Need Help Choosing a new JRPG to Play

[Rapscallion]

Now that we're all cooped up during this virus, I've been looking for a new JRPG to play. Call it a side effect of isolation, but I just want to get lost in something long and diverse in setting. I've probably played most of the current major recommendations (DQ, Persona, XBC2, Tales Series, etc.) so I'm more so looking for insight on a few games and series I haven't jumped into. I'm mostly looking for an JRPG that has an epic scale to it; large world, exploration, interesting plot.

Games I'm mostly considering:
Grandia HD
Trail of Cold Steel series

Games I'm considering on older platforms
Skies of Arcadia Legend
Final Fantasy Tactics
Xenoblade Chronicle X
Chrono Cross

I'm open to other recommendations, but there might be a chance that I've played them. I have access to most major platforms, so please feel free to pull out some oddities.

Thanks for you help all!

 

[Brass Body Dave]

Grandia has one of the best battle systems of all time. Dive in. You won't be disappointed, but it's not necessarily as huge as what you'd want.

If you want something monstrously large, go get that Xenoblade...

 

[Segafreak]

 

[Theswweet]

Have you played the Trails in the Sky titles already, and that's why you want to play Cold Steel, or do you just want to play Cold Steel?

If it's the former, the Trails from Zero fanTL just released and it's probably my favorite game in the series.

 

[Rapscallion]

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Played it. Didn't dislike it, but didn't care enough to play the sequel.

Have you played the Trails in the Sky titles already, and that's why you want to play Cold Steel, or do you just want to play Cold Steel?

If it's the former, the Trails from Zero fanTL just released and it's probably my favorite game in the series.

Click to shrink...

Have zero experience with the series as a whole. Just see it recommended often.

 

[Theswweet]

Have zero experience with the series as a whole. Just see it recommended often.

Click to shrink...

Trails in the Sky has a bit of a smaller scope than Trails of Cold Steel, but I'd definitely recommend starting there if you want to get into the series.

 

[Zukuu]

I'd say rather play GRANDIA II HD Remaster than 1.

As for older games, I think Suikoden 1+2 are among the best jrpgs out there. Definitely when it comes to story.

 

[Redcrayon]

From the list in the OP, I'd go for Skies of Arcadia: Legends. An unforgettable adventure.

 

[Amakuni]

Trails in the Sky has a bit of a smaller scope than Trails of Cold Steel, but I'd definitely recommend starting there if you want to get into the series.

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Hard disagree.

You dont have to play TOS or the Japanese only PSP games to get into Coldsteel. Coldsteel is an absolutely phenomenal series and my personal favorite JRPG of the last decade. I highly recommend it.

Final Fantsy tactics is not only the best tactical rpg ever made, but has one of the most mature nuanced plots I've seen in a game. It does lack exploration and an open world though since the entire game is menus, battles, and cutscenes.

 

[Jakenbakin]

Trails in the Sky is a beautiful game I'm almost done with. It's slow paced but constantly engaging, in my opinion.

 

[RKasa]

From the list in the OP, I'd go for Skies of Arcadia: Legends. An unforgettable adventure.

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Seconded. It's lighthearted save-the-world JRPG escapism complete with Sega Blue Skies. Still my favorite Dreamcast game.

 

[Deleted member 30681]

Hard disagree.

You dont have to play TOS or the Japanese only PSP games to get into Coldsteel. Coldsteel is an absolutely phenomenal series and my personal favorite JRPG of the last decade. I highly recommend it.

Final Fantsy tactics is not only the best tactical rpg ever made, but has one of the most mature nuanced plots I've seen in a game. It does lack exploration and an open world though since the entire game is menus, battles, and cutscenes.

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yeah I'm gonna have to disagree on this one. CS1/CS2 are fine starting points for the series but CS3/CS4 are effectively the avengers infinity war of the series and CS3 brings back a plot point from Sky that ends up factoring heavily into the story.

Starting with CS1 and 2 is fine if part of your plan ends up being to go back to Sky, but if your interested in getting in the series as a whole there's no reason not to start with Sky. Especially when as of the end of CS3, I find CS to be all over the place in terms of it's actual narrative.

Worth noting OP that as of right now the Sky trilogy is on sale on GOG. the Crossbell games are also fantastic and well worth your time. like Theswweet mentioned Zero's new fan tl just came out.

 

[garion333]

Xenoblade Chronicle X
Trails
Grandia

 

[Dogui]

If you can back to PS1 to play Chrono Cross, i would say definitely try Xenogears if you haven't. Personally my favorite in the genre.

Hard disagree.

