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What are your favorite healing/recovery consumable items in JRPGs?

S

ScOULaris

Member
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I've always liked how different JRPG series have their own subset of items, currency, and other staples of the genre. Most games feature the same selection of healing/recovery items from a functional standpoint, but they are just themed differently to fit within each game's respective vibe/world. Whether it be potions, herbs, Phoenix Downs or what have you, I'm curious to know what everyone's favorites are.

I'll throw in my vote for Gels in the Tales series.

Apple_Gel.jpg

An apple gel.

I'm not even the biggest fan of the Tales series, but I've always liked their charming use of gels with varying colors and flavors that all serve different purposes. I just find the idea of consuming little gumdrop-esque candies to heal yourself to be very cheeky and Japanese in that typical JRPG way. What's funny is that the implementation of these items is kind of lazy compared to other RPG's, since they are all just palette swaps of the same pixel art.

PS - Anyone who is into the idea of running an item shop in a JRPG town needs to check out Recettear if you haven't already. ;)
 
I agree with the gels of the tales series. Colourful and useful. I'm still fine with potions though lol.
 
Yeah I really like gels for some reason.

So simple and weird. It is actually kind of lazy as you said but there's a charm about it that I can't quite put my finger on.
 
Gels are great because they scale with level, they have just a few rarity/power levels, and there's a limit to them without it being an "elixer" situation where you never use the infernal things because you might need them later (though the 100% gels are kinda elixer-y in that regard).
 
FF's Megalixers

Restores all HP and MP to the party.

Would be classified as a potion maybe?

I also miss chomping on Grass and Spice in Demon's Souls.
 
I liked the herbs used in the Shadow Hearts series, largely due to the fact that items had fairly lengthy descriptions as well as illustrations associated with them. This made even run-of-the-mill consumables feel tangible and meaningful, which I loved.

0dQPS8d.jpg

Thera Leaf
A natural herb found through Eurasia. The leaves can be boiled in water to make an invigorating drink, or mashed and applied to wounds to ease pain.

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Mana Leaf
Famed herb often mentioned in witches' legends. It is said the leaves are dark red because of the animal blood the herb consumes. Restores mystical strength.

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Pure Leaf
Plant containing narcotic chemicals. Brought from the Americas in the Age of Discovery, it became popular for relieving stress on long ship voyages.

I mean, can't you just imagine making tea out of these, or something?
 
I like all the weird shit in the Souls series. Eldritch artifacts, dried out monster extremities, dessicated eyeballs, etc. Who the fuck makes this stuff.

Also, the blood bags from Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. I liked how they had varying degrees of potency based on the health of the person they're from. I thought it was cool that you could swig the blood of elder vampires like it's nothing.
 
Chrono Helix said:
SP recovery and status healing items are precious in Atlus games. As well as the occasional buff/debuff dispel items.
Click to expand...
The SP recovery items in P4 sounded like drugs though. Well, as least "Snuff Soul" and "Chewing Soul" did. Made me wonder if Dojima was ever curious about his nephew and friends all shopping for drugs at that lady's store.
 
Elixirs in Atelier games. It's always fun trying to make the best elixir and using it in battle. Made one recently in Rorona plus and it had auto HP recovery if below 50% health and auto KO recovery. Made me feel pretty unstoppable lol
 
Odin Sphere's soul-eating fruits.
 
Any kind that let's me one shot undead bosses. Also love all the food items in Muramasa because of all the delicious cooking animations.

Edit: Feast your eyes on some food porn.

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There's also some more in this gallery.

Why don't they ever drink all the broth in their soups?!
 
I suppose these technically don't qualify as "healing/recovery" items, (even though they do refill your life), but if you wanna talk about items that are bang for the buck, there's no satisfaction greater than finding and using the class change items in a Fire Emblem game.

Those sweet, satisfying stat increases... THAT SONG

EDIT: Maybe they don't fill your life. My bad.
 
I don't know anymore I horde them and never use them.

I guess all the gels from Tales of games though since I do end up using those.
 
Estus Flask from Dark Souls.
Simply because it's refillable so I don't worry about wasting them. Unlike most RPGs where I horde all my megaelixers until the last boss.

Also love the silly food items in Castlevania SOTN, like curry and red bean buns.
 
The Warp Wire in Etrian Odyssey.

Party down to five HP? No healing left? FOEs closing in? Just as well you've got that... Oh, a squirrel nicked it three squares back.

To this day I still carry two of them (or their equivalent) just in case a special event robs me of that lifeline.
 
Megalixirs. I always hoard them to use in a desparate situation and then never do, so I finish the game with a bunch of them that I can then admire.
 
perfect free said:
I liked the herbs used in the Shadow Hearts series, largely due to the fact that items had fairly lengthy descriptions as well as illustrations associated with them. This made even run-of-the-mill consumables feel tangible and meaningful, which I loved.
Click to expand...

Haven't played Shadow Hearts yet (someday, hopefully), but this is something I really like about Bravely Default too.
 
sublimit said:
This.
For some reason i always imagined potions to be some kind of refreshment drinks like Sprite or something.:p I wonder how the real ones taste though.
Click to expand...

It weirdly bothers me when I have a character chug like 10 potions in a row. It's a weird immersion breaking moment, like eating all the food in Bioshock.
 
I always liked the cheese from Brave Fencer Musashi. It would age, so that the longer you kept it the more potent it would be.
 
Not a JRPG but I recently started my first play-through of Bioshock and I'm finding that crunching noise whenever you come across some food to sound really satisfying...even if it was a twinkie.

As far as JRPG's go I agree with the gels. Another one of my favorites is when there are scenarios in JRPG's that allow you to pick from a list of foods (that don't necessarily heal you) when usually you just sleep at an inn or use items. Some examples off the top of my head are Final Fantasy 7 (Korean BBQ/Sushi/Todays Special), Pokemon (Fresh Water/Soda Pop/Lemonade) and Chrono Trigger (Refresh Salad, Power Stew, Hyper Kabob).

Edit: I just remembered, everything in Ni No Kuni.
 
gforguava said:
I always liked the cheese from Brave Fencer Musashi. It would age, so that the longer you kept it the more potent it would be.
Click to expand...

Yes. Great choice!


I like RE's Herb management on the first games, Mixed Herb >> F.A.Spray but that's not a RPG so...

DQ7 items for me, colorful and really varied
 
I like the recipes you can cook in the Tales games... Graces F was really robust and creative in some of the things you can cook. Had a lot of fun combining ingredients and discovering new recipes.... doesn't hurt that I'm a bit of a foodie either :)
 
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