Can anyone recomend any short rpgs

[sirmola]

I am really into RPGS (usually Jrpgs, but rpgs in a similar style are fine too). However, many modern Jrpgs are 40 or more hours, and i have neither the time or the patience for games of that length. Many older games, such Chrono Trigger and Mother 3 are of the right length, but i have already played most of the classics. (including all dragon quest and final fantasy games numbered 6 or lower). I also have a decidedly mixed record with Action RPGs because of my horrible reflexes. Can anyone recommend good RPGs of 20-25 hours or less?

[Water Mage]

Well, if you have a Wii U, Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a rather short RPG with excellent gameplay.

Edited July 25, 2016 by Water Mage

[DarkDestr0yer61]

I have heard "I am Setsuna" is fairly short if you have a PS4

[EricaofRenais]

I just finished playing Clarence's big Chance, it is rather short and very fun and funny. I played it on Kongregate but I am sure you could find it some where else if you want.

[Zera]

I recommend the first three Paper Mario games.

[PeaceRibbon]

Child of Light is pretty short, and only costs around $15 if i'm not mistaken. It's not all that replayable in my opinion, but experiencing the game for the first time is borderline magical (mostly in part to it's wonderful art and music). Also it's not a real grind-y game so that helps.

[Ciarre]

Muramasa the Demon Blade is one of my faves and it's pretty short

[BrightBow]

I believe The Last Story is considered to be relatively short. Considering the way it's designed, I doubt that it could be any longer then 20 hours.

Edited July 25, 2016 by BrightBow

[Zera]

Muramasa the Demon Blade is one of my faves and it's pretty short

Muramasa is a very nice game, but it's just as much an action game, if not moreso, than an RPG. This goes especially if you play on Hard Mode. And apparently, beating the final boss on Hard unlocks a third difficulty where you only get 1 HP!

[Magical Glace]

Touhou Puppet Dance Performance Shard of Dreams is nice if you don't mind the slow translation progress (as of this post, only the interface has been translated, story is the next patch to be done followed by misc. strings).

The original TPDP had a bit of an unfair level curve/less balance despite the complete translation so I don't recommend it in comparison. Plus it doesn't have Sumireko, Seiran, Ringo, Doremy, Sagume, Clownpiece, Junko and Hecatia.

Why'd you have to say short?! Dragon Quest VII is great despite being 100+ hours long, I swear!

[Garland Chaos]

One pretty short JRPG that I can't recommend enough is Live A Live for the SNES/Super Famicom. If you don't mind downloading a ROM, Translation Patch, Patching Tool, and Emulator, it'll probably be one of the most fun RPGs you've ever played.

[Reality]

I don't think I understand your opinion of short of short length very well. I assume yo mean in the main story or at the rate mechanics are introduced. Also I'd like a more expansive list when you say "all the old classics" so I don't bore you with redundant suggestions.

If you are counting chrono trigger/ mother 3 as just right though, I guess I can work with that.

First thing that comes to mind. Capcom's Breath of Fire games, especially 2-4, although 1 and 5 have their place.

Lufia and Lufia 2 aren't strictly long games, although lufia 2 basically has two games in one so it can be long if you feel obligated to do more than just up to the final boss.

Skies of Arcadia: I'll explain this, it can be very long because exploring for moonfish,discoveries, etc is half the experience, but... frankly the difficulty is VERY low, so you can actually finish this thing in one weekend. Compared to stuff like FF7, DQ8, Lunar, star ocean, and Chrono Cross, I'd definitely call it short.

Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, Thousand Year Door. All are relatively short due to their low difficulty and the way stats don't change much due to the battle system.

Mario and luigi: Superstar saga: The first game in the series is actually the "longest" mostly due to its bizarre difficulty spikes. All the sequels are about SNES length though due to being more moderate, although the series is pretty hands on with tutorials>< unfortately.

Phantasy Star 4 - shorter because of its player friendly design (big contrast to first 3 games). I played it before the others, and it fills you in on the story of them ingame, so there's nothing to lose by going out of order although you claim to have done FF 2, so maybe they won't bother as much as they did me.

