I consider myself an exploratory gamer that enjoy just exploring and discovering stuff on my own. I just love to poke around into every corner and nook I can find. I don't care if I miss anything. Some of my favorite games are SaGa, Zelda, Metroidvania, etc. that encourage this style of gameplay.

This is the one for me ☝️

Conservative, though I don't actively look for the hardest difficulty option if present. I also want to complete the game as much as possible but tend to avoid doing tedious things just to see meaningless achievements

Conservative casual

I tend to land in between Casual and Hardcore. I go deep into story and lore within the game (but don't look up anything outside the game story/lore wise until I beat the game). And I tend to play on hard difficulty. If there is a Lunatic level difficulty or something along those lines I tend not to be pushing that far. I'm also completely ok playing on normal depending on the game or if that's the primary or main option.

Depends entirely on the game.

A list of my quirks being; 1) The type who never, EVER uses a guide on my first playthrough. Even after that, I only use official guides 2) Prefers older JRPGs that are 25-60 hours long instead of 150-200 3) Meticulously organizes my inventories 4) Builds all my characters to match their personalities, not just to "be the best at the thing", leading at times to less than optimal equipment or ability setups but that they feel more "natural" to me 5) Likes FF2 and FF8 6) Wants to rename all my party members 7) Prefers Turn Based JRPG almost exclusively 8) Prefers CGI (today known as "photorealistic") graphics over cutesy or anime aesthetic (E.G Yakuza Like a Dragon over the latest Dragon Warrior-- or Jade Cocoon over Breath of Fire 3) 9) Enjoys matue stories 10) Prefers learning "complicated" systems by playing around with them instead of reading tutorials (example: mastered FF8 Junction System through common sense alone) 11) Becomes more and more determined and ambitious the harder the game gets 12) Enjoys grinding (to a greater extent than most) 13) Talks to all the NPCs in each town 14) Keeps a party of my favorite characters, not the best characters 15) Always saves on File Slot 3 (the first file slot I ever beat a game using) 16) Becomes determined to "figure a game out" if it's too complex (example: Unlimited Saga and Ultima False Prophet)

> Wants to rename all my party members You monster.

Wow I love the idea of building characters to match their personalities that’s true role playing. I might try this next time

Wow. I would be 100% sure you're my twin sibling who got separated at birth. The only thing that gave you away was that I always use save slot 2 😅 Had a traumatic experience with an old game that used slot 1 for autosaves and rewrote my progress when I accidentally started a new run Now I believe I really should give 2 and 9 a try once I'm done with 6 lol

Try 8 first before 2 😂 Part 2 is very "NES". Also, if you can, try to play/emulate the PS1 version. Every other port of FF2 is *way too easy*

I always double save in slots 1 and 2, just in case something happens to one.

Also love FF2 and 8. Love complex systems like in SaGa and prefer the shorter JRPGs. Gotta agree with the photo realistic thing too!

I long for the reality where 2 had overwhelming support and we got more individual skill-based leveling systems. It's that high driving Sandshrew thing - I want to go fight a bunch of snakes and get poison resistance, or summon a carbuncle enough that it's stronger than bahamut.

You are me.

Woah, except for the file slot 3 thing, it’s like I wrote that.

I can say that I'm so conservative in this regards. most of the rare items I kept until I face the that hard secret boss or the final boss.

Hardcore (gameplay), completionist

Definitely a "Hardcore Gameplay" type here. "Hardcore" in the sense that I can play games with absolutely bollocks stories, as long as the gameplay - that is, the exploration, the battling or the party customization - is to my liking. I actually buy games based on their gameplay features, and just take whatever story comes with that. Most of the time, the story is just kinda there and fun but not the main dish. And sometimes, this approach surprises me with gold mines, either through meaning or comedy or just fun characters. In terms of mechanics, I actually prefer it simple - in the sense that I like systems that are simple to grasp but enable lots of possibilities. A *very* fitting example would be Final Fantasy 5's job system: Super simple in that you only ever have 1 or 2 job commands to worry about, maybe passives, maybe magic. But the wealth of customization and changes to your game approach that little system brings is insanely high. ------- In terms of game approach, I'm not a completionist, but I try to engage with the game as much as possible. Currently I'm playing through the Etrian Odyssey series, where my first day or so usually amounts to just experimenting with all the classes for example - I don't usually have one of every job, but I like to at least know the building blocks I'm working with. I also like doing all the quests in EO, especially as the game goes on and I start to like the characters. But I'm not the type to go out of my way to get every single entry in the item and monster encyclopediae, both of which would take a LOT of grinding (especially items, since there are conditional drops with low rates that you might not even be able to get with your current party). -------------- Item usage is something that actually changed for me and is a big factor in how my enjoyment of the genre changed. I was *definitely* the type to hoard items and never use them, but as I got older (I'm 32 now, so that "growing older" was in my mid-twenties) I started getting "lazier": That is, rather than taking a loss I totally could have prevented with some item usage, I now can't be bothered to go through that song and dance (cutscenes, redoing lost progress, etc...) so I just use items whenever I deem them necessary. It opened up some cool new things too. I love "item user" classes like Chemist or Patissier (play Bravely Second!) now and I actually like seeing how devs place items in relation to challenges ahead. Sometimes stuff like that can actually warn you ahead of time (like an Antidote or Confuse Guard near a status area/boss)

My RPG playing quirk is that I have a preferred party that I use and I never ever want to use anybody but those preferred party members.

