What JRPG game do you feel like is a must play or maybe one that people should stray away from? - r/JRPG (2025)

3

u/rashmotion2d ago

Finally took this advice, now in my mid-30s. I’m about 17 hours into my first playthrough ever.

3

u/deadering2d ago

I think especially it would be a great entry to the genre too since it's not too complicated or need to rely on a franchise of build up.

2

u/GregNotGregtech1d ago

After hearing everyone praise that game, I tried it a while ago and I dropped it very quickly because I was so underwhelmed

3

u/Mr2Sexy2d ago

I don't recommend the first 2 Final Fantasy games. I beaten them both last year for the GBA system and they are not fun. Very generic and boring storyline, simple battles, very easy bosses, no grand scale of adventure or accomplishment when the games were over

They are fine if you lower your expectations and just want to see how the Final Frantasy franchise started but they are just not good games by today's standards.

I highly recommend Final Fantasy 10 as it is an amazing game that still holds up to this day and is one of the best in the series

2

u/nickelfiend462d ago

I can see your argument for Final Fantasy II (kind of) but I feel like Final Fantasy still holds up today. It may be simple, sure, but it’s introduced a lot of foundations that make the FF series and a lot of JRPGs what they are today.

FF10 is still an amazing entry point, it’s my second favorite FF after 6. You can’t go wrong with it!

2

u/deadering2d ago

No offense but hell nah. They did NOT age well and even a lot of hardcore JRPG fans wouldn't enjoy them these days, let alone someone new to the genre. They are extremely shallow in terms of story and extremely basic in every way. I would argue they are some of the biggest contenders for "stay away".

2

u/MultiColoredMullet2d ago

I havent played any Trails games. Best place to start?

7

u/testcaseseven2d ago

You pretty much have to start with Trails in the Sky to understand the overall story as the characters from those games are significant in the later games.

6

u/Ugh_Names2d ago

It is a continuous story so start with the first one (Trails in the Sky First Chapter)

There's a lot of love and throwbacks in the series so playing from the beginning is the best bet.

2

u/Default2902d ago

I would highly recommend starting from the very beginning, The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. The Trails games are highly connected story wise, with recurring characters and flashbacks that you'll understand better if you played them chronologically. So that's what I recommend you do.

It's a game my brother recommended to me that I never thought I would genuinely like this much.

2

u/MultiColoredMullet2d ago

Thanks! extracting the rom right now, just installed a psp emulator on my phone. This thing, plays ps1 games with high performance demand (like FF8) no problem, so we'll see how it runs ahaha.

1

u/Default2902d ago

Yo, that was quick! Enjoy the game! Anddd, if you happen to want to try more PSP games, I'm playing Persona 1 rn and having loads of fun.

2

u/MultiColoredMullet2d ago

Ive played 3r, 4, and 5. Definitely gonna get into the earlier ones eventually here.

1

u/testcaseseven2d ago

Trails is a good pick since it's so forgiving and has systems to prevent players from getting stuck, like retry offset and certain "optional" wins.

2

u/superstorm12d ago

that is very true! I will note though that trails in the sky though does have some exceptionally challenging bosses especially in the second game though. I still remember struggling quite a bit against a number of the bosses in the final stretch of the game.

1

u/j__rodman1d ago

I'm curous why you have such a divide here. Feel free to point me to other comments or discussions if this is well-tread ground.

4

u/TheFirebyrd1d ago

BDII is hated by a vocal part of the fanbase because it changed the battle system from fully turn-based to more ATB and it lacked a lot of polish because it released in early 2021 and its development was clearly affected by the pandemic. I personally enjoyed it. It wasn’t as good as BD or Bravely Second, but it was still fun and I get they couldn’t exactly anticipate a global pandemic hindering their ability to work right at the point polishing is done. Due to this, I think some people are too hard on it. Also, there was some weird hatred for Elvis having a “fake” Scottish accent which was ridiculous, because I had an actual Scottish friend that sounded just like him.

1

u/j__rodman1d ago

Interesting. They both feel a bit shallow but entertaining to me. Haven't tried second.

1

u/TheFirebyrd1d ago

BS is a sequel to BD. It’s worth playing imo.

1

u/samososo1d agoedited 1d ago

BD2 wears being generic on it's shoulder & BD1 at least tries to make an attempt to present polished game but generic game. In specific, Long time fans were not served the things that they wanted to from a possible BD sequel. it was clearly made in pandemic.

