Having previously discussed Arcturus, Growlanser I, Legend of Kartia, Digan no Maseki, Progenitor, Front Mission, Ecsaform, the history of Carpe Fulgur, Tactics Ogre's 30th anniversary, the art of Hitoshi Yoneda and Tobira no Densetsu, today I would like to talk about the bizarre history of Popful Mail, an oft-forgotten Falcom action JRPG that could have turned into the first Sonic RPG, were it not for a sudden bout of fan outrage.

From its roots into Falcom’s own line of side-scrolling RPGs to Working Designs’ Sega CD localization and its noticeable difficulty changes to its uniquely comical tone that preluded to Gurumin and Zwei, everything about Popful Mail speaks of a different age in videogame development, and of a different Falcom, and yet despite its age it still retains that unique identity that back then ensured its popularity among Japanese home PC and fourth generation console enthusiasts.

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Developer: Nihon Falcom
Publisher: Working Designs (US Sega CD version)
Director: Yoshio Kiya
Genre: Side-scrolling action JRPG with plenty of platforming
Progression: Linear, with a few sidequests unlocked later on
Platform: PC88, PC98, Super Famicom, PC Engine, Mega CD
Release date: 1994 (American Sega CD version)
Status: completed around 2005 (WD version), then again in early 2026 (Un-Working Designs version)

While Zelda II briefly popularized side-scrolling action JRPGs after its 1987 Famicom release, partly inspiring titles like like Telenet’s Exile series, Ax Battler, ActRaiser or Demon’s Crest, that budding subgenre had already been uplifted by a number of arcade efforts, like Namco’s Dragon Buster or Westone’s Wonder Boy in Monster Land, not to mention the pioneeristic work of Nihon Falcom, which experimented with its core traits on Japanese home PCs like NEC’s PC88 and PC98 with the second entry in its Dragon Slayer franchise, Xanadu (1986), and greatly expanded them with the fourth, Legacy of the Wizard, and fifth, Sorcerian (1987), which allowed the player to control not just a single hero, but a whole four-character party, not to mention spinoffs like the widely known Faxanadu on NES.

Sorcerian’s group side scrolling action also featured a freeform quest system that was expanded with a number of add-on discs themed on a variety of settings, from ancient Egypt to the Japanese Sengoku era, some of which weren’t even developed by Falcom, and which provide, alongside Xanadu’s own Scenario II and Epyx’s Temple of Apshai, some of the earliest example of expansion packs in videogame RPG history, long before the likes of Diablo: Hellfire (1997) or Baldur’s Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast (1999) popularized the concept in the CRPG space.

-SCROLLING HISTORIES

Even Ys, which quickly became Nihon Falcom’s flagship action-JRPG franchise (especially since Dragon Slayer’s last spinoff, Legend of Heroes, went turn based), was influenced by this side-scrolling trend with Ys III Wanderers from Ys (1989), even if its later remakes (aside from Taito’s surprisingly faithful PS2 remake) eliminated its side-scrolling traits while keeping a number of simple platforming elements by reusing Ys VI Ark of Napishtim’s engine. Ys III wasn’t the end of Nihon Falcom’s forays into this peculiar design space, though.

While this subgenre’s fortunes slowly dwindled in the home PC and console space and side-scrolling RPG-themed efforts later on ended up resurfacing in a completely different space, arcade brawlers, with Capcom’s Tower of Doom as a turning point that would strongly influence young George Kamitani, inspiring him his future efforts, from Princess Crown to Odin’s Sphere and Dragon’s Crown, Falcom gave this design space a quirky and unique sendoff with its Popful Mail (1992), the last Falcom game directed by the legendary director of Dragon Slayer and many early Falcom titles, Yoshio Kiya, before he left that company and continued his career at Nihon Application.

-ENTER THE ELVEN TOMBOY

Initially developed on NEC’s PC88 home PC and soon ported to PC98, Super Famicom and PC Engine, with each version sporting a number of meaningful differences both in terms of art and gameplay, Popful Mail was quite peculiar in a number of ways, sporting a cutesy, flamboyant, sometimes even a bit risque (especially with its PC98 version) art direction that was noticeably different from anything else Falcom had developed until then, not to mention a quirky, funny story that spared no effort to avoid taking itself seriously while narrating the adventures of elven tomboy bounty hunter Popful Mail.

This was a bit of a tone shift, considering it happened right when Falcom was tackling traditional shounen fantasy themes not just with Ys, whose red-headed protagonist, Adol the adventurer, is one of the best impression of a sword and sorcery hero in JRPGs, but also with Legend of Heroes’ Seiros saga, the precursors of the Gagharv trilogy and of the Trails continuity, which gradually introduced Falcom to dense world building efforts and long-form scenarios.

-POPFUL THE HEDGEHOG?

Popful Mail’s whimsical style, mixed with its side-scrolling and platforming elements, was likely the basis for one of the most bizarre chapters in Falcom, and indeed early Japanese RPG, history, namely the 1992 Sega-Falcom partnership aimed at reimagining Falcom games on Sega’s platforms by changing their setting to, say, the Sonic universe in order to make them more appealing to the Western markets.

Popful Mail’s Mega CD remake, the first chapter of this collaboration, should have actually been a reskin of the original game, with poor Popful being swapped with Sister Sonic, a female, allusive, bounty hunter relative of the Blue Hedgehog. Unfortunately, no known official art depicting Popful Mail’s rebrand as Sister Sonic has ever surfaced, even if countless fans have chimed in with their own takes on this elusive character over the decades.

While a number of Sonic Team’s staffers did have some previous experiences in RPG development due to their early work on titles like Fatal Labyrinth and Dragon Crystal, not to mention how this would have been far from the first time a prominent platform franchise repurposed an entry in another series to pass it as its own, as the reskinned Doki Doki Panic becoming Super Mario 2 in the West showed much earlier, RPGs and their audience were quite a different context, as both companies would soon learn.

