My favorite fighters are definitely the Soul Calibur games. Really some of the only fighters that can get my friends really fired up and competitive. Also Smash Melee. I pretty much grew up playing that game locally and it has now grown to me playing competitively. It really is a great fighter for people who like to explore systems, or even completely inexperienced players who just want to smack stuff around as Mario.

I just ordered Injustice online and am looking for some tips or other useful information on the game. One of the big things is which DLC characters are worth buying and which I can just pass on. I am not that interested in the characters, but moreso in the gameplay and mechanics of the characters.

Secondly, this is my first MK style fighter. I have never played a MK game outside of a couple of games at partys and am really looking forward to exploring the mechanics of this game. If anyone has tips or anything of the sort, feel free to post them on this thread. Thanks for reading.

Well, this morning I traded in $160 worth of old games and a kinect at gamestop. I bought FFXIII and FFXIII-2 because they were pretty cheap and I had to experience the terribleness for myself. FFXIII is so boring, I played for 45 mins and stopped. Haven't tried FFXIII-2 but I did the demo and it was ok. However, the game I was excited about was Tales Of Vesperia. I did some research and this game had extremely high ratings, and was the highest rated Tales out of them all. I am an hour and a half into this game, and am playing it as I speak, and it is blowing me away. I haven't played a game this awesome in a long time. It has awesome, colorful graphics, an awesome battle system, story is cool so far, and the characters are very likable. This is exactly what I have been looking for. I demo'd Mass Effect 3 this morning. Cool game and battle system, but the story and environment is not my thing. I felt like I was in Star Trek. But I am more into JRPG's as it turns out. I also demo'd Ni no kuni this morning, and I really enjoyed it. It is a little kiddie but the fact was, it was fun. However, I decided to go with Tales since it is a little more mature. Well, I found a game to hold me over until GTA V and FFXV come out, as well as COD Ghosts which finally looks like a great and partly unique COD. If you were having the same dilemma as I was, get TALES!! The anime look is growing on me. Who cares if it is cartoony, the characters can still be awesome and not corny, which was my fear. Already can't wait for Xilla. I found a new franchise of games besides Final Fantasy to follow. Thanks to whoever suggested the Tales games!Kimura410

Since you wanted a more mature game with good characters, Vesperia really is the way to go. Out of all of the Tales games so far, I would say that Vesperia's story is much more mature and moody than the other games in the series. Since you are into the Tales games though, definitely buy Xillia, as it looks to be a serious and mature Tales game as well. If you own a 3DS, Tales of the Abyss is also a fantastic choice.

Ni no Kuni is probably THE best JRPG of this generation. It's for the PS3, pick it up if you get the chance. I realise you're looking for something from last gen or earlier but if you haven't played this one and you have the opportunity don't pass it up IF you have 45+ hours to burn :P (most RPGs are around 40+ hours long story-wise)

Soilworkcob

I wholeheartedly agree with Ni no Kuni as a recommendation. It has charm in literally every aspect of the game. As you mentioned though, Chrono Trigger is a must play no exceptions. I recommend the DS version, as it is portable and has a few extra features such as a new ending. Another great game on that list is Final Fantasy IV. Again, the DS version of this game is amazing for its graphics and added features. I especially liked the characters in FFIV. It had a ton of charm for a game as old as it is. Hope these recommendations helped :D

So I just finished up Symphonia for the first time. And yes, it was as amazing as people usually say it is. Problem is, I have no idea which tales game to play next. I own Abyss and Vesperia, and having played about to the halfway point of Abyss (you know the spot), I kinda just lost interest and moved on. Vesperia though, is definitely a contender for my next game to play, if not for one issue. With the upcoming release of Xillia, I really am not sure if I should just wait for that and play through it.

Another thing. I know that there is a sequel to Symphonia on the Wii, but it has pretty mixed opinions towards it. In short, I just want to play a tales game that will not completely suck compared to what I just played. I understand that Symphonia is praised as being one of the best tales games and I want to play a Tales game comparable to it.

Sorry for the rambling nature of this post, and thanks for reading.

EDIT: I forgot to mention Graces F. Not sure how good it is compared to Symphonia, but it is definitely on my list.

I see your point on the whole Suikoden 2 being waaay too much money. But I definitely will take your recommendations. I have always wanted to try Grandia(despite its horrid voice acting) and have always heard great things about Breath of Fire IV and Legend of Dragoon. One question about the former, Breath of Fire: Do you have to really play the other games in the series, or is it more of a Final Fantasy approach?

So I have recently completed Suikoden(unfortunately didn't go for all 108 stars, will probably do that on a second pass) and I ended up really loving it's style. It was a bit short in comparison to other JRPGS, but I ended up really enjoying it's "No Filler" gameplay. The entire game and all of the events contained within it felt meaningful and essential to the plot. You can't say this about many JRPG's (I'm looking at your Honey Bee Inn minigame FFVII....). Regardless, I am definitely planning on trying to get my hands on a copy of Suikoden II...whiiiich could be tricky. In the meantime, I really want a JRPG that matches Suikoden's scope and gameplay style. I basically prefer my content to far outbalance filler. The RPGs named can be on really any console, but PS1, PSP, DS, and SNES are the main consoles that I have immediate access to. Modern consoles can be added to that, but I can't think of many that fit this style anyways.

Thanks for reading and I hope to hear some good recommendations.

Okay, not sure if I should just take the thread down now, or leave it up, but I found the solution to the problem with a bit of experimentation. First I went to my PS3 sound settings, changed the multidirectional sound to 2 channels. I then went into the audio sound setting menu within that menu. I selected my input setting (for me HDMI) and then chose manual. Here's where it gets interesting! It had selected a ton of check boxes on the list that appears. So I unchecked everything and set only the 2 Ch. boxes. And lo and behold I booted the game up and BAM, there is now voice acting. Hope this can help anyone else, if any, that are having this issue.

Wasn't too sure if this is the right forum to post this in, but here's the problem. I bought Ni No Kuni today for PS3 and for some reason, there is no voice audio in cutscenes. Everywhere else, there is audio, but not voice audio. In a few places, some voice acting comes through, but it is hollow sounding and muffled- like they are talking through a tin can or something. Not sure what the issue is here, but I would really like to know what's up!