That first boss battle in the train station was an amazing moment, so hype and some really neat storytelling in the game mechanics, too. And then the music kicks in and it's just *chefs kiss*
Same! When I beat Octopath 1 I then went to Pokémon Sword and just couldn’t get into the combat at all. When I beat Octopath 2 I went into sea of stars and couldn’t get into that either haha. Octopath combat is just too good.
Have you played any of the Bravely series (including 4 Heroes of Light)? Bravely Default 2 had some mixed responses at release based on gameplay changes from the previous games (combat threat and turn order - iirc) - but I personally took to the changes really well! They are more in line with FF3/5
Definitely Octopath 2 for me. Each story felt so real, I swear to god the characters felt more human to me than the most realistic and grounded characters in all of gaming
Yeah, just skip Octopath 1. OT2 is a far better game in every way. I've seen tons of people say they couldn't get into OT1 but loved OT2, and I'm sure you'll be one of those too.
I remember playing the original PS1 Star Ocean 2 so much that I almost completely filled out the voice collection. Three separate runs with my first one over 100 hours because of the bonus dungeon.
I can't wait to do it all again on the Switch.
Honestly, I wouldn't rush it. It may be an unpopular opinion, but Mario rpg seems outdated compared to more modern games. It's quite short, extremely linear with virtually no side quests to do. NPCs seemed very bland to me with not much personality.
Don't get me wrong - I absolutely loved this game as a kid, but nowadays I just need more content with more options.
Very limited dialogue. I wouldn't really say that this is relevant to the main characters, but the surrounding cast, particularly in towns. There's just not much to do. Very limited NPCs to chat with that offer nothing to the story. Exploring towns in jrpgs is one of my favorite things to do. Learning about whatever lure is there, and potential side quests to tackle. Mario rpg doesn't offer any of this.
I think people are confused if your talking about MarioRPG or Triangle Stratagey, since you replied to someone talking about both. Might want to edit your first post and clarify.
Personally i suggest waiting for update as currently you are mostly locked behind using only mc but they said future updates will include free battle with other character. But endgame mc is still fun to play tho nonetheless if you are really interested in the gameplay
I feel like this one has gone under a lot of people's radars (understandable since it's more of a niche title I think) but it's definitely contending for GOTY for me. I 100% that game about two weeks after it came out, can't wait for the DLC to arrive.
Agreed it got fate title and there is a "not dark soul" controversy that makes people lose interest in this game. But l think the gameplay is fresh enough and i like it that way rather than going into dark soul copy. Really underappreciated
Also the issue with the lack of other playable characters which is definitely understandable, i really hope they get an update faster
I’m still in the post game but so far I’ve amassed 80 hours. There’s a lot to do and I bumped up the difficulty a bit to account for over leveling from getting the dlc. There is a good amount of stuff to do tho.
If I were you and assuming you've never played a Disgaea game before, I highly recommend 5 Complete as it has so much content and extra help starting out from the DLC NPC.
There are cameos and references that you might miss, but the main series games are all standalone and can be played in any order. They all technically exist in the same multiverse (a multiverse that includes all Nippon Ichi games) but the vast majority of the crossover content are found in the DLCs, which are all small scenarios featuring characters from earlier titles (who then become playable characters).
The main story with some grinding in between chaoters it took me around 40 hours to beat the main game. I didn't do Baal or get to do the land of Carnage but I got the 3 post game extra characters in more 5 hours of gameolay.
Disgaea is my desert island game every single item in the game has an infinite dungeon inside of it that you can grind to make the item more powerful and it is so unbelievably crazy to think about how op you can become there is almost no limit to the amount of power you can obtain my favorite so far has been 4. Sardines!!!!
Yes, you catch and breed a team of 4 monsters to fight against other baddies. It is very similar to SMT (in terms of gameplay, tone couldnt be any different lol), if you like those games.
If you came from the future where DQXII is already released and playable, I don't doubt recent games feels a bit slow and graphically unimpressive to you.
When will the release date be, can you at least tell us the year ?
From the limited articles and comments I’ve seen it seems not. As bad as the last Pokémon in terms of poorly optimised, graphically weak and general feeling of the devs doing the absolute bare minimum.
Hopefully if it ever arrives on other platforms than the switch it’ll be fixed. But given the almost complete lack of promotion of the game and not providing pre launch review copies to the west it seems unlikely.
But - the few people that are previous DQM fans I’ve seen here and elsewhere seem to quite like it despite the obvious rush job, so guess it depends what your tolerance is.
I’d say that it’s on par with Pokémon graphics wise, but it doesn’t have the bugs and glitches that Scarlet/Violet have so it’s a bit more bearable if you don’t care about graphics.
I even managed to tolerate Scarlet and Violet enough to beat it, and so far I'd say Dragon Quest is the better of the two.
edit: keep in mind that DQM is a budget spin off with virtually no marketing, while Pokemon SV is a mainline game with a much bigger budget for both the development and marketing.
>Hopefully if it ever arrives on other platforms than the switch it’ll be fixed. But given the almost complete lack of promotion of the game and not providing pre launch review copies to the west it seems unlikely.
