Xeta on 03 January 2009
Since TWEWY is quite radically different from most JRPGs, I would go with another game that was quite different in Chrono Trigger. It's also very newcomer-friendly. If you can't get into something like Chrono Trigger, depending on the reasons for feeling that way you may want to avoid traditional JRPGs.
And don't get FFIII DS. I try to give games a fair judgment but in FFIII DS I cannot find any redeeming factors other than the visuals, which are now surpassed by FFIV DS.
