@fuzzy_dunlop: Then based upon what you've written, Chrono Trigger seems like a pretty good fit. The combat system is fun and not overly complicated (i.e. it doesn't have the spreadsheet bullshit of the Final Fantasies, but there is a few elements of complexity with dual- and triple- techs); the time travel plot is well executed; and there's even some replay value to it with New Game + (as there's roughly a dozen endings to get). Grinding isn't necessary at all in the main game.
My own personal beef with a lot of JRPG plots is that they tend to eventually boil down to the bizarre fascination with (and there's probably a fancy word for this) "killing god", which tends to happen late game and sometimes quite out of the blue - especially with the Final Fantasies - and with Persona 4's "true" boss. Chrono Trigger on the other hand sets up the primary antagonist very early on, and - spoilers - it's who you actually face as opposed to some random-ass deity that conveniently happened to be possessing the previous antagonist all along (but you spent the whole damn game talking about the other guy anyway!).
Maybe there's some sort of cultural nuance about Japanese game developers actively hating religion that I'm ignorantly missing, but I can't help but feel it's just lazy story telling masquerading as an excuse for whoever to go nuts in the final battle(s). That and the whole "power of friends!" trope that gets trotted out way too much.
The various Mario RPGs are a lot of fun too.
Not too many games actually pull the left-field-surprise final boss out these days. And when it is used, it's not about the developers "hating religion." Japan's notion of institutionalized religion is simply different from the way we perceive it in North America and Europe. Here in the U.S., Nintendo of America was particularly restrictive when it came to religious iconography in games for many years to the point that it prevented a Shigeru Miyamoto-produced game from being released here. Devil World could barely be considered blasphemous, but because it featured prevalent iconography and a devil character, well, nope! No game for us!
Also, the fancy word you are looking for is deicide, I believe. But that is beside the point. Crafting a narrative that concludes with a fight against a deity of some sort isn't a sign of being lazy, nor is it a "bizarre fasciination." Thematically, it's more about humanity's struggle against a supposedly higher power. It's a core element of the Megami Tensei franchise, which since its inception has pitted players against all manner of deities ranging from Izanami the ancient Japanese creation goddess in Persona 4 to the Christian god YHVH in Megami Tensei II and SMTII. You constantly meet and ally with, as well as fight, deities and folklore figures from religions and legends around the world. It was true in Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Monogatari, and it's true in Shin Megami Tensei IV.
And when you look at the history of Final Fantasy in particular, only a scant few go for the "fight god out of left-field" twist at the very end. Final Fantasy IV and IX are probably most notable for falling into the trap, but what are you doing in the other games? In VI, you end up fighting Kefka. You pretty much know he's going to be the end boss after the halfway point. Final Fantasy VII and VIII have you fighting powerful entities, but they're entities that you know about by that point. There's no surprise twist there. XII? Oh, hell no. XIII? Again, by the time you reach the end, you're aware of what's happening, and when a twist does occur, it's not out of place, primarily because of the place you're in when it happens.
So what about X? Well, the whole game is about going on a pilgrimage to stop a monstrous entity called Sin and bringing calm to the world. But the party goes further than any other group before it and are able to not only stop Sin, but the source of it. The entity Yu Yevon that people had worshiped in Spira's predominant religion was also the source of Sin. At the end of the game, you essentially kill the being that is at the core of a belief system, but it's a false belief that, as previously established over the course of the game, had managed to thrive and become entrenched through church corruption and zealotry. That's not a lazy handling of the trope. The way that FFX handles it is actually quite skilled.
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