I love RPGs. I have played just about every Western RPG that has been released in the past 15 years, however I have never been able to get into Japanese RPGs. I have tried playing a few but they have never really struck me like WRPGs and I usually get bored with them. And by a few, I mean the FF series, Zelda, and about 2 other games. Maybe its because most JRPGs are for consoles and I am an old-school-PC-kind-of-guy. Either way, if you know of a good JRPG that is for PC and that has been released in the past 15 years let me know, I would love to broaden my base and get some new experiences with new games.

I dunno really what would be considered JRPG

I guess Septerra Core Legacy of the Creator(You can find it on GOG)

FF7 + Chrono Trigger. If you don't like them, there's no hope for you.

If you got bored with FF7, Septerra Core is not for you I think.

He wants PC games mate

Both work just fine on PC.

Haven't seen them for the PC outside Emulators.

Anachronox. Japanese in gameplay, Western in origin. Party members do not include spiky haired teens, but may or may not include an occasional planet.

+1 on Anachronox :) And yes, there is a PC version of FF7 and FF8. But getting them to run on a modern system requires dark acts of baby offerings. There's also a few Ys games. I-II Eternal, Ark of Naphistim and Oath in Felghana, which have english patches once you buy the originals. Also Chantelise on Steam. Can't think of anything else, unless you like RPGMaker games, there's tons of those. The ones that do come to mind are in japanese.

FF7 has been released on PC, for CT you need PS2 emulator, but it works perfectly so why not.

I've gotta suggest the Cthulhu Saves the World + Breath of Death VII bundle. Old-school gameplay/looks but a modern take on it by an indie company. Good humor, interesting take on random battles, I still have fun with them even after beating both games.

Oh, did I mention that the bundle is $3 on your choice of dd service? (I know it's on Steam and Gamersgate)

*Edit* Oh, and you can play Chrono Trigger with a SNES emulator, don't know why you'd need a PS2 emulator ;)

at the risk of recommending something that has already been mentioned (because I didn't read the replies)

Xenogears

Chronotrigger

Those are the two best and I think you'll be hard pressed to find many people who disagree ;)

Breath of Fire 3

Another vote for Chrono Trigger. Secret of Mana is fine too.

Thanks, Landeril. I've decided to try Septerra, partly out of convenience and partly because most of the other recommendations require emulators. I'll give it a try tonight and let you know my impression. I did try FF7 on the PC but the controls were so annoying that I gave up and my opinion of emulators isn't very high. I haven't found much on Chrono Trigger but it looks interesting. Do you have a link were I could download?

SC is quite a nice game although can be a bit annoying. Contrary to other jrpgs I desperately tried to avoid combat as I was getting closer to the end of the game. Also, the version I had was bugged and there was no outro, so despite forcing myself to finish it I still don't know what happened.
Nevertheless it's a really good game with an interesting world. FF7 and FF8 are much, much, much better though (imho) ;)


Some people say CT is even better than FF7. i don't agree (FF7 fanboy hehe) but that might be because I was too young and did not understand English too well. I want to try both games again soon so I'll have a nice comparison.
I can't provide any links unfortunately. I've got a Playstation version which I ripped to an image to use with ePSXe.

ePSXe is super easy to configure and use so no one should have any problems with it.

BTW. There is also a sequel to Chrono Trigger named Chrono Cross.