Modern PS4 Coop JRPGs to play with S/O?

[MonkeySage]

He really loves Final Fantasy, Tales series, Dragon Quest 11, and Star Ocean 5. I've thoroughly enjoyed Eternal Sonata and Star Ocean 4. Any recommendations for a two player couch JRPG? Not just one where two player was an afterthought.

[Rynjin]

Tales of Berseria is the newest in a line of co-op compatible JRPGs.

Unless you already played it?

[MonkeySage]

I haven't played any Tales games yet. :) Planned to though.

[Zevox]

JRPGs and multiplayer, co-op or otherwise, don't often go together. The "Tales" franchise is really the main big exception that I'm aware of. For that, Tales of Berseria and Tales of Zestiria are available on the PS4 - I'd most recommend Berseria myself, but what I played of Zestiria was perfectly good too, I just wound up not finishing it due to my interest wandering. Next year will see the release of Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition on all current major platforms too - it's a remake of an older game from X-Box 360, but one my personal favorites of the franchise. Vesperia and Berseria have the best main protagonists of the franchise, IMO.

If you have past systems still around, the PS3 has Tales of Graces F and Tales of Xillia 1 and 2. I'd recommend the first Xillia, but would pass on 2, which very literally is all of the fun of being in crippling debt, because the game starts off with your character incurring crippling debt and forces you to pay off chunks of it before you're allowed to proceed to each new area. Can't imagine what possessed them to do that, but they did. Graces F's a mixed bag if memory serves, though it's been a while since I played - I recall coming away from it thinking it had one of the best combat systems of the entire franchise, but that the story and characters were fairly meh compared to the rest of the franchise.

Beyond that you're going back a couple of console generations to things like Tales of the Abyss on PS2 (which is great) or Tales of Symphonia on Gamecube (which I loved when I first played it, but it was also my first Tales game - now I consider it sort of middle-of-the-road for the series), if that's even an option.

But yeah, trying to think of co-op JRPGs that aren't "Tales of..." games, I've got nothing. Single-player only is still very much the norm.

[Rynjin]

Phantasy Star games are co-op too I think, but there hasn't been one of those in a good while that I know of.

You could also play ghetto co-op; play any RPG and each of you controls a different character. JRPGs are overwhelmingly turn based anyway, and it can turn into a fun exercise in coordinating strategically.

[Anteros]

For co-op I'd recommend the Tales series. Especially Zesteria. The story isn't great and neither are the characters, but the RPG mechanics are top notch, and the 2 player co-op is the best in the series. The reason for this is that once you're far enough into the story the combat shifts from focusing on a 4 person group to a 2 person group through the fusion system. It's a lot less hectic, and it feels like your teamwork is a lot more meaningful than most Tales games.

Of course, you can still play as a 4 person group as well if you want.

Divinity Original Sin II also has a fantastic co-op. It's not a JRPG but it does share a lot of the same design elements.

[darkdragoon]

You might find it a bit too hack and slash, but Dragon's Crown Pro.