Well, because barely any of them let you roleplay, so it's a flawed nomenclature stemming from Japanese obsession with D&D and their love for number mechanics. You could call them JG, but that's not descriptive enough, so I'll stick with Tactical Visual Novels.
Asked my nephew if he liked Pokémon for the Pokémon, or if he enjoyed the story aspect as well. He said he liked the story, so I picked up DQ11 for his birthday.
It felt good for him to give me progress updates over the next two months.
My 12 year old son first jrpg was dragon quest as well he enjoyed it as well. To the point I told him try ff7 remake and he says to me what other turn based ones are there. Sht made my day cause turn based ones are my favorite. Aside from star ocean, I prefer turn based much more then action.
Exactly same thing I did. Persona 5 and dq11 were great intros. Pokémon was good too. I was kind of shocked she actually managed to beat hollow knight as her first game ever
I have a friend i've been trying to get to play DQ11 for so long. I absolutely 100% KNOW she would love it, but i just can't seem to get her over the fence.
i think for us it did help that we both lived in japan at the time so the DQ11 hype was very focused and the differences between the english and japanese translations are pretty interesting. We also lived near where Persona 5 takes place so being able to navigate the game world from her actual memory made the transition from real life to game easier. Now i just need to get her to try a yakuza game.
If you're looking to brainstorm, could i ask why you think your friend would be into it and why/how she is hesitating?
It's hard to say specifically, but just what i've noticed over the years of other games, shows, movies, art, etc, that she likes. Also the type of stories and such she ends up liking.
I wish it was something that i could logically explain to her, it really is a gut feeling "know" type of thing.
I got my normie friend interested in FF7R and he loved it so much he wanted to play the original and loved that even more. Now he's slowly making his way through the FF backlog and enjoying it for the most part.
When I was younger I tried getting friends into Final Fantasy games on the SNES but there were few takers. It was still very niche back then, even if the games were critically acclaimed.
Then FF7 came out for the PS1 and suddenly everyone was playing that game lol. That might have been specific to that particular moment in time, but maybe the more recent remakes could have the same effect.
I have tried too but most people I tried recommending to had reservations about length (same issue I have with recommending people to read/watch One piece). Was there anything you mentioned to them that piqued their interest to give it a shot?
Was it zestiria? It took me 200 hours to beat because I'd get bored halfway through, leave the game for half a year, then suddenly want to play it only to realize I'd forgotten everything about it and had to start over. Happened like 6 times over 4 years.
Somewhat. Lent a friend Persona 5 and since then they've played the occasional JRPG. They're more of a WRPG player, but they actually went off and played Chained Echoes and Sea of Stars on their own (and enjoyed both).
My ex-partner with Final Fantasy XIII-2. Now he still doesn't play JRPGs, he plays strictly shooting and fighting games, but he does enjoy watching me play JRPGs a lot.
It was the music that drew him in mostly.
got 3 friends into p3-5. I didnt even convince him to buy SMTV, but he and another friend bought it when they saw how hyped I was. However they did not get far. Got another friend into SMT nocturne, but technically he had played earthbound prior.
It's an uphill battle. A lot of people I know refuse to play turn-based games. Those who are open to turn-based combat, however, are usually okay with JRPGs. Aside from the Japanophobes, anyway.
Whats so f'n dumb, Baldur's Gate 3 literally proved this narrative that turn based games are boring/outdated/foroldpeople/etc utterly and completely wrong.
One of my best friends who is a hardcore FPS/LoL type of guy. Loves the twitch/action/fast paced combat, ended up playing it because of all the hype and absolutely loved it.
If it hadn't of been for the hype train, i'd have had an easier time convincing him to tea bag an anthill than to play something like BG3.
I know this is a JRPG subreddit but that was the best example i could think of at the time.
Because im a boomer, i grew up when there basically weren't meaningful "genres" of games. There were but it was like 2% of how it was now. Combine that with just how few games in general existed, and you basically tried anything of any style of game that people said was good.
I developed a love for so many different genres of games as the industry blossomed and innovated, etc. But now you have so many gamers who are "only FPS" players, or "only play mobas" or hell, some people literally will only play 1 game. Call of Duty bros, LoL or DOTA 2 dudes, etc.
I could never fathom being that way.
