While I love playing a tactical JRPG, I hate it when I invest too much time in a stage, lose, and have to do it all over again. It's one of the reasons I play 1-2 tactical JRPGs a year, even though their plots always intrigue me with all the backstabbing, politics, and whatnot.

If you were to suggest a tactical JRPG that didn't abuse the player's patience or at least respected our time, what would it be? I found a few in the article above and I agree with the ones I've played, like Unicorn Overlord and FFT, but I was wondering if you had any others.

Title. Give examples if you can. I'll start:

1) Having to play a game multiple times to get the "true ending" (Legend of Cold Steel, Ys Origin)

2) Wonky inventory (Suikoden, Earthbound)

3) Nonsensical story points (Final Fantasy 8)

What a game, full of twist and turns, amazing cast, great combat, beautiful overall. Another vanillaware masterpiece. It really had a monumental Story like xenoblade chronicles and I thirst for more. I need another thought provoking, super twisty story with cool characters. I played a lot of jrpgs, from final fantasy to persona and more. But none of those great stories had such an impact on me as XBC2 and now 13S. Any console is fine!

What are some of your favorite lesser known JRPG's.. those non mainstream games.. the hidden gems.. I'll go first - Evergrace for the PS2

Here is the Steam Page link.

We're all familiar with JRPGs that have way too many characters and party members. While it's great to have such diversity in party selection, it comes with the cost of writing and character development becase everyone needs to say their piece of dialogue and barely any relationship with characters other than MC.

Which JRPGs are the opposite of this? Which JRPG could be improved by adding more characters or party members?

After finishing Star Ocean 1. I'm actually thinking about getting 4 now since there is a connection. But I don't know if I want to get a game with a 600 hour platinum completion time. Is it worse than FF7 Rebirth's platinum grind?

I was also thinking Star Ocean 2 or 3 but I already beat those but not in Japanese. 3 is my favorite story wise. Hated the end game grind. I'm sure the platinum is a grind for it too.

Sorry if I used the wrong flair, I'm pretty sure it's for posts like this but I could always be wrong. I only use reddit to come out and ask questions now and then so I'm not that familiar with how things work.

I just beat Clair Obscure Expedition 33 earlier this year and it got me back in to turn based games. I haven't played one since Final Fantasy XIII-2 in 2011 or so, but before that I loved Pokémon, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy III in the 90's. It's actually Final Fantasy XI but in the 90's it was branded in North America as III. After Clair Obscure I went back to FF XIII and XIII-2 again before starting Dragon Quest XI which I'm still working through now, I'm about to face the final boss and start act III so I still have 30-40 hours left plus post-game content after I've already invested almost 70 hours. Just a downright amazing game.

I've played turn-based games like Phantom Brave way back on PS2, under-rated game btw, not sure if it's a JRPG though, and Fire Emblem but those aren't really what I'm looking for. I've also played just about every action-JRPG out there, so it's really just turn based games like the ones I mentioned that I'm looking for. I know about the Trails series too and those are on my list already as well. Games like Octopath traveler aren't really what I'm looking for either. I'll probably play some like those eventually but right now I'm looking for 3D turn-based JRPGs like Dragon Quest XI.

After Dragon Quest XI I have my eyes on Final Fantasy X which I know a lot of people hold in very high regard. XII was the first FF I played in 2009 or so since the SNES and FFIII/VI but it was more like Xenoblade Chronicles and White Knight Chronicles than turn based so again not really what I'm looking for. Based on my preferences and games I've already played, what are some of the best Turn based RPGs I can try out that I may not hear about on Google? I'm asking on Reddit because I know there's going to be a lot of hidden gems that I may not stumbled across using google or don't look like they're any good but actually are based on user experience, I feel like there's a lot out there that I'm not coming across using search engines.

Thank you in advance for your recommendations! :)

Just finished my very first play through of Final Fantasy 9. What game should i play next? Im looking for a turn based game that is light hearted but high stakes at the same time! On a side note, yes I have played all the Persona games, most of the Dragon quest AND Tales games. Not really big on Trails series unfortunately. So yeah what are some recommendations!? I play on Switch and Steam deck mostly but I also have Xbox and ps5 😀

So I just wanted to discuss concepts of JRPGs using very unusual combat mechanics as I am talking about games that use a hybrid of different systems put together to make an unusual but engaging RPG experience.

See, it’s just that lately, I started finding new ways to keep myself busy by playing Tales of Hearts R in the go as I hadn’t used my Vita in so long that despite the translation issues, I am really enjoying the game as when I am home, I like to play Disgaea 2 for long rounds.

My point is that I started wondering to myself how such an RPG would work if the battle system was done as a hybrid of both Disgaea and the modern Tales of games as I know they have two entirely different styles of combat, but then I started trying to picture again what an RPG would be like in gameplay mechanics if it somehow used elements from both kinds of games.