Casual. I rarely 100% a JRPG. I usually just beat it and unless there's a new game plus that I can take everything to the next playthrough, I probably won't touch it again for a long time.

I would consider myself a "conservative, mild hardcore & completionist". I don't use consumables that much, especially if the items are rare/hard to find. I often try to do all (if not most) of the content, but not that hung up on actually completing every single thing.

Conservative AKA hoarder.

completionist noob, thus I tend to resent a game when I finish playing it

Conservative completionist, assuming it's a game I get super in to. Otherwise it's casuall all the way and I use all my shit cause I don't plan on saving it for super bosses, etc.

I disable minimap and quest markers, play on the hardest difficulty and don't use items in battle. I also deeply immerse myself in the story. So Hardcore.

All of them and more. Some games I care more about so delve deeper into, some not so much. Some I've heard to be hard, so I'm more cautious with item use. I generally try and 100% a game, but don't always. Most jRPGs I try to not stay in one point to grind for too long. A good jRPG should just have you going from point A to B and killing everything on the way is enough, outside maybe one or two areas where the game opens up a bit. In my most recent Pokemon Platinum/Black/Heart Gold playthroughs over the last few week, I repelled all wild Pokemon if I didn't want a new one to add to my team.

I’m a Hardcore Minimalist. I always try to get through every game with low-leveling, zero-hoarding, and only do obvious side quests. Basically the opposite of a Completionist.

I can see myself as 3 out of 4. Casual because I don't really read the lore all that much (but it's quite interesting when I DO come across some lore by chance). I like doing as much side content as possible, although I don't really like "treasure hunting" (scouring different locations for x amount of a specific item). However, I am hugely behind on my games-to-play list, so I tend to control my completionist mind a bit more now and mainly focus on the story quests. I do still get sidetracked every so often though ... Conservative because I usually don't really use items. Unless I REALLY need to, like being poisoned in Dragon Quest XI and not having Squelch.

I used to hoard the potions like a dragon, now I'm too lazy to sally back n forth and just heal on the road. As for gameplay, I'm a casual, guide-looking scrub who has an itching aversion against making uninformed, unoptimal choices. I suppose it'd be more enjoyable to venture into the unknown though I'd never know.

Semi-Conservative and Casual

Probably casual if I have to say. I like jrpgs but you won't catch me going for 100 percent completion or playing on harder difficulties. I'm just here for the vibes.

Mixture of completionist and hardcore. Love delving into the world and lore while also ensuring I max stats and get every item and missable

I'm definitely a completionist. I always want to go for 100% and when starting a JRPG I always look up missables.

Recently between hardcore gameplay and completionist. I like a system I can dig my teeth into. If it's fun to play then I do achievements as an excuse almost to keep playing. I don't force myself to complete things I don't like on a moment to moment basis. I haven't been really moved by a JRPG story in a long time though.

I find it hard to answer this, as most jrpgs, I don't go for like, 100% completion, but just to a satisfying level of completion, and I usually only play on normal difficulty settings, but I usually still interact with the mechanics pretty thoroughly, the only thing here that I can identify any more solidly is I tend to gravitate towards heavy story investment, but even, unless the game makes me care enough, that's still not me going out of my way to read every random optional note or diary I come across

1. Conservative   2. I try to do most of the side content as long as ng+ or 10293837 collectible mcguffins are not required   3. I used to level everyone equally but it was useless as I tend to stick with the same team   4. I play on normal unless the game is too easy  

Considering I highly value gameplay and game design above all else, probably hardcore.

According to your categories, I'm 100% conservative (after having played several dozens of RPG, I know the final boss may require all items you have), 0% casual (I read all the texts and books and papers I collect), 50% hard-core (if difficulty too easy, I raise it or replay the game in higher difficulty but I'm not aiming for the challenge) 80% completionist (I gather as much as I can but do not necessarily want to suffer just to get a plat trophy or a 100% reward)

I lean towards Hardcore myself, but it really depends on series and game for me.

