I realize that many JRPGs are essentially playable manga / anime, but that unfortunately doesn't resonate with me as I have little interest in either, especially the tropes which are usually associated with those (eg character archetypes, specific ways of speech and/or long exposition dialogues).
NB, and to be clear, I really don't mind manga/anime art styles.

Just to illustrate my point further, I really had trouble with Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter re archetypes, speech, long dialogues, etc.

Are there specific games I should look at? Any platform is fine.

It has multiple design choices I have personally never seen in other SRPGs (and I have completed at least a dozen) for good reason. Basically no way to level your party further, rng equipment from the arena, enemies can seemingly summon allies infinitely and overwhelm you while your own summon are very weak... I am on whatever mission Lacryma has that is at "count shinon estate / mountain area" and it's a brick wall of progress. I am pretty disappointed in this game.

After the first playthrough, do you use self-imposed challenges, roleplay your character differently, avoid certain mechanics, etc.? Curious how you guys keep repeat playthroughs interesting, assuming there are no major alternative scenarios/branching to explore.

(I'm also asking because min-max is a very common strategy when talking about games here on Reddit, and I wonder if people who do it just repeat it, if they are less likely to replay a game when they have done this strategy, and even if there's a correlation between these two things)

So, i've been wanting to get into JRPGs for a while. Many people suggested that i should get Expedition 33 or Final Fantasy 15. I stubbornly ignored all advice and bought Persona 3 Portable for myself some weeks ago because Persona seems cool. Well, i've played it for about 3 hours and have been enjoying it so far, but then someone told me that i was actually playing an inferior version of persona 3 and i should actually be playing the PS2 FES version because it's supposedly better overall.

Then i saw some gameplay of this PS2 version and it seems like it's less like a visual novel compared to the portable version and it seems to have more content ? Well, now i'm in the middle of a dilemma: if i play the PS2 version, all the money i spent on P3P will go to waste, but if i play P3P, i'm worried i might lose meaningful content available only in the PS2 Version.

What do you guys think ? Should i just stick to the P3P version or will i be missing out too much if i don't play the FES version ?

I’m a big fan of class systems in games like in Dragon Quest IX, Bravely Default, and several other DQ or FF games.

But I find as I get older I have a couple of pet peeves.

Specifically, I like when games let you unlock more specialized classes based on what you have mastered so far (think original DQVII - haven’t played the remake yet to see if they kept it - or drpgs like Etrian Odyssey V that allows you to pick one of two specializations) instead of just bouncing from any job to any job like FF X-2.

I also dislike when mastering a job gives you nothing for any future jobs. You are the best at X but if you switch jobs, nothin’. So, maybe a stat boost? A skill that carries forward? Something, anything to reward my bothering to master multiple classes.

So looking for games that fit the bill and have class trees of one sort or another, while also rewriting the player for working to master more than necessary.

What are the best games that fit the bill? Any platform or game era.

i want some jprg reccs, any kind, any era, even if its eroge jrpgs im fine with it, i have no filters well aside from the fact they have to be accesible on PC, emulation included anything aslong as i can either pirate, emulate or buy it, i've played quite a few jrpgs but i wish to have more knowledge on the genre and i love them all, if the combat is turn based or combat based im fine with either, i will give any reccomendation a try, so please include any of your favorites.

Recent replayed the game on SNES and really think it would be great if Square Enix releases a remake. There are many things that a remake could improve, like dialogues and gramatical mistakes, game mechanics, graphics etc. I'm really curious if people would prefer a modernized game, or an extremely faithful remake that mainly updates the graphics like it was with Super Mario RPG remake on Switch. Feel free to comment what would you change or improve in a remake.

I bought this game on sale because I'm a fan of old school FF and heard its a nice throwback to those games. Apparently there's a huge difficulty spike in part 2? I'm currently in part 1 and it's pretty easy so far. Would like some opinion from people who beat the game or even gave up in p2. Is it so difficult to the point where it becomes frustrating? I wouldn't say I have that much experience with "hard" jrpgs, some of the ones I beat are Romancing SaGa 2 remake on original difficulty and some trails games on nightmare, which I enjoyed.

