Anime Boy's first JRPG

[The Decline]

Dragon Quest 1, that's what the first one I ever played back in day. I was 7 and had no fucking clue how the game actually worked. I just kept going as far as I could on the overland map while running away from every encounter.

 

[deuxhero]

Dragon Quest 3 SFC. DQ1 is more of a puzzle game with grinding than anything, and DQ2 is just plain bad, but DQ3 is the archetype of a jRPG. Only downside is party members are all player created near mutes.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

He asked for "recent", why are you people giving him famicom games? Is he gonna buy the ROM on his Switch? Hmmmmmmmmmm?

Spoiler

if he has a Switch Online subscription he already did, le mao

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

He asked for "recent", why are you people giving him famicom games? Is he gonna buy the ROM on his Switch? Hmmmmmmmmmm?

Spoiler

if he has a Switch Online subscription he already did, le mao

If he is only willing to consider recently released ones then that is a problem. Almost every JRPG easily accessibly via the Switch online store or Steam comes with caveats. We are talking about someone who is new to the genre. We want to give him a good first impression. Recommend him the crappy ports of classic Final Fantasy games? Passable but he is getting a subpar visual experience. Recommend him a Final Fantasy XIII? Sure it has great aesthetics, music, and entertaining combat, but you are walking down corridors and the characters hate each other for the first 30 hours. Recommend him the FF7 remake? Kills the fast pacing of the original game and has you slog down corridors and do crappy sidequests, plot goes off the rails and become Kingdom Hearts stuff, and is unfinished. Recommend him Dragon Quest 11? Incredibly bland and likely to turn him away. Recommend him Yakuza Like a Dragon? Game feels halfbaked. Recommend him Tales of Arise? It has action combat and isn't very representative of what most people would consider to be good JRPGs, has a wonky story and a bad English dub. Recommend him Trails in the Sky FC, where nothing happens for the first 20 hours? Recommend him Trails of Cold Steel? Just click its thread to see just how divisive that series is. Recommend him overpriced Atelier games that has lots of unvoiced content and ridiculous designs? Etc. These games can be enjoyable, but are not what you want to show off as the best representation of what JRPGs have to offer to a first timer.

The fact of the matter is that the JRPG genre peaked in the mid 1990s to 2000s. If you want to play great JRPGs then you really want to get used to either playing on original hardware or emulating.

If we are only talking about easy to access, contemporary releases, then you have to make trade offs. The least bad option would be Xenoblade Chronicles 1. The first half of the story is gripping and avoids a lot of tropes that plague modern JRPGs. It has perhaps the best cutscene direction in the genre. The writing starts to go off the rails half way through but never becomes intolerable. It has a stellar English dub. You get to journey through imaginative fantasy environments. The soundtrack is overall good (if you play Definitive Edition then use the original OST, a lot of the flavor is lost in the new OST and it is too noisy and overorchestrated). Then you get into the caveats. Aesthetically, the Switch release is a little inferior to the Wii and 3DS versions. Most obvious is the rubbery anime babyface redesigns (which are decent but don't have the more mature, painterly look of the original), but you also have a plethora of miscellaneous issues that add up such as trees not blowing in the wind, no sunshafts, etc, which is a big deal when the cutscenes in the original game were framed with those elements in mind. Ideally you would play the Wii or 3DS versions but if you only want to play on Switch then this is what you get. The weakness is the MMO combat, crappy crafting systems, and the shit sidequests should be skipped. Those caveats are what prevented me from putting the game in my recommendation on the first page.

 

[flyingjohn]

Resonance of fate. Semi modern and it is a gun focused jrpg instead of the typical fantasy stuff.

 

[Falksi]

Assuming you're a fan of PC style blobbers, start with Phantasy Star 4. Not only is it one of the best JRPGs ever made anyway, but it's PC dungeon crawling influences are there in enough measure to provide a great stepping stone between the great PC RPGs of yesteryear and what the Japs evolved them into.

