Spike's VGA

[Bajaratt]

Better mechanics, better plot, better characters, better voice acting. There's significantly more to do in Persona 4, and it's all actually useful to do.

Pretty much the only thing that Lost Odyssey has over Persona 4 is the graphics.

That part right there? That's not opinion, that's called fact. There is WAY more stuff to do in Persona 4 than Lost Odyssey. Social links, personality growth, item synthesis, persona fusions, the game is significantly more involved than Lost Odyssey is. All of them are VERY useful to work on, and provide more than just "here's a new sword."

There's even more involvement in the battles, since there's more types of damage/resistances, different abilities.

LO's plot was pretty basic too, but since you don't play much RPG's that's probably a plus for you. Also, there wasn't a huge amount of character development, except for kaim(?), P4 has massive development for about 20 different characters, most of them NPC's.

 

[Makelith]

It make me wonder how much extra stuff you actually did in LO, if you think all it is, is "here's a new sword." The things you got from the side bosses were the most useful things you could get in the game.

 

[Bajaratt]

It make me wonder how much extra stuff you actually did in LO, if you think all it is, is "here's a new sword." The things you got from the side bosses were the most useful things you could get in the game.

I never said that's all there was, but you get a much wider array of rewards in Persona 4. There was also a hell of a lot more things to get rewards from in persona 4, and not just simple fetch/kill quests. The rewards in LO were still just gear/spells though.

 

[TheOsyris]

I never said that's all there was, but you get a much wider array of rewards in Persona 4. There was also a hell of a lot more things to get rewards from in persona 4, and not just simple fetch/kill quests. The rewards in LO were still just gear/spells though.

Baj i am not going to argue with you. Everything you state including your "more to do" comment is just your opinion. I think Persona 4 is a childish game and does not do anything special as far as an RPG goes. Its a great RPG if you are the average RPG lover and so is LO.

While LO may not be anything special to you, the only FACT is LO was the best looking RPG we have seen in a while.

Persona 4 does NOT have some incredible plot compared to LO's.

RPGs happen to be my third favorite game type, second fav if we do not include multiplayer games.

What it comes down to for me is LO holds up just fine against Persona 4 in every area that matters as far as an RPG goes. Then it one ups it because its the best visual RPG of the year for sure. Unless Persona was just leaps better then LO, which it is not then i would never even mention it as a GoTY contender.

 

[Elemmire]

why's it childish? cause of the graphics?

 

[Morcheeba]

I have to agree that LO is an incredible RPG and long awaited. The characters were so well written and thought out. The story line INCREDIBLE. I know a lot of people didn't bother reading the dreams because they found them too long and just wanted to get back to the game, but they give such insight into Kaims past it makes the story that much more delicious and tragic.

RPGS are among my top 2 favorite type of game and I think LO will be a long lasting fave.

 

[Firestreak]

The biggest problem with Lost Odyssey is it's essentially a high def version of Final Fantasy 10 only worse. The story's not as good, and it lacks any real originality. The FFX rip off is so absolute that they even take the same exact god damn camera pans from FFX.

Now I haven't played Persona 4 yet, so for all I know it has the same problem, and it's the same as earlier Persona games(at least you can forgive ripping off your own games a little).

The best RPGs I've played this year were Valkyria Chronicles and Fallout 3. Though yes, neither are are good looking as Lost Odyssey, but L.O. strictly speaking wasn't very smooth. You can say the same for Fallout 3, but that has an excuse. Lost Odyssey is not complex game mechanics wise, as it's essentially FFX which was a PS2 game... yet it doesn't run as smooth as it did.

These are all things you gotta take into account, but it's not that big a deal. These are all games worth getting.

But yea, if you want to analyze these games in their elements, it's hard to pit them against each other directly.

How are you gonna compare the gameplay of Disgaea 3 to Valkyria Chronicles? The nature of it is so different. But I mean it's easy to just pick some random trait and say that's what matters you. I mean graphics, in a still photo, it's Lost Odyssey... but if you're going to factor graphics and smoothness of them in gameplay, Valkyria Chronicles might actually beat it.

