essential jrpgs?

[disability-anon No.1651238]

What are some of the essential or must play jrpgs?

[Anonymous No.1651279]

That one and Chrono Cross.

[Anonymous No.1651290]

>>1651279
>into the trash it goes

[Anonymous No.1651293]

Mario RPG

[Anonymous No.1651297]

>>1651290
I'm going to fucking kill you.

[Anonymous No.1651309]

Secret of Mana
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy VII

[Anonymous No.1651314]

SaGa Frontier

[Anonymous No.1651319]

>>1651238
Since you started with a pic of 8, I'll start with the PS1.

Jade Cocoon: Beautiful art style, done by a member of Studio Ghibli. Also an in
depth monster fusion system, especially when it comes with the apperence of you monster.

Azure Dreams: This game has everything. Monster taming, roguelike dungeon crawling, so lite city sim elements, dating sim stuff. Looks like ass, but the result is a very solid tittle with a lot of variety, and something in for everyone.

Kouldelka: A nice Gothic horror story, with a surprise ending. It has survival horror elements and and nice character customization is tactical RPG gameplay system.

Dragon Seeds: A game similar to monster rancher that many mon enthusiast prefer to the MR games.

Kartia: The Word of Fate: Has Character Designs by Final Fantasy's Yoshitaka Amano. A strategy RPG with some unqiue system. Has two different intertwining story paths based on which character you choose. Genuinely feels like a Final Fantasy game in terms of story, especially when you think of 4 and 6.

Digimon World: Explore a massive island with a digimon buddy. However, you're on a strict schedule with days work between the limited lifespand your digimon has before it dies and turns into a baby again. It's about experimenting till you can reliably create the results you want.

Lunar and Lunar 2: Very enjoyable characters and story. PS1 version has anime cutscenes, is easier, and has some story changes from the Sega CD version. Both the Sega CD and PS1 versions are worth emulating or buyin. The PSP and GBA versions (the GBA only has Lunar 1, but it's filed with some game destroying gliches) are not.

Parasite Eve: Very use of New York City as a setting that would make native New Yorkers proud. Nice channeling of survival horror elements and with clever camera work gets rid of the need for tank controls. Has some cool weapon customization and a unique action and ATB hybrid battle system. One of Square's finest games.

[Anonymous No.1651350]

Let us move onto the NES.Everyone knows about Dragon Warrior, Final Fantasy, and Wizardy, so let me talk about a couple lesser known RPGs for it.

Legend of the Ghost Lion: This a fever dream in game form; why there are no creepy pasta about it I'll never know. But basically, you play as a little girl name Maria, who's lost in another world looking for her parents. You must use summons and a variety of different tools to survive. You level up via special items you find instead of getting XP from grinding, kinda like heart pieces in Zelda. Also, the intro of game suggest that Maria also may or may not be dead. It is a very Majora's Mask sorta deal.

Destiny of an Emperor: Based on a manga based on the Chinese psuedo-historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Unique battle system, especially regarding magic, or tactics as it is called in this game, but has mechanics simular Shin Megami Tensei in that you recurit enemy generals and their armies onto your side. Regardless, you you get to be a badass warlord, his son, and their blood brothers, and whoever you're a bad enough dude to recruit as you go around taking over china. There's a fan translated sequel and also a fan made patch that lets you play the game from the perspective of the villain.

Captcha: steeecr great

[Anonymous No.1651370]

>>1651319
I recently played PE and actually really liked it and I just started playing PE2.

I dunno what they did but shit, why would they wreck the movement controls. I get the game is "different" and more actiony then PE was but holy fuck I've always hated that control scheme.

Its still great though

[Anonymous No.1651385]

>>1651319
*Also an in depth monster fusion system, especially when it comes to the apperence of your monster.
*Very good use of New York City as a setting...

And here's some SNES rpgs.

Arcana: Automapping (so fans of, Wizardry, might not like it) first person crawler not unlike Shin Megami Tensei series.

Live a Live: You start being able to play as seven different characters, the story of each essentially plays like its own different experimental game. For example, one has gives you the option of stealth with the reqard of one of the best items in the game, while another focuses on crafting, setting traps, horror, player choice, and on and on Eventually, they call converge and you get to use your favorite characters together in a party for a portion of the game.

