Hoping to make your life's design a bit more dynamic!

Beyond the Beyond isn't very good. It has a very high encounter rate and they become a particular problem when you are doing puzzles.

I definitely recommend Metal Max Returns for SNES, if you like Dragon Quest you may want to try Glory of Heracles 3 for SNES too.

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions! I have a little more to add to my list now..I am currently trying Arc the lad (which apparently is really short) and will likely progress to AtL2 soon. I like this style of SRPG, but I guess that is no surprise as I liked FFT, VH, TMuyo, THG, and Monstania.

Arc The Lad is a great series.
Remember that there are carry-overs between all three games
to unlock extra events and such, so make sure to convert the previous'
game data using the option to do so on the title screen as you start the next.

Finished Arc the lad a few days ago. Overall, an above average game, even good. I liked certian aspects of the game, though found Chongra to be useless. I usually just had him summon a few monsters (usually got slayed) and throw rocks and bombs at enemies.

Question:

I do not quite get the weapon and armor system yet (90 minutes into the game). Is it similar to Suikoden and Dual Orb 2? It feels overwhelming, is it NOT supposed to be all that intuitive? Any overall tips on that?

Otherwise, seems like a cool game and other than re-using some music from AtL, seems totally different despite less than a year between the two games.

Also, what is arc the arena? Is that a fourth game?

Well yes, Chongara is pretty useless actually, at least I had him sitting on the sidelines most of the time.
I don't recall if there was a gist to weapons and armor, I'll look into it, but right now I can't say for sure and Arc Arena isn't another game, but rather a companion game to ATL2 where you can use monsters you captured in monster to monster battles (uses your ATL2 save).
Again, its all a bit fuzzy so anyone feel free to correct me if needed.

This is odd. I can't get into Arc the Lad 2. It has been two weeks and I have maybe 8-9 hours dedicated so far, less than an hour a day. I just don't get the feeling that I want to play it, no drive. I still have the weapons I had when I started basically and don't quite get the weapon system. Should I have purchased new ones? (spoiler: Just lost Elc and ready to board that ship in that city after beating the wyverns and getting those 4 things that guy wanted). Like, when I go to a shop how do I tell how the weapons impact me? Plus I do not like being forced to have only 5 characters and looks like that could be an issue down the line when I have a dozen or more (likely).

It is odd because I know it was critically acclaimed, but I liked Arc the lad more.

Now I am playing Metal Max returns. It seems I can only equip things in battle? And have a limited inventory like in Earthbound. Any general advice on this as to how to understand things?

Its been a while but I think you have to press one of the top triggers L or R and you might need to be outside your tank too. Btw Metal Max Returns is a great game and if you have a PS2 you might want to try Metal Saga.

Weapons in Arc 2 have usage levels, so to speak, the more a character uses a given weapon,
the higher the damage bonus and critical rates, but its obvious you should buy new weapons
when possible, compare the before and after bonuses.



You have to choose, as its often the case with most RPGs. FF6 had parties of 4 and a whole bunch of characters to choose from.
The way I see it, you are in luck with Arc 2. Let's not forget you can recruit monsters as well, so if you add that to the equation, you'll have even more to think about. Remember Arc The Lad is not Shining Force, you aren't supposed to have 12 characters in the field.



Until you get vehicles for all your characters, things will be slow since you'll spend half of anything you earn
with rentals. My advice is, rent tanks if you have to, but make sure to invest heavily on the vehicles that do belong to you.
Remember its an open ended game, you could end it as soon as you hit your first mark. The game will last as long as you want it to. Focus on vehicle weapons that have infinite ammo first, since you won't spend on re-loads later (auto cannons and the like). Don't neglect the dog system either, it will save you lots of time.

Additionally, keep in mind that without a good engine you won't get anywhere.
Having a poor engine will keep your weapons and vehicles from getting stronger and better protected.
On board computers help, but not as much as a good engine and weapons.
Try to divide your vehicles by role once you have them, and create coherent weapon setups that way,
just stacking every weapon you find in a tank will do no good.

Keep heavy weapons like long range cannons and missle launchers to use against marks, but don't neglect on foot leveling and equipment either, as you won't be able to use tanks all the time. A good general indication is price, if something is expensive, its certainly better than something that is not so expensive.

I ended up ditching Metal Max (for now) and played, and beat Magic Knight Rayearth (9/23) which was a pretty run of the mill game. I thought the music was the best part of the game. I then played and beat Ranma 1/2 (on 9/30) which was, easily, a few steps above Rayearth and was, actually, loads of fun to play. Yah, the dungeons could have been more detailed, but the story and dialogue was neat and it is a pretty good challenge. I could see myself playing that again years down the road and would love to see if there are any similar games.

Currently, as of yesterday, started a playthrough of Sailor Moon (getting all the snes anime rpgs out of the way I guess) and it feels like a fun game so far, though I am very early in (I think in switzerland now). Seems like a CT clone, but not in a really bad way. I dig it. I think, naturally, Slayers is next on my list and then see if Dragon Ball Z (the rpg released in 1995, that one) has a full translation yet. Than maybe I will give metal max a try again and then see if Silva Saga is near completion, haha.

How about GB? Are you hardcore RPG fan to play such games?

Final Fantasy Adventure (also known as Seiken Densetsu I)
Final Fantasy Legend
Final Fantasy Legend II
Final Fantasy Legend III

I myself finished only those first two. FFA was quite fun and just like zelda style, but FFLI was really hard as for me. That's why, when I finished it I had enough for the moment to play such a hardcore, and didn't go to FFLII or FFLIII.
I really, really recomend FFA.

Koudelka, I saw my friend playing it, and it was pretty nice game, except battles(as TF mentioned). Battles in Koudelka seemed very boring, and not dynamic at all, slow.