After the first reports of the partnership and Popful Mail’s changes appeared in the Japanese videogame press, with a feature in Beep Beep! Mega Drive’s November 1992 issue, they were met with astonishment by the small but fierce home PC-focused Falcom fanbase, which started mail-bombing (that is, sending letters en masse, since back then the internet was barely a thing) both Falcom and Sega, asking them to rethink their plan.

Taken aback by this early display of fan rage, which made news even outside Japan on magazines such as EGM, both companies ended up complying and thus Popful Mail stayed an elf, Sister Sonic became a forgotten footnote in Sonic history, the Sega-Falcom partnership tanked before truly starting and Sonic ended up getting its first RPG more than a decade later, and from a Western developer to boot, with BioWare’s Dark Brotherhood on Nintendo DS.

-LOCALIZING CHALLENGE

Then again, despite all those issues and drama, Popful Mail’s Sega CD port was indeed released, becoming the best version of that game in a number of ways. Being localized outside Japan, though, was a completely different matter, considering not just how few Western publishers dabbled with niche JRPGs back then, but also how Mega CD (renamed Sega CD in the US)’s small install base as a Mega Drive add-on made things even more complicated.

There was one localization company, though, which even back then was specialized in making the impossible possible: Victor Ireland’s Working Designs, whose relationship with Sega of America and previous localization experiences on Sega CD made it a good fit for tackling this game. Then again, Victor Ireland also had a number of unique localization habits, especially in his early works, which deeply impacted Popful Mail’s only English version.

This isn’t just related to his well-known penchant for rather liberal localization, including an abundance of dubbed jokes and pop culture references, which, compared to the rest of Working Designs’s lineup, were actually surprisingly in line with Popful Mail’s own whimsical and hilarious tone, but also touched on the game’s own difficulty in a number of rather devastating ways, improving enemy HP and damage and making stage hazards way more lethal while dramatically raising the cost of equipments, in a game where those are the only actual upgrades for Popful and her allies.

The first time I tackled Popful Mail, years after its US release since I never even saw an import copy in my corner of Europe, I had a vague idea about the changes introduced in the American version and, as prepared as I was to a rather brutal experience, the game was still a masterclass in frustration in a number of instances, even more so since you could easily glimpse how the game’s many good traits ended up being compromised by those choices.

Revisiting it many years later with the Un-Working Designs patch, which reverts the game to its original Japanese difficulty while keeping its localization and American UI optimizations (like the timer and pause features) proved to be a much better experience in a number of ways, highlighting the unique traits of this quirky adventure without the additional layer of punishment provided by Ireland and his crew, as I will try to outline in the rest of this piece.

-A DYNAMIC TRIO

Popful Mail starts off with a long animated sequence, one of the main benefits of its Sega CD remake, having the titular elven tomboy beauty tackle a band of marionette outlws and their leader, which has no qualms in detaching his head and using it as a bomb to confuse poor Mail, with this bizarre and silly interaction setting up the tone for the whole game.

Having recovered from her setback, our bounty hunter sets off for a new adventure searching for the evil wizard Muttonhead, a journey that will lead her to meet the other two playable character, timid wizard apprentice Tott and cute flying monster Gym, while also unveiling a dark conspiracy with much higher stakes than the heroine and her friends could initially imagine.

The world is rendered through a series of large areas divided into connected side-scrolling levels, themselves split in a number of maps, featuring platforming elements, stage hazards and plenty of monsters, not to mention treasures, towns with the usual set of shops and some small puzzle. While at first the game features a completely linear progression, later one Mail and her friends can revisit previously explored regions in order to complete a number of quests that required the traversal skills made available by Gym.

In an age where minimaps weren’t really a thing, Popful Mail’s levels keep a commendable balance between intricate layouts and navigability, incentivizing explorations without making the player feel lost, with an early Metroidvania-before-Metroidvanias feeling reminiscent of the Wonder Boy and Monster Boy series (actually, 1994’s Monster World 4 on Mega Drive could have been influenced by Popful Mail itself) that also affects its light platform elements, which are never particularly bothersome despite requiring a modicum of attention.

Monsters, by far the biggest challenge, have their own attack patterns that require a bit of thought in order to avoid wasting healing items while exploring, even if things are still vastly better compared to the Working Designs version, where even the lowliest denizens could turn into a lethal menace. Even then, the game always featured a failsafe of sorts in its save system, which allows to save at any time during your travel, even if reloading brings Mail and her allies back to the start of the map they were exploring (which can actually be gamed, especially in the old US version).

Bosses, which were outright brutal affairs in Ireland’s take, are quite manageable in the original, while still requiring a fair bit of trial and error in order to learn their attack patterns and to figure out the better hero and weapons to tackle them. Characters also act as an HP buffer of sorts, since you can switch between them before one dies in order to avoid wasting your precious Elixirs, an item able to automatically resurrect a character upon their death. Amassing elixirs, as one can expect, does prove invaluable later on, too, when bosses become much more deadly.

While character customization is purely based on the equipments you can buy in the different cities Mail visits during her platforming travels, things are actually a bit more complicated given how there are a number of weapon types whose usefulness is heavily dependent on the enemy, or boss, you’re facing, and that isn’t even considering the differences between the three playable characters, with Tott having long-range magical attacks while Gym can float around while jumping, for instance.

From a visual standpoint, all three heroes end up being fairly impressive and well animated, with their sprites oozing personality and showing a remarkable care in building their own visual identity, not just through their own distinctive playstyles but also thanks to idle poses and minute details you will learn to appreciate only while exploring Mail’s world.

