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JRPGs - Looking to try again, maybe?
Mortal Sky
queer punkhedge witchRegistered User regular
queer punkhedge witchRegistered User regular
So I've always had a love/hate relation with JRPGs. While many have cool concepts, a lot just do so many things to alienate me. So I want to know which ones I won't hate, because I've tried so many times with this genre, but have had such bad luck.
Things I like:
-cool character design
-immersive
-good voice acting
-Good soundtrack
-replay value
-Not TOO linear
-A pinch of sci-fi, or a unique fantasy setting (this is why the oldest final fantasies don't do much for me, but I did generally like FFX)
EDIT: Also good pacing. See below.
Things I hate:
-Shows a hint of crafting and combat systems at the beginning that don't actuallly bother to show up until 35 hours in (Star Ocean 3 I'm looking at you)
-Stupid party AI
-Keeps you killing rats and goblins for the first 35 hours
-Stories full of stupid shit
If you can't tell, SO3 turned me off of JRPGs so badly that the only Japanese-made roleplaying games I've played since are Disgaea 2 and TWEWY.
Some examples of what I do like:
Games I like/d:
FFX (though the leveling curve got a little outrageous after a while)
Disgaea 2
The World Ends With You (Best JRPG ever)
Final Fantasy Legend 2
Pokemon
Kingdom Hearts 2
Games that were playable, but could use some salt:
Golden Sun
Kingdom Hearts 1
Games that were Meh:
FF3: DS version
FFVII (though I might play a PS3 remake, given how my main problem was the horribly outdated camera and graphics, but the rest didn't impress me much either)
Most FF in general
Games that made me hate JRPGs with a fiery passion:
Star Ocean 3
Magna Carta
EDIT: Note that I own a PS2 and PS3, Wii, Game Boy Advance, DS, and PC.
Things I like:
-cool character design
-immersive
-good voice acting
-Good soundtrack
-replay value
-Not TOO linear
-A pinch of sci-fi, or a unique fantasy setting (this is why the oldest final fantasies don't do much for me, but I did generally like FFX)
EDIT: Also good pacing. See below.
Things I hate:
-Shows a hint of crafting and combat systems at the beginning that don't actuallly bother to show up until 35 hours in (Star Ocean 3 I'm looking at you)
-Stupid party AI
-Keeps you killing rats and goblins for the first 35 hours
-Stories full of stupid shit
If you can't tell, SO3 turned me off of JRPGs so badly that the only Japanese-made roleplaying games I've played since are Disgaea 2 and TWEWY.
Some examples of what I do like:
Games I like/d:
FFX (though the leveling curve got a little outrageous after a while)
Disgaea 2
The World Ends With You (Best JRPG ever)
Final Fantasy Legend 2
Pokemon
Kingdom Hearts 2
Games that were playable, but could use some salt:
Golden Sun
Kingdom Hearts 1
Games that were Meh:
FF3: DS version
FFVII (though I might play a PS3 remake, given how my main problem was the horribly outdated camera and graphics, but the rest didn't impress me much either)
Most FF in general
Games that made me hate JRPGs with a fiery passion:
Star Ocean 3
Magna Carta
EDIT: Note that I own a PS2 and PS3, Wii, Game Boy Advance, DS, and PC.
Mortal Sky on
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But just a word to the wise: JRPGs and good voice acting generally don't mix.
To be fair, voice acting isn't what makes or breaks it, it's just important.
How is the pacing in Lost Odyssey? That's pretty important, too.
I don't think there's really a part that's too slow in the game. The last disc allows you to finally go back to old places so you can get items and stuff. The fights are fun, but some of them can take a while. But overall I think LO is what you're looking for in a game.
If VA isn't too important I'd at least rent Blue Dragon. I love that game to death, it's a modern day DragonQuest. *incoming tirade against Blue Dragon*
EDIT: Ugh, I see where this thread is headed.
Nevermind.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
Persona 4 mainly. I would say Persona 3 too but you said no stupid party AI.
The AI is alright, I guess.
Valkyria chronicles too if you like your SRPGs. Story might be full of stupid for some, but YMMV.
i think it's ok.
Between the games in that series and TWEWY fantasy JRPGs are pretty much dead to me.
Seriously, it seems to fit all your criteria.
3DS Friend Code: 0404-6826-4588 PM if you add.
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Persona 3 and 4 would be my recommendations.
The only conceivable downside is that the game is long as balls. 98 hours my first playthrough, though I was fairly thorough and spent a lot of time in the dungeons. Oh and that playing p4 makes p3 feel like murder. Which is unfortunate because before p4 I had p3 at around my third favorite game.
Edit: Oh and the intro takes forever. fooorrreeeeevvvveeerrrrrrr.
LoL: failboattootoot
I share a lot of your grievances with JRPGs (and your appreciation of FFX, my favourite FF), it takes something very special for me to play to completion. So many of them feature predictable tedious characters, early 90s anime quality voice acting and boring battle systems, I am surprised so many people can suffer through them.
