Pick a JRPG for me to play.

[Stokowski]

It's that time in the Mayan calendar when I feel compelled to play a jrpg. I have those listed in the poll available to me; which should I play?
(I've never played any title in any of the series listed.)

 

[Modron]

Yakuza 0 and Trails of Cold Steel are not the most proper starting point in either series so I voted Lost Odyssey.

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I'd say Trails of Cold Steel. It's a 90 hour long game but I enjoyed it almost the whole way through. It has an engaging start. You get to visit a new location every 10 hours. The pacing only drags a little in chapter 6. Likeable cast. Exceptional localization and English dub. Fantastic soundtrack. I really enjoyed playing it blind on hard, the combat system and building my characters. I was very invested in the world and the story of an intensifying cold war between two imperialistic superpowers and a modernizing fantasy Prussia in turmoil.

I haven't played the Xenoblade rerelease. I played it on the 3DS. I remember liking the game up until halfway through, when you reached Prison Island. Up until that point, I was really invested in Shulk's revenge pursuit. After Prison Island the story falls off a cliff. I didn't really like most of the cast. The game had an interesting fantasy world. I disliked the combat, and the side quests were mediocre. Soundtrack was decent. Good camerawork in cutscenes. Decent English voice cast. The moeblob anime redesigns in the rerelease are a turn off.

Yakuza 0: I'd say pass. I was told this game was super awesome but was bored by it. I didn't like the action combat. Too many trash fights walking down the street. The story was okay but you could just look the cutscenes up on Youtube.

 

[MerchantKing]

Play Dragon's Dogma

 

[Stokowski]

My karma ran over Dragon's Dogma.

 

[d1r]

Play Yakuza 0, though is not a JRPG.

Yakuza 7 is the JRPG of the series. And it also can be played without knowing anything about the other games of the series.

 

[Duraframe300]

Lost Odyssey

 

[Falksi]

Yakuza 0 easily, with Lost Odyssey next in line.

 

[Maxie]

It's that time in the Mayan calendar when I feel compelled to play a jrpg. I have those listed in the poll available to me; which should I play?
(I've never played any title in any of the series listed.)

Make your own goddamn decision for once, you weak shit. jRPGs are not for faggots.

 

[Jermu]

was lost odyssey fully playable with emulator? last time I checked it got stuck at some point
if you have played other trails games I would still play cold steel ones but can be skipped too its decline after Ao

 

[Duraframe300]

was lost odyssey fully playable with emulator? last time I checked it got stuck at some point

You have to avoid some crashes, but you can finish it.

 

[Anonymous Ranger]

Of the games you listed I've only played Lost Odyssey so by default I'm going with that. If you do play it just make sure to use all the characters equality or your going to have a bad time.

 

[Jinn]

I want to play Lost Odyssey. How are you going about emulating that?

 

[Stokowski]

OK, Yakuza 0 has won, so I'll give that a go.
But if it's too much of a button-masher or makes me want to take up smoking, I'll do Lost Odyssey (on the Xenia emulator Jinn ) instead.

Cheers, weaboos.

 

[Reinhardt]

Trails of Cold Steel. It has an engaging start.

nigger u wot

 

[flyingjohn]

Depends on your tastes:

Ys origin:
Great action rpg with nice music.
Lost Odyssey (emulated):
Doesn't work properly in xenia so skip this and any future xbox 360 emulation.
Xenoblade Chronicles Defin.Edition:
If you like MMO style combat/quests go for it.
Xenoblade 3:
Wait until all the dlc are done and the emulation is more stable.
Loh:Cold Steel
Very story focused jrpg with great worldbuilding and characters. If you are gonna start this prepare to finish the entire saga to get the full story experience. Combat is more engaging then a generic jrpg because you can actually move on the battle screen but don't expect anything resembling nocturne in terms of difficulty.Great music as well.
Yakuza 0:
Ain't a JRPG, but a brawler set in a sandbox like Tokyo. Great combat, quests, music and one of the better stories in the Yakuza series.
If you fancy exploring a virtual Tokyo and doing some whacky side quests while beating up people with a bicycle, this is the game for you.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Anachronox is quite good and underrated

 

[Lord_Potato]

Lona rpg. The one and only choice for a truly monocled RPG enjoyer.

 

[F. J. Rothchild III]

Anachronox is quite good and underrated

My exact first thought, as well. It's a Western homage to JRPGs by Tom Hall of Commander Keen and ID in general fame. The combat's not the BEST, but it can be sped up. The characters and writing are out of this world great, though (no pun intended).
An genuinely funny game, compared to many modern RPGS (and games in general) and their attempts at humor.

The Yakuza games are also great, so I'm tempted to say that you should go with Yakuza 0. However, as others have pointed out, it's simply not a JRPG.
For a Yakuza JRPG, play Yakuza: Like A Dragon.

If I were to stray from your (severely limiting) choices, though, I'd strongly recommend Panzer Dragoon Saga. Yes, it's infamously one of the most expensive games ever, but you can easily do either of the following:

1) Play it via (I'll speak like Scooby-Doo here to avoid saying it outright) a remulator

or, if you have a Saturn (as any self-respecting human being should)...

2) Rownload and rurn the .isos to ReeD-R riscs and get a cheap "Pseudo Saturn Kai" and ringo! Rou're in raction.

Too convoluted? Well, it's worth it, given how PDS is, in my opinion the greatest JRPG ever made, but, in case you don't want to do any of that, just play a Shin Megami Tensei game.
The Persona games are now more known than the original mainline series, and I can sorta-kinda half-heartedly recommend those, though I'm not entirely as keen on them as I once was.
Instead, if you want a hardcore, brutal but awesome experience, play SMTIII: Nocturne. If you want a better cyberpunk game than Keanupunk 2077, play Soul Hackers (the first one!!!). SMTIV and Strange Journey are also recommended.

As for other JRPGS, I don't blindly hate them or anything, but aside from a few others like Phantasy Star, the hidden PS1 gem Koudelka, and Vagrant Story/FF Tactics/Yasunori Matsuna's various Ivalice-set games and Tactics Ogre games, not a ton have wowed me.
The ones I've listed have.

I realize that it was kind of pointless to assume that you wanted any recommendations outside of the options you provided, but I did so, just in case. Besides, maybe someone else wanted some.
Hope you enjoy whatever you choose to play!

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Romancing SaGa.

 

[Tweed]

Final Fantasy USA

 

[Jinn]

Doesn't work properly in xenia so skip this and any future xbox 360 emulation.

Yeah, that's what I thought. Asked because I thought he may have stumbled onto some magical emulator I'd never heard of. What a shame.

 

[Modron]

Front Mission 1.

 

[Gahbreeil]

Lord of the Rings: The Third Age.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

go for Ys, because you can't go wrong with Ys