Good RPGs and non-mainstream games

[Elieson]

You can ltc the gba remake of Shining Force fyi...

[Chiki]

Are the Atelier games any good?

Edited November 16, 2013 by Chiki

[MRDRHAWK]

The World Ends With You - DS (mainstream or not, it's fantastic).

yes. all of my yes.

Hands down, the best handheld game I've ever played. Soundtrack is perfect, gameplay is solid, story is deep and MAKES SENSE, and the characters are very well done.

Also, I'd like to add Radiant Historia, which is a strong challenger for best DS game.

[Lord Raven]

Shadow Hearts series - PS2 game series, first game has PS1-level graphics but the other two have very good graphics otherwise. Very obscure game, set in 1910s Europe/Japan or China, the third game is set in 1930s North/South America.

[Ike-Mike]

Find Mii II

This neat little game improves upon the first one in every single way so much that it's honestly my favourite 'non-mainstream' 3DS game. The only bad part is you have to beat the first Find Mii twice to unlock it, but I think it's worth it!

Superhero League of Hoboken

Probably has the most ridiculous potrayal of a post-apocalyptic New York Metropolitan area. You play as a group of superheroes as you battle and explore the world map in an RPG-like fashion and solve puzzles and explore the actual areas like in a point-and-click adventure. Progression is linear. If you liked Earthbound for the humour, this game is for you.

Hidden Agenda

You take on the role of a president from a fictional Latin American country, making important decisions as your country is fresh from a revolution and has a parliament only very recently. The game is so old it's literally black and white, but is still deeper than many games today.

Phantasy Star series

Can be gotten indiviually on the Wii Virtual Console or on those various SEGA compilations. While each one is revolutionary in its own right, keep in mind that Phantasy Star IV is regarded as one of the 16-bit greats alongside FFVI, Chrono Trigger and etc.

La Mulana

A very expansive exploration sidescroller and a very affectionate love letter to the MSX and its many games. The original MSX-like version linked above is for free, but there is also a remake you have to pay for with the graphics updated to 32 bits, an official English translation and the more unintuitive parts reworked. A sequel is also in the works.

[Silver Lightning]

Are the Atelier games any good?

I think they are, but as I've only played the Iris Trilogy (Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana, Atelier Iris 2: Azoth of Destiny, and Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm) which are somewhat different from the rest of the series, you'd have to ask someone like Levant Fortner for a better opinion on the others.

Of those 3 that I played though, it was very enjoyable; synthesizing items and equipment is fun, relatively large and colorful cast of characters, longish RPG storyline that was interesting, turn based battles were fun, the english voice work was ok (my personal faves being Vic Mignogna and Michelle Ruff in Grand Phantasm), and while the whole of the soundtracks may not be spectacular there were a lot of lovely songs that were amazing to hear. I think my favorite game was Grand Phantasm, with Eternal Mana a close second since it has a bigger party (which means more characters :D), and Azoth of Destiny was my least favorite but still a decent game.

On the subject of non-mainstream games, I managed to remember again two obscure games that I once played: Dark Cloud and Okage Shadow King. Both for PS2.

[Garland Chaos]

Riviera: The Promised Land.

That is all.

[Magical CC]

Siege of Avalons is a very old and good RPG. Titan Quest is also good, it used to be the "supposed-to-be" the next Diablo game. If you want a little action, then there is Parasite EVE 1 and 2. You can try Icewind dale 2, another good old game. And of course, the epic Gothic 2, you cant go wrong with it. Kult - Heretic Kingdom is an easy to forget RPG, but it's still good anyway. Sacred 2 is also good, but you need the expansion since the original one is a buggy as hell. There is also Sudeki, a...kinda generic action RPG but it's alright too.

There are plenty more good and non-mainstream RPGs but these are what I can think off at the moment.

[Siruppercut]

Skies of Arcadia / Legends - DC/GC (DC better sound and graphics if using VGA adapter and GC extra content.)

Grandia II - PS2/DC/PC (PS2 has several glitches, not as good as DC but much better than the PC.)

Namco X Capcom - PS2 (If you liked Project X Zone will most likely enjoy this game.)

Front Mission 5 - PS2

Zwei II - PC (Whenever they finish the translation.)

[Lord of Gabriel Knight]

Grandia 3 is an excellent RPG for gameplay alone, but the story and characters leave much to be desired.

[TheEnd]

I'll refrain from echoing what others have already said (PoE, Phantasy Star, Falcom, Xenoblade, etc.). But anyway.

Gurumin (PSP) is another Falcom title in English, if you want one. I've only played the Japanese PC version though, so I can't say how good the port - and the translation - are; and since it's an action RPG, there's always good a chance it wasn't ported well...

Mana Khemia 1 and 2 (PS2) aren't bad, 1 is better and 2 is easier. They're Atelier games with a heavier focus on battle and godly music. Its turn system reminded me of TitS, too.

Ar Tonelico 2 (PS2) has an interesting battle system, great soundtrack... but is mostly too easy (some optionals aside) and a bit too lewd. It isn't bad though.

Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 (PC) can seldom be considered non-mainstream, but they're huge, pretty faithful 2nd edition AD&D games. Planescape: Torment (PC) is a classic as well, though I still haven't found time to play that one... They're all rather old games, so you shouldn't need a powerful PC to run them.

Since Ike-Mike suggested La Mulana, I'll drop a Terraria (PC) recommendation here. It really isn't a RPG though.

[Wen Yang]

Fate Stay/Night

Tsukihime

Sengoku Rance

Granted, they're all VNs, and technically, all three are Eroges, but all three boast either magnificent story and characters (the first 2) or that paired with good gameplay (Rance).

