GOOD Turn-Based PC Based (not emulators) jRPGS

[Jaesun]

Just wanted to make sure I have not missed out on anything (and feel free to list any OLD games, because I probably missed them). Of recent memory there is Elminage Gothic and The Valkyria Chronicles, of which I own both. What else am I missing?

I believe there were a few turn-based PC games, but they were more like BABIES FIRST JRPG (If I am remembering what Ms. Bee said).

Any recommendations?

 

[Hobo Elf]

If you are limiting yourself to the PC and no emulators, you're not gonna get very far in that GOOD department. There's a good chance that Stranger of Sword City will get released on Steam so look out for that, hopefully.

 

[StaticSpine]

Hyperdimension Neptunia

Spoiler

Trails in the Sky or maybe Disgaea?

 

[aweigh]

Jaesun

PC remake of Wizardry Empire 2: Legacy of the Princess. Developed by Starfish who are the small team behind the Elminage series. The Wizardry Empire series was their bread and butter before losing access to the Wizardry license and developing their own series: Elminage. Wizardry Empire 2 alone should provide you with 60+ hours of blissful Wizardry gameplay. The dungeon design is the best I've ever seen in a Wizardry or Elminage game and I consider it the pinnacle of Starfish's Wiz-clones.

As for JRPGs? I can't think of a single one released in the last 5 years worth playing over one of the classics.

 

[Suicidal]

labyrinth of touhou

 

[duanth123]

Just wanted to make sure I have not missed out on anything (and feel free to list any OLD games, because I probably missed them). Of recent memory there is Elminage Gothic and The Valkyria Chronicles, of which I own both. What else am I missing?

I believe there were a few turn-based PC games, but they were more like BABIES FIRST JRPG (If I am remembering what Ms. Bee said).

Any recommendations?

Best PC turn-based JRPG (*really, SRPG) I've played outside of emulators and Elminage....

https://vndb.org/v5652

http://eushully.wikia.com/wiki/God_Catching_Alchemy_Meister

 

[Niektory]

I second Labyrinth of Touhou (both 1 and 2).

Kamidori Alchemy Meister is hentai and a bit of a pain to get running, but yeah it's actually good.

Disgaea is also fun and going to be released on PC this month.

Maybe Grandia 2 on hard difficulty (has anyone tried it?).

 

[duanth123]

Kamidori Alchemy Meister is hentai

Technically it's a VN.

The hentai elements are relatively understated for the first 1/4 of the game and even thereafter are skippable for the most part.

Say, as opposed to Rance or Bunny Black where they're a required element of the gameplay and story progression.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Labyrinth of Touhou 1 & 2; 2 is a bit easier to get into, but both are very good combat- and party building-wise

Generation Xth is a solid Wizardry clone

The Last Remnant is essentially a modern SaGa game with large-scale battles

Trails in the Sky FC & to a lesser extent SC have great attention to detail and fantastic localization, also FC has a nice low-key story/banter; the combat is alright, tho a bit on the easy side

One Way Heroics+ is a Japanese roguelike that's really fun

 

[felipepepe]

Yumina the Ethereal has some crazy turn-based shit with tons of stats and even dungeon-crawling. It's quite fun, but it's LOOOOOONG as hell. Also, has some of the most overwritten dialogs ever (but you can skip)...

Spoiler

Not japanese, but Chinese Paladin is cool. Very old-school (it's from the 90's):

Spoiler

There's also Aselia the Eternal and Battle Moon Wars, though I'm not much of a fan of those...

 

[Suicidal]

Yumina the Ethereal has some crazy turn-based shit with tons of stats and even dungeon-crawling. It's quite fun, but it's LOOOOOONG as hell. Also, has some of the most overwritten dialogs ever (but you can skip)...

Spoiler

Hey, this sounds interesting. Looks weeb as fuck, but you know, after playing through LoT 2 I am past the point of being disgusted by weeb shit. I have been staring into the abyss for so long that the abyss started staring back at me and it had the face of a 15-year old anime girl.

 

[felipepepe]

It's a fucking crazy game... the whole plot is that you are a candidate for school president and must win over other candidates with tasteful debates - which are just battles where they scream shit like "MERITOCRACIES WORK!" or "STANDARDIZED TESTING IS POINTLESS!". Kinda like the republican debates.

The weird shit is that after a while, you unlock this virtual world where it's like a fantasy RPG, with dragons, dungeons and shit. Andf after that a bunch of cosmic/celestial shit starts to go down, and you're just like "da fuck am I playing?" Also, it's one of those hardcore JRPGs with New Game+++++++++ and a shitload of endings depending on which waifu is best waifu (Kirara, obviously).

But it's very interesting, especially the combat. Only the front character attacks, while the other three stand as support - each turn they can use buffs, debuffs, damage spells and counter the action of the enemy's support team. But the mana bar is by color, so if you only use one character you'll run out of mana, so you're forced to rotate them. Cool stuff, and some battles even have special conditions.

