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Crispy™ What are the best storyfag JRPGs?

Irxy

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Suikoden games are good, especially if you play them in order.
They are great even, but not for the story. I have only played the 1st 2 games, and their plots are rather generic and just enough to justify the gameplay of gathering pokemons warriors for the final battle.
 

Irxy

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Ohhhhhh! Just remembered, Corpse Party! That’s like the storyfaggiest jrpg I’ve ever played and I finished it so it must be good!
It's not a jrpg though, since it doesn't have combat, levelling or any other rpg elements. The original is basically a rpgmaker walking sim, the remake/sequel are pure visual novels.
 

tet666

Augur
Joined
Apr 13, 2012
Messages
396
Ohhhhhh! Just remembered, Corpse Party! That’s like the storyfaggiest jrpg I’ve ever played and I finished it so it must be good!
It's not a jrpg though, since it doesn't have combat, levelling or any other rpg elements. The original is basically a rpgmaker walking sim, the remake/sequel are pure visual novels.
Corpse Party is an Adventure, the games have gameplay and some light puzzles, Visual Novels usually don't have any gameplay apart from choices tbh i don't even consider them games personally.
 

Jason Liang

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Phantasy Star IV
Shining Force 2
Star Ocean series
Skies of Arcadia
Final Fantasy VIII

Rance 03 (no English translation yet)
Rance VI: Fall of Zeth
Sengoku Rance
Kichikou Rance
Rance IX (no English translation yet)

I recommend Sengoku Rance first, then playing the rest in order:
Rance 01 (or watch the OVAs)
Rance 02
Rance 03 (or Rance III English translation)
skip Rance IV
Rance 5D
Rance VI

01, 02 and 5D are very short
 

daveyd

Savant
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Jun 10, 2013
Messages
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Growlanser series. Still has it's share of JRPG cliches but they manage to at least create interesting characters so it doesn't feel like every other JRPG. Best part is that the games have dialogue choices (with a decent amount of consequences) so the games actually have role-playing. The third game uses a weird blood type personality system which affects what dialogue options are available to you. Still good though.

I'd recommend starting with Wayfarer of Time (PSP) but Growlanser Generations [PS2] (II & III bundled together) is also a good choice.

Unfortunately there was never an official English release of the first game or VI. There are fan translations available here though.

Atlus has treated this series like their redheaded stepchild because the SMT / Persona stuff is more popular, but it was included in a recent poll they gave to fans so maybe they're actually considering doing something with it
 
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Nov 22, 2018
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Just finished Trails in the Sky 1st chapter. Great storyfag JRPG. I'm a sucker for clueless female leads who can't see the romance, so this game gave me exactly what I need. The world building is just insane. Probably 50% Tolkein level, which is incredible. The plot stays mostly grounded, and you really get set up nicely for the sequel. No "save the whole world as a 16yr old girl" shit. Well, maybe a bit, which is why I say mostly grounded. The progression is strong. Characters, mostly your mains seem to really grow and mature along with the player's own knowledge of the game world and situation. At the start I thought most characters were annoying and the game world was bland and generic. By the finale I was totally invested in the outcome. Realistic, consistent characterizations are combined with believable antagonists to make a great story.

Wait for a sale on GOG and buy with confidence.

I'm starting the second game now. Seems better in just about every way. I hear the 3rd in the series is a bit lame, so if the 2nd wraps things up nicely I'll just move on to Trails of Cold Steel.
 

Night Goat

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I'm almost at the end of SC now. To those who have played Trails of Coldsteel: do the two games that have been localized tell a full story pretty well in themselves, or do you need to wait til the far future if you want to get closure?
 

laclongquan

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Searching for my kidnapped sister
do you even know what a good story is half of you
Story in a game is like a story in a porn movie. It's expected to be there, but it's not that important.

Sez you~ I always expect some sort of story in my porns. I almost always get disappointed, but that is not the point. And while it's not important in amateur genres, once you going in to compete with semi-professional studios, stories become sorta important. ESPECIALLY in niche subgenres.

