Top 5 JRPGS for the PC

[forgottenlor]

Over the last two years I've played a few Jrpgs and have been pleasantly surprised. I'm just getting into and very much enjoying the Valkyria Chronicles, but also really enjoyed Trails of the Sky, Elminage:Gothic, and Final Fantasy 3. I was less fond of Recateer and the Last Remanent. I'm looking to eventually expand my JRPG catalogue, but am overwhelmed by the sheer number of Jrpgs now on steam. I figured I'd profit immensely if people could share their top 5.

 

[forgottenlor]

So, I'm not sure I approached this topic the right way, and decided to list a number of possible titles I might be interested in. Could anyone recommend any of the following:

The Y's series. Is there anyone which is easily playable with K+m?
Tales of Zestria
Tales of Symphonia
Fairy Fencer F
Aragest series
Celestian Tales
Tales of Wuxia
Dynasty Warriors
Grandia 2 Has it aged well?
Disgea
Hyperdimension Neptunia

 

[Aubrielle]

Forgottenlor, in order to answer your question a little better, I just started up Ys: The Oath in Felghana. It's KB+M friendly, but it takes some tweaking. It's not 100% smooth since the config menu likes to leave one of your mouse buttons locked up for the option of mouse movement (like in Diablo). But if you bind movement to WASD and attack/talk/OK to LMB with jump to space, it's not too bad. If I remember right, Ys I + II were playable with KB+M too, though a controller is much better for the Ys series. And by the way, Ys is a fun series. It doesn't have quite the depth of, say, Legend of Heroes, but it's great if you're in more of a twitchy, hack-and-slash mood. And they all have a really good soundtrack, especially the first one.

I've only played Hyperdimension Neptunia 1 so far, but it's actually not very well optimized for KB+M. I mean you can definitely do it but the publisher didn't go a long way toward making it KB+M friendly. I haven't played Fairy Fencer F yet but my guess is that it's almost identical in the controls area since it's almost identical to Hyperdimension Neptunia.

Celestian Tales is a nice game, and since it was made for the PC (I don't think this one has a console release at all) it's definitely KB+M friendly. I played with the gamepad, I think, so I couldn't tell you how it plays otherwise. I'll have to reinstall to find out.

Tales of Zestiria is definitely KB+M friendly. That's how I played it, and it plays really nice.

Agarest is alright with KB+M, though it's slightly awkward.

And I am really really curious about Arslan: Warriors of Legend, if anyone has any info. It's a Dynasty Warriors-style game, too.


Oh! And on a J-Non-RPG note, Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence is made for PC and it's really good. Though it's stupidly expensive…try to get it on sale or find some other way of playing it. ^.^;;

 

[BoboTheMighty]

Sakura clicker seems to be latest hit, according to Steam. Simple story, but rich character development.

 

[forgottenlor]

Forgottenlor, in order to answer your question a little better, I just started up Ys: The Oath in Felghana. It's KB+M friendly, but it takes some tweaking. It's not 100% smooth since the config menu likes to leave one of your mouse buttons locked up for the option of mouse movement (like in Diablo). But if you bind movement to WASD and attack/talk/OK to LMB with jump to space, it's not too bad. If I remember right, Ys I + II were playable with KB+M too, though a controller is much better for the Ys series. And by the way, Ys is a fun series. It doesn't have quite the depth of, say, Legend of Heroes, but it's great if you're in more of a twitchy, hack-and-slash mood. And they all have a really good soundtrack, especially the first one.

I've only played Hyperdimension Neptunia 1 so far, but it's actually not very well optimized for KB+M. I mean you can definitely do it but the publisher didn't go a long way toward making it KB+M friendly. I haven't played Fairy Fencer F yet but my guess is that it's almost identical in the controls area since it's almost identical to Hyperdimension Neptunia.

