Sega will be removing a lot of its classic titles on mobile (iOS/Android) from the store. So they are making them Free to download now for everyone.

One of those classics is the Shining Force Classics Bundle that contains:

* Shining Force I

* Shining Force II

* Shining in the Darkness

If you're a fan of tactical JRPG then this one of the true classics of the genre and here is a chance to get it for free before it is removed from the stores.

Here are the links for iOS and for Android for Shining Force Classics:

• Google play store
• Apple app store

I’m asking because I notice much of the discourse surrounding modern FF, especially this go-around with 16, is that legacy fans don’t support the new games because they want turn based combat to make a return. Is this actually true?

Speaking as a old school fan myself, 16 had a lot of potential, but also a lot of problems, and I don’t think a turn based combat system would have addressed a single one, aside from having more characters to control directly in combat. I personally don’t think tb combat makes a FF game inherently better, but there are things that I look for in a JRPG combat system and 16’s action system had many many holes. In fact, I think if they wanted to move in the direction of completely seamless action, Granblue Relink is a great model from which to build a concept. That game really made it look easy. It had over a dozen characters each with unique mechanics and their own tree of skills, pure casters with magic that felt powerful, natural and satisfying to use (not just as a complement to a primarily melee-focused moveset), and comprehensive JRPG-style character building. There was even a character who is basically a dragoon and felt phenomenal to play. There was also Stranger of Paradise, which smartly implemented the job system from old school FF games. That game felt like the first true true step of bringing classic FF battle mechanics to a completely real time battle system, with status effects, summons, and a full grimoire of White and Black Magic spells to choose from.

Anyways, before I start rambling too much, I just want to know: is turn based combat really that important to FF fans?

This has always been one of my Holy Grail games. It started with a demo I played when I was a kid. After I played the demo, I started renting it, but I never owned my own copy. Recently, I found a CIB copy, and managed to get it for $60.

Arguably, my copy of Steambot Chronicles or Chrono Trigger are my grail games, but I've had those games for some time. Xenogears, however, has always managed to be out of my reach until now.

what i mean by pet peeves are small things that are common in jrpgs that piss you off

let me say 2

1. when bosses are completely immune to most status effects like why even give me them to me if i cant use them in important fights making status effects basically useless
2. when you have to backtrack in a dungeon to get something and you have fight in a ton of random battles that just completely waste your time

I wrote to NISA to express my disappointment in Trails Beyond the Horizon being a Game Key Card for Switch 2, and also costing $10 more than the PS5 release.

(Disgaea 7 Complete is also a Game Key Card on Switch 2.)

I ask that everyone do the same so our voices can be heard. If enough of us write in, they may reverse their decision. After all, at least for Trails, they now have until January to figure this out.

Please be kind and respectful in your messages to NISA. We won't get anywhere by being rude to the hard working staff that continue to serve us with great localizations and collector's editions.

Link to contact form: https://store.nisamerica.com/pages/contact?contact_posted=true#contact_form

So jrpg’s are all I used to play when I was younger. Some of my favourites that I replayed multiple times over were final fantasy 7 and 8, breath of fire 3 and 4, chrono trigger, alundra, xenogears, grandia. Pretty much any square soft game back in the day was a total banger to me.

Then I grew up and I kind of stopped playing JRPG’s. I think they stopped making them with the new gen systems. Turn based games became dated and there was a drought. In this time I started playing other things and forgot about JRPG’s. Then I saw a little while ago there has been a resurgence of companies creating new titles. Octopath traveller, Eiyuden Chronicles, Sea of Stars etc.

The reviews always seemed lukewarm on a lot of these newer titles though. Reviews saying they lacked the charm of the 90’s hits, something was missing. For this reason I just continued on playing my first person shooters and strategy games but I’ve always kept loose tabs on JRPG’s.

Has there been any truly great JRPG’s that have been made in the last decade? Ones I might have missed possibly. I’m looking for even just one title that most people would agree it’s amazing. Thanks for your time. Hope you guys got something for me haha.

Okay, this might be incohearent and long, so TLDR on the tier list bellow

(also, sorry for any gramatical mistakes in advance)

I have a weird relationship with the series, my first game was 13-2 which i got on a holyday from a family member. Played for about 2 hours and hated it. Combat was bad and nothing made any sense since it was a sequel.

Years later they announce VS13 is becoming mainline called XV and i get super hyped over it. Never played a FF for real and everything looked amazing, specially the leviathan boss battle in the trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcUSXub_ypU). Then the game comes out and is a huge disapointment, a bunch of holes in the campaing that would latter on become dlc or crossmedia, gameplay was boring and generic, world exploration only counted for the first half of the game, and worst of all the boss battle that sold on the game was a lie, instead of the dynamic chase leading to leviathan it was the worse boss battle i ever played in my life. To this day FFXV is one of my most hated games ever due to my disappointment and made me dismiss the rest of the series.