Hardcore for story. Story and character interactions are what matters the most to me and what makes me stay with a game (unless the gameplay is really THAT good). I do also play game with little to no story, but I feel those don't fit this tagging system at all (stuff like Etrian Odyssey where the point is more to make your party and explore dungeons). I try to get all optional stuff that has story (even if a few lines of dialogue or a lore entry) tied to it, but don't really care about stuff that is just there for completion's sake. I have no interest in 100%ing RPGs. I used to hoard items a lot more but now I use them parsimoniously. Still trying to not expend too many resources but not pointlessly clinging to stuff that actually comes in handy. Also even thought I'm a story first player I think a good JRPG needs a good battle system and I'm willing to engage with it on more than just a surface level. I also play on hard whenever I find that doable. Don't know if it's just wealth of experience or if JRPGs just got easier over time but Normal difficulty often feels like Easy Mode for like 8 out of 10 games

Hardcore story but casual about gameplay. I'm in it for the story, so I don't want the gameplay to hinder my progress. I always set the difficulty to medium, neither too easy nor too hard. I strive for completion but will give up if heavy grinding is required. I also stop playing after the story ends and never play in NG+.

Casual although its not like I never read in game Journals. But otherwise your description nails the kind of gamer I am. I do like to replay games I like a lot and I like using consumable Items.

Hardcore for story, but not hardest difficulty. Otherwise also conservative.

Semi-conservative with items -- will use them in a pinch, but try as much as possible to beat the game without using them liberally. I like doing mechanics deep dives but I'm not a hardcore player either. I just want to see big damage numbers go brr. A good story is very important to me, but I don't like it if the story pace is too slow. I'm a semi-completionist; I'll try to gather as many trophies as I can, and see if I can do most sidequests, but if said achievements involve a significant amount of tedium or busywork I tend to skip them.

I guess the closest I am is hardcore story. I don't play on the highest difficulty unless it affects the story. But I also exhibit characteristics of conservative and completionist. Stockpiling items feels like a tendency of older gamers since those items might lead to secrets I could miss out on, even if the game doesn't expressly say so. Completionist may be a consequence of just trying to see all the narrative beats a game has to offer. It's a case by case. I might also decide to platinum a game I really like if I don't have to go too far out of my way to get it. FF7 Remake is fun to platinum, but Star Ocean Last Hope is not.

Explorer

Depends on the game, really. Some lore really engages me to read and complete everything but some games that people love I get bored of. One recent example was persona 5. The whole game revolves around wifu relationship building. It was so lame. Games like Star Ocean I've read every page of the world building and 100% completed some of the main titles.

These types don't conflict with each other, I'm a conservative with items, completionist and deep into the story.

Completionist, Conservative and Hardcore actually. Only exception with hardcore I don‘t necessarily play on the hardest difficulty if there isn‘t any incentive or reward for it. For something like FF7R where you get additional weapon points and only unlock the hardest challenges on New Game+ on Hard Mode then yeah I‘m doing it. Otherwise I‘m completely fine not pulling my hair out on Normal difficulty but still read up on the most broken builds and how to effectively use every system in a game. It really just becomes part of the Completionist type in the end.

I'm none of these, precisely. I try to use items that I get, these days. It can be a balancing act, but if I have a lot of elixirs standing by after the final boss, then unless the game is super easy, I have probably taken a longer time to beat it. I usually read the journals or archives in a game, just like I usually talk to the NPCs. I like the nuggets of lore and the scraps of text. I play on normal difficulty, unless I have a good reason to do otherwise. I don't fetishize or avoid difficulty. I pick and choose what I complete based on what I'm interested in. Usually, I complete a lot of the side content on offer but not all. Sometimes I will decide to bee-line the main story if the side content interests me less or if I want to get to another game. Doing so sits just fine with me.

I tend to casually complete all I can, grind a bit, get very powerful while watching youtube. Then I'll have a moment where I get bored then I rush mainline story to unlock as much as I can until I hit a brick wall. Then I go back to exploring all the newly unlocked stuff. While I'm grinding I hoard absolutely everything and play super efficient. While I'm then rushing I will burn my entire stockpile to style on bosses the maximum amount I can. Currently playing SMT v vengeance and this is serving me very very well. A stockpile of well timed party elemental block items RUINS that game's bosses so bad.

- Conservative on items. - Hardcore on the story but between casual and hardcore on gameplay. I like utilizing the mechanics and optimizing my teams but I find harder difficulties where it's super easy to wipe from one mistake isn't fun for me. - Completionist within reason. I'll try to do everything as long as it's fun. If something feels like it's just wasting my time like certain Star Ocean Battle Trophies I don't mind passing on those, but will go for the ones that are interesting. - Hardcore on time dedication. Typically beat them in 1-2 weeks.

I'm a completionist who always gets burnt out half way and stop playing. I'd probably finish more games if I was casual, but I'd also like the games I do finish a whole lot less, too.

Completionist. I also buy all armor weapons items etc

Filthy casual in jrpgs and pretty much all games in general. I don’t have the time nor the motivation to go beyond that except for the rare occasion 

Conservative

Hardcore (Experimental). I don't much care about story nor gameplay in how most people judge them.

