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Amazing Underrated JRPG Series


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I discovered Falcom games last year and started with Ys VIII, which I really enjoyed. But getting completely lost in the Kiseki series was something else entirely. What an amazing series with breathtaking music and surreal world-building. I love all of the real-world political issues mixed with typical anime bullshit (is there a better combination?). There can be amazing scenes including things like Buffer states, Asset-freezing, Tax laws, Foreign Policy, International Business, and then cut to two female villains talking about who has the bigger boobs. I mean, I've never seen anything like it in a video game. The fact that all the games are intricately connected is its greatest strength while also being its biggest weakness because it demands a lot of the player. You really do get in return what you put in. It's a pity it doesn't have more fans in the West. If you like JRPGs you owe it to yourself to try out these games.

 

Anyone else a Kiseki fan on PSNP? Which one is your favorite?

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I think it's hard to find an underrated JRPG series, because the fans of such series are so rabid. But if I was going to try, I'd say Valkyrie Profile. There were only 3 releases to my knowledge (two console, one handheld). The handheld was a pretty nice TRPG title. The PS2 offering was one of my favorite games on the system. The PS1 offering is literally one of my two favorite games of all time.

 

And now? Well, Squeenix gives us turgid re-releases like Romancing Saga 2, awful RPGs from the Tokyo RPG factory at exorbitant prices, and yet we can't get a cleaned-up version of VP1 and VP2?

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56 minutes ago, linkdevivo said:

There can be amazing scenes including things like Buffer states, Asset-freezing, Tax laws, Foreign Policy, International Business, and then cut to two female villains talking about who has the bigger boobs. I mean, I've never seen anything like it in a video game.

 

Kiseki games are great for all these reasons. It's a shame that when it comes to their villains they fall back hard on anime/JRPG tropes. The series would be better without Ouroboros.

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23 minutes ago, cckerberos said:

 

Kiseki games are great for all these reasons. It's a shame that when it comes to their villains they fall back hard on anime/JRPG tropes. The series would be better without Ouroboros.

 

I don't necessarily agree that it is a shame, as many of us still enjoy these tropes to some degree, plus there is a layer of nuance with so many other factions in play to somewhat make up for it.  Besides, without Ouroboros, there is no Severing Chains or Almighty Conflagration!

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55 minutes ago, starcrunch061 said:

I think it's hard to find an underrated JRPG series, because the fans of such series are so rabid. But if I was going to try, I'd say Valkyrie Profile. There were only 3 releases to my knowledge (two console, one handheld). The handheld was a pretty nice TRPG title. The PS2 offering was one of my favorite games on the system. The PS1 offering is literally one of my two favorite games of all time.

 

And now? Well, Squeenix gives us turgid re-releases like Romancing Saga 2, awful RPGs from the Tokyo RPG factory at exorbitant prices, and yet we can't get a cleaned-up version of VP1 and VP2?

 

LOL! I thought this thread was a question on a general forum. Sorry for not talking about the topic at hand. ?

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The game isn’t underrated, it’s well know and well loved. 
A similar game that is a bit more underrated (especially as I think it’s even better, with a more interesting story and more engaging (real time) combat) is Tokyo Xanadu Ex+. It’s on PS Now so I suggest you get a free trial if you haven’t already given it a go.

1 hour ago, DaivRules said:

Underrated? Can I ask by who?

Whom

Edited by thefourfoldroot
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3 hours ago, linkdevivo said:

I discovered Falcom games last year and started with Ys VIII, which I really enjoyed. But getting completely lost in the Kiseki series was something else entirely. What an amazing series with breathtaking music and surreal world-building. I love all of the real-world political issues mixed with typical anime bullshit (is there a better combination?). There can be amazing scenes including things like Buffer states, Asset-freezing, Tax laws, Foreign Policy, International Business, and then cut to two female villains talking about who has the bigger boobs. I mean, I've never seen anything like it in a video game. The fact that all the games are intricately connected is its greatest strength while also being its biggest weakness because it demands a lot of the player. You really do get in return what you put in. It's a pity it doesn't have more fans in the West. If you like JRPGs you owe it to yourself to try out these games.

 

Anyone else a Kiseki fan on PSNP? Which one is your favorite?

Hello! Been a fan of Kiseki (really just Falcom games in general) since Cold Steel 1 and haven't looked back since. Cold Steel 3 is my favorite thus far in the series with Trails in the Sky SC being a close second. Cold Steel 4 is easily my most anticipated game of the remaining year (sorry Cyberpunk 2077) and I can't wait for it. I don't necessarily agree that the series is underrated, but I do feel the same way sometimes when, in some JRPG communities, barely anyone mentions or talks about these games. Ys is even worse.

 

2 hours ago, awf9495 said:

 

I don't necessarily agree that it is a shame, as many of us still enjoy these tropes to some degree, plus there is a layer of nuance with so many other factions in play to somewhat make up for it.  Besides, without Ouroboros, there is no Severing Chains or Almighty Conflagration!

Not to mention, we would be without 

George Weissmann, Third Anguis of Ouroboros from Trails in the Sky SC, whom, among other things, was pretty much responsible for the Tragedy of Hamel. The dude is just pure evil or at least close to it anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Really liking trails 1 , so far think I’m a little over half way into it. Seems to be less and less good Jrpgs lately. Found out about it after playing Tokyo Xanadu  ex+ that’s gotten recommended a  few times already (+1 from me too) and can see some similarities with the menus and such. 
Need to look into the Ys series a bit more for sure.

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Kiseki games are amazing, my favorite games are Zero and Ao and like you said the worlbuilding is amazing and one of the main reason why I love this series. Also you can find a lot of references in differents games as well, even some NPC has stories to tell you and some of them appear in a lot of kiseki games.

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  • 1 year later...

The gameplay is really fun and I like the music.

 

The writing and pacing are beyond abysmal. This entire game reminds me of a politician; they use a lot of words to say nothing. It's simply not necessary to have every single character constantly comment on how good a damn sandwich tastes or all say a form of "okay" in tandem.

 

I also found the characters extremely wooden and stiff. They all have extremely forced single-note personalities that made me want to fall asleep. Even the "conflict" among some of the classmates was just forced and predictable. Not to mention, the NPC stories people rave about are really about as deep as a kiddie pool. I'm just not impressed by endless filler junk about how a person is sad that her brother was in the war or something else cookie-cutter.

 

Almost every piece of dialogue can be summed up like this:

 

Rean: haha

Insert other character: you're the best Rean

Rean: haha no you are I'm not great at all

Insert other character: haha yes you are you're much better than I could ever be

Rean: haha

Insert other character: Emma's boobs sure are large

 

The worst part is when you're on an area map and you try to open a chest, but you can't because your characters are bullshitting about something mundane like how gorgeous the view apparently is. I just stand in front of the chest swinging my sword like an idiot until the X button becomes available again so I can open the damn thing.

 

The fast-forward button makes me recommend this title because, as I said, the gameplay can be fun. The battles, that is. Walking around endless fields on horseback is, well, not that great. And the quests are really boring fetch quests.

 

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