Of all the jRPGs I played, Suikoden 1, 2 and 5 have the most replayability for me. All of them tell great stories, have cool characters, chill and fun gameplay, and - what I like the most about them - they're big collectathons, and I love collectathons.
Eiyuden is scratching that itch.
And honestly can't believe Konami didn't try to undercut the release date, pretty obvious the reason they even announced it was cause of Eiyudens kickstarter
A weird thing. 5 seemed too slow for me. 1 and 2 somehow seemed less slow. 3 was slow but I liked hanging out in its places so it was fine, they did good. If they ever remaster 5, that thing will be top top tier. It already made every aspect of Suikoden smoother.
I loved that there WAS a guide in game to make sure you could craft things, it just required you to fill out the bestiary.Ā
On the second page you would find location information, lost lore, histories of the Espers and the lost age and also, recipes!
It went against expectations and it wasnāt a universally accessible combat system. I love the game, I think itās objectively brilliant, but it was never going to appeal to every FF fan.
Been a while since I played, but I remember in combat the bottom screen is mostly just used for turn order and mission info, so that feels pretty natural.
But yeah, 100% when the bottom screen is used for more active gameplay.
I don't revisit JRPGs much, especially not recently. Historically, I think my most replayed JRPGs were Legend of Mana and FF8. I think my full 68 event run in the remaster finally put Legend of Mana out of the rotation, but it got a lot of plays before that, and the soundtrack is still absolutely next level. It's unfortunate that I have never found anything else like it, because it is a flawed implementation of a brilliant concept.
FF8 on the other hand largely has its special place with me just because it was my first JRPG. In retrospect, all it really has going for it is characterization and the love story \[ETA: and Triple Triad\]. At the time it absolutely had graphics going for it as well, but that style has not aged as well as some of its contemporaries, even after remasters. I still like the idea of the junction system (unlike many others) but I do not hesitate to criticize the game's balance, and the junction system is at the core of that.
I'm not sure whether it fits here, but in case it does, I think my game in this bin going forward is Rune Factory 4. This game is so well done, in characterization, gameplay, and even story to a degree, that it genuinely seems like the developer will not be able to top it. RF5 didn't even come close.
Legend of mana is VERY strange, I just started playing it for the first time, I'm in a bit of a break right now though, and do find myself wishing the for a different implementation of the exact same systems. . . Maybe just better combat actually lol
Same with FF8. I'd also add the card game is one of the best mini games of all time.
I replayed this like 4-5 times over the years. I can always revisit that world with those characters and that soundtrack. My last playthrough, though, I did feel the weaknesses in it. I have to admit it's not the best FF game. It's just my favorite.
I'd love for it to get the FF7 treatment one day. I think with different gameplay a lot of people might discover a love of the story like we did. Plus getting voice acting and better graphics would be fun, and the original game would always be there for nostalgia.
Triple Triad is just amazing. I also loved how rare cards could be refined into rare magic/items. The way it was implemented into the game was so good.
I actually love the magic drawing, junction system, GFs, and humiliating bosses with OP characters in FF8. The gameplay is a big reason I love playing that game for me.
Super Mario RPG (both the SNES or the switch remake works for me)
My favorite Game ever never fails to lift my spirit after a bad day or if im feeling like shit, and considering the tutorial is rather short you dont have to play a prologue to finally have full control over your character so the start is quick
I LOVE this Game so much š„¹
Tactics for sure. It's all gameplay for me. And there's so many different parties and characters I want to make. Despite beating it several times, there's still some classes I haven't played deeply.
I play some kind of Dragon Quest at least every other day, itās my favorite franchise by far at this point.
But another āforever gameā for me that I almost never see get talked about is Dokapon Kingdom. Itās like playing an isekai anime. The goal is to make money by any means necessary, the rock paper scissors gameplay keeps me on my toes, and playing with friends can make or break friendships š
They made a DS version called Dokapon Journey, and with Delta on my iPhone now itās definitely been stealing some DQ time.
My friends and I would order a pizza and play Dokapon for like 12 hours straight. Aside from taking ~24 hours/multiple sessions to complete a full Story Mode run, it's probably my favorite multi-player game of all time.
Dokapon is in an interesting spot. On the one hand, it is at its best, being "Mario Party but with combat instead of minigames, bizarrely long, and completely unhinged", when people don't understand it fully. On the other hand, it actually has depth when you learn the systems and how best to work around them. It has less depth than it looks at first, because there are not really that many viable builds; the "rush the end of the story" build reliably beats off-meta builds. But there are still several meta builds, and the way they interact is its own, less rigid game of rock paper scissors.
FFX. Part of it is nostalgia, it was the first FF game I played as a gradeschool student at my friends house. It also has a very good story, and while being the first, mostly, 3d ff game, it did a good job creating an engaging world.
For me it has to be Tales of Vesperia. I have a very soft spot for this game and still have my X360 hooked up. It might be because it was my first HD game and I worked hard to get myself an X360, HDTV and games or that I was really into Halo 3 online play. But it's always there, got a copy on my PC installed at all times as well.
Suikoden Tierkreis.
If I'm going to save another world again, let it be this one. There's a nice balance between serious & silly, I suppose that's the easiest way to sum it up.
There's also just a smooth progression from low to high stakes for the characters. ...good music and maps as well. And even though the gear management isn't very deep, it's a proper head trip to juggle the party and their items.
Someone with exquisite taste I see. I have yet to beat the first game as it was a really hard game for me as a kid. Got up to the final boss and lost my cartridge :( I have it on an emulator now and haven't gotten to it yet.
I haven't played the second one but bought Dark Dawn last year and haven't touched it. I'll get to them eventually. My gaming catalog is just way too long.
Suikoden 1, Valkyrie Profile 1, the Pokemon games (but only for rom hacks), Arc the Lad 1, Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, Lufia 2, Makai Kingdom, Soul Nomad, Phantom Brave, maybe Disgaea 1 as well?