Lufia II: Has a nice focus on puzzles in its dungeons, and as a results has a really great level designs.

Sailor Moon Another Story: A solid RPG on its own merits, but this is the holy grail if you like the show/manga.

Terranigma: Very atmospheric action RPG with a more in depth combat system than most others.

>>1651370
I like both, even if I prefer the first, but they're completely different games in every sense possible.

[Anonymous No.1651630]

>>1651309
Not sure any of those games have to be recommended. Everyone knows about them.

It's like an evangelist in the Western world thinking the person they're preaching to is gonna hear about Jesus for the first time.

[Anonymous No.1653004]

>>1651238
the lack of FFVI in this thread makes me wanna take a leap of faith

[Anonymous No.1653026]

If you can emulate or play burned saturn games (or somehow stumble upon a copy of it) Panzer Dragoon Saga is a very good JRPG

[Anonymous No.1653040]

>What are some of the essential or must play jrpgs?

Get ready to have every single JRPG ever made recommended to you indiscriminately, because JRPG fanboys are obsessed Japanophiles who aren't very refined when it comes to what they believe constitutes a good game.

[Anonymous No.1653047]

>>1653040
but p much all of the recs in here are good

[Anonymous No.1653492]

Warning: some of them are not retro

[Anonymous No.1653532]

>>1653492
That's just so entry level and non-retro it physically hurts.

[Anonymous No.1653614]

>>1653492
I like how there is only one Fire Emblem game and it isn't even Genealogy of the Holy War, yet FF4 and FF8 are on it but not 1 or 3. Guess I have to agree with this dude >>1653532 on this list being sort of bad. It's got some good games, but a lot of unnecessary recommendations either because of popularity or lack of quality. Also, where the heck is Grandia 2? That was probably the best Dreamcast jrpg.

[Anonymous No.1653878]

I've played a lot of jRPG's, didn't care for most of them.

Skies of Arcadia is the only one I can recommend.

[Anonymous No.1653893]

Lunar Series (But not Dragon Song, fuck that game).

Star Ocean: The Second Story (PSP remake's alright, too)

Front Mission Series (It's a Tactical JRPG, but FFT is a suggested playthrough, so why not?)

Jade Cocoon (Hiyao Miyazaki did the artwork. Game is RPG elements but not stereotypical RPG. Still excellent)

Arc the Lad series (Interesting story, and system takes a little getting used to)

Legend of Dragoon (Highly under/over rated. People I know who've played it love it, others who give it a try later say nah.)

[Anonymous No.1653894]

>>1653614
I'm just suprised I haven't seen it talked about on /vr/. It's one of the funniest games I've ever played with a final stretch that must be seen to be believed. Meanwhile, the game looks great even today because of how cinematic and flashy the battle system is. Everyone actually moves around all the time and don't just stand there hitting each other.

And the spell system is pretty fun customization wise.

And besides owning it on the CD, there's a PS2 port, AND a PC port that works great.

[Anonymous No.1653896]

>>1653893

Oh! Almost forgot: Wild Arms, Breath of Fire, and the Mana Series (Secret of Mana, etc.)

[Anonymous No.1653906]

>>1653492
This stupid pic doesn't even have Lunar 2 and Lunar 2 is better than the first game.

[Anonymous No.1653908]

>>1653906

Both Lunar games are fantastic.

[Anonymous No.1653928]

>>1653893
I mentioned some of the stuff you did >>1651319

You're cool, Anon. I was afraid to mention Front Mission on account of it being an /m/ think and possibly too much a niche. And Arc the Lad, I'm just afraid my love for the series is pure nostalgia and that game might not be good if I play them again.

As for Stat Ocean, I haven't even been able to get my hands on any of the games yet, so I can't say anything about them. Same with Breath of Fire.

I have no clue why I forgot to mention Wild Arms either, though maybe it was because I mentioned Lufia II and I closely associate the two series since they're both puzzle focused.

Though, in my local area. Legend of Dragon is the gaming gate keeper with a fandom that's like Chrono Trigger and Final Fatnasy VII combined. If you don't own it or think it's the est thing sine sex, it's a free pass to treat you like a piece of shit. I have no clue how the internet treats the game.

Then again, /a/ wise, so is Boys Over Flowers, of all shows. Local scenes are weird.

>>1653614
Maybe we should make a /vr/ JRPG list and show it to /vg/?