But seriously, use fast-forward of just skip the intro. I swear to you, it's almost 30 minutes of overwritten dialog without a single battle or important event.

 

[Damned Registrations]

For my 2 cents, Labyrinth of Touhou wins hands down, especially the second one (though the first is still entirely worth playing.) But I'll also second recommendations of Disgaea and One Way Heroics without reservation. All three of these have solid gameplay with good difficulty curves that are quite rare in turn based games.

Kamidori I had a lot of fun with, but the difficulty really isn't there for most of the game, and even on hard mode or whatever, it just spikes in a few places and is generally too easy if you're familiar with that kind of game and know which stats and characters are going to be overpowered.

You could also try Elona, which is a trippy japanese roguelike with lots of non-combat options for amassing wealth and power, like trading or farming or fishing or mining, or managing property or winning tournaments with your pets. Can make many different sorts of characters and play in many different ways. Again though, difficulty is all over the place, with lots of boringly easy things and the sudden instant death of a very unfair nature. If you do give this a try look for the latest Elona Custom version; it's got the most recent translations and updates, the original game got abandoned some time ago and the japanese devs who picked it up are still adding stuff but obviously not translating shit. But the fact that it got picked up after being abandoned despite being some weird niche japanese game should tell you a bit about it's overall quality.

Thanks for showing Yumina, looks interesting, will have to give it a spin.

 

[felipepepe]

I tried to play Elona twice already, but it seems just so... impenetrable. Like, the JRPG version of Dwarf Fortress.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Sums it up pretty well.

 

[Siveon]

Well, if you want penetration in your Elona games, there's always this.

Spoiler

No, it's not porn.

 

[Severian Silk]

There are dozens of RPG Maker modules. Why not try those?

 

[deuxhero]

Do you know Japanese? There's a surprising number of ports of good games that have never been translated (the first two Atelier games, Falcom stuff) and even more doujin stuff if you do.

Do old PC formats you need an emulator or special machine for (PC98, MSX, DOS ect) count?

 

[Abu Antar]

I would recommend The last Remnant. It'l take some time to get into it, but one you do, there is a lot of fun to be had.

Trails in the Sky isn't bad but it gets more praise than it should, imho.

 

[Jaesun]

I actually own The Last Remnant, BUT the default controls are only for a controller (which I didn't have at the time. I now have an XBox One controller). I should actually install and play that now....

 

[Jaesun]

Do you know Japanese? There's a surprising number of ports of good games that have never been translated (the first two Atelier games, Falcom stuff) and even more doujin stuff if you do.

No I don't, sadly.

Do old PC formats you need an emulator or special machine for (PC98, MSX, DOS ect) count?

This was just my own curiosity of what (good, turn-based) jRPG's that ARE actually ported or have a PC port.

 

[Crooked Bee]

I actually own The Last Remnant, BUT the default controls are only for a controller (which I didn't have at the time. I now have an XBox One controller). I should actually install and play that now....

You should. Just bear with the first parts of the game that are linear JRPG nonsense; it gets more complex after that. There are also a whole lot of missable things that are, imo, the meat of the game, so you might want to consult a non-spoilery guide if there is one.

 

[Siveon]

You should. Just bear with the first parts of the game that are linear JRPG nonsense; it gets more complex after that. There are also a whole lot of missable things that are, imo, the meat of the game, so you might want to consult a non-spoilery guide if there is one.

Sounds a lot like Final Fantasy XIII, actually.

 

[Abu Antar]

You should. Just bear with the first parts of the game that are linear JRPG nonsense; it gets more complex after that. There are also a whole lot of missable things that are, imo, the meat of the game, so you might want to consult a non-spoilery guide if there is one.

Sounds a lot like Final Fantasy XIII, actually.

Thankfully, it is nothing like it.

 

[Suicidal]

I played Last Remnant some time ago. It's a decent game. Not great or anything, but decent. The combat is interesting (you control pretty big parties and cannot give them exact orders) but ultimately not very good because what actions your characters will be allowed to perform in any given turn often depends on luck and there is retarded shit like infinite revive spamming that is present in pretty much every JRPG and late game battles devolve into "bad guy oneshots half your team, you revive them with res spells/items and hit him a few times, repeat until bad guy dead". Some optional battles are also impossible to win unless you grind in some weird specific way from the start of the game (like increasing your combat skills without actually increasing your level or some shit like that). Quite a lot of customization options for your party with skills, items, formations, etc. World is pretty big and there is a lot of missable stuff, including entire cities. It also looks good and the battles "feel" epic due to the amount of units and special effects, despite the fact that there's not a lot of things you can do in them and most fights save for a few bosses are impossible to lose.

Despite its many problems it's worth a playthrough I think. Definitely a better game than something like DA:I in any case.