JRPG Community Game-Along: My backlog, let me show you it

A

apricot

Member
A new month, a new Community Game-Along... There's a bit of a lull in July when it comes to new releases, so I thought now would be the best time to get to some of those whopping JRPGs you might have in your backlog! If you don't have a backlog, there's bound to be a JRPG out there you haven't yet played!



When I initially set out to do monthly game-alongs, I wanted to use the event to shine the spotlight on some lesser-known or under-appreciated developers and genres. I know many would argue that JRPGs is a massive category that doesn't really fit that description, but I hope we can use this month to challenge the generally-accepted misconception that JRPGs are on their way out or are somehow worse now than they were 10 years ago. So, while I don't like to put restrictions on what games you should play, I highly encourage you to seek out some lesser-known titles or recent releases that maybe didn't get a lot of attention in the West!
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Full post here: http://www.chic-pixel.com/2014/07/announcing-jrpg-community-game-along.html

The rules are simple: 1. pick an RPG to play (can be SRPG, ARPG, MMO, or even western-developed RPG that is somehow JRPG-inspired)
2. write about your experiences playing it either here, on your own personal site, or in some other form of media like a podcast or YouTube video

Don't forget to use the very fancy and witty hashtag #JRPGJuly on social media!

I'm not even going to begin to list possible games that fit the JRPG theme, so start posting with your picks for the month to help give others some ideas! I'm off to Japan so whatever I play will have to be on my Vita or Japanese 3DS... Which probably means I'll be mulling around in Persona 4 Golden or Demon Gaze


2014 Community Game-Alongs:

January – Falcom (no thread)
February – Dating Sims
March – Monster Hunter
April – Atlus
May – Metroidvania
June – Puzzle Games [no thread whoops]
July – JRPGs
August – TBA
September – Shmups
October – Horror
November – Nippon Ichi Software
December – Doujin (Japanese indie) games
 
C

CrovaxPSO

Member
I recently started Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth on the PSP. I posted a bit about it in the "reveiw a game you're currently playing" thread so I'll recap most of that here for now. I'm a few hours in and enjoying it quite a bit, except for the voice acting. Scenes that should be dramatic are really brought down by flat or odd delivery. There's also no option to turn voices off. Besides that, though, it has really interesting exploration/movement and battle systems. I'm sure I've played RPGs before that play like platformers, but the ability to climb up walls using Lenneth's ice spikes is something I don't think I've seen in the genre before.
 
L

LunarKnite

Member
My backlog of jRPGs is tremendous, but I'm really in the sRPG/grid-based mood, so I think I'm going to finally finish Fire Emblem: Awakening and Etrian Odyssey IV. I'd really like to get around to completing all three Denpa Men games as well.
 
T

TRI Mike

Member
Mine is as huge as the size of Green Heart's breasts. It includes things like:

HyperNep mk2 and Victory
Atelier Totori, Meruru and Escha/Logy
Star Ocean 4
Resonance of Fate
Blue Dragon
The Last Story
Pandora's Tower
Ys: Memories of Celceta
Mario & Luigi: Dream Team
FFX/X-2 HD
Tales of Innocence R (Vita import)
Eternal Sonata

and many, many others. The thing is that I take too long in finishing one and in the mean time I buy two or three more so the backlog never actually gets shorter. Now that they're getting localized like crazy, I don't think I'll even finish them.
 
C

chrominance

Member
Okay, jesus, I'm finally going to get into one of these. And by that I mean one of apricot's play-along threads, not JRPGs. I've played plenty of those.

If we're allowed to count ones in progress, I'm a few hours into Tales of Xillia and will probably make that my mainstay. If not, though, I may go for Ar Tonelico II or Star Ocean: First Departure, seeing as how both of those have been top of mind lately (the first because of Ar nosurge and the apparent difficulty in tracking down a copy of the first game that isn't selling for ridiculous prices, the second because I just ripped all my UMDs to my Vita).

(Also, Atelier Meruru GIF in apricot's blog post: yay!)
 
O

OnFire331

Member
Going through Tales of Graces f right now and loving it. After it, maybe I'll continue playing Breath of Fire III. BoF3 is a bit slow in the child arc but I found the mansion and the tournament to be truly amazing parts of it. Does it get better later on (especially in the adult arc)?

