JRPG General - Video games were never meant to be shorter than 50 hours.

[HexFag]

Yeah I saw mixed reviews about it, but I'm willing to pay for Gust due to them doing good job on average. Wish they went back into classic JRPGs, also the first Mana Khemia is amazing. The second is not as great.

Man I'm kinda bummed to find out that Mana Khemia 2 isn't great. I loved the hybrid 2D3D artstyle that it along with a ton of other games of the era had.

I've always get a little confused whenever I see the hype around Chrono Trigger as I never really managed to get into it. It's a ok game but the best RPG thing just never really made sense to me. Maybe if it was the fist one I've ever played I would have a different opinion but it just seemed so basic even to the other JRPGs that came out at the same time. It really makes me wonder what the heck I'm missing that everyone else gets from it.

I'd argue that it was a very unique game that gave the player a lot of choices and freedom that other JRPGs were doing at the time. I do think the "greatest JRPG of all time" comes from nostalgia as a lot of the people who started playing and writing about video games when the Internet started becoming popular grew up on Chrono Trigger and FF6. The soundtrack on the other hand is very iconic, probably some of Yasunori Mitsuda's best work.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

Man I'm kinda bummed to find out that Mana Khemia 2 isn't great. I loved the hybrid 2D3D artstyle that it along with a ton of other games of the era had.

I don't think I hated it, but the first was so fucking good. Legitimately one of their best titles along Atelier Iris 2 and Ar Tonelico 2. It's insane how many amazing games they released for the ps2 and how it stopped once they got to the ps3 era.

 

[Grub]

Dragon Quest IX" for the DS is also good in my opinion, I enjoy its vibes, but by some point it's what they call a grindfest, it also has a "reincarnation" system that I generally don't like. If you don't mind spending some time in a game, enjoying its atmosphere, lore, and potential, then this could be one to play, but unless you want to speedrun it, you're going to need some patience.

I wanted to like DQIX but I ended up dropping it part way through. I just found it boring for some reason even though I really enjoy a bunch of the other Dragon Quest games. I also don't really like how Dragon Quest went along with visible overworld monsters for its newer games. I didn't like the 3ds version of VIII for that reason.

I've always get a little confused whenever I see the hype around Chrono Trigger as I never really managed to get into it. It's a ok game but the best RPG thing just never really made sense to me

I feel the same way. I've played through it a few times I just don't really get it. It's a really nice looking game, the music is great but as far as gameplay goes it's pretty meh and the story's really nothing special.

I've been binging pretty hard on Romancing SaGa Minstrel song lately. I think it might be my new favourite rpg. It's so fucking fun. I'm on my third back to back playthrough of it right now. The event rank system's super cool. It reminds me of Majora's Mask the way events happen and progress as time goes on. Different quests become available or unavailable depending on your event rank and stuff just happens in the world whether you're around for it or not. The character class system's also super in depth and fun to play with.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Parasite Eve is relatively popular but I still don't think it gets the attention and praise it deserves. It does so much right and very little wrong. It's the perfect horror JRPG (I haven't played Koudelka yet though).

I'm still chipping away at Tokyo Xanadu. It's long as hell, but half my playtime is my insistence on talking to every NPC every time there's a dialogue reset and doing as much side stuff as possible, and getting decent (not perfect) dungeon scores.

I think JRPGs are probably more fun when you don't play like you have OCD.

I still really enjoyed the Djinn system, even if I had no clue you could mix and match them when I played it as a kid. I know there's a DS sequel, is it any good?

It's pretty good, but not as good as the previous ones. I'd rate them 9/10, the sequel is like a 7.5/10. Still worth playing.

Monochrome Mobius: Rights and Wrongs Forgotten - A prequel to the last two Utawarerumono games. Really fun battle system and great writing.

I watched a review that said it was bad, which was disappointing as a fan of the series.

I would add FF Tactics and Vagrant Story from the same creator

Vagrant Story looks so great, then you play it and it's complicated as fuck right off the bat. I might play it with a guide some day.

I've always get a little confused whenever I see the hype around Chrono Trigger as I never really managed to get into it. It's a ok game but the best RPG thing just never really made sense to me. Maybe if it was the fist one I've ever played I would have a different opinion but it just seemed so basic even to the other JRPGs that came out at the same time. It really makes me wonder what the heck I'm missing that everyone else gets from it.