[Anonymous No.1653963]

>>1653928

I did not notice the overlap. And yeah, it's strange. Everyone loves it, but LoD is one of those games that's notorious for it's "It was great when I played it back when..." lines.

Front Mission is a great Tactical JRPG. Fuck the haters.

Get 2. It's the best of the lot. Original Playstation or PSP remake, doesn't matter. The PSP remake does have a few new cutscenes, apparently.

And yeah, I never played the Lufia games. Wild Arms was the shit, though. Breath of Fire 3 was my thing for a few months.

As for Arc the Lad? Great series, one I was introduced to through the fifth game on PS2, went back and got the master collection on PS1 after that. I feel the art suffers and the difficulty can be a little unnerving at times, but it's otherwise solid.


Lunar is Love. Luna and Lucia remain up there as some of the best Goddess-figures (Speaking from the Joseph Campbell Goddess from the Heroes Journey) that I experienced as a kid. Far better than Aeries of FFVII.

[disability-anon No.1655143]

>>1653928

a /vr/ jrpg list would be pretty cool. maybe we should make one?

[Anonymous No.1655149]

>>1655143
>Chrono Trigger
>Earthbound

There you go.

[Anonymous No.1655180]

>>1655149
Forgot Final Fantasy VI. There's not a single RPG recommendation thread without those 3.

[Anonymous No.1655185]

Anything Squaresoft in the PS1 era is guaranteed to have unnusual, gimmicky gameplay. They were going through some weird creative phase back then, FF9 is probably their most traditional game.

I'd suggest you skip everything SNES save for the really famous classics, like earthbound, chrono trigger, terranigma with ntsc patch, etc.

[Anonymous No.1655242]

>>1653492
That's a nice entry-level list but...Golden Sun? Seriously?

[Anonymous No.1655682]

>>1655242
I agree that the games are generic messes, are incredibly easy to get lost in, sometimes cheap, and have uninspired stories.Still, there's some stuff in its favor that I makes me understand how people would like the game.

#1. Tool based puzzle solving ala Lufia and Wild Arms, which inherently makes the dungeons more interesting than most. Though, I still think the mentioned other games that do it do it better. Regardless, it still means there's more gameplay and variety in it than most jrpgs.

#2. The games look pretty.

#3. And the GBA ones had the link cable save game exporting gimmick that people could see as cool, even if its as old as fucking Wizardry.

>>1655185
Are you trying to imply that was a bad thing?>>1655149
Please, just stop. Even your grandmother likely knows about and has played those games. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy them, but people wouldn't be asking for recommendations if they haven't already exhausted the obvious and most famous jrpgs in the universe that fucking everyone has already heard about and/or has played to death.

[Anonymous No.1655690]

>>1655682
Oh, and I meant to add that in the one in a million chance they haven't heard of those games, they SHOULD still be on the list, but not JUST those. Otherwise, it has no information whatsoever than just saying /vr/ is either full of newfags or can't agree on anything being worth playing other than just a couple sacred cows.

[Anonymous No.1655737]

>>1653492
How would one go about making such a list/image? Is there a good program to align and size everything right?

[disability-anon No.1656103]

>>1655149
What about final fantasy vii? I would think any list should have that.

[Anonymous No.1656107]

>>1655682

>>1655149 was clearly sarcasm about how /vr/ never talks about any other RPGs but CT and Earthboung.

[Anonymous No.1656274]

>>1655737
There is that website people use for those 3x3 threads. Maybe we should do one of those for retro JRPGs/CRPGs and compile them that way.

[Anonymous No.1656281]

>>1656107
I see a lot for Terranigma, as well, and that's more obscure in the U.S. because we didn't get a retail release here.

[Anonymous No.1656586]

Has no one here played the first 2 Suikodens?

[Anonymous No.1656625]

>>1656274
Alright then, leave it me. However, should series be their own images, or should each recomended /vr/ game in a series have a spot? Like, do we need 10 for Final Fantasy and Tactics and 7 Dragon Quest/Warriors, etc.?

[Anonymous No.1656942]

Here's a preview page of sorts. Basically, I figured SERIES alone take up enough space, so that'd be its section on the page itself.

So, this seem good?

[Anonymous No.1656948]

>>1656942
Actually, I already realize I somehow forgot Lunar.

