Supermanisdead
Member
Persona 4 is an 80 hour anime turn based rpg lol. Play Eternal Sonata. It's short, has a mix of action and turn based and is pretty easy.
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JRPG's for a beginner?
- Thread starter Cudder
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Benzychenz
Member
Buy a DS (seriously a DS Lite has to be what, $30 on eBay?)
Then get Chrono Trigger, one of the Dragon Quests, Radiant Historia and The World Ends With You.
Then get Chrono Trigger, one of the Dragon Quests, Radiant Historia and The World Ends With You.
mullet2000
Member
I feel like FFX would be a pretty poor choice, honestly.
Mostly cause the last fifth or sixth of that game gets pretty damn brutal. Bosses suddenly get way more HP and hit really damn hard, requiring a fair amount of grinding if you were just doing a story playthrough. That could be pretty frustrating.
I think Persona 4 is a great choice, though. Just explore the dungeons and don't run from battles unless you absolutely need to and the game will have a pretty nice difficulty curve.
Mostly cause the last fifth or sixth of that game gets pretty damn brutal. Bosses suddenly get way more HP and hit really damn hard, requiring a fair amount of grinding if you were just doing a story playthrough. That could be pretty frustrating.
I think Persona 4 is a great choice, though. Just explore the dungeons and don't run from battles unless you absolutely need to and the game will have a pretty nice difficulty curve.
this.
I'm not opposed to turn based at all, I just assumed an action RPG might be easier to delve into because I'm used to action games/adventure games/etc, perhaps that's not the case?
Thanks for all of the suggestions thus far!
I vad necer played a JRPG until last year. The genre just didn't seem interesting to me.
Then I took a chance and got Persona 4 Golden and I can honestly say it changed the way I look at games.
It did a great job at easing me into the mechanics of the game and the story and characters are just mind blowingly good. I can without a doubt say that it's my favourite game of all time.
I recently started playing some of the Tales of games and they are pretty great too.
Then I took a chance and got Persona 4 Golden and I can honestly say it changed the way I look at games.
It did a great job at easing me into the mechanics of the game and the story and characters are just mind blowingly good. I can without a doubt say that it's my favourite game of all time.
I recently started playing some of the Tales of games and they are pretty great too.
This is a good suggestion. I beat FFX first and then went back to play the earlier FF classics, X is very accessible and the graphics are nice so it helps feel more modern. If you like it, than it's worth checking out FF7, 8 and 9 and then if you can do really old school graphics the even earlier FF's.
Based on what you've said, Ys would be a good place to start. Oath in Felghana and Ys Seven are PSP games playable on Vita and they're pretty cheap. As much as I like Persona 4, the time and schedule micromanagement might be better holding holding off of until you get more used to the genre.
If you are willing to try turn based, FFIV-X, Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross are all pretty simple and easy to follow on top of being really good games. FFV and FFX-2 require more management than you might care for.
All of these games are available for fairly cheap and playable on Vita. If you find you quite like them, then you could try getting further recommendations and even look into a Nintendo platform as well.
If you are willing to try turn based, FFIV-X, Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross are all pretty simple and easy to follow on top of being really good games. FFV and FFX-2 require more management than you might care for.
All of these games are available for fairly cheap and playable on Vita. If you find you quite like them, then you could try getting further recommendations and even look into a Nintendo platform as well.
shysaursoft
Member
PS2 - Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
The Dragon Quest series in general is svelte, easy to get into, and a great journey.
The Dragon Quest series in general is svelte, easy to get into, and a great journey.
Tidus_Great
Banned
FFX is the perfect starter RPG. it's easy to get into, it guides you along very well, the main story is rarely very challenging aside from 2-3 bosses. and it has a great storyline, soundtrack and characters that really make you want to keep playing.
Shadow Hearts games are pretty easy to get into as well.
Persona is actually a little more difficult IMO because fusing demons sometimes you fuse something wrong and come up against a certain boss you can get your ass handed to you.
Shadow Hearts games are pretty easy to get into as well.
Persona is actually a little more difficult IMO because fusing demons sometimes you fuse something wrong and come up against a certain boss you can get your ass handed to you.
jim-jam bongs
Member
Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. These are also the best jrpgs ever made though, so you'll probably not want to bother with the rest afterwards.
zerokoolpsx
Member
Persona 4 Golden and the Tales of series.
Tales of Xillia is pretty easy.
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony is even easier. I don't think you can even die.
Tales of Xillia is pretty easy.
Lunar: Silver Star Harmony is even easier. I don't think you can even die.
jeremy1456
Junior Member
Final Fantasy VI is super duper easy, and is compelling.
You could play FF Mystic Quest, but VI is the better game and is even easier.
You could play FF Mystic Quest, but VI is the better game and is even easier.
KojiKnight
Member
Since someone resurrected the idea from another thread, Breath of Fire 3. Absolutely great jRPG.
