As someone who is pseudo new to the franchise, I noticed not much talk about the originals. Do understand due to how well, these games are hard as hell especially the American release of NG 3 nes. That and let’s admit these games aren’t as readily available as the 3D titles are. I am just wondering what people think of the games and even rage bound that came out.

Do you enjoy the games or they never caught your attention unlike the 3D titles did? Really curious what fans think of the 2D titles and how you feel about stack compared to the 3D ones. Can’t wait to read them.

Ah, good old summons. Quick, simple, and to the point. Got a mob annoying you? Summon a big dragon to kill it. Tired of dealing with a boss? Why not exploit the mechanic by using certain summons to make the fight a lot easier. I love summons! From their references in lore and history to their designs. I never get tired of them. Especially if there is more to the mechanic than simply summoning them for a quick attack. Which brings me to my favorite summoning mechanic in all of jrpgs…

Final fantasy 10’s Aeon system

I haven’t seen many jrpgs go this far yet with summons. Yes, there are the summons from other final fantasy titles doing some things different with summons ranging from ff12 esper system taking a page from 10 to control while taking a slot from party members and ff16 where you gain powers of said summons to use different moves.

However, I always liked and say ff10 has the best way to handle summons. Summons aka aeons are more than a press the button for a cool attack of old from previous titles. No, you get to control them and they are an actual party member. Actually controlling summons? Count me in! They can also be used in a strategic way of being a meat shield, help avoid certain moves like a status move you know is coming, and even more ways to be used in battle. Aeons even have their own overdrive! Even more ways to deal crazy damage? Sign me up! It’s so cool! Able to give your aeons stat buffs to make them better is another cool feature. There are so many things about this system I love and can be here all day explaining it.

Overall, I wish more games did summoning mechanics like what 10 did. Heck, I have seen some other unique cases for summons like the Djinn in golden sun being job class system as well as being a classic summoning system. Love to know more jrpgs that do have unique systems or use summons that have other use than an attack.

Here is a link if anyone else likes to make one. https://grids.fun/t/about-me-video-games-dcefq?list=games

After getting through so many jrpgs, wanted to make one of these. What I did realize so I need to try more jrpgs that aren’t one franchise or you just end up having mostly one franchise dominating the whole thing haha. Seriously, though, it really showed me I got more jrpgs than ever I need to journey through. Thought maybe I was hitting the end, but this grid told me other wise. Those adventures i been putting off. It’s crazy I been playing jrpgs for 10 years. Played so many. From your amazing to your awful. Every adventure was worth it to me even if I left being soured on some.

Makes me excited to try more jrpgs instead of feeling I don’t got much to play. Need to make a list after this. Love to finally travel the skies in skies of Arcadia, explore an unforgettable adventure in Grandia, go through more franchises i been neglecting like your fire emblems, and so so much more. Even talking about it gets me pumped.

Auto battle/Npc commands

During my early years of playing jrpgs, I never used auto battle or npc command party members. Why? For auto battles, it boiled down to i knew a faster way to kill the enemy and auto battle never really did that for me. Seemed the party members would use a basic attack instead of a powerful move to help wipe the enemies out. As years go on, I have seen auto battle features give you options to what moves you want like most powerful or no mp, and I started using it a lot more due to that.

Same can be said for npc command party members. The idea of the game giving that option felt off to me. Like, why even play the game if I have computer doing all the commands aside from me? My first exposure to this was with persona 3 fes on the ps2. I heard about this and some people making horror stories of how bad they had it with the party in this game. I was a bit worried as well, but pushed through to see if it was that bad. Ok, aside from a few instances of some bad moves from my party, they were really good and competent. Like all I had to do was switch the mode they were on at times to play smart and it felt like I was still controlling the party members. The horror stories felt either the players were dumb and maybe they had very bad rng.

After that positive experience, I would try out the npc commanding parties in other titles like wild arms and dragon quest. Felt kinda of cool to make commands with them like don’t use mp, be on the defensive, be aggressive, and so on. Was like my party was becoming an actual team at times. Was fun for mobs, but for bosses I would switch to manual control asap unless it was a challenge run.