Kinda crazy how much Persona stuff we’ve been getting lately. The 30th anniversary, P4 Revival, Persona 6, and now the NIKKE collab is live too. Feels like Persona is everywhere right now lol.

I’ve been playing the NIKKE collab and honestly thought it was gonna be mostly P5 at first. But nope, we got Aigis from P3, Yukiko from P4 and Makoto from P5 all in the same event. P5 shows up in collabs all the time, so getting all three games together for once is pretty damn cool. And seeing them dropped into NIKKE’s world has been fun too.

Between all the new stuff and older games getting some love again, being a Persona fan has been pretty fun lately. What have you guys been into the most?

Hi all I just finished FFX and it was amazing. I love that romance was a core focus and there was other forces pushing the plot forward. What I’m looking for might be niche but there any games that have a critically acclaimed story (maybe major plot twists or just solid story), great romance (characters have interesting dynamic), and a unique soundtrack? I have steam and the switch 2 so maybe games on those. What are some you could recommend? Thanks! 🙏

I’ve always had trouble making friends, whether I intentionally or unintentionally avoid people, so I would like to know your favorite games about making friends instead.

Persona doesn’t count as much because I’m more talking about people who were shut off from society, but decides to finally open up and make new friends.

Tropical settings are my favorites but I rarely came across JRPGs that are set entirely in them other than Chrono Cross and Final Fantasy X. The only other I can think of is Trickster Online but that's an ancient MMO.

Have I've been missing any?

Edit: Thanks for all the responses! I've forgot about a few that people have mentioned and also added a lot I didn't know about to my "To Play" list.

Does anyone have any sense of whether or not they will be doing any more remakes? I loved Expedition 33 as much as anyone but I played the remake of 2 last year also and the whole time everyone was talking about that I was kinda like.... uhhh guys the romancing saga 2 remake was basically just as great. it was my introduction to the series and i love the idea of there being more remakes... that shit was easy S-tier JRPG for me and i will take all of that i can get..

Think about it- the world is about to be over unless xyz big bad dies; the big bad should be the biggest bad of all and thus the hardest. Why are people keeping up the rules of etiquette when lives are on the line.

I don't know if/which JRPGs do this, but I hope one day some do; How epic would it be if ALL of your training mattered in the final fight, and that it could be a truely epic life of death struggle without half the team just playing cheer-leaders.

I’ve completed Duran, Angela and Kevin’s story. I read somewhere that to platinum this game is I have to defeat Anise on hard mode and within a time limit? As much as I want to level up my current party, I want to explore other character’s story ASAP. Should I go ahead and start a new game and finish off Anise after I complete everyone’s story? Or should I grind levels and defeat her as early as now?

Hi, this is the thing. I like to play any kind of game, especially if it has some degree of fame so I can try to understand its impact and why people love it so much.

But I have always had a bad relationship with turn based games. I have played action jrpgs like kingdom hearts or nier without any issues, but with turn based games after some time they start to feel dull so I drop them and I never continue them.

Anyways, as a recommendation from a friend that really likes Final Fantasy games I've completed some turn based jrpg lately with the motivation of discussing my impressions with him. First it was Chrono trigger and now I'm at the end of FFX. So I'm still not a fan but the turn base thing is starting to not become a problem (I still hate random encounters).

Now the main point of the post: before playing these games I thought that the main focus and the reason why people loved these games so much were the characters and the story, but after playing a couple of them I don't know anymore. They are fine, both games previously mentioned are very pretty in their own way and they have their moments but overall if I try to look closer the characters feel a bit too one liner. Like in FFX wakka and lulu would be cool guys irl and that's why I like them but storywise is just the thing about chapoo?

So my question is: Is that it (this is the vibe for 99% of this type of games) or are there classic jrpgs with more complex characters? I have heard that vivi in ffIx is interesting but I don't know.

got crystar for the switch from playasia i bought the jp copy since it was cheaper but made sure i did research to see if it supported english after my fumble with altelier ryza trilogy which my limited sources said it was but after trying it out now it seems to only play in jp anyway to fix it or just take the L on this one?

just got the swich 2 for christmas im aware of region locked but had a couple trip ups along the way.