Suikoden 2 isn't all that long considering what you would exxpect what with it's large amount of party members.

Valkyrie Profile, although it kind of encourages you to replay it immediately due to the branching story /bad ending reasons, so it's it's only short under a "time till seing the credits" definition. Slimeria and Covenent of The Plume might be more attractive to start with than the first game due to pricing.

Golden Sun series: I don't like recomending them because I find them TOO low difficulty though.

Child of Light, as mentioned, is a very convenient way to see Grandia/Grandia 2's battle system, since it doesn't last a 5th as many hours.

Edited July 25, 2016 by Reality

[Elieson]

Lufia 2's second game is the Ancient Cave, and you could sink thousands of hours into that alone. The rest of the game is a good romp tho. Id highly recommend it

[sirmola]

I forgot to mention that i only own a PC, plus all of Nintendo's handhelds. I own a Wii, but no TV to plug it into anymore.

I'm planning on getting the PC version of "I am Setsunna", but it just came out, so i'm wating for a price drop/steam sale.

My reflexes are bad enough that they made me dislike the "mario and luigi" games, so i'm iffy about paper mario because i hear it has the same real ftime elements.

I actualy played through clarice's big chance (primaraly because i Loved the excellent MARDEK series of RPGs by the same developer.). I died a TON due to my bad reflexes, but I was able to complete the game. I had less fun than others would have due to bad reflexes, though.

Please Don't recommend action games or platformers with RPG elements. I almost never have any fun with them due to my bad reflexes. THey are also never short and always grindy when i play them, because i waste a ton of time dying repeatedly. The only reason that i don't call it a disability is that i have never been diagnosed with anything.

I might look into child of light. It looks like it has real time elements, though.

I should note that i generaly like to play all sidequests/get all colectables that are not pixil hunts

I should probably mention that I played all of the final fantisies and dragon quests using the game boy, GBA, and DS remakes. All included various quality of life improvements.

I tried playing breath of fire 2 and lufia 2, but got bored by both of them.

I've played through all of Live A live's starting scenarios exept the mecha one (where i got stuck trying to figure out how to advance the plot).

I tried to play Seiken desetsu 3 and teranigma, but was unable to get past the first bit in either due to my bad reflexes. I am probably the only person alive who had more fun with sword of mana than SD3.

I've played all 3 golden sun games. THe first and third ones were around the right length.

I tried playing mother 1, but got bored half way through.

I Have played at least one pokemon game in every Gen. Those tend to be around the right length, although the newer ones are often a little too long.

I have played radient historia. It was a little long.

I have played all three Mardek games. Mardek 1 and 2 together are around the right length.

I have played undertale. It was around the right length if you count both nueteral and pacefist playthroughs. (I actualy had reletively few issues with the bullet hell elements, because the game way really forgiving by doing things like saving your progress in the final boss fight, or including the teemie armor.)

I have played other RPGs too, but they were either far too long or forgettable.

I Don't mind short but hard games.

I have no issues with fan translations, but am more iffy with emulation if i can theoretically obtain it in this language legaly.

Edited July 25, 2016 by sirmola

[The Draco Knight]

One pretty short JRPG that I can't recommend enough is Live A Live for the SNES/Super Famicom. If you don't mind downloading a ROM, Translation Patch, Patching Tool, and Emulator, it'll probably be one of the most fun RPGs you've ever played.

Well, he doesn't have to: the ROM is easy to find pre-patched with a good patch.

But anyway, I too recommend LAL: it does have some problems, such as bringing you to use a guide to do and find certain things that you wouldn't be able to do or find otherwise or his combat system, which can require some time before you may be able to fully understand it(even tough It's very fun when you do), but It's a very enjoyable and fantastic game.

[Garland Chaos]

Well, he doesn't have to: the ROM is easy to find pre-patched with a good patch.

