JRPG Best of list

[PARANOiA]

Hey all...

I'm just playing through Golden Sun on GBA at the mo', and I'm thinking it's time I spent some more time with this lovely genre. Having played FFVII for hundreds of hours, I'm actually yet to pick up another console RPG that hooked me in in such a way.

Can I have some suggestions please? I'm looking mainly at the 16-bit era, to be honest, but any at all are greatly considered. I'll start the list with the bleeding obvious:

PS1:
FFVII

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. I looks forward to some SNES/Genesis emu delights :]

 

[Andy]

Chrono Trigger

 

[nintenho]

Shin Megami Tensei series. Just pick any of them.

 

[oli2]

Xenogears on PS1 : the story is amazing ! (this opus is vastly superior to PS2 's ones, and even better than FF7 IMHO)

You should give a try to Vagrant Story, too.

Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross are cool, too.

 

[PeterT]

SNES:
FF VI and V (I personally didn't think IV was "best of" worthy)
Chrono Trigger
Star Ocean
Breath of Fire 2 (May just be nostalgia on my part, it was my first jRPG)

Genesis:
I played all that are considered great on this system, but none really grabbed me enough to be on this list.

PS1:
FF VII and IX
Xenogears
Suikoden 2
Star Ocean: 2nd story

PS2:
FF X (not X-2)
Breath of Fire 5 (some love it, some hate it. I absolutely loved it. Challenging)
Suikoden 5 (exceedingly great game in all aspects (except loading time). 3 was also good, but not "best of". 4 is mediocre)
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga
(both SMT games have a very interesting story, but they are hard and dark)

If you are into SRPGs and comedy, then also:
Digaea: Hour of Darkness

That's basically it from my point of view. I had to exclude some of my favourites (like the Lufia series on SNES and Xenosaga, Atelier Iris and Phantom Brave on PS2) because they are probably not that great for everyone. I hope I came up with a reasonably list.

 

[Shark Sandwich]

Xenogears for PS1! It has by far the best story and best music out of any RPG IMO. It also has so much attention to detail that I find it more immersive than most current games. I would describe it as Dune meets Evangelion.

Chrono Trigger gets honorable mention. The characters and just the overall charm of the game are incredible. It also has the same composer as Xenogears (Yasunori Mitsuda).

3rd place: Final Fantasy Tactics. The story is satisfyingly complex, the music is excellent, and it has the most interesting character customization out of any FF game. I'm surprised nobody mentioned this yet. Also, if you've played FFT:Advance, don't judge this game yet. It's infinitely better than its dumbed-down portable version.

Some other good ones:
Final Fantasy IX: most charming collection of characters in an FF game

Star Ocean 1 & 2: some of the craziest battles you will ever see. Characters in Star Ocean 2 include a 3-eyed woman in an evening gown who carries a giant laser-bazooka thing, a guy with two swords and two dragons sticking out of his back, a girl with a remote controlled robot and a mechanical punching arm that pops out of her backpack, a pharmacist who throws exploding pills, and others. . .

Final Fantasy VI: At least as good as FF VII.

Secret of Mana: best experienced with a friend or two

Live a Live: a very unique SNES RPG from Squaresoft. There are 7 different characters you pick from, each with their own scenario. Then you play the final scenario that ties them all together.

Xenosaga 1 & 2: not as good as Xenogears. . . but after Xenogears I bet you'll want to play them

 

[ERP]

Xenogears on PS1 : the story is amazing ! (this opus is vastly superior to PS2 's ones, and even better than FF7 IMHO)

You should give a try to Vagrant Story, too.

Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross are cool, too.

Xenogears on PS1 is still my all time favorite, followed by Chrono trigger.
On PS2
Chrono Cross is solid.
I just finished Grandia 3 and it's solid although there is just too much damn viseo in the game.

 

[blakjedi]

Seems like most of you started gaming/role playing on the PS... The games noted are some of the greatest, I would add Secret of Mana for SNES, FFIV, V and VI for SNES, Shadowrun for Genesis, Phantasy Star 2 and 4, and Shining Force 2, Lunar 2 CD...

 

[ERP]

Seems like most of you started gaming/role playing on the PS... The games noted are some of the greatest, I would add Secret of Mana for SNES, FFIV, V and VI for SNES, Shadowrun for Genesis, Phantasy Star 2 and 4, and Shining Force 2, Lunar 2 CD...

No I've played most of the SNES/Genesis era RPG's, but most of them are a little impenetrible for someone expecting PS2 games.
FF2 (US) was one of my favorites for a long time.
Lunar was also stellar as was Secret of Mana
I also reall enjoyed the one Phantasy star I played

and while I'm remebering the first Suikoden on PS was also very good.

