The Ultimate JRPG Poll

[ATT_Turan]

Yeah, I...it's not even so much that them's fighting words or anything, so much as I can't interpret meaning from them.

It's like you had a stroke and typed random letters

 

[Iron_Brew]

I...you...what...?

Don't get me wrong, I love SA2: Battle, but those dizzying highs can't tame the excruciating lows! Maybe I was being hyperbolic, but Frontiers killed my nostalgia dead!

 

[Danatoth]

Dragon Quest answers the question: What if Dragonball Z was the most generic turn based role playing fantasy game written by a 16 year old highschool sophmore with a 2.0 gpa, but everyone in the school loved him because they were best friends in elementary?

Final Fantasy answers the question: What would happen if we made 10 amazing games in a row, fired the person who created the entire thing, and then replaced him with a guy who never wrote a single page of fiction in his life, who watched too much anime growing up, and turned the franchise into a whole new direction with an eye on fashion rather than story telling? (Also the guy is terrible at games and blames it on "getting old" so now you can beat all the games by holding down the X button)

 

[Iron_Brew]

Dragon Quest answers the question: What if Dragonball Z was the most generic turn based role playing fantasy game written by a 16 year old highschool sophmore with a 2.0 gpa, but everyone in the school loved him because they were best friends in elementary?

Final Fantasy answers the question: What would happen if we made 10 amazing games in a row, fired the person who created the entire thing, and then replaced him with a guy who never wrote a single page of fiction in his life, who watched too much anime growing up, and turned the franchise into a whole new direction with an eye on fashion rather than story telling? (Also the guy is terrible at games and blames it on "getting old" so now you can beat all the games by holding down the X button)

Still wanna know how many DQ games you've played

 

[AquaEcho]

Still wanna know how many DQ games you've played

Not him but I've played 5, 8, 9, and 11 and DQM Joker, Swords, Rocket Slime, Builders 1+2.

 

[Danatoth]

Still wanna know how many DQ games you've played

I started with Dragon quest 8 because my friend wouldn't stop raving about it when it came out so I played it. Ended up taking me months to beat because I got really bored. I then dindn't play another until Dragon Quest X which I quit like 20 hours in, then I started streaming in 2012 and played it again on stream. I then went back and played the first dragonquest by request (which whoah boy, is really awful, but so if FF1). Then played dragonquest V but never beat it. Last year I played and beat Dragon Quest XI due to almost begging from my friend who told me about dragon quest 8 in the first place.

Out of all of them, I'd actually say I probably thought Dragon quest XI was the best, but that's really not saying much. (it was also the only one I played in Japanese because I wasn't good enough to fully play games in Japanese until 2020 or so).

They are just too basic for me, and combat is so repetitive with nothing interesting. Turn based combat has gotten a bit stale for me, so unless games offer really interesting mechanics like octopath, I get bored of them pretty quickly.

 

[Sword_of_Dusk]

and at his best can't touch Mario at his absolute blandest

Sonic is inconsistent, but I challenge this notion. Mario ain't moving at the speed of sound . . . ever.

 

[Iron_Brew]

Sonic is inconsistent, but I challenge this notion. Mario ain't moving at the speed of sound . . . ever.

I knew I shouldn't have said this

 

[Sword_of_Dusk]

Turn based combat has gotten a bit stale for me, so unless games offer really interesting mechanics like octopath, I get bored of them pretty quickly.

And this is why I can't really accept your take on DQ, as you're already set up to not give a damn about it. If you actually have anything to say about the various stories and characters though, that's different.

 

[ATT_Turan]

Don't get me wrong, I love SA2: Battle, but those dizzying highs can't tame the excruciating lows! Maybe I was being hyperbolic, but Frontiers killed my nostalgia dead!

Oh, see, I'm talking about the real Sonic games. There were three of them on the Sega Genesis (Spinball is whatever).

Compare those to the original Marios on SNES and I don't think the plumber can hold water.

Get it?

See what I did there?

 

[Iron_Brew]

Oh, see, I'm talking about the real Sonic games. There were three of them on the Sega Genesis (Spinball is whatever).

Compare those to the original Marios on SNES and I don't think the plumber can hold water.

Get it?

See what I did there?

Gonna have to agree to disagree, I reckon. Mario 3 and Super Mario World blow even the best bits of S3+K out of the water in my opinion.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

GOT PLACES TO GO
GOTTA FOLLOW MY RAINBOW

SA2:Battle is probably one of my most played to death games ever. SA1 in all it’s hot mess glory too (I like this game for some of the wrong reasons too). Every vocal track is burned into my soul.

