The Only 26 JRPGs You Absolutely Have to Play

[Exhuminator]

Unlike some of the people claiming it should be ditched for a game they've only heard about (Terranigma)

Gotta inform ya, around here there are lots of gamers who've legit beaten Terranigma. I'm with you though that Terranigma is overrated. I enjoyed Illusion of Gaia more than it. Yet I enjoyed Soul Blazer more than Illusion of Gaia. So for the trilogy I'm:

Soul Blazer > Illusion of Gaia > Terranigma

And I consider all three of them JRPGs.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I have to disagree.

Soul Blazer is a fun fast-paced linear action-packed RPG.

Terranigma is one of the great "epic" ARPGs of our time. On par with something like Secret of Mana.

Illusion of Gaia is somewhere in the middle. It's awkward and pacing is odd. And some of those emotional moments you mentioned feel like they're played for laughs. Maybe that's just due to poor localization though.

[Exhuminator]

IIRC all three allow you to gain numerical levels with stat boosting effects by killing enemies. That makes them Japanese produced RPGs in my opinion. Versus say Zelda where you don't gain levels by killing enemies.* So I can see why people don't want to call Zelda an RPG.

But I don't want to turn this thread into a nebulous debate about what constitutes an R P G. Let's not even go there folks. I can see why someone might not want to call these games JRPGs, don't need it spelled out for me.



*Outside Zelda II.

[marurun]

IIRC all three allow you to gain numerical levels with stat boosting effects by killing enemies. That makes them Japanese produced RPGs in my opinion.

This is one element of an RPG, but I don't think that one element is, by itself, adequate to render a game an RPG. Was Double Dragon on the NES an RPG? Was Daikatana an RPG? They both had RPG-style leveling. I am of the opinion that if the primary mode of gameplay is action-driven direct character control, it doesn't quality as an RPG, but as an ARPG at best, and ARPGs are not RPGs. They are their own thing, and they deserve their own must play list because they do cool things RPGs do not.

[MrPopo]

I'd argue there's two distinct kinds of ARPGs depending on just how important the stats are. Some of them have the stats as a form of progression but end up being balanced such that you don't really notice when you gain levels. And then others will gate progression pretty hard behind leveling due to the damage formula. Terranigma is a good example of the latter, as you can be massively struggling in a dungeon with enemies taking tons of hits to go down, then you gain a single level and suddenly you're two and three shotting everything.

[Gunstar Green]

RPG is a weird term when used in regards to video games sometimes. A lot of games that are most definitely JRPGs have railroaded stat-building, in that you really don't have any control over your character's build they just get better the longer you play. There might be some minimal control in regards to gear but that's about it.

That kind of thing isn't really a roleplaying game to me, because you're not really making the decisions regarding who or what your character is. We don't have anything better to call that kind of thing though and since it's mechanically similar in every other way there's no reason to.

Just a completely off-topic random musing.

[MrPopo]

D&D had no stat modification until 3rd edition. What you started with was set in stone and the only thing that improved was your THAC0. You might get modifications as quest rewards or special items if your DM felt charitable.

[Sarge]

Unlike some of the people claiming it should be ditched for a game they've only heard about (Terranigma)

I've actually beaten the game three times: in SNES9x 0.24 while toggling transparencies, in ZSNES with transparencies (that was a revelation when they finally got that in!), and the last time on an actual SNES that I modded with a 50/60 Hz switch just to play the copy I imported from Australia.

I'm actually quite tempted to do another run soon, with all this discussion.

[Xeogred]

It's pretty weird how I divide them all up in my head too. I'm of the camp that will never call Zelda an RPG (II being an exception to some extent), but then when I look at Terranigma and the Quintet stuff, they do have some stats and things like that. Yet at the same time I feel like the Mana games are more RPG in comparison. Is it the parties, the more traditional elements with the items/equipment and stuff, or what? haha I don't even know. But it really is probably just the levels/stats, because Terranigma/Gaia are arguably pretty comparable to Zelda in a lot of ways.

[Exhuminator]

But I don't want to turn this thread into a nebulous debate about what constitutes an R P G. Let's not even go there folks.

For fuck's sake guys.