Games like Star Ocean: The Second Story

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door cover

Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door

What sleeps behind the door? Time passes, the pages turn… and a new chapter unfolds in an unfamiliar land! Get ready for a two-dimensional role-playing adventure for the ages as Mario returns to paper form to discover a mystery that sleeps behind an ancient, legendary portal called the Thousand-Year Door. The quest is long, the dangers many, and this time, Mario will have to make full use of his papery qualities just to survive.

Final Fantasy IX cover

Final Fantasy IX

Final Fantasy IX is the ninth main installment in the FF series. The title is a return to the series's roots, with gameplay features and references to the past games featuring throughout, as well as a medieval fantasy setting and cartoonish art style as a break from the sci-fi slant style of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night cover

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

A seminal 2D metroidvania in which after the events of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (1993), a man named Alucard arrives at Dracula's castle after it rises from the rubble, and seeks to defeat the evil contained within it once and for all by exploring, fighting its inhabitants and collecting the various weapons and abilities hidden in its depths.

Rogue Galaxy cover

Rogue Galaxy

Rogue Galaxy is an action role playing game set in a futuristic fantasy universe, in which the player moves through a continuous environment with no load time between overworld exploration and battles. Battles occur as random encounters, Rogue Galaxy uses a real-time hack and slash combat system in which the player fights with a party of three characters. The player has direct control over only one character, although they can change which character that is at any time. The two NPCs fight independently of the player character, based on a strategy selected prior to the battle. Available strategies include fighting especially aggressively, targeting a specific enemy or not fighting at all. The strategy can also be changed at any time during the battle. Additionally, the player can issue specific orders to the NPCs during combat, such as having them use an item or activate one of their special abilities.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time cover

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time

Released as "Star Ocean 3: Till the End of Time" in 2003 by Enix before they merged with Squaresoft, the game was re-released under the name "Star Ocean: Till the End of Time" as a remastered version by Square Enix in 2004.

Breath of Fire IV cover

Breath of Fire IV

Breath of Fire IV is a single-player game that continues the story with these "dragon people," who gave their lives to eradicate the evil goddess and restore peace in their world. This time around, battle has broken out between two powerful continents, and the fair Princess Elena has disappeared during a tour of the war-torn region. The princess's sister, Nina, who reigns o'er the Windia Kingdom, vows to retrieve her missing sibling. She meets Ryu along the way, who joins the epic quest

Legend of Mana cover

Legend of Mana

While incorporating action role-playing game elements from the three games which preceded it, Legend of Mana has its own distinct style of gameplay. Most notably, it gives the player the ability to shape the game's world of Fa'Diel according to his or her desires, a system which was incorporated through the use of "artifacts," which are gained as the player progresses through the game. The player uses the artifacts to create different towns, dungeons, etc., called "Lands", to venture to and explore. This creates a non-linear gameplay, since the game is driven by a series of what would be considered side-quests in other games. Legend of Mana features three different plots which can occur simultaneously, and which do not necessarily need to be completed for the player to finish the game. Legend of Mana was a financial success in Japan. While the game garnered considerable praise for its graphics and presentation, many critics and fans were turned off by the game's lack of a main storyline.

Darkstone cover

Darkstone

Lord Draak's henchmen are spreading chaos in Uma. Are you going to let them get away with it?

Star Ocean cover

Star Ocean

The first game from tri-Ace released on the Super Famicon published by Enix. A huge scale role playing game with beautiful graphics and sound that were impossible on the regular Super Famicon, that includes skills, talents, special move system, item creation, private action and full motion active battles.

Tales of Eternia cover

Tales of Eternia

Tales of Eternia is an action japanese role playing game, with real time battle scenes (combos and spells can be assigned to the face buttons). The game is set in the fantasy world of Inferia, follows the story of a young hunter named Reid Hershel and his friends, Farah and Keele, as they meet a mysterious girl who speaks an unknown language. Their subsequent quest to discover her origins leads them across a dimensional boundary to an entirely different realm known as Celestia, where they become involved in an age-old conflict between the two worlds. It would later inspire a 13-episode anime co-produced by Production I.G loosely based on the game's plot.