I can’t feel it like a discriminatory term when I use to say “JRPG are way better than WRPG”!
It can be weird when a Japanese game is made in western style, or with some recent indies that emulate Japanese style, but… There are evident diferences between western and Japanese RPGs. I absolutely love JRPGs, but I mostly don’t care about the Western ones!
Now that I’ve caught up on all the replies, I wanted to ask what JRPGs y’all have finished this year? I’ve only finished a measly two, both of them being in the Final Fantasy series.
The first game I finished was Final Fantasy I. While I found myself often wondering where I was supposed to go next, that issue was quickly resolved by following a guide. I enjoyed myself more than I anticipated with such an older title considering my main reason for loving JRPGs are cinematic cutscenes, which this game was missing.
The second JRPG I finished (mostly) was the main campaign for FFXIV: Endwalker. I’m still working on post-patch quests and the side content I will probably never be fully finished with but I cannot praise this game enough. I have never enjoyed MMORPGs but this one stole my gamer heart. It wasn’t until recently that I realized my favorite game of all time is no longer FFX, but FFXIV, and it justly deserves it.
Both of these games have my recommendation seal of approval for those hesitating on trying them.
Let’s see…
Persona 5 Royal, which I started last year. Pretty good game. I expected the story to be better, but ultimately was sad when I finished it because I felt like I was leaving friends back.
Pokemon Ultraluna: This game shouldn’t exist because TWO “third” versions are nothing but a con, but… I had a good time playing it and Episode RR was cool.
Breath of Fire IV: A good classic JRPG with one of the best battle system in PS1.
And now I’m playing my next Tales of game: Tales of Zestiria.
I’ve been wanting to try the Megami Tensei series for ages but always felt so overwhelmed on how to start it. My solution was creating a list of all the titles in the series that had a Western release in publication order (if it had a remake, I replaced the original version with the remake version). Also I had no idea the series stemmed from a novel, so that was interesting to find out. I added it to my backlog of books but after reading the Parasite Eve novel, I’m not very excited for this one.
I am interested in the Breath of Fire and Tales Of series as well. I’ve played a couple Tales games but I’ve only finished Tales of Symphonia. If you haven’t seen the anime adaptation, it’s surprisingly good considering how many hours of game they crammed into 11 episodes.
I’m currently trying to focus on Final Fantasy XVI. I’ve only played a small portion of it but I’m really enjoying myself. Excited to see what the rest of the game holds.
Wow, this made me realize I haven’t played an RPG since November. That’s very unlike me. Wild Arms 2 has been sitting on my coffee table for a few months now, guess it’s time I boot it up.
So far I played and finished Forspoken and am currently playing Harvestella. Given I’m enjoying it I’m sure I’ll finish it. I also started FFXIII-2 but put it on hold to play Harvestella. I plan to resume once I’m done. I also purchased Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Live-A-Live recently so the plan is to get around to them both this year. I know that doesn’t quite answer your question because it includes yet to be played games, lol.
Persona 5 is probably the most user friendly Megaten in history, so I guess it can be a good starting point, unless that makes harder to play previous games.
I want to watch the Symphonia animation, and I’ve already read the manga, but I absolutely love Symphonia and every Tales of I have played.
I agree with @Daninokuni on Persona 5 and its ease of entry, but if you want to play a pure Megaten game and not one considered to be more of a spin-off, I would recommend Shin Megami Tensei IV. If that doesn’t work, then I would recommend Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. It can easily be played on current consoles and unlike the original, now features an easier mode which might help in the arena of staying alive as the original was quite unforgiving in terms of how hard it came at you from the start. You can always adjust it later and see how you like the series.
If you don’t care for this entry, I would likely assume, you aren’t going to like the rest as they get tougher beyond that with a lot of intentional design decisions that are there just to screw the player over.
