Perhaps I'm stating the obvious, but you could also go for value-priced re-releases and the like for last generation games. For example, Dragon Quest VIII for PS2 is $20 and provides many, many hours of entertainment.

There are also a bunch of cheap but awesome DS games you can get at a 9.99 - 19.99 point such as the upcoming space invaders extreme or a bunch of older games that you probably missed.

Yep, good suggestions.  I only wrote about the games I am currently playing.

Gaming for $120

I'll top that with gaming for 150 US dollars. Mercury and Zack & Wiki are both still 50 Euros here.

BTW, I somehow prefer Toki Tori over Z&W, there's many elements in Z&W that you simply have to try to know their function or requirements (especially switches usually have to be flipped to show what they do), in TT everything is predictable and you can clearly see where you can use which item (well, except for the bubble maybe), with some experience you could develop a solution for a level just by seeing a screenshot of it. I prefer my puzzle games predictable so I can develop a solution without having to test all objects whether they behave the way I think they do.

I like discovery.

Oh, I want Penny Arcade so bad!

I'm just unsure of whether it will run on my computer. It's just a standard desktop PC--no fancy graphics cards (just an integrated one--my brother claims it's all drivers).

It will run all of my old games, though, like Grim Fandango, Croc, Earthworm Jim, and SimCity 3000. I'm sure none of those are as graphics-demanding as PA, though. Will the game (or the website I download the game at) tell me if my computer isn't up to speed?

From the site itself:

Windows:
Windows® 2000/XP/VistaTM with latest updates
Pentium® III, AMDAthlonTM 1.0 GHz or better
ATI RadeonTM 9500 or better, NVIDIA GeForceTM FX 5200 or better, Intel® GMA 950 or better with 64 MB of video memory (shared or dedicated)*
512 MB of available system memory
OS-supported keyboard and mouse OS-supported sound card
350 MB of available hard drive space
*video cards require latest drivers supporting OpenGL.

Mac:
Mac® OS X 10.4/10.5 with latest updates
PowerPC® G4, G5 or Intel® based Mac 1.0 GHz or better
ATI RadeonTM 9500 or better, NVIDIA GeForceTM FX 5200 or better, Intel® GMA 950 or better with 64 MB of video memory
512 MB of available system memory
OS-supported keyboard and mouse
OS-supported sound card
350 MB of available hard drive space

Linux
Linux® 32-bit x86
Pentium® III, AMDAthlonTM 1.0 GHz or better
ATI RadeonTM 9500 or better, NVIDIA GeForceTM FX 5200 or better, Intel® GMA 950 or better with 64 MB of video memory (shared or dedicated)*
512 MB of available system memory
OS-supported keyboard and mouse
OS-supported sound card
350 MB of available hard drive space
*video cards require latest drivers supporting OpenGL.

There is a free demo of PAA so that you can test how well it runs on your computer.  That was the original purpose of PC game demos, and it still works well.

Anyone who likes RPG's whatsoever had better not miss DQVIII.  That game was phenomenal.

I tried Zack and Wiki though, and I don't really like it much.  The art style isn't really appealing to me, and the gameplay starts out rather easy.  Maybe I should try to force my way into it a bit to see if I like it better.

Mercury sounds right up my alley though... I ought to pick that up some time.

Zack & Wiki is a must.  Whatever you do, don't use the hints.  It's a serious gaming challenge that doesn't hold your hand, unlike Twilight Princess.  The build-up towards the end of the game is also way better, and doesn't insult the work you've put into the game.

to defeat Ganondorf, roll to WIN.  GOTY material, RIGHT??

Dunno, I got annoyed by the Barbaros revival and ship vs squid levels because they involve so much timed action and because that damn squid always seems to move to the side in the time the broken pole launch cutscene takes to play, making the shot miss.

For which definition of RPG? I prefer my RPGs without grind, I heard DQ8 is the opposite of that.

Does that mean you figured out how to keep the squishy guy from moving?

It's impossible to have a real RPG without at least a tiny bit of grinding here and there.  If there is never any grinding, then that means you're always strong enough to beat the enemy, which means the game isn't really challenging you.

