fathoms, Anyone! Point me in the direction of a good Action-RPG!

Ok, I KNOW I have always detested and loathed all other RPGs except for the Ys series... I know I' ll NEVER like menu based/turn based fighting. But what about the ones with real-time battles like the Ys series, are there any good RPGs like that on the market?

I was a little interested in Xenosaga II until I noticed that 1. Namco didn' t develop it and 2. The battles were turn-based, so scratch that b*tch off my list!

What about Namco' s Tale of Symphony and all of it' s other related games? Are the battles in real-time?

I' m looking for a little RPG warm-up until Ys 6 hits the PS2 and PSP!! They are sO mine!

Turn-based is for patient people who like to devise strategies. Real-time is mindless; a chimp could do it.

Buuuut, if you' re looking for good real-time RPG' s:

Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance I, II (PS2, Xbox, GC)

Either or, but the second one is better. These are absolutely fantastic, especially for two players. The graphics are very, very nice, the stories are so-so, and the gameplay is spectacular. It' s vintage hack ' n slash, but with the necessary RPG elements (i.e., upgrading weapons and armor, gaining experience and allocating earned points to increase stats and learn skills, etc.). The first one probably won' t take longer than 15 hours to beat, but the second could take about 20. The best part is that you can go back through it on higher difficulty levels with the same character, continually jacking him/her through the roof of all-supreme power.

Champions of Norrath (PS2)

Deeper and closer to a real RPG than the BG: DA series, and awesome single-player mode. Much longer (about 40 hours), and with a real D&D style mixed with the realms of Everquest. It' s basically the same format as BG: DA, but like I said, closer to pure role-playing, rather than the virtual hybrid that the BG: DA games are.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (Xbox, PC)

One of the best RPG' s of this generation, but it would help if you' re a Star Wars fan (which I' m not). This is real-time in the same way that Baldurs Gate on the PC is real-time. You can pause during battle and set weapons and skills, but the game is played out fully in real-time. There' s a great story here, and you can choose to play as either the Dark or Light side. It' s about a 30-35 hour RPG that has good replay capability.

Dark Cloud 2 (PS2)

It' s one of the few real-time JRPG' s out there, and has a whole LOT of depth involved (more than any of the others listed here). In fact, the depth may be a bit too extreme for someone looking for something as simple as the Ys series. Many RPG fans swear by it. It' s real-time, hack ' n slash style in a dungeon crawler type of format, but with a really cool setting and story. Well over 50 hours of gameplay are here if you' re willing to dive in. Very intense weapon and item customization, creation, and upgrading.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Xbox, PC)

I would recommend this last, only because I don' t think it' s really what you' re looking for. Think MMORPG setting, only offline. Certainly real-time, but with a crapload of open-ended depth that can either be intensely boring or absorbing beyond comprehension, depending on what kind of gamer you are. Despite the fact that this game is good, I' m willing to bet that you might be intensely bored...but you never know. I figured I' d list it anyway.

I don' t believe that Tales of Symphonia for the GC will be real-time, although it may be a hybrid. Star Ocean 3, due out in August for the PS2, is most certainly a hybrid, just like Star Ocean 2 was (the battles are happening in real-time, but you can pause indefinitely to assign roles and responsibilities per character, as well as choosing abilities and skills, etc.)

Kikizo Staff Writer

I would definately recommend Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. It recieved Game of the Year, if im correct.

Yea, definatly go with kotor, one of the best rpgs ever. and it did win game if the year too.

Yes go with KOTOR its the best RPG i played.

+KOTOR 2 is just around the corner.

I hate Turn Based its the stupidest fighting system on the planet.
I played FF series and because of the turn based crap i hated RPG' s untill i tried KOTOR and found out not all RPG' s are turn based.

There are other good RPG' s that im really looking forward to Sudeki,Jade Empire,and Fable.

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Kikizo Staff Writer

I' m going through Morrowind Game of the Year Edition...great game. The battle' s are a little boring but there is a crap ton of stuff you can do. So many quests, with a lot of guilds, and with the new Game of the Year Edition they' ve basically added a whole new game from the first. Vampires and werewolves...and you can change into them, and they have quests. You can make spells, enchant your own weapons, make your own potions...it' s always been a fun game to me but I can see where someone wouldn' t like it.

That' s something I always wanted to know- who gave Morrowind GoY? OXM?

The AIAS sure as heck didn' t. It wasn' t even nominated. All these games that get " GoY Editions" sometimes confuse me, because I don' t remember the awards being given in the first place.

Kikizo Staff Writer

Two older titles for PC are Fallout 1 and 2. Both are set in post-nuclear war America and both are a mix of urban/sci-fi/tactical gameplay.

I would also suggest (again, older PC) Planescape/Torment.

I would post more, but I haven' t seen much in recent history that compares.

Oh, there is Arx Fatalis (PC, Xbox), but I wasn' t as big a fan of that one.

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WOW! Thanks for that list!! Well it seems as if everyone agrees about Knights of the Old Republic. I' ve never been into Star Wars at all but I can easily overlook that while playing this game.



p.s. - You bastids just HAD to pick an American RPG didn' t ya? LOLOL

I' ve never been into Star Wars at all but I can easily overlook that while playing this game.

I couldn' t. I hate SW, so I never could get into KotoR. I liked BG:DA and CoN much better, but then again, those are American RPG' s too, so.....

