Good JRPGs

[AlternatePFG]

I like the Tales of series. The characters are what make the games for me, and the battles are actually quite fun.

The World Ends With You wasn't bad.

Mostly because those weren't turned based, which has been getting grating to me. I dislike the genre in general, mostly for recycled stories, but I'm not willing to say they all suck.

Edit: Forgot to mention Demon's Souls, that game was actually pretty fun... Mostly for the lack of story to drag it down whatsoever.

 

[P_G_Mac]

My Top list (in no particular order) includes:

-Final Fantasy 3 (6... whatever)
-Final Fantasy 5, 7, 8, 10, Tactics
-Lufia 1 and 2 (Snes)
-Super Mario RPG Legend of the 7 stars (SNES)
-Tales of Destiny (PS 1)
-Azure Dreams (PS 1)
-Legend of Legaia 1 and 2 (PS 1, 2 respectfully)
-Legend of the Dragoon (PS 1)
-Breath of Fire 3 (Snes)


There are more, but for now, those are my all-time favorites. If you want REAL time commitments to try to put in the hundreds of hours, Lufia 2 and FF 3 (6) can do that if you are willing to finish EVERYTHING in the game.

 

[AlternatePFG]

The whole definition of the RPG genre is very questionable. It varies from person to person. Some think it's mostly involved with stats and others believe it's about making choices.

 

[Bloody Crimson]

Well....

Crisis Core FFVII is nice
Mana Khemia is pretty innovative
Kingdom Hearts has been a classic for me
the .hack games are somewhat obscure but still with english releases

Those are my favorite. Some that I'd like to play...
Neverland Card Battles for the TCG fan still in me
Yggdra Union is a cool take on Strategy RPGs

I've heard that...
Shin Megami Tensei has some great ones

I personally don't like these but you can give a shot to...
Disgaea has some good characters

 

[Cheery Lunatic]

Only four good JRPGs I've ever played.
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Demon's Souls
Odin Sphere
Chrono Cross

 

[sidereal_day]

I really liked The Last Remnant. For me the first JRPG in years worth playing -- asides from the cringe-worthy "acting". Whoever convinced Johnny Yong Bosch (the Green Power Ranger) he could act was evidently playing a cruel joke.

I just did some research on The Last Remnant and I think I'm gonna pick that one up. I actually shied away from it because of its poor review scores, but after reading the reviews, most of the faults most of the reviewers found are simply the way Japanese RPGs are designed. Of course the battles are repetitive, did you expect anything less?!

I know now to take any review of a Japanese RPG with a grain of salt. I've noticed that western reviewers simply hate the genre, not so much the game.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[e2density]

inb4 "Don't exist."

I personally liked the Compilation of FF7. Cept that one where you mainly used guns.

 

[Talvrae]

Okey i think thouse game are in no way RPG (...) and i say it again theyr are not RPG...

If you're not a troll, you might want to avoid problems and not post this narrow-minded view in a JRPG thread. Such a blanklet statement usually devolves into a flame war.

JRPGs are in fact RPGs. Only recently have some segments of the Elitist and Troll population decided to state otherwise.

Helll no... in both case, ypi might call me an elitist but i say that since well, 98 and Baldur's Gate release... And i explained in detail in How to fix JRPG why they are in no way RPG...

Which I've already read and is the same drivel put forth by the Elitists and Trolls. basically, denying JRPGs are RPGs is revisionist history. Let's look at the definition together, shall we?

Spoiler: From the Wiki

"Generally, the player controls a small number of game characters, usually called a party, and achieves victory by completing a series of quests. Players explore a game world, while solving puzzles and engaging in tactical combat. A key feature of the genre is that characters grow in power and abilities, and characters are typically designed by the player. RPGs rarely challenge a player's physical coordination, with the exception of action role-playing games."

Check

These games usually have a highly developed story and setting, which is divided into a number of quests. Players control one or several characters by issuing commands, which is performed by the character at an effectiveness determined by that character's numeric attributes. These attributes increase each time a character gains a level, and a character's level goes up each time the player accumulates a certain amount of experience.

