Trying to get into JRPGs

[Roulette]

Basically a recommendation thread.

Before going on, I have to mention why I've been having troubles with getting into jrpgs as a newcomer. The ubiquitous grinding and light-hearted campiness. I think I don't have much tolerance for grinding after few iterations(expect for dark souls where I had to constantly remind myself that everything in that game was 'fair'). I would shamelessly delve into cheating once I felt that the excess amount of grinding in the game revolved around the design decision to eat more time out of players for the sole purpose of keeping them busy. I'm hoping there are some jrpgs out there that forgives you on missing out on daily grindings if you can actually skip it.

As for the campiness, it's a little complicated. I actually like campy aesthetics(obvious since I eat anime daily) but problem starts when the same theme or subject keeps getting reiterated on the subgenre. I don't have a problem with themes getting repeated but writers often choose the same old 'friendship can over come anything' or 'companions of oddly light-hearted characters to save the world' route to the point where even if they add a new twist or something, I would still feel that underwhelming sense of 'been there and done that'. I think it's becoming apparent that the jrps i choose to start with are mostly targeted towards kids so I need some recommendations of jrpgs that would keep progress interruption to a minimum through less grinding(with good gameplay) and with much less narrative that feels like a moral story for children.

One more problem that I can think of is my stubbornness for staying on PC. I heard many good jrps are console exclusives like fire emblem, beyonetta, persona, nier, etc so it would help if someone recommends me a console with enjoyable jrps to occupy myself with.

 

P.S. Someone recommended me FFVI and I tried.. I really did but alas, the only thing I came to like about that game was the soundtrack. I wonder if I'm just not hardcore enough or are people biased on FFVI because of nostalgia(calm down friend, I mean no harm).

[Darklord Rooke]

I have the same issues with grinding, I don't like it at all.

Have you tried Valkyria Chronicles on Steam? In my opinion, it's the most forward thinking JRPG of recent times. It tells a beautiful story, the combat is strategic, the characters nicely developed, and the art unique.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/294860/

 
 

[kyrt]

Here's a few don't expect me to discuss the plot/characters or anything but I'll try and give you an idea about why you might like one of these. I'm in the same camp though grinding I used to enjoy when I was younger but as I'm older I just don't have time for that as much anymore. Hopefully you can find something to try and enjoy.

PC Recommendations:

Grandia II: Long held by jrpg fans to have one of the best combat systems for the genre of game, the HD Remaster is great PC version of the game. It comes with both english and japanese dialogue and multiple difficulty modes. The game itself while the story is a bit cliche is rather entertaining and enjoyable nonetheless. One point for it (or against for some) is that the game can be completed in about 40 hours which is rather short for most jrpgs. While it is not a perfect game it is one of the better jrpgs on Steam.

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD: You may be wondering why I have this Final Fantasy game on here and not a different game. The simple answer is that the PC HD Remaster has additional features that can make grinding a lot easier. The game comes with 5 pottential boosters which do the following (hit escape to see the menu); speed mode (toggles between normal, 2x speed, and 4x speed...no skipping cutscenes and doesn't affect menus though), supercharge mode (not sure what this does but I imagine it will make people hit like a truck, Encounter Mode (increase or decrease enemy encounter rate), Auto-Battle Mode (use this along with the speed mode and grinding is easy as hell and speeds up the process), Hud mode (toggles the hud on or off so you can take screenshots). You don't have to use any of them but the speed and auto-battle mode makes grinding less tedious if you decide to do it. The story is pretty good for the most part and the characters have character and can be interesting but it is a bit boring at the beginning but gets better as it goes on...a bunch of side quests, minigames, etc... that you can do if you want (it's optional), and it's the first final fantasy game to release with dialogue (at least back when it released).

Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky: This is is a great jrpg it has some quirky personalities but it has character and plot and has pretty solid gameplay while also giving you a very interesting look at the world that the game takes place in. I can't really do any game justice with just talking about it but this is one of my favorite jrpgs to come out recently. The game does leave off a bit ambiguous but the sequel has been translated and released as well.

Valkyria Chronicles: What Rooke said

Tales of Symphonia: Not the best port but there is a mod to make it more manageable on PC. I was a fan of the Tales series growing up and even like it to this day even if I dislike some practices of the current PC crowd. It deals with pretty mature content and while friends and all that is a thing (it's a jrpg) it's not nearly as emphasized as something like Graces F. It has an interesting world and interesting characters with a decent story. But again unless you use the mod might be better off skippig

Positive points: You can pick up Valkyria Chronicles, Grandia II, and Legend of Heroes on a sale for usually less than 10 dollars and X/X-2 during a squenix sale for less than 20.

