So here is how this happened:
I wanted to play games on my DS.  My daughter magically lost my Super Mario Bros DS cart at my Dad's house (or more specifically: Somewhere in this plane of existence). I didn't really want to play Scribblenauts, because it's kind of fucking shitty to control.  So I heard that Super ScribbleNauts fixed this, and I heard the Layton games are also pretty good.  So I ordered Layton and the Unwound Future (or whatever the hell it's called) and Super Scribblenauts.  Put in Layton, was amazing.  Showed my Wife, she said "Oh I can play this too."  About 6 hours of the wife playing my DS later, I said "You know what, I'll just roll over to Walmart and buy you a DS, they're like $100 there."  DS bought, the first thing wife wants to play is Layton.  I pop in Super ScribbleNauts.  Sure it controls better, but still, Layton is so much better.  My inner racist takes over and I decide its that Layton is made by a bunch of Japanese dudes that make it so much better.  I walk into hell (gamestop) and buy a game called "Dragon Quest VI."  It looks interesting to say the least.  Also at the same time I order Curious Village and Diabolical Box off Amazon so my wife (and later I, after she's 100%'ed the puzzles in EACH game) can play them.  
Finally, all is well and I pop in this ancient JRPG, expecting the worse (I think JRPG's and turn-based RPG combat are so stupid).  I start playing the game, and after I get pretty tough and crazy shit starts happening (you time travel in a dream, you're in a dream of a dream of the real world, that's also really a dream, what?) I'M FUCKING SUCKED IN. 
 
Are all JRPG's made equal?  Seriously guys, where do I go next?  I kinda thought these games were shite, but I am totally loving this game, loving the difficulty of combat, loving the ramdom encounters, and loving the totally off the rails story.  It's not the greatest story, but it's off the rails crazy.  I mean, in the real world my character is a manifestation of the dream of a real world character, who looks like but not exactly like, me.  And my job is to find the real me and conjoin the real and the dream me.  That's Insane.

So here is how this happened:
I wanted to play games on my DS.  My daughter magically lost my Super Mario Bros DS cart at my Dad's house (or more specifically: Somewhere in this plane of existence). I didn't really want to play Scribblenauts, because it's kind of fucking shitty to control.  So I heard that Super ScribbleNauts fixed this, and I heard the Layton games are also pretty good.  So I ordered Layton and the Unwound Future (or whatever the hell it's called) and Super Scribblenauts.  Put in Layton, was amazing.  Showed my Wife, she said "Oh I can play this too."  About 6 hours of the wife playing my DS later, I said "You know what, I'll just roll over to Walmart and buy you a DS, they're like $100 there."  DS bought, the first thing wife wants to play is Layton.  I pop in Super ScribbleNauts.  Sure it controls better, but still, Layton is so much better.  My inner racist takes over and I decide its that Layton is made by a bunch of Japanese dudes that make it so much better.  I walk into hell (gamestop) and buy a game called "Dragon Quest VI."  It looks interesting to say the least.  Also at the same time I order Curious Village and Diabolical Box off Amazon so my wife (and later I, after she's 100%'ed the puzzles in EACH game) can play them.  
Finally, all is well and I pop in this ancient JRPG, expecting the worse (I think JRPG's and turn-based RPG combat are so stupid).  I start playing the game, and after I get pretty tough and crazy shit starts happening (you time travel in a dream, you're in a dream of a dream of the real world, that's also really a dream, what?) I'M FUCKING SUCKED IN. 
 
Are all JRPG's made equal?  Seriously guys, where do I go next?  I kinda thought these games were shite, but I am totally loving this game, loving the difficulty of combat, loving the ramdom encounters, and loving the totally off the rails story.  It's not the greatest story, but it's off the rails crazy.  I mean, in the real world my character is a manifestation of the dream of a real world character, who looks like but not exactly like, me.  And my job is to find the real me and conjoin the real and the dream me.  That's Insane.

I'm a big fan of the Dragon Quest franchise. The battle systems are pretty much the same in all games, but I find that comforting. I haven't played VI yet, but I've played IV and V and Dragon Quest V Hand of the Heavenly Bride is one of my all-time favorites. DQV starts as a child and then you eventually become an adult later on. There's also some generational aspects to the game play. Dragon Quest IX is good too but it sacrifices some of the unique personalities the party members have for player customization. I love it too but it's a somewhat different game in that respect. In that game you create your whole party and they can be any of 4 then 8 classes. Since the game wouldn't know ahead of time what people you'll role with, they can't give them fun comments and such like in the earlier DS DQs. Well, there is a chatty fairy, but she's an NPC.

If you liked that, get this:

I also don't generally like the bigger 3D JRPG's, but old-school ones like the above and Final Fantasy VI are pretty fun. It's when the characters actually talk and cutscenes are involved that my eyes start to roll.

@mfpantst said:

@believer258: Ok so I forgot a key detail: watching the Chrono Trigger ER also piqued my interest. However, Chrono Trigger was not available at a good price on Amazon. Of course, the Irony is that I spend about $40 on my DQ VI copy... Which is alot I think(?)

That does sound like a lot for a DS game.

Anyway, Chrono Trigger can be played on an emulator and TV A-OK. I bought the DS version because I needed something to play on my DS.

I bought the DS version because I needed something to play on my DS.

I think you'll make a pretty good Dragon Quest fan then, as 6 is one of the weakest of the bunch.  I'd really recommend trying 5 next, although the story is more straightforward.  Don't pay more than $20 for the DS Chrono Trigger, prices have come down a lot on some of these games.