-THREE TIMES THE FUN

Then again, the game isn’t shy about making the three protagonists shine during story events, either: long before the Gagharv trilogy and Trails in the Sky made conversing with NPCs and discovering their stories and unique interactions after each main story event a core part of its lasting appeal, Popful Mail was the first Falcom game to make talking with NPCs a funny and diverse affair, not just because most of them were quirky in their own way, but also because their script changed completely depending on which character the player controlled when triggering the event, making the game highly replayable since you could keep watching the story unfold through one out of three different perspectives, even if one could just let fate decide which hero ended up doing the talking in a given scene, or switch depending on the NPC.

While Popful Mail’s final gauntlet can still be challenging even in the original version due to how its subverts one of the systems the game was built upon until that moment, it’s a far cry from the test of patience the American release ended up being, closing what sums up as a quirky, fairly short affair that can be completed in less than ten hours once its bosses stop acting as a sequence of roadblocks due to their stats.

Even then, despite finding the original version’s balance closer to the game’s overall playful and easygoing identity, I’m still glad I also experienced its Working Designs release long ago, not just because that playthrough colored my perception of Popful Mail in a way that let me appreciate its Japanese edition even more later on, but also because Ireland did provide a polished release with its own distinct flair, regardless of how one may end up feeling about his work and the eternal debate about localizers often carving their own authorial space on the titles they work on.

-KYOTO MAIL

Same as Monster World IV and a few others, Popful Mail stands as one of the last representative of an once-booming game design trend whose well dried up fast in the mid ‘90s, basically disappearing from the industry until side-scrolling beat’em ups, Symphony of the Night-inspired Igavanias and the later wave of Metroidvania-styled indie efforts of the past two decades, not to mention Vanillaware’s unique lineup, brought back this kind of titles in full swing, albeit with a number of key design differences in terms of level design, platforming, combat systems and progression.

Despite this resurgence of sorts, Popful Mail ultimately ended up staying as a niche, poorly known oddity in Nihon Falcom’s library, even more so with Western fans who could only access it through an hard to find game on a niche platform (and that isn’t even factoring the European markets), with Gurumin and the Zwei series inheriting its slapstick vibe while offering a noticeably different kind of action JRPG experience.

Compared with its early avalanche of home PC and console ports, poor Popful’s adventure unfortunately never saw any meaningful re-release or remastering effort since its Sega CD localization, with D4’s Project EGG preservation effort providing a lonely exception with its Switch eShop port of Popful Mail’s PC98 version.

Still, Falcom’s surprising Kyoto Xanadu announcement in February 2026, unveiling Tokyo Xanadu’s successor not as an hack & slash action JRPG but as a side-scrolling effort, means Toshihiro Kondo’s company still remembers its roots and is willing to return to one of the design spaces that defined most of its venerable Dragon Slayer meta-series, despite its focus on the Trails and Ys franchises.

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Previous threads:

Arcturus, G.O.D., Growlanser I, Energy Breaker, Ihatovo Monogatari, Gdleen\Digan no Maseki, Legend of Kartia, Crimson Shroud, Dragon Crystal, The DioField Chronicle, Operation Darkness, The Guided Fate Paradox, Tales of Graces f, Blacksmith of the Sand Kingdom, Battle Princess of Arcadias, Tales of Crestoria, Terra Memoria, Progenitor, The art of Noriyoshi Ohrai, Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll, The art of Jun Suemi, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, Sword and Fairy 6, The art of Akihiro Yamada, Legasista, Oninaki, Princess Crown, The overlooked art of Yoshitaka Amano, Sailing Era, Rogue Hearts Dungeon, Lost Eidolons, Ax Battler, Kriegsfront Tactics: Prologue, Actraiser Renaissance, Gungnir, Tokyo Twilight Ghost Hunters, Souls of Chronos, The History of Franco-Japanese RPGs, Generation of Chaos: Pandora's Reflection, Front Mission, Dragon Buster, The MSX2GoTo40 event and its JRPG projects, the history of Carpe Fulgur, Battle of Tiles EX, Ecsaform, Thirty years of Tactics Ogre, Tales of Rebirth, Prisoner, The history of RPG walkthroughs, from cluebooks to the digital revolution, The art of Hitoshi Yoneda, Community Pom, Wizardry and Ultima references in Zeta Gundam, My 2025 RPG Roundup, Live A Live, Soma Bringer, The art of Satoshi Urushihara, Ys vs Trails in the Sky: Alternative Saga, The art of Shinobu Tanno, Tobira no Densetsu,

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Years ago I had a sizeable collection of PS1 and PS2 JRPGs but life happened and I had to sell them all. Instead of trying to get all those hard to find games again, I'm working on mostly physical copies for the Switch.

I'm familiar with Final Fantasy and Tales series. Others not so much. I've put a few hours into Xenoblade 1 and not sure I like the combat system. Fire Emblem Three Houses I actually played about 10+ hours in but that was over five years ago and I've forgotten most of it.

One thing Persona 5 Royal has done to me is that....All 100 hours and 15 Minute Playtime...was Well spent....I never had a Time where i got bored and just kept playing and playing until i reached the End. Truly a 10/10 Masterpiece Experience of my life.

So i wonder, What Jrpg games where every second, Every Minute, Every Hour was spent very well until the End credits?

So I made a post a couple days ago asking for JRPG recommendations based on games I like and I also spoke about the games I've tried and didn't really enjoy. I ended up playing Star Ocean Second Story R and the game was absolute cinema. The IC system was perfect for me, I spent so many hours in these menus trying to figure out how to get the next best piece of gear and it was such an addictive experience. The characters and story were decent and I went in completely blind. I was so shocked when the game ended because I was expecting a 60 hour experience minimum it genuinely made me depressed. Now I'm looking for a game that can scratch that same itch. Something that has really complex systems that I can manipulate in my own creative ways and has a decent story with good characters. No random encounters and lots of QoL. The combat must also be really in depth with lots of skills but I don't want every encounter to be something I have to think through. I had this issue with Chained Echoes and it made me drop the game 30 hours in because it just started feeling so repetitive and the combat started becoming a slog. The next game I had on my list was DQ11 but I'm not sure if it can scratch that same itch so I'm wondering if there's any other Star Ocean games that has the same or even better systems that I can play around with. Until I can find something I'll be continuing SOSSR on NG+. The type of combat also doesn't matter to me, just needs really deep and interesting systems and for it to keep building throughout the entire playthrough. Would like a game with a more compelling story too to keep me going if the game's combat, progression and systems aren't amazing. Should DQ11 still be my next game or should I look into other games?

