Which RPG would you recommend?

Having not played any of them, DQ11 all the way.

I've been playing DQ11 and it is my first JRPG in ages. It is a great marriage of the old school JRPG systems and combat we are familiar with from our youth, but with modern conveniences like autosaves, fast travel, non-random encounters (except for a few instances) and great voice-acting and music. It doesn't do anything new really, but it is a very polished form of JRPG.

I have not played the other two on your list, but I am happy with my purchase of DQ11.

I've played some of all of these and Dragon Quest XI is hands down the best of the three.

I've played them all and have finished none of them. Yes, buying huge RPGs I never finish is a bad habit.

I will definitely finish DQ11 eventually. It's the most consistently entertaining of the three, if not the most challenging.

Voted Dragon Quest since I had to Google search Octopath and I find anything from Studio Ghibli to be overrated.

If you're leaning towards Dragon Quest then thats probably where you should go, and it doesn't hurt thats it seems to be really polished and well made.

Last year I similarly had a hankering for a JRPG and hadn't played one in years and was really interesting in Persona 5 - about 100 hours later I still couldn't pull myself away and even started a NG+ run and made it past the first three major dungeons before I finally called it quits. So yah, go with your gut.

Of the three, DQ11. Ni No Kuni 2 was a flop.

I am unable to try Octopath.

@facelessvixen: First of all, how dare you throw dirt on Ghibli's name and 2nd, you're in luck 'cause they weren't involved with NNK2.

@liquiddragon: Outside of the random episodes of Dragonball Z and Sailor Moon that I caught in the 90's along with the anime that would air on FOX Kids and Kids WB on Saturday morning, I've been following anime since the mid 2000's so I'm aware that of the wright that Ghibli holds and I respect that. But, if I really cared that much to watch Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, and Kiki's Delivery Service, then I probably would have done so by now instead of Perfect Blue, Paprika and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. I'm just more of a Madhouse guy, particularly while Satoshi Kon was around and may he rest in peace. And I can pretty much say the same thing about Level-5 where, hey, more power to those who like their games, they just don't look like games that I'd personally enjoy, same for most JRPGs for that matter. Maybe there's a Persona 4, Final Fantasy XV or a Tales of Berseria in their catalogue that can change my mind, but until then, I'm good.

But with all that said, you can make a drinking game out of how many times I've mentioned Senran Kagura and Ikkitousen, so you can't really shame a person who already shames himself. My taste in anime is shit, and thus my "disses" against Ghibli and Level-5 should be taken for a grain of salt.

@facelessvixen: I was trying to be funny and it's ok to like what you like, that's cool. But how are you deciding that Ghibli is overrated if you haven't seen a bunch of their stuff? Btw, Millennium Actress is one of my favorite films, anime or otherwise. Kon is great.

I have played some of Octopath Traveler and about 20 hours of Ni No Kuni II.

I haven't played any Dragon Quest XI.

I would recommend Dragon Quest XI.

I played all of them and my favourite is Ni No Kuni 2, but take that with a grain of salt because I think JRPGs have inherent gameplay problems and don’t particularly like them for the gameplay. I like Ni No Kuni because it’s devoid of any cynicism and is such a positive experience, but the gameplay being fairly mindless was a plus for me because that’s not what I was looking for. It’s easy to just go through the game without thinking about builds and that kind of stuff.

Octopath is the polar opposite, its stories are rote and completely uninteresting, but the gameplay might be great if you’re into really involved turn-based combat. It can be gruelling, with 45 minutes boss fights and you need to always think about buff/debuff and status ailments. It has a pretty big amount of grinding, too, but the way the world is only gated by your level make it feels more open than other JRPGs.

DQ11 is very trope-heavy and traditional, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. It’s a beautiful game artistically and is fun to explore, you’ll need to think more about what you’re doing than in Ni No Kuni but it’s not hard in any way. If you’re into the idea of having an epic adventure where you starts from nothing to saving the world, it’s very effective even though it’s mostly predictable. I’d probably recommend that one the most, even though I prefer Ni No Kuni.

TLDR: Ni No Kuni 2 is my favourite, but DQ11 is the one I’d recommend to more people.

@liquiddragon: Figured that you were, but I wanted to give a serious replay anyway since no one here usually calls me out on my hot takes.

