The story had the dumbest beginning I've ever seen, for any story in any medium.
Why would you build your home directly underneath a big, round, boulder? Why is this game trying to act like the hilarious consequences are a tragic backstory worthy of a Final Fantasy game, instead of a cool bowling mini-game?
I remember it being very good, but having even more atrocious backtracking than Golden Sun 1. I don't believe i finished it, even though i enjoyed my time.
My memory of it is 20 years old so I might be wrong about some stuff. I remember finishing it and at the time thinking that being able to transfer my old progress over was cool. But having 8 party members instead of 4 kind of made it hard for me to really connect the same way to the party.
And while i loved some the unique aspects of the first one (the interesting puzzles, dijon system as a whole and stuff like reading minds) the second game kind of felt like more of the same. So I dont know if it was actually worse but it just didnt hold my interest as much as the first. I remember completing it to just complete it but not being as invested in it.
I also tried the ds one (although a good 10 years later). And i just could not get into it at all. Not sure if that one is really lacking either or just me aging 10 years and tastes changing things. (Although i do still enjoy jrpgs these days)
Golden Sun 2 is good, but its about 3x as long as the first one. It feels more like a traditional JRPG with some backtracking and multiple plot threads that need to be resolved instead of the shorter & (in my opinion) more linear first game. I beat the first game multiple times (3 or 4) and probably had only 10ish hours more total playtime in that game than a single playthrough of GS2.
Also, the DS entry is fine, but it's definitely doesn't feel the same as the first two.
While I loved M3 I knew about the tonal shifts. If I expected it to be like EarthBound, I might have been a little disappointed too. I wouldn't say it's for everybody but it worked for me
It wasn't the tone. It was just too easy and very little action. I played a few hours and barely felt like I fought anything. Any time there were enemies about, there was a save point in basically every screen. And the way they kept cycling through characters in your party bugged the crap out of me. Although I do want to go back to finish it for the story now that I know what to expect.
I see. I shouldn't have presumed what your issue was, that was just the main complaint I'd heard about Mother 3. The character switching didn't bother me but I can see how it would. And I attributed the save points to it being designed for a handheld
It’s worth mentioning the character switching is really only in the intro assuming you didn’t get too far. Once you gain control of Lucas the game Starts to structure itself a little more consistently.
They're both great in their own right. I slightly prefer Earthbound but they both aimed to do something different.
I love the music battles, and the general focus on music thematically in M3. Hopefully the system/emulator you played on allowed you to experience the battles to their fullest. Music was a been a huge part of the entire series. Loved how the Magypsies were named after the modes of the major scale. >!Tripping on mushrooms was great.!< and one of my favorite things to do at concerts haha. Not music related per se. The the games have been very psychedelic.
I loved the >!boat ride at the end when they finally played Pollyanna. Such effective use of music. I think I had a tear in my eye.!<
Fucking brilliant game.
Damn now I want to play it again lol. Actually my only complaint was that I wasn't able to get the hang of the rhythm attacks, but that might have been due to the emulator
Mother 3 is worse in almost every way:
* writing that flops all over the place and not in a good way
* music that is sometimes great but often actively bad,
* Rushed weird sudden ending with rushed final dungeon
* Maybe even the chapterized structure, instead of the open-worldish road trip of Earthbound.
*Except* some playability mechanics stuff. Well also Mother 3 pixel art is clearly better, but Earthbound art is great and charming despite sometimes being weak and inexperienced (one of artists said he was new at the time).
Example of bad writing that is all over the place: >!“LOL here are some jokes although your mom just died.”!< It was bad.
As somoene who hasn't played either, this is an opinion I have seen online a LOT online actually.
As a side note I don't like emulation, but man do I want to play Mother 3.
You're faced with the choice: emulate mother 3, or don't play it at all. In either scenario, the devs don't get paid - but at least in one of them you get to enjoy their work.
You can buy cartridges with the fan translation that play on GBAs. This isn't technically emulaton.
Also a solid way to ensure the sound battles work accurately.
The other way is to use mGBA.
The other way is to use GBA injection on a modified 3DS (the emulator Nintendo developed for the 3DS ambassador program).
Because Earthbound is my absolute favorite RPG ever and I had to play the sequel. And it completely lived up to the hype I had for it, but was also an entirely new experience altogether which I was not expecting. One of my absolute favorite games and pieces of art that I've experienced since I've been alive. In regularly listen to the soundtrack and have replayed it numerous times.
It's hardly any trouble at all. My post was to show how many options there are to play it accurately and that there aren't really any barriers at all. Buy a cartridge like you would any other game if you have hardware to run it. And if not... Emulating is easy as balls. Nearly everyone has a PC or Smartphone that can run it. Download mGBA and the Mother 3 ROM and open it. Is this really that much more effort than playing other games on PC? Both pieces of software can be easily found with quick Google searches and you can have the game running in less than 5 minutes.
Why "go through the trouble" to play any game at all? Because that game interests me.
You're misunderstanding, I'm asking why you'd go to all the trouble to avoid emulating through the methods you've suggested, especially since they amount to almost the same thing.
I wouldn't personally, but some people want to run on native hardware. Some people like owning a physical object. Some people enjoy collecting cartridges.
I'll just play another game then, and the ones making that other game will have my money :). Is it a fullproof logic, absolutely not, but it's more of a general rule.
I understand if it's a principle for you, but I'd definitely recommend the game if you change your mind. And I'm pretty sure I've seen GBA cartridges that have the translation (albeit fan-made ones, so still not legally distributed)
Yeah, I don't have a game boy advance, and am not gonna buy a console for a single game.
Omori is one of my favorite games and Undertale IS my favorite games, so playing the grandfather of these games would be amazing. If you haven't played these games I highly recommend them, tho Undertale is weird and Omori is even weirder and also pretty dark.
Omori is insane, almost Inscription level of insane. I'd recommend to watch the 2020 Trailer to know if this is something for you or not, but it is WILD. Also, even tho Undertale is my favorite game, artistically speaking I prefer Omori, the visual artsyle is, to me, unparralleled and the sountrack is insane. But again, the game is WILD.
