I was having a very interesting debate against my brother last night, he's complaining about certain RPG's that are crap so to speak.

The few we debated about and his comments on each of them:

Legaia 2 - looks bloody crap (he hasn't touched it)
Shadow Hearts - Waste of time.
FFX-2 - A girly girl game. (he hasn't touched that too)
Vagrant Story - Too boring.

Now that's not really fair, to be playing a game for 5 minutes and say things like that. For me to determine what an RPG is like I have to play it for at least one hour, maybe more depending on it's gameplay. At least get through a section of the game (i.e chapter/location/mission etc.).

I remember in my school days a classmate played FFVIII and enjoyed it very much. I recommeneded FFVII to her and she just made a comment about how the graphics weren't appealing. :/
I also remember her analysis of the similarities between Cloud and Popeye. >_<

Has anything like this ever happened to you?

Has anything like this ever happened to you?

yeah plenty of people(including me) might brush off a game without really getting into it. i agree that you have to get atleast partially into a game to enjoy it.RPGs aren't like action games with instant gratification, you need to let it develop to really appreciate it

i played legaia 2 for a while but it was far to cliqued in the storyline and characters...oh and locations and everything.

it is unfair to dismiss ffx-2 as girly. i'm a guy and i really enjoyed most of the game. the "girly" bits are very toungue in cheek and the develpoers know when they are doing it.

one example i can think of is legend of zelda the wind waker. when i first saw i was like oh that sucks, and the earlyt gameplay hardly draws you in. but once i played it for a few hours i really started to like it.

Ok, when I saw that two of the games were two of my favourites, I had to put my two cents in.

Firstly, Legaia 2 Duel Saga. While this is the sequel to the Legend of Legaia on PSX, the sequel DID have some moments were I thought "What the hell was the designer thinking?". However, the game by itself is a good, solid game. Parts of it are annoying, but seeing as I've finished the game, my verdict is, it's a good RPG. Not in the same league as some other RPG's out there, but still a good one to check out.

Secondly, Shadow Hearts. This is the sequel to the PSX game, Koudelka. This game has a darker, more gothic feel to it. Like I've said before, all games have parts which are annoying, in this case, I didn't like the Judgement Ring, which decided on how the items were utilised and such. Also the voice acting was bad, but then considering my disgust for voice acting in games, that's pretty much standard.

Thirdly, Final Fantasy X-2. I have this game and I'm in the final dungeon. The only reason I'm playing it, is because I can post about it here, and not have people flame me, because "You haven't played the game, so don't bitch about it.". The only thing I like about this game, is some, REPEAT SOME of the dresspheres. That's it. Now having said that, I've probably opened the flood gate for flames directed at me.

But in response to your question Riana, I can recall having some arguements in the past, regarding some games. One which I recall, is Xenogears. While a great game in itself, I don't really think it deserves all the credit is being given. It IS a good game, but there are other good games out there.

That's my two cents.

Yes, I experienced that too.

Did anyone play Legend of Mana?
I played it and I really love it. It�s the game for me. Cute character designs and music, wonderful sceneries and enemies.
I absolutly love it!

But I was a bit shocked one day when I was playing it for my sis came in and sat down and wanted to join the fight. (It�s a multiplayer game.) When I said that we would have to find these sprite-statues she was disappointed and said: "This game sucks then!" She was not happy with this non-linear game-play. She never played it and I was kinda shocked... (�-�)

That was the time we just had FF X-2 received and she wanted to play it. That may be some reason why I didn�t like or enjoy FF X-2... maybe.

But there will always be people who don�t like things although they know nothing about it. There will always be very stupid people... =_=
I will try not to judge games from just looking at the cover but some just are boring.

Take Illusion of Gaia for example. The game-play was horrible but then it had an unique atmosphere and was... somehow very depressing... hmmm~

"Lady Auron"

I never did like Legend of Mana that much... mostly because the game was so boring in gameplay and there was really not much of a Multiplayer Emphasis. Sword, Secret, and SD3 felt totally different compared to Legend of Mana and I guess with that thought in mind for the Mana series, it just wasn't that fun.

However, I do play it from time to time when I have nothing better to do, I really like the music and the art for it... but the gameplay (and some of the elements I just can't understand all too well) is really lacking. :(

But what matters is... I gave it a fair amount of gameplay. :D

I had this happened to me when I first saw the cover of FFVII. I was thinking of how gay it was that Cloud had a sword that big. I just thought that was so stupid. But then, I actually started playing the game...

A big reason that people say that FFX-2 sucks so much, is:

1. Your entire party is girls, and it's the thought of controlling girls the whole time that turns them off the game.

Now, granted, I am used to using male characters in my party most of the time, this aspect does not turn me away from FFX-2. Rather, it intrigues me, as it is something basically new to me.

