CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

Are there any other good very long RPG's with gameplay like the tales series?

My brother and I just finished Symphonia and were looking at Legendia, but we're sorta... hesitant to get it because we don't think the story or the gameplay will be on par.

Don't know. But Neverwinter Nights is very good and long. I don't even enjoy RPG's generally and I enjoyed it.

Star Ocean: Till The End Of Time for The PS2.

Good story and characters ,with action gamplay like that of Symphoina.

Shia Kyosuka wrote:My brother and I just finished Symphonia and were looking at Legendia, but we're sorta... hesitant to get it because we don't think the story or the gameplay will be on par.

Legendia's story/character development is supposed to be better than Symphonia's actually, although the battle system/technical aspects/gameplay are a step down. That is what I've generally heard as I haven't played it currently.

But, regardless...
You could hunt up a copy of the PS1 Tales of Eternia/Tales of Destiny 2. Gameplay is quite good, but I found the story pretty weak.

The GBA port of Tales of Phantasia is being released in NA in a few days, if you have a GBA.

You could try the Star Ocean series. It's the closest series that is similar, although it has a number of differences.
It is considered somewhat of a "sister series" to Tales however.

Just a step down?

What is "a step down?"

I also have to give the nod to SO3 (aka Till The End of Time). I haven't *completely* finished the game; I still haven't beaten Freya and I only have like, 50%-55% of the Battle Trophies, but after finishing off Sphere 211 and the Ethereal Queen, I clocked appx. 86 hours. And that was the second time through the game. Everyone knows the second time through is quicker ^_^ But yeah, SO3 will keep you busy for a good amount of time.

Arc the Lad II in the Arc the Lad collection for PS1. If you transfer your save data over from Arc I...with all the side quests I've clocked over 120 hours into that game.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Arc the Lad a tactical/strategy RPG? The Tales and SO games are real-time combat.

Not that there shouldn't be love for SRPGs, but ...

Yeah, AtLII is a tactical/strategy RPG. But he didn't specify what type he wanted.

Well.. I said Gameplay like the Tales series.

I'd say I did specified what type by that... but...

I wish I knew what I'm supposed to take by "a step down".

I've watched a video showing the gameplay of Legendia... in what ways is Legendia's gameplay one step down...?

How about Super Mario RPG?

That one is way better.

And has Mario.

and it's not real-time combat.

Star Ocean: The Second Story, Star ocean 1 (if you have a SNES to import it), Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, Vagrant Story, Radiata Stories, and Donkey Kong Country for the SNES. I recommend all those.

(Don`t ask about the last one)

EDIT: All the ones but the last are REALLY real-time RPGs. I highly recommend Star ocean 2 unless you are a graphics nut, then get 3.
Or if you don`t have a Ps2 then I`ll forget you ever asked.

Shia Kyosuka wrote:I wish I knew what I'm supposed to take by "a step down".

I've watched a video showing the gameplay of Legendia... in what ways is Legendia's gameplay one step down...?

Sorry.
Allow me to clarify.

ToS used what is called the Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle System(ML-LMBS.)
It was the first Tales game to essentially simulate a 3d field.
Whenever you targeted an enemy in ToS, a line would form directly between the character you were using and that particular enemy. It also more easily allowed attacks to hit multiple opponents and enhanced things like area-effect spells.

ToL, on the other hand, uses the X-LMBS, Cross-Over Linear Motion Battle System. Instead of adding on to ToS's various 3d innovations, like Tales of the Abyss does, it takes it back to the more old-school 2d Tales games. As such, the battle system will feel much more simplistic compared to ToS.

Donkey Kong Country for the SNES.

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAnoHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!!

Please! Let me show you JUST how funny that was!

-_- <----- (look there)

Anyway, I've watched gameplay for the games you mentioned. Vagrant Story is horribly slow in battle, but Radiata looks ok.

Star Ocean looks ok, but... the voice acting is horrible.

For furure reference, please, keep the suggestions on modern gaming systems only. I'm not going to look for a PS1 game or an SNES game. I will only do that if the game is absolutely ground-breaking. Like FF7. (Don't debate, I think it's cool, that's where the FF7 rocks/sucks thing ends. So THERE!:P)

Sorry.
Allow me to clarify.

ToS used what is called the Multi-Line Linear Motion Battle System(ML-LMBS.)
It was the first Tales game to essentially simulate a 3d field.
Whenever you targeted an enemy in ToS, a line would form directly between the character you were using and that particular enemy. It also more easily allowed attacks to hit multiple opponents and enhanced things like area-effect spells.