I started playing these over the last two months but finals got in the way, now that it's over, I finally have time to continue them:
Terranigma
Granstream Saga
Tales of Graces f
Breath of Fire 3
Tactics Ogre: LUCT
 
A

apricot

Member
TRI Mike said:
The thing is that I take too long in finishing one and in the mean time I buy two or three more so the backlog never actually gets shorter. Now that they're getting localized like crazy, I don't think I'll even finish them.
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Story of my life :(

chrominance said:
Okay, jesus, I'm finally going to get into one of these. And by that I mean one of apricot's play-along threads, not JRPGs. I've played plenty of those.

If we're allowed to count ones in progress, I'm a few hours into Tales of Xillia and will probably make that my mainstay. If not, though, I may go for Ar Tonelico II or Star Ocean: First Departure, seeing as how both of those have been top of mind lately (the first because of Ar nosurge and the apparent difficulty in tracking down a copy of the first game that isn't selling for ridiculous prices, the second because I just ripped all my UMDs to my Vita).

(Also, Atelier Meruru GIF in apricot's blog post: yay!)
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Yay! Join in, I say! And it's more than fine to count a game you've already started – it's always great to knock a game off the ole backlog!

And glad you appreciate the Meruru gif ;)

Marcel said:
God help me do I actually have to open my copy of Lightning Returns? Ohhhh boy.
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godspeed...
 
JohnTonne

JohnTonne

Member
I've been playing Mugen Souls, I kinda like some of the ideas the game has, but the battle system seems way too complex for what it is, and the load times are really obnoxious, but I'm slogging through it, at chapter 7.
 
Z

Zolbrod

Member
I already started in June, but what the hey.
Playing through Bravely Default (For the Sequel) for the first time.



Loving the graphics, visual style, and music.
Quite enjoying the game itself too, but I keep hearing it turns nasty from Chapter 5 onward.
 
C

Cudder

Member
Playing FFX for the first time on Vita. Haven't played in like a week, need to get back to it.

It's my first FF game, as I'm pretty new to the genre.
 
M

Marcel

Member
Zolbrod said:
I already started in June, but what the hey.
Playing through Bravely Default (For the Sequel) for the first time.



Loving the graphics, visual style, and music.
Quite enjoying the game itself too, but I keep hearing it turns nasty from Chapter 5 onward.
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The turn the game takes after Chapter 5 will give you whiplash. I personally found it hard to enjoy.
 
M

Mauricio_Magus

Banned
I'm trying to finish Hyperdimension Neptunia Victory, it's a million times better than the first game but some crap like the awful Scout system drives me insane, I'm in Chapter 6(out of 10) right now.

I'm planning on replaying SMT3, EO3, and SMT4 after it. I really need to play some good JRPGs after Victory, haha.

Edit; Finished Neptunia Victory, time for SMT3 and EO3.
 
F

Faustek

Member
Oho, just bought Terranigma(lost my copy in the great move of my life) and a few random JRPGs. I'll pick one as soon as the box comes :)

BTW, really enjoy these Anne, even if I'm really inactive I'm participating and smiling.

Edit: the picture is a OK even if it reminds me of those old Jane Fonda training vids ;)
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
Shizuka said:
Pick a platform first to narrow them down.
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Haha, that barely helps. Half are on my Vita, the other half are on my PS3. I guess I'll go Vita though for portability. Which leaves me with FF: X, FF: X-2, Muramasa, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Atelier Totori Plus, Ys, P3P, FF: I-V, FF: Tactics and Dissidia: FF :p
 
S

Shizuka

Member
orthodoxy1095 said:
Haha, that barely helps. Half are on my Vita, the other half are on my PS3. I guess I'll go Vita though for portability. Which leaves me with FF: X, FF: X-2, Muramasa, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Atelier Totori Plus, Ys, P3P, FF: I-V, FF: Tactics and Dissidia: FF :p
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If you narrow it down by platform, you could choose either PSP, PS1 or Vita games, too. Muramasa Rebirth isn't a JRPG as well.
 
A

apricot

Member
Faustek said:
BTW, really enjoy these Anne, even if I'm really inactive I'm participating and smiling.

Edit: the picture is a OK even if it reminds me of those old Jane Fonda training vids ;)
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Aw, thanks! I had no idea so many people would enjoy these when I started back in January!

... I figured people would either really appreciate that screenshot or immediately hit the "x" button on the thread after seeing it lol
 
Y

yami4ct

Member
Hey, was already planning on playing Tales of Vesperia for another game-along here on Gaf, so this seems like a fun way to have that game do double duty. Cool.
 
B

Benzychenz

Member
I'm playing Dark Souls at the moment, and have Fire Emblem Awakening and Bravely Default on pause for now.

