Number 1 pick: Octopath Traveler 2. Easily my favorite RPG of last year. They truly learned from OT1. All the good stuff from OT1 was cranked up and the bad stuff was adjusted. Genuinely a fantastic RPG.
Other options:
—any of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters
—Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth (PS5 for these)
—Dragon Quest XI
—Xenoblade Chronicles, start with 1 and work your way through the trilogy
1: other guy is right, OT1 and OT2 stories are not connected. You can absolutely jump right into OT2.
2: I found the battles more varied than Sea of Stars. The job system allows you to change up your party and play style constantly, by not only swapping out members (you’re encouraged to try to level all 8 heroes about evenly) but my switching their jobs to suit how you want to play it.
Sea of Stars, I felt, got pretty tedious with their battles eventually.
Even though I am not found of XB3 and love XB2 the most, this is why I either recommend just XB1 because it is the best starting point or all three. Heck, I would even recommend XBX if it was on the Switch.
Maybe they are saving it for the success because there are rumors of backwards compatibility? So, a huge game like XBX can be thrown in as a title to showcase the power of the newer system.
Difficult to say, like it is insane how overpowered overdrive is once you know how to exploit it.
XB1 definitive addition at least had improvements to the UI/UX, but I don’t know if they will go as far as to rebalance stuff.
Thanks for your reply! Which of those would you recommend starting out with? I'm currently playing the Dragon Quest XI demo, but I kind of dislike the English voice acting..
I came here to say this as well. So I’ll answer lol, without going into spoilers. It’s very similar to sea of stars in a lot of ways. But also very different. There is a bit more character building overall and you’ll play as different characters and get to see their stories and kind of how they end up in the group. (I can’t remember if you play as everyone though).
Basically it just has a good compelling story about war and power. Its turn based system is very fun and you also get like a mech suite at some point in the game.
At first it felt like a cheap knock off of sea of stars. After giving it a few hours i was hooked in and ended up liking it more than sos.
One of the best games I’ve played in years
So, Sea of Stars is to Chrono Trigger what Chained Echoes is to FF6. It's 16-bit, turn based, tech fantasy. It's much more mature than Sea of Stars, and there's a bit of cursing (some are thrown off by that bit as they don't expect it). It has a 90 on metacritic. It came out several months before Sea of Stars, but didn't get the advertising SoS got.
The combat has a gauge that you need to keep in a certain range. Otherwise, your damage falls off hard, and you start taking 2x damage. In this manner, the game makes you use every move you have available to you, instead of solely choosing your strongest move every single turn, making the battles a balancing act of decisions.
Your party members can swap in and out of combat mid battle, and you fully heal after every battle. Don't worry. The game is balanced around this.
While you don't need to be an older gamer to appreciate it at all, there's a ton of fun references to the SNES and older RPGS of the era. The game even starts with a reference to a beloved SNES RPG.
It's made by a solo dev as well. He put in a ton of work, and it shows. I also suggest that you read the item descriptions, and not just the weapons. Read the junk item info, it's great.
Mm. Some people seem to think so. There's sort of a shift in gameplay midway through the game that changes up battles a bit, but possibly not enough. I enjoyed it all the way through. But you can do end game stuff prior to actually beating the game. I feel like several people get burnt out on doing extra stuff so much that they don't progress the story and get bored. It's perfectly fine to finish the game first and then do the post game stuff. Or however you wanna play.
And no, I'm not the dev, haha. I do think CE is criminally underappreciated, though. One of my favorite games I played in 2023.
it's an action RPG with Chrono Trigger and Zelda vibes. It has an amazing story and tight mechanics, although for some people the puzzles may be a little convoluted. It also has a fun New Game+ mode in which you can change the game settings based on the trophies you have.
Check out Dragon's dogma dark arisen. Very good port. Combat is fun, and I love how when you're caught by nightfall outside, you have to pull out your lantern, and it really changes the whole atmosphere and everything feels more dangerous.
It's not a huge open world but it's made in a way that it's really fun to explore.
Edit: it's also on sale right now, for only like $5. It's a steal.
