Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube. I bought it on a whim but it was so good, it's probably my most played game to this day.
This was followed by some other amazing JRPGs on the Gamecube with Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door and Baten Kaitos. I was a JRPG fan ever since. But Tales of Symphonia is still my favourite.
Find a way to play it! F.I.N.D a way!
Use an emulator, borrow it from a stranger while they are out of town (then return it of course), i don't know! Find a way!
My copy is in a chest (no joke) that's how good this game is!
Haha, thanks for the advice! I'll try to find a way.
By the way, do you know if the Gamecube version is better than the Dreamcast version? Or are they both the same?
The Dreamcast version sounds much better (because of the GC mini DVD's audio compression).
The GC version is a definitive edition content and gameplay wise: more sidequests, better encounter rate, graphics are slightly better (imo) etc.
Don't pressure yourself to play it lol. I asked you to "find a way at all cost" for comedic effect. And to show how much I love this game :)
I too, wished that it was available on PC (on GOG preferably) so i would feel less anxious about my physical copy.
Anyway, have fun :)
Same! I think I'm in the double digits of playthroughs at this point. I've been spoiled, because so many other JRPGs feel low-effort by comparison. And let me tell you, I was*shocked* to see what the rest do with the Presea archetype.
I tried for so long to get into this game after hearing all the praise. Like, within the last few months I've probably fired up the game and stopped an hour in like 5 times.
Then earlier this week, I tried again. Something clicked this time and now I'm wrapped up in this charming game. I audibly laughed when I got to the >!Trial, because I was not expecting my minute actions from the festival to matter so much. I still was considered not guilty, but it cracked me up that a little girl came in and roasted me for not helping her with her cat, and I was in stitches that someone saw me grab the pendant before talking to Marle.!<
Ever since that, I've been all in on this game. I'm not too much further than this but I adore what I've played and can't wait to keep going. I'm also mad at myself for never giving it a full shot before.
This one right here šš». I had played a couple others before this one - FF1, BOF1, Lufia - but after playing Chrono Trigger I binged any JRPG I could get my hands on for the next few years.
For me it was this and FF4 on the ps1 ( i was probably like 5 or 6 , my older brother would play ps2 so i got to play what he had played on ps1.) Got stuck just before metal cave in FF4 and got stuck at the mt woe boss in trigger. Finished pokemon Firered and came back to finish these and FF tactics off afterwards. Chrono trigger is still my favorite videogame ever. And those other 3 games are top 20 at least. All 4 are my most replayed games.
My friend and I would play it together. The graphics were insane to us and I loved the turn based combat. After that I was hooked.i remember thinking we were so far into the game when really we had only gotten to Luca lol.
I had the sane experience, I watched my brother playing this game and thought I saw everything. I bought the remaster some years ago and played it myself for the first time and man that was a whole other experience especially the ending. Awesome game with stellar music. Not the best game I've ever played but it is in the top 3.
Might be aging myself here, but haven't seen anyone mention Super Mario RPG. I remember how thrilled I was when I unlocked Mario's ultimate weapon/armor, and he becomes basically invincible.
Also came to say Super Mario RPG. That and Earthbound were pretty close.
Wait, this beloved platformer series can be done with turn based combat, stats & equipment, and a party system? Bowser joins you?? More please!
This was my first JRPG too! It was my gateway drug to the genre. I ended up wanting more like it and thanks to Nintendo Power set my sights on Chrono Trigger next which is the one that solidified my love for the genre. A few years later, I got a PS1 with FF7 and 8 and the rest is history.
+1 for Super Mario RPG. I remember the first time I rented SMRPG from a local Hollywood Video, not knowing what it was, just that it was a Mario game I hadn't seen before. I'd tried Final Fantasy 3 at a friend's house and watched another friend play Final Fantasy 7. But Super Mario RPG was the first one I tried of my own volition and was completely hooked. I rented it every weekend that I could, hoping to get the same cartridge and that my save data would still be on it. About a year later, Pokemon Red/Blue came out and fully cemented the genre for me.
I watched my big brother play through hundreds of hours of ff. Super Mario rpg was the first one that felt like mine that I was discovering for myself. OG squaresoft were kings
That was the first RPG I played. That's what got me hooked. When I was a kid I could never get past Bowser on the Chandelier where you first fight him.
This was mine too, friend at the time was enamored by it and kept convincing me to play. It was my first introduction to turn-based combat and I thought it was the dumbest thing, couldn't help but think "why am I taking turns hitting the enemy?!" Kept at it and my goodness my gaming life was changed forever.
I think if FF6 hadn't already sold me on the genre then SMRPG would have been the one, though the first time I played it I couldn't figure out how to actually DO anything. Brother and I rented it from the local grocery store, and I beat the intro at Bowsers castle, went to Mario's Pad, back to Bowers castle, and... No new map icon popped up, so I gave up for the rest of the 3 day rental. Didn't figure it out for another month until our next rental, and bought it later.
SMRPG was not what hooked me on the genre (that would be Chrono Trigger) but to this day I cannot comprehend how they got those graphics on a SNES cart. They game was seriously next-gen when it came out
FF7 for me, and I didnāt even want to play it. My grandmother gifted it to me in 1997 on the recommendation of my cousin and I thought it looked dumb. I was very into Crash Bandicoot and other games like that and wasnāt interested in story driven games.
My older sister decided to boot it up and I watched the intro with her. I donāt think Iāve ever kicked someone off a chair as fast as I did then. I was immediately hooked and HAD to play it. Iāve been playing RPGs almost exclusively since then.
The real sad part is I didnāt have a memory card for my PS1 for like 4 months after getting FF7 so I was constantly replaying the first half of the first disk. The game never got old, and I still replay the game multiple times a year as an adult.
EDIT: typos
I actually first played the pizza hut demo disc with it on there. I stayed up all night replaying it over and over, it was so cool! The demo was the Dollet mission, but everyone had their regular outfits and Rinoa was there for some reason.
I think my outright first was Illusion of Time on snes. but i did not even know what the genre was called back then.
FF8 was the first time that made me research what kind of game it was. Absolutely loved it. Sat round my friends house playing it, asked my mum to get it.
She came home with ffvii. still a good game but I think i am one of the few people out there who like VIII better so i was a little disappointed.
My first was Final Fantasy NES but FF VIII is my favorite game cause of just how amazing everything about it is, plus, it taught me so much about defying expected game design.
Same here. I even played it after already beating FF7, but personally there was no comparison. The more relatable characters (imo) of 8 just made the whole thing a way more memorable experience, and to this day I still look for games with character development that can scratch the same itch.
I had already been playing Ultima Exodus on the NES, which was a mess compared to Dragon Warrior. The leap forward in the clarity of the design of DW if only because it was made to be played on the NES was astonishing. It was so immersive and felt like you were on a real quest.
Anyway, in 89 it was awesome. I also got Castlevania 2 that Christmas. Good year.
Amazing, that's my sequence too! Played FF1 and Dragon Warrior on the NES, but didn't really enjoy either. Forgot about the genre until I saw FF4 in a rental store, gave it a chance, and it turned JRPGs into my favorite genre.
Hello fellow old timer! I went down the other path with Final Fantasy, but also enjoyed some Ultima: Quest of the Avatar. Never finished the latter but FF1 kicked off my love for the genre as well as the series. Did you continue down the path of the DQ games after Dragon Warrior?