You dont have to play TOS or the Japanese only PSP games to get into Coldsteel. Coldsteel is an absolutely phenomenal series and my personal favorite JRPG of the last decade. I highly recommend it.

Final Fantsy tactics is not only the best tactical rpg ever made, but has one of the most mature nuanced plots I've seen in a game. It does lack exploration and an open world though since the entire game is menus, battles, and cutscenes.

Click to shrink...

You don't "need" to play the other games to get through Cold Steel but i would still recommend it just because they're better games overall. Imo the Crossbell games are some tiers above the other arcs, i would recommend to not skip them.

 

[Rapscallion]

I have tried Skies of Arcadia in the past. I got an hour or so in, but for whatever reason didn't stick with it. It's one of those that I've always wanted to revisit though..

 

[monali]

First I would love to recommend Octopath Traveler, I know it's not for everyone but god I just love the game, more than 60h in and there is still so much to do.

From your list Xenoblade Chronicle X seems to be the best one IMO, but honestly I think you have a good list OP so you wouldn't go wrong anyway.

 

[Deleted member 2834]

- Trails of Cold Steel is fine, especially if you can deal with a slow burn which you apparently can
- Ys 8. Very fun, and pretty good story by the last third. Ignore people saying the story ain't good. They quit 20h in. Check out a video or two beforehand to find out whether the action combat is something you like. I'd probably not consider the game to be super epic in scope, even though it's longish.
- Radiant Historia 3DS remake. I finished it about a year ago and loved it. I think it's one of the better JRPGs on 3DS which says quite a bit.
- Persona Q2. Pretty good, eveen though I didn't finish it. I probably liked the first game better but the formula is really addictive and fun. That said, the story is so-so and I just ended up skipping most of the dialog in both games. There's just too much of it. Sometimes up to an hour of uninterrupted dialog. Get it for the gameplay.
- Etrian Odyssey IV. A bit of an older game but I can't stress how good it is. There are few single-player games I binged this hard. An absolute must play, and pretty epic in scope too.
- Devil Survivor Overclocked. I'm specifically referring to the 1st game, as it's quite a bit more interesting than the second one. I believe I've finish more than 15 MegaTen games and DS is a top 3 MegaTen alongside Persona 3 and 4. It has one of the most interesting storylines I've seen and builds up tension better than pretty much any game I've played. One of the best handheld games I've ever played.
- FFXII Zodiac Age. You probably played this one, but if you haven't let me say that Zodiac Age is a better contemporary game than FF12 was in 2007 or whenever it released. I can't recommend it enough.
- Resonance of Fate 4K. I understood nothing about the story, but once the combat clicks, it clicks pretty hard. I've never played anything like it and I believe I was one out of less than 900 people in the world to platinum it. That said, it's unique in a sense that it probably doesn't appeal to the average Dragon Quest player. Check out videos beforehand.
- Strange Journey Remaster. I didn't play the remaster but the OG Strange Journey is fantastic. The story is kinda pulp though. Get it for the dungeon crawling and amazing dungeon design.

I don't have time to go back much further in time because I've frankly played way too many JRPGs to list all my impressions, but as for recent-ish games, those are decent. Avoid Octopath, it's trash tier.

 

[Feep]

Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the greatest games ever made. I cannot recommend it enough.

Octopath Traveler is only tolerable if you're fine with very, very repetitive grinding and the same loop over and over again, times thirty. Some people like grinding, but I found it insufferable.

 

[Seri]

Trails of Cold Steel is really good and sucks you in lol. If you liked Chrono Trigger/Cross, I recommend Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology on the 3DS

 

[Jaded Alyx]

JRPG that has an epic scale to it; large world, exploration

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Xenoblade Chronicles X

 

[Apollo]

Hard disagree.

You dont have to play TOS or the Japanese only PSP games to get into Coldsteel. Coldsteel is an absolutely phenomenal series and my personal favorite JRPG of the last decade. I highly recommend it.

Final Fantsy tactics is not only the best tactical rpg ever made, but has one of the most mature nuanced plots I've seen in a game. It does lack exploration and an open world though since the entire game is menus, battles, and cutscenes.

Click to shrink...

You can definitely start Cold Steel without having played Sky/Crossbell, but they do enhance the experience. They're not mutually exclusive.

In any case, I can't recommend the Trails series enough, if you're willing to invest the time, you'll get to experience a saga with scope unlike anything else I've played in games. And ultimately wherever you start, I think you're in for a good time

 

[Shake Appeal]

Trails.

 

[jwhit28]

I would say Etrian Odyssey series starting with IV on 3DS.

If you want something a little more traditional but that can be just as brutal, SMT IV and SMT IV Apocalypse.

