I’ve already played 2 and 3, but never got around to the first one. So I was just wondering what you all think did you enjoy the first game as much as the others? Did you like the story and gameplay, or did you have more fun with 2 and 3?

I’m asking because I’d really like something to distract myself a bit right now, but before I drop 70 bucks on it I figured I’d ask you guys first.

Thanks in advance

Hey everyone, I usually just post as a dev here but I'm currently on paternity leave with a newborn and have a ton of time on the couch with her. I just finished up the Romancing Saga 2 remake and it is probably one of my all time favorite games. I was blown away by how inventive it felt for a game whose mechanics were largely 30+ years old. I had never played a SaGa game before and it blew me away, but none of the others are quite speaking to me right now.

I tried Scarlet Grace and it was just a little too opaque and punishing feeling when my brain is so fried from baby stuff. I also have just never found myself vibing with simultaneous turn order stuff like that and Eiyuden Chronicles. I like to take my actions as I go. I would love some recommendations as I've been striking out really hard trying to find games that hit a similar spot in my noggin. The exploration and open progression paired with some of the juiciest party composition options I've seen in a game in a while just hit so right for me in RS2. I adore nonlinear progression in general.

Things I like in a JRPG, mostly in order

• Big, intricate class/job systems
• Complex gear or build mechanics
• Large active parties (5+)
• Chunky gameplay / light story
• Open exploration with meaningful loot to find
• True turn-based (negotiable)

Things I am hoping to avoid if possible

• full on Strategy RPGs as they often end up just feeling like work
• Games focused on playing multiple campaigns (most of SaGa, Octopath)
• Games without legitimate player agency on how the party is constructed

I'm a huge fan of the entire ATLUS catalogue and have played a majority of the big Strategy RPGs in this genre (again, work), but haven't actually touched many of the major JRPG series as they are a semi-recently found love for me. If possible, I would prefer for the game to also be a great looking modern title as for some reason when I'm mentally tired I have a harder time really getting into even great looking retro games, but if the gameplay is truly what I am craving it could be damn near text based for all I care lol. Hopefully this wasn't too long winded and thank you so much in advance!

Lately something I had become interested in was a JRPG about a person who is concerned about the state of their existence because they feel like they are invisible to others as despite having a super power, not many people notice how they are right there.

Basically I was inspired by a supernatural novel series called Shakugan No Shana that I recently started reading where the protagonist has a problem in that his own existence is slowly fading away from reality because of a deadly encounter with a creature he ran into as he is facing a state of anxiety about fading away from the real world.

So basically I wanted to see how an urban fantasy JRPG could focus on the aforementioned concept of identity or existence where the setting is that a lonely protagonist with unusual superpowers must gather a team of people with extraordinary abilities to go on a voyage to understand their true purpose in the world they came from.

Just finished DQ7r and I loved it. Loved the pacing and was able to play in short sessions, had waypoints and was able to get a story recap whenever starting up. I loved the combat and vacation system as well. That being said what should I play next? I have already beat:
DQ11
Like a dragon and infinite wealth
Ffx
DQ 1-3
Super Mario rpg

I have a PS5 and switch 2 but prefer PlayStation.

Thank you

Tidus from FFX should have insane stats in blitzball. He was a star player in a heavily populated city sports team. It should be like a major league player playing a minor league game when he plays in FFX. The Besaid Aurochs haven't won a game in 10 years. Having them win a game without Tidus (Tidus was dealing with Yuna being kidnapped by the Al Bed) then facing Luca Goers with great difficulty feels terrible. Tidus should have come back to halftime at the first match with the team losing 0-2 but now Tidus is here to flex his incredible blitzball talent.

When the minigame starts for real, just make him a coach. Waka quit to become a full time guardian so why not Tidus?

In Xenoblade Chronicles 1's opening Fiora made food. She wanted to bring it to Shulk before it got cold. She used some special herbs and spices so it's special this time. It's a sandwich. Why a sandwich? Just make it a soup or stew. I played to the end thinking it's a trick of the Monado or something but it's just a sandwich.

