Actually, I got Shadow Hearts 2: Covenant, and both Devil Summoner games for rather cheap, myself. I got SH2 for 20 bucks at a pawn shop, and I got both Devil Summoner games new for 40 bucks ea at a place called A&C games in Toronto (worth checking to see if they will ship online for those interested).

I will try avoid mentioning games already listed, but if I do I apologize, here is my list of suggested JRPGs:

Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei 1 and 2
Shin Megami Tensei 1 + 2
Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne/Lucifer's Call (absolutely amazing game)
Shin Megami Tensei 4
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 2 - Innocent Sin AND Eternal Punishment (worth getting both)
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga - Avatar Tuner 1 + 2 (Okay about 98% of MegaTen games are great :P)
Gundam Breaker (friggin sweet game, though I don't know if you'd consider it an RPG)
Atelier Iris 1-3 plus any PS3 Atelier game
Shadow Hearts 1-3 + Koudelka (worth mentioning again, some don't like 3 but I liked it anyway)
Thousand Arms
Lunar 1 + 2
Sakura Wars: So Long My Love
Odin Sphere
Eternal Poison
Record of Agarest War (even zero is worth playing)
Star Ocean and Star Ocean: The Second Story
.Hack//Infection series
.Hack//G.U. series
Summoner 1 + 2 (PS2)
Shifters (PS2)
Rogue Galaxy
God Hand (more of a beat 'em up, but worth mentioning to me)
Resonance of Fate
Fragile Dreams: Farewell to the Moon
Valkyrie Profile 1 + 2
Wild ARMS 1-5
Any World of Mana game (I didn't mind Seiken Densetsu 4: Dawn of Mana)
Grandia 1-3
Ar Tonelico 1 + 2
Mana Khemia 1 + 2
Xenogears
Xenosaga 1-3 (2 being the weakest game play wise)
Krater (not really a J-RPG, but follows a similar formula and a lot of fun)
Alundra 1 + 2
Legend of Heroes
PoPoLoCrois

Probably more I am not thinking of that I like, but that gives you a few options. :)

Chrono Cross is great. I suppose you could emulate it, or you could get it from the PS1 classics on PSN.

I think it's better than Chrono Trigger, and since a lot of the people that hate on the game do so mostly because it isn't Chrono Trigger 2, you'd do well to play this one first like I did, so as not to color your judgement.

It'd help if you mentioned what platforms do you have.

Devil Summoner 2 was never released in Europe, so it'll be emulation only.
PAL vs NTSC gap is fun. Check amazon.co.uk for some awesome pricing.
My favourite price for a PAL PS2 game so far http://www.amazon.co.uk/505-Gamestreet-Rule-of-Rose/dp/B001M1AFKQ

Oh man, I didn't notice it was PAL you were talking about, my bad. Ouch, I got Rule of Rose for 75 bucks or 80 bucks at a convention sealed. Mind you again that's NTSC, but still dear god I am so sorry for people getting hosed like that on game prices. :(

I second that.

Persona 2: Innocent Sin, Persona 2: Eternal Punishment, and Persona 4. Persona 2 are very typical JRPGs in structure, and have kinda crappy gameplay, but great casts and stories. It's a duology, Innocent Sin is the first part. Sadly, the only ones available in English are the updated PSP version of Innocent Sin and the more dated PSX version of Eternal Punishment. Persona 4's more what people think of when they think Persona, with the sim and time management elements and such.

Actually, I didn't mind the game play in the Persona 2s, I found them a hell of a lot better than Revelations - Persona (oddly the only one I don't think was branded with the SMT title. Since most MegaTen games get the SMT title outside of Japan for brand recognition). I digress, if you don't mind importing, you can copy the PSX Innocent Sin version to an image and patch it with the English patch. I don't MIND the PSP version, but the extent of censorship on it kind of made me a bit sad. Also, graphically both Persona 2s have aged a lot better than some PSX era games :P.

Oddly enough, Persona 3 is the only game from that SMT sub-series that I'm not overly fond of. It's not a bad game but I just enjoy it much less than any other MegaTen title. Persona 4 to me brought that sub-series back up to par with the previous entries in terms of gameplay, and story. However, that is just my PERSONAL view on P3, and by no means others won't enjoy the title as much, or more than other Persona entries.

