Are there any JRPGs like Final Fantasy VII?

It was really one of the only JRPGs I could get into, I loved the more realistic/sci-fi setting, I loved the amazing opening hours and then they released you into a massive world. I loved the sense of exploration, how big in scale and epic everything was and the story in general was really strong.

I've tried a lot of other JRPGs but I don't like their fantasy settings, a lot of them have boring stories and are really linear these days with no sense of a world. I also hate the modern character design of the emo anime look, FF7 got away with it for me because you could just take it as the characters being low poly models. I never followed any FF7 art or anything, I think all that sucks, I'm just talking in game here..

Is there anything that just offers that epic experience and doesn't feel second rate?

If the sci fi aspects are what you are after, I woud say Final Fantasy VIII

FFVI and FFVIII are probably the closest you'll get in terms of the world being sci-fi. They both have similar worlds where industry and magic meet.

Like Splodge mentioned, FFVIII is pretty sci-fi. Considering how it usually goes, you'll either hate it or, like me, love it.

You might enjoy the Xeno games (Xenogears, Xenosaga and Xenoblade). I played Xenogears back in the day and liked it then, I'm sure it's still good. The gameplay of the Xenosaga games was usually sub-par and they were very linear but I liked the universe. Xenoblade is absolutely incredible in story and universe and updates a lot of old-ass design elements of JRPGs. It is quite open and varied in scenery. It is, for sure, the best JRPG I've played since the PS1. Because it is so far ahead of the curve, I now get tired when I just hear about stuff most other JRPGs do. Like most (all?) JRPGs it is hella anime, but at least it's good anime.

If its just setting you are looking for Xenoblade, Chrono Trigger and Lost Odyssey and Final Fantasy VIII all have a similar feel to them

The Xeno games, as others have mentioned — Xenogears (PS1) & Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii & New 3DS) being the best.

I've always heard mention that Legend of Dragoon was very much like FF7, but I've never played it. 'They' are probably referring to the gameplay and story rather than setting.

The Star Ocean series is fairly Sci-Fi, but the SNES game never came out in the west. Never played the sequels. I've heard Phantasy Star is fairly Sci-Fi, but it's a very old fashioned JRPG. Your enjoyment may vary.

Xenoblade Chronicles is pretty sci-fi and it nails the "huge world exploration" thing you are after.

FF8 or Xenogears, I'd say.

Though, FF8 cranked the emo up to 11. The main character was the worst and the battle system was... not my cup of tea. It also had a consistent look throughout the game. FF7 was nice because the characters were so low poly, you didn't have to think of Cloud having 18" spikes of hair; it was an abstraction of what the character was supposed to look like. With FF8, the in game models reflected the cut-scene characters a lot better. So, the design may put you off if belts, belts, belts, and fur isn't your thing.

I enjoy the crap out of FF6. But, it is very much a steam punk/fantasy/quasi-future sort of setting. Since everything's sprite based, and since dialogue isn't as wordy, I find FF6 lets me use my imagination more to fill in the gaps. There's little animation, so when Locke leaps across the screen to attack Atma, I see it just as Locke running up and hitting Atma. If it were a FF game today, Locke would probably spend thirty seconds yelling "Thieving Thief Absolute Crystal Deep Soul Paradigm Attack!" then spend fourty seconds twirling his bandana around his head as it grows into a large, flaming blade, then spend another thirty seconds flying into space and landing on Atma, and another ten seconds of a cut scene showing the world getting split in half. Followed by the words "Immune" popping up over Atma's head...

I just finished Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. The entire time I was thinking how much it was like FFVII but better, at least in the combat systems and character dialogue. It's not got a huge open world to explore like say, FFXII, but there are a lot of side quests for each town that require a lot of exploring of the surrounding areas. It's also got a bunch of hidden quests that you'll discover if you explore a bunch.

I've heard interesting things about Resonance of Fate, though I might be misremembering the consensus on that game.

Anyone want to weigh in on that?

Chrono Trigger for sure, and I'll second Lost Odyssey, which is both sci fi and kind of fantasy? Lost Odyssey also has a pretty great story (IMO) which sometimes falls by the wayside in a lot of JRPG's.

I get what you mean, I definitely like the scifi fantasy thing. That sorta thing really tickles my fancy. The games I would recommend to you are Star Ocean Second Story, but more than that I would recommend to you Xenogears. I haven't played Xenoblade yet but I hear good things about that too.

Chrono Trigger I wouldn't really put into that camp, but Chrono Trigger is arguably the best JRPG made. Beyond FF VII its one of the only JRPGs that grabbed me. Honestly I really like the locations in IX as well. It's definitely not really sci fi in any way but has sorta a moderness to it in a way. Chrono Cross is also pretty good, but not as good.

