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JRPG with romance...


Arkamondal

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guys i want some recommendation for some JRPG with romance in it for PC.......or can be played in PC with emulators......though recently playing Agarest: Generation of War ( all 3 sequels)....tales of zestaria (though don't know if it has romance cause just started playing).....The Legend of Heroes trails in the sky.....thnx in advance....

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@WinterfuryZXAssuming he can stomach the ear-bleeding dubs. :sachi:

 

Great suggestions so far. Depending how far back in time you are willing to travel, I'd also reccomend FF9 (psx version - steam version is trash).

My personal pick would be one of the ones you are already working on - Trails in the sky. Starts off slow, but builds into something really satisfying.

 

I hesitate to reccomend it (as it's pretty weak as far as stories go) but there is romance within Fairy Fencer F. Just don't go into expecting anything amazing. But it does have likable characters~

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I also recommend Trails in the Sky and its sequel. Anyway on to my recommendations:

 

Final Fantasy IX (available on Steam), Suikoden V (need a PS2 emulator), Tales of the Abyss (ditto), Persona 3 and 4 (ditto, PSP emulator for the former if you want to play as the female protagonist and I should point out 4 got an expanded version for the Vita), Growlanser Generations (PS2 emulator), Growlanser Heritage of War (ditto), Sakura Wars: So Long My Love (ditto), Thousand Arms (PS1 emulator), Xenogears (ditto)

Edited by BookwormOtaku
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How about that:

Wii: Arx Rise Fantasia, Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, The Last Story, Xenoblades, Pandora's Tower, Fragile Dreams

PC: Akiba's Strip, Valkiria Cronicles, Conseption 2

3DS: Fire Emblem: Awakening

NDS: Sands of Destrution

PS1-2: Star Ocean series, Rogue Galaxy, Odin Sphere, Grandia series, Thousand Arms, Legend of Dragoons, Atelier Iris

Do you need more? :)

I'm a big romance fun myself and I've played tons of games with romance sublot. Not just "jrpg".

Tales of Zestaria doesn't involve any decent romance, only bromance. And for now Trails in the Sky is the second best romance story in videogames. The first one is Xenogears.

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Just remembered there's the Shadow Hearts trilogy (PS2 emulator), Arc the Lad trilogy (PS1 emulator (there's also the PS2 sequels but Twilight of the Spirits is only decent compared to the previous games (plus on the romance front only Kharg has what would be considered a romantic arc and even then it doesn't go very far) and End of Darkness...the fandom pretends that never happened), and there's also Legend of Heroes IV: A Tear of Vermillion on PSP though you're going to have to deal with a translation that's a small step above machine translation.

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7 hours ago, WinterfuryZX said:

if you don't know japanese play the psp version with a psp emulator, Working Design loc. is shit.

No, it's not. The Working Designs localization is brilliant like every Working Designs product is.
And the PSP version of Lunar is a terrible port which disimproved the difficulty of the game in a way that every battle in the game can literally be won be mashing random buttons.

The PS1 version of the game is the only version worth playing.

 

Speaking of Working Designs, the Growlanser series is a good choice if you want romance in your JRPGs. The characters even say "I love you" to each other which is something that happens so rarely in JRPGs that you could probably count all games where this happens with your two hands.

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Being late here, but speaking about Lunar personally I don't care whether Working Design or Ubisoft who translate those as long as I got that in English (I knew that PSP version was very easy though). Oh, and since there's recommendation for Lunar there, I would also suggested the sequel here for PS1 which still didn't had the remake for PSP. Also speaking about Final Fantasy, might as well recommend VIII here which some people said it was FF with the most romance although it was quite divisive though. And if you need more here, then both of Persona 2 duology and Tales of Phantasia (PSX version, not GBA version) could be good for you.

PS - I just remembered that Radiant Historia was also good JRPG for PC, and there's some romance although it was very subtle though. And I could as well recommend both of Luminous Arc 1 and 2. Have fun.

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You played ALL THREE Agarest games? The patience on you must be godly. 

To be honest, though, practically all JRPGs have some romance that drags out for the entire game inserted into them. If you just want any type of romance regardless of it's quality you could pretty much just bring up a list of RPGs and throw your cursor any to find one. 
Tales is not a good idea if you want romance, because I can't think of a single one where characters actually end up together. You have like 40, even sometimes 60+ hours of travelling together, getting flags, speaking past eachother with innuendo, and they still don't even hold hands by the end. Granted, sometimes they can't help it because the MC's head got devoured by Cthulhu, but hey. I can say that for Vesperia, Abyss, Graces, Symphonia and Xillia 1+2 are not games you want to play if you want romance. Jesus, that JudeXMillia nonsense was still going on in Xillia 2 with no conclusion in sight. Why even bother? 
Tales is still a good franchise though. Xillia 2 is my personal favorite as I believe the characters developed wonderfully and they have the balls to do things that will hit you right in the feels. 

