Need Input on a few PSP Titles

[Jarred]

So I'm thinking about bringing back the PSP into my daily commute by picking up a black PSP Slim when Patapon arrives at the end of this month. I have an iPhone for multimedia, so I'm looking at this to be purely a gaming device for my commutes and breaks at works.

So I figure I'd ask input on 5 games that have caught my eye that I didn't play during PSP Round 1. You can type out recommendations or just fill out the polls below. And if you have any other recommendations, feel free to leave them.

One other thing, vote on FFT as if you are someone who cares little about the FF universe and more about gameplay. I'm actually really drawn to Jeanne D'Arc because it doesn't carry the weight of FF with it and I could just jump in.

[Johnny]

The Warriors - I have this on PS2 and while it's a fairly solid, entertaining title, it's surpassed by the game with which it shares game engines - Bully. But that's on PS2. My advice would be to check out GTA Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories. Rental.

Jeanne D'Arc - Haven't got round to getting this myself but it looks awesome and from what I've read/heard from people who do own it, it's an excellent RPG. Buy it.

Gitaroo Man - Buy it dude! You and I share similar tastes in anime, manga, games and even music and I know that this is the sort of quirky game with fantastic music that you will absolutey adore! Buy it (and if you have the funds, buy it alongside Parappa the Rapper).

Wipeout Pulse - The Wipeout series has always had a much bigger following in Europe than the US and it always seems like no one Stateside ever bothers with it but you should really check this out. Take the speed of F-Zero, throw in some great techno music and visuals and you have Wipeout Pulse. Looks absolutely stunning, (Only the upcoming God of War PSP comes close to how good this looks IMO) has a ton of stuff to do (16 grids, each made up of around 15 events) and has online play and downloadable tracks, ship skins etc. Buy it.

Final Fantasy Tactics - I bought the PS1 release way back when and while I enjoyed what I played of it, it's pretty damn tough. Personally I'd say go for Jeanne D'Arc over this.

[xellosscorp]

Since FFT: War of the Lions is just a reissue (with a few new additions) of the old PS1 game, then don't bother if you've already played it. If you haven't, and really like a challenge, then it's a great tactical-RPG game. If you ignore Luso, Balthier, and Cloud, there's not really much connection between it and the remainder of the FF universe anyway. In fairness, a substantial amount of additional storyline dialog was added to help the game make more sense (although the manner of speaking is kind of strange in places).

Jeanne d'Arc is fantastic, though. If you're only going to get one or the other, go with this one. This way, you're getting an entirely new game with its own interesting quirks to the tactical battle system.

If you're like me, though, you'd probably want to rent each one before buying it just to make sure that you'd enjoy it before dropping $30~40 on it.

[ZenAmako]

I just started playing Jeanne D'Arc, and I'm enjoying it so far. I think I like Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness better, though. The gameplay in Disgaea seems a little deeper, and I enjoy the humor. Jeanne D'Arc is very good, though.

[Seishi]

Can't say much for the first three, but Final Fantasy Tactics for the PSP is a nice rehash of the original. The biggest plus this time around is a PROPERLY TRANSLATED script, though one that sometimes tries too hard; also, cutscenes that didn't exist in the original.

[Chacranajxy]

Buy Jeanne D'Arc, buy FFT. They are excellent SRPGs.

Gitaroo Man... I'd rather have the PS2 version, but if it's either the PSP version or nothing, then hell yes, get it. It's an unbelievably fun music game.

[ADC]

I'm biased when I say to buy Final Fantasy Tactics and rent Jeanne d'Arc, but I say it nonetheless.

Taken on its own, Jd'A is a pretty good game. It has a great story and interesting characters, and in most RPG genres, that's the most important thing. In TRPGs, though, you want an interesting battle system, which Jd'A doesn't have most of the time. It's the usual stilted "We move and attack first while the enemies sit there with their thumbs up their asses; then when we're done, we bend over and allow them to attack us with no response" battle system that plagues a lot of TRPGs. (If there's one thing I hate about TRPGs, this is it.)

But when compared to FFT, which has the great story, interesting characters, and best-of-class battle system … Jd'A has some warts.

It's not to say that FFT's perfect, either. There's the slowdown issue, in which any lighting effect slows the graphics engine to a crawl (except for some of the rigoddamndiculous full-screen effects, which makes no sense to me). And there's the issue that FFT is a very complex TRPG, with 23 character classes to unlock. But taken for all in all, it's absolutely the better game.

Maybe it's more fair to call J'dA a qualified buy instead of a pure rent, which is a category, by the way, in which fellow TRPG Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness also resides. I'd go with DAD over Jd'A, indeed, but you didn't ask about it, so there you are.

