A little assistance.

[CDink]

Also my gamestop has sakura wars brand new right now...should I go pick it up for 40 bucks? or just hold off?

[brunoafh]

Valkyrie Profile is worth $20, which is how much you'll be able to get the PSP one for. The games are pretty much identical, I know the PSP one has added video sequences though. The steep price of the PS1 one being worth it is pretty much up to you. Most desired PS1 RPGs are relatively expensive, but certainly worth it to many.

[spiritplx]

I know I am in the minority here, but I want to give you a bit of caution about the Lunar games. According to what you are looking for...

I'm looking for real story heavy stuff, with prefferably turn based combat, but any system is probably fine. ... I enjoy big party selections, and replay value and bonus quests.

... the only thing Lunar offers is turn based combat.

You don't have many characters to choose from. The story is fairly cookie cutter jRPG. The game doesn't offer replay value (any more than a typical jRPG), and there are essentially no bonus/side quests. So for what you are looking for, Lunar really doesn't match up. I am not saying it's a bad RPG. I am just saying that it gets hyped up a bit much, and it really didn't do anything too innovative that you couldn't find before its time. However, it does have some very good music.

Not trying to start an argument about how good the game is. I realize lots of people enjoy it, and that's fine. Just offering my opinion.

I wish I've played more PlayStation RPGs. Watching a friend play Suikoden, I know that it will be a game that I will enjoy quite a bit. I'm pretty sure it has everything you are looking for.

As previously mentioned, Parasite Eve does well in the story department , and has additional "side quest" content that is almost another game in itself. And it is different than your typical RPGs. I think it's definitely worth a look.

Most SRPGs fit your criteria of lots of characters and replay, as well as being turn based. However, it's hard to have a great story that is told between battles, but some games do better than others.

Good luck finding some good ones. It's always nice to find a game that has a unique mechanic that you can't find anywhere else. Or perhaps find the game that popularized a mechanic. More credit needs to go to the games that pioneer future gaming.

[mobiusclimber]

Valkyrie Profile was not my cup of tea. Lots of people liked it, but I got bored pretty quickly with it. Part of my problem is that they really go for style over substance. Gorgeous backdrops that are non-interactive and totally linear, for instance. There are some cool little storylines, but it got to feel very repetitious after awhile.

Suikoden II I thought had the better storyline and cast of characters, and a lot of the mini-games felt better realized. Cooking for instance. It's been quite awhile since I played either game, tho, so it's all sort of a blur now.

I'd personally go for quantity if you've got $100 to spend. I wouldn't shop at Gamestop tho. LOL $40 is fine for a new copy of Sakura Wars if it's got all the LE stuff with it, but a used copy would be what I'd suggest. Get the most out of your money. Sakura Wars is a short game. It definitely begs to be replayed, but a normal playthru would take about 40 hours or less.

I'd get as much stuff as I could w/ that money. Maybe Sakura Wars, Shadow Hearts, Persona (PSP version), SMT: Devil Summoner (this is a great action-RPG) and Chrono Cross.

[Ack]

Like for example I want to spend 100 bucks or so on some new RPGs to play..what would you suggest be my priorities for the kinds of games i'm looking for.

Prices according to Video Game Price Charts:

Arc the Lad: End of Darkness - $1.99
Arc the Lad: Twilight of Spirits - $3.35
Atelier Iris 3 - $13.99
Baroque - $6.99
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter - $6.05
Chaos Wars - $9.99
Dark Cloud - $2.50
Dawn of Mana - $10.75
Drakengard - $2.69
Drakengard 2 - $4.25
Ephemeral Fantasia - $10.20
Eternal Poison - $11.55
Front Mission 4 - $2.25
Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel - $8.47
Grandia 3 - $14.00
Growlanser: Heritage of War - $10.68
La Pucelle Tactics - $8.25
Magna Carta: Tears of Blood - $14.99
Metal Saga - $7.80
Nightmare of Druaga Fushigino Dungeon - $2.77
Phantom Brave - $4.75
Radiata Stories - $5.75
Romancing Saga - $7.98
Shadow Hearts: From the New World - $9.75
Shining Force EXA - $12.99
Stella Deus - $13.99
Suikoden 3 - $13.99
Suikoden IV - $8.50
Suikoden Tactics - $5.28
Tales of Legendia - $14.30
Tsugunai: Atonement - $7.98
Unlimited Saga - $2.10
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria - $9.09
Virtua Quest - $2.75
Wild Arms 4 - $10.50
Xenosaga - $4.55
Xenosaga 2 - $5.19

A couple of rules for these games and prices:

1) They're taken from an estimate of the last three months, not the current price, so expect some fluctuation. They were all $15.00 or less at some point however.
2) They vary in style, including turn based, strategy, action, and so on.
3) Their quality may vary.
4) They're not all of the Japanese RPGs available to you. Heck, these aren't even all of the ones under $15.00. But you can see you've got some definite choices and cheap titles to check out.

[DJSakuraba]

I personally can't recommend the Legaia games enough. There's Legend of Legaia for the ps1 and Legaia 2 Dual Saga (or something like that) for the ps2.

They have a really unique battle system, you have an action bar and you have to input attacks that all take up a different length of the bar, right combos will allow you to do artes. Tons of fun

[CDink]

I hated the Persona for PSP. The combat and first person dungeon view jusy weren't for me.

[CDink]

Thinking about maybe picking up a few this week...even though I have tons of games to play...what should my priorities be....the classics I should say?