Playstation JRPG Recommendation

[Wackman3000]

After being officially laid off from my job for the season, I figured the best thing to fill the void during the day would be a time consuming JRPG from my past.

We were having a bit of a discussion in the COG IRC chat but figured I would hear the opinion of those who dare not enter that unholy realm of our colony. Of course we went through the usual Square titles but I'd just like to see what other hidden gems might be lurking in the darkness.

Star Ocean: Second Star Story is somewhat tempting to me since I remember playing it in the past and having no idea what the combat system was doing or the skills I was acquiring. All I knew was that it seemed to have alot of depth, and the combat was frantic. If there is something out there similar to this please feel free to share the knowledge.

[KingGorilla]

The Witcher. You have a PC.

[Kelegacy]

SO: Second Story is one of my favorites. Also, Grandia is a good call. It's a bit..."childish" in retrospect, as many JRPGs tended--and tend--to be, but it's still one of my favorites due to the great combat system. I think most JRPGs that stand out on my all-time list are due to a fun combat system--I like to PLAY instead of WATCH most times. :)

You may also want to check out the Persona games. Dragon Warrior VII will eat your life away--it's very long--and you've always got staples like Legend of Dragoon and Xenogears. Xenogears hands down for a deep, involved storyline.

[Purple Santa]

I want to say Blue Dragon just...because :)...but that won't play on PS...I haven't played Second Story so I can't compare. A few to recommend:

.hack series- Can get them cheap. I find them lots of fun and will keep you busy.
Baroque
Rogue Galaxy
Wild Arms
Digital Devil Saga
Suikoden

[Gorvi]

Xenogears, like Kel said. If you haven't played it, you really should.

Breath of Fire IV is a good one, very traditional but it has a nice art style and great music.

The two Lunar games are fantastic so long as you're ok with their rather archaic game design. Great writing, too.

The Arc The Lad Collection is very much worth tracking down. The first game is very short and the third game is a bit underwhelming, but Arc The Lad 2 ranks up there as one of the best 2D RPGs ever made, right up there with FFIV and FFVI IMO (though few actually have played it).

Persona 1 & 2 are also optinos, and while I haven't played them, I've heard good things (I plan on fixing that soon).

[Purple Santa]

Xenogears, like Kel said. If you haven't played it, you really should.

Breath of Fire IV is a good one, very traditional but it has a nice art style and great music.

The two Lunar games are fantastic so long as you're ok with their rather archaic game design. Great writing, too.

The Arc The Lad Collection is very much worth tracking down. The first game is very short and the third game is a bit underwhelming, but Arc The Lad 2 ranks up there as one of the best 2D RPGs ever made, right up there with FFIV and FFVI IMO (though few actually have played it).

Persona 1 & 2 are also optinos, and while I haven't played them, I've heard good things (I plan on fixing that soon).

There are so many JRPGs...the Lunar games are great. I think you should start there. I only played the first (I have the second, haven't played it) and that will keep you busy. A great story and characters that aren't just there to look pretty. Plus, as you level up the enemies level up with you. This makes the game extremely challenging.

[JayK47]

One of my favorites. Parasite Eve 2.

[J Arcane]

One of my favorites. Parasite Eve 2.
I did not like PE2, but Parasite Eve 1 was the first JRPG I ever actually beat all the way through. Loved that game, a lot. I had almost forgotten about it, I'll have to add it to the List.

DWVII is good, but I found it had some really damn hard spots in it, that actually made me quit the game.

Persona 1 was quite cool, and sticks out in my mind in part because it was so different from anything else I'd played.

[Blue]

FF IX is my favorite in the series. Special place in my heart for that one. I really disliked Rogue Galaxy. The writing is terrible and the combat mundane, but maybe I'm alone in that as it seemed to get pretty decent reviews. Not sure if it fully qualifies, but Odin Sphere is fantastic.

[Kelegacy]

Wow, for some reason I thought he meant PS1. I forgot Playstation can mean more.

For PS2 I loved the Shadow Hearts series. It's like Final Fantasy, but darker. Like, a lot more. Very overlooked series, but great games and bizarre cast.

Dragon Quest VIII, great traditional JRPG.

Rogue Galaxy, good battle system.

Of course, FFXII is one of my favorites on PS2. The battle system was something I could get into and didn't bore me like so many other turn-based systems can by hour 40.

Suikoden III on PS2 was good, the first two are good on PS1, skip the 4th (apparently, haven't played it) and the 5th was good on PS2 as well.

Persona 3 on PS2. Awesome.

I have so many JRPGs on PS2 but cannot play since my PS2 died. Ironically enough, my PS3 died, too. Fucking luck.

[Dukefrukem]

yay a fellow laid off gamer! The economy sucks!!

ps- sorry to hear :-/

[Wackman3000]

yay a fellow laid off gamer! The economy sucks!!

ps- sorry to hear :-/

Well it's technically a seasonal job, but I had a contract until January 23rd then 2 days into December they ended 12 of our contracts early.

