Best strategy jrpgs.

[Ryotknife]

I absolutely love the Disgaea series, but it is not for everyone. They usually get a 7.5 or so score, and i agree with that because the game will not appeal to everyone. There is a lot of depth to Disgaea mechanically. Story wise the characters are very goofy and eccentric (there is a lot of "breaking the 4th wall" comedy), but usually this is just to cover something tragic that happens to the main character that you discover later on. It goes from silly to sad towards the end.


back to the topic at hand, FFT will always have a place in my heart. It is one of the best stories ive ever experienced. Unfortunately, although the story is very dark and dreary, the cutsie sprites kinda take that away. Then there is the automatic game overs before you get a turn (defend X character who rushes into the enemy and dies before i can move....). I remember i was about halfway through before i had to restart the game because it was literally impossible for me to continue on as i did not have the right classes/abilities (and i was stuck in the middle of a campaign chain of battles were you can not go out and grind enemies until you are done with the entire chain). Now of course i know better when i play FFT over again.

 

[ReinWeisserRitter]

And holy shit I can't believe I forgot Super Robot Wars. If you have any sort of fancy for giant robots and awesome nonsense, you need to get a hold of this series. That said, the only two officially localized games are the Original Generation Gameboy Advance games, but the second one is a great start for the series.

Also, since you apparently haven't played Disgaea, it's extremely niche; don't let its fans paint too perfect a portrait for it. If you can get over the zany, over-the-top Japanese storytelling, under-explained mechanics, ridiculous grinding required to even start the optional content, and the head-scratchingly unbalanced weapon leveling system, you'll probably find some enjoyment there, but you nonetheless require a pretty specific itch to get a satisfying scratch out of Disgaea.

 

[krazykidd]

Final fantasy tactics ( the original Playstation version ) is one of my favorite games periode.

But what surprises me though is not one post mention Growlansers. Does no one like this game? or does no one know about it . I really like that series.

 

[Issurru]

I claim Zoids Legacy for the GBA in the name of Issurru! I personally loved this game to death, replayed it at least 3 or 4 times. It can be a gigantic pain in the ass sometimes but still a magnificent game that I had always wanted to be on a modern console...

Other than that I have to go with Disgaea for its zany hilarity (SARDINES!), Valkyria Chronicles is also awesome.

Oh and I think Suikoden should count so i'll recommend that series more than anything. Also where the hell is my Suikoden 6 damnit!?

Edit: Also can someone fill me in on this Super Robot Wars Series? It sounds intriguing

 

[ReinWeisserRitter]

But what surprises me though is not one post mention Growlansers. Does no one like this game? or does no one know about it . I really like that series.

There's also Growlanser, but that's kind of a turn-based/real-time hybrid.

Ahem!

 

[Sion_Barzahd]

MOTHER EFFING FIRE EMBLEM!!
Its chess that levels up. One of my all time Favorites, and the only reason I own a GameCube.

God damn it now i need to get my GC out! -.- must play FE: PoR

 

[Fleetfiend]

I'm a little bit of a biased point of view, because I have only played two games of this type, but I really enjoyed them both; Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and The Last Remnant, if it counts.

I thought TLR was really innovative and engaging. And I just really love the board-game-style of Tactics.

 

[SergeantAnt]

As everyone already mentioned absolutely disgaea, but not the DS one. Disgaea 2 is the only one i own, and on the psp, but its really REALLY good. It's lighthearted and actually funny at times to me, while being very strategic. Just the ability to throw team-mates adds a whole different depth.

Also worth mentioning are FFtactics and Fire Emblem(the gba one rules :3).



(While not being a strategy jrpg its a strategy wrpg ) Might and Magic Heroes 6 just came out on the pc recently. It may have some problems but i love it and the battles are very strategic. However it has some resource management and shit like that, but i just play it for the battle system. Watch a youtube review or something

 

[Veylon]

Square and Enix used to put out quite a few of these: Front Mission, Bahamut Lagoon, Ogre Battle & Tactics, FFT. Now we've got Nippon Ichi doing the job, not just with Disgaea, but also the earlier La Pucelle and later Phantom Brave.

But from what I'm seeing here, there are other realms to explore.

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Final Fantasy Tactics on PSX(Not the remake, god no) has always been my favorite. Ironically enough, I hated the game when I first played it but after giving it a second shot, I loved it. It just always seemed to capture a lot of what I like in those kind of turn based tactical RPGs. Especially creating my own characters and leveling them up.

 

[Fleetfiend]

This thread is making me want to go and play one of these games.

Regrettably, I was stupid and gave FF Tactics Advance away when I sold my DS.

So instead I guess I'll just try to enjoy my fail sandwich.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

Fallout Tactics.

I remember playing this years ago, and enjoying it! Hmmm... Trip to GoG I think is in order!

 

[karkar]

YAY one of my favorite genres! it's been mentioned, but Fire Emblem is fantastic. never been disappointed with that series. Final fantasy tactics is also really good, as is devil survivor, and the slightly obscure Jeanne d'Arc. i liked disgaea, but the lack of serious story/dialogue kinda keeps it from being one of my favorites. great gameplay, though.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Disgaea is serious, it just has a lot of humor to go with the seriousness and isn't all serious all of the time. Especially the second one. Have you seen the really bad ending?


I can't think of a sadder ending than the one in D2.


As for my favorite, I really liked D4 overall the best but the story in FFT was just remarkable so it's a tie.

 

[AugustFall]

FFT. The first one. Holy hell that was an amazing game. Back when Ivalice was cool.

 

[nyysjan]

Disgaea series (not played the 4th yet), La Pucelle Tactics and Makai Kingdom.
Not a fan of strategy games (it always comes down to abusing the AI), but i play the Nippon Ichi games for the stories.

 

[jedisensei]

Hmmm...it seems I'm always going on about this game here, and though it is not a 'jrpg' in a strict sense it is an Atlus game, which should tell you something...

Operation Darkness. A WWII-era tactical RPG featuring ..werewolves and Jack the Ripper..vs. Hitler's zombies and vampires?! The graphics are barely passable and it has the WORST camera known to gaming, but gameplay is solid and absorbing.

 

[Issurru]

I claim Zoids Legacy for the GBA in the name of Issurru! I personally loved this game to death, replayed it at least 3 or 4 times. It can be a gigantic pain in the ass sometimes but still a magnificent game that I had always wanted to be on a modern console...


Edit: Also can someone fill me in on this Super Robot Wars Series? It sounds intriguing

First of all, holy crap, someone else who has heard of Zoids Legacy?!

Anyways, here [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SuperRobotWars] is a link to the SRW tvtropes page.

The combat system is very similar to Fire Emblem, except instead of using just people, you use people piloting giant mecha. You have more combat options, too.

I think that's the shortest amount of time I've ever been on tv tropes... Also do you have any recommendations? Since it looked like only 2 were in english.

 

[Tallim]

Disgaea, and all its brethren, think I have played most of them now except maybe La Pucelle as i could never find a copy.

Valkyria Chronicles - Just pure awesome.

 

[StorytellingIsAMust]

Fire Emblem all the way. Only Wii game that's better is Skyward Sword.