3

u/twili-midna2d ago

minimum to no flaws

Blitzball and the rest of the minigames, Seymour, the Cloisters, and the postgame would like to say hello….

2

u/MetalPunk1252d ago

The only one here that was annoying is blitzball (not the lore, the mechanics) and it’s entirely optional. You only have to play one game and you don’t even have to win. Doesn’t seem like a very valid comment. The cloisters were great.

1

u/markg90011h ago

Cloisters being great is subjective. I personally hated some of the later ones but I'm also not a big fan of forced puzzle mechanics in games like this nor am I very good at them. And those were very much mandatory.

3

u/FineAndDandy262d ago

I don't think it's really fair to say almosy entirey optional minigames are flaws of a game, neither is a lacking post game, as it's post-GAME.

2

u/twili-midna2d ago

That’s a ridiculous take ngl. Both are part of the game, content that was created, included, and in the case of the minigames, required to get the ultimate weapons for the characters. They can and should be criticized for being awful.

3

u/superstorm12d ago

If you were to assess the game from the standpoint of a completionist then yes they are flaws to the game. However, for newcomers to the game they are all content that don't need to be suffered through to explore the main narrative of the game. I would argue that those mini games could also be somewhat fun for someone whos only doing them once or twice as a break from the main game over something to be grinded till the point of hatred for a weapon or an item.

1

u/twili-midna1d ago

Blitzball and Lightning dodging are both required to advance the main story. Not nearly to the terrible extent needed to get the Celestial weapons, but they do directly negatively impact the part of the game everyone has to experience. But beyond that, any discussion of a game’s flaws will necessarily be taken from a complete view of the game. Saying “oh, if you ignore this part of the game it’s perfect” is utterly ridiculous.

2

u/superstorm11d ago

For a first time playthrough of the game though it is simplistic and fast enough to not negatively impact the game. Blitzball when played only for the segment thats required I felt was a fun little distraction and also added a layer of immersion of actual competition. Lightning dodging while can be frustrating a little again it can be argued it adds immersion to that area of that map and is also a minor segment. I will agree with you though in that saying a game is perfect is bad cause I'd argue that perfection is impossible to reach for anything. The original poster did also highlight that it was no flaws to minimum flaws so if you really do want to continue to argue that the lightning and stuff are flaws, then okay I'll agree with you they can be but I wouldn't say they would be anything beyond a minimal flaw to the game for a first timer of the genre.

1

u/jlandejr2d ago

The post-game? What are you even talking about lmao. This is the first time I've ever seen someone say they think the post-game is flawed. I'm really interested in an explanation there

2

u/twili-midna2d ago

It’s nothing but challenge fights that require endless hours of grinding to even remotely stand a chance.

3

u/jlandejr2d ago

Idk, celestial weapons, multiple dungeons, secret aeons, monster capturing are all things as well and maybe I'm just looking at it with rose colored glasses but barely any games have good post-games like this anymore.

4

u/twili-midna2d ago

Celestial weapons are locked behind some of the worst minigames ever conceptualized.

There’s one dungeon and it’s just okay as far as I remember.

The secret Aeons are fine, but then we circle back to the Cloisters being awful for one of them.

Monster capturing is endless grinding to make the monster arena usable to do more endless grinding.

Everything in X that isn’t the main quest is tedious at best and downright awful at worst, and even then parts of X’s main quest cross those lines as well.

1

u/delheit1d ago

I love blitzball sometimes I boot up FFX just to play some blitzball

u/TaliesinMerlin1d ago

Why are you naming awesome elements of the game?

Not joking. I love Blitzball and could spend an entire session playing just it. The Cloister puzzles are top-tier JRPG puzzle-solving. Seymour is a powerful mechanics test to see if players understand how to use the tools at their disposal. And the postgame is entirely optional, so I don't mind how grindy it is.

1

u/Industrygiant22d ago

Uh…Tidus wears shorts!

2

u/[deleted]2d ago

[deleted]

2

u/xileos2d ago

TIDUS!

1

u/rashmotion2d ago

Would you recommend playing this one first? Or starting with 1 or 2?

2

u/Jezza06922d ago

I recommended starting with 1 and only skipping 4 because it's not that great

1

u/Default2902d ago

I respect your opinion about the game, but since we're all individuals here, we experience games differently. The OP might actually enjoy it, in contrast with your experience, so I think it's best if they try it and develop their own opinions about it as well.

