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Attack! 10 turn-based JRPGs that dared to be different

Saving the world one turn at a time

Words: on January 22, 2013
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60 comments

  • slimjim441 - January 22, 2013 4:02 p.m.

    I'd want to put Paper Mario and Fire Emblem on this list, but not really because of how unique or innovative they are. I'll admit it's just because I love Paper Mario and Fire Emblem. Good to see Mario & Luigi RPG series though.

  • BladedFalcon - January 22, 2013 4:31 p.m.

    Not to mention that fire Emblem is an entirely different genre altogether, gameplay-wise...

  • slimjim441 - January 22, 2013 11:49 p.m.

    It's turned-based strategy JRPG, a minor skew off turn-based JRPG. Not that wildly different. Besides, did I mention that Fire Emblem is Fire Emblem? ...sorry, I'm kind of on a huge FE kick right now while I'm waiting for Awakening to come out. Stupid Gamestop won't let me pre-order it though, the dirty fascists. My plan is to pick it up while I pay off Dead Space 3, then play it while I wait for the midnight. I'll probably just play FE all night and forget about Dead Space 3...

  • BladedFalcon - January 23, 2013 5:41 a.m.

    Er... Yes actually, they ARE wildly different. RPGs are games in which battles are only a part of the gameplay, are usually very small on scale, short on length, and the rest of the gameplay is focused on other things such as exploration and/or puzzle solving in some cases. Turn Based Strategy games are largely focused on large scale battles that can potentially last hours, and that's pretty much the bulk of the gameplay. And that's without even getting into detail about the gameplay of the battles themselves, which work very differently altogether in both genres, even if they are both turn based. Not to mention, if you were to include FE here, then how about Advance Wars? Jeanne D'Arc? FF Tactics? VP: Covenant of the plume? All strategy games taht have pretty much the same kind of gameplay that Fire Emblem has. I get it that you're excited for a new FE, hell, I am too, that game is one of the main reasons why I got a 3DS in the first place, and I've been a FE fan ever since the first game came out for the GBA. But it's precisely because I like it a lot, (along with all other TURN BASED STRATEGY GAMES, Not effing RPGs like people bafflingly call them, including you GR... I haven't forgotten about you Putting X-Com alongside actual RPGs >_>) I know there's enough difference from one genre to another, and I know better than to mix them up, huge fan or not.

  • slimjim441 - January 23, 2013 11:32 a.m.

    Dude, don't get your jimmies all rustled. I get that FE doesn't belong on this list. I also get that you recognize that I/we both really like FE. Now, mechanically, turn-based and turn-based strategy are relatively different; that much is true. But here's what I'm talking about: when it comes down to it, they're all still turn-based JRPGs. That doesn't mean we can through FE and Valkyria Chronicles and all that other shit in the same list as Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger, Golden Sun, and all that, because you're right, they don't boil down to the same gameplay mechanics, but they still boil down to the same theme. You know what I'm saiyan?

  • BladedFalcon - January 23, 2013 3:07 p.m.

    "when it comes down to it, they're all still turn-based JRPGs." "you're right, they don't boil down to the same gameplay mechanics, but they still boil down to the same theme. You know what I'm saiyan?" I do get what you're trying to say, I don't think I agree with it though. Mainly because I see the theme itself to be very different by nature. In a way, JRPGS are far more anchored in story and character interaction, even more so than gameplay itself. In contrast, in TBS games, the story and characters are often secondary to the gameplay or battles, even you have to admit that story or characters aren't FE's strong points, only exception to the rule here that I can think of is FF tactics. And it's just- to me, the TBS genre isn't really as linked to JRPGs as you suggest, because if so, you'd be suggesting that TBS games are mostly Japanese by nature, and as games such as X-com or Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars show us, that is simply not the case. I think you only see them to be linked or similar by association and that in general, most TBS games tend to come out from Japan, maybe, but upon closer inspection, I genuinely think they are overall separate genres altogether.

  • slimjim441 - January 24, 2013 12:29 a.m.