IdreamofHIME
Member
FFX is great for beginners.
Fun cast.
Epic story.
Amazing sound track.
Easy to learn/Difficult to master battle system.
Excellent level up system that gives you a feeling of control.
P4 is a masterpiece, but it's very Kawaii and Anime-esque. Some people want to save the whole world, not go to school every day.
Fun cast.
Epic story.
Amazing sound track.
Easy to learn/Difficult to master battle system.
Excellent level up system that gives you a feeling of control.
P4 is a masterpiece, but it's very Kawaii and Anime-esque. Some people want to save the whole world, not go to school every day.
Starter Action JRPG?
Try Ys Oath of Feltania or whatever it's called. Barebones JRPG with no turn based combat, pretty damn good combat, and it's pretty short for a JRPG (20hrs iirc).
If you want more after beating that, then I would try getting into Final Fantasy X HD, Persona 4 Golden, and Tales of Xillia.
Try Ys Oath of Feltania or whatever it's called. Barebones JRPG with no turn based combat, pretty damn good combat, and it's pretty short for a JRPG (20hrs iirc).
If you want more after beating that, then I would try getting into Final Fantasy X HD, Persona 4 Golden, and Tales of Xillia.
Came to post all of these, and there they were in the first 3 posts. Great advice and after you beat these make sure to buy Valkyria Chronicles. Bless you GAF you never disappoint.
2DS/3DS. Chrono Trigger. Pokémon X/Y. The World Ends With You. Bravely Default. Bam, instant JRPG goodness.
TWEWY isn't quite as beginner-friendly (learning the battle system takes a while), but it's definitely one of the best JRPGs I've played.
Chrono Trigger is also on PSN, but the DS version has a better translation and no load times (and a few bonus dungeons, though those aren't as good as the original game).
But if you really don't want to buy a new device (though the DS/3DS have amazing libraries to catch up on), then I'll throw in another vote for Persona 4 Golden.
chrominance
Member
Persona 4 Golden's a good choice. I guess it's a little anime but the characters are at least reasonably multi-dimensional and the story's relatively unique amongst JRPGs. If you had a 360 I would've also recommended Tales of Vesperia, it was one of the first JRPGs I played and as someone who didn't really know any anime cliches back then it was highly enjoyable. Tales games in general are more action-oriented anyways, so you might find them to your liking. I think Xillia is supposed to be the obvious choice for PS3, followed by Graces f (but watch out, that one's more animu--I've played Graces but not Xillia so hard to comment). One thing that's nice about Tales games is they tend to be a bit shorter--35-50 hours as opposed to P4's 80+ hour run (or P3's 100+ hours, though if you're like me you won't notice the passage of time at all).
Valkyria Chronicles is another option, though that's not a traditional JRPG. It is very, very good, though. Ys Seven's a good pick for PSP/Vita, and Ys Celceta's probably pretty good too (it's sitting on my shelf unplayed right now, I am a bad gamer).
Valkyria Chronicles is another option, though that's not a traditional JRPG. It is very, very good, though. Ys Seven's a good pick for PSP/Vita, and Ys Celceta's probably pretty good too (it's sitting on my shelf unplayed right now, I am a bad gamer).
TWEWY is a fantastic game but I don't think that it's a good introduction to the genre because it's probably the only one of its kind out there.
Seriously, I know GAF has a hard on for P4, but it's a terrible recommendation unless the op is into dating sims and waifus.
Get Chrono Trigger on PSN dude, sure the DS/SNES version is best but whatever it's still a master piece.
Crash Station
Member
In that case, I'd say try to get into some turn-based stuff. It will most definitely feel weird at first, but the genre's greats consist mostly of turn-based.
Chrono Trigger is a good place to start as it has on-screen encounters rather than random ones. However, that may also lower your tolerance for random encounters when you actually try ones with it, like a good chunk of the Final Fantasy series or other fantastic games in the genre. In that case, I'd still say Final Fantasy X is a good choice. It's probably the most accessible traditional modern-ish JRPG out there.
Make no mistake, Persona 4 is a fantastic game and one of the genre's best, but it is most definitely overwhelming for first time players. Hell, I found Persona 3 (which P4 takes most of its mechanics and stuff from) overwhelming and I was a seasoned JRPG player at that point.
OP, I've been a big jRPG person in the past, I recommended Persona 4 Golden to a former co-worker who had never gotten into the genre but really enjoys his Vita. 80 hours later, his Facebook display picture has now changed to the main character.
It seriously is a great game, it's fun and funny. Don't be worried about the beginning of the game when you play it, it takes a while to get going, but man is it worth it. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what it makes it so charming, but the whole package just gives you that feeling when you're not playing it that you should be, and when you are you don't even see that the sun has gone down hours ago. And the next time you look up, it's 2 am, you have work the next day and you go to bed with a smile on your face.