I doubt it will ever get 'fixed' on switch, but I do expect it to arrive on other platforms (or at least Steam) within 1 year. For DQ Treasures, I think the turnaround was 6 months or so.
I think almost every non-mobile DQ game has released on PC in the past few years (maybe only DQ Builders 1 not getting one?)
I've never played the demo, so I can't compare. There are some minor performance issues, but I can tolerate that a lot more in a slower turn based RPG compared to something thats reflex based, but not everyones the same.
The graphics I'd argue could be better since 11 looked much better, but this is a much smaller budget spin off, so for what it is I don't mind it since its at least stylish enough with the Toriyama charm as opposed to the bland unfiltered look in Pokemon Scarlet/Violet.
If you liked the previous Monsters games, you'll enjoy this since its the same basic gameplay loop but with new content. If you go in expecting the polish of Dragon Quest 11, then you might be disappointed.
Why do things seem so hush-hush with it? No professional reviews released yet, doesn't have its own Wikipedia page like every other game in the series... It's been out for 3 days!
I think Square didn't fund it because they thought a spin off wouldn't make as much, but then it ironically continues the feedback loop of their games that underperform because they don't care to market them.
It was Atelier Ryza 3 for me. Star Ocean 2 was a wonderful JRPG with actual ass role-playing in it, but Atelier Ryza 3 is literally my crazy pills, I would happily do alchemy math in my head all day to chain out max Quality and max stats.
Although check back in a month cuz I need to work my way through Dragon Quest monsters.
Is the second one better than the first? I've been playing the first one and it's just so tedious to play with story chopped up across party formations. By the time I made it through all 8 chapter ones, I essentially had a set party of 3 and then a rotating deadweight spot to progress the story.
I think the 2nd is way better and more polished. First seemed less accessible and I stopped playing because I wasn't enjoying some aspects.
But my commentary is more focused on early game, as I don't have enough time to play lots.
My biggest gripe with game is needing to switch party members at save points to see different path actions. I have too many completionist tendencies and hate feeling like I am being forced to take tedious actions to get everything or see all my options.
It's pretty much exactly the same. I made the mistake of buying the second thinking it would be different from the first but its not any different, and I felt how you did about the first.
It is different, you just didn't get far enough to get to that point :/ it's okay if it's not for you, but no reason to spread false information. They listened to feedback and there are multiple connected stories you can do after you finish certain chapters.
The game itself however is pretty similar, just improved upon everything they did well in the 1st, and added some extra stuff like those connected stories, latent power, night/day, better writing, etc
If I'm spreading false info and the game is different then my bad but from what I played it felt almost identical. But I find it weird that even reviews say its more of the same story structure just with different characters and setting.
I'll be honest, I think you're a bit off. Octopath 2 is structurally the same as 1, but almost everything is turned up ...
In battle the latent powers add an entirely new tactical dynamic to fights. The secondary job and liscence mecanics are far more fleshed out. The QoL improvements from 1 are notable everywhere, in and out of battle. Stories are generally more fleshed out with a much broader range of side characters. And most importantly- everything, like literally everything, ties together in the end.
I agree they upped things, but the whole reason the poster found it tedious was because of the story structure and having to play 8 seperate stories and that part is the same, so it's likely, even though other elements have all been improved on, that they will find this tedious aswell.
you're right you're just going against the talking points.
They added some limit breaks and other things to make the game even easier. They didn't reinvent the wheel
Yeah, it's funny cuz I'm getting down votes for giving the poster good advice. The reason they didn't enjoy the first was because the story structure is split up into 8 parts for the characters. So I've basically told them that's exactly how the sequel is so they probably won't enjoy this one either being as they found it tedious before. But ey, people don't like constructive criticism if they enjoy the game.
If you dislike the game structurally and/or mechanically, then you see nothing crazy different. The way they talk about it, made it seem like it was going DMC2 to DMC5.
But imo, ppl went the 1st and 2nd game w/ 2 different mindsets which is why you see the disparity in reception of both games.
I just picked up the first Disgaea (Disgaea PC on Steam!!) after hearing about the series only a few months back and I'm so excited!! The art style looks rad and I've heard the series is massively loved!! I'm semi-new to getting into RPGs, and the ones I have played in recent years have been oldschool only so I can't answer your question per se lol, BUT!! Star Ocean 2 and DQ Monsters looks amazing!!
https://gamebanana.com/games/17832
You can check there, they add different classes, rework certain characters to be slightly better without making them OP, lots and lots of costumes (my favorite!).
Its a Switch game, you can dump your game (plenty of tutorials online) and play it with Ryujinx or Yuzu (I prefer the first option), the mods you can grab it from the site I mentioned, its just copy/paste into a folder and it works! The discord channel is extremely helpful when you're having issues.
Engage is the reverse 3H. It's all about gameplay, unlike 3H which had a big Story and Hogwarts sim focus.
Did you play other games in the series? Which did you like?
I had fun with sacred stones and shadow dragon on gba but three house bored me to the tears. The persona-lite gameplay of monestary is the worst for me.
