JRPGs for people who only like western RPGs

[HansDampf]

As if genres always had literal definitions. Like RPG, a game in which you play a role.

 

[kaisergeddon]

It's much easier to draw RPG distinctions between console and computer platforms in my opinion, but mainly for earlier gaming decades, since in recent years the differences have become blurred. However, even back in the 90s, a console RPG was likely a Japanese one for a younger audience, and a computer RPG a western one for adults with business equipment at home, so there's an intersection here that is easy for people to understand when you use the term "JRPG" or "CRPG" or whatever.

It's not always accurate of course, since exceptions exist, and there are several games mentioned in this thread that are in fact exceptional. I fully endorse trying Breath of Fire V, Radiant Historia, and the SaGa series. Digimon World, Langrisser, and the earlier Shining Force titles are great too.

 

[deama]

There's that Kamidori Alchemy Meister, features a tactics type of combat, allows you to manage your own alchemy shop, and you can recruit different types of heroes/partners. I forgot how much choice you get in the story, but I do remember there being fail states in parts. The downside of that game that I can remember is the long dialogues.

 

[Darth Canoli]

I can't say I'm a JRPG fan and I didn't play 0.1% of them.

Still, my two cents:

Shining Force 1 & 2 for the gather them all vibe (SF2 is just great, if you like it, play the first as well)

• There's some cut-scenes and little choices, but it's 2D cut-scenes.
• The choices are which companions you'll bring to battle and which ones you'll find out of the hidden ones.
• Tactical combat, rudimentary, compared to KotC 1 & 2 or Dungeon Rats but it's good nonetheless.
• The races/classes variety is what makes the games shine the most, dragon, phoenix, ninja rat, golem, robot, centaur, pegasus knights, dwarves, magical flying egg, a werewolf, ?a turtle?, and much more...
• Also the giant bosses from SF 2.

Suikoden 1 & 2

• There's some choices here.
• Combat is "classic" except for the combos available if you bring the right characters together.
• There's some grind but not that much is required, it's just to level up some underdeveloped companions.
• Interesting stories.
• I really enjoyed the tactical battles when you finally gather your army, it's not wargame material but still fun.
• A lot of secrets characters.

I also enjoyed Bahamut Lagoon but I don't remember anything from it besides the dragons so I can't vouch for it.

I've read about the SMT series and dug a bit here and there, apparently, 6 games from the series are on the SNES.
Like Megami Tenseï 2, I found an interesting review here.

So, It looks like Shining Force but with demons and demon's fusions, the guy from the review rates it 80% and says it's very challenging tactical combat.
I think i'm going to play it, I just found a translation here.

Anyone has thoughts on early SNES and PS Megami Tenseï games ?
Randoms from gamefaqs rate Megami Tenseï quite harshly.

I found this article :

Spoiler

Megami Tensei Series

Oh boy. There’s no easy way to talk about this one. The Megami Tensei series happened to see a lot of releases on the Super Famicom, with no fewer than six releases, sometimes with three in one year. Of course, while they’re all related, they’re not all sequels of each other. The six titles are Shin Megami Tensei, Majin Tensei, Shin Megami Tensei 2, Shin Megami Tensei if…, Majin Tensei 2: Spiral Nemesis, Last Bible 3, and Kyūyaku Megami Tensei. They fall into four categories on the Super Famicom: the Shin Megami Tensei games, the Majin Tensei games, the Last Bible games, and the Digital Devil games.

The Shin Megami Tensei games are Shin Megami Tensei 1, 2, and if…. And yes, it is actually called if…. These games are First-Person RPGs, set in Tokyo in the year 199X, and revolve around high schoolers being sucked into the demon world. Well, the first and if… do, while Tensei 2 is about what happens in the aftermath of 1. Combat is turn based, and every character has a specific alignment. Many of the recruitable characters don’t have official names either.

Then there are the Majin Tensei games, Majin Tensei and Majin Tensei 2: Spiral Nemesis. While these games are set in the same universe as the others, they are Strategy RPGs, similar to Fire Emblem in terms of gameplay and graphics. The games feature some odd but interesting effects, such as moonlight affecting the strength of demon characters. Again, they are set in a more modern setting, in locales in the series canon.