Not to go off topic, but I was curious if anyone seen the Persona 4 anime, if it was any good. I really disliked Persona: Trinity Soul, but Persona 4: The Animation looked promising for some reason. Just curious if it's worth
a viewing/purchase. :)

With P2, I like a lot of the ideas of the gameplay, but I don't like a lot of the execution. It's not terrible or anything, but it's just kinda clunky and eh... Fusion spells are cool, but they end up being the only thing you use, contacting is either annoyingly random or repetitive, the tarot card system is a pain, etc. What kind of censoring went on in the PSP version (PM if there're spoilers, I guess)? I haven't played P1 yet, I'll get to it, but it'll be the last one I do.

Funnily enough, I was reading the Persona OT on Neogaf and one of the regular posters there has exactly the same opinion on P3 as you. I'm not done with P3 yet, but it's definitely my least favorite so far. Still good, but I like 2 & 4 considerably more.

The P4 anime is actually surprisingly good. It's very fanservicey (in the non-sexy way), in that it's more intended for people who've played the game, not to serve as a replacement. It was made on a shoe-string budget, so the animation is frequently ugly and it feels kinda rushed, but it does a good job of capturing the spirit of the game and there's a handful of legitimately great moments. Worth a watch if you're a fan.

While I like the gameplay, I can completely understand how you feel on Persona 2. Oh don't worry about the spoilers, the censorship is not hard to miss, there are 3 major things changed I can think of. However, you should be able to tell what 2 of them are as they are rather big. The last one more or less had to do with a relationship path that was removed (unless I missed it) with another character. It's no big deal, but I just prefer the title to be released as is, rather than try to white wash things. That being said P2: PSP is still a solid game never the less right through.

LOL, nice, I am glad I'm not the only one who feels that way about Persona 3. I think with it's Final Fantasy VII-like fan base also didn't help matters for my opinion of the game. I guess with it's popularity that was bound to happen, and I can't fault the game for it, but it did discolour the game a bit for me sad to say. I am not saying a good game shouldn't be popular, but the fans I've met at cons have acted like P3 is the only Persona game, or only good one, and that annoyed me. That isn't to say all P3 fans are like that though. :)

Awesome, I almost bought it at Fan Expo this year, and I kind of wish I had of now. Though it should be much easier to track down than the anime I did end up buying there. Yeah, but so long as it remains faithful to the universe, I don't mind it being more of a companion animation to the game. I can deal with "ugly" animation so long as there is other supporting factors as story (as you've said), and/or compelling characters. I would be interested to see how they handle the Protagonist having a personality rather than being an avatar for the player. Thank you, I will most certainly look it up.

Also before I forget, I wanted to mention the games Vanguard Bandits, and Saiyuki to the OP as good JRPGs though tactics based they are fun and have good entertaining stories. :)

don't really care much for bof3.

Like, the gameplay and the dragon gene system and master system and what not's fine. But the pacing is atrocious, and it lacks any sort of direction and has a tendency to go off on unproductive or even counterproductive tangents so you just kind of meander around with a couple of very vague goals until the final boss explains everything in the cutscene immediately before the battle. (and I'm not particularly fond of the retconning in an unnecessary and halfhearted attempt to make things morally ambiguous)

also.

three words.

Desert. of. Death.

Oh, right, I actually do remember the "sunglasses" censorship, which might be one of the most hilariously dumb examples of censorship I've seen. If you're talking about the gay relationship path, I believe that's still in. It's an option at least, I chose a different option for that and immediately regretted it, I think that relationship really works the best, character-wise. One of my major problems with P2:ISP (Persona 2: Internet Service Provider) is that they made the game even easier to the point that only like two bosses in the entire game actually provided anything resembling a challenge.

Well it is pretty weird they started the Persona series with #3. :P Part of my issues with 3 really come from playing 4 first, 3 really feels like a step back in most ways. Creepy high-functioning sociopath protagonist go!

