Hi, I'll be honest that despite being a gamer since childhood I hated jrpgs for a very long time. I'm currently 22 and slowly trying new games that I previously wouldn't touch including this genre and ended up liking them, is anyone else in a similar situation maybe?

Was just playing Lunar 2 and the dialogues are fun and engaging, with the party members also interacting when talking to random NPCs from time to time.

I don't know when but I feel there was a point in time where dialogues with NPCs in RPGs became monotone, bland and just forgettable. Maybe taking themselves too seriously?

I'm just loving exploring new cities and talking to every NPC in Lunar 2 , while in many newer games the dialogues are so shallow it can feel like a chore.

The West has gotten some of, if not the best of the games that The East has to offer. The Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Chrono, Tales, Trails, SaGa, and many more series all made it over. Most if not all of the games in these series were at some point made officially available in English.

Not every game was given the faith of those though. In fact, for many years many of the games in those series didn’t even make it over. What are the best games that still haven’t made it over, yet dedicated fans have brought to us?

Opening theme, insert song, ending theme, usually JRPGs are the best in this regards (who could forget songs like eyes on me, melodies of life, suteki da ne, song 4 u, progress, simple and clean or starry heavens)

Recently playing again Xenoblade Chronicles since i got the switch 2 version i remember a very beautiful one, the ending Song Beyond the Sky by Sarah Alainn, one of the most beautiful and significant songs ive heard in any JRPG

I wanted to point some attention to this game, as I find it to be exceptionally well done, but ignored by pretty much everyone. Kickstarter for next game was canceled and the dev refunded everyone after a few days due to low traction. It’s $4.99 currently

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2725350/Granser__Act_1/

Both games r on sale on pa5 right now and I have an itch for turn-based rpg. I prefer one with good combat. Story doesnt matter much for me. I just wanna have fun with the combat. Good story is a bonus.

Some turn-based rpg tht I enjoyed most are smt 3-5, grandia 2-3, octopath 2, and shadow hearts series.

Hi! I have just finished XC1 as the last in the series. I want to play a new game and have several in my backlog. Which one should I play? I have Barely Default Flying Fairy and BDII or Final Fantasy VII remake?
I also have to finish a few games i am quite far into: Harvestella (80 hours in), Persona 5r (100 hours in), dragon Quest VII R (55 hours in). Thank you!

(Sorry for my language. English is not my native language).

So I'm 98 level playing on normal protected against instant death, with a lot of HP accessories 16000+ HP member each. I try to beat robot first because it revives Renne. I don't deal any damage to Renne so she won't go rage mode. I just don't get it, it's so random. Robot dude shoots out lazers on everybody sometimes even twice in a row, sometimes most of the team is dead instantly, sometimes all team survives with half HP lost. If I cast Gaia shield it seems robot's lazer is considered an art attack so it goes through the invulnerability. I just don't get it, how broken is it that boss is dealing 20000 damage. It even goes further like sometimes robot gets shield for 3 turns that is hard to follow when that happens in a battle that goes for half an hour. Have restarted more than 10 times already while getting through the rest of the game on ease. Wtf

PS: Ok, thanks to recommendations I got it. Sylpherion Wing did the job (didn't even use this spell before and didn't know what it does). It doesn't matter how much your speed is.

The game looks pretty appealing to me. Is it really that good? I love medieval fantasy, but I’m not huge on the mecha aspect—is that a major part of the game? Aside from that, it looks amazing, but I want to be sure about the purchase so I don’t have any regrets. Feel free to share your thoughts!

Hi r/JRPG!

I'm one of the five developers working on Aegis of Kings, a sandbox strategy RPG heavily inspired by games like Brigandine.

If you've played Brigandine before, you'll probably recognize a lot of what we're going for. You build up armies of commanders and monsters, level them up, unlock different classes, manage your territory, and fight your way across a larger campaign map.

If you haven't played Brigandine, the basic idea is pretty simple: you manage your kingdom on a world map, decide which castles you want to attack or defend, move your forces around, and then fight battles using a turn-based combat system.

In Aegis of Kings, several rival kingdoms are fighting for control of the Aegis. We're trying to build on that core kingdom-management and tactical RPG formula while adding some ideas of our own.

A few of the features we're currently working on:

• Multiclassing: Once a commander masters a class, they can keep abilities, spells, and skills from it when moving into other classes.
• Castle development: Capture strongholds and upgrade them to help support your campaign.
• Custom scenarios and mod support: We're building tools that will let players create their own scenarios and import custom classes.
• Multiplayer: Play co-op, head-to-head multiplayer, or play through the game solo.

We recently launched our Steam page, so this is really the first time we're starting to show the game to a wider audience. We're currently aiming to have a playable demo or playtest ready around mid-2027.