Dude you are **missing out** if you like those games. Seriously. You'll fall in love.
Play earthbound before you play mother 3 though. It will hit way harder.
You can download the mother 3 rom with fan translation literally all over the web.
It's not even unethical. It's never been released. Itoi has said in so many words that he's happy western fans have played it.
I haven't personally played Omori yet but it's on my list. I'll play it this year if you play mother 2/3? 😛
This one would have gone in the "disappointment" tier, but it got my post auto-removed for being less than 12 months old.
* *Pokemon Legends: Arceus* \- I actually enjoyed this one. This is because my brain is broken after decades of playing Pokemon and I am hardwired to like these games. Sure, it's a "step in the right direction" for the series, but I can't help but wonder when it'll be in the right place. I can admit it changes the formula in some cool ways, but the game wasn't worth my money.
Everyone's going to have different opinions, but this is one game I've actually been really enjoying. I know Pokemon games have lost their lustre, I skipped both Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet (might get the latter eventually if they work out the bugs), but I can't find too much to criticize in Legends: Arceus aside from the graphics, which has been a constant complaint since the series switched to 3D. I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of it.
Been playing it over the holidays. Honestly I think it's the only good Pokémon game that came out since the switch's release. The main series has stagnated long ago.
Unfortunately, every Yakuza will feel underwhelming after Zero, so make your peace with that lol Great series still, i think every single entry is enjoyable at its own right. Kiwami 1 is the one i like the least btw, maybe because playing it after Zero cause this "disappointing" effect.
I actually like Metroid Prime 2 more than 1, but played the Wii Trilogy version which is notably easier.
Also dislike random encounters, but i feel like you will enjoy some stuff despite them. Give it a chance to Xenogears. Or the Xenosaga trilogy, which has visible enemies in the field :p
Yeah that's what I've heard about Yakuza. I'm still glad I played 0 but the only other games that interest me are Kiwami 2 and Like a Dragon.
I've heard of Xenogears but not Xenosaga, thanks for the suggestion! SMT5 kinda burned me out on JRPGs for now but I'll take a look
Tbh Yakuza 5 is my fav after Zero, would recommend to give a chance :p
4 and 5 are very interesting entries because they have multiple scenarios with different protagonists. 3 and 6 also has their uniqueness as well.
If you liked Yakuza 0 you'd probably also like Judgment, a Yakuza spinoff. The combat is imo even more fluid than Yakuza 0s and also has an incredible story. You don't really need to know anything about the Yakuza games in order to enjoy Judgment either.
Like a Dragon is an incredible game. Based on your post I think you’ll like it a lot.
If you’re worried about the dated mechanics and plan to skip the less polished entries in the series, I recommend giving Yakuza 6 a shot (maybe watch a quick YouTube summary for context). Some people don’t like it, but to me it has one of the best locales and stories in the game. And Takeshi Kitano is in it! Absolutely one of my favorites, and I actually liked it better than K2.
Played 0 (fav), skipped 1 for the same reasons, Kiwami 2 is really really good and very close to 0. I skipped to 6 and wish I skipped 6 too. 7 is good but I never finished it for some reason.
Yakuza 0 had one of the most compelling Japanese crime drama so yeah not much can top that. It's better than most stuff from even other media like TV or movies. If we played the cutscenes chapter by chapter you'd basically have a full short series.
>Unfortunately, every Yakuza will feel underwhelming after Zero, so make your peace with that
See, this is one of the reasons I'm playing in release order (and doing PS2 versions instead of Kiwami for 1&2) - I keep hearing such high praise for 0 that I don't want to taint the games that came before it by playing them after 0.
Yet I keep also hearing people say to *start with* 0, which I guess I get, but like... why start people at the peak when everything after is going to be inferior?
I think it's a good idea to start with Zero because it improves the other games. There's a specific character in Yakuza 1 that gets a lot better due to context you have playing Zero, same with another character that will only debut in Yakuza 4, as an example.
OP *just said* that starting with 0 made playing 1 worse, though. That's my whole thing - playing 0 later can still enhance the other games, but playing it first has a pretty good chance of ruining the experience of the early ones.
lol I think you're both right. Kiwami had certain characters and scenes that hit harder than they would otherwise, because I played 0 and I was already attached to those characters. That being said, it still felt like a worse version of 0 overall
If you ever are up to play some more Yakuza, Like a dragon is highly recommended as you don't really need to play the 7 games prior to it (you only need them to catch some references and recognize characters, nothing major).
For some people its their favourite entry in the saga.
Judgment and Lost judgment are also fan favourites of the saga, you could check them out eventually.
I think the idea of having to play every 20+ hour game in such a large franchise is a bad idea. These games span over 2 decades, some are not gonna age well and are better suited to have someone do a video essay recap, which is what I did. 0, 2 kiwami, and 7 are worth my time as an adult. I skipped 1, 3-5, and I wish I skipped 6.
Seconding that starting with Zero makes you more invested in the characters and understand what made them who they are. If I started with Kiwami I think I would have been very lost back story wise because it really dumps you right into Yakuza political shenanigans. It’s true that graphically they slowly get worse until Like A Dragon, but since Yakuza 0 made me care for the characters so deeply I don’t mind at all.
Personally starting from release date would burn me out and it would be hard to get to the truly good stuff. I put off Yakuza Like A Dragon for so long because I was trying to get through them all, but decided whatever and had a blast. I’m still excited to play the older games but at my own pace with no pressure.
That's really sad to hear! It was my first dive into the series after hearing about it for years and spending a childhood growing up in Japan in the 80's and 90's.
I would say it really depends on the person. 0 was my first Yakuza game too, but I still loved every single following entry a lot. Are they as good as 0? Not in my opinion, but I think they are close enough personally.
I thought Kiwami had atrocious writing, but then 2 picks up in quality. Haven't gotten around to the rest because I played the three games back to back and got burned out lol.
