Similar Top-Down 'RPG's?

[suppow]

Rpg Secret of Evermore for the Snes great game.

nice game indeed

I wonder if you would enjoy some classics like the original Phantasy Star series.

never played them =/

Chrono Trigger.

I VOMIT AT EVERYONE ELSE'S SUGGESTIONS!!

that's always nice...

They were rpgs that you controlled from a top down perspective (when not in battle anyway). So... wouldn't they apply?

with all due respect good sir, did you read the opening post?

 

[Gahars]

So you're asking for top down rpgs, but don't want top down rpgs?

What's the dividing line between Earthbound and Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger?

 

[suppow]

So you're asking for top down rpgs, but don't want top down rpgs?

What's the dividing line between Earthbound and Final Fantasy or Chrono Trigger?

i guess to me it would be the same line that divides them from Pokemon, would you personally put them in same box as Pokemon?
to be honest, Pokemon never seemed to me as an RPG, it never even crossed my mind that it could be one.
and playing Earthbound/Mother had the same feeling as playing Pokemon, which FF or Chrono series didnt - TO ME
i guess ultimately what sets Mother/Earthbound appart, is - ironically - how earthbound it is.

but like i said, i'm asking for Similar Top-Down 'RPG's to: (see list above)
not just Top-Down RPGs altogether like maybe i had you misunderstand.
if that were the case i guess we'd just throw Diablo and Fallout in there =P

 

[suppow]

has anyone played For The Frog The Bell Tolls on the gameboy?

also, anyone played Home for the NES?

 

[TripleSMoon]

i guess to me it would be the same line that divides them from Pokemon, would you personally put them in same box as Pokemon?
to be honest, Pokemon never seemed to me as an RPG, it never even crossed my mind that it could be one.
and playing Earthbound/Mother had the same feeling as playing Pokemon, which FF or Chrono series didnt - TO ME
i guess ultimately what sets Mother/Earthbound appart, is - ironically - how earthbound it is.

but like i said, i'm asking for Similar Top-Down 'RPG's to: (see list above)
not just Top-Down RPGs altogether like maybe i had you misunderstand.
if that were the case i guess we'd just throw Diablo and Fallout in there =P

In your opinion, what part of Pokemon DOESN'T fulfill the typical aspects of an RPG? top-down movement, random encounters, a separate battle screen, turn-based combat, multiple characters that can join your party, level up, get stronger, learn different abilities, and be switched out for different advantages. And don't even get me started on all the different items and powerups that are basically the equivalent of what you would find in a typical fantasy RPG, just with less of a fantasy aspect. How is it NOT an RPG?

 

[Psionic Roshambo]

Only one thing to add to this thread.

If you have not played it, you MUST play Planescape Torment for the PC. A fantastic RPG if ever there was one.

 

[leic7]

We might have similar tastes, since I also like Zelda and Survival Kids, and dislike Dragon Quest and Chrono Cross. I also liked:
Hanjuku Hero
Animal Crossing
Metal Saga

Are there any other games you've played and enjoyed that you could recommend? I'd like to take recommendations from someone who has a similar taste, if we do have similar tastes.

Hanjuku Hero for which system?

I think it's Famicom, but there's more than one Hanjuku Hero game.

-_- Yes, that was my point, asking which system you played it or.

lol I've played the Famicom version in Virtual Console.

 

[gamefan5]

i guess to me it would be the same line that divides them from Pokemon, would you personally put them in same box as Pokemon?
to be honest, Pokemon never seemed to me as an RPG, it never even crossed my mind that it could be one.
and playing Earthbound/Mother had the same feeling as playing Pokemon, which FF or Chrono series didnt - TO ME
i guess ultimately what sets Mother/Earthbound appart, is - ironically - how earthbound it is.

but like i said, i'm asking for Similar Top-Down 'RPG's to: (see list above)
not just Top-Down RPGs altogether like maybe i had you misunderstand.
if that were the case i guess we'd just throw Diablo and Fallout in there =P

In your opinion, what part of Pokemon DOESN'T fulfill the typical aspects of an RPG? top-down movement, random encounters, a separate battle screen, turn-based combat, multiple characters that can join your party, level up, get stronger, learn different abilities, and be switched out for different advantages. And don't even get me started on all the different items and powerups that are basically the equivalent of what you would find in a typical fantasy RPG, just with less of a fantasy aspect. How is it NOT an RPG?

