Board 8 > So which JRPGs could be classified as legitimate Game of the Year contenders?

(+) Yeah! (+)

And by that I don't mean like subjective "this was my favorite game of the year", but looking back at what critics were saying at the time, which JRPGs had that kind of buzz when the end of the year awards season rolled around?

Looking back, I'd probably say...

1988: Phantasy Star was the first, definitely on a lot of GOTY lists of the day considering how advanced it was for its time. It didn't just put the Master System on the map, it did the same for JRPGs as a whole.

1994: Final Fantasy III/VI I remember being up there, though Donkey Kong Country swept most of the awards, FFVI was definitely #2 on a lot of lists.

1995: Chrono Trigger is probably the only JRPG to be a "consensus" Game of the Year pick in its day. I remember this game winning a ton of end of the year awards, though Electronic Gaming Monthly noticeably had Twisted Metal beating it (LOL).

1997: Final Fantasy VII is the obvious one. I remember it taking most of the fan awards, but Goldeneye 007 just barely edging it out with the critics.

1998: Xenogears and Pokemon both got a lot of buzz in this regard, but Ocarina of Time took most of the awards and Metal Gear Solid picked up the rest. Such a stacked year.

1999: Final Fantasy VIII, while very controversial, got a lot of critical love back in the day and I think was second to Soul Calibur on a lot of year end lists (third if PC games and System Shock 2 were included)

2000: Probably the peak of JRPGs in this regard, you had Final Fantasy IX and Chrono Cross showing up on a lot of lists, and even Pokemon Gold/Silver. Things dropped off a lot after this.

2001: Final Fantasy X I remember being a contender, though Halo and GTA III swept most of the awards at the time.

2006: Kingdom Hearts II showed up on a few lists, though I don't think it was anywhere near the consensus choice. Definitely a contender though.

2008: Persona 4 got some mention on a few of the more niche sites, so I have to mention it, though obviously it was nowhere near being a mainstream contender.

2012: Xenoblade Chronicles was named Game of the Year by a few sites upon its North American release...I feel this was kind of an off year in the category though. And Persona 4 Golden got a little bit of love too, probably closer to winning GotY this year than the original was in 2008.

2013: Fire Emblem Awakening got a few mentions, though it was a dark horse at best.

2015: Undertale is the obvious one to mention here (can it even be considered a JRPG? It's JRPG-like but Western-made, but still...). Even got some mainstream love, though Witcher 3 dominated most of the awards this year.

2017: Persona 5 probably has the best shot at GotY since Kingdom Hearts II did in 2006 (and perhaps since Chrono Cross in 2000), it seems to be a close second behind Breath of the Wild with a lot of the pundits and looks to be the fan favorite this year. Year's still young though.
---

2010, 2011, 2012

caps
---

I feel like Breath of the Wild wowed too many people for it to lose to Persona 5, even though Persona 5 might be the better game.
---

Is Breath of the Wild even considered a JRPG? Don't have a Wii U or Switch, but I thought people never considered the series one

swordz9 posted...

Is Breath of the Wild even considered a JRPG?

https://cdn.meme.am/cache/instances/folder327/18490327.jpg
---

swordz9 posted...

Is Breath of the Wild even considered a JRPG? Don't have a Wii U or Switch, but I thought people never considered the series one

I just mentioned it as the one game ahead of Persona 5 in the GotY race right now (among critics anyway). But yeah, Zelda's usually classified as an "adventure" title.
---

metaIslug posted...

Only Final Fantasy is mainstream. Of those, 7 8 and 10 are legitimate

Pokemon is totally mainstream, but people often forget to count it among JRPGs since it is like its own entity for people

FFXV won it on this site in 2016
---

having played over 150 hours of zelda and so far about 60 hours of P5 I can say with relative certainty that BotW is the better game. P5 is just another very good persona game but BotW was on a completely different level

IMHO
---