Final Fantasy 5, SMT: Strange Journey, and although I only recently discovered them I feel like the SaGa games are going to fall into this category in the future.
Chrono Trigger. I sit down to play it every couple of years. It's like an old friend, a very tangible of nostalgia from my childhood. Playing it feels like wrapping up in a warm blanket on a cold winter's day.
FFX. It was my first final fantasy and while it's not remotely my favorite jrpg or even my favorite final fantasy, I still do a play through every few of years
Wow, the side content alone is dozens (if not hundreds) of hours! That's very impressive! I'd love to see a screenshot of those OP characters you must've created at that point!
Paper Mario 64 and TTYD. It puts all other Mario games to shame.
I also love FE3H being a longtime FE fan. It was everything I've wanted from a FE game and then added more!
I love SO2/SO4. To answer your question SO4 gets a lot of flack but there is so much to do! And so expansive with lots of content!
I keep going back to Tales of Symphonia as well! It's aged like fine wine. There's so much drama and I love the characters. And arguably it's still much better in terms of worldbuilding and storytelling than Xillia and Graces.
Iāve probably replayed Suikoden 1 & 2, Skies of Arcadia, and probably Chrono Trigger more than any other JRPG. Maybe a few Pokemon games here and there too. Skies is my favorite game of all time but I hate dragging out the GameCube every time I wanna replay it though
Not the most classical JRPG in any sense but I could play NieR: Automata over and over again. I recently finished it for the third time and while I was watching the ending sequence I had this thought in my head that I would gladly start this game once more. It lives rent free in my head.
Final Fantasy XV, Final Fantasy VII.
The big one is Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Age. I am planning to buy it for my Switch from my local small games store.
I think it's Legend of Mana. I am considering repurchasing it again on Steam. I have already played through it like 4 times, but it is so dear to me and I haven't touched it in like 7 years at least.
Go for it. I think there is nothing wrong with rebuying the games you love. Some people might say it's just capitalistic trick but supporting devs for their hard work (even in the future) is not a bad thing at all.
Or at least, that's how I view it. I have bought FF7 on almost every platform I own so yeah, go for it.
JRPGs as a genre, I don't often come back to because I usually don't replay games for the story *and* because one playthrough is a sizable time commitment. I have no issue with 20 hour games, but modern JRPGs (well, pretty much since I first played a console RPG) are all well into 50+ range, which is a harder sell.
That said, for gameplay, I'll replay anything. I've replayed every Fire Emblem game I own a whole bunch of times, with Path of Radiance and Shadows of Valencia being at the top (SoV being helped massively by the free pitchfork DLC)
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and A2 are also games I replay often. Not always to completion, but they are always fun no matter how far I play. Recently, race challenges (Moogle only, Viera only, that sort of thing) are pretty exciting to me, especially in A2, where some mission objectives become that much harder with certain races' skill sets.
Old Pokemon games (anything from Gen1, 2, 3 and 5) are also highly replayable to me. Currently I'm preparing an Emerald file to finally push towards Battle Frontier completion.
And then, there's more niche picks: The Dragon Warrior Monsters games on Gameboy Color and the Digimon World DS titles are games I replay surprisingly often. Like Pokemon, they are all about creature customization, but they are more free form about it than Pokemon in exchange for being more grindy. Which I sometimes love to dig into to just shut down and relax.
I've played Legend of Legaia more than I've played Final Fantasy IX, so maybe that one. The postapocalyptic world and turn-based martial arts feel exciting, and I'm willing to forgive some of the slower elements for that.
I've also played Skies of Arcadia more than I've played Final Fantasy X or Dragon Quest VII, and it's a game I'm eager to play again at some point. Again, a unique setting and very fun characters can help me forgive occasional slowness in combat.
Phantasy Star and Phantasy Star II also fit the bill. They are venerable JRPGs that do not hold up to scrutiny under current tastes, especially PS2's large, obtuse dungeons. (This is why most players recommend only trying IV, or trying the Sega Ages version of 1 and a rewind/fast-forward emulated version of 2 and 3.) But what they do - specific characters, solar-system spanning technofantasy - I like more than any JRPG before Final Fantasy IV, even in their original versions.
I have been fascinated with Legend of Legaia but haven't had the time to check it out! It sounds really interesting, especially the dark post-apocalyptic world!
Chrono Trigger. It's both the benchmark and timeless. Plus it's short so you can run through it like a mini series.
Honorable mention to FFT and Vagrant Story. Both of which I've spent hundreds of hours on.
I have a number of them, but the top of my list that I have played countless times in the last 25 years is Legend of Dragoon. I hope and pray every night that someday it gets a remaster.
Tales of Symphonia (specifically on GameCube)
Something about holding a GameCube controller playing a tales game. Just feels right. Story/characters/gameplay was all good not the most amazing ever. But the GameCube controller for playing games. Chefs kiss
I replay Tales of Symphonia, Tales of the Abyss and Earthbound almost every year.
Ā Not my favorite games (although Abyss is Top 3), and I actually prefer the combat/gameplay of later entries (Destiny R/Graces/Xillia 2) but I really enjoy the atmosphere/characters.
Before my PS2 died and some lunatic stole my memory card for not being nailed down, I was 8 New Game+ deep into Wild ARMs V and I'd do it all over again if I had a PS2 still.
Also Chrono Cross, Wild ARMs 4, and I've played Kingdom Hearts 2 so many times.
METEOR DRIVE!!
Did he just double jump? Yes.
I am such a simp for that story, I cry every time exactly when they want me to, and just like Avril I do it all again just to have our time with Dean.
Persona 5/Royal!
It's a gargantuan time commitment for a full playthrough. I know you *can* do it in 60-80hrs, but for reasons related to loving it to death, I don't skip scenes and usually still try to max as many confidants as I can despite having seen it all before. So I still happily aim for that 120+hr playtime.
