Everstar -

If you want fast-paced battles, then you want either ToV or IU.

Tales of Vesperia has "typical" JRPG battles in the way of that you might find a monster party, and you can engage them, which sends you to a battle area. Inside that battle area, you combat the monsters in what could best be described as Soul Calibur or Castle Crashers beat-em-up fighting in a 3d arena.

Infinite Undiscovery, on the other hand, is even moreso like Mass Effect and Oblivion - All battles take place in the normal game world, like Phantasy Star Universe, Oblivion, Mass Effect, and the like. Battles are fast paced and seem to be pretty good from what I've seen of IU, but I have yet to play IU, so I can't fully comment (youtube a few videos of ToV and IU combat to get a good idea as to what's there).

There are 5 RPGs on the DS that have a better score on Gamerankings than Tales. I don't think there's really any dispute that the DS is part of this generation, so it beats the 360 by a comfortable margin in the JRPG category. But thanks for bringing up a PS3 game which was COMPLETELY UNRELATED. If you want to bring up PS3 games, Valkyria Chronicles could give Tales a run for its money. And I really have no idea why you recommended western RPGs...

Go with Lost Odyssey.

Really? You've played Valkyria Chronicles? Tell me about it. I want to know more about the gameplay specifically.

In overall quality, Tales is indeed the best so far this gen. The DS has great RPGs for a HANDHELD. If the DS JRPGs were ported with a bigger & better battle system with better graphics to a HOME console, then yes they may give Tales a run for its money. As of now, no, they don't.

Its like people can't even look at the big picture anymore. We're talking OVERALL best JRPG, not best HANDHELD JRPG.(Yes I have played TWEWY.)

I'd say Mass Effect but I see you are also waiting for Mass Effect 2.

Rush Bioware, RUSH!

I'm talking about reviews. VC only has 1 review, but it's from RPG Gamer, and it's only one percentage point lower than the score for Tales of Vesperia. Strategy RPGs often get good reviews, so I see no reason why the score for VC won't be at least close to Tales. Perhaps I should have specified reviews but I thought it was pretty obvious. I don't know why you're so eager to know about VC, unless you have a PS3 (you don't let it on though).

As for handhelds vs. consoles, an RPG's quality is not defined by the size of the screen or the graphics. The SNES has some of the best RPGs of all time (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 6) and people still enjoy those games despite them having 2D, outdated graphics. And since when was I talking about an RPG's quality as opinion? Mrstickball was talking about review scores, and I refuted that there were several RPGs on the DS that had better scores. Even when you ignore that, I reiterate that an RPG's quality is not dependent on the system. Hell, I thoroughly enjoyed the Golden Sun games because of the puzzles and the battle system, not the size of the screen or the graphics.

But when you ignore the fact that the discussion was about review scores and try to push your personal opinion into the discussion, you have a pretty decent argument.

I'm with Montana on this one. I enjoyed DQIV more than any console RPG so far this gen. It's a matter of personal taste. One may consider handheld RPGs as being in a different league as those on consoles, some may not.

On topic: I would go for Lost Odyssey.

L.O is dirt cheap about $40.00 bucks or so if you shop at gamestop, i would wait for TOV price to come down a bit, L.O is a Can't missed exprience.

Oh, reviews for VC. Why would i be eager? because someday in my life, I do plan on getting a PS3, and I like JRPGs. And VC has my favorite style of graphics on any game. The same way some 360 owners are eager for LBP and WKC. not everyone is a fanboy and hates everything not on their favorite system.

Not quite. Some of the best JRPGs like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy 6 were the best of their time, in both graphics and "screen size". Also, they are the best on the SYSTEM, so obviously they will be getting higher reviews. Even then, many of the ports of old RPGs to DS have a huge nostalgic value amount hardcore gamers. 

I don't think stickball was talking about review scores. I don't think he meant Tales is #1 rated literally. I thought that was pretty obvious.

i would suggest lost odyssey.