It seriously is a great game, it's fun and funny. Don't be worried about the beginning of the game when you play it, it takes a while to get going, but man is it worth it. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what it makes it so charming, but the whole package just gives you that feeling when you're not playing it that you should be, and when you are you don't even see that the sun has gone down hours ago. And the next time you look up, it's 2 am, you have work the next day and you go to bed with a smile on your face.
If you like south park, stick of truth is a good introduction to turn based jrpg style battles, then move on to something more advanced like ffx hd, persona 4 golden, ni no kuni or one of the tales game. If you're a bit more specific about what interests you in trying jrpgs we can probably narrow it down.
Jrpgs without traditional turn based play is a bit more difficult but the Ys games, crisis core and Kingdom hearts may interest you.
Ignore the people telling you to buy Nintendo consoles there's more than enough quality jrpgs to last you years on the platforms you own.
Also a great choice for newcomers.
Jrpgs without traditional turn based play is a bit more difficult but the Ys games, crisis core and Kingdom hearts may interest you.
Ignore the people telling you to buy Nintendo consoles there's more than enough quality jrpgs to last you years on the platforms you own.
Also a great choice for newcomers.
Hyperactivity
Banned
In that case, dont worry. Golden Sun and the Mario rpgs are perfect for introducing someone new to jrpgs to jrpgs. Battle systems arent that difficult to understand, simple with hidden depth is the best way to describe it.
Unfortunately I think you said no Nintendo consoles, right?
. PS3
Dragon's Dogma
Eternal Sonata
Tales of Graces f
On PSN
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES
Final Fantasy 5, 7, and 9. Haven't played 6 and 8 so can't recommend them. The lack of Final Fantasy 5 mentions here is just sad.
Grandia
Legend of Dragoon
PS2
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga duology
Shin Megami Tensei: Noctorne
If you buy Chrono Trigger and don't like it, don't let it stop it from playing other Japanese RPGs. It's not the greatest Japanese RPG of all time and it's actually pretty boring
Dragon's Dogma
Eternal Sonata
Tales of Graces f
On PSN
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 FES
Final Fantasy 5, 7, and 9. Haven't played 6 and 8 so can't recommend them. The lack of Final Fantasy 5 mentions here is just sad.
Grandia
Legend of Dragoon
PS2
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga duology
Shin Megami Tensei: Noctorne
If you buy Chrono Trigger and don't like it, don't let it stop it from playing other Japanese RPGs. It's not the greatest Japanese RPG of all time and it's actually pretty boring
Mauricio_Magus
Banned
Persona 4 Golden is a good start, there's also the Tales series.
I think it's really weird that Persona 4 has been recommended here so many times for a person's first jrpg, especially when OP is hesitant about anime elements. You play as high school students and go to shopping districts and stuff. Doesn't get more anime-y than that. It's a great game, and maybe OP or others would benefit from it being their first jrpg, but it is not what I think of when I think of "beginner" jrpgs.
Others have recommended Dragon Quest VIII and Final Fantasy IX. Those are the two biggest jrpg series, and both of those games are very approachable and will establish standards that are consistent or at least expected within the genre.
Ni No Kuni for something more recent.
Others have recommended Dragon Quest VIII and Final Fantasy IX. Those are the two biggest jrpg series, and both of those games are very approachable and will establish standards that are consistent or at least expected within the genre.
Ni No Kuni for something more recent.
freshVeggie
Member
If you plan to get a DS don't even think about Devil Survivor. I like anime artstyle and never played jrpgs nor turn-based games ever. Boy what a disappointment. After 2 hours the first real bossfight was impossible.
Why would they make it so difficult? Why is there no story-difficulty where I just blaze through the game.
I absolutely loved the different demon types and how each has its own strength and weakness though.
I wish there was a easy smt game on ds as I don't own a vita.
Why would they make it so difficult? Why is there no story-difficulty where I just blaze through the game.
I absolutely loved the different demon types and how each has its own strength and weakness though.
I wish there was a easy smt game on ds as I don't own a vita.
SaggyMonkey
Member
Yeah, Persona 4 starts really slow and isn't that accessible. Final Fantasy X might not be a bad idea.
Isn't there an easy mode for devil survivor? It's kinda the weakest entry in the series, but I don't see how the first boss can be a problem. If you have access to fusion at that part of the game you can easily create something that would stomp the first boss.
Haeralis The BRave
Banned
Kingdom Hearts for sure. That game made me interested in FF, and that led to other JRPGs. Persona 4 is good, but it is a poor beginner choice thanks to its boring dungeons and a story which, while good, is laughably anime so you might not care for it.
Only in the 3DS version. The original DS didn't have a difficulty select. It's still a brutal and pretty inaccessible game compared to say.... Persona 4 Golden.
manzoman96
Member
Same story for me. Started with Kingdom Hearts. Led me to FFVII. The rest is history.