Andromeda's Top 10 JRPGs Played in 2014

[Andromeda]

I have to make the qualifier of these being games that I played in 2014, since two of the games I played were out in 2013. So it is not a best of 2014 games, but best of the games I played. As I also mentioned, I will be reviewing the ones that I completed as well. So, you can expect to see new reviews up over the course of the 10 days as I go through the list. Each day I'll post a new game and talk about what I placed it where I did. It was not an easy thing to do, since I don't normally think about rating games. I just like playing games and if I have fun that's all that really matters. But I usually do have a game I had the most fun with.

So the way I'm going to rate these is not going to based on the scores I give them, since naturally some won't have scores. This is going to be based heavily one factor, fun factor and then the rest of the package second. For me, a game needs to be fun first before anything else. Sure it can have a great story and characters and I will often rate those highly, but if the game is a blast to play, but the story is a little meh, I'll rate it higher than something that has a really great story, but was a chore to play.

Which is why it was not easy to make the list, because I generally found all the games to be fairly enjoyable and fun to play, but there were definitely ones less fun than others. And so like any good list, I start at the bottom.

As an honorable mention, Ys: Memories of Celceta did not make the cut. It was a very average game on most fronts. While enjoyable and never really annoying to play the story wasn't groundbreaking or really even highly entertaining, it was good and I liked it, but did nothing to really stand itself out of the group. Because the group of RPGs I played were really insanely fun to play or just nuts story wise or just play did something I did not see coming. So it was actually pretty stiff competition and it just fell out for being too safe and ordinary. Remember I gave it a 0 for quirkiness or uniqueness, it had nothing to offer.

Starting at #10 is one I haven't finished yet, but it's just so silly and entertaining that I knew I had to pick it up. It is Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry King. By the name alone, you know you're getting yourself into something different. Sorcery Saga is a PS Vita game that is a rogue-like RPG. Randomly generated dungeons and loot, the always running out resources to force you back to town or just to struggle a little more in hopes of getting something better. It is a grind, but a pretty fun one. However, it was the story setting and characters that really sold me on the game and entertain me. It is a light-heart romp, one that I'm more in the mood for these days. The main character is in search of the legendary curry recipe that will save her favorite curry restaurant from being shut down and bought out by a questionably evil businessman that has a popular, but very generic menu. Any of the villains you face are more like team rocket than real villain, but there does seem to be one that might actually be competent going after you for different reasons than trying to get the curry recipe first.

It's entertaining and great portable fun, which is why it made it on the only slightly exclusive list of 10 RPGs I played this year. I haven't finished it, so when I do I'll put a review up for it. However, enjoy the Dark Cloud retro-review in the mean time!

#1: Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
#2: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep HD ReMIX
#3: Ar nosurge
#4: Atelier Escha and Logy: Alchemist of the Dusk Sky
#5: Dark Souls II
#6: Drakengard 3
#7: Fairy Fencer F
#8: Tales of Xillia 2
#9: Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars
#10: Sorcery Saga: Curse of the Great Curry King
Honorable Mention: Ys: Memories of Celceata

[Andromeda]

Next up at #9, we have Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars, this is another game that I haven't finished. I am thankfully halfway through it though, so it is a little easier to evaluate it. In some ways, I wanted to put this game higher on the list, but as I said this was a really good year for me and fun or whacky titles. And out of most of the games I played this year, Conception II is one of the more bonkers ideas that actually surprised me that it was allowed to be released in the US.

I have an ongoing gag at work with my co-workers, namely one, on rating the weirdest games that are out there. I've fully admitted that my weirdness scale is completely broken, since even a game like Conception II isn't weird to me. I understand that to others it's likely to be weird, but with all of the stuff I've played, read or seen, my ability to unbiasedly evaluate what's weird and how much for other people really isn't to be used. Because I'm not turned off by the concept of Conception II, I find it hilarious and awesome that they came up with something so silly. And even more awesome that they released it here. Which meant I had to buy it to support their boldness.