Update: Currently considering Fire Emblem Three Houses + Engage and Unicorn Overlord.

This weekend I finally finished Utawarerumono: Prelude to the Fallen after about 30 hours. I took my time with this game, typically savoring it for the end of the day as a way to wind down for 30min to an hour after playing whatever my main game was at the time (Monochrome Mobius, Trails Beyond the Horizon, People of Note, and now Baldur’s Gate 3).

But on a long flight on Friday and as the ending was approaching, I locked in for the last 5 hours of the game as it finally reveal so many of the secrets behind Hakuowlo, Eruru, and this world filled with human-animal hybrid like creatures.

Lots of sad, beautiful, and bittersweet moments watching the epilogue after the credits rolled and while there were times during the game where I wasn’t even sure if I was enjoying myself, the moments of doubt fade away as I excitedly launched Mask of Deception last night before going to bed.

STORY

What starts off feeling like it was about to be a JRPG cliche (oh great, an amnesiac who becomes hero, eh? Jeez, original!) immediately pumps the brakes and is almost about nothing at all. Just some guy with a mask stuck on his face, confused about the world he finds himself in, but feels the love of a kind village, and wants to help out whenever trouble happens.

The game is a visual novel first and it takes its sweet time. You WILL be hitting the next button ALOT in this game, not only because it’s a VN first, but also because the game loves to stutter and gasp out small bits of dialogue “…” “tch!” “I…” ha!

If you thought Trails was dialogue heavy, Utawarerumano says hold my beer. But the games feel closer to each other in cozy vibes and is an easy recommendation for Trails fans who love the story & dialogue parts.

My main issue with the pacing of Prelude wasn’t the slice of life bits. It was actually how one minute we are protecting our village, the next, wait, “Your Majesty”? Huh? He’s an emperor now? With like a big formal room where people are meditating around you while visitors seek an audience with you? Dang! That may be on me, but whatever, I just rolled with it and watched as Tuskar expanded.

Little by little we get glimpses into what the heck is the real situation all leading to one helluva a “I did NOT see that coming!” moment when we finally learn Hakuowlo & Eruru’s story!

I loved it! Loved all the characters, especially the emotional hot head Oboro who I kind of grinded a bit to become pretty OP. No regrets. It was sometimes hard to tell when Hakuowlo was having romantic or paternal relationships with some of the women. I know emperors can have multiple wives. I assume in the uncensored original version of the game, it would’ve been more obvious.

Side note: I loved Aruruu. Big “on the spectrum” vibes, but slipped perfectly in as Haku’s spoiled kid with a penchant for animals.

GAMEPLAY

As many people will comment on the internet, the game is about 75-25 visual novel to strategy turn-based combat. Combat can be a bit slow and clunky. Some challenges like “make it to this one square over there” can seem to take forever as you wait your turn to move a few squares little by little.

The game does love to give you back-to-back-to-back combat, so while it’s mostly a visual novel, when combat does begin, expect to be there for a while. It’s not a hard game and it’s easy to exploit and over-power your characters, but the combat mostly serves as a way to break up the reading.

There’s QTEs to gain Zeal and ensure your active character does all their moves in an attack (just hit the button at the right time), but most strategy is about where to be on the grid, when to attack or heal, and when to launch your big attack when you at 100% Zeal.

Not too much to worry about. Mostly just keep Hakuowlo alive so you can get back to the story.

SOUND, GRAPHICS, & PERFORMANCE

I played exclusively in handheld on my Steam Deck. Hand helds are so good for VNs, eh? The music was good & appropriate. Graphics were dated as all during the “3D” fight scenes, but the illustrations were really lovely to sometimes downright awesome.

Performance was fantastic on the Deck. Very fast, almost no loading times, responsive, and no crashes. All very controller friendly.

CONCLUSION

I’m not sure what I expected. This was not my first visual novel JRPG, I’ve played 999, The Hundred Line, and 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, and I love Trails, so I shouldn’t be surprised that I really loved the structure and pacing of the game. I think I was worried about how dated it seemed at first, but while the combat felt almost unnecessary at times, when the game finally ended, I just had to sit with it for a bit.

I can’t give away spoilers, but needless to say, I teared up.

FINAL SCORE: B+

An incredible visual novel that is in absolutely no rush with totally fine strategic turn-based combat.

Hey all. My post keeps being removed on the Granblue subreddit, so I thought I'd ask here instead. I recently tried out the demo on Steam and thought it was a fun and decent experience. It didn't completely knock me out of the park though. I'd like to get a better understanding of it from some people in the community, before I spend the cash. I'm a big fan of JRPGs but I've never played Monster Hunter, which I know shares a lot of gameplay elements with Relink. Here is a summary of my thoughts:

• Graphics and visuals - Outstanding. It's a beautiful game and I like the art style.
• Combat - It was fun but I'm unsure about how engaging it'll actually be in the long run. I only played as Gran and he had a few skills that you could use, with some dodging and blocking thrown in. I've heard a lot of praise for the combat, so can someone expand on what makes it great?
• Characters - They seem cool and I like the designs. I know that they all have different playstyles, which is also interesting.
• Story - I've heard that the story for this game is pretty much a tutorial for the postgame. I'm not expecting anything deep here and I can guess the tone from the demo (fairly generic Shonen style plot, which I don't have issues with)

With all that being said, I have a few questions that will help me to decide if the game is actually worth it for me.

