Board 8 > KCF's Top 40 JRPGs

(+) Yeah! (+)

Several months ago, I remember a bunch of people doing topics for this. I wrote down a bunch of JRPGs at the time, but I ultimately forgot to make a topic until I recently stumbled upon the list. Better late than never!

I want to be upfront about some things:

1. I'm not actually sure what constitutes a JRPG and looking up online just yields inconclusive, sometimes conflicting answers. I'm pretty sure that I can identify a WRPG with great success, but I struggle with correctly identifying a JRPG from an RPG that doesn't fit either of the two aforementioned sub-genres. The point that I am trying to make is that there might very well be games on this list that aren't JRPGs and games I decided not to put on because I incorrectly believed them to not be JRPGs. I have backups and such just in case the former happened.

2. A significant amount of these were played before I graduated high school (2008), and I haven't played that many since then. I grew out of the genre for the most part and have typically only gone with the same handful of franchises or series since 2008.

3. JRPGs were never my favorite genre, so I really only have high praise for about 15-20 of the games listed. I wanted to include a lot of games and series that may have gone unrepresented in other users' lists, so I expanded it to 40. To be clear though, I do consider all the games I end up listing to be good.

4. The list will only include games that I have beaten (one having just been added). The only games that would have made the list without this rule were from the same series, and it's a series that I'm not sure is even JRPGs.

5. I am going to post the full list first since I assume that 90% of you really only care about that, but I will also provide short writeups (for those who care) that I hope to do across the next few days. Having not played a decent chunk for about a decade or longer, the writeups could be susceptible to a lot of hazy memories.
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40. Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits
39. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
38. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
37. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
36. Tales of the Abyss
35. Tales of Xillia 2
34. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
33. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
32. Dark Cloud 2
31. Dark Cloud
30. Dragon Warrior Monsters 2
29. Paper Mario: Sticker Star
28. Dragon Quest V
27. Lunar: Silver Star Story
26. South Park: The Stick of Truth
25. Pokemon GSC
24. Half-Minute Hero
23. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
22. Fire Emblem (GBA)
21. Chrono Trigger
20. Grandia II
19. Paper Mario: Color Splash
18. Skies of Arcadia
17. Tales of Xillia
16. Tales of Legendia
15. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
14. Persona 3
13. Shining Force II
12. Rogue Galaxy
11. Child of Light
10. Costume Quest
9. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
8. Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
7. Final Fantasy XII
6. Monster Rancher Advance 2
5. Persona 4
4. Shining Force
3. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
2. Paper Mario
1. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
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Tag.

I was actually thinking about what my top JRPG list would look like just last night. Mostly motivated by the fact that after spending 4 years playing basically no JRPG's I have had 2 potential #1's and 2 more top 10 on top of that within the last year alone >.>
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As far as I'm concerned, JRPG just means RPG made in Japan. >_>
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Oh, I settled on RPGs that stylistically resembled those made in Japan, even though I found out that games like Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy were heavily inspired by earlier RPGs made in the west.
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40. Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits

I think this was the first non-GTA game that I played on my PS2.

I had all the time in the world when I played this back when I was 13 or 14, but the I can acknowledge now that the pace of battles were slow enough that it would be a deal-breaker if I was playing the game for the first time today. Along with the slow pace, I wasn't a fan of the characters not sharing EXP. If you didn't have a plan where you use your tanks (Volk and Zev) or balanced fighters (Darc and Kharg) to weaken opponents and let the rest get some of the kills, you could be forced to grind it out in arenas late in the game like I did. About a fourth of the characters became liabilities, rendering the final boss impossible without further training.

There was enough going for it though that ultimately gave me a positive outlook on it. The uncommon (in my experience) structure of having two main characters with their own set of party members (until they merged) and mostly different environments as well as the battle system that is like a tactical RPG without the grid were and still remain kind of unique to me that I was able to overlook its flaws.
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#1 is bad but two Paper Marios in your top three ain't shabby
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39. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

I distinctly remember never being able to rent this from Blockbuster as their copies of it were always out, so I didn't get around to playing it until the mid-2000s from Ebay. I had already played through two Paper Marios and two Mario & Luigis, which made this a little underwhelming in comparison since they share many similarities. That being said, it is still very much a quality game in its own right.