    Point taken; then we both acknowledge that what it REALLY boils down to is the fact that I wanted to talk about Fire Emblem. Paper Mario still would have been nice to see on the list though.

  • BladedFalcon - January 24, 2013 5:34 a.m.

    Well, you got what you wanted then, kinda? :P And well... Paper Mario is great, but pretty much uses the same basic system that Superstar saga does, so I imagine that putting both of them on the list would have felt a tad redundant XD (And, at any case, I would have put Super Mario RPG before superstar saga or paper mario anyway, since that's where the system was truly born.)

  • slimjim441 - January 24, 2013 10:52 a.m.

    I personally put the Paper Mario series above the Superstar Saga series. However, Bowser's Inside Story was amazing. Unfortunately, a lot of people just forget about Super Mario RPG...

  • BladedFalcon - January 24, 2013 11:17 a.m.

    Which they shouldn't, Super Mario RPG was pretty darn fantastic, and in a few aspects, arguably superior to both paper mario and mario & luigi. Anyway, regardless of which might be considered better, I think we both can agree that listing at least one of them here was enough, since really, the core of the battle mechanics IS kinda the same in all 3 kinds of Mario RPGs.

  • slimjim441 - January 25, 2013 12:40 a.m.

    Agreed. Back to Fire Emblem, Ilyana is a worthless mage and should never be used in the stead of Soren. I almost feel like I ruined my game by wasting experience on her to try to make her worth while...

  • BladedFalcon - January 25, 2013 5:46 a.m.

    Afraid I don't know what you're talking about. As much as I wish I could have, I haven't played either of the radiance games on consoles, the first one because it came way too late in the gamecube's lifespan, and by then I was so tired of the system's shitty game catalog that I had sold it before I even knew that game existed. And the second because it was on the Wii, and screw the Wii. Instead, how about dat FE: Awakening demo? have you tried it yet? Dunno if that was present in the console FEs, but the different difficulty settings they offer are pretty cool, and they significantly alter not just damage of units, but the amount of enemies and positioning you have to deal with. The hardest one present in the demo was simply insane.

  • slimjim441 - January 25, 2013 1:09 p.m.

    I've tried my had at all the difficulties as well, I'll probably do what I usually do and stick with the second difficulty setting, typically normal. They might have another difficulty in Awakening like Shadow Dragon had, except those difficulties were like fuck hard. Also, I think it's a smart move that they're adding the casual feature. I'll never use it myself, but I think it could help bring in more new players who seem overwhelmed with the perma-death structure. I'm REALLY looking forward to Awakening, but Gamestop decided to bone me over again and not let me pre-order it because 'it's not in our system anymore.' I really don't know why I shop there anymore... Anyway, I understand the whole thing about a microscopic library for GCN and just being sick of Wii, but you owe it to yourself to play both Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. They're both tremendous, and Radiant Dawn is by far my favorite game in the series. It's huge. Like, 50+ hours huge. Save data from PoR even carries over to RD, as long as you played on Normal mode. It's worth it. But Ilyana is still useless.

  • BladedFalcon - January 25, 2013 1:24 p.m.

    Well, perhaps one day I MIGHT get a wii, if only for those games, muramasa, punch out, and the wiiware library. but it won't be any time soon. Also, yeah, I usually go for the hard difficulty in things like action games or shooters, (With LoS I went straight for the hardest one available.) but in this case... yeah, I think I'll stick with the middle difficulty, because the harder one just sucks the fun out of the game, because you pretty much are forced to use turtle tactics, always be on the defensive, and pretty much rely on Frederick the paladin for attack because anyone else dies in two hits or less. It's totally doable, but again, sucks all the fun out of the game because you cannot be aggressive in any way or take any risks. Also, i THINK you could just buy the game via the E-shop, if you don't mind having some space being taken for a while XD

  • slimjim441 - January 25, 2013 3:35 p.m.

