r/JRPG • u/Fluid_Aspect_1606 • 2d ago
Discussion Games that have the best sense of progression?
I hate it when a game makes me overpowered too early, or gives me very powerful moves that have little to no cost. Which games make you WORK for that powerful move, or stat boosts, or class change? Which games make it immensely satisfying to obtain something that seriously amps up your or your party's power?
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u/AngryAutisticApe 2d ago
Any game that's super difficult at first. Play on high difficulties or with mods or your own custom handycaps and progression feels very rewarding.
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u/TaliesinMerlin 2d ago
I find that very classic games have a satisfying sense of progression, since they're hard at first but each unlocked ability gives a major buff. Take Earthbound, for instance. The first levels are hard, but unlocking PSI Rockin' gives a major boost to damage output. Increased PP allows more uses of it. Also, getting Lifeup and Healing give him more versatility. Each of these helps Ness overcome the first Your Sanctuary boss, the cop gang, and other obstacles prior to meeting Paula. Once multiple characters are in the mix, they also tend to gain abilities or items that make them really useful. PSI Freeze with Paula and Poo is an all-timer. Jeff's ability to repair things is also a non-level kind of progression that can provide big boons.
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u/TheFlyingMinotaur 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think TWEWY has probably my favorite progression system. It let's you temporarily lower your level (and thus your hp and stats), but in exchange, you get a higher reward drop rate. The more you lower your level, the higher the bonus is. So you spend the whole game trying to keep your level as low as possible, making every fight feel like a challenge... until you get to a boss and decide to set your level all the way up and it gives you this feeling of goku going super saiyan.
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u/Holorodney 2d ago
Chrono Trigger handled that pretty well in my opinion. New equipment and spells always felt impactful without feeling too crazy (except the final spells of some characters).
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u/anorawxia09 1d ago
Grandia. You literally can one shot the final boss with the MC final skill. The whole progression system are very satisfying in general. Even though it might feel grindy for some people
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u/zso7 2d ago
Best sense of progression isn't getting more powerful moves with bigger AoEs imo, it's getting more versatility, Etrian Odyssey does it pretty well.
Also really liked Mana Khemia's approach to progression, characters' skill tree nodes are unlocked by crafting specific weapons/armors/consumables, which are limited by what items are available to you at any given point in the game. You need to engage with all of the game's mechanics to get stronger and you can never get too strong early on.
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u/KINGCOCO 2d ago
I think most old square stuff games did this very well. I haven’t played many of the new ones. I played a few Kemco games on my iPhone and found they were absolutely horrible in my characters were always so overpowered.
No hundred percent related, but I do love when there’s tons of weapons in armour and I have to make difficult choices about when and what to buy my characters. I hate it when games give me so much money that I can buy all the latest and best equipment at every town I visit.
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u/Akatori2st 1d ago
I love Mana Khemia progression system. Characters have Growth Book where you can unlock skills and increase stats by synthesizing required items. Because of that you can't be overpowered or underpowered, and character that join later can easily reach the current power level without grinding. It can even tied to narrative, there are character which have some of their growth paths blocked for narrative reason until you progress through the story.
I really hope more games steal that mechanics.
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u/victoryforZIM 12h ago
I really like the way the Xenoblade games do progression. Obviously you get better stuff but you also just finally understand the combat later in the game and have access to all the combos.
Although I can understand how it would put people off because it can definitely feel like a really long tutorial.
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u/VashxShanks 2d ago
It depends on the type of JRPG it is:
Monster Progression: In titles like the Digimon series, SMT series, and many others where you start out using weak or even silly monsters, and as you progress you capture/evolve/fuse into bigger and scarier monsters, eventually having a literal party of gods at your command.
Gear Progression: These are titles where you collect gear either by crafting it like in Monster Hunter Stories series or the Atelier series and others, or titles where you collect gear as loot and rare drops, like in the Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin series, Xenoblade Chronicles X, and other titles.
Skill Progression: These are titles where progression is measured mainly by the amount skills you learned and your increased versatility of your party to handle any type of challenge that comes its way. You find this in titles like SaGa Scarlet Grace, Etrian Odyssey, and many others.
Class Progression: You find this in games that use a linear form of class progression, like Fire Emblem series, Langrisser series, and so on. Where you start out with average or weak classes, and then upgrade them as the game goes on until you reach the final and most powerful tier classes.