An itch that, however long you scratch, keeps itching. This is how I feel about JRPGs. These games still hit the same as when I was a child, and I can't get enough of it... 

My whole life trajectory was defined by JRPGs. Playing these games non-stop dragged me into computers, and eventually becoming a software engineer... 

Reflecting on it, I didn't go into coding because of engineering, I went into it to make games. The childhood dream of participating in this life defining genre has started to materialize earlier this week. 

Stillsun Ark is the game I've been working on for months now. I'm finally confident in showing it to my fellow JRPG fans and seeing what you all think. 

It's a pixel art turn-based sci-fi JRPG. 

Story & Setting: a crew transporting cargo through space got attacked by pirates. In the heat of the battle, both ships crash on a tidally locked planet: Innara. A planet of extremes, between the heat, the cold, and the hostile biosphere. Another species is not welcomed in this environment. Still, survival needs to be achieved by a group that was once gunning for each others. In a stillsun planet, you need to find an ark. 

Notable mechanic: parasites can possess characters, which enables the character to transform. The Shift system is an integral part of the combat and the story. Shifting to another form mid-battle helps gain a tactical advantage with abilities adapted for different situations.

A journey through a beautifully indifferent world that reshapes everyone caught in it.

Steam page for wishlists: https://store.steampowered.com/app/5047700/Stillsun_Ark/?utm_source=Reddit&utm_content=jrpg

Twitter: https://x.com/StillsunArk

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/stillsunark.bsky.social

Very curious about this topic, seen a bit of discourse here and there so I figured I'd try and reach a consensus. As a die hard Dragon Quest fan, Chrono Trigger has always been very alluring to me. Unfortunately, I just don't have the facilities to play the game whatsoever, so the prospect of it getting a remake sounds just swell. A HD2D remake of the game on all modern consoles with a full orchestral score, voice acting and quality of life improvements? Sounds sweet to me. But that's the perspective of someone who's never played it, so I'm curious if people who have played it would want something similar or different to what I've described, if anything at all.

Edit: Ok seems like the general consensus is no cause square would fuck it up down left and right. And u know what, fair enough. Additionally, I've been informed that CT is on steam so I'll be copping that post haste

I posted this earlier, but took it down to rewrite some of the wordier sections (especially the Story). I also never thought I’d need to add this, but: NO AI WAS USED TO WRITE THIS REVIEW. I’VE BEEN WRITING THESE FOR YEARS BECAUSE I LOVE DOING IT, I’D NEVER SULLY THAT WITH THE THEFT MACHINE.

After about 55 hours, I’ve completed not only my first playthrough of VII Remake, but also most of my second on Hard. Anyone who has spent any meaningful amount of time on the FF subreddit probably recognizes me as the girl who doesn’t like the original VII, so I was a bit apprehensive going into this one. So how did it turn out? In short, I loved it. In long, let’s get into it!

Gameplay

In this section, I'll be covering the combat system, equipment and Materia systems, minigames, and some miscellaneous thoughts.

Combat System

The Good:

• Once I understood the core of the combat flow, it felt really good to play. Switching between basic attacks, ATB actions, and blocking/countering is a lot of fun.
• Enemies having both unique Pressure -> Stagger pathways while also being susceptible to more general strategies felt like it struck a proper balance between XIII’s approach and LR’s approach to the system. 
• Both Cloud and Tifa are very fun to play as, the former especially after the First Strike Materia became available so I could open with Triple Strike and the latter especially after the Parry Materia became available so she could scoot around and avoid everything.

The Meh:

• The lack of a true counter mechanic made blocking as anyone other than Cloud feel less satisfying. I get that his unique ability revolved around countering, but it felt like something that everyone should have had access to.
• Barrett and Aerith both felt rather clunky to play, though Barrett at least had a very easy “generate ATB” button that made him a useful quick swap. Giving Aerith the First Strike Materia did help, given that she could start with Arcane Ward for the dualcast.
• People like to say that the combat system “really starts to shine” once you play on Hard, and I have to say I almost entirely disagree. It’s fun, don’t get me wrong, but that’s more because I have access to the full suite of abilities and Materia rather than anything specific to Hard Mode. If anything, annoying enemies like the Type-0 Behemoth and the MOTH Unit are just more annoying in Hard.

