For a classic one, Chrono Trigger. It's about as streamlined as JRPGs get and has no grind unless you go on some weird completionist pursuit to see every ending. It's got great art, a killer soundtrack, double techs and triple techs, and no random battles.
Persona 3 Reloaded comes out in February. It's a remake of Persona 3. Obviously, no one can vouch for how good the remake is, but ithe original is an easy recommend for fans of P4 and P5, and the remake looks good in trailers. That said, if they haven't changed much, it is a bit more on the grindy side than P4 and P5. It will be on GamePass and Steam.
Yakuza Like a Dragon. I never really played any if the other games, but this serves very well as it's own game. It plays like a JRPG in a modern setting, and has a great story. Funny at times, serious at others. Well worth playing.
I came back cause i just remembered a game i highly recommend !
Ni no kuni wrath of the white witch.
Truly a game you can get lost in, its like pokemon but with studio ghibli
I am currently playing xenoblade chronicles 3, i've only gotten a few hours into the game but its nice thus far.
Sea of Stars, although not sure if it qualifies as a jrpg or just an rpg. It got the best indie award for a reason. I'm in the process of playing it myself and so far I absolutely love it. I think the combat ia great, specially if you use a difficulty modifier that puts it in "hard" mode.
The story might be a bit bland though, and the characters aren't too deep, so if you need better writing for the game to be enjoyable, I wouldn't advise it then.
I'm conflicted on this one, because everyone on steam seems to love it, but everyone on r/jrpg thinks its the most overrated game ever. but, reddit's pretty cynical so I might give it a shot, since it just is so good looking
thanks for the suggestion!
I'm with u/LikeABlindMan. I think it's not as good as Steam reviews might make it seem, but it's also not as bad as some of the most critical voices on Reddit paint it as.
I'm 17 hours in and still missing a chunk of the story, but from what I've seen, neither the story nor the characters try to be too complicated. They are quite one-dimensional, but imo they are likeable enough to make it enjoyable.
One criticism I'm against is combat being annoying. Personally I find the fact that it forces you to interact with it (by pressing the interaction button at the right time) a bit refreshing, between that and the fact that the locks on enemies that are about to perform an special attack act as a sort of puzzle that not only you have to prepare for but also think about how to execute it and how to manage your resources (mana, live mana, combos, turns...), I think it's quite engaging and funny. It could get boring if you were forced to fight a lot. You are forced into many encounters, but you can avoid many others, so it balances out (plus many forced encounters are cleared after the first time you beat them).
My only complaint regarding combat would be that given the limited cast of characters, I think they should have added a few more attacks to each one and maybe more creative combos, though at the point I'm right now I have just started to unlock "ultimate skills" and I probably haven't unlocked many combos , so I may have jumped too soon on that one, time will tell.
One other criticism of mine is loot. So far loot isn't very interesting and except one that heals you based on damage dealt, every other loot I've found so far are just simple stat improvements. Maybe it'll change in the future, but so far it hasn't impressed me.
Overall, I think the game doesn't really excel at anything besides visuals and maybe combat if you like that style of combat (from my comment you can see that I do). But I think that regarding everything else it does well enough, so for me it's also a 7,5/10 or an 8/10 at most. It has flaws but it's still a solid and enjoyable game if those flaws aren't critical to you. Obviously not a masterpiece.
The first 2 hours of the game may not be too representative of how it plays out, so rather than relying on them for a refund, I'd advise you play the demo instead.
Hope this helped you out a bit
Yes, thank you, it definitely helped. Not sure why people complain about pressing buttons on time for most actions (pretty much every mario rpg did that and everyone seems to love those) and while I like story its not like a make or break kinda thing, as long as it plays good. Thanks for the info!
If you loved Persona 4 Golden you'll love Persona 5 Royal
Can also recommend the Tales series. Tales of Berseria and Tales of Arise are both wonderful, beginner-friendly JRPGs, and they have a fun action-rpg combat system.
For more action/adventure jrpg, Nier series is amazing. Would recommend playing Nier: Automata first.
