I like the turn based fighting a bit more than the real time fighting aswell. Kiddy doesnt bug me. Im still a guy who loves watching cartoons and stuff. How are the characters in the game though. Do they have any depth to them or are they just bland through the whole game? And does the story develop and arc at all or is pretty predictable right through? Predictable isnt always bad either as long as its entertaining. Does the game have a more fun light atmosphere? Comedic?

I have both Eternal Sonata and Lost Odyssey. I played through the entirety of ES and am halfway through LO right now.

I enjoyed Eternal sonata for the most part. I found the story which started strong imo towards the latter part to be a little weak and the ending a little lacking. The art style and battle system was what really kept my interest. I liked the way it tried to tie in Chopin's history with the story and having his music incorporated was nice. It was however quite short for an RPG (it took me about 22 hours to beat). However there is an 'Encore mode' that lets you play a second time but beefs up the difficulty of the fights and adds a few items you couldn't get through the first playthrough. I haven't gone back myself but after a few months I'll probably play it again. It really is a beautiful game and imo worth playing for the art style alone.

The battle system is more real time vs turn based. It seems simple at first but is gets pretty deep once you learn the intricacies of the system. There are characters with short & ranged attacks, and you have differnet special moves depending on if you're standing in light or dark. Enemies also change depending on if they are in light/dark. You also have special attacks which can be fired off at any time but building them up by executing normal attacks making them stronger. So this throws in an element of timing and preparation. Some people complain that the battles can be repetitive but there are no random encounters so you can skip a lot of enemies if you desire.

Lost Odyssey I am really having a great time with. I haven't finished the game but the biggest draw to me is the story and characters. I was a big FF fan (played them every gen) and was really turned off by the entire PS2 generation of games. This to me felt like a throwback to the early FF's I really enjoyed. It is heavily story driven and features all the old school elements like random encounters and turn based combat. The encounters are less frequent and encourage you to move on to new areas because after a while exp will become almost non-existant.

The combat also incorporates a 'ring' system which gives a little "real time" feel to the combat. Depending on the type of ring you have equipped you can deal extra damage, status aliments, etc. It's timing based and reminded me somewhat of FF8 w/ Squall dealing extra damage when he struck with the gunblade. I haven't gotten to the end of the game but it's been one of the most fun RPG's I've played in a long time.

With those and a good selection of future JRPG's I think the 360 has a healthy lineup of RPG's for the system. 

Skip Blue Dragon.

Play Eternal Sonata, LO, and Mass Effect. 4/5 star games, imo.

I liked Blue Dragon, I tried the Eternal Sonata demo, loved the art settings and idea, but never purchased it.

As soon as I find LO for cheap, I'll pick it up and play

Don't skip Blue Dragon! It's a very good RPG.

A quick rundown of the 4 major JRPGs currently on the X360:

Enchanted Arms:
First JRPG on the X360. Although the graphics are somewhat next-gen, the gameplay is definately a throwback to PS2-type games. The battles take place on a 5x4 grid system. Each attack from your characters can effect a certain number, or style of grids...So it's somewhat tactical, but rather easy.

You get not only human characters, but Golems that are non-human, upgradable characters for battle. Some of them are very good.

Story is pretty weak, and very bad (IMO) voice acting.

My rating: 7.25/10


Blue Dragon:
Sakaguchi's first RPG on X360. Features very strong 'kiddie' tones, like Dragon Quest 8, but underneath the childish exterior is a very hardcore JRPG. It's very similar to the old 16-bit JRPGs like Final Fantasy 5, Chrono Trigger, and others.

Combat is your typical turn-based combat, but involves a very good, well-balanced skill system for 6-8 different classes of characters. You get to upgrade your job level ups, unlocking new skills, and combining ability sets for the ultimate characters.

Story is pretty good. Music is top notch. The only drawback is the voice acting for some characters is crap, and the dialogue is OK.

Overall rating: 8.75. Must have if you like the old school SNES RPGs.


Eternal Sonata
Combat is the most varied of any JRPG in current rotation. Uses a hybrid real-time and turn based system. Each character fights via Kingdom Hearts/Tales Of style, using attacks and specials to kill the enemys, all in turn. Also features active blocking and counterattacking later on. Harmony Chains spice it up near the end, but with the slew of enemies you fight in areas, can get very repetitive, very quick.