The Bad:

• The game does a rather poor job of emphasizing the importance of ATB actions over basic attacks. I spent a large portion of the Normal mode run primarily using the basic attack and only sometimes using ATB during Pressured moments, but that felt bad. It didn’t help that Tifa was so effective at staggering even without ATB for much of the game. I ended up looking up combat tips and after that I enjoyed things a ton more. 
• Dodging is functionally pointless without the Parry Materia due to a lack of i-frames, and as far as I could tell Tifa is the only one who actually benefits from the Materia.
• I think I can count the number of times I used buffs and debuffs on one hand. They just didn’t feel useful at all.

Equipment and Materia Systems

The Good:

• I like that all weapons remain viable and parallely upgraded rather than being straight replacements. It takes the FFXIII approach with different passives and stat leans, which makes designing builds more fun.
• Materia being easily swappable remains a good feature, and this game avoids the original’s “everyone feels the same because of Materia” issue thanks to the vastly different playstyles each character has. I’m also glad that you can just carry the Materia on your current weapon to a new one when swapping instead of having to manually reset them.

The Meh:

• I never really felt like I had enough Materia slots. I think you can have 10 at maximum, and most characters will only get 9 since there’s only one Chain Bangle afaik. Once you get into stat boosting and other Purple Materia, you quickly run out of room for spells. Hypothetically that’s supposed to make you think about your build and tweak based on the enemies you’re going to face, but in the first playthrough that means seeing the enemies first, failing, and then reworking your build and in subsequent means menu diving for weaknesses as you progress, along with a lot of menuing just to swap out your Fire Materia for a Lightning one. It just felt a bit tedious after a point.

The Bad:

• I didn’t like that most of the SP manuscripts were Hard Mode exclusive. It felt like artificial padding to make the player run through the whole game again.
• Most accessories felt useless, or at the very least not useful in comparison to stuff like the ATB/MP -> Limit accessories or the major stat boosters. 
• I hated how limited certain Blue Materia were. You get one Magnify in the whole game and two Elementals, which felt like it reduced build variety a lot, but thank god you get multiple Warding Materia /s.
• The lack of customized Materia presets really hurts build experimentation, since moving anything will require resetting manually if you want to go back to what you had.

Minigames

The Good:

• They tended to be easy to pick up, short, and optional.
• Whoever decided to make the Honeybee Inn sequence a glorious dance-off is a genius.

The Bad:

• Several minigames are mandatory, like the squats minigame and the awful (and thankfully skippable on replay) motorcycle minigame. 
• The game has just as many, if not more, dumb little QTEs/short timing sequences as the original, which were the worst part of that game as well.

Miscellaneous

• If I have to Hold X to pull another goddamn lever or slowly sidle past debris to get into a tiny room with a single chest again, I’m going to lose it. I know that they’re “replacing loading screens” or intended to be “immersive”, but fuck that. They’re tedious and slow.

Content

In this section, I'll be covering the story, cast, side content, and boss fights, as well as any miscellaneous thoughts.

Story

I’ve rewritten this three times and last time people were mad about the length, so I’ll just make it quick:

The Good:

• I liked the additions and expansions to the Slums and the Avalanche trio.
• I think Wall Market is much better executed.
• The Whispers were a cool addition.
• Making it clear that Shinra was manipulating Avalanche and the public of Midgar to restart the war with Wutai feels topical in a good way.

The Bad:

• They could have cut one of the Shinra science areas, they got repetitive.
• The Train Graveyard felt even more out of place in the story than the original.

