Are the "RPGs" on the TurboGrafx16/CD worth playing?

[Keranu]

John Madden DUO CD Football: Best RPG for the Turbo.

[SamIAm]

I'll say one little thing to try to explain what I think sets Chrono Trigger apart, and then I'll shut up.

RPGs in general, along with lots of TV and movies made in Japan, have a bad habit of relying on TONS of expository dialogue to convey their stories. Chrono Trigger, however, kept this to a minimum in spite of having a somewhat complex plot. You could make a hack of CT that removes every single line of dialogue and give it to a first-timer with a barebones FAQ, and they would still understand 80% of the story after beating it. It's very event/context-driven, and whether a game or movie or book, that tends to get people more emotionally involved. It's the old "show, don't tell" rule from Creative Writing 101.

I'll leave it at that.

[JapanTokei]

back on topic -
worthy RPGs for PCE:  Seiya Monogatari is a massive, scenematic epic one, letting you play the game with choosing what type of life/upbringing you would be.  Sol Moonarage is also very good.   Another one catching my eye is Ruin - though I haven't gotten to try it yet.  It looks very intriguing and a bit obscure. 

I played RPGs all the time growing up as a child, it was prob my fav genre.  Unfortunatelly as an adult, i tend to do so much less, perhaps due to lack of avail time to invest in a virtual world to explore, which is a shame.  I think that's why these days the RPGs I do touch are more linear in nature, like Ys and Beyond Shadowgate types.

[esteban]

MAROOGA NUTS!

Even with not knowing that much japanese I still love playing the Far east of eden games.  Once you get used to the menu system I find the games very enjoyable.  Don't forget the Legend of Xanadu games.  I would still like others have said check out CF2 and Dragon Slayer.  I love them, and the bad voice acting makes it what it is.  An early released japanese rpg in the states.

Who gives a damn about marooga nuts when you can grab some seeds from a friggin' Roda Tree?

I mean, seriously

[arromdee]

Cosmic Fantasy 2 has a bad bug: attacks are always plain attacks.  Monsters don't have special attacks.  You can run into a group of cockatrices and never get petrified, because there's no petrification in the game (although there are items that supposedly stop it, but of course have no effect whatsoever.)

[motdelbourt]

Cosmic Fantasy 2 has a bad bug: attacks are always plain attacks.  Monsters don't have special attacks.  You can run into a group of cockatrices and never get petrified, because there's no petrification in the game (although there are items that supposedly stop it, but of course have no effect whatsoever.)

Was the PCE original also like this, or is this another bug introduced by Working Designs?

[CrackTiger]

Cosmic Fantasy 2 has a bad bug: attacks are always plain attacks.  Monsters don't have special attacks.  You can run into a group of cockatrices and never get petrified, because there's no petrification in the game (although there are items that supposedly stop it, but of course have no effect whatsoever.)

Was the PCE original also like this, or is this another bug introduced by Working Designs?

Yes, the PCE version also lacked status ailments. Working Designs removed further content instead of trying to improve the game like they occasionally did with future games.

[Keranu]

Exile is a lot of fun to blast through in a few days. It has some of my favorite music.

I hate Chrono Trigger.

I gotta agree (on both accounts). There's a lot I love about Chrono Trigger, but it gets so boring! Funny how the battle system is suppose to be seamless without having to load new backgrounds, but I can't help but feel like the battles are slower than other RPGs.

[PikachuWarrior]

I tried Exile a wee bit the other day, and I while it took a while to beat the first boss (couldn't figure out the timing, and when I did, I would occasionally miss), I died afterwards before the cutscene where you move out of the desert area. lol I suck at this game.

[DragonmasterDan]

I tried Exile a wee bit the other day, and I while it took a while to beat the first boss (couldn't figure out the timing, and when I did, I would occasionally miss), I died afterwards before the cutscene where you move out of the desert area. lol I suck at this game.

There's a spot early in the game where enemies constantly repawn, since most controllers have Turbo, and most people have some type of masking, packing or other adhesive tape tape, you can let Sadler auto level up by taping the attack button down on Turbo if you're having trouble.