Next comes the Last Bible games. Only one would be a Super Famicom release, while the others saw releases on Game Boy(only one of which would see release outside of Japan). Last Bible 3 is a bit different from the rest of the series in that it takes place in a fantasy setting instead of the modern day. The main character is able to recruit monsters to join his party, and can then customize those monsters to fight in various ways for greater party benefit. Monsters can also equip gear and level up like the main character. It plays closer to the typical RPG than the other titles.

And finally there is the only Digital Devil game released for the Super Famicom, Kyūyaku Megami Tensei. However, that’s a bit of a misnomer, as this title is actually both of the Digital Devil games for the Famicom remade for the Super Famicom console. Once again, the game is a First-Person RPG. The plot is about a boy who summons demons via a computer program he wrote, hence the name Digital Devil. The remake would see graphical improvements as well as valuable additions like a save feature for the first title.

It is important to note that all of this was spawned by a book series by Aya Nishitani. The series didn’t stop on the Super Famicom either, but went on to see releases on PlayStation and PlayStation 2, cell phones, Game Boy Advances, PSP, PC, Sega Saturn, and even a spin-off for the Virtual Boy. Upcoming games include potential releases on the DS, PS3, and Wii. The series, sometimes referred to as MegaTen, is nothing short of HUGE, and is perhaps the most prolific series in game history, coming to 52 current releases since the Famicom if including every title(there are a lot of cell phone titles). It’s considered a bit off the beaten path for most RPG fans, but if you really want something different, look the series up.
Shop for Megami Tensei Series on eBay

 

[Grampy_Bone]

You'd probably like the combat in SaGa: Scarlet Grace, since it's pretty tactical, although it mostly boils down to focusing on whichever enemys' turn is coming up next.

I personally prefer the PS2 Romancing SaGa remake, though the combat is more random. Completely open, develop your characters however you want, take any quest you can find, every decision matters, multiple playable characters, macguffins you can actually lose (causing the boss to power up), etc.

SaGa games generally punish you for grinding too much by missing content, the way you're supposed to play is avoiding battles and staying at the minimal level to keep maximum challenge.

 

[Louis_Cypher]

Are there any?

What I hate about JRPGs and why I bounced off every JRPG I tried:
- dialogues are non-interactive cutscenes, you rarely get any dialog choices (if at all) but have to click through line after line of pointless banter; to make it even more aggravating, the dialog is being typed out instead of displayed immediately, and you can't skip an entire conversation with one click; it's extremely annoying and I hate it
- your average classic JRPG has extremely simplistic combat which is basically early Wizardry or Might and Magic style, except with longer animations to waste your time; games with proper tactical combat aren't even considered JRPGs in Japan, they're SRPGs, a similar but separate genre
- JRPGs, especially older ones, tend to focus on grind a lot; tons and tons of random encounters you have to slay your way through, it's so fucking boring

I tried several JRPGs but they all suffer from these problems to some degree. A couple of Dragon Quest titles (they are all grindy as fuck), Phantasy Star (grindy as fuck), some of the Final Fantasies (7, 8 - grindy and filled with tons of lame cutscene-based storytelling), Chrono Trigger (it was ok, but again way too much non-interactive dialog spam)

I do enjoy the SRPG genre though. It still suffers from problem #1 (too many cutscene-like dialogs) and problem #3 (grind) but at least the gameplay is actually fun. Played Tactics Ogre and several Fire Emblem titles. I can deal with the annoying way of delivering the story if the gameplay is good and tactical like that.

Games like Dark Souls and Dragon's Dogma aren't really JRPGs, they're action RPGs made in Japan.

Are there any games fitting the classic "JRPG" label that are actually fun and not just boring cutscene-fests with slow but simple combat and endless grind?

I found the exact same thing; obtrustive non-interactive cutscenes everywhere, grind, etc. My friends are Final Fantasy fans, so I played several JRPGs like them, from beginning to end, and just I can't stomach the cutscene-heavy exposition any more. To be honest, there aren't many JRPGs that don't have these problems. It's almost universal in the genre. Even newer ARPG type JRPGs have things like re-spawning trash items, taking all the joy out of loot. Basically Soulslike games are the only thing that doesn't suffer this, but they aren't really JRPGs; ironic that they are some of the best ever expositions of fantasy in video gaming.