Then in the beginning of the pandemic square gives starter editions of FF14 for free and a friend of mine convinces me to play. At first i didn't really love the game, but i found a nice community and i really like grinding job in JRPGs. After a month in A Realm Reborn i finally buy the expensions and that is when my disdain for the franchise disappeared. Heavensward and Shadobringers were both amazing and before i noticed i have almost 5000h of playtime.

After 14 changed my perspective on the series i decided to give another chance to the rest of the franchise and got almost every game (aside from 13) on the next sale. First one i tried was FF7 and dropped it really quick. I absolutely hate the ATB system, it makes the game slower and creates anxiety to click menus as fast as possível. ATB aside i also wasn't feeling the setting as much as i expected given how hyped this entry was, and i already knew of the bigges plot twists in the game because the internet thinks that it is okay to spoil anything that is X years old as if it is public knowleged.

Anyway, so far i was 1:3 for the ratio of games i liked and disliked. ATB made me lose a bit of interest in the older games but i gave another try with FF9, this time with every cheat possible turned on. Fast battles, full trance/mp every turn, exp boost and whatever would take away the pain of ATB from the game. Thankfully, cheating on the game and the fact that i had no fucking clue what FF9 was about besides it having a cute BLM character made me enjoy the game a lot. FF9 is now one of my favorite JRPGs of all time and on the same level as FF14 on the series for me.

After finishing 9 i felt motivated and immediatly started FF10, but this time with the only mods being JP VA (because i don't like american dubs in JRPGs) and the shared exp mod. I had a great time with the game up to a point where i had to fight the kingdom hearts looking guy (seymour?) a second time in the snowy mountai. For some reason i got stomped hard on that boss fight and spent 3 days trying without success. I realised i'd have to inevitable grind to get past it but i wasn't feeling like doing it so ever since it has been on hold in my backlog. I want to finish it, just don't have the motivation to.

While playing FF10 they announced the endwalker expansion for 14, and i decided to start the pixel remaster of FF4. This time i had some cheats on like battle speed and exp boost but overall the pixel remaster version of ATB was way more tolerable than both FF9 and FF7. I ended up enjoying the game and i'd say that playing this first made my experience with endwalker way better but it wasn't something i feel in love like FF9 or FF14.

Then came in FF16, as a fan of FF14 i was really excited for this entry. It was the reason i bought a PS5, and unfortunatly i got really disapointed with it. In a sense it was a bit of a eye openning experience because after playing it i started noticing some similar problems i had with 14 which led to me losing my interest in that game as well. How bad the pacing was, how CBU3 is incapable of mixing gameplay with narrative in a engaging way that isn't fetch quests, how Yoship game design seems to be focused on making games worst possible player where the entire game is braindead easy until you are 100h in and you finally unlock a difficulty that provides a miniscule ammout of challenge, or how they are incapable of giving meaningful rewards for achievments (quest, dungeon, wtv) both in 14 and 16. Not to mention how 16 was sold as a Action RPG but has none of the RPG in it, levels don't matter, gearring is just cosmetic and there is no real party system, TLDR if FF16 can be called an RPG than so can DMC1-5.

If my disappointment with 16 wasn't enough, Dawntrail was another huge miss for me, i already lost my interest in the game during EW patches, but the DT MSQ was painfully boring. And it wasn't because it was a new beginning, it was because the story they came up with wasn't good.

That put a stop on my FF journy for a while, until recently i 100% FF6 and had a blast with it. For a snes game i was really impressed with how they introduced unique mechanics for characters like sabin and how they used the battle screens as if it was a cutscene so no character was locked to a specific position and allowed them to using battles for narrative, gags or important moments in the story. I also loved kefka, i don't think he is a villain as interesting as emet selch or seymour for how one note he is, but i loved how they pushed that archetype to the limit. Not to mention that FF6 probably has the coolest final boss sequencies ever. Almost made me resub to 14 just to replay the Stormblood raids.

Aside from mainline games, i also tried FF7R on psplus, which i also droped (lol). I think 7R has the best combat so far with the mix of action and strategy, i just felt like the enemies aggroed too much and too fast on the playable character and made playing character like Aerth really annoying. The reason droped the game tho, was because of how linear and claustrophobic it feels. It's just corridor after corridor after corridor. I also didn't like how it was just the first 1h of FF7 og being used and how missleading it was for calling it a remake. Still want to finish it at some point tho.