Console/ Recommendations for you: Suikoden II, Chrono Trigger, Skies of Arcadia, Nier, Xenogears/Xenosaga, Shadow Hearts Covenant (or play Shadow Hearts then SH Covenant), Valkyrie Profile, and Parasite Eve)

 

[Clephas]

3 hours ago, Roulette said:

Basically a recommendation thread.

Before going on, I have to mention why I've been having troubles with getting into jrpgs as a newcomer. The ubiquitous grinding and light-hearted campiness. I think I don't have much tolerance for grinding after few iterations(expect for dark souls where I had to constantly remind myself that everything in that game was 'fair'). I would shamelessly delve into cheating once I felt that the excess amount of grinding in the game revolved around the design decision to eat more time out of players for the sole purpose of keeping them busy. I'm hoping there are some jrpgs out there that forgives you on missing out on daily grindings if you can actually skip it.

As for the campiness, it's a little complicated. I actually like campy aesthetics(obvious since I eat anime daily) but problem starts when the same theme or subject keeps getting reiterated on the subgenre. I don't have a problem with themes getting repeated but writers often choose the same old 'friendship can over come anything' or 'companions of oddly light-hearted characters to save the world' route to the point where even if they add a new twist or something, I would still feel that underwhelming sense of 'been there and done that'. I think it's becoming apparent that the jrps i choose to start with are mostly targeted towards kids so I need some recommendations of jrpgs that would keep progress interruption to a minimum through less grinding(with good gameplay) and with much less narrative that feels like a moral story for children.

One more problem that I can think of is my stubbornness for staying on PC. I heard many good jrps are console exclusives like fire emblem, beyonetta, persona, nier, etc so it would help if someone recommends me a console with enjoyable jrps to occupy myself with.

 

P.S. Someone recommended me FFVI and I tried.. I really did but alas, the only thing I came to like about that game was the soundtrack. I wonder if I'm just not hardcore enough or are people biased on FFVI because of nostalgia(calm down friend, I mean no harm).

Suikoden I and II

Xenogears (this and the above are on PSN)

Lost Odyssey (if you have xbox 360 or xbox one)

Legend of Dragoon (again, PSN)

Chrono Trigger (campy in a good way)

Valkyria Chronicles (PC, PS3 or PS4)

Valkyrie Profile (either the psone or psp version)

Nier (for the music and story)

Tales of Vesperia

Star Ocean 2 and maybe 3

Shadow Hearts I and II (dark, WWI era)

Xenosaga (if you don't mind the way they screwed up 2's gameplay and ended up having to truncate the story)

SMT Nocturne (demonic pokemon with darkness everywhere)

SMT: Digital Devil Saga (two games, one awesome story)

Persona 3 and Persona 4

[Duyy]

Hmmm, since everyone has already mentioned the good stuff I'm gonna throw in some curve balls.

The mentality to have with these games is, "Do it for HER!" and hopefully the grinding won't seem too tedious.

Fate/Extra (especially if you've seen at least Unlimited Blade Works and didn't 'hate' it)
Akiba's Trip 2 (and no, 1 is not required in understanding the story)
Neptunia Hyperdimension Re:birth (and if you get bored of the battle system you can move to Hyperdimension Neptunia U for some mindless hack n slash grinding)

P.S All of these should be in english if not, an english dub.

[littleshogun]

Try Persona 2 duology and Radiant Historia if you interested in RPG. Granted it was not for PC, but since you could emulate both of PS1 and DS might as well call it for PC. Have fun.

[Albedo]

If you want something "darker," try Final Fantasy Tactics, Tactics Ogre and Vagrant Story. Valkyrie Profile, Xenogears and Suikoden II/III/V would also be good choices. You should be able to emulate all of them. Older stuff, Terranigma is not exactly dark, but it has a pretty interesting premise (plus it's a great action RPG.)

 

Oh, and FFXII is absolutely NOT about saving the world with the power of friendship, but there's a remaster incoming so I'd wait.

[Nashetania]

[Novel21]

I'm not much fan of grinding eighter but I still enjoy playing RPG, SRPG and JRPG.

these are title I recommend the most.