 

[blakjedi]

No I've played most of the SNES/Genesis era RPG's, but most of them are a little impenetrible for someone expecting PS2 games.
FF2 (US) was one of my favorites for a long time.
Lunar was also stellar as was Secret of Mana
I also reall enjoyed the one Phantasy star I played

and while I'm remebering the first Suikoden on PS was also very good.

I understand. What i meant was if you played those pre-playstation games prior to there being a playstation there would be more non playstation RPGs on this list. But the playstation RPGS listed (xenogears, suikoden2) are GREAT and among the greatest ever...

 

[ERP]

I understand. What i meant was if you played those pre-playstation games prior to there being a playstation there would be more non playstation RPGs on this list. But the playstation RPGS listed (xenogears, suikoden2) are GREAT and among the greatest ever...

No I played them on there original platforms, before there was a playstation. And before JRPG's sold more than 100,000 copies in the US (pre FF7).

But someone was asking for recommendations, and I don't think most people are willing to play SNES level games anymore (although I did mention some in my original post). Some of the better looking PS1 games hold up really well.

I think the most fun I had playing a game in the first 6 months of owning a PS2 was playing the PS1 version of Breath of Fire 4.

The PS1 might have been the height of the JRPG for me though, just enough to convey the story and characters better, without the expectation of hours of FMV. The Square games did seem to go down hill on there way to PS2 though, they traded a lot of substance for pretty FMV.

 

[ERP]

Just realised no one mentioned Panzer Dragoon Saga on the Saturn.
It's short (about 12 hours) but it'as an absolutly stellar game if you can find a copy.

 

[Farid]

So many replies and yet...

Nobody mentioned Grandia? One of the best JRPG to date?

 

[PeterT]

Lunar was also stellar as was Secret of Mana

I can't believe I forgot Lunar! Both SSS(C) and Eternal Blue are great games. Just don't get suckered by the Lunar name they put on that recent atrocious GBA (or was it DS?) game.

Secret of Mana is also great, I didn't mention it because it doesn't fit the traditional jRPG model exactly. If we include games like that, then I would also heartily recommend Terranigma.

I think the most fun I had playing a game in the first 6 months of owning a PS2 was playing the PS1 version of Breath of Fire 4.

BoF4 was very fun, especially after the relative disappointment that was 3 (to me). A new traditional (1-4) BoF game would be great, though I also really liked 5 (unlike most traditional BoF fans. IMHO it's one of the most challenging and rewarding jRPGs of the PS2 generation)


The Grandia series (I just finished 3) is still a bit too happy-go-lucky for me to achieve true "best-of" worthiness. The battle system in 3 was interesting, but the story just failed to captivate me completely, like many other games in this thread did (not the failing to, the captivating ).

 

[DudeMiester]

My votes go for FFVI and Chrono Trigger. I really like FFVIII too, it has awesome music, but I don't know if it's "best of" calibre.

 

[chris_wong]

I had most fun with:
FFX and FFV
Chrono Trigger
Front mission
Grandia

Used to be a big rpg-gamer, but now I can't really be bothered anymore. The stories have stopped fascinating me, 40 hours tend to be too much and the gameplay is more than often lacking.

 

[JasonLD]

FFV, VI and Chrono Trigger, during the times Square seems to do no wrong...they were just better than anything else in terms of story and gameplay(Although DQ was more popular, I think FF was better game during SFC era...DQ was ultra popular due to extreme popularity of Toriyama Akira..from Dragon Ball fame)

For the best battle system...Chrono Cross was simply the best and remains best...in my opinion...

 

[V3]

No one mention the best selling JRPG series of them all ? Pokemon.

Pokemon even if it isn't my cup of tea now days, but its a very well design game. If you have GBA definitely should try its latest incarnation.

I also like those GBA Yugioh games. Though I don't know if people consider them as JRPG.

 

[AlNom]

FF6 on SNES and Shadowrun on Genesis were my favourites.

 

[BenSkywalker]

FFVI
Chrono Trigger

The two most obvious from the 16bit era(FFVI is being rerelased shortly). Which side of the RPG fence do you fall on? Large scale cinematic experience or monsterous gameplay?

Gameply wise I would say pretty much any DQ or Pokemon(if you can seperate the game for the nightmare inducing mass media efforts)will serve you well. DQ is far more epic in scale, Pokemon just has highly polished gameplay elements.

If you are into the cinematic type games FF(although I think most would agree that eight is the poorest of the series- by a large margin).

ERP- You played DQ8? Based on your comments it sounds to me like you would love it(you sound to want to see what I want to see in an RPG without mountains of fluff).