Board 8 > Best JRPG that's not J?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Gave up on filling the last two spots.

I would not have voted for it, but Chained Echoes should be in this poll.

Having not played Expedition 33 yet, I will vote for the KRPG TROUBLESHOOTER: Abandoned Children.

It's Clair Obscur

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I would not have voted for it, but Chained Echoes should be in this poll.

this (though I would've voted for it pre-2025)

also CrossCode should be here too

If I ignore the parrying,

Clair Obscur > Undertale > Child of Light > Omori > Stick of Truth >> Sea of Stars >>>> Bug Fables

Other options from my steam library:
* Flowstone Saga
* Chained Echoes
* Cassette Beasts
* Cosmic Star Heroine
* Epic Battle Fantasy 3, 4, 5

Undertale but not Deltarune in the poll?

I am going to go old school and say a random PC game from 2000 lol if anyone knows it ^5. It was my first PC game.

Septerra Core

I chose that as the first PC game solely because my computer was new and the guy in front of me at Best Buy was buying it and I thought the box looked cool lol
It's fun!

MacArrowny posted...

also CrossCode should be here too

CrossCode is not even close to being a JRPG.

Is it not in the same category as something like Secret of Mana?

Of the ones I've played:

Chained Echoes > Clair Obscur > Sea of Stars > Child of Light

Voted Omori which made me realize I should check out Omori again. That one really hit for me.

....Should get the vinyl for that too lol.

CrossCode and Chained Echoes feel very WRPG, mostly because they're good games. But I would definitely vote for them. CE is pretty easy to argue as a JRPG since it's basically Suikoden, but then you could argue Suikoden is WRPG ish.

Difficult question.

There's so many great Earthbound-likes out there for starters, obviously, though to be honest Earthbound isn't really where I prefer to stick with as a foundation.
(I will say though that among them, i think my preference is Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass, though I have nothing against Undertale/OMORI/OFF/LISA/Hylics/Space Funeral and other sillier stuff like the Megaman Sprite Game, and others i'm temporarily forgetting or still need to play lol (eg deltarune))

I've been meaning to get onto last year's The Thaumaturge for a while, that could definitely be up there for me too.

In recent times there have been some definitely japanese inspired titles I've played that could be said to be RPGs, thinking stuff like World of Horror, Sailing Era, Black and White (not the molyneux game, i'm referring to a chinese game with vn scenes and... srpg adjacent segments), Affogato, Volcano Princess, Dream Tactics... But I suppose if they were really allowed to count, then one might as well count anime mmos and even stuff like Genshin too, and I'm definitely drawing the line before there.

I think the problem for me, back on the various iconic indie hits like undertale and all that is that they don't really try to cover the same kinds of fantasy adventures that jrpgs are known for, they largely take inspiration from the ones that try most openly to go against convention. And so... I think for me my actual preference in this area would actually have to be more of a direct clone or fangame of a more standard jrpg that still brings something to the table beyond like, everyday rpgmaker game lol

But turns out a lot of the clones i like are still from japan, and fangames are kind of a mess for the most part that still dabble actively in the same kind of stuff that i factored out other stuff for (subversive writing, non-rpg structures). So I guess idk, I don't have a good answer.

And that's why I pick NORCO, a game that doesn't even pretend to be any form of rpg but is just my favourite option anyway

Oh right, Honkai Star Rail should be in the poll as well.

Lol true.

I mean I might say that even gets the vote. My heart is appalled at the idea but my brain is demanding otherwise.

MacArrowny posted...

Is it not in the same category as something like Secret of Mana?

JRPGs don't have real-time combat. You're talking about ARPGs.

MacArrowny posted...

Oh right, Honkai Star Rail should be in the poll as well.

Somehow picking a Chinese game (that is also a gacha) doesn't feel in the spirit of the thread, but I guess...

If you're in it for the jRPG story aspect there is no reason to spend even a dime in HSR. Literally zero noteable story content is locked behind endgame modes.

That said, being on a 6 week patch structure means there's almost certainly some slightly wonky pacing issues I'm not privy to for someone starting our fresh 3 years in.

Where is Anachronox?

azuarc posted...

JRPGs don't have real-time combat. You're talking about ARPGs.

There's no way Secret of Mana isn't a JRPG.

Next you'll say Kingdom Hearts isn't...

Kingdom Hearts isn't a jRPG.

But to be clear I'm saying that as someone who hates the term jRPG and only uses it because it's so wildly accepted and there's no way around it anymore.

KH is considered a JRPG by basically everyone.

How did I just know this was going to be a topic with people guffawing at other peoples long-held perceptions of a frequently-used and, in fact, somewhat nebulous, term

that said, JRPGs dont have real-time combat is probably the most rigid perception on this subject that I have ever encountered

Combat menus are what make JRPGs not the style of the actual combat systems themselves.