 
Hearing that IX doesn't (or does, I'm not sure?) have random encounters kinda sours me. 

Really? Dragon Quest VI impressed you that much? It's good, but there are better Dragon Quest games. Go out and get IV; it seems like the next logical step, given how the stories play out.

Depends on the JRPG, doesn't it? I'd heartily recommend Lufia II or Radiant Historia, but I'd be a terrible person to tell you to play something like Secret of the Stars or The 7th Saga.

Nothing wrong with JRPGs, people are just down on them because they've barely evolved over the years and so we've become sick of the formula. If you're new to the genre, you've got a whole world of great games to explore.

As someone else who isn't a big fan of JRPG's, I'd definitely recommend the rest of the Dragon Quest games. There's a charm to their simplicity that really makes them work.

IV and V are definitely better than VI, but I understand they've become pretty rare these days, so you might have some trouble tracking them down.

IX does do away with the random battles (though being able to see enemies on the overworld is an improvement, in my opinion). The bigger problem is the fact the characters you control are completely player made, meaning none of them have any dialogue or personalities. They did this to play up the multiplayer features and it definitely hurts the game.. but it's still solid enough to be worth a go.

I bought the DS version of DQ5 because I had heard people praising it and it was one of the highest rated DQ games, but I've not played much and what I've played it's been noting special.

I have DQ8 on PS2 but barely played it I used to have DQ7 on PS1 because I thought it would be like FF7 but it felt like playing a NES game or something compared to FF7.

   Are all JRPG's made equal?  Seriously guys, where do I go next?  I kinda thought these games were shite, but I am totally loving this game, loving the difficulty of combat, loving the ramdom encounters, and loving the totally off the rails story. 

I haven't seen anyone mention it yet, but you might want to look at The World Ends With You, too. It's combat is much different than the DQ games but no less rewarding. In fact, I'd say more although also more tricky since it can take place on both upper and lower screens simultaneously. The setting in modern Japan which is a nice change of pace from the usually sword and sorcery stuff. It's got a lot of style and a good soundtrack, too.

Like everyone else said, there's good and bad and some games somewhere in the middle just as in every other genre. I also liked Atelier Annie: Alchemists of Sera Island but it's very much an acquired taste since it's more about running a business than some epic adventure. I liked the game though because the dialogue made me laugh out loud which is rare from a silent DS game.

@SpaceRunaway said:

@mfpantst: I don't want to put you off it, it's still a good game. It's just that the story becomes kind of unfocused after a while. Also 6 was the first DQ to introduce a job system, and the implementation is a little...bumpy. 4-6 constitute a loose spiritual trilogy of sorts, and I think the first two just hold up better. Seriously though, don't stop playing.

What.

Dude, Dragon Quest III featured a job system well before DQVI. And to call Dragon Quest VI the weakest of the bunch in comparison to, say, the original Dragon Quest (in which your party consists of one character and a paper-thin plot) seems just a bit over the top.

@Hailinel said:

@SpaceRunaway said:

@mfpantst: I don't want to put you off it, it's still a good game. It's just that the story becomes kind of unfocused after a while. Also 6 was the first DQ to introduce a job system, and the implementation is a little...bumpy. 4-6 constitute a loose spiritual trilogy of sorts, and I think the first two just hold up better. Seriously though, don't stop playing.

What.

Dude, Dragon Quest III featured a job system well before DQVI. And to call Dragon Quest VI the weakest of the bunch in comparison to, say, the original Dragon Quest (in which your party consists of one character and a paper-thin plot) seems just a bit over the top.

I think he meant "of the Zenithia trilogy". If that's the case, I agree with him, even if the job system really makes me not want to do so.

@Video_Game_King said:

@Hailinel said:

@SpaceRunaway said:

@mfpantst: I don't want to put you off it, it's still a good game. It's just that the story becomes kind of unfocused after a while. Also 6 was the first DQ to introduce a job system, and the implementation is a little...bumpy. 4-6 constitute a loose spiritual trilogy of sorts, and I think the first two just hold up better. Seriously though, don't stop playing.

What.

Dude, Dragon Quest III featured a job system well before DQVI. And to call Dragon Quest VI the weakest of the bunch in comparison to, say, the original Dragon Quest (in which your party consists of one character and a paper-thin plot) seems just a bit over the top.

I think he meant "of the Zenithia trilogy". If that's the case, I agree with him, even if the job system really makes me not want to do so.

He didn't make that distinction for the job system.

@Hailinel:

But before he even said "the first two hold up better", he mentioned that 4-6 "constitute a loose spiritual trilogy". The context seems kinda clear, even if he was wrong about the job system chronology (or however you'd phrase it).

@Video_Game_King said:

@Hailinel:

But before he even said "the first two hold up better", he mentioned that 4-6 "constitute a loose spiritual trilogy". The context seems kinda clear, even if he was wrong about the job system chronology (or however you'd phrase it).

He specifically said that DQVI was the first to feature a job system before mentioning the trilogy.

@Hailinel:

I'm aware, which is why I said:

@Video_Game_King said:

even if he was wrong about the job system chronology (or however you'd phrase it).

OH MY GOD, MY POOR INBOX.

No, siri, thanks guys for not being dicks about me probably having no taste, and liking something you guys seem to see as the CoD (is that analogy right?) of the analagous term, "jrpgs"? Anyways, I think I'll do DQ IV and V next, since they're pretty cheap for the DS right now (hoping those versions aren't shite) Then it's off to play on some elephants and shit.