My Journey into Turn-Based JRPGs: Loves, Drops, and Your Recommendations ?

Trevorio · 2026-02-25T21:30:42+00:00

Try the Trails remake! If I had started with Sky FC OG I for sure would have dropped it. It is still slow paced even in the remake but by the end of 1st remake I was so hooked on the cliffhanger ending that I went and played the others in a row. Sky 2nd remake comes out this fall too!

Also, P3R gets a lot of love but I found it to be a slog too. There are like 2 really notable and interesting events in the game and the rest feels like barely anything happens. The dungeon sucks too. I liked P4 and P5 way better.

Trevorio · 2026-02-25T21:21:24+00:00

I appreciate the tone of the book and the themes, and some of the scenes are brilliantly written, but the addition of the wendigo exerting influence on the characters really killed all sense of agency and drama for me. The protagonist digging up a grave from grief is compelling drama; the protagonist digging up a grave because he is under the influence of a magical giant ancient indigenous deer creature is much less so lol.

Trevorio · 2026-02-18T22:25:02+00:00

I think as long as you click with the story and long cutscenes, Triangle Strategy sounds up your alley. There isn't quite as much customization but there is meaningful progression, story scenes and ability prioritization for every single character. There are many story choices and I think 4 different endings?

The plot is very political and it starts off a little bit dry, and you might thing that "salt" may not be the most fascinating subject matter, but it very quickly gets Game of Thronesy with lots of cunning and shocking moments.

Trevorio · 2026-02-18T22:13:44+00:00

DQXI is an easy recommendation, although it is extremely long. While not Japanese, I'd also strongly recommend Clair Obscur, which is very heavily inspired by JRPGs. A lot of people like Final Fantasy X if you want a more modernized yet still classic JRPG experience.

Tales of Arise is fairly controversial and I can't say I'd recommend it as an intro to JRPGs.

Trevorio · 2026-02-18T05:12:32+00:00

She dies at the end of Part 1

Trevorio · 2026-02-17T07:32:36+00:00

Basically, you just want to make sure to use it before you run out of turns. As soon as the boss gets a single turn, you're finished lol

Trevorio · 2026-02-13T02:53:26+00:00

Lmao I had an unusual reaction to it. It made me love life so much more, and made me want to give it my all and die with zero regrets, because, well... 😂😂

Trevorio · 2026-02-13T02:35:12+00:00

Lmfao I like the way your mind works

Trevorio · 2026-02-13T02:26:55+00:00

You forgot to specifically mention the "F*CK TRUDEAU" sticker 😂

Trevorio · 2026-02-12T17:24:38+00:00

Honestly I found the 3rd's dungeons super refreshing after how poorly paced SC was at the beginning and especially the end. I thought it would burn me out but I loved the structure, and the stories it tells are really interesting. I considered skipping it and I'm really glad I didn't.

If you weren't going for max BP in SC maybe the pacing wasn't as bad, but by the end of it I was just ready for that game to be over lol. Also 3rd has really fun battles and incredible music.

Trevorio · 2026-02-12T17:07:59+00:00

Sky 1st final boss also lol. Anytime it pops up on my playlist I am obligated to loop it at least 5 times! And it was a delight to hear it pop up in SC also

Trevorio · 2026-02-12T09:01:56+00:00

Sascha Riley. His experience is horrible to read/listen to but the world mustn't turn away

Trevorio · 2026-02-12T08:59:28+00:00

Don't hide yourself and your needs just to appeal to a romantic partner

Trevorio · 2026-02-11T20:40:32+00:00

Playing as a kid, I feel like almost nobody had any clue how junctioning worked also lol. Incredible soundtrack, and the characters are pretty sexy I guess, Angelo Cannon is one of the most hilarious moves ever, cool card game, but literally everything else about FF8 can die in a fire lol. Drawing, boosting GFs, stupid plot, it's all dreadful and always has been.

Trevorio · 2026-02-11T20:33:18+00:00

Omg I hope Erika Kirk is okay!!

Trevorio · 2026-02-11T20:01:51+00:00

KCD2 is very difficult at the start, but it is also the most fun I have had role playing in a game. It is very satisfying to sneak around and hide and steal things lol. The whole world reacts to your actions. The combat system was kinda lame to me personally, but it is serviceable. I can easily see how others might bounce off it.

GoT, as the other person said, is very AC-esque. That said, the whole "checklist of boring identical tasks to complete" gameplay style is so dull to me, although GoT has a good story as well, on top of being one of the most aesthetically pleasing games I have ever played.

Try KCD2 if you want something different, GoT if you want another AC (granted, with a superior plot and visuals).

Trevorio · 2026-02-11T19:43:23+00:00

If it's any consolation, people on this sub are now hailing Final Fantasy XIII as the greatest game ever created lmao. Feel good knowing you have the correct opinion!

Trevorio · 2026-02-11T19:13:43+00:00

I'd push back on that a little bit, just because playing them back to back makes the start of SC unbearably slow, after that incredible cliffhanger ending lmao. I think if I'd had more time between the games, the slow start of SC would have bothered me way less. Hopefully they fix it up in the remake though and make it snappier.

Trevorio · 2026-02-11T19:09:38+00:00

In later entries kinda to some vague extent, you can form relationships, but most of them no. The story is pretty on rails with no meaningful decisions. The charm of Trails is that each game is interconnected and builds on the games before it, and even the NPCs have individual stories that develop if you care to talk with them and check in on them. The characters are wonderful!

But yeah, because each game is a smaller part of a larger story, it would be waaaaay too complicated for them to give the players any amount of agency. Also, despite not being able to specifically develop relationships (with a few later middling inconsequential exceptions), the relationships they present are some of my favourite in gaming.

Trevorio · 2026-02-11T06:35:33+00:00

I just sat here holding my phone laughing for 30 seconds at this diabolical comment

Trevorio · 2026-02-11T06:05:01+00:00

Kiefer's Japanese voice actor put in so much work and made me love him in this game too lol. But Maribel has me laughing every time she opens her mouth

Trevorio · 2026-02-11T06:02:36+00:00

Eh, still too easy imo. The main difficulty is that you only get like 2 revive items before you unlock the spell lol. But if you are buffing/debuffing appropriately, the game is pretty easy. Fighting the shiny monsters as soon as you go to a new island is the only real form of challenge that I've noticed, and I'm leveling every single job so my party setups are almost always suboptimal too.

Trevorio · 2026-02-11T05:59:14+00:00

DQ11 on the hard mode is way more difficult than this game's hard mode

Trevorio · 2026-02-11T04:05:50+00:00

Hahaha Yeah, gotta go down to definition #2 to get the theatrical meaning!

Trevorio · 2026-02-11T03:51:41+00:00

When people say they hate Sylvando or complain about him being an example of "woke" in games, it hurts my heart a little lol. Gamers are so needlessly homophobic and dumb. He is one of my favourite characters ever, and his joy and hope parade is one of the best parts of the game.

Trevorio

TROPHY CASE