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!
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.
It really is worth it. One of my favourites this year so far.
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.
Thanks for the recommendations! Tales of Arise and persona 4 seem interesting so I try them out!
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.
Tales of Arise is great. The whole Tales series is really great, but Arise really felt like that next step from niche to the preeminent example of a modern epic JRPG. Something Squeenix has been trying and largely failing to recapture.
Dragon Quest XI would be sweet for a beginner I think! It’s not too complex and it’s so full of charm.
Yeah, I’d second this. It’s pure old school turn based JRPG. Good starting point to branch out from in the genre.
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.
I think we should stop saying “JRPG”, but if you must, another vote for Chrono Trigger, though it will spoil you on games of that type: no grinding, no random encounters, good balance of playable characters, unique combat mechanics that to this day haven’t really been explored (specifically, dual and tri-techs, special abilities that require certain combinations of party members and that utilize all of their abilities).
This is a near-perfect suggestion
What would be perfect?
I guess there probably isn’t a “perfect” first JRPG since people love particular things (A better first one for my preferences would have been something like Persona 4/5 just because of my story/style preferences), but I think generally Chrono Trigger is as close as you can get.
While not really what one would think of as a classic JRPG, one of my all time favorites is Paper Mario and the Thousand Year Door. I tend to have a hard time getting into turn based combat, so the action command system really improved the moment to moment gameplay for me.
I’m not deep into the genre, but my recommendation is Chrono Trigger. Such a good game.
Absolute classic and perfect for emulating on a phone too for on the go. The music still one of the best after decades.
This is what I came here to recommend. It’s the perfect game to start with for someone who has not played any JRPGs.
I’ll look into it! I have heard very good things about it so I’ll probably play it
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
I have absolutely loved both of the Octopath traveller games. Bravely Default II is also similar and similarly great.
These are great games, but I don’t know if I’d recommend them to beginners into the world of JRPGs. Their primary draw, for me at least, is the complexity of their battle systems. It’s a lot to take in if you’re new to the genre. I could be monstrously wrong though, heh
My biggest issue with Octopath was the grind. Maybe I was playing “wrong”, but I hit a point fairly early on where I wasn’t high enough level to continue the story. I was sort of stuck in an in-between spot where I could win fights but get trivial amounts of xp, or die every other encounter.
The story had me hooked, I love the visual style, and I liked the combat system… But the grind destroyed me.
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)
Chrono Trigger for sure. It’s considered one of the JRPGs of all time and is relatively short with little no grinding.
Not really what you would think of when mentioning a jrpg, but the Mario & Luigi series are excellent games!
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.
I’m playing Chained Echoes at the moment which is superb. Feels like a classic JRPG but with some modern elements to make it feel fresh.
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.
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.