Conception II's gameplay/story crux is that you're playing the chosen one. You have all of this amazing power inside you. However, you're not really the best out there, there are others in the school you're attending that are better, you aren't ranked in the top, though you are close. Anyway, you have something special anyway in your power. And the school wants you to use that special power to fight the evil monsters that are threatening the world. But it's not just yourself, you have to have a party, it is an RPG after all. So what you're instructed to do is get together with the other top ranked girls in the school and create star children, which you use build out your party. Yes, you make babies and send them into dungeons to fight along side you in battle. And after you're all done with them for combat you retire them to work in improving the school, child labor laws huh?

So yeah, it's a pretty silly and definitely one of the more sketchy things you can have in a game, especially considering it's all high school students. It's not real sex, it's all magic, but still it's pretty close to without actually going through with it. And because it's not enough just to do that, you can do it with two girls at the same time once you're relationship is high enough, they call it tri-mating, not very subtle.

Combat is a little more complex than standard turn based affair you're used to and a silly concept make this game a very entertaining play. And yet it still only hits at #9. And I was trying to pick between Conception and Curry King, because both games weren't tons of fun in the gameplay part, but their concepts were entertaining enough to keep me coming back. And Conception being the whackier of the two ended up putting it on top.

[Andromeda]

And now we come to#8, which I honestly thought was going to be a different game. The funny thing about this is that when I originally started trying to figure this out I had the game up higher on the list. But like I said, I value fun over great story and while it came in both, there are just other games that were even more of a blast to play or just too crazy of a story not to put higher. Weird know, because I love this game, I bought the Collector's Edition of it even. But it wasn't nearly as much fun as others as much as it pains me to say.

#8 goes to Tales of Xillia 2, in a list of games that were all fun and hard to rate, this was one of the painful ones to see drop further on the list. I just had to think about how much joy I had with the games. And one of the things that sort of hurt Xillia 2 was that it was often too grindy. I love the combat, I love the story, I love the characters, I love the game. But it was just too grindy at times. They open a massive amount of content to on several occasions and are like go ignore the story and do all of this if you're a completionist. It was just really bad paced at times on content dump. And it rehashed far more content than I felt they should have. If I had played Tales of Xillia rather than 2 this year, it would have ranked higher due to originality alone. But grind and rehashed content really hurt Xillia 2 against the other games out there.

It is still an amazing game and I had a blast playing and I totally suggest everyone to try out. This year just had stiff competition. If you want to read the full review you can go and find it here.

[Odin1199]

What place is Bravely Default at? I'm still on the fence about trying it.

[Andromeda]

This is a list of games I've played, not a list of games from 2014. I don't own a 3DS so I never had a chance to play Bravely Default as much as I would like to do so. All of these games are Playstation platform.

[Odin1199]

Ah, I see. I thought you played it.

[Andromeda]

Yeah, it's one of the games I would love to play, but they put it on a platform I don't have. So it is something I missed out on.

Year End Review for Games If you go there, you can see the games that I played this year. And that'll be ranking. It's sadly a shorter list than I would like, but part of it is just to actually make me write the reviews for the ones I completed. And give people something to talk about for obscure games. I play a lot of less known games, so it helps to get their name around.

[Andromeda]

In a move that will probably surprise some, #7 actually goes to a Compile Hearts game. I actually stacked it over Tales of Xillia 2, which the Tales series continues to be a personal favorite. But when I was going to between the games as I said Xillia 2 started up high. And I knew I was going to place this game on the list probably lower on the list. Compile Hearts games are fun and entertaining, but the gameplay is generally pretty flat overall. So it's just presentation really. But there was a lot that actually surprised me about Fairy Fencer F when I played it.

