Which games to do, to finish my JRPG run?

[ninjagirl657]

I am at that point where I have become a bit indecisive which games to do next, to finish my JRPG run this year. I'm looking at doing 4 or 5 more this year hopefully. But I am having a hard time choosing my next ones and could do with a bit of help on which ones to do next. I've been gaming for 30 years, so I am no stranger to a good ole grind, and while I find most of them easy, I would like a challenge, prefer to avoid short plats if I can and online trophies, unless they can be done solo. I have a list of games I got, and would like to know which ones to do next, in particular which final fantasy to do next, as I really enjoyed FFX and FFX2, I'm thinking of doing secret of mana as my 20th, as I enjoyed this as a kid.

 

I love my tales games, mainly due to I really like a good super boss to face and relish in doing battles where even OP, I can have a challenge. FF XV I put down as last FF to play, where I'm only looking forward to take down the 1hr super boss adamantoise. I like something with a good story, as that's where most of my time goes to, I'm no stranger to spending an average of 140-160 hrs to plat a game and don't consider the grind hard. FFX was the only game that push me pass the 200 hr mark in years (214 hrs to complete), but that was because of the sphere grid, but don't know which final fantasy to do next. At the moment I'm gravitating to FF XII the zodiac age, but read its a bad game.

 

So from this list, I would like 5 suggestions which to do next, with the top being my next game. I haven't included the kingdom hearts trilogy, SAO: fatal bullet and tales of symphonia (doing this next year, as I loved the game on the GameCube and want to take my sweet time on it) the sequel I will do, after I have done tales of symphonia. I have no interest in leader boards, I just enjoy my JRPG's and a big grind. I am a big anime fan, hence the different types of games, way too many shows I like.?

 

1. Attack on titan
2. Bleach: soul resurrection
3. Dragon quest heroes: The world tree's woe and the blight below
4. Dragon quest XI: Echoes of an elusive age
5. Final fantasy XII the zodiac age,
6. Final fantasy Type-O,
7. Final fantasy XIII,
8. Final fantasy XIII-2
9. Final fantasy XIII: lighting returns,
10. Final fantasy XV
11. Fist of the north star: lost paradise
12. Ni no Kuni: wrath of the white witch
13. One piece: pirate warriors 3
14. Secret of mana
15. Star Ocean: Integrity and faithlessness
16. Tales of Graces F
17. Tales of Xilla
18. Tales of Xilla 2
19. Valkyria revolution
20. World of Final fantasy

 

Edited August 31, 2019 by ninjagirl657
Miss a game to list.

[Elvick_]

1. World of Final Fantasy, because I love it.
2. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, because I loved it but it has some bad farming [hence why I don't have it yet]
3. Tales of Graces f, don't have the plat but man the gameplay is fun as hell. I should replay this...
4. Dragon Quest XI
5. Dragon Quest Heroes

[Sagaan]

Dq 11 is the best jrpg current gen. So play dat first. World of ff was fun as well. Get them pokemon gangster vibes lol. One piece pirate warriors 3 cuz Shanks solos ur fav. Secret of mana i liked the original better. But its a must for every1 dat played it on snes as a kid. Final fantasy 15 great grafics most of the ppl hate it but i liked it. The dlc r better then the base game.

Edited August 31, 2019 by Sagaan

[Kristycism]

Don't believe everything you read - FFXII has its fans too! I actually really liked it - it's not the best FF entry by enemy means, but I personally thought it was still a good game when I played it back on the PS2. I think the job system is a little different from the PS2 version, but I really need to get around to playing it on PS4...was gonna save it for a Milestone Plat though, to show my appreciation for it.

 

Anyway, of those in your list, the only ones I've actually played are:

• Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

• Final Fantasy XIII

• Final Fantasy XIII-2

• Final Fantasy XV

• Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness

And of those, I'd only really recommend FFXII, FFXIII and SO5. I enjoyed both of those, though again they're not as good as other FF entries. Since you're into story, I'd put XII above XIII as I found the story much better personally. The story in XIII was actually alright in my opinion, but the characters are amongst the worst cast in FF as they're all quite bland and forgettable - though not as bad as XV.

 

SO5 is alright as well - it's my least favourite SO game, but it's still a good JRPG. And the Plat is much less daunting/more manageable than SO4...

