If you had to start someone off with one JRPG, which one would it be?

This was inspired by a Steam chat that I had with a couple PUSH-ers yesterday where we were talking about our favorite JRPGs. I myself, am very lacking in the whole genre. The only ones I commonly play are Pokemon and I just expanded my pallete with Persona 4 Golden and Shin Megami Tensei IV which are both fantastic games.

So if you had to start someone off with one JRPG, which one would it be? For the sake of discussion, let's not include Dark Souls and Demon's Souls. Though I have no qualm in saying they are JRPGs (I don't particularly care for classifcations as it is), their overbearing popularity from being completely different from the mold of JRPGs and great games in their own rights would diminish the discussion's variety of responses.

If you think that's not good enough to not include them, then by all means, go for it. I wanted to use this thread as a kickstart for expanding my own JRPG pallette with ones that are more traditional (in a subjective sense).

It's still a pretty broad genre. Tales, Persona, Golden Sun and Ys all play pretty differently from each other.

Pokemon is by far the most accessible while still offering a tremendous amount of depth and the basic mechanics of Pokemon are repeated throughout most JRPGs today.

Just about any Square rpg from the SNES/PS1 years... Probably SNES since the PS1 visuals are really tough to stomach at first.

To be more specific, probably FF4, FF6, or Chrono Trigger.

Actually, scratch that.  I can confirm that Mario RPG is the perfect JRPG for beginners.  I've seen it work time and time again.

FF7 and FF10. Hard not to love either.FPSfan1985

I agree with this. 9 was also good.

Actually, scratch that.  I can confirm that Mario RPG is the perfect JRPG for beginners.  I've seen it work time and time again.

Suddenly_Wasted

[QUOTE="Suddenly_Wasted"]

Actually, scratch that.  I can confirm that Mario RPG is the perfect JRPG for beginners.  I've seen it work time and time again.

Blabadon

I think he meant this masterpiece.

At least I hope he did, the Mario and Luigi games are good but they're nowhere near this game. 

Just about any Square rpg from the SNES/PS1 years... Probably SNES since the PS1 visuals are really tough to stomach at first.

To be more specific, probably FF4, FF6, or Chrono Trigger.

Suddenly_Wasted

This guy knows what he's talking about. PS1 was the heyday for JRPGs. I'll throw in Xenogeats and Vagrant Story.

[QUOTE="Blabadon"][QUOTE="Suddenly_Wasted"]

Actually, scratch that.  I can confirm that Mario RPG is the perfect JRPG for beginners.  I've seen it work time and time again.

princeofshapeir

I think he meant this masterpiece.

At least I hope he did, the Mario and Luigi games are good but they're nowhere near this game. 

Yeah, thats the one.  :P

I'm sure the others are fantastic for beginners as well, but I've seen many gamers get into RPGs because of the original.

[QUOTE="Blabadon"][QUOTE="Suddenly_Wasted"]

Actually, scratch that.  I can confirm that Mario RPG is the perfect JRPG for beginners.  I've seen it work time and time again.

princeofshapeir

I think he meant this masterpiece.

At least I hope he did, the Mario and Luigi games are good but they're nowhere near this game. 

The YS series. Because it's the only good one.

[QUOTE="princeofshapeir"]

[QUOTE="Blabadon"] Why didn't I think of this. Yes, SuperStar Saga. 10/10 game in my eyes.Blabadon

I think he meant this masterpiece.

At least I hope he did, the Mario and Luigi games are good but they're nowhere near this game. 

The rules of nostalgia will not allow me to agree.  :x

But yeah, Super Star Saga is right up there with it.  I just love Mario RPG because the brilliance of old school Square really shines through out the game.

Star Ocean, on universe difficulty.

I'd go with Pokemon. It's a good starter RPG.

My first JRPG was Shining Force on the Genesis.  Talk about a terrible first impression.  Luckily I tried Phantasy Star IV shortly afterwards and fell in love.  Then I got a SNES and Final Fantasy IV and it was a wrap.  JRPGs ended up being my favorite genre for 3 gens straight.

