>build choices are actually meaningful with tradeoffs, rather than just number bloat (i.e. no "+1.5% bonus damage against demons when below 9.1% health and surrounded by fire."), something akin to EVs and limited moveslots in Pokemon >levels aren't emphasized - you can win underleveled if you have good strategy/tactics. optional: caps EXP at certain points in the game to prevent level grinding>progression is not fully linear (but also not open world slop) and the order you tackle content matters and creates tradeoffs; i.e. beating boss Y first gives reward which makes boss X and Z easier, but is riskier than doing Z first for reward which makes Y easier >difficulty is reasonable but lenient enough that it allows a variety of strategies and approaches to work (so no Kaizo-tier autism where you have a 5% chance to win with good luck and damage calculators). >interesting moves and mechanics that work off a variety of different formulas (direct damage scaled off stats, health % based damage, fixed damage, a variety of status effects, and interesting synergy between all of the above, etc)>a lot of potential for challenge runs which are actually interesting (such as LV.1 Frog in FFV, or Weak Mode in IZJS, HC Nuzlockes)>elemental weaknesses/resistances may exist, but they are interesting with a lot of variables (e.g. dual-typings, STAB, weather synergy in Pokemon) and not the only factor in move choice (depending on variables you might use a neutral move over a "super effective" one) >enemies/bosses have unique mechanics and gimmicks which encourage a variety of approaches; there is no "one-size-fits-all" strategy which is always optimal (no brainer)Any JRPGs which fit these criteria? My favorite game is FF5.
>>3680579>caps EXP at certain points in the game to prevent level grindingTactics ogre does this and it's cancer
>>3680579>FF5Is nothing like that
I think I got exactly what you're looking for...Epic Battle Fantasy 5>equipment is mostly element, resistance, and added effect. Things like 'this weapon gives you berserk effect or regen'>no autism needed, but you do have the freedom to autistically grind your stats into the nth infinity if you wish>has a good bit of optional content but mostly linear progression for the first playthrough>newgame+ has randomizer mods to change enemies, weather, location of items and equipment, even the stats on equipment can be set to random (in the pool of the equipment's usual stats. so you will never see anything like 9 million attack or something)>modifiable diffculty, and extra options for making the game harder or easier>extra options including: damage cap, no respawning enemies (no grinding), no stat boosters, etc>can beat the game very underpowered while still being powerful, also option for level scaling enemies or not>not all bosses have the same strategy, different strategies may applyOnly thing you may not like is that the game is almost nonstop battles but I assume you're here for the gameplay. It's not a JRPG, but it's the closest you'll ever get. It's on sale right now for half off. If you can't accept that I don't know what else to tell you.https://store.steampowered.com/app/432350/
>>3680579Black Souls 2 fits all of these points except the elemental weakness part. And I suppose the unique gimmicks part only comes into play once you hit DLC3. But regardless, lvl 1 runs are a lot of fun.
SaGa
bump
>>3680651Is this actually trueI played ebf4 and I remember it was pretty linear, I also dont remember making any kind of meaningful build choices but I played it like 12 years ago so my memory might be hazy
>>3680579it sounds a lot like you just want to play pokemon anon
>>3680579Etrian Odyssey games hit most of those, especially the later ones
>>3680579jrpgs are not about making choices it's about following the path the developer laid out and gettign a satisfying numbers go up experience. Real choice didn't exist until 60+ hours into the sphere grid or the zodiak edition of 12. Otherwise it looks like ur describing a psp drpg
>>3685534You can choose custom game with all the randomizer settings and such first playthrough of ebf5, no need for ng+. It is about as linear as ebf4, there are secret areas between the main game with even more equipment, summons, etc not in the original game.As for party builds, ebf is really more about having the correct synergy between resistances and it is made to be easy to change them when you need to while still having a lot of leeway. Also the steam version of ebf4 recently got an update so now in addition to forgetting skills you can also reset stat boosters on characters anytime and you get all the stat boosters you fed that character back. (something ebf5 does not currently have)