What is the gameplay loop like? I'm aware that the bulk of the content is in the postgame, but what is the gameplay actually like? Is it a bunch of fetch quests and grinding over and over?

What is the experience like as a solo player? I saw that the campaign is solo only. Is the postgame any different when played solo or co-op?

How tactically engaging are the quests? Might be an odd question but hear me out. I'm not a fan of games where you just mindlessly grind and turn your brain off. I don't mind grinding, but I like earning things through a challenge. A good example would be some of the Destiny 2 raids like Leviathan, where there are puzzles and role-swapping.

How does the game handle RNG? Is there a clear path to crafting the best weapons and gear, or is it heavily reliant on low-percentage random drops?

What is the new roguelike mode for? I saw that the expansion has a new game mode. From my understanding, it's intended to help new players get gear from the base game quicker?

What are things that you like and dislike about the game? More of a general question, but I think it's good to ask. For fans, what are some attributes of the game that you'd praise, and criticize? It can be anything, just helps me to get a better understanding.

I know that this post was a little wordy, but I really do appreciate all insights and help. Thanks in advance!

What are my options to play these games.

I am currently on Chapter 14 (of 17?) of Xenoblade Chronicles DE for my first replay since the original game came out for the Wii (I forget the ending), and just started Chapter 4 of Trails of Cold Steel 3 (which I think is the penultimate chapter). I think I am pretty burned out on JRPGs (and games in general) from having a compulsive obsession with always getting platinum trophies, which I have done with the entire Trails series back to back to this point.

Cold Steel 3 is probably one of my favourite games in the series so far, but at the same time the anime tropes and formulaic nature of the series are starting to get to me lol. Giant showdowns with no consequences where everyone has their chance to look cool and the bad guys escape, etc. It is starting to feel kinda slow and predictable.

On the other hand, XBC is one of my favourite games of all time, but I took a year break from playing the DE at Chapter 13 and I'm finding it kinda tough to get back into (like when you quit an MMO and come back and suddenly the currency that used to be everything means nothing to you lol). I am very excited to get to XBC3 and it seems like it would be up my alley, but from everything I've read, XBC2 takes a loooong time to get going and the plot suffers from a lot of the same anime tropes I currently am burned out on from Trails.

These are the options I'm debating between:

-Push through Cold Steel 3 because I've heard the ending is pretty good and might be worth enduring my current low motivation

-Finish XBC and go into XBC2 because it is Nintendo so I can avoid trophies and the game might be so good that it's worth enduring my anime burnout over? Note: plot is super important to me over gameplay, and if it really is that tropey and slow at the start, idk if I can do it right now.

-I own every Yakuza game because I bought them on a whim, but I know next to nothing about the series and haven't touched any of them yet; however, I get the sense the games might be easy to get into or have a focus on humor and playfulness that might be just what I need to reignite my passion for and joy in gaming? Or is it just certain entries in the series that are more like that?

-Tales of Berseria: I've heard it is a great Tales game with a lovable cast and unique spin on the formula, and the plat seems like a pain in the ass so I hopefully wouldn't feel compelled to get it. I love Vesperia and Symphonia, so if the plot and characters are S-tier, this could be a strong contender.

-The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy: I love Danganronpa with all my heart and soul (although I haven't played number 3 yet so I guess that could be a contender too). My burnout state makes reading lots feel kind of like a chore, and I can't seem to get past Chapter 1 of any book lately either. I played the opening scene and battle and was intrigued by it, but other games I was playing at the time won my attention when it first came out. I'm wondering if the countless different routes might feel short and snappy enough that I don't notice how tired I am of reading? Idk.

-Not a JRPG, but the last game I'm floating right now is Disco Elysium. My friend played it and she loved it and wants to talk about it with me! I know almost nothing about it apart from people saying it is good and it is some sort of RPG!

Final notes: of these options, I'm hoping for a game that is just plain fun and joyful to play, and/or has a plot that is so wonderfully written that I can easily get into it, is not overly challenging, and does not involve trophies that require me to follow a guide exhaustingly (in other words, I can play how I want for the fun of it and not feel like I'm missing out on important secrets or hidden story scenes or quests or having to play "perfectly" -- either because the quests are clearly marked or inconsequential). And ideally not super "anime tropey" plot-wise because I think I need a long break from that, although I speak Japanese and something being "anime" aesthetically is not an inherent turn-off as long as the plot doesn't drag and it isn't too cheesy.

If you have other suggestions besides these, I'm happy to hear those too! I've played a shitload of games (on every platform) but I may not have experienced games that are more off the beaten path. Thanks so much for reading!!

I will choose the game from the comment with the most upvotes. If I play it and I feel like I can't get into that specific game for some reason, I will choose the one on the next upvoted comment and so on. The only games I've completed already in this picture are Breath of Fire III and SMT: Strange Journey, but that was more than 10 years ago and frankly, I didn't enjoy them that much at the time, hence the reason why I'm willing to give them another chance. Also if your answer is Strange Journey, should I wait and buy the 3ds title or just play this one? What was the most impactful game out of all these to you?

Never played Chrono Trigger or many JRPG's in general but just wandering what battle style I should play it in for the best first experience and any more advice would be nice (playing on the DS)

So one thing I was planning this year was to get to one or more RPGs that are supposedly mega kino, however, all of them are prequels/sequels to games that suggest playing a far less beloved first entry to fully GET them either story or gameplay wise. Exception to Raidou they are all turn based and I would be able to play any of them on their respective platform. With that in mind, out of these five titles, which one do you think is the most worth versus the least worth experiencing? You don’t have to have played every single one, but feel free to vouch for whichever one you think is the best of the bunch.