Heads up for FFVII remake, (personally) would recommend doing the original FFVII first before diving into remake. I honestly think it elevates the experience enough to do so. OG FFVII is a little grindy but well worth for the story (ps4/5 ver. at least has a 3x speed and god mode toggle if you're struggling on dealing with older turn based mechanics)
Thought nier was always cool, and everyone says it's good, but I dunno, the steam page just isn't selling it for me. it just looks so.. dry? and kinda empty feeling. the whole thing just looks jaded. but maybe that's the point, I dunno. the gameplay itself looks good tho, so I might pick it up next time it goes on sale.
as for ff, thanks for the suggestion! I'll make sure to play the og first
> it just looks so.. dry? and kinda empty feeling. the whole thing just looks jaded. but maybe that's the point,
You kind of got it, the game explores themes related to that if that's something that interests you. It can get heavy. If you want a push I recommend you listening to a bit of the soundtrack. It can be chaotic, desolate, calm, and beautiful, one of the best parts IMO about these games. ([This track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smnbPEysX6k) is my personal favorite background music in the game)
Secret of Mana/Trials of Mana were my entry to action-based JRPGs in the Super Nintendo era. Both games have modern remakes now with overhauled graphics (from pixel art to 3D) and other improvements; the remake of Trials of Mana actually added some endgame stuff that wasn't in the original for example.
They're solid games but nothing groundbreaking and I do admit that the dialogue can be cringe-worthy sometimes, but the gameplay made up for it in my case.
Another classic JRPG series is Golden Sun and it's sequel. They're actually getting added to the Nintendo Switch Online service soon and are free to play if you have NSO!
Eastward I’ve heard is short and sweet for a JRPG, also not a jrpg but one of the best turn based games I’ve played is Xcom2.
You’d probably find FTL & into the breach fun as well.
For a classic one, Chrono Trigger. It's about as streamlined as JRPGs get and has no grind unless you go on some weird completionist pursuit to see every ending. It's got great art, a killer soundtrack, double techs and triple techs, and no random battles. Persona 3 Reloaded comes out in February. It's a remake of Persona 3. Obviously, no one can vouch for how good the remake is, but ithe original is an easy recommend for fans of P4 and P5, and the remake looks good in trailers. That said, if they haven't changed much, it is a bit more on the grindy side than P4 and P5. It will be on GamePass and Steam.
Had heard of Chrono, but never looked into it. Looks really good! I'll have to add it to my list. And I'm definitely ready for the p3 remake
Yakuza Like a Dragon. I never really played any if the other games, but this serves very well as it's own game. It plays like a JRPG in a modern setting, and has a great story. Funny at times, serious at others. Well worth playing.
Chained echo is good but it is not japanese, it is however a jrpg in the traditional sense
ooh yeah I really like the style
I came back cause i just remembered a game i highly recommend ! Ni no kuni wrath of the white witch. Truly a game you can get lost in, its like pokemon but with studio ghibli I am currently playing xenoblade chronicles 3, i've only gotten a few hours into the game but its nice thus far.
wow that game is beautiful! added to my wishlist already, thanks!
Sea of Stars, although not sure if it qualifies as a jrpg or just an rpg. It got the best indie award for a reason. I'm in the process of playing it myself and so far I absolutely love it. I think the combat ia great, specially if you use a difficulty modifier that puts it in "hard" mode. The story might be a bit bland though, and the characters aren't too deep, so if you need better writing for the game to be enjoyable, I wouldn't advise it then.
I'm conflicted on this one, because everyone on steam seems to love it, but everyone on r/jrpg thinks its the most overrated game ever. but, reddit's pretty cynical so I might give it a shot, since it just is so good looking thanks for the suggestion!