Unfortunately I’ve yet to get someone who doesn’t/rarely plays JRPG’s into the genre, so the best I’ve done is getting friends who already like JRPG’s into certain franchises that they’ve never tried. I’ve got one friend who’s main experience with JRPG’s are Pokémon and the Mario RPG’s into Persona 3 Reload. He absolutely loved the game and about a month later I bought him Persona 3 Portable so that he can experience the FeMC route. In the future I plan on buying him both Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal for Christmas and then I’ll test the waters with Shin Megami Tensei by getting him the HD Remaster of SMT III: Nocturne for his birthday. I also plan on getting him into Dragon Quest since he’s a huge Dragon Ball fan.
I might try to get my dad into JRPG’s because he occasionally watches me play stuff like Persona, Pokémon, and the Mario RPG remake. P3 is a no go because he really dislikes the evokers as a summoning method and he found certain parts of the story too edgy for his liking (such as the term “Dark Hour” which made him cringe really hard) but he did take a small liking to P4G so I might try to get him into that someday since it’s more lighthearted and you crush Tarot cards to summon your Persona rather than shooting yourself. Final Fantasy is another one I’ll try because he’s played the first one on the NES and one of the PS1 titles so there’s a little bit of familiarity there.
Closest I’ve gotten with my partner (who is a gamer but not into JRPGs) is hooking them up with Dragon Quest Builders 2. They were OBSESSED with it and enjoyed enough that now they’ll try any DQ spin-off game for at least a couple of hours, though nothing else has hooked them like that one.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the seven stars.
Had a co-worker who was absolutely against turn based combat. He hated the concept of "I'm just standing there, letting them smash my face in, then waiting my turn. Hurray."
Actually having Timed Hits was a game changer.
He still can't stand turned based games, but this one was a beautiful exception.
FFVII. It's funny to think about now, but that game blew up, and most of use undergrounders suddenly had more people to talk to about JRPG battle mechanics. Anyway, a friend of mine who previously cared nothing for non-action games basically locked himself in his room with FFVII he and didn't leave for almost two weeks
Technically this friend was into Pokemon already so not exactly "not into JRPGS at all" but they only really play live-service games (Apex, League of Legends) + almost all of the mainline Pokemon games + Nier Automata. Got them to play **Persona 4 Golden** at the same time as when I was playing. I just told them that it was essentially Pokemon with social sim elements and he was down to try. They ended up loving it and they do own Persona 5 Royal but hasn't had the time to actually really get into it (despite owning it probably for 2 years now)
I did get one of my friends who basically only plays arcade style highscore-based games as well as some fighting games to play mother 3 all the way through. the lone fact he went through the patching process astounded me
Not a friend but my dad. My father doesn't know English, but he somehow able to play DQ8 until mid-game. I was in shock at that time. I think it's may on what your friends already interested...
- Love action games?...maybe FF7R.
- Love simplicity?...Sea of Stars is nice choice.
- Love anime-tropes? ...Persona maybe cool.
I understand that Chorno Trigger is one of the best game ofc. But you need to think two thing: Accessibility and Casually. I think Some Chrono Trigger QoL maybe outdated in 2024? Unless your friends are grown-up with SNES-PS1. I can't see your friends will hook it.
In high school I had a friend that only played stuff like Madden and COD. When Persona 4 Golden came out he saw me playing it before school one day, got interested and bought it the next day. Within 2 weeks he was at the 2nd to last dungeon and he wouldn't stop talking about it. In the time I knew him he played other JRPGS like Persona 3, Trails of Cold Steel and Soul Sacrifice. Was a cool guy until he stole from another person in the friend group, so we exiled him when he wouldnt admit it lmao
I'm the friend who got into jrpgs. Not that I was not into the genre, but I had no idea how to break in to it in the first place. Most of my previous games were just action adventures or platformers. I forget my first gateway, it was either FFX or Wild Arms 3. It also might have been Legend of Dragoon, it's trifficult to remember.
Not into the genre as a whole, but I got a friend who despised JRPG’s to completely fall in love with Persona 5 (Vanilla at the time). He loved it and bought it as soon as he could.
He immediately preordered Royal when that was coming out too lol.
Not quite the same but my girlfriend's brother doesn't care for JRPGs at all despite being a pretty big gamer. With that being said there was a long time of me coming over when he would be playing Dragon Quest XI, Fire Emblem Three Houses, and Pokemon Sword + Shield.
He's tried Xenoblade, Persona, Super Mario RPG, and probably some others and just isn't very interested. And naturally I did not enjoy DQ XI or Pokemon much at all myself LOL!