But anyway, I too recommend LAL: it does have some problems, such as bringing you to use a guide to do and find certain things that you wouldn't be able to do or find otherwise or his combat system, which can require some time before you may be able to fully understand it(even tough It's very fun when you do), but It's a very enjoyable and fantastic game.

To be fair, you'd only really need a guide if you're a completionist and want to go after the superbosses and such, like Lord Iwama and Majin Ryunnosuke in Oboro's Tale, and King Mammoth in Pogo's tale.

[Zera]

Paper Mario is WAY lower on the action elements than Mario & Luigi. It's all about the delicious tactics of battle.

[Magical Glace]

Paper Mario's timing is simpler than Mario and Luigi, especially with hammer attacks (even though unlike M&L, Jumping is waaaaaaaaaay better than Hammer after getting enough badges due to getting twice the boosts from badges) and TTYD at least has Simplifier badges to make the action commands even easier. Only thing that might take you a bit of time is learning stylish moves (in TTYD, not PM1) which aren't super needed due to their main benefit being more star power faster.

[The Draco Knight]

To be fair, you'd only really need a guide if you're a completionist and want to go after the superbosses and such, like Lord Iwama and Majin Ryunnosuke in Oboro's Tale, and King Mammoth in Pogo's tale.

Yes, but

the final boss has an attack that can petrify you and the ariel equipments, which are the only thing that makes you immune to the petrification, are obtainable only by some secret bosses. Some of them may be easy to get to fight, like the one in sundown's dungeon, but others are very difficult to get on a first playtrough, like the one in Cube's dungeon or even the Death prophet(who cannot be beaten unless you have some piece of the already mentioned ariel equipment, since he has a move that can petrify as well).

It's been a long time since I've played LAL the last time tough, so I may be exaggerating about this

[Water Mage]

As others have said before, Paper Mario's commands and timming are much, much simpler that Mario&Luigi.

It also a lot more things that make the game easier, such as much more places to heal, and a easier to traverse world.

[Scarlet]

How about Helen's Mysterious Castle? Don't be fooled by its looks - it's a simple but well-made game with good humor and a pretty unique battle system that puts a strong emphasis on thinking a few steps ahead.

[Garland Chaos]

Yes, but

the final boss has an attack that can petrify you and the ariel equipments, which are the only thing that makes you immune to the petrification, are obtainable only by some secret bosses. Some of them may be easy to get to fight, like the one in sundown's dungeon, but others are very difficult to get on a first playtrough, like the one in Cube's dungeon or even the Death prophet(who cannot be beaten unless you have some piece of the already mentioned ariel equipment, since he has a move that can petrify as well).

It's been a long time since I've played LAL the last time tough, so I may be exaggerating about this

It's been a while since I last played LAL, too. What's the trigger range for Odio's Petrify attack, if you remember? I do remember though that the Death Prophet has some petrification moves of his own, and you have to run away from a certain number of fights to trigger his battle.

[Zera]

Even The Completionist loves Paper Mario! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtIsupqDO88

If you don't play Paper Mario, we're gonna give you lots of paper cuts!

[sirmola]

Helen's mysterious castle looks good, short, and cheap. I'll probably get that. (I'm generaly skeptical of RPG maker games because they often just use the default mechanics/assets, but it lookes like it changes quite a bit and uses original assets.)

It actualy sounds like i would love paper mario (very small real time elements, such as the ATB system in final fantisy, or the reaction system in Mardek, are OK), but I have neither any consoles that can play it, nor the milinty kajilion Dollars i would need to buy copies of the games.

Edited July 25, 2016 by sirmola

[Refa]

Undertale is a good RPG for people who've played lots of RPG's and are used to the tropes.

Mega Man Battle Network is a series of RPG's with a sick as hell battle system, fairly good beats, and a reduced emphasis on the story.

Radiant Historia has a grid based battle system as well but is overall more like FFX than Battle Network (gameplay wise), with a great story and a pretty cool hook if you have any interest in time travel.

Also let me take a short amount of your time to talk about the greatest JRPG of all time, Devil May Cry 4...