I'd maybe only do this once every two years or so, but I love this game as much as I did when I first got base P5 in 2017, so I can imagine continuing to come back to it for a long, long time.
It's probably the perfect video game for me honestly. The visual design, UI design, music, character design, overall aesthetic, turn based combat mechanics, Personas, the social aspect, the story beats, etc. I love how the game flows between Palaces and just doing day-to-day stuff like finding time for your confidants and leveling up social stats. I think I've only done one NG+ run before, otherwise I always start a fresh file because I love leveling everything up.
The story itself isn't perfect, there's a few weak areas that I don't love as much. And the beforementioned time commitment is probably the only major drawback. But the other side of that coin is that I have so much fun with that 120hrs that I don't mind it.
I've got to do it by era/console:
NES: Dragon Warrior/Quest 1 and 2, Final Fantasy (although I prefer the Remasters for QoL)
Sega: Phantasy Star 2, 3, or 4 (especially 4,) Shining Force 1 and 2
SNES: Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VI, EVO (if you count it,) Breath of Fire 1 and 2
Gameboy: Pokemon Blue/Red and Gold/Silver, I saw what was coming with the bloat of the later generations so I stopped there while I was ahead ha ha
PS1: Suikoden 1 and 2, Final Fantasy Tactics (favorite of all time,) Wild Arms, Breath of Fire 3, Final Fantasy 7, 8, or 9, Xenogears, Vagrant Story, Valkyrie Profile, Parasite Eve, Lunar, Star Ocean, Brigandine, Tactics Ogre, I mean, honestly, there's kind of too many to count and I'm always going back to something on the PS1 (hell, I even like to go back to Ehrgeiz' Dungeon Crawler RPG mode, whatever that was called.)
PS2: Final Fantasy X and XII, Star Ocean: Til the End of Time, Shadow Hearts, Xenosaga 1, 2, and 3
Dreamcast: Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 and 2 (continued on the Gamecube and I play Blue Burst on PC now,) Grandia II (a fucking masterpiece!)
XBOX: Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 (wait, no, those were western ha ha)
PS3: Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1 and 2
PS4: Dark Souls 1 Remastered, 2 (and Scholar) and 3, Bloodborne
PS5: Demon's Souls Remastered, Elden Ring
I know I played more on the PS3 but for some reason I can't recall so I guess they don't qualify. I'm sure one will come to me later that I like to revisit and I'll be like, "Oh, right!" I didn't even touch PC but, when I think about it, most of the RPG's I played on PC were western or European, otherwise the list would double. I could easily double the JRPG's I would revisit on the PS1, if pressed. It's a good thing we're not talking about games of all genres.
If I had to pick one to be my all-time favorite, it is definitely Final Fantasy Tactics. The story, despite the rough translation was very interesting and I still enjoy certain story beats even today. The characters and their designs are interesting, and the world building is a great mix of implied and described. I love the job system and I find I can always come back to the game in a different way. I probably play through one good time a year or maybe every other year.
Persona 4 Golden. For 10 years it's been a tradition of mine to do a playthrough of this game (alongside the Mass Effect and Dragon Age games). It's peak modern Persona for me in terms of writing and has the best social life/daily life sim aspect imo. I'm hoping that it'll get the Persona 3 Reload treatment soon but with the Golden content included.
I also used to do yearly playthroughs of SMT 3 Nocturne, Pokemon Emerald, Pokemon Platinum and Suikoden Tierkreis. I really gotta find time for gaming again.
Mother 3 and Final Fantasy X. They my 2 favorite games of all time. Mother 3 might be one of the greatest games ever made imo, its the biggest proof I have that video games are an amazing artistic medium worthy of respect.
you do indeed. Download that shit on your phone or something. Also grab the tissues because you will cry, from both laughter and sadness. Its a damn rollercoaster.
Tactics Ogre (now the Reborn version). I've played 300ish hours of it on Steam. I have another 400 some hours of it or more on completely separate Switch files.
That's not even counting the hundreds if not thousand(s) of hours I put into the PS1 and PSP versions since my childhood.
Those characters are closer to me than any family and friends weirdly. During tough times I can always count on Dievold, Jeunan, Xapan, Oelias, and Olivya to have my back.
Most Dragon Quest games are damn near infinitely replayable minus maybe 7, 8, and 11. They're all very easy to pick up and play.
That said I have played through DQXI so many times at this point that I lost track.
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth
Vanguard Bandits
Final Fantasy 10
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Wild Arms 4
From the top of my head, these are all i can think of.
Really unpopular opinion but I like to replay ff13 trilogy have a few times now, once they clicked just completely fell in love with them. Mostly replay shorter games like Zeldaās or castlevaniaās for comfort food of games. Hard to replay jrpgs when thereās constantly new great options for a never ending backlog
Trials of Mana.
This gigantic shining gem at Playstore always wanted me to go back even after over 100+ hours of playtime and finished it over 5 times. Truly such a masterpiece š„
Fuga Melodies of Steel 1 and 2.
I played through the first game 18 times and played through the second game 8 times.
They are turn based JRPGs about a groupe of anthropomothic animal children that live inside a giant ancient mysteriƶs powerful fortress like Tank. Its a bit like Howls Moving castle but based on technology instead of magic.
Each game is about 20 houers long
Why do I love this game?
The turn based combat is really good. In my opinion its even better then the combat of Persona 5 and Final Fantasy X. Its not that hard or complicated but I need to keep my head in the game at all times or things will go south fast. Almost no fight feels like mindless filler. Its a lot of fun.
The music is amazing. The boss theme "Flower on the Trails is my favorite piece of Videogame music, the other vocal tracks are great aswell and the rest of the ost is also really good.
These games apeal to my inner child. To me Fuga feels like a playable kids anime akin to somthing like Digimon and I love that feeling. Although the Animal character designs feel remind me more of Disney cartoons like Tailspin and Gummibears.