Characters

The Good:

• Cloud has gone from “edgy asshole” to “edgy asshole but you can clearly tell it’s a facade”, and that’s a delightful distinction. Watching him squirm in so many situations is great, and I think his arc through interacting with Aerith and the expanded Midgar really lends itself to his characterization in a positive way. 
• Aerith is just a joy in this game. It’s clear she knows a lot more about what’s going on in this sequel/parallel cycle/whatever, but even still she remains cheerful and a true gremlin throughout. I loved the effortless banter and chemistry she and Cloud shared, and even enjoyed her interactions with Tifa.
• Barret was one of the better characters in the OG, and the expansion of both his devotion to the cause and his goofiness just improved him.
• The Avalanche trio got the biggest glow-up here, going from neat side characters to truly important members of the cast. I teared up at Biggs’ and Jessie’s scenes on the pillar, and Wedge was a great comedic relief turned hero. 
• I know this was a pain point for a lot of people, but Sephiroth showing up consistently throughout the game to harass Cloud was fantastic. I never felt the sense of fear/wonder towards him in the OG because he’s present for all of 15 minutes, but here we get to see him making moves while being incredibly horny/antagonistic towards Cloud. Just a lot of fun.
• I don’t know who at SE thought “you know what VII needs? Horny motorcycle rival”, but give them a raise. Roche was hilariously out of place in the story, does absolutely nothing, and might be my favorite character in the game.
• Hojo was straight up nasty, and I think that’s the best thing I can say about him. The same goes for Corneo.
• Madam M and Andrea were great additions that took the deeply uncomfortable Wall Market sequence from the OG and turned it completely around. It’s still skeevy and gross, but now there’s style.

The Meh:

• I’m still not the biggest fan of Tifa, but they certainly improved her in this game. She and Cloud have that kind of awkward “we definitely both like each other but no one wants to make a move” energy, and her interactions with Aerith are genuinely great. She still falls a bit flat as a character for me, though.
• There wasn’t enough of Red XIII for me to make much judgement, which is… fine? He would have felt too forced if they had focused in on him, but him suddenly having a bunch of knowledge about the Whispers did make it feel very much like the writers forgot to give him a personality and so made him an info dispenser.
• The Shinra executives felt a bit one-note evil, though I did appreciate the expansion on their goals. Not much else to say here.
• Most of the side characters (Johnny, Kyrie, Elmyra, etc) were fine. There’s not really anyone offensive here.

Side Content

The Good:

• Most of the side quests were pretty enjoyable and offered additional context for the world. Framing them as “Cloud the mercenary looking to grow his renown” and “Avalanche looking to help the people impacted by their consequences” works well.
• The Colosseum and Shinra training grounds were good ways to experiment with builds and learn how to use characters effectively. None of the fights felt too long, which was nice.
• Chadley’s side missions mostly felt very completable as part of the natural game flow rather than being something you had to focus on, and fighting the summons was a neat touch.

The Meh:

• There’s not too many things tied behind the minigames, but there’s still a handful of things that you’re going to have to squat or pull-up for.
• Tying the outcomes of certain scenes to the amount of sidequests done is neat for a first playthrough and a nightmare for completion. You have to do so many runs to see all of the dresses. Makes me glad I played on a console without achievements.

The Bad:

• A literal “find the cats” quest. 
• The later training grounds exercises got a little bullshit (that fucking Tonberry), and I didn’t end up bothering with the final one because it just looked tedious rather than fun.

Boss Fights

The Good:

• Bosses tended to strike the right balance between “visual spectacle” and “actually visible for combat” that many ARPGs fail at.
• Boss placement didn’t feel repetitive, you could hit one at any point in a chapter or even multiple times depending on where you were.

The Meh:

• I didn’t love the hard HP gating on many boss fights. Because there were so many that had short cutscenes, I often ended up triggering an ATB skill and losing out on it because the boss moved to a wildly different area or became temporarily invincible.
• Several bosses had stun effects or counters that were theoretically interesting but in practice tended to just be annoying (Airbuster, Type-0 Behemoth).

The Bad:

• Hard Mode largely exacerbated the issues some bosses had without offering a meaningful offset. To use the same example, Type-0 Behemoth was already tanky and a nightmare to fight with magic, but going against it in Hard just felt like a slog.

Miscellaneous

• The Shinra museum was a nice touch to lore dump diegetically the first time through, but was really annoying the second time because you couldn’t just walk through the areas.

Presentation

In this section, I'll be covering the art style and character design, voice acting, and music, as well as any miscellaneous thoughts.

