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So I don't really have anything else to play atm, so I've been looking at these:
Earthbound
Mother 3
Chrono Trigger (pause or active combat?)
Persona 3 (FES?)
Persona 4
shin megami Tensei: Nocturne
Anything else I should add, or remove? I played Final Fantasy (I think it was 10-2) the one with the 3 celebrity singers or some shit. I lost interest immediately. Which should I give a go?
Persona is shit, unless you're talking about PSX games, which range from 'good' (jap version of the first game) to 'more or less bearable' (other two). Avoid PSP versions like a plague.
Don't waste your time and go play SMT1/2, then Nocturne. I'll see you back in a two-three months or so.
Hard to know how much of this is nostalgia speaking, but I think you're best off starting with the late 16-bit era -- no loading delays, no interminable cinematics, and generally fewer attempts at "serious" emotional engagement, which in my experience never succeeds in jRPGs.
I'm not inclined to recommend Earthbound first because, in my opinion, Earthbound is most interesting as a response to the epic fantasy staple of jRPGs. Played outside of that context, I don't think it will feel refreshing or subversive -- just somewhat grindy and goofy.
The early 16-bit RPGs still have quite a bit of the 8-bit grindiness to them; since, in my opinion, the combat in jRPGs is seldom if ever tactically interesting, that just means tons of battles where you press A/X until the enemies are dead. While some of those games (Final Fantasy 4/II, Phantasy Star II, Lufia) might be of interest for historical reasons, I don't think you're going to get much out of them playing them without nostalgia or the blinders of the era in which they were released.
So, I guess my tentative recommendation would be Final Fantasy 6/III, Phantasy Star IV (which does lose something when stripped of the PSI and II context, but still is decent enough), Secret of Mana, Terranigma, Chrono Trigger, and sometime after playing at least a couple of these, Earthbound. Maybe Shining Force if you're up for a strategy RPG. I would go with the SNES/Genesis versions rather than later remakes. That said, I don't think any of these games is interesting in terms of literary plots or great game design. They're just well-polished confections from an interesting point in gaming history.
Instead of giving you some generic recommendations, I'll give you a small list of hand-picked games which people barely mention for 2 reasons: they weren't really available or people ignored them to masturbate to yet another Final Fantasy/other game.
Here are some good JRPGs (or SRPGs):
SMT1-2-3 (SNES/PS2)
Saiyuki: Journey West (PS1) [SRPG]
Devil Summoner (Saturn)
Soul Hackers (Saturn/PS1)
Jade Cocoon (PS1)
Kartia (PS1)
Magna Carta (PC)
Majin Tensei 1/2/Ronde (SNES/Saturn) [SRPG]
Dark Wizard (SCD) [SRPG]
Skies of Arkadia (DC/GC)
Koudelka (PS1)
Not really JRPGs:
D2 (DC) (more of an action-adventure with random encounters and leveling)
Fox Junction (PS1) (one of the attempts to make a roguelike on PS1)
I'd say avoid the later Persona games, they're pretty much riddled with stuff that would make the average Codex user weep in agony. Crappy dungeons, animu plot (even if it is solid by that standard) and pretty mediocre gameplay.
Otherwise, I'd say the Mother series is a good choice - but like MRY mentioned, it's best treated as both a parody and it's own thing. Sort of like seeing Spaceballs without seeing any of the famous Sci-Fi stables at the time like Star Wars. Shin Megami Tensei is a great series as a whole, and you can do no wrong with one of the best (Nocturne). If you like dungeon crawlers, that is.
To add on to what hasn't been recommended yet, you really can't go wrong with Final Fantasy: Tactics for the PS1/PSP (PSP has a less Engrish translation but has slowdown w/o patch) if you want to get into the Strategy RPG subgenre. There's also King's Field, a slow-pace UU-ish dungeon crawler made by the guys who made Dark Souls (also nice if you like Action RPGs).
Because why not:
Secret of Mana 2 (SNES)
Legend of Dragoon (PS1)
Bahmut Lagoon (SNES)
Feda: The Emblem of Justice (SNES)
Front Mission (SNES/DS)
Record of Lodoss War (SNES)
Secret of Evermore (SNES)
Illusion of Gaia (SNES)
Live A Live (SNES)
Dark Law (SNES)
Shining in the Darkness (GEN)
Tactics Ogre (SNES/PSP)
Yakuza (PS2)
Way of the Samurai (PS2)
Wizardry Tale of the Forsaken Land (PS2)
Ys Oath in Felghana (PSP, PC)
Ys Origins (PC)
Ys I & II (Shit-ton of platforms and...PC)
Valkyria Chronicles (PS3 and PC)
Note: This list is just for when you want to go beyond the contemporary stuff like Chrono Trigger. Really, I'd say it's your best start.
Instead of giving you some generic recommendations, I'll give you a small list of hand-picked games which people barely mention for 2 reasons: they weren't really available or people ignored them to masturbate to yet another Final Fantasy/other game.
Here are some good JRPGs (or SRPGs):
SMT1-2-3 (SNES/PS2)
Saiyuki: Journey West (PS1) [SRPG]
Devil Summoner (Saturn) Soul Hackers (Saturn/PS1/3DS)
Jade Cocoon (PS1)
Kartia (PS1) Magna Carta (PC)
Majin Tensei 1/2/Ronde (SNES/Saturn) [SRPG]
Dark Wizard (SCD) [SRPG]
Skies of Arkadia (DC/GC)
Koudelka (PS1)
Not really JRPGs:
D2 (DC) (more of an action-adventure with random encounters and leveling) Fox Junction (PS1) (one of the attempts to make a roguelike on PS1)
I doubt someone new to the genre would want to play a game that's not in English. A good list of lesser known titles, otherwise. Not sure how someone would enjoy some of the more grindy/boring ones like Skies of Arkadia though. Same goes for my choices too.