[pinkbubblegum]

If you're willing to use your PSP to play PS1 games, I'd recommend the Suikoden series; Suikoden II, more importantly. It's such a great game ; u ;

Team ICO games, ICO and Shadow of the Colossus (which conveniently came out in a HD bundle a while back for the PS3)

Shadow Hearts series from me as well. Such great and pretty games, with a rather unique battle system. If you don't play the third one, I wouldn't blame you though. The first two are far superior ;;

Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles gets a yes from me as well. Fun game with suuuch pretty music. If you're able to play this with friends, the fun factor of the game goes up exponentially, but it's still very enjoyable as a one player experience.

Are the Atelier games any good?

I'd certainly recommend them! But what Atelier game to start with depends on what you're looking for...?

All the Atelier games have a heavy focus on alchemy/ the crafting system. Which is loads of fun in itself but the way Gust decided to handle the story sort of changed with the PS3 Atelier games.

The PS2 ones (Like Atelier Iris) had more focus on a linear story, whereas the PS3 ones leave you to do whatever you want to do, but with a "x-number-of-years-later" time limit. And then you can trigger visual novel-like character events while going on your day-to-day business. They're both great fun though, and if you're okay with lighthearted feel good stories (and a very cute cast of characters) you'll like the Atelier series c:

Yes to the Nippon Ichi recommendations (Disgaea and other Disgaea-like games) as well as the Atlus ones so far. I'd like to add Stella Deus and Eternal Poison too. They're pretty fun.

And Vanillaware games as well. More prominently, Odin Sphere and Muramasa. GrimGrimoire if you like RTS, and Dragon's Crown if you like beat em' up side scrollers (or have friends to play it with. It's loads of fun playing with a group xD

Also, yes to the Ar tonelico series. It's my guilty pleasure game series... It's fun, with amazing music. But it does get very... weird at some points. But hey, really pretty music!

On that note, NieR. Pretty music, as well as a great story and game experience.

[Superbus]

Atellier is very, very, VERY involved. Like, "get an Excel spreadsheet" involved. Fair warning there.

You have a PSP, and that system is FILLED TO THE BRIM with extremely good games. I can't even think to list them all here, but look in particular for Lunar, the first couple Star Ocean games, and for obscurity, Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble.

[Knight]

Chibi Robo for GameCube if you want a quirky exploration game with lots of collectibles. A little on the childish side, but I found it fun, the amount of hidden areas and stuff is unbelievable.

Custom Robo is an anime-esque sorta mecha game on Game Cube with a lacking story but some good comedic moments. The focus is more on the gameplay, where you get an incredibly diverse array of weapons, armour and other options and fight in an arena on unique stages against opponents. It's good to play with friends too.

You probably are already familiar with Pokemon, but if you haven't played the Mystery Dungeon spin-offs, you're missing out.

[eclipse]

You probably are already familiar with Pokemon, but if you haven't played the Mystery Dungeon spin-offs, you're missing out.

Only a small handful of games have made me shed a tear (one part of Disgaea, NieR, and Suikoden V, off the top of my head). Pokemon Mystery Dungeon made me cry, with Explorers of the Sky being the worst offender. The gameplay is fairly simplistic, and lolwhatbalance, but the story is amazing.

[Silver Lightning]

Only a small handful of games have made me shed a tear (one part of Disgaea, NieR, and Suikoden V, off the top of my head). Pokemon Mystery Dungeon made me cry, with Explorers of the Sky being the worst offender. The gameplay is fairly simplistic, and lolwhatbalance, but the story is amazing.

Ditto (lol), completely. Only Pokemon games to ever make me cry.

The music is IMO also the some of the best in the franchise; I feel that its best shown with the piano arrangement this person made for it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Edm45wFuRdQ&feature=share&list=PLtTz6a5LbCT3tkE69YJJwgVHC3-6ehu4z

Best 22 minutes spent in a while. And this person has a whole playlist of these tracks. Should probably post these on the videogame music thread, actually...

On topic: I recently came across another RPG I played awhile ago, Nostalgia, for DS I think.

[Refa]

Ditto (lol), completely. Only Pokemon games to ever make me cry.

That's just because you didn't encounter the Cloyster/Onyx couple in Pokemon Platinum. They made me cry...tears of laughter.

[Steampunk]

Quest 64 has a cult following, so you may like it. I thought it was boring as hell though. Lost Kingdom for the GCN is a sort-of RPG card battle game. Really short, but fun. Jade Empire for Xbox/PC was really good. If I remember others, I'll bring them up.

[Celice]

Quest 64 has a cult following, so you may like it. I thought it was boring as hell though. Lost Kingdom for the GCN is a sort-of RPG card battle game. Really short, but fun. Jade Empire for Xbox/PC was really good. If I remember others, I'll bring them up.

I really enjoyed Quest 64, but I usually got bored about a third through :/ There was a sequel in the works, and a GameBoy Color version was released if fans want some more.

Lost Kingdoms 2 is quite a bit longer from what I remember, and has a lot more secrets and new paths when you go back to previous areas. You can really get a feel for the level design that would go on to be found in From Software's later titles like Demon's Souls and Dark Souls.

[Xeroix]

Luminous Arc

[Garland Chaos]

Custom Robo is an anime-esque sorta mecha game on Game Cube with a lacking story but some good comedic moments. The focus is more on the gameplay, where you get an incredibly diverse array of weapons, armour and other options and fight in an arena on unique stages against opponents. It's good to play with friends too.

I second what Knight said. Also, the amount of collectible parts and robos is HUGE! I'm talking total amount of Pokemon thus far huge.

...OK, maybe not THAT big. But still. HUGE.