Hey all, been looking for some RPGs for my PSP. Preferably the Japanese kind (not dungeon siege like). I loved Crisis Core and realize that there prob isn't a lot out there of that caliber but would still like some RPG goodness. A few things tho.

1. I hate Grid system /w  turn based strategy. I don't mind turn based systems but I really don't like the Disgea style of play in my RPGs.

2. It's got to be in english! I'm in NA and can import EU titles but JAP titles aren't for me as I don't read Japanese.

3. Graphics aren't a huge factor. I can do 2D, 3D or a mix of both, just looking for a fun, engaging story to play.

Thanks.

I recommend Valkyrie Profile, which is a pretty kick-ass 2D RPG. It's a remake of an old Enix PS1 game, so covers all areas you specified (Japanese, turn-based combat, in English, pretty engaging story).

"Brave Story is pretty good :D"

"I recommend Valkyrie Profile, which is a pretty kick-ass 2D RPG. It's a remake of an old Enix PS1 game, so covers all areas you specified (Japanese, turn-based combat, in English, pretty engaging story)."

"Dungeon Siege: Throne of Agony is a pretty nice action RPG."

Yeah you can't go much better than Valkyrie Profile. Also, Tales of Eternia is on the PSP and really well suited, it's 2D but with painted backgrounds that look really nice on the PSP and it's got some pretty hectic and fun combat (plus it's pretty long as well) Give it a try.

Final Fantasy 1 and 2 Anniversary as well maybe?

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. Never played it, but Gamespot seemed to like it.

"Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. Never played it, but Gamespot seemed to like it."

Would you get mad if I said no?

"Would you get mad if I said no?"

Shut the hell up, I'll do what I want. :p

Crisis Core is a jRPG now?

Valkyrie Profile was good. I've been thinking of Remote Playing it on my PSP.

"Yeah you can't go much better than Valkyrie Profile. Also, Tales of Eternia is on the PSP and really well suited, it's 2D but with painted backgrounds that look really nice on the PSP and it's got some pretty hectic and fun combat (plus it's pretty long as well) Give it a try.

Final Fantasy 1 and 2 Anniversary as well maybe?"

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No problem, remember though if your not sure on a game the whole Giant Bomb Wiki is there for a reason ;P

"No problem, remember though if your not sure on a game the whole Giant Bomb Wiki is there for a reason ;P"

You might try Valhalla Knights. The difficulty can ramp up fast on some monsters, but there a lot of options to fit out the characters.
You might also take look under the Battle Screen concept page; several of the games there have already been mentioned here. It may be my inexperience talking, but it does seem to be largely used by the Japanese style RPG's you're looking for.

"Also you could look into Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology"

"You might try Valhalla Knights. The difficulty can ramp up fast on some monsters, but there a lot of options to fit out the characters.

I was actually looking at a copy of that on ebay as well. Same seller as the other two I mentioned and right now it's just over $5.00 but I read some reviews that said it wasn't too great. I'm assuming you enjoyed it personally? It looks kinda like a dungeon crawler ala dungeon siege.
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"hush404 said:

I was actually looking at a copy of that on ebay as well. Same seller as the other two I mentioned and right now it's just over $5.00 but I read some reviews that said it wasn't too great. I'm assuming you enjoyed it personally? It looks kinda like a dungeon crawler ala dungeon siege.
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It's an odd game in some ways; There are some dungeon and castle areas that you run around in, but for those parts of the game it's more a reason to get from point A to B, or talk to an NPC. When you're not in battle, there's only one character in your party that shows up, whoever you've used last in a fight. The monsters that wander around in those areas are treated the same way; looking at a slime creature oozing around the floor there isn't any way (that I could see) to tell how many or what variety there actually are in the group of slimes, until you get into a fight. The closest to this is a bit of a glow around the monsters. I believe the colors were green, red and . . .purple. Anyhow, they woudl get a bit glowy depending on if you were much lower, much higher, or just about the same level as them. I didn't finish the game at the time, since I was renting it, and the lenght was more than I wanted to take in light of some other games in my queue.
One of the things I really liked about it was the level of customization available to the characters. It uses what seems to be a more and more common job system to help determine what your character is or isn't able to do. On top of that, each character as a somewhat user definable AI; you choose how important things like healing themselves, healing you, attacking, defednding, etc, are to them. I'm not sure how much of a twist it was, but it was also a nice touch that as your characters leveled up, you get more and more of what amount to AI points. At the first couple levels, you party members are only really smart enough to handle concepts like 'attack twice as often as you heal'; as the number of AI points go up, you can get them to have more balaced behavior where they'll buff either themselves or the party, run in to attack and then drop back to heal if need be. since it was a rental, I didn't have the manual, so there's probably some things I'm missing in the setup and execution. I'd say if you can get it for 5.00, and can put in the time to level up your characters, it's certainly worth the money."

Hate to say, but I've never played Dragon Quest, so I can't judge the comparison.

Brave Story: New Traveller

"Hate to say, but I've never played Dragon Quest, so I can't judge the comparison.

I will say that of the other two games you mentioned above, Brave Story and Valkyrie Profile I really enjoyed Brave Story, but had a hard time with Valkyrie Profile. VP I had some hard times with in places where it went into platforming; there wasn't too much of it, but that's always been one of my least favorite types of gameplay, and having it mixed in hurt the game for me.

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Most have already said the best ones :) Valkyrie Profile, Tales of Eternia, and Brave Story are all awesome. My three favorite (in that  order) behind Crisis Core

For something different: If you are looking for a turn based monster battling rpg (think pokemon with a better everything lol), I suggest Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner.  Also, Legend of Heroes is a pretty decent turn based rpg, but not as good as the three I mentioned at the top.

"Most have already said the best ones :) Valkyrie Profile, Tales of Eternia, and Brave Story are all awesome. My three favorite (in that  order) behind Crisis Core

For something different: If you are looking for a turn based monster battling rpg (think pokemon with a better everything lol), I suggest Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner.  Also, Legend of Heroes is a pretty decent turn based rpg, but not as good as the three I mentioned at the top."

"Soap said:

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Oh, yay. :D Thank you. Maybe it was J'ean D'Arc I was thinking about?"

If you're still hungry for some more jRPG madness, there are two Star Ocean remakes coming out within the next couple of months!

"pikastar said:

"Most have already said the best ones :) Valkyrie Profile, Tales of Eternia, and Brave Story are all awesome. My three favorite (in that  order) behind Crisis Core

For something different: If you are looking for a turn based monster battling rpg (think pokemon with a better everything lol), I suggest Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summoner.  Also, Legend of Heroes is a pretty decent turn based rpg, but not as good as the three I mentioned at the top."

Thanks. I've got BS on its way from an ebay seller, nay get the other two in the future. Also, what's this monster kingdom? That sounds tantalizing.  OH WAIT! I just Wikied it and got Folklore of the PS3 -which I loved- is there a PSP version?"

No PSP version of Folklore.  

I know you said you didn't like grid based Strategy RPGs but I gotta pimp Jeanne d'Arc.  I think you should really give it a shot, maybe just rent it.  I hated all RPGs, I was strictly a shooter/action/platforming man myself.  My buddy let me borrow Jeanne d'Arc and I literally could not put it down.  Not only did it lead me to play other Level-5 developed games (Professor Layton, Rogue Galaxy) but I also started liking RPGs a lot more (a lot more than zero).  Give it a rent, it's worth a shot.  It led me to a whole genre of games I never gave a proper chance.

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