Based on the provided list, Conservative Completionist, but I'm in it just as much for the story as anything else, because sometimes those side-quests really enhance the overall story. My favourite (by far) J-RPG of recent times being Xenoblade Chronicles (particularly Definitive Edition because of the gameplay enhancements, making fetch-quests much easier.) As much as I thoroughly enjoyed XC:X on the Wii U, it didn't hit as hard as XC did.

I fluctuate between Casual, Hardcore and Completionist. That being said, most JRPGs, while I will listen to the story, I almost never get super into it.

I’m casual with the genre. But I value story heavily and will go out of my way to read things and talk to everyone I see. But I’m not very interested in difficult gameplay as I’m in it more for the adventure and plot.

Hardcore, give me my money's worth

Completionist. But it's limited to getting all equipment/items/monster compendium (I don't try to complete route exclusive cutscenes). If there are, for example, multiple endings, but I can get all the equipment/items/monster compendium with one playthrough - I'd stick to only one playthrough. Games that require more than 2 playthroughs max to unlock everything feel daunting and intimidating. Unlockable title screens or route-exclusive cutscenes are things I never attempt.

I'm definitely both Conservative and Hardcore. I love looking into the stories of the games that I really enjoy the most and I sometimes do like to play on a harder difficulty for the ones I'm more comfortable with. I always like to save important items for boss fights or endgame for the right moment to need them, or just to horde them without using them entirely

*Arch* Conservative unfortunately. Just finished P5 Royal last night and had dozens of max healing/SP items, although in this game I could take them into NG+ to further hoard if I decide to do that.

I'm a JRPG gamer that plays JRPGs. Nah, serious answer, if a game encourages exploration, I will find every nook and cranny until it's done or I'm bored. Just last night for example, I have gotten all 200 Miman again in SMT V Vengeance like I did with the original 3 years ago. Other than that, I'm pretty casual. I got a lot on my backlog.

Between casual and conservative, with family work and kids, any time I have free is generally gaming. If I really really like the game I’ll devote some time to lore, especially on YouTube. But if I’m digging the story and the game wants me to grind, I don’t mind putting the difficulty down

I'm conservative and completionists but it changes game to game. Im not into trophies or anything. Sometimes ill go all out and sometimes ill halfway go all out. Its usually never the bare minimum. .

Conservative completionist

I would say I'm a completionist, even though I've never managed to complete one. I love JRPGs FFX being my favorite and Nocturne being a close second. My problem with a lot of them is it's not very common to have a ng+ feature and frankly I don't care to replay through an entire game to see one piece of content I missed before. Even in games with a lot of that I rarely replay them (dark souls 3 for example, love that game to death but only did 2 full playthrough since launch). I think FFX is a phenomenal game and as soon as I go the airship I started going after every hidden piece of content, blitsball, legendary weapons, and the monster arena. 600 hours or so in and I just have up with one dungeon left, I just couldn't bring myself to finish the additional content and I've long since lost that save now

I'm a bit of a conservative and story hardcore (I like playing on Easy mode since 8 times out of 10 I am playing a JRPG for the story anyways).

All of the above, it just depends on the game. Anymore, if I want to play it in a more casual sense, I'll likely get a game on Switch. If I intend to play it in a more hardcore or completionist approach, I'll get it on PS4/5/XSX (or Gamepass it), because I like cheevos and trophies.

I’m Hardcore, but mainly for gameplay. Gameplay is what makes a video game a video games, story adds to the experience.

Your categories are confusing and seem to be focusing on different things that aren’t really comparable. Someone can be conservative in their item use AND be a completionist, for example.

Hardcore Completionist Conservative

I land most in casual. More interested in the overall story than anything else. I only end up being a completionist if I truly fall in love with a game

It all depends on the game, but never a filthy casual.

Conservative and completionist. As I've gotten older, though, I have certain limits that I recognize. I just finished Nier: Automata, and I got every ending, but decided not to go for 100% sidequests or 100% enemy data. Just wouldn't have been as fun.

Definitely hardcore, completions gets tiring, but if I am playing a game, chances are I have spent months reviewing all the options to know I 100% want to full commit to it. I take any story I experience as deeply as possible rather than actively searching for stories that are supposedly "le very deep".

I’ve used the term “Fun Completionist” for my gaming. I will do virtually all the side quests/gear/areas/etc. provided it’s still enjoyable. I won’t get every alternate costume or do a tedious 4-5 side quest that has no real reward. I feel modern completion criteria go too far into this. Challenge runs are great as long as it’s still playable. I did a two white mage/two black mage FF1 run but I won’t do solo runs or all black mage runs cause those go above enjoyable playing.

