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THE "GOLDEN" ERA OF PS1 CONSOLE RPGS?
Posts
Happy
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CloseSo everyone have games from some particular period of time, that they hold dear to them.
For me it has to be the early Playstation 1 RPGs, but then I came to think of it... is it only the nostalgia, or were there something more about those RPGs?
I am talking game titles such as: Wild Arms, Suikoden 1, Suikoden 2, Azure Dreams, Vandal Hearts, Breath of Fire 3, Grandia, and many more. Those were only some of which I've got in my collections, but in US there's probably many more titles, like Xenogears for example.
So, am I only imagining things or was there something particularly good about RPGs back then? If there was, what was it? What did they do in so many ways right that made those games shine so much. Was it the charming graphics, some different in the design aesthetics, or that everything wasn't overused yet? Or was there nothing special in the first PS1 Rpgs at all?
Discuss.
For me it has to be the early Playstation 1 RPGs, but then I came to think of it... is it only the nostalgia, or were there something more about those RPGs?
I am talking game titles such as: Wild Arms, Suikoden 1, Suikoden 2, Azure Dreams, Vandal Hearts, Breath of Fire 3, Grandia, and many more. Those were only some of which I've got in my collections, but in US there's probably many more titles, like Xenogears for example.
So, am I only imagining things or was there something particularly good about RPGs back then? If there was, what was it? What did they do in so many ways right that made those games shine so much. Was it the charming graphics, some different in the design aesthetics, or that everything wasn't overused yet? Or was there nothing special in the first PS1 Rpgs at all?
Discuss.
Canuck
0
The psone era was an era when many RPGs got translated in the US due to the popularity of FFVII. It was great to play more than Squaresoft RPGs and the odd other RPG that usually wasn't actually that good. It was a great era for RPGs, but since I'm a little older, my personal golden era was the SNES era. I do love the psone era though as well.
I think it was just charming. My problem with newer RPGs sometimes it is that is just drives my patience with all the cutscenes. Sometimes I feel a lot of it is too ... ridiculous sometimes. I am not really sure how to explain it or put my finger on it. Like ... sometimes some of the plotlines to newer RPGs feel like really bad anime and it just annoys the crap out of me.
I don't know if anyone notices this but my biggest annoyance is how a lot of games make a lot of weird "concepts" - basically garbage and "plot devices" and give it Latin or German names.
I know I am not explaining this right, I kind of have a hard time describing it. Maybe it is more of a vibe I get. Mind you, I am a massive RPG fan.
I don't know if anyone notices this but my biggest annoyance is how a lot of games make a lot of weird "concepts" - basically garbage and "plot devices" and give it Latin or German names.
I know I am not explaining this right, I kind of have a hard time describing it. Maybe it is more of a vibe I get. Mind you, I am a massive RPG fan.
PSX era was when RPGs started delving into the SF genres more and more, as a result becoming much more serious than SNES RPGs (serious for a video game, of course). We got the phenomenal FF7, Wild ARMs games, Star Ocean 2, Xenogears, Parasite Eve, Front Mission 3, Persona, Sa-Ga Frontier and a few others. Suffice to say I was very happy about that; I disliked fantasy settings back then, and grew to simply hate it.
On a side note it was also the platform which gave rise to survival horrors. Need I say more?
On a side note it was also the platform which gave rise to survival horrors. Need I say more?
I never owned a playstation 1 or 2, so I completely missed out on that era. But by then I was already playing less and less RPGs. I was entered a bit of a RTS phase (and Diablo, of course).
My personal golden era of RPGs was probably the SNES, with awesome games like FFII and FFIII (that's what I knew them as, then!), E.V.O., Chrono Trigger and Adventure Island II. Mind you, I was also big into Dragon Warrior on the NES.
My personal golden era of RPGs was probably the SNES, with awesome games like FFII and FFIII (that's what I knew them as, then!), E.V.O., Chrono Trigger and Adventure Island II. Mind you, I was also big into Dragon Warrior on the NES.
All the PS1 games you mentioned are on my list of all-time favorites. In fact I'm playing back through Suikoden II right now to try to get every character. But I think to some degree maybe you are imagining the 'golden era'. I grew up with SNES RPG's, and to this day THOSE are the best games to me (Earthbound, Final Fantasy 3, Secret of Evermore, Secret of Mana, etc).
I think the nostalgic value that games have to you definitely boosts their opinion in your mind however. There's quite a few games I love to death but that are generally viewed as being sub-par.
I think the nostalgic value that games have to you definitely boosts their opinion in your mind however. There's quite a few games I love to death but that are generally viewed as being sub-par.
Shinan
4314
My golden era of RPGs was probably in about 1994 when I got my first tabletop RPG (I think it was 4th of May 1994, My eleventh birthday). A couple of weeks or months or something later the game was finally played and massive amounts of ass was kicked. Orcs were killed and adventure was born.
Of course Tabletop RPGs have only gotten better. Though I haven't been able to play nearly as many. So the games have become better but the experiences fewer and worse.
For video games my personal golden age was probably when I finally got around to playing Infinity Engine games and Fallout (first Fallout, then Infinity Engine, which was a problem because the Infinity Engine games were never as much fun as the Fallouts)
Of course Tabletop RPGs have only gotten better. Though I haven't been able to play nearly as many. So the games have become better but the experiences fewer and worse.
For video games my personal golden age was probably when I finally got around to playing Infinity Engine games and Fallout (first Fallout, then Infinity Engine, which was a problem because the Infinity Engine games were never as much fun as the Fallouts)
deboo
85
I find that the psx rpgs were charming in that they felt simple. it felt like the makers had nothing to lose(well obviously they did, but they didn't have to make graphics stunning and beautiful just to draw people in). As though they were making games for themselves and not the billion fans.
