Topic: General JRPG Thread

FFVII R is a timed exclusive, @Shulkalot .... It'll definitely come to XB1 & PC! I'm looking forward to that

@BruceCM
Well, I don't own a gaming PC strong enough to play something like that or XB1 either. 😟
But hey, maybe it'll be ported to one of Nintendo's future consoles... in like 20 years or something. 😅

JRPGs are my favorite genre, but I've honestly had mixed feelings on recent ones. I'm much more into turn-based (there are some Action RPGs I like and I've been getting into Tactical RPGs, but nothing beats a good old-fashioned turn-based game in my books), and it feels like most developers are either moving towards Action RPGs or mixing in visual novel/social/dating sim elements with RPGs, and I'm definitely not a fan of the latter type. There are still some coming out now that I enjoy, but I'm not personally a big fan of how the genre is changing these days.

My personal favorite JRPG series is Xenoblade, which I know probably sounds funny given my love for turn-based RPGs, but they manage to have a combat system that's still a blast for me and nail the type of exploration I love. They have great writing too, and they don't end up feeling TOO story/dialogue heavy, which is another one of my personal gripes with a lot of modern JRPGs (I'd personally prefer to spend more time playing than watching/reading). It's the black sheep of the three, but I'd say X is my personal favorite. I love its combat system and how it incorporates different classes and the Skells, the exploration is the best in the series (in my opinion), and I'm into sci-fi so I like that it leans into it more than the other two. That being said, Xenoblade 1 and 2 are both very close to it, and X is my favorite game of all time, so all three games are very special to me.

As for some of my other favorites, I'd say Final Fantasy VI (SNES version, also a really big fan of IV and VII), Dragon Quest XI (and just about every other main series DQ), Pokemon Crystal (I love all the Pokemon games but Crystal's definitely my favorite), Chrono Trigger, The World Ends With You, the 3DS Fire Emblems (I need to go back to Shadow of Valentia too, I haven't finished it yet but I think it would be my favorite of them when I get more into it), the original Kingdom Hearts (I'm very hit or miss with the series as a whole, but I really love the first game), and EarthBound.

The most recent one I've been playing is Xenoblade Definitive Edition; I'm working on Future Connected before I wrap that one up and move on. I already said I love the Xenoblade games, so it should go without saying that I've been loving my time with this one. I also played through Dragon Quest IV fairly recently, and I finished the original version of Trials of Mana a few months ago through the Collection of Mana. DQIV was a really great time, and I feel like Trials had a lot that I liked, but I don't think the combat aged particularly well so I wasn't entirely in love with it. I am looking forward to playing the remake whenever I get around to picking it up though! Some JRPGs I'm planning to start up fairly soon are Final Fantasy IX (played a little bit after buying it in the recent eShop sale), the Xenosaga trilogy, Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Ys VIII.

As for upcoming JRPGs that I'm excited for, there's obviously whatever Monolith happens to do next. I'm anxious to see their new IP, and I'm sure they're going to start working on Xenoblade 3 soon if they haven't already, so I'm looking forward to those. Other than that, there isn't really much, honestly. Sea of Stars and Eiyuden Chronicle are the two that come to mind. I'm a little curious about Bravely Default II, I passed on the first game after hearing about how repetitive it is towards the end and never got around to trying Bravely Second so I'm not sure if I'm really interested in BDII. That being said, I did love Octopath, so I'm open to seeing how this one goes too since it's by the same team.

Yeah, maybe it'll be ported to Switch 5 or something, @Shulkalot .... Presumably, not enough games you'd want on the next-gen consoles to make it worth getting either, then?

My JRPG games i have so far.

NDS
FF III
FF IV
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
Kurikin: Nano Island Story
Zettai Onkan Otoda Master

3DS
Fantasy Life
Miitopia
Pokemon X
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity
Pokemon Sun
Pokemon Ultra Moon
Pokemon Alpha Sapphire
Pokemon Omega Ruby
Yokai Watch Blaster: White Dog Squad
Fossil Fighters Frontiers
Kingdom Hearts 3D
Ever Oasis

Wii
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon

Switch
FF X/X-2 HD
FF XII TZA
FF VII/VIII Remaster
World of Final Fantasy
Chocobo Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy
Lost Sphear
Earthlock
Pokemon Sword
Xenoblade 2

PS3
FF XIII

PS4
Secret of Mana
FF XII TZA

@VIIIAxel
You're right that turn-based RPGs are becoming more and more rare. Octopath Traveler did it very well and if you can get past the fact that the 8 stories don't intertwine until the very end, it's a very enjoyable and lengthy game with an amazing soundtrack and some really nice visuals.

As for my take on the Xenoblade series: Xenoblade Chronicles is my all-time favorite video game. As such I was a bit disappointed with XCX. It's still very good but I didn't like its soundtrack and the lack of a proper protagonist meant I wasn't as invested in the story like I was with the first game. XC2 on the other hand, I have many issues with. It's not a bad game, but it's far from the excellence I have come to expect from Monolith Soft. I am looking forward to their next game though. They are capable of brilliance. Hopefully, they'll achieve that with their next title.

@BruceCM
It's not so much a lack of games which interest me that turns me off from buying a PlayStation or Xbox, it's the lack of portability. I've become so accustomed to the Switch as an all-around device that I don't want to go back to strictly couch gaming.

