Need help choosing a JRPG

[Angelwork]

Don't know if this goes into "Japanese Games Discussion". But since it's JRPGs we're talking about here, it might be reasonable. Anyway, if it doesn't just move it to the "Games" forum, thanks

Alright, I need help choosing a JRPG. The games I have in mind are:

Ar tonelico 3 Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel
Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland
Hyperdimension Neptunia
Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll
Trinity Universe
White Knight Chronicles

I want to play every game just as much as the others, maybe White Knight Chronicles a little less. But I've no idea which to pick, so I need some help here. Even though I haven't played Ar tonelico 3's predecessors, I still want to play this one. Please state a reason if you think I shouldn't pick Ar tonelico 3.

There are 3 reasons I want to go after to choose a game, these are:

Story:
How good is the story? Does it get you hooked so that you can't stop playing until you've finished etc. Even if the gameplay sucks I could still buy the game just beacuse its story is incredible.

Gameplay:
How good is the gameplay? Is the game hard/easy to master? Difficult/annoying controls, bugs/glitches, etc.

Platinum:
How hard is the platinum to obtain? I know I can look at the platinum difficulty threads, but I want your opinion on the respective games. Especially if you have played more than 1 of stated games.

And then we have the Gameplay/Story vs. Platinum:
Is the game worth buying because of story/gameplay etc. even though the platinum is ridiculously hard/time consuming to obtain (if it is, of course).

GO!

[Shuffle]

Ar tonelico III/Qoga is a direct sequel to the 2nd game but takes place on the 3rd tower of Ar Ciel after a couple years later with some familar faces and a lot of new ones. There is some story connection, but not a whole lot. While the 1st 2 games were turn-based, but keep in mind that this one is real-time action but with a mix of having Song Magic and Purging as well as timing. Though the battle system does get better when you progress in the story. The story is good. Maybe not the best in the series but not exactly horrible.

Atelier Rorona while it is made by the same developing company, it's turn-based. Atelier has been around since the PS1 era with almost at least 1-2 games made a year. The story isn't about saving the world or anything like that. You're just trying to save your alchemy workshop by running errands for the townspeople by gathering and synthesizing items, as well as doing specific quests with a deadline. There's a lot of time management involved since everything you do makes the days go by quicker. With having these quests and requests from everyone, you'll need to figure how to do all of these tasks before time runs out. Atelier Totori(Rorona's sequel), does have some time management, but not as bad.

Hyperdimension Neptunia/Trinity Universe/Cross Edge are all crossover games with at least NIS, Gust, Idea Factory/Compile Heart. The story for each of those games aren't exactly award-winning but it's because in a way they are like parodies. So they're more for comedy and just well for people who are fans of games made by NIS, Gust, and all of the other companies involved but still enjoyable. While Trinity Universe and Cross Edge does have characters from each company involved like from Disgaea, Ar tonelico, Atelier, and so on, Neptunia has a whole new cast. Neptunia's battle system is like Trinity Universe, but more customizable. Cross Edge feels more old school style.

Ar tonelico is not to hard to plat as long as you can get all of the endings and see all of the events in the Cosmospheres. Hyperdimension Neptunia has trophies popping up even just for the littlest tasks but with maybe a couple of trophies that might actually take a little effort. Trinity Universe is not really hard as long as you can get the good ending for both characters which leads to the True ending, but with a good amount of grinding. Cross Edge is like about as difficult as the plat for Record of Agarest War or at least close to it. Atelier Rorona isn't really as hard as it seems as long as you play it properly. Atelier Totori I can't comment on since I don't know until later this year.

So it's really hard to say which one, so just go by whatever you think sounds the best.

[Master1]

Resonance of Fate

The story is meh but the gameplay is awesome & its a true JRPG with girls with big eyes, you can customize the characters clothes etc

[Angelwork]

Originally Posted by Shuffle

text here

Thanks for your serious input Shuffle. I have to say, I'm leaning mostly towards Hyperdimension Neptunia, Trinity Universe and Ar tonelico 3. Still don't know which though, aaaahhh. Trinity Universe is the cheapest one.

[Setsuna]

Originally Posted by Master1

Resonance of Fate

The story is meh but the gameplay is awesome & its a true JRPG with girls with big eyes, you can customize the characters clothes etc

Wait wait what ? A true JRPG with girls with big eyes ... the story is what MAKES an JRPG, without a good story then theres really no goal or purpose to playing aside from eye candy.

Resonance of Fate was terribad ... hate to say it. The gameplay mechanics were pretty cool for the first hours of playing it and i will admit its probably has strategic as any new JRPG will get nowadays because they've all become pretty easy (im looking at you Final Fantasy XIII). The use of bullets and where to perform aerial attacks to hit that specific weak spot definitely made it a unique game. However ... story was imo stupid and the gameplay just got boring and repetitive (well it got that repetitive feeling way too fast).

Now out of your list of games, read Shuffles post ... theres the information already summarized and id say go with Ar Tonelico 3 for sure. If you wanted to import a good JRPG Tales of Xillia is coming out in September and looks VERY promising. Theres also Record of Agarest War in the PSN store for download and Agarest Zero coming out June 14th-ish, they're SRPG (more strategy based like Final Fantasy Tactics).

[Kheapathic]

I'm voting for Ar Tonelico, but if you find yourself unable to secure a copy I'd say go with Hyperdimension Neptunia. Both are fun and deserve a play.

[Angelwork]

Originally Posted by Setsuna

Theres also Record of Agarest War in the PSN store for download and Agarest Zero coming out June 14th-ish, they're SRPG (more strategy based like Final Fantasy Tactics).

I want to buy Record of Agarest War as well, but since the EU version doesn't have any trophies, I'd have to buy a US PSN card. So that one will have to wait for now^^

Originally Posted by Kheapathic

I'm voting for Ar Tonelico, but if you find yourself unable to secure a copy I'd say go with Hyperdimension Neptunia. Both are fun and deserve a play.

The choice is between Ar tonelico and Hyperdimension now. It's probably going to be Ar tonelico since it looks like more fun and I'm loving the graphics

[Aeliana]

Originally Posted by Angelwork

The choice is between Ar tonelico and Hyperdimension now. It's probably going to be Ar tonelico since it looks like more fun and I'm loving the graphics

How did I not notice this thread before?

At any rate, if you're still deciding between Ar Tonelico Qoga and Hyperdimension Neptunia, definitely go w/ Ar Tonelico. It's a more "traditional" J-RPG compared to Neptunia which is more-or-less a dungeon crawling grind-a-thon albeit with an amusing character cast/storyline that pokes fun at the game industry. Both are good games, but I'd start with AT if you can choose only one.

[Angelwork]

Originally Posted by Aeliana

How did I not notice this thread before?

At any rate, if you're still deciding between Ar Tonelico Qoga and Hyperdimension Neptunia, definitely go w/ Ar Tonelico. It's a more "traditional" J-RPG compared to Neptunia which is more-or-less a dungeon crawling grind-a-thon albeit with an amusing character cast/storyline that pokes fun at the game industry. Both are good games, but I'd start with AT if you can choose only one.

Thanks for your late input Aeliana. However, I've already bought Hyperdimension Neptunia and officially started playing it today. But I'm definitely not restricted to one game. Since I plan on buying them all throughout the summer, all opinions are welcome at any time. Ar tonelico is probably my next choice