Will the DS be the king of RPG's this gen?

So far out of current consoles, the DS is king as far as new games with some re-makes go. OTOH if we just look at older games, the PSP could be considered a contender with it support of the vast psx catalog... although I discount this a smost of us have probably a;ready played all of the decent psx titles..

I think PC is still dominant in strategy. Infact its more strong than ever thanks to companies like battlefront and matrix games and those pesky russians/east europeans who make modern remakes of old best-sellers.

zakhal said:

I think PC is still dominant in strategy. Infact its more strong than ever thanks to companies like battlefront and matrix games and those pesky russians/east europeans who make modern remakes of old best-sellers.

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No one doubt it, topic creator just think RPGs might be better on DS than on PC in future.

Konjad said:

topic creator just think RPGs might be better on DS than on PC in future.

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Maybe in a strange alternate universe.

I think the DS is the king this generation. In terms of quantity AND quality. Sure, there are a lot of ports but there are also new titles coming out all the time.

And "old school" or not, a lot of the DS titles are simply more fun than anything on the big consoles or PC. I've gotten so bored with PC RPGs released in the past 3 years.

Also the fact that I'm a busy 30-something year old and can't dedicate hours to sit in front of a TV makes the DS even more appealing.

I can play on the train ride to work (45 mins), on my lunch break, or on my bed at night. Or if I'm waiting for the wife and kids to get ready to go somewhere, I can just sit on the sofa and play for a few minutes. The nature of old school style RPGs allows for gaming in shorter spurts (sometimes). No 15 minute cinemas playing every 30 minutes or so.

As for graphics and sound: the graphics are fine, some games even look phenomenal on the DS' screens. Of course if you're the type that has to watch the 10 o'clock news on nothing less than a 50" TV then you're probably going to hate it. Or if you're 70 years old with failing eyesight! Otherwise it is what it is. As for sound, use headphones. Those tiny, tinny speakers suck. And use good headphones, not those cheapie lo-fie Ipod buds. You'd be surprised at the bass you get out of some games. GTA: CW actually sounds great.

JDR13, WE GET IT, you hate the DS, lol.

Do you even have one?

Relayer said:

And "old school" or not, a lot of the DS titles are simply more fun than anything on the big consoles or PC. I've gotten so bored with PC RPGs released in the past 3 years.

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Bold statement there... you forgot the "imo" part though.

Relayer said:

JDR13, WE GET IT, you hate the DS, lol.

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Not at all actually, in fact, I was just recently playing FF IV DS. The DS doesn't even come close to the PC in terms of PC style RPGs though. If you like JRPG style, then the DS is great.

I think the distinction is 'of this generation'. Which clearly demarcates 'consoles' from PC, since PC gaming doesn't follow that trend.

I also think JDR has stated his case clearly ... and I agree. I have been looking for good FPS since I got my GBA ~8 years ago, and there is still nothing to compare with PC shooters. I've similarly been searching for a solid western-style RPG for a handheld since ~NWN's release, and the closest I have gotten is the Dungeon Siege PSP game.

I think it's healthy to recognise that taste is a significant factor, here.

The DS most certainly has great titles, and I'm sure they appeal to a large crowd. But it's not for everyone, and as I've said myself, JRPGs simply aren't for all RPG fans.

I've tried numerous times to "get past" this issue, mostly because my brother (who is a huuuuge Final Fantasy fan) keeps talking about how wonderful those games are. The fact remains that what I hate about them FAR outweighs what I actually do like - which is typically the relatively deep combat and character mechanics. The style, stories, characters, and setting are all gigantic turn-offs for me, personally.

DArtagnan said:

I think it's healthy to recognise that taste is a significant factor, here.

The DS most certainly has great titles, and I'm sure they appeal to a large crowd. But it's not for everyone, and as I've said myself, JRPGs simply aren't for all RPG fans.

I've tried numerous times to "get past" this issue, mostly because my brother (who is a huuuuge Final Fantasy fan) keeps talking about how wonderful those games are. The fact remains that what I hate about them FAR outweighs what I actually do like - which is typically the relatively deep combat and character mechanics. The style, stories, characters, and setting are all gigantic turn-offs for me, personally.

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It's not even that, I do like those type of games, I just don't enjoy playing in that little screen with the little sprites.
I also wouldn't mind if 99% of those RPGs didn't assume I'm a 12 year old kid, so every time my character(s) go to a bar they respond like 'yeah, wait a few years buddy!'