Don't forget collectibles. Which are essential in lots of RPG games. XD Pokémon fits the criteria of being an RPG game. Same for the Mother series,
I saw animal crossing on the list and while it is top down. It is not an RPG.

Zelda though, is debatable due to so many RPG elements to be present in it, but it is considered an action/adventure game.

But I see, the OP says that he's asking for games that has a top down feel but is not quite an RPG...
All I know is Zelda series to be honest...

 

[suppow]

i guess to me it would be the same line that divides them from Pokemon, would you personally put them in same box as Pokemon?
to be honest, Pokemon never seemed to me as an RPG, it never even crossed my mind that it could be one.
and playing Earthbound/Mother had the same feeling as playing Pokemon, which FF or Chrono series didnt - TO ME
i guess ultimately what sets Mother/Earthbound appart, is - ironically - how earthbound it is.

but like i said, i'm asking for Similar Top-Down 'RPG's to: (see list above)
not just Top-Down RPGs altogether like maybe i had you misunderstand.
if that were the case i guess we'd just throw Diablo and Fallout in there =P

In your opinion, what part of Pokemon DOESN'T fulfill the typical aspects of an RPG? top-down movement, random encounters, a separate battle screen, turn-based combat, multiple characters that can join your party, level up, get stronger, learn different abilities, and be switched out for different advantages. And don't even get me started on all the different items and powerups that are basically the equivalent of what you would find in a typical fantasy RPG, just with less of a fantasy aspect. How is it NOT an RPG?

note that i never said that Pokemon doesnt 'fulfull the typical aspects of an RPG' - (though i actually wouldnt consider most of those aspects you named as THE main aspects of an RPG, some, not all. but that's besides the point) -
what i said is that it never seemed like an RPG to me, of course i realize it completely qualifies as one, and there's no reason to argue against that.
and what i did say is that it never felt like a (traditional) (J)RPG to me, i guess it kinda felt like something of it's own, but i guess that to me, it shares the same feeling as Mother/Earthbound - which also fully qualifies as a 'traditional' RPG. but again, to me, it doesnt feel at all like say Final Fantasy for example.

Don't forget collectibles. Which are essential in lots of RPG games. XD Pokémon fits the criteria of being an RPG game. Same for the Mother series,
I saw animal crossing on the list and while it is top down. It is not an RPG.

Zelda though, is debatable due to so many RPG elements to be present in it, but it is considered an action/adventure game.

But I see, the OP says that he's asking for games that has a top down feel but is not quite an RPG...
All I know is Zelda series to be honest...

i'm not sure if i'm thinking of the same concept of collectibles as you are referring to, but i love their mechanic in item-centric games such as Zelda (and even Metroid for that matter)
i wouldnt really consider Zelda an RPG, but since that's what most people refer to it as, for lack of a better term.
so note i only said 'RPG' and with '' what' they're referred to as,
but i stressed the fact that while i do consider Final Fantasy, Chrono series, etc as RPGs, those are NOT the games i'm looking for in this thread.
so the argument wouldnt be against me i think, but rather against those using that terminology. i'm just trying to express a difference in game types.

also, i asked for Top-Down, simply because those are the kind of games i'm looking for in this thread, mainly in the gameboy kind of style.
but that doesnt mean that i think that aspect makes games exclusive to this genre, for example, Darksiders is 3rd person but beyond that i guess it would fit this category, alas not the kind of game i'm looking for.
there was something else i was going to ask, but by now i forgot already ^^;




edit: removed some bulk quoting

 

[gamefan5]

i'm not sure if i'm thinking of the same concept of collectibles as you are referring to, but i love their mechanic in item-centric games such as Zelda (and even Metroid for that matter)
i wouldnt really consider Zelda an RPG, but since that's what most people refer to it as, for lack of a better term.
so note i only said 'RPG' and with '' what' they're referred to as,
but i stressed the fact that while i do consider Final Fantasy, Chrono series, etc as RPGs, those are NOT the games i'm looking for in this thread.
so the argument wouldnt be against me i think, but rather against those using that terminology. i'm just trying to express a difference in game types.

