So with the release of Persona 4 a while back I've decided not to fight it anymore, bite the bullet, and jump into the giant time sink that is Atlus's vast library of RPGs. I have no idea where I should start though. Do I jump into the endless gameplay value that is Disgaea? In which case do I pick up the PS2 original or Afternoon of Darkness on the PSP? Do I go grab the beautiful Odin Sphere? Do I start in on the Shin Megami Tensei Series? If so which ones? Nocturne looked really original and awesome back when it was released and Persona 3 and 4 look fantastic but then again I feel I should start at the roots and hunt down copies of Persona 1 and 2.

O god it's like an endless sea of games that could all easily eat 60-1000 hours of my life away. Where do I start?

Really? No one?

Well i really liked Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne, strange story, lots of monsters to capture and a special character to have ;) I did not play the Devil Summoner 1-2 since they did not really catch my attention. You could maybe try Persona 3... if you like game like final fantasy tactics i would HIGHLY recommend that you try all 3 Disgaea... the all have a realy nice story, with lots of humors and challenge! I also played Growlanser Generation and Heritage also excellent tactic RPG. A lot of people liked Odin's Sphere... played like 30-40 hours with it and was so tired of the game that i did not even finish it and sold it. I had a blast playing Stella Deus, really like this game for some reason.. don't know why lol But again, a tactic RPG(altus only does this kind of game or what lol) I tried Digital Saga and really hated the gameplay... was disappointed after playing a fine game like Nocturne. Did not play with La Pucelle Tactic or Phantom Brave, again tactic RPG. Atelier Iris 1-2-3 where REALLY fun to play, making stuff with alchemy was fun lots of hours with those games! And finally Ar Tonelico is suppose to be also a great game, never played it... i heard a second is coming soon or in the making.

All three Disgaea games are awesome; 1 has the best story/characters and is by far the funniest, 2 has the best gameplay, and 3 is basically a semi-HD mishmash that is definitely worth your time. You don't really need to start with the first one, but they are basically endless games... you can keep leveling up your characters and strength to whatever ridiculous level you choose, and the Item World (basically random maps that also power up the stats of the item as you go further and further into them) provides endless gameplay.

If you are looking for a timesink, there is no greater timesink than a Disgaea game.

Odin Sphere is gorgeous and a pretty good action-RPG, but I felt it got stale a little too fast. Probably worth whatever price it's down to now, though; I didn't find it worth $50.

I hated Growlanser Generations.

I don't think Disgaea is Atlus, is it?

EDIT: Nevermind, Atlus is the US Publisher.

The only Atlus game I've played is Trauma Center.

I don't think Disgaea is Atlus, is it?

EDIT: Nevermind, Atlus is the US Publisher.But you bring up a relevant point: does the OP mean games developed by Atlus (Shin Megami Tensei, Trauma Center), or games simply published by Atlus (Disgaea, Odin Sphere, Legacy of Ys, etc.)?

Big difference.

But you bring up a relevant point: does the OP mean games developed by Atlus (Shin Megami Tensei, Trauma Center), or games simply published by Atlus (Disgaea, Odin Sphere, Legacy of Ys, etc.)?

Big difference.

Yea, suppose I should have researched that more. I guess the Disgaea series was developed by Nippon Ichi. So now I'm starting to think outside of the Shin Megami Tensei series many of those titles I'm interested in may not even be Atlus titles.

So I guess I'll rephrase: What are the priority Atlus developed titles I should look into and what else has Atlus published that I should check out? I guess I really need to look into the Persona series and Nocturne and possibly the Digital Saga titles? A big priority with any RPG I play is story, it's gotta be good and if not good then at least interesting or entertaining to keep me engaged.

I know one of the head editors of Atlus, pretty much everything they do is quality, including localization; so if Atlus brings it over, it's a sure bet 90% of the time. Disgaea is a great example, they did a great job localizing the jokes and dialogue, where if it had been a shite translation, it would've made the game much less enjoyable.

I know one of the head editors of Atlus, pretty much everything they do is quality, including localization; so if Atlus brings it over, it's a sure bet 90% of the time. Disgaea is a great example, they did a great job localizing the jokes and dialogue, where if it had been a shite translation, it would've made the game much less enjoyable.Do they do all their own localization for US published titles? That's always been a major gripe for me with Japanese games. Good localization makes a huge difference.

Do they do all their own localization for US published titles? That's always been a major gripe for me with Japanese games. Good localization makes a huge difference.

Yeah.

Maken X for the dreamcast. First person melee game that is weird as hell. But in the best way possible. Awesome game. I think it was ahead of it's time. It's not developed by atlus but it is published by them. Can't remember who the developer was.

Alright Amazon was selling Persona 4 for $25 today so I had to snag it. So it begins.

I have a new question though. This one concerning Disgaea. From what I understand the PSP version is a port of the PS2 original with some bonus content. So which version is the definitive one? Is there some significant extra story stuff in the PSP version? Or should is nothing really notable and should I just grab the PS2 version.

The PSP version has a multiplayer mode; I never got to try it. Otherwise, it was the same game.

Maken X for the dreamcast. First person melee game that is weird as hell. But in the best way possible. Awesome game. I think it was ahead of it's time. It's not developed by atlus but it is published by them. Can't remember who the developer was.

I agree with you. I didn't like it as well but there was a remake for the Playstation 2 called Maken Shao: Demon Sword. It's 3rd person. It's still a great game though.

To re-activate this thread...

Does anyone have any thoughts on where to get older Atlus-published games at good prices? The trend I notice with their titles is that frequently after a period of time, the games suffer from poor availability, causing (new) copies to actually cost significantly more than other games released at the same time.

Speaking personally, I don't always want to pay full retail for their titles, but I hate waiting to pick up a title and finding out a year later that it's basically no longer available. They publish a lot of "interesting" looking games, some of which I'm hesitant to take the risk of paying full price for, but if they were available inexpensively, I'd probably grab a number of them.

To re-activate this thread...

Does anyone have any thoughts on where to get older Atlus-published games at good prices? The trend I notice with their titles is that frequently after a period of time, the games suffer from poor availability, causing (new) copies to actually cost significantly more than other games released at the same time.

Speaking personally, I don't always want to pay full retail for their titles, but I hate waiting to pick up a title and finding out a year later that it's basically no longer available. They publish a lot of "interesting" looking games, some of which I'm hesitant to take the risk of paying full price for, but if they were available inexpensively, I'd probably grab a number of them.

Their stuff seems to be printed in pretty limited quantities, and besides a few recent exceptions with Disgaea reprints (I think Gamequestdirect put them back in circulation), they almost never re-issue their games. So if you find an Atlus title that you want on clearance, go ahead and get it.

an old school game for the PS1, Alundra, was pretty good. it was like legend of zelda (NES one) but in like a more updated game. it was fun.

an old school game for the PS1, Alundra, was pretty good. it was like legend of zelda (NES one) but in like a more updated game. it was fun.

That was Working Designs, although maybe Atlus originally published it in Japan. That was a good game, I remember wearing out the skin on my left thumb on the stupid PSOne d-pad (no analog support).