[Angantyr]

I was looking at our local auction website and noticed that they had a few fairly Rare in NZ, and wondering what you would recomend for a somewhat Mature RPG that is hard but not too hard, so far Ive seen Breath of Fire, Vagrant Story, Star Ocean III, Shadow hearts & Grandia II. What would you guys recommend? I also really want FF Tactics and Valkyrie profile but neither of them reached our stores

EDIT: Mods reading this can you move it to General Gaming, I dunno how it ended up here.

[Kamdrik]

isn't star ocean 3 ' Star ocean: Till the end of time'? but RPG wise, i do like grandia 3...

[Palazzo]

Get all of them. They're all good.

[Lazer]

I'd say if you can track either of them down the first 2 games of the suikoden series are exelent. Also FF tactics is definitly high on the dificulty level of most RPG's.

[Atma-Noah]

Well if your looking for a mature rpg Shadow hearts is probably the best bet. Especially if it's the first or second. The story should hold you and the judgement ring battle system is the funnest battle system I've ever played.(except for legend of dragoon.)

I've always been a fan of the breath of fire series. It's amazing how many times the used Ryu over and over and over again in the first couple games. I stopped playing after three though.

I hear Vagrant story is really good. I remember reading about it in an old gaming mag and I tried to find it for years but never did.

I've never played grandia II and I didn't really care for Star Ocean 3 which is probably due to the disk not letting my Ps2 read it.

So all in all, I would suggest to go after either Shadow Hearts or Vagrant Story as the are probably the more mature games.

[Leviathan]

Get Vagrant Story brother, tis a marvellous and completely underrated game.

[$Nanaki$]

Well, good luck finding Valkyrie Profile-- i've got a copy and i'm not givin it up. I live across the Tasman from ya, but then i have someone in the US get it for me, but there is hope-- a sequel is coming out soon for the PS2.

As for the Breath of Fire series, I have them all and enjoy them-- Dragon Quarter for the PS2 is good, but I thought the storyline was a bit contrived. Star Ocean: Till the end of time is AWESOME!! I've finished it several times to get all the endings, and I am still trying to get all the Battle Trophies.

I never cared for the Grandia series-- i had Grandia II and Xtreme but for some reason I just couldnt get into them.

Shadow Hearts is an awesome series as well--the stories are great and the gameplay is as well.

Radiata Stories is excellent also-- it was designed by tri-ace, who made Valkyrie Profile and the Star Ocean series.

If you are into Tactical RPG's like FF Tactics, then you might try Makai Kingdom, Phantom Brave, Stella Deus, and also Disgaea.

As you can tell, I love rpg's and have about 70 of them, and a lot of collector's iten stuff as well, so if you or anyone else is looking for recomendations, i'll be glad to help you out

[Angantyr]

Ok, in that case I am going to look for Vagrant story and I will see if I can get Shadow Hearts, thanks.

[Ton]

Shadow Hearts > Vagrant story. ( In my opinion of course)
I found Vagrant story's system to be a little repetetive if im honest, Disgea is a far better example of pretty much the same idea basics.
Shadow Hearts for me rivals FFX for best PS2 RPG. It's got a fantastic story,awesome characters and some interesting unique twists on the battle systems, And the enemies are really creative.
I'd recommend getting SH first personally.

[Asch]

FF tactics is awesome. it requires a lot of brain and thinking but its super fun

[Gorath Sodom]

Star Ocean (real time)
Star Ocean 3: Till the End of Time (real time)
Radiata Stories (real time)
La Pucelle Tactics (tactical)
Xenosaga I (turn based)
Xenosaga II (turn based)

All of them kick ass with hours upon hours of gameplay and hair pulling challenges. Especially Star Ocean 3 (lasted me for roughly 120 hours) and La Pucelle (kept me occupied for well over 160 hours and I'm still not done will all the side quests).