Progress overview and gaming plans:
[Link]
My love for fiction and Grandia, my first JRPG, had me pledge my heart to JRPGs; aside from that, I mainly play visual novels and otome games.
My passion for video games is rooted in the desire to explore their potential in storytelling, as they differ from other media – which tend to be far more linear – in that regard due to the tools available to them, such as multiple layers (say, mechanical storytelling) and branching options (multiple mutually exclusive truths can exist simultaneously and shape your view of what's presented as reality). With that as my main drive, I chiefly evaluate games under the viewpoint of narrative and themes.
Beyond story progression, worldbuilding, characterization and character development, an excellent JRPG to me is not without good character interaction, though that often goes neglected. There is no such thing as a journey in a group with no interaction – short breaks from the travelling and fighting are necessary, and providing insight into how party members treat each other is crucial to both characterization as well as the journey itself. (Just look at the opening clips of Wild Arms, Wild Arms 3 and Tales of Symphonia, or games such as FFIX, Grandia, Tales, and Trails, which make an effort to illustrate the bonds between the characters outside of mandatory plot points by offering additional, often optional, scenes, or NPC banter.)
As for my backlog: Considering the average length of a JRPG and the trend towards longer games, chances are I'll only get to experience the majority of games once, as time is better spent exploring something new or replaying something I truly love. Once I've committed to a game, I want to see and know all it has to offer for the duration that it is my focus; I hate the thought of not having explored everything there is to explore, not having experienced everything there is to experience. Yet, I am so easily overwhelmed and stuck between appreciation and obsession. The result: I often stop playing randomly right at the last part of a game after having played it ceaselessly for quite some time. Worse, with JRPGs, it just doesn't feel right to continue playing where you left off if much time has passed since, as to me, it is the journey and the experience that comes with it that are important – and it is precisely the spirit of the journey that would be lost if I were to continue in such a manner. The consequence: I feel compelled to restart games from scratch whenever a lengthy break has taken plause. And because time is a scarce resource, that usually means a game will be indefinitely paused.
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Favourites
JRPGs:
- Odin Sphere Leifthrasir
- Trails of Cold Steel I
- Trails in the Sky FC
- Fantasy Life
- Radiant Historia
- The World Ends with You
- Wild Arms 3
- Final Fantasy X
- Final Fantasy IX
- The Legend of Dragoon
- Grandia
- Terranigma
Visual Novels:
- Gnosia
- Raging Loop
- 428: Shibuya Scramble
- The House in Fata Morgana
- Zero Escape
- Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective
- Ace Attorney
Otome Games:
- TAISHO x Alice
- Cupid Parasite
- Nightshade
- Code: Realize ~Guardian of Rebirth~
- Cinderella Phenomenon
Other:
- Hades
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- The Dark Eye: Memoria
- Aquaria
- Ragnarok Online
- Ape Escape
- Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer
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There might be some games that are listed as completed, but lack minor things – the reason they're marked as completed anyway is for my own reference because I consider what's missing insignificant, which in turn depends on how the game in question values those elements.