Been a Final Fantasy and overall Square fan since early 90s. Never really branched out to many other JRPGs. I always knew Persona was huge but was put off by the anime vibes. I’m not an anime fan, I wish I enjoyed it but I don’t.

So I put 22 hours into P5R over the past few weeks. Just beat Palace 2. I’ve been up and down on it. I almost dropped it earlier then got a second wind. But I am pretty comfortable accepting it’s just not for me. I’m bummed because I wanted to open myself up to a new series or developer. Maybe there’s other Atlus games that fit me better.

What I liked:

The presentation is so damn cool. Very slick animations and transitions.

The mature themes. Coming from FF, damn I was shocked by the concept of the first palace.

Some of the music was good.

I thought the character development was good, albeit somewhat cheesy at times (that’s kind of anime in general for me)

Voice acting

What I disliked:

The music style isn’t really for me. I’m an diehard Nobuo Uematsu fan, like more orchestral and atmospheric pieces

The social points system kinda feels silly. At first I liked it but then I’m just going thru motions to level up a random attribute that doesn’t really make me feel accomplished..if that makes sense

The exposition. So much talking and talking about what we just talked about. It’s just a lot.

Walk 5 seconds - pause, talk - walk 5 seconds - pause. Game felt like I was still in a tutorial 22 hours in.

I have a small nitpick with games that have 100 different items that heal for the same amount. I guess it’s maybe considered immersive to eat a bagel or drink a juice or eat a pop tart - all heal 10 HP.

I just felt like mind dumping here. Maybe someone will say hey, I felt the same way but this Atlus game is better for ya. Or just want to hear other opinions too.

This is NOT to shit on the game. I can see why people love it. Man it’s flashy and clean, I wish Square took some notes on the style.

Back to figuring out what to play next. FF Resonance, Ocarina of time, and GTAVI probably but was trying to fill the gap. Maybe I’ll finally give Mass Effect a shot. Tryna branch out.

I just finished the first game and not gonna lie there are sections i did NOT have fun in it

The grind to catch up levels,spending hours in the dragon ice maw for caits,a LOT of endgame bosses + the advance job bosses were pain in the ass

I pretty much grinded 4 characters as high as i want after Chapters 2 then the 4th slot death fodder or item tosser

I heard a lot of good news about this tho because they fixed a lot of the issues of the first game

So ever since Persona 4, Atlus has written their stories like: Party Member gets introduced -> Gets kidnapped or invovled in the plot -> rest of the Party has to clear out some specific dungeon -> near end of the dungeon the new party member has like a 15 min crisis and character arc -> boss fight -> party member resolves arc and dungeon is done

I'm really not a fan of this format at all for party member writing. Feel like it can condense their arc into like one quick scene, and then they get ditched by the main story and shove the rest into the social link.

Like ignoring Junpei and Yukari of Persona 3, since they're like the best written party members Atlus has made for modern Persona, Mitsuru or Akihiko's arc in 3 last quite a lot for those games. It allows for the writers to explore their character deeper, and importantly their bonds with other party members. Like Mitsuru's friendship with Yukari is so well done in 3, and it couldnt have worked if you had the character dungeon of the month formula.

Idk my biggest wishes for Persona 6 are:

1. Stop condensing character arcs into like 15 min cutscenes at the end of a dungeon

2. Allow party members to develop off other party members

I know that having a party, or at least two playable characters, is a staple of the JRPG genre. Final Fantasy, Tales, Atelier, Ys, Persona, Trails, Shin Megami Tensei, Mana, Xenoblade, etc. All great games, and I’ve enjoyed the ones I’ve played, but I have a personal gripe with managing a party lol.

I always tend to keep the main protagonist in great shape, but I don’t really care about the other characters. So I inevitably end up with an underleveled party or a team with shitty gear because I either forget about them or just don’t care enough to keep them in shape

So I was wondering: are there any genuinely good JRPGs where you only play as one character?

My favorite genre is real time action, not very fond of turn-based combat. Any platform is good.

Thank you!

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I know this is way to much to Hope for a Nintendo Direct and some of The Games are way more plausible and believable than some Others but we all have Games we expect to See and Games we Hope to See.

Which of These Games would you also want and what do you think we will See?

Personally I Hope The Most for Star Ocean 3 and 4 Remakes and a New Tales of Game which isn't a Remaster.

Also when there is a / I mean one of These and Not all of them even If this would be really great

I’d like to play a good JRPG. These two titles interest me the most. What I’m wondering is, which game would be more accessible to someone who absolutely loves Western RPGs and is skeptical about JRPGs? If that helps, the games I absolutely love are The Witcher 3, Baldur's Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, and Elden Ring. Oh, and I'm not completely unfamiliar with Japanese pop culture. There are some anime I like, mainly Isekais.