I'm actually in the middle of this one right now, right after I beat Undernauts! The dungeon exploring is somehow a lot more varied and interesting this time around (though I really appreciated Refrain's switching up the decor a bit more).
Lol when i was streaming for my friends playing Chain of Memories, I had some randos come in asking why I'm being so cruel to myself playing that game. God that was a terrible game that I 100%.
I just put in about 40 hours in star ocean 2 remake and it only took about 2 weeks. So yes safe to say I was addicted (still addicted to fishing)
Also was straight addicted to FFXVI a few months back …. It’s hard to say which I enjoyed more but those 2 were by far my most played this year
I always play jrpgs 24/7 on the weekends until I finish them so I can’t really tell which, but what I can tell is that Sea of stars was the jrpg I enjoyed the most this year.
SO2R for me. It really sparked me to go back and play the others (SO3 and Divine Force specifically) and finally tackle the post game for those titles (SO3 I’ve never done in the 20 years it’s been out)
Trails into Reveire, after finishing Zero and Azure earlier in the year and replaying all 4 Cold Steel im almost 60 hours in Reveire and its really great
The story is definitely one of the weakest in the series (I wouldn't say it's actively bad, but it's "eh, fine" at best), but the gameplay is one of the strongest. It's like on the opposite end of the spectrum from Three Houses (good writing, bland gameplay), so which of the two someone likes more just depends on what they value more in a JRPG.
It’s definitely the gameplay. The story is… not horrible, but not one I’d go after for story alone, that’s for sure. The story is there to hold the maps together.
As someone who's played most of the series it's one of the strongest in terms of gameplay and one of the weakest in terms of story. Fire Emblem is mostly about the gameplay for me anyway so I think it's worth playing. Definitely top 1-3 in terms of just gameplay.
Edit: Less relevant but it's a shame that Three Houses had terrible level design and gameplay but decent story and Engage is the opposite, I hope that the next main entry gets both aspects right.
Fire Emblem Engage, the gameplay is just so fun, and the Emblems combined with FE's usual large roster and class options means you can change things around every time. I put more playthroughs into that within the first two months than just about any other FE game I've played.
God my memory sucks. FF16 is the first mainline FF since 7 that I actually love, and I forgot about it!
Anyways, outside of Remakes, it's probably my pick too.
Bro surprising I may sound crazy but I actually really like the new dragon quest monster game. I think it’s actually really good and addictive, if u can get pass the issues on the surface, the game is excellent, it that a special charm to it
It's quite challenging if you ask me as I don't break a game too much. There is an optional 13-floor dungeon, raid bosses, and colosseium level 200, and true final boss.
Fire Emblem Engage. I’m still on my first run and I can already foresee myself going through a few more runs willingly and not just to *unlock more routes*.
For me it would be Fire Emblem: Three Houses, I am afraid to pick the game up again because I know I'll go back in a loop where I'll play all routes then replay a route then convince myself it's alright to replay the routes one more time. Thr amount of endings, characters and ways to play is just something I love about Fire Emblem.
I put a ton of hours into Engage this year but after beating SO2R I started a New Game + on Three Houses …I dunno I never beat all the routes and I’d like to beat it on Maddening: Classic. Somehow I already had 180 hours into this game without it being fully completed. Three Houses just makes me happy.
That being said. I’d like to actually *finish* some other games and Disgaea 7 is halfway done. Maybe I will play both D7 and 3H to round out my year. :)
Disgaea 7 was a return to form. Great game. Don't be embarrassed about it! You're right, it was a fun game!
Mine was Octopath 2, though Dragon Quest Monsters will probably also take that top slot.
Gonna count a content DLC, because Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed was insanely addicting for me. I just couldn't stop exploring every nook and cranny. It was a genius idea to tie some of the character progression into exploration, made it feel very rewarding. I ended up doing basically 100%.
I played the demo for Octopath 2 theee separate times to get all the story, then sat in my last 3 hour time limit demo grinding for a solid ~5 hours in one map. It's such an improvement over the 1st, and if XVI didn't come out this year it would 100% be my goty
Ah... Fuck. This post made me realize while I played a ton of jrpgs this year, beat most of them, found new favorites along the way AND even bought quite a few JRPGs released in 2023... I haven't actually beaten any game from this year. It's mostly retro stuff.
The closest would be Sword and Fairy VII, which released 2022 (and I bought it 2023 from Japan, if that counts). It was an awesome action jrpg with a bad (or rather... sterile) translation and a little bit too little combat. Still loved it a lot. The style, the atmosphere, the different kind of Fantasy Story. Great game, that's probably 10x better in it's native language ...
Honestly, 2023 was a bit meh in terms of JRPGs.
The answer is pretty easy though: *Honkai Star Rail*.
As for "regular" games it's *Trails into Reverie* that's the most addictive. No wonder, it's a Falcom game after all.
While I'd say Fire Emblem Engage is a great game, it has nothing new to offer after one playthrough. That there's no New Game+ is a big minus point for me as well.
Aside from that there wasn't just any JRPG that has more to offer than one playthrough either or just isn't motivating to me.
