The Mega JRPG thread.

[Strategist's icon Strategist Strategist]

Ugh, it's so great. The different combat types, all the hidden characters to find, the Iron *fucking* Chef mini-game with a wild-ass narrative of it's own that the game doesn't even tell you about...I stumbled on it the second time around, I never even noticed it beating the game the first time!

I think the castle mechanic especially - the way it keeps expanding and all the characters you recruit add something to the base - is such an untapped idea for JRPG's and games like it.

Yeah that was the coolest part of the game, the base mechanic.

 

[UnDubious]

I just want to say that all you SMT fans should give 7th Dragon 2020 a shot. The setting is basically classic SMT, except instead of demons taking over Tokyo, it's dragons. You have to reclaim Tokyo from humanity's base in the City Hall building. Gameplay is dungeon crawling with a very reasonable encounter rate (and multiple ways to suspend or reduce them for a while), fast combat, a fair number of useful battle skills, some depth to the turn-based fighting, great difficulty balancing, and tons of bosses and midbosses (there are 200 dragons). The game's creator worked at Atlus before and created Etrian Odyssey and Trauma Center as well as doing a bit of work on PS2 SMT games. IMO it's the best original turn-based RPG on the PSP.

 

[Deleted member 884]

I just want to say that all you SMT fans should give 7th Dragon 2020 a shot. The setting is basically classic SMT, except instead of demons taking over Tokyo, it's dragons. You have to reclaim Tokyo from humanity's base in the City Hall building. Gameplay is dungeon crawling with a very reasonable encounter rate (and multiple ways to suspend or reduce them for a while), fast combat, a fair number of useful battle skills, some depth to the turn-based fighting, great difficulty balancing, and tons of bosses and midbosses (there are 200 dragons). The game's creator worked at Atlus before and created Etrian Odyssey and Trauma Center as well as doing a bit of work on PS2 SMT games. IMO it's the best original turn-based RPG on the PSP.

Less complex, but at some point it starts to become a bit boring because you have to do the same things over and over and over. Explore a new dungeon, level up until you're stong enough, fight the boss.
It's fun, though. The biggest problem is the final boss, too fucking strong even at level 80.

 

[Wechseln]

7th Dragon (DS) Is also insanely good, I 100% last year. It's a lot more generic than 2020 and the plot isn't that great but it's packed to the brim with content and stuff to do, the damn game seems to never end. Sadly it suffers from the Etrian Odyssey curse and the game is a grindfest and an extremely hard and tedious one at that even with optimal class builds.

 

[UnDubious]

I skipped the DS game because I heard it was grindy. I may try it one day, but 2020 basically restarted the series, and the two other games are sequels to 2020. So I'll play 2020-II and Code VFD before I ever touch the DS game.

I never level grinded in 7th Dragon 2020, not once. It's perfectly balanced so you don't have to, as long as you play it smartly. It's easy enough to form a balanced team, then you just put some thought into the skills you level up and how to use them in battle. There's a bit more strategy and mechanics than your typical mindless RPG, but it opens up very gradually. The Trickster class for example can do some wild things. Then just do all the quests and explore the dungeons thoroughly, and no grinding will ever be need. I didn't find the normal final boss all that hard either, I was ready. The post-game dungeon was tough, though.

 

[Noon]

The temptation is huge but I need to finish a few games first, I have a lot of stuff in the To Do List.

Currently playing (Kinda stuck tho) Metal Max 3 (DS). 100% Metal Max 2 Reloaded (DS) and I just need more, that game was a goddamn masterpiece, straight up in my Top 3 of the Best RPGs of all time.

It sounds like cygames is working on a new metal max game, they haven’t announced anything yet. I haven’t played any Granblue fantasy games but demo for Relink, the production values look really great, so it’d be pretty cool if a new metal max had something close to that!

 

[Yousef]

I think this is a good opportunity for me to mention as a big turn based buff, I’m quite pessimistic about the future. I’ve tried a couple of indie rpgs and they weren’t anything to write home about. I like indie gaming but it’s becoming harder to feel impressed by recycled ideas with little originality. Anyone got good rpgs in mind?

 

[Pandaprewmaster325]

Indie was never good anyway.

 

[J.F.C]

I'm not sure why most indie RPGS are as shitty as they are. Just copy Chrono Trigger's pacing and make an half-way decent combat system and your game will sell like hotcakes.

 

[DanCalibur]

I hear tell that FF9 basically requires you to have played at least 7 and 8 before it to get the full experience. Is that true? I shouldn’t start with that one then, right?

The references to older games are so arcane that not even fans of the series can pick up. Just go for it, it's probably the most enjoyable overall FF on the psx

 

[Noon]

I think this is a good opportunity for me to mention as a big turn based buff, I’m quite pessimistic about the future. I’ve tried a couple of indie rpgs and they weren’t anything to write home about. I like indie gaming but it’s becoming harder to feel impressed by recycled ideas with little originality. Anyone got good rpgs in mind?

Do you mean recent ones? Depends on if you mean exclusively turn based, or just “stop time” in general, but I really like Relayer so far, and SaGa Emerald Beyond, Dungeon Encounter, Monochrome Mobieus had good actions and uses of the time wheel. I actually like some of Kemco’s budget JRPGs for something smaller, the hit-point ones in particular like Raging Bytes and Armed Emeth, Legend of the Tertachs is really cool.

