Poll of the Day > What are the best JRPGs we got here on PC before 2000?

(+) Yeah! (+)

There has to be a few that aren't the PC version of FF8

Not many, dude. Most rpgs were made in the west and by indies when they first came out. Literally a small team of people. And a few I remember were demo'd to gauge interest.

Many were kinda like Siralim. Of course the text-based rpgs existed, but the more tactical action and turn-base literally came out on console first iirc. Like Final Fantasy 1 was a platform changer.

The 90s and pc rpgs was a weird amorphous amalgam space where it hadn't really solidified into a solid type had, but all these different ideas were being put into games and through attrition, the ones we have now were left.

Straughan posted...

Not many, dude.

I know, but at the time the indie dev scene was just getting started, but the only RPGs I can find from that time are roguelikes (Castle of the Winds) or made in QBasic (Last Fantasy 3)

I wish you luck. There were some badass Legend of Zelda type made. I think those were GBasic. I played a demo of one and bought the real version. It was probably the first or second online purchase I made. I can't remember most of those pc games I played. My mind remembers console games much better.

Straughan posted...

I wish you luck. There were some badass Legend of Zelda type made. I think those were GBasic.

oh ya, I know a few Zelda likes such as God of Thunder (which is actually on STEAM now!)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/738470/God_Of_Thunder/

I played it ALL the time

JRPG's on PC are super fucking rare. Ports to PC are a fairly modern thing.

There were a few good arcade actiony jrpgs localized, but I never saw any growing up. You probably had to be in a Seattle arcade or a really nice one. I see them on YouTube sometimes. One was kinda like D&D.

Japan really does our D&D culture better than we do. They do music better. They just do a lot of our shit better. I don't know why, but they just do.

If you want a good cry, create a Japanese psn account and look how cool their ps store looks. They get all kinds of cool looking shit we don't. They get better themes too. It's really fucking depressing lol.

I don't know of any PC JRPGs from that early. There's a reason there are JRPGs and what were once called "CRPGs", for "computer RPGs".

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is originally 2004 I think (PC version is 2014), but strongly recommended. combat is a bit tedious, but everything else is very very good.

I got a mad rancid stummy ache... this is punishment for that Trump topic :/

Ya, I'm looking for the JRPGs that were released in that DOS/Windows 95 era... IE: When the SNES was god-king of RPGs

Lokarin posted...

There has to be a few that aren't the PC version of FF8

I was about to name a bunch of games, but then I noticed the J, yeah, I can't help you

Sahuagin posted...

The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is originally 2004 I think (PC version is 2014), but strongly recommended. combat is a bit tedious, but everything else is very very good.

And I strongly recommend against it. The dialogue was so bland and went on for so long that I didn't get to the combat. It felt like everyone I talked to had 5-15 paragraphs of dialogue too.

I'm all for a game having a lot of dialogue, but if you got that much dialogue you better make it really compelling. It felt like I was reading a barely edited script that exists to make the players feel smarter for reading all of it.

IIRC it's also got a bunch of the really disturbing fetishy bullshit that you see in the worst types of anime, and from what I heard from Linkaras review of it, it forces you to do what should just be side quests as part of the main quest just to pad out the running time.

I cannot stress how bad the game is!

I heard Septerra Core was decent at the time, came out late 99. You got it already with a few hours.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/253940/Septerra_Core/

grandia 2 was 2000 and also a really great time

Tutoria posted...

grandia 2 was 2000 and also a really great time

Still got my old discs for that one, but heard it wasn't compatible with later Windows anyway, since the DRM requires stuff removed for security reasons. -_-

https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Grandia_II

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later

Lokarin posted...

I got a mad rancid stummy ache... this is punishment for that Trump topic :/

Ya, I'm looking for the JRPGs that were released in that DOS/Windows 95 era... IE: When the SNES was god-king of RPGs

Neophyte but it was never finished.

Lokarin posted...

There has to be a few that aren't the PC version of FF8

The PC version of FF7?

This is the one I always recommend for PC exclusive "JRPG"s (quotes because it was made by Ion Storm):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anachronox

You can actually get it for less then a dollar on GoG right now, due to the SquareEnix sale:

https://www.gog.com/game/anachronox

DeltaBladeX posted...

I heard Septerra Core was decent at the time, came out late 99. You got it already with a few hours.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/253940/Septerra_Core/

Ah Septerra Core. God, I feel so sorry for the game.

Super compelling characters, looks beautiful, really interesting story. Really nails dramatic moments too.

What damns it however is that the developers apparantly got bored early on, and half assed combat and dungeon design, making it an absolute slog whenever you're not talking to people, and while there is a lot of moments where you are just talking to people, like most rpgs you spend most of your time fighting.

