Best and worst SRPG?

[Onyxmeth]

zexen_lowe said:

Onyxmeth said:

zexen_lowe said:

Onyxmeth said:

Favorite: Advance Wars: Dual Strike(Screw you! It counts!)
Least Favorite: Operation Darkness...BLEH!(Based on the demo)

 

Advance Wars DS is a fantastic game, but you really have to stretch the definition of SRPG to make it fit

If you really look at many of these Turn-Based Strategy RPGs, you'd have to still stretch the definition to make them fit. I would say that Advance Wars, especially Dual Strike is much closer to Fire Emblem than Fire Emblem is to Final Fantasy. Neither has an overworld, both offer some leveling up aspect, both offer in many ways very similiar combat, among other things. The only thing that seems to seperate Strategy games from Strategy RPGs are disposable units and a leveling up system, but Advance Wars Dual Strike lets you level up your CO and Disgaea has disposable units like the Prinnies. In fact most strategy RPGs are merely just another type of strategy game and lend themselves more to fans of Civilization than Dragon Quest.

 

It's true that AW:DS incorporates some RPG elements, like leveling COs and skill learning, but it lacks two things that I consider defining for an RPG: individual unit growth (that is, every unit progresses and levels up on its own, and is different to the others) and unit continuity (the units after a battle stay with you with the experience they've gained). Of course, it'all about opinion, and I agree FE really stretches the definition of an RPG. And I think the second FE for the GBA has an overworld, but I may be mistaken. And the prinnies aren't really disposable, I mean, you can throw them, and they explode, but you don't lose them forever, it's just like a kamikaze attack the Bombs from Final Fantasy have

 

Oh shit really? Those lousy bastard tutorials in the game made it seem like my Prinnies would have to be replaced if I threw them, so I spent over 200 hours without using that strategy. Ok scratch that then, I didn't mean to spread misinformation.

If you mean the Sacred Stones for Fire Emblem, it doesn't have an overworld, just different locations you can go into on a pretty straight path. You can't actually fight on it.

I know Advance Wars isn't really that RPG-like but so many of these other strategy RPGs really aren't either. If I sat down somebody with Fire Emblem and they loved it, should I recommend them Persona or Advance Wars? I would say that person may get more enjoyment out of Advance Wars, and that's why I think these are really just strategy games, regardless of disposeable or non-disposeable units.

Also note that in most RPGs, your characters aren't purchased, but are acquired as part of the story. In Disgaea, they are purchased in the same way one would puchase a unit in a strategy game. There is just way too much overlapping for me to consider them much more than strategy games with RPG elements, while most mistakenly look at them as RPGs with strategy elements.