It's because it has awesome art, the best OST in the genre, and fun, snappy combat. It does pretty much everything right if it's to your tastes, it has an interesting time travel mechanic that weaves itself into the gameplay and story fairly well, but I guess not everyone cares for time travel. I can see being put off by a silent protagonist as well. I think the characters are cool, but that's also subjective (I never cared for Lucca that much though).

Did you finish it or stop halfway through?

 

[X Prime]

The people saying that gachas killed the JRPG are kinda sorta correct.

It's more that a lot of what would be good JRPGs were moved to mobile phones and thus gachas. Ness brought up Chrono Trigger; Another Eden by some of the same guys is an example of a game that by all rights should have just been a 50 hour JRPG.

 

[HexFag]

(I haven't played Koudelka yet though).

I posted about it in the Retro Games thread, but I think Koudelka kind of sucks as a game. Everything else about it (story, atmosphere, cast, and ESPECIALLY the cutscenes) are great, but the gameplay is complete horse ass and made me drop it by Disc 2.

It's a slow grid-like combat system where all of the items have durability and enemies have absorb resistances that couldn't possibly be known of beforehand, causing you to full heal them entirely by accident. The mechanic where leveling up stats too much causes negative effects (iirc there's a piety stat for healing and if you level it up too much healing effects on you will be worse), is extremely cool. I just wish they made this game an RE styled survival horror because the gameplay takes me out of the game immensely.

 

[Squawking Macaw]

Call them slop if you'd like but I genuinely love the Octopath games (gacha excluded) and Triangle Strategy. IMO all three games have good gameplay, amazing soundtracks and nice visuals that look like dioramas (they really should turn down the bloom though).

Spoiler: Octopath Traveler

Octopath Traveler's shield and boost mechanics are decent and the secondary jobs also gives you a lot of versatility, and it has the best music of these three, but the story isn't as good. You've got 8 different stories, but as you can recruit any of the 8 characters in any order, or even not recruit them at all, the stories only focus on their protagonists and they ignore the other party members, not to mention that the chapters are very formulaic too. But hey, you fight a creature that looks like Satan instead of God, that's slightly unique.

Spoiler: Octopath Traveler 2

Gameplay-wise this one is very similar to the first game but with some QoL improvements and the ability to change the time of day, but the stories are much better. The chapters don't follow a strict formula anymore, you have crossed paths where two characters get to interact, and the last story is a coherent narrative instead of an infodump locked behind obtuse sidequests. It's also set right before the Industrial Revolution instead of the medieval setting of the other two games. It's much easier than the first game, though. The warrior can turn most bosses into a joke by the midgame.

Spoiler: Triangle Strategy

This one's an SRPG, it's often compared to FF Tactics. It's based on elevation, you have increased range and damage if your enemy is lower than you. It also has multiple paths and endings, and they can be quite different, you can free the pink-haired jews, let them get enslaved by the arabs, or leave them to fend for themselves. The story is told through long cutscenes, they're skippable, and I personally liked the plot so that wasn't a problem for me, but if you're just there for the gameplay or don't like the story you probably won't like the game as they receive a lot of focus.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

The people saying that gachas killed the JRPG are kinda sorta correct.

It's more that a lot of what would be good JRPGs were moved to mobile phones and thus gachas. Ness brought up Chrono Trigger; Another Eden by some of the same guys is an example of a game that by all rights should have just been a 50 hour JRPG.

I have Another Eden on my phone, it seems awesome, I intend to really play it at some point but I wish it would get ported to Switch like Fantasian did (another game I'm very interested in playing eventually).

I posted about it in the Retro Games thread, but I think Koudelka kind of sucks as a game. Everything else about it (story, atmosphere, cast, and ESPECIALLY the cutscenes) are great, but the gameplay is complete horse ass and made me drop it by Disc 2.

It's a slow grid-like combat system where all of the items have durability and enemies have absorb resistances that couldn't possibly be known of beforehand, causing you to full heal them entirely by accident. The mechanic where leveling up stats too much causes negative effects (iirc there's a piety stat for healing and if you level it up too much healing effects on you will be worse), is extremely cool. I just wish they made this game an RE styled survival horror because the gameplay takes me out of the game immensely.

