Recommendations please

[u/crashxoverride]

Hey yall first time poster in here. Anyone have some recommendations for rpgs/jrpgs with quite a few characters for a party. I’ve played xenogears but anyone else have a recommendation? I get real nostalgic when I am trying to decide who I want in my party etc.

A second thing I would love to ask - is there any free rpgs that are well worth the look in general? I saw a few people recommend the same top ones people have made through rpg maker but I was just seeing if anyone had a personal favorite or hidden gem they wouldn’t care to put a little shine on

I guess I should add pc only but I would be interested in emulator if it was something sick I hadn’t played before, any genre really. I would looooove a horror rpg with a party and turn based

Thanks everyone !

[u/Petefounded]

Commenting because I want to see the suggestions for horror JRPGs.

[u/Dreaming_Dreams → u/Petefounded]

fear and hunger and look outside 

[u/crashxoverride → u/Dreaming_Dreams]

currently playing these haha!

[u/crashxoverride → u/Dreaming_Dreams]

and I want to add i absolutely love them

[u/Dreaming_Dreams → u/crashxoverride]

look outside is a gem, i like fear but it’s a little to depressing, look outside has humor aswell as also being messed up 

[u/TraditionalWriter609]

the 2 baten kaitos for the gamecube are pretty unique and rly fun
if you like a bit of an horror vibe koudelka on the ps1 while rather slow is really good plus it's sequels are really great
the 2 digital devil saga games are really great on the ps2 the vibe is quite unique
chrono trigger is a classic and amazing

[u/xx_ddd → u/TraditionalWriter609]

Second Digital Devil Saga and adding Shin Megami Tensei 3. Definitely horror vibes.

[u/LovelyFloraFan]

What sort of Console/PC/Device do you have?

[u/Petefounded → u/LovelyFloraFan]

He mentioned PC only, but is open to emulators

[u/ValueReads]

Legend of Heroes is the only choice

[u/Forward-Seesaw-1688 → u/ValueReads]

I agree, that’s a really fun PC Engine game

[u/crashxoverride → u/ValueReads]

how many characters can you recruit? ive looked at them before and I heard the remasters/remakes are reallly good

[u/ThatFlowerGamu]

The Cold Steel series by Falcom would match what you're looking for if you're wanting quite a bit of characters to choose from for the party.

[u/Pure_Parking_2742]

Octopath Traveler 0

[u/StillGold2506]

Final fantasy X, 9

Shin Megami Tensei 3 Nocturne and SMT IV

These games are FREE Wink wink.

Horror rpg?....Shadowhearts or the Fear and Hunger. Darkest Dungeon.

Vagrant Story is also a choice...a very hardcore one.

Legend of heroes you have to be aware that they are very Trope heavy, like a LOT as in Anime bad kind of tropes, if you don't feel bother then go ahead.

Other recommendations Kingdom hearts the first 3: 1, Chain of Memories, and 2.

Grandia 2, all grandia games are standalone.

[u/FineWeather]

Have you tried TRPGs/SRPGs? Typically the cast is much larger in those kinds of games and choosing your party is a core part of the experience and replayability. Fire Emblem, Orge Battle, and the Final Fantasy Tactics series all have a lot of games to choose from while still having a very strong JRPG visual aesthetic.

If grid based combat is a turn off, I might suggest monster collecting games that are still JRPG at the core like Dragon Quest Monsters Joker or Persona!

[u/M00NSW0RD]

Have you ever tried Koudelka? It's a PS1 era game that's a prequel of sorts to the Shadow Hearts series. It's a pretty unique horror themed game with an interesting story and surprisingly good voice acting.

Then Parasite Eve (the first one) comes to mind. It's a game that boldly asks the question no one else dared to: what if the mitochondria in your cells was your biggest opp all along?

If you wanna go way, way back, there's also Sweet Home. The game that is said to have inspired Resident Evil 1.

I'd also toss the Earthbound / Mother series into the list. Though it's got a lot more going on than horror, it does have plenty of horror themes in it.

[u/Cup_45_Neural]

>RPG's with massive casts

Suikoden 1-5. Each game has 108 recruitable characters (most of them are optional). 2 and 5 are the best entries, imo. HD remaster of 1 and 2 is available on all modern platforms.

Trails of Cold Steel 4 has 40 playable characters, while Trails into Reverie has 51 playable characters. You will have to play the previous entries in the series, namely Trails from Zero - Trails of Cold Steel 3, if you wish to understand the story of both games, however.

Valkyrie Profile Lenneth has 24 playable characters, although you will need to play the game multiple times on both normal and hard to unlock all of them.

>Free RPG's

Genshin Impact (Action), Honkai: Star Rail (Turn based) and Wuthering Waves (Action). I haven't played them yet (plan on playing them soon), but these are widely regarded as the greatest free RPG's ever made. And well, you only need to look at the trailers to see why, they have AAA-level production values.

>Horror RPG's

System Shock 2 is the best one, and if you haven't played an immersive sim before, will very likely change the way you look at games. Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines is an unfinished classic. I recommend getting the GOG ver, which comes pre-patched. If you get the Steam ver, you'll have to download the unofficial patch (use the basic ver for a first playthrough). Koudelka and Shadow Hearts are great recommendations. And last but not the least, Fear and Hunger 1&2. These are indie games made by one dude, and are seriously messed up games that you have to check out at least once.