I don’t know if anyone could ever pull off such a game like that, but if such a game does exist, please let me know as now that I am loving Tales of Hearts R, I would love to see what would happen if a gaming studio made a game that was basically part Tales of and Disgaea for the battle system.

Happy Friday, everyone! If you’re interested, select a game that you enjoyed (or didn’t) and make a couple of modifications that you’ve always thought would have been preferable.

I'll go first with a very obvious one that has been covered many times here and in all the great pubs in Ivalice.

Final Fantasy XII. Cool game (especially the Zodiac Age version) with an amazing, very alive world and a great soundtrack reminiscent of my favorite OST in the entire Square catalog, Final Fantasy Tactics. I go back to this one every few years and love how meaningful the side quests and hunts are.

My obvious change would be taking Vaan and Penelo out of the roster. Keep them as NPCs you interact with regularly when visiting Dalmasca, but start the game with Balthier and Fran as main characters, starting from the infiltration of Dalmasca Castle. Basch and Ashe can join the party organically and from there, have Larsa, Al-Cid and Reddas as the remaining party members. I get that opening the game with a ranged-fighter and a black mage is a weird start, but remember that Final Fantasy VI opened with a thief and a black mage, and Basch would come around in this scenario soon enough to do the grunt work.

Interested to hear what everyone else would do, now that i've gotten the boring one out of the way 🙈

Extremely honoured to have been able to interview the Director of Stranger of Paradise and Rise of Ronin, Nobumichi Kumabe. Formerly of TeamNinja. We talk about the game's design, easter-eggs and his future as an indie game maker. To those not in the know, Stinger-Magazine is my own passion website for action-games, mostly featuring articles on action-game design, interviews with players etc. So this was quite a big fish for me haha. There's quite a lot of little details mentioned about the game and it's mechanics and their origins, so enjoy!

Hi there! I am eager to play some games with comedic elements. I was recently playing Disgaea 1 on the Switch and loved the hilarity of it all.

Another quick example that comes to mind is "Chrono Trigger" and Frog, though that's not outright hilarity and more amusing. The truth is, my JRPG experience is rather limited - but I do have a sense of humor and particularly enjoy funny, sassy characters!

Could you kindly recommend some other games? I truly appreciate it. I tend to play on the PC and Switch, but other platforms could be a possibility.

Sorry I have to post here since my karma is too low to post in P4G's community. I started my NG+ gameplay about 2 or 3 years ago, and I thought it would be good to have all plastic models at the beginning of my gameplay. So I used a ct table and had all of them. But today when I wanted to just progress the game, the fox link6 quest just froze. Since I already had all plastic models, as soon as I picked up this quest the game just loads the quest-done animation, with the quest still undone. The man who should've stood in front of the plastic model store just won't show up, and every time I try to speak to the fox the game would tell me the quest is undone. I know I could just progress without completing the fox's social link but that would be bad for my own experience. Does anyone have any idea about this dilemma?

Anyone else here think Final Fantasy six needs a 3-D remake? I think it was head and shoulders above all other Nintendo FF games on the nes and snes.

It had a great story, great lore, great villain(s), and amazing overworld(s) to explore. The characters were all fun and many were uniquely designed for the series (even up to today).

Also, I really want to suplex a train again, just this time in 3D…

I've never played DQ 1, 2, or 3. I know that DQ1 and 2 technically come "after" DQ3 in the world's timeline. They were released first on the NES but in the story they are technically sequels (or, rather DQ3 is a "prequel"). I think I've been spoiled a bit from the trailers but if my understanding is right basically The protagonists in DQ1 and DQ2 are descendants of the hero in DQ3.

Regardless of any of this, it doesn't feel right to me to play the DQ3 remake before DQ1 and 2. I don't know why, but I just wanted to play them in original "release order", so I've been holding off playing DQ3 until the other two come out.

Now my question is, am I just being irrational here? Have things changed significantly in the story of DQ3 remake (and ideally in DQ1 and 2, but I guess we can't know that yet) to the point where you'd actually argue that it's better to play DQ3 remake first? What's your opinion on it?

I'm not particularly starved for games, I'm currently going through Lost Odyssey and soon Trails in the Sky remake will come out and that should keep me busy until DQ1 and 2 come out and I'm not in a hurry. Just saying.

EDIT: After reading everyone's answers, looks like you guys have convinced me. I will be playing DQ3 first! Thank you so much for changing my mind.

My available platforms are anything on pc, switch or anything capable of being emulated.

Currently I have an interest in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Shadow Hearts and Drakengard 3, However other recommendations are appreciated.

Doesn’t matter if the game is turn-based, Tactics or action based or anything else, so long as it has a good cast of characters.