I went in wondering how much Amano was actually in the game, which I'm pretty sure amounted to very little other than advertising. But I found a game that had Compile Hearts standard brand of humor, mixed with a very solid and interesting RPG along with some switch ups and some bait and switches with characters that made for a very enjoyable experience. Combat was dry like other games from them, but I could see they were doing a lot more with this game. There was more depth and control and new ideas that I really liked. There was a lot to actually find in the game that I didn't expect. So while I knew I was going to enjoy this game, I didn't know I was going to enjoy it so much.

This is going to be one of those weird cases where Xillia 2 was mostly old and familiar, very little overall was new. It had good stuff and it was fun, but Fairy Fencer F did more to be original. And so even though it was a little flat combat-wise, the fact that they were bring new and interesting ideas forward with some really unexpected characters made this actually beat out Xillia 2. It was a hard decision to make.

I'd say it was the surprise game I played in 2014, but that game is actually higher up on the list. Though this is the surprise game that I didn't know I was going to like as much as I did. It's really good and worth checking out.

[Andromeda]

And now they're at the last of the bottom half of the list, #6. This one makes more sense probably for it's placement, though it still not a perfectly put together game. Drakengard 3 is a whacky, adult, nuts, insane game that you just sort of have to play to believe. Powered up with a berserker mode from the blood of your enemies, playing the villain murdering your own sisters and stealing their men to make them subservient slaves, maybe sex slaves depends how you want to read into it not all of them are really against being taken. It's just a strange game on all accounts, about the only normal thing is the RPG part of it.

It plays like a normal action RPG, nothing fancy. But the story and characters make the game so fascinating. This is definitely one of those cases were story ends up trumping fun. But it was still a fun game, just not fun because it played fun. It was fun, because I was waiting to see what nutso thing they were going to throw into the story next. There is even a bit of self-awareness in the plot as you go deeper. It is just one of those off beat games that have to be played and that is why it got #6.

[Andromeda]

Starting out the top 5 games, Dark Souls II comes in at #5. Now this is a game that could have been higher. When Dark Souls came out and we were in the office talking about our Game of the Years, I said Dark Souls was mine. It was a blast to play and I got immensely sucked into the game. I put 90 hours into and even accidentally started a new game plus, I was so hook. Dark Souls II hit pretty much the same itches that the original did.

Dark Souls II kept up with the same dark and unforgiving world. It was a blast to play and I have dumped 15 hours or so hours in to the game so far. But as you'll note there's no review for it. I haven't gone back to finishing it. It was mostly a case of bad timing. It came out among a lot of games I wanted to play and it lost out to others. Dark Souls II was just more Dark Souls. I knew what I was getting and I had 90 hours of it already. While new games with stories and different takes had some come out. So I played them instead rather than Dark Souls II.

One thing I found myself doing more in this game than the original was co-op. I did a lot of co-op and leveling. No clue why, I just did. I did it a lot in Demon's Souls as well. It was one of my favorite things to do, not to mention get you through bosses. However, now I want to go back to it, but I'm worried what sort of low level community still exists to do co-op in the game. I still will play it.

Now the reason why it is actually only #5 rather than higher. Because I had a blast with the game, it's a lot of fun. But there is one thing that I both liked and disliked about the game and it was actually really important. You can kill all the enemies in an area enough times to prevent them from respawning. I don't like that, they takes the teeth away from Dark Souls. Enemies are supposed to be there all the time, always a threat and always a consider. Yes, it nerfs the grind a bit because you can't farm souls. But there are items to return them one step tougher. A system that I do like and approve of. But the fact that they went and did it in the first place. You can't take the teeth away from Dark Souls, it stops being Dark Souls if you do. And that is why it is only#5. I still love the game and it is total blast to play, but one design decision that really its at the core of the game experience and model really rubbed against me. It is why it lost out to others.

[Andromeda]

Another probably odd one up high on the list, it is probably a little bias of me, but the list is built off what I had the most fun with. So it's naturally going to skewed to games that I have fun with regardless it is reviewed well or not. Coming in at #4 is Atelier Escha and Logy, it's a bit of a guilty pleasure at times, but it always it fun. Atelier Escha and Logy though was something a little more special, other games would have rated lower if I picked from the Atelier series on the PS3.