also, i asked for Top-Down, simply because those are the kind of games i'm looking for in this thread, mainly in the gameboy kind of style.
but that doesnt mean that i think that aspect makes games exclusive to this genre, for example, Darksiders is 3rd person but beyond that i guess it would fit this category, alas not the kind of game i'm looking for.
there was something else i was going to ask, but by now i forgot already ^^;




edit: removed some bulk quoting

Trust me I don't consider zelda to be an ROG. In fact, far from it.
I know what you're looking for, trust me I do. But so far, Zelda is the closest top down game but not RPG that comes in my mind. DX

 

[TripleSMoon]

note that i never said that Pokemon doesnt 'fulfull the typical aspects of an RPG' - (though i actually wouldnt consider most of those aspects you named as THE main aspects of an RPG, some, not all. but that's besides the point) -
what i said is that it never seemed like an RPG to me, of course i realize it completely qualifies as one, and there's no reason to argue against that.
and what i did say is that it never felt like a (traditional) (J)RPG to me, i guess it kinda felt like something of it's own, but i guess that to me, it shares the same feeling as Mother/Earthbound - which also fully qualifies as a 'traditional' RPG. but again, to me, it doesnt feel at all like say Final Fantasy for example.

I don't particularly agree, but I understand what you mean.

I think what set Pokemon apart from other RPGs (at least initially, I can't speak much for more recent titles since I haven't seriously played a pokemon game since red/blue/yellow) is that it was the perfect "mainstream friendly" pick-up-and-play RPG. It was extremely friendly to tons of kids who had never played a real RPG before (like me, for example), and the ability to save anywhere you wanted (outside of battles and certain special events) made it perfect for portable play. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't know of any handheld RPG that was ever anywhere NEAR as extensive as Pokemon on the Game Boy, before Pokemon came out.

Anyway, if you're looking for "zelda-like" top-down games, try Sword of Mana for the GBA (and other related games in the series). It's a tad more complex than Zelda, and there's a few more RPG elements, but it's a top-down action-adventure title like Zelda at its heart. I didn't get that far when I played it, but it was pretty fun.

 

[gamefan5]

note that i never said that Pokemon doesnt 'fulfull the typical aspects of an RPG' - (though i actually wouldnt consider most of those aspects you named as THE main aspects of an RPG, some, not all. but that's besides the point) -
what i said is that it never seemed like an RPG to me, of course i realize it completely qualifies as one, and there's no reason to argue against that.
and what i did say is that it never felt like a (traditional) (J)RPG to me, i guess it kinda felt like something of it's own, but i guess that to me, it shares the same feeling as Mother/Earthbound - which also fully qualifies as a 'traditional' RPG. but again, to me, it doesnt feel at all like say Final Fantasy for example.

I don't particularly agree, but I understand what you mean.

I think what set Pokemon apart from other RPGs (at least initially, I can't speak much for more recent titles since I haven't seriously played a pokemon game since red/blue/yellow) is that it was the perfect "mainstream friendly" pick-up-and-play RPG. It was extremely friendly to tons of kids who had never played a real RPG before (like me, for example), and the ability to save anywhere you wanted (outside of battles and certain special events) made it perfect for portable play. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't know of any handheld RPG that was ever anywhere NEAR as extensive as Pokemon on the Game Boy, before Pokemon came out.

Anyway, if you're looking for "zelda-like" top-down games, try Sword of Mana for the GBA (and other related games in the series). It's a tad more complex than Zelda, and there's a few more RPG elements, but it's a top-down action-adventure title like Zelda at its heart. I didn't get that far when I played it, but it was pretty fun.

Tbh, I get what he's saying, and I'm pretty sure lots of GBAtempers will agree with me. Pokemon may be an RPG (in the technical sense), but I'll be honest with you.
When RPG games comes to mind, I'm pretty sure most gamers will not say pokemon first. I know I won't.

While he can't say exactly why, there's something that makes pokemon games set apart from the other RPG games.

 

[Guild McCommunist]

Tbh, I get what he's saying, and I'm pretty sure lots of GBAtempers will agree with me. Pokemon may be an RPG (in the technical sense), but I'll be honest with you.
When RPG games comes to mind, I'm pretty sure most gamers will not say pokemon first. I know I won't.