 

[Jacob]

Resonance of fate. Semi modern and it is a gun focused jrpg instead of the typical fantasy stuff.

so, this, instead of the typical fantasy stuff

 

[Alex]

I have never played a JRPG in my life. Ever. Not a single one. I'm not counting games like Dark Souls, because those are just action RPGs made by Japs, I'm talking about full-on JRPGs with everything that normally entails. Whatever that may be, since I am quite clueless on this topic.

What would be the best one to start with, out of the recently-released ones? Yakuza 0? Final Fantasy XVI? Shenmue III? Fursona 5?

Important: I do not play games where you're forced to play as a female (or """female"""), so those are not even worth considering. Also no Dragon's Dogma, I've already tried it and it's just an inferior Dark Souls.

Kingdom of Loathing.

Edit: If you are in the mood for something less standard and more strategic, Ogre Battle is very good.

 

[Alex]

I have never played a JRPG in my life. Ever. Not a single one. I'm not counting games like Dark Souls, because those are just action RPGs made by Japs, I'm talking about full-on JRPGs with everything that normally entails. Whatever that may be, since I am quite clueless on this topic.

What would be the best one to start with, out of the recently-released ones? Yakuza 0? Final Fantasy XVI? Shenmue III? Fursona 5?

Important: I do not play games where you're forced to play as a female (or """female"""), so those are not even worth considering. Also no Dragon's Dogma, I've already tried it and it's just an inferior Dark Souls.

For a game actually in the JRPG subgenre, I would suggest Final Fantasy VI (originally called FF3 in the United States), but you've stated that you don't want to "play as a female" and this entry in the series features an ensemble cast where the two most important protagonists are women. The next best alternatives would be Final Fantasy IV (originally called FF2 in the United States) and Final Fantasy IX (which harked back to the pre-Playstation games in the series, especially IV).

(snip...)

Why are you recommending him these? At least recommend him FFV where you get to play around the job system. FFIV has almost no customization and FFVI takes forever to show up and is not particularly interesting either.

 

[Zoo]

For Final Fantasy, I would pick any Final Fantasy numbered 6 through 10. They had the highest production values for their time and aren't frustrating. They revolutionized the JRPG genre as we know it and set the expectations of the genre in terms of characters, plot structure, presentation, music, etc. You collect a band of quirky heroes and go on a journey to fight evil empires or megacoroporations, and then fight some god monster at the end. They are each 20 to 40 hours long. Pick whichever one appeals to you the most.

I have to disagree, FF7 can be really frustrating. First of all, there are the usual frequent random encounters. I haven't got any problem old cRPGs like Realms of Arkania or Might and Magic I, but as a western RPG guy, it was a painful aspect. The inventory management can be horrendous, too, especially in the late game with all the materias of the world. And I hate always-laughing so "evil" characters.

In spite of all my complains, I like the game a lot. The materia system is great, not a bad entry point, but it certainly has its frustrating quirks for a western player. Not the difficulty, though, besides the optional superbosses is a piss easy game, I don't think even little grinding required.

Maybe FF12 the most western "new" FF, so from this viewpoint it is certainly recommendable. Indeed, it can be too long, the world somewhat MMO-ish, but the gambit system is interesting, the superbosses (hunts) are fun, and the character development with the new job system is OK. It even has some decent dungeons for a Final Fantasy. The new version (Zodiac Age) is the best version, the job system and the speed up option are both essential.

 

[Skinwalker]

Don't worry, I won't be playing any of these old ones.

 

[Wayward Son]

Play the FF7 remake and make a LP of it.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Final Fantasy is the best bet for sure.

Laughs in Romancing SaGa.

 

[Ash]

Don't worry, I won't be playing any of these old ones.

But there are no worthwhile modern JRPGs.

I'm exaggerating of course, but jRPGs, well like almost any genre, was in their prime in the 90s.

This phenomenon otherwise known as THE DECLINE.