Games I've yet to start (or have barely started) in the pile though are:

Dark Souls II
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (from all the way back from 3DS ambassador games lol)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Radiant Historia
Dragon Quest VIII
Persona 4
Final Fantasy XIII
Earthbound
Super Mario RPG (I started this when it came out on Wii VC...)
 
Y

yami4ct

Member
Benzychenz said:
I'm playing Dark Souls at the moment, and have Fire Emblem Awakening and Bravely Default on pause for now.

Games I've yet to start (or have barely started) in the pile though are:

Dark Souls II
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (from all the way back from 3DS ambassador games lol)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Radiant Historia
Dragon Quest VIII
Persona 4
Final Fantasy XIII
Earthbound
Super Mario RPG (I started this when it came out on Wii VC...)
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Sacred Stones is really, really good. If the intro part wasn't so long, I might say its my favorite Fire Emblem. Really dug playing that on the GBA.

But, seeing as you have Persona 4 on your list and it's probably my favorite game of all-time, you should probably just play that.

Dad said:
I think I'll give this a go even though I'm generally pretty awful at the genre. I'll probably go with FFXHD on the Vita since I bought it on an impulse a few months back. Any input for how easy/challenging it is?
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Will ninja-quote you so I don't fill up this thread like a crazy person. Been playing FFX on vita for the first time recently as well, and aside from optional bosses it's super duper easy. If you use the in-battle party member switching correctly, it's really hard to even die in that game. Hardest part is wrapping your head around the damn sphere grid for leveling. Still fun, but one of the most simple JRPGs I've played.
 
D

Dad

Member
I think I'll give this a go even though I'm generally pretty awful at the genre. I'll probably go with FFXHD on the Vita since I bought it on an impulse a few months back. Any input for how easy/challenging it is?
 
M

Mothman91

Member
Benzychenz said:
I'm playing Dark Souls at the moment, and have Fire Emblem Awakening and Bravely Default on pause for now.

Games I've yet to start (or have barely started) in the pile though are:

Dark Souls II
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (from all the way back from 3DS ambassador games lol)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Radiant Historia
Dragon Quest VIII
Persona 4
Final Fantasy XIII
Earthbound
Super Mario RPG (I started this when it came out on Wii VC...)
Click to expand...
DQVIII has everything that a JRPG should be and does it perfectly.

excellent game.
 
S

Shizuka

Member
Dad said:
I think I'll give this a go even though I'm generally pretty awful at the genre. I'll probably go with FFXHD on the Vita since I bought it on an impulse a few months back. Any input for how easy/challenging it is?
Click to expand...

Take it easy and grind. That's my standard advice for most JRPGs.
 
O

OnFire331

Member
Benzychenz said:
I'm playing Dark Souls at the moment, and have Fire Emblem Awakening and Bravely Default on pause for now.

Games I've yet to start (or have barely started) in the pile though are:

Dark Souls II
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (from all the way back from 3DS ambassador games lol)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Radiant Historia
Dragon Quest VIII
Persona 4
Final Fantasy XIII
Earthbound
Super Mario RPG (I started this when it came out on Wii VC...)
Click to expand...

To start off,
Earthbound = Persona 4 (I won't be choosing between these, toss a coin. Dark Souls II would likely be here but I haven't played it yet). Then after those two:

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door > Dragon Quest VIII > Radiant Historia > Super Mario RPG > Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Final Fantasy XIII
 
M

Mauricio_Magus

Banned
Benzychenz said:
I'm playing Dark Souls at the moment, and have Fire Emblem Awakening and Bravely Default on pause for now.

Games I've yet to start (or have barely started) in the pile though are:

Dark Souls II
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (from all the way back from 3DS ambassador games lol)
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Radiant Historia
Dragon Quest VIII
Persona 4
Final Fantasy XIII
Earthbound
Super Mario RPG (I started this when it came out on Wii VC...)
Click to expand...

Damn you have some FINE games waiting for you:

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
Earthbound
Persona 4

Those are my 3 favorite from the ones you listed, but all of them are amazing except for FF XIII and FE(it's okay).
 
A

apricot

Member
yami4ct said:
Hey, was already planning on playing Tales of Vesperia for another game-along here on Gaf, so this seems like a fun way to have that game do double duty. Cool.
Click to expand...

Oh, mind telling me what the other game-along you're participating in is? I don't want to step on anyone's toes but maybe some others would be interested
 
B

Bacon

Member
Just got a vita three days ago and purchased persona 4 golden with it. I have already sunk 15 hours into the game. Not sure any game has hooked me quite like this one. I've never been a hug fan of JRPG's before but I think I'll try to get more into them after this one, even though I know this is one of the more inviting jrpg's out there.

