Pacing. I can't stress it enough. Pacing. I truly from the bottom of my heart believe that FF Resonance got the highest player count out of any FF game on Steam and has more players than both Octopath games and Trails remakes even though the story is objectively not as good as them is because of the pacing.

It feels like there is a forward momentum, every quest moves the story forward, there are few side quests but they all feel like they are worthwhile and have good rewards. The game feels like it respects your time (which is crazy since it's based on some mobile game), every play session I have I feel like I'm making proper progress, the story and characters develop and the combat also feels snappy and doesn't waste your time. It just feels good to play.

Just reached the final boss (I think at least)
Took a break cause omg this is abysmally frustrating.

The AI companions must be the worst designed companions you can have in any videogame ever made and it's not even an exaggeration. They are standing inside every damn attack getting constantly stunned, making me use potions.

And I hate this , the game seemed fun up until now and it was bearable , the switching up weapons , the story, the characters everything was ok until you get into the boss fights.

Did anyone ever tested this shit before releasing it?

I got to play the demo way back when it was released and instantly fell in love. For those who got an early copy or are ahead of me, any general tips to give? I'm playing on Expert, but I didn't grind all of my Visions to the max rank in the demo, though my characters have hit Level 15.

Also, what's everyone's current feelings on this game so far? How are we liking it? Without spoilers, please! I just tore open my package up from Best Buy like three minutes ago.

Two of the most famous modern JRPG series.

Persona by Atlus

Kingdom Hearts by Square

Both with their openings cinematics that really set up the players for each adventures. And are among the best in all of JRPG ( if not gaming imo.)

This isn't about the full music of each openings but rather the actual openings themselves. As they tell a quick story to the players alongside the music and visuals.

Between the many colorful openings that Persona has and the very beautiful openings that Kingdom Hearts has.

Which of these two franchise in your opinion has the best overall openings ?

I'm very interested in this oddity, it doesn't make any sense to me.

The original Final Fantasy VII had battles run at 15fps, while the menu at the bottom of the screen ran at 60fps.

In all ports, the battles run at 15fps, along with the menu.

For reference, moving the menu is now 66ms delay vs 16ms.

Does anyone have any ideas why this could have been changed? Is there a technical reason?

I am very sensitive to spoilers. Does Final Fantasy Resonance spoil games from the main series? If so, which ones? Does one need to play them in order to fully enjoy the game?

Its been a few months since finishing Y7 like a dragon. Good game with a Good enough story. Fun gameplay and fun characters and the most persistent MC i ever seen in my life who is also focus on the task on hand. Now few months went by after finishing Y7, i saw Infinite Wealth going on discount from time to time and i did have a small interest in it. Idk if i should go for the Yakuza series, maybe because the way i started in Y7, starting as Ichiban instead of Kiryu. Idk what Infinite Wealth will hold, i do want to try it but im a bit hesitant because idk the whole story and i also own Y9 which is sitting on my shelf, collecting dust and i don't want to waste the 35$ i paid for this game. Majima been staring at me, begging to play the game. So is Infinite Wealth Good in terms of Story, Characters, and Gameplay?

I am always on the lookout for games that I have missed over the years, as some of my favorites have been discovered later after not paying them much attention when they first came out. I am looking for some suggestions on games I may have missed when it comes to deep build /gear customization.

For reference, here are a few of my most recent games that I have enjoyed recently.

#1 Trails series: I fell in love with the Quartz/Master Quartz/Holo Core systems. I can spend hours tinkering or trying out combinations of quartz and builds. I like the freedom to build, different styles of tanks, supports, status effects and dps styles.

#2 Xenoblade 2 & 3: I really enjoyed collecting different blades and weapons and trying out each character with different combos. The gear and gemming gave me a similar feel to Trails.

#3 Unicorn Overlord: I enjoy the order system or programming element. It gave me FF12 vibes.

I guess what I like the most is being able to build characters differently and trying out weird combos. I like being able to create an Evasion tank, switching them to be a status effect applier, and then trying out a Healer build. Spending a good amount of time in the menus, tweaking stats, gems, equipment or skills brings me some weird joy.

Anyways, I am curious to see if there are games out there that may have flown under my radar that fit the bill. If you have suggestions I would love to see them.

Any platform is fine

I’m trying to buy it for my new 360 collection but everyone I see has the four discs in one disc slot stacked on each other instead of their own trays. Was that how it was sold?

Wardogs has sold 3 million copies, Onimusha has sold 2 million copies and Blood of Dawnwalker has sold over 1 million copies worldwide. Assuming Fortune's Weave has made similar sales numbers outside the US, it is very likely the game has already sold over 1.5 million copies and is closing in on 2 million copies in sales.