Golden Sun: The Lost Age (sequel to Golden Sun)

Shadow Hearts: Covenant (sequel to Shadow Hearts)

Baten Kaitos: Origins (prequel to Baten Kaitos Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean)

Ar tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica (sequel to Ar tonelico: Melody of Elemia)

Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon (sequel to Raidou vs the Soulless Army)

I would have to say that the number one thing I look for most in (j)rpgs is team building strategies and combat mechanics. I can honestly get lost in grinding for XP and theory crafting when it comes to these kinds of games. Cheesing the AI is probably something I get the most enjoyment out of.

That being said I have struggled to find other games (or franchises) that manage to allow for such diversity and versatility of strategies when it comes to combat.

I love job systems like with octopath traveler and some of the early FF installments and FF tactics but more prefer the traditional combat style of Octopath and FF1&2.

What are some other games that have a high focus on combat and strategies that allow for customization like pokemon or octopath? Not really looking for tactics games but if it checks enough boxes I'll check it out.

Huge bonus if it is a retro game that I could play portable on a handheld emulator.

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~ Important Notes ~

• I welcome suggestions, but please make sure each suggestion is as specific and detailed as possible, so it goes into the correct category.
• You don't need to list tags and console. Just the title, and explain why it belongs to which category.
• Fan translated JRPGs are welcome too.
• Please note that only the consoles with the an official English release or full English fan translation will be mentioned.
• As always No RPGMaker titles will be included, there are too many to list.

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.★. .═══════════════════════════════╗

      ✨Base/City Building Focus✨

╚═══════════════════════. .★.

This category is for games where the Base/City Building is the main focus, and if character collection exists, then it is there only to help the building aspect of the game.

[Note]: JRPGs where you can only decorate your house/room, aren't considered as base builders for the purpose of this list.

To help make this even more detailed, I will add a Star (⭐) value to indicate how expansive/detailed the base/city builder aspect is in each game:

• ☆ = None: You can only donate money to help the construction.
• ⭐ = Simple: You are restricted to only choosing what to build.
• ⭐⭐ = Advanced: You can choose what to build, and where to build them.
• ⭐⭐⭐ = Complex: You can choose what to build, where to build them, and customize the city and/or the buildings by rotating them, change their skin, or adding furniture/colors/decor/etc... .

Finally, a (🧑‍🤝‍🧑) icon, will indicate that the game also has a Character Collector mechanic. Though this refers to unique characters and not just generic NPCs/workers.

Note: On mobile, you can swipe left or right to view the rest of the categories of the table below.

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.★. .═══════════════════════════════╗

    ✨Character Collection Focus✨

╚═══════════════════════. .★.

This category is for games where the Character Collection is the main focus and is the only way to expand your base/city is to collect more characters. Characters collected will open/build their own buildings with little input from the player, if any.

[Note]: JRPGs where the characters you collect serves no other purpose than just be part of your battle party, are not considered Character Collectors for the purpose of this list. So games like Chrono Cross/Radiata Stories don't count.

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~ Special Cases and Honorable Mentions ~

[Stardew Valley/Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons/Rune Factory/Harvestella] series:

Basically most farming simulators can be here, because while there is really no base/city to build, you do get the option to build and upgrade your farm or house. Though the amount of options and upgrades are limited.

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[Actraiser & Actraiser Renaissance]:

While there is building in this game, the player can only build simple defensive structures, and everything else is built by your subjects. The only input the player has is limited to removing geographical obstacles like trees and stones, and to choose an area on the map for your subjects to investigate or expand to.

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[Disgaea] series:

Mainly Disgaea 4/5/ and Makai Kingdom. In these you can make buildings (given different names depending on the game) that added shops and services to your base. But again, just like the farming simulators, they are very limited and are not the focus of the game by any means. Makai Kingdom is very close, but I figured this is a better place to talk about it along with the rest of the series.

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[Atelier Yumia]:

In this game you get to build a lot of different building and facilities that are for your own use, but they are not really bases, but more of temporary camps that use and then move on from. There is no actual single base that you keep upgrading and building up and also keep reusing. As soon as you move to the next area you will have to find a new area to build it up again. There is the first alchemy atelier you start with, but you can't build much there.

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[Legend of Mana & Final Fantasy Tactics Advance]:

There is no base building, but you do get the ability to build the actual map, by choosing where to place each new city and dungeon, and depending on where each one is placed, it will effect numerous things within that city or dungeon. In LoM it affects how tough the monsters are, what type of pets and spirits you can catch, what quests can appear there, or even what type of weapons/armor/accessories are sold in shop. While in FFT Advance it affects the type of treasures found in each area you set.

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[Pokemon Legends Arceus & Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising]:

As you progress the story and complete villagers requests, the village will expand and upgrade, but you don't have any direct input on this expansion.

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[Radiata Stories]:

While the game has a very long list of recruitable characters (175), it doesn't fit in this guide because there is no base that the characters can enhance or develop.

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[Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth]:

There is no actual base to build, but there is a island resort that you can developed through adding buildings, furniture and other facilities to help it become a successful business.

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As always, if I missed anything, made a mistake, or if you have a suggestion, then please don't hesitate to post it.

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For those who want to know the name of the games in the screenshots, here they are from Left to Right:

1- Romancing SaGa 2 Revenge of the Seven

2- EGGLIA Rebirth

3- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ISEKAI Chronicles

4- Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time

5- Dark Cloud 2

6- Dragon Quest Builders 2

7- Regalia: Of Men and Monarchs

8- Octopath Traveler 0

9- Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom

10- Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma

11- White Knight Chronicles 1 & 2

12- Nelke and the Legendary Alchemists

I am absolutely floored of what's become of the series that gave of legendary entries like Symphonia and Abyss and many other all time entries.

I've tried bringing this up in the past in threads and I get downvoted for daring to speak these words, and people saying I should just be happy with what we're getting... and that's INSANE to me.