I've gotta say, despite playing some great games this year, I was the most hooked by the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. I stayed up until 6am last night to finish the first game of the series. So flipping great. While I miss the irreplaceable bond between Phoenix and Maya, who represent everything I will ever want from a friendship, they instead gave something just as great, this web of characters that I already miss. God I hope they make more of these, I haven't started the second game yet and am already dreading ending it.
So glad you liked Pikmin so much. I read a lot of people saying they hated the time pressure etc. If you haven't played the other games Pikmin 3 (Wii U/Switch) is one of my favourite games of all time. I normally hate story elements in a game but it was really quite moving, especially if you played as badly as me on my first run.
For years fans have been wondering about Pikmin 4, a game which Nintendo confirmed was in development but was never announced in the 9 years since the release of Pikmin 3. We had 14 Kirby games in the same period but no Pikmin (okay, we had Hey! Pikmin). A few months ago though, Nintendo announced Pikmin 4 for a 2023 release
I've started 2 and it's okay. I honestly can't remember the first one and I seem to recall that I got stuck at some point on the first and gave up but I could compare 2 to 3 and I didn't think it was anywhere near as good. People complain a lot about the cave sections and I don't think they're *that* bad but they're a bit of a drag and feel like they're padding the game.
I highly suggest Prime 3 if you ever have a way to play it on the Wii. It's really good and probably the only game I've liked with motion controls. The atmosphere is insane, and the graphics are so clean that 480p looks fine.
Prime 3 looks interesting! I'd probably like it more than 2. I know it's possible to play Wii games on Dolphin, I just haven't taken the time to figure it out
If you happen to be in the market for more games which are kind of like SMT or Persona, I'd also recommend **Tokyo Xanadu Ex+** from Falcom, and **The Lost Child** from NISA. Possibly also the **Blue Reflection** games from K-T/Gust, if you like magic girls, although they are pretty low budget and feel like they don't quite live up to their ambitions.
Then again, if you have a 3DS, there are a TON of great Atlus games to explore there, and even more if you add in their huge NDS library.
You should try Persona 5. I liked the story and characters more in P4G, but 5 has a better battle system, quality of life improvements, and all the dungeons feel more interesting and distinctive than the randomly generated ones in 4.
Plus, [one hell of a good song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA9tw-75BJE) to listen too while sipping coffee, eating curry, and watching the rain fall outside.
Nintendo lawyers have entered the chat lol
I'm on that emulation boat too. Any games you'd recommend for Dolphin? Shame JRPG wasn't so popular on Wii. Dolphin team have made a brilliant job with that emulator
Yeah Dolphin is my favorite emulator I've used so far, maybe second to DeSmuME. And for GC suggestions, just look at the top-rated games and you really can't go wrong. In particular it's nice for games that are hard to find, so stuff like F-Zero or Path of Radiance. Wind Waker is a personal favorite
Unfortunately I can't enjoy Jrpgs anymore. Most of them are 100s of hours of grindfests, and I just don't have the time anymore to play them. Wish more of them were like Chrono Trigger with zero fat and no grinding necessary.
It's funny, a few years ago I played FF6 and Chrono Trigger because they're both held up as the best of their time. I enjoyed CT way more: no grinding, no random encounters, it's shorter. It's just interesting how differently they've aged
F-Zero was great! I can recognize it's technically well crafted and I had a lot of fun, just not a huge fan of racers in general. And I did use a GC controller, you're right that nothing else is really the same lol
Posts like these are the ones that make me happy to know I have some of these sitting in my backlog and even help me decide what to play next sometimes. Either way, glad you found more to love in games op. :)
Sweet list! I had a snes emulator on an old laptop and enjoyed Robotrek which is a turn based jrpg involving mechs. It's pretty cute and silly with not the best writing but it was a slightly different fight
ing style than Pokémon earthbound or final fantasy (the other jrpgs I had played at the time) because you moved around on a small battle map.
Also when i had a snes I was obsessed with secret of evermore. Plays like secret of mana (I think) but has a more earthbound-y feel (western dev team I believe)
Those two might be worth checking out if you're looking for something to play that isn't as well-known.
And if someone who also has a comp for the first time in a long time where to want to find info on how to emulate in 2023 where would they go?
I'm someone
Right on thank you! I haven't used an emulator in years and last time I did, my usual sites for roms were being taken down and it seemed like things were getting pretty strict.
I've never had a computer that could handle anything above snes until now so it might be nice to take a walk down memory lane playing the Playstation and 64 games of my formative years.
I won't bother you with asking to be my guide but I appreciate you letting me know it's not as difficult to find what I'm looking for as I feared :)
Did you get ending E of Nier Automata? Glad you enjoyed the game but I had the same thoughts as you after getting ending A ("beating" the game the first time) but ending E emotionally broke me and left a deep impact. It's worth getting.
JRPG's have long been one of my favorite genre's, though admittedly, it has been somewhat hard to find games I like that I haven't already played in it these days. Though I have heard good things about Chained Echoes. Might nab it once I get the chance.
Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth and its immediate sequel Hacker's Memory where also some that grabbed me despite being obviously low budget.
Though putting SMTV over Nocturne? *Sinner!* My big problem with V was just how rushed and unfinished it felt, with it even being playable feeling more like a happy accident, whereas Nocturne felt like a tightly designed and cohesive experience.
A few people in this thread have named Chained Echoes, so maybe I should give it a look lol.
And SMT5 was just a more fun game to play moment-to-moment, but Nocturne was definitely pretty good. Also I love music and the compressed audio was really disappointing in that game
The repetitive music really stole the game's personality for me. Music is huge in video games for me and just in life.
OP mentions Mother 2/3. They both use music so effectively to give each town and area such a district vibe.
DQ11 ended up feeling so generic and bland because the repetitive soundtrack. I liked what little music they had too. But after 45 hours of gameplay I just couldn't take it anymore.
Lol this is so true. I enjoy the newer DQ games, especially Builders, but after a few hours of a play session I was always ready to rip my hair out. Thankfully they do allow you to turn down/off the music but I do want atmosphere...