[CrackTiger]

The way that I would hold down buttons bitd, was either setting a chair leg on it or securing a die on it with rubber bands.

[Arkhan Asylum]

I just used a rubberband by itself.

[Duo_R]

I use a PS2 controller that has Turbo fire, and take a water bottle turned upside down, and an object nearby to balance. Its nice for leveling up in Dragon Slayer LOH.

[DragonmasterDan]

I use a PS2 controller that has Turbo fire, and take a water bottle turned upside down, and an object nearby to balance. Its nice for leveling up in Dragon Slayer LOH.

Are you using a tototek convertor or something?

[Duo_R]

Sure am, I am using the Logitech wireless controller, great for playing in the living room without wires. Its good for RPG's, not so much for the action games.

i actually have a spare Tototek PS2 to PC Engine adapter, and want to trade for a PS2 to Genesis adapter.

I use a PS2 controller that has Turbo fire, and take a water bottle turned upside down, and an object nearby to balance. Its nice for leveling up in Dragon Slayer LOH.

Are you using a tototek convertor or something?

[tpivette]

I use a PS2 controller that has Turbo fire, and take a water bottle turned upside down, and an object nearby to balance. Its nice for leveling up in Dragon Slayer LOH.

I've actually enlisted the services of my 2 year old son for that task... he likes to press buttons, andi just tell him "when the monsters arrive, hit the 1 button". He has a blast cause hethinks he's playing daddy's video games, andI gain levels with no effort. Win-win

[bob]

Personally, CF2 is one of my all time favorites. I'm terrible at RPGs, but this one kept a good pace and never became too frustrating (Im looking at YOU Exile 2!).

I wanted to like dragon slayer, and I still want it for my collection, but the lack of spell animations really turned me off. Enemies just flash no matter what type of attack.

As for non-turbo RPGs, I recently started Vay on sega cd. Another working designs title, but is almost like a parody of the genre. Plays similar to CF2 from what I've completed so far (about 3 hours in).  I'm really enjoying the laughs when least expected.

[PikachuWarrior]

Vay is very frustrating. I just got the second orb. it's literally a grind-fest.

[bob]

Vay is very frustrating. I just got the second orb. it's literally a grind-fest.

Uh oh, that doesn't give me much confidence. I just found the first orb and it wasn't so bad, but now you have me worried.

[Duo_R]

It is a grind fest but i enjoyed that game

[DragonmasterDan]

Vay is very frustrating. I just got the second orb. it's literally a grind-fest.

It also has an un-engaging story, and unbalanced difficulty in spots

[Arkhan Asylum]

Unengaging?

Tell that to Pottle.

[DragonmasterDan]

Unengaging?

Tell that to Pottle.

I would, but in a boring and dramatically convenient cutscene he got hit with some arrows.

[PikachuWarrior]

Yeah, I would mute the volume, and be doing something else, like reading a website, while level grinding. That's how it is in order to get past certain areas. Happens frequently too.

[spenoza]

Heh heh... I used to use the chair leg on the button of my NES Advantage to buy 99 potions in Final Fantasy way back. Too many damn button presses to buy a single frikkin potion...

[Arkhan Asylum]

Unengaging?

Tell that to Pottle.

I would, but in a boring and dramatically convenient cutscene he got hit with some arrows.

now you've ruined it.

[DragonmasterDan]

now you've ruined it.

That game was ruined long before I said anything about it.

[CrackTiger]

Vay is very frustrating. I just got the second orb. it's literally a grind-fest.

It also has an un-engaging story, and unbalanced difficulty in spots

I agree, but I like Vay (and pretty much all console JRPGs). It's not a grind fest so much as there are some unbalanced long time to kill bosses in the WD version.

[bob]

balance seemed to be a problem for working designs in general.  I have heard two theories...one, they made games too easy at first, but then realize it and just spike random areas.  Second was that development was very fragmented and didn't quite come together as seamless as needed

[Arkhan Asylum]

Vay isn't bad.