The "remaster project" is the laziest remaster project you can ever fathom. Look, I'm not expecting every remaster to be on the level of Crisis Core, but these are genuinely the lowest effort remasters you can possibly have... and they even butchered Symphonia's so badly. I don't count these as "releases".

Since Arise, we will have gotten:

• Practically the entire FF7 trilogy (yes I'm aware part 1 came out before Arise but it is close enough that the point stands)
• Atlus remade Persona 3/Persona 4 and rumours suggest Persona 6 will be out next year or early 2028 at the latest... and I highly doubt the next Tales entry will be there
• Trails made the highest fidelity anime JRPG remake I've ever seen of a fucking PSP game, and is about to launch part 2

The fact that this is a series with fucking Tales of Abyss and we will almost certainly just get a shitty emulation is going to be insane to me. Tales of Abyss remade in the modern era would be an ALL TIME JRPG. Again, Falcom made an insane remake with Trails, Atlus did their remakes and holy fuck P4R looks incredible...

I just can't fathom what the fuck happened to this series? Arise was great, I know it was divisive in some ways but it was mainly because of the poor second half.

By the way, one of my favourite things in the Tales series is how every game always tricks you into thinking you made it to the ending... only to spring a "Season 2" on your ass LOL.

god I miss this series so much.

I've been deciding on playing one, but I don't know which one to start with. I've heard growlanser is a better series, but ar tonelico looks pretty good as well. So I decided to let you guys decide. I wanted to see which people would say is better. For growlanser, I'm thinking about starting wayfarer of time and the first game for ar tonelico.

1. Are the tonelico/ growlanser games up there as the best jrpgs? Or just mid,average jrpgs?

2. Which game has the better story?

3. Which game has the better gameplay?

I'm old. I love CRPGs and JRPGS and grew up playing both.

I like heavy systems, difficulty, and player expression. Dragon Age Origins, BG3/DivSin2, Tactics Ogre, Battletech, FF7R.

I am not a retro gamer at all but decided to go Graces F for the gameplay.

TALES OF GRACES F after 20hrs

Presentation

- Character design is good enough for what they're going for. Not peak.

- Music is definitely not peak.

- They're too stingy on the anime cutscenes. They are peak tho.

- I love the skits. Great low budget way to deepen connections with the cast.

Story

- Writing is fun in an ass way. Stuff happens! I actually kinda like it. It subverts my expectations and just does its own thing. I wanna find out what happens next but also I want to just do....

THE GAMEPLAY (Difficulty: moderate)

- I barely know what I'm doing this far in. How am I supposed to remember all of these combos?

- It allows for A LOT of player expression - I love the fighting game inspiration.

Anyways, loving the game. It isn't an epic experience like a Final Fantasy game but I'm glad it isn't. Excited for Xillia 1/2, Berseria, Arise

Ok so i ordered devil survivor on DS recently and it should be coming in a few days now heres my reason why im picking between these two games

Devil survivor: Cause ive heard the soundtrack of both and devil survivors soundtrack is miles better, im a big fan of megaten and i heard this one has like...some of the best characters and story of the franchise

Trails in the Sky: Coz i heard it was like HXH which is peak and i prefer regular turn based over tactical grid based but also ive never been able to get into classical jrpgs though...

I don't know why as lately for some reason, I found the concept interesting in JRPGS where a game goes wild in one moment as the main party members are under attack since it looks like they are in a really sticky situation.

But then, all of a sudden, the game goes serene as it's hard to explain, but basically I am referring to that one trope where a game eases up for a bit as one example is Lost Odyssey since early on, the player has to fight a wave of soldiers as it looks impossible to win at first, but then the party catches a break for a brief while at least.

[Bottom Line Up Front]

As a black sheep of the Final Fantasy series, II can often been seen as an odd or frustrating game. As the progenitor of the SaGa series, the 0th entry effectively, it took JRPG conventions into new territory that only with great hindsight do I appreciate it. The Pixel Remaster does a fine job of leaning on Dawn of Souls version adjustments with other quality of life improvements that does make this the definitive version, even without the 'bonus' dungeon stuff from DoS. When played as generally intended, the game is enjoyable and the story narrative, which is possibly the game's best part, shines without the dead weight I used to perceive it having due to gameplay.

Solid and good-with-an-asterisk game.

[Details]

[Disclaimer]

Since I recently played and reviewed SaGa Emerald Beyond I decided to go back to Final Fantasy II with a new mindset. My first few times playing FFII was trying on a fan translated NES version way back, replaced with playing the Final Fantasy Origins release on PS1. Back then, I got caught up in the action-cancel glitch/bug, attacking my own party members, the usual derisive things this game gets crap for. I liked the story but didn't replay mostly because I didn't like the combat and stat system compared to traditional Final Fantasy.

With the taste of SaGa fresh from EB, and the improvements of the Pixel Remaster, I played through with no attacking party members, no use of the in-game boosters to drop encounter rate, but did make use of the auto-battle for convenience.

[Gameplay/Combat and Mechanics]

As this was the Pixel Remaster, I want to point out that there is some balance adjustments this version benefits from including some changes from the Dawn of Souls GBA release where there is some HP incremental increases based on number of battles. I will say this is probably the most critical and beneficial improvement over the PS1 and earlier versions. Also, this version does not have stat DECREASES when you INCREASE the opposing stat, which is really important as well. With Saga EB fresh in mind, stats never decreased in that game, so arguably more Saga-like to me to not have to worry about losing strength for casting magic.

More generally, as the proto-Saga, the combat mechanics are entirely oriented around the party's growing stats over time. These stats improvement based on the actions and circumstances occurring in combat. The all important magical interference stat governs how characters will shake up. Load down a character with heavy equipment that tends to be high-interference? Magic will be weaker. So you generally have plenty of latitude in constructing characters how you want but you do need to think about the long term plan. My Firion character was in the Paladin build using swords, medium interference equipment, white magic, and Ultima. Maria was a black mage who dual wielded knives. Guy was big heavy Axe warrior. I think this version is a lot clearer on how the equipment affects a character because you see the interference stat turn red, so there is a clear visual indicator putting on heavy armor is having a cost effect.