Others have mentioned Resonance of Fate and Lost Odyssey. I really liked both those games but just sorta petered out on them. Resonance of Fate was kinda disappointing in that there are only like 5 weapons in the game. The story is also pretty atypical in a way that's hard to breach sometimes. There's nothing particularly striking about Lost Odyssey but the story is definitely interesting and things look pretty.

Someone mentioned Legend of Dragoon which I don't remember much about but it was pretty cool from what I remember. Also Tales of Destiny 2 has some of that sci fi fantasy feel to it with some cool locations and pretty expansive but it's pretty anime ass anime. The combat system is definitely the shining jewel in that crown.

I should also mention FF VIII also has a lot of that fantasy sci fi thing going on. It's got some really cool shit in it. But if you weren't on board for emo kids then you better brace yourself, because they cranked it up to 11.

@viking_funeral: Damn, Legend of Dragoon... I loved it then as a kid, but it's the kind of game that I feel I would realize it is pretty bad if I'd play it now. But holy crap, I have a strong memory of the first time the protagonist transforms into his Dragoon form. Being a young anime fan like I was then, my head exploded.

I wouldn't compare it with FFVII though. Legend of Dragoon seems more fantasy, less sci-fi.

I forgot about the Dragoon form. That was how I felt about the dragon forms in Breath of Fire IV. They were so fucking cool when I was younger.

As for what you're directly asking for, FF8 is the purest extension of FF7 you're going to find. I also recommend FF12 and Xenoblade, which fuse scifi with fantasy pretty well, but play very differently than FF7 and FF8. Xenogears and Xenosaga might be up your alley too.

Have you ever heard of Anachronox? It's not a JRPG, but it is very sci-fi and turn based. But it's only on PC. It came out in 2001 and uses the Quake 2 engine, but I really enjoyed it. I say it's at least worth a look at.

I might try FFXII. Based on what you said about emo-kids and fantasy settings, it might raise a few of your hackles, but honestly, it's not that bad. There's only one emo-anime character and he honestly stops being important a few hours in. It's got a big world, and I thought the story was fairly well told. It's a mature one too, at least by the standards of the Final Fantasy series.

As far as the fantasy stuff goes, there are swords and royal families and such, but I'd describe it as closer to steam-punk than straight up fantasy. The world of Ivalice is sort of the Final Fantasy version of the Star Wars universe, so there are airships and machine guns and stuff too. If you can get around the main character of VII fighting with a giant sword, you can probably get around the stuff in XII.

FF8 seems like a sure bet to me.

FWIW, I've played most of the JRPGs out there, and none of them had the totally integrated sense of place that FFVII did, and it sounds like that's what you were really into. It's totally out of left field, but the last game I played that really sold its setting that well was the Banner Saga.

Avoid FF8. It isn't very good. Xenogears might be a good choice, although I should warn you that Xenogears has a dramatic drop in quality once you reach the second disc.

While it is a different type of RPG (more similar to KoTOR than a typical FF game in terms battle systems), I'll recommend FF12. It's one of the best of the franchise, and sports a pretty great open world.

8's fine if you're interested in seeing some jenky systems. Plus you're schoolkids on some national service. Mad.

Xenogears. It's pretty much exactly what you want. Also the main line Shin Megami Tensei games, specifically 3 and 4.

The combat and gun customization in that game was rad.

@mosespippy: Legend of Heroes is excellent. How long did it take you to finish?

@bribbins: Just under 62 hours. I might have been a bit slow because I was playing with a fractured arm and couldn't hold the vita properly for a couple days so I was playing one handed. But man is it good. I almost started it again as soon as I finished it, but I realized I have 4 other JRPGs on my Vita that I haven't touched. I'll definitely run through it again before the sequel comes out (assuming that the localization hasn't been canceled).

Shin Megami Tensei IV, and Shin Megami Tensei Digital Devil Saga

Yeah I forgot to mention Nocturne. Never played 4 so I'm not sure but I do like the atmosphere in Nocturne. I don't remember it being particularly expansive in exploration though which it seems sorta like he's looking for as well.

Yeh nothing mentioned appeals :( I'm not really into Anime looking characters and the great thing about FF7 is they didn't look like that. Again because they were so low poly you forgave the style because every character model looked bad back then. Maybe i'll give Xenogears a try but it'll have to be on an emulator because it never came out here and I cannot see it on the PS Store, so I'm guess that digital release was US and Japan only. The art style does nothing for me though...

I just loved those pre rendered backgrounds in 7 and how they'd cut from a cinematic down to them so seamlessly.

Maybe I'll have to face facts that I just don't like JRPGs and that one was a fluke. I played 8 and it started off well but the game just didn't flow like 7 did, I felt like I had to grind constantly and I played 7 so naturally without any need for that crap.