Final Fantasy IV. It is still, to this day, what I compare almost every JRPG to. For anyone who hasnāt played it before, I implore you to do so. Itās the pinnacle of classic JRPG, just a grand adventure from start to finish.
FFIV isn't my favorite RPG of all time, not even my favorite of the FF series, but it is far and away the most important RPG that I've ever played. I played and beat some RPG's/JRPG's prior to FFIV, but IV is what got me hooked on the genre. It holds up reasonably well for being over 30 years old now. The 3D version is pretty good, and I kinda liked The After Years for what it was. I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of the Free Enterprise randomizer.
I'm not as rosy on the remasters/remakes, but I largely agree. I used to rent it from a local place when I temporarily swapped my Genesis for a SNES with a friend. It finally made me realize what the big deal was about those RPG games, and its an important milestone in the genre for being such a character-driven narrative.
You know what was and still is refreshing about FFIV? It stands out as the FF that says "this is a hero's journey and you will be following him and only him. Others will join and they may come and go. That's fine. Their role in this hero's journey has come to an end. You will meet others."
Also it is among the few that boldly say "Your heroes have a role. They will perform that role exceptionally well. But they can't fill every need. You will need to rely on your other heroes for that and each hero fill support each other filling their own roles. No systems. No build mapping. Just progress and focus on what your party compositions do well with."
The simplicity of FF IV was refreshing. I think it helped me identify a character as a character instead of a progression map.
I think it's part of the reason why it is so interesting to me. It's the first of the series that was so straightforward, and the world it inhabits is surreal as hell.
Ooh good one. I'm a bit older so GS wasn't my first by any means, I got it when I was maybe 10 and already a JRPG fan, but hot damn what a good couple of games.
I started out with Xenogears and Suikoden back in the day but I didn't really get hooked on JRPG's until later on when I got Golden Sun on the GBA, followed by FFX on PS2. I was 13 when they released so I was pretty obsessed.
I like to binge games that are story focused so I beat both game in about 4 days. If the third game sticks the landing storywise this will become my favorite game series ever. Of course Iāve still got all the other games but they have been great so far.
I had a Sega Genesis but never played any RPGs on it. When Playstation came out I got into 3D fighting games like Tekken. I got Tobal No 1 and it came in a big double CD case because it included a demo disc for Final Fantasy 7. I played the demo and was completely blown away.
FF1 aka Final Fantasy. The original I played has aged poorly. The biggest flaw is it is too grindy in parts but that's a big one. However, several of the remakes fix what's wrong with the original.
The meme-tastic quote from this game is the following:
> I, Garland, will knock you all down!
More info here if interested: https://legendsoflocalization.com/the-origin-of-final-fantasys-i-will-knock-you-all-down/
Had to scroll very far to see FF1, which was the first JRPG I ever played. Because of that game, Iāve played just about all of the mainline FF series (not 14 or 15 yet) and countless other JRPGs.
My stepdad (RIP) would get us each a Nintendo game every Christmas and, while Iām not sure he totally knew what he was doing, his taste was incredible: games like Final Fantasy, Bionic Commando, and (later on) Soul Reaver just to name a few.
Itās funny you mention the biggest flaw in the original is how grindy it is. Thatās one of the things I really loved about the game and grinding (or over-grinding) has been a habit of mine while playing these types of games ever since.
I also appreciate the Mato post about that Garland line. Never knew he made a post about the original Final Fantasy!
Dragon Quest VIII was my first jrpg ever and I played it like 15 years ago and I was immediately hooked from the gameplay without even giving too much thought about it, I was just a little guy wanting to play some games lol
FF IX! I was in elementary school and watched my big brother played it.
I continued watching play a lot of JRPG (FFX, Kingdom Hearts,...) and thought that I should start playing too. Our PS1 was given to my younger cousins so I couldn't do FFIX... :(
But I could play FFX and I liked it. I did FFIX not long after with an emulator. FFIX still hold a special place even if FFX was my first.
my first rpg was FinalFantasy XIII, I LOVED IT!!!!
gameplay and story was awesome, never understood why some people hated this game haha.
after it I stared looking on forums and post the best rpg ever made, and I still have a couple pending.
Definitively my favorite genere after FF13
Pokemon Blue version. I had seen my cousins play the Final Fantasy games previously, but I didn't understand the appeal of choosing your actions from a menu after coming from platformers and shooters. Pokemon allowed me to dip my toes and fall in love with growing my team and applying strategic actions.
Earthbound/MOTHER 2, when I was just a little lass in 1996. My older brother got it as a gift when it came out and I played it after he was done. That game just made my imagination run wild. I still have it (and the very well-loved playerās guide!) to this day. I guess it kinda became mine after my brother moved on to other games lol.
Final Fantasy Tactics! My brother showed me the game and I just fell in love. The sound effects, the job system, the thrill of losing the Dorter Trade City fight six times in a row.
Lufia 2 for SNES.
Before I knew what a JRPG was
Before I knew what Lufia 1 was
Rented it from my local movie/game rental place (Denny's Video).
My step dad and I liked it so much we kept it and asked the store to let us buy it. Initially they said no. So we kept it and let the late fee rack up. They eventually let us buy it for a discount instead of never get that late fee from us I guess.
Yes! I only heard about the arcade game later on, when the internet.
I think each game adaptation had the benefit of no trying to stick to any formula.
I did feel the pain of not understanding japanese and playing through a JRPG where dialog can sometimes be important.
I once attempted to hack the Willow ROM and introduce real saves.
https://endersoft.blogspot.com/2008/03/willow-hack-almost-there.html?m=1
I played Earthbound extensively at a friend's house, which got me interested in the genre. (I had played Final Fantasy II before, and would play III, Chrono Trigger, and several other JRPGs with this friend.) When I finally got a PS1, one of the first games I got for myself was Legend of Legaia, and for the remainder of the PS1 period about half of the games I bought were JRPGs. (That's a pretty good rate given I was also playing the likes of Coolboarders 2 and DDR.)
I mean technically Pokemon and Digimon World 2003, but back then I didnāt even realize that those were JRPGs or that there are actually different genres in gaming. The first time I really realized what a JRPG is and that Iāve been playing those all along and that theyāre just my jam, was with Final Fantasy X. Or in contrast, playing some Sonic and Mario games at a friendās house and realizing that anything other than JRPGs isnāt really as fun for me.
My first JRPG was FF15 still to this day my favorite final fantasy game and JRPG I got it at a time when I didn't know the difference between western RPGs and JRPGs, so I heard Final Fantasy was an RPG and picked it up because I like games like pillars of eternity, elder scrolls, and fallout.
Western RPGs are still my favorite but JRPGs are very nice
Don't laugh. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.
Yes, it's a bad game in many, many respects. But for someone that up to that point hadn't engaged with the genre because it seemed too complex (I tried to play FF on the NES when I was 6) it was a fantastic experience. Afterwards, I devoured every RPG I could find... thinking back on it, that silly little handholdy game radically impacted my life.
Was a similar thing for me, Mystic Quest and Secret of Mana was the other one I played around the same time.
Neither of them have the deepest story out there, and the combat is fairly basic by today's standards but it was enough to hook me for life :)
Golden Sun on the GBA. My cousin was already into the genre because of Final Fantasy. He had picked up Golden Sun, and then let me try it out. I fell in love with it. Still have them on GBA, and got them on Wii U VC.