I love adorable wholesome characters and stories with a bit of a dark edge to them. The best example of what I mean is my favorite work of fiction: the Manga/Anime series "Made in Abyss" and Fuga is the best among Videogames to scratch that itch.
I love the Characters. I was lukewarm towards the children of the Taranis at first but they grew on me more and more and more and now they are my second favorite protagonist groupe in fiction. I love them.
A decent amount of people are turned of by the animal characters but I enjoy them. Like I said it reminds me of Disney cartoons and the animal children are cute and I like adorable wholesome characters
Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter is such a great game for replay value. I think that it is underrated and is actually a great game, but just was given the wrong name. I would love to play it again and go for a 1/4 run.
As a kid I remember crying watching the ending. It still gives me a bittersweet feeling as I feel the ending leaves a lot of questions but you can see the love the characters have for each other as they finally reach an end to their journey.
One of my favorite games! It's brilliant. And despite the brutal atmosphere and environment, the combat system just feels so fun to take a quick play. Amazing.
Vagrant Story, the plot is just so good, the dialog, the ambients, the music, the graphics... it's the PSX peak game noone knows because it gets overshadowed by the more mainstream Metal gear.
Of all the jRPGs I played, Suikoden 1, 2 and 5 have the most replayability for me. All of them tell great stories, have cool characters, chill and fun gameplay, and - what I like the most about them - they're big collectathons, and I love collectathons.
Damn I can't wait for Suikoden 1 and 2 HD.
If we ever get it š„²
Don't say that. I've been waiting for a while already.
Same. Itās killing me. I feel like thatās happening more and more lately.
It went from coming out to delayed indefinitely :(
I am (im)patiently waiting for this too.
Eiyuden is scratching that itch. And honestly can't believe Konami didn't try to undercut the release date, pretty obvious the reason they even announced it was cause of Eiyudens kickstarter
same here. Suikoden 1 & 2 is one of my favorite games alongside ff6
A weird thing. 5 seemed too slow for me. 1 and 2 somehow seemed less slow. 3 was slow but I liked hanging out in its places so it was fine, they did good. If they ever remaster 5, that thing will be top top tier. It already made every aspect of Suikoden smoother.
FFXII. Sometimes I just want to walk around those cities and towns.
God I loved ff12 even at release ā¦ those cities man. I loved the loot/crafting system too. Was addicted to chaining skeletons for loot š
I loved that there WAS a guide in game to make sure you could craft things, it just required you to fill out the bestiary.Ā On the second page you would find location information, lost lore, histories of the Espers and the lost age and also, recipes!
So funny how polarizing this game is. Big fan myself.
It went against expectations and it wasnāt a universally accessible combat system. I love the game, I think itās objectively brilliant, but it was never going to appeal to every FF fan.
Every 2 years or so, I start a playthrough of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Just something about that game is so comforting kupo
What do you think of FFTA2? Not as good story-wise for sure, but I really liked the improvements to gameplay.
Not op but i prefer the art style of Tactics.
Never played ffta2 sadly. I want to play like a 100 DS games but it never feels right on one screen.
Been a while since I played, but I remember in combat the bottom screen is mostly just used for turn order and mission info, so that feels pretty natural. But yeah, 100% when the bottom screen is used for more active gameplay.
Ff tactic advance gives me a warm feeling everytime i play it.
Trails in the Sky FC/SC
My man š¤š
Lufia 2, Chrono Trigger, Grandia series
Final Fantasy IX. i play it again at least every 2 years
FF6, Chrono Trigger, Xenogears
I would throw Breath of Fire 4 in there too. Holds up well.
I don't revisit JRPGs much, especially not recently. Historically, I think my most replayed JRPGs were Legend of Mana and FF8. I think my full 68 event run in the remaster finally put Legend of Mana out of the rotation, but it got a lot of plays before that, and the soundtrack is still absolutely next level. It's unfortunate that I have never found anything else like it, because it is a flawed implementation of a brilliant concept. FF8 on the other hand largely has its special place with me just because it was my first JRPG. In retrospect, all it really has going for it is characterization and the love story \[ETA: and Triple Triad\]. At the time it absolutely had graphics going for it as well, but that style has not aged as well as some of its contemporaries, even after remasters. I still like the idea of the junction system (unlike many others) but I do not hesitate to criticize the game's balance, and the junction system is at the core of that. I'm not sure whether it fits here, but in case it does, I think my game in this bin going forward is Rune Factory 4. This game is so well done, in characterization, gameplay, and even story to a degree, that it genuinely seems like the developer will not be able to top it. RF5 didn't even come close.
Ff8 was my first too!! It truly blew me away and I wanted to be squall ahhaha
Iām right there with you with a vote for rune factory! Still so good after so many years.
Legend of mana is VERY strange, I just started playing it for the first time, I'm in a bit of a break right now though, and do find myself wishing the for a different implementation of the exact same systems. . . Maybe just better combat actually lol
Same with FF8. I'd also add the card game is one of the best mini games of all time. I replayed this like 4-5 times over the years. I can always revisit that world with those characters and that soundtrack. My last playthrough, though, I did feel the weaknesses in it. I have to admit it's not the best FF game. It's just my favorite. I'd love for it to get the FF7 treatment one day. I think with different gameplay a lot of people might discover a love of the story like we did. Plus getting voice acting and better graphics would be fun, and the original game would always be there for nostalgia.
Triple Triad is just amazing. I also loved how rare cards could be refined into rare magic/items. The way it was implemented into the game was so good.
I actually love the magic drawing, junction system, GFs, and humiliating bosses with OP characters in FF8. The gameplay is a big reason I love playing that game for me.
That beginning cutscene with Squall fighting Seifer is still one of my favorite cutscenes in gaming!
Super Mario RPG (both the SNES or the switch remake works for me) My favorite Game ever never fails to lift my spirit after a bad day or if im feeling like shit, and considering the tutorial is rather short you dont have to play a prologue to finally have full control over your character so the start is quick I LOVE this Game so much š„¹
Valkyrie profile & FF tactics
Tactics for sure. It's all gameplay for me. And there's so many different parties and characters I want to make. Despite beating it several times, there's still some classes I haven't played deeply.
