Classic Turn Based RPGs...

...I miss them.

The first real RPG I've played was FFX in 2001, after this point, I became really addicted to this genre. During these past 10 years, many RPGs came out, of course I played most of them and even played the old school ones. Today, in 2011, being an owner of psp and a ps3, I pretty much own every RPG that are out and available on both systems in europe, but I got easily bored with each one of them. I understand that developers are trying to innovate, but I can't find fun in them anymore. The last one that I really enjoyed playing was persona 3 on the ps2 a few years ago but even though it was a great game, I disliked the fact we couldn't have control over all the characters during battles.

About tactical RPGs, I enjoy playing them but it's definitely not my favourite genre. I completed Disgaea 2 main story but didn't go into exploring the item world or such, cuz it's getting redundant.

Your regular J-rpg like X edge, Trinity Universe, or Agarest:
Yea, way too repetitive.

Atelier Rorona came out here recently in Europe. The game put way too much emphasis on the alchemy part and the combat system, altough it's "classic" turn based, feels too bland.

Now maybe I'm being too picky because reading this will make you feel like I hate everything. Don't get me wrong, they're not bad, myself always gives priority to story over gameplay. But yea, even recent RPGs lack stories, so what's left for me to count on :[?

Final Fantasy versus XIII still looks promising even though it's not TURN-BASED... What I really like about it is its gloomy atmosphere and I can sense a good scenario behind it.

What I'd like to see one day is a remastered FF7... Okay maybe not since it's overrated but something of the like see what I mean? Nowadays, we think of FF7 (it could be every other FF up to 10 or any other RPGs as awesome as them) as a game with awesome gameplay, awesome plot... maybe not awesome looking anymore but that's not the point. What I'm waiting for the developpers to do is to look back on what they made and think: "Sosne, maybe we should make something like that again (with better graphics of courselol)"

So yea,

What's your opinion on the matter?

if you're looking for classic turn base you need to go portable. every rpg on the hand handles has been turn based with their own little gimmicks to keep it "fresh"

I don't know about the ds but I can't find any on the psp that is decent enough.

FF:Tactics is a good one as far as i know. I would also suggest you Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness in case you haven't played it, the first game of the particular series, re-released for the PSP. Another one would be Brave Story ,which is a very nice turn based jRPG but it's hard to find.

I love the classic Turn Based Games as well.

I'm currently playing P3P (Female Story), Final Fantasy Tactics: PSP, Disgaea series all on my psp.

I'm also pre-ordering the Tactics Ogre for psp. Damn... I've been playing my handhelds alot more than consoles, amazing.

But.... FF7 yeah.. combat system fucking sucks. I never really played FF7 til last year on my psp, Gameplay is like FF13.

*Yes... I know this game is fucking old, but damn.. I hate the combat, everything is so delayed.*

turn based RPG....
i sugest you take a look at :

PSX
Vandal hearts 1,2
Final Fantasy Tactics *also on psp*

PC
Baldur's Gate 1,2
Icewind Dale 1,2
Septerra Core
Anachronox

Those are old games but all of them totally worth playing.

@sunsigil1, you know ff7 was active(wait?) turn base right? if you take to long to figure out what to do the enemy is going to hit you.

also i dont like to group tactic games in with "classic" turn based rpgs. it just doesnt seem right to group them together

Maybe I just haven't played the game long enough, but yeah.

you can't go wrong with every Front mission game except evolved, and super robot taisen.

however I have fond memories of FF tactics advance, every now and then I'll still pick it up and play a few skirmishes.

I miss the classics. FF7 is alright but FF6 is my favorite. Just got through beating Earthbound again and am playing Chrono Trigger again.

Atelier Rorona is a terrible way to get into the Atelier series sadly.

Atelier Iris:Eternal Mana, Atelier Iris 2: The Azoth of Destiny and Atelier Iris 3:Grand Phantasm are all incredibly fun and cute rpg's (without that silly calender system that most of the later Atelier games adopted)
Mana Khemia was also another fun RPG to play, however I couldn't get into Mana Khemia 2. (all PS2 games)

'Classic' games like FF7, FF8 and FF9 are good to have a look at, all three were decent in their own right, with the ability to change the settings for the battles from 'active' to 'wait' for a more classic feel.

Breath of Fire 3 was an excellent RPG, which was originally on the SNES (I believe), followed by the PS1 and the PSP. Breath of Fire 4 wasn't a bad sequel, but the PS2 version (Breath of Fire: Dragonquarter) was a let down.

For difficulty, anything with the name Shin Megami in it, will test you like no other RPG will. The Digital Devil Saga's were all difficult games (from my point of view) but had a fun and unique story to them.
If you enjoyed Persona 3, then you probably will enjoy Persona 4 as well.
(again, all above are on the PS2)

As for FFXIII, don't be fooled by how it looks. It is still technically turnbased, and if it seems to move too quick for you, like most other Final Fantasy games, you can go into the settings and switch the battle system to wait, which will give you A LOT more time to make your decisions.

As for Tactical RPG's, Phantom Brave is a rather sweet/cute game on the PS2.

As for PS3 releases, they don't seem to be as good as the previous generation releases have been. The latest Star Ocean game, whilst it doesn't have that 'classical RPG' feel to it, is worth checking out for how massive the maps are.
Cross Edge felt a lot like someones fan fic that some low talent game designer slapped together into a game, it was a shame to see some of my favourite characters get butchered that way.

TL;DR
Recommendations (in no particular order):
Atelier Iris 1, 2 and 3 (PS2)
Breath of Fire 3 and 4 (PS1/PSP)
Shin Megami: Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2 (PS2)
Persona 4 (PS2)
Any Final Fantasy Game (specifically 7, 8 and 9[PS1])
Phantom Brave [Tactical game](PS2)

Apart from what has already been listed for the PS3 I actually really liked Valkyria Chronicles even if it is more tactical. You can find one and will ultimately find both of the followups will be on the PSP. I think you might be able to find some interesting stuff available for network download to your PS3 (PSX and all). Even if it is only cheatily (VATS) turnbased a patched copy of Fallout: New Vegas is actually pretty solid too.

I'd like to suggest Dragon Quest VIII for PS2.

For the PC:

I'd suggest a patched copy of Fallout 2 to almost anybody. Planescape Torment is a fantastic story. Might and Magic 4,5,6 are underrated versus Heroes of Might and Magic if you've never partaken in the 'classics' category.

Personally one of my all time favourite rpg is the Shin Megami Tensei series in general (including Persona) but if you're going for CLASSIC it's got to be "The Secret of Mana"

Oh, so you're really just pointing out games like Lagaia 2 that were turn based, but had weird throw-ins? In Legaia's case, instead of just picking which ability to use, you had to put in specific button combinations. The game overall wasn't very good, but I still should have finished it.