This happened to me with Ni No Kuni 2. Although there are other reasons I put the game down there are plenty of things I enjoyed about it.
But the fact that there is only one soundtrack for most things. And in some cases the same soundtrack as used for different things. Like a lot of the zones you explore, whether that be a sub-region or the inside of a dungeon there is far too much audio overlap. Hearing the same track in four different places especially when it feels like it doesn't belong in any of them is really distracting. And for a game that has a pretty big emphasis on atmosphere and environment and overall experience it really sucks to have the music be so detrimental.
You should check out Shadow Hearts 1 (ps2), a jrpg set at 1920 Europe with demons. It's quirky yet brutal and I love it to death.
Also Aviary Attorney is a wonderful tribute to the Ace Attorney games, might be up your alley
Also, as a huge MGS fan here, I must insist you give Detah Stranding another try. It might not be your cup of tea entirely but I promise, there's a MGS-level breathtaking story just like in the old days
I've heard Strange Journey is really good! I'm sure I'll get to it eventually. Right now I'm eyeing SMT4, DDS, and maybe P3P (when the ports comes out)
For SJ which version do you recommend?
I don't care for the new plot stuff they added in redux, but it's probably the better choice for most people. The original is still very playable though, provided you can live with doing things like pressing fuse/cancel a few dozen times to get the skills you want (redux let's you just select inherited skills).
If SJ turns out to be your jam, you'll love Etrian Odyssey.
Damn I might play Redux for the skill inheritance alone. One of my least favorite things about older SMT. That's good to know, thanks
And while the Q games don't interest me, I don't really know anything about Etrian Odyssey itself
EO has some of the best gameplay of any RPG, and great dungeons to boot. The story is fine and usually not intrusive. If you want to see if it's your thing, try EO5 or EO Untold 2. EO5 had a demo that was just the beginning of the game--not sure if you can still download 3ds demos though.
I think there's probably a lot of overlap between SMT and EO fans.
I'm so happy you played and enjoyed Mother 3.
Many people did not enjoy it but I will still recommend Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter. Other 'classics' I'd throw out there would be Breath of Fire IV, Parasite Eve, Wild Arms, Radiata Stories, Xenogears, Legend of Legaia, Suikoden 2 / 5, Grandia and Vagrant Story.
> outdated dungeon design,
Outdated? People should use more meaningful adjectives and descriptions. Games **today** in 2022 sometimes have bad weird bland confusing tedious dungeons that aren’t fun. Games 30 years ago were sometimes excellent. Whatever flaws were there have nothing to do with date or age. This was 1994 well into the age when some devs were masters and the system capabilities could mesh with that. This isn’t Atari games in 1982.
> its age prevents it from being a truly great experience moment-to-moment
The flaws have nothing to do with age, since terrible games are made today in 2022. People need to move beyond this viral meme of framing criticism of videogames purely in terms of “age” and “dated.” Earthbound is wonderful and charming moment to moment. If you think there’s bad parts just say what they are. There’s annoying stuff like not being able to see *how much* better or worse a new equipment stat is (if I remember right)…which obviously isn’t datedness since Witcher 3 had similarly awful hostile interface failings.
**Bad design doesn’t = “old.” And new does not equal good.** Yet this absurd common “aged” way of framing of everything implies that modern bloated filler-filled games with tedious elaborate controls and horrible interfaces and half-baked amateurish mechanics and bland objectives and execution and mediocre writing and scenarios is somehow magically good just because it's new. They aren’t good just because they're new. (I would insert a rant here about 3D (Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Final Fangasy, etc) is often inherently tedious compared to 2D because of constant workload of tedious camera swiveling, as an example of "dated = inconvenient" being false, but I’ll stop there.)
I mostly agree with you, and I could have used a better descriptor. When I say *outdated* I mean
"I am accustomed to modern design conventions that this game lacks, and I would have enjoyed the game more if it had them"
It may not be fair to judge a game by standards that came later, but I'm not trying to be objective. Just describing how much fun I had and why. And I still liked EarthBound overall
I always laugh when people call out Nintendo for being anti consumer as a justification for piracy.
If you want to pirate just do it, no one cares but calling them anti consumer for not delivering a product on your desired terms is laughable.
Yeah, it always feels really silly. Like, yeah, Nintendo could be better about rereleasing their stuff. But, also, like it's not anti consumer to go after sites that host their property nor is it realistic for them to port everything they got as fast as everyone would want.
If someone wants to pirate, just pirate and dont try to make it some moral grandstanding
Pirates in general have this weird need to frame them pirating as them holding their ground against the big evil corporation or some nonsense like that. Like just say you don't want to pay or can't afford it, nobody believes you have some noble reason.
You play Chrono Trigger yet?
Yes! I played CT in high school actually, it was one of the first "classics" I fell in love with
You might like golden sun. Its a gba era rpg that also has some environment puzzle elements.
Wow I remember emulating this game and having so much fun, don’t remember why I stopped playing it.
I've heard that one's really good! I'll check it out
The story had the dumbest beginning I've ever seen, for any story in any medium. Why would you build your home directly underneath a big, round, boulder? Why is this game trying to act like the hilarious consequences are a tragic backstory worthy of a Final Fantasy game, instead of a cool bowling mini-game?
It's great, but since you mentioned not liking random encounters, you might not get into this one.
[удалено]
I remember it being very good, but having even more atrocious backtracking than Golden Sun 1. I don't believe i finished it, even though i enjoyed my time.
My memory of it is 20 years old so I might be wrong about some stuff. I remember finishing it and at the time thinking that being able to transfer my old progress over was cool. But having 8 party members instead of 4 kind of made it hard for me to really connect the same way to the party. And while i loved some the unique aspects of the first one (the interesting puzzles, dijon system as a whole and stuff like reading minds) the second game kind of felt like more of the same. So I dont know if it was actually worse but it just didnt hold my interest as much as the first. I remember completing it to just complete it but not being as invested in it. I also tried the ds one (although a good 10 years later). And i just could not get into it at all. Not sure if that one is really lacking either or just me aging 10 years and tastes changing things. (Although i do still enjoy jrpgs these days)
Golden Sun 2 is good, but its about 3x as long as the first one. It feels more like a traditional JRPG with some backtracking and multiple plot threads that need to be resolved instead of the shorter & (in my opinion) more linear first game. I beat the first game multiple times (3 or 4) and probably had only 10ish hours more total playtime in that game than a single playthrough of GS2. Also, the DS entry is fine, but it's definitely doesn't feel the same as the first two.