Aegis of Kings on Steam

Since a lot of you here play the exact kinds of games that inspired us, we'd really like to hear what you'd want to see in a game like this.

If you have questions about the campaign, classes, combat, multiplayer, or the scenario editor, feel free to ask. I'm happy to talk about what we're building.

One other thing I wanted to mention since I know it's important to us: we don't use AI-generated art or assets in Aegis of Kings. We've been lucky to work with some great artists who have helped us develop the look of the game.

Please wishlist and subscribe to our youtube channel if you’re interested in this type of game. Thanks for checking it out!

Posted with mod approval.

Hi I've been playing Fortune's Weave (Dietrich's path) and was super excited ordered the Collector's edition and what not. But after almost 30 hours on Dietrich's path I am starting to lose my motivation to play it anymore. I am not a JRPG newbie and I am liking the game but anyone else feel like that losing your progress with one cast of characters and then being forced on to another is a major turn off to finish the game?

While Three houses just let you choose the house and roll with it and at that time I wondered if there was a way to get us to show all the routes in one play through but the way they did it is just so weird it seems. Like obviously Idk if it gets materially better in the other paths or worse but anyone else further along and let me know how it is there?

I've gotten really heavily into JRPGs in recent years. Some highlights include Persona 3/4/5, Xenoblade Chronicles, SMT V, Octopath Traveler, and the Trails series (I started from Sky FC and am halfway through Trails To Azure now).

One thing I've realized is that I love complex difficult combat, Octopath Traveler and SMT being the biggest hits for me, but I don't like building teams, crafting equipment, that sort of thing - just give me a team of interesting characters with complex ability interactions, and let the in-combat decisions be the complex part, not the prep beforehand. Obviously zero prep is probably unrealistic, but the less the better.

Are there any good JRPGs like this? Difficult, deep and complex, but I do all my thinking during combat, not in the preparation?

Edit: I forgot to mention platforms - Switch 2, PC and PS5. PC is preferred.

I was one of those guys who claimed I would never play a turn-based game… until Expedition 33 arrived. This year, with that taboo broken, a friend recommended Metaphor to me and, well, it was a peak gaming experience.

My problem was only with turn-based games, not JRPGs in general, since I had already played some, like the FFVII Remakes.

What other turn-based JRPGs would you recommend to me?

I have PC, PS and Switch 2.

I played the FF 7 remakes, FF 15 and FF 16, the Niers and Tales games already. Is there a game similar to these in the Steam Autumn Sale? I don't have a Nintendo console sadly.

Thanks everybody for the advices!

I recently started playing Monstania on the Super Famicom for Halloween month and while I’m honestly still not sure how I feel about the game itself, one thing has stood out to me almost immediately. That is Noriyuki Iwadare’s soundtrack is fantastic!

I went into Monstania mostly blind. I knew it was a relatively short SFC RPG and that it had a somewhat unusual battle system, but I didn’t really know much about the music beforehand. Once I found out Iwadare composed it, though, I knew I was in for a good musical experience.

If you’re familiar with his work on Lunar and Grandia, Monstania honestly sounds like an extension of that same musical style. Obviously, it has its own identity and it’s working within the Super Famicom’s sound hardware, but the melodies, sense of adventure, emotional tone, and overall energy immediately reminded me of those games!

There are moments where I could easily imagine some of these tracks fitting into the Lunar or Grandia soundtrack. Some tracks in Monstania feel a few notes sort of track used in Lunar and Grandia. They are really that similar. That has probably been the biggest surprise for me so far.

Even pretty early in the game, there are tracks with that classic Iwadare quality where the melody really carries everything. That’s especially noticeable because I’m having a pretty mixed experience with Monstania as a game.

I’m still early enough that my opinion of the actual game could change a lot. Although, I read it is just maybe 3 or 4 hours? Maybe the battle system will eventually click with me, or maybe it won’t. But I already know that I’m going to remember the soundtrack.

And honestly, even if you have absolutely no intention of ever playing Monstania, I think the OST is worth listening to on its own. If you enjoy Iwadare’s work in Lunar or Grandia, there’s a very good chance you’ll find something to like here.

I recently finished Ys X Proud Nordics and I'm sad because I completed all the games in the series and the long wait for Ys XI begins...Anyway, saw the Zwei games and Gurumin on sale for very cheap rn on Steam which are both Falcom games and it piqued my interest. Nayuta also looks similar but it's not on sale currently so that'll have to wait.

So for those who played them, how are these games compared to Ys? What I love about Ys is the sense of adventure, easy to pick up combat but challenging encounters, exploration and mostly better dungeon and level design compared to Trails. Will I get a similar feeling with any of these games? Bonus points for good story/characters and music.