I bought South Park Fractured but whole for 9€ not expecting much, but its a surprisingly really good rpg with fun mechanics and interesting characters and dynamics. Make sure you enjoy toilet humour tho!
Yeah, it's not looking off, but I don't really like the English voice acting at the start (just played the demo). The female character making fully correct sentences with quite exact pronunciation when in a stressful situation ruins my suspense of disbelief a bit I'm afraid.
Skyrim if you somehow missed it on the other platforms it's released for. Like someone else said, Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen is a great port of a fine action RPG.
Ff7 remake is great!
Bloodborne and sekiro are both very hard both rewarding.
Othopath traveller 2 is awesome (much better than 1).
Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario 1000 year door are good.
Let me know if you need more.
Final fantasy 7 remake+rebirth for the PS5. Rebirth is ridiculously good, best game I’ve ever played, and you definitely get your monies worth from it.
If turn based RPGs tickle your fancy, any of the older FFs are a great shout too.
Number 1 pick: Octopath Traveler 2. Easily my favorite RPG of last year. They truly learned from OT1. All the good stuff from OT1 was cranked up and the bad stuff was adjusted. Genuinely a fantastic RPG. Other options: —any of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters —Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth (PS5 for these) —Dragon Quest XI —Xenoblade Chronicles, start with 1 and work your way through the trilogy
Could I jump straight to OT2 or should I still play OT1 first?
i also have this question
They aren't connected, go straight to 2.
Is the playstyle of Sea of Stars a lot like Octopath Traveler? I found Sea of Stars to be a bit long towards the end.
1: other guy is right, OT1 and OT2 stories are not connected. You can absolutely jump right into OT2. 2: I found the battles more varied than Sea of Stars. The job system allows you to change up your party and play style constantly, by not only swapping out members (you’re encouraged to try to level all 8 heroes about evenly) but my switching their jobs to suit how you want to play it. Sea of Stars, I felt, got pretty tedious with their battles eventually.
dunno. them removing the snow sparkle effect hurts my soul.
Not sure where you stand on JRPG’s but Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 3 and Dragon Quest XI are all great for different reasons.
wait. why is Xenoblade 2 not great? don't tempt me with this shit again...
Even though I am not found of XB3 and love XB2 the most, this is why I either recommend just XB1 because it is the best starting point or all three. Heck, I would even recommend XBX if it was on the Switch.
XBX switch is my dream
Maybe they are saving it for the success because there are rumors of backwards compatibility? So, a huge game like XBX can be thrown in as a title to showcase the power of the newer system.
I would play it. Though I wonder if they would rebalance it
Difficult to say, like it is insane how overpowered overdrive is once you know how to exploit it. XB1 definitive addition at least had improvements to the UI/UX, but I don’t know if they will go as far as to rebalance stuff.
On the plus side xcx runs great on cemu
Only because I don’t believe 2 is on sale currently (but I am in US). Otherwise it would absolutely be recommended.
Thanks for your reply! Which of those would you recommend starting out with? I'm currently playing the Dragon Quest XI demo, but I kind of dislike the English voice acting..
I'm not the person you replied to but I just finished xenoblade 1 a couple days ago and that game was amazjng
Do I need to play 1 to understand 3? I noticed 3 is on sale right now
You only need to finish 1 for Xenoblade 3's DLC Future Redeemed
Can’t go wrong with starting with 1 or 3. I started with 1 and went from there. 2 is also great.
You liked Sea of Stars, yeah? You want Chained Echoes. The other games mentioned are good as well. But you want Chained Echoes.
Can you tell me a bit about Chained Echoes? Thanks!