JDR13 said:

Not at all actually, in fact, I was just recently playing FF IV DS. The DS doesn't even come close to the PC in terms of PC style RPGs though. If you like JRPG style, then the DS is great.

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Well that's a no brainer though - it is a CONSOLE. How many full fledged console (360, PS3, PS2, Wii) RPGs play like PC RPGs?

On another note, how's FFIV going? I'm playing it currently too, the deeper I get into it the more I appreciate it. The voice acting and "cinemas" really take it up a notch.

KInda of hard to get a full PC RPG experience considering the storage/memory limitations of handhelds. Maybe on a future machine we'll get something akin to BG2.

Relayer said:

Well that's a no brainer though - it is a CONSOLE. How many full fledged console (360, PS3, PS2, Wii) RPGs play like PC RPGs?

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Exactly, that's why I get so annoyed by comments like "king of all platforms".

Relayer said:

On another note, how's FFIV going? I'm playing it currently too, the deeper I get into it the more I appreciate it. The voice acting and "cinemas" really take it up a notch.

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I just recently picked up where I left off about a month ago, I'm actually at the very end right now. It's a good game, but then again, the original SNES version was already one of my old favorites anyways.

JDR13 said:

Exactly, that's why I get so annoyed by comments like "king of all platforms".

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The thread was about the 'current gen' ...

... and I think it is a major victory that the PC gaming scene is in such a great state - a few years ago we would have thought differently I fear.

txa1265 said:

The thread was about the 'current gen' ..

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Damian Mahadevan said:

Among all platforms.

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txa1265 said:

... and I think it is a major victory that the PC gaming scene is in such a great state - a few years ago we would have thought differently I fear.

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Definitely... the number of quality games being released in Sep and Oct alone is enough to keep many people busy for over a year.

I've noticed on some of my other sites that when people talk about 'all systems' they often refer to 3 )X360, PS3 and Wii) or perhaps include the DS & PSP ... but seldom the PC.

It is 'dead' after all

Everytime I see the title of this thread I want to throw up a little.

The day that the best RPGs come out on a handheld gaming system is the day I quite this genre and play only old games. I have enough to last me 3 lifetimes, so it wouldn't be a loss.

In any event, it won't happen. EBgames can shove the PC to the side of their website, but there is always going to be a market for RPGs on the PC. For example: DoubleBear just launched. There seems to be more quality indies being released and this holiday season we have a feast of great RPGs being released.

skavenhorde said:

Everytime I see the title of this thread I want to throw up a little.

The day that the best RPGs come out on a handheld gaming system is the day I quite this genre and play only old games. I have enough to last me 3 lifetimes, so it wouldn't be a loss.

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I think we have gotten to the point in this thread that we are not talking about the PC in relation to things.

What is being said is that whereas the PS2 had the best RPG's of the last CONSOLE generation, with GBA in 2nd, the DS is the clear winner in this CONSOLE generation ... and in my opinion nothing else is even close.

txa1265 said:

What is being said is that whereas the PS2 had the best RPG's of the last CONSOLE generation, with GBA in 2nd, the DS is the clear winner in this CONSOLE generation ... and in my opinion nothing else is even close.

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Just shows the sad state of RPGs on console systems right now. I'm talking about the actual "consoles" of course, not handhelds.

txa1265 said:

I think we have gotten to the point in this thread that we are not talking about the PC in relation to things.

What is being said is that whereas the PS2 had the best RPG's of the last CONSOLE generation, with GBA in 2nd, the DS is the clear winner in this CONSOLE generation ... and in my opinion nothing else is even close.

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Ok. As long as we're talking about CONSOLES

Sorry, I didn't read the whole thread (I don't think I could without writing a 3 page rant at the end.) I just kept seeing this title pop up in the frontpage and you mentioned how some sites don't even consider PC part of the "all systems" or, imo, shove it into the corner *cough* EBgames *cough*.After that, I just couldn't keep quiet about it anymore.

Plus, I was getting tired of throwing up everytime I read the title of this thread.

Edit:
But seriously, you think that the DS, a handheld gaming system, has better RPGs? I wouldn't know since I don't even look at consoles anymore. It just surprises me a little that PS3, X-box360 or even the Wii couldn't come up with some decent RPGs.

skavenhorde said:

Edit:
But seriously, you think that the DS, a handheld gaming system, has better RPGs? I wouldn't know since I don't even look at consoles anymore. It just surprises me a little that PS3, X-box360 or even the Wii couldn't come up with some decent RPGs.

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Excluding games that are on PC as well there aren't any RPGs on Xbox360/PS3 except epic new Final Fantasy XLVII and it's copies.