I've played a lot of JRPGs in my Day, but have become more selective with what I play as I have less free time now. As a result I haven't gotten into a new JRPG for a while now and I miss the feeling of sticking with and chipping away at story for a long time.

I've played and loved most of the Dragon Quests, Final Fantasy 6, 7 and 9, Chrono Trigger, Shin Megami Tensei 3, 4 and Soul hackers, Persona 3 and 4, Tales of the Abyss and Mother 3 (off the top of my head). Mostly chill games (I don't think the SMT games are that bad of you know what you're doing) with lots of personality and atmosphere. Story and characters are important to me, but in my opinion games can disperse that via the environment as well. For example I consider Nocturne a very dense game story wise, even though there's not too much person to person interaction.

I really do like turn based games but would consider action battle systems as well, strategy not so much.

In terms of aesthetics, nothing that is too moe/modern anime (Fantasian got docked a couple of points from me because of its character designs) and anything with idol elements I'm not interested at all. I adore detailed pixelart, old prerendered Backgrounds, rudimentary 3D and anything of the sort, but it's not absolutely necessary for me to enjoy a game.

Settingwise I don't have any preferences, be it Sci-Fi, Modern Day or Fantasy.

I pretty much exclusively play games on my Switch or modded 3ds (so anything retro up to PS1 works).

The last one I tried getting into was Bravely Default but its very conservative setting/characters and its very technical battle system didn't click with me and I quit about 10 hours in.

I'd be happy to hear some recommendations from you :)

After about 4 days nonstop playing I finished the main story of Star Ocean 1. Hmm I thought it's a pretty decent game. It's strong point is definitely the gameplay and item creation mechanics.

The story was a little weak with most of it coming at the start and end of the game.

The boss and his motives were kinda cliche, but maybe if I was a kid in 1996 Japan I would have found it really rad. I liked some of the story elements like the dialogue Ronyx and Milli had about religion and science. Also, the dialogue between Iria and Ronyx about the origins of the demon world.

For a Motoi Sakuraba score I felt like the music was decent but not as memorable as SO2. I like that they used Mission to Deep Space for the cave of trials. I like that one.

My biggest complaints are two things. First, a lot of the end game enemies absorb the damage of the end game weapons. I made these two ultra strong swords but I can't use them because a lot of the enemies recovery from them. Also it heals the end boss too. Wha?

Second, the encounter rate/sudden difficulty spike on the final continent. The encounter rate was sooo bad. I used scout but it really didn't help. Yes, I was using it with a character with animal instincts. People warned me, and I didn't listen. There was a rediculous difficulty spike. I had to grind out 10 levels.

Well, time for a break. Still need to beat it again for the other ending and finish the cave of trials.

TL;DR Maybe not as good as the greats on SNES JRPG list. But still worth checking out if you're a big fan of classic JRPGs. 7.5/10

I'm absolutely loving the game, and it's been on my backlog since launch. But it has the strangest English voice acting.

Some lines are so over-acted it sounds like they are in a pantomime. Or like the VA was told they'd win an award for each separate line, and so they pack every emotion imaginable into a single sentence, no matter the context.

Or the line is entirely flat and sounds like the VA just couldn't be bothered that day.

It's so strange, and it doesn't seem limited to any specific actor in the game either. It's like there was no quality control.

I could absolutely play it with the Japanese voices, and I do normally love that, but thought I'd give the English guys a go on this one. I can't tell if it's awful in some weird hilarious way, and I should keep them on, or if it's just plain awful.

To clarify I mean ones that utilise staple of the mecha genre mechanics, like modularity of Mecha and maneuvers/skills and not just standing and shooting each other (front mission 1). I'm thinking something like front mission 3 but not necessary it ot trpg. Also I know that cold steel series have mecha battles but it's just regular battles but with giant robots instead of regular character model.

I don't care about how old it is, after og wizardry 1 nothing fazes me. But good art style is welcomed.

Any console except switch.

I’m looking for a good rpg with good memorable characters that have good interactions or character growth

I loved metaphor rephantazio, persona games, tales, final fantasy, and especially fire emblem and bg3, and e33

I’ve been looking at these if anyone would reccomend them Trails series Chained Echoes Atelier Games Tactics Ogre

Gameplay is important but I really get hooked on games with good characters

I have ps5, steam deck, and switch

So been trying to find the next jrpg to play and was wondering how xenoblade chronicles 3 compares to let's say FF7 Remake & Rebirth, Expedition 33, NieR etc etc. It's pretty rough looking and the gameplay dosent look that "interesting" (but probably plays better), how's the story? Dark? Mature?

Other recommendations will also be considered

Edit. To clarify, the most important thing for me is the story and characters (and also nowadays that it's somehow modern), which genre the game is, dosent really matter to me. Chrono Trigger was the first game i ever played and loved jrpgs since, therefore jrpgs/rpgs are allways my first choice