 

I would not recommend FFXV at all. The story is by far the worst main FF entry. It's just so...pointless. It's like they spent so long making the gameplay (which is kind of fun, though ridiculously easy) and the open world (which is mostly empty) that they forgot they needed to add a story, and threw some garbage together. Half of the story is hidden in other content as well (Datalogs, the extra movie/anime series, the DLC, and LOADING SCREENS of all things) and even that is very uninteresting. There's also way too much DLC (though, the DLC is arguably better than the main game anyway) and you'd have to go through a hassle to get the Comradres trophies as well since SE made the dumb decision of making it Standalone and removing access to it from the main game.

 

And I didn't like XIII-2 either. It barely qualifies as a sequel, and the story is just so bad. I never played Lightning Returns as a result of how bad XIII-2 was, though I've heard it's actually got decent gameplay, though an even worse story (if that's possible).

 

 

As for the rest of your list, I've heard many good things about Ni No Kuni, but I've never played it to say first hand if I'd recommend it or not. It seems like something I'll enjoy when I get around to playing it though. And you can never go wrong with Tales of games either - the worst one I've played was Zestiria, and even that was still decent, just nowhere near as good as the standards of the rest of the Tales of games. Everyone also keeps recommending that I play Dragon Quest XI too, because that's apparently really good - again, having not played it, I can't say much about it first hand though. And I'm also looking forward to playing World of Final Fantasy when I clear some other games off my backlog so that I can get around to it as it seems like a really fun game (I bought the Maxima upgrade too when it was on sale, so even more WoFF for me, yay! Pity there's no trophies, but ah well).

[Evil_Joker88]

1. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. Go around the world and bring happiness, love or similar to the people right now

2. Bleach: Soul Resurección. A good adaptation of the anime, focusing on the main arc, but it's quite grindy sadly  

3. One Piece Pirate Warriors 3. I haven't played that myself but the 2 earlier games and i suppose this is as good as the other ones. I did like the 1st more than the 2nd because it has more exploration besides combat but you can play the 3rd with a friend if you want  

[iGGTheEnd]

Dragon quest XI is so good and can be done in about 75 hours or so I would recommend that one first but I also haven't played most of the others on your list.

[ninjagirl657]

Good suggestions so far, would like to see a bit more response, before I make the final list. Any suggestions for a long grind from the list, most I see is short 80 hrs, but hopefully they will last longer if they got a good story. Sounds like with the final fantasy's, world of final fantasy and FF12 is good choices, with FFXV I will buy the DLC, that I don't mind as I always buy the DLC, but if it's got a bad story, that's out of the running till next year.

 

As I didn't do a poll, I will just tally the games up with the most votes, as the first game is different for each people, on what to do next. Look forward to more suggestions.

[NaseemJohn]

This might be off topic but I would highly recommend you put aside final fantasy, dragon quest and those games you mentioned in favour of something like darkest dungeon or divinity 1&2 even though they aren’t jrpgs. Not only are they some of the best RPGs ever made but they also offer something different whereas most jrpgs have been living off tropes and cliches for the last several years making them all too familiar. If you’re really looking to stick to jrpgs then I’d say fist of the North Star and attack on Titan 2. 

[scemopagliaccioh]

Well, I wouldn't classify  One Piece PW3 and Bleach SR as jrpg. They're musou and VERY lenghty one at that. However, if you enjoyed the sphere grid grind  on  FFX I think you'll most definitely enjoy Bleach's level up system.  PW3 is also well done for a One Piece fan. Attack on Titan and Dragon Quest World tree are also musou, so if you like the genre, go for it, I'd advise you to either take the first DQ Heroes or the second, as they are too similiar to warrant two purchases. FF12's bad rep comes mostly from the original version, job classes and  accelerating  time alongside trial mode does a lot.

Ninokuni has an hard levelling curve at the start, and it's a bit grindy, there is also a difficulty spike and a darker and unexpected from this game turn of events at the very end,  when the main villain removes the kiddy gloves. I would just skip FF13, as it's literally a "what not to do FF10" but it's mostly my bias against this game, if you plan to play it, don't sell any items, FF13-2 is probably the best of the 13 trilogy, and Lighting Returns has that timer every second you play to suffocate you. And definitely try DQuest 11 and World of FF. 

So in conclusion, if I had to pick 5:

Dragon Quest 11

World of Final Fantasy

Either OP or Bleach

FF12

FF Type Zero

All are pretty much different in the battle style, so that you can get some  breathing room, I added Type Zero last because it's short and doesn't take much dedication, so you can use it to wind up stress from other games.

