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!
Chrono Trigger for sure. It’s considered one of the JRPGs of all time and is relatively short with little no grinding.
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
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.
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Not really what you would think of when mentioning a jrpg, but the Mario & Luigi series are excellent games!
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)
Surprised Pokemon hasn’t been mentioned yet, they’re light on story compared to more serious RPGs but they’re designed to be fun (at least following the main story) and are mostly successful. I haven’t played the latest generation but Sun and Moon was a good pair, my biggest complaint was an overly long intro.
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.
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.
130 hours spent and I will vouch DQ11 was well worth the money for a fat free RPG.
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.
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.
Don’t get into the Trails series. Not because it’s not good, but because the grindfest is definitely better suited for when you have a few JRPGs under your belt. If you like Persona 5, I recommend looking around at ATLUS’s other entries. There’s the Digital Devil Saga, Soul Hackers, Devil Survivor, Raidou Kuzunoha, the other Persona series… I really liked Devil Survivor 2 growing up, it was light-hearted in comparison to everything else despite the eldritch gods plot.
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.
These suggestions are all great. I would firstly pitch Earthbound, which is an offbeat example of the genre with its bizarro take on urban fantasy. The art and music are terrific and the whole experience is just really memorable and sweet.
I also want to pitch Final Fantasy 9 especially if you play on PC with the lovely Moguri Mod.
It’s an accessible example of the genre with a great story and well written party members, and the mod updates the look of the game to GORGEOUS effect while also providing some handy quality of life options (e.g. switching on/off random enemy encounters).
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.
absolutely backing up persona 4 golden, it’s such a treat especially if you liked persona 5! every so often i wish i could play p4 for the first time again, such a good game.
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.
IMO I think that old jrpgs can be easier to acclimate to as they have less feature bloat. They can be hard sometimes but there are more fair ones. I think final fantasy V, Lufia, or Dragon Quest V are pretty good, pretty simple jrpgs. If you want more like persona 5 there are a ton of games in the persona and SMT series and most are good, but they can be more challenging.