There is one main reason what Atelier Escha is so far up on the list, because it is a game returned to form. If you ready my review you note that I talk about the combat and how it is similar to the Mana Khemia 2 combat. The Atelier series, which does include the Mana Khemia series, I felt hit the peak of its combat in Mana Khemia 2. It was a great blend of turn based with reactive and strategy moments. Atelier Escha brought nearly all of that back. There was one thing that I missed and it's more a character ability than anything, but I felt that it was an important inclusion to the combat. Regardless. Escha combat is the best the Atelier series has ever been on the PS3, nothing they've done is better than Escha.

It does disappoint me that the Alchemy systems have taken more of a hit over the years making them simpler, but their complexity remains nearly as deep. And in a way the way the alchemy system is now it is actually a little more fun and accessible. The systems all work well together that really give it a lot of flexibility. I will always have fun pushing and pulling a recipe just to make that perfect 120 quality item that is going to blow through the boss.

Plus Escha provided some actual challenge this time in bosses and combat, which are largely a joke. And the story provided a little more world focus than just standard slice of life. It still is very much slice of life, but you got to understand the world better this game. Making it the best over package for the Atelier since Totori. Emotionally, Totori probably still wins, but I do believe ignoring that the story in Escha is better and everything else is vastly better. So it is no doubt that Escha ransk high on the list for me.

[Andromeda]

The last three games were the hardest for me to pick between. Had this not been a year that an amazing Final Fantasy game came out along with Kingdom Hearts, this game would have easily been number one, it is just that great. Which is why it was hard. The last three games on my list I had nearly equal amounts of fun and entertainment and would easily go back and play more no questions asked. They are hands down the favorites of the year and some of the best games I've played. And this one especially, Ar nosurge.

What can I say about Ar nosurge that I haven't already in my 6 page review of it. Go playing it now! What are you doing reading this post, play it now!

But seriously, this is going to be JRPG that is going to be underrated and fly under everyone's radar. And those that hear about it will learn that it is related to Ar Tonelico and be put off by what Ar Tonelico is. Which I ask you why?! Ar Tonelico is amazing, Ar Tonelico 2 is one of the best JRPGs on the PS2 period! Anyway, Ar nosurge is a special game because it is a crossover and directly related to one of my favorite JRPG series that isn't from Square Enix.

However, the biggest thing about Ar nosurge that I love so much about it is what it did. It is something I can't spoil, because you need to experience it for yourself. But when it happened I actually stopped played and started talking to the game. I was asking the game are you doing this? Are you really doing what I think you're doing? Are we really going there? Because if we are going there, this is going to be awesome! It goes there and it is awesome! It was the biggest surprise of the year for me. Which is why I wanted to make it number one for that alone, but it does sadly have some flaws. Ignoring them though, it remains the biggest surprise for me and that I never saw coming. It was the great moment in gaming that I've ever had. It's weird to say that, but it was perfect. I loved what they did with it and how it is pulled into the story and the design of the game. Amazing, simply amazing.

Ar nosurge is the worthy successor to one of the finest and most underrate JRPGs, Ar Tonelico, specifically 2, but the series is great though it does have its ups and downs.

The one flaw with the game is that the translation was pretty bad. It's not unenjoyable, but it is pretty noticeable at times. But don't let that stop you from trying this game.

If there is one single ultira niche JRPG that you want to give a chance one, go in with an open mind, because Ar nosurge is the best the PS3 has to offer. There is literally no game like it that you've played.

So go buy it now!

Also if you want, PM me and I'll give you simple explanation on the what the surprise is. I will not fully explain it, but enough that should give you interested in trying it out.

[Odin1199]

Wow you guys are really that deep into jrpgs. What is it about them that's so appealing, if you were to summarize them in a few words. Artstyle, storyline, depth of gameplay, exaggerated forces of nature, character development?