Edited August 31, 2019 by scemopagliaccioh

[Evildead_br]

In my opinion you shouldo go for :

 

- Dragon quest XI: Echoes of an elusive age : if you liked other DQ games, there's no mistake here. It's the same thing and, well, in my opinion, post-story is better than "normal" one.

- Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch: great game!!! Anyone who loves a good Jrpg must play it. A lovely story, great battle system and you know, Ghibli Studios...

- Final fantasy Type-O : I really liked this one. A mature FF game with a lot of characters to choose from. Maybe not for everyone, but still a good game.

- Final fantasy XII the zodiac age: my problem with this game was the grid that makes all the characters look the same. The Zodiac Age version fixed this. Besides, I thinks the story is a little unfinished - maybe because Square wanted spliting in several games.

- Tales of Graces F: my favorite tales on the PS3. Good story, a very fun gameplay, good characters.

 

About FF XIII.. this is not so bad... but the sequels just get worse.

And FF XV...  Dude... in my opinion, this game really sucks.

[Phlegeth]

 

1. Dragon quest XI: Echoes of an elusive age
2. Final fantasy XII the zodiac age,
3. Secret of mana
4. Tales of Xilla
5. World of Final fantasy

Like everyone else has said, Dragon Quest XI is really, really good.  Zodiac Age is great.  Love me some Ivalice and I love the jobs.  Tales of Xillia is up there with Abyss as my favorite in the series.  I love the cast.  World of Final Fantasy is just so charming.  The combat is fun and collecting Final Fantasymons is great.

[Baker]

1. Dragon Quest XI ?? 10/10

2. Tales of Graces F.

My first Tales of game that got me hooked to the series. Still in my top 3 Tales of games.

3. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch. 

So much better than the sequel.

4. FFXIII-2

Not a popular opinion but I really liked this game. The best in the trilogy for me. I like timetravel stories and Caius is such a great villain.

5. Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness. 

Not as good as SO4 but definitely enjoyable.

[exsentry]

I think Ni No Kuni is a must play for any RPG fan as the story is excellent. There is a bit of a grind, but I think it is not too bad compared to the median JRPG post-game grind.

 

I think the only one I would scratch off your list is Type-0; that game is crap.

 

Why no Persona 5 though? ?

[ninjagirl657]

Wow, thanks for the responses guys, it's good to get some ideas from other people. Rotoninja I don't own persona 5, hence why it's not on the list, I haven't seen it in my local cex store, but it's on my list to get, as I heard great things about it. I can't buy any new games till the new year, got 3 pups to look after for another month, so cost goes to raising them, until they get new homes. scemopagliaccioh - thanks for the clarification on musou games, didn't know they where that type, learn something new each day, but I am not afraid of a good grind. Sounds like one piece and bleach will be good ones to play, love the shows, binge watched all 20 volumes of one piece in 2-3 months sub.

 

Back on topic I have never played the dragon quest games, or even most of the games listed and by looking at people suggestions, this should be high on my list. While I have done a tally, I'm most probably do secret of mana as my 20th, its short and I've been looking forward to play it again for years, loved the game on the snes and be good to play the new version, plus its a break from the past few games I played.

 

But as for the last 5 games to play, these are the ones that is so far high up in the list -

• Dragon quest 11 - 8 votes - next game to play.
• Ni No Kuni - 6 votes- 2nd to play

World of final fantasy, Tales of graces F and Final fantasy 12, all have 4 votes. Unless other people vote, these 5 are currently in the top 5 to play next, with Dragon quest 11 first, then Ni No Kuni. The final 3, I will give it till the end of today, to see if their is anymore votes. So far I like the suggestions made, it gives me a good idea on what to play next and it's nice to get some general feedback from other JRPG fans on the games I got, to see if they are good or not.

 

 

[Dantes_994]

Dragon quest XI: Echoes of an elusive age, Final fantasy XII the zodiac age, Final fantasy Type-O, Final fantasy XV, Tales of Xilla are my vote  

[MandA60VISE]

1 hour ago, ninjagirl657 said:

 

• Dragon quest 11 - 8 votes - next game to play.
• Ni No Kuni - 6 votes- 2nd to play

World of final fantasy, Tales of graces F and Final fantasy 12, all have 4 votes. Unless other people vote, these 5 are currently in the top 5 to play next, with Dragon quest 11 first, then Ni No Kuni. The final 3, I will give it till the end of today, to see if their is anymore votes.

