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General discussionWeekly Staff Picks: Japanese Roleplay(110 posts)(110 posts)
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Posted January 12, 2015
Acquire your taste for the jRPG.

It’s the second edition of our brand new promo format, the Weekly Staff Picks. This time around we’ve decided to highlight a pretty new, but extremely welcome, addition to the GOG.com catalogue: jRPGs. They say the genre is an acquired taste, and it looks like many of the GOG staff have it - well now it’s your turn with our Japanese Roleplay. Three noteworthy titles of the Japanese persuasion will be discounted up to 75% in this fantastic deal lasting until Thursday, January 15, at 10:59AM GMT.

Agarest: Generations of War - Collector’s Edition, also known as Record of Agarest War, is an absolutely unique storytelling concept in games: the story of Agarest spans a lengthy five generations of protagonists. The game’s Soul Breed system gives you the opportunity to influence each future generation of fighters as your offspring inherits the best of what you, and the partner of your choice, have to offer. There is no better time to check out this outstanding game than now, for a whopping 75% off.

Though Japanese in spirit only, Pier Solar and the Great Architects is quite literally a modern classic and currently available 50% off. Originally developed for the Sega Genesis, you’d think it was the oldest of our three promo titles. In reality, the game was released in 2010 on the long forgotten system and successful enough that it was eventually ported (and remastered) to nearly every modern gaming platform you can think of, including Windows, Mac and Linux. Pier Solar and the Great Architects is still an oldie at heart, and with the HD remake available on GOG.com you can even pick between a fresh new coat of paint and the original pixely goodness.

Finally The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky at a -30% discount, is one highly-rated piece of a well known RPG series which started out as early as 1989. Trails in the Sky, is just a small portion of the extensive, six chapter, Legend of Heroes saga. This one is a must-have for all jRPG fans on GOG.com.

These three unique titles are a great start for anybody looking to get into jRPGs, and must-haves for fans already among us. The Japanese Roleplay Weekly Staff Pick will last until Thursday, January 15, at 10:59AM GMT. If you missed the news last week, The Weekly Staff Picks are replacing the Monday and Wednesday Gem Promos, bringing you more discounted games each week and more time to pick your favorites.
Posted January 12, 2015
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Luned: [...] plus almost all random fights can outright be avoided. It didn't feel "grindy" to me either.
Thank for replying! That's another thing I don't favor in jRPGs; the random encounters. How can you avoid them in this game? By learning where the triggers for the random encounters are placed or some other way?
Posted January 12, 2015
i hope we see more jrpgs here. not crazy about the three here although i only played two. piers was neat but slow and not tight enough in letting you know what to do next. legend of heroes was cool but got too repetitive. surprised to see so many good reviews when i feel it pales in comparison to jrpgs like lufia 2, final fantasy 4, 6,7... chrono trigger, chrono cross, lunar 1 and 2...grandia 1 and 2...suikoden 2, phantasy star 4, xenogears, ...etc.

but hey different strokes for different folks. since so many people seem to like it, it might be worth trying out for those hurting for a drm-free jrpg for their pc even though i had my own opinion about it.

maybe the promo will attract the attention for other jrpg publishers to bring their games here? idk. i hope so.
Posted January 12, 2015
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Enebias: As much as I like to see a wide variety of games being promoted on GOG (as it could only increase its popularity and value as a "gaming hub"), the "J" in RPG is really not for me.
Despite being a restless fanatic of Japanese platformers, having played and loved *a lot* of eastern arcade and action titles and being a true esteemer of Japanese animation -a taste commonly connected with interest in JRPGs, it seems- I really cannot bring myself to like the genere, even if in the past I have completed many games of the kind (I guess 20+).

I have always found the combat systems too simplistic, repetitive and dull, often relying on a single, very basic but universally working tactic; considering that those games revolve around fights, it's not a suprise that I don't like them. The usually mandatory "on-rail" character developement does not help, either, and that is not considering my unsurpassed loathe for grinding, the worst time-wasting aspect of a videogame.
Also, most of the times (with several significant exceptions, like Lost Odyssey or Chrono Trigger) the fixed plot gets on my nerves, forcing me to follow the childish and nonsensical way of acting of the protagonists and mercilessly breaking any kind of immerison.
Since I struggle to see the "role-playing" aspect in them, I consider them more like "combat adventures" rather than RPGs.
Well, at the very least Trails in the Sky has no grinding - not too sure how you'd like the story, but out of all the games in this sale, I'd say that that game would probably interest you the most out of these games :)
Posted January 12, 2015
I wanted to like Trails In the Sky more than I did. The encounters started to feel redundant and pathways limited. Plot development was interesting but stalled in places leaving me I feel like I spent too much time walking from one town to the next without much of a hook. It was nice to have visible monsters you could attack or avoid but for some reason the game altogether didn't sink in with me. Skill implementation is nice with a 3D battlefield using character positon as an important component.

