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Greatest SJRPG Series Of All Time?
- Thread starter srtrestre
- Start date
Because the genre pretty much only had a presence in the west after people demanded to have Fire Emblem after Smash popularized Roy and Marth, and popularity and franchise-length doesn't necessarily mean it's objectively better or good but it DOES MEAN they're qualitatively consistent with the expectations of fans and so it really just means that Fire Emblem is a format that's hard to burn-out.
FE is definitely it. Lots of classic entries and it keeps getting better.
Shining Force is just a pale shadow of FE. It's okay.
Never played Ogre Battle but heard good things.
Front Missions is up there. I've only played 1 and 3 and both were great.
There is only one good FFT but it is very good.
First Disgaea was a revolution. The other 5 are just re-treads that get more boring. N1's other titles deserve more credit here.
Never played VC, heard mixed things about it.
Shining Force is just a pale shadow of FE. It's okay.
Never played Ogre Battle but heard good things.
Front Missions is up there. I've only played 1 and 3 and both were great.
There is only one good FFT but it is very good.
First Disgaea was a revolution. The other 5 are just re-treads that get more boring. N1's other titles deserve more credit here.
Never played VC, heard mixed things about it.
If talking individual games not a single FE entry would make my Top 5 SRPG list, maybe even Top 10, but the series should probably win the poll walking away because it hasn't been dead for 20 years and is still putting out quality.
As a body in a vacuum I'll vote Front Mission.
As a body in a vacuum I'll vote Front Mission.
Vc4 was great, I enjoyed it more than the original 3DS FE games but it also feels "old" and "samey" as Vc1 did the same Vc4 does a few years ago. Vc4 feels too much like Vc1, the graphics are not a big jump and the gameplay has only a few new elements (the new elements are great though), also the game didn't fix the scout problem that much.
Vc1 is one of my favorite games ever, and Vc4 is one of my favorite games from this gen, but I can't shake the feeling that 4 could have been bigger and more ambitious, and that could have helped the game sell better.
First Disgaea had hit or miss map design that improved as the series progressed, more thematic and powerful series over time, and totally forgot its core mechanics through 99% of the game, an element of design rectified in later installments which more cleverly incorporated its core elements into missions. The first Disgaea is the most overrated Disgaea.
5 had a better gameplay design and 4 a better story. 1 and 2 were great, but I feel like the last two games improved a lot and were more fun to play. 3 and D2 are the worse entries IMO.
For someone interested in the ogre battle series where should I start? Anyone's to avoid or must play. I actually have the PSP one.
I'd say start with what you have. LUCT is probably the most highly rated one, anyways.
I've only managed to play Ogre Battle 64, and years later, Tactics Ogre: LUCT, and both are some of my favourite games of all time.
True story. I love all of the listed series, but Tactics Ogre is just two cuts above.
Grouping it by series makes it incredibly difficult, just because some have way fewer entries. Like, two different Matsuno games occupy the top two spots for me (1. Tactics Ogre: LUCT, 2. FFT: WOTL), but I don't care for Ogre Battle, FFTA2 isn't very good, etc.
Maybe Front Mission when it comes to consistent quality? Or Shining Force, even though I don't like the original very much?
I can't really vote for FE in good conscience, just because there are a fair few bunk entries.
In terms of series quality, I'd probably go Front Mission -> Shining Force -> Valkyria Chronicles -> TO -> FFT -> FE -> -> -> -> -> Disgaea
There's a bunch of strong series not on that list mind you, but /shrug :(
Maybe Front Mission when it comes to consistent quality? Or Shining Force, even though I don't like the original very much?
I can't really vote for FE in good conscience, just because there are a fair few bunk entries.
In terms of series quality, I'd probably go Front Mission -> Shining Force -> Valkyria Chronicles -> TO -> FFT -> FE -> -> -> -> -> Disgaea
There's a bunch of strong series not on that list mind you, but /shrug :(
You have the GOAT one (PSP). They're all worth playing I suppose.
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I suppose you are asking about the overall quality of the series, considering all games in it, correct? And no Western series that are SRPG-ish, like X-Com?
The answer is simply Fire Emblem followed by Front Mission. Other series range from decent to just bad.
While I'm not a fan of modern FE, it started the genre and has the highest overall quality in terms of gameplay, even if some of the games are pretty bad.