I’m even here for Big the Cat memes (screw that frog, Chaos did nothing wrong). His theme song is FIRE though.

The Mario series does have some of my all time favorite games, so it’s not like I’m down on Mario. This really is a “choose your favorite child” question for me. They both have games that are important to me.

 

[Iron_Brew]

GOT PLACES TO GO
GOTTA FOLLOW MY RAINBOW

SA2:Battle is probably one of my most played to death games ever. SA1 in all it’s hot mess glory too (I like this game for some of the wrong reasons too). Every vocal track is burned into my soul.

I’m even here for Big the Cat memes (screw that frog, Chaos did nothing wrong). His theme song is FIRE though.

The Mario series does have some of my all time favorite games, so it’s not like I’m down on Mario. This really is a “choose your favorite child” question for me. They both have games that are important to me.

Absolute top tier opinions all round I reckon. I remember buying my Gamecube with SA2:Battle and being utterly blown away by City Escape. What a classic.

When I don't show off, don't criticise. The story begins, with who's gonna win. God, what a soundtrack.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

They even throw down some FAT smooth jazz, like what the Hell!?

 

[Sword_of_Dusk]

Maybe I was being hyperbolic, but Frontiers killed my nostalgia dead!

Seriously? Frontiers had the best writing Sonic has had in a long, long time. Combined with the enjoyable Open Zone exploration and you have a game that, while flawed, is a great base to build upon.

Oh, see, I'm talking about the real Sonic games. There were three of them on the Sega Genesis (Spinball is whatever).

Hope you count Mania as a real Sonic game. The newly announced Sonic Superstars looks like it has potential too.

And I know it's not great, but I have fond memories of Sonic Spinball.

Except for the final stage. It was, and still is to this day, extremely BS.

 

[Tai_MT]

They even throw down some FAT smooth jazz, like what the Hell!?

The best part of that song from City Escape is...

You can just play Monster Hunter Rise to hear the song. No Sonic playing required.

 

[BubblegumPatty]

While I never played DragonQuest I do think it unfair to diss on it for being "tropey" when it literally invented those tropes in the first place. It's not DQ's fault so many RPGs directly copied it's homework.

As for Mario vs sonic... I only played SA2. I love the Chao raising sim with the fast running platforming minigame attached to it.

 

[Kwerty-kins]

No hate, different styles for everyone, but...while I don't like every Final Fantasy, I haven't liked any Dragon Quest well enough to complete.

Your not allowed to like ff series, got characters like “cloud strife and squall Leonhart” in it.. haha

 

[Danatoth]

And this is why I can't really accept your take on DQ, as you're already set up to not give a damn about it. If you actually have anything to say about the various stories and characters though, that's different.

Yes, I don't like boring combat systems with no challenge except (oh level up a few times if it's too hard). While leveling up is a part of rpgs, if there is literally nothing to the system I'm going to fall asleep. They are all literally just like, swing sword, direct damage spell, that's it. They invented it in 1989 and never improved or changed it.

As for the stories, I cannot (I'm not being hyperbolic) name one point in any of the games that I played that wasn't some derivative, plain, boring story that seems like it was written by some high school student that just found out what a jrpg was. They have all been so generic that I could predict what was going to happen throughout the game.

As for characters - They are basically all tropes. Every single character is just a personification of a person boiled down to a boring predictable archetype.

Also, since Akira Toriyama does the artwork for the games, it just feels like every game isn't a new world because his art style is so bland. Every game is just fantasy dragon ball z. (I even hate it in chrono trigger, one of my favorite games of all time).

Honestly, I don't think there is anything to love about Dragon Quest. There is just nothing there. It's like asking an AI or an alien to make a jrpg. Every game is paint by numbers jrpg. But I get that's why people do like it. They want that plain, safe, jrpg that takes no risks, has bland characters and story and simple combat. It's comfortable to them.

For me though, they are bottom tier.

While I never played DragonQuest I do think it unfair to diss on it for being "tropey" when it literally invented those tropes in the first place. It's not DQ's fault so many RPGs directly copied it's homework.

Yes, and then they made every game for the next 30 years the exact same game. At least final fantasy does something new with every new game, while keeping aspects of it still final fantasy (enemies, weapon names, etc.) A lot of what they invented was a product of the limitations at the time. And rather innovate with the increasing power of the technology they were using, they just stuck to the same boring formula.

 

[ATT_Turan]

And I know it's not great, but I have fond memories of Sonic Spinball.

I don't dislike it, but it was completely different gameplay so I wasn't going to try to compare it in the Sonic vs. Mario original series bit.

Your not allowed to like ff series, got characters like “cloud strife and squall Leonhart” in it.. haha

...huh?