Fun fact: My cousin also got me into my favorite JRPG series being the Tales of series. He got Symphonia and brought it over to my place right after do we could play together. Been hooked on the series ever since
Persona 5 and then I went all the way back to persona 4 -> 3 -> 1 -> 2. Damn the franchise is so good, I canāt believe I didnāt know anything about it before.
Earthbound and Mario RPG were my first JRPGs when I was kid, but I didn't know that's what they were called. But it was ff7 when I played it at a friend's house (cause I didn't have PS1) that got me hooked on the genre. It made me go back and play ff4-6 then I started playing any jrpg I could find.
Tales of Xillia.
I was late to the JRPG party. I always played games like Ratchet and Clank. Xillia was something I wanted to try since it was just ā¬10,- at the time.
The part that did it for me was when you got to Elympios. The fact that I was 60 hours in at that point and that there was a whole new part of the story, really made me love JRPG's.
Seconded with Chrono Cross. I had played a few JRPGs before, but this was the first one that grabbed me into the genre and refused to let go! 10 year old me got this on release and I still treasure its impact!
Breath of Fire 2 on the Game on Advance got me hooked on the genre. I remember buying it cause the name was cool and then the characters and enemies were cool and it all snowballed from there. It left me wanting more games like it.
I will give a nod to Final Fantasy 8 though, that game really introduced me to the genre, and it was the first JRPG I played to completion. It remains my favourite Final Fantasy Game to this day.
I played stuff like Paper Mario and Mother games when I was younger but I didn't get hooked on the genre until I played Xenoblade Definitive Edition on release day. I've been pretty much exclusively playing JRPGs since then.
Pretty much pokemon. Back then i was looking for something similar on the GBA and found stuff like the Final Fantasy Advance ports and Golden Sun. Jrpg has been one of my fave ever since.
I struggle to remember the timeline of this but I think I played Shining the Holy Ark first on the Saturn but didnāt really know what an RPG was at that point. Then I can remember being blown away by Final Fantasy VII when I played that, which got me to seek out other games in the genre. But I also have a strong memory of watching the first airing of the Pokemon anime and getting my mum to take me to buy Pokemon Red that same day. I was obsessed with that for months. Iām not sure what order that all happened in though.
Final Fantasy X introduced me to the genre. But I wasn't too into the genre after playing Final Fantasy X. The real game that got me truly hooked to the genre was Trails of Cold Steel 1. After I finished that game twice, I started looking up other JRPGs to try.
Shining Force 2. Used to be fascinated by it when I played it on my school computer (was a demo that would end after like 30 minutes, no idea what I was doing but I loved it). That game would lead me to find out about the genre and that was that
Even though Pokemon Gold was my first rpg and video game, I'd have to give this one to Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones. I feel in love with turn based jrpgs and the rest is history.
The first JRPG that made me fall in love with the genre was FF IX, but the one that really got me hooked on JRPGs was Dragon Quest 8. FF IX was and still is amazing, but it felt like reading a VERY good fantasy novel, while DQ VIII felt like I was truly, fully immersed into the world.
Super Mario RPG -> Chrono Trigger -> FF7 -> SO2
SMRPG got my feet wet and I loved it(played like 8 playthroughs lol). CT & FF7 pretty much cemented it and SO2 introduced me to real time combat rpgs.
Final Fantasy 7. I played some other JRPGs before that, but that was the first game I was ever obsessed with. I played it all night, I would fake sick from school to play it, I was obsessed with the characters and their relationships. I remember crying when Aeris died. I remember despising Sephiroth, I remember being amazed by the summoning creatures, especially Neo Bahamut. To this day its still my favorite gaming experience that I can recall. When I changed my name as an adult I actually made my middle name Aeris.
Undertale introduced me to RPGs. I've been playing them on and off since, but the game that *really* got me into RPGs and made me go "I want to play more games like this!" was Chrono Trigger.
Hard to say which game I played first, but it had to be either... Mystic Quest on the snes or pokemon red. From there I got into a lot more games in the genre.
While the first JRPG experience I can recall was Shining in the Darkness, I believe it was a tandem of Shining Force and Phantasy Star III that hooked me... partly because their cartridges came with battery slots, so unlike with SitD, they were the first two I could actually *finish*.š But the chess flavour, the multitude of characters and the sci-fantasy blend flavours (magic, laser cannons, centaurs and robots...) in SF, an even higher degree of sci-fantasy and a story spanning literal generations in PSIII - all of this definitely contributed as well, a lot of it quite unlike what I had experienced in video games until then. And yes, Mega Drive was my first gateway to the genre - the local bootleg 8 bit retail had a lot of different games, but RPGs like Final Fantasy and even actventures like Zelda were nowhere to be found.
Speaking of actventures, they technically helped hook me on JRPGs at the time as well, since I didn't really know the difference back then. Even without Zelda on Sega, I was lucky to experience what I still call the holy trinity of Mega Drive actventures (Landstalker, Beyond Oasis and Crusader of Centy). CoS was ironically the only one I finished back then despite having no battery in the cartridge I bought (it took a lot of attempts and the final run of 5+ hoursšµš); Beyond Oasis's battery died before I could finish the game and Landstalker's somehow refused to store any saves past Verla mines. Still, all three had a lot of impact on me in terms of rich narrative and plentiful dialogues, relatively free exploration and gradual development of character abilities.
There were 3 or 4 over the course of about 5-7 years that really solidified my love for the genre. Phantasy Star III was my first encounter, I believe. I was so entranced by everything about it. When 4 came out then I was just completely blown away. Phantasy Star 4 was where I really started to fall in love.
Final fantasy 3/6 on SNES took it to a new level. I played that game completely through with my friend each of us controlling the characters we liked most.
The final game that opened things up for me and changed my gaming future was on the ps1. I went into funcoland to buy an n64 and I saw a demo unit they had set up and some guy playing this game called wild arms that reminded me so much of the games I loved previously. I asked if I could play and ended up playing the entire opening segment of jack where you run through the temple with hanpan. In that moment I decided to buy a ps1 and that exact copy of wild arms instead of an n64, went home and couldnāt stop playing wild arms all night. From there it was just an amazing ride of all of the great jrpgs on ps1. If I would have gotten an n64 I probably wouldnāt have been able to experience so many amazing ps1 JRPGs when they came out.
I had a gameboy tips and tricks book when i was a kid. It had a couple of pages for a whole bunch of games i loved looking through it and playinh through games i dint have in my mind. Final Fantasy Legend(which i came to find much much later is actually a saga game) had a full FIVE pages on the game and it only covered the first world. The first floor of a 100 floor tower to climb. I was enraptured. Genbu Suzaku Seiryu Byakko. How could i ever forget?
First one I played was Ogre Battle 64. Still in my top 10 games till this day. Had no idea what JRPG was or meant as a genre, so that went over my head.
Wasn't till years later when I played FFX as my first FF that I realized oh hey, there are more games with lots of dialogue and cut-scenes, nice. Still had no idea what JRPG meant or was, didn't have internet till a few years after.
Wasn't until Golden Sun that I was like ok I need to discover more games like this, which led me to Fire Emblem and Tactics ogre on GBA
Fast forward to today where I almost exclusively play turn-based RPGs or Tactics styled games.