Front Mission has excellent world building and writing, and also avoids for the most part leaning too heavily on RPG elements.
Special mention to Tear Ring Saga series. It's just two games, but one of them is the best in the genre, far ahead of its competitors.
The answer is simply Fire Emblem followed by Front Mission. Other series range from decent to just bad.
While I'm not a fan of modern FE, it started the genre and has the highest overall quality in terms of gameplay, even if some of the games are pretty bad.
Front Mission has excellent world building and writing, and also avoids for the most part leaning too heavily on RPG elements.
Special mention to Tear Ring Saga series. It's just two games, but one of them is the best in the genre, far ahead of its competitors.
FFT is the best single game, But Ogre Battle is the best series. Tactics Ogre is the second best SRPG after FFT, and every other game in the franchise is great too. I'd put Front Mission at number 3 behind Ogre, and FFT. Fire Emblem is alright from what I've played, but it just isn't the same. Disgaea is dumb fun, but the strategy in SRPG is sorely lacking.
Nope. Much like FFT, it's a politics heavy narrative, drawing inspiration from the Yugoslav war.
Yeah. The best Shining Force I've played so far is Shining Force 3 chapter 1. So it died on a high note.
I see not many people on era have played the Front Mission games. You guys should get on that.
Fire Emblem is amazing, but FM does not deserve to be anywhere near last.
Fire Emblem is amazing, but FM does not deserve to be anywhere near last.
I think it has 2 problems. First not many have played it, and two since it's so niche those that have tend to be immersed in the genre and have another series as their favorite.
I certainly fall under number 2. I love the games, especially 5, but I love FFT and Ogre more.
Fire Emblem is by far the best. It's kinda sad that there isn't much competition in the SRPG genre.
Ogres exist as enemies in some games in the Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre series, but they are less Shrek and more gigantic demons that crush people with hammers as they invade the world from a hell that exists beyond magic gateways. They also tend to take a backseat to complex political schemes and violent human wars.
Basically, Tactics Ogre was the game Matsuno made before making Final Fantasy Tactics, with Final Fantasy Tactics being the watered-down accessible game with a less brutal and political story, whereas Tactics Ogre opens up with ongoing ethnic cleansing and branches from there into at least three major story paths that are all completely different.
Going back to the main subject of the thread, I can't say I have ever heard the term SJRPG before (shouldn't it be Japanese SRPG?), but there are a lot of good ones omitted from the poll. The Super Robot Wars series is extremely prolific and always fun, and the Growlanser series has some great tactical gameplay muxed with good stories where the players choices and actions really matter.
OP
OP
Voted Fire Emblem. Overall the best series imo.
I never played Front Mission or Tactics Ogre.
FFT only the first one is really great, but storywise it's the best SRPG I have played. The second one burned me hard and I never finished that or got back into the series.
Valkyria Chronicles is great, but again, the second one for the PSP was just bad. And that mainly because you could see where they had to cut back (smaller maps for example) just because it was a PSP game. Never got the third and haven't played 4 so far.
Disgaea is awesome in the sense that it is just silly, but gameplay is mainly numbers sadly.
I only played one or two of the older Shining Force titles in one of the Sega Collections on Steam. And that was only okay, sadly.
I never played Front Mission or Tactics Ogre.
FFT only the first one is really great, but storywise it's the best SRPG I have played. The second one burned me hard and I never finished that or got back into the series.
Valkyria Chronicles is great, but again, the second one for the PSP was just bad. And that mainly because you could see where they had to cut back (smaller maps for example) just because it was a PSP game. Never got the third and haven't played 4 so far.
Disgaea is awesome in the sense that it is just silly, but gameplay is mainly numbers sadly.
I only played one or two of the older Shining Force titles in one of the Sega Collections on Steam. And that was only okay, sadly.
It probably depends on what you want from a SRPG.
Final Fantasy Tactics for example has a phenomenal story - easily the best in the entire FF series imo. But as for the gameplay...I don't know if I'll be labelled a heretic for saying this, but I don't think it's a very good strategy game. It has so many design elements that are totally at odds with the idea of playing strategically. For example - not being able to see the map when placing your characters is an awful idea, and led to some frustrating moments where one of my weaker units would be killed immediately because they were slightly too close to the enemy. There's also no way of telling what enemies are capable of in terms of skills without heavy memorisation. I even got trapped for a good hour in the infamous Wiegraf mission because I unknowingly saved right before a 1v1 fight that Ramza was wholly unprepared for. After trying multiple strategies with all of my learned skills, I ended up having to just keep resetting until I scored a critical hit on the first attack. I started using three separate save files after that one lol. So yeah...I think FFT leans more towards RPG than SRPG tbh.