What I would recommend are:

- Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey (good philosophy-heavy story, atmosphere, combined with Wizardry grid exploration; play the original not Redux)

- Ys I & II (ARPGs that are fun, have no combat transition, and don't overstay their welcome, clocking around a dozen hours sometimes)

- Suikoden I & II (it still has random encounters, etc, but is a lot more tolerable because the narrative quality is higher, closer to a CRPG with in maturity)

Other than that I can't really make any recommendations. The genre is if anything, becoming worse, because the problem can be excused in older SNES titles, etc. The truth is almost every JRPG I have played suffers from these problems to some degree or another; you often have no agency. Even good ones overstay their welcome without presenting enough reason to continue playing. Like the amount of narrative is enough to justify a 20-30 hour game maybe, but often my final clock time is 100 hours; it has become absurd. Even some of the better fictional worlds, it's too much to expect someone to become invested within.

 

[Darth Canoli]

You'd probably like the combat in SaGa: Scarlet Grace, since it's pretty tactical, although it mostly boils down to focusing on whichever enemys' turn is coming up next.

A single look at it from steam, looks absolutely disgusting, fancy animations with maximum zoom in combat, combat doesn't seem tactical at all, more like classic jrpg garbage.

 

[Abu Antar]

You'd probably like the combat in SaGa: Scarlet Grace, since it's pretty tactical, although it mostly boils down to focusing on whichever enemys' turn is coming up next.

A single look at it from steam, looks absolutely disgusting, fancy animations with maximum zoom in combat, combat doesn't seem tactical at all, more like classic jrpg garbage.

It's butt-ugly, and it was on a shoestring budget, but it's fun to play.

 

[Darth Canoli]

It's butt-ugly, and it was on a shoestring budget, but it's fun to play.

I can't see it, care to elaborate?

 

[Abu Antar]

It's butt-ugly, and it was on a shoestring budget, but it's fun to play.

I can't see it, care to elaborate?

The combat forces you to think about what actions you use. People keep saying that it only is about attacking enemies so that their turn gets delayed. That will not help you. If enemy turns happen all after each other, they will rip you to shreds. Turn order is very important. You need to be able to get follow up attacks, inflict opponents with debuffs, and be careful with wether you use melee attacks, magic or ranged attacks. It can be advisable to skip a turn on rare occasions. Depending on what an enemy is about to do, for example, a future ranged attack, it is inadvisable to melee attack them. There are counters, interrupting spellcasters, and much more.

Most people will play with 2 of the easier of the 4 available characters, which is a good idea. I played with one of the characters that has a more challenging scenario. Let me just tell you that it wasn't just mash the attack button.

The final boss I got was brutal. It took me three tries, and I only beat him because I completely changed my tactics.

Scarlet Grace is no worse than other games in the series, despite how shitty it looks.

 

[Viata]

Anyone has thoughts on early SNES and PS Megami Tenseï games ?

I have played all those old (Shin) Megami Tensei games and I prefer any of them over the new ones. The last good SMT game for me was Strange Journey, anything after it was shit and some before it are also questionable.
PS has only Persona 1 and 2(part 1 and part 2) as original game, the rest are just port from other consoles.
The Majin Tensei series for SNES are interesting because they are strategy games instead of RPG, so I do recommend it if you enjoy those console strategy games and stay away if it's not the kind of game you like.
Megami Tensei 1 and 2, which for SNES is called Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei and is a remake of the first two, are really great and I prefer them over any SMT game mostly because I played the first one on a MSX as my first SMT game many years ago, so nostalgia wins obviously.
As for SMT 1, 2 and If, they are as good as Strange Journey(though If is the weakest one) and if you prefer first person rpgs, then they are a must play for any wizardry-clone fan. Some people prefer SMT 3, which is not a bad game, but the introduction of third person view killed the main series for me. To each their own, obviously.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

It's butt-ugly, and it was on a shoestring budget, but it's fun to play.

I can't see it, care to elaborate?

There's a shared AP pool for all combatants, you can't spam your strongest attacks. Magic has multi-turn delays and enemies typically take a lot more hits to take down than your characters. If you try to play it like a standard JRPG (fight/heal/repeat) you will get annihilated.

The main trick is if the turn order looks like this (Ally - Ally - Enemy - Ally - Ally) and you have your first two characters target the enemy and either kill it or push it's turn back, the two Ally groups will 'connect' (e.g. Ally - Ally - Ally - Ally - Enemy) and get a free combo that also reduces the AP cost of all their moves. This allows you to burst high damage and actually win the fight. EVERY fight is like this, there are basically no 'trash mobs'.