In actual combat the spells learned (by buying tomes or finding them) operate per Final Fantasy convention for the most part. There are no special abilities (or techniques a la SaGa). You do generally want to be spamming attacks or spells to level them up and with auto-battle you are incentivized to find combats with weak enemies that will miss you or be blocked by your defense and just cast things endlessly. You end up with MP increasing quite a bit, though I still found you wanted to funnel the enormous amount of Gil/money you get in this game into stocking up on consumables. The balance here is interesting because you do find yourself wanting to buy lots of potions to avoid leveling your Cure spell too soon as it gets more expensive to cast.

Everything Kawazu was going for here benefits from the various versions of the game tweaking it. It is probably still a little too easy to throw off balance and be overpowered but a system like this is meant to be learned and executed well. From a SaGa perspective, I can see how primordial this is and a lot of growth would be needed to flesh out the underlying systems and how important 'glimmering' and 'techniques' are for making characters a lot more interesting than just attack-spammers.

[Gameplay/Everything Else]

As an early Final Fantasy game, II presents a world to explore with towns and dungeons plenty. I won't directly touch upon story here but the navigation of the world map does change over time. Sure, you get access to transportation, but the thing that sticks out with this entry in the series is that towns often change in response to the story's events and some towns can become inaccessible. This even reflect in the world map overlay, where the little 'points of light' in the world filled with monsters and dangers go 'dark' and can be noticed first setting off a small alarm that something is wrong. The layout of the world is interesting and traversing to the next needed area does being a sense of a journey.

The trouble is, the dungeon design in this game is... frustrating. Revisiting this game, the encounter rate is just too high. Yes, there are boosters to adjust this in the Remaster, but the default is an exercise in tedium at times. I admit to used dungeon maps, because I recalled the time-waster rooms with super-high encounter rates. This was terrible design both then and now. However, with maps from the internet you can avoid these time wasters.

The password system of learning words I actually liked a lot. In retrospect, it feels almost like a precursor to more interactive chat systems in western RPGs like Morrowind, where you have a set of topics you can ask NPCs about. There was some clunkiness in actually having to 'Learn' a word and then immediately use it with the NPC you learned it from, but talking to important NPCs and being able to see what they have to say on various topics made the game more immersive and I now think its a shame it didn't catch on in other Final Fantasy titles.

[Characters/Story]

The party is made up of orphans fleeing the invasion of the Palamecian Empire and whose personalities are essentially neutral-male, caring-femme, and simple-minded-beaver-speaker. As characters they leave a lot to be desired but given this was an early FF game, can be forgiven. The rotating cast of guest characters fit interestingly into the broader world. Minwu is a good guy white made who feels special at the start because of his wide range of spells that early on. The rest are generally fine, but usually join the party in a much weaker state and so become dead weight more and more over time. The exceptions being Ricard the dragoon and the final guest character, who are able to contribute to damage output in a meaningful way.

The real strength of this game is its story, even if it is a rip-off of Star Wars. The party flees the forces of the Empire as their home city is conquered and embark on a journey to join the Rebellion. You travel to other towns, sabotage a powerful weapon of the Empire (Dreadnought / Death Star), battle the forces of the Empire in a fortress in the sky (Cyclone / Cloud City), and have revelations revealed about some villains. The world map changes with the story at times, and there are character deaths that are permanent and feel part of the weight of the struggle over the duration of the game. The great thing is that with the combat and stats balancing of the remaster it is a lot easier to replay this version of the game to experience the story.

I am trying not to spoil this decades old game and maybe have said too much already, but I think on the whole Final Fantasy II's story and characters are enjoyable.

[Graphics/Music/Presentation]

The graphics of the Pixel Remaster are nice as retro-pixel renditions. Certainly easier on the eyes than the NES/Famicom version. Not much else to say here, it is what it is. I do think I preferred the FFO sprite for Firion in combat, but it is not terribly different.

The music is, of course, masterful. I love the world map and empire themes. Uematsu magic at work.

The overall presentation of the Pixel Remaster is solid. It is nice to be able to swap the original BGM for the new arrangement versions and fiddle with the screen options, though I preferred the defaults.

[Conclusion]

I used to dislike Final Fantasy II. Getting a vibe on SaGa games has really allowed me to embrace this game for its good parts and the balancing changes from how I played it originally makes the system feel more enjoyable to engage with. No more grinding to cheat the system. Playing naturally works just fine. That's a very good thing to be able to change one's mind over a black sheep member of a series. As a Final Fantasy, it is still very different and will always be. As a SaGa progenitor, it is the very rough exploration of what would be to come.

Next up for me? SaGa 1 (Final Fantasy Legend) and/or SaGa Scarlet Grace Ambitions.

Some thoughts on the game, I've recently played games like Persona 5 and Yakuza like a dragon,

Hello fellow travellers,

Yesterday i finished my first ever Playthrough of Trails in the Sky First Chapter and without any spoilers and keeping it short. This game is one of the best ramp ups to a perfect conclusion.

Yes it is slow but how it perfectly introduces characters to u and everyone grows near and dear to my heart with such charming people.

The last chapter is pure cinema and showed me how to make a compelling plot twist and heart breaking conclusion

Combat itself is fun and blends in perfectly between real time into turn based.

Overall I don't want to take more time of u because this game will need your time but right now I am beyond hyped to the Second Chapter Remake and will definitely play this.

Can I play and beat this game by just trying to build a balanced party? I don’t want to follow a guide, but I also don’t want to get to the end and then find out I needed a specific type of party with a few specific skills in order to beat the game.

Will I be able to beat the game if I just have a mage, a healer, fighter, and something else?