Ah, that can be quite a big factor, too, @Shulkalot .....

JRPGs are definitely one of my favourite genres, but I can't really remember what initially got me into the genre. Unless you count Secret of Evermore as a JRPG, Pokemon Yellow might have been the first JRPG I played, and I have a lot of fond memories for it, but I think Tales of Symphonia is the first game that really made me fall in love with JRPGs.

Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, Baten Kaitos Origins, Xenoblade Chronicles, Persona 5, and Dragon Quest XI are ones that come to mind right now as some of my favourites. TWEWY is also really good, but specifically the DS version. I don't think the Switch/mobile versions translated the combat all that well. Octopath Traveller probably has my favourite turn based combat system, but it does suffer from some other issues unfortunately.

@VIIIAxel I think you should try out Bravely Defauly and Bravely Second even with the repetitive end of Bravely Default. The repetitive section is truly just at the very end of the game, and even if you decide to drop the game when that section starts it'll still be a worthwhile experience.

@VIIIAxel Have you played Grandia. It's one of my favourite turn based RPGs. It does turn based combat but the characters don't just stand in a line(which I've always thought looked strange)

@Cynas
Sorry for my late reply, but I've been on vacation for the past couple of weeks.
The Pokémon games were the ones that got my younger brother into JRPGs. He played a lot of Pokémon Red and Blue all the way up to Pokémon X and Y. After those, he grew tired of it. Pokémon never did much for me though. I think it was the lack of story and very basic strategies that threw me off. After Septerra Core, I went straight to the Final Fantasy series and games like The Legend of Dragoon, which I believe deserves a remake.

JRPGs have always been my favourite genre.

I'm not sure what we've currently got to look forward to though. The next FF7 Remake game will be huge. The next Tales game looks good. Maybe the next Monolithsoft game? There's not much with a clear release date in the genre right now. Bravely Default 2 didn't really grab my interest, although could end up being good I guess.

Quirky JRPG from Miitopia caught my interest quickly as it was so hilarious to set your own character as Heroes, Villains and other support characters.
I have never seen very hilarious battle with surprising interactions.
It was both good and bad at the same time depend on the battle situation.
I really wish there is another developer want to create another Quirky JRPG again with controlable characters during battle.

@Dezzy
I wouldn't worry too much about Bravely Default 2. That first demo was poorly balanced and the developers have stated that was done on purpose to get players to farm. I don't understand that philosophy myself, but I'm sure it's going to be great once finished.

I have a feeling MonolithSoft's next game isn't going to be a JRPG but an action/adventure game instead with a big open world to explore. Kinda like MonolithSoft's own version of BotW with a bigger focus on combat and story. Just a feeling of course. I'm sure they're also working on the next Xenoblade, but I think that might be a bit farther away from releasing.

Other upcoming JRPGs include: Shin Megami Tensei V, Trails of Cold Steel 4 and Rune Factory 5. I have to agree though that new releases in the genre are few and far between. But I think a lot of that has to do with the massive budgets and long development times these games require.
Look at the release schedule for FF games for instance. We got 3 entries during each console generation up until PS2, then HD happened and now we're lucky to get 1 new major release per generation. This happened with every genre. Games cost a lot more and take much more time to develop than they used to.

@Shulkalot

My problem with Bravely Default is not that the balancing was wrong. My general issue with the series is they're quite simplistic with their characters and stories. They feel like they're aiming to replicate the kinda Final Fantasy 1-3 era of JRPGs, where things were very simple.
I want them to be aiming for the FF6-FF9 era instead, which had much deeper and more epic stories and characters.

@Dezzy
I see, that's a fair point.

I consider myself rather lucky because I haven't been a huge fan of JRPGs (outside of Fire Emblem and Hyperdimension Neptunia) until I played ONINAKI.
Meaning I can looking forward to finishing Person 5 Royal which I'm currently playing.
I've got Persona 4 Golden, Persona 3 Portable, Persona 2 Innocent Sin, all the Final Fantasy games on the switch (alongside Final Fantasy Legends pre-ordered), Dragon Quest 11 and Kingdom Hearts (bought all the KG games for 40 Euro last week) lining up in my home and waiting to play through them.
If anyone got recommendations for the Switch or Vita let me know ! (:
Almost Forgot Xenoblade Chronicles 1 which I own in the Special Edition and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 which I already beat after ONINAKI (almost 400 hours spent in that game)

@Dezzy Yeah that's my issue with Bravely Default and Octopath Traveller. The story/characters just didn't hook me. I'm not gonna finish a 40 hour+ game if I'm not invested in the story they're telling.

In terms of upcoming RPGs. I'm looking forward to FFVII Remake part 2. The first part was near perfect for me, I had a smile on my face until the credits rolled. I understand people's criticism of it not actually being a remake, but for me I really enjoyed the ride.

Also looking forward to Yakuza 7 and Ys IX, if you like RPGs both series are definitely worth a look.

@Nephestinus The Grandia Collection is definitely worth a look. They're a bit like a blend of final fantasy and the Tales games

JRPGs are probably my favourite genre. I'm working my way through Final Fantasy VII Remake at the moment, the original is one of my favourite games of all time so I'm trying to savour Remake.

@Wargoose Thank you for letting me know.
If I like FInal Fantasy I might have to take a look at Grandia!