 Hey, thanks for stopping by to watch part 4 of the Super Famicom RPG series. If you're new, here's part 1, here's part 2, and here's part 3. A lot of popular games have already been covered like Bahamut Lagoon, Seiken Densetsu 3, Livolive, Shin Megami Tensei, as well as a lot of lesser known games that are well worth checking out like Rudra, Ohio, and Energy Breaker. This time around, let's start with some more popular games, namely the Dragon Quest series, Dragon Quest 5 and 6. They've been released for the Super Famicom, but have since received many ports and remakes for PS2, DS, Android, and iOS. Starting with Dragon Quest 5, Hand of the Heavenly Bride. This one received two different remakes, one for PS2 in 2004, and one for DS in 2009. I haven't played those just the original Super Famicom game, with an English patch. The obvious comparison here with the Dragon Quest games is with Final Fantasy, which is darker and morose, I mean you have people killing themselves in those games. Dragon Quest 5 in particular is a little more cheerful and fun, providing a story unique to any other game especially of its time, where you literally start the game being born and learning how to fight as a child with your dad jumping in to help you. Eventually you're captured, imprisoned for years, and escaped with some other prisoners and begin your quest to find your long lost parents, and to find out what your dad was planning on training you for in the first place. There's all sorts of other stuff here too that you don't normally find in an RPG, like getting married and having kids, really the best way to describe the story here is inspired, especially for its time, and it definitely holds up great. The gameplay is the time-honored traditional role-playing stuff that you are and all likelihood very familiar and comfortable with if you're watching this. There's no surprises here whatsoever, everything's in its right place, everything works well, there's no flaws, but there's nothing really that spectacular here either, it's classic Dragon Quest. The thing is about Dragon Quest 5 for Super Famicom is that it's an older title. This game was made early on in the SNES lifespan back in 1992 and it certainly shows. The visuals are a bit flat, the soundtrack sounds a bit blah, and I do have to admit this game is probably better realized on the DS or PS2. The story is going to be the same after all, and that's the biggest strength of this game, but you can't go wrong with any version here, however I have to admit I can't think of really any other reason to go out of your way to play it on Super Famicom unless you're curious. Dragon Quest 6, Realms of Revelation is obviously a huge leap in the series, as you can already see from the footage and the music here. This was made in 1995 when the SNES was really getting into a groove, especially with RPGs. And yeah, the visuals and soundtrack are right on the level of classic stuff like Final Fantasy 6, Chrono Trigger, and Lufia 2. Dragon Quest 6 also got remade for the DS, but this is a case where playing the original Super Famicom game is going to be every bit as good as playing it on the DS in my opinion. So you start the game in a battle where you get your ass kicked, only to wake up afterward and it was all a dream. You proceed to go about your day when you find a hole in the earth that leads to a parallel universe that you can observe as a ghost, where you eventually run into the people you were fighting with in your dream. You ultimately gain the ability to jump between your real world and this dream world, and the game builds from there. If there's one thing the Dragon Quest series does well, it's story. And this is no exception, this is a great freaking game just for the story alone. The battle system isn't quite the traditional Dragon Quest fare though, there's a job system or a class system here that's sort of like Final Fantasy 5 where you can switch your class at will with 8 total levels to a class. While I don't think it's on the level of something like Final Fantasy 5, it's still well done, providing a lot of customization options without it being overwhelming. There's a lot of other stuff here too, like the slime battle arena where you fight for prizes, a kind of best rest contest based on your appearance statistic, and all sorts of weird stuff like that that you wouldn't normally find in any other game. So yeah, to reiterate what I said earlier, the Dragon Quest games may have the usual heavy themes and serious tones that always come with games of this genre, but Dragon Quest 5 and 6 in particular set themselves apart by providing an atmosphere and mood of lively twists and turns and are just plain fun. Also I want to note very quickly that Dragon Quest 1 and 2, otherwise known as Dragon Warrior 1 and 2 for NES, were also released as a compilation cartridge for the Super Famicom and they were remade to a certain extent, made to look and play like Dragon Quest 5. There was also a port of Dragon Quest 3 or Dragon Warrior 3 that came a few years later, this time utilizing the style of Dragon Quest 6. I'll save these two cartridges for a later time, I just wanted to focus on the 5th and 6th games in the series because they originated on the Super Famicom and because they're just great frickin' games. If you're looking for something a little more complex with a strategy slant to it, there's Der Langrisser, and yup, this is one of those ogre battle type games where you have to answer a questionnaire before playing. Yeah, nothing like feeling like you're at the doctor's office filling out insurance information before playing a game. Nah, I'm totally kidding, I'm personally not the biggest fan of this type of approach, but it does lend itself well to a lot of replay value. And that's the biggest appeal of this game because the gameplay centers around a series of fixed turn based battles and after you get through the first portion of the game it branches out into several more paths, not just within the story, but the characters split down different paths as well. You can align yourself with different factions or just choose to fight everyone. All of these choices of course imply that there's multiple endings to be had in addition. This might be the deepest and most rewarding strategy RPG in terms of gameplay. There's just an overwhelming amount of content here. Now, Der Langrisser is actually a sequel to what is considered one of, if not the first, strategy role playing game on console in the US, a Genesis game called War Song. That game is kind of iffy because the battles take freaking forever to play through. Der Langrisser improves on that by streamlining the action a bit better. For the story, I don't think it's necessary to play the first game to understand what's going on in Der Langrisser. It's pretty easy to pick up and that's thanks to the excellent translation. According