PS1 JRPGs - List your faves

[shmuppyLove]

So how fucking awesome is it that the PSP can play PS1 games natively?

Makes me really upset now that there wasn't a proper English release of Tales of Phantasia for PS1, but I guess I can start with Destiny?

What other JRPGs should I look into? Wild Arms? Persona? Paperboy? Ooh Chrono Cross I never really got a chance to sink my teeth into ... Hmm also Grandia and Xenogears (though I do have Grandia Xtreme for PS2, do I still need to play the first one?)

Anything else?

[guyot]

The PSX Grandia game is the best one, so definitely play it. Wild arms is very good too.

Breath of Fire 3 is a great game with fantastic characters.
Vanguard Bandits and the first Vandal Hearts game are great SRPGs.
Suikoden 1 & 2 are both brilliant.

[dunpeal2064]

Final Fantasy IX - IMO, top 3 FF games easily. This game just blew my mind when it was new, and coming back to it now, it really does a great job of merging the SNES FF style with what was more modern at the time. Great, strange characters, decently challenging (especially compared to the previous two), and just all around fun

The Legend of Dragoon - This has to be the most under-rated PS1 RPG. Not to say the game is unheard of, as it went greatest hots, but when ps1 rpg greats are mentioned, this one is often left out. The battle system really drew me in, as I love anything that keeps my attention through turn-based battles. Quite a nice story that develops at a nice pace too, with each disk really having its own chunk of story that adds to the overall story of the game.

Final Fantasy Tactics - Awesome SRPG with a heavy military story. I had not played FFV when I first tried this one as a kid, so the job system blew my mind. I love the challenge here, this game can get really tough! Having so many classes and unique characters to choose from was something new to me at the time too, and this was the first game I found myself really using strategy in.

Chrono Cross - I did play through Chrono Cross, and while it did have some things that I enjoyed (the atmosphere overall was very nice), I would not say I enjoyed the game enough to recommend it. Too many characters that they attempted to build story on, but I think they did a pretty half-assed job of it, and it only ended up cluttering the main story, which takes hours and hours to even get going. Characters lack any uniqueness in battle, as anyone can equip anything. THe only thing that seperated them was their "special", or limit break-esk move. This bothered me in FFVII and FFVIII as well. I really like a game to have unique characters.

Final Fantasy VII - Nostalgia clashes with me on this one. Everything I dislike about jrpgs is here, and yet I still love this game. Oddly, the two characters I liked the least as a kid (Yuffie and Cait Sith) are probably my favorite characters in the game now. Game is too easy, every character may as well be the same, the story makes little sense... and yet I just love it.

Looking at this, I have played very little ps1 rpgs

[dannnnn]

Vanguard Bandits and the first Vandal Hearts game are great SRPGs.

+1 for Vandal Hearts, one of my favourites from that era.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Chrono Cross and Xenogears are two WORST jRPGs I've played to completion. Just listen to the soundtracks instead. If you badly need to play any of them, Chrono Cross is a bit less of a bitch to play, but this is not saying much.
I recommend Suikoden I&II, Persona 2: Innocent Sin, Valkyrie Profile (the US version), Final Fantasy VII and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure.

[Friendly]

Complete list of my favorite JRPGs (any system):

Earthbound

/end of list

I guess that means none on PS1.

[CMoon]

Dragon Warrior 7.

[Op Intensify]

Makes me really upset now that there wasn't a proper English release of Tales of Phantasia for PS1

We got it on Game Boy Advance.

[Ruldra]

Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy Tactics
Front Mission 3
Vagrant Story

Remember when Squaresoft was awesome?

Oh, and Suikoden II.

[shmuppyLove]

Ooh I see there's a remake of the first Persona game on PSP, so obviously that's a better one to play.

No SRPGs, I really don't enjoy them.

I've played FF8, but I didn't make it all the way through 9 and I never developed an attachment to 7 at all, so 9 is an option but I don't think I want to get into 7. Maybe when the Windows remake comes out in a while ...

Suikoden I could possibly get into, I know those games are very highly regarded.

Vagrant Story I did play a bit and I enjoyed the uniqueness of, so I could get back into that one.

Dragon Warrior 7 I should check out ... I only ever played the first game on the NES back in the day, and I enjoyed it.

Were the Megaman Legends games at all worth playing? I know they're a lot different from the traditional 2D platformers ...

[Op Intensify]

Ooh I see there's a remake of the first Persona game on PSP, so obviously that's a better one to play.

You can skip Persona 1. The gameplay and story are a real snoozefest, and were improved on in every way in the sequel.

Dragon Warrior 7 I should check out

Stay the hell away from DQ7 unless you're willing to devote at least several months of your gaming time to it. I can't think of a JRPG more endless and grindy. The DS remakes of 4/5/6 have less grinding and cheaper shop items, as well as absolutely stunning graphics. You should go with those if you want to play traditional DQ.

Were the Megaman Legends games at all worth playing?

Would there have been internet riots over MML3's cancellation otherwise?

[KB_Kaabii]

Parasite Eve.

[CMoon]

Dragon Warrior 7 I should check out

Stay the hell away from DQ7 unless you're willing to devote at least several months of your gaming time to it. I can't think of a JRPG more endless and grindy. The DS remakes of 4/5/6 have less grinding and cheaper shop items, as well as absolutely stunning graphics. You should go with those if you want to play traditional DQ.

And yet I still recommend it. Yes, it is really punishing and extremely long. Go for it!

[Obiwanshinobi]

Vagrant Story I did play a bit and I enjoyed the uniqueness of, so I could get back into that one.