Anyway, it's mainly the repetition of hearing how great Studio Ghibli is over the past almost 10 years as if everything they've done is an instant classic; even people that I've talked to in person hold Ghibli on a pedestal while I think to myself "Ever hear of Perfect Blue?". So given my fairly strong contrarian/devil's advocate/counterculture mindset when it comes to entertainment, there's a point where an abundance of positive opinions, whether or not it's hyperbolic, will most likely turn me away from watching, listening to or playing something because it builds up too many expectations which could easily lead to disappointment and me being hyperbolic with the faults I have. And on the other side of that coin, I'm more inclined to look at things that either get a bad rep or are made for a niche audience, and I usually find a B movie level enjoyment from said shows, movies, games and music, which is how I ended up playing Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet for the past three weeks.

But since I'm aware that my thing against Ghibli and other things fall under at least two logical fallacies, I keep Mononoke, Spirited and Kiki in mind on the off chance that I feel like watching anime again (granted that my taste leans more towards scantily clad girls beating the shit out of each other, and nice boats); same for JRPGs since, as someone who used to trash talk the Tales series, Berseria is pretty dope and I fucks with Velvet and Magilou, so Ni No Kuni might have a chance.

@facelessvixen: I understand, I have that in me too with a lot of things but isn't Satoshi Kon praised to high heaven as well. Definitely not at the level of Ghibli but if you're into anime, Paprika, TGWLTT, and Perfect Blue get cited a lot and receive a ton of love. Especially now that Kon is immortalized, those films are practically untouchable.

Octopath is goddamn amazing in my book. But I also don't know much about DQ11 yet. I've kind of been avoiding it because I don't have time for it.

Nin No Kuni II couldn't keep my attention unfortunately, but what I've played of DQ delivers (and it sounds like it just gets stronger farther in). Haven't played Octopath but the story and structure doesn't sound great, so I'd easily push you toward DQ.

@flynnneary As someone who played all three i highly recommend Dragon Quest. If your still not sure about Dragon Quest just watch the Kotaku review is pretty good and spoilers free.

I'm 65 hours into DQ11, finished pretty much everything in Ni No Kuni 2, and haven't played Octopath Traveller yet.

So far, of the 2 I've played. I'd go with Ni No Kuni 2 ahead of DQ11 by a long shot. I found it a lot more engaging. Sidequest content in both I found to be really boring, though I remember doing most of it in Ni No Kuni 2, I can't remember how worthwhile it was. DQ11's seem real hit and miss, and mostly dependent on how much you feel the need to forge new gear. Most of the way through DQ11, having done ~90% of the sidequests, and in the story just gotten the overworld flying, I'm finding it pretty bland overall and all the side content pretty tedious. Ni No Kuni 2 has more interesting gameplay systems and a better story (assuming the tail-end of DQ11 doesn't sway me)

@facelessvixen: How many Ghibli films have you seen? Not trying to be a jerk, just genuinely curious. Also your previous posts made me think you may enjoy reading Mike Toole's list of "The Other 100 Best Anime Movies of All Time" which lists one hundred anime movies that are often ignored/forgotten by fans and critics (specifically it is listing movies that are not mentioned in Paste's 100 best anime films list). Anyway the list is in four parts and you can read them here: 1, 2, 3 and 4.

Sorry for going off on a tangent there. Please return to recommending Dragon Quest.

I only have a PS4. Ni No Kuni 2 wasn't bad ( it's a easy Platinum) but DQXI is so much better.

I was angry with myself when I finished Ni No Kuni. That's the only one of those games I played.

That's because most people here have had enough arguments with people online to learn that you don't always need to call people out on their hot takes. That being said, I agree with you about the Ghibli stuff, but I think I don't like them as much because there is a lot about the lore and culture that just flies over my head. Why is that boy made out of paper angels? So this is some sort of ghost sauna? What is with the weird clicking head guys in the trees? They all feel like part of an in-joke I am not in on, which is my own fault I guess, but that's why they don't hold as much in my heart as other anime.

I won't vote since I have only played one of the three games. That being said, the one game I played was Ni No Kuni 2 and I thought that was a major disappointment.

Looking for cRPGs and found jRPGs, much sadness. Of the three I tried the Octopath Traveler demo and it seemed neat.