[SpaceDebris]

I loved The Warriors, but my brother hated it. So I would just suggest a rental, and while you're at the rental place pick up the movie also. I felt the game would have seemed weaker without it, since the game provides a lot of backstory.

Jeanne D'Arc is also good, but I have relatively few titles to compare it to. The only other strategy game I've played was Field Commander. I don't know how long titles can be rented for, but this would probably be better bought. I usually get through one or two levels per lunch hour at work, and its lasted quite a while.

[HitokiriShadow]

I haven't gotten around to Jeane d'Arc yet, so FFT: The War of the Lions is the only one I've played.

I'd say buy it. It has a great story and a great battle system which no other TRPG I've played has come close to matching (and it doesn't sound any I haven't played have done it either). The main weakness the loading issues, but they minor annoyances at worst. There will be a second or two delay for spells and special attacks during battle. Oh, and Square forgot to allow the player to pause or skip cutscenes, but there are only about 5 in the whole game and they aren't very long. The longest I've seen was about three minutes, but the rest have been about a minute or less.

[Jarred]

In TRPGs, though, you want an interesting battle system, which Jd'A doesn't have most of the time. It's the usual stilted "We move and attack first while the enemies sit there with their thumbs up their asses; then when we're done, we bend over and allow them to attack us with no response" battle system that plagues a lot of TRPGs. (If there's one thing I hate about TRPGs, this is it.)

Would you say that's also how you would describe Advance Wars? I don't mind that system at all, as I love the AW games. But I'm having trouble understanding how it would be done differently. So what makes the FFT system different? Is it just the 23 classes? Wouldn't that be the same as having 23 unit types?

Re: Disgaea, that's on my second 5 list and will be added to the rental queue. (A side note, I'm going to give GameFly a go for a while as a service to play handheld games for my daily commute, and probably keep the ones that I find I really enjoy)


I loved The Warriors, but my brother hated it. So I would just suggest a rental, and while you're at the rental place pick up the movie also.
Oh, I've seen the movie, dozens of times actually. One of those nostalgic movies from my middle/high school days. So when I saw there was a game that had decent reviews, I was curious. But yeah, it will probably be a rental to make sure I'm not buying it out of pure nostalgia.

Re: Gitaroo Man, I'd probably pick it up in a heartbeat, but it seems to be a difficult one to track down for purchase. I'll try a couple local game stores and see what I can dig up.

[Shibi]

Would you say that's also how you would describe Advance Wars? I don't mind that system at all, as I love the AW games. But I'm having trouble understanding how it would be done differently. So what makes the FFT system different? Is it just the 23 classes? Wouldn't that be the same as having 23 unit types?


Regarding Turn Order
Let me clarify things on this. Regarding the "turn" confusion, unlike most TRPGs which have each "side" taking turns, FFT has each "unit" taking a turn. Fast units may take 2 turns in the time it takes for a slow unit to take 1 turn. These turns are not broken down by side so turn order is often:

1. ally unit turn
2. enemy unit turn
3. ally unit turn
4. ally unit turn
5. enemy unit turn

Instead of
1. ALLY TEAM
2. ENEMY TEAM
3. ALLY TEAM
4. ENEMY TEAM


each units actions determine when that particular unit will have a turn.


Regarding Jobs
Jobs are not the same as unit types. Each unit is assigned a job but may open up and switch jobs between battles as soon as requirements for such jobs are met (usually a job level requirement). Every time a unit takes an action it gains experience points and job points. experience points are as they usually are in RPGs, get enough and your unit will level up with hp/mp bonuses attached. Job points are given for the job your unit is currently using and are used to purchase abilities and skills. furthermore after a set # of job points are accumulated in said job, the characters job level increases often opening up other available jobs. FFT actively promotes using multiple jobs for each unit rather than sticking to a single job.

There is much more involved but thats the bare basics.

[ADC]

In TRPGs, though, you want an interesting battle system, which Jd'A doesn't have most of the time. It's the usual stilted "We move and attack first while the enemies sit there with their thumbs up their asses; then when we're done, we bend over and allow them to attack us with no response" battle system that plagues a lot of TRPGs. (If there's one thing I hate about TRPGs, this is it.)
Would you say that's also how you would describe Advance Wars? I don't mind that system at all, as I love the AW games. But I'm having trouble understanding how it would be done differently. So what makes the FFT system different? Is it just the 23 classes? Wouldn't that be the same as having 23 unit types?
AW and FE both play that way, so if you dig those, you're in like Flynt with Jeanne d'Arc. What makes FFT different is time. The order in which your characters act is determined by character Speed, making Time Magicks like Haste, Slow, and Stop extremely valuable; and many action skills have charge times of their own, so some of them activate immediately and some take time to build up. It's far more intricate than the "Player Turn, Enemy Turn" structure used by AW, FE, Jd'A, and Disgaea. But it's all a matter of taste.