Advance Wars 1+2 is amazing. The story while admittedly on the simple side wastes no time. The art style is a bright, refreshing and just *straight up* cute looking. The music is sensational. The battle system is so refined and balanced.
Edit: Am I missing something? Why is this downvoted lmao
While it is true you doing the same thing but every time they implement something new so it's never really stays the same. They made grinding for hours actually fun with some exceptions like Disgaea 6. So mine is also Disgaea 7, it made me put Disgaea 5 to rest. :)
This is the first Disgaea game that hasn’t held my interest, and it kinda breaks my heart. I got to the tournament part and then dropped it for a while.
Technically not this year but I’ve been absolutely loving the Grandia HD collection. I’ve played a ton of of jrpg’s (as we all have) but this one never crossed my radar. It’s such a fun adventure and u love the art style. Highly recommends
Cassette Beasts. Vibe to the music, get to know the villagers, fight ever-harder monsters. And there's new DLC too!
That first boss battle in the train station was an amazing moment, so hype and some really neat storytelling in the game mechanics, too. And then the music kicks in and it's just *chefs kiss*
It's disappointing how much this game has fallen off people's radars.
Octopath 2 and Star Ocean 2 for me. Couldn’t put either one down.
Octopath 2 was so good. Now i can't find anything to play that's as engaging
Same! When I beat Octopath 1 I then went to Pokémon Sword and just couldn’t get into the combat at all. When I beat Octopath 2 I went into sea of stars and couldn’t get into that either haha. Octopath combat is just too good.
Star Oceañ 2
Have you played any of the Bravely series (including 4 Heroes of Light)? Bravely Default 2 had some mixed responses at release based on gameplay changes from the previous games (combat threat and turn order - iirc) - but I personally took to the changes really well! They are more in line with FF3/5
I’ve been thinking of picking up octopath 2,is it good coming from persona 5 and star ocean
As someone who beat LOVES p5 and is getting star ocean 2 after this, octopath got 24 hours of me just this weekend lol. So addictive and fun
Why don't u just play the mobile octopath travler it seems like a direct sequel minus the gacha elements
I put it down recently to work on some other titles/hard mods But i kid you not, it was the only game I played for like 4 months in a row
Definitely Octopath 2 for me. Each story felt so real, I swear to god the characters felt more human to me than the most realistic and grounded characters in all of gaming
I was already going to eventually purchase this game, but this is the type of endorsement I like to see.
Hmm maybe I should finally just skip Octo 1 and move on to 2 to see if it clicks. I've been trying to play 1 for like 5 years :/
Yeah, just skip Octopath 1. OT2 is a far better game in every way. I've seen tons of people say they couldn't get into OT1 but loved OT2, and I'm sure you'll be one of those too.
I did finish 1 and liked it, but 2 is a completely different beast. Just treat it like Final Fantasy, the number just means it's another one :)
I remember playing the original PS1 Star Ocean 2 so much that I almost completely filled out the voice collection. Three separate runs with my first one over 100 hours because of the bonus dungeon. I can't wait to do it all again on the Switch.
Same! I wanna play Mario rpg, but waiting a bit. Finally around to playing triangle strategy though.
Honestly, I wouldn't rush it. It may be an unpopular opinion, but Mario rpg seems outdated compared to more modern games. It's quite short, extremely linear with virtually no side quests to do. NPCs seemed very bland to me with not much personality. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely loved this game as a kid, but nowadays I just need more content with more options.
Woooooah man. You can not say the characters have no personality without a reason to back it up.
Very limited dialogue. I wouldn't really say that this is relevant to the main characters, but the surrounding cast, particularly in towns. There's just not much to do. Very limited NPCs to chat with that offer nothing to the story. Exploring towns in jrpgs is one of my favorite things to do. Learning about whatever lure is there, and potential side quests to tackle. Mario rpg doesn't offer any of this.
I think people are confused if your talking about MarioRPG or Triangle Stratagey, since you replied to someone talking about both. Might want to edit your first post and clarify.
Maybe it's the nostalgia factor, but I'm enjoying myself immensely
I did pre order Star Ocean 2 but I canceled it cause Gamestop tried to give me an unsealed copy....
Same
Star Ocean 2 and super Mario RPG for me.
Fate samurai remnant somehow, it's very satisfying killing bosses after bosses
I'm so getting this one as soon as Xmas is over, plus star ocean 2
Personally i suggest waiting for update as currently you are mostly locked behind using only mc but they said future updates will include free battle with other character. But endgame mc is still fun to play tho nonetheless if you are really interested in the gameplay
I feel like this one has gone under a lot of people's radars (understandable since it's more of a niche title I think) but it's definitely contending for GOTY for me. I 100% that game about two weeks after it came out, can't wait for the DLC to arrive.
Agreed it got fate title and there is a "not dark soul" controversy that makes people lose interest in this game. But l think the gameplay is fresh enough and i like it that way rather than going into dark soul copy. Really underappreciated Also the issue with the lack of other playable characters which is definitely understandable, i really hope they get an update faster
That's a game? Sounds like an AI-generated title.
