The Forum » The Welcome Desk » Waiting Lounge » JRPGS/Visual Novels Recommendations

Hey all, I couldn't find a section to place this under, so this will have to do. I don't have a VAST knowledge of these types of games, but the ones that I have, I loved.

I have been a big fan of the Gameboy Advance. The Gameboy Micro is possible the greatest system ever made. Thankfully, some JRPGs and some Visual Novels made their way both to the GBA and even had PSP remakes. This thread is for referring some, or just for slight reviews of each. Let's begin.

1. Riveira: The Promised Land

This is by far one of my favorite GBA/PSP games. If you are unfamiliar with Atlus' Dept:Heaven games, this would probably be a good place to start.

You play as Ein, a Grim Angel with and uber cool sword and the task of defeating Accursed blah blah blah. Long story short, our main character gets amnesia and is accompanied by four cuties, each with their respective stereotypes on a quest to save Asgard. Amenesia? Check. Harem? Check. While the idea seems played out and repetitive, the way Atlus presents it is fresh and creative.

Riviera plays out in a few different ways. It's essentially a visual novel with strategy and role playing elements to it. You spend a majority of the time examining and moving through beautiful static backgrounds, all completely hand drawn. You have a "points" system, which you can accumulate more of by defeating monsters in a faster/more efficient manner. These points act as Action points, similar to tabletop RPGs. You can spend them on either examining objects, or opening treasure chests, or going a different route. The limited points you have add great replayability, as you'll never have enough for just one route. Flags? Check.

The battle system is new as well. A character does not "equip" a weapon, and in fact, none of the characters even have equippable armor. Instead, you have a large list of items: Weapons, Armor, Potions and Spells: That everyone can use. Each character is affinity based (Water, Fire, Lightning etc) and each weapon acts differently when used by the respective party member. While the characters themselves level up by defeating monsters, the more often they use a specific item, the more they become adept at using it, using limit breaks and accumulating higher damage etc. This becomes tough, as some items have limited use, and you'll never know when you'll run across another "Rune Blade" in your travels. Minor Grinding? Check.

Even the girls are awesome in this game. You have your typical moe shy girl, the tsundere, the loli, and the childhood friend. That being said, the third aspect of the game involves the dating sim. The points we talked about earlier can be used to do favors or requests from each girl, therefore raising or lowering affection based on what route you want. Obviously, each question they ask you will give you the option and chance of getting one of these cuties at the end.

Check.

This game is hilarious. If you manage to get the PSP version, you get an awesome voice cast as well. This may not be as intricate/detailed as the other imported and translated JRPGs out there, but it's certainly one of my absolute favorites. If you haven't already played it, try out the ROM, then purchase it. I had an awesome time, and if I had a PSP, I would still be playing it.

Ever since I saw that Star Ocean Till The End Of Time came out, I was always interested by it but never had an opportunity to play it. I saw gameplay videos, and the battlefield seems so original to the standard Final Fantasy turn based. As soon as I purchase a PSP (they're relatively cheap now) Persona and Star Ocean are top on my list.

3.) Jeanne d'Arc

This game is a strategy RPG which is amazing all-around in gamplay, character development, blahblahblah, the full circle of all the usual facets - yet getting straight to what I find most fascinating and spectacular about this title is the plot. The story progresses from a point of nothing, to a high life - you eventually reach a spot in the story where everything feels perfect.

You've assembled a party, everyone is happy and doing well - it couldn't be any better. However, lightning strikes in the worst ways possible - something goes horribly wrong, and your party is torn apart. The game is truly never the same after this point.

Indeed, one will manage to get a few things back as they head towards the conclusion of the game - you fix up your party of members, you defeat the antagonists, yet there remains an empty hole. The game does have a sense of closure - but the impact of the certain point in the middle is never lost. The characters truly overcome much - and it's quite harsh what they experience.

I'm usually not one for tactical RPGs are there are a ton of them out there (Disgaea,Fire Emblem,Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre, Record of the Agarest War etc.) They are usually slow, and require a lot of attention to detail on each character and their equipment.

This game is exactly that, but a bit different. And it was different enough to keep my attention.

7. Yggdra Union: We'll Never Fight Alone

Yggdra Union (Pronounced EE-dra) is the second installation of Atlus' Dept:Heaven games. After playing Riviera, the artwork on this game is the first thing that caught my eye, and encouraged me to play it.

I was severely disappointed. I had no idea what was going on, how to play, what these cards were, how I won battles...It was a mess. But I gave it a chance, and it soon became very clear, and genuinely fun to play. That being said, the gameplay is very intricate, and I'll cover only the basics.

Tried and true story. Warrior Princess has Yggdra important item that the baddies of another kingdom want. War ensues, and she finds herself being overrun out of her own kingdom. Enter Milanor: a young thief with a posse of his own. One thing leads to another, and you find these two armies teaming up to fight together.

That being said, you really don't control a single character. Like most tactics games, you control everyone \. Sadly, the game consists of mostly menus and overhead map views. The game plays out similarly to other strategy RPGs: you clear a battlefield, and the next area arises. Clear enough battlefields, and you get the ability to search out the map view, locating towns and activating event sequences. The main attraction however is the battles.

Typical rock-paper-scissors type of gameplay, wherein you have a set number a troops against another, each unit having a different strength. Sword beats spear, spear beats axe etc. There are no hit points in this game, only moral, and once a units moral is depleted, they are obviously removed from the battlefield.

The main difference is the "card" system that the game employs. Cards are everything: whatever cards you have in your current "deck" gives a number of different bonuses: the ability of how many spaces your character can move, a power boost during battles, or an unleashing of a special skill of a key character. Another key aspect is the actual formation of your units. Having them close to another one of your units, either adjacent or diagonally, creates a "Union" between units, boosting up strength in combat, or giving an additional cutscene or event.

This game can be very confusing the first time you play. The tutorials are long, but if you give it a chance, the hilarity, story, and cuteness of the characters can really bring out the most in this game.

This was also another GBA "remake" with higher resolution characters and art. The art is absolutely fantastic to me.