Check

Role-playing video games borrow their genre terminology, settings and game mechanics found in early role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons.However, at least as of 2006, computers do not yet have the power to simulate nonplayer characters with the skill of a human game master. The behavior of these characters is instead hand-coded using scripts. Thus, role-playing video games borrow more of the core mechanics from early role-playing games without as much of the role-playing activity and character freedom.

Check

When compared to other gaming genres, role-playing games have a tendency to become more in-depth and complicated because of their levelling and skill systems.

Check

Most of the actions in an RPG are performed indirectly, with the player selecting an action and the character performing it by their own accord.[1] Success at that action depends on the character's numeric attributes. Role-playing video games often simulate die-rolling mechanics from non-electronic role-playing games, to determine success or failure. As a character's attributes improve, their chances of succeeding at a particular action will increase.

Check

Although some single-player role-playing games give the player an avatar that is largely predefined for the sake of telling a specific story, many role-playing games make use of a character creation screen. This allows players to choose their character's sex, their race or species, and their character class. Although many of theses traits are cosmetic, there are functional aspects as well. Character classes will have different abilities and strengths. Common classes include fighters, spellcasters, thieves with stealth abilities, and clerics with healing abilities. Characters will also have a range of physical attributes such as dexterity and strength, which affect a player's performance in combat. Mental attributes such as intelligence may affect a player's ability to perform and learn spells, while social attributes such as charisma may limit the player's choices while conversing with non-player characters. These attributes usually borrow heavily the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset.

Check. See any job system. recent JRPGs like WKC and Demon's Souls have player created avatars.

I could go on like this but I think we've arrived at "Checkmate" anyhow.

Seriously some time history need to be revised... Damn we do that all the time... Best exemple is evolution over creationism...
On gaming side, when Diablo came out it was classed a RPG, even if it have nothing of a RPG, why call it this way, simply lack of a better term, so when more game like diablo came out we created the term Hack and slash? does it change history?
JRPG need the same treatement, because they are not Role Playing Game, i DON'T PLAY A ROLE, the role is defined by the game designer and the story writer i dont have a thing to say in a JRPG aboutt my role, i have as much role playing in a JRPG than in let's say Gears of War.
I'm not bashing JRPG. I say the term is not good
Lot of WRPG have the same problem by the way... The Elder Scrolls series for exemple are not RPG... personally i call them Exploration game, it's pretty much what they are, they trow at you a big world and set you lose in it and say explore... does it's wrong NO... does it's a RPG... NO

 

[LeonLethality]

FFXII
FFXIII (I imported it but you might want to wait for its release)
Tales of the abyss
those are some of my strongest recommendations

 

[Terramax]

As I've said before, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is the only one I feel worth mentioning.

 

[Rowe2327]

Shadow Hearts (1 and 2)
Xenogears
Xenosaga
Lost Odyssey
Tales of (Symphonia, Abyss, Vesperia)

 

[Karlott]

Honestly, for the more recent ones, there's Mother 3, and there's everything else that's not worth a split second of your time if you haven't played Mother 3.

 

[ckam]

Kingdom Hearts series, Tales of the Abyss, Tales of Vesperia, Persona 4, Persona 3, Shadow Hearts 1, Shadow Hearts 2, Final Fantasy advance games, Final Fantasy Versus 13, and many more.

 

[Hollock]

chrono trigger.

 

[sidereal_day]

1) Dark Cloud
2) Dark Chronicle
3) Kingdom Hearts
4) Kingdom Hearts II
5) Lost Odyssey

lol, you trollan

As soon as he/she said Dark Cloud, I thought it was a troll. My suspicions were confirmed when they listed Lost Odyssey.

What, listing the Kingdom Hearts games wasn't a resounding alarm bell too? :V

Besides that, four of those games aren't even arguably JRPGs, they're adventure games. Dude needs to learn his genres, amirite?

I personally hated Kingdom Hearts, but enough people like it for me to think that perhaps I'm wrong about it and it's actually a masterpiece and I'm just not clever enough to "get it."

Good to see that I'm not the only one that thinks Kingdom Hearts is garbage.

 

[Von Dean]

Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter? not an all time classic I know,but often overlooked

 

[Hollock]

chrono trigger.