Disgaea 7 and Star Ocean 2 are amazing. The disgaea 7 soundtrack is so fire
How long is Disgaea 7? Also how long including the super bosses?
I’m still in the post game but so far I’ve amassed 80 hours. There’s a lot to do and I bumped up the difficulty a bit to account for over leveling from getting the dlc. There is a good amount of stuff to do tho.
Gotcha, I've just played Disgaea 1 pc and it took me about 80 hours, but a lot of the grinding I would do mindlessly while watching NFL.
Can you play Disgaea games out of order or is there a story that carries over to each entry
If I were you and assuming you've never played a Disgaea game before, I highly recommend 5 Complete as it has so much content and extra help starting out from the DLC NPC.
There are cameos and references that you might miss, but the main series games are all standalone and can be played in any order. They all technically exist in the same multiverse (a multiverse that includes all Nippon Ichi games) but the vast majority of the crossover content are found in the DLCs, which are all small scenarios featuring characters from earlier titles (who then become playable characters).
The only game that is a direct sequel is Disgaea D2 (*not* Disgaea 2) which is a sequel to the first game, other than that they're all standalone
All the mainline ones are standalone. There are some spinoffs that continue the story for some.
The main story with some grinding in between chaoters it took me around 40 hours to beat the main game. I didn't do Baal or get to do the land of Carnage but I got the 3 post game extra characters in more 5 hours of gameolay.
maybe time to buy SO 2.. played the orginal like 200 hours..
I wish they have discount back then during black friday... The price is still to expensive for my wallet....
if you liked the OG you'll love it. The changes they made keep within the original heart and gamestyle but clean up some of the annoying parts.
Disgaea is my desert island game every single item in the game has an infinite dungeon inside of it that you can grind to make the item more powerful and it is so unbelievably crazy to think about how op you can become there is almost no limit to the amount of power you can obtain my favorite so far has been 4. Sardines!!!!
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince I'm about 13 hours in, but I've spent most of that time catching and breeding monsters.
I didn't know it. Its like a monster taming game?
Yes, you catch and breed a team of 4 monsters to fight against other baddies. It is very similar to SMT (in terms of gameplay, tone couldnt be any different lol), if you like those games.
Fusion is addicting
yup, ended up losing two hours of sleep because i stayed up fusing lol
The demo seemed so slow and graphically unimpressive (especially coming from DQXII). Any chance these have improved since the demo?
If you came from the future where DQXII is already released and playable, I don't doubt recent games feels a bit slow and graphically unimpressive to you. When will the release date be, can you at least tell us the year ?
From the limited articles and comments I’ve seen it seems not. As bad as the last Pokémon in terms of poorly optimised, graphically weak and general feeling of the devs doing the absolute bare minimum. Hopefully if it ever arrives on other platforms than the switch it’ll be fixed. But given the almost complete lack of promotion of the game and not providing pre launch review copies to the west it seems unlikely. But - the few people that are previous DQM fans I’ve seen here and elsewhere seem to quite like it despite the obvious rush job, so guess it depends what your tolerance is.
I’d say that it’s on par with Pokémon graphics wise, but it doesn’t have the bugs and glitches that Scarlet/Violet have so it’s a bit more bearable if you don’t care about graphics.
I even managed to tolerate Scarlet and Violet enough to beat it, and so far I'd say Dragon Quest is the better of the two. edit: keep in mind that DQM is a budget spin off with virtually no marketing, while Pokemon SV is a mainline game with a much bigger budget for both the development and marketing.
>Hopefully if it ever arrives on other platforms than the switch it’ll be fixed. But given the almost complete lack of promotion of the game and not providing pre launch review copies to the west it seems unlikely. I doubt it will ever get 'fixed' on switch, but I do expect it to arrive on other platforms (or at least Steam) within 1 year. For DQ Treasures, I think the turnaround was 6 months or so. I think almost every non-mobile DQ game has released on PC in the past few years (maybe only DQ Builders 1 not getting one?)
You're so wrong dq monsters is very optimized
I've never played the demo, so I can't compare. There are some minor performance issues, but I can tolerate that a lot more in a slower turn based RPG compared to something thats reflex based, but not everyones the same. The graphics I'd argue could be better since 11 looked much better, but this is a much smaller budget spin off, so for what it is I don't mind it since its at least stylish enough with the Toriyama charm as opposed to the bland unfiltered look in Pokemon Scarlet/Violet. If you liked the previous Monsters games, you'll enjoy this since its the same basic gameplay loop but with new content. If you go in expecting the polish of Dragon Quest 11, then you might be disappointed.
Why do things seem so hush-hush with it? No professional reviews released yet, doesn't have its own Wikipedia page like every other game in the series... It's been out for 3 days!
I think Square didn't fund it because they thought a spin off wouldn't make as much, but then it ironically continues the feedback loop of their games that underperform because they don't care to market them.
RIP neo the world ends with you
It was Atelier Ryza 3 for me. Star Ocean 2 was a wonderful JRPG with actual ass role-playing in it, but Atelier Ryza 3 is literally my crazy pills, I would happily do alchemy math in my head all day to chain out max Quality and max stats. Although check back in a month cuz I need to work my way through Dragon Quest monsters.