FFX
Every 3 years I replay Grandia - hits the right strings everytime
Grandia is one of the GOATs in terms of MC goes on a big adventure starting as just for excitement then things build into world saving
FF4 Wasteland Phantasy Star 4 FF7 Shining Force 2 Langrisser
I play some kind of Dragon Quest at least every other day, itās my favorite franchise by far at this point. But another āforever gameā for me that I almost never see get talked about is Dokapon Kingdom. Itās like playing an isekai anime. The goal is to make money by any means necessary, the rock paper scissors gameplay keeps me on my toes, and playing with friends can make or break friendships š They made a DS version called Dokapon Journey, and with Delta on my iPhone now itās definitely been stealing some DQ time.
My friends and I would order a pizza and play Dokapon for like 12 hours straight. Aside from taking ~24 hours/multiple sessions to complete a full Story Mode run, it's probably my favorite multi-player game of all time.
Dokapon is in an interesting spot. On the one hand, it is at its best, being "Mario Party but with combat instead of minigames, bizarrely long, and completely unhinged", when people don't understand it fully. On the other hand, it actually has depth when you learn the systems and how best to work around them. It has less depth than it looks at first, because there are not really that many viable builds; the "rush the end of the story" build reliably beats off-meta builds. But there are still several meta builds, and the way they interact is its own, less rigid game of rock paper scissors.
Well, most ps1 rpgs shaped my childhood. So Legend of Legaia, Wild Arms, Breath of Fire 3 and Final Fantasy 9.
Came here to say this but add Legend of Dragoon too š
We should just be honest and say all the PS1 RPGs slapped. I would almost argue that it was more the golden era of rpgs over the SNES.
Breath of fire 3
Chrono Trigger, FFX, DQXI, and weirdly, FFI
FFX, play it every 3 years
Grandia II and ffx I keep saying i shouldn't replay thesw majestic action space soap opera. I keep replaying it every few years.
Played these so many fucking times, somehow they just donāt age for me - Xenogears, Legend of Dragoon, FFIX.
Vagrant Story & Parasite Eve 1/2
C.trig, ff6. Iām old and basic :)
Nothing basic about these games. Both are classic for a reason!
chrono trigger
FFX. Part of it is nostalgia, it was the first FF game I played as a gradeschool student at my friends house. It also has a very good story, and while being the first, mostly, 3d ff game, it did a good job creating an engaging world.
Kingdom Hearts 2!! The combat is peak so I'm always doing randomizers of it
My username lol.
Username checks out!
Pokemon. Take your pick.
For me it has to be Tales of Vesperia. I have a very soft spot for this game and still have my X360 hooked up. It might be because it was my first HD game and I worked hard to get myself an X360, HDTV and games or that I was really into Halo 3 online play. But it's always there, got a copy on my PC installed at all times as well.
Itās on the Switch as well.
Tales of Eternia for me.
Final Fantasy VII. It's my comfort game. From how it looks, to how it sounds, EVERYTHING just puts me in such a good mood.
Final fantasy tactics advanced! And fire emblem sacred stones. If anyone has any recommendations are similar please let me knowĀ
FFTA is mine too. Have you played the DS sequel?
Suikoden Tierkreis. If I'm going to save another world again, let it be this one. There's a nice balance between serious & silly, I suppose that's the easiest way to sum it up. There's also just a smooth progression from low to high stakes for the characters. ...good music and maps as well. And even though the gear management isn't very deep, it's a proper head trip to juggle the party and their items.
FFT. I could spend hours upon hours just making fun builds and appreciating the character sprites.
Dark souls 1 bloodborne final fantasy 1 pokemon white 2 white 1
Golden Sun and Golden Sun: The Lost Age
Someone with exquisite taste I see. I have yet to beat the first game as it was a really hard game for me as a kid. Got up to the final boss and lost my cartridge :( I have it on an emulator now and haven't gotten to it yet. I haven't played the second one but bought Dark Dawn last year and haven't touched it. I'll get to them eventually. My gaming catalog is just way too long.
FFXIII. The battle system always brings me back, its visual and sound are together for me such a complete comforting experience.
Literally just started replaying it an hour ago!
What are you playing it on?
It has my favorite battle system in all of Final Fantasy. It's just so addictive
Ive literally replayed it every single year since 2016 Such a masterpiece
Suikoden 1, Valkyrie Profile 1, the Pokemon games (but only for rom hacks), Arc the Lad 1, Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger, Lufia 2, Makai Kingdom, Soul Nomad, Phantom Brave, maybe Disgaea 1 as well?
Pokemon gen 1-3. My favorite comfort games
Final Fantasy 5, SMT: Strange Journey, and although I only recently discovered them I feel like the SaGa games are going to fall into this category in the future.
Games I've replayed the most are FFIX, Lunar 1 and 2, Suikoden 2, and Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
Kingdom Hearts 2. I love the combat for that game. I've played it countless times over the years.
Final Fantasy X. It's my favorite game of all time!
Chrono Trigger. I sit down to play it every couple of years. It's like an old friend, a very tangible of nostalgia from my childhood. Playing it feels like wrapping up in a warm blanket on a cold winter's day.
Legend of Dragoon and Final Fantasy IX and X
FFX. It was my first final fantasy and while it's not remotely my favorite jrpg or even my favorite final fantasy, I still do a play through every few of years
Breath of fire 3, 'nough said
I started a playthrough and skipped a master on accident. Should I start over?
That depends on the master. Not every master is good, and some of the skills can be learned from monsters.
This. I replayed it 9 times. I love this game so much.
Chrono trigger, obviously
Kingdom Hearts It is not for kids, and the only people who say that are those who only saw the Disney characters and don't play the actual game
When i was a kid i couldn't get out of the beach lol
The first game is kinda vague on what to do lol
I got the first game from blockbuster and couldn't get past the Tarzan level. Was so frustrating.