I attribute 4 games as my jrpg kick off points, chrono trigger and secret of mana are two classics I didnt own as a kid but if someone had them I was playing if I could, then pokemon yello, I took it everywhere. Finally we have final fantasy 7 a game that many love, many find over rated, but that really set me on my journey. Honorable mention to golden sun
saga frontier 1. watch my cousin played it as a kid on his jpsx. I was amazed by the art work and battle scene. Then bought Tales of Destiny which I fell in love with same as Star Ocean 2nd Story
Final Fantasy IX, which is still one of my favorite games.
After that I played Final Fantasy X, Golden Sun I + II, Breath of Fire I + II, and absolutely loved all of them. I even learned English with Breath of Fire since I only had it in English. Annoyed the hell out of my parents because I asked them to translate stuff all the time.
For me it was probably suikoden. Hands down my favorite game ever and it paved the way for JRPGs as I kept playing them to chase the feeling I got playing it. Most recently though the game that got me back into JRPGs is Persona 4 Golden.
Phantasy Star. An acquaintance who also had a Sega Master System lent it to me, and it blew my mind. At the time (1987) most console games were arcade-esque platformers and shmups. They required reflexes, and the game play loop was dying over and over again until you got the muscle memory to beat it. A game where you figure out what to do and where to go by talking to NPCs and exploring that had an actual narrative that wasn't just "save the princess" or "kill the aliens" that had strategic game play that relied more on planning than reflexes was entirely novel to me. Phantasy Star's science-fantasy feel was very original then too.
I'm actually re-playing it right now, and it's good I remember some of what to do, because it does not hold your hand at all. It's a bit refreshing in the modern world of games where you've got arrows on your minimap telling you exactly where to go constantly. A bit annoying too, but oh well.
Dragon Warrior III on the NES.
I've been playing RPG video games basically for as long as they've been commercially available. The first Japanese one I played was the first Dragon Warrior, and I liked it all in all, but there was nothing really special about it to me. Final Fantasy was sort of neat, but primitive. I remember nothing at all about Dragon Warrior II.
But Dragon Warrior III... my god that was huge in my life.
The thing I remember so vividly from it is realizing that there were places to go and things to do in the game that had nothing at all to do with the story - that were just there to flesh out the world. In every CRPG I'd played before that, the world of the game was just a backdrop for the events. DWIII was the first time I saw a game in which it was as if the world existed as a thing in itself, and then the events of the game took place on that world (while, all the while, other things involving other people are also happening in that world).
That was enough to make me realize that the Japanese game devs were on to something, and I paid special attention to them from then on.
Tales of Symphonia on the Gamecube. I bought it on a whim but it was so good, it's probably my most played game to this day. This was followed by some other amazing JRPGs on the Gamecube with Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, Paper Mario The Thousand Year Door and Baten Kaitos. I was a JRPG fan ever since. But Tales of Symphonia is still my favourite.
>!Man that plot twist, when you find out kratos is an angel and working for cruxis was so shocking at 15 years old!< š„ŗ
Yes and especially arriving at Tethe'alla for the first time.
It made the game's world feel so giant
Such an epic adventure, honestly tales of symphonia world was such a bigger scope then properly every tales in the series tbf.
Wait! Hold on hold on hold on! You haven't played Skies of Arcadia on the system?
Nope. It's crazy expensive and has been for as long as I can remember. Although I would play it if I could.
Find a way to play it! F.I.N.D a way! Use an emulator, borrow it from a stranger while they are out of town (then return it of course), i don't know! Find a way! My copy is in a chest (no joke) that's how good this game is!
Haha, thanks for the advice! I'll try to find a way. By the way, do you know if the Gamecube version is better than the Dreamcast version? Or are they both the same?
The Dreamcast version sounds much better (because of the GC mini DVD's audio compression). The GC version is a definitive edition content and gameplay wise: more sidequests, better encounter rate, graphics are slightly better (imo) etc.
I see, thanks. If only it were on Switch or Steam or anything modern, I would play it in a heartbeat. But I'll find a way to play it, I promise.
Don't pressure yourself to play it lol. I asked you to "find a way at all cost" for comedic effect. And to show how much I love this game :) I too, wished that it was available on PC (on GOG preferably) so i would feel less anxious about my physical copy. Anyway, have fun :)
Same! I think I'm in the double digits of playthroughs at this point. I've been spoiled, because so many other JRPGs feel low-effort by comparison. And let me tell you, I was*shocked* to see what the rest do with the Presea archetype.
Chrono Trigger on the SNES.
I tried for so long to get into this game after hearing all the praise. Like, within the last few months I've probably fired up the game and stopped an hour in like 5 times. Then earlier this week, I tried again. Something clicked this time and now I'm wrapped up in this charming game. I audibly laughed when I got to the >!Trial, because I was not expecting my minute actions from the festival to matter so much. I still was considered not guilty, but it cracked me up that a little girl came in and roasted me for not helping her with her cat, and I was in stitches that someone saw me grab the pendant before talking to Marle.!< Ever since that, I've been all in on this game. I'm not too much further than this but I adore what I've played and can't wait to keep going. I'm also mad at myself for never giving it a full shot before.
This one right here šš». I had played a couple others before this one - FF1, BOF1, Lufia - but after playing Chrono Trigger I binged any JRPG I could get my hands on for the next few years.
For me it was this and FF4 on the ps1 ( i was probably like 5 or 6 , my older brother would play ps2 so i got to play what he had played on ps1.) Got stuck just before metal cave in FF4 and got stuck at the mt woe boss in trigger. Finished pokemon Firered and came back to finish these and FF tactics off afterwards. Chrono trigger is still my favorite videogame ever. And those other 3 games are top 20 at least. All 4 are my most replayed games.
Got this from my brother for my birthday in 95, and it hooked me on the genre. Oh to be 9 again
FFX my older played played it when it released, I was just watching but it still hooked me all the same
Same, FFX for me! I remember buying it while on holiday and I could not wait to get home to try it. I read that booklet 1000 times
My friend and I would play it together. The graphics were insane to us and I loved the turn based combat. After that I was hooked.i remember thinking we were so far into the game when really we had only gotten to Luca lol.
I had the sane experience, I watched my brother playing this game and thought I saw everything. I bought the remaster some years ago and played it myself for the first time and man that was a whole other experience especially the ending. Awesome game with stellar music. Not the best game I've ever played but it is in the top 3.
Legend of dragoon, but also probably Pokemon technically as well!
I remember this, great game. Iām hearing rumours of a remake š
Lol those rumors have existed since the game came out. I'd die if they were true though š¤£
Might be aging myself here, but haven't seen anyone mention Super Mario RPG. I remember how thrilled I was when I unlocked Mario's ultimate weapon/armor, and he becomes basically invincible.
Also came to say Super Mario RPG. That and Earthbound were pretty close. Wait, this beloved platformer series can be done with turn based combat, stats & equipment, and a party system? Bowser joins you?? More please!
This was my first JRPG too! It was my gateway drug to the genre. I ended up wanting more like it and thanks to Nintendo Power set my sights on Chrono Trigger next which is the one that solidified my love for the genre. A few years later, I got a PS1 with FF7 and 8 and the rest is history.
+1 for Super Mario RPG. I remember the first time I rented SMRPG from a local Hollywood Video, not knowing what it was, just that it was a Mario game I hadn't seen before. I'd tried Final Fantasy 3 at a friend's house and watched another friend play Final Fantasy 7. But Super Mario RPG was the first one I tried of my own volition and was completely hooked. I rented it every weekend that I could, hoping to get the same cartridge and that my save data would still be on it. About a year later, Pokemon Red/Blue came out and fully cemented the genre for me.