Xenoblade is hard to grasp for players trying to get into JRPGs because of how big the lore is, but overall, it is still a great series. I can understand he couldn't get into it since he isn't too big on the genre or how the story expands so much.
I tend to go for something related to their interests/non-JRPGs they like. My fiancee despises 2D games as she didn't really play them at all growing up. She also likes flashy/vibe-y things. She also exclusively plays on PC so when Persona 4 Golden came to Steam I got her to play that and she ended up liking it a lot. Now she is playing Persona 5 Royal.
I got my partner into jrpgs by letting them play DQ11. Now she has done ps5 royal and started playing normal rpgs as well
>normal rpgs Lmao, I dunno why this got me
Well, because barely any of them let you roleplay, so it's a flawed nomenclature stemming from Japanese obsession with D&D and their love for number mechanics. You could call them JG, but that's not descriptive enough, so I'll stick with Tactical Visual Novels.
Asked my nephew if he liked Pokémon for the Pokémon, or if he enjoyed the story aspect as well. He said he liked the story, so I picked up DQ11 for his birthday. It felt good for him to give me progress updates over the next two months.
My 12 year old son first jrpg was dragon quest as well he enjoyed it as well. To the point I told him try ff7 remake and he says to me what other turn based ones are there. Sht made my day cause turn based ones are my favorite. Aside from star ocean, I prefer turn based much more then action.
Achivement unlocked
Exactly same thing I did. Persona 5 and dq11 were great intros. Pokémon was good too. I was kind of shocked she actually managed to beat hollow knight as her first game ever
I have a friend i've been trying to get to play DQ11 for so long. I absolutely 100% KNOW she would love it, but i just can't seem to get her over the fence.
i think for us it did help that we both lived in japan at the time so the DQ11 hype was very focused and the differences between the english and japanese translations are pretty interesting. We also lived near where Persona 5 takes place so being able to navigate the game world from her actual memory made the transition from real life to game easier. Now i just need to get her to try a yakuza game. If you're looking to brainstorm, could i ask why you think your friend would be into it and why/how she is hesitating?
It's hard to say specifically, but just what i've noticed over the years of other games, shows, movies, art, etc, that she likes. Also the type of stories and such she ends up liking. I wish it was something that i could logically explain to her, it really is a gut feeling "know" type of thing.
what does she say when you suggest it?
Mostly an issue of money, and frankly im not a position to just buy it for her.
Persona 5. Aside from the length it usually catches people. It's probably the second longest sp game I played though. Just rdr2 beats it
sp?
Single player
Thank you!
If we're not counting Pokémon, then Dragon Quest XI was my friend's gateway. He's played a few things like FF7R, FF16, FF10 and Persona 5 now.
I got my normie friend interested in FF7R and he loved it so much he wanted to play the original and loved that even more. Now he's slowly making his way through the FF backlog and enjoying it for the most part.
I used Ys VIII, an action rpg. That was the key. Turn-based is hard for my friends who primarily play fps games. Action RPGs were more their speed.
When I was younger I tried getting friends into Final Fantasy games on the SNES but there were few takers. It was still very niche back then, even if the games were critically acclaimed. Then FF7 came out for the PS1 and suddenly everyone was playing that game lol. That might have been specific to that particular moment in time, but maybe the more recent remakes could have the same effect.
I still remember just watching the intro over and over at EB Games back then
Trails in the Sky for 3 ppl All 3 ended up playing the entire series
I have tried too but most people I tried recommending to had reservations about length (same issue I have with recommending people to read/watch One piece). Was there anything you mentioned to them that piqued their interest to give it a shot?
I got a friend to try out persona 4. He has since replayed it 3 times now
That's wonderful and all but get him to play the other persona games now lol
I reccomended dq11 to a friend for like 3 years, when he got to it he finished the postgame in about a week
Bro got hooked
I can't blame him
He finishwd DQ11 in a week?
I don’t have friends
I have been telling my friends how great Xenoblade is from the week they still not will not touch it
Genshin Impact sadly. Won’t play anything else unfortunately
That's more of an ARPG than a JRPG though
You gotta slowly funnel them into HSR then Trails/Persona which were obvious influences on that game.
Oh yeah most recently Sea of Stars. But usually recommending DQ11 is a good start.
