Tell me more about this "Final Fantasy XIII"

@zombiepie: It's a game that mainly gets crap for:

1. Its cold opening, where it drops the player into our story already in progress and throws a bunch of lingo at them while also handing them a database where they can look it all up at their own time.
2. It's linearity, where corridor after corridor is broken up by cutscenes or battles/bossfights until very late in the game. During the majority of this time you can't decide on your party makeup for yourself, even leveling lacks any real options for customization until you're past the:
3. "20 hour tutorial". Basically the game has a weird and rather unique battle system that might look similar to some older jrpgs but stupidly streamlined and with more of a real time element. It isn't all that similar though, it's just that the game takes forever to push these new concepts onto you. In its defense, I believe that if it didn't slowly present you with different scenarios and just throw all the variety it had at you from the get go, not only might you be confused as to what you should ACTUALLY focus on doing every battle, the combat would probably live out its welcome much sooner as well.
4. Annoying characters. Personally I was way into daddy & mommy issues double-combo-teen-character Hope, but I can see where people are coming from. Lightning atually probably isn't as badly written as in later games but that's mostly a guess. Vanille sort of grated on me, regardless of character development..

I mainly enjoy it because the battle system is fun, the story is servicable, though I was surprised at how straightforward it turned out to be once it showed its true hand. The ease at which the characters accepted this twist and subsequent change in their worldview was also pretty poorly handed, though that's par for the course with these games I guess. I had a real moment when everything I'd learned about the battle system came together at a certain battle, so that was pretty cool. I also like the music.

If your goal is to experience a Final Fantasy story without the gameplay part getting in the way, it's probably pretty good at that. No need to think about where to go or how to level for a loooong time. "Eidolon" battles might be the biggest roadblock you'll come across early on because they're weird and have a timer, but they're not too bad. Just make sure to set up your own "Paradigms" so you have more variety than what's offered by default and you'll be golden.

• FF13: Great game, definitely worth finishing. Personally, I liked how it just dropped you in blind at the beginning and then filled in the gaps of the events leading up to the opening over the course of the game. Hope and Vanille were awful, but Lightning was great. Sazh could have been one of the franchise's best characters if they hadn't put that fucking bird in his hair. What a horrific plight his was, but wait! Look at the cute bird!
• FF12: The best numbered Final Fantasy. Can't say enough good things about this game. The combat is essentially Baldur's Gate/Neverwinter Nights, the story is excellent, the world is vibrant and varied. Enemy design is top-notch, music is great. The game is full of solid optional content and secrets, paced out at a good rate. The License Board more effectively does what the Sphere Grid from 10 promised(character customization), while also being easier to read. My main issue with the game is that the main character doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things. Balthier, Ashe, or even Basch would have been better choices.
• Resonance of Fate: I'm in the same boat as you. You got a bit farther than me, but you've written down my thoughts about that game to a tee.
• VP2: Worth going back to, but you've hit the nail on the head. It does require a huge time investment to get everything out of it. The first game was definitely better, but Silmeria is still one of the best RPGs on the PS2.
• DQ8: There's a reason this game is generally considered the best game in the series, but it drags on for quite a while, and I don't think that the final parts of the game are worth reaching. I can't say I'd recommend returning to it.

I play too many JRPGs. If you're wondering about one, new or old, feel free to ask me about it. There's a good chance I've played it.

I think you are better off not finishing Bravely Default. The game was a lot of fun up to chapter 4 but after that it became one of the most insanely frustrating and monotonous RPGs I've ever played. Maybe that's an overreaction, but I've never played a game that was so good at first and then went so bad half-way through. Somehow I finished the game but I really wish I had stopped.

@lentfilms: I have no real intent on going back to it. I got far enough that I got the hints of time repeating or something, read the whole journal thing and it was a little annoying that the characters didn't pay more attention to what it says. But I guess they also lack the context of that message that plays in the very beginning that hints to this as well. Furthermore I was really put off by some of the "fanservice" tropes, like the lecherous old man, and some particular scenes relating to him.

What I really want is a different game that's as customizable and well explained, from a gameplay perspective, as this one was. Even though they've changed writers and it supposedly has new characters, I'm not confident Bravely Second won't put me off in similar ways, so I haven't actually payed much attention to it. Maybe it'll be good though.

@jacksukeru: Not sure what to think about Bravely Second. It looks better in some ways but the reviews on Amazon Japan are very mixed and I've read some say it is worse than the first game while others say it improves upon the original. A lot of people also mention that the story is goofier and includes jokey references to anime and 2ch memes, but who knows if that stuff will be kept in Nintendo's localization.

@relkin: I've had some computer issues that has prevented me and my friend from continuing our own little FF13 "Endurance Run". They've now been resolved however, and as soon as I've gotten my replacement 360 controller we plan to start it up again. We'll see were it goes from there.

I played FF12 for a pretty long time, but it was also a long time ago. My main issue with the license grid from what I recall was that there didn't seem to be any reason to pick one path above another. I gave one character a sword and shield, another a katana, a third one a rifle and made him the "healer". What were the pros and cons of these different weapons? I dunno, didn't seem to be any, I guess I'll do whatever. Despite wanting to make a dedicated healer, every other character was eventually as good a healer as that character, and the best way to get a lot of MP was unlocking these "special attacks" that didn't seem add much of anything strategically." Also, heavy armor had more defence than light armor and there was no other benefit for wearing robes or lighter armor?

Like I said, it was a long time ago so my memory is fuzzy, these are just thoughs I remember having and I have no real way of factchecking them (ok, I could google it, but whatever). My friend got a lot further than me when he played it some time ago, and he spoke highly of the story but was eventually bored with the mechanics after supposedly breaking the battle system with some combination of abilities. He didn't end up finishing it.

I'm not gonna plug my PS3 back in to play it, but I might check out a PS4 HD edition, if they put one out. I do remember having fun with it, which is why it's on this list while some of the other FF games I've played and haven't finished ( 7, 8,) are not.

As for Dragon Quest 8. I remember very little of it, and I don't think I actually enjoyed the gameplay all that much. So I'm not even sure why I even got as far as I did. Curiosity maybe? It is the first and only DQ game I've played. It's on here mostly because the way in which I fell out of playing it still sticks in my mind.

As for Valkyrie Profile 2, I do have some desire to return to it, purely because the mechanics are fun and unique. The story doesn't really interest me, I read at some point that the glasses guy turns on you and is the ultimate bad guy or something and that seems whatever. Playing through it with a friend in the wing like I have FF13 feels like the only way I could get properly invested again, but that requires the game to hit Steam for me to bother with it. Probably not gonna try some more complicated, Emulator + Streaming service option.

I grew up playing mostly platformers, and only ever first came across any jrpgs on a few occasions in the PS1 and PS2 era. Even then, I felt like my main relationship with them was getting into them, only to never finish them. Which is why this list exists, to recall the ones worth recalling.

JRPG's or just RPG's in general is a genre that seldom agrees with me all the way, whether it's length or story, or burning out on the mechanics. And I am still unsure what parts could really be adjusted without upsetting the balance of the others. That said, it's not like I never finish any of them and noting the special ones I did finish might have some value to it as well. Which is why, while writing this up, I've decided to make another list of Cool RPG's I did finis. That's gonna be interesting.