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[Seriyu]

Yeah, but I don't think it's referred to in later games? Maybe referenced in a kinda wink wink nudge nudge kinda way, but I don't think it's never really outright stated. So at the end of the day it's really not terribly important, but yeah, I did forget about baal.

Then again I've only played Disgaea 1, so I could be wrong. 

[Sir Finkus]

5 pages and no mention of the only good jrpgs?
Grandia 1 and 2, get them.  Grandia 1 is for the Playstation, 2 has a pc port.

You can go ahead and skip all the sequels and spinoffs, they're pretty bad.

[UltraValican]

Backing all that up, and as a note, the post game content is pretty much a grindfest. If you don't enjoy that, feel free to just skip the post game stuff, none of it is amazingly plot relevant. Before the post game content though, it's all pretty universally awesome.
Of the Post Game Content... one ONE thing from each game tends to be Canonical and it is the Baal fight. 

I thought the only canonical Baal fight was

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Laharl avenging his father

Also fuck Nippon Ichi for wanting people to pay for the original Baal design, at least make an alt and not a FUCKING MUSHROOM, but I digress.

Spoiler: On personas/SMT spinoffs lore conection to mainline SMT (click to show/hide)

Persona world is the world where Raido didn't go back in time a set the events of SMT 1 in motion. No one really knows Desu's connection , but there has been some (joke) speculation that the Persona 4 protagonist dies in the train crash at the beginning of Desu 2. Also, Catherine might take place in the persona universe.

[Singularity125]

Backing all that up, and as a note, the post game content is pretty much a grindfest. If you don't enjoy that, feel free to just skip the post game stuff, none of it is amazingly plot relevant. Before the post game content though, it's all pretty universally awesome.

I'm okay with this. I guess I'll just keep an eye open while rummaging and such. Maybe Amazon has it cheap... Edit: Nope. DS copy is the most expensive of the lot. I don't even.

If you have a PSP, you can get the first two games off of the PSN, for pretty cheap. (10-20 bucks each, I think?). Otherwise, yeah, they're sort of cult classics. I second the opinion to start with the first one... I started with the second, then went all over the place. But, most of the later games in the series make grinding easier in some fashion. That sounds like a good thing, but they spoiled me, so the first Disgaea is the only one I haven't finished the main story in. That's what I get, I suppose.

[TempAcc]

Do action JRPGs count? You could try the YS series games for the PC and PS2. Anything after YS: Oath in Felgana is good, and probably before too, but I haven't played any of the older ones

[Farce]

There is also Front Mission 1-4 (I like 3 more then 4... but I own 4)

There's actually a 5, too, with a fan patch translation IIRC.  If you can get that manner of wizardry going it might be cool.

I think it's set on the same island as the first game.

[kaijyuu]

Everyone, everyone should try out Valkyrie Profile for the PS1. Now, it's not for everyone I'll admit, but everyone should see that for themselves, and it's one of the best pieces of art I've ever experienced.

Note if anyone happens to take me up on my suggestion: Find a spoiler-free walkthrough. There's a billion things you can miss, not to mention getting stuck. Ex: The "hard" difficulty is actually the easiest difficulty, the regular ending is a pathetic excuse of an ending, and the first 30 minutes are confusing if you don't know what to do. Once it clicks though, it's damn awesome.

[sambojin]

If you don't mind emulating, there's a few on the MS/Megadrive consoles that were alright. Phantasy Star 1-4, Shining Force 1+2+in the Darkness's, and a few others. Sort of psuedo-JRPGs, but fun enough anyway. Maybe even Spellcaster for a platformy-RPGish thing (although it isn't the best).

While you're there, grab a copy of SMS Ultima 4. It's American, but it's probably the best version made of it. No faceless enemy, just lots of good deeds (other than knicking the entire Brittanian treasury several times over at the beginning). Used to love this game as a kid.

Phantasy Star Online 2 is for the PC and is F2P. You don't get much more Japanese than it is currently.

Can't think of much more JRPG Sega style stuff off the top of my head. There's probably a fair few translated roms out there though.

[Solifuge]

If you want to go for the obscure classics that flew under most radars, might I suggest Shining: The Holy Ark? It's a first person turn-based jRPG/dungeon crawler with some great dungeon designs, enjoyable and challenging combat, and the first person perspective gives it a unique flavor. Oh, and it has an absolutely rocking soundtrack by the great Motoi Sakuraba.

While you're at it, you can snag Legend of Oasis (Story of Thor 2), and Albert Odyssey, two more enjoyable jRPGs for the Saturn.

[Neonivek]

Everyone, everyone should try out Valkyrie Profile for the PS1. Now, it's not for everyone I'll admit, but everyone should see that for themselves, and it's one of the best pieces of art I've ever experienced.

Note if anyone happens to take me up on my suggestion: Find a spoiler-free walkthrough. There's a billion things you can miss, not to mention getting stuck. Ex: The "hard" difficulty is actually the easiest difficulty, the regular ending is a pathetic excuse of an ending, and the first 30 minutes are confusing if you don't know what to do. Once it clicks though, it's damn awesome.

The requirement for the "Best ending" was obviously made for people who bought the guide because the sheer number of "What the heck!?!" things you have to do in order to get it is quite large. Including ONE action that if you have been playing the game you wouldn't have thought possible (because it was impossible previously).

As a tip: Try to revisit the location of a party member with them in your party (though they don't have to be on your team) at least once. Sometimes you will get something of mild usefulness, but every once in a while you get a extremely useful object (You can get a Mage weapon that is useful for well over half the game). As well don't get fooled by cost and high combos, often the best weapons for the start of the game don't have 3 hit combos.

Tip 2: One of the keys to play the game successfully is to try to balance what treasures you take and which ones you keep. Some treasures are useless, while others can make your life many times easier.

[Enzo]

While you're at it, you can snag Legend of Oasis (Story of Thor 2), and Albert Odyssey, two more enjoyable jRPGs for the Saturn.

I just...ahhh

I didn't know there was a sequel to Beyond Oasis! I loved that game to pieces.

[Vherid]

TWEWY is fantastic.

All of the persona games are supposed to be pretty good, Ive only really played 3, its fucking amazing.

Disgaea games are amazing too.

ZHP: Unlosing ranger vs darkdeath evilman is another NIS game thats very roguelikebased and it's pretty amazing.

[Neonivek]

All of the persona games are supposed to be pretty good, Ive only really played 3, its fucking amazing

The only one I'd warn people about is the First. Not because it is bad but because it plays a lot like a classical game (Wizardry style), and a lot of players have lost their tollerance for it after these years.

[Duke 2.0]

 I think all the minds here would mightily appreciate the quality and structure of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time.

[Wyrd]

Luffy on the SNES was amazing. Secret of Mana and Equinox were also great. I've played more good ones, but these are the immediates that come to mind. Mostly Lufia. There's also a Lufia 2 for the SNES, a Lufia for the GBA and another for some other system.