Let's discuss games with unique gameplay.

[Zerxen]

What are some games that you've played with gameplay elements never seen in others? For me, I gotta go with the MegaMan Battle Network games. Though it is an ARPG, I have not seen a single game that is reminiscent of the series.

[Jedi]

Ogre Battle March of the Black Queen and Ogre Battle 64: Person of a Lordly Calibur are two of the most unique strategy RPG's i've ever played, also with the latter being my favorite game of all time of course I'd have to talk about it.

Ogre Battle works with an RTS like formula on the maps, along with a row system for its battles (when two opposing units meet on the RTS field) in which you have 3 rows for up to 5 characters (big characters count as 2 by themselves) to stand and fight, each giving them differing attacks and amount of attacks depending on their class, unit type, equipment and various other things, with semi automatic combat that you do not directly control but mostly "advise" a unit on what to target, be that strong, weak or leader among other things.

The plots change depending on what you main character decides and there is an alignment system (mostly for unit classes), along with a system called "Chaos Frame" which determines what special characters will join you and how the people of the world view you main characters methods, also it effects your ending. The choices you make also effect your chaos frame, making your character more lawful or chaotic.

I really wish Square Enix (It was formerly a Enix property), would try the formula again, as the closest things even remotely to it (and they aren't that close at all) are a Yugioh SRPG for the Gamecube called Falsebound Kingdom (It was truly like OB on a basic level but not much else and did more of its own thing) and a PS2 SRPG called Soul Nomad by Nippon Ichi

Edited December 13, 2016 by Jedi

[saisymbolic]

Ape Escape.

I could be wrong, but I have yet to encounter another game that uses the right analog stick for anything more than camera control. Combined with the lively, somewhat cutesy aesthetics and music, along with some of the most humorously frustrating "enemies" that I have ever went up against, I really think Ape Escape is overdue for another game in the franchise or at least having the games accessible on the PSN.

[DarkDestr0yer61]

Yu-Gi-Oh Duelist of the Roses.

It's pretty much a turn-based strategy game but with Yu-Gi-Oh cards. The best way I can describe it as a weird version of chess, and as far as I know, no other Yu-Gi-Oh game plays like that.

Dueling Mai Valentine still gives me nightmares...

Edited December 13, 2016 by DarkDestr0yer61

[Jedi]

Yu-Gi-Oh Duelist of the Roses.

It's pretty much a turn-based strategy game but with Yu-Gi-Oh cards. The best way I can describe it as a weird version of chest, and as far as I know, no other Yu-Gi-Oh game place like that.

Dueling Mai Valentine still gives me nightmares...

I still have fun with this game, it was one of my first PS2 games.

I see your Mai and raise you Pegasus, that duel was a nightmare haha

[DarkDestr0yer61]

I still have fun with this game, it was one of my first PS2 games.

I see your Mai and raise you Pegasus, that duel was a nightmare haha

It has been a good while since I have played it, I should really play it again sometime. But I think you're right, Pegasus gave me troubles as well if I recall correctly. I want to say that a big flaw with this game is that you have like 15 different starter decks, but the game randomly selects 3 for you to pick 1.

I remember picking Tactical Warrior, but I have watched a few friends play this and none of them have ever been allowed to pick that one

Edited December 13, 2016 by DarkDestr0yer61

[eclipse]

Say what you will about the NUMEROUS issues with Agarest/Agarest Zero, but I had a hell of a lot of fun with the gameplay. Figuring out how to position everyone was all sorts of fun, once I had the full roster~!

Yggdra Union's card system was a blast, albeit rather unbalanced. Cards ranged from stupidly situational to outright broken (hi Shield Barrier).

[Alex95]

Ape Escape.

I could be wrong, but I have yet to encounter another game that uses the right analog stick for anything more than camera control. Combined with the lively, somewhat cutesy aesthetics and music, along with some of the most humorously frustrating "enemies" that I have ever went up against, I really think Ape Escape is overdue for another game in the franchise or at least having the games accessible on the PSN.

I agree with you there. I haven't played any other game that uses the RStick for anything other than aiming or camera, nor can I think of one. Had a blast with Ape Escape 2, bought 3 but never played it, never had 1.

In my own opinion, I can't think of another game that uses a time-cycle as strictly or well-done as The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Everyone has their own schedule to keep, so there's constant events happening. I haven't played a game that is so reliant on time control as Majora's.

[SoloCross]

JET SET RADIOOOOOOO!!!!!
...I still haven't found another game that plays like it, it was incredibly fun and over-the-top.

[Zera]

What are some games that you've played with gameplay elements never seen in others?

So, how unique are we talking?

"Wow, an innovative twist on a tired genre" unique like Splatoon, or "There's nothing remotely like this" unique, like Bangai-O?

[Augestein]

Monstania. It was a "SRPG" but it was more of a puzzle game than anything else with SRPG elements. I have not seen a SRPG like that since.

[Jedi]

It has been a good while since I have played it, I should really play it again sometime. But I think you're right, Pegasus gave me troubles as well if I recall correctly. I want to say that a big flaw with this game is that you have like 15 different starter decks, but the game randomly selects 3 for you to pick 1.

I remember picking Tactical Warrior, but I have watched a few friends play this and none of them have ever been allowed to pick that one

It actually depends on the letters you use for your username that determines which of the 3.

[Topaz Light]

As far as I've played, no other game has really had a combat system like Live-A-Live's. It's sort of this weird turn-based strategy setup on a 7x7 grid that's... kinda similar to the Mystery Dungeon series? But also kinda not.