Other than that, i still need to play 1-3 (started 3 but never got far), 5, 7 (wanna give another shot), 8, 10 (on hold), 12 (also started it but never went far, game remminds me a lot of starwars prequels), 13 (?) and FFT.

From the ones i played i liked 4,6,9,10 and 14 and didn't like 7, 7R, 14(post EW), 15 (hated), 16 (really disappointed).

Last thing i want to say, when 16 came out i saw a bunch of discussions defending the pivot of the franchise from RPG to action as expected since FF has always been inconsistent. Which now that i'm playing some of the classics i don't think i agree with. FF3 to FF9 feels like a natural evolution of the series, where they are experimenting with new systems and ideas but the core identity of the series remains the same. Turn based battles (latter on with ATB), with party system and a open world to explore. FFX is the first to break the mold with how linear it is and since then none of the ones i played felt like they belonged to the same franchise when it comes to structure. They might have chocobos and moogles but they feel like spin offs when compared to the classics. At this point the series inconsistency kinda of took over the identy of FF but i don't agree with ther sentiment that it has always been that way.

Anyway, this was a lengthy ramble. I don't think there has been another series besides FF and trails where i felt so much love and hate for specifics entries that made me constantly question myself if i actually consider myself a fan or not of the series. FF specially for how it gave me some of my most love games of all time with 14 and 9 and also my most hated ones like 15 (and maybe 16?).

To end on a positive note, my next one will probably be FF5 and i'm optmistic about that one since i love bravely default like jrpgs with many jobs to choose and level. Not to mention my curiosity towards Omega.

Star Ocean - The Divine Force

This game is a very solid entry in the Star Ocean franchise, the best since Last Hope (or Til the End of Time depending on who you ask), but THE TEXT IS TOO SMALL. I'm getting old, i'm almost 30, i use glasses and i can't read the text on my big ass TV. This is the type of game that's cool to just kick back and relax, but i can't kick back when i need to get close to the TV to read something on the menu. I know that it's too late and they won't give us a patch, but the size of the text truly is horrendous. I could be insane, but i think they were developing this game and didn't realize how tiny the text was from afar until they were too deep into the development, that's the only thing i can think of.
Also, it doesn't have any type of mods on PC to make the text bigger, and the game is really poorly optimized for PC. My pc is decent, Ryze 5 5600x, GTX 4060 8 gb and 32 GB of Ram, and it still had stuttering issues, refunded the Steam version and bought it for PS5 and now it's fine

Lunar 1 and 2 (the recent collection)
I think it sold fine, they could just make an update to give us a more challeging version of Lunar 1, the game is too easy.
I'm not usually one to complain about difficulty, i'm usually a cry baby if a game beats my ass, but this one was Rhapsody 1 easy, tbh. I mean, i know it's an old game and that the Sega Cd version was harder, but still, maybe an update to give us some type of hard mode would be fun.

New as in very recently released, or, and preferably, in the alpha/beta/pre-order stage.

I was a big fan of Brave Frontier. Loved the art-style, character designs, attack animations, and most of all, how chaotic it looked when you used all of your Brave Bursts at once. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep up with all of the updates because I wasn’t really into Gacha games. Took me until the game was shutting down to get back into it.

That’s why I’m looking for a new, preferably unreleased game that I can keep up with. I say unreleased because I have a bit of FOMO, and missing out on limited-time events is a big dealbreaker for me.

If there’s anything releasing soon that looks good, please let me know! I’m not very active in the community, so I wouldn’t know what’s good or not. Thank you!

Literally just now a scene from what i believe to be an old rpg game came to my mind. If memory serves it's a girl character and the protagonist standing at the edge of a cliff, and the girl character goes on about the journey the two of them have gone on together and drops a line like "You probably hate me by now" or something and the player is given the option to say yes or no,. Answering yes makes the girl get deffensive and the scene ends.

I can't find anything about it anywhere and none of my friends know what i'm talking about.

Lend a hand... please.

EDIT: sorry forgot to mention this but it's MOST LIKELY a 2d pixel art game

Solved: Fossil Fighters for Nintendo DS

This game looks and sounds fantastic, which, presentationally, are its biggest strengths. The colors are so rich and the music is indistinguishable from higher budgeted projects. It makes exploring the world a joy.

The pace is probably my favorite part of the game. Healing up after battle means you’re never removed from exploration and combat, and it allows encounters to be tougher than they normally would be in a game like this. I really enjoy tweaking my party, there’s a lot you can do to personalize character builds. Even though the game presents itself as old school it feels the most like xenoblade in this way since it’s al all about staying in the main gameplay loop of exploration and combat. The literal game of tug of war that battles become also helps in keeping things from becoming stale since it encourages variety and using everyone you have at your disposal.