[Anonymous No.1656973]

Alright, now. Here we go. I'm guessing this a decent one for series. I'll go onto individual titles later.

[Anonymous No.1656991]

>>1656973
thank you anon-sama
we love you so much

[Anonymous No.1657020]

>>1656973
Don't thank me yet. I already forgot some obligatory series. In a bit, I'll add in the individual ones later, then I'll look at the mentions in thread and soon on the v recommend wiki, and then add in the top saying it's "/vr/ recommends jrpgs" and put in a text dump at the bottom with all the actual names for clarification.

[Anonymous No.1657025]

Ugh, I need to sleep, I mean to quote >>1656991

[Anonymous No.1657026]

Man, out of the lists posted so far nobody has posted my favorites but, then again, they're not really that great.

Saga Frontier and Saga Frontier 2. Both use unique skill and leveling systems.

Also throwing in Vanguard Bandits if you need another mech based SRPG like Front Mission

[Anonymous No.1657095]

>>1657020
I've played a LOT of JRPGs in my life and there's still some in that list that I never touched.

>Arc the Lad
>Destiny of an Emperor
>Legend of Oasis
>Romancing SaGa 2

I probably should get into that.

[Anonymous No.1657137]

>>1657026
Oh, well, yeah. I agree. I didn't actually mean to sorta dismiss Frontier. I just put romancing in the image because it the first cover for a Saga game I could find.

I like Vanguard Bandits. It's the Escaflowne or Break Blade to Front Mission's Votoms or Dougram.

>>1657095
Nice to know, and there will be more when it's actual individual games and not just series.

Well, the Destiny of an Emperor series, actually is a more obscure JRPG series. I've only seen one other person talk about it on this board other than me. You could think of it as a sort of personal "editor's choice", I suppose.

[Anonymous No.1657146]

>>1657020
You have double Legend of Mana there

Also, why Chrono Cross over Trigger? Is it just to highlight the less popular games? I don't know many people who prefer Cross over Trigger.

[Anonymous No.1657151]

>>1657146
It's a series list.

[Anonymous No.1657157]

>>1657146
I put Cross instead of Trigger because it had it has a more square shaped box and thus I wouldn't have to crop it.

I don't prefer either over the other. I'm not a bit fan of either of them, while we're at it, but I can see why others would like them.

I didn't have any sleep last night, my brain isn't working. Thing is though, mentioning Legend of Mana twice seems very appropriate, though yeah, I will edit it back.

Alright, I'll try to make the individual games list after I'm done with errands, run it past you guys, and then add them to the image list.

[Anonymous No.1657185]

Which Chrono Trigger version do I want to emulate? I tried PSX, but those load times are atrocious. I know there's GBA and Snes (or was it nes?)

[Anonymous No.1657186]

>>1657185
DS.

[Anonymous No.1657189]

>>1657185
SNES, PS1 and DS.

People usually recommend either the SNES and DS versions, I like the DS version the best because of the (arguably) better script and extra content.

[Anonymous No.1657192]

>>1657186
>>1657189
Can't run DS emu, my pc is toaster tier.
Guess I'll go with Snes. Thanks.

[Anonymous No.1657245]

>>1657192
You could always use NO$GBA. Even 15 year old laptops can run the thing.

[Anonymous No.1657257]

>>1657245
ha, I wish. I tried emulating pokeman SS/HS and it didn't work. I guess that's understandable since I heard that they aren't generally supported by emulators. Some time ago I tried 7th Dragon (I think that was the title), but nope, single digit FPS.

[Anonymous No.1657264]

>>1651238
What are some of the essential or must play 3d platformers?

[Anonymous No.1657273]

>>1651319
>Jade Cocoon
Interesting, but niche. Quite flawed, especially in regards to pacing.

>Azure Dreams
A goddamn dungeon crawler. Very niche.

>Koudelka
Not only niche, but an all-around poorly made game. It had a lot of interesting aspects to it, but it was badly paced, questionaby coded and badly designed overall.

>Dragon Seeds
Yep, it was Monster Racher lite, and even Monster Rancher is far from "essential." SO very niche.

>Kartia
NICHE AS FUCK, holy shit. The opposite of essential.

>Digimon World
It's ok, but essential?

[Anonymous No.1657304]

>>1657264
Spyro