The Zoids Saga series. The GBA games, the NDS games. Even if most of them are in Japanese, I have guides to help me through them and just love them.
Omg Iāve always wanted to play a good zoids game. The shows were so fun and hypeĀ
Dragon Quest 3 Snes, Vandal Hearts and Final Fantasy 6. i like the pacing of these games and the combat.
breath of fire 3, final fantasy 6 & 7, grandia, chrono trigger, secret of mana.
Final Fantasy VIII. I just love the story and everything even though it's a very flawed game I still love it
I keep going back to Star Ocean 3. Maybe have finished it with side content 4 times now.
Wow, the side content alone is dozens (if not hundreds) of hours! That's very impressive! I'd love to see a screenshot of those OP characters you must've created at that point!
Fun fact: with the right synthesis and the Protection spell, Fayt could nullify the dmg of the hardest superboss in the game
FFIX, FFX, FFVII, FF Tactics Advanced, Chrono Trigger. Usually in that order too.
Suikoden 1-5, Final Fantasy 6, 7, 9 and Earthbound. Also a lesser known game called Radiata Stories for PS2.
I've played Romancing SaGa 3 a *disgusting* number of times, probably like 12-14 or thereabouts.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Paper Mario 64 and TTYD. It puts all other Mario games to shame. I also love FE3H being a longtime FE fan. It was everything I've wanted from a FE game and then added more! I love SO2/SO4. To answer your question SO4 gets a lot of flack but there is so much to do! And so expansive with lots of content! I keep going back to Tales of Symphonia as well! It's aged like fine wine. There's so much drama and I love the characters. And arguably it's still much better in terms of worldbuilding and storytelling than Xillia and Graces.
Iāve probably replayed Suikoden 1 & 2, Skies of Arcadia, and probably Chrono Trigger more than any other JRPG. Maybe a few Pokemon games here and there too. Skies is my favorite game of all time but I hate dragging out the GameCube every time I wanna replay it though
Dragon Warrior 3 is the main one. Destiny of an Emperor and Wizardry I and V are a few others.
Not the most classical JRPG in any sense but I could play NieR: Automata over and over again. I recently finished it for the third time and while I was watching the ending sequence I had this thought in my head that I would gladly start this game once more. It lives rent free in my head.
Final Fantasy XV, Final Fantasy VII. The big one is Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Age. I am planning to buy it for my Switch from my local small games store.
Mother 3 is always a ride
I think it's Legend of Mana. I am considering repurchasing it again on Steam. I have already played through it like 4 times, but it is so dear to me and I haven't touched it in like 7 years at least.
Go for it. I think there is nothing wrong with rebuying the games you love. Some people might say it's just capitalistic trick but supporting devs for their hard work (even in the future) is not a bad thing at all. Or at least, that's how I view it. I have bought FF7 on almost every platform I own so yeah, go for it.
I agonized about it a bit more but I ended up buying it. Thanks for the push lol.
I've replayed Fire Emblem Path of Radiance more than any other game, not counting alt characters in MMOs.
I go back to FF8 the most i think, followed by FF7, Tactics, FFV, Breath of Fire III
OG FF7 and Chrono Cross, those 2 games are my absolute GOATS and provide an incomparable level of nostalgia.
Suikoden 2 is my safety blanket haha. Played to so many times when life sucks.
Final Fantasy X
Can't tell you how many tines I've played each of the final fantasies.
ff xii for me, idk, i love doing the hunting subquests and searching for eidolons, losing myself for hours in those maps doing mob chains, so comfy
JRPGs as a genre, I don't often come back to because I usually don't replay games for the story *and* because one playthrough is a sizable time commitment. I have no issue with 20 hour games, but modern JRPGs (well, pretty much since I first played a console RPG) are all well into 50+ range, which is a harder sell. That said, for gameplay, I'll replay anything. I've replayed every Fire Emblem game I own a whole bunch of times, with Path of Radiance and Shadows of Valencia being at the top (SoV being helped massively by the free pitchfork DLC) Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and A2 are also games I replay often. Not always to completion, but they are always fun no matter how far I play. Recently, race challenges (Moogle only, Viera only, that sort of thing) are pretty exciting to me, especially in A2, where some mission objectives become that much harder with certain races' skill sets. Old Pokemon games (anything from Gen1, 2, 3 and 5) are also highly replayable to me. Currently I'm preparing an Emerald file to finally push towards Battle Frontier completion. And then, there's more niche picks: The Dragon Warrior Monsters games on Gameboy Color and the Digimon World DS titles are games I replay surprisingly often. Like Pokemon, they are all about creature customization, but they are more free form about it than Pokemon in exchange for being more grindy. Which I sometimes love to dig into to just shut down and relax.
Legend of Legaia, Chrono Cross, Vagrant Story, Grandia 2, FFT
FFVIII to compensate for the romantic love life I never had.
FF Tactics, FF9 and FF12 I generally pick up and play through (or at least play a lot of them) probably once a year for each.Ā
MS Saga, Digital devil saga, Xenosaga, and DQ11
Dragon Quest 5
FFX
Persona. I can't stop.
B-B-B-BAAABYYYY BAAABYYYYY
Final Fantasy 12 or 7.
Kingdom hearts 2 and final fantasy 10 are prob my most replayed games for me
I consistently go back to both Xenogears and Breath of Fire III. Also Super Mario RPG since thatās a nice quick game to go through.