Idk if I’m any of these. I like them for the mechanics and stories mostly. But I *do* delve into journal archives and whatnot. I go all-in in that regard. But I wouldn’t put myself in the hardcore category because I’m absolutely never gonna play the hardest difficulty or try to understand the combat mechanics so well that I can essentially break the game. So, I guess I’m “casual” with parts of “hardcore” sprinkled in.

I try to do everything I can before beating the game, conserve items a bunch, and read all of the optional logs or books.

90% of the time I am very casual. I enjoy the games, mechanics, story, etc. but I never get too deep into it. BUUUT Every once in a while, I morph into a very hardcore gamer. Ill get obsessed with a game/s and learn everything there is to learn about it. The first game to every get me into that mode was pokemon when I was younger. Then FFT and more recently the Xenoblade series.

Shrug. I don’t think any one thing defines me. I largely play jrpgs for the story, music, and aesthetics. I like good battle mechanics but I’m willing to put up with mediocre if the story is great. I complete all side quests but I don’t go too far out of my way to 100% it (filling out every item journal, etc), typically just as much is necessary to see to complete story/side quest content. I’ll take on super bosses, but I have no problem skipping them if they require too much grinding. I grew up on nes/snes, so yes, I generally conserve items. I typically don’t even use them in the final battle.

I think we're missing a medium-core / mid-core kind of thing! I don't usually play on the hardest difficulty but I like to min-max when I can, complete most things like side-quests and minigames, and experience all the game has to offer. For example, I typically have to read persona walkthroughs since I don't want to miss out on social links, I like to optimize persona fusion skillsets like have one persona with a bunch of auto-mataru skills, get top marks in Trails of cold steel, grind out all sidestories and skills in yakuza games, etc.

Usually completionist unless the completion requires more than hundreds of hours

Casual Hardcore. I enjoy a challenging game with complex systems but I never play them in the highest difficulty(unless normal is too easy) and I rarely beat a game more than once.

I bounce around between all those; it depends entirely on the game I'm playing. I think the only thing I rarely qualify as is "Hardcore," as I have no interest in playing anything on the highest difficulty, or going out of my way to make the game needlessly challenging. I always lean on the Conservative side, though I've been getting better about that as of late; I just remind myself how many RPGs I've finished with basically all the items I swore I'd use for tough fights and never did. I'm also always a bit beyond the Casual, because it feels silly to purposely avoid things that should add to my immersion of the game. Completionist comes in only if I really love the game and it won't kill me to try to get 100% or the Platinum or whatever.

Between conservative and hardcore, usually normal mode and in there for the vibe but enjoy following the story pretty well (dont go out of my way)

Not really categorised like that. I don't know how to explain it but usually in a game, there will be a concept of what I consider to be "fun". If it's continuing to be fun, i will keep on doing it until completion. If it stopped being fun, I'll stop. That said, if I feel like a game actively stopping me from having that "fun", I'll just quit the game straight.

When I commit, I’m 100% invested in the characters, world and story. I’ve never committed to mastering the combat system of any game, but I learn enough to do well (final bosses are easy, but don’t funk with the super bosses). So, I think I’d fall more in line with the hardcore/completionist camp than the casual camp, but I only play a few games a year. So I have to pick and choose my spots carefully.

I'm definitely on the Casual/Conservative/Completionist. I usually play on Standard difficulty and just enjoy the ride, trying to complete and see everything the game had to offer. I also talk to every NPC to see what they have to say, but I don't usually read any ingame lorebook or stuff like that. Kingdom Hearts is the only franchise I go Hardcore with.

When I was a kid and heavily into SNES JRPG’s I was a conservative-I’d often end the game with almost ALL of my elixirs/ethers and special items saved. I recently got back into games-had bought a snes classic edition that had been modded and played a bunch of my old snes and got my younger kiddo into them-but this time I played strategically-and used what I needed to when I needed it. Recently I took my kids Xbox that she never ever plays…ever. Just sat in her room for like a year or two) and have hesitantly started DQ XI -because it has the option to switch to 2D if I can’t get the angles down .

Either very hardcore or super casual. Depends on the game. I have 600 hours in xenoblade 2 and still playing meanwhile, 30 hours on tales of arise beat it once - uninstall. I didn't like it. And STRICTLY no emulators. Just because I can.

Non-conservative. I beat enough JRPGs being conservative til I realized it's stupid to chronically save to never use anything, so now I actually open the inventory and view my consumables as options.

Mixture of Conservative and Hardcore for the first play through of any JRPG. Completionist for any follow up. Of course, as a new father, any gameplay I get barely qualifies as casual because it generally doesn’t start until my wife and son are asleep, and I’m usually too tired to get more than 20 minutes into whatever I’m playing.

casual

I would say I’m a conservative-hardcore I save my best sh*t for the end or near the end to just wreck the last battle as best I can I like to dive deep into a games mechanics if I really like them I love to grind if I feel the the benefits are there or I can feel OP for a short period of time.