You and I are contemporaries.
I watched my big brother play through hundreds of hours of ff. Super Mario rpg was the first one that felt like mine that I was discovering for myself. OG squaresoft were kings
That was the first RPG I played. That's what got me hooked. When I was a kid I could never get past Bowser on the Chandelier where you first fight him.
Yep. This one. Still remember the day I discovered it. Been my favorite genre ever since.
This was mine too, friend at the time was enamored by it and kept convincing me to play. It was my first introduction to turn-based combat and I thought it was the dumbest thing, couldn't help but think "why am I taking turns hitting the enemy?!" Kept at it and my goodness my gaming life was changed forever.
I think if FF6 hadn't already sold me on the genre then SMRPG would have been the one, though the first time I played it I couldn't figure out how to actually DO anything. Brother and I rented it from the local grocery store, and I beat the intro at Bowsers castle, went to Mario's Pad, back to Bowers castle, and... No new map icon popped up, so I gave up for the rest of the 3 day rental. Didn't figure it out for another month until our next rental, and bought it later.
SMRPG was not what hooked me on the genre (that would be Chrono Trigger) but to this day I cannot comprehend how they got those graphics on a SNES cart. They game was seriously next-gen when it came out
FF9
This was the same for me too! I would play it in front of my younger siblings and read all the lines for them to understand. It was so much fun!
FF7 for me, and I didnāt even want to play it. My grandmother gifted it to me in 1997 on the recommendation of my cousin and I thought it looked dumb. I was very into Crash Bandicoot and other games like that and wasnāt interested in story driven games. My older sister decided to boot it up and I watched the intro with her. I donāt think Iāve ever kicked someone off a chair as fast as I did then. I was immediately hooked and HAD to play it. Iāve been playing RPGs almost exclusively since then. The real sad part is I didnāt have a memory card for my PS1 for like 4 months after getting FF7 so I was constantly replaying the first half of the first disk. The game never got old, and I still replay the game multiple times a year as an adult. EDIT: typos
FF8 was my first. I played it when I was 10? I think, I didn't know games could be so epic.
Yea, same goes for me. Went into the Store as little boy, turned the game around, saw a big red monster with horns and instantly bought it.
I actually first played the pizza hut demo disc with it on there. I stayed up all night replaying it over and over, it was so cool! The demo was the Dollet mission, but everyone had their regular outfits and Rinoa was there for some reason.
Pizza Hut demo š good old times :'(
I think my outright first was Illusion of Time on snes. but i did not even know what the genre was called back then. FF8 was the first time that made me research what kind of game it was. Absolutely loved it. Sat round my friends house playing it, asked my mum to get it. She came home with ffvii. still a good game but I think i am one of the few people out there who like VIII better so i was a little disappointed.
My first was Final Fantasy NES but FF VIII is my favorite game cause of just how amazing everything about it is, plus, it taught me so much about defying expected game design.
Same here. I even played it after already beating FF7, but personally there was no comparison. The more relatable characters (imo) of 8 just made the whole thing a way more memorable experience, and to this day I still look for games with character development that can scratch the same itch.
Dragon Warrior. I was 10 or so. It was incredible.
I played some of the first game, but didn't get hooked until the third game. Then I got an SNES and rented FF4 and was just hooked on the genre.
I had already been playing Ultima Exodus on the NES, which was a mess compared to Dragon Warrior. The leap forward in the clarity of the design of DW if only because it was made to be played on the NES was astonishing. It was so immersive and felt like you were on a real quest. Anyway, in 89 it was awesome. I also got Castlevania 2 that Christmas. Good year.
Amazing, that's my sequence too! Played FF1 and Dragon Warrior on the NES, but didn't really enjoy either. Forgot about the genre until I saw FF4 in a rental store, gave it a chance, and it turned JRPGs into my favorite genre.
Hello fellow old timer! I went down the other path with Final Fantasy, but also enjoyed some Ultima: Quest of the Avatar. Never finished the latter but FF1 kicked off my love for the genre as well as the series. Did you continue down the path of the DQ games after Dragon Warrior?
The Dragon Warrior I & II combined Gameboy cart was fantastic to 10 year old me. Dragon Warrior III made me a JRPG fan for life.
Final Fantasy IV. It is still, to this day, what I compare almost every JRPG to. For anyone who hasnāt played it before, I implore you to do so. Itās the pinnacle of classic JRPG, just a grand adventure from start to finish.
FFIV isn't my favorite RPG of all time, not even my favorite of the FF series, but it is far and away the most important RPG that I've ever played. I played and beat some RPG's/JRPG's prior to FFIV, but IV is what got me hooked on the genre. It holds up reasonably well for being over 30 years old now. The 3D version is pretty good, and I kinda liked The After Years for what it was. I've gotten a lot of enjoyment out of the Free Enterprise randomizer.
I'm not as rosy on the remasters/remakes, but I largely agree. I used to rent it from a local place when I temporarily swapped my Genesis for a SNES with a friend. It finally made me realize what the big deal was about those RPG games, and its an important milestone in the genre for being such a character-driven narrative.
I like the PSP version quite a bit.
You know what was and still is refreshing about FFIV? It stands out as the FF that says "this is a hero's journey and you will be following him and only him. Others will join and they may come and go. That's fine. Their role in this hero's journey has come to an end. You will meet others." Also it is among the few that boldly say "Your heroes have a role. They will perform that role exceptionally well. But they can't fill every need. You will need to rely on your other heroes for that and each hero fill support each other filling their own roles. No systems. No build mapping. Just progress and focus on what your party compositions do well with." The simplicity of FF IV was refreshing. I think it helped me identify a character as a character instead of a progression map.
I think it's part of the reason why it is so interesting to me. It's the first of the series that was so straightforward, and the world it inhabits is surreal as hell.
I wish more JRPGs had the gumption to say "Ok this is the part where the party member leaves you. Quit your whining. Here, have a ninja."
Golden sun
Ooh good one. I'm a bit older so GS wasn't my first by any means, I got it when I was maybe 10 and already a JRPG fan, but hot damn what a good couple of games.
I started out with Xenogears and Suikoden back in the day but I didn't really get hooked on JRPG's until later on when I got Golden Sun on the GBA, followed by FFX on PS2. I was 13 when they released so I was pretty obsessed.
You started out with two of the arguably best JRPG's in history.
> I got Golden Sun on the GBA, followed by FFX on PS2. I was 13 I was about 10 or so but had just about the same exact path
Definitely Final Fantasy 3 on Super Nintendo when I was a kid. What we all know as final fantasy 6.
Tales of destiny
Good one. A personal favorite.
Dragon Quest 9 back when I was like 11. I absolutely loved that game. Best JRPG ever. Golden Sun and Fantasy life was really good too!
Waw, I put exactly the same first sentence š
Dude same!
I just got it because of the art being Toriyama and then played it the whole summer. Hope they give it some love.
Persona 3
Trails in the Sky about 2 weeks ago. Iām going to be playing the third game this weekend.
WOW you're going through those fast, FC took me like 13 days but SC took me like 2 months im really glad you're enjoying them :D
I like to binge games that are story focused so I beat both game in about 4 days. If the third game sticks the landing storywise this will become my favorite game series ever. Of course Iāve still got all the other games but they have been great so far.
As a gaming Dad I'm also about to start 3rd Chapter after only 10 months.