There isn't much else I can add about the game that hasn't already been said, but I'll just say that if you haven't played this game, you need to. Even if you think you aren't a fan of jrpg's, this one feels different with the social links and stuff like that. Also, don't let the relatively slow start put you off, the game opens up quite a bit after around 2 hours.
 
K

khaaan

Member
I love JRPG's but I hate how so many of them insist on being 40+ hour affairs. I'm currently about 10 hours into Tales of the Abyss 3DS (first time playing), 10 hours into FFXIII (giving it a second shot) and I don't even know how many hours into Final Fantasy IV and VII. Juggling them sucks and I feel like I'm probably going to be dropping one or two to take on other stuff....someone pick for me! My options are:

Never Played:

Atelier Ayesha
Baten Kaitos
Baten Kaitos Origins
Blue Dragon Awakened Shadow
Chrono Cross
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the heavenly Bride
Glory Of Heracles
Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story
Magical Starsign
Mega Man Command Mission
Pandora's Tower (Is this a RPG?)
Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door
Suikoden Tierkries
Skies of Arcadia Legends
Tales of Symphonia Chronicles (Dawn of The New World)
The Last Story
Valkyrie Profile Covenent of the Plume
White Knight Chronicles
Ys I & II

Played But Haven't Finished/Gave up:

Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow (Does this count?)
Chrono Trigger
Breath of Fire 3
Breath of Fire 4*
Digimon World
Dragon Quest IX
Dragon Quest VI
Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon
Final Fantasy I, II, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII*
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of The Lions
Final Fantasy Tactics A2*
Golden Sun*
Jeanne D'Arc
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
Kingdom Hearts 2*
Saga Frontier*
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Star Ocean: First Departure
Tales of Destiny*
The World Ends With You (Gave up on final boss)
Vagrant Story
Valkyria Chronicles
Xenoblade*
Xenogears*


I'm sure I'm missing some...

*Will most likely return to at some point in the future.
 
Y

yami4ct

Member
apricot said:
Oh, mind telling me what the other game-along you're participating in is? I don't want to step on anyone's toes but maybe some others would be interested
Click to expand...

Sure! It's a 3 RPG in 3 months thing some other GAF-er is doing. You can check it out here http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=842378

It's longer term, and far more general so the overlap with this one is just slight. Vesperia is my July game for that thread.

khaaan said:
I love JRPG's but I hate how so many of them insist on being 40+ hour affairs. I'm currently about 10 hours into Tales of the Abyss 3DS (first time playing), 10 hours into FFXIII (giving it a second shot) and I don't even know how many hours into Final Fantasy IV and VII. Juggling them sucks and I feel like I'm probably going to be dropping one or two to take on other stuff....someone pick for me! My options are:

Never Played:

Atelier Ayesha
Baten Kaitos
Baten Kaitos Origins
Blue Dragon Awakened Shadow
Chrono Cross
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the heavenly Bride
Glory Of Heracles
Mario & Luigi: Bowsers Inside Story
Magical Starsign
Mega Man Command Mission
Pandora's Tower (Is this a RPG?)
Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door
Suikoden Tierkries
Skies of Arcadia Legends
Tales of Symphonia Chronicles (Dawn of The New World)
The Last Story
Valkyrie Profile Covenent of the Plume
White Knight Chronicles
Ys I & II

Played But Haven't Finished/Gave up:

Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow (Does this count?)
Chrono Trigger
Breath of Fire 3
Breath of Fire 4*
Digimon World
Dragon Quest IX
Dragon Quest VI
Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon
Final Fantasy I, II, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XII*
Final Fantasy Tactics: War of The Lions
Final Fantasy Tactics A2*
Golden Sun*
Jeanne D'Arc
Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep
Kingdom Hearts 2*
Saga Frontier*
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Star Ocean: First Departure
Tales of Destiny*
The World Ends With You (Gave up on final boss)
Vagrant Story
Valkyria Chronicles
Xenoblade*
Xenogears*


I'm sure I'm missing some...

*Will most likely return to at some point in the future.
Click to expand...

SMT4, Valkyria Chronicles and Xenoblade are the choices of highest quality I would recommend. I personally really liked Baten Kaitos on Gamecube, but can definitely admit that that's not really a great game.

If you wanted someone else playing the same thing as you, I could do double duty on Tales games and play Symphonia 1 as well. Not insanely far from finishing Vepseria, so I could definitely fill in the month with another game.
 
