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[s0]

maybe but its still a standard jrpg so who cares. i haven't played a FF in years either.  

[gimymblert]

It's not standard, it's golden standard, from there everything go down. It's the reason why you can't improve on the standard anymore, it's hard to top period. The only way forward is side step not refinement, that's why it's so highly held.

[s0]

it didnt seem better than similar games in any obvious way. 

[gimymblert]

like which game

ff6? better pacing, more interesting combat encounter, better twist. FF6 is already top of ffold.

Dragon quest? it's dragon quest with another name with refinement on top of it.

Phantasy star? It has way more and nuanced color

[valrus]

I haven't played Chrono Trigger (EUROPEAN HERE), but for example Lufia had really repetitive and non-memorable locations while being a fine JRPG otherwise. It certainly wasn't the "Norm" for the genre to have varied, interesting locations.

Right, I remember the Lufias and I can't remember a single dungeon theme.  I mean, they were fine dungeons -- I think I remember liking the puzzles -- but theme-wise I think they were just "tower", "cave", stuff like that.  The attempt at more "non-dungeony" dungeons was something where I think Squaresoft was an outlier and innovator; in between say FFIV and FFVII there was more of an attempt each installment to get you out of caves and towers, and also blur the lines between encounter and non-encounter areas.

For the OP, that brings up an interesting question in style, whether to go for the very traditional "rhythm" of the classic JRPG, the oscillation between town-overworld-dungeon-overworld-town.  That's in some ways a very comforting oscillation between safety and danger, but it's also something that the mid-late Squaresoft RPGs mentioned were shaking up.  (E.g., each Final Fantasy past V has notable sections when you're fighting your way through urban areas.  "Safe areas" are no longer necessarily town-themed and "unsafe areas" no longer look like the "dungeons" of earlier JRPGs; they might be anything.  I think Chrono Trigger and FFVI were the point where JRPGs become more unpredictable in terms of their safety/danger rhythm.)

[s0]

like which game

ff6? better pacing, more interesting combat encounter, better twist. FF6 is already top of ffold.

Dragon quest? it's dragon quest with another name with refinement on top of it.

Phantasy star? It has way more and nuanced color

earthbound (another game i keep getting bored with btw) has a more interesting story for one. i mean yeah chrono is probably better than all those games. i didn't even know the game existed until i was 16 or 17 (im european lol) at which point i already didn't care that much about jrpgs anymore. i would probably love it if i had played it at the right time, but even if its better than other traditional jrpgs, it's still a traditional jrpg, i.e. been there, done that.

you know how so many younger gamers are unimpressed with ocarina of time bc its innovations have become commonplace? that was my experience with chrono trigger.

[gimymblert]

There is also the case you might have give up just before it get "specific" The beginning is smoke and mirrors, the bad guy who want to summon the bad destruction stuff? After that it open into SPOILER "time travelling is really the memory of the planet who remember its life before dying" They use a standard generic story as exposition to plant all the relevant element for the future twist, the game is totally devoid of evil bad guy™. In fact FF7 is basically a retelling of half the plot of chrono trigger but more standard with clear bad guys stuff. IN fact I would say CT is more like mgs2 except with multiple raiden moment in a very great way.

edit:
Like I said before it has a structure similar to investigation story, like the expert, you follow evidence to know WUDUNIT? but the twist is that nobody did it, it's something else.

[s0]

http://neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=506064

[battlerager]

http://neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=506064

link no work

[s0]

works perfect for me  

lol i really disagree with people in that thread saying persona 3 and 4 are better btw. they're stylish as heck but bland dungeon crawls and forced grinding are dum. not to mention mechanically and narratively there are much better games even in the same franchise.

[gimymblert]

I really like how it setup some of the things that are shown as typical in the first part:
- the big bad is just a lost kids stranded away from his family
- the masamune is more an emotional token than something truly special, has weak stat past a point but is one of the most powerful sword with the pendant (because of critical) which is a nice way to further underline the emotional link
- so many other things, it's mostly about coping with loss, all characters are affected by loss, tying metaphorically time travel with the characters you met and the fate of the earth.
- anything in the prologue is subverted anyway


That say I won't pit chrono with eathbound or other type of rpg, they are top of their type. Chrono is more for the traditional rpg adventure.

edit:
Chrono cross however is a mess

[EasterlyArt]

Thank you everyone who has shared your thoughts and input so far.

Many of the points noted so far are definitely things I can agree with and things that I haven't considered before.


To keep things going, what are some RPGs people have played within the last year or two, and what made them good or bad in your opinion? I know LISA came out last year and that Undertale came out not too long ago, both getting extremely high praise. I have yet to play the two in full, but I'm sure some of you can elaborate on your experiences.

Additionally, has anyone been able to check out the game Moon Hunters? I know it's not released yet, but have heard a podcast or two talk about it being featured at some events. Just thought I would bring it up.

[gimymblert]

Undertale is best experienced with "blind" walkthrough, knowing to much won't help.

[EasterlyArt]

Undertale is best experienced with "blind" walkthrough, knowing to much won't help.

That is fair. I almost started watching a play through, but soon turned away after realizing the element of discovery would be lost right away.

I will say, just as a quick note, the Brawlin' theme in LISA is so Hip Hop, and I love that. I can actually see myself DJ'n it at events in the future. Too funky!

[DuskedSky]

Personally I find it a difficult task to play through an RPG with bad or (basic filler music), that doesn't necessarily break a game, but it makes it less of an experience (imo). I don't think music should be there just for being music but I think it should help drive a game, especially with the RPG genre.

[oahda]

Gf just started playing Undertale half an hour or so ago and I'm watching. I really don't get it. What's the point of the annoying random encounters when you're trying to solve puzzles? At least in Pokémon you might want to catch them but you can't do anything with the creatures here. Is it to increase LV? Isn't that grinding? Isn't that widely considered something awful? And why is there even a fight button when you don't have to fight?

I still don't get this genre.

The dialogue is great tho.

[s0]

just play the game yourself and it will all make sense

[oahda]

I don't have to be the one touching the keys to follow along perfectly when I'm sitting right behind her paying just as much attention as she does. But we'll keep playing.

[s0]

i do think it works better when you experience it for yourself because MILD SPOILER it's a game about feeling the emotional and moral weight of your decisions as a player, but whatever. you'll find out WHAT IT ALL MEANS soon enough. it's a pretty short gam.

[oahda]

I'm not sure how I'm missing out on that by not pressing the buttons. We're playing together. Maybe I didn't make that clear. But I am playing. I'm just not the designated key presser. But I'm part of the decision making. We play games a lot this way.