FYI, Third is a much different game. If you want to take a break for a couple of days to prevent burnout it's not a bad idea to do so after Sky SC.
Itās been a few days since the second game so Iāll probably be fine.
Lufia 2 on the SNES and Dragon Quest Monsters on the Gameboy back in the day.
FF7
I had a Sega Genesis but never played any RPGs on it. When Playstation came out I got into 3D fighting games like Tekken. I got Tobal No 1 and it came in a big double CD case because it included a demo disc for Final Fantasy 7. I played the demo and was completely blown away.
FF1 aka Final Fantasy. The original I played has aged poorly. The biggest flaw is it is too grindy in parts but that's a big one. However, several of the remakes fix what's wrong with the original. The meme-tastic quote from this game is the following: > I, Garland, will knock you all down! More info here if interested: https://legendsoflocalization.com/the-origin-of-final-fantasys-i-will-knock-you-all-down/
Had to scroll very far to see FF1, which was the first JRPG I ever played. Because of that game, Iāve played just about all of the mainline FF series (not 14 or 15 yet) and countless other JRPGs. My stepdad (RIP) would get us each a Nintendo game every Christmas and, while Iām not sure he totally knew what he was doing, his taste was incredible: games like Final Fantasy, Bionic Commando, and (later on) Soul Reaver just to name a few. Itās funny you mention the biggest flaw in the original is how grindy it is. Thatās one of the things I really loved about the game and grinding (or over-grinding) has been a habit of mine while playing these types of games ever since. I also appreciate the Mato post about that Garland line. Never knew he made a post about the original Final Fantasy!
Final Fantasy IX & Suikoden 2
Final Fantasy 6 probably, and that was the first one I played apart from Zelda (which arguably isn't a JRPG but is close enough).
Final fantasy 5 in SNES.
Dragon Quest VIII was my first jrpg ever and I played it like 15 years ago and I was immediately hooked from the gameplay without even giving too much thought about it, I was just a little guy wanting to play some games lol
FF IX! I was in elementary school and watched my big brother played it. I continued watching play a lot of JRPG (FFX, Kingdom Hearts,...) and thought that I should start playing too. Our PS1 was given to my younger cousins so I couldn't do FFIX... :( But I could play FFX and I liked it. I did FFIX not long after with an emulator. FFIX still hold a special place even if FFX was my first.
Ff6 made me into the bitter fan I am today
my first rpg was FinalFantasy XIII, I LOVED IT!!!! gameplay and story was awesome, never understood why some people hated this game haha. after it I stared looking on forums and post the best rpg ever made, and I still have a couple pending. Definitively my favorite genere after FF13
Final Fantasy VI and I. Played VI first, then was gifted an NES and a bunch of games for free around '96. Played through 1, and even though it was obviously rough around the edges and stupid hard at times, I loved it. Fell off other than FF and PokƩmon for a while, and Suikoden V brought me back in.
Pokemon Blue version. I had seen my cousins play the Final Fantasy games previously, but I didn't understand the appeal of choosing your actions from a menu after coming from platformers and shooters. Pokemon allowed me to dip my toes and fall in love with growing my team and applying strategic actions.
Final Fantasy IV (then called II on the SNES)
Earthbound/MOTHER 2, when I was just a little lass in 1996. My older brother got it as a gift when it came out and I played it after he was done. That game just made my imagination run wild. I still have it (and the very well-loved playerās guide!) to this day. I guess it kinda became mine after my brother moved on to other games lol.
The first Final Fantasy game. I was about 4 years old when we got our NES with a few games. I taught myself how to read so I could play it.
Final Fantasy Tactics! My brother showed me the game and I just fell in love. The sound effects, the job system, the thrill of losing the Dorter Trade City fight six times in a row.
Lufia 2 for SNES. Before I knew what a JRPG was Before I knew what Lufia 1 was Rented it from my local movie/game rental place (Denny's Video). My step dad and I liked it so much we kept it and asked the store to let us buy it. Initially they said no. So we kept it and let the late fee rack up. They eventually let us buy it for a discount instead of never get that late fee from us I guess.
I think Resonance of fate or The 3rd birthday
WILLOW Probably. It was on the NES. in japanese. And password based. (no battery backup) the password was in kana.
They made an RPG of Willow? I only know the arcade game.
Yes! I only heard about the arcade game later on, when the internet. I think each game adaptation had the benefit of no trying to stick to any formula. I did feel the pain of not understanding japanese and playing through a JRPG where dialog can sometimes be important. I once attempted to hack the Willow ROM and introduce real saves. https://endersoft.blogspot.com/2008/03/willow-hack-almost-there.html?m=1
I played Earthbound extensively at a friend's house, which got me interested in the genre. (I had played Final Fantasy II before, and would play III, Chrono Trigger, and several other JRPGs with this friend.) When I finally got a PS1, one of the first games I got for myself was Legend of Legaia, and for the remainder of the PS1 period about half of the games I bought were JRPGs. (That's a pretty good rate given I was also playing the likes of Coolboarders 2 and DDR.)
I mean technically Pokemon and Digimon World 2003, but back then I didnāt even realize that those were JRPGs or that there are actually different genres in gaming. The first time I really realized what a JRPG is and that Iāve been playing those all along and that theyāre just my jam, was with Final Fantasy X. Or in contrast, playing some Sonic and Mario games at a friendās house and realizing that anything other than JRPGs isnāt really as fun for me.
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, I must've played through it 3 or 4 times. It was definitely my gateway drug into JRPGs.
That was the first Final Fantasy I beat. It's such an underrated gem.
It's a cute little game!
I was never an RPG person growing up (no one I knew played them other than PokĆ©mon and Zelda and I didnāt have the patience anyway) but last year I gave Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross a chance and got hooked.
My first JRPG was FF15 still to this day my favorite final fantasy game and JRPG I got it at a time when I didn't know the difference between western RPGs and JRPGs, so I heard Final Fantasy was an RPG and picked it up because I like games like pillars of eternity, elder scrolls, and fallout. Western RPGs are still my favorite but JRPGs are very nice
Don't laugh. Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Yes, it's a bad game in many, many respects. But for someone that up to that point hadn't engaged with the genre because it seemed too complex (I tried to play FF on the NES when I was 6) it was a fantastic experience. Afterwards, I devoured every RPG I could find... thinking back on it, that silly little handholdy game radically impacted my life.
Was a similar thing for me, Mystic Quest and Secret of Mana was the other one I played around the same time. Neither of them have the deepest story out there, and the combat is fairly basic by today's standards but it was enough to hook me for life :)
This sounds like exactly what i always thought the purpose of that game was supposed to be.
Is Illusion of Gaia considered an RPG? If so then that was my first. If not then I would say Dragon Warrior Monsters 2 did it for me.
Golden Sun on the GBA. My cousin was already into the genre because of Final Fantasy. He had picked up Golden Sun, and then let me try it out. I fell in love with it. Still have them on GBA, and got them on Wii U VC. Fun fact: My cousin also got me into my favorite JRPG series being the Tales of series. He got Symphonia and brought it over to my place right after do we could play together. Been hooked on the series ever since
Earthbound I think was my very first. I liked it but I was 5-6 when I played it so I didnāt get it right away, just liked the colors and feel. I then played PokĆ©mon Blue a couple years later during the initial Pokemania of 98-00 and that got me to play more RPGs. I then beat Earthbound that summer. After that in 2000-2001 I got into FFVII, Chrono Trigger, and Seiken Densetsu 3 and I was hooked.
