I absolutely love, love, LOVE JRPG’s and I figure, I’ve never really blogged about it.
From my younger years, college years to my current, seasoned adult years, the time dedicated of playing the game, beating the final boss, those memories I will always cherish.
I even remember being young and wanting to start over on my last save point (some which had to be written down and some that could be saved), just so I can record me beating the boss again on VHS tape.
The memories…
So, for this blog post, I am only focusing on JRPG’s that influenced me as a teenager/young adult college years (so, pretty much the 1990s, not 2000 – Otherwise, I would mention “Persona 2: Eternal Punishment” and even a “Pokemon” related game).
It’s important to note that I will NOT be including any “Dragon Quest” games, because I did not play the originals until they were released on portable consoles.
“Chrono Trigger”, I will NOT be including because I did not play this game until it was released on the Nintendo DS in 2008. NOTE: Read what I had to do with my SNES for “Final Fantasy II”.
FINAL FANTASY (NES) (1990)
So, let’s kick things off with the original “FINAL FANTASY”.
I knew nothing about this game when it was first released. In fact, it wasn’t even my game. It was a neighbor across the street from me who introduced me to “FINAL FANTASY”, which was a surprise considering he came from a strict religious family, I remember being surprised his parents allowing him to play the game. But he wasn’t into it, so we traded SNES games and I got his “Final Fantasy” in the trade.
I was intrigued by the characters and the gameplay. I remember loving the game and the final boss, being such a pain. I know it took a long time but I just remember how enormous this boss was and the thrill of beating it! Good times!
FINAL FANTASY II (FINAL FANTASY IV in JAPAN) (SNES) (1991)
“Final Fantasy III” (or better known as “Final Fantasy IV”) was awesome! The naming of the games were confusing because while the first game was released in the US, II and III weren’t. So, when “Final Fantasy IV” was to be localized, without making people feel bad that they missed on II and III, they just called it “Final Fantasy II” in the US for the SNES.
First, I have to say that I remember buying this with my hard-earned money. I was in college at the time but the purchase of this game was a major. It was expensive (for me), it came with a battery which saved game saves and it was an awesome game!
Who can forget the Baron Cecil, the Dragoon Knight Kain, the White Mage Rosa, the ninja Edge and Palom and Porom, the twins…
I just remembered beating this game and so badly wanting to play more and more. I think the biggest memory of this game though, was me trying to record my gameplay footage of beating the boss and telling myself, to keep it and rewatch it to see how wonderful it was to defeat Kefka.
Great music as well featured on this game.
FINAL FANTASY III (FINAL FANTASY VI in JAPAN) (SNES) (1994)
“Final Fantasy VI”…. How I love this game and the music. Possibly the greatest “Final Fantasy” soundtrack ever made and that is tough considering how Uematsu Nobuo did a magnificent job with many titles including VII and VIII.
I spent so much time playing this game and dividing into three teams to take on the boss, was one of the greatest experiences that I’ve had with a JRPG at that time.
Regret… Well, not so much a of a huge regret but I remember when I took this game to the pawn shop. I remember, I got into my first car accident and I knew it was going to cost a lot. I nearly had to quite college, because I knew I had to work and raise at the time was $800 (which was a lot for the ’90s). So, I took every NES and SNES games that I had and got squat. Sold my consoles as well. But I was young and desperate young guy who was afraid how his parents would find out about the accident.
But in doing so, I would end up missing out on “Chrono Trigger” as I no longer owned an SNES conoles. I would not be able to get another console until the Sony Playstation.
TALES OF DESTINY (PSX) (1997)
Square at the time had such a grasp on the JRPG market, that who knew that NAMCO, the company known for Pac-Man, “Galaxian”, “Xevious” and “Mappy” would become a huge company and not for any of the titles I just mentioned.
One has to thank the popularity of “Ridge Racer”, “Tekken” and “Virtua Fighter” at the time for generating interest.
In Japan, there was an RPG game that was popular overseas titled “Tales of Phantasia” (on the “Famicom” in 1995 and on PlayStation in 1998) but unfortunately, the game would never be released in the US.
That was until “Tales of Destiny”, which featured a Linear Motion Battle System and characters and enemies act in real time. But the storyline was rather fascinating, being a love-story action RPG and you’ll find yourself rooting for Stahn and Rutee!
I have been a huge fan of the “Tales of” games, that I became a dedicated fan of the series!
SUIKODEN (PSX) (1999)
Back then, I felt that SQUARE created the best RPG games from Japan and localized in the US. But for the Sony Playstation, during the early ’90s, Konami/Hudson Soft developed one of the best JRPG’s of all time, in my opinion and that was “Suikoden II”.
What made “Suikoden” unlike any other JRPG that I’ve played, was the fact that the main protagonist can recruit over 100 new characters to join him from beginning to end.
But it’s the captivating story that I remember the most. And the biggest regret, was taking it to EB Games (predecessor of Gamestop) and trading it in. I remember that I tried to repurchase the game but it jumped in price that I could never repurchase it an affordable price.
While in Japan several years ago, I did see a PSP release I believe. I ended up picking it up but , the game will receive an HD remaster coming soon.
Final Fantasy VIII (PSX) (1999)
To end the ’90s, we were treated with what would become one of my favorite “Final Fantasy” games of all time. That was “Final Fantasy VIII”.
Unlike many people who feel that “Final Fantasy VII” was a great game, to be honest, I never felt that way and the death of a certain character in VII would really upset me (I will say that I am loving the modern remake version of the game though).
“Final Fantasy VIII” was like an action-based love story. It was the best happy ending that I was looking for compared to “Final Fantasy VII”. The characters were more captivating and Faye Wong’s “Eyes on Me” is a song that I fell in love with, “Liberi Fatali” was the teaser and opening song and to this day, I feel it’s one of the best songs ever made for a “Final Fantasy” game (I also love the music for “Final Fantasy VI” and “One Winged Angel” for “Final Fantasy VII”.
But storyline-wise, Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly and others were characters I enjoyed. I hope one day, Square Enix remakes “Final Fantasy VIII”.