 

[SubvertedTrope]

You could try Child of Light, it is smaller in scope than what you're looking for, but it's a good game worth playing through, inspired by FFVI and CT IIRC.

I think it is currently on sale for like $5 on Steam if you're interested.

 

[Mudo]

You ABSOLUTELY should play Trails of Cold Steel 1/2/3!!!!

OT literally is everything you said you are wanting.

If you love it you can go back and play Sky Trilogu afterwards.

This series is the most "one huge tale about a country and it's people" ever. It spreads over every single game.Characters are very detailed even NPCs not in your party are developed throughout the series. You feel like you know these people it's crazy.

Each arc (Sky, Cold Steel, AO/Zero, the upcoming one) take place in a different region of the same world.
The battles are engaging and fun.
The music is O M F G kill me great.
Story is just...so great.

And the games are long. CS1 was 130 hours for me, and the next games are longer.

I hope you get into this series. It's one of my favorite jrpg series ever.

 

[NZerker12]

Trails in the Sky FC
Trails in the Sky SC
Trails in the Sky The Third
Trails of Cold Steel
Trails of Cold Steel 2
Trails of Cold Steel 3

Trails of Zero Fan Translation - If you are willing to purchase the Japanese version from Japanese site.

Basically play the entire Trails series. You won't regret it OP.

Definitely play Xenoblade X as well OP it has one of the best Open worlds of all time imo.

 

[Arcana Wiz]

- Trails of Cold Steel is fine, especially if you can deal with a slow burn which you apparently can
- Ys 8. Very fun, and pretty good story by the last third. Ignore people saying the story ain't good. They quit 20h in. Check out a video or two beforehand to find out whether the action combat is something you like. I'd probably not consider the game to be super epic in scope, even though it's longish.
- Radiant Historia 3DS remake. I finished it about a year ago and loved it. I think it's one of the better JRPGs on 3DS which says quite a bit.
- Persona Q2. Pretty good, eveen though I didn't finish it. I probably liked the first game better but the formula is really addictive and fun. That said, the story is so-so and I just ended up skipping most of the dialog in both games. There's just too much of it. Sometimes up to an hour of uninterrupted dialog. Get it for the gameplay.
- Etrian Odyssey IV. A bit of an older game but I can't stress how good it is. There are few single-player games I binged this hard. An absolute must play, and pretty epic in scope too.
- Devil Survivor Overclocked. I'm specifically referring to the 1st game, as it's quite a bit more interesting than the second one. I believe I've finish more than 15 MegaTen games and DS is a top 3 MegaTen alongside Persona 3 and 4. It has one of the most interesting storylines I've seen and builds up tension better than pretty much any game I've played. One of the best handheld games I've ever played.
- FFXII Zodiac Age. You probably played this one, but if you haven't let me say that Zodiac Age is a better contemporary game than FF12 was in 2007 or whenever it released. I can't recommend it enough.
- Resonance of Fate 4K. I understood nothing about the story, but once the combat clicks, it clicks pretty hard. I've never played anything like it and I believe I was one out of less than 900 people in the world to platinum it. That said, it's unique in a sense that it probably doesn't appeal to the average Dragon Quest player. Check out videos beforehand.
- Strange Journey Remaster. I didn't play the remaster but the OG Strange Journey is fantastic. The story is kinda pulp though. Get it for the dungeon crawling and amazing dungeon design.

I don't have time to go back much further in time because I've frankly played way too many JRPGs to list all my impressions, but as for recent-ish games, those are decent. Avoid Octopath, it's trash tier.

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This is... a great post.
OP, hear this person. They know that they are talking about.

If i had to add a game it would be Ys Oath of Felgana... Great action rpg with amazing gameplay.

 

[TheShambles]

I feel you OP. When you're cooped up in these uncertain times you need a sense of freedom, exploration and Saturday morning cartoon heroics. Skies of Arcadia can't come recommended highly enough. And those Sega Blue Skies...

 

[angelgrievous]

From your list I would suggest Chrono Cross. It's such a good game. Good story, beautiful OST, plenty of things to do in the game.

 

[Darkmaigle]

I really want to replay grandia 3 but you can't get it on any modern platform

 

[Rapscallion]

Thanks for all the recs everyone. Hows the PS4 version of the Trails game? I'm mostly a console gamer, so I'd prefer to start with an entry that is on consoles.

 

[Pyro]

You can never go wrong with FF: Tactics

 

[Deleted member 2834]

Thanks for all the recs everyone. Hows the PS4 version of the Trails game? I'm mostly a console gamer, so I'd prefer to start with an entry that is on consoles.

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Just fine. 4K/60 FPS if I remember correctly, as well as a fast forward button, which is good.