Emulators:

Persona 3 and 4 are pretty good for romance, mostly because it stays out of the way of the story and it is not forced on you. 3 is probably a bit better for it, as it fits in with the ending more, but 4 is good as well. They do all act like they're keeping it secret from people, though.

Xenogears has a great romance that is both integral to the plot, is fully realized and is treated maturely. Helps that Xenogears has a stellar storyline, possibly one of the best in JRPG history. Gameplay is whack, tho. 

Final Fantasy X has romance, but it's got a bittersweet ending. 

Growlanser is an underrated gem. I would avoid Growlanser 2, but 3 and 4 are more than worth your time if you ask me, with 4 being out and out the best we have available to us (JP releases may be better, who knows). Though you'll probably stay for the gameplay alone. Bear in mind that relationships are things you work on throughout the game with Growlanser. There is no canon love interest that will trot at your heels with stars in their eyes whenever they're out of your sight. 

Dragons Dogma! Though I don't know if you'll accept it as a JRPG considering Capcom often releases games targeted at the West. 

Sakura Wars 5 is the only Sakura Wars that has been localized to the west and it's stellar. It's very, IDK, Power Rangery and the MC is so lawful good it hurts, but the game's polish, dialogue and overall game design is brilliant. And, yes, the Romance in it is fantastic. 
And it has a legitimate black woman as one of the MCs. Never thought to see that from Japan. 'tis set in America tho, so, hey. 

Ar Tonelico has a ton of it. I dislike the story and the gameplay, though, so I can't say much about it. 

Odin Sphere? It's heavily Action and the RPG elements are quite western. Romance plastered all over it though. 

PC:

Kamidori Alchemy Meister: This is one of the only ones I can even think of for PC. 

Final Fantasy X is also on PC. Just putting that out there. 

That's about all from me. 

 

Edited by Sovapex
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On 12/3/2016 at 9:15 PM, WinterfuryZX said:

Lunar silver star story

if you don't know japanese play the psp version with a psp emulator, Working Design loc. is shit.

How? Working Designs is an amazing Publisher. I've went hunting for games published by them ever since Arc the Lad 2, which I expect probably has better dialogue than even the original Arc the Lad 2 in Japan. But I wouldn't know that. 

So, either you're one of the purist detractors, or they messed up. I'm guessing the former, though, given my past run in with you. 

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On 12/7/2016 at 3:42 AM, Sovapex said:

How? Working Designs is an amazing Publisher. I've went hunting for games published by them ever since Arc the Lad 2, which I expect probably has better dialogue than even the original Arc the Lad 2 in Japan. But I wouldn't know that. 

So, either you're one of the purist detractors, or they messed up. I'm guessing the former, though, given my past run in with you. 

Working Designs is ... controversial.  They heavily altered the scripts of anything they touched.  (I have heard tell that they introduced a few plot holes into Lunar 2; because so much dialog was completely changed to be funny / goofy, some dialog addressing the backstory was removed, creating confusion / plot holes that weren't in the original.)

On the other hand, they were putting out extremely well-written dialog at a time when that was very hard to come by in official localizations.  It's much more common now, but in the bad old days, translations were often ... highly sketchy, workmanlike, like the translators were translating a technical manual instead of a work of fiction; and just generally barely competent.  And then there was Working Designs, who went the extra mile to put real dialog into their games.  It just ... some of it hasn't aged well.

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I love romance in games. Let's the topic live a bit. Another bunch is coming from me:

SNES: Terranigma, Illusions of Gaia, Luminous Arc, Lufia 2

NDS: World ends with You, Soma Bringer, Radiant Historia,Nostalgia

PC: Embric of Wulfhammer’s Castle, Alpha Kimori

PSP:  Mimana Iyar Chronicle, Hexyz Force

PS2: Mana Khemia, Magna Carta: Crimson Stigmata, Xenosaga, La Pucelle Tactics, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, Dragoneer’s Aria

PS1: Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure, Azure Dreams

Please note, I can't vouch that all of them have a decent romantic storyline. But it's there even if just implied. I could get a longer list if you would accept western or action games.