Agarest serie are very good rpg game with beautiful CG, background and character, the story are very good as well, I'm unsure how much grinding are in the game.

Trails of Sky 1 and 2 are very good rpg game as well self at I find that game easy to beat.

[sarkasmus]

32 minutes ago, Novel21 said:

I'm not much fan of grinding eighter but I still enjoy playing RPG, SRPG and JRPG.

these are title I recommend the most.

Agarest serie are very good rpg game with beautiful CG, background and character, the story are very good as well, I'm unsure how much grinding are in the game.

Trails of Sky 1 and 2 are very good rpg game as well self at I find that game easy to beat.

The grinding in Agarest was one the worst I expirienced in a RPG so far and I played a lot of them...

[xGreyHound]

22 hours ago, Darklord Rooke said:

I have the same issues with grinding, I don't like it at all.

Have you tried Valkyria Chronicles on Steam? In my opinion, it's the most forward thinking JRPG of recent times. It tells a beautiful story, the combat is strategic, the characters nicely developed, and the art unique.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/294860/

 
 

Damn I was going to recommend that, game is solid. One of my all time favorites as of recently. 

[Roulette]

Thank you guys for the amount of recommendations here. I have heard about most of these games before and simply passed them off as a grinding fest in the past but now I'm willing to give each one of these a try. I'll start with the PC one's first since they are, well, on the PC then I'll move on to the emulators and lastly the consoles.

I should've given Valkyria Chronicles the credit it deserved for being the sole reason of why I even had a sudden piqued interest in JRPGs after all these years. Really the best jrpg I played to date since its availability on steam. I replay this game every now and then reminding me of how much I'm missing out on not being a fan of this subgenre and how much potential it has. I'll probably even start a playthrough now using Darklord's recommendation as an excuse.

Most of the console recommendation I see here are on playsation so I should get myself a 7th generation ps console(basically a ps3) right? or instead buy a 3ds(or a wii u) on account of fire emblem, bayonetta, bravely default and the likes but no matter, I can agonize over them at a later date.

Thanks again guys, this really is a load off my shoulder.

Edited January 13, 2017 by Roulette

[Novel21]

You are very welcome

[sarkasmus]

14 hours ago, Roulette said:

Thank you guys for the amount of recommendations here. I have heard about most of these games before and simply passed them off as a grinding fest in the past but now I'm willing to give each one of these a try. I'll start with the PC one's first since they are, well, on the PC then I'll move on to the emulators and lastly the consoles.

I should've given Valkyria Chronicles the credit it deserved for being the sole reason of why I even had a sudden piqued interest in JRPGs after all these years. Really the best jrpg I played to date since its availability on steam. I replay this game every now and then reminding me of how much I'm missing out on not being a fan of this subgenre and how much potential it has. I'll probably even start a playthrough now using Darklord's recommendation as an excuse.

Most of the console recommendation I see here are on playsation so I should get myself a 7^th generation ps console right? or instead buy a 3ds(or a wii u) on account of fire emblem, bayonetta, bravely default and the likes but no matter, I can agonize over them at a later date.

Thanks again guys, this really is a load off my shoulder.

Concerning the consoles:

(I don't know what the 7th generation is exactly)

The PS3 and the Vita (if you don't mind handhelds) would be the platforms with the most good JRPGs (there are several VNs too on the Vita). There would be the possiblity to play games from older consoles too on the two of them if they're offered in the PS-Store (it's not possible on the PS4) but since those can be played via emulators on PC too it probably doesn't matter.

The PS4 has some too, but not as many as the 2 mentioned above and many of them are avaible on both PS4 and Vita/PS3 without much difference in terms of content or quality.

There will be more PS4-JRPGs in the future (Trails of Cold Steel 3 for example) but currently the Vita and the PS3 have way more good games from that genre.

 

The Nintendo handhelds have some good games, even though some of them were hit by ridiculous censorship (If you mind or not is up to you). But if you buy them solely for good JRPGs, I'm not sure if the handhelds are worth the money (they aren't for me at least).

 

Just stay away from the MS Consoles if you want to play JRPGs, exclusives from that genre are almost not existent on them.

[Suzu Fanatic]

didn't check to see if it was listed above, but Trails in the sky 1 and 2 are pretty solid jrpgs - you can successfully go through both without any grinding (though it'll obv. be a steeper difficulty curve), and it has pretty decent music/story.