And niche subgenre is the coming trend~
 
Self-Ejected

aweigh

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Aug 23, 2005
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17,978
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Florida
Earthbound
Dragon Quest 7
Anachronox
Suikoden 2
Xenogears
FF6
FF7
Phantasy Star 4
Persona 2: Innocent Sin / Eternal Punishment
Final Fantasy Tactics

EDIT: Wow, looking at my little list I see I don't have anything made after the PS1 generation, huh...

:makesyouthink:
 
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Self-Ejected

aweigh

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I also enjoyed BoF 5 too, though it is definitely niche. The stepcounter is what pushed it over the edge of accessibility.
 

Damned Registrations

Furry Weeaboo Nazi Nihilist
Joined
Feb 24, 2007
Messages
14,980
Funnily enough though, the step counter is almost irrelevant.
I think it adds up to something like 12-15% over the course of the game. Combat turns are maybe another 15% or something. You've got a LOT of leeway for using your powers.
Not knowing how close you are to the end adds a lot of tension regardless, however.
 

Ysaye

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I'm almost at the end of SC now. To those who have played Trails of Coldsteel: do the two games that have been localized tell a full story pretty well in themselves, or do you need to wait til the far future if you want to get closure?

Cold Steel 1 finishes on a Trails 1 cliffhanger...but it is a glorious cliffhanger! I spoilt myself a little and even I didn't see all of that coming!

Cold Steel 2 leaves the player feeling fairly closed as the end of that part of that chapter or time period (almost as closed as Trails SC)...but also a bit hollow because essentially you will realise that a certain someone has basically manipulated nearly all the events to their advantage, scattered the fellowship of friends and left the doors open for winds of foreboding through the revelations in the last say 5% of that game....

Hows that?
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
Much as I love Drakengard's story, I would rather you watch/read an LP of Drakengard 1/3 instead of playing them.
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
This is from Yoko Taro's early days.

He wants to express the horror of war? He tells the music guy to play dissonant screeching. He wants you to feel like a senseless killer? He'll throw 500 trash mobs at you.

He wants you to feel frustrated? Here, enjoy this thing out of nowhere nothing prepared you for.

Simply put, it's unpleasant to play, almost as an artistic statement. Let someone else suffer.
 

Crane

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Serpent in the Staglands Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath
This is from Yoko Taro's early days.

He wants to express the horror of war? He tells the music guy to play dissonant screeching. He wants you to feel like a senseless killer? He'll throw 500 trash mobs at you.

He wants you to feel frustrated? Here, enjoy this thing out of nowhere nothing prepared you for.

Simply put, it's unpleasant to play, almost as an artistic statement. Let someone else suffer.
That was Thomas Mann's m.o. and he got a noble prize. Make of that what you will.
 

Ysaye

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Messages
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Location
Australia
That was Thomas Mann's m.o. and he got a noble prize. Make of that what you will.

That the adjudicators of Nobel prizes are politically motivated, have a screw loose or are just corrupt? As Sartre said, the only reasonable position for an author is to reject such an award. Or Taleb, that we turn actual proper pursuits into some kind of spectator sport.
 

Nirvash

Liturgist
Joined
Jan 20, 2017
Messages
1,108
You may also like the valkyria chronicles franchise.
Valkyria is love, Valkyria is life

Valkyrie profile got a good story.

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

There are 3 tactics ogre, all with good story:

Tactics Ogre snes (remake+ psp)
Tactics Ogre the king of lodis for GBA
Also ogre battle 64 got the best story of all.

Infinite space for DS is also a good animu space opera jrpg.

Front mission 1-2-3 are also nice.
 

Deflowerer

Arcane
Joined
May 22, 2013
Messages
2,052
How about the Drakengard series?

I think it captures the zen of massacring thousands of mooks pretty well. The gameplay is very basic, but with the story, color palette and of course music, it's pretty unique experience.
 

HeatEXTEND

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Lufia 2: Rise Of The Sinistrals
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Also Terranigma.
 

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