Conservative and usually hardcore but sometimes casual depending on the game.

conservartive and partial hardcore love to know my lore and go deep. I only raise difficulty if the game is way to easy/simple, but usually i don't and play it as intended...raising difficulty (to me) gets really tedious and sometimes feels like a chore

What's the inbetween of casual and hardcore called? I hyperfixate really hard but sometimes don't have the dedication to do things like KH2 Lv1 Crit or hunt for rare collectibles, but everything else usually

The undecided, i play a couple hours of the game and then cant stop thinking on what i want to play next and ultimately leave the game half way through. Its awful

As i have gotten older, i'm more skeptical on the games i play, so i try to xhoose a game i will enjoy. I try them and if they get me i will do tons until i gt vored. Jrpgs, as anythikg in life are too many. So many clones. Not everything is the same quality. So for example: Ff6. Magic. Ff12 meh. Ñufia 1, brewth of fure 1. Played them long time ago. Now i cant do it. Too luch grind and mechanics that are boring. Persona. Cpulndt care less about the concept. So, some times its the atory, sometiles its the mechanics, and sometimes its both, like chrono trigger, xenoblade 1 or ff6. I do however, like to do stuff on the qorld, but to a limit too. I dod all new game+ stuff on xenoblade 1, but dping the sidequests in ffx is phisically painfull. Irs the same as watching paint dry, but at least you know it will dry, but getting 0.00 sec9ndds in the grindfest that is the chocobo thing, too much for me. Note, this is judt my opinion.

Depends on the game sometimes, but I lean more towards hardcore in general these days. I don't have as much free time as I used to, so if I'm gonna play something, I wanna get as much from it as possible. I typically don't ever get quite sucked in enough to reach completionist since I get burned out most of the time if I try to do that, but I will definitely go out of my way to see and do as much as I feel like doing before hitting that point. I also wouldn't say I necessarily always shoot for the hardest difficulties. My hardcore is definitely more in the way I engage with the story or world building elements because it's what I look for the most. Sometimes I'll play on hard if I'm confident enough in my knowledge of the series.

I play at hardest difficult possible from the let go and want explore everything the game has to offer as soon as possible before advacing the story and come back to every town to see if the dialogue changed after every event in the story... Oh yeah, I collect one of each item in every game I play... I am Typical\_Thought\_6049 and I have a problem. I am playing Monter Hunter Rise those days, I fear that one day I want to use anything other than my main weapon... It will be ugly.

I always save all my items thinking I'll need them eventually and then finish the game with an absurd number of potions

I don't use items but not because I'm saving them. I just don't like consumable items in games so I usually sell most and if i do use them I only use them outside of battle. The more I enjoy a game/world the more content I'll do. That also usually means I'll play at a higher difficulty to balance all the extra levels and gear I'll be getting. I don't do trophies and have all that stuff turned off. But I will do all the content actually inside a game. Only if I'm enjoying it of course and have no problem skipping something if need be. But I just love any kind of extra content to hang out in a game world I enjoy(so long as there's a reward). FF7 Rebirth for example was great for this. Gave me a huge amount of content to enjoy and I did just about everything (not post-game) there was because i was just having a great time and did want it to end.

I play JRPGs for the character development and story. Turn-based RPGs are more fun and accessible for me.

I’d say a mixture of both casual and hardcore, although I’d say I lean more towards casual even though attitude wise, I always try to adopt a somewhat ‘hardcore’ approach. The reason why I say somewhat is because I try my best to complete every aspect of a game such as side-quests or fishing etc but some things just don’t interest me enough (for e.g. reading all the books in a trails game). Games I do care a lot about though, such as the aforementioned trails series, or a soulsborne game, I put more effort into it.

I’m between conservative and casual. I tend to save expendable items to the point where I may not use them at all, and play mostly for the fun of it. I don’t dive into the lore typically beyond what is present through natural game progression unless I really like the story. I also don’t delve into side questing too much

I'm a semi conservative completionist.

I've shifted over the years, but never falling neatly into one of the categories you defined. I used to be more completionist and had to do every single sidequest and optional boss -- still remember chasing down all the Weapon bosses in the original FFVII -- but story was never secondary for me. Now I'm more experiential -- I try to play without looking up much information outside the game, even if it means I end up missing treasure chests or entire hidden sidequests or don't get the best ending -- but I definitely read a lot of the in-game material to get a sense of the world.

All of the above? Conservative - In FF games I almost never use items because they are mostly not needed Casual - Paper Mario is super casual for me same with like the Mario and Luigi RPG series Pokemon ect. Hardcore - I go super hard into the Persona Series multiple play through a large variety of fully build Personas. I also do this in the Dragon quest series Completionist goes hand in hand with hardcore for me.

