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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2016 1:09:53 GMT -5
In this thread, I'd like to ask you guys:
What are some games you'd recommend to fans of this series? What all do you enjoy about the games, and what games have you played that you enjoy for similar reasons to Senran Kagura?
I'll start off with my 2 cents. The Tales series.
The amount of people who know both SK, and the Tales series of Action RPGs, honestly, is criminally low. My friend, Atelier Tohka, is one of the few people that comes to mind that actually has played both. Sure, Tales doesn't have the fanservice levels that Senran does, but...
I love the artstyle in both Senran, and in most Tales games. And both series have great soundtracks to boot.
We already know how interesting the characters in Senran Kagura are. Well, the Tales series has some really interesting characters and well-done storylines as well. Hell, before I got into this series, Guy Cecil from Tales of the Abyss was my favorite character. A lot of the characters deserve a lot of praise.
While the combat in both Tales and SK is vastly different, I have a lot of fun with both. They both have emphasis on Combos. Though Tales has more emphasis on managing resources and getting bosses into damaging combos with elemental weaknesses and the like, whereas Senran Kagura has more Crowd Control and Dodging involved (though Tales of Graces F has an emphasis on dodging, and lots of people love the combat in that game). But my point still stands: I personally have a lot of fun with the combat in both series, even if it's quite different.
I highly encourage fans of this series to at least give the Tales series a shot. But that's my personal thoughts.
So, what are some games that you would recommend to fans of Senran Kagura? I'd like to see what you guys think.
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Post by Mario200000 on Dec 30, 2016 8:43:29 GMT -5
I'm interested to see what others have to say about this as well, especially since I have money in my Steam wallet that I'm not totally sure what I wanna spend it on.
Going off of what you said, the Tales series has been one that I've wanted to get into but just never really have for some reason in the sense that I've never finished one. I've played about half (I think?) of Xillia & a little bit of Zesteria, & I own Xillia 2 & Symphonia & have yet to play them. I think my main gripe was that the combat felt a bit too complex for my liking, but I still enjoyed them for what they were & would like to finish them at some point.
In a similar vain, I would recommend Xenoblade Chronicles & Xenoblade Chronicles X. I've never personally beaten the first one, but I've seen a full playthrough of it & have beaten X (not 100% though). Both of those games have an action-based combat system similar (in a way) to the Tales series as well as cool casts & really good soundtracks. Like most JRPGs, they are rather lengthy, but they are definitely worth checking out.
In terms of stuff similar to SK, the only thing that really comes to mind is Dynasty Warriors. I've only played a bit of 8, though, but what I played, I enjoyed. I can't really say much more about it since I never really got super into it, but I did play both versions of Hyrule Warriors extensively. If you're a Zelda fan & like beating up massive waves of enemies like in SK, then I would certainly recommend it.
It's not really anything like SK, but one more thing I'd like to recommend is Danganronpa. I checked out the series when they came to Steam & fell in love with them instantly. The best way I can describe them is Hunger Games + Ace Attorney. I would definitely recommend you guys check it out if you haven't already.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 30, 2016 11:02:15 GMT -5
Interesting... I'll think on those. I have Xenoblade X, but last time I played (a long time ago), I got stuck in Frye's Side Mission (before unlocking him), and my MC is a Duelist, so it's kinda pointless using him outside of getting those Signature Arts. And I was at a pretty low level without any Skells. I kinda screwed myself over, there lol. I hear that Dynasty Warriors 7 was a fair bit better than Hyrule Warriors, so unless I have the same issues with it that I did HW, then I might as well give it a shot at some point. I've heard a fair bit about Danganronpa. Though I'm hesitant to start it (not just because I have nothing to play it on), since I got the Ace Attorney Trilogy on 3DS, and only beat the first game .
