Lesser known JRPGs, sci-fi settings, odd themes, experimental subjects, fan-translations, etc...

[Louis_Cypher]

Survival Kids 1 and 2 (GB)

I recently came across a game called 'Survival Kids' for the Gameboy, which has a direct sequel 'Survival Kids 2' that been fan-translated and was never released outside Japan. It is not really a Japanese RPG per se, but rather a survival game, right down to crafting and eating, decades before the current survival game genre. There are two games in the series for Gameboy. Looks pretty nice, with that old school 'Link's Awakening' style graphics and seems largely non-violent if you are into that.

 

[samuraigaiden]

One these has a secret ending where if you hang around the starting area long enough a rescue team shows up.

 

[Louis_Cypher]

River King series (NES, SNES, PS1, PS2, GB, GBA, DS)

An RPG that combines a fishing game with XP and character growth. Ideal if you really enjoyed the fishing mini-games in other franchises (I found the fishing game in Final Fantasy XV really compelling). Only just found out about these in another thread, and thought I would revive this old one to archive it.

 

[MurkrLurkr]

I just stumbled upon this thread and think I have something to add to the pile of forgotten and lesser known JRPGs... Eien no Filena/Eternal Filena,

a SNES RPG released by Tokuma Shoten Intermedia in 1995. It's part of a franchise that started with a series of "light novels" by Takeshi Shudo, illustrated by Akemi Takada, and has a six part OVA series produced by Studio Pierrot, through which I discovered the existence of this game, since I'm a fan of obscure shitty Japanese pornographic cartoons from the 80s and 90s The story is centered around Filena, a princess who was raised as a boy after her kingdom was conquered and trained as a gladiator, and her struggles for freedom... It was the story that draw me to research and come across the game, the gameplay of which, as I've read, is bog-standard and fairly orthodox for the time... You can find English translation patch on teh internets, and maybe someone will find it charming enough to play.. As for me, it's enough to have it as a curiosity in my collection of animemes...

 

[Shinji]

I just stumbled upon this thread and think I have something to add to the pile of forgotten and lesser known JRPGs... Eien no Filena/Eternal Filena,

a SNES RPG released by Tokuma Shoten Intermedia in 1995. It's part of a franchise that started with a series of "light novels" by Takeshi Shudo, illustrated by Akemi Takada, and has a six part OVA series produced by Studio Pierrot, through which I discovered the existence of this game, since I'm a fan of obscure shitty Japanese pornographic cartoons from the 80s and 90s The story is centered around Filena, a princess who was raised as a boy after her kingdom was conquered and trained as a gladiator, and her struggles for freedom... It was the story that draw me to research and come across the game, the gameplay of which, as I've read, is bog-standard and fairly orthodox for the time... You can find English translation patch on teh internets, and maybe someone will find it charming enough to play.. As for me, it's enough to have it as a curiosity in my collection of animemes...

The graphics of this game reminds me of FF5. For a moment I thought SquareSoft had developed the game.

 

[I eat frozen vegetables]

I'll put in my two cents regarding Ar Tonelico trilogy and the rest of the EXA_PICO universe. Originally made as a tabletop RPG setting by its creator, Gust composer Akira Tsuchiya, it was eventually retooled into a video game RPG featuring deep worldbuilding and reoccurring themes of music and sound, bonds, and the nature of conflict. It also got a manga, an OVA series, visual novels made in Flash, and other web content. A word of warning for those wanting to play the second game, please patch it using this patch as NIS America did an absolute hatchet job during the localization of the game by mistranslating it, having a lack of editing, and introducing new bugs. While the Ar Tonelico trilogy is complete, the universe still continues in the Surge Concerto series, which consists of Ciel no Surge (originally released on the Vita, but got remasters on PS4, Switch and Windows, with none of them getting released in English, and to kick sand in our eyes, is region locked on Steam) and Ar Nosurge (which was released originally for the PS3, but got an extended version that bundles all the DLC on the Vita, with a high definition remaster released on PS4, Switch and PC, though the remaster is Japan-only, and region locked on Steam again). Even for a JRPG, the series is niche, but has a cult following worldwide.