I might pick up Pier Solar but I think it'll be cheaper soon and my backlog can sustain me... although I do crave retro JRPG goodness.
Post edited January 12, 2015 by undeadcow
Posted January 12, 2015
How much grinding does Agarest really have ?
Posted January 12, 2015
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Siegor: The 5 generations concept in Agarest seems interesting but when I checked the page the reviews were quite negative.
Trails in the sky has much better reviews but it seems ( to me) a bit generic.
Any thoughts of fellow Gogers on either game would be greatly appreciated.
When it comes to Agarest, grinding is the name of the game - if you don't like grinding, you'll want to stay far away.

As for Trails, it is definitely one of the better JRPGs that have come out in a long time, and since the game originally came out for PC in Japan, it's definitely the best way to play the first game in this series. The story is also pretty good, though there is far more focus on character interaction in its early stages. The game is great though, in that the story and mysteries within the game roll into its sequel (hopefully coming out here sometime next year) and to the games further in the series. While I have yet to finish the game or play any of the sequels (since they are still in Japanese right now), it is certainly worth the money to check out. As for looking generic, the writing and world building might be considered generic, but you should be able to tell that it is a very charming and unique world when you've spent some time with it. The series only gets better from here. :)
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omega64: Just 3 games?
I expected more from you guys. ;p
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adaliabooks: So... did the staff pick the genre to go on sale? Or did they pick the three JRPGs in the catalogue as they were the only games in the chosen genre?... :/

Nice Promo though. Shame I have no money.
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omega64: I think there's a movie about japanese arcades, They could've included that in the promo.
They should have also really had Septerra Core in this sale as well - if the western developed Pier Solar is in this sale, that game would have fit in here too.
Post edited January 12, 2015 by FlamingFirewire
Posted January 12, 2015
It's nice to see JRPG's getting some support, and I'm glad to pick up Pier Solar at that price. I've had my eye on it for a while.

Also have my eye on Trails in the Sky, but I'm most likely gonna buy the PSP version for that.
Post edited January 12, 2015 by EckoShy
Posted January 12, 2015
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Gnostic: Nooooooooo I had Sinned again
more... More... MORE!!!! *cackles evilly*

On that note, it looks like I'll be picking up both Agarest CE and Pier Solar. Bought Trails on release (and have yet to play it). Backlog, ahoy! ;)
Posted January 12, 2015
Sometimes i wish GOG would screen out reviews from people who " I got it on Evil Empire store a while back" blah blah blah or on PS3 --- at times there are differences between versions right which might not be relevant to GOG version?. Annoying reviews.
Anyway have Trails.Nice. Still eyeballing Agarest although i might end up getting Lords of Xulima later this week on GOG :D.
Posted January 12, 2015
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Luned: [...] plus almost all random fights can outright be avoided. It didn't feel "grindy" to me either.
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Vythonaut: Thank for replying! That's another thing I don't favor in jRPGs; the random encounters. How can you avoid them in this game? By learning where the triggers for the random encounters are placed or some other way?
You see the potential encounters as creatures moving around on the screen. With a reasonable amount of care, particularly in open areas, you can move around them without triggering a battle. There are some you'll want to fight (because they're blocking your access to a loot chest, or may count towards a side quest), and if it's a tower related to a quest you won't be able to maneuver around everything, but there's very little move-two-steps-and-fight-again.
Posted January 12, 2015
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Falci: I was eager for Trails in the Sky, but unfortunately it's not the right discount at this particular time.

Also, the BRL is so undervalued right now that the game is ridiculously expensive for me! So sad…

:(
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deonast: Doesn't have any thing to do with dropping commodity prices such as iron ore does it? That is partly hitting the Australian dollar. We were on parity with the US now it costs 25% more once you put in currency conversion to buy US priced stuff.
In all honesty, I don't know. Brazil is always facing corruption problems, serious ones and in the last years the dollar price just kept going up and I'm not so sure it will go back again so soon.
Posted January 12, 2015
Those are great games! :)

I have a question: the Pier Solar and the Great Architects game includes the Sega Dreamcast version?

Thank you
Posted January 12, 2015
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Luned: You see the potential encounters as creatures moving around [..
] but there's very little move-two-steps-and-fight-again.
Nice! That's great information you've posted.. You have my thanks! :-)
Posted January 12, 2015
Picked up Pier Solar, been meaning to grab that, guess now is as good a time as ever. Already had the other two. Thank you GOG Staff for your great picks! ;-)
Posted January 12, 2015
Umm, "Gem Promo" was synonymous with "some visibility for obscure games nobody's buying". But wasn't the "Trial In The Sky" thing quite popular? What's the idea behind this new concept? Selling more than just one game at once? Why the name change then?
Post edited January 12, 2015 by ixbt25i
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General discussionWeekly Staff Picks: Japanese Roleplay(110 posts)(110 posts)
(110 posts)