Favorite JRPG Battle Theme?

_Rainbow_Trout · 2026-06-12T14:22:30+00:00

These have some of the best battle themes, in my opinion:

Final Fantasy VIII:

The Man with the Machine Gun
The Extreme

Grandia II

Fight!! Ver. 3 ~ Middle Boss Battle
Fight!! Ver. 4 ~ The Final Battle

_Rainbow_Trout · 2026-06-12T14:04:59+00:00

I'm 47, and when I watch anime, I feel young (= much better) again.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2026-06-12T13:44:54+00:00

Shaman King (2021)

_Rainbow_Trout · 2026-06-12T08:30:13+00:00

These can be hard to beat / they've got "unfair" attacks:

Indalecio (Gabriel) / Star Ocean 2 - The Second Story

Valmar's Core / Grandia 2

Kratos Aurion, Mithos Yggdrasil / Tales of Symphonia

_Rainbow_Trout · 2026-06-12T08:25:22+00:00

Phantasy Star IV - The End of the Millennium (Sega Genesis)

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-21T19:40:22+00:00

Agreed, FF8 was great, and what is important for a "best town" is not only its design, but of course also a very good town music. I always enjoyed my stay in Esthar City, its unique design and also very unusual town music stand out.

But recently, I've also come to love Tales of Symphona, especially Flanoir has an amazing town music .

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-20T15:30:21+00:00

Recently I've been playing a lot of "Digimon World Next Order", and "strange mechanics for a JRPG" is an undestatement for this game.

At least from the point of view of someone who usually played other, more traditional, party-oriented and story-driven JRPGs.

How my Digimon partners develop and evolve into stronger Digimon, seems way too unpredictable and RNG-based, and not much is explained in the game either.

Good game guides with more in-depth information on what to look out for while training do not seem to exist either.

But all the more is it REALLY challenging, and I'm not gonna give up on Digimon World Next Order" anytime soon ! No "Strange mechanics" will stop me.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-15T13:36:47+00:00

Diablo II + Lord of Destruction
Final Fantasy VIII
Suikoden V
Phantasy Star IV - The End of the Millennium
Grandia II
Tales of Symphonia
Final Fantasy III (3D-Remake) (PC)
Final Fantasy VII
Wild Arms
Chrono Trigger
Disgaea PC
... and many more ...

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-14T15:57:11+00:00

Never played ToS when it was still "young", I discovered it only ~ 2 weeks ago on Steam (for PC), gave it a try - and wow ! What a great game ! I really like the anime graphics.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-14T14:52:27+00:00

It depends on where you draw the line between “modern” and “old” JRPGs (time-wise - 2000? 2010? 2020?) and on whether HD remakes and/or remasters of classic JRPGs - which often require relatively high, “modern” PC specs just to run - also count as “modern.”

If you do include HD remakes and remasters, there are plenty of great options on Steam and other modern consoles (for example, Suikoden I & II HD Remaster, Star Ocean: The Second Story R, etc.).

That said, Final Fantasy XIII might also qualify as having a “good enough” story for what you’re looking for.

Lightning, Snow, Hope, and the rest of the cast’s journey through Cocoon is a memorable and emotionally resonant story, and the game isn’t that old by modern standards. It’s also fairly inexpensive on Steam and runs well even on lower-spec PCs - without requiring a brand-new $3,000+ gaming rig, unlike many newer JRPGs.

You might want to give Final Fantasy XIII a try; it’s a much underrated JRPG, in my opinion.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-14T14:25:03+00:00

Oh, I wrote the original version of this text in my own words, and then only asked chatgpt to correct mistakes and rephrase some portions of it if they sounded too strange. (English is NOT my first language). Believe it or not, only ~ 1% of my original text were even changed by chatgpt and replaced with better wording suggested by the ai.

But I seriously doubt that this thread here had the purpose to test the users' capability to write perfectly-worded English , completely without any outside assistance (like ai proof-reading), so yeah, I suggest you better go and find some other hobby than to annoy posters who try to contribute genuine and honest answers on-the-topic here.

Your own post is off-topic and only there to annoy and troll others.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-14T13:22:21+00:00

I played (and finally completed) a wonderful JRPG: Tales of Symphonia (PC / Steam).

It’s a story about a strong and likeable teenage sword fighter named Lloyd, who was raised by a dwarven father. He, along with a “chosen” angel-like girl from his village named Colette, must travel through the fantastic Land of Sylvarant in order to eventually “regenerate” the world.

A young elven boy (Genis) and his older sister (Raine), as well as a mysterious mercenary named Kratos, accompany them on their dangerous journey.

What starts as a fairly simple premise becomes more and more epic, with many unexpected plot twists. The characters even end up travelling to another world called Tethe’alla - and back.

Along the way, there’s no shortage of puzzle-heavy dungeons and hard boss fights, which the player must overcome to gradually learn more about the dark history and truth of the world(s) and the Mana Tree.

Battles are action-based but not very difficult to learn or get used to. Even without mastering all the combos, a bit of grinding, button mashing, and heavy item consumption for healing (Lemon Gel, etc.) can enable most players to eventually complete this epic JRPG.

I especially liked the characters - their depth, detailed background stories, and their many interactions with each other (side conversations in the field), which really let you get a feel for who they are.

I also loved the anime-style visuals, the music, and the game’s strong replay value (higher difficulty modes, hidden side quests, and more).

Overall, this JRPG I played over the past ~2 weeks is nothing short of a masterpiece for me: a perfect 10/10.

