JRPG suggestions please?

[porina]

Feeling an itch for a new turn based combat game in this area, looking for some suggestions.

 

Like:

Yakuza Like a Dragon

Final Fantasy main series, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13.

Enchanted Arms on xbox 360 - this caught me by surprise

DS/3DS era pokemon games???

 

Dislike:

Final Fantasy 15, 16, 7R - just no to that combat system

Atelier Sophie (and related series?) - does this count as JRPG? Really didn't like the combat system.

Neptunia series - dislike combat system again. Also, too much reading.

 

So I dunno, I guess I like the turn based style combat, a nice story without going into visual novel territory. I'd have to put in an additional limit, the game shouldn't be too retro by current standards. I don't think I could enjoy the earlier FF series games today as I did at the time for example. I own VI much later but couldn't get into it.

[Moonzy]

11 minutes ago, porina said:

the game shouldn't be too retro by current standards

-wanted to suggest Genso Suikoden II, my all time favorite game but it's retro-

[Shoopman]

Do these have to be PC games? Bravely Default and its sequels on 3DS are a great evolution of the classic FF formula (mainly FFV because it uses the job system).

 

A lot of people like The Legend of Heroes series (Trails in the Sky/Trails of Cold Steel), which are all on PC. I haven't personally played them but the fanbase is very dedicated.

 

Battle Chasers: Nightwar is a cool game with a nice American comic book art style. The loot is random though, which can be annoying especially if you don't get any good drops for a long time.

 

Dragon Quest 11 will definitely give you your moneys worth as it is a 70+ hour game with all the charm of the Dragon Quest universe.

 

Tales of Berseria was easily the best of the Tales series when it came out (not sure if anything better has come since), and it basically stole the entire story from Berserk so if you like that you will like the game.

 

That's it for turn based stuff. If you want something with action combat that has a deep JRPG-like story, I would recommend Nier Automata or Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana. Both start out relatively innocuous, then ramp up to ridiculous stakes by the end like any good JRPG.

 

If you want to play a junk food game that is just fun without too much thinking (that is also Japanese), play Trials of Mana. Combat is fun, but not too hard even on hard mode. Story is light-hearted and the characters are goofy.

 

 

 

[porina]

10 minutes ago, Shoopman said:

Do these have to be PC games? 

It doesn't have to be PC but there is no general gaming forum here. I would open it to PS3, PS4 also, but no handhelds. My eyes are messed up already from mobile gaming so no more small screens for me.

 

10 minutes ago, Shoopman said:

A lot of people like The Legend of Heroes series (Trails in the Sky/Trails of Cold Steel), which are all on PC. I haven't personally played them but the fanbase is very dedicated.

I've not come across this before so this is new to me. In a very quick and random look at one gameplay video I found, it has potential. I just need to work out which ones are in English.

 

 

10 minutes ago, Shoopman said:

American comic book art style

Pass  

 

10 minutes ago, Shoopman said:

Dragon Quest 11 will definitely give you your moneys worth as it is a 70+ hour game with all the charm of the Dragon Quest universe.

I know practically nothing about the DQ series apart from the vague reference to it in Yakuza. I think I even own one of the older games on DS as it came bundled but I never got into it. Not sure about the art style, but I'll keep this in the consideration pile.

 

10 minutes ago, Shoopman said:

Tales of Berseria was easily the best of the Tales series when it came out (not sure if anything better has come since)

It is unclear from a video I looked at, looked more like action combat?

 

10 minutes ago, Shoopman said:

If you want something with action combat that has a deep JRPG-like story, I would recommend Nier Automata or Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana.

I love the Nier world, and Automata has the best stand alone game music ever IMO. But it is not a game I want to play. Great movie. Will watch again. Last Ys game I played was on the Sega Master System. Hmm... is there anything solo in the Phantasy Star line these days? PSO obviously is action combat and was ok for a little distraction.

 

10 minutes ago, Shoopman said:

If you want to play a junk food game that is just fun without too much thinking (that is also Japanese), play Trials of Mana. Combat is fun, but not too hard even on hard mode. Story is light-hearted and the characters are goofy.

I suppose I'm not 100% against action combat, in that I can tolerate it to progress a story. Don't mind silly stories, could even be a plus.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestions, plenty for me to consider. It might be swung if any are on sale right now.

[Shoopman]

1 minute ago, porina said:

lots of stuff

Just to clear some things up:

 

The mainline Legend of Heroes games are available in English on Steam. This includes Trails in the Sky, Sky FC, and Sky the 3rd, and Trails of Cold Steel 1-3 with 4 releasing in April 2021.

 

DQ is much like FF in that the games are not related to each other. Some of them technically take place in the same universe but they are 99% completely separated. 11 is fully 3D with classic turn based combat. If the art looks familiar that is because Akira Toriyama (creator of Dragonball) does the art for the DQ games. He also did Chrono Trigger.

 

Ys 8 is the most recent release in the Ys series and is fully 3D with fast paced combat that requires you to switch characters (damage types) in order to kill certain enemies. Not everyone's cup of tea for sure, but worth a look on Youtube.

 

Berseria is action combat yes, but there is still a separate battle screen and the fights don't take very long. It is mostly mindless unless you are fighting a boss, like most other JRPGs.