-6

u/Benkyougin2d ago

Yeah, I get a lot of people enjoy it, I said as much, but the odds that a random person who isn't already into JRPGs enjoys it is low, like I can't overstate how much almost everyone would agree it's objectively bad. Like by most standards of literature, storytelling, pacing, it's just bad. Some people like it, fine, but realize most people will not. Something like FFX is probably a better start, which seems to have an extremely broad appeal.

3

u/XMetalWolf1d ago

said as much, but the odds that a random person who isn't already into JRPGs enjoys it is low, like I can't overstate how much almost everyone would agree it's objectively bad

I mean, I'm 3/3 on this, got 3 friends who've never played a JRPG before to try it and they all loved it.

I mean no offence by this but, it just sounds like you're mistaking your narrow-minded perspective of things as an "objective" stance.

It is not uncommon of course, when faced with not understanding why something is loved, people often tend to throw around the word "objective" as an easy way out. "People enjoy this but it is objectively bad" is a very self-limiting mindset. It is easier to simply state something is bad than ever accept maybe we lack the ability to understand where its strengths lie.

At the end of the day, being able to appreciate a work is a matter of perspective.

u/Benkyougin1d ago

I mean no offence by this but, it just sounds like you're mistaking your narrow-minded perspective of things as an "objective" stance.

Not really. Look, I know ultimately art is subjective, but at least in some broad strokes we can generally say something like The Room is a bad movie. If you like The Room that's fine, you can like whatever you want, but it's perfectly normal to then say "oh this guy really likes bad movies" if that is the case. If you're young or you have an abnormally high tolerance for bad dialog, flat characters, poor pacing, etc, I could see how you could get into it or you could get into it for reasons despite these flaws, but it still is what it is.

people often tend to throw around the word "objective" as an easy way out.

No offense, but it's obviously the opposite. "It's subjective" is a lazy way to attack someone for critiquing a work. You don't have to explain why you like it or why they're wrong about their critiques, you just get offended by the notion that someone critiqued it at all.

u/Default2902d ago

It can get pretty overwhelming at first, ngl. And there are characters that annoy the hell out of me (I'm looking STRAIGHT at Tita's mother that woman makes my skin crawl. What. Is. Her. Problemmmm?) But above all that, it was actually pretty fun on my end. I guess I can be a bit more forgiving with cliche stuff, as long as it doesn't go too overboard.

-1

u/Benkyougin2d ago

Yeah, like I'm really into anime and I have a high tolerance for things in anime that other people are going to find cringey. But if I'm introducing to someone to anime I'm not going to start them out with KonoSuba, I'm going to start them out with Cowboy Bebop or something.

u/superstorm11d agoedited 1d ago

I will say cold steel in general can be a very big miss because of alot of issues with it some of which you've mentioned (I'm a fan of trails and even I found cold steel bad at the beginning). For the first two arcs of trails though (trails in the sky series and trails from zero/trails to azure), while they can be troupey, for anyone who genuinely likes to explore a world, those games do alot. So for a newcomer, it depends. If you are going to be someone who wants to talk to everyone, trails does a great job and making you feel like you are in a living breathing world since NPC dialogue and just overall their own personal story for the trails game evolves much better compared to other JRPGs. If you are someone who just wants to do the main quests and go from point A to B and explore only the main narrative then trails probably isn't the best first JRPG cause while trails can do that, the main narratives gain alot of their strength from the world building and also from sticking with the games cause the second games in each arc are always when things get significantly more serious.

1

u/Benkyougin1d ago

That's good to know, maybe I'll throw Trails in the Sky on the backlog. I would definitely agree that one big positive of the game is that the world does feel more lived in.

1

u/superstorm11d ago

great to hear! If you thought cold steel already felt lived in, Trails in the Sky FC is even better at it! Even though I don't normally care about NPCs and stuff usually when I play JRPGs this one got me so intrigued in them it was super high quality in being able to do that. Like the general premise of the first game is that you play as a bracer who goes around helping people and I genuinely felt like a bracer with how they designed the quests and the progression of the story. Its great for immersion in that sense. I digress though XD anyways though I hope you have a great experience with it if you do eventually get to it!

-4

u/[deleted]2d ago

[deleted]

u/Benkyougin2d ago

Yeah, I do like that in games. I wanted to get to the end just to get the decision you get to make at the end.