@WerqKween This is your motivation to get at least one JRPG in this year! Wild Arms has been on my backlog for ages too…
@BMO I was so excited for Harvestella when it was announced just for the visuals alone. The prospect of a non-cartoonish farming sim was so exciting. I know Harvestella is more JRPG than farming sim but still. I waited for a sale because of the mixed reviews but honestly shouldn’t have as most of the reviews were from players expecting a Stardew Valley/Story of Seasons experience, and then being disappointed there was more to it than that. It’s been so long since I’ve played it, I’ll probably have to restart though…
@Daninokuni @Prin I am a little afraid to start with Persona 5 in case it makes trying the older titles more difficult. I also like playing through a series in publication order to appreciate how the series develops and grows. There is a high possibility I’ll boot up a few and go “nope, this isn’t for me” but everything I’ve seen from Persona 3/4/5 seems right up my alley. I love life sims and I love RPGs. Mushing them together makes it super appealing to me.
So, you can go about it a few ways, depending on what you want to get out of this. If you take the publication route, I would read the novels first but be aware that they aren’t fully translated currently so unless you know Japanese, some cliffs notes will be needed eventually. After that, I would start with the NES titles and go from there, but be aware that while they are fully translated, they can be pretty rough in difficulty, quality of life that you may be used to with modern RPGs nowadays, and the pacing, which tends to slow down at points, necessitating heavy grinding.
If you can get passed that, then the story is very interesting, dark, and unlike other games of the time with how bleak everything is. It’s a series that is very influential but one that is also a love it or loathe it affair. If you choose to get into it, I would recommend watching some of Marsh’s videos on the series, as long as spoilers don’t bother you. Very knowledgeable about the games.
If you choose to take this a different path, then I would recommend skipping Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei and its direct sequel and going right to the Super Famicom title. Shin Megami Tensei If… is another one I would highly recommend visiting soon after but be aware that this game can get super tough, very quickly, moreso then the others but fits more with the high school storyline that the Persona games follow.
It’s not a very deep game by any standard. It’s certainly a bit more focused on the RPG side, but it’s not a game that requires a lot of min-maxing. The plot is fairly conventional B-tier JRPG. But I’m still enjoying the gameplay loop. It’s a solid AA game that lets you dictate what you want to do with your time. Sometimes I spend multiple days farming, other times I just follow the story. I never feel like either choice is the wrong one at any given time. It’s no Stardew Valley but I’m thankful for that because I bounced off that immediately due to the tedious limitations placed on most actions. There’s none of that there, just some casual farming and action-RPG elements.
Golden Sun remasters when?
No?
Back to not JRPG’ing
Took a break from the big JRPG’s I’m working through. I keep encountering this weird glitch in FF8 Remastered on the Switch. As soon as I get to he dream sequence that has Laguna and Co. searching through a reactor or something. When I get to the part where you climb down the ladder into the cave, laguna climbs down, but when I push the joystick to make him move down he runs back through his pals and they just turn around. I can’t find any recorded instance of this, and I have no idea what to do. Anybody have any suggestions?
Can you go a different direction? I think I know where you’re talking about, isn’t there another way you can go?
I think you’re talking about the Centra excavation, right? Have you gotten a key and found some hatches, or do you mean the very first ladder into the area?
The first ladder in here I can’t climb down
the second ladder here I can’t climb down either
It’s been a while, but I remember encountering something like this. I think the controls for going up/down the ladder are maybe inverted? Did you try hitting the opposite direction once you’re attached to the ladder?
Lol yeah that’s the entrance. Hmm. Not sure what to say, I played it in the last couple years and I didn’t have a problem. Sorry I can’t be more help, but maybe try going the other way like was mentioned above? Do you have an earlier save you can try out?
I just finished Octopath Traveler II a few days ago, and it’s my favorite game that I’ve played this year so far. Before that, I was playing Digimon World: Next Order but it didn’t really click so I don’t think I’m picking that up again. I finished Fire Emblem Engage earlier this year, and that was kinda fun. Just started Persona 5 Royal and knowing that there’re many people who played it and likes it makes the first moments of starting the game feel so surreal.
Between Nintendo shop sales, Steam Summer Sale and Prime Day sales, I’ve ended up with a bunch of JRPGs. Given I’ve been enjoying myself playing Harvestella, but crave something with more depth, I am trying to pick something from the list below to play next. I also threw in a couple games already in my collection but that I haven’t gotten around to playing (FFXII-2, FFXII, 13 Sentinels, Tales of Zestiria). It seems like this is shaping up to be a JRPG summer, so I’m enlisting everyone’s help to figure out what I should play next.
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