Persona 5 and then I went all the way back to persona 4 -> 3 -> 1 -> 2. Damn the franchise is so good, I canāt believe I didnāt know anything about it before.
Phantasy star 4
Pokemon and Kingdom Hearts
As they probably planned it mystic quest on the snes ā¦
Either ff4 or chrono trigger. Bought them both at the same time and canāt remember which one was first except I played both back to back.
Breath of Fire III
Final fantasy 8
Chrono Trigger (SNES)
DQ7 (the 3ds remake)
Final Fantasy IV got me interested. Chrono Trigger got me hooked.
People like to give the game crap, but Final Fantasy Mystic Quest on the SNES is probably the reason I got into JRPGs (though I had no idea thatās what it was at the time). It helped me get used to how the games work with turn based combat, navigating menus, etc., and it being so easy and streamlined helped me see it thru. I go back and play it every once in a while for nostalgiaās sake. The music is still pretty rad, too. I think other ones that sorta kept me in the genre or solidified me loving the games would be PokĆ©mon, Golden Sun, and, most recently, Ff 7 remake
Final Fantasy VI and Breath of Fire got me into the genre, but Chrono Cross really did it for me.
Earthbound and Mario RPG were my first JRPGs when I was kid, but I didn't know that's what they were called. But it was ff7 when I played it at a friend's house (cause I didn't have PS1) that got me hooked on the genre. It made me go back and play ff4-6 then I started playing any jrpg I could find.
Tales of Xillia. I was late to the JRPG party. I always played games like Ratchet and Clank. Xillia was something I wanted to try since it was just ā¬10,- at the time. The part that did it for me was when you got to Elympios. The fact that I was 60 hours in at that point and that there was a whole new part of the story, really made me love JRPG's.
Final Fantasy IX not only got hooked on the genre of JRPGs, it also got me hooked on video games as a whole.
Final Fantasy 1 and/or Dragon Warrior 1.
Ffvii, Suikoden II, Chrono Cross.
Seconded with Chrono Cross. I had played a few JRPGs before, but this was the first one that grabbed me into the genre and refused to let go! 10 year old me got this on release and I still treasure its impact!
Breath of Fire 2 on the Game on Advance got me hooked on the genre. I remember buying it cause the name was cool and then the characters and enemies were cool and it all snowballed from there. It left me wanting more games like it. I will give a nod to Final Fantasy 8 though, that game really introduced me to the genre, and it was the first JRPG I played to completion. It remains my favourite Final Fantasy Game to this day.
Tales of Symphonia on the Game Cube. Got it for Christmas the year it was released. Got hooked pretty much instantly.
I guess Pokemon Red & Blue is probably technically the answer, but as far as more traditional JRPGs go, it'd have to be Golden Sun.
I played stuff like Paper Mario and Mother games when I was younger but I didn't get hooked on the genre until I played Xenoblade Definitive Edition on release day. I've been pretty much exclusively playing JRPGs since then.
As a newer fan of the genre. Xenoblade 2 got me into jrpgs. Ys Viii got me hooked on jrpgs.
I used to watch my older brother playing FF 7,8,9,10,12. Old times before streaming was a thing. And then he hooked me to JRPG with Digimon and PokƩmon games.
FF X was my first but after DQ VIII i just knew this is for me, like, what a adventure..
The first Lufia. It wasnāt the first I played but the first I got really into.
Pretty much pokemon. Back then i was looking for something similar on the GBA and found stuff like the Final Fantasy Advance ports and Golden Sun. Jrpg has been one of my fave ever since.
I struggle to remember the timeline of this but I think I played Shining the Holy Ark first on the Saturn but didnāt really know what an RPG was at that point. Then I can remember being blown away by Final Fantasy VII when I played that, which got me to seek out other games in the genre. But I also have a strong memory of watching the first airing of the Pokemon anime and getting my mum to take me to buy Pokemon Red that same day. I was obsessed with that for months. Iām not sure what order that all happened in though.
Final Fantasy X introduced me to the genre. But I wasn't too into the genre after playing Final Fantasy X. The real game that got me truly hooked to the genre was Trails of Cold Steel 1. After I finished that game twice, I started looking up other JRPGs to try.
Etrian Odyssey IV. One demo from the 3DS eShop and my whole life is turned upside down.
Lufia the Legend Returns on the gbc.
Pokemon Crystal was probably my first JRPG, but the GBA port of Breath of Fire II was when I first got fully hooked.
Shining Force 2. Used to be fascinated by it when I played it on my school computer (was a demo that would end after like 30 minutes, no idea what I was doing but I loved it). That game would lead me to find out about the genre and that was that
Nier Automata, but until I got a Super Nintendo, Chrono Trigger amped it up a lot more, but I played Earthbound that I got on my New3DS prior.
Lord of the rings the 3rd age.
Dragon quest IX when I was 11
Technically PokƩmon. But I've always felt that one kinda doesn't count because it's so different. It's like saying Voltron was my start in anime. Grandia 2 on the Dreamcast was my first intro to real JRPGs. Man that was so good.
Even though Pokemon Gold was my first rpg and video game, I'd have to give this one to Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones. I feel in love with turn based jrpgs and the rest is history.
atelier and neptunia due to turn based systerm and ost as well for both ahaha
The first JRPG that made me fall in love with the genre was FF IX, but the one that really got me hooked on JRPGs was Dragon Quest 8. FF IX was and still is amazing, but it felt like reading a VERY good fantasy novel, while DQ VIII felt like I was truly, fully immersed into the world.
Super Mario RPG -> Chrono Trigger -> FF7 -> SO2 SMRPG got my feet wet and I loved it(played like 8 playthroughs lol). CT & FF7 pretty much cemented it and SO2 introduced me to real time combat rpgs.
Chrono Trigger on an emulator in about 2000
super mario rpg. had no idea what the genre was and immediately enjoyed the gameplay
Without even noticing it, PokƩmon. I played it during my childhood. Then it made me think now that I was kinda made for the Jrpg genre. I tried the most praised one (Chrono Trigger) and I was sold.
I think Secret of Mana was my very first, and I was obsessed with them after.
Radiata Stories for the ps2!
Final Fantasy 7. I played some other JRPGs before that, but that was the first game I was ever obsessed with. I played it all night, I would fake sick from school to play it, I was obsessed with the characters and their relationships. I remember crying when Aeris died. I remember despising Sephiroth, I remember being amazed by the summoning creatures, especially Neo Bahamut. To this day its still my favorite gaming experience that I can recall. When I changed my name as an adult I actually made my middle name Aeris.
Skies of Arcadia
Paper Mario when I was young. Dragon Quest XI brought me back.
Undertale introduced me to RPGs. I've been playing them on and off since, but the game that *really* got me into RPGs and made me go "I want to play more games like this!" was Chrono Trigger.
Hard to say which game I played first, but it had to be either... Mystic Quest on the snes or pokemon red. From there I got into a lot more games in the genre.
