What RPG are you playing right now?

[Sarge]

Some folks didn't like SaGa Frontier 2. I was not one of those folks. A good (and forgotten) SquareSoft classic. And it comes with the added bonus of actually being finished! (And honestly, concentrating on only two characters helps, too.)

I also have nothing but praise for Treasure of the Rudras. And it is somewhat in the SaGa mold, but much more accessible overall. Kinda like if, say, Kawazu was recruited to make a Final Fantasy game (that isn't FFII) and told to restrain his impulses quite a bit.

[MrPopo]

SaGa 3 is the weird one of the bunch; it plays the closest to a traditional Final Fantasy game, though the meat/parts thing keeps in just enough weird for it to be a SaGa game. I think it was the same team that did Mystic Quest.

[Exhuminator]

My favorite Kawazu game:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1Ym03T-K94

It was so damn fun. Really don't understand why most folks don't like it.

[dunpeal2064]

Final Fantasy Legend was actually the first RPG I ever played, when I was around 6 years old. I hated it. I just remember feeding meats to my peeps, and them changing so randomly. I also recall losing abilities without gaining new ones when I leveled up.

It left such a mark that I was anti-RPGs up until Super Mario RPG! I did, later on, end up playing through the 3rd game, and found it rather enjoyable! Felt like a mini 16-bit rpg. I am interested in revisiting them now, but I also have this thing where the first FFL game physically makes me ill when I see it, likely because I was sick when I rented it, and it was so unpleasant to a young me.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I also have this thing where the first FFL game physically makes me ill when I see it

[dunpeal2064]

Thanks for that

[chuckster]

So I decided to go back to Torchlight, a game I had beaten the main storyline of years ago but had not returned to since.

Ack have you tried Torchlight 2? I was let down by Diablo 3 and jumped into TL2 when I was looking for a good traditional ARPG. I ended up loving it and to this day enjoy it more than D3, though I don't play either online so I may have a skewed view of the two games. I never played TL1 though.

I recently started Threads of Fate based on some buzz on another thread here. I had a great time (playing Mint) but only played about an hour so far. I have Nioh now and it's gonna be hard to play much else for a bit it looks like, but I will get back to it for sure.

[Ack]

I've had a lot of folks tell me that Torchlight 2 is superior to the original in just about every way. I kind of want to stick with Torchlight until I completely wrap it up, because I know this will be one of those cases where the instant I move to the sequel, I'm never going to want to go back. Eventually I'll get to it though.

And having completed a few runs in Torchlight earlier this year and wrapping up Descent 2, I decided it was time to sit down with another RPG. This time I'm playing Might & Magic: Swords of Xeen. While it's not an official Might & Magic game, it does pull from the M&M 3-5 era well enough to get the same feel and was published as part of several anthologies as a side story. Apparently it was only programmed by two people, and there are some obvious bugs and errors like spelling mistakes.

If there are any major issues, it's the lack of obvious game balance (you can get into some nasty encounters REAL fast if you don't pay attention or enter the wrong area too soon), and while the world is absolutely massive, it's considerably more barren when compared to its predecessors. There are also some limitations on player choice, so I didn't get to build my party at the start (so sorry folks, but I didn't get to name characters after any of you), and if you don't follow the "main" quest line quick enough, you can end up severely hurting yourself by not having access to vendors. I spent a good chunk of my first few hours running around with broken armor and unable to level up because I hadn't gone where I needed to go.

Despite this, I'm having fun. It's reminding me of when I played through Might & Magic III, which I absolutely loved. I need to go back and do 4 and 5 together eventually, but the scope of that feels a little daunting. I know Popo has done it. Hopefully Swords of Xeen will fulfill my craving for more M&M goodness in the meantime.

[Exhuminator]

Final Fantasy Legend was actually the first RPG I ever played / It left such a mark that I was anti-RPGs

Yeah the first Saga game isn't an ideal first RPG. I had a similar experience in a way. My first RPG was Phantasy Star. I totally loved it, but it ruined RPGs for me until the Genesis came along with PS2 and Sword of Vermilion. Before that, playing stuff like Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy, I was like; "This is okay I guess, but it's no Phantasy Star."

[MrPopo]

Despite this, I'm having fun. It's reminding me of when I played through Might & Magic III, which I absolutely loved. I need to go back and do 4 and 5 together eventually, but the scope of that feels a little daunting. I know Popo has done it. Hopefully Swords of Xeen will fulfill my craving for more M&M goodness in the meantime.

The problems you point out with Swords of Xeen is what killed my playthrough. After having done 2, 4, and 5 all back to back jumping into something with some very obvious deficiencies was just not for me. I'd recommend you don't let yourself be put off by the scope of 4 & 5; you really can just treat it as playing 4, then moving over to 5. It's not until the post game of both storylines that you really have a need to go back and forth between the worlds; prior to that you have the option to do so but the only thing that would drive that is an attempt to do some power leveling or accessing certain skills earlier.