which jrpg first?

I love rpg's, but, have never played a jrpg. I am not a fan of real-time combo-oriented combat and story/characters/dialogue are NOT very important to me: great gameplay (not, necessarily, great combat) with lots of customization, options and replay are. turn-based combat and strategy are great, as well.

I just went to gamestop (bought fear2) and couldn't make a decision between all of the jrpg's because I couldn't recall all the info I'd researched, lol.

I really want to play this type of game and, so, for you jrpg veterans, what game or 2 would you suggest for me?

I own a gamecube, xbox and xbox 360.

Depends what consoles you own, if you have a PS3 you could download a few of the old Final Fantasy games from the PS Store, and Final Fantasy X is being re-released this month too.

From is a Japanese company, does that make Dark Souls a JRPG? It has very little story and great gameplay.

...but JRPGs are mostly about the story.

Play Tales of symphonia or something. Xenoblade chronicles. Classicls like FF and Chrono games. Illusions of Gaia. SMRPG, Disgaea if you want a strategy rpg with lost of fun grinding.

Do yourself a favor though and gain the patience for a good story or you may just end up wondering what the hell you're doing.

on those systems? check out fire emblem: path of radiance for GCN.

@insanegame377 @pyro1245 - He said he has a Gamecube, Xbox and Xbox 360. Recommending Xenoblade, old FF games, Chrono Cross, etc, won't help him.

@udubdawgz1 - Sadly, there aren't a lot of good JRPG's on either of those platforms. I'll list what I can think of at the moment, then mark ones I can recommend with an *.

On Xbox 360, you could check out:
Dark Souls *
Dark Souls II *
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen *
Tales of Vesperia *
Lost Odyssey *
Infinite Undiscovery
Nier * (Decent game with an amazing soundtrack)
Final Fantasy XIII *(Convoluted and very linear, but worth a look at least)
Final Fantasy XIII-2 * (Better than XIII, imo, but playing XIII first helps this one make sense)
Lightning Returns
Eternal Sonata
Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Resonance of Fate *

On Gamecube:
Tales of Symphonia *
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door *
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance *
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn *
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
Pokemon Colliseum
Pokemon XD: Gale of Darkness
Skies of Arcadia: Legends *
Either of the Baten Kaitos games

I'd recommend Dark Souls I & II, or Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen above all else.

Sure it will. He'll remember then when he gets a wii or a playstation. Don't point out the fact that I don't read things before I reply. It's rude.

Was in no way intended to be rude. Merely sharing information.

@Lhomity:

I added my consoles owned after insanegame's comment.

as well, lol, the list you provided is sort-of why i'm asking this question :) I know about the mainstream jrpg's available, but, really want to get a game suited for me on my first go.

and, since, you listed darksouls for the xbox i'm wondering which on the cube you'd put into the same category, since, I really want a full-fledged traditional jrpg. i'm not against story, character, dialogue, cutscenes, etc., but, those gameplay aspects I listed are important and i'd like to meld them with the jrpg's available as best I can.

and, so i'm trying to narrow the list before I ultimately re-research and make a choice, lol!

@udubdawgz1: No problem then. I wasn't aware you had edited that bit in after. Sorry @pyro1245

From the GameCube list, I would recommend the top 4 mostly. If you could only pick one, I'd say get Tales of Symphonia.

On 360, Dark Souls is really hard. Probably not a good place to start. Dragon's Dogma; Dark Arisen can also be difficult, but is a good entry point nonetheless. Challenging but not punishing (unless you're playing with 1 or zero pawns). Although neither are traditional anime style RPG's like most of the other games I listed. So, Tales of Vespiria would be a good choice for that kind of JRPG.

Haha I thought I was really bad at reading; and I know you weren't being rude I was just joking.

@udubdawgz1: +1 for Paper Mario: TTYD, Skies of Arcadia and Dragon's Dogma

@Lhomity:

ya, my fault not putting in my consoles owned, lol.

see, that's sorta the thing: I want a great game first, but, I've never experienced this genre before in any of it's different modes. (i can't even decide which to watch first on Netflix, though, i love me some Starblazers:))

dark souls 2 dark souls tales of vesperia lost odyssey final 13 series eteral sonata

If you don't mind gaming on android/ios i recommend chrono trigger and FF6..... (yes i played and finished chrono trigger in my android mobile)

*hides from the incoming flame.

Considering the systems you have I'd have to recommend Lost Odyssey for 360 or Skies of Arcadia for Gamecube.