Celestian Tales is a nice game, and since it was made for the PC (I don't think this one has a console release at all) it's definitely KB+M friendly. I played with the gamepad, I think, so I couldn't tell you how it plays otherwise. I'll have to reinstall to find out.

Tales of Zestiria is definitely KB+M friendly. That's how I played it, and it plays really nice.

Agarest is alright with KB+M, though it's slightly awkward.

And I am really really curious about Arslan: Warriors of Legend, if anyone has any info. It's a Dynasty Warriors-style game, too.


Oh! And on a J-Non-RPG note, Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence is made for PC and it's really good. Though it's stupidly expensive…try to get it on sale or find some other way of playing it. ^.^;;

So of the three (Celestian Tales, Tales of Zestiria, Agarest) which would you say is the best game? (In the case of Agarest should one start with the first game, or is generation zero much better?)
I'll put Y's (Oath) on my wishlist.

 

[forgottenlor]

Sakura clicker seems to be latest hit, according to Steam. Simple story, but rich character development.

I tend to be allergic to free to play games. The only ones I've played recently were card hunter (in an internet cafe) and Path of Exile, which I thought was a great game, but hated it that I occasionally had problems with the servers. So I'll probably avoid Sakura Clicker, unless you can convince me its a must play.

 

[Deleted User]

I think The Last Remnant is one of the better ones. You say you didn't like it. How much of it did you play? It starts getting really good when you're recruiting large armies, doing large battles etc.

Last Dream is excellent, too. Old-school JRPG with tons of great ideas implemented.

 

[Zloth]

Final Fantasy 6 and 7 are good, too. X isn't bad if you can suffer through the early parts of the story.

 

[forgottenlor]

I think The Last Remnant is one of the better ones. You say you didn't like it. How much of it did you play? It starts getting really good when you're recruiting large armies, doing large battles etc.

Last Dream is excellent, too. Old-school JRPG with tons of great ideas implemented.

I played it 16 hours. I added Last Dream to my wishlist. These guys had a Kickstarter a while back. I think it had a different name back then, but this looks like the game. I remember thinking it looked interesting back then, but then lost track of it.

 

[forgottenlor]

Final Fantasy 6 and 7 are good, too. X isn't bad if you can suffer through the early parts of the story.

Parts 4 & 6 are already on my wishlist. There is something about the graphics style of 7 that turns me off. I know I should play it eventually, though.

 

[bjon045]

edit: scratch that. My recommendation is not available on PC. I played it on Wii but I thought I saw it get released on steam awhile ago - guess not.

Skies of Arcadia is one of the best. Great overmap view where you navigate a ship which can be upgraded while your journey progresses. Also, you only really need to grind if you really want to.

 

[Deleted User]

Final Fantasy 4, 6, 7 - all must-plays in my opinion. Probably my 3 favorite Final Fantasy games in general right there, along with Final Fantasy 10.

Last Dream is like a mish-mash of early Final Fantasy games that just throws a billion old-school and some new-school ideas into the game. Seriously. You'll find everything you remember from the old JRPGs plus many additional new features. That game has sooo much stuff to see and do. It's great.

 

[LanceTheeGamer]

By JRPG are we talking about a particular style, or just of Japanses origin? If it's the former definition, than Dragon's Dogma is a pretty good choice. It's obviously western inspired however.

 

[Deleted User]

I would personally call Dragon's Dogma a JRPG. It's made by the Japanese, after all.

 

[Aubrielle]

So of the three (Celestian Tales, Tales of Zestiria, Agarest) which would you say is the best game? (In the case of Agarest should one start with the first game, or is generation zero much better?)
I'll put Y's (Oath) on my wishlist.

Good question.

Agarest is…underwhelming. I wouldn't be in a huge hurry to experience it, personally…

Out of the other two far superior games…Zestiria obviously had the better budget and has a much, much longer playtime. The combat is more action-y, too. It's a good one. Celestian Tales is much shorter, since the developers plan to make it the first in a trilogy. But it's a solid, solid RPG…it's got modern mechanics (some even borrowed from MMO's) but it's definitely more of a retro RPG with Final Fantasy-style turn-based battles. Zestiria is a lot more modern all around. I can't say which is better out of the two…I liked them both equally, and I'd say it all comes down to your individual play style.