I've heard complaints about the combat before. Sounds like another game to play by guide, unfortunately, kinda like Vagrant Story.

 

[Once More Into The Abyss]

Chrono trigger has been getting lots of buzz for its 30th anniversary so I'm probably going to start a replay soon, not that really need an excuse chrono trigger is awesome.

After all these years, I still have yet to play it. Maybe this would be the right time.

 

[LucasSomething]

I've always get a little confused whenever I see the hype around Chrono Trigger as I never really managed to get into it. It's a ok game but the best RPG thing just never really made sense to me. Maybe if it was the fist one I've ever played I would have a different opinion but it just seemed so basic even to the other JRPGs that came out at the same time. It really makes me wonder what the heck I'm missing that everyone else gets from it.

I feel the same way. I've played through it a few times I just don't really get it. It's a really nice looking game, the music is great but as far as gameplay goes it's pretty meh and the story's really nothing special.

It's a game that sounds overrated nowadays because people expect JRPGs to much longer playtime, complex combat system, convoluted narratives, charismatic villains and character arcs.

Chrono trigger is a very simple game about a silent rando who stumbles upon time travel shenanigans, makes friends with people from different times and saves the future from a giant alien tick. The combat is calcuating skills to hit all enemies, element matching and double tech spam on bosses. Level up are strong and you can buy ethers cheap so it's fairly casual.

CT mains strenght was always it's insanely tight pacing and effectively no "filler". Battles are fast, characters use as few words as possible, dungeons are short and everything you do ties back to Lavos. People who feel burned out by longer rpgs end up appreaciating chrono trigger a lot and thinking it's the best ever.

Gacha really killed the genre, and whatever was left was infected by Persona and Bravely Default to be mediocre slop.

This hits me hard cause i play the Tribe Nine gacha and it's really obvious the game was originally a single player action JRPG morphed into a gacha abomination.

There is no daily stamina limit, the level cap raises with story progression and achievements, you level up by fighting instead of using boosters, no multiplayer or server latency, the dungeons are small and don't scale with you, there is no pay 2 win endgame, no waifu fanservice, its rated +18 (violent) and they made a functional hospital that is useless since teleporting heals you.

It got a ton of hate on release because of terrible gacha rates so it would probably be received way better as a normal jrpg. They improved the rates and improved the game a lot but i hope it doesn't end service, it appeals to me way better than any rpg gachas that rips off persona 5.

 

[Jack Hoffman]

I like JRPGs but dislike Anime and Japanese bullshit.
What are some good JRPGs that aren’t that J?

The last JRPG I played was Fantasian: Neo Dimension.
I turned off the voices to make it more bearable, but it was still too much for my tastes. The environments, music and systems were great, just hated the dialog and anime shit.

 

[Anon88]

Did you finish it or stop halfway through?

I never beat the game. It was a while ago but I think I was in the middle of getting some item back from the cavemen time period.

I like JRPGs but dislike Anime and Japanese bullshit.
What are some good JRPGs that aren’t that J?

Play Wild Arms. It’s pretty close to an old west JRPG so no typical Japanese fantasy stuff. Doesn’t really have any anime art outside of the intro and no voice acting at all.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

I never beat the game. It was a while ago but I think I was in the middle of getting some item back from the cavemen time period.

I see. Personally I found the future and prehistoric segments to be some of the weaker sections, so it's understandable. It's pretty short by JRPG standards though, so I think it's worth playing through once on a fresh run to see what you think.

What are some good JRPGs that aren’t that J?

Final Fantasy X, but FFX-2, which you don't need to play, is very Japanesey.

 

[LucasSomething]

I like JRPGs but dislike Anime and Japanese bullshit.
What are some good JRPGs that aren’t that J?

The last JRPG I played was Fantasian: Neo Dimension.
I turned off the voices to make it more bearable, but it was still too much for my tastes. The environments, music and systems were great, just hated the dialog and anime shit.

If you want the rpg side and not the japanese side there are good "western jrpgs". Chained echoes is a (german) indie one i liked recently. Crystal project is just sandbox exploration with dozens of jrpg jobs and customization.