Each character is controlled organically when their turn comes around, using the d-pad to move them, and then you can select an action for them to perform. The only basic commands are "Fight", "Pass", "Items", and "Run". "Pass" skips the character's turn, and the latter two both do basically what you'd expect. "Fight", however, works basically like the "Fight" command in the Pokémon series, in the sense that it opens a menu that contains a bunch of moves that the character can use. Each character tends to begin with an ability that's basically equivalent to a regular physical attacks, as well as other abilities more akin to what would be considered special skills in standard RPGs.

There's also no "MP" stat in Live-A-Live; instead, powerful abilities often have charge time, which can be interrupted by knockback, cancelling the move. So, while there isn't really a limit on the number of times you can use powerful moves, you still can't really spam them, and you do need to use them judiciously if you don't want your characters to end up wasting a bunch of turns and making liabilities of themselves. Different moves also have different attack ranges and areas of effect, and this is true of both your moves and the enemies', making combatant positioning very important.

Each character episode in Live-A-Live has a different gameplay focus and set of quirks, which is itself arguably an instance of "unique gameplay" purely by virtue of how much variety there is in a single game.

Then there's also the fact that, unlike a lot of RPGs—that I've played, at least—there are tons of pieces of equipment that can potentially be equipped in multiple different slots, and can bestow different bonuses depending on where they're equipped.

It can be a little intimidating, but it's really cool once you get into it!

Edited December 13, 2016 by Topaz Light

[MissShake]

Yu-Gi-Oh Duelist of the Roses.

It's pretty much a turn-based strategy game but with Yu-Gi-Oh cards. The best way I can describe it as a weird version of chess, and as far as I know, no other Yu-Gi-Oh game plays like that.

Dueling Mai Valentine still gives me nightmares...

Funny, I remember having trouble with a Mai duel in Forbidden Memories. Then right after came Kaiba. My eight year old self couldn't take it lol.

I'll mention that I couldn't think of anything like Resonance of Fate when it came out, but to be honest it's been so long that I forgot what made that battle system so unique.

Also gonna second Jet Set Radio. Never played anything like it, and Future is one of my fave platformes/adventure/whatever-it-is games ever.

[Tuvy]

Bakugan battle brawlers....

But seriously this game is bitchin' good!

The gameplay is pretty good, but it becomes addicting trying to get everything you can. The story is okay, but the main character is the derpiest since Code MENT Suzaku.

Also pokemon card game for the gameboy color.

This game was actually the first old pokemon game I played, and I loved it.

It's pretty hard, so there's that, but the gameplay is that of its own.

[geraq]

To me, it has to be Portal. I had never seen anything like that before, and it blew my mind. That was the most unique gameplay experience I had. Aside from Mega Man, Castlevania and Fire Emblem which are my main series, I also had a blast with Wario Land 4 and Mario vs Donkey Kong, which were different from my traditional experience, but I'm not sure about how "unique" or innovative they are.

Edited December 13, 2016 by geraq

[Locke087]

If you want to play an awesome but like one of the weirdest games on earth, play Catherine it's a hard-core puzzle climbing game/dating sim. It's hard as balls if you're not good at puzzles you're going to hate it but I love it well at least the puzzle part of it, it's dating sim half is kind of just okay.

Edited December 14, 2016 by Locke087

[Sylphid]

Say what you will about the NUMEROUS issues with Agarest/Agarest Zero, but I had a hell of a lot of fun with the gameplay. Figuring out how to position everyone was all sorts of fun, once I had the full roster~!

This, this so much.

Some of the bosses in those games were also BRUTAL.

[Zera]

Steel Diver is the only "submarine action" game on 3DS. It's not long, but it has some of the most interesting controls I've seen. Using sliders, wheels, and buttons on the touchscreen to control your submarine is very tactile and immersive.

It's not a terribly deep game, but used copies are really cheap nowadays.

[Water Mage]

I was thinking, does Pokemon count as a game with unique gameplay?

When you think about it, it's actually a pretty unique game when compared to other RPGs and Monster Raising.

For example, Pokemon is the only Monster Raising game that I played that doesn't encourage you to dump off Monsters after a while. (Maybe Rune Factory might also count, but in this case is mostly for resources.)

Pokemon is also unique as a RPG because even though you have a party, most fights are one on one, which is unique in RPGs with multiple party members.

I wonder if people doesn't think of Pokemon as unique becuase of it overwhelming popularity.

[The Draco Knight]

I would like to mention the original Dissidia and the sequel Dissidia 012: the gameplay combines both characteristics of an RPG, such as equipment, levels, skills and summos, and of a 3D fightning game while also adding interesting things like Bravery, Wall-Rush, Chase, Break status and Assist.

Really, I've yet to see another game that does such a thing in the same way that Dissidia did.

[Zera]

...and in a cruel twist of fate, the RPG elements were by far the worst part of Dissidia. Grinding for equipment in a fighting game is ridiculous.

[Augestein]

This, this so much.

Some of the bosses in those games were also BRUTAL.

Remember King Midas good grief. Like... What? Just what!?

[Skfoos]

I was thinking, does Pokemon count as a game with unique gameplay?

When you think about it, it's actually a pretty unique game when compared to other RPGs and Monster Raising.

For example, Pokemon is the only Monster Raising game that I played that doesn't encourage you to dump off Monsters after a while. (Maybe Rune Factory might also count, but in this case is mostly for resources.)

Pokemon is also unique as a RPG because even though you have a party, most fights are one on one, which is unique in RPGs with multiple party members.

I wonder if people doesn't think of Pokemon as unique becuase of it overwhelming popularity.

I've thought of Super Smash Bros. like this. No other fighting game has characters running around in huge stages with the goal of getting their opponent outside of the blast zone (at least out of the games I've played). Things like edgeguarding and recovering makes Smash so much different than other fighting games, or games in general.

[Zera]

Smash Bros. isn't unique anymore now that there are clones of it... right?