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Post by Lightning Lord on Dec 30, 2016 21:54:54 GMT -5
I've played a few Tales games... my favorite is probably Abyss, although that game seems to be rather love it or hate it as I have friends who can't stand the game. I really enjoyed it, though. That also reminds me that I have an imported copy of Vesperia for PS3 sitting on my shelf that I need to play sometime... As for game recommendations, since Tales was mentioned I'll also name the Star Ocean games since they are not only Action RPGs as well, but even shares roots with Tales. I personally would recommend playing 2 and go from there... Star Ocean 2 has a fun battle system, as well as a very in-depth item creation system. Add to that the ability to influence the people who join your party and a wide variety of ending variations... it's a definite classic. Of course, if you want my recommendation on Action RPGs, I'd recommend the Ys series any day. Basically the granddaddy of its genre, the games tend to be lean and to the point, not wasting their time with all the extra fluff a lot of other games tend to bog themselves down with. Plus it helps that most of the series is available on both PC and Vita, and also features one of the most rockin' soundtracks ever. As far as games that remind me of SK... there's this little known series called Izuna on the DS. It's really not all that similar to SK other than the fact they both have a focus on ninjas and a flair for fanservice (especially the sequel, Izuna 2). The Izuna games are roguelikes although from what I understand they are a bit more forgiving than some. Unfortunately, the series didn't last very long due to the developers closing their doors... which is probably a reason why I got drawn to SK in the first place, since it seemed like this weird spiritual successor to me. If any of this sounds interesting to you, then I'd say check it out... although I think the games are rather pricey nowadays, or at least the first game is. Another game series that I can think of is the Ar tonelico trilogy for the PS2 and PS3. The games are a weird mix of RPG with visual novel elements. The story is pretty good and there's a lot of world building that goes on for all three games. They even invented a unique language for the game that some diehard fans have even managed to learn! The battle systems are all different in each game, with the first game being more of a turn-based system to the last game going more action-based. The cast in the games tend to be predominantly female, and of course there's also the option to pick a girl you like and get an ending with. There's also quite a bit of innuendo. This is last bit is surprisingly important.
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Post by interdigitate on Dec 31, 2016 0:08:37 GMT -5
I think it can be sort of difficult to just pin down a few titles to recommend just from Senran Kagura since there are several reasons to like this series, but just thinking off the top of my head...
For RPGs, the Tales series it quite good, Ar Tonelico, Valkyrie Profile, and (some) Star Ocean games. If you are aiming for more of the female protagonist angle, Megadimension Neptunia V-II is actually really good, and easily the best entry in the series at the moment. Almost any entry into the Atelier series is great, with a fun crafting system and intuitive turn-based battle system. Disgaea is also a great TRPG for that zany Anime-style humor, Recettear is an excellent rogue-like/shopkeeper simulator with good humor and capitalism. And you can't forget another game that Takaki worked on, Half-Minute Hero, which is one of my favorite RPGs of all time.
For brawlers, you can look at the games that inspired this series, Ikkitousen which had two sperate entries on the PSP. They are pretty standard brawlers, but they do feature some clothes destruction. You can also play the sister game to this one, Valkyrie Drive, which has it's own Anime, mobile game, and a brawler on the Vita. The whole Warriors series is filled with tons of mindless slaughter, but I find the crossover game Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate to be one of the best entries, just because it features a new storyline and has lots of characters to choose from. Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds is a retro-style brawler with a lot of personality.
If we are thinking of just action games in general, God Eater has two hunting games with a more casual focus (and underboob), Ninja Gaiden has two great 3D action games and a third terrible one, Nights of Azure is a cute version of the Shin Megami Tensei - Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzonoha with lesbians. If you want some shooters, there is Bullet Girls which is essentially SK with guns (though notably not as good). If you want to platform and collect stuff, the new Shantae game is quite good, and there are several others like Momodora, Dust: An Elysian Tail, or basically any of the Igavanias, including Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, or the upcoming Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.
And just to close this out, on the MMO end you have Phantasy Star Online 2 for hunting and a surprisingly huge amount of fashion to choose from for your character, Vindictus for 3D brawling and occasional armor explosion, Tera for 3D adventuring and ludicrious fantasy armor, and Dungeon Fighter Online for 2D brawling similar to the 3DS entries.