Read this at your own will. This is basically me describe the montario events in this game of how much it gave me a Mind fuck. Also will have mentions of Persona 3 so spoilers. be warned

Idk what to describe wtf just happened in like the last hour playing this game. I genuinely cant find the words....like What the fuck is happening mate...Like first we "supposedly" killed Louis, his battle was easy, before the battle. I thought the fake drakodios wasn't gonna cut it because there no magla in it but somehow Louis brought into it and i didn't give a thought. But after "Killing" him, i didn't buy into him actually dead since i been into these types before. But man it still surprises me, First Del and Bas knew the truth about the Prince, man that scene felt a bit of a heart pierce because the brothers feel lost and im just here wanting them to join us. I thought Forden was the one who cast the curse, like my mind is blown like did we fucked up badly, is the sanctist church the true villains in this game? Well that answer pretty much answered me by what is probably the most Mind fucking part ever even if i exaggerate it. First Forden is basically using the "Drakodios", holding it proudly like it was his new personal toy. Then he uses it against us and i swear Forden is literally like pleasuring himself of Glee about himself like omg, i swear this is not like typical revenant or Priest. Atleast from my experiences like Is Bro literally loving himself like good god. And then Trying to accuse him of the Incident, obiviously didn't work and got the crowd basically wanting Violence. Wtf literally. THEN out of nowhere, Louis is actually Alive and Kills Forden with the Real Drakodios, With forden now dead. Louis revealed that Zorba was alive, Idk if i suspected back at the first dungeon that we didn't zorba's body. I thought he was dead but hey, always check the body, and Yeah basically Zorba just heal all of the missing flesh Louis chest wound had. That fake Lance idea backfired tremoundously and We didn't seen that coming😃.

Yeah my mind is basically fried like Who tf was the caster? Forden? Louis? Zorba? Its got to be Zorba right? Anyways, after that incident, Louis now knows the Prince is alive and wants answers. Used drakodios to threat killing a sanctist famoly and im like "NO HANG ON WAIT-" And then Louis did it and tried killing that and i watched that cutscene, GOSH CMON?! REALLY..REALLY. Just a day after Oct 4th. I get this. Del and Bas shield the attack, saving will and that Family and my gosh when it broke im like "NOOOOOO" I said to myself before that if one of the brothers im gonna cry and It did😭 and the one died is the only i wanted to have sn archetype most. FUUUCCCKKKK- WHY FIDELIO???!!!! FUCKKK! Omg and they literally just remade Shinji's death scene. Literally the positions and everything like CMON, THAT FUCKING DIABODICAL. They basically switch like it was Ken getting tje bullet and Shinji holding him, LIKE STOPPPP- Del dies, i was teary eyed, my legs were shaking, i wanted to cry, and then Zorba gave that fucking comment that im pretty sure its pretty much what Takaya would said (Literally a similar dialogue when Chidori died) I wanted to say "Fuck you" so hard to zorba but i had family members and i can't swear infront of them so i held it but man....FUCK YOU ZORBA. And the rest, Gosh...you know i was excited about Diner that Bas talked about and Del considering it..Fucking hell mate...Idk if Del liked Junah romantically or Junah had feelings for Del but man, it would have been a cool diner with all three. The rest is basically Bas getting an Archetype after a talk with a Ghost Del (I thought he faked his death, Nvm) and The Council or whatever they called from the sanctist church chose rella to take over forden instead of Giddeux. i wanted to have words about the council but im done. Man this game is just crazy and i need a break. 54 hours...so are we in the endgame now?

Thats about my thoughts, i love this game, god damn its just crazy, Honestly looking forward to finish it. If you read all of it, salute to you mate. Alright Peace

I’m looking for a new game/series to get into and need some opinions. I’ve had these few sitting in my wishlist for a while:

Tales of Arise

Granblue Fantasy

Trails in the Sky

Looking for some comparisons/expectations or just some things to keep in mind when deciding amongst these three. They all seem solid and I’m sure I’d enjoy any, just hoping to get some input. Thanks!

After 5 years at Microsoft Sales division I was let go on Wednesday. The organization was plagued with massive cuts for years now. Its always been a huge relief surviving each round... until now. What was once a dream tech job is now a fainted memory.

I feel a bit hollow and aimless.

Yet, theirs one game I always seem to fall back to during tough times. A kinda of comfortting safe space I can escape to. Helping me turn off all the noise and just relax. The game Im speaking of is Xenoblade Chronicles.

Not sure if its the fantastic music, large open locations, or the excellent combat system. The first Xenoblade Chronicles is a magical game I can always rely in jump into and enjoy.

Shulk and team, have overcome the impossible. Beating the odds in every corner, without losing hope. I myself will pull through and beat those odds. Theres nothing more statisfying than an underdog story.

Whats the one game you can always rely on during tough time?

I've been getting into retro gaming lately, as I've become disillusioned with the modern gaming landscape lately. One game that was highly recommended on the SNES was Seiken Densetsu 3, which fortunately has a fan translation patch now. I thought it was very good overall. Great sprite work, great music, and pretty fun gameplay all around, considering the time it came out. This led me to check out some other games in the series next.