The 3Ds is when I started to become a huge dragon quest fan. With the likes of the fun dragon quest 7 and phenomenal dragon quest 8. I got dragon quest fever. Played every title i can get my hands on. Loved playing them, but there was one title I was sad that never came over where I was. That title being dragon quest 11 on the 3Ds.

Remember reading up on dragon quest 11 and saw it was getting on the 3Ds as well. I was excited! Then heard the sad news it wasn’t coming over. Now, I know you can say this port is moot due to dragon quest 11s having everything you need. While that is true, I still wish this version came out due to the graphics, seeing how some story moments would play out in the chibi form, and see what else was in the game that didn’t carry over. I loved playing different ports of my favorite games.
Plus, I am always a sucker to play more dragon quest.

It was the first game I ever felt on the 3Ds that everyone got robbed for not getting the chance to play unless you knew Japanese. There is thankfully some head way into translating the game due to some wonderful people. So, maybe I might get the chance to finally play the game i always wanted to all the way back then.

I didn’t get a 3Ds until I was 17 years old. This around the time i got really into Pokemon. Played every game mainline wise and saw Pokemon x is coming out. I was extremely hyped to play it! I asked my mom for it for Christmas with Pokemon X. Remember counting the days like a little kid. Super excited to play the game. On that fateful day, I got not only Pokemon x, but got the link between world console version that had link between world preinstalled into it. Even got kid Icarus uprising which I only knew the main character since he was my main in brawl. One of the best Christmas I ever had that day.

Of course over the years I get to play more amazing titles, but man, these three were the ones I spent a lot of time with. Playing Pokemon x with my friend who got y. Getting into the competitive scene with this title. God, spent so much time breeding and ev training. Finally getting into Zelda thanks to ALBW and after finishing that, I became a big Zelda fan that I wanted to get ocarina of time for my 3Ds next time. Man, kid Icarus uprising was just a blast. Seeing the 3Ds pull off these graphics with a control scheme I actually liked? Kinda of an odd compliment, but yeah I loved this game especially with hades where I saw so many people memes with him in it. Sad we never got a sequel to uprising. Would have been a great title for the switch.

So, yeah those were the games i first games i ever got for my 3Ds. What were yours and got any stories behind them? Love to read them all.

For years, I have contemplated the idea of hacking my 3Ds. Had for it for many years, but also didn’t play much after selling my entire collection due to paying bill reasons. So, I just never felt I needed to hack the system. That did change when I realized I been missing to play some of my all time favorites like kid Icarus uprising, dragon quest 8, Pokemon sun, final fantasy explorers, and so on.

Heck, there was quite a few I never got to play, but wanted to. One was called fantasy life. Looked adorable and so much fun! Same with ever oasis. Even had a game i once owned and loved but never finished like Stella glow. Realized how many 3Ds games I missed is my cannon event I mean, reason why I pulled the trigger. Plus, playing 3Ds games on non 3Ds systems felt so off to me. How I feel with ds games in general. Only outlier would be monster hunter. So, I finally pulled the trigger to mod my 3Ds last week and I am so glad I did. Been a blast playing my favorites. Even got quite addicted to fantasy life hahaha. So, why did you pull the trigger and what is a 3Ds game you adore?

I remember first hearing about someone playing a game once a year they adore through friends I met in school. Thought it was odd to be frank. Like, won’t that get boring? Nothing to change or what not? Over time, I grew to enjoy having a sorta of tradition of playing a game once a year. For me though, I don’t play a game once a year. I go to a series once a year. Not play through the entire series, but visit a series once a year. Ranging from play games i haven’t played yet of said series all the way to replaying a favorite of mine that I haven’t played in years. Want to share some game franchises i tend to go to once a year.

Final fantasy

Ah final fantasy. My favorite jrpg franchise of all time. Your stories brought me so much joy as well as tears. Your gameplay always a treat and the music being always a delight to listen too. Can’t get enough of this series. Sometimes I think I gone through every game in this series, but the series always shocks me with something i haven’t played yet. Over the years, I been replaying as well as playing any thing final fantasy related. Even finally got to play the final fantasy 13 trilogy for the first time a few years ago. It’s just always interesting to go through these games. Seeing what ideas the devs have. I say my fav part of visiting the series is seeing how much my opinion changes with each game. Never grows dull for me whenever I go back. Always something new to try.