The music, scenery, atmosphere, story, and characters are coo as feck yo.

[DragonmasterDan]

Vay isn't bad.

The music, scenery, atmosphere, story, and characters are coo as feck yo.

It's unbalanced and aggravating, the overall package is below average for a 16-bit RPG IMO.

[CrackTiger]

Vay isn't bad.

The music, scenery, atmosphere, story, and characters are coo as feck yo.

It's unbalanced and aggravating, the overall package is below average for a 16-bit RPG IMO.

I think that it's well in the above average category for 16-bit. Especially if you're going to judge games overall, where most SFC RPGs lack cutscenes, CD sound and variety in general.

[Duo_R]

So far the story of Vay seems more interesting than what I am getting now with Dragon Slayer

[Arkhan Asylum]

Vay isn't bad.

The music, scenery, atmosphere, story, and characters are coo as feck yo.

It's unbalanced and aggravating, the overall package is below average for a 16-bit RPG IMO.

*shrug*

I liked it enough to play it 3 times!

[Duo_R]

I think I want to give Vay another shot, been about 10 years now since I last finished it. I can still hear the battle music.

[CrackTiger]

So far the story of Vay seems more interesting than what I am getting now with Dragon Slayer

One of the things that hooked me into Vay right off the bat is that the hud reminds me of Dragon Slayer.

[Duo_R]

the battle system on Dragon Slayer rocks, I totally dig that, just the story hasn't really grabbed me and I am on Chapter 4. Hopefully it picks up.

So far the story of Vay seems more interesting than what I am getting now with Dragon Slayer

One of the things that hooked me into Vay right off the bat is that the hud reminds me of Dragon Slayer.

[arromdee]

I remember that Vay had some late game monsters (dragons I think) that were so tough to kill you could basically only run.  Killing one was as hard as killing a boss, but gave almost no experience.  There were some other monsters in the area you could easily kill with magic, so I suspect this was just an example of Working Designs rebalancing the difficulty poorly.

[DragonmasterDan]

I remember that Vay had some late game monsters (dragons I think) that were so tough to kill you could basically only run.  Killing one was as hard as killing a boss, but gave almost no experience.  There were some other monsters in the area you could easily kill with magic, so I suspect this was just an example of Working Designs rebalancing the difficulty poorly.

I remember having to do a lot of running and a ton of grinding.

[CrackTiger]

I remember that Vay had some late game monsters (dragons I think) that were so tough to kill you could basically only run.  Killing one was as hard as killing a boss, but gave almost no experience.  There were some other monsters in the area you could easily kill with magic, so I suspect this was just an example of Working Designs rebalancing the difficulty poorly.

Mysterious Song has this.

Except that the rewards actually make it worthwhile not to simply run.

[spenoza]

I will concur that in MS it is worth it.

[PikachuWarrior]

too bad Cosmic Fantasy 3 was never localised. This picture is from Cosmic Fantasy 2 in one of the later towns (future bit).


https://www.pcengine-fx.com/reviews/duomazov/cosmic-fantasy-2.html

[CrackTiger]

too bad Cosmic Fantasy 3 was never localised. This picture is from Cosmic Fantasy 2 in one of the later towns (future bit).

After playing through at least half of it, I'm not sure how popular Cosmic Fantasy 3 would have been. I think that it's a bigger shame that we never got Cosmic Fantasy 4, ideally with both Chapters together as a 2-disc set.

[spenoza]

Is Cosmic Fantasy 3 mechanically very similar to 2? As in broken?

[CrackTiger]

Is Cosmic Fantasy 3 mechanically very similar to 2? As in broken?

Not that I remember, but it's very different. There isn't as much of an overworld map, you walk around like an adventure game. Enemies are super over the top cartoons and the characters don't seem very memorable. The battles have black backgrounds and huge character portaits. The map bgs still make heavy use of that pointillism style. CF4 has top quality 16-bit visuals though.

[Arkhan Asylum]

I like CF3.  But I wouldn't go out of my way to play it any time soon.

It's cute though.   I like all the CF games.

CF1 is bitchin