JRPG General - Video games were never meant to be shorter than 50 hours.

[Namekian George Floyd]

I recently beat the romhack Pokemon Odyssey and gameplay-wise, it's pretty much exactly everything I'd want in a Pokemon game. There's difficulty settings with a hard mode that's actually hard, all the trainer battles are double battles which adds another layer of strategy that I was previously unfamiliar with, there's a level cap that increases with each boss trainer you defeat so you're not going to be over leveled and super OP ever, the boss trainers aren't mono-type and you basically have to construct a new team for each one of them which actually gives you a reason to catch as many Pokemon as possible other than just wanted to collect them all, there's no online so every Pokemon just has perfect IV's and is rebalanced so they're all viable, you also don't have to grind newer Pokemon because you have an item which can bring your party a level below the current cap.
The story and original regional variants are kinda ass but other than that, I highly recommend it if you're in the mood to play a Pokemon game again and want something that will actually challenge you.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

XS1's designs were so good and I hate that they seemingly got rid of the Gears' character designer to make them more realistic in XS2. XS3 was probably the best course correction ever but I have a hard time believing that Shion could ever pull off the "sexy" look, especially after like a 1-2 year time skip. The mech designs only got better though.

The first game's gears were a bit on the generic side. I liked the third game gears, the polygon esque design is cool. Turning Kosmos into a catgirl was alright, bit the first game design was still more iconic.

It's just been my observation that most people who say they want complex characters are liars.

The issue is complex main characters. Side characters and villains can be complex and it can work well, but when your main character suddenly decides to join the villain side after 100 game hours, then the player will obviously feel like it's bullshit.

 

[GeorgeFloydFentanylStash]

I'm moving onto Xenogears since that won the vote.

I started the game back in late November and been playing it as my primary game during my Christmas break. Probably the most well written game from Square. And probably from the PSX that I have played. It’s my first playthrough as well.

It scratches the itch that I tried to scratch with Fallout 2

 

[Namekian George Floyd]

I started the game back in late November and been playing it as my primary game during my Christmas break. Probably the most well written game from Square. And probably from the PSX that I have played. It’s my first playthrough as well.

It scratches the itch that I tried to scratch with Fallout 2

I'm in the Prison area now and I'm absolutely loving it so far. All the mech designs in the tournament were really cool and I appreciate how the story doesn't treat you like a moron and will just drop terms and details you don't really know about yet and leave you to try to figure it out yourself before fully revealing everything. Games really just aren't written the same anymore.

 

[Father Karras]

Recently beat mother 1 on my hacked 3ds, need to get back into jrpgs, I used to zigzag between liking jrpgs and crpgs but for the last few years it's been those all the way.

I need to get back into disgaea, I've beaten 5 and then 1, I need to play 2. Been meaning to play dragon quest 3 but I don't know if I should play the gbc or hd2d version, also I need to replay twewy, the ds version this time, god I wish I could play final remix with a mouse, but Neo TWEWY is probably my favorite JPRG of all time

 

[Fcret]

I need to get back into disgaea, I've beaten 5 and then 1, I need to play 2.

2 is easily the best Disgaea game IMO. Disgaea 1 and 2 I think struck good balances between the campy comedic bits and the legitimate drama. Disgaea 3 tried to follow in that tradition and just kinda fell flat due to the characters all feeling a bit bland. 4 and later just haven't landed at all for me story-wise.

Been meaning to play dragon quest 3 but I don't know if I should play the gbc or hd2d version

Controversial opinion - HD2D is probably the better entry point now. It's got some glaring weaknesses and the general "updated for modern audiences" controversies. Until recently I would have said that GBC is better if you can stomach the GBC limitations but the existence of I&II HD2D remake kinda changes things. I&II HD2D are both incredible remakes that massively expand the story of the Erdrick trilogy and both of them tie in deeply with III HD2D, so I think it's worth doing III HD2D just so you can then go from it to I&II HD2D.