While he can't say exactly why, there's something that makes pokemon set apart from the other RPG games.

Pokemon is just a RPG that breaks with RPG conventions and is actually a really genius series for doing that. RPGs were (and still are, to an extent) known for epic stories, in-depth characters, long battles, and mediocre battle systems. In making Pokemon, they realized that all this shit is an awful formula for a handheld. Whipping out your Gameboy and sitting through a long scene of dialogue is just a mess for portable play. So they cut the narrative down to be barebones. Instead of the game being story driven, the story is game driven. It's only a vehicle for getting you from point A to point B. You don't take anything away with it, you don't care about the characters, your focus is on the game, not the story. That brings us to the next point, long battles and mediocre battle systems. That also was cut. Battles in Pokemon can be over in seconds. You use a super effective attack, take down their health in one hit, and you're done. Even your boss fights are maybe like 5 minutes at most. There's even an option to cut out the battle animations to make the game go insanely fast. All this debunking of RPG norms formed an entirely unique experience for handhelds and honestly is why it has transitioned poorly to consoles.

If you want to look deeper into the series though, the franchise also ditches character relationships. You develop a relationship with your Pokemon but they're still entirely disposable. You may fetch all 8 badges with the Pidgey to Pidgeotto to Pidgeot you caught in the beginning of the game but you'll probably dump it for the Ho-oh or Lugia you fetched before the Elite Four. In a good RPG, if you spend 20 hours with a character, you grow attached to them. You feel bad if they die and sad if they leave your party. For Pokemon, a key mechanic of the game is throwing that concept away.

So yeah, Pokemon is one of the most genius RPGs. It gets a lot of (deserved) flak these days for being samey but when in its early days, it was in a league all of its own.

 

[suppow]

Pokemon is just a RPG that breaks with RPG conventions and is actually a really genius series for doing that. RPGs were (and still are, to an extent) known for epic stories, in-depth characters, long battles, and mediocre battle systems. In making Pokemon, they realized that all this shit is an awful formula for a handheld. Whipping out your Gameboy and sitting through a long scene of dialogue is just a mess for portable play. So they cut the narrative down to be barebones. Instead of the game being story driven, the story is game driven. It's only a vehicle for getting you from point A to point B. You don't take anything away with it, you don't care about the characters, your focus is on the game, not the story. That brings us to the next point, long battles and mediocre battle systems. That also was cut. Battles in Pokemon can be over in seconds. You use a super effective attack, take down their health in one hit, and you're done. Even your boss fights are maybe like 5 minutes at most. There's even an option to cut out the battle animations to make the game go insanely fast. All this debunking of RPG norms formed an entirely unique experience for handhelds and honestly is why it has transitioned poorly to consoles.

If you want to look deeper into the series though, the franchise also ditches character relationships. You develop a relationship with your Pokemon but they're still entirely disposable. You may fetch all 8 badges with the Pidgey to Pidgeotto to Pidgeot you caught in the beginning of the game but you'll probably dump it for the Ho-oh or Lugia you fetched before the Elite Four. In a good RPG, if you spend 20 hours with a character, you grow attached to them. You feel bad if they die and sad if they leave your party. For Pokemon, a key mechanic of the game is throwing that concept away.

So yeah, Pokemon is one of the most genius RPGs. It gets a lot of (deserved) flak these days for being samey but when in its early days, it was in a league all of its own.

yes! it is geniously condensed, and focused mainly on gameplay itself, ditching those cheesy dialogues - has anyone seen the dialogues in advanced wars for example? ohgawd -
one of the things that bothered me in traditional jRPGs was the dialog.

i love how ingeniously Pokemon always kept the basic gameplay, so you can just up any of the games in the series and still play them, instead they just focused on polishing the edges over time.

 

[gamefan5]

Tbh, I get what he's saying, and I'm pretty sure lots of GBAtempers will agree with me. Pokemon may be an RPG (in the technical sense), but I'll be honest with you.
When RPG games comes to mind, I'm pretty sure most gamers will not say pokemon first. I know I won't.

While he can't say exactly why, there's something that makes pokemon set apart from the other RPG games.

