I had to try ar tonelico for the ps2. It was totally a jrpg, but different in that it even had dating elements in it. Great turn based game, but with lots of sexual innuendos with your female singer that you needed to form a strong relationship with and "dive" into :ph43r:

It has three phases to it and multiple paths, though I can't see many people buying it except for turn based purists. Packing it in a pink box does NOT help matters either.
I liked the alchemy system and how you could customize weapons and armor with crystals, but overall it is tough to find and probably not worth $50.

I was a big fan of the Growlanser series and hated the fact that the new game is real time, just like how they change arc the lad around to real time. Why mess with a formula that works...

Kameo was a lot of fun, good pickup for $20 with plenty of monster forms to change into.

Mass effect is next on my list.

I still need a good fighter until soul calibur 4 comes out...

The hardcore jrpgs are hard for me to get into. Not my cup of tea.

random thoughts (As far as games go I have plenty.) :

Well, I have grown weary of GTA, war PC titles, and MMORPG "games." and traded in my Nintendo stuff for DS and will then take a chance with Wii and Virtual Console. Yep. Two systems are all I need, especially because of the compatibility of Wii with everything else. There just isn't anything else new worth a damn to me anymore.

I know I've lobbied for Nintendo too much- I'm just not at all impressed with Microsoft and Sony and what they're producing. The games continue to bore me. Thousands of new ways to sell the same ol' bulls**t. The industry needs a breakthrough, you know, the same way Star Wars broke new ground for filmmaking as a whole- the video games business needs it BADLY. I think Wii is closer to breaking new ground than the other two ever will. Guitar Hero III is a start though.

By the way, VF 5 sounds decent while you wait, Steve.

I played the first hour of mass effect. I like it, but it feels weird without a light saber, plus its much more real time than the KOTR games. still a good game with choosing dialogue and watching emotions change.

I started playing Alshark, but then got After Armageddon Gaiden for the mega cd, and then the holidays came up and collecting even more games. So, while I've been collecting several, I haven't been playing any.

I was thinking about several games though, not to collect but to play. Have any of you played the PS2 Shining Force games? I believe they are Neo and EX. One may be more RPGish, while the other is more traditional strategy rpg. Thoughts on those games?

As a lifelong Shining Fan, I was totally disappointed when they discarded the tactical strategy element for real time. It is just not Shining Force without Camelot.

With all this new stuff popping up from time to time, I'm just wondering where are the Good Deal Games, particularly for Sega CD and later old systems? We haven't seen anything released in two years, except stuff for Colecovision. Has anyone been working on anything lately??? Maybe an RPG that didn't get finished or something like that would be nice about right now.

I just think we all need to see more newly released "old" stuff because this is why we have this site in the first place.

Any news on this would be helpful.

I've thought the same thing and actually believe I've asked Michael the same thing 3-4 years ago, especially about getting some of the Japanese-only mega cds and translating them, but I think the problem would be licensing costs.

I'd love to see aisle lord, dai houshin den, cosmic fantasy stories, a-rank thunder, 3x3 eyes, heroic legend of arslan, after armageddon gaiden, alshark, cosmic fantasy stories, m&m isles of terra, detonator organ, arcus 123, burai, fhb, captain tsubasa, death bringer, fhey area, game no kan 1/2 (or at least the phantasy star text adventures), silky lip, mega schwarzchild, nostalgia 1907, ranma 1/2, yumimi mix, record of lodoss war, sengoku densho, shadowrun, shin megami tensei, uresei yatsura, sim earth, tenbu, tenka fubu, or any of the Japanese games released in the USA.

Of course, not all of those are rpgs. Some are comic adventures, anime adventures, and even war simulation. I'm sure not all of these could be easily licensed, but out of all of those games, there has to be a few companies that could be worked with.

I know this isn't new and/or unfinished rpgs as you talked about, but why not bring over old games that never made it to the USA?

yeah I'm pretty tired of being deprived like this.

There's nothing wrong with bringing games to the US and letting us decide whether they sell or flop.

We didn't see Rondo of Blood released here for FIFTEEN YEARS!!! And even now it has become the PSP's life support!! Another incentive for companies to stop playing keep away with us gamers. Talk about being stingy.

And this licensing issue seems fishy to me. What do those people lose by letting GDG finish and play their work?

Working designs brought over great games for years, but with them gone, its Atlus. I would love to see so many games brought over here. The japanese always had the best games. Just look at the saturn here and the saturn in japan. Triple the amount of games!