 

[HexFag]

Controversial opinion - HD2D is probably the better entry point now. It's got some glaring weaknesses and the general "updated for modern audiences" controversies. Until recently I would have said that GBC is better if you can stomach the GBC limitations but the existence of I&II HD2D remake kinda changes things. I&II HD2D are both incredible remakes that massively expand the story of the Erdrick trilogy and both of them tie in deeply with III HD2D, so I think it's worth doing III HD2D just so you can then go from it to I&II HD2D.

Why not the SNES remakes of DQ1-3? It's how I played them and they're pretty fun.

Recently beat mother 1 on my hacked 3ds, need to get back into jrpgs, I used to zigzag between liking jrpgs and crpgs but for the last few years it's been those all the way.

Also if you haven't played Earthbound and Mother 3 play them NOW.

 

[Namekian George Floyd]

I need to get back into disgaea, I've beaten 5 and then 1, I need to play 2.

Donut listen to the person above, 4 ties with 1 as the best imo.

4 and later just haven't landed at all for me story-wise

I can't believe you don't like lord Valvatorez or the entire cast really, 4 is Disgaea goofiness at it's peak.

 

[Fcret]

I can't believe you don't like lord Valvatorez or the entire cast really, 4 is Disgaea goofiness at it's peak.

I'll put this as diplomatically as possible - Disgaea 4 is reddit to me

Why not the SNES remakes of DQ1-3? It's how I played them and they're pretty fun.

The I&II HD2D remakes are just a lot of fun. You get a lot of new scenes, you get actually challenging fights, and you get some cool-ass voice acting in Japanese.

 

[synthetic_glazer]

Also if you haven't played Earthbound and Mother 3 play them NOW.

Honestly, while the other two are good, I feel like someone who starts with Mother would end up disappointed with EB and M3. Earthbound has a very similar world and sort of a similar progression, but the story and atmosphere aren't really as affecting. And Mother 3 has a good, moving story, but the world is a step in a more generic direction, and you're generally a lot more railroaded than in Mother, so it loses that sense of scale the first had. That being said, in both cases the gameplay and obviously the graphics and music are a step up from M1, so I guess it's something of a toss up.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

I'll put this as diplomatically as possible - Disgaea 4 is reddit to me

I'll join the autism.
Disgaea 1 is still timeless with the best characters, but very basic battle system.
Disgaea 2 has the best story that's also the most serious. I like the main characters but they don't work as well in cameos.
Disgaea 3 has a lot of good ideas but doesn't know what to do with them, so the game comes out as underwhelming overall, though the characters are quite good.
Disgaea 4 is similar to Yakuza 0, where the series embraced its silliness a bit too much and never really recovered, still fun and probably the best battle system in the series.
Disgaea D2 was fun with getting the old gang back.
I hated Disgaea 5, it felt like the devs had no idea what they were going for with the plot and characters.
Disgaea 6 was awful, legitimately you fast forward the battles.
Disgaea 7 was disappointing, it started with a lot of promise but the magic isn't there anymore, and Nisa is playing as safe as they can.

I do like Nisa's Witch series, but it went very dark with less comedy.

 

[HexFag]

Honestly, while the other two are good, I feel like someone who starts with Mother would end up disappointed with EB and M3. Earthbound has a very similar world and sort of a similar progression, but the story and atmosphere aren't really as affecting. And Mother 3 has a good, moving story, but the world is a step in a more generic direction, and you're generally a lot more railroaded than in Mother, so it loses that sense of scale the first had. That being said, in both cases the gameplay and obviously the graphics and music are a step up from M1, so I guess it's something of a toss up.

I still appreciate that each entry in the series is different from eachother in a way. Itoi wanted to do something different in each entry and it shows. I'm also biased because I love Mother 3 to death and feel as if as many fans of the series should play it as possible.