Pokemon

Pokemon has always been a comfort series for me. Whenever I need something to cheer me up or make my day a little better, I can always count on Pokemon. It’s always funny to me that as much as I adore Pokemon, I never grew up with the series aside from watching a couple movies on Cartoon Network and a few episodes of the anime way back when. Didn’t get into the series until I was 17 with Pokemon white on my ds. Have to thank my friend for letting me borrow it. Anyways, what I enjoy about Pokemon every year is seeing what team to make as well as the rom hacking scene. Trying out some nice quality of life mods to journey through my favorite regions with less hassle to worry with stuff like HMS or finite TMS. Able to know any Pokemon team i make can beat said Pokemon game is awesome to me. Makes each run more interesting than using the same 6 I always use.

My personal fav games i always love to go back to are the johto titles like crystal and heart gold. Even found a new favorite with heart and soul. The sinnoh region and the classic kanto region. These are just so much fun for me to go through.

So those would be the games i mostly visit once a year. While not games per se, they are jrpg franchises i do go back to and to have fun. Either to experience a new title or journey through an old title again for the fun of it through different means like a different version of said game. These games remind me why I love jrpgs so much to when I get burned out from the genre from time to time.

There is a lot to love from Disgaea. Grinding levels until your eye balls fall out. The over the top nature from your attacks to how character react to stuff. Lastly, The amount of side content the game has to offer! There is a lot to love about this series. For me though? Out of all the things Disgaea has to offer, for me it’s the humor.

What I love and find refreshing about Disgaea is the humor. Hearing the characters making slide remarks to other people. Having the prinnies saying “dood” and seeing their funny attics always makes me smile. Legit, I gotten so many laughs from this series. Love how over the top it can be especially in Disgaea 4 and 5’s case. A lot of jrpgs tend to be serious with a few funny moments or they have one funny scene, but then everyone is super serious mode. It makes sense since some franchises are built for it. Sometimes though, I need a laugh and Disgaea brings the laughs for me anytime I need it. Makes me happy to be a fan of the series due to that.

Kinda of late to the party here, but better late than never, right? Since we are at the half way point of the year, was wondering what are some people’s favorite ps1 game they have played this year so far?

I got to play a lot of ps1 titles this year, but one I had a blast with was the very first Spyro titles this year. It’s just such a cozy title for me. Love exploring around with the enemies looking so ps1 it makes me smile. Love how simple design wise they are, but have that charm to them that makes me smile. Also, the music is so relaxing to listen. Sometimes, I would just put the controller down and listen to the wonderful music. Also, I adore how dream like the worlds are. It’s just so much fun to go through and find all types of goodies. This game was such a nice game to go through to help keep with my burnout at the time. One of the few titles I go out of my way to 100 percent complete.

Does make me want to go through the other titles eventually since of how much fun I had with the first game. Playing this game made me feel like I was a kid again even though this was my first time playing it.

Was fun to go through this hack. A lot of nice changes to make this sinnoh experience so much smoother. I had a great time overall. My only complaint is you get base plat encounters with no way to get all the mons or have variety in the encounters. Aside from that, it still was a fun and nostalgic for me to go through.

Disgaea didn’t have a good first impression on me. My first title in the series was the first game on psp called Disgaea afternoon of darkness. Now, I am no stranger to tactical rpgs. Played my fair share of them from your final fantasy tactics to your fire emblem. Disgaea 1 to me was so confusing. Didn’t know what to level, how many party members to have on the map, the amount of grinding felt overwhelming, and just felt lost in terms of what to do.

So, I dropped the game. After a couple months, I was talking to a fan of the series through a message board. Told him my issues and he gave me some advice. He also told me to try Disgaea 2 since it was much easier to play as well as to understand. Ended up buying Disgaea 2. I don’t know what happened, but I ended up loving Disgaea 2.