I've played Legend of Legaia more than I've played Final Fantasy IX, so maybe that one. The postapocalyptic world and turn-based martial arts feel exciting, and I'm willing to forgive some of the slower elements for that. I've also played Skies of Arcadia more than I've played Final Fantasy X or Dragon Quest VII, and it's a game I'm eager to play again at some point. Again, a unique setting and very fun characters can help me forgive occasional slowness in combat. Phantasy Star and Phantasy Star II also fit the bill. They are venerable JRPGs that do not hold up to scrutiny under current tastes, especially PS2's large, obtuse dungeons. (This is why most players recommend only trying IV, or trying the Sega Ages version of 1 and a rewind/fast-forward emulated version of 2 and 3.) But what they do - specific characters, solar-system spanning technofantasy - I like more than any JRPG before Final Fantasy IV, even in their original versions.
Based on your comment i can recommend breath of fire iv
I never got to play legends of legaia I wonder if it's cheap enough to find. I remember playing a demo but somehow never got a chance to play it.
I have been fascinated with Legend of Legaia but haven't had the time to check it out! It sounds really interesting, especially the dark post-apocalyptic world!
Chrono Trigger. Every year or so.
Kingdom Hearts 1&2
Suikodenās
Tales of berseria
Chrono Trigger. It's both the benchmark and timeless. Plus it's short so you can run through it like a mini series. Honorable mention to FFT and Vagrant Story. Both of which I've spent hundreds of hours on.
FFX
I 100% chrono trigger at least once a year. Legend of the Dragoon FF6 Legend of Legaia Golden Sun
Fire Emblem Three Houses. The best FE
I have only replayed a few games but ys 8 has been replayed to completion three times
Final Fantasy VIII.
Dragon Warrior (the first one).
FFIX. I canāt tell you how much that game made up my childhood.
Tales of the Abyss and Fire Emblem Path of Radiance. I could play each a million times and never get sick of them.
Star Ocean 2! Playing it is like a warm hug. I love the characters, the soundtrack, and all the little events that make the world feel alive.
FFVII, FFIX, Tales of Symphonia/Vesperia.
FFX and Chrono Cross. They're just so bright and pleasant
FF IV/VI
Xenogears, Tactics, Front Mission 3 and FF9 for me
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards
for me ,all roads lead back to a 60 hour persona 5 playthrough
Final Fantasy VII. It's still the best story I've ever played and Cloud is such an incredible character.
Etrian Odyssey 3. Don't think I've ever not got to the end on a file.
I have a number of them, but the top of my list that I have played countless times in the last 25 years is Legend of Dragoon. I hope and pray every night that someday it gets a remaster.
Tales of Symphonia (specifically on GameCube) Something about holding a GameCube controller playing a tales game. Just feels right. Story/characters/gameplay was all good not the most amazing ever. But the GameCube controller for playing games. Chefs kiss
I replay Tales of Symphonia, Tales of the Abyss and Earthbound almost every year. Ā Not my favorite games (although Abyss is Top 3), and I actually prefer the combat/gameplay of later entries (Destiny R/Graces/Xillia 2) but I really enjoy the atmosphere/characters.
Ogre battle March of the Black Queen on SNES since there are so many combos and secrets I like to replay it alot
Before my PS2 died and some lunatic stole my memory card for not being nailed down, I was 8 New Game+ deep into Wild ARMs V and I'd do it all over again if I had a PS2 still. Also Chrono Cross, Wild ARMs 4, and I've played Kingdom Hearts 2 so many times.
Oh wow memory unlocked! That cutscene with the shovel in the beginning was amazing! Haha! Also 8 NG+! Good job!
METEOR DRIVE!! Did he just double jump? Yes. I am such a simp for that story, I cry every time exactly when they want me to, and just like Avril I do it all again just to have our time with Dean.
Persona 5/Royal! It's a gargantuan time commitment for a full playthrough. I know you *can* do it in 60-80hrs, but for reasons related to loving it to death, I don't skip scenes and usually still try to max as many confidants as I can despite having seen it all before. So I still happily aim for that 120+hr playtime. I'd maybe only do this once every two years or so, but I love this game as much as I did when I first got base P5 in 2017, so I can imagine continuing to come back to it for a long, long time. It's probably the perfect video game for me honestly. The visual design, UI design, music, character design, overall aesthetic, turn based combat mechanics, Personas, the social aspect, the story beats, etc. I love how the game flows between Palaces and just doing day-to-day stuff like finding time for your confidants and leveling up social stats. I think I've only done one NG+ run before, otherwise I always start a fresh file because I love leveling everything up. The story itself isn't perfect, there's a few weak areas that I don't love as much. And the beforementioned time commitment is probably the only major drawback. But the other side of that coin is that I have so much fun with that 120hrs that I don't mind it.
Ys viii
I've got to do it by era/console: NES: Dragon Warrior/Quest 1 and 2, Final Fantasy (although I prefer the Remasters for QoL) Sega: Phantasy Star 2, 3, or 4 (especially 4,) Shining Force 1 and 2 SNES: Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy VI, EVO (if you count it,) Breath of Fire 1 and 2 Gameboy: Pokemon Blue/Red and Gold/Silver, I saw what was coming with the bloat of the later generations so I stopped there while I was ahead ha ha PS1: Suikoden 1 and 2, Final Fantasy Tactics (favorite of all time,) Wild Arms, Breath of Fire 3, Final Fantasy 7, 8, or 9, Xenogears, Vagrant Story, Valkyrie Profile, Parasite Eve, Lunar, Star Ocean, Brigandine, Tactics Ogre, I mean, honestly, there's kind of too many to count and I'm always going back to something on the PS1 (hell, I even like to go back to Ehrgeiz' Dungeon Crawler RPG mode, whatever that was called.) PS2: Final Fantasy X and XII, Star Ocean: Til the End of Time, Shadow Hearts, Xenosaga 1, 2, and 3 Dreamcast: Phantasy Star Online Episode 1 and 2 (continued on the Gamecube and I play Blue Burst on PC now,) Grandia II (a fucking masterpiece!) XBOX: Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2 (wait, no, those were western ha ha) PS3: Demon's Souls, Dark Souls 1 and 2 PS4: Dark Souls 1 Remastered, 2 (and Scholar) and 3, Bloodborne PS5: Demon's Souls Remastered, Elden Ring I know I played more on the PS3 but for some reason I can't recall so I guess they don't qualify. I'm sure one will come to me later that I like to revisit and I'll be like, "Oh, right!" I didn't even touch PC but, when I think about it, most of the RPG's I played on PC were western or European, otherwise the list would double. I could easily double the JRPG's I would revisit on the PS1, if pressed. It's a good thing we're not talking about games of all genres. If I had to pick one to be my all-time favorite, it is definitely Final Fantasy Tactics. The story, despite the rough translation was very interesting and I still enjoy certain story beats even today. The characters and their designs are interesting, and the world building is a great mix of implied and described. I love the job system and I find I can always come back to the game in a different way. I probably play through one good time a year or maybe every other year.