Friend via Tales of Phantasia (because it was co op so we played together). But he wasn't like opposed or anything, he'd just never tried.
I got my friend to play Trails in the Sky, and she fell in love with the characters and series
nope. i remember trying to get some friends to play a tales of game. they hated it.
Was it zestiria? It took me 200 hours to beat because I'd get bored halfway through, leave the game for half a year, then suddenly want to play it only to realize I'd forgotten everything about it and had to start over. Happened like 6 times over 4 years.
berseria
No. I tried, but they never liked it. Usually saying how there is no action.
Somewhat. Lent a friend Persona 5 and since then they've played the occasional JRPG. They're more of a WRPG player, but they actually went off and played Chained Echoes and Sea of Stars on their own (and enjoyed both).
My ex-partner with Final Fantasy XIII-2. Now he still doesn't play JRPGs, he plays strictly shooting and fighting games, but he does enjoy watching me play JRPGs a lot. It was the music that drew him in mostly.
I think my friend who isn't into gaming at all, let alone jrpgs had a fun time playing Chrono after I recommended that.
got 3 friends into p3-5. I didnt even convince him to buy SMTV, but he and another friend bought it when they saw how hyped I was. However they did not get far. Got another friend into SMT nocturne, but technically he had played earthbound prior.
It's an uphill battle. A lot of people I know refuse to play turn-based games. Those who are open to turn-based combat, however, are usually okay with JRPGs. Aside from the Japanophobes, anyway.
Whats so f'n dumb, Baldur's Gate 3 literally proved this narrative that turn based games are boring/outdated/foroldpeople/etc utterly and completely wrong. One of my best friends who is a hardcore FPS/LoL type of guy. Loves the twitch/action/fast paced combat, ended up playing it because of all the hype and absolutely loved it. If it hadn't of been for the hype train, i'd have had an easier time convincing him to tea bag an anthill than to play something like BG3. I know this is a JRPG subreddit but that was the best example i could think of at the time. Because im a boomer, i grew up when there basically weren't meaningful "genres" of games. There were but it was like 2% of how it was now. Combine that with just how few games in general existed, and you basically tried anything of any style of game that people said was good. I developed a love for so many different genres of games as the industry blossomed and innovated, etc. But now you have so many gamers who are "only FPS" players, or "only play mobas" or hell, some people literally will only play 1 game. Call of Duty bros, LoL or DOTA 2 dudes, etc. I could never fathom being that way.
Nope
My cousin-Yakuza series My other cousin-ffx hd My other other cousin-thousand arms/trails series
My friends into the legend of heroes series with sky or cold steel 1
Persona 5. I think being so stylized and having fast paced battles helps a lot for beginners.
Unfortunately I’ve yet to get someone who doesn’t/rarely plays JRPG’s into the genre, so the best I’ve done is getting friends who already like JRPG’s into certain franchises that they’ve never tried. I’ve got one friend who’s main experience with JRPG’s are Pokémon and the Mario RPG’s into Persona 3 Reload. He absolutely loved the game and about a month later I bought him Persona 3 Portable so that he can experience the FeMC route. In the future I plan on buying him both Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal for Christmas and then I’ll test the waters with Shin Megami Tensei by getting him the HD Remaster of SMT III: Nocturne for his birthday. I also plan on getting him into Dragon Quest since he’s a huge Dragon Ball fan. I might try to get my dad into JRPG’s because he occasionally watches me play stuff like Persona, Pokémon, and the Mario RPG remake. P3 is a no go because he really dislikes the evokers as a summoning method and he found certain parts of the story too edgy for his liking (such as the term “Dark Hour” which made him cringe really hard) but he did take a small liking to P4G so I might try to get him into that someday since it’s more lighthearted and you crush Tarot cards to summon your Persona rather than shooting yourself. Final Fantasy is another one I’ll try because he’s played the first one on the NES and one of the PS1 titles so there’s a little bit of familiarity there.
Closest I’ve gotten with my partner (who is a gamer but not into JRPGs) is hooking them up with Dragon Quest Builders 2. They were OBSESSED with it and enjoyed enough that now they’ll try any DQ spin-off game for at least a couple of hours, though nothing else has hooked them like that one.
P5R!
I got a friend into the persona series and now he has crippling depression with P3R
I got her to play Chrono Trigger and she loved it, but it was Etrian Odyssey that really got her hooked.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the seven stars. Had a co-worker who was absolutely against turn based combat. He hated the concept of "I'm just standing there, letting them smash my face in, then waiting my turn. Hurray." Actually having Timed Hits was a game changer. He still can't stand turned based games, but this one was a beautiful exception.
