Hello everyone! I really want to get into the jrpg genre but I have no idea which game would be good for a beginner. I have played persona 5 and I really enjoyed it. Any recommendations would be really appreciated!
Not seeing it mentioned anywhere, but if you manage to emulate mother/earthbound and start getting into it you’re in for a wild ride.
Those game made the history not only of jrpgs, but of videogames in general.
Furthermore, thier spiritual successors are contemporary classics, like Undertale and OMORI (which are both more story-heavy than gameplay-heavy)
I have played Undertale and it’s definitely in my top 3 favourite games. I have to look more into Omori though. My main concern with it is that it looks pretty dark but maybe it’s fun, I don’t know.
It’s fun alright, if you liked undertale you’ll probably like OMORI too (heavily inspired by mother, same kind of humor, multiple routes and endings, amazing setting and characters), even though it’s definitely darker
Chrono Trigger for sure. It’s considered one of the JRPGs of all time and is relatively short with little no grinding.
Xenoblade chronicals and dragon quest are both good
Xenoblade is one of my favourite series of all times! Definitely recommend!
Never played dragon quest but DQ11 looks so good.
Also it depends on what you’re looking for, jrpgs are a vast category and persona feels very different from final fantasy.
Are you looking for something turn based or real time/action? What setting would you like?
Honestly! Xenoblade is genuinely such a good game/series and I don’t see people talking about it as much as it deserves
Probably because the Xeno series has always been very niche, xeno chronicles being switch-locked restricted the playerbase by a lot (not saying the switch market is small, but it’s very casual)
My first ever was Dragon Quest I (originally called Dragon Warrior), which you can get and play on Android/iOS or emulate, depending on what kind of JRPG you’re looking for. Dragon Quest XI on newer consoles is also a terrific classic-style game in the genre.
I think Dragon Quest XI is a great choice if you want to play a classic-style round based JRPG. It was just a bit on the long side for me, I like shorter games more, but most JRPGs are pretty long.
130 hours spent and I will vouch DQ11 was well worth the money for a fat free RPG.
The original Final Fantasy 7. The gameplay is not difficult and straightforward, the story is still interesting, not too cookie cutter, compared to some SNES RPGs. It also has enough bells and whistles (e.g. cool limit breaks, summons) that might entice you to keep playing the game till the end.
Only thing I would recommend for a brand new player is to use an online strategy guide/walkthrough if and when you get stuck. FF7 definitely has some moments where it’s not clear where you are supposed to go next. It was the product of an earlier era before your goals and objectives were clearly laid out in a menu at all times.
Dragon Quest XI would be sweet for a beginner I think! It’s not too complex and it’s so full of charm.
Not really what you would think of when mentioning a jrpg, but the Mario & Luigi series are excellent games!
Final Fantasy VI, AKA Final Fantasy III, as it was called stateside when I first played it in the 90s (I bought it at Media Play, anyone remember that?).
Great cast of recruitable characters that isn’t too large, in my opinion, and the Esper system is pretty great. Also, for me, one of the most impactful JRPG storylines of all time.
Have fun, whatever you choose! It’s a great genre, but time consuming. If a game doesn’t click for you within 15 or so hours, it may not be one for you.
And the Pixel Remaster updated versions of the 1st 6 games are pretty decent.
If you liked Persona 5 then don’t sleep on Persona 4 Golden. And there’s an upcoming remake of the excellent Persona 3, but they recently ported Persona 3 Portable to modern systems if you don’t want to wait.
If you want something more traditional, I think Chrono Trigger holds up very well and is very accessible for new players compared to some of the other JRPGs of its era. If you want something traditional but a bit more modern, I think Final Fantasy 9,10, and 12 are all very easy to pick up and are on basically every system.
Are you into pixel art?
If so, I would recommend:
- Chrono Trigger is a genre-defining classic and definitely still enjoyable IMO. The difficulty is quite easy overall and the game doesn’t require any real grinding.
- If you want something more fresh, Chained Echoes is a modern take on a lot of classic JRPG formulas, but still retains a lot of that great classic feel and beautiful pixel art.
If you’re more interested in 3D stuff, Final Fantasy VII Remake is an excellent JRPG. While not turn based, it is accessible to beginners as you can tone down the difficulty a lot. Also, don’t worry about the “VII” - you don’t really need to know anything going into it.
Chained Echoes is a good one, it’s got some depth to it, but it’s not overly complex and feels pretty classic
I have had chained echoes on my wishlist for a pretty long time and I will probably buy it. It looks really good and I like pixel art but also want something more modern.
It really is worth it. One of my favourites this year so far.
While not really what one would think of as a classic JRPG, one of my all time favorites is Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door. I tend to have a hard time getting into turn based combat, so the action command system really improved the moment to moment gameplay for me.
If you enjoyed Persona 5, I definitely recommend checking out the other Persona games. Persona 1 and 2 are a little less beginner friendly and are more like the Shin Megami Tensei series they spun off from. 3 and 4 are a lot like Persona 5, so they’ll be familiar experiences.
The announcement for Persona 3’s Remake just got leaked recently so if you want to experience that game but have the more modern quality of life experience, you could wait for that game to come out next year.
definitely not fear and hunger
If you enjoyed Persona 5 then I can definitely recommend Persona 4! Persona 4 Golden is actually what got me into JRPGs when it was released on Steam a couple years ago.
But if you want to try different series some I’ve enjoyed and think would be beginner friendly are:
- Dragon Quest XI S
- Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Tales of Arise
I’d also recommend Chrono Trigger if you want to check out an old classic.
I think we should stop saying “JRPG”, but if you must, another vote for Chrono Trigger, though it will spoil you on games of that type: no grinding, no random encounters, good balance of playable characters, unique combat mechanics that to this day haven’t really been explored (specifically, dual and tri-techs, special abilities that require certain combinations of party members and that utilize all of their abilities).
This is a near-perfect suggestion
What would be perfect?
I guess there probably isn’t a “perfect” first JRPG since people love particular things (A better first one for my preferences would have been something like Persona 4/5 just because of my story/style preferences), but I think generally Chrono Trigger is as close as you can get.
I will never recommend Persona games because Atlus is a bully and a jerk.
Fair point. I’d actually forgotten about this.
Any recommendations for similar social-simulation + role playing games?