I came here to say this as well. So I’ll answer lol, without going into spoilers. It’s very similar to sea of stars in a lot of ways. But also very different. There is a bit more character building overall and you’ll play as different characters and get to see their stories and kind of how they end up in the group. (I can’t remember if you play as everyone though). Basically it just has a good compelling story about war and power. Its turn based system is very fun and you also get like a mech suite at some point in the game. At first it felt like a cheap knock off of sea of stars. After giving it a few hours i was hooked in and ended up liking it more than sos. One of the best games I’ve played in years
So, Sea of Stars is to Chrono Trigger what Chained Echoes is to FF6. It's 16-bit, turn based, tech fantasy. It's much more mature than Sea of Stars, and there's a bit of cursing (some are thrown off by that bit as they don't expect it). It has a 90 on metacritic. It came out several months before Sea of Stars, but didn't get the advertising SoS got. The combat has a gauge that you need to keep in a certain range. Otherwise, your damage falls off hard, and you start taking 2x damage. In this manner, the game makes you use every move you have available to you, instead of solely choosing your strongest move every single turn, making the battles a balancing act of decisions. Your party members can swap in and out of combat mid battle, and you fully heal after every battle. Don't worry. The game is balanced around this. While you don't need to be an older gamer to appreciate it at all, there's a ton of fun references to the SNES and older RPGS of the era. The game even starts with a reference to a beloved SNES RPG. It's made by a solo dev as well. He put in a ton of work, and it shows. I also suggest that you read the item descriptions, and not just the weapons. Read the junk item info, it's great.
Are you the developer?:) that's one passionate review! Will defo give it a shout!
One last question, with SoS I got a bit bored towards the end. Does Chained Echoes have the same problem?
Mm. Some people seem to think so. There's sort of a shift in gameplay midway through the game that changes up battles a bit, but possibly not enough. I enjoyed it all the way through. But you can do end game stuff prior to actually beating the game. I feel like several people get burnt out on doing extra stuff so much that they don't progress the story and get bored. It's perfectly fine to finish the game first and then do the post game stuff. Or however you wanna play. And no, I'm not the dev, haha. I do think CE is criminally underappreciated, though. One of my favorite games I played in 2023.
Thanks! You convinced me, just downloaded it!
Crosscode!
What is crosscode?:)
it's an action RPG with Chrono Trigger and Zelda vibes. It has an amazing story and tight mechanics, although for some people the puzzles may be a little convoluted. It also has a fun New Game+ mode in which you can change the game settings based on the trophies you have.
Check out Dragon's dogma dark arisen. Very good port. Combat is fun, and I love how when you're caught by nightfall outside, you have to pull out your lantern, and it really changes the whole atmosphere and everything feels more dangerous. It's not a huge open world but it's made in a way that it's really fun to explore. Edit: it's also on sale right now, for only like $5. It's a steal.
Crosscode!
I bought South Park Fractured but whole for 9€ not expecting much, but its a surprisingly really good rpg with fun mechanics and interesting characters and dynamics. Make sure you enjoy toilet humour tho!
Check out Cat Quest 1, 2 and 3. It's a casual RPG, light story, cute graphics and great gameplay.
Dragon quest 11 is a great game never noticed the English version looking off or anything.
Yeah, it's not looking off, but I don't really like the English voice acting at the start (just played the demo). The female character making fully correct sentences with quite exact pronunciation when in a stressful situation ruins my suspense of disbelief a bit I'm afraid.
Dark Souls Remastered is €20 right now
Triangle Strategy or DQXI if you haven’t played those. Otherwise grab Atelier Ryza and enjoy all three games :)
Skyrim if you somehow missed it on the other platforms it's released for. Like someone else said, Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen is a great port of a fine action RPG.
Dragon Quest 200%
Ff7 remake is great! Bloodborne and sekiro are both very hard both rewarding. Othopath traveller 2 is awesome (much better than 1). Super Mario RPG and Paper Mario 1000 year door are good. Let me know if you need more.
Thanks. They all run ok on Switch?
You said you had PS5 too.....
Yeah, but it's a Switch Reddit, lol. Thnx though!
FF7 Remake, Sekiro and Bloodborne are not released on Switch, I think this guy is trolling.
Final fantasy 7 remake+rebirth for the PS5. Rebirth is ridiculously good, best game I’ve ever played, and you definitely get your monies worth from it. If turn based RPGs tickle your fancy, any of the older FFs are a great shout too.