Hi..I regularly post in the music forum, but this is only my second post in the games forum..

I've been having more and more difficulty finding games I like. The types of games I play the most are RPGs and platform jumpers, but good ones seem to be becoming more and more scarce.

I don't like FPSes, and I can't get into a game unless there's some reasonable amount of difficulty.

This basically makes video game reviews useless to me, because...well, when an RPG is hard enough to actually require thought, video game critics talk about it like it's a *bad* thing. So, critics essentially grade games down for having the things that make me like them in the first place.

Also, it's not just 'difficulty good'. It doesn't have to be hard, but it has to be hard enough in a way that forces me to be creative, and put my brain in the 'on' position to get through the levels.

Some games I've liked lately are Star Ocean: Till The End of Time, Maximo: Army of Zin, Ys: Ark of Napishtim, and Growlanser Generations.

Any other recommendations? What RPGs and platform jumpers are...actually hard, and require creative strategies?

You seem to like RPGs, so I highly recommend Shadow Hearts and its sequel, Shadow Hearts: Covenant. Considering your criteria, it's hard to say which one you'd like more. I consider the sequel to be the better game, it's a lot longer, and the battle system is more complex, but the problem is that it's really, really easy.

The original is relatively simple in gameplay, but still requires a little more strategy than the average RPG. The going can get pretty tough, too; some bosses will wipe you out first turn if you don't know what you're doing.

Also of note is Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Virtual crack, to be sure. It's a strategy RPG (Final Fantasy Tactics would be a point of reference for the genre, if you've played it) with four-digit level caps. To be honest, I got bored with it when my characters were in the low three-digit level range, and I never got close to finishing all of the side-quests, but I've known people to clock in a good 200-400 hours doing everything, so you'll get plenty of bang for your buck if it's your sort of thing.

And if you haven't played the Suikoden games (particularly the second one), you must do so (good luck trying to track down copies of the games, though).

Well...I'm like 10 hours into Shadow Hearts: Covenant at the moment and I haven't been in a single fight where I even got close to losing...

I have been playing La Pucelle: Tactics, which is either a sequel or prequel to Disagea (I forget). The battle system is pretty good but the plot..I dunno.

I played Suikoden 1 and found it too short and too easy. Are the sequels harder/longer/better? I heard Suikoden 3 was good.

Yeah, it's almost laughable just how easy Shadow Hearts: Covenant is. There wasn't a single boss fight (except for a few optional ones, with cheap Instant Death attacks and the like) that I lost; about the only one that I'd have really considered a close call out of the non-optional bosses was the very final one.

La Pucelle: Tactics was made before Disgaea, if I recall correctly. I've only played Disgaea out of the three (which includes La Pucelle and the newest one, Phantom Brave). Disgaea is widely considered the best of the lot, so if you found anything to like about La Pucelle, you wouldn't go far wrong with Disgaea (assuming you haven't played it yet).

Also, Suikoden II is rather easy, and not particularly long either, but it's probably one of the best games ever made. I haven't really played the others, but if common opinion is anything to go by, it blows the other games out of the water.

One other major issue of Suikoden I is that there were 108 characters, and maybe 2 that actually got developed in any particular way. Even the main character didn't get developed because they made it so you never talked, on the logic that people will fill in the blanks with their own personality.

I rented Prince of Persia: Warrior Within. It reminded me what I don't like about most new action games, excluding Maximo.

1) Spastic camera angles.

2) There are so many strange combos that there's practically no way to guess what will happen when you press a button. The result of various button combinations are different whether you're three feet or four feet from an enemy. And if you press R1 to block when you can wall-run instead into a pit. Which brings me to my next...

3) You can ride the block button. This is also something I hated about Castlevania: LoI. You hold down the block button...you're safe. Period.

So, review. Due to R1, you never die because you were beaten by the enemy. You either die because button taps result in some unpredictable thing that throws you into a pit, or because button taps were interpreted in some random way you didn't intend by the game that made you vulnerable too many times.

The reason I like the Maximo games is because it doesn't do this junk.

1) The camera angles are 100% in your control.

2) Whenever you press a button, it does what you expect.

3) Well..in the second you can ride the block button, but that's forgiveable considering the first two.

As far as new action games go, I'm really interested in God of War. It's received uniformly glowing reviews (it had something like 97% Metascore at one point), so it's a safe bet that it's worth playing.

Also, time for a question on my part: Is the newer Maximo significantly different to or better than the first one ("Ghosts of Glory" or whatever)? I really didn't like that game at all.

Well, the first Maximo: Ghosts to Glory is probably my second favorite PS2 action game so far to MGS2. I love the simpleness of the gameplay -- I think it's simple gameplay that plays out the most complex (Because you're not bogged down with 50 combos, 3 of which will ever be useful to you).

The second...it's very similar, but also very different. It keeps the same basic engine, but you buy all your skills instead of getting them from power-ups, and when you buy them you have them permanently. There's also a second weapon that you can switch to at any time once you get it. Also, there are 'innocents' in most levels that the enemies are trying to kill and who give you things, sell you things, and give you hints if you protect them. You can also chain more attacks together consecutively, and enemies take more hits to kill.

I think the boss fights are poorly designed and tedious, and various levels where you have to protect fighting NPCs with very reckless AI, but the rest of the game is every bit as good as the first and maybe better.

I'd gladly take the simple NES-platformer-hearkening gameplay of Maximo over the showoffy-style of games like the new Prince of Persia games and Castlevania: LoI. But that's just me. I still play NES platformers. (I *really* want to beat the Ninja Gaiden games, but once you get to the end you have to face three bosses on one bar of life, and when you die you go back to the start of the level. *cringe*)

If you have a console or PC Ratchet & Clank 3, Jak & Daxter 2 [It's better than Jak 3] and Prince Of Persia Warrior Within are the best platform jumpers along with the Maximo games. Also try the underated Beyond Good & Evil which is an adventure game come platform jumper and i think a small bit of RPG [but correct me if i'm wrong with that]. There's a third Prince of Persia game due in a couple of months too, but the next Jak&Daxter game is a kart racer spin-off [oh dear] and the next Ratchet & Clank doesn't look up to much either