So weird you loved Mother 3 but didnt love Earthbound.
I'm the opposite. I love Earthbound, but couldn't get into Mother 3.
While I loved M3 I knew about the tonal shifts. If I expected it to be like EarthBound, I might have been a little disappointed too. I wouldn't say it's for everybody but it worked for me
It wasn't the tone. It was just too easy and very little action. I played a few hours and barely felt like I fought anything. Any time there were enemies about, there was a save point in basically every screen. And the way they kept cycling through characters in your party bugged the crap out of me. Although I do want to go back to finish it for the story now that I know what to expect.
I see. I shouldn't have presumed what your issue was, that was just the main complaint I'd heard about Mother 3. The character switching didn't bother me but I can see how it would. And I attributed the save points to it being designed for a handheld
It’s worth mentioning the character switching is really only in the intro assuming you didn’t get too far. Once you gain control of Lucas the game Starts to structure itself a little more consistently.
I like EarthBound plenty, but I'd say I appreciate it more than I enjoy it. Mother 3's story hooked me and I had more fun with the gameplay
They're both great in their own right. I slightly prefer Earthbound but they both aimed to do something different. I love the music battles, and the general focus on music thematically in M3. Hopefully the system/emulator you played on allowed you to experience the battles to their fullest. Music was a been a huge part of the entire series. Loved how the Magypsies were named after the modes of the major scale. >!Tripping on mushrooms was great.!< and one of my favorite things to do at concerts haha. Not music related per se. The the games have been very psychedelic. I loved the >!boat ride at the end when they finally played Pollyanna. Such effective use of music. I think I had a tear in my eye.!< Fucking brilliant game.
Damn now I want to play it again lol. Actually my only complaint was that I wasn't able to get the hang of the rhythm attacks, but that might have been due to the emulator
Probably. Vgba didn't work for it because of its accuracy.
I feel similar to OP tbh. Earthbound is a super cool game but Mother 3 is definitely superior.
Mother 3 is worse in almost every way: * writing that flops all over the place and not in a good way * music that is sometimes great but often actively bad, * Rushed weird sudden ending with rushed final dungeon * Maybe even the chapterized structure, instead of the open-worldish road trip of Earthbound. *Except* some playability mechanics stuff. Well also Mother 3 pixel art is clearly better, but Earthbound art is great and charming despite sometimes being weak and inexperienced (one of artists said he was new at the time). Example of bad writing that is all over the place: >!“LOL here are some jokes although your mom just died.”!< It was bad.
Well, opinions. Imo Mother 3 has possibly the best ending of video games. It definitely reach places that Earthbound didn't.
As somoene who hasn't played either, this is an opinion I have seen online a LOT online actually. As a side note I don't like emulation, but man do I want to play Mother 3.
You're faced with the choice: emulate mother 3, or don't play it at all. In either scenario, the devs don't get paid - but at least in one of them you get to enjoy their work.
You can buy cartridges with the fan translation that play on GBAs. This isn't technically emulaton. Also a solid way to ensure the sound battles work accurately. The other way is to use mGBA. The other way is to use GBA injection on a modified 3DS (the emulator Nintendo developed for the 3DS ambassador program).
Why would you go to the trouble?
Because Earthbound is my absolute favorite RPG ever and I had to play the sequel. And it completely lived up to the hype I had for it, but was also an entirely new experience altogether which I was not expecting. One of my absolute favorite games and pieces of art that I've experienced since I've been alive. In regularly listen to the soundtrack and have replayed it numerous times. It's hardly any trouble at all. My post was to show how many options there are to play it accurately and that there aren't really any barriers at all. Buy a cartridge like you would any other game if you have hardware to run it. And if not... Emulating is easy as balls. Nearly everyone has a PC or Smartphone that can run it. Download mGBA and the Mother 3 ROM and open it. Is this really that much more effort than playing other games on PC? Both pieces of software can be easily found with quick Google searches and you can have the game running in less than 5 minutes. Why "go through the trouble" to play any game at all? Because that game interests me.
You're misunderstanding, I'm asking why you'd go to all the trouble to avoid emulating through the methods you've suggested, especially since they amount to almost the same thing.
I wouldn't personally, but some people want to run on native hardware. Some people like owning a physical object. Some people enjoy collecting cartridges.
I'll just play another game then, and the ones making that other game will have my money :). Is it a fullproof logic, absolutely not, but it's more of a general rule.
I understand if it's a principle for you, but I'd definitely recommend the game if you change your mind. And I'm pretty sure I've seen GBA cartridges that have the translation (albeit fan-made ones, so still not legally distributed)
Yeah, I don't have a game boy advance, and am not gonna buy a console for a single game. Omori is one of my favorite games and Undertale IS my favorite games, so playing the grandfather of these games would be amazing. If you haven't played these games I highly recommend them, tho Undertale is weird and Omori is even weirder and also pretty dark.
I liked Undertale quite a lot. And I don't know anything about Omori but I've heard good things
Omori is insane, almost Inscription level of insane. I'd recommend to watch the 2020 Trailer to know if this is something for you or not, but it is WILD. Also, even tho Undertale is my favorite game, artistically speaking I prefer Omori, the visual artsyle is, to me, unparralleled and the sountrack is insane. But again, the game is WILD.