Xenoblade Chronicles X looks good, I hated the first one but this looks totally different. The problem I have with a lot of JRPGs is the world can be quite generic, often they all look the same, like in Monster Hunter 4, there are just no memorable locations. I tried Ni No Kuni and usually I hate Voice Acting in JRPGs, but that had some of the best I've heard, really well done and I find it funny to have a Welsh voice done so well in a Japanese game. Sadly though I just found the story to be really boring...

If the anime look is turning you off, how about Anachronox? Or maybe Septerra Core? Both are made by Western developers. Although Septerra Core tries too hard to ape the anime style I feel.

4 is so good. The atmosphere is perfect, the setting is fantastic (post apocalyptic/cyberpunk Tokyo), and the soundtrack is incredible. My only problem with it is that the map they give you is shit, but that can be alleviated with an actual map of Tokyo.

Currently my favourite JRPG of this gen, though that'll probably change when Persona 5 comes out.

One of the interesting things about FFXII is that they use a range of commonwealth accents do distinguish each region of the world. I wouldn't say they look anime either, but maybe that's because you spend most of the game looking at them from behind and from that perspective they look normal. And it's got lots of memorable locations, from a sea made of sand, to a refugee camp on a holy mountain, to a lighthouse in the middle of the ocean, to a region that changes completely between the dry & monsoon seasons, to some sort of chernobyl like disaster zone except magical instead of nuclear and everything in between.

There is a reason why Final Fantasy is the most popular JRPG. Its probably a sign of superior quality, though I am no expert. It could also be because Squaresoft put so much marketing into FFVII when it came out.

I burrowed Star Ocean for the ps1 which came highly recommend by a friend. I haven't started it yet, but apparently its pretty damn good according to my buddy who is pretty much like a JRPG sage or whatever.

Ok I am going to be the asshole that brings it up. Persona 4 is really good and you should try it (or watch it).

Perhaps some of the Tales games might interest you? They have some sci-fi elements, and they're really enjoyable. Of course, I'm a little biased because the Tales series is my favorite video game series, but they might be worth a look to you.

@dizzyhippos: I bought it for the Vita and I love the whole Japanese life side of things, I just hate the dungeon fighting monsters part of it. If they did away with the combat and all that and just had their school life... I'd like it, I just hate the going into dungeon thing.

Have you considered a 'western' rpg? Since most of the suggestions I would have made for a JRPG have already been made I'll toss a few non-jrpgs you might like.

For a sci-fi setting rpg the recent Shadowrun: Dragonfall offers a solid experience and story, and the sci-fi/cyberpunk theme is strong in it. It doesn't have a large open world, but still is one of the best games I've played in the last few years. You might also consider giving Deus Ex: Human Revolution a shot for a sci-fi rpg, along with Vampire: The Masquerade, though the latter is less sci-fi it is arguably a better game. If your okay with a 'retro apocalypse' Fallout might be worth looking into, and Wasteland 2 also is fairly good.

Aside from that I would echo recommendations of Persona 3-4, they are more 'grounded' than some and offer interesting stories. Most JRPG's unfortunately will feature grind, and it is one of the things that put me off on them until I just accepted and embraced it. I still don't like it, but now I can play through them and not get frustrated at bosses and creatures that outpace the characters dramatically unless you grind for awhile, instead just deciding to sit in one spot and grind while watching a TV show, listening to a podcast, or something.

@venekor: If you only want the story you could just crank down the difficulty and die your way through it.

Shadow Madness

Xenogears

@dizzyhippos: There is no reason to die on the easier difficulties. Run past everything. Fight the golden hands. With the XP from golden hands, bosses, and the few other fights where I got caught I hit level 99 before November, and each dungeon took 1/4 the time it took me on normal.

@mosespippy: I am not saying you would but you can, if memory serves the easiest difficulty on 4 lets you continue fights from where you die right away

@dizzyhippos: It does and doesn't. You get 10 of an item that lets you do that.

Breath of Fire 4

If you say you played Final Fantasy 8 and had to grind you did something wrong. It is literally the only Final Fantasy with no reason to every grind because all enemies scale to your level. If you didn't enjoy the game that is on you, don't spread misinformation to anyone else likely to play the game.

Yes. Literally hundreds of them. Have you not played a JRPG in the last 20 years?

Xenogears comes to my mind.

@venekor: As others have said already

Xenogears & Xenoblade Chronicles, Final Fantasy Viii, Star Ocean games

and I'm surprised no one mentioned Rogue Galaxy. It's somewhat linear but it's open enough that it doesn't feel claustrophobic.

And I'll say take a look at the Wild Arms games. They are like a Trigun-ish Steampunky futuristic Old West on other planet kind of mishmash.

Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii