Need JRPGs

[Chiki]

I just beat Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. It's such a great game and unfortunately, I'm too busy with school to learn kanji (though I guess I could spare the time to learn the easier stuff) so I can't play the sequels. What JRPGs can I play while waiting for Trails in the Sky SC to come out in English?

[Tangerine]

What consoles do you have available? You pretty much need Nintendo handhelds and Sony home consoles to have all of the best JRPGs available to you.

[Garland Chaos]

If it counts, Riviera: The Promised Land.

[Chiki]

PSP, Wii (which includes GC and VC games), PS2, 3DS (including DS games). I might buy a PS3 in the future if it can be softmodded like a PSP can, or if I'm willing to spend money on games, so you can suggest PS3 games as well.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Chiki

[Elli]

Depending on where you live there is the newly released game Bravely default on the 3DS in Europe and will be out Feb 7 in NA. There is also Tales of the Abyss on the 3DS.

Also Tales Of Xillia & Graces F on the PS3 and there is Symphonia Chronicles & Xillia 2 coming out later this year. And there is also Final Fantasy X/X-2 coming out on the PS3 soon & Eternal Sonata.

There is Ys Seven on the PSP and Riviera: The Promised Land and Lunar: Silver Star Harmony, FF Crisis Core, Star ocean second evolution, Tales Of Eternia all on the PSP that's all i can think of at the moment.

Edited January 4, 2014 by Shelie

[MacLovin]

Secret of Evermore [sNES, dunno if it's on VC],

Ni No Kuni [ps3]

Illusion of Gaia and the rest of the trilogy [ All on snes, idk about vc]

The Lunar series [ it's on psp i think]

The Phantasy Star series [genesis and vc]

Radiant Historia [DS]

The Lufia series [vc]

The dragonquest games are on plenty of consoles.

I heard of this one called Grandia, it's a series on the ps consoles.

There's also the Shining Force games that are on the vc.

Oh and Opoona for the wii.

And this

Destiny of Emporer [NES, idk about vc]

It's like pokemon with war generals.

also google search reveals some articles/threads full of things

http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/old-obscure-underrated-jrpgs.84254/

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.831378-most-underrated-jrpgs-and-most-ovverated-jrpgs

[Elli]

Oh yes I forgot about Ni No Kuni & Radiant Historia they also are really good, oh there is also FF4 & FF3 on the Ds as well, I would also say the FF13 games for the Ps3 but lots of people think negatively of those

Edited January 4, 2014 by Shelie

[Chiki]

FFXIII is on my to play list. I should probably give Radiant Historia a try; everyone brings that up. I'm getting Bravely Default for sure. FFX2 is on my to play list as well.

Are the Dragon Quest games that good? Do they have good stories?

[Tangerine]

PSP, Wii (which includes GC and VC games), PS2, 3DS (including DS games). I might buy a PS3 in the future if it can be softmodded like a PSP can, or if I'm willing to spend money on games, so you can suggest PS3 games as well.

I don't have a PSP so I can't suggest anything for that really. Jeanne D'Arc is excellent though, I borrowed a PSP just to play it when it came out. Here are some PS2/DS/PS3 games I would definitely recommend. I won't just list everything I've ever played or 12 games in the same series though, since I assume you would prefer thoughtful recommendations, lol. Just assume if the game is in a series that you'll probably like the series if you end up liking the game! I'll try to limit it to 5 each.

PS2:

SMT3: Nocturne

This is pretty much the only game in the series I can say I fully enjoyed with no complaints. The Persona games aren't bad either, but this is the one I'd suggest checking out first.

Dragon Quest VIII

Probably the best traditional RPG out there. It's incredibly long and starts quite slow though. Being a traditional RPG, its battle system is menu based and not very complicated, so it's up to you if that's your type of thing. You aren't getting out of this game with less than a 50 hour investment. Full of charm that only the DQ series can offer, too! Incredibly good soundtrack.

Also, this has the best Western voice acting I've ever had the pleasure of hearing in a videogame. Seriously, you will miss this.

Suikoden V

This is my personal favorite in the series, but you may not like it as much if you haven't played the first two games at least since there are a ton of references to them. On the plus side if you buy a PS3 or have a modded PSP you'll be able to play both of those, so grab them too! There isn't much to say about Suikoden, their gameplay is even more simplistic than DQ's, but their stories are often quite interesting and touching.

Shadow Hearts + Shadow Hearts: Covenant

These two pretty much have to be together. They can be played separately and you'll understand the 2nd well enough, but you really shouldn't unless you can't stand playing through SH1's dated mechanics. Good stories, and Covenant's battle system is great. The third game...totally optional, lol. Play it if you're itching for more SH, I'm not a fan.

Xenosaga 1/2/3

Again, you can't play them alone, they'd be total nonsense. You'll really want to look into these ones before buying though, the first game is quite slow and has dated mechanics and the 2nd game was controversial among fans even when it was first released. Third game is beautiful and there shouldn't be any problems with it. They're best described as space operas.

Growlanser Generations

I will just make it known that I am totally in love with this series. This one could be rare to pick up, but you get 2 games and they're both connected and quite long. If you're an SRPG fan then you will most likely enjoy their gameplay. I don't even care that this makes it 6 for the PS2, I am plugging Growlanser. lol!

PS3:

Folklore

This one is a guilty pleasure of mine. It's not your traditional JRPG. Very unique environment, characters, gameplay and setting. It's super cheap too, which is why I'd suggest grabbing it.

Eternal Sonata

ES is great all across the board. It has 2 player co-op too, which you almost never see in console-style JRPGs. I've had a lot of fun with friends with this one. This is a 100% pick up if you have someone to play with for sure, it's a lot of fun.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

It's Ghibli + Level 5..it doesn't get a lot better. If you loved Dragon Quest VIII and Ghibli movies, you're going to see elements from both in this game. The core system involves raising monsters, so if you're into games like Pokemon you'll probably like that. Gorgeous graphics & art, voice acting nearly as good as DQ8's, wonderful sountrack and a good amount of content.

Tales of Graces F

I have a love/hate relationship with the Tales series. On one hand I think their stories are extremely poorly written, but their gameplay really shines when they put the effort into it. Graces F is probably the best game in the series in that regard, its battle system is the best in the action RPG genre IMO. If you could only get one Tales game ever, this is the one I would suggest that you get, because the battles don't stop being fun even on subsequent playthroughs.

Disgaea 4

Most fans and critics agree that this is the best in the series after the first. It has the best gameplay you're going to get out of it, but it still takes a certain type of person to like these games. Personally I loved the maingame of D4, but I'm just not the type of player who wants to grind a ton for post-game content. Look into it first!

There are a lot of niche JRPGs on the PS3 that I won't mention. I'm sure if you're into those types of games (Agarest Senki, Hyperdimension Neptunia, etc) you'll be able to find them well enough and without my recommendation, lol. I am not a fan of those types of games myself.

The PS3 has a ton of great JRPGs coming out for it still in the future as well, so if you end up getting one you'll have more options available soon enough.

DS:

Final Fantasy IV

I am biased because this is my favorite FF game, but it's also the best version of it out there and it's very well done. I don't think I need to say much about FF, I assume you've played them!

The World Ends with You

Great game with a ton of replayability. I don't want to call it shallow, but it definitely felt like more of a casual experience than the other games on this list to me. That doesn't make it bad or anything, just depends on what type of mood you're in.

Etrian Odyssey III

I had a hard time deciding on whether I wanted to list this as a JRPG since it's a lot different than anything else in the genre, but I figure its battle system is similar enough to the console-style genre that it gets a pass. It's a dungeon crawler, map-it-yourself, oldschool experience. It's difficult and requires a good deal of strategy and thought to succeed. Very addicting at times!

Rune Factory 3

I am a fan of the Harvest Moon series so it's not much of a surprise that I enjoy the RPG version, haha. If you like Harvest Moon and Secret of Mana type games you'll probably be into this. Start a farm, date people, kill stuff. The usual!

Radiant Historia

I don't really want to spoil much here, but it's my favorite RPG on the DS. It deserves high marks in every area, you can't go wrong with it from a gameplay or story perspective if you're a fan of the genre.

----

Okay so those are the consoles I have the most experience with anyway. I've tried a lot of Wii RPGs, but they're all bad except for Xenoblade. I don't own a 3DS myself so I don't want to say much about what it has to offer, but I hear good things.

I can list more games if you want. I don't like it when people just throw 100 names out at me, so I kept it short and with some explanation/info about the game. Hope you find something you like!

Edited January 4, 2014 by Tangerine

[Rapier]

Since you have a PSP, you may (or not) like Yggdra Union. The gameplay can be a bit odd at first, but since you like Fire Emblem and darker settings you may just as well like it.

Gungnir, from the same developper, is said to be good. I don't know much else about it, but I recommend you to check it out. It's a S-RPG.

[Garland Chaos]

Since you have a PSP, you may (or not) like Yggdra Union. The gameplay can be a bit odd at first, but since you like Fire Emblem and darker settings you may just as well like it.

Gungnir, from the same developper, is said to be good. I don't know much else about it, but I recommend you to check it out. It's a S-RPG.

Don't forget Riviera: The Promised Land!

[Tangerine]

FFXIII is on my to play list. I should probably give Radiant Historia a try; everyone brings that up. I'm getting Bravely Default for sure. FFX2 is on my to play list as well.

Are the Dragon Quest games that good? Do they have good stories?

That depends entirely on what you are looking for. IMO, the DQ series has some of the best stories, writing and characters out there. But again, it depends on what you want out of a story.

DQ is probably not going to make you cry, it's not going to make you angry or elicit any other super strong emotion in you, because it's not aiming to. What it will do, if you let it, is make you feel attached to the characters and their stories. It's going to feel like you're reading a storybook. It is gushing with charm, fantastical creatures, magical storylines and feel-good adventures.

Every town in most of the DQ games (some of them do break off from this) has its own story to tell, its own type of drama, etc. and you're the hero of the story. Depending on the game (The ones with player-created parties do not really have character development) your main characters will develop along the way and be involved to varying degrees. As an example because it is among my favorites, this story was memorable to me, and the game itself might be the one that did it best:

In DQ7 the original goal of the story is to restore the world by going back to the past and correcting problems caused in various lands that lead to the issues in the present (to summarize as much as possible, lol).

There is a deserted town you stumble upon full of statues made of stone and no sunlight even in the day. After examining a few statues your party comments on how life-like they are and begins to wonder if they aren't alive You come across an old man who is startled to see you because nobody visits that town anymore. Your characters explain their story, and the old man will suggest that it is too late to restore theirs because everyone has already been taken by the curse placed on their village. He asks you to leave because he wants to be alone. As you're leaving there is a moment of melancholy where he says that the townspeople must hate him. He gives you an item he was tasked to find that is said to be able to cure their petrification, but he got back too late to save them because they had all already been turned to stone and damaged by wind and water. He tells you that while there is no sunlight, it gets even darker at night, and warns that if you decide to rest there that you should not leave shelter until it passes.

Your party decides to stay at the inn, and in the middle of the night you're awoken by a scream. Your party members are lost in sleep, so you investigate on your own. You notice that some of the statues are enveloped in light, and when you examine them you see memories of the person whose statue you examined from when the town was still functional. The visions you see will reveal that the town was at once a farm town of some sort, and that they prayed to the Water God for rain. This year their prayers were not working and the town was falling into hardship because of it, so a woman begins to pray to the Boulder God because he is older and predates their presence there. You also see visions at the same time of a man who is going to leave the village to get supplies because the Gods are not answering their prayers, and that he intends to get married to the woman he loves when he returns. Soon after that vision, you see another one. It's begun to rain, but someone comments that the rain looks muddy and then sees that people are beginning to turn to stone and crumble.

When you speak to the old man after witnessing those sparse visions, he says that he believes their glow at night is their hatred for him for having failed to save them. He says that the town had never normally had rain and they don't have easy access to water, so they had to pray for rain to grow their crops. He reveals that he was the man who left to get supplies 50 years ago when their prayers were not answered, and on the return trip he noticed an ominous purple cloud raining gray rain over the town. He cries and says he wishes he could've joined them instead. So now you're tasked with solving the town's mystery and hopefully figuring out how to end and correct the supposed curse that has been placed on the town based on the clues given to you in the visions and by the old man.

Eventually you will figure out how to use the item he gave you, but it will be unable to save the village because they've been damaged too harshly. You'll soon discover that a boy had managed to get inside before he was turned to stone and that you cured his petrification. You'll be able to show him the villagers and see his reactions to the village's fate, and then finally introduce him to the old man. He's overjoyed that someone had managed to survive, and decides to adopt the boy and embark on a journey to warn people about the effects of the gray rain and how to prevent and cure it.

So yeah, DQ gushing over! That's an example of the type of storytelling you'll generally find in a DQ game. There is always an overarching story to drive the plot, but the real meat of the main entries' storytelling is in all of the little stories you get to experience as you travel through different areas of the game. Sometimes they're related to the main plot in some way, and sometimes they're completely isolated. It's very charming, and talking to NPCs is never a chore because you legitimately want to learn more about what's going on.

Conveniently, I think DQ7 has a 3DS release in the works?

[Flaming Kirlia]

There's also Dragon Quest IX, it's one of the best RPGs for the DS

[Silver Lightning]

Lot of what I've played has been mentioned; I'm a diehard Tales fan, so I definitely recommend whatever games in the series you can get your hands on for whichever console (Tales of Symphonia was the one that sucked me into the series, and while its available on Gamecube, it will be getting an HD version on PS3, so look out for it), and while I'd recommend the Atelier series in general, I've only played the Iris Trilogy and one Mana-Khemia game (all for PS2), and supposedly they're more adventurous than the rest of the series, which focuses on item crafting. I'd still try them all out though.

Let's see......if you have played, or have any desire to play the Disgaea series, I highly recommend you try the other stand alone Nippon Ichi games La Pucelle Tactics and Soul Nomad; while I enjoyed the first two Disgaea games that I played, I have always enjoyed the lesser known games more, especially in story and characters, and feel that more people should give them a try. (again, both for PS2)

And if you didn't catch my fangirling signature during November and most of December......play Radiata Stories, which is the precursor game that many developers of Radiant Historia worked on before moving on to that game (hence the similar names, though they don't seem to be related beyond that. For PS2). And if you find you like Tri-ace games, check out Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth (remade first game; for PSP) and Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (sequel; for PS2).

And if you want more PSP games in general, I'd go for the PSP remakes of Lunar: Silver Star Story (called Silver Star Harmony in the remake) and the already mentioned Riviera: The Promised Land (I prefer this to the original for the updated features and full voice acting).

[Soledai]

Looks like these fine folk have gotten you covered on PS2, 3, DS, and well you see what's on the 3ds... and let me just start with the PS3 is not as easy to mod as a psp, you need a specific type of PS3 and specific firmware, and if you exceed the firmware, you'll need to buy a specific item, then you'll have to take your PS3 apart... not fun, fortunately you can buy a pre-modded ps3... that's all I'm saying for now

I'll try to give you a list of some PSP RPGs I've played and plan to play:

Tactics Ogre: This is a remake of the snes/psx SRPG title, if you're familiar with Final Fantasy Tactics, this version of TO plays a little too similarly to that, but the story is pretty darn good though, and there are branch paths and multiple endings if you like that kind of thing

Final Fantasy Tactics: Well, if you've played the PSX version, you'll know what to expect, but this has more content than the PSX version, but has some framerate issues during attacks I believe, other than that yet another good game with a good story

Riviera the Promised Land: As you've seen, you've been recommended this several times, and include me on this as well, this RPG is quite unique in how it handles exploration and battles, you'll need "points" to examine certain things and your weapons in battle have durability like in FE

Yggdra Union: Yet again, I too will recommend this SRPG, it's gameplay requires thinking since you move based on cards and everyone shares that movement, and the battles are neat with the whole "passive" aggressive" thing, and again if you are into that kind of thing, this game has multiple endings

Fate/Extra: If you're familiar with Fate/Stay Night, the story is basically a digital, RPG version of that, you're in a cyberworld and you go into tournament styled battles with your servant that you picked in the beginning to claim the great Holy Grail, the combat is like a extreme rock-paper-scissors, and can be a tad tedious at times, but once you get skills, it'll get a bit easier/more fun... IMO, Caster: Best in battle, worst in personality

Growlanser Wayfarer of Time: Since so few people play or even know Growlanser, I feel obligated to recommend this SRPG, the battle system is neat, characters have innate abilities that you must meet certain requirements to learn, this game also requires some strategy at times since if you're not careful you can get swamped... there is one battle in this game, that can punish any kind of tactical mishap, the story is unique in that angels are your enemies because they nuke your world repeatedly, of course there ARE reasons, but spoilers... again, multiple endings (character ending DON'T count as different to me)

Hexyz Force: One of my favorite RPGs on PSP, this game has two stories, one about preventing the worlds destruction and the other being about rascism, I prefer the latter, shit hit the fan rather fast in that one, but eventually they converge... the battle system is traditional turn based with a few quirks, characters can use certain weapons and have one they excel at, and again, multiple endings

Knights In the Nightmare: Does this count as an SRPG? Well, I'm including it anyway, this game's battle system consist of two styles, strategy and bullet hell, if you're the type to strategise with fleet feet, this'll work for you, instead of characters having weapon durability, they have vitality which depletes each time you use them, if they run out... they die basically... again... the story is wonderfully dark, you play a dead king, and all the allies you recruit, minus one, are fallen knights of your kingdom... yes multiple endings

Valkyria Chronicles 3: Japanese, yes I know, but an english patch was released a few days ago, and I plan to grab that before long, if you know the one on PS3, then i've got nothing really to say about the gameplay, strategy rpg, unique combat, cool usage of terrain, you know for coverage, stuff like that...

I opted to describe the games I recommended, since sometimes going in there blind is not always good...

Growlanser Generations

I will just make it known that I am totally in love with this series. This one could be rare to pick up, but you get 2 games and they're both connected and quite long. If you're an SRPG fan then you will most likely enjoy their gameplay. I don't even care that this makes it 6 for the PS2, I am plugging Growlanser. lol!

Another Growlanser player on Serenes? Color me surprised... Then I will vouch for Growlanser Generations, in the entire series, Growlanser 2 is my favorite... multiple endings again, but this time they are really cool especially THAT one...

If you play this one and liked it, my PS2 recommendation for you is Growlanser: Heritage of War

[eclipse]

Okay, my turn~!

- How did you like the empty chests in Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky?

- The other three in the series are worth checking out (all on PSP), but be warned that the translations are a LOT sloppier.

- I'm a fan of Star Ocean 4 (PS3 version), but I'm an outlier.

- I'm not sure if FFXIII is your speed (I hear a lot of complaints about the story, none of which I agree with), but if you play it and like it, then get FFXIII-2. If you like LoH, then the relatively linear maps shouldn't be too much of an issue.

- If you can EVER get your hands on Suikoden II, do so! Then get Suikoden V because the music is awesome.

- Out of the Dept. Heaven games, I think you'd like Yggdra Union the most (optimizing that game is hilarious; Riviera's okay, but I'm not fond of the leveling system, Knights in the Nightmare is closer to a shooter than a RPG, and Gungnir was too complicated for its length)

- The World Ends With You is worth it. Always.

- The Record of Agarest War series (I'm playing Zero, which is on PS3) is a nightmare and a half to play efficiently (the customization is amazing, though), and the bosses are downright unfair. . .go for it, if you don't mind the fact that the girls are dressed up like dolls

- Radiant Historia needs more fans, and possibly a prequel/sequel/entire series dedicated to it

- My favorite Valkyrie Profile game is Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume

- I'm going to put a shout-out to Project X Zone, because trying to LTC the game is surprisingly fun

[Elli]

Tactics Ogre: This is a remake of the snes/psx SRPG title, if you're familiar with Final Fantasy Tactics, this version of TO plays a little too similarly to that, but the story is pretty darn good though, and there are branch paths and multiple endings if you like that kind of thing

I have heard that is a good game I haven't ever actually gotten around to buying it off the PSN though... Maybe I should.

I love threads like this, get to learn and hear about RPGS you haven't gotten or even heard of before. And I am a huge RPG fan XD

I also want to get Trails in the sky but have been putting it off since I know it has sequels so I have been planning to wait for them all to be localized so I can play them all... which I hope they all get localized

Edited January 4, 2014 by Shelie

[Soledai]

Due to eclipse's awesomeness, I remembered Suikoden 2, yeah get that, and the first Suikoden is no slotch either

I have heard that is a good game I haven't ever actually gotten around to buying it off the PSN though... Maybe I should.

I also want to get Trails in the sky but have been putting it off since I know it has sequels so I have been planning to wait for them all to be localized so I can play them all... which I hope they all get localized

It's quite good, I would go so far as to say, if you can't get the PSP version, play the PSX or Snes version

The way I see this, if you're going to wait for the all the Trails games to get a US release... while you wait, you should learn japanese so you can play the JP versions while you wait for the US versions... yeah it's a catch 22, but was the idea... to give you an idea on how long you may be waiting

[Light-Heart]

There's also Dragon Quest IX, it's one of the best RPGs for the DS

^ This

Also hearing good things about Rune Factory, so that could be good c;

[Redwall]

Etrian Odyssey IV for the 3DS is really good. It's hard enough to keep you on your toes, but not hard enough to make you throw your 3DS at the wall. While you can buy Etrian Odyssey III at a lower price, EOIII is a bit more grindy, and brisk-paced runs aren't as feasible on the first playthrough thanks to the timing mechanics in the overworld.

[Kaden]

Edit: Foreword - yes, make it even longer... -, once I checked this... Well, it's long and I apologize for taking so much space in a post.

So, the PSP (some PSone games - mostly re-releases), Wii (Gamecube and Virtual Console games), PS2 (and PSone), and the 3DS (and DS)?

Well, I'll just list series or games even if they have said already - it'd be a pain to remember which was said and which wasn't -, along with games you may have played. By the way, I'm new if you haven't guessed. So hello, bonjour, and whatnot. Also, I may or may not have experience with these games.

- First off: the Fire Emblem series, oh, I wonder why? It's not like these forums are dedicated to Fire Emblem games. Titles found on the NES, SNES, GBA, Gamecube, Wii, DS, 3DS, and Wii U with the Shin Megami Tensei X Fire Emblem game.

- The Megami Tensei franchise. This includes the Megami Tensei series, Shin Megami series, Persona series, Devil Summoner series, Digital Devil Saga series, and more including the new crossover game mentioned above. I don't really know much about the games aside from that they are well received and deal a lot with mythology and, I guess, psychology, along with the "buy Fire Emblem: Awakening and Shin Megami Tensei IV and get $30 in eShop credits". Also, anime. Titles found all over. Yes, even on the ground you're touching.

- The Final Fantasy series, kind of obligatory. At this point, it's a pick and choose sort of thing. Some of them will be good for you while others will be bad for you and for others it depends. Personally, I don't hate any of them; I like them all even though I only played Final Fantasy X, XII, XIII, and XIII-2. Titles found on pretty much every system except the XBox; it's pretty much the universal JRPG.

- Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, Bravely Default and Bravely Second when it comes out. Beginning with The 4 Heroes of Light, this spin-off which became a whole new series, are supposedly more like like the older Final Fantasies. I can't say since I never really played them, but I can say with the demo of Bravely Default that it's a damn good game deserving of its praise.

- The Dragon Quest series. I don't have much on this aside from Akira Toriyama designing the characters in the series and it being a highly praised series. Titles found all over except for the PS3, PS4, XBox, XBox 360, and XBox One; maybe that will change.

- Going with the Square Enix train: the Kingdom Hearts series. Do you like Final Fantasy, Disney, and the power of friendship? Do you like having giant shoes, convoluted plot details, creepy body take overs, mind screws, and ridiculous weapons and powers? Well guess what? Here's a series that does it all and more. This series caters to nostalgic gamers. Titles found on the PS2, PSP, GBA, DS, 3DS, PS3 (HD remasters with hilariously, long names), PS4, and XBox One. Also, the browser game on PC.

- The SaGa, Front Mission (older ones?), and Chrono series. I have nothing on them, except that Chrono Trigger is one of the must play games along with Final Fantasy VII. Titles found on SNES, GB, DS, PSone, PS2, PS3, PSP, PC, XBox 360, iOS, and Android.

- The Dragon Slayer and The Legend of Heroes series. Nothing on these, except I saw the latest The Legend of Heroes game: Sen no Kiseki; it looks interesting. Titles found on the NES, GB, VC, Sega Mega Drive, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, PC, PS Vita, and PS3.

- The Drakengard or the Drag-On Dragoon series and NIER (Gestalt for the West and XBox 360 release in Japan and Replicant for the Japan PS3 release). First off, the series is kind of like Devil May Cry in chronology: Drakengard 3 leads up to 1 and 2. While NIER is the result of an alternate ending in Drakengard 1 causing NIER's universe to go nuts. These games are known for their strange, bloody, and disturbing stories which is what defines them. The first game is filled with conspiracies, crazed, bloodthirsty killer - the main character, Caim, is one -; and deities screwing the world over. The world of Drakengard is cruel; pretty much everything wants everything dead. In NIER, you will cry and cringe from learning about the truth of humanity. The gameplay isn't that great from what I seen and experienced, but the stories will captivate you. Unfortunately, it's not popular or something and Square Enix doesn't want to take risks with it. So if you end up liking NIER and/or Drakengard 3, well, tough since there won't be another for a long time - it's not because Square Enix is trying to polish each strand of hair if that's what you're thinking. Titles found on the PS2, PS3, and XBox 360.

- Xenogear, the Xenosaga series, Xenoblade Chronicles. These "Xeno-" games are considered to be great RPGs as far as I heard especially Xenoblade Chronicles considering fans pleaded to Nintendo to localize it when Nintendo of America were focused on Mario, fitness, health, more fitness, more health, and not-Luigi. Anyway, they share the the same creator, Tetsuya Takahashi, who was also involved in a couple of other RPGs. His new game, probably a "Xeno-" game since it's called "X" will be on the Wii U. So, titles found on the PSone, PS2, DS, Wii, and Wii U.

- Soma Bringer. Nothing on this, just the Monolith Soft and Tetsuya Takahashi was involved. Found on the DS, but was released on in Japan.

- The Mana series (includes Final Fantasy Adventures). Yet again, nothing on this, but that people say that Secret of Mana was a really good game. Titles found on the NES, SNES, GB, GBA, DS, PSone, PS2, iOS, and Android.

- The Dark Cloud series, Rogue Galaxy, and the White Knight Chronicles series. All created by Level-5. I have only played Dark Cloud 1 and 2, known as Dark Chronicles outside of NA. Rogue Galaxy is a spiritual successor and White Knight Chronicles is a MMO-like game. Aside from Rogue Galaxy, the games combines dungeon crawling and world (re)building. Titles found on the PS2 and PS3.

- Ni No Kuni. Think Pokemon for allies, Studio Ghibli for art and story, and Level-5 for making cel-shaded graphics amazing. Found on the DS and PS3.

- The Tales of series. Never played any of them, just heard they were great. I'm considering the series, but don't know which one to start. Titles found on SNES, GB, GBA, Gamecube, Wii, DS, 3DS, VC, PSone, PS2, PSP, PS3, PS Vita, and XBox 360.

- The Golden Sun series. I just remember looking at the first game and finding it interesting when I was young. Titles found on the GBA and DS.

- Phantom Brave. I have nothing on this except remembering seeing it somewhere. Title found on the PS2, PSP, and Wii.

- The Last Story. I have it, but I haven't started it. Gameplay-wise, it looks like an action-RPG. Title found on the Wii.

- Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the Paper Mario series (the first two and the fourth, the third, Super Paper Mario is more platform-y), and the Mario & Luigi series. They all play similarly to each other and differ in art style and some mechanics like the paper mechanics in Paper Mario - how surprising. Humor is a staple of the series, especially Luigi being a nobody... Titles found on the SNES, N64, GBA, Gamecube, Wii, VC, DS, and 3DS - yeah, like a Mario game would be on something other than those.

- The Mother/EarthBound series. Games that I consider to be ahead of their times. Expect emotional moments with sprites and love being a central theme of the series. Unfortunately, you're not going to find localized Mother 1 (EarthBound 1, technically if Nintendo decided EarthBound would be the title for the West) or Mother 3 (would-be EarthBound 3) since they were released only in Japan, however, fans have translated both of them and released patches for them with Mother 3 being a recent project. Mother 2 (EarthBound in the West, technically EarthBound 2) was released in North America, so there's an English version of it. Recently, Mother 2 was released on the Virtual Console for the Wii U, so yeah. They're fantastic games like Fire Emblem, although Ness was sort of known in the West through Super Smash Bros., unfortunately, he didn't create as much of a stir as Marth and Roy did since EarthBound "failed" in North America. It was mostly due to gaming's beginnings being focused on medieval fantasy, sci-fi future, and whimsical games like Dungeons & Dragons, Final Fantasy, Mario while Earthbound was a modern day RPG. It was the black sheep of its time. Reviewers - mostly magazine ones, the Internet wasn't as great back then - said it was a bad game and people, ironically like sheep, listened. Most people who played it found the game to be decent, good, great, even amazing. Those people ended up telling their friends and it started to spread. Some got their hands on Mother 1 and Mother 3 felt that this series deserved a second chance, but it never did and maybe never will. Sure, EarthBound was re-released on the VC, but how many people will see it and say, "hey, this looks interesting". The Virtual Console is mostly a nostalgia thing. Hopefully, there'll be a Mother 4 released worldwide. Titles found the NES, SNES, GBA, and VC (through the Wii U). There are patched ROMs. If you use them and end up liking Mother/EarthBound, you can buy the official soundtrack as a way to "pay" for the games.

- Resonance of Fate. If you like Nathan Drake from Uncharted (or Nolan North being Nolan North - I mean come on, it's Nolan North), Robin from Teen Titans TV show, and er... Malina from The Emperor's New School or Olette from Kingdom Hearts II, then have fun. The game's kind of like chess with guns if that makes any sense. Expect it to be a bit difficult before you understand the combat mechanics. I never understood it so... I never got past Chapter 3 or was it 4? Title found on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

- From tri-Ace: the Valkyrie Profile series and Star Ocean series. Don't know much about them, but I remember Star Ocean: Till the End of Time being considered a good game. Titles found on the SNES, PSone, GB, DS, PS2, PS3, and Xbox 360.

- Lost Odyssey, Infinite Undiscovery, and The Last Remnant or "The XBox 360 Exclusive JRPGs that are good and would have done well on every platform!" Really? Though they were considered old when released; all three are considered great games. Why can't we have nice things? Titles found only on the Xbox 360 except for The Last Remnant which thankfully made it to the PC in 2009, about a year after its release.

- Is- Oh, what the hell. Monster Hunter, Dragon's Dogma, Soul Sacrifice, and deep down. Pretty much the same games with differing tones, settings, and some mechanics. Found on PS2, PSP, PS3, PS Vita, PS4, Wii, Wii U, 3DS, XBox 360, PC, and iOS.

- Similar in gameplay - cautious style of play -, Demon's Souls and the Dark Souls series. Notorious for being difficult (when you rush which is ingrained in us with the past generation's games), this series makes death painful and important up to 11. Titles found on the PS3, XBox 360, and PC.

- Disgaea... Nothing, I have nothing. Titles found on the PS2, PSP, PS3, PS Vita, DS, and Android.

I ... I'm done. If you want more, ask me and others later or try Google, Bing, Ask, Yahoo, whatever. How many series did I just list? How many games did I list total? Hmm... Does Pokemon, Rune Factory, and Harvest Moon count? They're found on the SNES, GB, GBA, DS, 3DS, N64, GameCube, Wii, PSone, PS2, PSP, and PS3.

Edited January 6, 2014 by Kaden

[Elli]

It's quite good, I would go so far as to say, if you can't get the PSP version, play the PSX or Snes version

The way I see this, if you're going to wait for the all the Trails games to get a US release... while you wait, you should learn japanese so you can play the JP versions while you wait for the US versions... yeah it's a catch 22, but was the idea... to give you an idea on how long you may be waiting

Right... well hey I always wanted to learn Japanese, ahaha.... I guess maybe I should just go get the game and play it now but that would probably make me really want the sequel.. ahhh Always hate the waiting part like I gotta do with Bravely Second now and HOPE for it to be localized... Yes learning Japanese might be a good idea after all...

[BrightBow]

"The Last Story" for the Wii is something I definitely recommend.

I'd say that the best thing about it is the real time combat system, which is a bit of an odd specieman.

You only directly control the main character while giving orders to the rest of the party. The combat system may appear bland initially but this is because Zael's moveset gets expended as you move through the game.

The combat gets really fun once he has most of his moves and you figure out how to use magic circles properly.

And unlike usual JRPGs, combat isn't done by teleporting you into battle arenas or something.

Enemies are fought right were you meet them. So thinks feel a lot more real and intense then usual in the genre.

Also, enemy encounters aren't random but designed by hand. Kinda like in Chrono Trigger.

As a result, they are always very exiting.

Something I also like, is that battles often allow to spy out the enemy positions and allow you to perform a strategic first strike before your party moves in. Quickly taking out healers or mages or similar has quite an impact on how the battle goes.

Also, the game has an extremely good localization. I also loved that the game had entirely different voice actors as a result of the game being localized by NoE. I mean, I like Johnny Yong Bosh and all but it was still nice to hear some new voices.

The game also has a pretty cool online mulitplayer mode.

It allows either death match (I still can't believe that this works with the engine but it's really fun) or co-op (only allows you to fight like 5-6 boss fights, though. At least those bosses have quite a few variations from how they are fought during the main game). Co-op mode also scales your level but it carries over the stats of your weapons and armor.

In Death Match, your abilities are entirely dependent on the character you are using and equipment affects nothing but the looks of your character. These days it might not be possible to find other players, though.

I just find it notable in that it is the only way to play as the rest of your party and the only way to play as a mage.

Edited January 6, 2014 by BrightBow

[Tamanoir]

I'm glad to see people recommending Radiant Historia. It's a pure masterpiece that definitely needs more love.

If you lke Tactics Ogre, you should try the GBA gaiden chpter Knight of Lodis. It's pretty good.

Sword of Rondo is frigging hard (It starts with an escape mission), but it's quite interresting.

The DQ Game are all worth trying if you haven't already. DQ IX is pretty great, and the Zenithian Trilogy is really amazing (DQ IV and its chapters, DQ V allows you to marry Bianca 3 different wives, and have a monster recruiting system, and DQ VI makes you travel between the Real World and Dream World, and have Recruitable Slimes).

They are traditionnal RPGs at their best, to put it simply.

And if you have a SNES emulator, you should try :

- "Live a Live" : one of the most fun game I played. It start with 7 chapter, each in a different time, and with a different gameplay. (For example, the Survival Horror SF stage, a la Alien ; the puzzle game in the Wild West ; The prehistorical chapter)

It have a pretty great twist among the way, which makes it more interresting.

Another game who needs more love

- "Treasure of Ruida" : That's the game where you can create your own spell. It is pretty hard to understand how the spells work, son be prepared for a difficult game if you go blind. Still really interresting and worth a try.

- "Treasure Hunter G" : A fun little game by Square. You control a Boy, a Girl and a Monkey. It plays like an adventure game, but battles are made in S-RPG grid.

[Soledai]

- "Treasure of Ruida" : That's the game where you can create your own spell. It is pretty hard to understand how the spells work, son be prepared for a difficult game if you go blind. Still really interresting and worth a try.

This game was awesome, I even kept my list of spells that I made...