JRPGs with kid(s) as main character(s)

Hey, I want to choose a game for a very young person with a main character they can identify with, and recent comments in this forum section about JRPGs featuring adolescent characters made me think the genre is likely to feature even younger ones…

The age of character(s) shouldn't be anything beyond 12-13. Only translated ones, of course, the person in question is learning English, not Japanese

Off the top of my hat, I can only remember Swordcraft Story games and Ni no Kuni. Anything else? (Western RPGs would be ok, too, if there are any with preteen protagonists, but I doubt they exist)

Cronotrigger?

I never played Chrono Trigger (that will be fixed, I swear!), so I'm going to have to ask you to elaborate. About the main character Crono the wiki states that

Fortune Summoners?

There's always Recettear, but the girl seems like she's about 14-16…

Thanks, I'll look into Fortune Summoners.

Recettear was quite difficult even for myself (the sales part), so regardless of ages, I'm not sure it would be a good game for a preteen, haha.

My bad. He is 17. For some reason i thought he was younger.

Originally Posted by Elel
Thanks, I'll look into Fortune Summoners.

Recettear was quite difficult even for myself (the sales part), so regardless of ages, I'm not sure it would be a good game for a preteen, haha.

Really? To me it was the other way around, the combat part was difficult but the store part was great.

Originally Posted by wolfing
Really? To me it was the other way around, the combat part was difficult but the store part was great.

Lucky you I couldn't understand the mechanics of pricing. I don't remember the system clearly now, but you were supposed to set prices differently each time and for different customers. There was some kind of perfect zone to increase customer's appreciation, which I failed to calculate how to get in. As a result, the popularity of the shop wasn't high and people weren't buying well.

Gotta go with Chrono Trigger. It's a tale of young friendship and sticking together. I played it when I was a kid and it was literally a life-changing experience. I loved it so much and it has heavily imprinted me to be the person I am today. Love that game and I'm sure other young people would adore it as much as I did.

Originally Posted by Fluent
Gotta go with Chrono Trigger. It's a tale of young friendship and sticking together. I played it when I was a kid and it was literally a life-changing experience. I loved it so much and it has heavily imprinted me to be the person I am today. Love that game and I'm sure other young people would adore it as much as I did.

I agree Fluent.

Chrono Cross was also good but the final boss battle to get the true ending was a nightmare. You had to attack him in a certain way, or you got the normal ending.

Edit: Elel you can also check out Dark Cloud 1&2 plus the Secret of Mana games.

I should mention that I'd like a game with nice graphics. Not super graphics, just nice. The little girl lives in a modern world and isn't accustomed to old games! So I'm a little dubious about Chrono Trigger and Secret of Mana.

Although I could always obtain ChronoTrigger anyway. I planned to play it myself. So I guess I'll check it out and show it to her to see the reaction.

As a present Fortune Summoners looks good. And it's on PC (and currently on sale), which makes things even easier.

About Dark Cloud: is Dark Cloud 2 a direct sequel or can you play it standalone? I think she'd be more interested in 2 b/c of its girl character.

If you have any more suggestions, don't be shy to post!

The cool thing about Chrono Trigger is that it is such a classic, enduring RPG that it keeps getting modernized and brought out on current-gen systems. While I'm not aware of an "official" PC version (yet), there's absolutely a DS version that will work on 3DS. And it's only slightly modernized. If she's a modern kid she may not enjoy the emulated version, though…maybe she would!

Well, if the age should be below 15… earthbound is the game I guess….

Originally Posted by Elel
Ni no Kuni

Totally forgot about this one. I remember seeing a public outcry to port this game on PC and they never did it. I really wish it was ported to check if the game is *that* good.

If the child isn't illiterate, grab them Legends of Heroes: Trails in the Sky cheap on GOG.
If is still learning to read, put them away from machines.

Originally Posted by joxer
Totally forgot about this one. I remember seeing a public outcry to port this game on PC and they never did it. I really wish it was ported to check if the game is *that* good.

I heard it was directed by Miyazaki himself, which is, like, a stamp of quality.

If the child isn't illiterate, grab them Legends of Heroes: Trails in the Sky cheap on GOG.
If is still learning to read, put them away from machines.

Why did I not think of that?.. I already have that game and played it myself, so I can vouche that it's good, even if characters are above her age.

I wonder if she'd be ok with complex "walls of text" in Trails in the Sky, though. She's learning English, you see, but she loves it and is good with it, it's supposed to be a present to capture both her love of games and love of languages.

GOG also has another good DRM-Free JRPG called Pier Solar.

Link - http://www.gog.com/game/pier_solar_a…eat_architects

Being a turn-based RPG with state-of-the-art aesthetics, Pier Solar is a story-based RPG about the journey of three young heroes from the town of Reja. In this prospered and peaceful town there live three best friends: Hoston, Alina and Edessot. Young and curious, they want to go on a herb-seeking quest to help cure Hoston's father's mysterious illness. Little do they know … it will be the beginning of their lifetime journey where they will learn the true meaning of friendship and the thrill of adventure.

Hope this helps Elel.

Do these games even have adult characters in them? Last one I remember was a guy with an afro and a small chicken living in his hair.
Seriously.

Bobo, I wanted games with preteens, not teens, which aren't easy to find even among JRPGs.

Oh well, I was referring to the chicken.
Well, Brumbek is bound to log in and I'd stake my life he'll know a thing or two.

Not really a JRPG (it's made by Ubisoft Montréal, but design wise it is basically a JRPG), but Child of Light main character is a young girl -she's supposed to be pre-teen, at the start-.

It does require Uplay on PC, but runs on basically everything (PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U and PC versions exist).

edit:
There is a video of Making of the Music of the game (it has an awesome soundtrack).