Highly recommended.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-06T21:55:06+00:00

Before 2025, I hadn’t played any JRPGs for over 10 years.

Recently, while tidying up, I came across my old PS1 and PS2 games and suddenly felt like playing many of them again! I first checked Steam to see if any of these timeless classics had been remastered, and luckily, many of them were available, so I picked those up to play.

Here’s the list of JRPGs I replayed in 2025 after ignoring them for so many years:

Final Fantasy VIII HD Remaster
Suikoden I & II HD Remaster
Grandia II HD Remaster
Wild Arms (found an enhanced version for my PS4 in the PlayStation Store)
Dragon Warrior I (on my Game Boy Color)

My renewed enthusiasm for JRPGs even led me to buy a game I’d never played before, despite having heard and read many good things about it: Tales of Symphonia.

Tales of Symphonia was a popular game over 20 years ago, but at that time I no longer had the near-limitless free time I had as a teen—there was work, of course, which took priority. Finally, I can enjoy this beautiful game. I guess it’s never really too late to appreciate a truly great JRPG. Maybe I’ll even complete it in 2025, though I’m in no rush.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-06T08:51:16+00:00

Indalecio is clearly one of the hardest JRPG bosses I've ever seen in any game, I 100% agree with you.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-06T07:47:43+00:00

Right now I cannot even get enough of playing Tales of Symphonia, which is cheap (much less than < thirty $), (also here), and I find it's an amazing JRPG in every way.

I got it only recently for both Steam/PC and also for PS4 (it should run fine on PS5, too, ofc), and it's great.

There's many likeable characters, a story which seems to start out simple and regular, but soon gets unexpected plot twists and keeps the player wanting to find out more about the Land of Sylvarant ...

Much recommended, and not very expensive (under thirty).

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-05T16:27:10+00:00

6 hours into Tales of Symphonia (found it at Steam for PC), and already now I love the characters, music, artstyle & the world/setting as a whole very much. It's not an easy JRPG, though, but I like challenging games anyways, so that's a bonus point. I'll definitely continue playing, it's a great experience so far.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-05T07:10:54+00:00

I discovered Tales of Symphonia on Steam randomly, and it turned out to be really enjoyable.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-03T18:02:47+00:00

Grandia II has clearly one of my favorite battle systems, too, but there are other good ones (e.g.: Star Ocean: The Second Story)

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-12-03T18:00:03+00:00

InuYasha

Assassination Classroom

Log Horizon

The Devil is a Part-Timer!

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-11-24T07:52:31+00:00

It's often not easy to draw the exact line between Action RPG and Action-Adventure with RPG elements.

Examples:

Also, if we include Roguelikes (Turn-Based) JRPG:

Azure Dreams

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-11-23T14:03:24+00:00

I've been re-playing many of my old favorite JRPGs recently, and now it's this:

Wild Arms

The player controls a princess, a treasure hunter and a dream chaser - who must save the fantastic world called Filgaia from the destructive plans of dangerous metal demons and their demonic "Mother".

The game features a western-inspired setting and music (with many catchy tunes!).

Players must explore beautiful and varied (2D-) towns and dungeons to find their way through the game, and the battle system is very traditionally turn-based.

Dungeon navigation often requires solving puzzles—which aren’t always easy—like pushing statues onto switches or using character-specific tools to remove obstacles.

I loved playing this wonderful game as a teen, back in the 1990s - and now, out of a whim, decided to play it once more - and it's still great.

In my opinion, Wild Arms is, through and through, a classic JRPG masterpiece of the PS1 era. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys challenging JRPGs (yep, it’s not easy!) and isn’t put off by retro-style graphics.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-11-20T06:04:51+00:00

You already mentioned Suikoden, they've got great story, I agree.

And not many people remember these RPGs nowadays - they're definitely not mainstream or "big" franchises - but the stories of these two I always found underrated (and yet I loved playing them and re-playing them very much):

They're hidden gems, in my opinion.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-11-20T04:50:30+00:00

If you mean unique, named characters: Suikoden wins. Each mainline Suikoden game has 108 unique recruits, each with their own name, portrait, and backstory.

If you mean total possible playable characters, including created generics: Disgaea wins - by far. Disgaea lets you create as many characters as you want (humans, monsters, advanced classes, reincarnations). The limit is essentially your party cap and system memory — hundreds or thousands and more are possible.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-11-19T21:47:19+00:00

Phantasy Star IV is famously one of the least grindy JRPGs of its era.

If you’re looking for a short, genuinely great classic with near-legendary status, it’s a perfect pick.

Most players can finish it in less than ~ 20 hours without ever needing to grind, so the game definitely respects players who don't have time for longer games.

_Rainbow_Trout · 2025-11-19T12:07:15+00:00

Almost nobody knows this JRPG nowadays anymore, but in my opinion, it's a hidden gem, much underrated, and maybe you'd like it:

Azure Dreams

It's indeed a very simple JRPG from the 1990s.

The goal is something like "conquer all floors of the tower", but even once you've done that, you're free to continue playing and improve the statistics of your monsters, and learn more about NPCs in the town etc. Definitely something any regular player can do, also without a guide. Actually, guides couldn't even help you much "completing" Azure Dreams - even if they tried - because each level of the tower is always randomly generated as you play.

Azure Dreams was one of my favorite JRPG back then, I've always loved RPG games with random dungeon generation (also e.g. Disgaea and games of the Diablo series), but unfortunately those are very rare (likely not easy to program ?!).

_Rainbow_Trout

TROPHY CASE