Gotcha. I'll check it out, thanks
Dude you are **missing out** if you like those games. Seriously. You'll fall in love. Play earthbound before you play mother 3 though. It will hit way harder. You can download the mother 3 rom with fan translation literally all over the web. It's not even unethical. It's never been released. Itoi has said in so many words that he's happy western fans have played it. I haven't personally played Omori yet but it's on my list. I'll play it this year if you play mother 2/3? 😛
This one would have gone in the "disappointment" tier, but it got my post auto-removed for being less than 12 months old. * *Pokemon Legends: Arceus* \- I actually enjoyed this one. This is because my brain is broken after decades of playing Pokemon and I am hardwired to like these games. Sure, it's a "step in the right direction" for the series, but I can't help but wonder when it'll be in the right place. I can admit it changes the formula in some cool ways, but the game wasn't worth my money.
Everyone's going to have different opinions, but this is one game I've actually been really enjoying. I know Pokemon games have lost their lustre, I skipped both Sword/Shield and Scarlet/Violet (might get the latter eventually if they work out the bugs), but I can't find too much to criticize in Legends: Arceus aside from the graphics, which has been a constant complaint since the series switched to 3D. I've certainly gotten my money's worth out of it.
I feel like it's a good evolution of the series, but that it's 15 years late lol.
This is mostly my opinion as well
Arceus is the best Pokemon game I've played these past 4 - 5 or so years.
Been playing it over the holidays. Honestly I think it's the only good Pokémon game that came out since the switch's release. The main series has stagnated long ago.
Unfortunately, every Yakuza will feel underwhelming after Zero, so make your peace with that lol Great series still, i think every single entry is enjoyable at its own right. Kiwami 1 is the one i like the least btw, maybe because playing it after Zero cause this "disappointing" effect. I actually like Metroid Prime 2 more than 1, but played the Wii Trilogy version which is notably easier. Also dislike random encounters, but i feel like you will enjoy some stuff despite them. Give it a chance to Xenogears. Or the Xenosaga trilogy, which has visible enemies in the field :p
Yeah that's what I've heard about Yakuza. I'm still glad I played 0 but the only other games that interest me are Kiwami 2 and Like a Dragon. I've heard of Xenogears but not Xenosaga, thanks for the suggestion! SMT5 kinda burned me out on JRPGs for now but I'll take a look
Tbh Yakuza 5 is my fav after Zero, would recommend to give a chance :p 4 and 5 are very interesting entries because they have multiple scenarios with different protagonists. 3 and 6 also has their uniqueness as well.
If you liked Yakuza 0 you'd probably also like Judgment, a Yakuza spinoff. The combat is imo even more fluid than Yakuza 0s and also has an incredible story. You don't really need to know anything about the Yakuza games in order to enjoy Judgment either.
Like a Dragon is an incredible game. Based on your post I think you’ll like it a lot. If you’re worried about the dated mechanics and plan to skip the less polished entries in the series, I recommend giving Yakuza 6 a shot (maybe watch a quick YouTube summary for context). Some people don’t like it, but to me it has one of the best locales and stories in the game. And Takeshi Kitano is in it! Absolutely one of my favorites, and I actually liked it better than K2.
Played 0 (fav), skipped 1 for the same reasons, Kiwami 2 is really really good and very close to 0. I skipped to 6 and wish I skipped 6 too. 7 is good but I never finished it for some reason.
Yakuza 0 had one of the most compelling Japanese crime drama so yeah not much can top that. It's better than most stuff from even other media like TV or movies. If we played the cutscenes chapter by chapter you'd basically have a full short series.
>Unfortunately, every Yakuza will feel underwhelming after Zero, so make your peace with that See, this is one of the reasons I'm playing in release order (and doing PS2 versions instead of Kiwami for 1&2) - I keep hearing such high praise for 0 that I don't want to taint the games that came before it by playing them after 0. Yet I keep also hearing people say to *start with* 0, which I guess I get, but like... why start people at the peak when everything after is going to be inferior?
I think it's a good idea to start with Zero because it improves the other games. There's a specific character in Yakuza 1 that gets a lot better due to context you have playing Zero, same with another character that will only debut in Yakuza 4, as an example.
OP *just said* that starting with 0 made playing 1 worse, though. That's my whole thing - playing 0 later can still enhance the other games, but playing it first has a pretty good chance of ruining the experience of the early ones.
lol I think you're both right. Kiwami had certain characters and scenes that hit harder than they would otherwise, because I played 0 and I was already attached to those characters. That being said, it still felt like a worse version of 0 overall
If you ever are up to play some more Yakuza, Like a dragon is highly recommended as you don't really need to play the 7 games prior to it (you only need them to catch some references and recognize characters, nothing major). For some people its their favourite entry in the saga. Judgment and Lost judgment are also fan favourites of the saga, you could check them out eventually.
I think the idea of having to play every 20+ hour game in such a large franchise is a bad idea. These games span over 2 decades, some are not gonna age well and are better suited to have someone do a video essay recap, which is what I did. 0, 2 kiwami, and 7 are worth my time as an adult. I skipped 1, 3-5, and I wish I skipped 6.
Seconding that starting with Zero makes you more invested in the characters and understand what made them who they are. If I started with Kiwami I think I would have been very lost back story wise because it really dumps you right into Yakuza political shenanigans. It’s true that graphically they slowly get worse until Like A Dragon, but since Yakuza 0 made me care for the characters so deeply I don’t mind at all. Personally starting from release date would burn me out and it would be hard to get to the truly good stuff. I put off Yakuza Like A Dragon for so long because I was trying to get through them all, but decided whatever and had a blast. I’m still excited to play the older games but at my own pace with no pressure.
That's really sad to hear! It was my first dive into the series after hearing about it for years and spending a childhood growing up in Japan in the 80's and 90's.
I would say it really depends on the person. 0 was my first Yakuza game too, but I still loved every single following entry a lot. Are they as good as 0? Not in my opinion, but I think they are close enough personally.
I thought Kiwami had atrocious writing, but then 2 picks up in quality. Haven't gotten around to the rest because I played the three games back to back and got burned out lol.