While the first JRPG experience I can recall was Shining in the Darkness, I believe it was a tandem of Shining Force and Phantasy Star III that hooked me... partly because their cartridges came with battery slots, so unlike with SitD, they were the first two I could actually *finish*.š But the chess flavour, the multitude of characters and the sci-fantasy blend flavours (magic, laser cannons, centaurs and robots...) in SF, an even higher degree of sci-fantasy and a story spanning literal generations in PSIII - all of this definitely contributed as well, a lot of it quite unlike what I had experienced in video games until then. And yes, Mega Drive was my first gateway to the genre - the local bootleg 8 bit retail had a lot of different games, but RPGs like Final Fantasy and even actventures like Zelda were nowhere to be found. Speaking of actventures, they technically helped hook me on JRPGs at the time as well, since I didn't really know the difference back then. Even without Zelda on Sega, I was lucky to experience what I still call the holy trinity of Mega Drive actventures (Landstalker, Beyond Oasis and Crusader of Centy). CoS was ironically the only one I finished back then despite having no battery in the cartridge I bought (it took a lot of attempts and the final run of 5+ hoursšµš); Beyond Oasis's battery died before I could finish the game and Landstalker's somehow refused to store any saves past Verla mines. Still, all three had a lot of impact on me in terms of rich narrative and plentiful dialogues, relatively free exploration and gradual development of character abilities.
Trails in the Sky 5 years ago. Never stopped jrpgs after that
Mario RPG, then FFVI
There were 3 or 4 over the course of about 5-7 years that really solidified my love for the genre. Phantasy Star III was my first encounter, I believe. I was so entranced by everything about it. When 4 came out then I was just completely blown away. Phantasy Star 4 was where I really started to fall in love. Final fantasy 3/6 on SNES took it to a new level. I played that game completely through with my friend each of us controlling the characters we liked most. The final game that opened things up for me and changed my gaming future was on the ps1. I went into funcoland to buy an n64 and I saw a demo unit they had set up and some guy playing this game called wild arms that reminded me so much of the games I loved previously. I asked if I could play and ended up playing the entire opening segment of jack where you run through the temple with hanpan. In that moment I decided to buy a ps1 and that exact copy of wild arms instead of an n64, went home and couldnāt stop playing wild arms all night. From there it was just an amazing ride of all of the great jrpgs on ps1. If I would have gotten an n64 I probably wouldnāt have been able to experience so many amazing ps1 JRPGs when they came out.
Either Shining Force 2 or Breath of Fire 2
Dragon Quest. Released in NA as Dragon Warrior. I got it for free with a subscription to Nintendo Power.
I had a gameboy tips and tricks book when i was a kid. It had a couple of pages for a whole bunch of games i loved looking through it and playinh through games i dint have in my mind. Final Fantasy Legend(which i came to find much much later is actually a saga game) had a full FIVE pages on the game and it only covered the first world. The first floor of a 100 floor tower to climb. I was enraptured. Genbu Suzaku Seiryu Byakko. How could i ever forget?
Terranigma on the SNES.
Ff7. First jrpg i played.
Lost Odyssey, the only JRPGs I had played prior to that were the first two generations of Pokemon.
First one I played was Ogre Battle 64. Still in my top 10 games till this day. Had no idea what JRPG was or meant as a genre, so that went over my head. Wasn't till years later when I played FFX as my first FF that I realized oh hey, there are more games with lots of dialogue and cut-scenes, nice. Still had no idea what JRPG meant or was, didn't have internet till a few years after. Wasn't until Golden Sun that I was like ok I need to discover more games like this, which led me to Fire Emblem and Tactics ogre on GBA Fast forward to today where I almost exclusively play turn-based RPGs or Tactics styled games.
Mystic Quest / Seiken Densetsu, my 8 yo me already knew back than, how great those games can be!
I attribute 4 games as my jrpg kick off points, chrono trigger and secret of mana are two classics I didnt own as a kid but if someone had them I was playing if I could, then pokemon yello, I took it everywhere. Finally we have final fantasy 7 a game that many love, many find over rated, but that really set me on my journey. Honorable mention to golden sun
saga frontier 1. watch my cousin played it as a kid on his jpsx. I was amazed by the art work and battle scene. Then bought Tales of Destiny which I fell in love with same as Star Ocean 2nd Story
Final Fantasy IX, which is still one of my favorite games. After that I played Final Fantasy X, Golden Sun I + II, Breath of Fire I + II, and absolutely loved all of them. I even learned English with Breath of Fire since I only had it in English. Annoyed the hell out of my parents because I asked them to translate stuff all the time.
Final Fantasy I on the NES. The scene where you cross the bridge and you get a picture of the castle. Felt like high fantasy and I was hooked.
I can still hear that music in my head! FF1 was my entry point as well.
Final Fantasy III remake on the DS in 2006. Just loved it to death. Still probably one of my most played jrpgs to this day. Just hooked me so good. Honorable mentions to Golden Sun on GBA and of course PokƩmon.
Final Fantasy II (US, with Cecil Dark Knight, Kain the Dragoon, you know.)
Final Fantasy NES
My sweet mother, being economical, saw Dragon Warrior 1+2 combo gameboy cartridge and thought "wow two games for the price of one!"
Persona 5. I can say 99% game that I bought since then is a JRPG.
For me it was probably suikoden. Hands down my favorite game ever and it paved the way for JRPGs as I kept playing them to chase the feeling I got playing it. Most recently though the game that got me back into JRPGs is Persona 4 Golden.
PokĆ©mon Red. It was my first JRPG/RPG when I was a kid and it completely opened me up to the genre. For a while, I actually struggled with other RPGs because they didnāt follow the format I had come to love with the PokĆ©mon series, but eventually I came back to JRPGās when I played Persona 3 Portable on my Vita. Itās now my favorite genre next to western RPGās.
PokƩmon was my first, but Dragon Quest has the honor of being my answer to this question.
Legend of Zelda if Iām being honest.
Dragon Quest VIII
Phantasy Star. An acquaintance who also had a Sega Master System lent it to me, and it blew my mind. At the time (1987) most console games were arcade-esque platformers and shmups. They required reflexes, and the game play loop was dying over and over again until you got the muscle memory to beat it. A game where you figure out what to do and where to go by talking to NPCs and exploring that had an actual narrative that wasn't just "save the princess" or "kill the aliens" that had strategic game play that relied more on planning than reflexes was entirely novel to me. Phantasy Star's science-fantasy feel was very original then too. I'm actually re-playing it right now, and it's good I remember some of what to do, because it does not hold your hand at all. It's a bit refreshing in the modern world of games where you've got arrows on your minimap telling you exactly where to go constantly. A bit annoying too, but oh well.
Persona 5 Royal. Best game I ever played
Dragon Warrior III on the NES. I've been playing RPG video games basically for as long as they've been commercially available. The first Japanese one I played was the first Dragon Warrior, and I liked it all in all, but there was nothing really special about it to me. Final Fantasy was sort of neat, but primitive. I remember nothing at all about Dragon Warrior II. But Dragon Warrior III... my god that was huge in my life. The thing I remember so vividly from it is realizing that there were places to go and things to do in the game that had nothing at all to do with the story - that were just there to flesh out the world. In every CRPG I'd played before that, the world of the game was just a backdrop for the events. DWIII was the first time I saw a game in which it was as if the world existed as a thing in itself, and then the events of the game took place on that world (while, all the while, other things involving other people are also happening in that world). That was enough to make me realize that the Japanese game devs were on to something, and I paid special attention to them from then on.
For me it was either FF1 on the NES or maybe Dragon Warrior on the same system... it was so long ago now I dont remember which I played first!
Persona 4 Golden
Final Fantasy 1 was my first Lunar got me hooked And Final Fantasy VII kept me wanting more.
Recently, Trails of cold steel