Looking for a JRPG

[Ranorak]

Alright, hear me out!

I use to love JRPG's. Final Fantasy up to, and including part 10, where my childhood.
But lately FF has left me feeling a bit sad. With uninteresting gameplay and characters.

So, I'm looking for something new.
I tried Tales of Vesperia on my Xbox360, and spend a great deal of time enjoying the game.
But... I just can't get over some of the cutsie dialogue.

I can't really give examples, but it's the sort of dialogue that really does it best to reminds you that FRIENDSHIP IS GREAT!. And while the word is in danger, they seem to spend more time worrying if their team-mates pretend guild is doing okay. The guild whom only members are the main characters anyway.

The final straw is hidden is this spoiler box

Spoiler

At one point, during a somewhat tragic moment, on of the characters reveals he's been a spy all along. He does this during a cave-in and as his way of saying sorry, he sacrifices himself to save the rest of the part. Cliché but not all that badly executed.
however, 5 minutes, LITERALLY 5 MINUTES later, he's back.
He "got away" and this isn't mentioned again!
They have this heart breaking moment of redemption, and he returns 5 minutes LATER!
At this point I was done.

I want a JRPG, with a fun setting, something that doesn't let me swing my a generic axe to a generic undead. But with some actual depth.
Characters who can't be summarized by "the ditz" "The serious one" and "the hyperactive one that people want to strangle"

A story that isn't based on "Together we're strong enough to fight satan, because we're friends!"

Now, I don't mind the occasional comic relieve, or some archtype usage, but is it really that hard to get a good JRPG that focuses on real characters and has more to offer then FRIENDSHIP IS THE BEST THING EVER?

It doesn't have to be dark and gritty, or depressing and soul-less, just something in between.
God, I'm hoping I'm getting my point across.

Please leave some suggestions on a nice JRPG for the Xbox360.

 

[Dango]

I actually had a whole response written out telling you to check out the Disgaea series, and then I read the part about it having to be on 360.

And then the only game I could think of was Lost Odyssey.

 

[alphamalet]

Problem #1: You want to play JRPGs and you own a 360.

 

[Ranorak]

Problem #1: You want to play JRPGs and you own a 360.

What would have been your suggestion if I had owned a wii or ps3?
or DS for that matter.

 

[Baralak]

Problem #1: You want to play JRPGs and you own a 360.

What would have been your suggestion if I had owned a wii or ps3?
or DS for that matter.

Wii: Xenoblade Chronicles

PS3: Final Fantasy XIII/XIII-2

DS: Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, Nostalgia, Sands of Destruction

360: Lost Odyssey, Final Fantasy XIII/XIII-2

 

[sextus the crazy]

Problem #1: You want to play JRPGs and you own a 360.

What would have been your suggestion if I had owned a wii or ps3?
or DS for that matter.

For the DS:

The World Ends With You. There's nothing like it and the characters get a good deal of development. Two Screen Combat can get disorienting, but for the most part you can just button mash for the top screen.

 

[Ruzinus]

So a lot of the best things from the SEGA Genesis are on Steam now.

This happens to include Phantasy Star IV, the (forever unacknowledged) king of 16-bit era JRPGs.

It was also included in the ginormous Genesis compilation that was released for 360 and PS3.

 

[AwkwardTurtle]

You have to purchase and play through Resonance of Fate. In fact, EVERYONE SHOULD GO OUT AND PLAY THIS GAME.

Just kidding, not everyone. I'd classify it as a JRPG even though it's quite unique. It's got interesting characters, a good sense of humor, and a fun as heck combat system (although it might have a bit of a learning curve based on other people's reactions to it).

The setting is certainly different from your classic fantasy swords and magic setting.

Just...go check this game out and see if you like it. It gets a hearty recommendation from me.

The Lost Odyssey is available on the Xbox 360. Now, this is more of your typical JRPG experience. It has some interactivity during the battle with a quick-time event during a regular attack (somwhat similar to Final Fantasy VIII's Squall). However, as far as gameplay goes it's a pretty standard affair.

The spot that I feel this game shined was in the way the story was set up. Now, I didn't beat the game, but from my experience the set up was that the protagonists had amnesia (big surprise), but they had done things in the past. What surprised me is that you can collect some of their memories to get a glimpse of their past. While most of them are optional to view, and they play out as simple text on a screen, the memories are surprisingly well-written. I mean it probably isn't a good thing that I just sat there and had to read out a story, but I have to admit that I enjoyed the small memory. It made the characters feel more human.

So, I suppose I would only recommend The Lost Odyssey if you really feel like playing with the old school JRPG combat system with some fairly good writing.

The Last Remnant is available on PC and Xbox 360, but I would steer clear of the Xbox 360 version because the PC version is way better. Not just from a technical standpoint, but some of the game mechanics were changed in the PC version to make it funner and less broken than the Xbox 360 version. However, if you insist you can try the Xbox 360 version. I personally have never tried it, but I can vouch that overall I found the game of The Last Remnant to be a fun experience on the PC.