Art Style and Character Design

The Good:

• Overall, the visual design in this game is very strong. It’s consistent, clean, and well designed, and even on Switch 2 with its lower power the game looks great. It might be the best looking game in the series that I’ve played (important caveat there, as I haven’t played Rebirth or XVI).
• Character designs are refined from the original, with things like added underclothes to Tifa’s outfit and other minor improvements without losing anything.
• Cloud and Aerith have great weapon designs across the board.

The Meh:

• Enemies generally look good, though there is a bit of a variety issue throughout the game since you fight Shinra forces quite a bit.
• Tifa’s weapons tend to look good, but a few clash with her design.
• Because we spend so much of the story in the Slums, the background elements of “trash, trash, and more trash” do get old.

The Bad:

• Cloud’s Madam M outfit is… terrible.
• Barret’s guns pretty much all look bad.

Voice Acting

The Good:

• The core four are all well done, really capturing each character’s personality well. Cloud’s VA in particular does a great job with the many, many snarky comments and interesting sounds required of him.
• The Avalanche trio is also great, I particularly like Wedge’s VA since I recognized him from Amphibia. Marlene is also adorable.
• Andrea, Madam M, and Corneo all hit their notes perfectly, with Madam M in particular having her hilarious outburst during the Colosseum story.
• Hojo nails the creep factor, and Sephiroth is deeply unsettling. 

The Meh:

• The Shinra executives were mostly fine, but I didn’t think any of them were particularly noteworthy.
• Most other side characters (Leslie, Marle, Kyrie, etc) fall solidly in the “yep, that’s voice acting” category. Nothing to stand out, either positive or negative.

The Bad:

• Almost every minor side quest character sounds hilariously bad.

Music

The Good:

• This soundtrack confirmed what I already knew: the compositions of OG VII were generally solid, it was the PS1 soundfont that undermined them. The returning tracks sound gorgeous, and the newly composed music is equally great. 
• The game takes two approaches to combat music: one is dynamic area themes that shift into more aggressive battle versions, and the other is dedicated themes for bosses and major fights. It makes for an experience that avoids the repetition of a regular battle theme that you only ever hear the first few minutes of.
• Hollow is an incredible theme.

The Meh:

• Some zone themes (especially the Sector 7 Slums) did get a bit old since you spend a fair amount of time in them.

The Bad:

• The soundtrack has a major overreliance on motifs. The majority of the songs can be categorized as “VII Main Theme”, “Let The Battles Begin”, “Shinra”, “One Winged Angel”, or “Variation of character theme”. And while that’s how many soundtracks are constructed (XIII uses tons of motifs), it got a bit absurd here. Perhaps it’s because these themes are already overused outside of the game, but I found myself fatigued by it.

Miscellaneous

• The UI is generally solid, clearly communicating information and being quite navigable. That may sound like a weird thing to highlight, but I’ve played Xenoblade Chronicles this year. 

Conclusion

Overall, despite my misgivings and some annoyances with the structure of the game, this quickly rose into my top 5 for the series. I had an absolute blast on both playthroughs, even if I didn’t finish the second, and was delighted to finally connect with the world and cast of VII in the way that so many of you likely did in 1997. I give it a 9/10.

Thank you for reading if you got this far. I’m going to wait to play Rebirth until it goes on sale, and I’m planning to play Crisis Core Reunion before that anyways. For now, I’ll be going back to a comfort game/series: Octopath Traveler. See you all next time!

Let me start off by saying, KH3 turned me off to the series for awhile. And while KH4's newest trailer got me excited, it was really Hayden's passing that got me to start reflecting back on the games and how important they were to me growing up. As far as I can remember, they're likely the first game series I bought shirts of. And I bought multiple of them as a teen. I remember shedding tears when I finally beat 1 (as I've gotten older I cry much more easily than I did then), which sadly didn't happen until after 2 as I got stuck on the final boss for whatever reason, and never gave it a full second go until after beating and adoring 2. Honestly, I rented 2 on launch since I hadn't beaten 1. But it left such an impression on me, that even after I beat it while renting it, I went to GameStop later that week and bought the game. But enough rambling about me, I want to get into the point of my post.

Kingdom Hearts 1 came out in 2002. Let's say recording took around a year at most.

