAY more character interaction and WAY more variety in things to do.

[tiesto]

The majority of action RPGs are awful. It seems like with a few exceptions the Japanese are terrible at action games, especially of the 3d variety.

Are you kidding? The Japanese are pretty much known for their action games!

[Himu]

Japanese know how to make action games, but their action rpgs STANK.

[bluemax]

Does it require as much grinding as the first .Hack? I tried to play that one but got bored of grinding and I'd die every time I tried to do a dungeon.

Actually WAY WAY less. This series is completely different from the first. WAY more story, WAY more character interaction and WAY more variety in things to do.

Tempting, I'll add it to gamefly. Maybe I'll get around to playing it next year. The only thing I didn't really like about the first .Hack was the grinding and dungeons. The difficulty didn't bug me so much as the fact that there'd be like 10 minutes of shit I couldn't skip before I died in  a minute in a dungeon. The story and setting were intriguing though.

[Mr. Gundam]

Japanese know how to make action games, but their action rpgs STANK.

Hey now, Crystalis is awesome!

[Himu]

The 3d action rpgs, mind you. I am having trouble coming up with 3d action rpg titles I would actually put on par with the turn based titles. Maybe Musashi...I don't know. Even the better action rpgs like Dark Cloud 1 and 2 aren't as fun as turn based games imo. Devil Summoner was a damn fine action rpg, and even then, the combat is completely downgraded from typical SMT strategy.

[demi]

While you guys are crying over backlogs, I just finished 3 more RPGs. Owned.

[Mr. Gundam]

While you guys are crying over backlogs, I just finished 3 more RPGs. Owned.

I can't play games at my job. I can, however, whine about my backlog.

[demi]

 :'(

[MrAngryFace]

Blue: Its a lot of fun, each game is around 25-30 hours I think.

[bluemax]

While you guys are crying over backlogs, I just finished 3 more RPGs. Owned.

I'm too lazy to bring my PS2 to work this summer. So other than the mediocre hand held RPGs I have on hand there is not much to play in this genre.

[Mana Knight]

Its the truth. I find all the .hack games far more compelling than FF12

You know what, I gotta agree.  I was excited about FFXII and bought it on release.  I have barely played it because whenever I play it, I just get bored and not having any fun.  I bought .Hack//G.U. later, and I've been having much more fun with it (along with putting more time into it).  Haven't beat it, since I got stuck.  

I don't know what's wrong with me.  I've been a big time FF fanboy over the years, but just can't get into FFXII (I wasn't into FFIII either, but the game is a little too old for me, story wise).