If you're going to talk about story, I'm going to guess, without even playing it, that the best is Tales of Vesperia. Fallout 3 and Lost Odyssey are both good though.

 

[Pupusa]

The biggest problem with Lost Odyssey is it's essentially a high def version of Final Fantasy 10 only worse. The story's not as good, and it lacks any real originality. The FFX rip off is so absolute that they even take the same exact god damn camera pans from FFX.

Now I haven't played Persona 4 yet, so for all I know it has the same problem, and it's the same as earlier Persona games(at least you can forgive ripping off your own games a little).

The best RPGs I've played this year were Valkyria Chronicles and Fallout 3. Though yes, neither are are good looking as Lost Odyssey, but L.O. strictly speaking wasn't very smooth. You can say the same for Fallout 3, but that has an excuse. Lost Odyssey is not complex game mechanics wise, as it's essentially FFX which was a PS2 game... yet it doesn't run as smooth as it did.

These are all things you gotta take into account, but it's not that big a deal. These are all games worth getting.

But yea, if you want to analyze these games in their elements, it's hard to pit them against each other directly.

How are you gonna compare the gameplay of Disgaea 3 to Valkyria Chronicles? The nature of it is so different. But I mean it's easy to just pick some random trait and say that's what matters you. I mean graphics, in a still photo, it's Lost Odyssey... but if you're going to factor graphics and smoothness of them in gameplay, Valkyria Chronicles might actually beat it.

If you're going to talk about story, I'm going to guess, without even playing it, that the best is Tales of Vesperia. Fallout 3 and Lost Odyssey are both good though.

That right there is the problem, the term RPG is so broad that it's tough to compare certain RPG's to each other. Owning both games, I've had more enjoyment with Persona 4, but Lost Odyssey was also an enjoyable game, just not as interesting IMO. Kaim and Jansen were the only 2 characters I truly cared about, and Kaim's dreams sometimes felt more dramatic then any cutscene in the ACTUAL game (honestly, I think they were the best part of the whole thing).

Persona 4 is meant for a niche audience, it's kinda like Disgaea or Dynasty Warriors in that you'll love it or won't understand why people enjoy playing it. I can see Lost Odyssey appealing to a more general audience, so it can justify the nomination more.

Whichever way, this is all opinion, so to each his own.

 

[TheOsyris]

That right there is the problem, the term RPG is so broad that it's tough to compare certain RPG's to each other. Owning both games, I've had more enjoyment with Persona 4, but Lost Odyssey was also an enjoyable game, just not as interesting IMO. Kaim and Jansen were the only 2 characters I truly cared about, and Kaim's dreams sometimes felt more dramatic then any cutscene in the ACTUAL game (honestly, I think they were the best part of the whole thing).

Persona 4 is meant for a niche audience, it's kinda like Disgaea or Dynasty Warriors in that you'll love it or won't understand why people enjoy playing it. I can see Lost Odyssey appealing to a more general audience, so it can justify the nomination more.

Whichever way, this is all opinion, so to each his own.

Both you and Firestreak have very valid points on this matter. Sounds more like its coming from a medium perspective, tho i know you loved Persona.

 

[Bajaratt]

Everything you state including your "more to do" comment is just your opinion.

No, it's not an opinion that there's more to do in the game. When you count the number of activities in each game, Persona 4 has more; when you count the amount of time you can spend on each activity, persona 4 is longer. When you look at the actual play times for the game, persona 4 is longer.

Quality is an opinion, but having "more to do" is just a fact. You not enjoying it is an opinion, but that doesn't change the numbers.

And how is it remotely childish, other than the main characters are teenagers instead of 1,000 imortals? You never even remotely justify it, you just say it's for average RPG players; when it's obviously more niche than "generic RPG X." Saying it's childish means you know next to nothing about the actual game; it's rated M for a reason.

I enjoyed both games, but Persona 4 is a much better RPG. That's an opinion, at least you called that one correctly.