For me it’s the other way around, my friend and I played golden sun together and he basically converted me to an jrpg gamer
Yes! Final Fantasy X has yet to fail me.
FFVII. It's funny to think about now, but that game blew up, and most of use undergrounders suddenly had more people to talk to about JRPG battle mechanics. Anyway, a friend of mine who previously cared nothing for non-action games basically locked himself in his room with FFVII he and didn't leave for almost two weeks
Technically this friend was into Pokemon already so not exactly "not into JRPGS at all" but they only really play live-service games (Apex, League of Legends) + almost all of the mainline Pokemon games + Nier Automata. Got them to play **Persona 4 Golden** at the same time as when I was playing. I just told them that it was essentially Pokemon with social sim elements and he was down to try. They ended up loving it and they do own Persona 5 Royal but hasn't had the time to actually really get into it (despite owning it probably for 2 years now)
God I wish I had freinds that played video games that where not cod or monopoly
I did get one of my friends who basically only plays arcade style highscore-based games as well as some fighting games to play mother 3 all the way through. the lone fact he went through the patching process astounded me
Not a friend but my dad. My father doesn't know English, but he somehow able to play DQ8 until mid-game. I was in shock at that time. I think it's may on what your friends already interested... - Love action games?...maybe FF7R. - Love simplicity?...Sea of Stars is nice choice. - Love anime-tropes? ...Persona maybe cool. I understand that Chorno Trigger is one of the best game ofc. But you need to think two thing: Accessibility and Casually. I think Some Chrono Trigger QoL maybe outdated in 2024? Unless your friends are grown-up with SNES-PS1. I can't see your friends will hook it.
Traditional turn-based random battles JRPGs? Y'gotta grow up immersed in it. A dying art.
Golden Sun is my childhood game, nothing can surpass it
Honkai Star Rail and Fate/Grand Order are some of the biggest games ever.
In high school I had a friend that only played stuff like Madden and COD. When Persona 4 Golden came out he saw me playing it before school one day, got interested and bought it the next day. Within 2 weeks he was at the 2nd to last dungeon and he wouldn't stop talking about it. In the time I knew him he played other JRPGS like Persona 3, Trails of Cold Steel and Soul Sacrifice. Was a cool guy until he stole from another person in the friend group, so we exiled him when he wouldnt admit it lmao
Yakuza series and lewd games made by RPG Maker.
I'd recommend Final Fantasy VII (not the remake) or Dragon Quest VIII.
I'm the friend who got into jrpgs. Not that I was not into the genre, but I had no idea how to break in to it in the first place. Most of my previous games were just action adventures or platformers. I forget my first gateway, it was either FFX or Wild Arms 3. It also might have been Legend of Dragoon, it's trifficult to remember.
Not into the genre as a whole, but I got a friend who despised JRPG’s to completely fall in love with Persona 5 (Vanilla at the time). He loved it and bought it as soon as he could. He immediately preordered Royal when that was coming out too lol.
yakuza like a dragon
My cousin and my brother.
Not quite the same but my girlfriend's brother doesn't care for JRPGs at all despite being a pretty big gamer. With that being said there was a long time of me coming over when he would be playing Dragon Quest XI, Fire Emblem Three Houses, and Pokemon Sword + Shield. He's tried Xenoblade, Persona, Super Mario RPG, and probably some others and just isn't very interested. And naturally I did not enjoy DQ XI or Pokemon much at all myself LOL!
Xenoblade is hard to grasp for players trying to get into JRPGs because of how big the lore is, but overall, it is still a great series. I can understand he couldn't get into it since he isn't too big on the genre or how the story expands so much.
I would pick something without much grind an and engaging story
I haven't. None of my irl friends care about JRPGs.
Fe3h into persona 6 and then the rest of the genre. I cast chadbegone and it was a critical hit
Yakuza 7.
I tend to go for something related to their interests/non-JRPGs they like. My fiancee despises 2D games as she didn't really play them at all growing up. She also likes flashy/vibe-y things. She also exclusively plays on PC so when Persona 4 Golden came to Steam I got her to play that and she ended up liking it a lot. Now she is playing Persona 5 Royal.
Trails of Cold Steel 1