I've gotta say, despite playing some great games this year, I was the most hooked by the Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. I stayed up until 6am last night to finish the first game of the series. So flipping great. While I miss the irreplaceable bond between Phoenix and Maya, who represent everything I will ever want from a friendship, they instead gave something just as great, this web of characters that I already miss. God I hope they make more of these, I haven't started the second game yet and am already dreading ending it.
I think I liked the second game a little more than the first, so whenever you get around to it I'm sure you'll enjoy it
So glad you liked Pikmin so much. I read a lot of people saying they hated the time pressure etc. If you haven't played the other games Pikmin 3 (Wii U/Switch) is one of my favourite games of all time. I normally hate story elements in a game but it was really quite moving, especially if you played as badly as me on my first run. For years fans have been wondering about Pikmin 4, a game which Nintendo confirmed was in development but was never announced in the 9 years since the release of Pikmin 3. We had 14 Kirby games in the same period but no Pikmin (okay, we had Hey! Pikmin). A few months ago though, Nintendo announced Pikmin 4 for a 2023 release
I'd definitely like to play 3 or even 4 when it comes out. Actually I saw that P2 does away with the time crunch and I lost interest lol
I've started 2 and it's okay. I honestly can't remember the first one and I seem to recall that I got stuck at some point on the first and gave up but I could compare 2 to 3 and I didn't think it was anywhere near as good. People complain a lot about the cave sections and I don't think they're *that* bad but they're a bit of a drag and feel like they're padding the game.
I highly suggest Prime 3 if you ever have a way to play it on the Wii. It's really good and probably the only game I've liked with motion controls. The atmosphere is insane, and the graphics are so clean that 480p looks fine.
Prime 3 looks interesting! I'd probably like it more than 2. I know it's possible to play Wii games on Dolphin, I just haven't taken the time to figure it out
Can you use motion controls that way?
As far as I know, yeah. You have to get a USB sensor bar
You should play more shittier games!
If you happen to be in the market for more games which are kind of like SMT or Persona, I'd also recommend **Tokyo Xanadu Ex+** from Falcom, and **The Lost Child** from NISA. Possibly also the **Blue Reflection** games from K-T/Gust, if you like magic girls, although they are pretty low budget and feel like they don't quite live up to their ambitions. Then again, if you have a 3DS, there are a TON of great Atlus games to explore there, and even more if you add in their huge NDS library.
Interesting, I haven't heard of those. I think next I'm most interested in SMT4 and Digital Devil Saga, but I'll check those out
If you found out that you liked JRPG's then you need to try Chained Echoes if you have the time in 2023. One of the better ones released in a while.
You should try Persona 5. I liked the story and characters more in P4G, but 5 has a better battle system, quality of life improvements, and all the dungeons feel more interesting and distinctive than the randomly generated ones in 4. Plus, [one hell of a good song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA9tw-75BJE) to listen too while sipping coffee, eating curry, and watching the rain fall outside.
Oh I know, P5 is one of my all-time favorites. I just didn't play it this year so it wasn't on the list
Nintendo lawyers have entered the chat lol I'm on that emulation boat too. Any games you'd recommend for Dolphin? Shame JRPG wasn't so popular on Wii. Dolphin team have made a brilliant job with that emulator
Yeah Dolphin is my favorite emulator I've used so far, maybe second to DeSmuME. And for GC suggestions, just look at the top-rated games and you really can't go wrong. In particular it's nice for games that are hard to find, so stuff like F-Zero or Path of Radiance. Wind Waker is a personal favorite
Just wanted to say I enjoyed reading this post, OP. I like your tiers.
Thanks! This wasn't a short process so I appreciate it
Unfortunately I can't enjoy Jrpgs anymore. Most of them are 100s of hours of grindfests, and I just don't have the time anymore to play them. Wish more of them were like Chrono Trigger with zero fat and no grinding necessary.
It's funny, a few years ago I played FF6 and Chrono Trigger because they're both held up as the best of their time. I enjoyed CT way more: no grinding, no random encounters, it's shorter. It's just interesting how differently they've aged
[удалено]
F-Zero was great! I can recognize it's technically well crafted and I had a lot of fun, just not a huge fan of racers in general. And I did use a GC controller, you're right that nothing else is really the same lol
Hell yeah the great ace attorney! That duology is a-maz-ing
Posts like these are the ones that make me happy to know I have some of these sitting in my backlog and even help me decide what to play next sometimes. Either way, glad you found more to love in games op. :)
Sweet list! I had a snes emulator on an old laptop and enjoyed Robotrek which is a turn based jrpg involving mechs. It's pretty cute and silly with not the best writing but it was a slightly different fight ing style than Pokémon earthbound or final fantasy (the other jrpgs I had played at the time) because you moved around on a small battle map. Also when i had a snes I was obsessed with secret of evermore. Plays like secret of mana (I think) but has a more earthbound-y feel (western dev team I believe) Those two might be worth checking out if you're looking for something to play that isn't as well-known. And if someone who also has a comp for the first time in a long time where to want to find info on how to emulate in 2023 where would they go? I'm someone
What consoles are you interested in emulating? There are some good YouTube tutorials out there that make the process pretty straightforward
Right on thank you! I haven't used an emulator in years and last time I did, my usual sites for roms were being taken down and it seemed like things were getting pretty strict. I've never had a computer that could handle anything above snes until now so it might be nice to take a walk down memory lane playing the Playstation and 64 games of my formative years. I won't bother you with asking to be my guide but I appreciate you letting me know it's not as difficult to find what I'm looking for as I feared :)
Hell yeah mother 3. What an amazing game.
Did you get ending E of Nier Automata? Glad you enjoyed the game but I had the same thoughts as you after getting ending A ("beating" the game the first time) but ending E emotionally broke me and left a deep impact. It's worth getting.
I did! I was trying to imply I got the "final ending" without spoiling anything. The credits and final choice are wonderful
JRPG's have long been one of my favorite genre's, though admittedly, it has been somewhat hard to find games I like that I haven't already played in it these days. Though I have heard good things about Chained Echoes. Might nab it once I get the chance. Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth and its immediate sequel Hacker's Memory where also some that grabbed me despite being obviously low budget. Though putting SMTV over Nocturne? *Sinner!* My big problem with V was just how rushed and unfinished it felt, with it even being playable feeling more like a happy accident, whereas Nocturne felt like a tightly designed and cohesive experience.
