console RPGs

Console RPGs make up yet another facet of the RPG phenomon I've gotten into lately. It's interesting how a humble little experiment ultimately caused a domino effect which opened up so many gaming possibilities for me.

Console RPGs first came to my attention during the late 1990s. The very first one I got into was Final Fantasy VII. Little did I know back then that it would eventually become the RPG introduced the non-Japanese world to the concept of JRPGs.

If I'm already into PC RPG games, why play console RPGs in the first place? Simple: diversity. I may be an RPG fan, but there's no reason to put all my eggs in one basket, especially when there are other good games to be experienced and enjoyed on other systems.

Some RPGs that started off on consoles eventually found their way to the PC. Certain installments in the Final Fantasy series come to mind. Likewise, there are RPGs that are available on both consoles and PCs (Interplay's Fallout 3, for instance) thanks to the current trend in multi-platform releases.

If you're new to the console RPG scene and you're looking for some good titles, there are some I'd highly recommend. In general, keep your eye out for any of the following series in their titles: Final Fantasy, Tales Of... (e.g. Tales of Heart, Tales of Vesperia, etc.) and Shin Megami Tensei. These games are property of the renowned companies Square-Enix, Namco and Atlus, respectively.

A word of advice: don't box yourself in and limit yourself to only titles from the Big 3 above. You'll never know what other good console RPGs may come from other, lesser known developers and publishers. Try whatever looks interesting (rent first if you can), and most importantly, have fun.

Today's blog was a bit on the general side, which is why next time, I hope to focus more on one the differences between Western and Eastern RPGs. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for more goodies related to console RPGs.