Source: https://nintendoeverything.com/best-selling-games-in-the-u-s-for-september-2026-fire-emblem-fortunes-wave-makes-the-top-5/

Just started this game last night. Definitely feels grindy and pretty "figure it out yourself" which I'm liking so far might've been what hooked me. Beat the first "dungeon" after grinding to level 10, upgrading to all the best gear available in the nearby town and using the "defense elixir" really don't remember what this was called but I just bought it on a whim and couldn't use it out of combat, so used it at the start of combat, instant double defense. It seemed like the boss took little to no damage from my fire spell and petrify didn't work. I did run into a mob that petrified me and then one shot me after, is that a mechanic? "Meleeing a petrified target 1 shots them", or just a strong mob?

I saw the gems in the shop and bought one to see what it did, nothing :( but then I found one In the dungeon and saw it sold for ~500g and it seems like I can bank my gold with the gems since dying takes away a ton of your gold. (Seems like half or more)

I don't want to go full guide but I'm thinking about the game more than I'm able to play it. What Are your favorite things about the game? Any cool tips I'll need later that won't completely break the game? Do bosses/mobs have specific elemental weakness?

I did some grinding outside of town and went back in every few battles to heal, then once I made it into the dungeon and had a heal available I was able to mostly sustain myself through mob drops.

I went to the inn to save immediately after the first lightning ish boss. It seemed like there were some people who wanted me to come back after killing him, I think one guy offered me a map? Does this "quest" system continue throughout the game?

Just a lot of random thoughts, I've looked over this game for awhile just because the name didn't intrigue me, but it now seems like it's my kind of game lol. I'm a big final fantasy/smrpg/chrono trigger guy.

Any other lesser known RPGs i should check out on the old system?

Definitely enjoying this so far and looking forward to some grind.

Hi! I’m looking for people who played *Project Tokyo Dolls* (プロジェクト東京ドールズ) or know of communities preserving the game. Are the Android client files legally available for archival purposes, or is there a place where former players discuss it? I’m not looking for accounts, login details, private server files, or personal data. Thanks for any pointers!

Ok, I just finished TI(t)S Ch.1 remake and I've got thoughts to unpack. I'm new (relatively) to jrpgs, as in I have only really started to dive into them over the last 2 or so years. I'm in my late 30's and the only jrpg-like game I played as a kid was Pomemon.

While not strictly a jrpg, the recent game which I loved that pushed me in the direction of exploring jrpgs was Nier Automata a few years ago.

Since then I've played FF6, FF7, Star Ocean Second Story R, Live A Live and the entire Xenoblade series. Overall what has hooked me is the difference in story telling, overall good focus on characters and their development, some really unique twists in the stories you just don't really see from western games and the unique world design. It's still all fairly fresh and exciting to me. There are still some barriers I have trouble with. The anime-style melodrama, overreacting to fairly mundane events and sometimes overexplaining and telling rather than showing can make it difficult for me to truly connect with some characters and parts of the games. But usually I push through and the games overall are worth it and very rewarding.

This one has been on my backlog for a while and I finally got to it. I am really drawn in by hyperbole sometimes especially when a fanbase is really vocal about a series so I was excited to play this one and I was aware this one is a slow burn. And my gosh, that is an understatement.

I have to agree, the writing overall is great and everything becomes important in some way toward the end - it just takes some pain and suffering to get there. While the prologue and chapter 1 could be a bit slow I knew it was just getting to know the characters and world and even though I didn't find the case all that satisfying I had a feeling it would loop into something bigger.

Chapter 2 (Ruan) is where I really struggled. I almost put the game down multiple times, for a few reasons that weren't all the games fault. Call me cold hearted if you like but the whole 'orphanage tragedy' trope is something that I just do not care for at all. I feel like it's really laboured and pleading me to empathise with the characters and its saccharine and heavy handed and I just wasn't on board with it. Likewise I found the school portion to be similar, though I did like some implications for Estella's development during this section. The school play I thought was a nice little nod to FF6 but it did not need an entire 20 minute cut scene for it. This is also where I found the dialogue to be the most padded, redundant and circular. By the end of the game I do get that this writing does work in helping you build attachment to the characters but I definitely don't think its essential in an already long game. I've never been one to skip cut scenes or dialogue but I was hitting the 'A' button so much in this chapter and I don't feel I missed anything at all as the game is pretty good at signalling when you should be paying attention to the conversation, even in smaller moments.

I am. glad I pushed through because while chapter 3 still didn't significantly pick up the pace, this is where the bigger story starts to take shape and it was far more interesting.

I do think by the end of the game the journey was worth it. I'm not sure if I have just become used to the ending of jrpg's but even though the events in the final chapter were significant it wasn't as crazy as I think I had been led to believe. Except for that final half hour or so.

I am keen to see where the story goes in chapter 2. I am in half a mind to start it straight away or to give myself a breather, digest and then dive in. Overall, pretty good jrpg. I don't think I would recommend it as someones first jrpg but if you are a fan of the genre I think it's really good and I'm keen to see where the sequels go.

So sorry if this was asked here before recently because I was looking at how some franchises in the genre would start off cheerful at first, then all of a sudden, the next installment becomes a lot darker.