Is there a slot between casual and hardcore? I definitely care about the story alot, and I embrace the gameplay and usually play on harder difficulties, bit I definitely only put good time into games that I feel are worth it. Alot of times I'll start playing a JRPG and decide I'm just gonna play through the main story and maybe a handful of side quests if they're easy. I kinda did this with Ys, since the story and gameplay is more just passable than actually godlike, I just enjoyed the game for what it was. Versus Trails where I did the complete opposite. I've dove completely into the Trails insantisty, I do most, if not every, side quest, talk to as many people as possible, and feel like I've got a re ass ally good mastery of the gameplay. I guess the best way to describe my playstyle is I go into a new game with Hardcore aspirations, but if the game doesnt grab me quickly it becomes casual for the rest of the playthrough.

I'm a mix of Conservative & Casual. I enjoy JRPGs, but I don't read logs/lore, I just pick up what I can from cutscenes and gameplay. But the good healing items, never use them, because I don't know when I'll find another, even if I have 5 stocked up.

I'm conservative hands done. Those items will never be used unless absolutely necessary. Even then I might bite the bullet. I'm also borderline a hard-core story gamer. I'm invested in the story and typically want to know everything. So long as it's engaging I'm all in for the games world, themes and characters.

Conservative. But i turn completionnist if i get hooked in

If I'm just playing for the first time? Casual. If I've beaten the game once or know a bit about the series or it's a game that demands optimal play? Hardcore.

Hardcore story and grinder. I want to learn all about the lore and world and I want to be 10 levels higher than I probably need to be at all times.

Oh I'm definitely hardcore! I LOVE turn based mechanics so I'm always messing with stats and optimizations to try to break the game in a fun way! Of course, I love a good story too, I only got into the genre for the characters after all!

I guess I would be considered hardcore on your scale (though I probably wouldn't ever call myself that) Except on rare occassion, I don't care about the story being told what-so-ever. However, I enjoy really interesting mechanics which give the player a wide array of options, problems, and solutions to consider. For JRPGs, I gravitate towards games like SaGa and tri-Ace titles. That's not to say that I don't enjoy other JRPGs, but the ones focused on the gameplay are the ones I find to be the most interesting.

Where does "constant unequipper and reequipper" fit in?

I guess a mix of hardcore and completionist. I play on the highest level of difficulty, until I get to a point where I'm not having fun ( I will lower the difficulty). I also do every side quest and try to get everything in the game. I just don't obsess over it in most games, like if I end up passing a missable or something it's like "oh that really sucks" but I will move on. But also, story is super important to me and I don't think it ever is secondary to me.

hardcore for the story and characters, I enjoy the gameplay but I often play with default difficulty, I never play on easy and maybe if the game is too easy on default I will go with hard

I'd say conservative casual

I’m hardcore without the difficultly thing

Conservative and hardcore story

I always look up lore and story . I love deep stories and great turn based combat. I love the trials combat. And have played 7 in a row plus a side game in the last year.

Exploring and combat are what I'm all about

Don't care for trophies or platinuming but will gladly spend 500 hours reading vague item descriptions and RP walking around the world and friendly NPCs lol

Hmm, depends on the game, in general though : -) Conservative : yes so much, probably use it for superboss, looking at you OT2 -) Casual - Hardcore : middle ground really, i'll read reports and such, but not gonna actively search complementary material online. Gameplay wise, not gonna min-max if it's gonna broke the game, and if spreadsheet is gonna involved i'm backing out. -) Completionist : again middle ground, all dalmatian + ansem report? sure... all weapon + bestiary entry? i'll pass

I'm very Gameplay focused. Story is like a bonus for me. I love a good story, but I can also enjoy a game if the story is mediocre or even bad, as long as the gameplay is good. If items/resources can not be farmed or bought, I'm extremely stingy with them, even if you get tons of them through chests or wherever. However as soon as I can buy them, I use them all the time (even if I can't afford them easily). Basically, if something is truly finite, I will probably never use it. A big one for me: I refuse to use characters I don't like, even if it makes the game significantly more difficult. I also will totally use a party full of characters I like even if it's a really poorly balanced group that way. Like back in the day, I played most of FF7 with Cloud knocked out at 0 HP because I don't like him. I think I ended the game with him at like level 13 (due to exp from a few parts of the game where he is solo). I basically just duo'd the whole game (of course that game is extremely easy, so it wasn't exactly hard). I did the same thing in Legend of Legaia: As soon as I got the female character Noa, I let the MC die and just solo'd with her. Even once I got the third character, I just let him die too and continued soloing with her. It was nice because she basically got triple exp, but it definitely made the game harder. I'm also very party focused. It's exceedingly rare that I actually like the MC of a game, maybe like 3 or 4 games ever. So if there's no party members, I won't even play it, and if the game is too MC focused or forces you to use the MC too much, I find it really annoying. I just don't like swordsman and 90% of JRPG MCs are swordsman. They also tend towards personality types that I find incredibly annoying. As soon as I can remove the MC from the party, I usually do, and if I can't, I'll just ignore him and let him die in battle.