I think what makes it hard to recommend games that are similar to Senran Kagura is that it has a lot of elements from different places, but it just combines them in a novel way. Generally, I'd imagine most Senran fans are going to be into more Anime-styled games (which is what I focused most of my recommendations around), but most people probably came into the series in a similar way: they got pulled in by... a certain feature, and then stayed for the actual story and character development. There are a lot of games that just have clothes destruction, or a full female cast, or a heavy emphasis on fan-service, but most of them feel hollow once you get past the surface. The reason why so many people stayed with SK, and why they can seem so critical sometimes, is that they enjoy the stuff that isn't "Life and Hometown" just as much, or even more.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2016 0:58:15 GMT -5
The only Tales games I've played are Symphonia (Gamecube) and Abyss (3DS). I loved both, though I think I prefer a few of Symphonia's design choices. Personally, for combat reasons, I'd probably recommend Vesperia because of how BROKEN the combat is in that game. The main character has 2 INFINITE COMBOS.
Star Ocean is a series I've wanted to try for quite a while, especially SO4. I heard Integrity and Faithlessness wasn't that great, which really sucks to hear, since I heard Tales of Berseria (while quite released out of Japan just yet) was fantastic, and since SO games aren't released very frequently. I hope if there's a Star Ocean 6, it's even better than whatever the best Star Ocean game was before.
The only Ys game I can play atm is Ys 3 on a Super Nintendo emulator, sadly. And that game is HARD. Though I REALLY want to play the likes of Ys Seven and Memories of Celceta. Those games look like a lot of fun.
Funny. Tohka, the person I mentioned at the start of the thread, said I probably wouldn't like Izuna. I'm not too experienced with Roguelikes (only really Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky), and iirc, there's only one character at a time in Izuna (one of the complaints I had in Special Episode 3 in Explorers of Sky). I could've heard wrong, though.
Another great friend of mine on Twitter highly recommended I get Ar Tonelico on PS2 if I ever get one. If I get a PS2, I'm definitely gonna jump into those games.
And surprisingly important, you say? I'm slightly curious.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2016 1:08:38 GMT -5
I guess this topic IS pretty broad, isn't it? Silly me. Though I probably should state (though just for myself) that most of my recommendations aren't really based on Fanservice or anything like that. I'm sure someone would enjoy both for that reason (since SK and Neptunia seem to go Hand-In-Hand, and I'd probably enjoy Victory and VII myself), but it's not what I'm focused on, myself.
With RPGs, I lean more towards Action RPGs and Strategy RPGs myself. Tales, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (the game that defined my childhood), and other Action-Based RPGs can easily catch my interest (especially if Grinding isn't really needed). Phantasy Star Online is a series I wanna try as well (though the first PSO on Gamecube is just about as expensive as Fire Emblem 9).
(Oh and as for Strategy RPGs, I really need to get back into SMT Devil Survivor Overclocked. That game is fantastic, and I'm still on Day 3 of my first playthrough.)
Phantom Breaker: Battlegrounds, huh? Never heard of that one. I'll have to check it out.
I love the Castlevania series, so Bloodstained is hype as hell for me. I've heard so much good stuff about Dust as well. That game looks like a lot of fun. Vindictus and Tera aren't really anything I've heard of before. But hey, SK was the same way for me until I found Burst on the eShop, and I quite like certain obscure games, so I'll look at them. As for DFO, well, I have some friends that play that game, so I might try it.
These are some nice recommendations from everyone here! If we can get more people in, I'm up for that.
But yeah, I have to agree. SK just has so many elements to love about it. They're tied together by 1, or 2 (or if you wanna go there, 4) things, but there's so much to love about them outside of that one element, and that's why we're here. This forum wouldn't be as big if it weren't for this.
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Post by Lightning Lord on Dec 31, 2016 8:45:41 GMT -5
Star Ocean is a series I've wanted to try for quite a while, especially SO4. I heard Integrity and Faithlessness wasn't that great, which really sucks to hear, since I heard Tales of Berseria (while quite released out of Japan just yet) was fantastic, and since SO games aren't released very frequently. I hope if there's a Star Ocean 6, it's even better than whatever the best Star Ocean game was before. I played Star Ocean 4 and 5 both for the first time this past year and honestly enjoyed 5 way more. I know I'm in the minority but 4 had some of the most dreadful writing I have ever seen. 4 had fun gameplay but IMO that cannot excuse it since I play these games for the story. I'd recommend 1-3 before 4. Yeah, Ys III is considered to be the black sheep for how different it is lol. Seven and Celceta are pretty different too, but much more accepted. I personally prefer the more classic gameplay pre-Seven.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 31, 2016 21:23:54 GMT -5
I mostly play games for gameplay, but I've really come to appreciate a well-written story myself, especially if it's because of the characters. (Entertaining and Interesting characters can save a Mediocre story imo. Maybe even a horrible one. After all, while Fire Emblem Fates has some horrid writing, I still enjoy the characters, so I don't hate it as much).