The main strength of the game is the ability to control groups of fighters at one time as opposed to controlling and giving out orders to each character individually. You can have a maximum of like 20-25 characters out on the battlefield at once so it feels really satisfying to have such a large party that if feels like a small army, yet each individual character can still feel somewhat unique. (At least the way I played it I felt like that).

Magna Carta 2
I've not played this game personally, but I do know it exists. It's technically a KRPG since it was made by koreans, but the same basic concept is present. I would suggest looking up more on this game to see if you're interested. I don't much feel like talking about it since I haven't played it.

Star Ocean:The Last Hope
I'm just putting this here as a DO NOT BUY FOR THE XBOX 360 warning. I'd read up on this game before buying it for around $10. The reviews said that the voice acting in English was pretty bad. I thought "It can't be that bad. Let's give this game a shot!" It was god-awful. I wish the reviewers emphasized how terrible the voice-acting was. Now, not all of the characters had horrific voice-acting, but some of them had voices that were simply torture to listen to. I could not believe my ears. I never played too far into the game simply because I could not for the life of me stand to listen to anymore of the horrid voice-acting.

The game itself is average, at best. I wasn't particularly drawn in by the story, and the combat felt run-of-the-mill despite trying to go for a faster paced action style of combat.

If you've truly run of out games to play, yet still want some kind of a relatively average JRPG experience I would suggest purchasing this game for the PS3, Star Ocean:The Last Hope International, because that version lets you switch from the horrific English voice acting to Japanese voices. I wouldn't know if the Japanese voices are any better, but they can't possibly be worse than the English voices.

 

[FalloutJack]

This happens to include Phantasy Star IV, the (forever unacknowledged) king of 16-bit era JRPGs.

Like WHO doesn't acknowledge Pstar 4 as frigging awesome? I USE references of that work in my RPing.

OT Let's see here... Shame about the X-Box problem. Atlus seems to have its JRPG titles on Playstation. Uhh...you could try picking up a Wii (They're cheap, right?), get yourself a Gamecube controller, and then a copy of Skies of Arcadia Legends (which is a bitching awesome RPG).

 

[scorptatious]

Well if you ever get a Wii, then I suggest you get Xenoblade Chronicles. Great game with lots of depth.

As for JRPG's for the 360...

The only one I can think of is Blue Dragon, and while the combat system is nice, I can't really say the same about the characters and story.

 

[Rokusi666]

In my opinion the best one, Tales of the Abyss.

If you hated the Vesperia plot holes then this is the game for you! 100% space octopus free guarantee! The only downside is that it's for the PS2

 

[Launcelot111]

If anything, buy a PS2. Persona 3/4, Dragon Quest VIII, Shadow Hearts, Grandia 3, Disgaea 1/2, Xenosaga, SMT: Nocturne/Digital Devil Saga/Devil Summoner, Odin Sphere, more and more. I realize you've played Final Fantasy X and thus probably owned a PS2 once, but I learn about RPGs I missed and want to play for that thing on a fairly regular basis.

If you're dedicated to your Xbox, the only other JRPG I can think of is Eternal Sonata or Star Ocean 4. I wholeheartedly agree with whoever recommended against Star Ocean though. The voice acting gave me shivers with its otherworldly terribleness. It cannot be overstated. The gameplay itself is simply okay and viciously repetitive. The setting is the same tropes, but in space, which is slightly different, so play if you're really desperate, but you've been warned.

 

[neonsword13-ops]

Persona 4 for PS2.

...Wait, you said 360? They make JRPGs on 360? Eh, no matter.

I liked Resonance of Fate. The action was cool. I really didn't find a plot in the whole 5 hours I played, though.

 

[Awexsome]

Keep playing Vesperia. Seriously. Do it.

Late game combat in that is fun as hell and I sure enjoyed the hell out of its story. Then again the "I got better" I got over pretty quick since Raven's an enjoyable character. And you'd giving up Yuri. One of THE best JRPG characters ever.

 

[Ranorak]

Thanks for the advice so far.
I've picked up Tales of Vesperia while trying Resonance of Fate in the nearby future.
I think I might even see if I can get another console for some other exclusives.

Really a shame the Xbox360 has such a low JRPG count.

 

[ultrabiome]

Thanks for the advice so far.
I've picked up Tales of Vesperia while trying Resonance of Fate in the nearby future.
I think I might even see if I can get another console for some other exclusives.

Really a shame the Xbox360 has such a low JRPG count.

considering the Xbox is practically non-existent in Japan, it shouldn't be a surprise that there aren't many JRPGs for it.

 

[Matt King]

uugh i don't really know how it will end up but i just recently got resonance of fate and it's pretty good

 

[hazabaza1]

Persona persona persona persona persona.
It's a bit "Friendship=power" (well okay, very "friendship=power) but it's got great characters and some pretty damn fun gameplay.