Pokemon of course! Despite its complexity any child can pick it up thanks to the way it pretty much holds your hand for the longest time.
Baby's First JRPG
- Thread starter SckizoBoy
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There are plenty of JRPGs I can recommend, since they're arguably the genre I play most lol
A lot of people are right on the money recommending Pokemon and Chrono Trigger. Pokemon is one of those games that's extremely easy to get into, but if you want to join the competitive scene you're going to be working your ass off to make a good battle team. Plus there's a reason it's still around and still one of the best selling series of all time. Chrono Trigger has such a good story and likable characters, as well as using time travel as a mechanic extremely well. Plus if you're a fan of any of the Dragonball series then you'll instantly recognize the art style.
Persona keeps coming up, and while it is an amazing series I wouldn't recommend starting on it. Partly because it can be hard to find outside of the internet, but also because it is more quirky and out there than other JRPGs and can be a turn-off to some people. If you start playing JRPGs and enjoy them, look into the Persona series and have fun.
Final Fantasy is also one that came up a good amount, and there are some I would recommend as a starter JRPG and others I'd steer clear of until you're more familiar with the genre. IV, IX, and X are great for starting off. I, V, VI, VII, and XIII are more middle of the road: you can start with them, but they aren't exactly the best to start with compared to others. II, III, VIII, and XII you're going to want to make sure you enjoy the genre first before you jump into them(which pains me to say, since VIII is in my top 5 games of all time despite how much crap it gets).
A lot of people are right on the money recommending Pokemon and Chrono Trigger. Pokemon is one of those games that's extremely easy to get into, but if you want to join the competitive scene you're going to be working your ass off to make a good battle team. Plus there's a reason it's still around and still one of the best selling series of all time. Chrono Trigger has such a good story and likable characters, as well as using time travel as a mechanic extremely well. Plus if you're a fan of any of the Dragonball series then you'll instantly recognize the art style.
Persona keeps coming up, and while it is an amazing series I wouldn't recommend starting on it. Partly because it can be hard to find outside of the internet, but also because it is more quirky and out there than other JRPGs and can be a turn-off to some people. If you start playing JRPGs and enjoy them, look into the Persona series and have fun.
Final Fantasy is also one that came up a good amount, and there are some I would recommend as a starter JRPG and others I'd steer clear of until you're more familiar with the genre. IV, IX, and X are great for starting off. I, V, VI, VII, and XIII are more middle of the road: you can start with them, but they aren't exactly the best to start with compared to others. II, III, VIII, and XII you're going to want to make sure you enjoy the genre first before you jump into them(which pains me to say, since VIII is in my top 5 games of all time despite how much crap it gets).
Yeah I'd suggest either Chrono Trigger, or Dragon Quest IX. Dragon Quest VIII is also good, but it gets a little frustrating around the middle when you acquire the ship and are supposed to sail over to the other continent because it's not clear where your supposed to land on the other continent and you keep getting assaulted by random encounters while you're sailing. I ended up just picking a spot at random, landing, and heading inland towards the nearest town.
I'm going to go way out on a limb and say that the pseudo-successor Paper Mario series is equally appropriate, as odd as it is compared to traditional JRPGs in some ways. Well, at least the N64 and GC ones that were actually JRPGs, but not the Wii platformer-RPG. They're extremely polished/streamlined, very easy to jump right into, and they have a great sense of humor, which is something very few games manage to pull off. Instead of trying to out-wangst every other game out there like so many of them do, they're light-hearted and genuinely funny on a regular basis, which is a nice change of pace.ElektroNeko said:
Chrono Trigger is the best game I can think of for this purpose; however whatever you do, stay away from the Disgaea franchise until you have experienced a few games first. It's a great franchise, but it can get overly complex and include too much level grinding. Although it is worth noting that Pokemon also counts as a JRPG, and that's about as basic as it gets.