This is harder than it seems because you have to give all orders for the round before it begins, and enemies naturally try to do the same thing to you. If they connect their turn order they get the same free combo and damage boost. So it's a fair-ish system.

The downside is once you develop a winning strategy for your particular team it works for pretty much any enemy, but getting there is fun.

 

[Darth Canoli]

About saga scarlet grace.
Ok, I believe you but I'm not playing this anyway, just because it's more tactical than your average jrpg doesn't make up for the art-style, the long combat animations and combat zoom and probably a lot more nuisances I don't want to know about.
I have no tolerance for this.


I've tried the tactical one, Majin Tenseï 2 and I'm sure I'd have loved it 20 years ago but it really aged and the tactical combat sprites look all the same, real decline, I'm sure the gameplay catches up later but early on, it's extremely basic as well.

So, I'll try another one, maybe Megami Tenseï 2 or SMT 1 or 2...

 

[Darth Canoli]

So, I started to play SMT 2 (SNES English patched version) and I find it pretty good.

That blobber feel, is great, worldmap traveling is also well handled and the gladiator start is really catchy.
The only thing that's a bit off is demons contracts, feels a bit random but maybe there's some logic behind all this.
I could recruit a high pixie, then she died and i can't resurrect her in the church, didn't try with an item because it's insanely expensive for now and because I drag her dead body, it seems I can't recruit another one, so I dropped her.

Meanwhile, I recruited a kind of imp/leprechaum.

Most demons don't want to have anything to do with me or after long bargains, just give me some cash, an item or just flee, little fuckers.

 

[CrunchyHemorrhoids]

some of the Final Fantasies ([...]8 - grindy

You may have played it the wrong way if you found it grindy. Ever since FF8 came out on pc more than 20 years ago you had cheat tools available that let you add 100x of each new magic type you came across instead of having to do the meaningless magic stealing grind/timesink during combat. Those cheats even became built into the game in later multiplatform releases. Likewise the game also gives you a character equip that entirely disables those timesink random encounters, and that doesn't unbalance the game/leave you underpowered as the game scales enemies to your level to begin with. I still wouldn't recommend the game for anyone who isn't into anime or is out of school, but out of the few jrpgs I've tried it's the only one that can be entirely grind/timesink-free.

Jrpgs = anime style rpg-ish games. They're mostly for people who enjoy japanese toons & what passes for writing there, that's the similarity in those titles/how the label is useful.

 

[JarlFrank]

some of the Final Fantasies ([...]8 - grindy

You may have played it the wrong way if you found it grindy. Ever since FF8 came out on pc more than 20 years ago you had cheat tools available that let you add 100x of each new magic type you came across instead of having to do the meaningless magic stealing grind/timesink during combat. Those cheats even became built into the game in later multiplatform releases. Likewise the game also gives you a character equip that entirely disables those timesink random encounters, and that doesn't unbalance the game/leave you underpowered as the game scales enemies to your level to begin with. I still wouldn't recommend the game for anyone who isn't into anime or out of school, but out of the few jrpgs I've tried it's the only one that can be entirely grind/timesink-free.

Ok so the way to enjoy the game is to use cheats and equipment that remove half of the gameplay features like random encounters and spell stealing... which is basically just the devs admitting that their core gameplay loop is utter shit and shouldn't have been in the game in the first place.

What genius game design. I'm sure a game where you have to disable half the features through cheating is an enjoyable experience.
Yawn.

 

[Abu Antar]

some of the Final Fantasies ([...]8 - grindy

You may have played it the wrong way if you found it grindy. Ever since FF8 came out on pc more than 20 years ago you had cheat tools available that let you add 100x of each new magic type you came across instead of having to do the meaningless magic stealing grind/timesink during combat. Those cheats even became built into the game in later multiplatform releases. Likewise the game also gives you a character equip that entirely disables those timesink random encounters, and that doesn't unbalance the game/leave you underpowered as the game scales enemies to your level to begin with. I still wouldn't recommend the game for anyone who isn't into anime or out of school, but out of the few jrpgs I've tried it's the only one that can be entirely grind/timesink-free.

Ok so the way to enjoy the game is to use cheats and equipment that remove half of the gameplay features like random encounters and spell stealing... which is basically just the devs admitting that their core gameplay loop is utter shit and shouldn't have been in the game in the first place.