Another thing about FF frunchise. While early games V-IX have more or less good romance subplots, avoid FFX at all cost if you're only looking for the love story jrpg. I don't know why people claim it's the most beautifull romance in videogames. Take those CG movies away and all is left is awkward Yuna laughing scene and Tidus stupidity. Fran and Balthier from FF12 have better chemistry than those two wooden dolls. But it's still great game gameplay-wise.

Personally I love Persona's games, especially 3-4, but I don't like its romantic component, because dating with girls in game has no relation to the main plot at all. This is more of a simulator to improve your character.

On 12/7/2016 at 1:28 PM, Sovapex said:

I can't think of a single one where characters actually end up together

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.

Also, for a good romantic story it's not necessarily for characters be together in the final. 

Edited by yorikbad
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2 hours ago, yorikbad said:

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.

Oh, the worst game in the series that nobody dares play? Fair 'nuff. 

I'm not asking for them to be together or whatever, I'm asking for a conclusion, and there almost never is. Like, if the game cut off right after the Final Boss without concluding the plot, you'd almost undoubtedly complain, so I don't see how you defend incomplete sub-plots. That's crap writing. 

2 hours ago, yorikbad said:

Take those CG movies away and all is left is awkward Yuna laughing scene and Tidus stupidity.

Yes, because take away sub-plot related scenes arbitrarily, and you might just have an incomplete subplot! Who'd have thought. 

Tidus and Yuna develop nicely alongside eachother and compliment eachothers weaknesses. That's why people regard it as the best romance in video games, although yeah, they're wrong about that (see Max Payne 2). There are many examples of this happening throughout the game, HAHAHA scene included, for what it's worth. 

 

Edited by Sovapex
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Hey hey hey, the worst Tales of is Tempest. Also, even if IT'S one of the worst Tales of, it's still good as a game. Just that it shouldn't have been the sequel of Symphonia.

As for romance in the Tales of, it's implied that Shing and Kohaku end together in Hearts, Senel and Shirley in Legendia (Chloe T_T), Stahn and Rutee in Destiny (come on, they have a son in Destiny 2!), Graces f with Asbel and Cheria (yeah, f, it really becomes a thing in the f part), Rebirth is all about Veigue searching for Claire (so yeah, they end up together).

The other Tales of have hints of romance too, but nothing concluding aside perhaps Abyss (Luke and Tear) and Symphonia (but you're the one who decide in Symphonia, so does it count?).

So, there is a little romance in the Tales of, just that it's in the back compared to the rest. (The exception being Hearts, as the game is about the heart and Kohaku recovering her feelings)

Edited by Riku
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12 hours ago, Sovapex said:

Oh, the worst game in the series that nobody dares play? Fair 'nuff. 

I'm not asking for them to be together or whatever, I'm asking for a conclusion, and there almost never is. Like, if the game cut off right after the Final Boss without concluding the plot, you'd almost undoubtedly complain, so I don't see how you defend incomplete sub-plots. That's crap writing. 

Dawn of the new World was my first Tale's game and I liked it. Much more than f.e. Tale of Zestiria. And as I'm aware we don't discuss plot material here. Only a questionable part of it called romance sublot.

12 hours ago, Sovapex said:

Yes, because take away sub-plot related scenes arbitrarily, and you might just have an incomplete subplot! Who'd have thought. 

Tidus and Yuna develop nicely alongside eachother and compliment eachothers weaknesses. That's why people regard it as the best romance in video games, although yeah, they're wrong about that (see Max Payne 2). There are many examples of this happening throughout the game, HAHAHA scene included, for what it's worth. 

It's just aside those really well-done emotional videos I can't feel that Tidus/Yuna relationship is real for me. They are together almost the whole game but rarely speak to each other or show noticeable affection. Then by author's will happens such powerfull bonding moments like

Spoiler

"sunset watching"

or

Spoiler

"breaking the wedding"

and I wonder, how the hell they got here without me noticing. And then it ends on

Spoiler

the sad note

and I'm just completely baffled. Not enough foreshadowing and bad directing is what FFX love story for me. A big letdown after heartwarming romance subplot in FFIX.

To write a good love story, one need to follow three basic rules.

- You need to show how the characters fall in love, when and why.

- It is necessary to demonstrate how they change their attitude towards each other throughout the story, and how they change themselves.

- And it must be certain in the end that they're lovers even if they don't end up together.

They don't have to confess their love to the world, they don't need to speak the oaths at the altar, but their feelings should be unambiguous for the audience. The great example is Trip and Monkey from Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. But it's not jrpg or J-game.

Spoiler

0a7763ce1dae.jpg

 

Edited by yorikbad
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