Zelda and Oblivion might be repetitive, but at least they rely more on your skill as a player and not as much on you grinding countless hours in some bland dungeon. Each battle takes considerably less time to get through than the average Final Fantasy battle (references are FF7, FF8 & FF10). I'm currently playing Persona 3 and while the game requires you to grind in a bland dungeon, it's nowhere near what I'm used to in a JRPG. So there's still hope for the genre. As soon as I finish Disgaea 2 and Persona 3; I'm going to try and get Xenogears, FF6, FF9, Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross running on my PSP and see what I missed.

I don't understand that last part about how Oblivion differs...

PS: I don't know if Final Fantasy Tactics or Disgaea 2 counts as JRPG, but they freaking ROCK!

I think I see a pattern here. :P

Btw, what's wrong with XIII having a female leading character?

Try also getting Breath of Fire II or IV , both great games. You'll love FF6 and Trigger.

Anyone knows if Chrono Cross is worth a try?

I'm finally up to the 4th disc of Lost Odyssey now. Its still amazing, and still difficult!!! I just beat this boss where it kept casting 700 damage on the whole party EVERY turn! That was extremely hard, though finally I managed it.

Excellent game though, I'd reccomend it to anyone.

Currently playing Mana Khemia: Alchemists of Al-Revis for PS2 , pretty entertaining so far. Loved the structure of the game , it's very user friendly. It's all centered around the alchemy school - going to classes , get the assignment , go exploring to complete assignment , get grades , get free time to do what you want , get jobs , learn some personal history etc etc. The characters are likeable and it's been fun. :)

The original Grandia was an incredible game. It's a real shame they allowed the series to be tarnished by such average sequels that don't appear to have anything to do with the original from as far as what I've been told.

Although a tactics RPG, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is too unique an RPG to miss out on.

I've played Grandia II on the PC some years ago and it was an OK game. I'm going through some oldies right now starting with Chrono Trigger. When I'm done I've got Xenogears, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy IV, VI, VII & IX left. I won't be done with them any time this year at least :-)

After that, be sure to play the Suikoden games (esp. Suikoden 2 and 5). Also Valkyrie Profile could be worth to take a look at (only played the second one for PS2).

Yes, my friend also vouched for Suikoden, so I'll definitely see if I can get it for a fair price somewhere. It's also an unexplored IP for me so it's going to be interesting to see what it can offer. I've read about Valkyrie Profile, but I think I'll save it until I've worked off the more "hyped" games on my "todo list".