And man, Wild Arms mentioned made me check kickstarter spiritual sucessor, Armed Phantasia, and find out it's DEAD and so is Penny Blood, the Shadow Hearts spiritual sucessor.

https://noisypixel.net/armed-fantasia-penny-blood-delayed-kickstarter-update/

It was supposed to release this month but they reveal there was very little progress in the time and the publisher apparently ran away with the money so they're fucked. The games are "delayed indefinitely" since they never found another publisher. (Why is it so hard to find one? Do they all really think turn based jrpg doesn't sell?)

That's two classic jrpg franchises that died and never even got indie attempted sucessors. No cowboy and horror jrpgs for me.

 

[Grub]

It's a game that sounds overrated nowadays because people expect JRPGs to much longer playtime, complex combat system, convoluted narratives, charismatic villains and character arcs.

I played it when it first came out. I enjoy older shorter jrpgs. Just not Chrono Trigger

Chrono trigger is a very simple game

That's sort of my issue with it. It's simple to a fault.

CT mains strenght was always it's insanely tight pacing and effectively no "filler

Battles are fast, characters use as few words as possible, dungeons are short and everything you do ties back to Lavos. People who feel burned out by longer rpgs end up appreaciating chrono trigger a lot and thinking it's the best ever.

Personally, I find the game drags pretty bad in the beginning. Everything from the millenial fair until you get to the Epoch is a slog. Especially when you end up in the future. I hate that part. I've dropped the game at least two or three times after reaching the future. Then I find after you reach the epoch the game feels aimless and not in a good way. It's pretty much, pick a time, go do some stuff, get a new party member, rinse and repeat until you've done enough stuff to beat lavos. Most of the stuff you do though isn't really all that interesting. It's pretty standard jrpg stuff.

I don't find the gameplay interesting enough to make up for the fairly boring story segments. Three party members doesn't leave much room for experimentation, the combo and enemy movement stuff is effectively a timer and otherwise it's just a Final Fantasy ATB system with a dumbed down character system. The static enemy placements make backtracking through areas repetitive and tedious.

I want to like the game. That's why I've played it so many fucking times even though I don't like it. The music gets me pumped up, it's one of the nicest looking snes games but then I play it and every time it's just 'oh yeah that's right I remember now.' I've tried playing the vanilla snes version, the ds version, a few different romhacks and no matter how many times I try I just get bored of it and find it tedious to play.

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

I tried Suikoden but I couldn't get into it. I know it is critically acclaimed too. I couldn't get into Chrono Trigger or Ys either. I'm more of a Shining Force/Lunar/Grandia/Tales/Trails fan.

I love the CT theme though.

I confess I don't understand the love for Final Fantasy either. I think its because of the whole realistic looking models thing. I cannot get into Atelier either.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

I tried Suikoden but I couldn't get into it. I know it is critically acclaimed too. I couldn't get into Chrono Trigger or Ys either. I'm more of a Shining Force/Lunar/Grandia/Tales/Trails fan.

I love the CT theme though.

I confess I don't understand the love for Final Fantasy either. I think its because of the whole realistic looking models thing. I cannot get into Atelier either.

Which Ys games did you try? Celceta and VIII are the series' peak. The first few entries aged poorly.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I watched a review that said it was bad, which was disappointing as a fan of the series.

Nah it's good, looking at Steam the bad reviews are mainly people who don't realize that this is how JRPGs supposed to play and look. They think it needs to be Persona in graphics and everything needs to be entirely based on QoL.

 

[pikachudidnothingwrong]

Lunar, Lunar II, Grandia, Xenogears, Final Fantasy IX.
Chrono Cross is pretty good too. There are too many to list. But those are the major ones for now.

90s was the golden age of gaming and RPGs.

Still in development. It doesn't seem like it is taking them any longer than normal. But time flies I guess.

The series is getting an "update" for a more "mature" style and also a new battle system. (being SE and all.. some sort of AA/H&S slop mos likely) Things not looking good.

 

[Bakachev]

Don't know if this one qualify as a JRPG but there's a series called "Uncharted Water" set in the age of discovery, where you can trade glass beads to niggers for gold.