I only played a little bit of Chrono Trigger, so I was glad to hear that Chrono Cross did not draw completely from the old game in terms of story. The battle system is unique, and kind of hard to get used to at first, but once you have it down, you have it down. The elemental grid is also interesting, but it's not my favorite type of RPG system. Graphics are beautiful, relying on the lush colorful environments rather than flashy CG scenes. Plus, the music is some of the greatest I've heard, with nice guitars and flutes and everything. What's not to like? Well, the story would have been awesome if about thirty-five of those playable characters had been removed or rendered unplayable. Seriously, with over forty characters to have in your party, all that elemental switching is gonna' suck! Plus, few of them have much of a story. It's like a massive overkill, and that's what kills it. Score: 5
Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first. This game is challenging. I mean, the first few hour will be killer on the casual gamer because of the difficulty of the enemies (especially bosses, ugh), and the fact that your weapons can break right in the heat of battle, and if you don't have a spare on hand... Plus, battles go kind of slow because the game takes a while to process that you want Edward to move forward two squares and whack the creature with an axe, plus you can actually see the game engine re-rendering the whole battle after every move. That aside, Koudelka is the greatest mix of a RPG and a Gothic style Survival Horror atmosphere I've ever seen. The areas you must explore are all dark and creepy. The music is subtle and nice, and the voice acting is way above par. Just watch the scene where Koudelka becomes temporarily posessed. Score: 7
Okay, who was the genius who let the guy who did the Parasite Eve music do the music for this game? It just doesn't work. Secret of Mana was a great game, but this is just below par. There is no story. Instead, you're given a list of confusing subquests to venture on, with the help of cool partner characters with stupid AI. However, you can have another friend link up with you and help you out (and you can even fight each other at one location) but this is not enough to make up for the game's problems. Score: 4
I played Lunar and Lunar: Eternal Blue way back in the day on a borrowed Sega CD. Great? Hell yeah! These were old, slightly unimpressive looking games that really packed a whallop when it came to the story. The battle system was interesting, and strategy based. The music was one of the nicest soundtracks I've ever heard, especially with the singing parts. This was even the first game I'd played that had animated cutscenes. Now, the Playstation version takes everything that made the old version great, and cleans it up. Everything looks fresher and newer. The soundtrack has changed a tad for the worse, and some aspects of the story have been altered, while other aspects were added. Still, this was a very short RPG, having been finished in one week, under thirty hours. Score: 6
Lunar: Eternal Blue beat it's ancestor in all categories! It looked much better, had a much cooler story, had a lot better music (love the battle theme), had much more awesome characters, and a more strategy based battle system. The Playstation version of this game is what SSC was to Lunar 1.. a very nice update. It's great to see classic games like this redone for a new generation of gamers. However, my only two gripes are that the Playstation version of Eternal Blue is much easier than the Sega CD version (Lunn used to give me hell, now I beat him in one game), and that there is no human version of Ruby! Oh well... that's what Lunar 3 will be for. Score: 8
Final Fantasy VI was a very decent game back when I played it on the SNES, and I've never gotten a chance to play Final Fantasy V before, so that's cool. Everything is there for the original game, but for some reason... all these fabulous CG movies scattered througout Final Fantasy VI did not appear, only the opening. If you haven't played Final Fantasy V before, and you're the kind of person who still loves to play through Final Fantasy VI, I highly recommend this one. Score: 6
I first played this on the PC, then later switched off to the Playstation version. I cannot get over how cool this game was, and always will be. This was the defining game when it came to 3D RPGs. You have a suprisingly long quest, lovable characters, a myriad of materias, items, and weapons to collect and mini games to engage in. Attempting to beat the Ultima Weapon took me many tries, but you can imagine how rewarding I felt when it was all finished. The only thing that I felt was lacking was the closure in the ending, but I won't spoil it here. Score: 10
I know that not many people liked Final Fantasy VIII, because it lost the cute SD characters in Final Fantasy VII in favor of more realistic ones. The five supporting characters really didn't have much in the way of individual back stories, and the junction system allowed for complete character customization, as opposed to set stats based on class. However, I felt that Final Fantasy VIII was the most beautiful and 'poetic' expereience I've ever had in an RPG. Why? Everything is there for a reason... the colors of the towns, the angel wing and lion imagery. It's like walking around in a dream. The 50's gangster movie slash western theme is absolutely stunning. Plus, no one can dispute the coolness of Laguna and his battle music, "The Man with the Machine Gun". Score: 10
Kicking back into old school, Final Fantasy IX was a very nice RPG. The new system through which characters learn skills is easy to get the hang of, and the limit break system 'trance' is a lot more like that of Final Fantasy VII. The characters are now more SD, with nice backstories, even though some of them aren't played out to the full extent. (Like Freya's) However, the emotional impact is not there. I found Final Fantasy VIII's ending much better. Still, it's a fun game and you should play it if you've been a fan of the Final Fantasy series for a long time. Score: 8
Wow, this was the suprise of the year game for me. At first, I didn't think it would be all that great, but a friend finally convinced me to give it a try and I was totally impressed. The battle system was interesting, and a little challenging, but fun nonetheless. Once you start customizing your weapons, you'll never be able to get enough, but that's what the Chrystler Building is for. The story is a nice, modern, and creepy... it gets to you because all that Mitochondria stuff is real. Give this game a play, even if it is kind of short. It's still very impressive. Score: 8
The only reason I included this in the RPG section was because I don't like to split series up, no matter how drastically they change. Parasite Eve 2 lost most of the RPG elements of the last game, and is now a lot more like a survival horror type game. Point? Mounds of bodies lying around the Akropolis tower that serves as your first stage. Creatures are much more lethal, and even if you're pretty advanced, a few of those enemies can seriously test you. There is no more weapon customization, and now you have to unlock your Parasite Powers at your discretion. I'm not sure if I like the Roswell-esque alien theme going on, but it plays very solidly. Also, the final boss is difficult. I had to go through the whole game with my nice little handgun, collecting every BP I could just to buy the best armor and weapons for the end. However, the CG cutscenes are simply incredible. Just check out Aya in the shower! Score: 6
New Play!
Don't let the simpler, sprite-based graphics fool you. This game isn't for the casual gamer. In fact, it's one of the most challenging RPGs I've played in a long time. The story revolves around a young woman and several friends, who must confront an evil force within their city... an evil force that uses superstition and rumors to obtain it's goals. The story is definitely nice, taking common things from one's childhood and putting a whole new spin on them... a disturbing spin. For example, what if the 'Bloody Mary' curse were real? Persona 2 tackles something similar to that. Combine the excellent plot with memorable characters, haunting techno music, and a suprisingly deep battle system, and Persona 2 becomes quite a marvel. The only few things that bugged me were the fact that it's quite hard to see and do almost everything in this game, as it's quite expansive. Also, the map system can become a little confusing at times. Score: 8
First of all, let me tell you that this game is damn long! It claims over 80 different endings, depending on which hero you select in the begining and which characters (of the huge and varying cast) you allow to join your party. Seriously, you might have to play through the game several times in order to see all of the characters this game has to offer. However, that's a hindrance because just one adventure of this game is huge. I've clocked over seventy hours on it and I still haven't beaten it once, because my characters have went over level 100. Where do the levels end? Nobody knows... Plus, the bosses near the end get incredibly tough. This is a nice game with an engaging story, nice characters, and interesting battle system, but you have to be truly hardcore to explore everything in this game. Score: 7