Anyway, DQVIII may have a bit of grinding, but it's well balanced and the grinding doesn't seem to come up often (or in an obtrusive manner).  Frequently, instead of grinding, you can succeed by using intelligent combat strategies.  Anyway, I can't see how any self respecting RPG fan could possible call himself such and not play Dragon Quest VIII.

Having just finished the game, I couldn't agree more. Solving the puzzles without hints proved to be one of the most satisfying game experiences I've had in a long while. I managed to get this on import for under $30 US (the Freeloader has paid for itself now by a wide margin), so $20 is a total steal. Even if you've never played adventure games before (which I hadn't), this merits very serious consideration for purchase.

I've always been on the fence when it comes to DQVIII, I want to play it but the random battles put me off. Maybe after I play Eternal Sonata (which I got for a great price) I'll try it.

Or maybe that grinding isn't rewarded and whether you grind or not you're going to have the same hard or easy time? Not all RPGs have to involve levelling or let levelling have such a big influence on your strength.

You might consider a turn based strategy game like advance wars a form of RPG without leveling.

The problem with leveling is that it does make difficulty balancing a serious pain (if not a downright impossibility).  What's to stop the player from over leveling and making the game too easy?

Well you can also look at this way most games only last 10-12 hrs, but if you are leveling up all the time an RPG could take over 60hrs. You still get your gaming time regardless plus LOTS more.

I disagree. I was getting too itchy with the ending because i wanted to get onto No More heroes.

That has nothing to do with the game.  You need an itch cream.

Level grinding is what makes and epic RPG so epic, it prolongs the game and if you are really into the game you don't wanna rush to the end.

I just saw SSX Blur at Circuit City for 20 last night.  As a current owner of the title, I would definitely recommend the purchase.

How does running in a spot and repeatedly clobbering the most EXP giving monsters constitute "epic"?

Seriously.  What makes a game like DQVIII epic is the environment and story, not any grinding that may or may not occur.

I think in most well balanced modern RPGs, if you don't run to avoid fights, you should never have to do level grind.  However, if you run a lot to maximize your exploration time, you'll have to pay for it later by grinding a bit.

Yeah, it's the reason I stopped playing FF10 (yes I know I told you that a thousand times already), a LOOOONG stretch of path with a high encounter frequency, at some point I was so annoyed by the always identical battles (since you can one-hit-kill most enemies in the game if you select the right attack) that I just ran from everything and of course was way too weak to face the boss after that (ended up so weak he could one-round-kill my whole party though I'm not sure how many levels I'd have needed to survive that considering how slowly you grow in that game). If you want your game to be a combat simulation, MAKE SURE THE COMBAT IS FUN!

I meant that it gets you more into the game, you spend more time playing it, you encounter more enemies and you get a better feel for the combat system. Maybe epic ws the wrong word, but grinding is a natural part of RPG's and the best RPG's seam to use this tactic.

Take Super Mario RPG, when you get to a Boss, the first two or three bosses if I remember correctly, if you run through and justf ace the guy right off, you will die. But if you take the time to beat every enemy in the level leading up to the boss, the fight will be a piece of cake. I know there are better RPG's but that one came to mind for some reason.

Just cleaning a level isn't realy grinding, grinding is when cleaning the level isn't enough and you have to run through a few more extra areas and fight until you gain more levels.

Paper Mario doesn't really have much grinding, for one the gains from levelups are fairly small and enemies drop in value very fast so you can't go more than a few levels over the intended level.

I saw Soul Calibur Legends for $20 at Hastings. I was tempted.

I never played Paper Mario so I don't know. I do know that in FF7 I couldn't get enough of the battles in the latter stages and it took a lot of grinding to beat those monsters what were they called the weapons or something?


I guess it is cuz I played a lot of D&D and we used to play to level up so we would do all kinds of crazy stuff just to try and get the DM to award us extra XP.

Aren't people who care about levelling despised in the P&P RPG world?

I don't know I only played with my close friends. That was years ago, I was 12 I think. Now you're just being difficult.

I just saw that PAA Episode One is available for just ten bucks (half off) this weekend only at Steam.