Why, you may ask? Well, I loved how I didn’t have to go crazy on the grind when it comes to the main story. Knowing I can have like 5 to 7 characters on the battle field was enough. Heck, I never had to use the item world at all. I still had to do some stuff like the reincarnation element, level certain classes to get other classes, but there was so many more ways to grind that it never felt a lot to me. It was a blast from start to finish.

This game made me a fan of the series. I started collecting the games, merch, watch the anime, and buying the PlayStation vita to play even more Disgaea on it. Couldn’t thank Disgaea 2 more for making me a fan of the series.

I was talking to a friend about this. Like if death came in and said “it’s your time, but I will let you play three games of your choice before you leave!” For anyone curious, I picked legend of Zelda ocarina of time, resident evil 4, and final fantasy 8.

This question got me thinking with jrpgs. Like, if I was going to die and pass on, what would my jrpgs of choice be? Had to think long and hard about it, but I figured out what I would choose for my last time playing them.

Final fantasy 8

Like in my original choices, I went with final fantasy 8. My favorite final fantasy game of all time! Why won’t I pick it?! It’s fun to collect summons, gather material to make my new weapons, and play a shit ton of triple triad. Want to shuffle or boogie? Plus, it be nice to listen to eyes on me one last time. This game means a lot to me and I like to play it once more to remember it.

Pokemon crystal

Of course it would be the legacy version due to changes. Anyways, out of all the Pokemon regions, I want to play the johto region once again. I love how comfy the game is. Listening all the town music as I see little shines from the lambs around the towns. Going to the poke park to sit on a bench to enjoy the music. Collecting Pokemon from not just gen 2, but gen 1 as well. Love using these mons a lot. My biggest reason for going with this title is the comfort. Riding on the bike to each place in the game to catch a glimpse of it all. Going to the league then going to kanto to face a boss that I remember gave me that challenge I wanted way back when. Be a nice ending when I beat them and enjoy seeing those credits i look at for the last time.

Kingdom hearts 2 final mix

It’s kingdom hearts! What is there to say? Exploring and having fun in each Disney world. Having a fun combat system that I can play all day. Visiting twilight town to roam around with while hearing a song while makes me at ease, does make me feel sad knowing what happened. Love facing all the bosses this game has to offer. The cinematic moments while giving one final challenge with the lingering will. Being able to use each form the game offers is always a blast to me. I always had fun when playing the game. One hour becomes 10 hours and I ain’t even kidding about that due to how much fun I am having. Ending the three choices with a game that combined my childhood favorites with Disney and my teenage self with final fantasy is a nice way to end things.

So yeah, those would be the three jrpgs I would play before kicking the can. What would your choices be and why did you pick them? Love to read your comments about it.

I admit to not enjoying gen 3 as much in future play throughs. I would get around the half way mark or maybe even less like the third gym then quit. Honestly, I think it was due to being bored of the Pokemon selection at the start feeling repetitive and most mons feeling underpowered to me. That is due to how dark was considered special and ghost being physical for the time. As well as TMS being one use made team building not as interesting to me. Move pools didn’t help matters for some mons.

Over the years when I got into the rom hacking scene, I started to enjoy gen 3 emerald a lot more with different rom hacks. Either they are the vanilla version with needed changes like Pokemon selection, unlimited TMS, move pools updates, and having trainers using way more Mon variety than the typical 3 you mostly see. My favorite so far is emerald legacy enhanced with emerald sea glass bringing emerald to the graphic style of gen 2.

Having those changes and even smaller ones like able to not have HMS be taught is such a huge win for me to make each gen 3 run way more fun for me. With even more of the generations like 2 I get to freely try. Makes me pumped when I try something new for gen 3 as long as it fixes the issue i said above. Want to even try sequels or what ifs of Hoenn to see what everyone is cooking when I use to roll my eyes at the idea.

Wanted to end my Pokemon marathon with a team of my favorite mons from each gen while giving another mon from gen 5 some love like Haxorus. Was cool to do that since I haven’t done that in a while. Kinda of sucks I couldn’t give my favorite brave birb more love since he was basically the fly taxi for the majority of the run. Still, it was nice to replay a game I haven’t played in over 5 years. Makes me excited when I play rom hacks of this title in the future.