KH has menus thus it is JRPG. How much action it has is irrelevant. You pick cure and aero and fire you are JRPGing.

SaveEstelle posted...

How did I just know this was going to be a topic with people guffawing at other peoples long-held perceptions of a frequently-used and, in fact, somewhat nebulous, term

I'll ask you a question I'm sure you've never heard before

Is Zelda a JRPG?

Lopen posted...

Combat menus are what make JRPGs not the style of the actual combat systems themselves.

KH has menus thus it is JRPG. How much action it has is irrelevant. You pick cure and aero and fire you are JRPGing.

basically this

Leonhart4 posted...

I'll ask you a question I'm sure you've never heard before

Is Zelda a JRPG?

Youre not gonna like my answer. No one ever does.

The term is not well-defined enough to say with absolute certainty that Zelda is not a JRPG. I do not consider it as such, but nor do I go after anybody who thinks otherwise!

I considered putting Honkai Star Rail in the poll, but it being gatcha made it feel gross to me.

Never heard of Chained Echoes, so I wishlisted it.

Zelda has no combat menus thus not jrpg

Zelda is an Action Adventure

Lopen! That, too, feels pretty arbitrary to me. But yall do yall!

SHINE_GET_64 posted...

Zelda is an Action Adventure

This is how I tend to refer to it as well for the record

Man Chained Echoes was really good

some really wild stuff in that story though

colliding posted...

Man Chained Echoes was really good

some really wild stuff in that story though

Chained Echoes is pretty dang good, yeah!

So juat to be clear, Kingdom Hearts is a jRPG, but FFXVI isn't?

colliding posted...

Man Chained Echoes was really good

some really wild stuff in that story though

Last third of that game.....kind of....no, really falls apart.

Still a worthwhile experience though.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

So juat to be clear, Kingdom Hearts is a jRPG, but FFXVI isn't?

They both are

But no combat menus thus not jRPG!

UshiromiyaEva posted...

But no combat menus thus not jRPG!

It has combat menus though

I mean people don't use my definition Im sure Im just saying I'm pretty sure every game I consider a JRPG has them in some form and I bet FFXVI has them too

MacArrowny posted...

There's no way Secret of Mana isn't a JRPG.

Next you'll say Kingdom Hearts isn't...

It isn't.

It's not.

The determining factor of a JRPG is not simply an RPG made in Japan, or we obviously wouldn't be having this topic. It's a game reminiscent of the early Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy titles. Obviously some evolution has taken place since the NES days, leading to a heavy focus on story, etc., but it still needs to be a menu-driven rather than action-driven game. An ATB system is fine, but if you press a button in real time to attack in real time, it's not a JRPG.

I think calling what FFXVI has "combat menus" is an extreme stretch.

I just think the term jRPG needs to be retired.

The idea of Japan being a genre has always been ridiculous. Especially when the alternative is "The West"

azuarc posted...

if you press a button in real time to attack in real time, it's not a JRPG.

Tales games aren't JRPGs?

Never played one. Dunno how they play. But if they can be better categorized as an ARPG, then call them that.

azuarc posted...

It isn't.

It's not.

The determining factor of a JRPG is not simply an RPG made in Japan, or we obviously wouldn't be having this topic. It's a game reminiscent of the early Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy titles. Obviously some evolution has taken place since the NES days, leading to a heavy focus on story, etc., but it still needs to be a menu-driven rather than action-driven game. An ATB system is fine, but if you press a button in real time to attack in real time, it's not a JRPG.

Ive literally never met anybody until today who has said that neither Secret of Mana nor Kingdom Hearts is a JRPG

Okay...then what makes something a JRPG, and why should those games be included? I gave you my version.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

I think calling what FFXVI has "combat menus" is an extreme stretch.

I just think the term jRPG needs to be retired.

The idea of Japan being a genre has always been ridiculous. Especially when the alternative is "The West"

Im all for this, but unfortunately, the internet (and to an extent the human race in general) has an overzealous love of building defensive bulwarks around personal interpretations of vague terminology!

azuarc posted...

Okay...then what makes something a JRPG, and why should those games be included? I gave you my version.

I appreciate the ask, but in truth, my answer is that different people can believe different things because this is one of those neverending internet arguments that doesnt really go anywhere! All Im saying is Ive never seen that particular interpretation, so it strikes me as especially wild.

I would say I have faith people can overcome their rigid genre obsessions, but My Anime List won't even list Scott Pilgrim Takes Off on their site, so the powers that be are just hopeless with this stuff!

You know what a JRPG is when you see it, just like you know what a Metroidvania is when you see it. The terminology may be imprecise but you know what it defines.