Celestian Tales is more of a fan favorite, though, and more of a favorite among core RPG gamers. I would reluctantly say I liked it slightly better.

That probably wasn't very helpful…^.^;;

 

[Deleted User]

Agarest looks great. I like the art style and the combat sprites, and combat looks neat. Also have seen that a completionist run of Generations of War is like, 230+ hours! Crazy.

 

[Elel]

Trails in the Sky duology. But it really depends on what you're looking for. TiTS (omg?! what an abbreviation) is a turn-based, storytelling-based duology.

I didn't really like Zestiria. Not being a fan of action combat was one of the major factors.

If you consider Final Fantasy XIII, stay far away. People say XIII-2 is good, though, but I disliked XIII so much I don't know if I can ever play anything else that has that number in its title.

Final Fantasy VII has problems I've heard. Steam version randomly deletes the save files, I personally haven't played it for that reason on PC. I suppose it doesn't glitch for all people, but it's still a risk.

Agarest I heard is fanservice galore, so I didn't play it, either, this is the game for a different audience.

Final Fantasy VI, IX, and X\X-2 are out for PC. Recent ports, IX and X\X-2 even have an optional no encounter mode that you can turn on if you're tired of encounters. You could try those.

Ok, so I'd say my top5 is:
1-2. Trails in the sky duology
3-5. Final Fantasy VI, IX, X\X-2

 

[Elel]

The Y's series. Is there anyone which is easily playable with K+m?
Tales of Zestria
Tales of Symphonia
Fairy Fencer F
Aragest series
Celestian Tales
Tales of Wuxia
Dynasty Warriors
Grandia 2 Has it aged well?
Disgea
Hyperdimension Neptunia

YS is all about action I've heard, and platforming, and minimal story elements.
Agarest and Neptunia are basically fanservice. So it depends.
Dynasty Warriors… action? I remember losing interest quickly after reading the review and watching a trailer.
Tales of Wuxia pretty much all action, but they say story is decent.
Disgaea I've heard is a total grindfest, which is the reason I've never played it.
Grandia 2 might be good. I've only played 1 so far, so I can't comment.

 

[JDR13]

Parts 4 & 6 are already on my wishlist. There is something about the graphics style of 7 that turns me off. I know I should play it eventually, though.

FF 7 has its moments, but I don't consider it a must-play or anything. The story is somewhat weird, and I'm pretty sure some things were lost in translation.

FF IV, V, and VI are all better imo. I'm not a big fan of the Steam version of FF IV though. It's a port of the Nintendo DS remake that replaced the original 2D sprites with somewhat rough 3D graphics. I'd recommend checking out Final Fantasy Chronicles which is a PS1 compilation containing FF IV and Chrono Trigger.

 

[forgottenlor]

Good question.

Agarest is…underwhelming. I wouldn't be in a huge hurry to experience it, personally…

Out of the other two far superior games…Zestiria obviously had the better budget and has a much, much longer playtime. The combat is more action-y, too. It's a good one. Celestian Tales is much shorter, since the developers plan to make it the first in a trilogy. But it's a solid, solid RPG…it's got modern mechanics (some even borrowed from MMO's) but it's definitely more of a retro RPG with Final Fantasy-style turn-based battles. Zestiria is a lot more modern all around. I can't say which is better out of the two…I liked them both equally, and I'd say it all comes down to your individual play style.


Celestian Tales is more of a fan favorite, though, and more of a favorite among core RPG gamers. I would reluctantly say I liked it slightly better.

That probably wasn't very helpful…^.^;;

It is indeed, since I had no idea what either games is like. I'll keep my I on Celestian Tales first, I think.