JRPGs for people who hate JRPGs

[captaincheese]

The Shin Megami Tensei games are agood place to start, characters are usually much better rounded then in other JRPGs. I'd steer clear of the Personas to start with, considering your tastes, go with Lucifer's Call(Nocturne in the US) if you can get it, or alternatively Devil Summoner. I also liked Eternal Sonata, while the story was the usual impenetrable guff, the combat was pretty strong

 

[Quaidis]

I liked Skies of Arcadia. My only complaint is tha Vyse was the only one who could do any actual damage and some of the lower enemies had Death Spells that always worked on us no matter how many levels we had on them.

Oh? I found that once I achieved Aika's flame/lava special attack in the beginning, that was the only move I used for a good first part of the game. It usually wiped out enemies with one go. I ended up not using it after a point because I was tired of seeing it.


onto the topic:

I'm a fan of jrpgs. If someone doesn't like them and has a pre-disposed hatred of them, why on earth would they even want to play a jrpg in the first place? Even if someone recommended it, there would be no reason for someone who actually hates jrpgs to play it. It's like saying, "I hate eating insects, and I always will, but what sort of insects would be delicious for me?"

If someone who doesn't like jrpgs is actually playing them, wouldn't that make them a jrpg-fan wannabe and not truly someone who hates jrpgs at all? I jest, I jest.

If you don't hate jrpgs, but simply want to play good ones - and there are many people who are that way without having to melo-dramatically say they hate everything they don't like - then I have two words for you: Chrono Trigger.

 

[Xeros]

Tales of Symphonia. My friend hates JRPGs with a passion. He played Tales, and swiftly retracted his statement.

 

[chromewarriorXIII]

I would have to say Tales of Symphonia as was mentioned before. It has great storyline, great combat, and everything was spoken along with text.

Also Golden Sun. Amazing game period. It's for the GBA but it's still beautiful.

 

[Chibz]

Is there such a thing as a JRPG for people that hate JRPGs? Most that hate them, hate them with a passion and wouldn't play one with their neighbors hands.

Disgaea series.

 

[Fuhjem]

Pokemon is the only JRPG I like.

 

[Fuhjem]

Oh, yeah, and the Golden Sun games kick soooo much ass.

 

[I_LIKE_CAKE]

I liked the Fire Emblem games, though I don't consider them to be RPGs. I played Legend of the Dragoon and remember liking it, and the Pokemon games are fun. The only other one that I can think of is Lost Odyssey. I never finished it (I don't have time for 4 f-ing discs!!!) the way the main character's memories are told really appealed to me. That said, it was a shit ton of reading, and not exactly what I would call "fun gameplay".

EDIT:

Oh, yeah, and the Golden Sun games kick soooo much ass.

Forgot about these, and yes, they did kick ass.

 

[Sporky111]

Kingdom Hearts series is good for JRPG haters (I'm one of them)

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Even twitchy FPS gamers should be able to get into Chrono Trigger or Final Fantasy Tactics.

But yeah, Skies of Arcadia Legends owns.

 

[inkheart_artist]

People who hate jrpgs arent people

1/10 sometimes I wonder the exact opposite...

Only jrpgs I like enough to remember are Xenogears, Final Fantasy 9 and tactics, and Vagrant Story.

I liked the combo system, characters, enemies, the gears and how they worked, and the story of Xenogears, it really had me enthralled until the second disk when a lot of it changed.

Final Fantasy 9 and tactics are the only FF games I have fond memories about. They looked unique and wonderful and Tactics' system was really interesting to me. The others were so droll that the crappy Final Fantasy brand combat system would get me bored within an hour or two of beginning them. Although FF 6 did make for a good handheld game.

Every time I remember Vagrant Story though I can't help but think about how awesome it was. Given the limitations of the generation, it was an amazing game. The crafting system, the combat system, How the fights occured in the area you were actually in and allowed you to use tactical positions. I loved the ability to choose what part of your enemies body you would attack. The story line was fresh and unique; far apart from other jrpgs.

 

[SimuLord]

Paper Mario and Pokémon count as JRPG's right? They're made by a Japanese developer. I'm also a fan of the Fire Emblem series.

But with me it's not so much that I don't like JRPG's it's just that I don't play them.

(also, when pluralizing and acronym use " 's ")

No. Wrong. You do not pluralize an acronym with an apostrophe. The only situation where it is acceptable to use an apostrophe to pluralize is when pluralizing a single letter, as in "Oakland A's". Don't make me get all Bob the Angry Flower on you.

 

[cj_iwakura]

Seconding Devil Summoner or Nocturne. They're as anti-'J'RPG as they get.

 

[cj_iwakura]

[double post]

 

[Horned Rat]

There are tons of JRPGs for people who hate JRPGs.
They are called RPGs.

[/thread]

 

[DoomyMcDoom]

as far as I'm concerned the whole turn based battle system kinda... ok, really I mean sure open action is fun but in some instances it seems kinda unfair... like immagine if FF6 was all out action based... most people would be horrificly murdered without time to think out a strategy in alot of the major boss fights... but then again, maybe not if they built the system more for that than how it is currently... and FFX turned me off of the final fantasy series. i mean sure it had nice shiny graphics but the story was so-so and the world wasn't as open as the previous FF games... but if someone wants to play a JRPG and can stand the ATB system with the lil timey bars and turn basedness of it play FF6 it was released as FF3 for the snes a long time ago and re-released for the PSX/PS1 later, it has really poor graphics by nowadays standards but the story actually kinda makes sense and is followable... also has cool hidden characters, and alot of nifty storyline stuff... and you don't hafta sit through like 4 hours of cutscenes to beat the game... cutscenes are less than common, and are generally pretty short or grippingly story intensive and thus interesting...

also as far as western stuff the old Fallout games were cool if you didn't mind turn based combat... fallout Tactics had the option to play full active which made certain fighting alot faster paced and thus funner... but some situations become an impossible hairball tangle of you getting shot if you use it while playing to agressively...

/end rant
ps. sorry for the text wall... just wanna get some opinion out there... and by the way were you calling only those who play JRPGs obsessively(as their main genre) Homosexual or were you also reffering to people who dabble in them out of old school nostalgic and or just for the hell of it passtime... cuz I dabble and I am straight as an uninterrupted/reflected/modulated specially laser...

 

[NeutralDrow]

Tales of Symphonia. My friend hates JRPGs with a passion. He played Tales, and swiftly retracted his statement.

No! Don't recommend that! Don't you realize that JRPG-hating peoples' brains explode when they can't rant about a "turn-based combat system?!" You'll kill at least fifty people on the Escapist alone with <url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shBKsfKz7Vk&feature=related>this!

...actually, you have my blessing, go ahead.