He isn't interested in games with a language barrier.
The Cosmic Fantasy games are not extremely straightforward if you aren't fluent in Japanese and not even if you have some basic skills.
I believe that Joe Hisaishi only did one or two tracks in TMII. But TMII is one of the best Japanese-only PCE RPGs for English players to play through as it has an English walkthrough.
Oops, I had overlooked that post when I skimmed the thread. I mostly view the site (and type my posts) from my cell phone, so it's easy to do.
I do have to say that I disagree on Cosmic Fantasy, though. I have a personal friend who brute forced the first game with absolutely zero knowledge of Japanese and no help from me. Granted, he's very patient with RPGs, especially older ones, but I still think it's relatively straightforward, regardless.
Almost everything (in the first game at least) is strictly point A to point B. If you talk to everyone in town and have any familiarity with a Dragon Quest-style menu, you will get through pretty easily. Anyway, it's still not going to be appealing if you don't really enjoy playing RPGs without understanding the storyline, but it's still way more accessible than most other un-translated titles on the system if we're discounting walkthroughs. I love the game (obviously, given my avatar), but it is really cookie-cutter in terms of progression and mechanics. So is Tengai Makyou, honestly; but it also has a lot more, "Go talk to this person," or "Give this to this NPC," moments than I recall in Cosmic Fantasy. Of course, it's a moot point if you have a walkthrough, but anyway... that's just my take on it.
As for Joe Hisaishi, I'm not sure where the one or two songs thing comes from, as everything I've read on Japanese sites seems to point to at least 10, if not more, tracks directly attributed to him.
I do want to add one other recommendation, which is Star Parodier. It's a fun little cute-em-up, and not as terribly expensive as some other shooters. If money isn't an obstacle, I'd say the Japanese version of Cotton or an English copy of The Dynastic Hero (although everyone except for me seems to prefer Monster World III) would be good choices.
