Which SNES fanslation should I get next?

[Betagam7]

I've been enjoying picking up some bootleg fanslation carts of unreleased in the West SNES games recently and wondering which one of the following people would recommend and also interested in hearing what anyone thought of the games/translations in question:

The games I am looking at are:

Live a Live
Mystic Ark
Chaos Seed Fuusuai Kairoki
Slayers

I'm a fan of RPG's that are story driven, aren't simply cliched JRPG by numbers and have a slightly philosophical or thought provoking edge to them (I love the QUINTET stuff on SNES).

I don't mind action or turn based stuff as long as it doesn't involve ridiculous padding with the random battles.

Any advice on which I might enjoy most?

[Ziggy]

Live A Live

[Daria]

Have you played Treasures of the Rudras? Have that deeper meaning aspect for certain.

My Review: https://youtu.be/Hl-IEblJjqQ

[Betagam7]

Live A Live

Okay. Any thoughts on why this would be a good choice? What do you like about it?

[Ziggy]

Okay. Any thoughts on why this would be a good choice? What do you like about it?

I haven't played any of the four games on your list, but from what I know about all of them, Live A Live would be my top choice to play next for myself (in fact, I've been meaning to play it for a while now).

I love how you start with 7 completely different scenarios to play through. And they're wildly different from each other, including: cowboy/western, Sci Fi, Ninja, and cave man (which the story is told without a spoken language!). I did play about 15-30 minutes worth of the game once, and the combat system seemed like something I would enjoy. That's why Live A Live gets my vote.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Live a Live is "objectively" the best choice. Very well-designed and the different scenarios are all lotsa fun.

I'm also partial to Mystic Ark, though I suppose it's a bit of an acquired taste much like The 7th Saga.

Chaos Seed is also esoteric and probably not for everyone. I dig it though.

Slayers is a licensed game. Probably as good as you'd expect it to be.

[Sarge]

It's not on your list, but I'll also pipe up and mention Treasure of the Rudras. Fun stuff, that one.

As mentioned before, Live-A-Live is probably the "best", although I'm not a huge fan of the battle system. Mystic Ark is a strange one from a tonal perspective, but also very good. I'd probably go for those over Slayers for sure, and Chaos Seed is a very, very weird game mechanically, so I'd give that one a go in an emulator first to see if you like it.

[SNESdrunk]

I'd say Live-A-Live for sure, one of my personal favorites and a unique game for the era, there's nothing else like it.

I really came to enjoy Chaos Seed, and the translation is seriously SO good (it's a complex game), but it's not for everyone. Your mileage may vary.

Also gotta mention Front Mission Gun Hazard

[Xeogred]

Seiken Densetsu 3 has the greatest battle system in existence with the best SNES graphics you'll ever see and God level music (like a dozen boss battle themes changing it up), multiple characters and class sets, unlimited replay value. The ultimate.

[Betagam7]

Seiken Densetsu 3 has the greatest battle system in existence with the best SNES graphics you'll ever see and God level music (like a dozen boss battle themes changing it up), multiple characters and class sets, unlimited replay value. The ultimate.

Already got that one on cart. It's on my to do list this year. Just looking to expand further. It's great that we have both the skilled people capable of doing the translations and the technology to make carts that will play on original hardware and look nice on a shelf.

For me its like a whole new batch of SNES games arriving 15 years after I thought the adventure was over

I haven't seen Treasures of the Rudras for sale with the people I normally buy with but thanks for mentioning it. I will put Slayers on the back burner and probably order Live a Live and one of either Chaos Seed or Mystic Arc for now. Would it be worth playing 7th saga before I tackle Mystic Arc or is this just basically a Turbo the Dog connection?