I need a list of RPG's that don't have random battles (ps1 and ps2)
 

I am getting very annoyed with random battles and I need a game that doesn't have random battles (as in you need to walk up to the enemy to start the battle). I am specifically looking for games on ps1 and ps2. I already have Grandia and Grandia 2.

Out of the list, I also need recommendations on which ones are worth getting. So far, I have found Star Ocean 3 and Chrono Cross to be pretty interesting. Are these 2 games worth getting?

Does anyone know if Jade Cocoon 2 is any good? Also, I don't know if the shadow hearts games have random battles or not, but does anyone know if they are any good?

Thanks.

Persona 3: FES?

No random battles there, but lots of changing dungeons.

Chrono Cross is good and does not have random battles. I believe that Shadow Hearts has random encounters as well but the combat is neat in that there is a ring and you time your button press to a small sliver on the ring in order to get critical hits. If you don't time it right then you get either regular damaged attacks or a miss.

Vagrant Story lacks random encounters and is damn good. Xenosaga as well lacks random encounters as long as you're willing to sit through hour long cut scenes. And many of them.

Oh, and add Final Fantasy XII to that list as well.

2 and 1 both had random battles.

LUNAR :D Lunar 2 is <3

ps: jade cacoon 2 is meh. i didn't care for it.

Shows how much I know about the series then. Edited for accuracy.

Well I personally think that SaGa Frontier and SaGa Frontier 2 are worth adding to the list. Also, to answer your question about Chrono Cross and Star Ocean 3, yes they are both great games that are worth getting in my opinion.
:forscience::milk:

Ugh, I hated SO3 so no, I wouldn't recommend that.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned anything about the Tales games yet. Tales of the Abyss doesn't have random battles, but I haven't played the other games so I dunno about those.

FFXII is an awesome game. You may not like the MMO feel though.

I sure don't. :(

Speaking of which, I still need to pick up Tales of the Abyss at some point. Nice to know there's no random battles in this one as well.

Tales of Symphonia didn't have random battles, either. The closest to random would be when an amorphous blob on the world map jumped out from outside of your sight range and mugged you, but they could be dodged if you had quick enough reflexes.

I've read on Wikipedia that Tales of Symphonia was for the PS2 as well but that it was a Japan release only. You'd probably be hard-pressed to find the PS2 version.

However, there is also Valkyrie Profile 2: Simeria. Most of the enemies are avoidable thanks to portable stasis fields that the main character can shoot from her hands willy-nilly. On some occasions there are enemies in places your character can't freeze (Divinity Voids), but they can be easily avoided with proper jump timing anyway.

Yeah, I love ToS, but I didn't mention it in my post since the PS2 version is Japan only. I dunno any other games without random battles though.

Yeah, I forgot to put Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria on the list, that too is worth getting, along with Atelier Iris 3: Grand Fantasm, even though I know a lot of people would disagree. As for other Tales games besides ToS and Tales of the Abyss, the earlier Tales games had random battle systems, but are otherwise great games.
:forscience::milk:

I'm rather surprised no one has mentioned Shadow of the Colossus. No random battles whatsoever, you have free reign while traveling around the world... it simply comes down to fighting the Colossus (Colossi?) themselves. Might be boring for some, though.

I'm surprised you think it's an RPG.

*shrug* Yeah, I suppose that story-wise its lacking, but it had a bit of that RPG feel to me. Good game, whatever its classified as, and there certainly aren't any 'random' battles. =\

Oh, but that isn't what I'm contesting. Shadow of the Colossus is not an RPG in any conventional or even unconventional sense.

It can only be defined as a puzzle/action game with very, very light RPG undertones (in the form of stamina and health growth). I really wouldn't consider Shadow of the Colossus an RPG.

Does Tetris feel like a fighting game to you?

But in serious response to the question: Mana Khemina is one.

I'm afraid none of these are for the PS1 or PS2, but I thought I'd mention them anyway:

Blue Dragon has no random fights and is most certainly an RPG. You can add the entire Legend of Zelda series, as they have no random fights. I believe The World Ends With You also has no random battles.

Going back to PS1 days I believe the Alundra games, which had a distinct Zelda vibe, had no random battles, but I could be wrong on that one.

When you said that, I knew it had to exist.

YouTube Video

Certainly his words were the clarion call of retards fighting at a cosplay event.

Dragon Quarter (Breath of Fire V) for PS2 doesn't have random battles. You can see your enemies on the field similar to the Lunar series. However, since BoF V is fought mainly in underground dungeons, I find that the ability to by-pass enemies is limited.