I'll join the autism.
Disgaea 1 is still timeless with the best characters, but very basic battle system.
Disgaea 2 has the best story that's also the most serious. I like the main characters but they don't work as well in cameos.
Disgaea 3 has a lot of good ideas but doesn't know what to do with them, so the game comes out as underwhelming overall, though the characters are quite well.
Disgaea 4 is similar to Yakuza 0, where the series embraced its silliness a bit too much and never really recovered, still fun and probably the best battle system in the series.
Disgaea D2 was fun with getting the old gang back.
I hated Disgaea 5, it felt like the devs had no idea what they were going for with the plot and characters.
Disgaea 6 was awful, legitimately you fast forward the battles.
Disgaea 7 was disappointing, it started with a lot of promise but the magic isn't there anymore, and Nisa is playing as safe as they can.

It kind of sucks that Disgaea 7 was considered disappointing because I remembered hearing that it was a return to form after how horseshit Disgaea 6 was. I still think they should've never dropped the 3D models.

Speaking of Disgaea, has anybody heard of that new hack and slash game that's using Disgaea characters? Looks like low budget kino.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

It kind of sucks that Disgaea 7 was considered disappointing because I remembered hearing that it was a return to form after how horseshit Disgaea 6 was. I still think they should've never dropped the 3D models.

I started it optimistic but it just drags on by the end. Same with the new Phantom Brave. It's not terrible but just not interesting, like they gave up on trying to balance the main story and make the player strategize. The series should have returned to 2D.

The trailer looks like standard battle system, with luck the devs would remember that one of the points that made original Disgaea (and other Nisa PS2 games) be so good was having weird experimental systems.

 

[GeorgeFloydFentanylStash]

I'm in the Prison area now and I'm absolutely loving it so far.

Oh man, me too. The sewer part is an absolute slog. Not sure why Square love their sewers in the 90s

FFVII
FFVIII
Parasite Eve
Xenogears.

 

[00R-Gundam]

With all the weird remasters/remakes of certain old games. I question if Valkyrie Profile should get the same treatment. I love the serie but i feel that getting said treatment would take the charm the game has considering how games are nowadays.

 

[HexFag]

I genuinely don't know how, but the Rance series is coming to Steam. No this is not a joke.

With all the weird remasters/remakes of certain old games. I question if Valkyrie Profile should get the same treatment. I love the serie but i feel that getting said treatment would take the charm the game has considering how games are nowadays.

Square has a bunch of 90s JRPGs they're just sitting on that could get rereleases/remasters so I'm sure it'll happen eventually. Their remasters are usually fine but I hope they don't do that texture smoothing shit they did for the FFT remaster for all of the games they wanna bring over to modern consoles.

 

[Maniacal Foreigner]

I genuinely don't know how, but the Rance series is coming to Steam. No this is not a joke.
View attachment 8349886

It's been out on GOG for a while, just get it there.

 

[X Prime]

I really couldn't imagine playing it and feeling unsoiled after, from what I have heard.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

If we're speaking smut, I still highly recommend Demons Roots for being really amazing, even the hardcore smut stuff does horror way more effectively than most games.

In general VNs/JRPGs with smut that I recommend:
* Bladr Sky - Really fun customizing your robot, makes you feel like a god by the end.
* Kamidori alchemy meister - See the Ssseth review.
* Aselia the Eternal - Pretty sure it has a patch for it, really fun tactical battle that while being more rock paper scissors, has enough elements in it to not feel braindead.

 

[Namekian George Floyd]

So I'm about an hour into disc 2 of Xenogears and I can immediately tell they were really rushing to compress the story of multiple games down into one which is sad because the story of disc 1 alone is basically a masterpiece.

I'm surprised this game never got an anime because it literally has multiple arcs with clearly defined beginnings, climaxes and conclusions. Billy's arc is my favorite so far, it is literally the only example of the "Evil Church" trope I can think of that was actually done really well.

Also, Jesiah is the coolest character.