Going along with urahonky's suggestion: Have you ever played any of the Dragon Quest games? DQIV and DQV on DS were wonderful: They're pretty lighthearted, don't hit you over the head with cutscene-driven plot exposition and generally scoot around pretty quickly in terms of pacing (no majorly huge dungeons until the endgame, dying doesn't set you back in terms of experience or items gained, etc.). They have a good-natured fairy-tale storybook kind of feel.
If you liked TWEWY because it was wildly different, you might want to check out SMT: Devil Survivor on DS. It's a blend of JRPG menu-driven battles and SRPG unit placement and enemy tactics. The battle system heavily favors playing smart and exploiting weaknesses instead of just grinding, so it's pretty merciless but rewards the well-prepared player.
EDIT: Chrono Trigger is definitely excellent, if you haven't already played it to death. It's all killer, no filler—almost no padding involved, multiple swappable characters that help change gameplay dynamics, generally simple story with fun characters. It's tight and lean and beautiful.
LO is a pretty good game. The story is, I would say, decent. I'm a bit jaded against JRPGs though. However your character will frequently have these "dreams" during the game. The "dreams" are text based stories. Most are decent, some suck, and some of them are actually really good.
As far as pacing goes, well I can only say that personally I never felt like anything was drawn out.
Yeah, CT is really great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtBgCuRlZb8
ROBOQUEST
ROBOQUEST
ROBOQUEST
Roboquest?
So I think I've got this list going in my head of what I want to try:
Chrono
Valkyria
Persona 3/4
Skies of Arcadia
And then maybe the rest. None of the games mentioned sound horrible, so that's good. but there's only so much budget I can use, sadly.
Chrono Trigger
Secret of Mana (This ever coming out for the DS?)
Suikoden 1 / 2
There were plenty more that I enjoyed in the PS1/PS2 era but these are the ones I find myself replaying. Obviously nostalgia plays a factor in the SNES choices.
If you include strategy then add FF:Tactics (PS1).
The current gen seems to be starved for JRPGs. The cult of Rent convinced me to pick up Valkyria Chronicles which sits in my backlog behind Uncharted begging to be opened.
I really struggled with Persona because it's not noob friendly and I think I lost a good few hours worth of play because of a randomly hard-ass mob. Also i felt I was constantly fighting against the game, trying to meet deadlines by working my way through while my team all were too tired, it felt like hard work.
Skies of Arcadia was BRILLIANT, I got to the very last boss before finding it annoying, definitely give that a go!
Not to mention that is discounted in many places; I believe Best Buy has it for $20.
3DS Friend Code: 0404-6826-4588 PM if you add.
But definitely Chrono Trigger.
I have a sort of love/hate relationship with JRPG's, too. I bought Lost Odyssey because of this board, and I played it until the fourth disc when I realized that I was making myself play it.
Huge cost. Persona 3: FES or Persona 4 would be pretty easy to snatch, both the Digital Devil Saga games are pricey as hell...and are both required.
- It has some great character design. Some of the characters can be a bit annoying, but it makes up for it by having the best main character I've seen in a JRPG in years. Yuri is badass.
- I thought it was relatively immersive, but I get immersed easily.
- Top notch VA. Best JRPG VA I've heard outside of a squeenix game.
- Good soundtrack
- I thought it had some great replay value, as you can bring all kinds of stuff from your current game to a sort of new game +
- Linearity - You liked FFX and it's less linear than that, so It should be good enough.
- *Somewhat* standard medieval fantasy on the surface, but with some interesting touches and twists
- Great Pacing
- Kinda sorta has a crafting system, but you're taught what it is just a couple hours in and will use it for the rest of the game.
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I wish I could agree about Lost Oddesey, but my time with it was kind of iffy. Promising plot, glacial pace. It wasn't exactly the best idea for a week-long rental from Blockbuster.
EDIT: Versperia! YES! My favorite 360 RPG, second being Eternal Sonata (which wouldn't be the OP's cup of tea from the sound of things, but damn if it wasn't clever in its own right).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Mana
But it sucked.
The Pipe Vault|Twitter|Steam|Backloggery|3DS:1332-7703-1083
This is my vote as well. Probably my favorite JRPG of all time, which was unexpected since I fished it out of bargain bin and went in with mediocre expectations. Too bad he said he didn't have a 360 (and I highly doubt the PS3 version is ever coming here).
My little sister likes JRPGs, and I like to get her some games to play from time to time. I bought her Tales of Vesperia, which she liked, but she destroyed the disc when she changed the orientation of the Xbox while the disc was in it. I have been leisurely looking for another copy but can never find it in stores.
I have also bought her Enchanted Arms or somesuch and she finished it but didn't really like it. So any suggestions? She also kind of likes Final Fantasy 8 and 10. She really liked some JRPG on the PS2 that was mostly in space with robots and things, I totally don't remember the name of that one.
Just as a note: We don't have a PS2 anymore.
The PS2 RPG you speak of was probably Xenosaga. I'll second the recommendation of Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon.
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