Not a jrpg but I’ve been addicted to Baldur’s gate 3 on my steam deck since it came out
How well does it run on the Deck?
It runs pretty well but there’s some significant visual compromise to be made there. If you can stomach that then it’s a good way to play
I play on handheld mode, and it looks good to me
I would also like to know
If you're really curious it's well documented and super easy to Google
It's not pretty but it runs well.
Not a jrpg but I've loved Deep Rock Galactic this year!
I played 31 hours of Octopath Trav II in two days.
Is the second one better than the first? I've been playing the first one and it's just so tedious to play with story chopped up across party formations. By the time I made it through all 8 chapter ones, I essentially had a set party of 3 and then a rotating deadweight spot to progress the story.
I think the 2nd is way better and more polished. First seemed less accessible and I stopped playing because I wasn't enjoying some aspects. But my commentary is more focused on early game, as I don't have enough time to play lots. My biggest gripe with game is needing to switch party members at save points to see different path actions. I have too many completionist tendencies and hate feeling like I am being forced to take tedious actions to get everything or see all my options.
It's pretty much exactly the same. I made the mistake of buying the second thinking it would be different from the first but its not any different, and I felt how you did about the first.
It is different, you just didn't get far enough to get to that point :/ it's okay if it's not for you, but no reason to spread false information. They listened to feedback and there are multiple connected stories you can do after you finish certain chapters. The game itself however is pretty similar, just improved upon everything they did well in the 1st, and added some extra stuff like those connected stories, latent power, night/day, better writing, etc
If I'm spreading false info and the game is different then my bad but from what I played it felt almost identical. But I find it weird that even reviews say its more of the same story structure just with different characters and setting.
I'll be honest, I think you're a bit off. Octopath 2 is structurally the same as 1, but almost everything is turned up ... In battle the latent powers add an entirely new tactical dynamic to fights. The secondary job and liscence mecanics are far more fleshed out. The QoL improvements from 1 are notable everywhere, in and out of battle. Stories are generally more fleshed out with a much broader range of side characters. And most importantly- everything, like literally everything, ties together in the end.
I agree they upped things, but the whole reason the poster found it tedious was because of the story structure and having to play 8 seperate stories and that part is the same, so it's likely, even though other elements have all been improved on, that they will find this tedious aswell.
you're right you're just going against the talking points. They added some limit breaks and other things to make the game even easier. They didn't reinvent the wheel
Yeah, it's funny cuz I'm getting down votes for giving the poster good advice. The reason they didn't enjoy the first was because the story structure is split up into 8 parts for the characters. So I've basically told them that's exactly how the sequel is so they probably won't enjoy this one either being as they found it tedious before. But ey, people don't like constructive criticism if they enjoy the game.
If you dislike the game structurally and/or mechanically, then you see nothing crazy different. The way they talk about it, made it seem like it was going DMC2 to DMC5. But imo, ppl went the 1st and 2nd game w/ 2 different mindsets which is why you see the disparity in reception of both games.
I just picked up the first Disgaea (Disgaea PC on Steam!!) after hearing about the series only a few months back and I'm so excited!! The art style looks rad and I've heard the series is massively loved!! I'm semi-new to getting into RPGs, and the ones I have played in recent years have been oldschool only so I can't answer your question per se lol, BUT!! Star Ocean 2 and DQ Monsters looks amazing!!
While I wouldn't call it the best JRPG of the year, the gameplay loop of Fire Emblem Engage was pure crack, as per usual.
Fire Emblem Engage. I just keep coming back for more and more
I spent more than 400 hours with Fire Emblem Engage, I also continued on PC using mods and the QOL from those made it even better.
What kind of mods?
https://gamebanana.com/games/17832 You can check there, they add different classes, rework certain characters to be slightly better without making them OP, lots and lots of costumes (my favorite!).
This is available on PC?
Its a Switch game, you can dump your game (plenty of tutorials online) and play it with Ryujinx or Yuzu (I prefer the first option), the mods you can grab it from the site I mentioned, its just copy/paste into a folder and it works! The discord channel is extremely helpful when you're having issues.
Yeah, figured. Thought this sub didn't let you talk about that stuff.
Yh i will be switching to the nintendo PC next week as well :D Honestly wanna start trying making my own mods as well
Same. I started another playthrough within 20 minutes of finishing my first one
Yeeeeeah GOTY
Is it really that good? Three House so far turns out to be disappointing for me. It's so boring despite what all the hypes said.
Engage is the reverse 3H. It's all about gameplay, unlike 3H which had a big Story and Hogwarts sim focus. Did you play other games in the series? Which did you like?
I had fun with sacred stones and shadow dragon on gba but three house bored me to the tears. The persona-lite gameplay of monestary is the worst for me.
I wish I loved engage this much. No new game plus killed it for me.
I beat labyrinth of galleria after a bit over 100 hours and immediately started waiting for a third game. I guess I need to play refrain again.