What genius game design. I'm sure a game where you have to disable half the features through cheating is an enjoyable experience.
Yawn.

Despite liking the Final Fantasy series, I would never recommend it to you. I know you'd find me and burn my feet if I did. But most Final Fantasy games don't need grinding. Whoever tells you otherwise knows jack shit about the series. I have completed low level challenges of FF V, VI, VII and IX. It's probably doable in other games as well. What the average Joe doesn't know is that the games used to have level scaling. For example, you can low level challenge one of the secret super bosses in FFIX, and have a much easier time. Cheats are just for people who cheat in general.

 

[Üstad]

I hate JRPGs because weird voice acting and excessive, weird, queer effects. Japanese people are weird and so their games. Their games may be fun for them but certainly not for me.

 

[Grampy_Bone]

You may have played it the wrong way if you found it grindy. Ever since FF8 came out on pc more than 20 years ago you had cheat tools available that let you add 100x of each new magic type you came across instead of having to do the meaningless magic stealing grind/timesink during combat. Those cheats even became built into the game in later multiplatform releases. Likewise the game also gives you a character equip that entirely disables those timesink random encounters, and that doesn't unbalance the game/leave you underpowered as the game scales enemies to your level to begin with. I still wouldn't recommend the game for anyone who isn't into anime or out of school, but out of the few jrpgs I've tried it's the only one that can be entirely grind/timesink-free.

My wife tried to play FF8 non-grinding (i.e. not drawing/farming magic mats) on the original PS1 and she got rolled pretty hard. By the time she was on disc 2 she was hopelessly underpowered and getting floored in every random battle. I agree that it's a game where there's a wide difference between weak grinding (drawing magic to 100 constantly) and efficiency (utilizing item refinement and cards to min-max) but it's still a game where you need to devote time to powering up your characters.

Honestly I think some of the "muh grinding" complaints are actually lazy/bad players who just want games to hand them exactly enough XP to finish the game and click on dialogue options.

Being against grinding is stupid. Grinding is an example of Self Balancing Gameplay. Note that 90% of modern complaints about balance are alleviated by giving players the opportunity to grind. Game is too hard? Level up more. Like a challenge? Skip encounters. Either way the player is in control of the game. Jarlfrank/anti-grinders are just assmad that games expect them to do work to advance their characters.

If you want a game with curated advancement awards and developer-limited challenge regardless of player progress, play something like an RTS. RPGs are about leveling up and crushing your enemies.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey.

It's the probably the only Megaten the main cast is all adult, no teen or kids on sight, it has fairly good alignment system that plays into the combat too, the dungeon are well made, First persona dungeon crawler , choices matter more than the average JRPG game and has probably the most ''grounded'' story of Mainline other than SMT1. It was Shin Megami Tensei that was made for Western audience.

Both version are pretty good but for this thread, i would recommend the original version on the DS. It doesn't have Alex, Demeter or any of the

Spoiler

Time Travel bs from Redux

Other than SMT SJ, Dragon's Dogma and Digital Devil Saga.

 

[Cromwell]

Jarlfrank/anti-grinders are just assmad that games expect them to do work to advance their characters.

holding down the attack button is sure a lot of work. Grinding is shit because the combat is shit, you push one fucking button and autoattack everything to death, from time to time you heal, its boring. Given the often infuriating rates at which you get into combat you also cant make the system more complicated since then it will take ages to get anywhere. So grinding is always shit.

 

[Ayreos]

- dialogues are non-interactive cutscenes, you rarely get any dialog choices (if at all) but have to click through line after line of pointless banter; to make it even more aggravating, the dialog is being typed out instead of displayed immediately, and you can't skip an entire conversation with one click; it's extremely annoying and I hate it
- your average classic JRPG has extremely simplistic combat which is basically early Wizardry or Might and Magic style, except with longer animations to waste your time; games with proper tactical combat aren't even considered JRPGs in Japan, they're SRPGs, a similar but separate genre
- JRPGs, especially older ones, tend to focus on grind a lot; tons and tons of random encounters you have to slay your way through, it's so fucking boring

