At the moment PSN Europe has a Japanese game sale and a lot of Vita games are dirt cheap. What ones are turn based and vaguely similar to Persona?

I recommend Trail of Cold Steel or Digimon cyber sleuth if you got them there. Difficulty may vary but know that these games are CLOSE but are not on the level of Persona.

Fun fact: For Digimon, I am 123 hours on Chapter 16 and TOCS, I got 58 hrs grinding on Chapter 6 compared... Persona 4 Golden 278 hrs for 4 new game+

I know that few will be as good as Persona. I am looking for a good grindy game to play in bed while listening to podcasts and occasionally pausing when story stuff comes up.

Both that you recommended are £15.99 so its a hard choice. Do either of the two have the collecting aspect of Persona?

I know you are asking for turn based games but I'll still recommend you try Tales of Zestiria. Tales is one of the very few JRPGs series left that still crank out good titles on a regular basis and definitely worth a shot.

Also just great: Disgaea 5, which is a turn-based strategy JRPG with 100s of hours worth of content.

If you haven't already played it, definitely give Persona 3 a shot. That's about as close as Persona 4 as you're going to get. Persona 3 FES is your best bet, but if you want to play on the Vita then Persona 3 Portable is pretty decent.

@sessh: Tried Vesperia on the 360 years ago and found it quite enjoyable. Really want a turn based game as I find them slower and more relaxing.

@darth_navster: I have been meaning to play that but it is not a part of the deal and my budget is £20.

Trails of cold steel dosen't have any reqruiting or anything, though it does have a social link-system. Digimon cyber sleuth is all about raising and evolving digimon that you get, wich could be likened to both persona and pokemon, but is still its own thing with its own rules.

Though they're not on sale, I'd recommend the trails in the sky-games if they turn up in one in the future. I personally like them more than Trails of cold steel, wich is still a great game, and I feel they fit the description of what you want since their mood is often pretty light and their pace pretty slow with alot of optional sidequests to take on. Lots of charming characters and dialogue too.

@karmosin: I think I will go for Digimon! Thanks for the help.

I'll echo any praise for Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth. I put 100 hours into it in two weeks, which seldom happens for me. Granted, I loved the show as a kid, but the game's got some quality of life improvements that other RPGs would do well to include. Having a party of 11 Digimon that all gain experience from battle keeps the grinding to a minimum. Plus, the plot can get really touching at the end.

Trails of Cold Steel for sure.

Trails in the Sky is older but also still great, though the perspective is isometric, and it doesn't take place in a school or have a Persona-ish relationship levels element, unlike Cold Steel which does.

Persona 3 Portable, naturally, if you haven't already played it.

If you're wiling to go back into the back catalogue of PSP games, you can probably find a fair number of cheaper JRPGs that'll play on the Vita.