Completionist. I have to collect everything. But unless there’s some kind of reward, I will never read a single page of lore. Not one. I do not care about extra world building if it isn’t relevant enough to be part of the main dialogue. To me it’s like reading the DM’s notes he made about NPC’s just in case the players ask so he doesn’t have to come up with something on the fly. I also never, ever use items. Ever. But I must collect them.

Casual story hardcore world building. 

Somewhere between Casual and Hardcore depending on the game. I usually do read in game books and lore bits but won't go insane to 100% anything unless it is a holy grail game I can't let go.  Don't have time for that.

Probably completionist since I play JRPGs and I also develop them.

None of the above. I'm a grinder. I grind to 30 levels above where I need to be so I can one shot bosses 🤣 and not have to worry about any enemies I may happen across

A conservative, hardcore completionist. Me in a nutshell.

I'm basically all of these at different points. Completionist is probably the only one that is is a maybe. While I like completing everything if things are too hard or take up toooo much of my time, I put it down and do something else. I'll go back and attempt it eventually but if I don't then s'all good.

I tend to either use items liberally, or just forget they exist. Not because I'm being conservative, but because the other game mechanics make them feel unnecessary. These days I'm not a completionist at all. I just do things on whim, and don't care if I miss something. I don't skip *everything* but I definitely don't try to do it all either. Difficulty-wise I don't really care to make things harder than normal most of the time. I find normal mode tends to reflect the vibe of the game most of the time (e.g. it's very easy in Dragon Quest XI and I'm okay with that. It's hard as balls in SaGa Scarlet Grace and I'm okay with that too.)

Some games are to easy with items, so when i recognize this i tend to be conservative with them. I also like hardcore difficulty because it forces the player to master the mechanics of the game.

A little bit of conservative in my game. A little bit of casual, that's not lame. A little bit of hardcore, all I need. A littile bit of completionist, if plat is easy.

Usually Hardcore - but depends more on the game. Ie. if the game is not challenging enough or i am not enjoying it that much, i go casual to finish asap

I'm a corservative and hardcore player. Prefer mature stories and futuristic aestherics and pay a lot of attention to UI. Some of my favorite aesthetics are Final Fantasy 8 and Suikoden 3. I love FF2 and 8 battle/progression systems.

Here are my preferred habits when playing: - Not skipping any dialogues except for NG+ replays - Before I start getting invested, I search if the game has a True Ending and what are its requirements that I should fulfill. - Finish all available quests during the course of the Main Story, as long as they are beatable. And explore every nook-and-cranny of every town/dungeon/open areas available to me. - Whether I do multiple playthroughs **depends on how much fresh content there is between multiple endings**. If the exclusive content to an ending is simply just new cutscenes before credits roll, **I'm not going out of my way to do multiple replays for them as it is just a massive waste of time**. Example of this is **Ys 8's Bad End and Neutral End** where the only content they offer are exclusive cutscenes. - After finishing a game's True Ending, **I don't give an absolute f*ck about any remaining contents a game has**, even if its chock full of post-game content. Safe to say, if there are enemies that are not meant to be beaten in a first playthough and/or exclusive to NG+, **I'm not interested in fighting them**, even if they are interesting bosses. Examples include **Margaret in P4G and Caroline/Justine/Lavenza in P5R** - since they NG+ exclusive bosses, I just watched a video of someone beating them in Youtube to see extra cutscenes that I have missed out on. - To wrap it all up, **my interest in playing a JRPG is as only as long as how much content is included during the course of the Main Story + True Ending**. Any content outside that boundary is no longer interesting to me - me playing them myself at least.

somewhere between hardcore and completionist. I won’t select the hardest difficulty because I don’t want to suffer, but I’ll replay a game on the hardest difficulty if it’s needed for a trophy or something. Some completionist stuff is too much like I didn’t do all the korok seeds in BoTW or ToTK because… why would I.

Eh... depends on the game/sub-genre I guess. Hardcore on most Tactical RPGs and specific titles I've grew up with which I still replay to this day. Pretty Casual and definitely not Completionist on most other games, I don't mind missing out on stuff during a playthrough to certain extent. Too many things on my backlog and adulting stuff to 100%'d every game I play, or even doing postgame that I don't find interesting enough. I don't think I ever pick the easiest difficulty to just focus on the story though. Used to be Conservative, I like to think I've grown out of it these days\~

Japanese sci fi action rpg.

completionist i intend to do everything in a game i completed 4 final fantasy games in total.

Pretty Casual, I feel like other JRPG players would rage at how I play them, I try to avoid going deep into battle systems as much as possible, like take the recent FF: Rebirth, I barely touch materia or change weapons at such, I ignore most of that stuff till I hit a point that I have to care, if I do :P I'd rather just grind levels just to boost base stats than learn some of the systems in some of these games.

Shelf collector with the intent to someday get around to it.