JRPG Best of list

[PARANOiA]

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).

I'm cinematic. I can't play an RPG unless I can ensure the story is non-generic, and the characters are endearing. In fact, I'm largely likely to play a "worse" game in terms of fighting system, etc, for a better story/adventure. I loved Skies of Arcadia, but couldn't get into Grandia on DC.

Which system is FF6 being re-released on? Could be tempting :] Booted it up the other night on SNES and I had a hard time getting over the graphics unfortunately... a bit lame on my part, I know..

I notice no one has mentioned Dreamcast RPG's. I'm assuming because there's no "best of's" to mention there? Bugger.

Thanks for the feedback all, keep adding as required.

 

[blakjedi]

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.

My fault ERP. In another similar thread I mentiond PDS that is my favorite console RPG ever followed by Secret of Mana and then Oblivion. For PC my favorite is Ultima IV on the Apple IIe! (yes I took it that far back...!)

 

[AlNom]

Which system is FF6 being re-released on? Could be tempting :]

Game Boy Advance and I'm guessing on the Wii too.

 

[ERP]

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).

I haven't played it, it's been on my list for a long time but my understanding is it's a LONG game, and I have enough problems finding 40 hours to play an RPG never mind more than that

 

[ban25]

Don't forget the Shadow Hearts series. SH1-3 are some of the best RPGs on the PS2.

 

[Corwin_B]

My personal favorites include :
- FF 7
- Grandia 2
- Phantasy Star 4
- Chrono Trigger
- Baten Kaitos

 

[JasonLD]

I am kinda surprised Vagrant Story is not mentioned yet.

 

[Neme]

Chrono Cross is my all time favourite adventure. First of all it has probably the greatest soundtrack ever created for a game (by Yasunori Mitsuda of course), just listen to Shadow Forest or Earth Dragon Isle or any other tune, they give this game a truly memorable atmosphere. And they really know when NOT to play music as well! Some of the features include: a branching storyline(!), non-linear gameplay, text manipulation on the fly to match a person's character when talking, you can use objects (quite rare in a JRPG), many secrets and great humor. It's not your average JRPG that you walk through once and that's it - you have to play it multiple times to fully explore the world and its inhabitants. And it must not be played on any other platform than the real PS1!
Highly recommended.

 

[PARANOiA]

My personal favorites include :
- Grandia 2

Hi Corwin. Can you give me a quick rundown on what you liked/didn't really like in Grandia 2? I actually bought this on DC and have began playing it about three or four times before losing interest in the story. I usually get a little past the bit where the main hero begins having flashbacks about his brother? And you end up at a hotel once the big hairy behemoth joins your party.

I'd like a fresh perspective on this game.

Thanks in advance.

 

[BenSkywalker]

I haven't played it, it's been on my list for a long time but my understanding is it's a LONG game, and I have enough problems finding 40 hours to play an RPG never mind more than that

It's the type of game that will make you find time to play it(oft at the expense of sleep from personal experience ). I would say without hesitation that it is the pinnacle of old school JRPG style gaming. The length if you are tooling along will put you in the 60 hour range, 70-90 if you do most of the side missions and 130-150 if you want to do absolutely everything. Not nearly as lengthy as Oblivion, but I can't see anyone beating it under 50 hours their first play through. It is lengthy, but doesn't feel it at all.

 

[ban25]

Chrono Cross is my all time favourite adventure. First of all it has probably the greatest soundtrack ever created for a game (by Yasunori Mitsuda of course), just listen to Shadow Forest or Earth Dragon Isle or any other tune, they give this game a truly memorable atmosphere. And they really know when NOT to play music as well! Some of the features include: a branching storyline(!), non-linear gameplay, text manipulation on the fly to match a person's character when talking, you can use objects (quite rare in a JRPG), many secrets and great humor. It's not your average JRPG that you walk through once and that's it - you have to play it multiple times to fully explore the world and its inhabitants. And it must not be played on any other platform than the real PS1!
Highly recommended.

Seconded. The soundtrack in particular is fantastic.

 

[ban25]

Hi Corwin. Can you give me a quick rundown on what you liked/didn't really like in Grandia 2? I actually bought this on DC and have began playing it about three or four times before losing interest in the story. I usually get a little past the bit where the main hero begins having flashbacks about his brother? And you end up at a hotel once the big hairy behemoth joins your party.

I'd like a fresh perspective on this game.

Thanks in advance.

The Grandia series probably has the best battle system of any JRPG (in my opinion, at least). The story was decent and the characters were mostly very good -- Millenia, in particular, was excellent.

 

[Corwin_B]

Hi Corwin. Can you give me a quick rundown on what you liked/didn't really like in Grandia 2? I actually bought this on DC and have began playing it about three or four times before losing interest in the story. I usually get a little past the bit where the main hero begins having flashbacks about his brother? And you end up at a hotel once the big hairy behemoth joins your party.

I'd like a fresh perspective on this game.

Thanks in advance.

First, the battle system is awesome, very dynamic, and offering lots of tradeoffs between pure attack power and slowing down the enemy. You also have to take the distance between your character and the enemy into account.

The character building system was also well done, not too complicated while at the same time offering a lot of options for customisation.

No random encounters, but enemies that respawn. That means you can do some mindless leveling when you want to, but also rush if you want.

I liked the story a lot. It may be cheesy and predictable at times, but I found the characters enjoyable and there are some really great storytelling moments later in the scenario.

For the Dreamcast, the graphics were nice, and the mix of 3D and FMV in the battle scenes was well done. Music was good, and the parts with voice acting were decent (a not so common occurence for RPGs).

I found the difficulty was very well done : not too difficult, but the combat system keeps it from becoming a mindless "press attack without thinking" RPG.

My impressions may be colored by the fact that G2 was a long-awaited title for the DC, which sadly lacked quality RPGs for a long time. But I have very fond memories of the title. I started it again a few months ago, but had to stop after around 15 hours due to other titles requiring my attention . I found it had aged pretty well, though.

 

[PeterT]

It's the type of game that will make you find time to play it(oft at the expense of sleep from personal experience ). I would say without hesitation that it is the pinnacle of old school JRPG style gaming.

Strange. To me, DQ8 was easily the biggest JRPG disappointment last year. It consists of a mediocre story, some nice characters (but too few of them) and a very boring and un-strategic battle system. The latter (in conjunction with the first point, as I may have persevered for a great story) is what really killed the game for me. I loved the first 12 hours or so (did them in 2 days), but my excitement faded really fast and I just stopped playing around the 45 hour mark. At that point I just couldn't stomach any more of the gameplay and didn't care enough about the story or even the characters to continue. I could give a list of all the "bad" RPGs I have finished to drive home the point of what a rare thing this is for me. It's also not like I have anything against very long games, I enjoyed every hour of Suikoden 5 for example.

However, DQ8 was seemingly loved universally, so don't put too much stock in the opinion of one JRPG nut. I mean, my top RPG for last year would be tied between Atelier Iris and Digital Devil Saga 2 (one to pull you down and one to prop you up again ), so I'm probably not very mainstream in my choices.

... I thought about it some more, and one explanation for my dislike of DQ8 may be the uber-generic main character. That would at least be one specific point.

 

[PARANOiA]

My impressions may be colored by the fact that G2 was a long-awaited title for the DC, which sadly lacked quality RPGs for a long time. But I have very fond memories of the title. I started it again a few months ago, but had to stop after around 15 hours due to other titles requiring my attention . I found it had aged pretty well, though.

Thanks. I know what you mean, though. I actually finished the Evolution games on DC I was so tired of waiting for top notch RPG's actually. Kind of forgot about that!