It's still a pretty broad genre. Tales, Persona, Golden Sun and Ys all play pretty differently from each other.

Pokemon is by far the most accessible while still offering a tremendous amount of depth and the basic mechanics of Pokemon are repeated throughout most JRPGs today.

whiskeystrike

[QUOTE="Blabadon"][QUOTE="princeofshapeir"]

I think he meant this masterpiece.

At least I hope he did, the Mario and Luigi games are good but they're nowhere near this game. 

Suddenly_Wasted

The rules of nostalgia will not allow me to agree.  :x

But yeah, Super Star Saga is right up there with it.  I just love Mario RPG because the brilliance of old school Square really shines through out the game.

I'd go with both ff7 and chronotrigger. I'd stay away from the SMT series for a newcomer those games can be pretty grueling.

 I need to try Super Mario RPG though. Seems really great.Blabadon

Definitely.  Charming characters, funny writing and just a fun game all around.  

Persona for me now.

Pokemon, Chrono Trigger, or Panzer Dragoon Saga. They're accessible and don't waste your time, which in turn, makes them the only jrpgs that I like.

The JRPG genre has a bunch of games that play differently from each other. With that said I'll seperate them into overly broad categories:

JARPG: Japanese action RPG, doesn't really need an explanation.

Tales of Abyss/Xillia/Symphonia/Graces: Imagine you are playing out an anime with a brawler combat system and a strong emphasis on character development. That is pretty much Tales in a nutshell, probably my favorite of the JRPG lot right behind the two Tactics games.

YS Origin/Oath in Felghana: Short action rpgs with a focus on killing bosses like in Dark Souls. You play these for the boss battles and music.

SRPG: Pretty much always on a grid and has a heavy emphasis on growing units.

Tactics Ogre/ Final Fantasy Tactics: In terms of SRPGs, these are the absolute best and are pretty much the complete package. You get an amazing story, good gameplay, and a solid difficulty throughout unless you grind your behind off. 

Shining Force 1-3: You could easily put Fire Emblem in here, but I prefer Segas take on it because of nostalgia. These games usually go for a pretty generic story, but make up for it with a bunch of charm and simplistic gameplay that make for a nice introduction into the SRPG genre. 

TB: What you think of when someome says JRPG.

Final Fantasy 4/6/7/9: Some people like the other ones, but I could only get into these ones. 9 is far and away the best of the lot, so if you only play one then make sure its that one.

Xenosaga 1-3: You hear peoople say that the Final Fantasy games are bad because of their long cutscenes, they have nothing on these games. Don't get me wrong, they are amazing games with a really fleshed out world. 

Favorite jrpg: FFIX.

I would have someone start off with: Chrono Trigger, Shining Force, and FFVI and FFIX.

Favorite jrpg: FFIX.

I would have someone start off with: Chrono Trigger, Shining Force, and FFVI and FFIX.

Seabas989

Man, like I said earlier Shining Force on the Genesis was my first jrpg.  I have no idea how it would be a good starter game, it almost turned me away from the genre altogether.

Maybe it was just the one I played, I havent tried the others.

[QUOTE="Seabas989"]

Favorite jrpg: FFIX.

I would have someone start off with: Chrono Trigger, Shining Force, and FFVI and FFIX.

Suddenly_Wasted

Man, like I said earlier Shining Force on the Genesis was my first jrpg.  I have no idea how it would be a good starter game, it almost turned me away from the genre altogether.

Maybe it was just the one I played, I havent tried the others.

Well it got me to play a lot of JRPGs. I'd say it's defintely a starter to introduce people to SRPGs since it isn't that difficult.

[QUOTE="Suddenly_Wasted"]

[QUOTE="Seabas989"]

Favorite jrpg: FFIX.

I would have someone start off with: Chrono Trigger, Shining Force, and FFVI and FFIX.

Seabas989

Man, like I said earlier Shining Force on the Genesis was my first jrpg.  I have no idea how it would be a good starter game, it almost turned me away from the genre altogether.