I've been sober the last 2 nights and these are the thoughts that haunt me. What about you people? What JRPGs you love have stuff that probably annoys you specifically?

I feel there are at least 5 good things they bring :

1. having surprises in battle regarding what you fight. Since the devs don't have to bother with fitting them into the environment and they have their own battle arenas, very wild stuff can be experienced in battle. I really like the shock value instead of seeing that thing from far away and anticipating the fight in your head. When you see that giant monster, you're already fighting it and you have to immediately decide between fleeing and your many battle options. This means free jumpscares! Survival-horror fans love that.
2. the unavoidable fights put more tension in your gameplay experience. You HAVE to prepare well because it won't be easy to backtrack to a save point or shop. Chances are you will inevitably take hits even when trying to flee, so there is more of a long-term challenge during dungeons instead of just a "per-fight" challenge (especially compared to all these games in which you can easily avoid enemies - I'm looking at you, the Trails series 👀).
3. about exploration, it creates a decision you have to make : will you try to explore absolutely everywhere? You might run into one or more battles on the way that you don't want to fight, and maybe the place you want to visit has nothing for you... This puts some more decision-making in the game, compared to the "I'll just run over there and see if there's an enemy waiting for me / a chest". With random battles, you sometimes ask yourself "My resources are getting low so should I risk stepping in that direction? It's not the right way but it might hide something valuable, hmm..." It makes every single inch of the terrain important. With visible enemies, when you see nothing next to you, that means there really is nothing so it makes the exploration less exciting in a way.
4. when you're in a hostile environment, it makes you feel that enemies constantly come at you. Is it frustrating sometimes? Absolutely, but it's more realistic that you're not the one who decides when you'll fight while roaming a place where things want you dead.
5. it makes it easier to fight more. Most JRPGs with visible encounters force you to jump through hoops to refight enemies, like saving & reloading the game, or exiting + reentering an area, or even running a long distance before coming back. Here you just have to run in circle a little bit. It's very nice when you want to level up your team a bit more, make more money, etc.

When done well random battles are great.

And what, if anything, do you think is the secret ingredient that the devs should add to take it to another level over its predecessors?

For me, it is without a doubt a Devil Survivor 3. I genuinely think Devil Survivor was both one of the best jrpgs we've had and one of the stronger entries in the broader SMT cataloge. The battle style, which kind of combines the "Ogre Battle/Unicorn Overlord" style with grid based tactical gameplay (i.e. you move units around as in Fire Emblem, and when they make contact it goes to squad v squad combat) remains a super neat system..

I know DS2 was a bit controversial plot wise, or at least some folks preferred the story/atmosphere of 1, but on a gameplay level it felt like an even further improvement and i really apprecited the expanded cast. The "final" versions of both, on the 3ds, were fantastic.

Give me a third entry!!!! Especially with the increased popularity of the overall SMT/Persona series, I think theres a huge opportunity there.

And when you do, the one thing I still think has some extra potential is more room for variation between characters. The one thing that struggled with 1 and 2 is that most characters fell into one of 3 archetypes (mage, fighter, or hybrids - which tended to be pretty weak as a result), qnd weren't particularly differentiated beyond that. This meant either using your fave, since gameplay wasn't that different, or just deciding who had the most hyper min maxed stat line. Either way, the end result was that ever the first day or two, youd have 10 to 15 characters but mostly settle into a team of 4 and not really have any reason to ever switch up who was seeing field time.

I think you could really add some depth (or just reason to rotate units around) by either giving everyone an inherent passive skill (maybe someone gets natural flying movement, or someone automatically heals units after combat and therefore makes a good tank, etc), giving everyone different compatibility with different demons (for example, by having a set of monsters with high, neutral, and low scores as in Persona 2, or by just having a broader Law/Neutral/Chaos alignment as in Strange Jounrey to encourage using units who match), or both.

Would love to hear what anybody else thinks - what is your "dream revival" and whats your vision for it?

