Xbox 360 - Turn Based jRPG's

[Jaesun]

So I finally bought a new Xbox 360, and already have Lost Odyssey, which is so far pretty cool, are there any other Turn Based jRPG/RPG's for the XBox?

[WILL THE ALMIGHTY]

Blue Dragon and if you're patient enough, FF13.

[vault_overseer]

I know there's a handful of jrpgs on 360, but they all suck and I'm not sure about the turn-based part

[Morgoth]

Blue Dragon is stupid kitty crap, forget about that quickly. Lost Odyssey is pretty much the only halfway decent one you can get for the 360. It becomes crap later though when these creepy kids join your party.

Edited October 5, 2009 by Morgoth

[Nightshape]

star ocean may be worth a shot, but it ain't turn based.

[Starwars]

"Oh Gods of the cRPGs. Please forgive this poor lost soul called Jaesun. He has sinned but he does not know better."

 

*sacrifices 10 Xbricks to the PC Gods*

 

[Amentep]

Spectral Force 3 and Operation: Darkness were tactical jRPGs and I believe neither got very good ratings.

 

Wasn't Eternal Sonata turn based? I seem to remember it getting pretty decent scores/reviews.

 

I think The Last Remnant was turn based and received mixed reviews.

 

Besides FFXIII I think Square-Enix is going to publish a new Front Mission (Front Mission Evolved) which - I'm guessing based on previous entries - will be turn based.

[vault_overseer]

star ocean may be worth a shot, but it ain't turn based.

 

Are you joking? Star Ocean is terrible, just awful.

Edited October 5, 2009 by vault_overseer

[Purkake]

I see that you are a bunch of worthless JRPG sympathizers.

 

Death to JRPGs!

[Amentep]

I see that you are a bunch of worthless JRPG sympathizers.

 

Death to JRPGs!

 

I wouldn't be here if it weren't for JRPGs.

 

In fact if it weren't for Final Fantasy III/VI, I'd probably have gotten out of video gaming entirely. Which would have meant that all that money I've spent on video games/consoles/PCs since then I could have been putting into my savings account.

Edited October 5, 2009 by Amentep

[Oner]

I see that you are a bunch of worthless JRPG sympathizers.

 

Death to JRPGs!

Somebody gonna get a hurt real bad. Somebody. I'm not gonna say who.

[Purkake]

I was kidding, BTW.

 

Most of the decent JRPGs have moved to the DS and some to the PSP as well. Adding a ton of graphics and stuff doesn't really make them all that much better. I think going portable was a great idea.

 

I played some JRPG-ish stuff back in the day as well, things like Lufia II, Tales of Phantasia, Chrono Trigger, Terranigma and Earthbound(they also translated Mother 3, but I haven't played that yet).

[Nightshape]

star ocean may be worth a shot, but it ain't turn based.

 

Are you joking? Star Ocean is terrible, just awful.

 

I suggest you read what I wrote, and understand it.

[Jaesun]

Thanks all, I was unsure if The Last Remnant was turned based or not, and it's pretty cheep now on amazon. I might give that one a try.

 

Spectral Force 3 and Operation: Darkness sounds... interesting I'll look into those. And maybe Eternal Sonata.

 

And yea, I'm pretty much sure Last Odyssey is pretty much the only decent one right now, still enjoying it.

 

Thanks!

[GreasyDogMeat]

Heh, the ONLY JRPG I have remote interest in on 360 is Lost Odyssey. JRPGs are like dirty magazines. You hope nobody walks in on you while looking at them.

[vault_overseer]

star ocean may be worth a shot, but it ain't turn based.

 

Are you joking? Star Ocean is terrible, just awful.

 

I suggest you read what I wrote, and understand it.

 

You suggested that it's worth a shot, I stated that it's garbage.

 

Unless you're speaking illuminati, I understood you perfectly.

[Cl_Flushentityhero]

Star Ocean 4 received a lot of favorable reviews, so I'd view any claims it objectively is "garbage" with skepticism.

 

Operation Darkness has its charms, though the interface requires a lot of micromanagement and the difficulty gets up there about halfway through the game. I never finished it, but I had fun with it.

[Purkake]

You suggested that it's worth a shot, I stated that it's garbage.

 

Unless you're speaking illuminati, I understood you perfectly.

 

I'm on to you, overseer, everyone knows that the Illuminati speak Esperanto.

[vault_overseer]

You suggested that it's worth a shot, I stated that it's garbage.