Kikizo Staff Writer

Lol, I don' t like Star Wars neither so I' ll just have to tune out the characters and hope the story doesn' t require any Star Wars ' knowledge' .

I need to check out Baldurs Gate to! I remember hearing great things about the first one way back during the Dreamcast era I believe!

I wasnt a SW fan until KOTOR, so beware, it transformed me into a huge SW nerd. (not that I wasnt a nerd before)

I dont want to celebrate, I want to sell you hate.

Kingdom Hearts is another one

Good thinking, Raven. I can' t believe I forgot that one. Let me throw that into the mix:

Kingdom Hearts

This is a real-time hack ' n slash, much like BG: DA, only in a completely different setting. Instead of the dark D&D environment, you' ve got the vivid and charming Disney worlds. It' s produced by Square, but the game is essentially a Disney RPG with Square cameos. The voice-acting, sound, and gameplay are all top-notch, and even though I' m not a big Disney fan, the game really is quite incredible. You will play through the worlds of Wonderland, Never-Never Land, Halloween Town, and even Monstro the Whale (from Pinnochio).

The game is deeper and more of a challenge than the " kiddy" setting implies, however, and it' s the quintissential action/RPG. Being a Square fan, I would' ve liked some playable Square characters or some environments/worlds from a Square game, but I still had a lot of fun with Kingdom Hearts. If you' re even the smallest Disney fan, this game is guaranteed to grow on you. Highly recommended.

However, it is about 35-45 hours. Not sure if that' s a drawback for you or not. Personally, if you' re not a Star Wars fan, and this doesn' t sound like your bag either, I' d say pick up the original BG: DA for like $20. It' ll only take about 10-12 hours, and I really think it' s exactly what you' re looking for. If you can find a way to get into KotoR (which does NOT require any SW knowledge, as far as I know), then try that one, or if you' re at least a moderate Disney fan, then try KH.

But at this point, based on what you' ve said, I' d say either of the BG: DA' s are your best bet.

Kikizo Staff Writer

Yeah, Kingdom Hearts is also worthy of this list. Great game that was...

Alundra on the PS1. It plays a lot like Link to the Past but better, so if you like that you' ll probably like this too.

OOOH yeah Kingdom Hearts sounds mighty enticing from that detailed description. I do like certain Disney characters like Pinnochio, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella and a few others.

I' ll try to check out all of the ' good' stuff listed above to see if anything appeals to me. I remember kinda digging Orphen: Scion of Odyssey a few minutes into the game when I rented it years ago but that sucker had to go back to Blockbuster. Is that an action-RPG?

Umm...I think it is, but it' s not a very good one. All the ones listed here are better, IMO.

If you' re even the list bit into Disney, I can' t imagine that you' d be disappointed with KH. I' m probably less of a Disney fan than you are, and I had a blast myself. I ALSO vastly prefer turn-based, so that should give you an idea of just how good KH had to be for me to say this.

Kikizo Staff Writer

Kingdom hearts is also on the greatest hits list so you will be getting a great game cheap.
An action RPG for the kid in all of us haha

i would say to go with kingdom hearts. this is the game that got me into RPG' s. now i' m playing my way through FF7.

kh is an easy, cheery, nice little game.

phatcat: I don' t recall the optional stuff in KH to be all that easy. Beating Sephiroth in the Battle Arena ain' t " easy," if I remember correctly. The game was deceptively challenging in many areas. I' d say it' s more difficult than either BG: DA.

I also just recently started another game of FF VII; this will be my fourth. All that time, but for the greatest RPG ever. Worth every second.

Kikizo Staff Writer

but sephiroth is optional. to beat the main game, i didnt find it all that hard. there were 1 or 2 hard boss battles, but other than that, it was cake!

Well, I rarely finish an RPG without completing all the extra/optional stuff, so if you include that, KH isn' t all that easy.

I' m sure that it' s simple to beat it; most RPG' s I' ve played are relatively easy to beat. It' s one of the main reasons why I always do the optional stuff, which is generally much more of a challenge.

Kikizo Staff Writer

I try to do the extras most of the time.
That' s why even though I beat Suikoden III I am still playing it to get all 108 stars and try to get the secret/special ending

Raven: Yeah, I try to get everything, all the time, in every RPG I play. I got all 108 SoD' s in the original Suikoden, but I didn' t make it in Suikoden II. I' ve always meant to go back and try again.

I did get all 108 in Suikoden III, though. What " secret/special" ending are you talking about? The ending may change depending on who you chose for your Flame Champion, but I don' t think it will change based on how many SoD' s you got.

When the ending is over, the Stars are ticked off in order, and you get to see a sentence or two about what that character did after the game ended. If you didn' t acquire that character, you don' t get to see what happened to them (you just get a black, blank space). So this is different, but I don' t think the ENDING changes.

Kikizo Staff Writer

I got all of them in Suikoden I, never played Suikoden II and have like 12 left in III.
I was reading something on gamefaqs that said something about a special ending.
Maybe a read it wrong though


This is what I found
" If you got the 108 Stars of Destiny bonus, hit X after the still picture. The
screen will go dark for a little while then you' ll be back at the Trinity Site.
The 6th and final flame will be lit. I won' t ruin what this is so you can
find out for yourself."

There are 6 flames at the trinity site (3 for the main characters and 1 for thomas) then you get one for beating the game with all 108 stars and then 1 other flame is opened when you adopt Koroku