What's a good entry point for someone that hasn't played a JRPG before?

I stopped enjoying JRPGs years ago, and haven't finished anything since FF9. But DQ11 kept me going right through to the end.

I don't know whether any FF is a good introductory JRPG, but I could vouch for DQ11. Final Fantasy tends to have weird, deep, or oddball mechanics. The main problem with that isn't difficulty or learning curve, but that's it's another thing someone may or may not like. Some people love FF7 materia and hate the FF8 junction system, and for some it's the opposite, and so on.

I've seen and support the analogy that Final Fantasy is like a trendy pizza parlor, coming up with all kinds of weird, off-the-wall recipes to stay interesting. But Dragon Quest is a burger joint that's just really, really damned good at making their hamburger.

So instead of starting out with the cheeseless pineapple salmon pizza, maybe just try a really good burger.

There is a lot of content but they are not complex.

FF8 is pretty shit on the whole.

10 is good, but sphere grid can be overwhelming, and it's easy to fall into the pit of 'I HATE TEEDUS BECAUSE HE'S ANNOYING', and end up missing the nature of the plot.

6 is good, very old school. 7 has some similar issues to 10 with the materia system, but you might want to do 7 because of the remake. 9 is a pretty friendly JRPG. 13 is shit. 12 is horribly complex mechanically, and quite dry thematically.

I would also recommend modern jrpg because old ones have random encounters. It's really annoying and can kill mood for newbie.

Final Fantasy X.

Shut up retard. FF8 is the best love story in history of videogames

Kill yourself Rinoa fag.

Not FF8. It's the Evangelion of JRPGs.

What's the difference between Rinoa and Tifa?

Definitely not FF8

start with the best
chrono trigger or secret of mana or ff6 or ff7

This
Its a good entry level game but also happens to be an amazingly good game all around.

What will you say about Legend of mana?

>secret of mana
Bro the meme that Secret of Mana is some godlike masterpiece ended at least 10 years ago.

LOM is a beautiful game. Top tier ost. Good scenario writing. Unfortunately the combat can be a bit of a slog some times.

Final Fantasy 4, 6, or Mystic Quest
Luifa 2 (It's a prequel)
Dragon Quest 3 or 8
Chrono Trigger

the only ones that are really complex are 2, 8, and 12

I haven't even played it and I know that last statement is wrong, why? Because my friend plays specifically FOR that reason. That he can grind in the infinite NG+.

Bro there is the difference when you can grind if you want and when game makes you grind.

Tifa has two great big personalities, which all together makes 3 more than Rinoa.

Final Fantasy 5 is hands-down the best JRPG to start with if you're completely new to the genre.
After that you can play Chrono Trigger if you want more 2D games and witness the epitome of all the best parts of the 16-bit RPG era condensed into one game. If you want 3D, you could play either Final Fantasy 9 or 10. Most all FF games are entry-level JRPGs but that doesn't really detract from it as a whole, they're solid starting points for a good reason.

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Grinding isn't required in CT for NG+ because the enemy difficulty never raises.

That really depends since the thing about JRPGs is that the genre encompass lot of variety in battle systems. Vagrant Story is totally different from Legend of Dragoon, Valkyrie Profile, Final Fantasy, the chrono games, the Shadow hearts games or the Star Ocean games.

People usually recomeds to star with FF VII even if it´s not the best because it is the quintesential FF experience of the PS1 era, which is when the IP was at it´s best and gained popularity on the west. That game basically opened the JRPG market so it is a must for anyone interested in JRPGs. One can move to the rest of FF games from that period or other JRPGs from there.

Fair enough, my apologies. Also any games with optional grind that are note worthy?

Only if you want to kill optional superbosses
In FF7 for example, you can get by pretty easily just spamming your strongest summons and spells, you only have think about materia setups for the optional fights with the ruby and emerald weapons

>FF8 is the best love story in history of videogames

It's the second WORST love story of the entire series, only beating out XV's pre-arranged marriage bullshit

FFVII is the only good JRPG. Play it and never touch another JRPG as long as you live. They are a huge waste of time. Read a book or play a tabletop game with friends.

Good suggestion. Chrono Trigger is amazing and perfect for anyone. Has everything to love for JRPGs.
>Buying weapons per town
>AP and EXP levelling by fighting
>End Game content
>New Game plus
>Late game skill and character Syngergy
>Multiple Endings

Dragon Warrior VII for the PS1 is the absolute quintessential JRPG

Chrono trigger, grandia, persona 4 or 5, Disgaea, DQ 4,5,6, ff7, ff10, ni no kuni 1 those are some of my favorites