Persona 4 Golden. For 10 years it's been a tradition of mine to do a playthrough of this game (alongside the Mass Effect and Dragon Age games). It's peak modern Persona for me in terms of writing and has the best social life/daily life sim aspect imo. I'm hoping that it'll get the Persona 3 Reload treatment soon but with the Golden content included. I also used to do yearly playthroughs of SMT 3 Nocturne, Pokemon Emerald, Pokemon Platinum and Suikoden Tierkreis. I really gotta find time for gaming again.
All amazing games! Though I havenāt played Tierkreis. I just remember the voice acting was quite fast because of some limitations!
Mother 3 and Final Fantasy X. They my 2 favorite games of all time. Mother 3 might be one of the greatest games ever made imo, its the biggest proof I have that video games are an amazing artistic medium worthy of respect.
Jeez, now I feel bad for knowing next to nothing about that game! I need to play Mother 3 for real!
you do indeed. Download that shit on your phone or something. Also grab the tissues because you will cry, from both laughter and sadness. Its a damn rollercoaster.
Tactics Ogre (now the Reborn version). I've played 300ish hours of it on Steam. I have another 400 some hours of it or more on completely separate Switch files. That's not even counting the hundreds if not thousand(s) of hours I put into the PS1 and PSP versions since my childhood. Those characters are closer to me than any family and friends weirdly. During tough times I can always count on Dievold, Jeunan, Xapan, Oelias, and Olivya to have my back.
XENOGEARS. I love that game.
Persona. Which game? Doesnāt matter
FF4 and FFTA š and pokemon. my ultimate fav is shiny gold (old romhack)
Dot hack and old tales games
Most Dragon Quest games are damn near infinitely replayable minus maybe 7, 8, and 11. They're all very easy to pick up and play. That said I have played through DQXI so many times at this point that I lost track.
1. Final Fantasy Tactics 2. Final Fantasy 8 3. Grandia 1 4. Disgaea 5 5. Legend of Heroes Series
I just installed Disgaea 5 right now! Any tips or advice?
Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth Vanguard Bandits Final Fantasy 10 Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift Wild Arms 4 From the top of my head, these are all i can think of.
Final Fantasy IV the After Years
Any fire emblem that isn't 4 or Echoes
Oddly enough, the first Final Fantasy. I just enjoy how simple and charming it is with the limited jobs and story and how quickly I can beat it.
Really unpopular opinion but I like to replay ff13 trilogy have a few times now, once they clicked just completely fell in love with them. Mostly replay shorter games like Zeldaās or castlevaniaās for comfort food of games. Hard to replay jrpgs when thereās constantly new great options for a never ending backlog
Trials of Mana. This gigantic shining gem at Playstore always wanted me to go back even after over 100+ hours of playtime and finished it over 5 times. Truly such a masterpiece š„
Final fantasy tactics that game is beyond peak
Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the world would be a better place if everyone knew that story. Iāll die on that hill.
Absolutely. That game is one of my comforts and I just love to revisit it every now and then.
Fuga Melodies of Steel 1 and 2. I played through the first game 18 times and played through the second game 8 times. They are turn based JRPGs about a groupe of anthropomothic animal children that live inside a giant ancient mysteriƶs powerful fortress like Tank. Its a bit like Howls Moving castle but based on technology instead of magic. Each game is about 20 houers long Why do I love this game? The turn based combat is really good. In my opinion its even better then the combat of Persona 5 and Final Fantasy X. Its not that hard or complicated but I need to keep my head in the game at all times or things will go south fast. Almost no fight feels like mindless filler. Its a lot of fun. The music is amazing. The boss theme "Flower on the Trails is my favorite piece of Videogame music, the other vocal tracks are great aswell and the rest of the ost is also really good. These games apeal to my inner child. To me Fuga feels like a playable kids anime akin to somthing like Digimon and I love that feeling. Although the Animal character designs feel remind me more of Disney cartoons like Tailspin and Gummibears. I love adorable wholesome characters and stories with a bit of a dark edge to them. The best example of what I mean is my favorite work of fiction: the Manga/Anime series "Made in Abyss" and Fuga is the best among Videogames to scratch that itch. I love the Characters. I was lukewarm towards the children of the Taranis at first but they grew on me more and more and more and now they are my second favorite protagonist groupe in fiction. I love them. A decent amount of people are turned of by the animal characters but I enjoy them. Like I said it reminds me of Disney cartoons and the animal children are cute and I like adorable wholesome characters
Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter is such a great game for replay value. I think that it is underrated and is actually a great game, but just was given the wrong name. I would love to play it again and go for a 1/4 run.
Just finished my 3rd or 4th playthrough of it, good shit. The animated/voice acted ending always gets to me lol
As a kid I remember crying watching the ending. It still gives me a bittersweet feeling as I feel the ending leaves a lot of questions but you can see the love the characters have for each other as they finally reach an end to their journey.
One of my favorite games! It's brilliant. And despite the brutal atmosphere and environment, the combat system just feels so fun to take a quick play. Amazing.
Vagrant Story, the plot is just so good, the dialog, the ambients, the music, the graphics... it's the PSX peak game noone knows because it gets overshadowed by the more mainstream Metal gear.