I totally relate YDS, it's hard to explain...
I totally relate YDS, it's hard to explain...
I think it's because they weren't trying to be anything other than good rpgs. Todays games are just all flash and no substance. The action/shooter games have stepped up a lot but other genres are being left behind, and the new genre of MMORPG sweeping the world. The genre has sorta changed and the Nintendo DS is the only real current gen system that is producing anything substantial and of the old days formula. Star Ocean 4 is a piece of shit(What a surprise), amazing battle system though, Last Remnant was nothing special, Eternal Sonata is the only recent-ish game along with Lost Odyssey that was actually any good.
Canuck
0
You guys sound like a bunch of old farts talking about the good old days.
And it's extra funny for me because your good old days were after my golden era, making me and even older old fart.
The PS2 era also had some good RPGs. I don't know anything about our current era'a RPGs.
And it's extra funny for me because your good old days were after my golden era, making me and even older old fart.
The PS2 era also had some good RPGs. I don't know anything about our current era'a RPGs.
So is the conclusion that nostalgia has the strongest effect on us at this matter?
Could we think that those games had such a big impact on us because of our young age, which leads to the fact that children are more vulnerable to external influences because of their young age, young brain, and all that shit. Hence, for all of us the "golden age" differs because of our ages, and so the games are only subjective to this matter, as they've been different for us, depending when we were born.
= games had bigger impact to us at young age = Don't let your child play crazy violent shit?
But thinking of the topic... What is the most "true" way to define a good RPG then, if the standards only change so much for everyone. Oh wait, I just realized this is pretty useless topic - go me.
Could we think that those games had such a big impact on us because of our young age, which leads to the fact that children are more vulnerable to external influences because of their young age, young brain, and all that shit. Hence, for all of us the "golden age" differs because of our ages, and so the games are only subjective to this matter, as they've been different for us, depending when we were born.
= games had bigger impact to us at young age = Don't let your child play crazy violent shit?
But thinking of the topic... What is the most "true" way to define a good RPG then, if the standards only change so much for everyone. Oh wait, I just realized this is pretty useless topic - go me.
deboo
85
well, i didn't actually play that many psx rpgs when i was younger anyway. I play them now, so nostalgia's not really the main thing for me.
It helps though.
It helps though.
I remember having endless fun playing a demo of Dark Cloud on the ps2. Wish I'd gotten the full game.
post=93392
The psone era was an era when many RPGs got translated in the US due to the popularity of FFVII. It was great to play more than Squaresoft RPGs and the odd other RPG that usually wasn't actually that good. It was a great era for RPGs, but since I'm a little older, my personal golden era was the SNES era. I do love the psone era though as well.
This for me. I love my SNES RPGs (Lufia II, BoFII, Terranigma etc) but there are a lot of PSX RPGs that are golden additions to my collection. Suikoden I and II (<3), Wild ARMs, Grandia, Breath of Fire 3/4, Legend of Dragoon, Harvest Moon (okay, it was a farming sim), Star Ocean 2, Legend Of Legaia, Chrono Cross and FF7/8/9/1&2/6/4/Chrono Trigger. ^.^ So many great games!
Then again, the PS2 has had its fair share of great RPGs - Dark Cloud, Suikoden V, FFX/X-2/XII, Okami, Wild ARMs 3 and many more (that I can't remember).
SNES will always hold that special place in my heart, though.
deboo
85
:o
you're boring.
I didn't get the big deal about LoL. I thought it was kinda...err..boring.
you're boring.
post=9361
Legend Of Legaia,
I didn't get the big deal about LoL. I thought it was kinda...err..boring.
I have a karate obsessed brother (or he was at the time) and it was always funny watching him trying to copy the moves that the characters did. That upped the enjoyment factor a lot. LoL 2 was better, if only because it had tonnes of sidequests... and I'm a sucker for sidequests. ^.^
maladroithim
1495
I think that there was a lot of experimentation in the RPGs coming from Japan at this time that was pretty interesting. A lot of Squaresoft's games in particular had pretty big budgets, but felt like they had a lot of creativity and freedom poured into them. And, actually, there weren't that many sequels, which is pretty cool!
I think there's some nostalgia coloring your view, but at the same time, I do think it was a genuinely more interesting time to be interested in RPGs. All of the different sub-genres we see now were established during that time, and it was pretty exciting to be part of it.
However, I think it might only seem that way because we were suddenly get a lot of localized products? For example, Front Mission 1 and 2 had been on Super Nintendo, but when we got Front Mission 3, a strategy-RPG with giant robots was pretty original!
I feel like Legend of Legaia 2 was one of the first truly really uninspired, generic jRPGs that was almost like contemptuous of its audience (see: Star Ocean 4). But I guess I wasn't sick of that stuff at the time and I liked it a lot too.
I think there's some nostalgia coloring your view, but at the same time, I do think it was a genuinely more interesting time to be interested in RPGs. All of the different sub-genres we see now were established during that time, and it was pretty exciting to be part of it.
However, I think it might only seem that way because we were suddenly get a lot of localized products? For example, Front Mission 1 and 2 had been on Super Nintendo, but when we got Front Mission 3, a strategy-RPG with giant robots was pretty original!
post=93613
I have a karate obsessed brother (or he was at the time) and it was always funny watching him trying to copy the moves that the characters did. That upped the enjoyment factor a lot. LoL 2 was better, if only because it had tonnes of sidequests... and I'm a sucker for sidequests. ^.^
I feel like Legend of Legaia 2 was one of the first truly really uninspired, generic jRPGs that was almost like contemptuous of its audience (see: Star Ocean 4). But I guess I wasn't sick of that stuff at the time and I liked it a lot too.