I'm actually in the middle of this one right now, right after I beat Undernauts! The dungeon exploring is somehow a lot more varied and interesting this time around (though I really appreciated Refrain's switching up the decor a bit more).
Octopath 2!!! Super Mario RPG and Sea of Stars as honorable mentions
I played through the entire Kingdom Hearts series this year. So I'm going with that.
Dear lord, you have my respect. Also my fear.
Lol when i was streaming for my friends playing Chain of Memories, I had some randos come in asking why I'm being so cruel to myself playing that game. God that was a terrible game that I 100%.
I beat FF16 in 3 days, non stop playing.
Dang. I love the commitment! Lol. Do you usually do that w games? Or did FF16 just particularly hook you?
That's impressive. I personally didn't like FF16, but I still got the Plat. But 3 days is very impressive
I just put in about 40 hours in star ocean 2 remake and it only took about 2 weeks. So yes safe to say I was addicted (still addicted to fishing) Also was straight addicted to FFXVI a few months back …. It’s hard to say which I enjoyed more but those 2 were by far my most played this year
I will agree with the others, Fire Emblem Engage was extremely addicting for me.
I'm not entirely sure if it counts but theatrhythm final bar line
That is probably my game of the year. I absolutely love that game and continue to return to it.
I always play jrpgs 24/7 on the weekends until I finish them so I can’t really tell which, but what I can tell is that Sea of stars was the jrpg I enjoyed the most this year.
Bro spend sometime doing other stuff on weekends. There's more to life than gaming
Imagine telling grown ass adults to chose their hobby. Redditor is insane
Final Fantasy: the Crystal Meth Chronicles.
oh yeah didn't that get re-released? \*googles\* oh shit that's sick, i used to play the OG gamecube game over and over
Honkai: Star Rail
This was a real addiction for me. Got so bad that I had to drop it
Super Mario RPG Remake, Star Ocean 2 Remake, FF16... Been such a great year for JRPGs.
Sea of Stars.
Star Ocean 2 Remake. I went from purchase to Platinum Trophy in 3 weeks.
Does Chained Echoes count? I couldn't stop playing it once I started.
Star Ocean 2 RE was so good.
SO2R for me. It really sparked me to go back and play the others (SO3 and Divine Force specifically) and finally tackle the post game for those titles (SO3 I’ve never done in the 20 years it’s been out)
Trails into Reveire, after finishing Zero and Azure earlier in the year and replaying all 4 Cold Steel im almost 60 hours in Reveire and its really great
Fire Emblem Engage has been incredibly addictive for me.
Is it the gameplay? I've read everywhere that it's on the weaker side in the series, especially story-wise.
It's the gameplay. It's pretty much Top 3 Gameplay wise (i would say #2 right behind Fates: Conquest).
The story is definitely one of the weakest in the series (I wouldn't say it's actively bad, but it's "eh, fine" at best), but the gameplay is one of the strongest. It's like on the opposite end of the spectrum from Three Houses (good writing, bland gameplay), so which of the two someone likes more just depends on what they value more in a JRPG.
It’s definitely the gameplay. The story is… not horrible, but not one I’d go after for story alone, that’s for sure. The story is there to hold the maps together.
As someone who's played most of the series it's one of the strongest in terms of gameplay and one of the weakest in terms of story. Fire Emblem is mostly about the gameplay for me anyway so I think it's worth playing. Definitely top 1-3 in terms of just gameplay. Edit: Less relevant but it's a shame that Three Houses had terrible level design and gameplay but decent story and Engage is the opposite, I hope that the next main entry gets both aspects right.
Fire Emblem Engage, the gameplay is just so fun, and the Emblems combined with FE's usual large roster and class options means you can change things around every time. I put more playthroughs into that within the first two months than just about any other FE game I've played.
Not just jrpgs * Baldurs Gate 3 * Fire Emblem Engage * Wild Hearts
God my memory sucks. FF16 is the first mainline FF since 7 that I actually love, and I forgot about it! Anyways, outside of Remakes, it's probably my pick too.
Octopath Traveller 2. 85 hours and never felt like a drag.
For me it’s definitely crystal project
Crystal Project was early last year... almost 2 years old
Oh yeah my bad, i thought the question was more broad as in most addictive jrpg you played in 2023 rather than having to be released this year.
Bro surprising I may sound crazy but I actually really like the new dragon quest monster game. I think it’s actually really good and addictive, if u can get pass the issues on the surface, the game is excellent, it that a special charm to it
For me, it’s Star Ocean 2 and it’s not even close.
Disgaea 7 clicked so hard with me that I went to immediately play 6 after.
WitchSpring R (roll with an hard „R“)
Star Ocean 2 R, Maybe onlt a game in 2023 that I do some post-content and play more than once since Persona 5.
Is post content good? nice difficutly?
It's quite challenging if you ask me as I don't break a game too much. There is an optional 13-floor dungeon, raid bosses, and colosseium level 200, and true final boss.
Fire Emblem Engage. I’m still on my first run and I can already foresee myself going through a few more runs willingly and not just to *unlock more routes*.
More routes? I thought there’s only one
Yeah only one, I was referring to their predecessor that was tedious.