I'll look into Star Ocean more when I can play them. After all, I DID say I wanna play them.
As for Ys, I guess all of the different gameplay styles have their own reasons for being good, if that's the case. (Still, though, Ys 3 was brutal. I think the thing that made it the hardest was the fact that you didn't ever get staggered when damaged.)
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Post by Mario200000 on Dec 31, 2016 22:29:31 GMT -5
I feel like story & characters are probably the main reasons that I've come to enjoy JRPGs so much & have concluded it as my favorite genre. In particular, I think I've found that I gravitate towards games with larger casts mostly because I love to learn about the characters & what makes them tick. That's probably why I love series like Fire Emblem, Neptunia, &, well, Senran Kagura. I just love being introduces to all of the characters, learning their personalities, & seeing how they interact with each other.
I also love how JRPGs can tell wild & fantastical stories more so than any other genre. I will also admit, though, that I might have a lot more tolerance for this than most people. For example, I really like the Neptunia series, but I can totally see why any "normal" person would take one look at it & think "This is stupid. I don't wanna play this."
As far as a game based on these grounds, I would highly recommend Persona 3 & 4 if you haven't already heard of them, specifically Persona 3 FES & Persona 4 Golden. They are both very excellent JRPGs that in my opinion hit both of these points very well.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2017 22:45:09 GMT -5
Ah, Persona, I have some friends (especially a great friend on G+) who are big fans of Persona. Well, SMT in general, but especially Persona 3 and 4 (most notably 3). I'm sure I'll have fun with that. (And I have a feeling I'll prefer 3 over 4 for some reason.)
And while we're on the topic of JRPGs, I'd like to ask a weird question.
While, sure, I was born on the tail end of 1999, is it weird that I've never gotten far in either Final Fantasy 6 OR 7?Or any Final Fantasy game outside of the Crystal Chronicles games?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 1, 2017 22:46:46 GMT -5
Oh and for characters and the like, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky is a really good game. I love that one. Lots of interesting main and side characters with relatable personalities, and a fair bit of emotion.
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Post by Mario200000 on Jan 1, 2017 23:11:02 GMT -5
Having seen all of both Persona 3 FES & Persona 4 Golden, I have to say that I think 3 edges out 4 in my mind just a little bit. I mean, 4 definitely has better & more relatable characters, & pretty much every system that was carried over from 3 was improved in some way, but for me, I found the story of 3 to be more interesting. Not that 4's story was bad, though.
Welcome to the club. I've never played nor seen much from either FF6 or 7. I've tried watching some people play 6, but the videos are so old that I lose interest quickly, & I've never felt compelled to actually play it. As for 7, I've played the first hour or so sometime last year because I was bored & that's about it. They have very good soundtracks, though.
I also really like the second set of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, & the story & characters will always stand out to me.
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Post by Trig on Jan 2, 2017 1:42:53 GMT -5
sonic dreams collection
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Post by Deleted on Jan 2, 2017 14:00:18 GMT -5
Having seen all of both Persona 3 FES & Persona 4 Golden, I have to say that I think 3 edges out 4 in my mind just a little bit. I mean, 4 definitely has better & more relatable characters, & pretty much every system that was carried over from 3 was improved in some way, but for me, I found the story of 3 to be more interesting. Not that 4's story was bad, though. Welcome to the club. I've never played nor seen much from either FF6 or 7. I've tried watching some people play 6, but the videos are so old that I lose interest quickly, & I've never felt compelled to actually play it. As for 7, I've played the first hour or so sometime last year because I was bored & that's about it. They have very good soundtracks, though. I also really like the second set of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games, & the story & characters will always stand out to me. How was Persona Q, if anyone's played it? I've done the same 1 Hour thing with 6 and 7. Always put the game down for whatever reason. I should play more Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games. Sky was fantastic, and I hear the characters in Gates were amazing.
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