Lufia 2 (don't worry about playing the first one first) great if you like doing little puzzles and looking for hidden treasures and secret passages and shit. Feels like the jrpg equivalent of a Zelda game.
Chrono Trigger - Classic for a reason, excellent sound track, just generally well executed in a lot of ways. Pretty standard jrpg though (Active is probably better, at the highest combat speed possible- it'll make the game slightly more challenging.)
SMT: Nocturne (Probably the best combat/party building mechanics among the games in this thread.)
Most FF games are pretty shit (10-2 is especially shit, no idea why you'd go for that first), but I'd say 5 is actually pretty cool. Class system, pretty interesting bosses, some actual difficulty, somewhat open endgame.
I'm a big fan of SaGa Frontier as well, but it seems to be pretty hit or miss with people; I suppose because a lot of the mechanics and sidequests/areas are hard to get a handle on.
Re. Earthbound: MRY summed it up pretty well. It's mostly well regarded because it parodies a lot of jrpg cliches. Without that context, it's going to lose most of it's value.
Thanks for the write-ups guys ( MRY and zwanzig_zwoelf ). Ima tackle these 3 for now: King's Field (start with 1 I guess?), Nocturne and Chrono Trigger
Funny enough I believe the King's Field you are referring to is actually the second game in the series. The first never came to English-speaking countries, but I do recall a translation patch floating around on the internet.
From Final Fantasies games seconding the fifth one. I thought the job system was pretty fun and don't remember too much teenage drama and other bullshit. If you want to try the more "traditional" Final Fantasies, I'd say 6 and 9. 4 heroes of light was allright as well, but the overly lighthearted storytime feel might throw you off.
From the Megami Tensei franchise Strange Journey and the Devil Survivors are also very good.
With all these great recommendations i would add the breath of fire series.
Breath of fire does everything right that a jrpg should have and has awesome music,plus no angsty drama is certainly a good thing.
Legend of Dragoon
Vagrant Story
Suikoden 1 & 2
Anything Ys
FF12, but make sure it's the International Zodiac Job System version
Pretty much everything mentioned here already are good games.
I've sometimes felt that way, but I suspect it's because of the cognitive bias of discovery elitism: the same way I think my pho restaurant is the best in the city, but will become disheartened if I discover everyone knows about it, or I thought Coriolanus was especially awesome because naturally everyone knows Hamlet, Lear, Othello, HV, R&J, etc. I'm pretty sure if you came across Chrono Trigger on some random emulation site with a bootleg translation, it would blow your mind -- it's just that it's so well chewed by some many other people, it feels kind of lame to get excited about it.
That's very likely, especially when it comes to the JRPGs that I like to play. When I play a game some random translator decided to mod online, I pretty much have a blank slate on what to expect from the game - apart from what the author might say about the game. So, if it's good, I'm pleasantly surprised and I might enjoy my time more than playing what I'll know to be pretty damn good.
But, with that statement, I was more talking about the games that stand out to me - popular or otherwise (at least, I hope so). The really weird and strange kind of games are the kind that I like to laud. I can't recommend something like Dragon Quest, even though I like it, because it's so by-the-books. Dark Souls, however, is a-typical when you compare it to most games of the genre. And it's incredibly popular.
I hope I don't sound like I'm full of shit right now.
Is King's Field (4) supposed to have such slow moving speed? I'm getting 40-50 fps and it's unbearably slow. I've seen some vids online and it seems a little smoother. Guess it's just my PC.
King's Field is pretty slow. I never played 4, but judging by the gameplay video it's actually faster than what I've played. It might be the emulation, but it wasn't a terribly fast game to begin with. If you're getting 40-50 try lowering the quality a little on the emulator (lower RES or graphics quality).
I don't think the Mother series (2nd and 3rd) can be emphasized enough. Play Earthbound and Mother 3. Mother 3 will need to be run with a fan patch via Emulator. It's one of the most charming series I have ever played. I make an effort to replay Earthbound every now and again because it is still so much fun to play.
One many people might not recommend is Super Mario RPG for the SNES. It's surprisingly good. It doesn't pull it's punches either just because it's a Mario game. One of my favorite PSX RPG's is Vagrant Story. It is in my opinion one of the top 3 RPG's on that system. I think it has aged much better than most of other games for that platform. The Final Fantasy Anthology that contains FF 5 is worth a shot, as well as Final Fantasy Tactics.
None of those games have any egregious grinding since I hate that. Shadow Hearts is pretty unique setting wise too, but I never played it much. I usually try to look for games that stick out like that. Persona 4 wold be another that many would recommend.
If you're going to play FF5, play the SNES version, the PSX version (for some unfathomable reason) has horrible load times whenever you access the menu. Which, given the difficulty of some areas, is pretty much after every random encounter so you can heal up.
Will second Super Mario RPG though; it's pretty decent. No real difficulty to speak of though, unless you're obsessed with trying to 100% the game, in which case there's some twitchy shit that is hard to pull off. It's got a lot of polish though, full of cute little details like people being pissed off when you stand on shit you shouldn't, or cameos or other easter eggs.
If you're going to play FF5, play the SNES version, the PSX version (for some unfathomable reason) has horrible load times whenever you access the menu. Which, given the difficulty of some areas, is pretty much after every random encounter so you can heal up.
Will second Super Mario RPG though; it's pretty decent. No real difficulty to speak of though, unless you're obsessed with trying to 100% the game, in which case there's some twitchy shit that is hard to pull off. It's got a lot of polish though, full of cute little details like people being pissed off when you stand on shit you shouldn't, or cameos or other easter eggs.