No one seems to have mentioned Final Fantasy II.
dialogues: It has an interactive dialogue system where you can bring up topics for NPCs to talk about and progress the plot. You do this by collecting keywords to talk about. The system is basic due to tech limitations, but was an obvious direct improvement on the JRPG formula and was never tried again afaik.
combat: It allows to build the characters in whichever way you prefer. You can have a strongman using dual shields and capable of casting 1 support spell from the back row like a magic turtle, or someone dual-wielding a sword and a status effect dagger. You do this by directly equipping them and teaching them spells, then letting them polish their skills in battle. You can likewise switch weapons in battle, for example having a weapon strong against ogres at hand for when you encounter one of them. Again, the system has a basic implementation due to the limits of the famicom, but it's functional enough to try some wacky builds and have fun.
grind: since everything you do in battle levels up a skill, including getting hit by the enemy or using your shield(s) to block, the battle is so interactive this system is easily abusable by hitting your own party members, which gave the game a bad rep.
Plus you can actually explore a lot in open-world fashion. You can easily enter an area with stronger enemies that drop useful spells and armor you wouldn't get until much later. The battle might be difficult and feel like a boss battle even though you're facing regular enemies, but you can survive it with appropriate build-spell selection and luck, reaping the rewards. (Somehow, it seems to me the game rewards you with drops more easily if you're fighting an enemy early, which is amazing if true, but might just be my luck from my playthrough.)

As a whole i find FF2 pretty much the holy grail of JRPG design, still unreached even in later entries with higher customization like 7 or 8 and evolved to be somewhat convoluted and abstract in the SaGa entries. FF2 is akin a very deficient famicom Morrowind if you observe its systems objectively. The interactive dialog, the open world elements, the skills that level up from use and custom builds. It has the same gameplay perspective. Sadly, it was technically insufficient, with abysmal implementation of brilliant ideas and bugs that make Morrowind look like a highly polished game at release. Personally, nothing can convince me that the famous Job system was a jump backwards that actually stifled gameplay and was appropriately discontinued after 5. In fact, what made 5 so fun was mixing class abilities rather than the classes themselves. Class systems generally don't work, because they limit the mechanics and customization available to players, rather than enhancing them. In FFT you generally level up jobs to learn the skills and make your custom builds as well and leveling up entire job for a couple of their abilities is probably the only drag in an otherwise utterly brilliant game. Even in Bethesda games players tend to either use as many abilities as possible or restrain themselves to a build of their choosing, not to the given classes decided by the game. If your game has skills and abilities it makes far more sense to allow the players to mix and match them to their liking, and balancing individual skills ought to be easier than balancing sets of them. I think that's what holds FF5, FFX-2 and even FFXII zodiac back. The necessity for players to set custom builds, versus the need to curb players making jack-of-all-trades characters (the problem seen in FF7 and FF8). FF2 had the most elegant design solution to these problems and having 4 characters allows to have 4 custom and specialized builds per playthrough instead of Bethesda games' single build, for instance.

My FF2 party from years ago (as much as i remember):
Firion: "Paladin" - Back row, Spear and shield, with a second spear at hand for dual wield, and basic healing and protection magic
Maria: "Samurai" - Front row assault unit with light armor, sword and dagger with special swords according to necessity, elemental attack black magic, high evasion and hp due to being hit a lot
Gus: "Magic Turtle" - Back row dual shield red mage, later on magic turtle that loads up on Berserk while shielded before switching to dual axes, but can switch to turtling and healing
Leon: "Dark Knight" - Sword, some armor, drain and berserk

Even having to play around the issues with using magic and armor, or using both types of magic at once (stat lowering) all of the builds were more than viable to complete the game! I had as much fun building characters as in Wizardry VI. It's really satisfying to insist using and leveling specific spells, see their animations changes and have specialized characters that have truly grown skilled in their respective abilities without being entirely locked in...

 

[Lyric Suite]

Things that make JRPGs unplayable to me:

Animu shit.

And... well, animu shit.

Are there any that don't have animu shit?

 

[rusty_shackleford]

Things that make JRPGs unplayable to me:

Animu shit.

And... well, animu shit.

Are there any that don't have animu shit?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lufia_II:_Rise_of_the_Sinistrals

has a more westernish art style for the most part

remake is anime btw, ignore it

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Are there any that don't have animu shit?

Off of the top of my head:

• Suikoden (2 has a small amount but is overall serious)
• Vandal Hearts
• Tactics Ogre
• Final Fantasy Tactics (has one hidden sidequest with a derpy cutscene)
• Vagrant Story
• Final Fantasy XII (you might also like the other FF games. X for example looks like anime but is overall serious and has very little anime shenanigans).
• The Last Remnant