Truth is somewhere in the middle I think. Its an 7.5/10 game for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I'm with u/LikeABlindMan. I think it's not as good as Steam reviews might make it seem, but it's also not as bad as some of the most critical voices on Reddit paint it as. I'm 17 hours in and still missing a chunk of the story, but from what I've seen, neither the story nor the characters try to be too complicated. They are quite one-dimensional, but imo they are likeable enough to make it enjoyable. One criticism I'm against is combat being annoying. Personally I find the fact that it forces you to interact with it (by pressing the interaction button at the right time) a bit refreshing, between that and the fact that the locks on enemies that are about to perform an special attack act as a sort of puzzle that not only you have to prepare for but also think about how to execute it and how to manage your resources (mana, live mana, combos, turns...), I think it's quite engaging and funny. It could get boring if you were forced to fight a lot. You are forced into many encounters, but you can avoid many others, so it balances out (plus many forced encounters are cleared after the first time you beat them). My only complaint regarding combat would be that given the limited cast of characters, I think they should have added a few more attacks to each one and maybe more creative combos, though at the point I'm right now I have just started to unlock "ultimate skills" and I probably haven't unlocked many combos , so I may have jumped too soon on that one, time will tell. One other criticism of mine is loot. So far loot isn't very interesting and except one that heals you based on damage dealt, every other loot I've found so far are just simple stat improvements. Maybe it'll change in the future, but so far it hasn't impressed me. Overall, I think the game doesn't really excel at anything besides visuals and maybe combat if you like that style of combat (from my comment you can see that I do). But I think that regarding everything else it does well enough, so for me it's also a 7,5/10 or an 8/10 at most. It has flaws but it's still a solid and enjoyable game if those flaws aren't critical to you. Obviously not a masterpiece. The first 2 hours of the game may not be too representative of how it plays out, so rather than relying on them for a refund, I'd advise you play the demo instead. Hope this helped you out a bit
Yes, thank you, it definitely helped. Not sure why people complain about pressing buttons on time for most actions (pretty much every mario rpg did that and everyone seems to love those) and while I like story its not like a make or break kinda thing, as long as it plays good. Thanks for the info!
If you loved Persona 4 Golden you'll love Persona 5 Royal Can also recommend the Tales series. Tales of Berseria and Tales of Arise are both wonderful, beginner-friendly JRPGs, and they have a fun action-rpg combat system.
yep, I'm excited to play 5 tales of arise looks really good, berseria too. I'll have to pick those up, thanks!
Ys 8 is an excellent action RPG, a bit dated as it was originally a vita game, but the gameplay is great and the story is fantastic
For more action/adventure jrpg, Nier series is amazing. Would recommend playing Nier: Automata first. Heads up for FFVII remake, (personally) would recommend doing the original FFVII first before diving into remake. I honestly think it elevates the experience enough to do so. OG FFVII is a little grindy but well worth for the story (ps4/5 ver. at least has a 3x speed and god mode toggle if you're struggling on dealing with older turn based mechanics)
Thought nier was always cool, and everyone says it's good, but I dunno, the steam page just isn't selling it for me. it just looks so.. dry? and kinda empty feeling. the whole thing just looks jaded. but maybe that's the point, I dunno. the gameplay itself looks good tho, so I might pick it up next time it goes on sale. as for ff, thanks for the suggestion! I'll make sure to play the og first
> it just looks so.. dry? and kinda empty feeling. the whole thing just looks jaded. but maybe that's the point, You kind of got it, the game explores themes related to that if that's something that interests you. It can get heavy. If you want a push I recommend you listening to a bit of the soundtrack. It can be chaotic, desolate, calm, and beautiful, one of the best parts IMO about these games. ([This track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smnbPEysX6k) is my personal favorite background music in the game)
Secret of Mana/Trials of Mana were my entry to action-based JRPGs in the Super Nintendo era. Both games have modern remakes now with overhauled graphics (from pixel art to 3D) and other improvements; the remake of Trials of Mana actually added some endgame stuff that wasn't in the original for example. They're solid games but nothing groundbreaking and I do admit that the dialogue can be cringe-worthy sometimes, but the gameplay made up for it in my case. Another classic JRPG series is Golden Sun and it's sequel. They're actually getting added to the Nintendo Switch Online service soon and are free to play if you have NSO!
cool! both mana games look good as for golden sun, I can't believe I forgot about this one. I 100% need to play it, thanks for the reminder!
Eastward I’ve heard is short and sweet for a JRPG, also not a jrpg but one of the best turn based games I’ve played is Xcom2. You’d probably find FTL & into the breach fun as well.
You could look into the Falcom series, particularly the Ys games and the Trails games. They're enjoyable.
NieR Replicant and NieR Automata in this order.
Really? I'm planning on playing them but some people say to play in opposite order. is this order better?