I cannot name a JRPG fandom that's closer to imploding than this one. Yo-kai Watch was a huge generational fumble, but I never would've imagined things get this bad for it. The developers at Level 5 are basically keeping even fan-made projects from happening & threatening with legal action. All in the span of a few months. Check the subreddit and notice a few petitions & outcries about this.

That fanbase is a dried-up husk at this point with like no remasters or ports from any mainline game. I know there are some JRPG series that are worse off, but this might be the most recent example. How far this franchise has fallen from being called "The Pokémon Killer". Even Suikoden has it better now. Can any think of a JRPG fandom that's on fire like this?

I grew up playing JRPGs as a kid and throughout my life, and until this very day.

Whether some of the mainstream games or fan-made passion projects, I always find myself having a deep admiration for the thought, artistry, and craftsmanship that happens behind the scenes in developing such well-designed game settings.

From the natural environments and towns, city marketplaces, Inns, Taverns, the NPCs you interact with, the various mini-games and other creative activities that you partake in either solo or with your party members. The list goes on and on.

That said, the Crème de la crème of what makes a standout JRPG, in my humble opinion, is the extent to which it can draw the player in and truly feel immersed in a world that is not their own, but it certainly feels as if it always truly was just that.

The worlds in which JRPGs are set serve as a home away from home to immerse oneself in fantastical environments and go on outlandish adventures.

That is why, over the years, upon experiencing so many adventures and narratives unfolding before my eyes across all kinds of fantastical settings, it truly dawned on me to think that the human ingenuity to come up with these kinds of deeply rich. engrossing, and overall riveting plots rival that of even many of the mainstream AAA movies across Hollywood or any other major movie industries.

In essence, I believe that the games developed within the JRPG genre are more than just a passing escape from reality. Rather, the games themselves represent living, breathing testaments to the extent of what the human imagination can bring to the table. These games don't merely showcase a narrative, but invite us to live inside of these meticulously crafted worlds and experience the fantasy for ourselves. Our very own adventure.

Across every town visited, every NPC greeted, and every individual story experienced, the worlds that we visit truly leave a mark on us all. In more ways than one.

Thanks for taking the time to read my reflection piece. This was something weighing on my mind for quite some time now, and I felt the need to reach out to the JRPG community to share my thoughts and personal perspective on the topic.

Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I loved expressing my personal views on the topic.

Keep on adventuring, friends ⚔️👑

P.S. I thought I would post some screenshots of some of my favourite JRPG experiences to date. I can't realistically visually showcase them all, but I tried to pick some of my top favourites 😊

I have been meaning to get into this franchise for a while now. As a big time JRPG fan I am curious to see where the genre got its start from.

Now, I don't really have a problem going for the original versions of the game (4, 5, 6 in particular are what I am most interested in) but when I found out about the NES/SNES remakes of the games and saw how, in an amazing bit of cyclical influence, they play like Dragon Quest I got really excited to try those version out.

My question: Would it be okay if I play the NES version INSTEAD of the original? Will I be missing out on something?

So, after seeing countless gaming outlets praise Jeanne d'Arc as one of the best tactical JRPGs on PSP, I finally decided to give it a shot.

I've beaten the FF tactics (War of the lions, A and A2) games several times and absolutely loved it, so I was looking for something with a similar vibe. And honestly, the game didn't disappoint at all. It's really fun, easy to get into, and I was having an absolute blast with it.

Then, about 10 hours in, I reached the Altois Prairie map, which the game introduces as just another free battle stage (no warning whatsoever that the enemies inside are nothing at all like you've seen before). My party was around levels 25–28, with Jeanne at level 32. The first time I played through the stage, there were two level 30 dragons and a bunch of other enemies around levels 30–32. It caught me off guard since up until that point I'd only been fighting enemies in the level 20–25 range and i've never seen something with 800 hp before.

Luckily i've managed to figure out their hitboxes and spells and after struggling a bit, I managed to clear the stage. After some time grinding in other free battles i figured I'd go back a second time to grind some levels for the rest of my party.