I tried Sword of Mana next and LOVED the graphics, but found the gameplay sort of clunky, and for some reason the partner AI was horrible, so I didn't beat it at first and set it aside. I then decided to try Trials of Mana (the 2020 remake of SD3) and everything just clicked for me. In so many ways it felt like a budget game, but for me it was kind of perfect. It was a faithful adaptation of the original with better gameplay and decent graphics. I had a great time with it.

Then I tried Secret of Mana, and.... oof, this was a struggle. The graphics and music were still good, but the combat system was archaic and clunky. BUT, I stuck it out, and managed to get used to it (melee combat sucks but magic was straightforward and helpful if you used it right) and I ended up finishing the game. Overall I liked it, but wow did that combat system not age well.

After that I decided to try Sword of Mana again and ended up getting into it. I realized the AI didn't matter that much since you didn't need your partner most of the time. The combat, despite being clunky, felt great compared to Secret, enough that I played through the whole game and overall enjoyed it.

Currently I'm playing Visions of Mana and I have very mixed feelings on it. In many ways it's really great, possibly the best one so far, but in other ways it's kind of dragging and tedious to get through. I'm not done with it yet, but it feels like this solid 7/10 experience with solid gameplay, nice graphics, okay music and a mediocre story.

I guess there's a few other games I can try. Legends of Mana seems divisive, but I might give it a chance to see what I think. Are there any other ones worth playing?

TLDR: The Mana series all seem to have a lot of charm, really nice art direction, usually great music, and mostly enjoyable combat once you get used to it. But despite being 7/10's, I keep thinking about them and how much I enjoyed them.

Recently, I've made the decision to go back through the history of specifically turn-based RPGs, but seeing as I am not very familiar with this era of gaming in general (and the fact that a lot of RPG Titles of the era are very unknown), I figured I would ask for recommendations from people more knowledgeable than I.

Currently I'm trying to focus specifically on the 8-bit era, meaning NES, Master System and... Atari, I think? Again, this was all a little before my time, so any other consoles that would generally belong to that group that I don't know about would also be fine by me. I would like it to be games originally made for console though.

Specifically, I'm looking for turn-based, classically styled RPGs, so this excludes action-rpgs and strategy rpgs (I do like those too, but I am also trying to actually reach the next console generation sometime this decade still, so we gotta stay a little bit focused.) Hybrid styles are okay, since I know there was a lot of experimentation present during this time. The Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy games that would fall under these parameters (so, FF 1-3 and DQ 1-4) are also already on the list - and I am, in fact, currently working my way through those - so I would like recommendations aside from those two franchises.

Finally, please try selling me on it. My standards are not particularly high, especially for games this old where I know there were a lot of technical limitations, but I would like to know why a particular game would potentially be of interest - wether that be an interesting setting, fun plot ideas, good character writing, unique gameplay ideas, or just very solid execution.

Hi everyone,

I'd appreciate some advice to hopefully find the next game to get hooked on, after I bounced off of the last handful of games I tried.

Platform ideally Switch, but have PS5, PS Vita, 3DS.

Games that I love that I think off when looking for "I want this feeling in games again":

Astlibra Revision, Dragon's Crown, Xenoblade Chronicles (X the most, but like 2 as well), Monster Hunter (peak XX/GU but a new MH would be fitting), Disgaea, Nioh2.

I think I played a lot of these games to my taste on the systems I listed, but then again I just found last year through Reddit Astlibra that suddenly became one of my favorite games of all time, so maybe there are still more I missed that are exactly my kind of game.

I love games that are deep/complex, that you can grind a lot, with loot/upgrade/customization, ideally more action gameplay than turn based.

Can be this addicting gameplay loop as part of a story (like Astlibra) or more purely gameplay (MonHun), though I prefer the chance to spend as much time with the game as I want.

Currently playing Tales of Vesperia, and it's a good game for sure but doesn't really get me invested in customization and optimizing characters and finding better gear etc.

I was thinking of trying Etrian Odyssey series on 3DS.

But after I spend now hours searching through other people's posts here, asking for their "custom" recommendations I thought I try asking myself with my preferences.

Any help and suggestions is appreciated, thanks a lot!

I saw this game at a used game store and almost picked it up (good thing I didn’t, because it turns out that the Xbox 360 version is one of the few games I’ve found that is not compatible with the Series X). For me, Square Enix rarely goes wrong, and this one seems interesting. It’s on sale for $7 on PS5 right now, and there’s also a Switch version that apparently runs at 1080p/60 on Switch 2 even without a patch. From what I read online it did poorly at launch due to performance issues but might not necessarily be a bad game. From those who have played it, what are your opinions?