 

Unless you're speaking illuminati, I understood you perfectly.

 

I'm on to you, overseer, everyone knows that the Illuminati speak Esperanto.

That's what they want you to believe!

[Purkake]

Trust no one.

 

Question everything.

Edited October 5, 2009 by Purkake

[Llyranor]

First of all, don't play ANY of the 360 JRPGs for the story. Just don't do it, man.

 

In terms of gameplay, Lost Odyssey is pretty standard/mediocre. The skill system is nothing worthy of note (immortals learn skills/spells by leeching off mortals, mortals learn them by levelling up), and the actual combat mechanics are pretty ho-hum. It tries to be interesting by implementing a turn order based on command types (those who defend go first, then items, then those who attack, those who use skills, then spells; you can also stall spellcasters if you hit them with attacks first --> might get delayed into the next turn). While nice in theory, it never develops into anything worthwhile. The wall system is also untapped potential. Your back line (and enemy's) has very high physical damage resistance until the party 'wall' is broken. You do that by dealing damage to the front line. Again, conceptually-sound, but the gameplay implications are pretty minimal. It was basically just a 'attack front line first, or use magic on the back line' standard formula, rather than an intricate dance between trying to break and restore the wall using various skills/spells/items. There's also a ring system which allows you to equip a ring which adds status/elemental effects to your physical attacks. Interesting in terms of scanning enemies for weaknesses and using the proper ring, but once you realize that you're basically just looking at the enemy weakness and picking the appropriate ring - and that's all you do - you realize the system has no depth at all. Overall, though, wouldn't say it's actually bad; just standard/mediocre. Its biggest crime is awful pacing, both in combat and in dungeons. To be fair, the Dreams of 1000 Years were fairly well-written.

 

Blue Dragon is an old-school JRPG that people will just liken to Dragonball in artstyle. If you ignore the story, it does have an interesting job system. You essentially equip a job to learn abilities, and then equip those abilities even after you've switched to a different class. The customization is pretty neatly done, the jobs are mostly well-balanced, and they allow a good breadth of abilities between them. The game also forgoes random encounters and places you on the field (in which some jobs will grant you abilities to deal with enemies - such as one which instantly kills enemies you've already encountered and give you the AP for it). The saving grace for the game was the hard mode DLC (free). The vanilla game is a cakewalk. With hard mode, it poses a good challenge, and some of the bosses can be pretty tough. I've had to fundamentally revamp my entire party setup a few times when I've hit a rough spot. Combat-wise, much better than LO. Just avoid clicking on every single object you find in the environment, and the pacing should be relatively decent as well.

______

 

Last Remnant is definitely my favorite of the bunch. Again, I've warned you to NEVER EVER play any of the 360 JRPGs for the story. The combat system here is one of the more innovative turn-based systems in recent times, and one of my favorites. It can be hit and miss depending on who you ask. Some will swear by it, some will absolutely hate it. Rather than placing emphasis on customization of specific character, it places it on customization of your entire party. Your party is composed of a max of 5 unions. Each union is composed of a max of 5 characters. Each character usually has a 'class' (not fixed in stone, just ability-wise), such as fighter, healer, mage, item user, traps, area effects, etc. Party leaders (of which you can only have a limited number - limit cap is removed in the PC version, which I view as a BAD thing; more on this) usually have the abilities of 2-3 classes together. As your characters fight through battles, they gain stats/abilities based on what they do in battle. Get hit a lot --> increase hp; attack physically a lot --> learn new weapon art; use healing herb a lot --> learn revive herb. Now - and this is important here - what I love about the game is that grinding isn't required (some will even argue that grinding will maybe even penalize you stats-wise), because even though your non-leader soldiers will learn new skills and get stronger, you can always go back to the HQ and get new soldiers who are probably just as good. So yes, while you *can* keep the soldiers you have, you have the flexibility to switch them in and out based on what tactical needs you have for your unions. The game basically rewarding proper party/union planning, rather than grinding characters.

