Question: The state of console gaming

[rivan]

So, I've more or less skipped a couple generations on consoles. I have a Wii but think of it as more a toy than a gaming device (not a slam on the Wii).

I picked up and played Mass Effect (PC) and was blown away. Particularly, I was taken by the combination of a quality story, excellent delivery and RPG elements, so that's what I'm really drawn to. It was a very well-produced and presented (if too short) RPG.

Is there much ME-type content available on the 360 or PS3 today? Is it more common on one or the other? I might just have to pick one up, if so...

 

[oznerol]

Your nick is rivan, so I am going to assume you're a Star Wars nerd - in which case Mass Effect is right up your alley. KOTOR I and II are made by the same people and are very similar - though I will also assume you've played them already.

Fable is a bit more action and a bit less RPG, Oblivion is a similar western RPG, though the decision tree isn't as complex (and I imagine you've played that on PC already as well).

 

[rivan]

Originally posted by: ducci
Your nick is rivan, so I am going to assume you're a Star Wars nerd - in which case Mass Effect is right up your alley. KOTOR I and II are made by the same people and are very similar - though I will also assume you've played them already.

Fable is a bit more action and a bit less RPG, Oblivion is a similar western RPG, though the decision tree isn't as complex (and I imagine you've played that on PC already as well).

Actually, the nick's from some old fiction, but I *am* still a Star Wars nerd. KOTOR I was *amazing*, II was quite good (but not AS good as I), Fable was quite fun as well. Oblivion was something of a letdown after I realized how the game mechanics worked, and figured out each of the gates was more or less the same thing.

So yeah - I've played and enjoyed those games on PC. I've been more or less out of the console scene since the original Xbox came out and I'm totally out of touch with everythign PS2 forward on the Sony side. Is there similar content available on consoles that I've been missing out on without a console?

 

[oznerol]

Chances are good if it comes out on a Microsoft console, it will come out on PC, so you didn't miss much there.

You're left with the Sony brand consoles, which are not known for their western RPGs (it's a Japanese company, after all).

There's a lot of JRPGs out for the PS2 - not so much for the PS3 - though nothing similar to KOTOR/Mass Effect. The Persona series, Final Fantasy series (FF XII in particular might interest you - for PS2), and a few others I'm forgetting.

Edit - I forgot Nintendo, but the majority of their fare has been rehashing Zelda and Mario. Eternal Darkness for the Gamecube is supposed to be good, but I can't vouch for it.

You may be interested in Too Human for the 360, which is coming out in a few weeks. It's more like Diablo than Mass Effect, though, and combat is more action-based than strategy.

 

[Baked]

I started playing MGS4 an hour ago. Epic.

 

[sswingle]

Originally posted by: Baked
I started playing MGS4 an hour ago. Epic.

So thats about 15 min of gameplay?

 

[DaveSimmons]

KOTOR I-II and ME are all better on the PC, for example in Mass Effect: aside from running at higher resolutions and framerates the Mako is easier to drive and the inventory is supposed to work better. I've only played the PC version though.

The PS2 is currently the best choice for Japanese RPGs like the XenoSaga trilogy. The 360 and PS3 will each be getting a small number of JRPGs but the PS2 has dozens.

A PS2 slim at $160 with a couple of memory cards would be the cheap way to access the PS1/2 RPG library.

If you can find the PS3 Metal Gear bundle at $499 you do get 80-90% PS2 backwards compatibility (and you don't need memory cards), plus the MGS 4 game. It will let you play the tiny PS3 RPG library too as it slowly get new titles. Plus it makes a nice blu-ray player.

The 40GB PS3 does not play PS2 games, so it's gimped for RPGs.

Is all that worth an extra $340? That's up to you.

 

[BD2003]

I dont know of many good games that come out on 360 that dont come out either simultaneously or later on for the PC. Its supposedly an incredibly easy port for developers. I resisted buying a 360 for a very long time because of that reason. But I have to say, I'm now totally a convert. Its almost too easy to use the 360, and I dont have to constantly keep up with hardware, and the games are far less buggy. If youre looking for more ME type games though, I wouldnt really go out looking for jrpgs - vastly different genres IMO.

I assume you've played oblivion already?

 

[rivan]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
KOTOR I-II and ME are all better on the PC, for example in Mass Effect: aside from running at higher resolutions and framerates the Mako is easier to drive and the inventory is supposed to work better. I've only played the PC version though.
...
Is all that worth an extra $340? That's up to you.

