Topic: JRPG's for PS2 & PS1

So I've recently had a desire to start getting into JRPG's. I never played any until this previous year, when I got The Last Story and Xenoblade Chronicles. I beat The Last Story and I'm about half way through Xenoblade. I love both and I'm really interested in this genre. In fact, I'm going to get a PS2 so I can play some older JRPG's(and it's only $30 after all). So please recommend some JRPG's for PS2 and PS1 for me.

Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy XII
Dark Cloud
Tales of the Abyss

The PS2 really didn't have any good JRPG's (IMO), but here the one's I've enjoyed.

SMT: Nocturne
Xenosaga 1-3
Persona 4
SMT: Digital Devil Saga 1-2
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. The Soulless Army
Dragon Quest Vlll

PS1:

Xenogears
Final Fantasy Chronicles
Persona 2
Forgot about Final Fantasy Tactics and Valkyrie Profile.

Legend of Legaia

I don't know how well the PS2 version runs, but Grandia II is fantastic.

!!!

The PS2 had a lot of really good JRPGs released on it.

A lot of good PS1 RPGs as well, though.

Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
Legend of Legaia
Jade Cocoon (This one is really cool: it's like Shin Megami Tensei or Dragon Quest Monsters by way of Studio Ghibli)
Breath of Fire IV
Dragon Seeds
Monster Rancher (2 is the best, and an absolute masterpiece, but they're all enjoyable)
The Legend of Dragoon
Vagrant Story
Xenogears
FF VII

PS2
Dragon Quest VIII - Masterful conglomeration of everything oldschool RPG
Final Fantasy X - The last classic Final Fantasy, IMO
Tales of the Abyss - Great cast, great story, great gameplay
Persona 3 - Extremely compelling, and engrossing game
Disgaea 1 & 2 - Very funny strategy RPG's designed for 900 hour save files

PS1 - I couldn't even come close to naming all of the great RPG's (or games in general) for this grey box of wonders, but I'll try
Wild Arms - Wild West themed RPG, nice characters and a lot of charm (Perfect for beginners!)
Wild Arms 2 - Excellent as well, but perhaps the worst NA localization ever devised for the genre, might not be for beginners (A lot of looking things up due to the horrible translation)
Suikoden - Mature and interesting storyline, with over 100 characters to recruit!
Legend of Mana - Can get a little aimless, but unique and good nonetheless
Front Mission 3 - Mech-based SRPG, with two separate storylines, very underrated
Grandia - Lighthearted and fun
Final Fantasy VII, VIII (Yes, I like it ), and IX - All around great, especially VII, but VIII is the black sheep of the trio
Final Fantasy Tactics - It's like Final Fantasy, with more tactics!
Lunar: Silver Star Story - Not my favorite of the bunch, but respectable nonetheless
Final Fantasy Anthology (V and VI), Final Fantasy Origins (I and II), and Final Fantasy Chronicles (Chrono Trigger and IV (Horrible load times!)) - Great games, and good value.

Just remember to get a whole bunch of memory cards too! (And you do need PS1 memory cards for PS1 games, even if you're playing on a PS2), and enjoy!

Speaking of games with sucky stories, Final Fantasy X... yuck. Great gameplay, some of the worst characters and story in the entire franchise.

Anyway, not mentioned so far:

PS2
Valkyrie Profile 2 (love the platforming elements in it)
Star Ocean: Til the End of Time
Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2
Makai Kingdom: Chronicles of the Sacred Tomb (if you enjoy Disgaea, you'll probably like this too)
La Pucelle: Tactics

PS1
Chrono Cross
Star Ocean (rare/expensive)
Star Ocean: The Second Story (rare/expensive)
Tales of Eternia (rare/expensive, called Tales of Destiny 2 in NA, even though it has no connection to the first Tales of Destiny)

>says there's not really any good RPGs on PS2
>lists about 2 or 3 of the objectively greatest RPGs ever made on any console

I thoroughly recommend Shadow Hearts and its sequel Shadow Hearts Covenant. The latter is particularly good. Extremely odd, but brilliant, it's set in an alternate WW1 era world populated by pro-wrestling vampires, giant pink pussy cats and other oddities. It's quite dark and demonic, but never takes itself too seriously. The battle system is an interesting blend of traditional -based and real-time button presses, so it keeps you on your toes.

Persona 4 is hands down one of the finest games (not just RPGs) I've played in the past few years. Persona 3 is less so (on the PS2 at least because you can't directly control party actions in battle. This was changed on the PSP version).

The PS2 is an absolute RPG haven with lots and lots of great games to discover!

2 or 3 games does not the beat the quality JRPG'S of the PS1 and SNES games. And besides, take out the games of Atlus and the only game worth playing is Dragon Quest Vlll. But that's just me.

I'd forgotten this one! This was by far my favorite of the Front Mission titles. It even had two entirely different campaigns.

You're right about that

Just giving my honest opinion.

Thanks, everyone! Now my wallet and social life are going to hate me!

In addition to what's already been said:

Ys: The Ark of Napishtim
Wild Arms 3 & 5
Suikoden III & V & Tactics
Mana Khemia 1 & 2
Growlanser Generations
Growlanser: Heritage of War
Grandia 2 & 3
Front Mission 4
Breath of Fire: Dragon's Quarter
Atelier Iris 1 & 2
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits
Ar Tonelico 1 & 2

_{In reverse alphabetical order for visual eccentricity.}

All of these have already been said, but I'll throw in my recommendation for them as well (all for PS2):

• Kingdom Hearts - This is what got me interested in JRPGs, and it's great for newcomers to the genré (even better if you have an affinity for 90's era disney movies).
• Kingdom Hearts II - If you like the first, this is a no brainer.
• Final Fantasy X - KH may have piquet my interest in the genre, but this game solidified it. It was the first game I played that felt truly epic, and is to this day my favorite in the series (yes, even the sappy love story between Tidas & Yuna brings a smile to my face).
• Tales of the Abyss - I only played this on 3DS (and if you have one, I'd suggest getting it there, since it'll be less expensive, and there were little to no concessions when porting it). As for the game itself, it's bright & colorful, has a wonderful cast, and has that "epic" vibe a good JRPG should have.

I also played FFXII, but I wasn't a big fan of that one (you might want to check it out though).