It's gotta be Fire Emblem. Even the ones I shit on are still decent enough. It also has a few frustrating elements that get in the way of a good plan - unseen reinforcements being a primary offender, but for the most part it's much better at allowing for genuine strategy than other games I've played in the genre.
Final Fantasy Tactics for example has a phenomenal story - easily the best in the entire FF series imo. But as for the gameplay...I don't know if I'll be labelled a heretic for saying this, but I don't think it's a very good strategy game. It has so many design elements that are totally at odds with the idea of playing strategically. For example - not being able to see the map when placing your characters is an awful idea, and led to some frustrating moments where one of my weaker units would be killed immediately because they were slightly too close to the enemy. There's also no way of telling what enemies are capable of in terms of skills without heavy memorisation. I even got trapped for a good hour in the infamous Wiegraf mission because I unknowingly saved right before a 1v1 fight that Ramza was wholly unprepared for. After trying multiple strategies with all of my learned skills, I ended up having to just keep resetting until I scored a critical hit on the first attack. I started using three separate save files after that one lol. So yeah...I think FFT leans more towards RPG than SRPG tbh.
It's gotta be Fire Emblem. Even the ones I shit on are still decent enough. It also has a few frustrating elements that get in the way of a good plan - unseen reinforcements being a primary offender, but for the most part it's much better at allowing for genuine strategy than other games I've played in the genre.
Fire Emblem had the biggest drop off in general quality to me, I'm not disliking Three Houses but there's something about it I find almost bland.
Shining Force is probably my favourite there, just from a perspective of nostalgia. I'm playing SFCD through slowly at the moment admittedly.
Shining Force is probably my favourite there, just from a perspective of nostalgia. I'm playing SFCD through slowly at the moment admittedly.
This but I underestimated the FE fanbase
Cant argue it to much since its still getting new entries while FFT is essentially dead forever along with Ogre Battle
Still FFT has yet to be touched by the genre as a whole in my mind
Nice work on the OP. I think it's Fire Emblem overall as a series, but Final Fantasy Tactics 1 is the best single game in the genre for me.
I bit the bullet and voted for Front Mission. It's a series that deserves more love and had more consistency for me. I still yearn for Front Mission 2 to get released in English.
Front Mission 3 is available on PSN (PS3, Vita and PSP only). Front Mission 1 and Front Mission 1st (two different games) were both collected into Front Mission DS (OG DS game). Front Mission 4 has never seen a digital release, it's stuck on PS2 for NA region only (never got a EU release). Front Mission 5 was Japan only but got fan translated.
Square really need to do a Mana style collection for this series, it's one of their best IPs and probably their most underrated ever.
Front Mission 3 is available on PSN (PS3, Vita and PSP only). Front Mission 1 and Front Mission 1st (two different games) were both collected into Front Mission DS (OG DS game). Front Mission 4 has never seen a digital release, it's stuck on PS2 for NA region only (never got a EU release). Front Mission 5 was Japan only but got fan translated.
Square really need to do a Mana style collection for this series, it's one of their best IPs and probably their most underrated ever.
This poll just makes me sad. I like Fire Emblem just fine, but SE's unwillingness to produce any SRPGs in recent years, let alone another classic along the lines of FFT, Tactics Ogre: LUCT, or Front Mission 3 is depressing.
Yeah thats the thing
Given the criteria im weighing how good FFT is against how bad its spinoffs were
FFT is a such a fucking timeless classic and so far above most its peers in quality that im torn. Ogre Battle and Tactics ogre being close as well.
But those are dead series and I may have to let go and give more fire emblem games a try if I want my fix.... Naw ill just probably replay FFT again
I suppose Fire Emblem series. Although I still love Vandal Hearts 1 and 2. The blood spray deaths in VH was great.
While we're posting Tactics Ogre music...
This overture makes me want to restart the game every time I hear it. It's gorgeous.