[Andromeda]

For me it's the culture. Japanese culture is different from my own. So I find it exciting, different and interesting, where I'm bored of what is created off my culture. So I sought out something different. JRPGs scratch that desire.

[Odin1199]

I like Japanese culture too. Anime for one is pretty awesome. Games too. Nintendo, Square, all of the old games were awesome. Now they've gotten worse in general, but that's another big offtopic topic lol.

[Andromeda]

Now we're down to the last two games. As I said it was a rough pick, but when I played Kingdom Hearts 2 and saw Birth by Sleep at the end, I was waiting for the the next KH game. The lack of a PSP left me waiting a really long time to play this game. But it was worth the wait, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep made #2 by simply being not just the best Kingdom Hearts game I've played, but also being plain tons of fun. I didn't want to stop playing the game. There was still so much more left to complete as a completionist and I wanted it all. It was fun and like I said the biggest requirements for these games to rank high is being fun. I stayed up late playing through the game and grinding on skills. I never wanted it to end, but my sense of duty to other things thankfully stopped me.

Birth by Sleep is my new favorite Kingdom Hearts game. The best in the series, the best story, the best design and best characters. It has everything I want all in a fun and enjoyable package. I only hope that Kingdom Hearts 3 can live up to BBS, because I'll be very sad it is can't equal the sheer joy that BBS brought.

[Andromeda]

I've now arrived at the last game, which if you look at my list you already know what the game is. The #1 game, best game I played all year for 2014 is in fact Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. For those that have read my comments on the game it should not come as much of a surprise. While the Final Fantasy XIII series has done a lot of push away fans for the choices that they made, Lightning Returns did a lot to both try something different and still give you a great experience. For many though it was a little too late to make a difference for people.

However, for me I played through and platinum'd them all. And out of all the series Lightning Returns was sheer and simple fun. I've said before that I loved this game not because it was the necessary the best FF ever made or even my favorite. No, this is a great game because it is a fun game. And when I started this list I said fun factor was the most important. Hands down above all of the games I played this year no game was more fun, addicting, sucked me and left me wanting more than Lightning Returns. If I didn't have better things to do I'd have double platinum'd probably. It was simple a blast to play and when a game is a blast to play nothing else matters because at the end of the day a game should be fun before anything else. If it fails at being fun, then nothing else can fix that. And Lightning Returns was the most fun I've had playing any FF game since FFX-2, which I beat 5 times and I beat 3 times in a row without taking a break to do something else. Which is a mark for me on how great this game was.

Ignore the story if you have to, but Lightning Returns was an amazing game that deserves to be experienced. It is just too much fun to ignore. I can only hope that FFXV is even half as much fun as Lightning Returns because it seems only sequels seem to truly experiment and let the designers just make something wholly satisfying.

Now I linked the review that we did for the game back when it came out. So this is not my review, but the sites review. If you actually want a JRPG Review from me for Lightning Returns let me know. Otherwise, the one we've already done is available.

[Angantyr]

Interesting list, the only title I got last year was Tales of Xillia 2 which I haven't gotten around to just yet as I still need to finish Milla's story on the first one. I've been playing a lot of Tales lately though so I might take a break and play something else before I get back to it. I'll probably pick up Fairy Fencer F at some point, the combat system in the Neptunia games improved a lot since the original so it should be fun.

The 3DS is a good investment, I haven't got Bravely Default yet but I had to get TotA as it never got a PAL release plus its got EO and all the SMT games.

[Andromeda]

If I had all the money to spent and free time to play games I'd own a 3DS, but I have neither. So I have to pick where my money goes. I already don't have the time to play all the games I own, it would be terrible to buy even games I don't play. Otherwise I would do it very quickly. Fortunately, the PS3 and Vita have a ton of JRPGs already. So I'm never in short supply of games to play.

Speaking of Tales games, I need to get around to starting Tales of Hearts R.

