Favorite Old-School JRPGs

I've been getting backi nto a bit of an old-school jrpg mood lately. "I Am Setsuna" and "Cosmic Star Heroine" are two games I'm looking forward to over the next month or so. I just took advantage of the square-enix PSN sale for "Legend Of Mana" and "Final Fantasy 4 Collection", and I plan to dig back into the RPG Maker site I visit annually for Summer Of Free JRPG options.

I typically think SNES or SNES-inspired (like I Am Setsuna) games as being the "Old School" style. (Pre-polygon in most cases.) I think my top favs of that era are Final Fantasy 6(3 SNES) and Chrono Trigger.

Any other old-school JRPG fans with good memories of favorite gems? Do you still own them?

Does Legend of Zelda count? Honestly I never played any JRPGs until Kingdom Hearts and even then I played it like I would an Action game and probably never have beaten it if it was turn based

I think most people would say that the Zelda games are not RPGs of any kind, but I think there is still an argument to be made there.
Part of me has always felt the call to give those games a try. But I just remember playing the first one on NES and both dying a lot and not knowing what random box to push or wall section to bomb in order to advance through the game. I think that puzzle style is a little too obscured for my patience levels.

Rickster wrote:Does Legend of Zelda count?

Did you ever try the Secret of Mana or The Secret Of Evermore? Apart from the puzzles those are more Zelda-style JRPGs (action vs turn-based).

I still regret selling my cartridge for The Secret Of Evermore. If we ever buy a Wii U or NX for our boys, that will probably be the first game I get from the virtual console.

Would Uncharted Waters:New Horizons count?

Paeter wrote:
Did you ever try the Secret of Mana or The Secret Of Evermore? Apart from the puzzles those are more Zelda-style JRPGs (action vs turn-based).

No I never played those and while I did play the original Zelda it was my dad's game so most of my memories are more based on him playing it and him making maps of the temples. Have you played a game called Legacy of the Wizard for the NES? I got it in my Retro Game Treasure box last month and I never heard of it before.

[quote="Rickster"]

Paeter wrote:
Have you played a game called Legacy of the Wizard for the NES? I got it in my Retro Game Treasure box last month and I never heard of it before.

O my gosh, yes! I rented that for a weekend when I was in junior high. I've always thought I might give it another try some day. Definitely more like Zelda than FInal Fanasy or Dragon Warrior/Quest. Multiple playable characters and combat is in real-time like Zelda. I think puzzle solving might also be a main part of the experience. I'd say if you like the first Zelda game give it a shot!

Are you able to capture video on your retro consoles?

Paeter wrote:

Are you able to capture video on your retro consoles?

Yeah I got a Retron5 for my birthday last April and have been thinking of doing some Lets Play videos with it

Rickster wrote:

Paeter wrote:

Are you able to capture video on your retro consoles?

Yeah I got a Retron5 for my birthday last April and have been thinking of doing some Lets Play videos with it

Sweet! That's an awesome feature of the Retron5. Let us know when you do something!