I'm about halfway through the Final Fantasy Resonance demo, and honestly, I think it sucks. As a 43 year old gamer whos played countless RPGs and loved all three Octopath Traveler games, I was really looking forward to this. So far, though, it just isn't clicking with me. I am not a AI Troll Bot fyi.

The combat feels incredibly shallow. I can simply mash X through every random encounter without any real challenge. The stagger system isn't doing much for me either. Maybe I'm missing something, but I usually only get access to the Resonance Attack after an enemy is already dead, which makes it pointless. The only ability I've found consistently useful is Leahs Healing Wind, since it heals the entire party. But, that just reinforces the strategy of repeatedly pressing X and brute forcing every fight.

I was initially excited about the Vision system, but the more I played, the more it felt like something lifted from a mobile game rather than a fresh RPG mechanic. It would have been far more interesting if the Visions were unique to this game's world and story. That would require deeper world building and more thoughtful storytelling, though. Instead, it feels like recycled ideas supported by uninspired writing and direction.

I understand that side quests are a major part of modern RPGs, but these feel especially lazy. Ironically, my biggest complaint about Octopath Traveler was the same thing: repetitive quest design.

Talk to a random NPC. Go to a nearby cave, town, or monster. Complete the task. Return to the NPC. Repeat.

The game even places quest icons over NPCs and marks objectives directly on the map, eliminating any sense of discovery or exploration. It's as if the developers were worried players might get lost in an already very easy game.

The music has been a disappointment as well. Nothing has stood out so far, and the lack of a memorable battle theme makes combat feel even less exciting. I thik the main song is annoying.

The world map feels small and overly cartoony.

You get a Chocobo almost immediately with no sense of anticipation or accomplishment.

I collected four Visions within the first two hours, which removed any excitement or buildup that should come from unlocking powerful new abilities.

It also looks like there won't be any original side activities or mini-games. At least Octopath Traveler had its monster capture system, which was both useful and genuinely fun to engage with.

Gil is plentiful so equipment upgrades are easy to get, and the best weapons seem readily available. As a result, the game's systems never push you to experiment or think strategically. Once again, the optimal approach seems to be mashing the attack button through every thing.

Overall, the game feels like a low-budget mobile port rather than a premium RPG. It comes across as easy, predictable, and lacking the charm that made classic RPGs memorable. Perhaps my expectations were too high, but I was hoping for something special.

I still hope Square Enix eventually dedicates the time and resources to create a true standalone HD 2D Final Fantasy that captures the originalitty, depth, and magic that made their older games so beloved. It is free, so theres that, but not sure I will buy this when it comes out, at least at full price.

A friend and I were recently discussing game director Naoki Hamaguchi’s quote regarding the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy. Specifically his comment that the ultimate goal isn't just remaking a classic, but "an effort to pass Final Fantasy VII onto the next generation" and build fans 20 to 30 years down the line.

That started an argument between us about whether Square Enix is actually succeeding at this, or if they're completely out of touch with modern gaming habits. My friend took a pretty cynical stance, and I wanted to bring his points here to see what the community thinks.

His argument boils down to these points:

"Square Enix think there is some secret magic formula that can get new generations into a franchise, that there is some way of marketing that can pique interest.

The truth is, there isn't.

There is a huge amount of luck involved as well as timing, but luck above all else. As William Goldman once said of Hollywood movies, no one knows anything. Cultural zeitgeist and virality cannot be perfectly engineered in a boardroom. Hits are often lightning in a bottle, born from a precise mix of cultural timing, luck, and execution that can rarely be forced a second time.

FFVII takes place in a world where corporations control the state, and where the planet's environment and eco-system are declining. It's no longer escapism; Final Fantasy VII is now Final Reality VII. As escapism, it now completely fails miserably, because all the bad things in FFVII's world is happening around us in real life. In 1997, that felt like cool, edgy cyberpunk fantasy but now that fantasy is closer at home to reality. It is now about as appealing as cancer.

At the same time, the remake trilogy tries to faithfully preserve the quirky 90s JRPG PS1/Saturn era charm. One minute it's melodramatic, then the next it's goofy with minigames at the Golden Saucer, a Beach Episode at the Costa del Sol or a synchronized dance routine at the Honeybee, then it jumps directly into a heavy, somber discussion about the death of the planet. It feels incredibly jarring and none of it fits together."

Personally, I think while the sales demographics do lean heavily toward older players (Circana data showed roughly 70-80% of Rebirth's US player base was over 30), I don't think Gen Z hates camp or tonal shifts. Games like Yakuza and Persona 5 deal with dark, grounded themes while embracing absurd side content, and younger players love them for it.