I appreciate what Square did with the lack of random encounters, battle system, and humor that Nintendo later used and improved upon in Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi titles, but I think that Square's decision to make it isometric was the best thing they did. It wouldn't work well with Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi's art style, but it suited SMRPG. Most importantly, it was an asset to its puzzle elements which are sometimes an issue in Paper Mario and M&L since you don't always have the best camera angle.
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Props for one arc the lad, the rest of the series is hit or miss, but mostly hit imo

Lunar 2 is just as good if not better than 1 imo as well.
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pyresword posted...

Tag.

I was actually thinking about what my top JRPG list would look like just last night. Mostly motivated by the fact that after spending 4 years playing basically no JRPG's I have had 2 potential #1's and 2 more top 10 on top of that within the last year alone >.>

me (that I've beaten):

1.) ffx
2.) tits 1+2
3.) pokeman emeralds
4.) pokeman diamonds
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Tag
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tag
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wheres opoona
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This is a KCF list
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SantaRPidgey posted...

wheres opoona

If this was a ranking for JRPG soundtracks, this would at or near the top
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Interesting to see Shining Force that high.
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You may not remember this Zylo, but when I first came to B8 back in '06, I immediately befriended you and Anri because of your usernames
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Any list that has multiple Tales games on it is alright by me.

Interesting you have them ranked Legendia > Xillia > Xillia 2 > Abyss, though. My ranking would be exactly the opposite. Looking forward to seeing your takes.
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tag
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38. The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky

I got this for free back in 2015, and I came in with few expectations despite the overwhelmingly positive word of mouth. What I experienced was a game that excelled in nothing but was good in essentially everything outside of an eye-rolling finale and Tita.

I much prefer JRPGs that are lighthearted, which mostly describes Trails in the Sky. It was choc full of all the RPG tropes that you have come to experience dozens of times, many of which I usually dislike, but Trails in the Sky didn't make the same mistakes that its contemporaries made over and over with said tropes. That made the game simultaneously seem familiar yet oddly refreshing.

I found a lot of its boss fights to be on the tough side (none more than the penguins), but I was relieved to know that there was 0 grinding required or having to backtrack everywhere to get better equipment as the game allowed you to restart any fight that you fail in and the enemies will be slightly weaker. It was a welcome feature for someone like me.
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The FUCKING PENGUINS
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37. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

Ambitious is not a word that I would associate with most Dragon Quest games, and IX is no different. However, I have always been drawn into Dragon Quest games through their charm.

I never played its online, which I heard provided a great post-game, but classic Dragon Quest + job system from III + higher production values = a fine game in my book. That is all I can remember from the game, but it's more than enough to land on my list.
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Ya know I'm not seeing illusion of Gaia or blue dragon on that list
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Obellisk posted...

Ya know I'm not seeing illusion of Gaia or blue dragon on that list

wow. Literally seconds ago one of my friends mentioned Blue Dragon, the first time I've ever heard of it.
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I have beat both, but yeah, neither was a threat to make the list
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Pretty sure Blue Dragon was the fastest I ever dropped a game. Don't think I even made it an hour into it.
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I beat it back in like 2007 or 2008, then I went to play it again in let's say 2012 and was utterly confused on how I made it through even once.
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It wasn't a great play, but the soundtrack was fantastic. Sometimes that's all it takes
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36. Tales of the Abyss

I guess this is a good place to mention what I look for in a JRPG. All I really ask for from JRPGs is to have quality world-building (or at least an interesting world), a great battle system, and enough side activities that are fun and worth my time. That's it. I have a low opinion of VG narratives relative to film, TV, and literature and thus don't place a high priority on plot and characters. If they are offensively bad though, then it will draw my ire. Everything else (such as audio and visuals) is secondary stuff that I can deal with if they aren't up to snuff.

Now that we got that out of the way, I have a love/hate relationship with Tales of games. I absolutely love combat in them. Mario & Luigi is the only series that I'd say has routinely better battle systems. Abyss was no different, and it hit on the things that I was looking for to some degree. They also hit on some degree, as most of the series does, in having offensively bad plot and/or characters.

While most of the games stumble hard on its supporting characters and lead antagonist(s), Abyss instead shot themselves in the foot with their protagonists. It's telling when the best of the bunch is probably a sociopath.
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Tag.

The Dark Cloud games are top tier, and it's nice to see FF XII getting some recognition.
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Have you played Tales of Vesperia and/or Berseria?
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KCF0107 posted...