You might check out the quest modes in Ehrgeiz and Tobal 1&2 too. There's also Cyber Org, but the camera is controlled with the right thumbstick in that one thus I'm not sure if it will be any good on the PSP.

[shmuppyLove]

Vagrant Story I did play a bit and I enjoyed the uniqueness of, so I could get back into that one.

You might check out the quest modes in Ehrgeiz and Tobal 1&2 too. There's also Cyber Org, but the camera is controlled with the right thumbstick in that one thus I'm not sure if it will be any good on the PSP.

Hmm that's a good point about the right thumbstick, I hadn't thought of that.

Well I can always play on my PS2 if controls on the PSP are a problem, but it's very cool to have the games on a portable.

[BryanM]

Stay the hell away from DQ7 unless you're willing to devote at least several months of your gaming time to it. I can't think of a JRPG more endless and grindy.

Outside of the first hour and the pressure-damage based midboss that incentivizes you to have Heal Party, the DQ games really aren't grindy. You just cast Party Defense Up and Bikill and Win.

Dragon Quest 7 though... man. Long game is loooong. 100+ hours if you're OCD. "Please stop throwing new scenarios at me and just end already!"

[njiska]

I'm not generally a fan of RPGs, doubly so for JRPGs, but I really loved Wild Arms. Good story and characters. Neat puzzle and light action elements fixed in.

[shmuppyLove]

Wild Arms seems really good, I'm giving it a go right now.

Style reminds me of Chrono Trigger mixed with a bit of Zelda

[njiska]

The fact that you play all three characters individually until they meet was a neat hook.

[shmuppyLove]

Eheheh I like the first quest for Rudy

Hey cool Holy Berries, I'll just pick those OH SHI-

[null1024]

Tales of Destiny is awesome. Hell, I like it better than some later entries in the series.
FF7 is legitimately good. Overrated as hell, but still very enjoyable. FF9 is also good, but I haven't completed it yet.
I haven't played the first Grandia, so I can't comment on that.

@Op Intensify:
Tales of Phantasia on the GBA is a terrible port. Horrid sound and 15fps battles? Lolno.

[Drum]

FF7 was the last FF game I gave a shit about, the only other one being VI.
Valkyrie Profile was great when people aren't talking.

[njiska]

Eheheh I like the first quest for Rudy

Hey cool Holy Berries, I'll just pick those OH SHI-

All the openings are good like that. I love Jack's quest. Very Indy like.

[Obiwanshinobi]

FF7 was the last FF game I gave a shit about, the only other one being VI.
Valkyrie Profile was great when people aren't talking.

The talking wasn't all that bad. The PSP version should be avoided, though. Filtered sprites (argh!) and the omission of the US PSX version's improvements are too much.

[shmuppyLove]

@Op Intensify:
Tales of Phantasia on the GBA is a terrible port. Horrid sound and 15fps battles? Lolno.

Problem is it's the only legit port we got.

I see what you mean about the strange frame rate during battles though ... the PSX version looks the same? The SNES version looks way smoother.

[null1024]

@Op Intensify:
Tales of Phantasia on the GBA is a terrible port. Horrid sound and 15fps battles? Lolno.

Problem is it's the only legit port we got.

I see what you mean about the strange frame rate during battles though ... the PSX version looks the same? The SNES version looks way smoother.

The PSX version is the same speed as Tales of Destiny in battle, 60fps.

[GaijinPunch]

Growlanser. It is a little long, but the battle system is probably only second to Grandia. It has some annoying animu characters (the fairy, who sticks w/ you through the hole fucking game) but it was great.

I believe all the sequels (except maybe 4) are the perfect example of how to fuck up something good.

[Op Intensify]

And yet I still recommend it. Yes, it is really punishing and extremely long. Go for it!

Fair enough, but one should consider it a serious decision to start DQVII with the intent of finishing.

I guess there are plenty of JRPGs with more level grinding (i.e. Nippon Ichi), but the insane length is more than enough to make it feel "grindy."

[CStarFlare]

Star Ocean: The Second Story - Insanely good game with item creation, lots of characters (some of which are mutually exclusive), a strong postgame and one of the best real time battle systems ever. I did several (5+?) playthroughs of this thing. Maybe it's just nostalgia, but the story is significantly less cringe-inducing than those that 3 and 4 had. There's a very good chance that this was my most played game of the console generation.

SaGa Frontier - It's weird one; you have seven main characters with their own standalone quests to complete. Unfortunately, the quests are very similar, since they mostly take you to the same places to do the same things... but you can have a good time if you play through the quests with the most exclusive content and call it a day.

Alundra - A great (and very pretty) Zelda clone. Probably not really a JRPG, but there are no bad times to bring it up in a conversation.

I know several people who are head over heels for Legend of Mana as well. I never felt the same way - it was a pretty and intriguing game, but I recall battles being almost insultingly easy. I think I also got to an event that I could never figure out how to finish. As such I didn't see it through to the end, but I do mean to go back to it one day.

I've heard great things about DQ7 but I can't bring myself to make the time commitment. On my list, and with emulation it may happen one day.

[null1024]

Star Ocean: The Second Story - Insanely good game with item creation, lots of characters (some of which are mutually exclusive), a strong postgame and one of the best real time battle systems ever. I did several (5+?) playthroughs of this thing. Maybe it's just nostalgia, but the story is significantly less cringe-inducing than those that 3 and 4 had. There's a very good chance that this was my most played game of the console generation.

Thank you for reminding me this exists, I should really go and finish it. Bought it a few months ago, and thought it was pretty neat. I picked the girl first though, and ended up getting wrecked in combat no matter what [can you say "dies in one hit"], so I was clearly doing something wrong.

I restarted, picked the guy, and haven't played it in a while.