Lunar2 Ruining all other games for life?

[Alunissage]

Last Story is indeed awesome. And it does have a characteristic I closely associate with Lunar: a main party that has close bonds of friendship and trust, even though they (of course) bicker now and again. Granted, most of the time you're out talking to misc NPCs and such you only have the main character, rather than everyone else to make funny comments, but there's certainly enough interaction between them other times to establish their rapport.

...Oh. I already posted in this thread, saying pretty much the same thing, just shorter.

[Kaiya-Sky]

That game is so good its hard not to repeat yourself haha

[Leo]

It's the massive amount of text that makes it so amazing. Every NPC has at least two things to say and each time you progress (even slightly) in the story, a lot of those NPCs have new things to say. When you can backtrack to 3 towns ago and find that the NPCs still have new things to say, that adds an amazing level of depth.

[parappa]

I looked forward to Xenoblade Chronicles more than The Last Story, but after playing them both, I liked Last Story better. I didn't get swept up into the plot so much, but the characters are great, the dialogue is good, and the world is fun to explore. Xenoblade Chronicles was good too, but after a while the combat seemed to get really challenging and I forgot how to play it. (oops)

[LunarRaptor]

Secret of Mana easily beats them both.

[Old_School]

I'm of the opinion that JRPGs in general went downhill after the PSX generation. The last one I really liked was Ni No Kuni.

[TempestOne]

I think it's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of RPGs, in terms of videogames. There's so much to cover when it comes to videogame culture and especially within the RPG genre. You can't say you have played every single RPG game available, can you? Come on now. There are a lot more games in heaps if you want to backtrack some!

My personal favorite is Tetris. I was hooked on that when I was growing up like it was crack cocaine or some sort of heavy drug but I know we're talking about RPGs. Have you tried jumping into Grandia lore? It's made by the same people in Game Arts so the style should be right up your alley if in a LUNAR mood. My favorite part about it is the world they live in and you're bound to find a favorite character somewhere along the way. I'm in a world of my own in liking Breath of Fire so much. It's a good series and there aren't too many versions so skip around if needed. Speaking of a series, Final Fantasy? It annoys adults and that in itself is so worth playing it. I know it sounds dumb but the font they use for the SNES season both in the manual and on the box art inspired me to mostly write in free-hand as opposed to being oh, so computer literate. If you like love stories, you'll possibly, maybe get into Final Fantasy IV/II.

One videogame that's been on my mind a lot recently is Star Ocean the Second Story. It's on PS1. If you're into a good blend of Western style with Japanese-flavor, it'll be good for you. There's also the Revelations Series if you're looking for the flip-flop alternative option. Japanese style with some Western-flavor. It's a really looked over series of games that's kind of weird and quirky just like LUNAR.

[burn321]

The only RPG that I have come to love more than Lunar EB(C) is Valkyrie Profile. But I can pretty much tell you they have both equally ruined the RPG-playing experience for me. Funny as it is, before Lunar and VP, the only RPGs I had played before were Pokemon Yellow and Phantasy Star IV (I was 14 back then, I'm currently 24), I played a lot of RPGs after for PSone, I enjoyed them but none of them were as gratifying (?) as Lunar EBC. I don't understand why I talk in terms of gratification when it comes down to videogames, but, moving on... Little by little I cut down on playing RPGs and VGs in general, specially after I got a PS2, because regardles of how good a game was, or how much I enjoyed it, it really wasn't the same "thrill" as with Lunar EBC, or the "old school" jRPGS I played in my early teens... I still play a new game from time to time (last year I played FFX, after procrasting it for over decade), but must of the time, I just replay old RPGs on emulators...

Oh my god!!!! I read this and my heart skipped a beat, I. [cuss word]. Love. Valkyrie Profile. I love it so much it's so great. Obviously I love it for different reasons but yes. It's such a beautiful world, and the music and the battle system and the monsters and Armgrim and ugh *Collapses and dies from love* Such a good game. It's the only game that gave me hope because it was the first game I played after Lunar (Mind you there was about a 5 year gap of trying and giving up on games in between) that I fell in love with. Thank you from bringing that up lol

[burn321]

For me the games that have come close for me is Final Fantasy 9 (i've played that from start to finish more than any other game i've played, i've lost track of how many times) Tales of the Abyss (almost tied for as many play counts as Lunar 1 and 2) and The Last story, i just fell in love with that game, just everything about it love, it's one of my favorite games and i haven't even beat it yet. Sadly I only made it half way through, once i started working and didn't have the proper time to dedicate to it and really get into it, i took a break from it and haven't picked it up again yet, but i plan to start playing it soon and going to start over again from the beginning. Also not having enough alone time with my boyfriends tv (which he uses a computer monitor when hes home) stopped me from playing it, i liked having it on his big tv compared to my little thing. Another game series i love and give me the same feeling i get from when i play Lunar is the Atelier series. I know a lot of people would disagree with me and think those games aren't any what good, i must admit they have a few oddity's and wtf moments and characters, but just the story and the worlds the setting it's all magical to me, just like Lunar.

There are still great games, and Rpg's out there, their just few and far between now. To be honest i haven't been paying much attention to new games in that past couple of years, i did loose interest in what was coming out besides the few one i've just randomly hear about. But i still have faith that great games will come out, and It is hard for me to put any game before Lunar, but doesn't meant there isn't still a bunch of great games out there, and a bunch of them i still need to play.

I know, it's so heartbreaking. I scoured the Game Informer, I dug through the GameStops but nothing. RPGs and even more so JRPs seem to have completely fallen out of style and I'm so upset about it. The only chances are PS1 and Ps2, they seem to be the platforms that were in when JRPGs were good and fairly(ish) common. I'll have to try The Last story I saw it a couple times on the thread. Also I highly recommend you hook up your PS2 and get slamming on Tales of the Abyss, it is the first game to rival Lunar, on all the same levels of Lunar. Characters, music, battle system, art, exploration, storyline, wit, humor, strategy, even just sheer length. It has made me cry as Lunar did, it made me laugh as hard as Lunar did, bosses pissed me off like Lunar did, the game was challenging without being Bat-Crap [cuss word]-ing insane. I definitely enjoy the Tales series, but as Abyss popped my cherry it will always have a special place in my heart and I will one day force it upon my poor unsuspecting child and then they will grow up wishing games were as good as these games were. That seems cruel maybe I won't. Haha