ToL, on the other hand, uses the X-LMBS, Cross-Over Linear Motion Battle System. Instead of adding on to ToS's various 3d innovations, like Tales of the Abyss does, it takes it back to the more old-school 2d Tales games. As such, the battle system will feel much more simplistic compared to ToS.

Ok, Thanks. How's Tales of the Abyss?

I will totally agree that the VO in SO3 is pretty crappy. I think you can turn the voices to Japanese (I can't verify this because my SO3 game broke - that's right, the discs are broken in multiple pieces), but I might be confusing this with the NIS games. But, that's besides the point. The game is still pretty good for what it is.

But, speaking of NIS, if you can hunt down a copy of Disgaea or La Pucelle Tactics, those games are pretty good and will take a fair amount of time to finish. Those are both tactical RPGs, though.

everdred12a wrote:I will totally agree that the VO in SO3 is pretty crappy. I think you can turn the voices to Japanese (I can't verify this because my SO3 game broke - that's right, the discs are broken in multiple pieces), but I might be confusing this with the NIS games. But, that's besides the point. The game is still pretty good for what it is.

There is no Japanese audio option, but I believe you can mute all of the voices entirely. Although for the most part, I didn't mind the voices at all. Then again, I'm a huge dub fan, so w/e.

Shia Kyosuka wrote:AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAnoHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!!

Please! Let me show you JUST how funny that was!

-_- <----- (look there)

OOC: You made a comical statement at my expense and this isn`t the first time.
You just made a joke even crappier than I did so therefore:

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAnoHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA!!!!

Please! Let me show you JUST how funny that was!

<----- (look there)."

Look, I made a facial expression. Unlike this: -_-.

IC: Okay, Star Ocean 3. Ah, it`s so common for people to bash such a beautiful game and it`s awesome VAs.

If you can name a singel character with a voice that isn`t good enough for you to listen to, I`ll hear you out. And don`t use Quantestory as an example, because his voice was MEANT to be comical.

Tom, this topic is about trying to help Shia Kyo find a good RPG to play that will keep him occupied for awhile. Not the 'Let's dissect SO3 and point out it's faults' thread. No, Shia Kyo probably shouldn't have posted what he did about 'Let me show you just how funny that was', but that doesn't necessarily make it okay for you to retort to it. However, it wasn't on topic to begin with to post about DKC. As it stands, neither of you are in the right, so just stop arguing.

If there is an option to turn off the voice acting in SO, then I'm definently using it. heheh.

OH! Tales of the Abyss looks awesome! I can't find a video with battle gameplay footage, but I've read that it actually does add to the gameplay of Symphonia!
Not only that, but it's scores are so high!

Man... if only the game were on GameCube. Ah well, I'll get used to Tales on PS2.

^_^

Actually, I thought the voice acting in Star Ocean 3 was excellent. Except Farleen. Whoever cast Farleen should be shot in the face. But seriously, the voices are good.

If you turn off the voices, you'll miss Johnny Young Bosch doing an excellent job as Richard Traydor.

Tales of the Abyss was indeed made by the Symphonia team(whereas Legendia was made by some of the Soul Calibur guys.)
Whether Namco localizes it or not will likely depend on various factors.

Tales games have always been on Sony systems, excepting the first versions of Tales of Phantasia and Tales of Symphonia.
But the Gamecube ToS sold very badly for Namco in Japan, so they won't likely make any more Tales games for Nintendo consoles anytime soon. They are still fine with the handhelds however, as the upcoming DS Tales of the Tempest indicates.

As for SO3, I never have gotton why people complain about its voice acting. Aside from Farleen(a minor character who was only in a handful of scenes) and several characters who were too soft, I found it just fine. It had experienced people like Wendee Lee and Crispin Freeman doing the major characters anyway.

I have to throw in another vote for the Star Ocean series. =3

There is an option to turn off voices when you first start the SO3 game - if you miss the opportunity to do that, then there's a "skip event" option you can turn on and off that'll allow you to skip a scene and the voice acting. Or you know, you could always, like, hit the mute button. XD The music isn't that important anyways. And I suggest you skip the events in the Sphere 211 dungeon...Belzeber's voice is worse than Farleen's, if that's at all possible.

I can't remember the voice options in SO2, but I know there was no Japanese voice track, and I don't think you can turn off the voices, but overall there weren't very many characters with annoying voices - Precis being an exception, and also an optional party member. At any rate, the voices weren't a bother to me.

I don't know if you'd count this as real-time combat, but I really did enjoy the battle system in the Grandia series. It's sort of like...a mix between real-time and turn based, with characters running on the screen and stopping when you have to choose an action for them to preform.