 

[Frank Capicoli]

Resonance of fate. Semi modern and it is a gun focused jrpg instead of the typical fantasy stuff.

so, this, instead of the typical fantasy stuff

Too many pantyshots for Liberal.

 

[POOPERSCOOPER]

I think the only JRPGs I truly loved was Earthbound and maybe Panzer Dragoon Saga. Once I moved on to CRPGs I never could go back.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

For an even more traditional yet modern take, can't go wrong with DQ11.

Laughs in Romancing SaGa.

You got to ease people into this stuff. People need to smoke a few joints before they start freebasing.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

You got to ease people into this stuff. People need to smoke a few joints before they start freebasing.

Unfortunately quite a few people think SaGa is Final Fantasy with a different coat of paint -- I keep hearing this 'opinion' whenever I recommend the series to people who are tired of 'generic JRPGs'.

 

[Tweed]

Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest

 

[Grampy_Bone]

SaGa is Final Fantasy with a different coat of paint

I still remember playing SaGa Frontier--my friend had purchased it after enjoying FF7, thinking all Square games must be similar right? Told me it "sucked" and "made no sense." I ended up quite enjoying it.

I recall a certain codex poaster who made a thread on this subforum declaring "All JRPGs are like XYZ prove me wrong." Every example people gave that challenged his thesis he disqualified with some technicality, before declaring "Ah ha! I was right! All of them are the same!"

I don't know why people are like this.

 

[S.torch]

Don't worry, I won't be playing any of these old ones.

Reported for sheep harvesting.

You're lucky that Val the Moofia Boss is basically saving this thread.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Why are you recommending him these? At least recommend him FFV where you get to play around the job system. FFIV has almost no customization and FFVI takes forever to show up and is not particularly interesting either.

I don't recommend proper JRPGs for their intricate character customization, complex combat systems, or extensive exploration. FFs IV, VI, and IX are the best at what JRPGs are focused on; for anything else, one should be looking elsewhere.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

He doesn't want to play old games and I respect that.

Of his original picks:

-Shenmue 3 isn't an RPG so nevermind
-FF16 is borderline. It's some kind of modern cinematic action game with FF trappings and stats. May actually be very good but not a great intro for JRPGs.
-Persona "Teacher Dating Sim" 5 is animu VN stuff, slow and grindy, obnoxiously linear, and bad for first timers.
-Yakuza 0 is good, and it arguably saved the franchise. I just think Yakuza Kiwami (Remake of the original) or Yakuza 6 would be better intros to the series. In an odd way, 0 is all fanservice and retcons targeted at series veterans.

For others' recommendations:
-Don't play Xenoblade 1,2,3 unless you need a cure for insomnia.
-Ditto for Trails-anything. They're also linear, animu, and VN-esque. Snore.
-FF7 remake is good but it's an action game and he pooh-poohed Dragon's Dogma already
-Tales of Arise is another "playable anime" game (No, not all JRPGs are anime).
-(No one recommended it) Star Ocean 6 is also anime, fairly rough, and action-game. But i'd say it's more accessible than most of these.

I recommended Yakuza Like a Dragon because it's:
-Not anime
-Turn based
-Fast
-Not grindy
-High production values
-Accessible.
-Fun

For other dark horse recommendations:

-Chained echoes. Technically German RPG (GeRPG?). But it wants to be Chrono Trigger SO BAD. Slick and good presentation in modern 16-bit style
-Octopath 1-2. I got bored with the first one but the combat is fun and it's open world. The question is how many of the story scenes you really want to sit through.
-Live-A-Live remake. I have to eat crow on this one, I HATED the original SNES game but the remake won me over. It's an anthology of stories throughout time that come together at the end in a surprisingly creative way.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

K scratch that, I will recommend one old game: Ys 1-2 Chronicles+.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/223810/Ys_I__II_Chronicles/ (on sale! 5 bucks.)

-Blazing fast gameplay
-Awesome music
-Each game done in like 5 hours.

 

[Wayward Son]

Ditto for Trails-anything. They're also linear, animu, and VN-esque. Snore.

Bad taste