36. Tales of the Abyss

I guess this is a good place to mention what I look for in a JRPG. All I really ask for from JRPGs is to have quality world-building (or at least an interesting world), a great battle system, and enough side activities that are fun and worth my time. That's it. I have a low opinion of VG narratives relative to film, TV, and literature and thus don't place a high priority on plot and characters. If they are offensively bad though, then it will draw my ire. Everything else (such as audio and visuals) is secondary stuff that I can deal with if they aren't up to snuff.

Now that we got that out of the way, I have a love/hate relationship with Tales of games. I absolutely love combat in them. Mario & Luigi is the only series that I'd say has routinely better battle systems. Abyss was no different, and it hit on the things that I was looking for to some degree. They also hit on some degree, as most of the series does, in having offensively bad plot and/or characters.

While most of the games stumble hard on its supporting characters and lead antagonist(s), Abyss instead shot themselves in the foot with their protagonists. It's telling when the best of the bunch is probably a sociopath.

Never mind, you're dead to me.
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pyresword posted...

Have you played Tales of Vesperia and/or Berseria?

Yes to Vesperia. No to Berseria
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Ok. I ask because I think those two have noticeably better plot and characters than the other Tales games I've played imo, so I was a bit surprised neither was on here.

For the record I am choosing to pretend the last ~15-20% of Tales of Vesperia does not actually exist when I say this.

Also I am not done with Berseria yet so there is still ample time for it to go the same way, even if I'm not expecting it to.

Edit: Also note I haven't actually played most of the Tales games appearing on this list, though going by reputation I have played the "best" ones.
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35. Tales of Xillia 2

Xillia 2 takes Xillia's fantastic battle system and improves with the offensively versatile Ludger able to switch between swords, guns, and hammers with the push of a button. He could also transform into some souped-up version of himself, but I didn't really care about that. Unfortunately, you fought mostly the same type of enemies from Xillia and in the same environments, so there were immediate diminishing returns even with the improved combat.

While Xillia 2 had massively improved several characters from the first game (Muzet, Alvin, and Gauis are standouts), it is also in the running for worst collection of original characters in the series, and that's saying something with Symphonia 2 existing. The plot was a massive trainwreck that resulted in an infuriating ending in more ways than one that made me hate the characters present at the end.

I actually didn't mind the required paying of the debt to proceed through the game, but I certainly wouldn't argue that it was a good inclusion or added value.
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34. Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time

As I mentioned with Abyss, I love the Mario & Luigi timing-based battle system! It is probably the only JRPG that I've played with a separate defensive aspect to battles that is just as enjoyable as the offensive aspects.

Partners in Time falls below its predecessor mostly because some of the tweaks they made (such as Bro Moves becoming Bro Items and the implementation of the babies) didn't work out as planned, but it was still worthy of the Mario & Luigi name.
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33. Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

The one thing that I kept hearing about Ni no Kuni is that was great at evoking our childlike sense of wonder. They were certainly right. Every town felt like it was ripped straight out of books, cartoons, and dreams from my childhood. That allowed me to connect with Oliver as an explorer in a strange world. I was disappointed that the world map was rather subdued for the kind of world it was. They really missed out on something special there.

I know that combat is what most people took issue with, and I definitely saw their concerns with the AI necessitating too much micromanaging from the player, but I personally didn't get into many scenarios that required me to do everything. That isn't to say that I found combat to be spectacular by any means. I liked how unique it was, but I'd say it was more solid than exciting.

Level-5 developed some of my favorite JRPGs in the early-to-mid 2000s. Like those titles, Ni no Kuni featured of ton of optional stuff, but unfortunately, too many required massive grinding for rare drops, to evolve familiars, or to get familiars strong enough to fight in the colosseum. I eventually just gave up trying to do all the game had it offer as it just devolved into large-scale tedium.
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32. Dark Cloud 2
31. Dark Cloud

I am a sucker for Dark Cloud 2's cel shaded art style. I am probably in the minority in saying that this was a better improvement that they made over Dark Cloud than getting rid of thirst and permanent weapon breaking. That being said, I prefer the original.

Georama was neat little thing in Dark Cloud. Little thing might be an odd choice of words since it was required, but it was basic in a nice, relaxing way. All you had to do was find special orbs/capsules in dungeons. When you left to return to the hub area, you would use those orbs/capsules to restore the town/village in a lite city-building mode. In Dark Cloud 2, they turned it into something ugly.

