Opinion requested for these rpgs

[Snadinator]

I've never played any of the below and I wanted some opinions.

Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts II

Shadow Hearts
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Shadow Hearts: From The New World

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories

Grandia II
Grandia III

Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria
Odin Sphere
Star Ocean: Till the End of Time
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Tales of the Abyss
Radiata Stories
Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land

[Godstar]

I've never played any of the below and I wanted some opinions.

Kingdom Hearts --> Very good, but kind of kiddy.
Kingdom Hearts II --> Same as above.

Shadow Hearts --> Very good
Shadow Hearts: Covenant --> Very Good.
Shadow Hearts: From The New World --> Very good.


Disgaea: Hour of Darkness --> Best SRPG in my book.
Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories --> Part 2 of above.

Grandia II --> Awesome game, love the combat system.
Grandia III --> A bit different from 2, but the graphics are much much better.

Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria --> Very good side scrolling RPG. Very difficult.
Odin Sphere --> Holy hell, this is an amazing game. Best side scrolling RPG I've ever played.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time --> Awesome game, get it.
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter --> Don't have it.
Tales of the Abyss --> Tales games are awesome. I recommend this one Symphonia and there was one more on my PS2 list but can't remember it.
Radiata Stories --> It's good, reminds me of Dragon Quest in a way, but you might like it. Haven't really started it yet.
Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land --> Only one of your list I don't own.

[Snadinator]

I've never played any of the below and I wanted some opinions.

Kingdom Hearts --> Very good, but kind of kiddy.
Kingdom Hearts II --> Same as above.

Shadow Hearts --> Very good
Shadow Hearts: Covenant --> Very Good.
Shadow Hearts: From The New World --> Very good.


Disgaea: Hour of Darkness --> Best SRPG in my book.
Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories --> Part 2 of above.

Grandia II --> Awesome game, love the combat system.
Grandia III --> A bit different from 2, but the graphics are much much better.

Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria --> Very good side scrolling RPG. Very difficult.
Odin Sphere --> Holy hell, this is an amazing game. Best side scrolling RPG I've ever played.

Star Ocean: Till the End of Time --> Awesome game, get it.
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter --> Don't have it.
Tales of the Abyss --> Tales games are awesome. I recommend this one Symphonia and there was one more on my PS2 list but can't remember it.
Radiata Stories --> It's good, reminds me of Dragon Quest in a way, but you might like it. Haven't really started it yet.
Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land --> Only one of your list I don't own.

Wow... looks like I got a lot of gaming to do. Can't believe I missed out on these before.

[SLARITY]

Godstar, what about someone who has barely played any RPGs...which should they start with?

My rpg history would be
FFI,II,III(didnt beat 3 ), 7 (best game ever), 8 (didnt like and didnt beat it), 9 (was cool but didnt beat it)

Also loved Dragon quest and Crystallias on NES. Zelda on NES and SNES... thats about it.

[Shoeless]

I guess this really depends on what kind of RPG player you are. Some gamers (like myself and my Wife, for example) don't mind grinding characters up in order to get them good weapons and ridiculously powerful. Other players can't stand the tedium of grinding and just want to jump in and get lost in the story.

Some good RPGs to start with (at least on the PS2, and B/C enabled PS3s) are things like Rogue Galaxy, which is very newbie friendly, and Final Fantasy XII which has a radically different combat system from traditional FF games. Kingdom Hearts can also be quite fun for newbies to play and is not generally considered a merciless hardcore game, but you'll have to deal with Disney characters and a certain degree of fan service between both Disney and Squenix characters, but it's actually got a fairly serviceable story with some occasionally emotional moments. It's also not turn-based, so the combat can be a fun, button-mashy affair for people that want more of a "Devil May Cry-lite" experience.

If story is more your bag, then I'd recommend either Suikoden III or Suikoden V for the PS2. Suikoden III however is a kind of a love/hate thing for fans of the series, but I'm one of those that actually enjoyed it a great deal. Suikoden V however has been universally praised by fans of the series as a good game, though Suikoden IV is also usually considered a mis-step by the Konami team.

If you want something with a reeeeeeeeally convoluted plot that's going to make you go crazy with cryptic references to Judeo-Christian mythos, then give the Xenosaga series a try.

It's really a matter of preferences.

[Godstar]

I have to say that one of my favorites has always been Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga I and II. Very challenging, but not too challenging, and I loved the story. Also, you might want to check out Persona 3. I'm a big fan of Atlus as their games are a bit more Nihlistic and well thought out character wise. Plus the games last you weeks, unlike some others.

[Shoeless]

Godstar is right on the Atlus recommendations, I'm a big admirer of many of their JRPGs, I just didn't mention them because they're not exactly newbie friendly, though Persona 3 is probably the easiest to get into.

[weasl]

As for one's i've played

Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts II

- Fun and polished action RPGs, love of Disney cartoons not required, though it may help. 9/10

Shadow Hearts
Shadow Hearts: Covenant

- I still need to play/finish the third in the series but, the first 2 are some of my favorite RPGs of all time, they are however a bit rough around the edges as far as presenation goes, but still great games 9/10

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories

- One of the better SRPG series around, great humor and characters, though forgetable graphics 9/10

Grandia II

- By the books old school JRPG, good for it's time, may not stack up so well these days 8/10

Grandia III

- forgetable sequel, but not terrible 7/10

Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria

- played for around 3 hours (i loved the first in the series) before giving up. Didn't capture the charm of the original.

Odin Sphere

- another played for 2 hours before giving up. Goregous game that I wanted to love but the game play is annoying as all hell. *sits around planting seeds for exp at the end of every fight*

Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter

- still need to get back to and finish this one, it wasn't bad but the game but some of the game design choices put me off. 7/10

Radiata Stories

- i think i put in around 5 hours to this one before i stopped.

Wizardry: Tale of the Forsaken Land

- hardcore dungeon crawler (if that's your thing) played for about 40 hours before i stopped 7/10