I also reccomend Persona 4 and no Kanji won't kick your ass, he'll renovate the shit out of you.Stealthygamer said:
.hack//GU it,s the only JRPG I managed to beat or Pokemon (it,s technically a JRPG being a RPG made in Japan)
PS but make sure you get all the volumes or you get a incomplete story
PS but make sure you get all the volumes or you get a incomplete story
This is a good question. Most JRPGs are needlessly obtuse with annoying game mechanics. It's best to start off with something simple. While this might sound easy on paper due to the linear nature of most JRPGs, they're all needlessly complicated in some other manner.
Hyperdimension Neptunia would be a logical introduction to the genre for its simplicity but it is so bad that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. As someone else has said, Final Fantasy X might be a good place to start as it has mostly simple gameplay. Sure, the voice acting's atrocious but if you REALLY have to introduce someone to JRPGs, then I think Final Fantasy X is where you could go. I'd recommend Skies of Arcadia: Legends, but it's a bit too immediate and there's no tutorial, so a new gamer may be lost.
Of course, if you're actually trying to get someone who's into gaming into JRPGs, Skies of Arcadia: Legends and the Mario RPGs are the best way to go.
Hyperdimension Neptunia would be a logical introduction to the genre for its simplicity but it is so bad that I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. As someone else has said, Final Fantasy X might be a good place to start as it has mostly simple gameplay. Sure, the voice acting's atrocious but if you REALLY have to introduce someone to JRPGs, then I think Final Fantasy X is where you could go. I'd recommend Skies of Arcadia: Legends, but it's a bit too immediate and there's no tutorial, so a new gamer may be lost.
Of course, if you're actually trying to get someone who's into gaming into JRPGs, Skies of Arcadia: Legends and the Mario RPGs are the best way to go.
I saw suggestions for Earthbound. Do not play this. You will not be able to enjoy it anymore. FF4 is the same to a much lesser extent. FF6 stands the test of time, though, as does the rest of the series up through 10. Individual quality aside, these are all great games for a newbie to the genre.
Persona 4 is the best answer, though. It's the one of the very few modern traditional JRPGs to not suck by western standards.
Next most recent really good one (Aside from P3), to my knowledge, would be Suikoden 5, and before then you're getting into the FF era. Keep in mind that the main Suikoden games are all connected, but you only really need to play 1 - 3 in order, the rest are disconnected from the main story.
Persona 4 is the best answer, though. It's the one of the very few modern traditional JRPGs to not suck by western standards.
Next most recent really good one (Aside from P3), to my knowledge, would be Suikoden 5, and before then you're getting into the FF era. Keep in mind that the main Suikoden games are all connected, but you only really need to play 1 - 3 in order, the rest are disconnected from the main story.
Chrono Trigger. Definately my favorite RPG of all time.
But if you truly want "Baby's first" JRPG... There's always Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.
But if you truly want "Baby's first" JRPG... There's always Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.
I'd suggest Final Fantasy Tactics but then you'd never be able to play other JRPGs because they'd all be shallow imitations of a true masterpiece.
Probably the best answer you're going to get for "baby's first JRPG"Aeonknight said:
A lot of people actually! XD Though if I get irrevocably hooked, I'm blaming you! ^_^Girl With One Eye said:Whoever recommend FFX was spot on...you should definitely go with that idea
I was really looking forward to both Xenoblade and The Last Story. There were some problems around the release so the shipment was late and I had to wait pretty long before I could get it. I played it for like 15 minutes and I was disappointed of how much it bored me. The combat was lame and the story was only slightly interesting.Palademon said:
1 hour later I was supposed to start making dinner and I was unable to stop! Once I got the hang of the combat and the controls this game really was amazing. I haven't been able to play since because I've been busy, but I love it. The way the game is always taking some of the CPU to load things as you move towards them makes up for the wii's lack of power. It's pretty good and I would recommend it and I hope our fellow Americans will get this game at some point too.
I also recommend Tales of Vesperia if you got an Xbox 360 or Tales of Symphonia (either os good) for the Wii (one is a GC game so it can be hard to track down).