I just looked up Breath of Fire V and it seems pretty interesting. It seems that a lot of people think Breath of Fire V was extremely difficult and very short. How was the difficulty for you (and if it was difficult for you, why)? How often do you get to save? Also, how many hours did it take you to beat it?

The game was designed to make you start over from the beginning (with some items and exp carried over) multiple times; the difficulty and overall length is designed with this in mind.

Things that ramp up the difficulty:
- You can only save by using a "Save Token" or suspending your game. The tokens are in rather short supply and can't be carried over.

- Limited inventory. There is no healing magic, only items, and even when you expand the inventory through gameplay, space is still at a premium.

- Time limit. Every step you take, every turn in battle, and every use of your dragon power fills up a meter. When it reaches 100%, it's game over (though you can of course restart).

That said, I was able to beat it in about 25 hours, and only had to re-start 3 times (always near the beginning, so not a lot of backtracking). By saving your dragon powers and only using them on the tough final bosses, it's quite possible to slog through.

(Incidentally, I'd add Radiata Stories to the list.)

Alundra did indeed have no random monsters and was a lot like Zelda. It was wicked difficult too, awesome game.

Again, not PS games but there were no random battles in the Knights of the Old Republic games or Mass Effect.

Also, how could you ever consider Shadow of the Colossus to be an rpg? It's an action platformy game, out and out. The only element of character development is an increasing health/grip bar. It's no more an rpg than the Tomb Raider games were, less so in fact as at least you find new weapons in those as you progress.

I managed to finish BOF5 without restarting once (or dying once), and found a few of the bosses to be difficult, with maybe one or two being really close calls. I found as long as I battled every monster in the game I was leveled up perfectly find and could hold my own against pretty much anything. Just be sure to use your environment to your advantage during battle.

If you liked both Grandia games, you should give Xtreme a shot. I'm pretty much the only person on earth that liked it, but if you love Grandia for the battles, then you'll love Xtreme.

What did you like about it? I heard it was primarily a dungeon crawler. Is Grandia 3 any good? Better than Xtreme?

About Grandia, though, I hated the fact that you had to level up your magic (I think you also had to level up your weapons, maybe in grandia 2 as well?). I liked grandia 2 a lot more, though.

Wild Arms 4 and Wild Arms 5 have random battles, but there is a specific system in place where you can turn off all random battles in an area if you defeat the Sol Niger. Maybe half the time this is accessible at the start of a dungeon, with the downside being that the other half the time, the Sol Niger savepoint is at the end of the dungeon where you've already slugged through a bunch of random battles. Just in case, I recommend 4 over 5.

Of course, Valkyrie Profile and as IC said, its sequel. Explanation hopefully not needed.

Radiata Stories starts off decent, but tapers off the further you get into the story with the time system and amount of characters.

That's pretty much what I liked about it. Minimal storyline, a choice of some pretty distinct character play styles, and lots and lots of Grandia style battles.

I haven't played Grandia 3, though a lot of people said it was pretty crappy. I've been meaning to pick it up for a while now, since that's what everyone else said about Xtreme, but it's still one of my favorites for the PS2.

Oh, and if you're into dungeon crawling with just battle enemies zelda/diablo style, then you could check out Dark Cloud 2. The first one in the series is absolutely terrible, but the second was a blast.

I tried playing BOF: DQ but the save system pissed me off. I never got past the first "boss", even after multiple attempts.

If I recall correctly, Legend of Mana doesn't have random battles either. I don't remember if there are some mandatory ones though.

Summonmaster, is Wild Arms 3 any good? Is 4 better?

Zerg, Legend of Mana had the same style of play as all of the other Mana games. The battles are about as random as Zelda or Megaman.

I loved Wild Arms 3 as well, and if I recall correctly, there were random battles too but you could cancel them up to a certain amount of times which would go up throughout the game somehow. One other GFFer was wondering about Wild Arms 3 also and ended up loving it after trying it. There are couple of points that may turn you off, like having to repeatedly scan the overworld for destinations.

Wild Arms 4 introduces the HEX battle system which people either hate or love. Of course, I loved it too but it really boils to down to if the HEX system is for you, with Wild Arms 4, since it seems to be hit or miss with people.

I read some stuff about wild arms 4 about how it had a platformer puzzle aspect to it (like jumping puzzles). What is this like? And for Wild arms 3, does it have puzzles as well (like wild arms 2 did)? Are any of them extremely hard (I find it very annoying when I have to consult a walkthrough to get through a puzzle)?

Also, about wild arms 3, what are some things that set it apart from other RPGs? It seems like a pretty basic rpg to me, but still interesting because of the wild west theme.