Does that count as "since 2000", though? I mean, the original one was out in the '90s.
Otherwise, you're damn right.

1) Dark Cloud
2) Dark Chronicle
3) Kingdom Hearts
4) Kingdom Hearts II
5) Lost Odyssey

lol, you trollan

As soon as he/she said Dark Cloud, I thought it was a troll. My suspicions were confirmed when they listed Lost Odyssey.

What, listing the Kingdom Hearts games wasn't a resounding alarm bell too? :V

Besides that, four of those games aren't even arguably JRPGs, they're adventure games. Dude needs to learn his genres, amirite?

I personally hated Kingdom Hearts, but enough people like it for me to think that perhaps I'm wrong about it and it's actually a masterpiece and I'm just not clever enough to "get it."

Gah--dude, never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever believe the Squaretards. Especially not the ones who flip out over KH. These are the same kind of people who would insist that Phantasy Star is an FF ripoff or that FFXI did everything in any MMORPG ever made before everybody else.*

Don't listen to Disney fanchildren, either. They're their own brand of delusional.

[sub]* Or perhaps that Neon Genesis Evangelion was actually very deep, but that's really neither here nor there.[/sub]

Good to see that I'm not the only one that thinks Kingdom Hearts is garbage.

It's garbage, but I played the first one to the end anyway. Gave me something to do when I got bored with Homeworld :T

I've only ever played it on the DS

 

[sidereal_day]

[sub]* Or perhaps that Neon Genesis Evangelion was actually very deep, but that's really neither here nor there.[/sub]

I certainly didn't think Neon Genesis Evangelion was the ONE SERIES U HAFF TO WATCH!!!!1 (that honor goes to Paranoia Agent), but I thought it was a really good series nonetheless. A little too "really deep if you're 16 or a high school dropout" sometimes, but still, I'd probably watch it again if, you know, I was forced.

Seriously though, what's the appeal of KH? I wonder if any of the fans of the series have actually said the main concept aloud. Try it. Say out loud: "It's a game where characters from the Final Fantasy universe meet up with Disney characters." How could anyone think that would be a cool thing ever?

 

[RandV80]

Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter? not an all time classic I know,but often overlooked

Having been a Breath of Fire fan since the first one, (read: I wanted to like BOF5) I despised Dragon Quarter.

It was a great concept (brilliant even) that was very poorly executed.

I'm sure it got somewhat better as you progressed, but there was a distinct lack of early Healing Items (or spells) combined with a lack of an Inn (or the equivalent). This basically meant that I ran around with two useless party members that had 1HP all the time and the main character that I did my best to keep healthy (what with the lack of any healing items).

I'm sure the healing items became more plentiful (or a spell was added) but honestly, I just couldn't deal with such a poor start to the game and back to the rental store it went in record time.

The problem with Dragons Quarter was that it relied on replayability. It was intentionally designed so that at you trudged through the dungeons things because way to difficult with saves being limited and few and far between. To counter balance this you could 'start over' at anytime, keeping your equipment and money as well as a certain amount of bonus party experience, plus additional cut scenes would be revealed for parts you already played through. If you're like me and hate forced replayability, it was a pretty big hurdle to get over for what would otherwise be a great and unique RPG. The story was interesting, great turn based/real time fusion tactical combat, and the whole exploration aspect felt like something out of a Metroid game.

For my own suggestion, one unique one that I really enjoyed for the PS2 that never gets much recognition is Radiata Stories [http://ps2.ign.com/articles/647/647902p1.html](Link to IGN Review). It's kind of a mix of a lot of different types of RPG's (Kingdom Hearts, Star Ocean, Suikoden) put together with great characters and quirky humour. Also the city that's at the center of the game is the most vibrant RPG town that's ever been pulled off, WRPG's included.

 

[SeanthePsycho]

Final Fantasy IX was amazing. It was overshadowed by the release of the PS2 in the same quarter, but it was a damn good Final Fantasy game, especially for the PS1. Lengthy...slightly as there is four discs not to mention they sorta fell trhough with having half of their strategy guide online, but it never stopped being fun or entertaining.

1) Dark Cloud
2) Dark Chronicle

Isn't Dark Chronicle what they called Dark Cloud in Japan?