You ultimately did the same thing in rebuilding various locales. However, no longer would you find Georama items in dungeons. You now have to find materials from chests and monsters inside the dungeons. I wasn't a fan of this forced grinding, but it's even worse when some of the required items have low RNG drops. You might have to fight on various floors over and over and over until Lady Luck finally comes through for you. This can easily add 10 or more additional hours in a playthrough. I mean, you have three different characters to use for combat (one is actually the same character in a robot) to help alleviate the impending monotony, but that's hardly a relief when you also factor Dark Cloud having double the characters that the sequel did.

For a dungeon crawler series, you expect dungeons to drag on, and the series does make it more accessible by saving your progress after each floor (I think that was the case in both games). However, seeing the same background environments over and over can lead to the later dungeons in the games to overstay their welcome.
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I know that they were ported to PS4 via PSN.
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I thought Dark Cloud 2 did a good job of breaking up the monotony by having a hundred different things to do.

Bored of grinding? You've got fishing, spheda, picture taking and inventing, amongst other things.

It felt like there were a million different things to do in the game, to the point where it's kind of overwhelming, but it made me think that there was always something else to do if I was tired of one thing.
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I personally found all the extra stuff to be underwhelming. Spheda was the only one that kept me interested at some level, but the quality was so wildly inconsistent since some dungeons were simply awful for Spheda.
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30. Dragon Warrior Monsters 2

While I never had the attachment to the monsters like I did say Monster Rancher or Pokemon games at the time, I liked being able to send out three at a time, leading to all sorts of combinations of skills and strategies. Unfortunately, the late game areas required you to care even less about your monsters and just breed them dozens of times so that they were powerful enough to tackle the scripted battles toward the end.

My favorite part of the game might have been exploring procedurally-generated areas. Some areas were fixed as they were integral to the overarching plot, but during your travels, you might come across keys that have an adjective and a noun attached to them, such as Shiny Gulch or Quiet Cliff. The adjectives determine the rarity of the monsters you find while the nouns determine the types of monsters you find. With the aforementioned procedural generation, you essentially are guaranteed to never visit the same area twice. I swear that I once spent 30 or more hours just going through these places while totally forgetting about moving on with the main story.

I'm not sure if they ever Enix (or Square Enix) ever made another monster-raising game after that. That's a shame in its own right, but I hope that some monster-raising game that came out since then took a page from this game and did something similar to its procedural generation.
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29. Paper Mario: Sticker Star

Its biggest flaw is the one that I assume agrees with in that there is no tangible incentive to partake in non-essential battles. I totally understand if that is unforgivable in everyone's eyes. However, that was never close to being a deal-breaker for me. I loved the introduction and implementation of stickers too much to care that all those battles I mostly sought out yielded no experience, no coins, and no stickers. Had stickers been anything but super common, it's possible I would have soured on the game, but I had trouble finding room for the stickers in the book.

While there are fewer unique characters than in previous games (another thing that I heard disappointed people), there was no shortage of humor or charm. It felt exactly like a Paper Mario game, and that is all I truly wanted.
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KCF0107 posted...

SantaRPidgey posted...

wheres opoona

If this was a ranking for JRPG soundtracks, this would at or near the top

consider me placated
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Tag
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There were DS Dragon Quest Monsters games too. They weren't as good as the GBC ones, though.
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Oh, the Joker games! I totally forgot about those. I own and beat the first one, but yeah, it was significantly inferior to Monsters 2
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28. Dragon Quest V

While I was always a fan of Dragon Quest's brand of silliness, the only pre-VIII, non-spinoff game that I was enamored with in some facet was III. By all accounts, V should have been no different given the amount of overlap it has with the rest. Something just resonated with me.

Was it the unusual structure of its campaign? Was it the bittersweet themes and tone whose use in the narrative touched upon my worldview? I mean, that last one is probably it, but whenever I think of this game, I am boggled that I am aware of the widespread staleness of it but still hold it in good regard.
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27. Lunar: Silver Star Story

I have played the 39 other games much more recently than this one, so you have to excuse my writer's block. It is tough trying to remember how I felt about the game at the time that I played through it, so I wouldn't be surprised that this ranking is largely based in nostalgia and that it might have been in danger of not making the list had I played it today.
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