 

What's special about the combat system? Here's the part where some people may hate the game. You don't give specific orders to specific characters; you give them to unions. What commands each specific character gets depends on what skills they have, how much AP the party has, and such. Example; all the party unleashes their weapon arts, or longrange spells. There is movement in battle, but you don't freely move them around - it works relative to enemy positions. You target an enemy union, and your unions will run towards each other and engage in battle. You can set up ambushes to have unions get intercepted, or get interrupted yourself. If unions meet, they engage in a deadlock. You can attack a deadlocked union to gain a flanking position, which leads to more damage. You can increase the odds even more with a back attack. The interaction between unions and actions between allied unions can be interesting. For example, to heal a deadlocked union using an allied union, you have to engage that deadlock. To have a deadlocked union heal itself, you either mix between attacking and healing, or have your union pull out of the deadlock and have more of the characters using healing - but then that puts you in a more vulnerable position. It's these kinds of tactical considerations that make the gameplay really compelling. Some people will complain that you don't really have a lot of control, but you actually DO have a lot of control; it really depends on how you customize your unions. It's not ABSOLUTE control, but it works absolutely well, and enhances this specific game.

 

To add to the no-grinding policy, there are no random encounters, and you can *easily* run past every single encounter if you want (you have a move that speeds your movement). You can also link multiple enemies into a single encounter. This is great if you'd rather have fewer - but much tougher - battles rather than a bunch of easy and repetitive ones as in some other JRPGs. Given that you can fight as many or as few battles as you want, pacing usually works really well. There's also a bunch of sidequests you can do or skip. If you play the 360 version, you absolutely must install the disc to your hard drive.

_______

 

SO4 isn't turn-based, first of all. Second, it has the worst story and worst cast/party in the history of JRPGs, and that's saying something. The action combat system is pretty fun, and blindsides are cool at first. But, by the end of the game, you realize that it really isn't that deep. I finished the game, but you could never pay me to replay that ever again. I'm not sure whether I'm recommending it or not.

 

Eternal Sonata is pretty much crap. It has the second worst story and cast/party in the history of 360 JRPGs. Combat is fast-paced, not really turn-based ('semi', but not really). It's fun at first, but it's extremely shallow. It has co-op, which is its saving grace, but Tales of Vesperia utterly mops the floor with it. Best JRPG soundtrack this gen by far, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjmVN-8EEqc

 

Tales of Vesperia is my favorite 360 JRPG. Pretty fun co-op action combat, and best overall package here. Avoid if you're allergic to animu.

 

I'm never heard anything remotely good about Spectral Force 3, Operation Darkness, or that Roids game. I love SRPGs, but these seem to be scrapping the bottom of the barrel.

 

You also might want to look into Culdcept Saga (demo). It mixes boardgame and CCG gameplay. Kind of like Magic meets Monopoly. Demo was nice, but I didn't actually get the full game.

 

Front Mission Evolved is NOT going to be turn-based. It'll be a crappy action game made by a no-name developer.

Edited October 5, 2009 by Llyranor

[Nightshape]

star ocean may be worth a shot, but it ain't turn based.

 

Are you joking? Star Ocean is terrible, just awful.

 

I suggest you read what I wrote, and understand it.

 

You suggested that it's worth a shot, I stated that it's garbage.

 

Unless you're speaking illuminati, I understood you perfectly.

 

It MAY be worth a shot.

 

You stated it was garbage.

 

I'm only guilty of saying he may want to take a look. Your response makes it sound like I stated it was the most awesome JRPG to be released ever!

[Llyranor]

SO4 features both the absolute worst and best cutscene in gaming history.

Don't watch it if you ever plan on playing the game: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrnV6kN-bxI

You can skip to 6:35, but the first part is hilariously cringe-worthy too.

 

Eternal Sonata has a decent contender too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X65VNWFQDcE

I guess it's a huge spoiler, but no one gives a freaking crap about the Eternal Sonata story.

Edited October 5, 2009 by Llyranor

[Jaesun]

Thanks Llyranor. I already *know* story in most jRPG's are just pure mind boggling crap (usually) so that's not really an issue for me. FUN turned based gaming is just what I like. Like Wild Arms 3 on the PS2, crap story WONDERFUL game, well I liked it. It was a lot of fun.

 

And yea I got Culdcept I LOVE LOVE LOVE that game. I was up until 4 in the morning just playing the single player game. The only reason I kept my PS2 around was just to play Culcept with my one friend that also like to play it co-op, but now I can just play live games with it. <3

[H]

What the hell, Jaesun?

 

Anyway, the only piece of advice I can give you is this: stay the **** away from Enchanted Arms. I was tricked into buying it because the game was made by From Software of Armored Core and Demon's Souls fame, and it turned out to be one of the worst purchases I've ever made. The combat could be the EA's saving grace, but it was ****ed up by having way too much filler encounters, bad art direction and only one battle theme. A particularly bad battle theme, I should add.