 

[TheOsyris]

No, it's not an opinion that there's more to do in the game. When you count the number of activities in each game, Persona 4 has more; when you count the amount of time you can spend on each activity, persona 4 is longer. When you look at the actual play times for the game, persona 4 is longer.

Quality is an opinion, but having "more to do" is just a fact. You not enjoying it is an opinion, but that doesn't change the numbers.

And how is it remotely childish, other than the main characters are teenagers instead of 1,000 imortals? You never even remotely justify it, you just say it's for average RPG players; when it's obviously more niche than "generic RPG X." Saying it's childish means you know next to nothing about the actual game; it's rated M for a reason.

I enjoyed both games, but Persona 4 is a much better RPG. That's an opinion, at least you called that one correctly.

Baja shut up man. I will call you the fucking Persona expert if it gets you all worked up.. All i am saying is there is no way i remove a great RPG like LO from a GoTY list to add an RPG thats a great game but not as good as LO. The fact that no other GoTY list even lists Persona should be proof enough. I dont need to sit and defend my feelings towards the game Baj, there my fucking opinions and thats that. If it gets you this upset maybe you should seek help.

 

[Bajaratt]

Baja shut up man. I will call you the fucking Persona expert if it gets you all worked up.. All i am saying is there is no way i remove a great RPG like LO from a GoTY list to add an RPG thats a great game but not as good as LO. The fact that no other GoTY list even lists Persona should be proof enough. I dont need to sit and defend my feelings towards the game Baj, there my fucking opinions and thats that. If it gets you this upset maybe you should seek help.

The reason why most GoTY lists don't have persona is because it came out last week, they made their lists before it's release or they haven't played it much/at all.

You don't have to defend feelings, but you're ignoring facts; which is why this whole thing has been so laughable on your part. The only one getting upset seems to be you.

I'd still love to know how Persona 4 is childish at all.

 

[Chasym]

honestly why fight over whats better? Everyones going to like something different and something more than someone else.
I personally like LO over P4, and i have not liked a persona since Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, its one of the only NON FF original PS1 games i still own. I love RPGs more than any other genre. I have been a hardcore FF fan since i the first time i played FF8, then i went back and completed every FF before it, and every one that came out after it.
FFVIII is one of my top 5 all time best games, and majority of FF fans like to bash 8 and claim 7 as god, i personally liked 7, but did not see it as ground breaking or amazing. Its different for everyone, and every comment a person will make on their experience with a game is pure opinion, you may feel there is more to do in persona 4, but i feel i did way more in LO when i did every little damn thing i could find.
But i liked Tales of Vesperia a little bit more than that, and eternal sonata even more than that.
Lets just discuss the games, we can point out different aspects that may be better than one another...but lets not try to force our opinions on others.

 

[Firestreak]

If the amount of time you can put into it is a factor, Disgaea 3 has 100 times the amount of all the other rpgs combined. You could play Disgaea 3 for the rest of your life and not run out of stuff to do.

I'd say you'd get bored of it, but it's kind of like playing freecell on your computer. You can just play it mindlessly for hours while your brain processes it like a puzzle.

I wish it was a PSN release, because it's the kind of thing if I'm bored I'd click on but I am not motivated to put the disc in, if that makes any sense.

 

[Rappa]

If you're going to talk about story, I'm going to guess, without even playing it, that the best is Tales of Vesperia.

ToV had a really great plot. It kept you guessing without being needlessly complex. The characters were all likeable as well. Even the dog that couldn't talk had enough emotion to be more interesting than a lot of rpg characters these days.

ToV loses in the battle department though. Once you get a select few artes *coughtidalwavecough*, the battles use every possible shred of difficulty. That doesn't make the game not fun though.

If I had to pick best rpg of 08 (including LO), I would probably have to side with LO (haven't played P4 but I played all of the rest mentioned in this topic). I don't say that meaning it's necessarily the best in any particular category, but just going by overall package it tends to do everything overall the best. The battle system is a poor man's FFX, but that just goes to show you how RIGHT the FFX battle system really was.

Though I should note that if I could "cheat" and include Eternal Sonata in this year's RPGs (because it came out on the PS3 in 08), I would pick it over LO.