I’ve always been a sucker for RPG games. When I’m feeling down I tend to play Final Fantasy 8 or Final Fantasy 10, they’re like my comfort games.

I’ve had a hard time finding joy in modern RPG games, they all feel very grindy and seem to have an uninteresting plot. I’m looking for something that sparks joy, so I don’t have look for some ridiculous challenge like Khimari only run in FF10 or something.

Things that spark joy:

  • Being able to play on Steam Deck or at least stream from my (linux) desktop
  • Decent graphics, though pixel art is ok
  • Voice acting
  • No random encounters
  • Good plot
  • Good combat

Things that do not spark joy:

  • Too much grinding
  • DnD mechanics
  • Mandatory online requirement

Games that I really enjoyed:

  • Final Fantasy 7 through 10
  • Final Fantasy 5
  • Dragon Quest XI
  • Xenoblade Chronicles 1/2
  • South Park games
  • Stardew Valley

Games that I did not enjoy:

  • Elden Ring - I guess I just don’t have the mental patience for souls games anymore.
  • Final Fantasy X-2 - great combat mechanics, horrendous plot
  • “Modern” Final Fantasy games
  • Divinity: Original Sin 2, Disco Elysium - feels too much like DnD
  • Hogwarts Legacy - It felt amazing at first but then got super repetitive
  • Persona 5 Royal - The game severely overstayed its welcome, very bloated, very repetitive dialog (the characters tell you the same information multiple times)
  • I am Setsuna - The plot resembled Final Fantasy 10 way too much, felt like I had already played that game. Didn’t finish
  • Kingdom Hearts - Severe motion sickness
  • Octopath Traveler - The plot felt extremely disconnected, random encounters were annoying, I got stuck due to an underleveled party and didn’t have the patience to grind it up

Thanks in advance!

  • Concave1142@lemmy.worldEnglish
    5·
    4 days ago

    Xenoblade Chronicles 3 was amazing and made me want to play the first two but that damn Nintendo tax has prevented me from finding it at a decent price on the secondhand market.

    Since you mentioned FF series, don’t sleep on FF12. It is up there on my top games as it was the first one I played where I could automate my group.

    • Uninvited Guest@lemmy.caEnglish
      1·
      3 days ago

      I have Chronicles and Chronicles 2 carts if you’re interested. Played the first and just resigned myself to never getting around to the 2nd.

    • pathief@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      4 days ago

      I have played pretty much all final fantasies since FF5, with the exception of FF11 and FF16. FF12 is the only one worth playing after FFX, in my opinion.