[Rowan]

Speaking of Tales games, I need to get around to starting Tales of Hearts R.

finished this one a few weeks ago. Great game and a great RPG. I only managed to clear a few games during my holidays, but I managed to platinum Senran Kagura SV. Gonna try and platinum Bon Apetits now.

[Andromeda]

With my PS TV, it'll actually be a lot more reasonable for my to play my Vita games at home. I usually don't. So after my binge of FFXIV related stuff, I might try to pick it up. Playing Senran Kagura off and on, color me surprised that I'm enjoying the story. It's a fun and silly game, but the personal stories are actually quite interesting to follow. Still one of the most fan service-y games I own.

[Rowan]

With my PS TV, it'll actually be a lot more reasonable for my to play my Vita games at home. I usually don't. So after my binge of FFXIV related stuff, I might try to pick it up. Playing Senran Kagura off and on, color me surprised that I'm enjoying the story. It's a fun and silly game, but the personal stories are actually quite interesting to follow. Still one of the most fan service-y games I own.

I have platinumed 3 games, and senran kagura is one of them. That should tell you how much I liked it.. Ive been playing a LOT of ff14 lately. I got my weathered astrum armor ilvl 100 for my dragoon by farming tombstones in duty finder. Most of the time for the primal challenges tehres a new player which equates to an extra 50 - 60 tombstones on top of the 12 you get for defeating the boss. Not just primals, but the hydra and chimaera battles too. I farmed 1500 tombstones in 7 hours. Gonna try and do the main story now, i just defeated leviathan for the first time. I think i have Rumuh and then shiva. Im also trying to unlock crystal tower, but it takes ages for the fates to spawn. im in a pretty okay FC at the moment, but you know what? Id love to play with you guys. How many of TFF play in the same server/FC?(off topic as hell, but oh well)

[Andromeda]

Given the sort of game it markets as, you can't really question suspicions someone might have about the quality of the game. I bought it largely because I wanted to see what the talk was all about and judge for myself. Turns out it is really fun and entertaining game. If the story holds up for the other games in the series, I'll be picking up the new PS4 one that I expect X Seed to release as well.

Yeah, until 2.5 grinding soldiery was painful. Glad the new dungeons got a bump on their drops, disappointed the rest did not. Soldiery is the new myth, make it actually feel like that. But definitely work on the main story, it is really good and only getting more interesting where it is at now. As for the FC, I think the bulk of those that are TFF members play on Ultros and are part of our FC. Aerif and Loco are there including myself, Fuzz I haven't seen in ages though. But we also have a bunch of Loco's friends or work related people. We have a strong core of regulars though that play nearly every day. I forget what Kintrra's name on here is, but he's on a lot more these days. We're still trying to con Dawezy over. One of the newer TFF members Leon plays with us, but isn't in the FC. We have a LS and we usually add friendly people we meet there. So the LS always seems to have someone online when I pop on.

So there's Loco, Aerif, ZRO (Kintrra, I just checked), Leon (sort of since he's not in the FC, but in the LS), and we have a few that have made accounts on here, but I don't know how active they are. The problem is I have trouble sometimes forgetting that the group we have from FFXI isn't also TFF members all the time. So I think of a lot more names, like Ealk and Joulette. We have a group Loco played with back in FFXI, I played with some of them, but not all of them from back then. So the FC is part TFF and part TFF XI members. The rest of the core of our FC is what Loco has nicknamed the four-letter group, Nero, Aria, Neko and Kupo who all play and progress content together. They sort of have their own personal static, but they play with us a lot of and we've cleared nearly all of the 8 man content together, of the content that we've cleared. We somehow have like 80 members in the FC, though people like Che and Fuzz haven't been on in ages. Though in Che's case I think he just plays on another server and just has a second character on ours, but he never comes to hang out with us.

But you should totally come on over to hang out with us if nothing else. Make a second character over on Ultros and hang out. Plus you have to come to Loco and my wedding, whenever that happens. It's happening and you can't miss the marriage of TFF's two Admins!