But yeah, I have that problem of judging games by their appearance sometimes. Just take Paper Mario for another example. That was a really great game, but two things made it unpopular:

The graphics
The release date

I was shocked when I saw paper-thin Mario, but when you play through the game, you learn that these graphics are for the best.

And since this game was released at the end of N64's run, less people paid attention to it. They all had their sights set on GCN.

To be honest, I hated Legend of Mana. Secret of Mana for the SNES is one of my favorite games ever, so I was super excited about it. It just couldn't keep my attention at all- the gameplay was pretty weak, and it was so non-linear I didn't feel like there was a point to doing anything.


Originally posted by Smokey

I was shocked when I saw paper-thin Mario, but when you play through the game, you learn that these graphics are for the best.

And since this game was released at the end of N64's run, less people paid attention to it. They all had their sights set on GCN.

Paper Mario's graphics initally turned me off on the game in a huge way. I was so disapointed, especially since Super Mario RPG had been so great.

I don't even remember how I wound up giving Paper Mario a chance, but I did, for one reason or another, and I absolutely fell in love with it. I admit, there are still games I judge at first glance, but I try not to do that so much.

Originally posted by Ndi
<B> To be honest, I hated Legend of Mana. Secret of Mana for the SNES is one of my favorite games ever, so I was super excited about it. It just couldn't keep my attention at all- the gameplay was pretty weak, and it was so non-linear I didn't feel like there was a point to doing anything. </B>

Yes, I hated Legend of Mana also. Even Sword of Mana was not really good. Secret of Mana is by-far the best game in the series, and one of my favorites too.



<B> Paper Mario's graphics initally turned me off on the game in a huge way. I was so disapointed, especially since Super Mario RPG had been so great.

I don't even remember how I wound up giving Paper Mario a chance, but I did, for one reason or another, and I absolutely fell in love with it. I admit, there are still games I judge at first glance, but I try not to do that so much. </B>

Well, now that Paper Mario 2 is coming out, hopefully more people will pay attention to this game, since the first one was really good.

Originally posted by Smokey
Well, now that Paper Mario 2 is coming out, hopefully more people will pay attention to this game, since the first one was really good.

*nods*

I'm really excited about it- it looks like it's going to be fantastic. Maybe it'll even surpass the first one.

To get back on topic, another game I admit I pre-judged is WIndwaker. However, I played a demo, which was terrible, and for the most part, I've heard nothing but bad things about the game, so maybe I was right on that score.

Originally posted by Ndi
<B> To get back on topic, another game I admit I pre-judged is WIndwaker. However, I played a demo, which was terrible, and for the most part, I've heard nothing but bad things about the game, so maybe I was right on that score. </B>

The reviews that I read for WW were mostly excellent. I admit, that it was a descent game, but it is nowhere near as good as most reviews gave it credit for. We should ask <B> mmm </B> how good WW is. :)

Typo has encountered this too many times to count. Now this ish just my experience from talking about this to people whose opinions on yay/boo games differ from mine, but I have found that one of the main reasons people turn away from certain RPGs ish due to the fact that it either is too hard for them, or requires more thought than they are willing to make an effort to put in. (Though they'll pass it off as something simple like "bad graphics" anyway, maybe because they don't want to admit that they have problems beating a game, or that they just don't like challenge in their video games?)

Ish a shame to me, really, since Typo welcomes any challenge, even if ish to the point of frustration, because then there's a feeling of accomplishment after overcoming said challenge, as opposed to whatever you could possibly feel after you run rings around helplessly delicate flocks of enemies in .

But I can't really fault people for refusing to try out a game if they don't like what they see, or can't adapt to the gameplay itself after a short while. There's a myriad of reasons why some people just won't, or can't get into an RPG. Just as long as they don't condemn it as "crap", or something.

Typo dropped Wild Arms 2 after spending 30 minutes with it because of its lego-like graphics, sluggish gameplay, and awful loading times. Typo can sometimes be patient to a fault, but there's very little chance I'll be able to survive for too long if the game has to load to do [i]everything, and to top it all off, I can't even tell what move my character just did because the animation/"special effects" looked like bad claymation seen through a rippling puddle of water...

On the other hand, there's Xenogears which, again, ish slow for the most part with menus, character movement, plot development, loading, saving, and definitely text. Typo was ready to put it down within an hour, but what fun I realized I could extract from battles, and the interesting, though somewhat long-winded story kept me going for long enough to realize that the game was worth my time. Lucky break.

RPGs, apart from storyline aspects, tend not to change much from start to finish, so there's a good chance that if you don't like it at first, you probably never will. You risk missing out on what could be a really great experience if you drop it, but if you don't want to waste your time on something you dislike, why should ya ?:3

RPGs are known for being "story games", and the general consensus among casual gamers ish that they are all slow, and include more story than gameplay. That makes just one major reason you have people shaking their heads at RPGs, and just won't give 'em a shot. X3