    You can buy it digitally from the 3DS eShop, but I'll probably still be able to get it, I'm just sad that I can't pre-order it. If worst comes to worse, I'll be able to hold one from work and pick it up there, I just won't get the art book. And I agree with difficulty thing. I don't even know how people can get through Shadow Dragon on that 5* hard mode. It's just dumb...

  • mafyooz - January 22, 2013 3:19 p.m.

    I think Digital Devil Saga deserves a mention for the way you can frighten your enemies and devour them for a big bonus to your Atma (skill XP), but at the risk of getting indigestion and freezing mid-battle! :)

  • Kinara - January 22, 2013 3:14 p.m.

    Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga (2003, Game Boy Advance) for timed button presses? If you're going for a Mario RPG for that, Super Mario RPG should be the one mentioned since.. you know, it started it? And sadly, Suikoden isn't on the list.

  • Lurkero - January 22, 2013 3:11 p.m.

    My favorite JRPGs are the ones that ARENT typical. I miss the Grandia series very much and I wish that there was another game like it being released. Overall I like the activeness of the Mario & Luigi games best, but Grandia is a close second.

  • ultimatepunchrod - January 22, 2013 3:06 p.m.

    Thank you for mentioning The Legend of Dragoon. I always loved the addition system.

  • Ryan_Taljonick - January 22, 2013 3:14 p.m.

    Love me some Legend of Dragoon!

  • BladedFalcon - January 22, 2013 4:34 p.m.

    The combat system in Legend of Dragoon is pretty much most of what I remember from that game, wishing more games would have played like that. Well, I also remember a very weird special attack performed by the dark haired woman in which black goo dripped from her middle and then the actual attack happened... That weirded me out so damn much.

  • ultimatepunchrod - January 22, 2013 5:54 p.m.

    Lol everyone remembers that!

  • garnsr - January 22, 2013 2:53 p.m.

    Panzer Dragoon Saga obviously belongs here, and Shadow Hearts had some interesting battle mechanics.

  • Ryan_Taljonick - January 22, 2013 3:15 p.m.

    Ya know, I ALMOST put Shadow Hearts in this list.

  • Eddiex - January 22, 2013 2:46 p.m.

    We need a The Legend of Dragoon sequel or prequel for PS3 or PS4. Don't Sony own The Legend of Dragoon?

  • eric648 - January 22, 2013 2:46 p.m.

    Panzer Dragoon Saga is a deserving entry on the list. The battle system is different enough, but the isolation the game provides is a break from the normally very populated RPGs. It's one of the few RPGs I really like.

  • Eddiex - January 22, 2013 2:44 p.m.

    Legend of Legaia loved that game.

  • Ryan_Taljonick - January 22, 2013 3:15 p.m.

    Thank god i'm not the only one. That game was amazing (though the same can't be said for its sequel).

  • Vistyle - January 22, 2013 5:26 p.m.

    I loved it as well. I remember back when I was little playing through the demo about 30 times because I wasn't able to find it in stores (and had very low disposable income at the age of...what 10?). Then during the next generation of systems I happened upon it in a gamestop, bought it, and I played it nonstop until beating it. Loved the combat to death...and the art, while not hi-res even to the PS1 standards, was sort of...unique?

  • Ryan_Taljonick - January 23, 2013 9:36 p.m.

    It was one of the first JRPGs I can ever remember playing where, when you'd equip a new piece of gear, it would show up on your character in battle. Then I'd be all like 0_0

  • haipayazoo - January 22, 2013 2:32 p.m.

    No Suikoden?! Blasphemous!

  • LordzOfChaos - January 22, 2013 1:56 p.m.

    Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier is one of my favorite games and I've played it so many times and it never gets old

  • MetroidPrimeRib - January 22, 2013 1:50 p.m.

    Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga is definitely one of my favorite games ever.

  • shawksta - January 22, 2013 1:12 p.m.

    Great list, Paper Mario comes to mind, but I go with Mario and Luigi when it comes to which shook the genre up more, the attacks themselves and the timing were outrageous in style and and commands and continued the trend each game.

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