Retro-gaming for a JRPG-lover
Entry posted by Clephas
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I've been a gamer for 22 long years. I began my journey into the endless ocean of corruption that is video games with Super Mario Bros on the NES, and - while I've more or less fallen out of love with modern jrpgs - I have played a rather large number of Japanese role-playing games over the years. Since this is a general otaku forum, I though I'd go ahead and include a list of famous pre-2008 jrpgs that can still be played today, without having to go out and hunt through bargain bins, resort to emulation, or use a non-internet-capable gaming system to play (in other words, that you only need current or the most recent previous generation of systems to play).
First, your most obvious source is going to be... Steam. I'll make a quick list of JRPGs that have been ported to Steam that I think an otaku can still get some pleasure out of. Unfortunately, while the library of games of this type being released for this platform is rapidly expanding, there is a lot of ground to cover.
Phantasy Star II- The first game from the series to be imported here, it has an interesting, if somewhat gaunt, story that is fairly enjoyable. The difficulty level is high (like most games from the era), but if you can play modern jrpgs on hard mode, you probably won't have a problem with this.
Phantasy Star III - If you want to see where they first used the 'role-play across multiple generations' idea, this is the one. Story-wise, it is pretty basic (like most rpgs from that era, where space was so limited) and the difficulty is pretty high, but it is also fairly enjoyable. I honestly suggest you pull out Cheat Engine later on though.
Phantasy Star IV- The flower of the Phantasy Star series, unmatched to this day. This game pushed the Sega Genesis to its limits and was one of the first games to utilize (a somewhat rudimentary) mission system. Unlike the previous entries, the story is much deeper and more interesting, and the overall world-building is excellent.
Valkyria Chronicles- Ok, if you don't know about this, you are either new to jrpgs or have had your head buried into the sand...
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI (in my opinion, the best game in the series, even today)
Final Fantasy VII
Grandia II- one of two excellent games in this series (the others mostly sucking), it has both an excellent story and the single best turn-based battle system I have ever seen in a japanese role-playing game.
Shining Force- an oldie but a goodie. It is a very basic Japanese-style srpg made during the Genesis era.
Shining Force II- Same as above, but more refined, with a better-written story and better music.
Shining in the Darkness- A first-person dungeon-crawling rpg by the makers of the Shining Force series
Tales of Symphonia (from back before the Tales series started to suck... planned later next year)
Disgaea- The original comic over-leveling jsrpg that started an entire sub-genre. Planned for release in February of 2016.
Trails in the Sky- It was a classic, long before they actually managed to get it over here on the PSP (I'd already played it).
For those wondering about the virtual console on Nintendo systems, I have to apologize and say that it is just too hard to sort through what can be played on what... I will say that I can honestly recommend both Ogre Battle games (on Wii only so far) and anything with Mother or Earthbound on it. I've heard rumors of several other old favorites, but so far neither hide nor hair of them has popped up (I'm thinking of you, Breath of Fire).
On the PSN...
Suikoden
Suikoden II (a kamige, play it. It is still good even today)
Grandia (the original)
Growlanser Wayfarer of Time (you need a Vita or a PSP for this, but it is considered to be the best game of a first-rate series that got seriously gypped due to Working Designs' and Atlus's poor advertising)
P3P (Persona 3 on the PSP and Vita, lol)
Xenogears (still one of my favorite rpgs... it has aged better than some, though the fact of how they squeezed in three discs of story onto the last disc due to time constraints is still quite apparent)
Castlevania Symphony of the Night (barely fits in the 'rpg' layer, but meh)
Wild Arms (the first - and in some people's eyes - the best of the series)
Wild Arms 2
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy IX
Alundra (straight out Link to the Past style action jrpg)
Arc the Lad
Arc the Lad II (you have to play the original to make this comprehensible)
Arc the Lad III (ditto to above)
Front Mission III (Final Fantasy tactics with mechs in a future-setting)
Vagrant Story (mixed feelings about it, but it was essentially a good game)
Legend of Mana (a bit screwy structure and storytelling, but the various arcs are generally interesting, if you manage to do them in order)
Breath of Fire IV (the first sign of the eventual death of the series, it was still fairly good)
Chrono Trigger (duh)
Chrono Cross (best music)
Vanguard Bandits (extremely psychotic storytelling in an srpg combined with mechs in a fantasy world)
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI
Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
Persona 2: Innocent Sin (play this before above)
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
Tactics Ogre
Final Fantasy Tactics
PS2 Classics (most require a PS3 or a PS4)
Disgaea
Disgaea 2
Legaia 2 (dunno why they put this up and not the original, but it is pretty good)
Odin Sphere (not to my tastes, but I know lots of people who love it)
SMT: Digital Devil Saga I and II (basically one game in two... story-wise the best SMT game, period)
SMT: Persona 3 FES
Persona 4
SMT: Nocturne (main series, think demonic Pokemon with a central plot)
Suikoden III
Romancing SaGa
Recommendations for Emulation on old systems that shouldn't be missed
Straight-out, you should play Growlanser 2 and 3... and possibly consider playing the Japanese version of the original (PSP version or PS1 version) with the translation at hand. The series is unbelievably good... especially 3. 3 has some of the best atmosphere I've seen in any Jrpg, as well as a number of ways you can subtly alter the story and its progression. I love the original Growlanser battle system, as it exists through IV (Wayfarer of Time) for its unique take on the semi-real-time srpg.
I also recommend emulating Dragon Force and Panzer Dragoon Saga for the Sega Saturn... because both games are excellent and are ridiculously expensive to obtain normally (unopened copies of Panzer Dragoon Saga have sold - from my hands - for five hundred to fifteen hundred dollars a piece).
PS: To this day, I still use Growlanser 2 and 3 to draw in newbies, because the games are easy to understand, have extremely high production values for the era in which they were made, and are still pretty today.
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