I’m kinda in a rut right now. I’ve grown up and am about to be an adult, but I’m still trying to hold onto some of that childlike whimsy that certain games have. Grandia is a great example — excellent art style, fun characters, and a cool world and story that’s way up my alley (I love One Piece). My only real complaint is that the world feels kinda disconnected because there isn’t an overworld, but the way Grandia uses pixel art is genuinely unique and I love it for that. Though all pixel art is amazing, I’m kinda tired of pixel art I see all the time. Persona 4 has excellent characters, fun moments, great music, etc. (I’ve played 3 and 5 too). The two game settings I’m usually drawn to the most are contemporary but not dystopian (like Persona — not Danganronpa or The World Ends With You) and fantasy, but not medieval — more One Piece flavored.
I’ve played FF7 and Chrono Trigger and both have that interconnected map I love. FF7’s gameplay isn’t my favorite (I probably have attention issues) but the art, story, and settings are amazing. I’ve never really clicked with the other FF games though. Stardew Valley reminds me of Persona gameplay-wise. I like that there’s way more to do than just farm, like fighting your way to the bottom of a mine or stumbling into secret events, kinda like an old game called Stick RPG 2. RPGs in general are great — Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky is a favorite, and a silly little game called Denpa Men. Roguelikes are cool but not what I’m reaching for right now. I also don’t want to commit to anything super long unless you really think it’s right up my alley.
A few I want to flag because I’ve already tried them or they’re not the current vibe (all good games, this isn’t a knock on any of them). Chained Echoes and Sea of Stars are both amazing — but I’m honestly pixeled-out at the moment, unless it’s something very unique like mentioned for Grandia. Ni no Kuni has gorgeous art and a great overworld, but the early quests felt fetchy. Perhaps I didn’t give it enough time. I’ve tried Dragon Quest XI and I got really far. loved the open world kinda, I thought the locations were cool but not like One Piece sky island kinda cool. Also the story was kinda eh for me and like ni no kuni, I remember the in-town quests feeling fetchy or just not very earth-shattering. Expedition 33 is on my list, but the Unreal-realism look isn’t what I’m after right now. Additionally, nothing like just overtly anime. If it’s like kingdom hearts, persona, or grandia, I let that slide because, yes, it’s anime’s, but it’s not like all of the hyper colorful anime jrpgs with big swords bright colors like gran blue. Also, I like FF6. I like FF7 better just out of preference. But I also am not a huge fan of the fact that there are 14 playable characters in FF6. That’s just a preference thing, no hate towards that wonderful game. I have also played pokemon
The other thing I’ll mention is I really want something that feels really polished. You know when you used to boot up a new game you just bought like super Mario galaxy, and you could just tell the game was polished. Even the file screen has awesome music. And ideally a unique art style — Grandia-unique, not just “pixel art done well.” It doesn’t have to be pixel art or it can.
Anywho, sorry that’s a lot to dump on you. I know that is a lot of random stuff, and I’m sorry if I sound pretentious when describing any of these games. I have nothing but love for them, though I’m just looking g for something new right now. So throw some suggestions at me. Thanks guys!