I'll be ok... EI has me covered and I am back there by mid February. So I see it as a 2 month paid vacation. :p

[Dukefrukem]

I hear ya. Shit happens good you have a positive outlook on it.

[jpublic]

Okay, the official JPublic Recommendation List:

PS1:

Breath of Fire 3/4 - Both good. 3 is commonly considered the better one, but I liked 4 more, I felt it was more streamlined.
Chrono Cross - Either you love it or hate it. 50+ characters, a truly interesting plot.
Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9 - If you haven't played them, leave now and go do so.
Final Fantasy Tactics - Probably the game that made the modern genre.
Front Mission 3 - More a strategy game than RPG, but hell, one word: MECHA.
Legend of Dragoon - Sony's attempt to make a FF. Not great, but it has a lot of value.
Legend of Mana - One of the best Mana games around. Very non-linear, and *weird*.
Legend of Legaia - Interesting comabt mechanic (martial arts combos) and a decent story line. A little but clunky to play.
Persona 1/2 - 1's translation is horrendous, but it's an odd, fun game. 2 (Eternal Punishment) is really good, and if you're lucky you can dig up a copy of the other half of it and apply the fan translation (Innocent Sin).
Saiyuki: Journey West - Another SRPG a la Final Fantasy Tactics, but it's a truly entertaining retelling of the *real* story of Son Goku.
Tales of Destiny II - Not to be confused with 2. Yes, there's a 2 and a II. Fantastic production quality on this one - almost PS2 levels.
Valkyrie Profile - I prefer the PSX one to the PSP one. Still a favorite with me, even if the method to get the good ending pisses me off.
Wild Arms 1/2 - I liked 1 more than 2, but it's really clunky to play.
Xenogears - A modern classic. Go play it.


PS2:

Baroque - *Truly* weird action RPG. It has to be experienced, but some people may not get it.
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter - Strategy RPG of sorts chock full of interesting game innovations. Timed gameplay, an advancement system designed to make you replay it a lot of times, really fun. Interesting characters too. Highly recommended.
Dark Cloud 2 - Arguably the best action RPG of the PS2 generation. Deep, involved, and fun. And it has golf!
FFX - Covered, you said, but worth playing through at least once.
FFX-2 - A lot of people get down on this game, but I think it was really fun. Works better if you treat it like a big fanfic of the original game, and not as a gospel sequel.
Front Mission 4 - Not as good as 3, but has a lot more nods to the Armored Core crowd.
Grandia 2/3 - 2 is a fantastic game, but the PS2 port may be hard to get. 3 isn't as good, but has its moments.
Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 - a lot of people get down on these games, but I really loved them. There's a 3D remake of the GBA game being released this winter.
Persona 3:FES - One of the Best RPGS around, PERIOD. P4 is due out on Dec 9th, and looks like it'll be even better.
Rogue Galaxy - Not as good as Dark Cloud 2, but still decent, involved, and huge.
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1/2- a two part game that I'm sad to admit I never managed to get through. I keep on getting distracted in part 1. Weird. Lots of fun cannibalism. :D
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne - shares a lot of art assets with DDS (and that online Imagine game). Very fun, but also involved and extremely frustrating at times. Look for the Devil May Cry crossover. :D
Suikoden 3/4/5 - 3 is a fascinating combination of traditional JRPG, strategy, and even some social dynamics. 4 goes pretty standard JRPG, and suffers for it and several other really bad design choices - pass. 5 is supposed to be a decent throwback to 3, but I never managed to pick it up.
Wild Arms 3, 4, 5, ACF - Much like Suikoden, 3 and 5 are the ones to play. Alter Code F is a remake of 1, and unfortunately while they cleaned up the game some, they left it as clunky as the original.
Valkyrie Profile 2 - A decent, but not fantastic successor to the PS1 game. Has its moments.
Xenosaga 1/2/3 - A three-part game, and will probably eat your life to go through all of them. I'm sad to say I stalled out in 2, which is the weakest of the series.


Other games of note:

Ring of Red - WW2-era mecha+ground troops strategy rpg. Very odd gameplay, but could never find a copy to buy, much to my disappointment.
Shaodw Hearts series - Has an...odd plot. Very Japanese interpretation of what a western plot would be. Lots of bizarre features, and interesting gameplay. Not my favorite - as some may recall, I gave my copies away as prizes in the EvAv days.
Arc the Lad(s) - I could never really get into these. I had the PS2 one, which was okay, but nothing special.
Legend of Legaia 2 (ps2) - doesn't have the charm of the PS1 game, but has solid, if uninspiring gameplay
Atlus SRPGs - not my thing, but a lot of people like them
Odin Sphere - I could never get into this, much to my regret. A lot of people highly recommend it.

[frederec]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned Suikoden II. In my opinion, the best non-square RPG's for the Playstation are Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, Suikoden II, and Star Ocean: The Second Story (which isn't quite as cool as the other two partly for the abysmal voice acting).