Maybe it was just the one I played, I havent tried the others.

Well it got me to play a lot of JRPGs. I'd say it's defintely a starter to introduce people to SRPGs since it isn't that difficult.

Yeah, that makes sense, I never really got into SRPGs anyways.  Phantasy Star IV was the one that kicked things off for me.

I have a hard time accepting Pokemon as a true-to-form JRPG

FFIX is my choice

Best character development in the franchise and its simple, straightforward battle system makes it the most readily understandable with a great difficulty curve.

Xenoblade.

Pokemon was the one that did it for me way back when and then I got into the Final Fantasies.

FF7 and FF10. Hard not to love either.FPSfan1985

Pokemon Red

Demon's Souls/Dark Souls

After that I like Strategy RPGs, namely Fire Emblem and Valkyria Chronicles(the original).

Otherwise I can't say I'm a fan of a series, as much as specific entries. Like FF6 and 9, or Persona 3 and 4(didn't care for 2 for instance), Chrone Trigger(don't really care for Chrono Cross), or the fan translation of Mother 3(never played Earthbound). Suikoden was pretty dope back in the day, as was Dark Cloud, and I remember tolerating Rogue Galaxy for the sole purpose that: I got to have a group of space pirates. Plus there is always The Thousand Year Door as far as Paper Mario is concerned.

Vagrant Story is another one I remember fondly, but I feel like I'd probably hate it if I try to replay it.

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But I would tell them to be weary of JRPGs because only about 0.1% of them are actually good, and being from Japan doesn't automatically make them of higher quality than other types of games. Don't want them to end up being a weeaboo, or something like that.

FInal Fantasy or Pokemon. Might depend on the age.charizard1605

My thoughts as well.

Voted Pokemon. 

Chrono Trigger, a million times I would take Chrono Trigger.  It is the ultimate of the genre.  It utilizes the time travel mechanic spectacularly creating one of the most open-ended games I've seen in the genre.  The characters, story, combat all are spectacular.  But the openended nature of the game makes it so engrossing.

There are events you can change, for instance whether you can get Lucca to stop an accident she committed in the past and if you fail nothing changes.  But most importantly is that at any point in time you can complete the game and receive one of various endings.

But above all else, Chrono Trigger deserves special mention for killing off the lead way before the endgame.  Yes, there's a way to resurrect him if you choose.  Yes, there are ways to complete the game BEFORE that event.  It shows the ultimate sacrifice that a hero needs to make.  Chrono Trigger can be a game about anything based on the endings available, but it has the ability to be a game that shows you that simply aiming to save the world doesn't mean you always have what it takes.  That you and your friends were not good enough.  And choosing to resurrect Crono (it isn't particularly easy or quick) can make it a different game altogether.

Chrono Trigger is simply the ultimate and if you only play one JRPG it might as well be the ultimate.

Chrono Trigger, a million times I would take Chrono Trigger.  It is the ultimate of the genre.  It utilizes the time travel mechanic spectacularly creating one of the most open-ended games I've seen in the genre.  The characters, story, combat all are spectacular.  But the openended nature of the game makes it so engrossing.

There are events you can change, for instance whether you can get Lucca to stop an accident she committed in the past and if you fail nothing changes.  But most importantly is that at any point in time you can complete the game and receive one of various endings.

But above all else, Chrono Trigger deserves special mention for killing off the lead way before the endgame.  Yes, there's a way to resurrect him if you choose.  Yes, there are ways to complete the game BEFORE that event.  It shows the ultimate sacrifice that a hero needs to make.  Chrono Trigger can be a game about anything based on the endings available, but it has the ability to be a game that shows you that simply aiming to save the world doesn't mean you always have what it takes.  That you and your friends were not good enough.  And choosing to resurrect Crono (it isn't particularly easy or quick) can make it a different game altogether.

Chrono Trigger is simply the ultimate and if you only play one JRPG it might as well be the ultimate.

NeonNinja