3

u/J5392d ago

I really dislike X. Never got into it, and I’ve played a lot of FFs or Jrpgs in general

-1

u/deadering2d ago

What do you really dislike about it?

2

u/TheFirebyrd1d ago

I hated the characters and the voice acting and all the systems except the summoned monsters. Then I got Yuna yanked away for story purposes and life sucked until she got back. Then I had to kill my summons, which both sucked because they were the only part of the game that I liked and really sucked because they were OP and my characters sucked. Then the actual last boss was the dumbest fight ever that I’m pretty sure you can’t lose.

I really, really hate FFX. I’ve joked for decades that I have a blood feud with it going back centuries. It was funny, I actually brought it up the other day and my husband started talking about stuff I hated about it that I didn’t even remember anymore from when I played it back in 2003 or whatever. I must have ranted about it a lot that he remembers my hatred even better than I do. 😂

3

u/EtrianFF72d ago

Party is genuinely unlikeable

1

u/MazySolis1d ago

I personally don't like its ability to pivot characters around so easily alongside some whack balance. I play RPGs mechanically to build parties and see how their systems and character designs interplay with each other. FF10 is more like a colorful matching game where I pick characters however I need them then any of that and most encounters don't make that fun or interesting.

I also played FF10 nearly 2 decades after it came out because I just grew up without classic era FF in my childhood despite being of the age where I assume most here did play it, so what I want from it wildly differs from what I assume most people want in RPG combat.

u/J5392d ago

Had to rewrite my initial comment at the end lol.

I don't think I can deliver you an answer that might satisfy you. Ive played the game till Belvelle and quit it because I just didn't have much fun with it. Like just overall the game never really clicked with me to a degree that I was really into it and had fun with it. I love 12, 7 and the remakes. Had fun with 13, 15 and also really enjoyed 16, while also having loads of fun with 9 rn for example. But 10 never really did it for me lol. Have to admit tho that I never really played any FF pre 7. Planning on playing 6 tho

1

u/Forward_Geologist_672d ago

I never was about to get into FFX, I don’t know what it was about it but I suppose it felt very “of the time” in a way that the others I’d played at the time (FF6, FF9) didn’t. I played all of them in 2021 so perhaps it’s different for someone who went backwards instead of someone who experienced it when it was new.

3

u/Nulight2d ago

Bad take. All 3 xenoblade chronicles games are great.

-4

u/fatgamer0072d ago

Nah

1

u/Nulight1d ago

Bad take. Real Xenoblade fans appreciate all the work they put into all 3 of those games.

u/fatgamer0071d ago

Not if the game is bad. Also X erasure

1

u/Nulight1d ago

Why is 2 bad? I was talking about the xenoblade chronicles games.. not X

u/fatgamer00723h ago

X is a xenoblade chronicles game, it's part of the title. 2 has great music, area design and combat but everything else ranges from mid to horrible

1

u/EtrianFF72d ago

It's the opposite

u/fatgamer0071d ago

Worst take of all time

2

u/MazySolis1d ago

Fire Emblem Fates Conquest is fun if you skip or riff on the story like I do, one of the best SRPGs mechanically for sure. Good balance between choice without too much that everything becomes a blur or a contest of stacking as many of a -class- as you possibly can with no effort. It also has very transparent combat in a way few JRPGs are which I think is worth experiencing. Everyone should play a solid Fire Emblem game for the SRPG combat and Fate is easily in the upper crust of that.

1

u/alienratfiend1d ago

Conquest was the best of the three paths imo, but I would’ve probably never played Fire Emblem again if that was the first game I had played in the series. The only way I got through all three paths was by ignoring the story, like you said. I think Awakening would be a better intro to the series because it has these fun battle mechanics (and tons of replay value) with a more consistent story and lore.

I haven’t played these games since I was 16, though, so I apologize if I’m not being fair to them

1

u/MazySolis1d ago

I personally think Awakening has very weak gameplay and has some bullshit difficulty that's extremely front loaded. Its story isn't even that good its just not atrociously bad.

While its arguable if Fates Conquest is the best entry point depends on the person's experience with strategy games and what they want, I think its still worth playing.

I don't think you're being unfair, I think Fates' story is atrocious and I think a relevant number of people won't have my issues with Awakening given its popularity once upon a time. But as a pure SRPG gameplay experience, Conquest is a very well put together game that's as simple or as complicated as you make it which is a pretty rare trait.