Pokemon is just a RPG that breaks with RPG conventions and is actually a really genius series for doing that. RPGs were (and still are, to an extent) known for epic stories, in-depth characters, long battles, and mediocre battle systems. In making Pokemon, they realized that all this shit is an awful formula for a handheld. Whipping out your Gameboy and sitting through a long scene of dialogue is just a mess for portable play. So they cut the narrative down to be barebones. Instead of the game being story driven, the story is game driven. It's only a vehicle for getting you from point A to point B. You don't take anything away with it, you don't care about the characters, your focus is on the game, not the story. That brings us to the next point, long battles and mediocre battle systems. That also was cut. Battles in Pokemon can be over in seconds. You use a super effective attack, take down their health in one hit, and you're done. Even your boss fights are maybe like 5 minutes at most. There's even an option to cut out the battle animations to make the game go insanely fast. All this debunking of RPG norms formed an entirely unique experience for handhelds and honestly is why it has transitioned poorly to consoles.

If you want to look deeper into the series though, the franchise also ditches character relationships. You develop a relationship with your Pokemon but they're still entirely disposable. You may fetch all 8 badges with the Pidgey to Pidgeotto to Pidgeot you caught in the beginning of the game but you'll probably dump it for the Ho-oh or Lugia you fetched before the Elite Four. In a good RPG, if you spend 20 hours with a character, you grow attached to them. You feel bad if they die and sad if they leave your party. For Pokemon, a key mechanic of the game is throwing that concept away.

So yeah, Pokemon is one of the most genius RPGs. It gets a lot of (deserved) flak these days for being samey but when in its early days, it was in a league all of its own.

Yeah, it's kinda why I said it sets apart from the other RPG's. And you've just explained it in a way that I could not. So thx a lot. XD

 

[suppow]

Anyway, if you're looking for "zelda-like" top-down games, try Sword of Mana for the GBA (and other related games in the series). It's a tad more complex than Zelda, and there's a few more RPG elements, but it's a top-down action-adventure title like Zelda at its heart. I didn't get that far when I played it, but it was pretty fun.

A couple of games I enjoyed:
Alundra (PS1)
Breath of Fire 2 (SNES),3 (PS1)
Chronicles of Radia War on NES (u'll need to play it via rom if u wanna play it translated, it's sorta like zelda 1 but with random encounters, level ups n stuff )
Chrono Trigger (SNES)
Chrono Cross (PS1 emu)
Crusader No Centy (Mega Drive/Genesis)
Final Fantasy 6 (SNES),7 (PC)
Secret of Mana (SNES), Secret of Mana 2 (Seiken Densetsu 3) (SNES)
Soul Blazer (SNES)
Star Tropics (NES)
Tales of Destiny (PS1) and maybe rest of Tales games (different consoles)..
Terranigma (SNES)
Ys 6 and forward (PC / PSP)


But I suggest u start with:
Secret of Mana
It's my all time favourite Action RPG even tho the spell system is sorta lame. Best thing about it is that you can play it with not one, but TWO friends if you'd like to.

Next you should play:
Final Fantasy 6
It's my all time favourite Classic (J)RPG with lots of charming characters, neat gameplay elements, a cool story and great music!

when it comes to Mana i think the whole series applies, even FF Adventures

Only one thing to add to this thread.

If you have not played it, you MUST play Planescape Torment for the PC. A fantastic RPG if ever there was one.

never heard of it, i'll have to check it out!

Trust me I don't consider zelda to be an ROG. In fact, far from it.
I know what you're looking for, trust me I do. But so far, Zelda is the closest top down game but not RPG that comes in my mind. DX

too bad =/

 

[suppow]

i should add to the first list, that i actually liked the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games

 

[Elrinth]

I don't see much difference between Final Fantasy Legends and Pokémon besides Pokémon being released at a much later date.
I never got into Pokémon because I wasn't playing Gameboy any more when it came out in europe (May 10, 1999). I had my PC with Diablos, Warcrafts, Quake, Blood, Duke3d, Doom 2, etc. The N64, and still also some SNES.
My handheld gaming sparked again when Game Boy Advance was released @ June 22, 2001.
Pokémon had already set it's kiddy image and I was no longer a kid. Therefore I never picked it up. I have tried to but never really got into it.

Anyways on topic. Go for the Action RPGs. They're great fun!
There's another one for PC which might need some trickery to get to work on todays computers called Silver. I really like that game aswell.