The thing about the 23 character classes is, you can mix and match a lot of things in FFT. You have the basic Attack command. You have your class's Action Skill. You can use another class's Action Skill. You can use any class's Reaction Ability, Support Ability, or Movement Ability, all assuming you've learned the necessary skills. So it's not just like having 23 unit types. You can make a character class very different from what it usually is. Here's an example: The White Mage attacks with Staves, wears light or magick armours, and uses White Magick by default. You can add an Action Skill which allows the White Mage to cast Black Magick (Black Mage ability); a Reaction Ability which allows the White Mage to use Potions automatically when hit (Chemist); a Support Ability which allows the White Mage to equip heavy armour (Knight); and a Movement Ability which increases the White Mage's movement range by 2 (Thief). So the character class is just the start of the fun, rather than the whole.

Did any of that make sense? :nervous:

[HitokiriShadow]

Class types are like unit types. It's just that a single unit can potentially be almost any job class (barring the story character-specific classes and Bard/Dancer depending on their sex). Job class determines what equipment the unit can equip, their base stats, and their primary action ability. However, you set a secondary action ability as well as several other types of abilities (reaction, support, and movement).

For example, while the Knight has certain equipment it can equip and its primary ability slot filled with its class abilities, you can also give it White Magic or Steal for its secondary ability and give it the ability to dual wield, equip spears, or increase magic power in its support ability slot, and give it counter attack and increased movement in its reaction and movement slots.

And those are just examples, there are many, many more abilities you could choose from. You just have to spend time as a particular job class to learn the abilities, then you can use those abilities for any job class (though the effectiveness will vary; a Knight won't be a very good spell caster without equipment and support abilities giving it increased magic power).

Edit: Looks like ADC beat me too it while I was making my post.

[WRX]

Buy Disgaea, then buy Jeanne D'Arc and then rent FFT: War of the Lions.

I think Disgaea is the most fun to play. There is a great story and there's lots of things to mess with in the game (Item World, Dark Assembly, Lots of Character types, etc). It's also a great port on the PSP. You can keep looping through the story with the same characters, trying new things and leveling them to the moon. I've the 3 characters over level 800. :neko:

Jeanne D'Arc is the newest of the three and it shows in the art and production values. It's also got a great story. Can't comment on the whole game as I haven't finished it. I keep meaning too but I can't tear myself from Disgaea long enough. :sd:

FFT: WotL is a port of an older game and it shows. Despite that, it seems very well done with a deep story. Unfortunately it seems to have a steeper learning curve (I have the game but haven't played very far into it) and I really don't like the gameplay mechanics as much as the other two games.

[Zorak]

Jeanne D'Arc: I played this recently. Pretty solid RPG that's worth picking up.

The Warriors: Pretty good for of the excellent PS2/Xbox game. Drawbacks are that the visuals are scaled back somewhat and there aren't quite as many characters on screen as the console version. Plus, tagging is considerably more difficult on the PSP controls. Worth picking up if you're on the road and feel like playing it, but it's no substitute for the console version.

[Jarred]

Did any of that make sense? :nervous:
Yup! And thanks to Shibi and HitokiriShadow as well for the clarifications. Sounds like a RPG to me! :D

I'm more used to playing strategy games based on a static group of units that is more resource management, so this more character building strategy with individual deployments has me intrigued. Never played FE either (shock! I know), but I may have to rectify that sooner rather than later.

[LimePie]

Jeanne D'Arc and FFT:TWotL are both must buys, in my opinion. :beat:

[Jarred]

After trading in a few games today, I picked up my new black PSP Slim. It will remain on the charger until tomorrow, waiting for Mr UPS to deliver Jeanne D'Arc and my memory duo stick from Amazon.

It became quite easy to choose between Jeanne and FFT after I went to 4 stores, both big and small, and all of them had LOADS of FFT but none stocked Jeanne. Didn't want to miss out, so I went to good 'ol Amazon and grabbed it while it was in stock over there.

[ZenAmako]

From my experience, FFT is much easier to find than Jeanne D'Arc, and Jeanne D'Arc is easier to find than Disgaea. I saw copies of Jeanne at Wal-Mart and Circuit City, but I had to go to GameStop for Disgaea, and I bought their last copy.