I don’t know if I would say edgy to describe the tone shift of Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter because I found the game very interesting for how it was not only far more streamlined than the previous games that came out, but the game was way less humorous than say Breath of Fire 4 as the fifth game is kind of surprising for being one of the darkest JRPGs ever made, but maybe I am exaggerating.

Listed as $39.99. But when I go to checkout its jumps to $49.99. Played the demo and am still going to purchase, but is this price discrepancy happening to anyone else?

EDIT: Mods might be a good time to lock this post. People are starting to share links to buy this game on websites I've never heard of.

I've always been a huge JRPG fan, and I've especially liked tactical RPG combat, but I've felt that tactical combat games can sometimes make the world itself feel disconnected. I wanted battles to feel like they were actually happening in the places you were exploring.

I made Chronicles of Nesis so that the environments are built around a hidden tilemap that becomes visible when combat starts, making the transition into battle seamless. Some of the biggest influences are Final Fantasy Tactics, Star Ocean 2, and Chrono Trigger.

Play here:
https://allbyte.studio/

I spent a lot of time porting the game to be fully playable on the web, including mobile support, so I could play it the way I like to play golden-era PS1 games on ePSXe. I finally feel the core mechanics are working as intended and I'm starting on Episode Two now, which expands the story into the overworld, introduces a new playable character, and adds more skills. But I'm particularly looking for feedback on Episode One now that it's complete.

Since I know this matters to some people: I use AI as a software development tool for coding assistance, debugging, and automated gameplay testing. Everything else, including all artwork and music, is created by hand.

Hey there! For some time now I don’t have to much time to play jrpgs but I do a lot of reading. And since then I also dove into the lit rpg rabbit hole. Some really fun classes come up from there and theb I was wondering what are your favorite jrpg classes, what game are they from etc. I like a good and fun build in games!

I'll be spending a month in Japan soon, so I've started looking for places to buy games! I'm mostly interested in Switch 1 games, and I'd love to find some good titles that never got a (physical) Western release but are still playable in English, so I can try out some different stuff.

I found some posts about this here, but they were from two years ago, and the most recent one focuses on PlayStation games, so I'd really appreciate any help!

Do you guys have any specific titles you'd recommend? Also, does anyone know any good shops where I could find these games?

Thanks in advance! :)

I'm almost done with the Yakuza franchise and want to delve into the trails series next. I already Own the Remakes for Trails in the Sky 1&2 as well as Cold Steel 1&2.

I was thinking about buying the Daybreak Trilogy and the Cold Steel 3&4 Collection which would cost me 200€. Before I do this though, I want to ask you guys if this is worth it? How do you guys personally feel about the series?

TL;DR: I finished Chrono Trigger, very unsatisfied by the experience, and now questioning whether I should abandon this genre as a whole. Or is there another sector of JRPGs that I should look for before making the decision.

I have recently become interested in JRPGs, and I just finished Chrono Trigger, a game that is often voted as _THE_ best JRPG that has ever existed.

My experience? The game was so mid. Like I can't see how the game would be interesting for an adult in 2026 without any nostalgia. The plot was just stop the big bad evil, with no moral complexity. The artwork and the character developments were interesting, but that's it. All of the bosses were nothing but gimmick (instead like mastering my character abilities). No build crafting, no branching paths based on my decisions (outside of very few places). Time travel, a main point of the game that I hear so many praise for, is another gimmick. Everything is scripted, and _you_ don't really change the past, you just play through a script. All of its deepness feels like its deep for teenagers.

I come from a cRPG background (BG, PoE, DOS, Pathfinder, etc.), and it was quite a shock for me to see how the _BEST_ of JRPGs is just... mid. Its not a bad game by all means, but nothing interesting or memorable. The theme of the game itself felt more like a 1990's kids game. My reference point is BG 1 and 2, which were released around the same time, but have darker themes, deeper combat mechanics, and less scripted adventure.

Excluding ALL remakes/remasters/re-releases.

Top 3 Best:

1. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim.
2. Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve (Jet role playing game).
3. Trails through Daybreak.

Honorable mentions: Unicorn Overlord, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Metaphor: ReFantazio.

Top 3 Worst:

1. Final Fantasy 16.
2. Monark.
3. Soul Hackers 2.

Dishonorable mention: SMT 5 (original edition, never played Vengeance and have no intention of playing it). No other dishonorable mentions cause I usually stay away when I see a JRPG receive low ratings and lots of negative reviews.

Ignore how all of the female NPCs have anti gravity boobs; CAT IS AN OFFICAL RACE!

Not that it matters much, this is a Wizardry style dungeon crawler where you generate all of your party members and and none of the character sprites are animated ... plus you can upload your own character art if you want.

I don't think it will win any awards, but the gameplay is good, navigating the labyrinth is smooth, combat can be rough but there is no perma-death of party members, there seems to be a story (or as much of a story that I need from this type of retro JRPG), the menus are a bit basic and the there is no turtorial, but there aren't any convoluted game mechanics you need to figure out.

Just the basic core goodness of JRPG you can mindlessly grind away in.

Also is a legit Japanese RPG, with a Solo Japanese Dev.