to romhacking.net, this translation took six years to complete and that has to be commended because they did a fantastic job here. Big time kudos to the people behind this project. Anyway, the Rayguard Empire led by Emperor Bernhardt and his four generals are conquering territories, searching for this young woman named Liana. There's a ginormous cast of characters here and I admit it's hard to keep up with what's going on, but the presentation is well done here all the same. I should also mention that Der Langrisser first was released on the Mega Drive overseas and later received ports on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation. But yeah, if you like 16-bit strategy-centered games and you haven't played Der Langrisser, you're missing out big time. This game is right up your alley. Since I mentioned Ogre Battle earlier, let's just go ahead and tackle the other Ogre Battle game. Tactics Ogre let us cling together. This is classic strategy RPG-styled gameplay at its best with grid-formatted turn-based battles controlling up to 10 allies, training knights, mages, ninjas, or dragon trainers to name a few out of many, recruiting beasts, dragons, or griffins. It's very much like a prototype of Final Fantasy Tactics. The strategy here is heavy on the environment of each battle to the point that each spell a character cast will differ based on where the battle is taking place. But yeah, like its predecessor, March of the Black Queen, there's just so much stuff here you could easily sink over 40 hours into this game. This is easily one of the best sequels on the Super Famicom because it takes everything March of the Black Queen did and makes it that much better. The story is kind of a Game of Thrones sort of thing with the entire royal family of Valeria dying and three races of people battling and conquering to take command in their stead. What makes this game stand out though is that it hits a good balance between story and gameplay and strategy RPGs don't usually do that. I really enjoy being able to control the story itself with all sorts of possibilities open to the player without the feeling that I'm just sitting there waiting around for something to happen. Also, the overall presentation here is freaking great, especially the rousing soundtrack. Really, if you're into the strategy role-playing game genre and you want to play one game that never made it to the US, Tactics Ogre and Lettuce Kling together is THE game. Yeah, Bahamut Lagoon and Front Mission and Dirlanger Sir are all very good, but this game knocks it out of the freaking park. I will say if you're not familiar with this style of game, you're gonna be pretty lost, so it's not for everyone. Of course, I should mention there was a PSP remake of Lettuce Kling together that came along in 2011. I haven't played it, but this is a case where I can't fault anyone for seeking out any version of the game that they can, whether it's the Sega Saturn or PlayStation Re-Releases, the PSP remake, or the original on Super Famicom. Alright, let's take a break from the heavy detailed stuff with Dual Orb 2. That's right, two. The first game hasn't been translated yet, but it's really not necessary to play the first game to get into the second game. If you're looking for a much more traditional JRPG experience, Dual Orb 2 has it. There's a lot of story here starting with a strange baby being found and brought into the kingdom of Garad, where he's raised and trained to become a soldier along with the king's son. Eventually there's time travel and divine intervention. The story isn't particularly anything unique, and the game sure takes a sweet time telling it, but it's good enough if this is the sort of thing you're looking for. Same with the battle system, nothing that really stands out from its peers. I guess you could say the weapon system is a little different, since you can level up each one to a point that it obtains a crazy overpowered attack, but everything else is as exactly as you'd expect from a traditional JRPG. But yeah, like I said earlier, if you're looking for a simple, inoffensive role-playing game, Dual Orb 2 fits the bill. It's not worth going out of your way to play, but if you're jonesing for this sort of game, it'll scratch that itch. Okay, let's get weird with Brandish 2, The Planet Buster. A few months ago I looked at the first Brandish game, which had a neat story, but the game was doomed from the start, because the action takes place from an overhead first-person dungeon crawler perspective. In other words, your character stays still while the room itself rotates around you, it's jarring and disorienting, and it just plain doesn't work. Brandish 2 stayed in Japan, as you might expect. The story again is pretty good, it picks up right where the first game left off, where you obtain a sword so powerful it can destroy an entire planet, hence the title. Of course, some Evil King guy wants it, and yeah, things are a bit generic from there, but your character Varric is still being chased by Alexis, they're called Aries and Dela in the original game, and they're what make the story fun, and a little unconventional. Brandish 2, unfortunately, still keeps the same perspective and the gameplay is mostly the same, but there are small improvements made here and there, like much better level design with a lot more variety and on-screen map, thank god, and the game just looks much, much better. Again, the Brandish games are tough to get into, the gameplay kinda sucks, and you're better off playing the Brandish remake on PSP. Sadly, Brandish 2 never got a remake, but if you think you can get into this kinda game, here you go. Last, let's take a look at an action RPG, New Gaia, Umi Tukaze No Kodo. This game was actually set to be released in North America, but was cancelled at the last minute. New Gaia is a bit different than you might be used to, for a top-down action RPG. It's not quite as silly as something like Gunman's Proof, but it's certainly not as heavy as something like Terranigma, so it falls somewhere in between. A lot of familiar aspects are here, like collecting hearts to increase your health meter, leveling up your attacks and finding useful items, but you do have the ability to jump, which is unusual in games like this. The RPG elements are pretty bare bones, though, the gist of the gameplay is puzzle-solving and destroying every enemy in sight. However, this definitely is not a hack-and-slash style game. You really have to pick your spots with how to approach certain enemies, so it's important that you wait, observe, and then attack, or, uh, you're gonna have a bad time. So, Secret of Mana, this is not. And that's not a bad thing. New Gaia is something a little different for the genre. Alright, that's it for now. I'll come back with a Part 5. Hopefully sometime soon. Thanks for watching, and have a great rest of your day.