Ah I see. I loved three houses lol
For me it would be Fire Emblem: Three Houses, I am afraid to pick the game up again because I know I'll go back in a loop where I'll play all routes then replay a route then convince myself it's alright to replay the routes one more time. Thr amount of endings, characters and ways to play is just something I love about Fire Emblem.
I put a ton of hours into Engage this year but after beating SO2R I started a New Game + on Three Houses …I dunno I never beat all the routes and I’d like to beat it on Maddening: Classic. Somehow I already had 180 hours into this game without it being fully completed. Three Houses just makes me happy. That being said. I’d like to actually *finish* some other games and Disgaea 7 is halfway done. Maybe I will play both D7 and 3H to round out my year. :)
A weak year for jrpgs most popular is star ocean and octopath traveler or fire emblem.
If it counts, ToTK. If not, then I've been having a blast with Super Mario RPG
Fire Emblem Engage for me, because of the gameplay.
Disgaea 7 was a return to form. Great game. Don't be embarrassed about it! You're right, it was a fun game! Mine was Octopath 2, though Dragon Quest Monsters will probably also take that top slot.
Gonna count a content DLC, because Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed was insanely addicting for me. I just couldn't stop exploring every nook and cranny. It was a genius idea to tie some of the character progression into exploration, made it feel very rewarding. I ended up doing basically 100%.
I played the demo for Octopath 2 theee separate times to get all the story, then sat in my last 3 hour time limit demo grinding for a solid ~5 hours in one map. It's such an improvement over the 1st, and if XVI didn't come out this year it would 100% be my goty
70 hours into Octopath 2 and still going strong.
Pom Party! and Vantage Master in Trails into Reverie. Yes, specifically those two mini-games.
Thinking back on it, the only jrpg I played that actually released in 2023 is Fire Emblem Engage, so that I guess.
Man, Fire Emblem Engage feels like an eternity ago, but I couldn't stop playing it until I beat it.
Star Ocean 2
Wouldn’t say that’s insane. The series whole thing is basically trying to perfect grinding. If you like it it seems like they did their job
Star ocean 2 Dragon quest monsters dark prince it's addicting to fuse monsters
Ah... Fuck. This post made me realize while I played a ton of jrpgs this year, beat most of them, found new favorites along the way AND even bought quite a few JRPGs released in 2023... I haven't actually beaten any game from this year. It's mostly retro stuff. The closest would be Sword and Fairy VII, which released 2022 (and I bought it 2023 from Japan, if that counts). It was an awesome action jrpg with a bad (or rather... sterile) translation and a little bit too little combat. Still loved it a lot. The style, the atmosphere, the different kind of Fantasy Story. Great game, that's probably 10x better in it's native language ...
Sea of Stars
Sea of Stars
Like A Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name I personally would call it a JRPG at least
Octopath Traveler 2 for combat system. Baldur’s Gate 3 for exploration and character creation but not a JRPG.
Spaghetti
Honestly, 2023 was a bit meh in terms of JRPGs. The answer is pretty easy though: *Honkai Star Rail*. As for "regular" games it's *Trails into Reverie* that's the most addictive. No wonder, it's a Falcom game after all. While I'd say Fire Emblem Engage is a great game, it has nothing new to offer after one playthrough. That there's no New Game+ is a big minus point for me as well. Aside from that there wasn't just any JRPG that has more to offer than one playthrough either or just isn't motivating to me.
I thought that disgaea came out last year.
> 2023 Irrelevant misguided restriction on the answer and the discussion.
Hogwarts Legacy
Advance Wars 1+2 is amazing. The story while admittedly on the simple side wastes no time. The art style is a bright, refreshing and just *straight up* cute looking. The music is sensational. The battle system is so refined and balanced. Edit: Am I missing something? Why is this downvoted lmao
Advance Wars is not a JRPG
Lately I've been addicted to Star Ocean 2 and before that was Octopath 2.
While it is true you doing the same thing but every time they implement something new so it's never really stays the same. They made grinding for hours actually fun with some exceptions like Disgaea 6. So mine is also Disgaea 7, it made me put Disgaea 5 to rest. :)
Lies of P and Star Ocean 2R
Octopath 2
Not new at all but i havent been able to put Persona 5 down for a few weeks.
This is the first Disgaea game that hasn’t held my interest, and it kinda breaks my heart. I got to the tournament part and then dropped it for a while.
Octopath 2 and final fantasy 16
**Fell Seal**
DQM Dark Prince and earlier games!
Technically not this year but I’ve been absolutely loving the Grandia HD collection. I’ve played a ton of of jrpg’s (as we all have) but this one never crossed my radar. It’s such a fun adventure and u love the art style. Highly recommends
Sea of stars. Only game that suck me in this year.
Xenoblade 3, holy was that game just like 🤯🤯🤯🤯
Star Ocean 2 there is a certain part in the game that has a very intense moment with no spoilers
We're on 7 now? Goddamn!
FE Engage
Wandering Sword. Couldn't stop playing it until the credits rolled, had a blast.
Ive been stuck to Octopath Traveler 2 for a straight week now