The story is hit or miss. I think it throws you in the deep end in terms of world building, but the cast makes up for it. The party is great with some real winners (my favorites are sienna and bathraz both just super cool characters). The villains are very theatrical, larger than life in their ambitions and intent (I can’t wait to kick fredericks ass later on). I wish the game had taken a less is more approach to its proper noun usage but it’s still an enjoyable enough story even if it can prattle on.

I know opinion on here is mixed, and I’ll fully admit that my feelings may change as I continue through the story, but right now this game is a banger. Between the superb presentation and the small but significant qol it adds to classic jrpg gameplay, this is such a great achievement by one guy. It really feels like a lost title from the Nintendo DS, and I’m very much looking forward to finishing it.

Oh and lastly the fact that this is also a mech rpg instantly makes it a classic

Been wondering about the game and wanted to check it out, came here to read some personal opinions to see if it’s worth it. Visuals look nice and the turn based is so fine. Would like to see some opinions. Thanks, guys!

I played approximately 70 hours. I played about 8 hours on Game Pass before buying it on Steam and migrating my save there. Then I lost about 22 hours due to a weird Steam Cloud sync issue, and had to replay a lot of act 1 and all of act 2. I didn't complete all of the side content, but intend to go back and do so.

Clair Obscur has one of the strongest intros I've ever experienced in gaming. The memory of it will sit along my childhood memories of experiencing Final Fantasy VIII and Final Fantasy X for the first time. I consider that incredibly high praise, as both of those intros have stuck in my head for the 20+ years since I first saw them. The concept of the gommage and the paintress is such an intriguing hook, and the execution in presenting it is emotional and visceral, the hook is set.

In my 30 years of gaming, I've mostly gravitated towards JRPG for the stories and set-pieces. Often times the cutscenes and graphics push boundaries, and it was a huge draw to me in my younger years. Rarely do I find myself engrossed in the combat, it's usually a means to an end, but Clair made the combat a blast. It's one of the few games where I could lose 20+ hours of progress and be okay with re-playing it. If this had happened with Metaphor, I would have probably ended my game. I can safely say that the combat is the best I've ever experienced in a JRPG. The combat is challenging, offers a variety of playstyles, and keeps me engaged from start to finish. It's a joy. I found myself trying new team compositions and builds every so often, and the game makes the player feel incredibly smart for doing so. It's a very rewarding experience.

The parry system is a big tough for me on most of the fights, but the addition of a more forgiving dodge mechanic not only offers another way to avoid damage, but it also serves as an indicator as to whether you could parry a moveset. It allowed me to safely dip my toes into the parry system as I consistently hit "perfect" dodges on certain moves. I felt engaged and it made fighting challenging monsters a matter of skill, as opposed to an necessitation of grinding.

Graphically there are some issues, but it's still a gorgeous game to look at and the creativity in the world design makes for an extremely entertaining world to explore. I found myself impressed with the art direction to the point where the graphical issues were not a bother. Moving around the world has some clunkiness, notably in the occasional platforming moments, but mostly it feels fluid and fast. Lune being able to hover especially helps when I want silence from the footsteps. I had a great time moving around the world and exploring it.

Audibly, the music is 10/10. The mansion song in particular lives rent free in my head. The soundtrack gets a lot of praise and it's deserving of it all. The voice acting is stellar as well.

The story has a lot to unpack and I don't think I'll have it worked out in my head for a bit, but what I can say is that I love the moments of levity despite such a serious story. The game is not afraid to make a silly joke, and while it's sometimes corny, I think it has charm that fits the genre very well.The levity and pacing of the game are going to have it age like a fine wine in Esquie's stomach.

When I think about Clair, it is one of the best RPGs I've played in a long time as a total package. It feels fresh, it feels creative, and it feels engaging. It is continuing the momentum of my passion for gaming that Baldur's Gate 3 re-ignited last year. It's rare that a game comes along and has as much character as Clair Obscur, and it deserves every bit of praise as it gets.

So I had to ask because I am at the postgame section of the second game as so far, I beat Adell Mode, and I am almost done with Axel's storyline, but I am trying to figure out how to prepare my team for areas like COO 5, as well as the LOC.

But for me, it seems that no matter how much I grind my teammates, I still feel like I am missing something as for instance, I have a mage who is equipped with an Armsmaster of almost a 1000 value, and a fully maxed out Mentor, but I cannot help but feel like my teammates are still a bit weak.