Visuals are absolutely stunning. No cell-shaded game has looked this good in HD yet. Dungeon design and fixed camera angles really take back from parts of the game.

Music is also (like BD and LO) top notch. Voice acting is better than Blue Dragon, but not perfect. Story is a pile of crap though.

Overall Score:
8.25/10


Can't say anything about Lost Odyssey yet, since I do not own it. But it does seem to be the best of the bunch.

Also, a semi-JRPG game: Culdcept Saga. It's $40 new. Buy it if you like Japanese-styled trading card games. Very addictive, and fun. Poor story and such, but it's a phenominal board game/TCG hybrid that works very, very well.


Upcoming JRPGs you want:

Tales of Vespria (like Eternal Sonata, but entirely real time, and looks to be awesome)

Infinite Undiscovery (real-time battle system ala FFXII, looks great)

Cry-On (Sakaguchi's first Action RPG on the 360. Any Sak. effort is a must-have, and his take on the ARPG genre should be phenominal)

Last Remnant (Square's first true X360 RPG. Might even be timed exclusive. Uses UE3)

And there are many more, but those are the big 08 releases that you want to look into.

Well Lost Odyssey is a must buy. Best JRPG in years and best of this generation. Remember when Final Fantasy titles didn't suck? Lost Odyssey captures the feel of the Final Fantasy franchise back when it was at the pinnacle of the JRPG genre. Sakaguchi hit one out of the park with this game. Excellent characters, story, voice acting, and battle system (provided you don't mind turn based battles).

Eternal Sonata was disappointing to me. I loved the battle system and the art style but other than that the game was lacking. Its short, the story is weak, and there are virtually no side quest outside of one music sidequest. I like the unique idea behind it and it was great to learn about Chopin but the actually story for game was beyond weak. I won't spoil the story, but Crescendo did something so stupid I nearly stopped playing the game.

Blue Dragon is a game you should rent first. I enjoyed Blue Dragon but some people out right hate it. It is also turned based but it doesn't have random battles. Blue Dragon is more of the classic "kids save the world" type of JRPG. My main problem with Blue Dragon is that it was extremely easy. Actually both it and Eternal Sonata were ridiculously easy.

Enchanted Arms is was fun for me as well. The english voice acting was awful but I liked the battle system. The grid system and different ranges for you attacks made it a unique take on the turned based system. The story isn't exactly epic but it is better than Eternal Sonata's IMO. It isn't full of side quest either except for the insanely long bonus dungeon. You should be able to pick this game up on the cheap given its age.

I will give you this advice though. If you play Lost Odyssey before any of the other RPGs it will make them seem much worse. Its the only "AAA" JRPG available for current gen consoles. The others titles are C- to B in quality IMO.

Most definitely skip Blue Dragon. Huge dissapointment for me.

Eternal Sonata is a much better choice than BD. Although its a bit shorter.

LO is very good. It has the right formula, and the skill learning system is fantastic! I'm on the 4th disc and really like. It has good characters, great voice acting, an decent story, and good pacing. This game also has many flaws (stutter and slowdown at the beginning of every battle, strange plot holes, etc.) though that keep it from touching any of the above games.

I'd reccommend LO as a must buy for RPG lovers and ES as a buy.

this thread was not what I expected. I thought it was about 360 posts about R.P.G.s! (sarcasm)

Wow. Thanks for all the indepth feed back jasonnc80, mrstickball and Darc Requiem. Eternal Sonata was my number 2 choice but its slipping down to 3 or less the more I hear about it. I really do like the art sytle in it and am quite curious to hear the music, so maybe ill just keep it on the back burner and if i see it for cheap one day down the road ill pick it up.

I love old SNES RPGs so Blue Dragon is looking a bit more appealing to me. Darc Requiem says its "to easy" though. Did anyone else feel this way. I love when i get my ass kicked and have to level up or do sidequests for additional items/money/weapons.

Lost Odyssey seems like everyones logical pick here. Maybe ill get that one and play the others first so they dont just suck in comparison after.

I havnt heard good things about Enchanted Arms. Two of you guys both gave it a fairly decent review though. Would the rest of you rate Enchanted Arms above Eternal Sonata aswell?

Thanks again for taking the time to respond everyone.

Also Im curious to know how the levelling up/exp work in Eternal Sonata since its real time. Is it similar to Kingdom Hearts or Sword of Mana (those are the most recent realtime RPGs i have played)