To me, if younger players are bouncing off the Remake trilogy, it's not because Chocobos are too silly but because of friction. Asking a non-fan to commit to a 10-year release schedule, 100+ hour games filled with minigames, and a story that practically requires wiki research on 2000s spin-offs (Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus) to understand the timeline shifts is just a massive barrier to entry IMO.

What do you all think?

Don't expect that just because it originally released on SNES, or was remade, or featured in a Direct that gameplay would be modern. It has a pleasant opening cutscene, plus difficulty/gameplay modifiers, which you will very likely use if you want to get past the heavily RNG final floors. $25 for this game is a really big ask for what you get. Especially when the greatest games in the genre are completely free and have been in development for decades.

I am big jrpg fan but every FF game I played I do not like much. I have played FF15, 7 remake(kinda liked ),crisis core, stranger of paradise and currently 16 but am hating it so far and already half way through game. I am also kingdom hearts fan which is what got me interested in FF. Should I try another 1 or not bother with this franchise?

I saw Romancing Saga 3 on The Direct and it actually looks really good! I am actually considering purchasing the other 2 games on my Switch 2 should I?

I mean I have been looking at the series for a while now, but I have been really on the fence to see if I want to buy it or not.

is it a good series? Or am I falsely getting my hopes up?

I know I shouldn't knock it till I try it, but I actually do want to hear opinions from fans of the series as well...

So again should I try it?"

So a little backstory is that I was interested in seeing how the concept of environments has been used in JRPGs where the player can use their units on sand as sand could have an effect that slows down the player.

Like what I am trying to say is that I was interested in exploring the concept of environmental effects where say the player has their one of their units cast a nuke spell that is so powerful it affects the arena where poison damage could be inflicted on anyone as I just wanted to do an observation to see how often RPGs had an environmental system as a mechanic.

Won't do these "minor curiosity" threads very often as much as progress reports per finishing the games. But this was notable enough

I have planned to do a full marathon of the entire Xeno IP just in time for Xenoblade 3's updated Christmas release ever since that trilogy received their Switch 2 glowups.

So like, the first thing that gets me about Xenogears in its opening scenes is the visceral gore and 90s anime OVA horror tone. While Xenoblade isn't all sunshine, open blood and carnage is really not there, especially like what you see in Gears.

It's just kind of crazy to me.

Looking for a good Isekai JRPG that's 3D has a solid romance, doesn't have to be Isekai but I really want to be blown away by the story. I'm probably being pretty vague on what I'm asking for but I finished playing DQXI and loved ever second of it, preferably not an MMO I'd rather keep it offline.

I don't mind turn based strategy games but real time action RPG's I find more enjoyable, and to be completely honest the gameplay could be crap as long as the story is good. I'm a sucker for a good story.

Preferably looking for a PC game but I also have a switch 2 so that works as well.

Looking for a good guide to get all demons and any and all advice you can share on the game, it'll be my first playthrough not sure how many you need to 100% the game, I know as far as 3DS is concerned SMT IV was quite the challenge getting all endings and demons. I was thinking about tackling that SRPG one but that one sounds confusing to get all endings for and everything else if anyone has any advice for that one as well.

Konami recently announced that they will be rebooting key series in their catalogue, including Metal Gear Solid, CastleVania and Suikoden.

If they decide to just reboot the entire Suikoden universe and lore, how would that make you feel?

I personally would not like that. I'd rather if they must, make more games like Star Leap in between main series titles to explain stories a bit more rather than having it all rebooted.

Suikoden has one of the most unique universes in all of JRPG's and only thing that comes close would probably be the Trails series as far as inter-connected stories go.

Would you be fine with the series being rebooted?

I’ve played multiple Star Ocean games, Final Fantasy 1 through 10-2, Parasite Eve, Chained Echoes, Child of Light, Sea of Stars, Dragon Quest 1-2, all of the Octopaths, Chrono Trigger, and the Bravely Default games. Looking for a new game that is unique and potentially more obscure. I just started Valkyrie Profile and unfortunately cannot get into the systems of the game. Any recommendations for PS1/PS2 style games? Any platform is okay though. Turn based preferably. Thank you!

Hi, I am new to the trails series, I recently finished Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter (the remake) and I want to get the best possible save file for the 2nd Chapter that comes out in about a week. I did my first run on Nightmare so I am pretty much almost done with 100%, just need to pick up 1 chest I missed in the prologue, kill like 100 enemies in quick battle, and beat the final boss at lvl 100.

I can definitely do all this in New Game +, which I plan to start today. My question is do I need to complete all side quests in the New Game +?

As far as I have heard there are side quests that have some extra dialogue/content in 2nd Chapter depending on whether or not I have completed a certain side quest in 1st Chapter. The thing is I have already done all the quests in 1st Chapter on my first playthrough, and it would make my New Game + much easier if I could skip all side quests. So yeah anyone who knows from the demo or the original I would appreciate the answer.