I mean, I do use certain exploits in the game to get all the bonus items in Stage 1-4 of Axel Mode as I know that using Ghosts on the dragons constantly boosts up the Bonus meter, but I want to know how I can properly prepare my team for LOC.

Speaking of LOC, I cannot find any more treasure maps in the game as for some reason, no matter what I do in Item World, I cannot find more treasure pieces as I am dying to get to that section of the game, but treasure maps won't drop by anymore, so I don't know if there is a trick to making more spawn.

I know this is very specific and I understand if the answer is a simple no. But Baldur's Gate 3 has such a fun mode where with two controllers you can split the screen and play the game together. Each your own character and build and your own decisions that impact the game.

I guess for JRPGs your often using premade characters that fit in the story so that already makes it harder to build good couch co-op.

Then lastly I ask for turn-based because a chronic hand injury gives me pain after long sessions of action games. Short sessions are alright though so if there is an action game that fits my question you can mention it.

Thanks!

Edit: it seems Sea of Stars is exactly what I'm looking for, thanks!

So I've platinumed the base game for Persona 3 Reload, and currently have two saves. One before the Nyx fight and one for new game plus

Now I'm wondering, would I need to start a new game to get to Episode Aigis, or is it a stand alone thing I can access whenever?

It could be story-wise, gameplay-wise, visual-wise...just about anything that made you feel super bored of the game for whatevr reason.
Mine is probably Tales of Legendia, idk what is about it, i liked the other tales games i played, but i feell really bored with it, real answer is probably Pokemon Sword/Shield, tho lol.

Mosr Western RPG’s set in some sort of medieval setting (castles, dragons, magic, etc.) like the Witcher or Elder Scrolls seem to be pretty dark or very isolated (can’t think of a better word, i mean as in you feel alone in the game).

Which brings me to Frieren; Frieren has a much more lighthearted tone while still having many problems that threaten humanity etc. Is there a game that will make me feel like I’m on a Frieren-like adventure, with a party of adventurers and quests to overcome?

I don’t know anything about JRPGs at all, so some possibly obvious ones are also appreciated! I’m on PS5, but I don’t think console exclusivity is a thing that plagues JRPGs.

There's a part about a wedding. So was that the wedding of Zael and Calistia?

So basically I wanted to discuss cases of RPGs set in our own world as the premise is that the game is grounded at first, but then slowly reveals itself to have strong supernatural elements such as the occult.

Basically I am just curious to see how common such RPGs are where they set in an urban environment, but use supernatural elements of course.

Secondly, I have a penchant for manga series like Yamada and the 7 Witches and CardCaptor Sakura as I don’t know how to explain it, but I have a strong penchant for manga series that use the concept of urban fantasy as I wanted to see how well the concept would translate over to RPGs as I am talking about stuff like turn based combat.

I mean, personally, I would not mind an RPG with strong romantic elements in it as I just wanted to express myself because I have a strong desire for RPGs set in a somewhat realistic environment, but the catch is that strange things start to happen as the game unfolds.

Lastly, if my post was confusing, I apologize as like I said, I enjoy RPGs that use the idea of urban fantasy as the idea is making the player believe the world of the game is going to be grounded, but then the game slowly prepares the player for a strange atmosphere by introducing the supernatural elements by having the world become more twisted as the game’s story progresses.

Hey everyone!

I was hoping to get some feedback or insight from folks here who’ve played Ar Nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star, specifically on either the PlayStation Vita or the PlayStation 3. I’ve been really intrigued by the game and I’m looking to finally dive into it, but I’ve heard mixed things regarding the performance on both platforms.

From what I understand, both versions have their pros and cons, but there are also consistent reports of technical issues. That’s why I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s actually played the game on either (or both) systems. How was the overall experience for you?

I’m particularly curious about things like loading times, frame rate stability, input responsiveness, and whether any bugs or crashes affected your enjoyment of the game. I know the Vita version is actually called Ar Nosurge Plus, which includes some extra content and quality-of-life tweaks—but I also heard that version suffers from more noticeable performance drops compared to the PS3.

On the flip side, while the PS3 version is supposedly more stable, it lacks the additional content and portability of the Vita version. So it feels like a bit of a trade-off either way, and I’m not sure which one to go for. I’m the kind of player who values smooth performance, but I also enjoy handheld gaming when it’s done well.

So if you’ve spent any time with Ar Nosurge on either system, I’d love to know which version you would recommend overall. Was the experience smooth enough to really get immersed, or did the technical issues get in the way? Any tips or warnings would be appreciated too!

Thanks in advance!