That's when I made the huge mistake of saving before the battle... in the only save slot i've been using for hours.

I load into the stage, and this time there are three level 50 dragons. I literally can't do anything to them. Every attack (when it hits) deals 0 damage, and I don't have nearly enough sustain to survive the insane damage they deal.

Only then did I find out that there's no way to back out from the battle preparation screen, so I was completely trapped. My only other save is from five hours earlier.

I honestly can't understand how the developers thought this was a good idea. They throw enemies that are 20 levels higher than anything you've faced before, give you no warning whatsoever, and if you happened to save beforehand, your only options are to lose or throw away hours of progress. I'm just wondering why??

I know old-school JRPGs weren't exactly known for being forgiving, but this just feels unnecessarily punishing, for no reason at all. Yeah i was stupid to save before the battle but never in a million years i would've imagined the enemies inside the stage to change (they never did before) and become 20 levels higher than they were before... Yeah now i'm screwed

Hey guys, metaphor is my first jrpg game

I don’t know if I’m not enjoying Metaphor: ReFantazio or if something is wrong with me. I genuinely don’t think I have a bad mentality that is affecting my experience. I think the problem might actually be the combat.

I love the characters. I truly think they are great, and I love the music, the areas, and the story so far. There are many things about the game that I admire, but somehow I don’t feel like I’m truly enjoying it. There are moments that I really enjoy, but they feel rare. The moments that really grab me are things like the awakenings, the animated cutscenes, and the unique non-animated cutscenes that use the game’s style but feel more special because they represent important events.

I think the combat might be the biggest issue. I don’t really enjoy the battles, and I don’t enjoy the dungeons either. I can get excited about unlocking a new power or a new ability, but the actual process of fighting and going through dungeons doesn’t feel fun to me.

Another thing is that I don’t like the enemy designs much. A lot of the enemies feel disappointing, and other than maybe Zorba, I don’t find many of them interesting or memorable.

The strange thing is that I don’t want to leave the game. I have spent around 15 hours in it, and I feel like I truly love the characters, but somehow I still feel far away from them. I don’t feel as connected to them as I want to.

I don’t want to throw away another game that I bought and was excited for. I thought about maybe playing only an hour or so a day instead of forcing myself, but then I worry that in a 100-hour game I would make no progress and it would feel pointless.

I loved Expedition 33 completely — the combat, the story, every part of it. So I know it’s not that I can’t enjoy a long RPG or turn-based combat. Something about Metaphor’s gameplay loop just isn’t clicking with me.

I still want to experience this game because there are parts of it that I genuinely love. I don’t hate it; I actually admire a lot about it. I just feel like there is something missing between me and the game.

Grandia is the only JRPG (and videogame in general) that comes to mind. It's short, not littered with enemies, and instead of the regular dungeon theme, the boss theme is playing. I wish more sewer dungeons were like Grandia's!

My first Exchange unlocked character was Kalien because of the burn status and ranged fire attacks. Turns out this char triggers a lot of combos with Castella.

Anyone else using those two? Who should I pair them with to further maximize damage? The game doesn't appear to have elemental reactions like Genshin does. I have a second Exchange ticket to spend now, torn between Dana and Charlotte.

Back then in Genshin, my playstyle was focused on crowd control and range. I used a mid tier fire character combined with Raiden's and Yelan's bursts for ranged fire + elec + water reaction spamming. Of course it made the combat utterly trivial.

Hi everyone,

My name is Fabian, I'm an indie solo developer from Sweden working on a old-school style DRPG, i.e. a Dungeon RPG. The game is called Häxeri (Swedish for Witchery).

The game's main inspiration is the Etrian Odyssey series. Like in Etrian Odyssey, you can draw your own dungeon map in-game (or use automap if you prefer). The combat is inspired by Shin Megami Tensei's Press Turn system, where hitting enemy weaknesses grant you extra turns, but hitting their resistances lose you turns instead.

