Top 5 JRPGS for the PC

You also unlock new recruits, new special attacks and there are strong group dynamics based on how you build your squads, etc.

forgottenlor said:

I'm going to hope that I can disagree with you. I tend to be like Fluent and seem to be able to enjoy a wide array of games despite their shortcomings, so I'll give some of the recommended entries a try, even if they can't measure up to Valkyria Chronicles or Trails in the Sky.

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To be fair, he's right… PC is not the best platform to be introduced to JRPGs. You've already played TiTS, there aren't many comparably good games left. But you can always use an emulator to play some older good games, even if you can't find a console to buy. I suppose buying old consoles is risky, no new ones produced (afaik) and old used ones can be very close to burning out. Or you could just buy a more modern console, I suppose, and play both new and older games on it.

Newer consoles don't play older games (though Microsoft is making some games backwards compatible).

Emulators.

While I know its not strictly PC supported emulators can work fairly well. Has anyone tried the emulators for PS3/XBox360? Do they work well? I've seen RPCS3 and ESX but worry that they may not well on current hardware. I've used the PCSX2(PS2) and Dolphin(Wii) which were both great emulators BTW. I used Dolphin to play Xenoblade Chronicles with xbox controller and it worked nicely as I recall (game was ok but previous versions were better).

I've sort of wanted to play Lost Odyssey again but dont really want to bother setting up the xbox. And maybe could get Blue Dragon and try that finally.

Blue Dragon is so good. Enjoy!

Zloth said:

Newer consoles don't play older games (though Microsoft is making some games backwards compatible).

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Nintendo have at least kept 1 generation worth of backwards compatibility with their two latest consoles.
Speaking of which, I wonder if The Last Story is any better if played on WiiU. My main gripe with that game was the framerate, which literally stayed in the single digits through most of the fights in the later parts of the game. The Wii hardware simply could not handle the game.

Zloth said:

In the first four hours the battles are easy. Actually, probably for the first 10 hours or so they are easy. It's a very different combat system so starting off hard would have been really rough!

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While they should not start off hard, 10 hours is really too much when all you really do is randomly tell people to attack with little thought or strategy. If you've got a new combat system, you need to show what it can actually do (Final Fantasy XIII had a similar issue. While here it was "only" about 2-3h of repetitive combat that required no skill from the player, that was still far too much time spent doing things that were not fun at all. They should at least have started introducing new elements that required some thought earlier on).

figment said:

While I know its not strictly PC supported emulators can work fairly well. Has anyone tried the emulators for PS3/XBox360? Do they work well? I've seen RPCS3 and ESX but worry that they may not well on current hardware. I've used the PCSX2(PS2) and Dolphin(Wii) which were both great emulators BTW. I used Dolphin to play Xenoblade Chronicles with xbox controller and it worked nicely as I recall (game was ok but previous versions were better).

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The PS3/Xbox360 emulators are still at an early stage of development, and nowhere near playing major games at acceptable frame-rates. RPCS3 runs a couple of very basic games in a buggy state. There's a mountain to climb before they're at the level of Dolphin - several years, I would say. Be very wary of the fake ones making bogus claims.

I must praise Dolphin, though. I find it works superbly all he way up to Wii games, and actually significantly improves them with improved resolution, texture filtering, antialiasing, etc. It's like having a souped-up version of the original console, so long as you have a decent CPU.

Fnord said:

While they should not start off hard, 10 hours is really too much when all you really do is randomly tell people to attack with little thought or strategy.

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Randomly!? Well that will get you killed well before 10 hours! The quest to get Violet on your team particularly...

You probably won't need to worry about team sizes or formations and other 'advanced' features until about 10 hours in but you are supposed to be figuring them out. If you don't, Eagle's Nest will be a rude awakening.

I have to say, I'm currently doing a run through Final Fantasy games, did one through six, skipped seven and eight (seven because the main character just annoys the crap outta me, eight because I heard lots of bad things) and now I'm into the ninth game. When I skipped seven and eight I kinda assumed the ninth game wouldn't be good, but man it has totally sucked me in. Not sure how many hours I've played so far, around twenty I'd guess, right now I just got a quest to look for Ramuh's summoning spell I think.

Carnifex said:

Ramuh's summoning spell

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Hint #1 - if you get the first three right, it doesn't matter which verse you choose as 4th.
Hint #2 - don't forget to equip the gem after you solve the "puzzle"!
Hint #3 - don't instantly proceed forward but return and talk to the plush mob some more.

Hehe I thought it would be like a quest that would last an hour or so, think I knocked it out in under five minutes. Just hit the Black Mage Village now!