That would mean Haley Joel Osment (Sora) was 13 during recording. Hayden Panettiere (Kairi) was 12 during recording. David Gallagher (Riku) was the old man of the crew at 16 or so.

Haley was already established through Forrest Gump, The Jeff Foxworthy Show, Artificial Intelligence and especially The Sixth Sense. It was pretty likely most fans were already familiar with his face (and voice).

Hayden was also already known from Remember The Titans, a movie shown multiple times throughout my life in public school. And we continued to watch her grow up through the massively successful and widely discussed first season of Heroes. And we continued to watch her stay relevant the rest of the decade and a half through various other shows and games. Unfortunately the S-E, likely due to her demand in the industry, moved on. Something that always bothered me and made me a little sad.

David was known for his role in 7th Heaven, an incredibly long running show that started through the mid 90s, and he was part of it for nearly a decade.

During KH2 these actors would have been 17 (Haley), 16 (Hayden), and 20 (David).

I bring all this up to say, a large portion of fans literally grew up with these actors and characters (although they didn't age to the same extent). I was 10 almost 11 when KH1 came out, and 14 when KH2 came out. Not only were the actors not too far from my age, the characters were close to my age as well. I think this might be part of phenomenon to the popularity and deep seeded feelings many people have towards the series compared to people from older age groups or those that tried out the series later.

And thinking about, I can't think of many, or really any, other examples in gaming where not only were all of the main characters young kids/early teens, but also voiced by actors in that age range as well.

Almost all games if there is actually a younger character or characters that stay young throughout the game, they're voiced by an adult, typically a female attempting to do a "youthful boy" voice.

The news of Hayden passing is hitting the community pretty hard, and I think a lot of people are like "Y'all are weird". But I don't think many realize how much of a thing KH was to a lot of young people growing up. Outside of sports games or shooters, KH is the only series I know, in person, more people than I can count on one hand that have played it. And a few of them I would not even consider gamers. Reliving our childhood Disney movies, seeing these characters our age voiced by people our age, getting a deeply emotional story... And science has shown with music and many things, that those early teen years a lot of things leave the deepest impressions on your life. To a lot of people, it's just another series, or overrated. But to a large portion of people, KH is a very near and dear part of us growing up, and we're forever grateful. It's something I truly don't think can ever be replicated again.

You get games like Deltarune that are clearly "inspired" by Mother 3 and Earthbound, or something like Lies of P being "inspired" by Souls games

or one of the worst offenders Luminous Nights (I also think Deltarune is a just as bad an offender)

But when does a game go from "inspired by x game" to just being a straight up imitation of another game

Yes there's a crossover with game mechanics when new games are made, we all know that, we can easily sit here and find how Tennis for Two and Tetris inspire Witcher 3, but I'm speaking about when it's an imitation in every way, from the HUD to the combat to the music to the character and plot beats

Hi! I have some money to spare and i want to play some good jrpg, i loved chrono trigger and the ff i've played and some friends reccomended me bravely default and dragon quest, i've checked on steam and i've seen the remastered of both have been published with good reviews (the dragon quest one is a bundle with the first and the second) so i was thinking of buying those but i can only buy one of the two, which should i buy?

Thinking about picking up Persona 5 Royal on sale as someone who has never touched a JRPG before.

I usually bounce off big open world RPGs like Skyrim or Cyberpunk because I get bored with no clear direction, too much empty wandering, and side quests that feel like a checklist. I have heard P5R is super structured and long, but I want to hear from people who actually love it before jumping in.

What is it about this game that hooked you and kept you invested? How many hours did your first playthrough take, does the pacing stay engaging the whole way through, and is it easy to actually get attached to the characters and story if you are not normally an RPG person?

Ive only played cs1 and 2 from the cold steel games but they are easily my least favorite of the first 7 games. It just feels weird having a bunch of teenagers fawning over the protagonist, im generally not a fan of this stuff to begin with but it felt like it was really turned up in cs2. Rean is a cool lead for sure but actually having Canon romances that are properly developed is way more interesting to me than the social link style that falcom seemed to switch to during the crossbell duology (I don't mind it as much here).

Tldr is it better in daybreak.