In JRPGs I really just love experimental mechanics and and some sense of being “all measured” even if just loosely. action games are more about rewarding reflexes and timing with totally refusing the enemies actions (like parrying or dodging) which just screws the balance.

But a recent game like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth has all the experimenting JRPG mechanics in it, it’s just put into a generic action base, which is a bummer but it’s still in there.

 

[SpectreOverflow]

Obligatory shoutout to Dark Cloud and Okage: Shadow King, two of my favorite PlayStation 2 JRPGs that I don't feel like enough people talk about. You can still get them on PS4 too!

 

[Kamako]

FFX is still my fave FF, though I feel that Versus XIII had potential.

Digital Devil Saga 1&2 are absolutely incredible. The mood, the religious and philosophical themes it draws from, the music, the difficulty. They're great. DDS2 may contain the most crapsack-y of all crapsack worlds to live in. DDS2 also has the hardest superboss I've ever fought in a JRPG.

Persona rules, though I feel 3 is slightly overhyped. 4 is my fave. 5's great too, but I find some of its story beats're really really odd.

Always wanted to try Suikoden, even more excited to play Eiyuden Chronicle, which looks beautiful, but was somewhat put-off by the middling reviews. That'll probably be next though.

 

[UnDubious]

I like the first Suikoden a lot, it's so fast-paced for a turn-based RPG and it's quality all around.

 

[Deleted member 288390]

Obligatory shoutout to Dark Cloud and Okage: Shadow King, two of my favorite PlayStation 2 JRPGs that I don't feel like enough people talk about. You can still get them on PS4 too!

I recently got Okage on the PSN store and finished it! Great game! Had a ton of fun playing it. I wish I could play Dark Cloud, but I'm completely broke. One day.

Anyone tried World of Final Fantasy? Finished it last year, and even though I wasn't a fan of the chibi characters, I still really enjoyed the story, music, and turn-based battles. Plus Enna Kros is funny.

 

[JackNoir413]

View attachment 37033
What are your guys thoughts on SMT?

I've played a few games from the SMT franchise and i still think smt1 had the best adventure.
But raidou 1 and DDS(i think it counts) came pretty close too.

 

[Deleted member 884]

Persona 3 Portable is pretty good, even though is a bit slow with exp. progression.
7th dragon for PSP is great, as I already said in a quoted comment, become boring while progressing through the story because you just the same things. Also I like Trails of Cold Steel.
I found myself at ease with ARPG more than JRPG, more action, less boring.

 

[Ravl]

like Trails of Cold Steel.

I used to like Kiseki until I played the Crossbell games. Cold Steel IV was so bad it made me abandon the franchise.
For me it's The Third>First Chapter>Second Chapter>Cold Steel II>Azure>Cold Steel I>Zero>Cold Steel III>Cold Steel IV

 

[FateLanegod]

In countless threads here, I can’t see much of Star Ocean games appreciation.
I actually started really to love JRPGs after getting into first SuperFamicom fan translated title.

Mixed story with branching decisions and sudden turn outs, characters recruitment, private actions and affection scores, skill points, variety of loot, equipment customisation, items creation, puzzles and mini-quests, fast pacing battles, there is certainly more than meets the eye.

 

[hazys]

Anyone excited for the Lunar 1 and 2 remasters?

 

[MasterEn]

I recently got Okage on the PSN store and finished it! Great game! Had a ton of fun playing it. I wish I could play Dark Cloud, but I'm completely broke. One day.

Anyone tried World of Final Fantasy? Finished it last year, and even though I wasn't a fan of the chibi characters, I still really enjoyed the story, music, and turn-based battles. Plus Enna Kros is funny.

yeah, i think all i have left to do is beat the super boss. it's like playing pokemon but with your whole team ready to fight all at once. it would be interesting to see pokemon do that as well.

 

[Ravl]

Anyone excited for the Lunar 1 and 2 remasters?

What about the Working Designs script?

 

[Ain_Gamer]

Quick Question:
What's your favorite JRPGs that were never released outside Japan?

Sol Trigger on the PSP, sadly the Fan translation is incomplet, for games with a complet fan translation, I would have a hard time but it's between the 7th dragon 2020 or Tales of Rebirth

Post automatically merged: Mar 6, 2025

Any "Tales" games fans?

Tales is my least favorite mainstream JRPG series along with Dragon quest , but I loved the newly translated Tales of Rebirth did anyone else here played it?

Post automatically merged: Mar 6, 2025

I'm not sure why most indie RPGS are as shitty as they are. Just copy Chrono Trigger's pacing and make an half-way decent combat system and your game will sell like hotcakes.

I think that's because a lot of indie game devs don't undertand what makes games good outside of a superfical level, plus they generally make games based on what they played on their childhood, which for most people is limited for a few of the most popular JRPG of the era.

Post automatically merged: Mar 6, 2025

I think this is a good opportunity for me to mention as a big turn based buff, I’m quite pessimistic about the future. I’ve tried a couple of indie rpgs and they weren’t anything to write home about. I like indie gaming but it’s becoming harder to feel impressed by recycled ideas with little originality. Anyone got good rpgs in mind?

Have you played the 2 recent SaGa games , Scarlet grace and emerald beyond ?

They have in my opinion some of the best turn based combat in any JRPG

 

[hazys]

What about the Working Designs script?

At this point it is almost kind of nostalgic to me lol

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

The only "recent" Saga game i have played, is the Remaster of Frontier tbh.