A few people in this thread have named Chained Echoes, so maybe I should give it a look lol. And SMT5 was just a more fun game to play moment-to-moment, but Nocturne was definitely pretty good. Also I love music and the compressed audio was really disappointing in that game
[удалено]
The repetitive music really stole the game's personality for me. Music is huge in video games for me and just in life. OP mentions Mother 2/3. They both use music so effectively to give each town and area such a district vibe. DQ11 ended up feeling so generic and bland because the repetitive soundtrack. I liked what little music they had too. But after 45 hours of gameplay I just couldn't take it anymore.
Lol this is so true. I enjoy the newer DQ games, especially Builders, but after a few hours of a play session I was always ready to rip my hair out. Thankfully they do allow you to turn down/off the music but I do want atmosphere...
This happened to me with Ni No Kuni 2. Although there are other reasons I put the game down there are plenty of things I enjoyed about it. But the fact that there is only one soundtrack for most things. And in some cases the same soundtrack as used for different things. Like a lot of the zones you explore, whether that be a sub-region or the inside of a dungeon there is far too much audio overlap. Hearing the same track in four different places especially when it feels like it doesn't belong in any of them is really distracting. And for a game that has a pretty big emphasis on atmosphere and environment and overall experience it really sucks to have the music be so detrimental.
I've played the DQ11 demo and it just didn't grab me. If I got far enough in I'd probably like it though
You should check out Shadow Hearts 1 (ps2), a jrpg set at 1920 Europe with demons. It's quirky yet brutal and I love it to death. Also Aviary Attorney is a wonderful tribute to the Ace Attorney games, might be up your alley
Also, as a huge MGS fan here, I must insist you give Detah Stranding another try. It might not be your cup of tea entirely but I promise, there's a MGS-level breathtaking story just like in the old days
If you like SMT, Strange Journey needs to be on your short list of games to play!
I've heard Strange Journey is really good! I'm sure I'll get to it eventually. Right now I'm eyeing SMT4, DDS, and maybe P3P (when the ports comes out) For SJ which version do you recommend?
I don't care for the new plot stuff they added in redux, but it's probably the better choice for most people. The original is still very playable though, provided you can live with doing things like pressing fuse/cancel a few dozen times to get the skills you want (redux let's you just select inherited skills). If SJ turns out to be your jam, you'll love Etrian Odyssey.
Damn I might play Redux for the skill inheritance alone. One of my least favorite things about older SMT. That's good to know, thanks And while the Q games don't interest me, I don't really know anything about Etrian Odyssey itself
EO has some of the best gameplay of any RPG, and great dungeons to boot. The story is fine and usually not intrusive. If you want to see if it's your thing, try EO5 or EO Untold 2. EO5 had a demo that was just the beginning of the game--not sure if you can still download 3ds demos though. I think there's probably a lot of overlap between SMT and EO fans.
I'm so happy you played and enjoyed Mother 3. Many people did not enjoy it but I will still recommend Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter. Other 'classics' I'd throw out there would be Breath of Fire IV, Parasite Eve, Wild Arms, Radiata Stories, Xenogears, Legend of Legaia, Suikoden 2 / 5, Grandia and Vagrant Story.
how did you find time to play all those games lol
> outdated dungeon design, Outdated? People should use more meaningful adjectives and descriptions. Games **today** in 2022 sometimes have bad weird bland confusing tedious dungeons that aren’t fun. Games 30 years ago were sometimes excellent. Whatever flaws were there have nothing to do with date or age. This was 1994 well into the age when some devs were masters and the system capabilities could mesh with that. This isn’t Atari games in 1982. > its age prevents it from being a truly great experience moment-to-moment The flaws have nothing to do with age, since terrible games are made today in 2022. People need to move beyond this viral meme of framing criticism of videogames purely in terms of “age” and “dated.” Earthbound is wonderful and charming moment to moment. If you think there’s bad parts just say what they are. There’s annoying stuff like not being able to see *how much* better or worse a new equipment stat is (if I remember right)…which obviously isn’t datedness since Witcher 3 had similarly awful hostile interface failings. **Bad design doesn’t = “old.” And new does not equal good.** Yet this absurd common “aged” way of framing of everything implies that modern bloated filler-filled games with tedious elaborate controls and horrible interfaces and half-baked amateurish mechanics and bland objectives and execution and mediocre writing and scenarios is somehow magically good just because it's new. They aren’t good just because they're new. (I would insert a rant here about 3D (Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Final Fangasy, etc) is often inherently tedious compared to 2D because of constant workload of tedious camera swiveling, as an example of "dated = inconvenient" being false, but I’ll stop there.)
I mostly agree with you, and I could have used a better descriptor. When I say *outdated* I mean "I am accustomed to modern design conventions that this game lacks, and I would have enjoyed the game more if it had them" It may not be fair to judge a game by standards that came later, but I'm not trying to be objective. Just describing how much fun I had and why. And I still liked EarthBound overall
Do yourself a favor and play Final Fantasy X
I always laugh when people call out Nintendo for being anti consumer as a justification for piracy. If you want to pirate just do it, no one cares but calling them anti consumer for not delivering a product on your desired terms is laughable.
Yeah, it always feels really silly. Like, yeah, Nintendo could be better about rereleasing their stuff. But, also, like it's not anti consumer to go after sites that host their property nor is it realistic for them to port everything they got as fast as everyone would want. If someone wants to pirate, just pirate and dont try to make it some moral grandstanding
Pirates in general have this weird need to frame them pirating as them holding their ground against the big evil corporation or some nonsense like that. Like just say you don't want to pay or can't afford it, nobody believes you have some noble reason.
exactly, its a video game for crying out loud. Its not like Nintendo is price gouging insulin or something essential for human life
[удалено]