There are naturally some other interesting games out there which are fun, if not as polished. Brigandine can suck up your time if you let it (and can get your hands on a copy). Thousand Arms is also a strange hybrid of RPG and dating sim.

As for the Playstation 2, I would recommend playing any of the Shin Megami Tensei games. The best would be either Nocturne or Persona 3 (and possibly P4 when it comes out next week). Almost as good are Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2. Bringing up the rear is the action RPG Devil Summoner.

It's also hard to go wrong with Level 5 games. Most of the games they've done are action RPGs, and some people don't like that, but I still feel that Dark Cloud 2 and Rogue Galaxy are excellent games, whereas Dragon Quest VIII is one of the best games on the PS2.

And as others have mentioned, Shadow Hearts is an excellent series. Dark yet with a bizarre sense of humor. The second game, Covenant, is the strongest of the series, though since it's a direct sequel to the first, you're best off playing that first.

Odin Sphere and GrimGrimoire are interesting and very pretty games, but they can also be a bit shallow. A lot of their appeal is in the art style.

[frederec]

PS1:
[LIST]
Legend of Legaia - Interesting comabt mechanic (martial arts combos) and a decent story line. A little but clunky to play.

I really enjoyed this one. Not enough games actually show the difference in your character for every change in armor, instead of just the weapons.


Persona 1/2 - 1's translation is horrendous, but it's an odd, fun game. 2 (Eternal Punishment) is really good, and if you're lucky you can dig up a copy of the other half of it and apply the fan translation (Innocent Sin).

Just to note, it's just the translation to Persona 1 that has issues. The translation for Eternal Punishment is pretty good. And the fan translation for Innocent sin is excellent.


Saiyuki: Journey West - Another SRPG a la Final Fantasy Tactics, but it's a truly entertaining retelling of the *real* story of Son Goku.

Sometimes I thought I was the only person that played this game. It was fun while I played it, but didn't really leave any lasting impressions on me.

[menage]

Dragonquest VIII. It's one of the finest JRPG's ever created. Shit, I need to play that again.

For a total time consumer though. Go for Disgaea 2.

[jpublic]

Thousand Arms? Wasn't that the one with the swordsman/blacksmith dude who powered up depending on - and pardon me for being crude, but it has to be said - how much tail he got?

As for Star Ocean Second Story - I have it, I've played it a lot, but I don't recommend it. It's supremely frustrating, feels clunky at times, the dubbing is..just bad, and really, the main character dude runs like a girl.

[Chris_D]

Suikoden 2 is still my favourite ever JRPG. The 2D graphics still look sweet today and a great soundtrack.

[Deadend]

Persona 4 is a good new one.

Disgaea 1 can be had cheap now, Phantom Brave or any of the Nippon Ichi SRPGs.

jpublic, thousand arms is that game, and it was kinda cool. Well, humorous as it poked fun at itself and the genre. I remember that the sexy 1 eyed girl switched her eye patch due to a sprite flip and a character pointed it out and her response was something about it looked cool. Fun game, dating to power up weapons is neat.

I also have to say the Front Mission games are great JRPGs.

[Lekon]

Man.. Ring of Red.. that was a loooong time ago.. but I remember that game. It was a turn based game with sorta actiony combat scenes. A fair bit like Valkryia chronicles. You had mecha that could go forward and back when in combat, and you'd try to get in correct ranges to use your best guns and keep them from doing likewise. It was a really neat idea, but I remember it was *really* slow paced.

[frederec]

Disgaea 1 can be had cheap now, Phantom Brave or any of the Nippon Ichi SRPGs.


Some of the Nippon Ichi games are better than others. Personally I think Disgaea 2 is the best of their PS2 SRPGs, though Disgaea 1 has the most entertaining story.

And if you want pretty traditional games which are very heavy on alchemy (item creation), my wife and I really like the Gust games brought over by Nippon Ichi America. Those are Atelier Iris (traditional RPG with alchemy, more or less), Ar Tonelico (the second one comes out early next year...these games are a little heavy on sexual innuendo), and Mana Khemia (plays like a hybrid of Atelier Iris with school elements like Persona 3). In my opinion, Mana Khemia is the best out of the five games they've put out so far. The item creation is a lot of fun.

[Wackman3000]

Thanks for all the suggestions guys. I have played pretty much all of the Squaresoft jRPG's from the PS1 era, but you seemed to have mentioned a few others worth looking at.


As for Star Ocean Second Story - I have it, I've played it a lot, but I don't recommend it. It's supremely frustrating, feels clunky at times, the dubbing is..just bad, and really, the main character dude runs like a girl.

This is actually the game I decided to play, mostly because I played it in the past but never finished it. So far the only thing really bugging me is the stupid balloon icons that pop over their head to show emotions. (The 3 ..., the quick ! etc)

They seems to happen virtually every 3 seconds in a conversation, and they are more than pointless. Other than that, I am enjoying the free range combat and I know the customization and specialties will get complex further down the line, which is fun.