They actually did a pretty brilliant job with the protagonist, that's definitely one of the highlights. They managed to make him feel like a real character without betraying the "feel" of the protagonist from the game. Oh, and I definitely recommend the dub. Uses the same VAs from the game (Chie and Teddie have their new VAs that also did Arena and Golden). Speaking of dubs, I hope you've watched the hiimdaisy comic dub?

LOL yeah among other censorship things, I mean when you make the big bad look like something from an 80s beer commercial you know you have an issue. Ah, I must have missed it, I like exploring all possible story paths, so I was bothered when I thought they had removed a part of it. It seemed a bit prejudicial to me, but if I just missed it, no big deal :). Yeah, it did seem a bit easier, I wish they had of had original difficulty with options to switch to the "easier" difficulties for those who wish to play it that way.

Well, I think it's because the first 3 games were rare and one was not released in North America, so that coupled with the lack of press for the titles were both it's saving grace and downfall for early Persona games. As for people starting with 3, yeah it does seem a bit odd, even if I don't complete a game, I try at least play previous entries so I get a feel for how they got to that point. I liked a lot of things presented in Persona 3, but there were a lot of things that really bothered me. For example Apathy Syndrome seemed like a half assed excuse to avoid having deaths in the game. I mean that's one thing that I rather liked about Persona 4 was the more realistic (well as realistic as possible) consequences to the epidemic and failure to stop it. Again that is just my opinion, but that is how I viewed Persona 4 versus 3. I still want to get the Vita version of P4 (and a Vita later), as well as P4: Arena looks like a blast.

I am happy to hear that, with a protagonist lacking a personality (other than the player's superimposed onto them) it's not easy to give a character a personality that seems legitimate but faithful to the games. I will most certainly get my hands on the dub, there are a few stores that sell the Blu-ray release on par with the DVD release so I may get that. I have read a bit of Hiimdaisy but not a lot, I'll be sure to check that out. :)

Not exactly sure why nobody has mentioned Terranigma yet, because that game might just be one of the greatest JRPGs ever conceived. It features a fantastic storyline, excellent real-time action-based combat, superb graphics, one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard, and an overall atmosphere that has yet to be surpassed by other games in that subgenre. One of the absolute highlights of the SNES library.

It was never released in North America, so that may be one of the reasons why people hardly seem to talk about it anymore. Which is a real shame. This game deserves all the attention it can get, and then some.

Apparently that was part of the reason the PSX version was never translated, actually.

As far as 3... Apathy Syndrome felt to me like a callback to the Shadowmen of P2, but kinda less interesting. I do prefer some of the things P3 does, like having multiple physical damage types, but for the most part P4 does feel like a straight upgrade. You can control your own party members (although the AI hasn't bothered me as much as I expected it to), the S.Links are better, you can S.Link with all your party members, and you're not forced to date every girl, and the dungeons are SO MUCH LESS TEDIOUS THAN TARTARUS AAAAARGH. People always say P4 is more upbeat than P3, but that's sort of a false comparison. P3 is all about being constantly oppressive, whereas P4 feels more about contrasting light bits with dark bits (I admit it, I welled up at THAT BIT). Funny that they tried to avoid people dying in P3 since the game's all about death. :P One thing I do like about P3 though is the sense of ominousness the full moon has. P4 is is all "Someone got thrown into the TV go go go!", whereas in P3 the moon is coming and you'd BETTER be ready when it does. My main complaint with P4 is probably that some of the S.Links kinda exist in a bubble, which lends it a weird feeling. This is less of an issue in 3 since your party gets more non-S.Link development.

I'd like to get a Vita someday, although I can't really justify getting it now when there's only a few games I want for it. You can play every Persona game on it, though! xD They actually just announced a rerelease of Arena which'll include Junpei, Yukari, presumably other new characters, and shadow selves of everyone, so you might want to hold off on buying Arena, actually. I'm just sitting in the corner and desperately hoping they include Tatsuya and Maya (and Eikichi, but that won't happen). >.>

And yeah, look up the Hiimdaisy comic dub on Youtube. It's about half an hour long and it is wonderful.

Wow, shame on you guys for not mentioning The World Ends With You or Dragon Quest 8 yet. Those are great games.