Probably not.

Interesting that the PC versions are better.

Just so I'm sure I'm on the same page, by JRPG you mean FF-type combat, then top-down world travel? The last one of those I played was one of the early FF (II, maybe III?) and enjoyed it at the time but I much prefer the 1st/3rd person RPG ala KOTOR and ME.

I wonder if Fable II will end up with a port.

Originally posted by: BD2003
I dont know of many good games that come out on 360 that dont come out either simultaneously or later on for the PC. Its supposedly an incredibly easy port for developers. I resisted buying a 360 for a very long time because of that reason. But I have to say, I'm now totally a convert. Its almost too easy to use the 360, and I dont have to constantly keep up with hardware, and the games are far less buggy. If youre looking for more ME type games though, I wouldnt really go out looking for jrpgs - vastly different genres IMO.

I assume you've played oblivion already?

So overall it sounds like I'm not missing as much as I'd thought I would was. I have played Oblivion; comments on it in the third post in this thread.

 

[warcrow]

Mass Effect on the PC is a better experience (I've completed the game on both platforms). Part of that reason is because it was released 6 months after the X360 version was released. Demiurge Studio was able to apply a lot of the feedback Bioware received from the community. The battle screen interface (spacebar) was also vastly improved.

Fable 2 will make it's way to the PC, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

[oznerol]

Yea, JRPG is typical Final Fantasy combat - bizarre storylines - things like that. Sony used to be king with that stuff (PS2 still is pretty much), but this generation it's surprisingly been mainly the 360's realm. Final Fantasy XII had a hint of western RPG influence in combat and story - you may find interest there.

Fable II will almost definitely end up on the PC - like I said before, the majority of big-title games on the 360 will more than likely end up on the PC - primarily because they are PC games in the first place (the 360 being not much more than a heavily regulated, standardized Windows box). But it could take anywhere from 6 months to a few years.

So to answer you - if you've kept up with RPGs on the PC - you haven't missed much.

 

[Queasy]

Another Mass Effect type game actually came from the last generation of consoles - Jade Empire. Same dev that did KOTOR and Mass Effect.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Queasy
Another Mass Effect type game actually came from the last generation of consoles - Jade Empire. Same dev that did KOTOR and Mass Effect.

Jade Empire is a good game, not as good as KotOR, but really good.

Since the OP has a capable gaming PC, he will be happy to know that the PC version of Jade Empire is superior, like all of Bioware's games (they sometimes just arrive later, hence the main reason they are superior on the PC... time to apply polish and changes based on console feedback).

 

[Golgatha]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
KOTOR I-II and ME are all better on the PC, for example in Mass Effect: aside from running at higher resolutions and framerates the Mako is easier to drive and the inventory is supposed to work better. I've only played the PC version though.

The PS2 is currently the best choice for Japanese RPGs like the XenoSaga trilogy. The 360 and PS3 will each be getting a small number of JRPGs but the PS2 has dozens.

A PS2 slim at $160 with a couple of memory cards would be the cheap way to access the PS1/2 RPG library.

If you can find the PS3 Metal Gear bundle at $499 you do get 80-90% PS2 backwards compatibility (and you don't need memory cards), plus the MGS 4 game. It will let you play the tiny PS3 RPG library too as it slowly get new titles. Plus it makes a nice blu-ray player.

The 40GB PS3 does not play PS2 games, so it's gimped for RPGs.

Is all that worth an extra $340? That's up to you.

I found a 20GB launch console, 2 controllers, and BD remote used on eBay for $400 and got 35% cash back via the live.com search promotion (now 25% cash back, so still not too shabby). If you figure in $300 for a launch console - $160 saved on PS2 hardware, I think you have a pretty sweet deal. For me it was $400 - $140 cash back - Sold PS2 Slim for $75 - whatever I get for the PS2 accessories I still need to sell. When it's all said and done, it will cost me roughly $150 to get to play PS3 games, have a Blu-ray player, and have several multimedia functions (which I find I am using very heavily) I didn't have before.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: rivan
So overall it sounds like I'm not missing as much as I'd thought I would was. I have played Oblivion; comments on it in the third post in this thread.

You're definitely not missing much regarding most genres, but for western RPGs, I cant think of anything you'd be missing or expect to miss.