Maybe watch a playthrough of it, but I highly recommend against actually playing it.

Dikitain posted...

The PC version of FF7?

This is the one I always recommend for PC exclusive "JRPG"s (quotes because it was made by Ion Storm):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anachronox

You can actually get it for less then a dollar on GoG right now, due to the SquareEnix sale:

https://www.gog.com/game/anachronox

Yeah, this game isn't remembered for what it actually was.

It's got so much good content in it, but unfortunately you constantly have to stay in the same area over and over for like an hour just to survive the next part. And while the combat isn't boring, it gets so damn repetitive.

It's probably worth watching a playthrough for though. I should do that sometime.

Came to say Septerra Core.

The line between JRPG and CRPG was real in the 90's.

That said - there were many amazing RPGs on PC - almost all of the SSI games were fantastic IMO.

I think I recall getting Baldur's Gate in the late 90's - like 8 discs or something like that.

EchoBaz posted...

Yeah, this game isn't remembered for what it actually was.

It's got so much good content in it, but unfortunately you constantly have to stay in the same area over and over for like an hour just to survive the next part. And while the combat isn't boring, it gets so damn repetitive.

It's probably worth watching a playthrough for though. I should do that sometime.

Depends on the difficulty you play it on. On hard, sure, you have to grind a ton. On easy, you barely have to do anything besides the bare minimum.

Dikitain posted...

Depends on the difficulty you play it on. On hard, sure, you have to grind a ton. On easy, you barely have to do anything besides the bare minimum.

Odd, I had to, and I played on easy.

This one I might be misremembering.

There's a bunch of VNs with JRPG gameplay. The Rance series and other Alicesoft stuff like Toushin Toshi, Castle Fantasia (it was closer to FFT though I guess), WORDS-WORTH (whose hentai spawned the meme horse head guy who had a statement to say about resistance), Ikusa Megumi.... Sakura Taisen games eventually got PC rereleases, but they were after the year 2000.

Most of those are pretty mediocre except for the Alicesoft stuff though.

agesboy posted...

There's a bunch of VNs with JRPG gameplay. The Rance series

Oh, you mean the "funny" sexual assault simulators. Nice job leaving that that part out! God you're gross!

EchoBaz posted...

Oh, you mean the "funny" sexual assault simulators. Nice job leaving that that part out! God you're gross!

Wat.

EchoBaz posted...

The dialogue was so bland and went on for so long that I didn't get to the combat. It felt like everyone I talked to had 5-15 paragraphs of dialogue too.

I'm all for a game having a lot of dialogue, but if you got that much dialogue you better make it really compelling. It felt like I was reading a barely edited script that exists to make the players feel smarter for reading all of it.

yes it has a lot of dialogue. if you can't read a lot then the game will not be for you. I don't know how you can say "barely edited"; the game is excellently written, particularly compared to the average jRPG. the writing is the main draw. if you don't like the writing the other parts of the game are only ok. but it works because the writing (including characters and setting) is fantastic. if the gameplay was as good as the writing it would be one of the best games of all time.

EchoBaz posted...

Oh, you mean the "funny" sexual assault simulators. Nice job leaving that that part out! God you're gross!

chill out, kid

I think one of the Sega Smash Packs had a Phantasy Star.

Cotton_Eye_Joe posted...

I think one of the Sega Smash Packs had a Phantasy Star.

Which one?

The Eidos ports of FFVII and FFVIII?

Revelation34 posted...

Which one?

The first

Pack 1 (99)
Altered Beast
Columns
Golden Axe
Out Run
Phantasy Star II
Sonic Spinball
The Revenge of Shinobi
Vectorman

Pack 2 (99)
Columns III
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine
Lose Your Marbles

Pack 3 (2000)
Comix Zone
Flicky
Kid Chameleon
Sega Swirl
Shining Force
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Super Hang-On
Vectorman 2

Some of the Xanadu and... Sorcerian? games were on PC. Same company that now makes the Legend of Heroes series. Uh, there's also Ys, I guess.

Ya, I'm looking for PC... well, not necessarily "exclusives", but I mean stuff made for PC like Neverwinter Nights... only more J styled

Doesn't have to be literally from Japan, but c'mon - we all know what a JRPG is

Lokarin posted...

Ya, I'm looking for PC... well, not necessarily "exclusives", but I mean stuff made for PC like Neverwinter Nights... only more J styled

Doesn't have to be literally from Japan, but c'mon - we all know what a JRPG is

Neophyte. It was a Zelda style indie game released in like 1998. It was unfortunately never finished. I remember accidentally finding it and having so much fun with it.