 

 

I'd vote for those 5 as well.

XII is one of my all time most favorite Final Fantasies. What The Zodiac Age added made it even more fun. It and World will be a big grind though post-game.

 

Ni no Kuni I never got the platinum because I didn't care about trophies back then and no longer have the save. Two things to be warned about is the AI is atrocious by my standards and the level of the enemies spike hard without warning.

 

DQXI is trash in my opinion. Everything is too safe. Never played any DQ game before this one. My biggest complaint is that the agility stat is merely a suggestion. It doesn't matter what number is there anyone can and will go in any order. The final boss was able to party wipe me two times because of this since he was the last to move that round and then was the first to move the next round. There's some good things about the battle system that I had fun with but they're so insignificant in comparison to all my complaints about the game. Only reason I can suggest it above the others is I haven't played the others besides anything Final Fantasy, and DQXI is much better than XIII and XV. Type-0 I can't give my full opinion on but the 30 minutes I played was awful.

 

Tales of Graces f I haven't played yet. Hear the battle system is one of the best though.

[KTILLA23]

I would go with 1. DQ XI for sure because i hear it is one of the best JRPGs of this generation. 2. Ni no Kuni one of the best JRPGs of the last generation however i would recommend maybe waiting for the PS4 version to come out unless you want to stack it at one point. And last i would vote 3. Tales of Xilla, amazing game and story however i feel it may not be the best of the Tales games Symphonia or Vesperia are better imo, however hearing you say you love the Tales games i would play Xilla next for sure and awesome game play to boot. I would avoid Bleach: Doul Resurrection because it honestly isn't that great of a story, very very grindy gameplay and isn't really a JRPGs it's more of a Dynasty Warriors type game. I would play any other games in the list over unless you really enjoy hack n slash games and want a game where you can grind without too much of a challange. However s ranks might provide a challenge but not too bad.  The hardest game you have listed i feel is Tales of Graces F, However it's not too bad especially sense you have played other Tales games if you want a harder JRPG out of the ones you have listed i would go for that one. Not listed but The Last Remnant Remaster for PS4 would provide a challenge platinum that game will pull your hair out and would require lots of planned before going into it  

[ninjagirl657]

Thanks everyone for the response, been very informative and very helpful with the suggestions about the games. Nice I can hop on here and just ask my fellow JRPG fans for feedback. Ktilla23 - I don't stack my games, as I only play one version of the game, and to me stacking the same game, for another plat is pointless and a waste of time, so I will stick with the ps3 version of Ni No Kuni. I actually don't mind hack and slash games, so I most probably play them at some point, but it's nice to know bleach is grindy, been wanting some hard plats to go for. As you suggested tales of graces F is a hard one, so I will be looking forward to play that and will get the last remnant for the challenge, just wish my other games was hard, but I got them cheap.

 

As for the results, I will first want to say thank you for all the response's and the feedback, it helped me out greatly. These are now the final five, I will be doing to finish my JRPG grind, I will most probably do Tales of Xilla 1+2 next year and maybe some of the others. But for now these are the ones I will be doing next, thanks again everybody for the response's.

 

• Dragon quest 11 - 11 votes
• Ni No Kuni - 8 votes
• Final fantasy 12 - 6 votes
• Tales of graces F - 5 votes
• World of final fantasy - 5 votes 

[KTILLA23]

Happy to help you! That sounds like a really good list and i forgot you had FF 12 in there, i think you will really like that game. It's more of an offline mmo style game than the other FF games some people don't like it but hearing that you like grindy game i think you will find it really good! And as i said DQ 11 for sure deserves to be 1 on your list one of the few traditional of this generation. Have fun and good luck!

[twothumbedfist]

Fist of the North Star is the odd one out in your list. It's a brawler with a very basic skill unlock system, if you're looking for an RPG in the traditional sense I'd look elsewhere, or save it for when you're in the mood. The final chapter and much of the side content is bullshit hard too and designed to cater to fans of the Yakuza series.

 

The plat is also a painful grind too as fully upgrading all the talismans requires far more money and materials than you'll earn in the course of two playthroughs. It's literally tens of hours grinding the most optimal buggy races and coliseum fights to get materials and cash.

 

I've got the plat but if I knew before what I know now I'd never have started it. It's a hard game to recommend based off that one trophy.