B

Benzychenz

Member
Thanks for the suggestions guys. Persona 4 and Dragon Quest VIII I'm unable to play atm as I'm in the process of moving house and my PS2 is stored away.
I think I'll start Paper Mario TTYD next. Earthbound didn't really click with me when I first started it, got up to the girl joining my party. Might restart it when I go back to it.

As for what I'm playing, Dark Souls I think I'm about 1/3 through and I'm speeding through it as it's really clicked with me. Awakening I think I was around 3/4 done, but I needed a break from restarting every chapter 50 times to have 0 deaths lol, and Bravely Default I've only done the prologue (and that was a damn long prologue), as I bought it and FE:A at the same time and wanted to focus on one before the other.
 
G

GloriousBagel

Banned
I'll be writing about Final Fantasy III and Atelier Meruru.

I never got to experience any of the Final Fantasy games that were on Nintendo hardware, so I bought the remake for my Vita.

I also never played any of the Atelier games and I bought Meruru for my Vita during a sale

Both of these games are supposed to be charming, so I'm excited to give them a go.
 
V

Viola of the Abyss

Member
Yay! I can finally participate in a monthly game along :D

I started Tales of Xillia 2 just the other day and this will be a perfect opportunity to talk about it since I can use spoiler tags unlike Twitter

I'm still quite early in the game but I'm loving it, the gameplay doesn't seem much different for now, but at least the main character is different and much-much-much more enjoyable to play with!
I hated playing as Jude in the first one >:| switched to Milla everytime I could but it still didn't cover the entirety of the game (in Jude's path at least)
It's still a bit of a Tales of Reused Assets but I lived through Xillia so I'll survive this one as well.
(More than the assets themselves is the level/town design that bothers me, there are parts of the game in which I can't even understand where I am!)
I'm at chapter 4 right now and Teepo is back!!! <3 <3 <3
I love both new main characters already, even though Ludger is starting to tread on thin ice a little bit...
I can't wait to meet Milla again!! :D

If I manage to finish this before the end of the month I'll bump up Ys Origin in the schedule :)

Now let's take a look at my backlog, I've left most games in Italy so they're not accessible right now, however I do plan on bringing my 3DS with me when I come back home for winter holidays, so I should play some more next year!

PS2
Tales of Destiny Director's Cut
Tales of Destiny 2
Tales of Legendia
Valkyrie Profile 2 Silmeria (scheduled for 2015)
Xenosaga III (I'd like to replay I and II before playing this one but I don't see it happening anytime soon, I wonder if in the meantime NB will publish HD remasters)

PS3
Ni No Kuni

Wii
Arc Rise Fantasia
Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn

360
Blue Dragon (scehduled for when I'll rebuy a 360, which will be after the Last Guardian is confirmed to be a playable minigame in Final Fantasy XV)

PC
Battle Moon Wars The Best
Xanadu Next (scheduled for later this year)
Ys Origin (also later this year)

NDS
Nanashi No Game
Sigma Harmonics
Soma Bringer
Valkyrie Profile Covenant of the Plume (I'll play this one right after Half Life 3!)

3DS (all scheduled for 2015)
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy
Devil Summoner Soul Hackers
Fire Emblem Awakening

PSP
Brandish The Dark Revenant
Legend of Heroes: Sora no Kiseki SC (as soon as I'll play SC in ENG I'll proceed with all others, my Japanese level should be enough by now but I want to get reacclimatized with the geography and lore)
Legend of Heroes: Sora no Kiseki 3rd (scheduled for 2014-2015 depending on when SC releases)
Nayuta no Kiseki
Star Ocean: First Departure (ah, Star Oceans! I feel like playing these at night after a nice daytime session with Shenmue III)
Star Ocean: Second Evolution
Genso Suikoden: Tsumugareshi Hyakunen no Toki
Valkyria Chronicles 3
Valkyrie Profile Lenneth (scheduled for next year)
Ys Seven
Ys VS Sora no Kiseki

PSVita
Zero no Kiseki Evolution (scheduled for 2015)
Ao no Kiseki Evolution (scheduled for 2015)

PS1
Shin Megami Tensei If... (I'm honestly scared to play this one... I'd love to since it's considered to be Persona 0, but it also seems super difficult and a gamepad snapper)
Tales of Phantasia (I'll probably play this after as many years as it took from fan translation announcement to completion)

PC Engine
Legend of Heroes
Legend of Heroes II

GBA
Fire Emblem
Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones

SNES
Live A Live
Mother 2 (I'll also bring my WiiU with me next year, so this one is in the 2015 list as well)
Treasure of the Rudras


Hahaha... ha...

*cries*
 
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