Looking for Obscure RPGs

[shadowcat]

NES to PS2 era preferred, but would be willing to try newer games if they pique my interest enough. Both traditional turn-based RPGs and strategy RPGS (a la Shining Force, Fire Emblem, etc) are welcome. Bonus points for any game with gripping, well written characters, as the character writing is usually my favorite thing about RPG games. Extra bonus points for an anime art style. I am always looking for a new RPG to play, and any recommendations are appreciated!

Some of my favorites (to give you an example of the things I've enjoyed)

• Shadow Hearts
• Growlanser
• Shining Force
• Grandia
• Langrisser
• Lunar
• Operation Darkness
• Dragon Quest (especially 4)
• Tales of Symphonia

Thank you in advance!

 

[Lee__Kanker]

Aah, you've already played shadow hearts, Great! But what about Koudelka?

 

[shadowcat]

Aah, you've already played shadow hearts, Great! But what about Koudelka?

Yes, I love Koudelka! It's actually my favorite PS1 game, any genre.

 

[Tonberry]

This game ROCKS

Someone on here recommended it to me earlier this year and it’s so fucking good.

 

[Bakuma1997]

Ganbare Goemon Gaiden 1 and 2, especially the second one, They are bogstandar but fun RPGs that capture the goofyness of the series, worth a pop if you can take their relic of the genre's era gameplay

If you want something far less usual, give Wizard of Oz: Beyond the yellow brick road a go, for a licensed game of a book, i've been as hooked to it as i've been to Chrono Trigger DS

 

[shadowcat]

This game ROCKS
View attachment 126820

Someone on here recommended it to me earlier this year and it’s so fucking good.

I looked at some screenshots of this one, it looks like something I would enjoy. It looks like it has a darker atmosphere to it from the look of it. I'll have to check the repo for this one soon, thank you.

 

[Tonberry]

It looks like it has a darker atmosphere to it from the look of it.

It definitely does, and it’s got that excellent PS2-era Atlus localization with a lot of crass dialogue and black humor which makes it super immersive and kind of nightmarish.

 

[shadowcat]

Ganbare Goemon Gaiden 1 and 2, especially the second one, They are bogstandar but fun RPGs that capture the goofyness of the series, worth a pop if you can take their relic of the genre's era gameplay

If you want something far less usual, give Wizard of Oz: Beyond the yellow brick road a go, for a licensed game of a book, i've been as hooked to it as i've been to Chrono Trigger DS

The Wizard of Oz one looks like fun from what I am seeing, it seems like an off-the-wall, far from the norm kind of game I would enjoy. I've heard of Goemon but never tried them. I don't mind older mechanics at all, I have a few more to check out now. Thank you

 

[Anoobis]

Thousand Arms
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
Earthbound, not obscure, but I didn't see it on your list

 

[shadowcat]

Thousand Arms
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
Earthbound, not obscure, but I didn't see it on your list

I know Earthbound. I played years ago and had fun with it. Rhapsody has been on my "want to play" list forever, just never gotten around to it, but I feel like I'd really like it since I am a huge magical girl anime/manga fan. As for Thousand Arms, that one is new to me. From looking at the screenshots, I love the art style, it has a very 90's manga look to it.

 

[Bonkers225]

MS Saga: A New Dawn
Radiata Stories
Legend of Legaia

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

It’s an action rpg which is what we can call as a Diablo clone.

 

[moonbits]

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (English Patched) PSX ISO – CDRomance

Ultima Underworld: The Stygian Abyss (English Patched) PSX ISO Game ID: SLPS-00742. Languages: English Patched, Japanese. For Sony PlayStation.

cdromance.org

 

[Bandini]

snes:
alcahest
the 7th saga
aretha I & II
hero chronicle
dark half
energy breaker
tengai makyou-far east of eden
mystic ark
xak
princess minerva
hourai high
lennus II
chaos seed
smt last bible

 

[Rocket2049]

• Tales of Symphonia

if you actually enjoyed symphonia and weren't annoyed by it, then you'd absolutely LOVE every single other tales games, especially any of them after, huge improvements on the game, combat, AI (ESPECIALLY AI, symphonia has one of the worst AI i've seen in a game period)
even SNES phantasia, and PS1 eternia are better games. Eternia is actually one of my favorite tales game.

anyways, there's a LOT of JRPGs i can name off, but i'll name some that were actually "Fun" for me:
Bahamut lagoon, it's a SRPG with dragons, they can change form and such depending how you feed them, they can do things like freeze water and break open paths, its pretty unique in some points.

Seiken Densetsu 3 (or as it's remake is called, Trails of Mana)
basically the game after secret of mana, it features 6 different main characters (you pick 3, the main choice is the one the story follows, there's 3 different final bosses based on that)
i believe it was 3 player co-op on SNES.
the Remake, while also very fun, is MUCH different of a game, easier, faster, and nothing like SNES mana games at all.

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Summon night swordcraft story (there is 3 games on GBA)
basically a simple and fun RPG game, combat is like side scroller but you weapon switching and using your summon for magic.