JRPGs for people who think they hate JRPGs

GamesRadar - So traditional role-playing games aren’t your thing. Maybe the combat is too slow, the protagonists too whiny, the outfits too ridiculous, or the games too long. Perhaps you’re just not into the fantasy settings, or the princesses and knights and grumpy leading men with hearts of gold. There are many clichés associated with JRPGs, a lot of them with good reason, and you don’t have the time or patience for that nonsense.

[Relientk77]

Also besides their list:

Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Skies of Arcadia
Grandia 1, 2
Breath of Fire III, IV
Final Fantasy VII, VIII, X

[toguns]

I personally like Skies. But. Too many female characters, now very dated graphics and the most random battles that have ever been in any game. EVER means that Skies is not for everyone

[Wigriff]

Ah, Grandia 2. I loved that game.

[3-4-5]

DQ9 got me back into JRPG's. Been trying to buy up as many solid DS JRPG's as possible since I beat DQ9 back in September.

[Kalowest]

I've played all the games on that list, lol.

[Dark11]

When we talk about japan , i really hate most of their JRPG's thanks to the childish designs

thank god we got a mature RPG's form capcom and from software
(Dragon dogma and dark souls)

Edit: LOL @ Disagrees.

[elhebbo16]

even though they're japanese games they are more towards the WRPG side. imo

[Hicken]

LOL @ you and your "childish" designs.

ANY SMT game is considerably more "mature" than either of those you've mentioned.

[TheSaint]

Childish post, that's why the disagrees.

[3-4-5]

mature designs usually don't leave much room for creativity and thus you get 30+ generic looking "realistic " characters who aren't memorable at all.

I'm sure we need more of that..

[vickers500]

I really liked Dragon Quest 8, and I typically don't enjoy jrpgs very much.

[McScroggz]

It's hard to recommend a JRPG to somebody who isn't familiar with the genre or who hasn't liked what they have played. In that regard, I think the original Kingdom Hearts is very palatable because the characters and settings are very comfortable while the combat is real-time yet reminiscent of old school JRPG's. If somebody playes KH1 and doesn't like it, they just will not like the genre.

For what it's worth I'm playing Persona 4 Golden now and it's f'ing awesome.

[DEATHxTHExKIDx]

I actually was able to get 2 of my friends into JRPGS by having them play FFXIII.

[diepdiep]

That's quite an accomplishment. I play a lot RPG games, but was initially bored with FFXIII's early chapters (they were also difficult). Maybe that's where the game got it's negative reputation. I guess your friends persevered because the later half of the game was very interesting.

[rextraordinaire]

Being a fan of j-rpgs, I'm not at the right place to judge if this list will really appeal to those that are not fans, but still I'd add some.

Star Ocean Series (My pick would be SO3, but that's just me)

Mario and Luigi series on the DS.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the seven stars (REALLY surprised this one didn't make the list. It has everything good from Mario, + some cameos from Final Fantasy for those in the know...)

Resonance of Fate, for those that love gun-play.

Jade Cocoon. Because. Jade Cocoon. Not half enough people played that gem.

[sashimi]

Resonance of Fate would be too "hard" lol that game got trashed just for its difficulty even though i found it quite fun and its difficult wasn't even that high imo(i have platnium trophy).

As far as gun-play is involved i'd recommend Valkyria Chronicles. Gameplay is simple enough yet engaging with a pleasing art style and the awesome story. Most underrated game for what it did for the SRPG genre.

[InTheLab]

I've always felt like I'm missing something as a gamer because I've never been able to get into JRPGs.

I think it all started back in 1997. I saw this bad ass commercial about a soldier of fortune that MUST prevail and something about the power of Playstation.

So I go out and buy the game day one (which was a big deal with my minimum wage part time earnings). I get the thing and holy hell it's got 4 discs O.o has to be awesome. It wasn't. Turn based, cutscenes, and basically a whole lot of watching. I traded FF7 in at Funcoland the next day and got a sweet $20 back :(

So yeah... the only JRPGs I've ever enjoyed were Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Dragon's Dogma. Perhaps if JRPGs got away from some of the tropes like Highschoolers, absurdly dressed girly men, preteens saving the world, everything revolves around Japan, etc....and turn based gameplay, I'd give them a shot more often then never again.

[Chrono]

Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, and Dragon's Dogma look nothing like J-style RPGs, they are heavily influenced by the Western RPGs.

[InTheLab]

I thought the J in JRPG meant Japanese???

So these games don't count because they don't feature girly men, incomprehensible plots and bloated cutscenes, and taking turns while fighting?