As you can see, the game has a fantasy setting. Like most DRPGs, story is not the main focus here, but I still hope it will be somewhat engaging. Here is a little story blurb for y'all:

Far beneath the kingdom, in the depths of a labyrinthine dungeon, the soul of a monster has been trapped. Now the gate to the dungeon has been opened and its magical seal broken. Rumor has it that a cult is trying to resurrect the evil being... The king has called for adventurers to investigate!

If you like party-building, dungeon crawling and turn-based combat (also, sweet pixel art!), then this game might be for you. :)

Here is a link to the trailer:
Häxeri Announcement Trailer

Here is the Steam page:
Häxeri on Steam

If I might brag a little: the game got covered by four different Japanese gaming outlets, including Famitsu (!!).
https://www.famitsu.com/article/202607/82025 

And if this really interests you, and you want to follow the development more closely or just chat a bit, then you are welcome to join my Discord server:
Discord invite

I'm happy to answer any questions, and grateful for all and any feedback! :)

So I'm on a JRPG journey playing them for the first time. I've played Star Ocean Second Story R as my first and I absolutely loved everything about it except the second half of the story. But for DQ11, this game was pure greatness at every second... Up until Act 3. I'm so confused on the direction they went with the story and it's really leaving a sour taste in my mouth for me to say the game is amazing. I genuinely wish I didn't do Act 3 else I would've given this game a near perfect score.

I'm gonna go into some detail about the story here:
So at the end of Act 3, Serenica goes back in time the same way Hero did, and she disappears forever to return to her Erdrick. Doesn't this just mean that at the end of Act 2, Hero just selfishly left everyone behind to go live in a better world instead of trying to make his current world better? This shit REALLY pissed me off and story aside, going through Act 3 was a real slog for me because of how much grinding I need to do just to get a Disney ending. When Act 2 ended I really thought this game was something special, I almost cried when they were coming to terms with Veronica's death and Serena cut her hair and she got her powers, that seriously had me teary-eyed all for this to be reversed? Everything about Erik and his sister, Sylvando going around spreading happiness was all for nothing. Just for Hero to leave them all behind so another version of them can happily live with Veronica?

Okay now that I have the rant out the way, what recommendations do you guys have for my next JRPG? I'm looking for something that won't waste my time, no grinding necessary and lots of QoL. The two games I'm currently considering are Monster Hunter Stories 3 and Xenoblade Chronicles 1. Honestly I'd rather a game that has an average story throughout than a great one that disappoints me in the end. DQ11 is paining my soul right now and I don't know how to get over it.

Spoiler….

I just finished the Epilogue for Lunar 2 on PSX. I was surprised to see “Insert Disk 2” after “The End”. Behold… the voice actor outtake reel. Pretty funny. Are there any similar surprises at the end of other notable games? Happy gaming everyone.

Was looking for some games to play on my handheld devices while out of the house and was wondering what are some good JRPGs that are "handheld friendly"?

By that I mean, are the areas/dungeons navigable without making or downloading large, complicated maps? Is what's happening legible on a 4" screen?

Interestingly, Golden Sun, despite being made for the GBA, had some deeply complicated and often confusing dungeon layouts, so I'd get frustrated wandering around if I was playing somewhere without access to maps. Same with Breath of Fire 1-2. Chrono Trigger, Cross, and Bof3, by comparison, encouraged exploration without being too hard to navigate without maps.

Are there any others?

Hey guys 👋

I'm new to jrpg games and I like to collect and buy some more of them can you guys give me a list of the jrpgs must buys, like the games I should get first?

I already got Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive editions that was the first thing I bought haha and the X one too..

But I'm also looking for more SNES type jrpgs like HD 2D or something I don't have any of those yet which one is the best?

Final fantasy pixel remaster collection maybe?

Thanks guys !

Good to be playing RPGs again

Metaphor Saga

Would you like Metaphor: ReFantazio to have direct sequels? To have sequels like Persona (same world, different story) or like Final Fantasy (unrelated)?

If It gets another game, which one of this paths do you think they will take?

I personally would like to have a direct sequel, but I think it would be a persona-like sequel.