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Games @lemmygrad.ml

Do you like JRPGs and if yes, why?

I should probably come out and say that I really don't get them, but I'll try not to be a contrarian in this thread lol. Looking for genuine perspectives.

30 comments
  • I will say I have never played one through to the end, and my experience comes just from friends who've had them when I was young. But man they are way too "Japanese" for me. I know it's in the name, but anything to do with Anime just rubs me the wrong way.

  • The SNES through PS2 days were the golden era of JRPGs imo. FF4-FF10 plus FF tactics are all legendary titles I’d highly recommend even in spite of their age. When I played the FF10 remaster sometime ago I was blown away by how fleshed out and complete it felt compared how most games today. I never owned a Switch however so there is no doubt a lot of good recent JRPGs out there I missed like the Fire Emblem games and such.

    • In addition to what CriticalResist8 said, a lot of the Fire Emblem games never made it outside of Japan, but have fan translations into English now. Fire Emblem 4: Genealogy of the Holy War is one of my favorites (and directly inspired Three Houses)

    • You can easily emulate a switch on PC btw, assuming it's beefy enough (no idea about the required specs). Less intensive games e.g. Ace Attorney even work on mobile!

  • idk there is a nostalgic soft spot for them for me because I grew up with the SNES and watching my neighbor play FFVII

    Never really got into the genre though mainly because I always disliked turn based games until I got into the XCOM remake some years ago and also getting old and appreciating the more relaxed pace.

  • I have started many but finished only a handful. I have finished the Persona games because even though the story is not great the gameplay mechanics and the banger soundtrack are amazing. The others are the Final Fantasy 7 Remake games. I would say they skirt the line of being JRPG because of the combat. But they seem to have made a conscious decision to adhere to the JRPG aesthetic despite the high fidelty graphics and modernised gameplay. And I they campy JRPG bits are the weaker aspect of it.

  • i used to but damn the almost obligatory grinding in them has made me hate them. i only can stand the Atlus JRPGs as of late.

    also as i have grown older, these games have become comically easy even on the highest difficulty, which kinda makes them boring. really the only joy i find in them is making super overpowered builds.

  • Ever since I was a kid. When I was very young I probably would have said because they tell better more (I wouldn't have used this word, but it's what I would have mean) focused stories than western RPGs.

    Now I think I can be honest and say that a lot of it is nostalgia. I still have trouble replaying some of the ones I grew up on, I've gotten to a point where I need to be making choices in games that don't have realtime elements at least so "select attack until the boss, then Fire 2 until out of MP, heal as needed" is kinda boring. A lot of games have been experimenting with this lately though (Octopath Traveler, Sea of Stars, Star Renegades [technically a roguelike]) which is nice to see.

    Strategy jrpgs where you move around little dudes on a map hold up better I think.

  • Personally, the JRPGs I enjoy have something chess-like to the combat - each character has their own way of acting, and you have to balance their actions around the turn order and enemy's actions. Throw in some rock-paper-scissor elements and an ult mechanic like limit breaks or summons and it creates enough considerations to keep me interested in planning out both the current and future turns without it turning into an overwhelming amount of micromanaging.

  • Genuinely never tried one. I'm looking for the perfect introduction to the series.

  • It depends on the JRPG.

    Me personally, I love the combat, but don't like the fact there are no choices.

30 comments