Top 25 Japanese based rpg

[Nish]

What do you think of my top 25 japanese based rpg?

I mostly play crpg though but wanted to make my own jrpg list that I enjoy inspite of not liking the genre

What's your fav

 

[Nish]

What do you think of my top 25 japanese based rpg?

Top 25 Japanese-Based RPGs

1. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
2. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
3. Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
4. Shadow Hearts
5. Suikoden II
6. Terranigma
7. Romancing SaGa 2
8. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
9. Shining Force III
10. Dark Souls
11. Grandia
12. Final Fantasy Tactics
13. Phantasy Star II
14. Ys: The Oath in Felghana
15. Mother 3
16. Panzer Dragoon Saga
17. Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
18. NieR: Automata
19. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
20. Valkyria Chronicles
21. The Dark Spire
22. Valkyrie Profile
23. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
24. Uncharted Waters: New Horizons
25. Wild Arms 3

I mostly play crpg though but wanted to make my own jrpg list that I enjoy inspite of not liking the genre

What's your fav

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

Dark Souls at 13. No Dark Souls 2, no Demon's Souls, no Bloodborne, no Dragon's Dogma, no Monster Hunter. Lol fail.

 

[Gahbreeil]

No Pokémon Fire Red?

 

[d1r]

1) Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey (Redux)
2) Dark Souls
3) Shin Megami Tensei IV
4) Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance
5) Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne
6) Demons Souls
7) Final Fantasy XII
8) Strangers of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin
9) Dark Souls 2 SOFTS
10) Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen
11) Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3 FES
12) Wizardry Busin 0 Alternative Neo
13) Suikoden 2
14) Shin Megami Tensei Soul Hackers
15) Shin Megami Tensei Digital Devil Saga 2
16) Shin Megami Tensei Digital Devil Saga
17) Shin Megami Tensei IV Final
18) Yakuza Like A Dragon
19) Resonance of Fate
20) Wizardry Tales of Forsaken Land
21) Final Fantasy X
22) Shin Megami Tensei Persona 5 Original
23) Shin Megami Tensei II
24) Shin Megami Tensei I
25) Nier Automata

I am probably more a fan of SMT, than of the whole genre. lol

 

[Val the Moofia Boss]

5. Suikoden II

Grossly overrated, should not be higher than the first game. The first game was a tight, 15 hour long war story with many major character deaths. S2 is a bloated sequel where the plot drags out over 40 hours and outstays its welcome, with only a couple deaths. It lost the heavy feel of the original and feels more like your average lighthearted JRPG. The story simultaneously by glossing over the player's conquest of another country at the end, probably because the writers did not want the player to feel bad or to question what they are doing. Yes, the tedious inventory micromanagement was done away with, and the aesthetics and soundtrack is improved, but with so much focus on the story it is holistically not as potent as the first game.

12. Final Fantasy Tactics

Another grossly overrated title. First, there is a 5 party member cap, downgraded from the 10 of Tactics Ogre which helped lend it a more appropriate war feel. The relatively small 5 party member limit works better for a JRPG adventuring setting like the later Tactics Advance games. PS1 Tactics is the most tedious and unenjoyable to play of the Tactics games, with you having to do a lot of repetitive grinding to level up jobs, with it not feeling like fun or story appropriate like in the Advance games. The story is a bait and switch, where it begins with an interesting grounded narrative about starving unpaid war veterans revolting, but then the plot gets hijacked by yet another "the Church is ackshually evil! Your god is FAAAAKE!" plot. Soundtrack is forgettable, though really I hardly remember any of the Tactics OSTs outside of Advance.

20. Valkyria Chronicles

VC4 wins out. I appreciate VC1's overall mature cast of characters with teacher Welkin, the heroine not whining like a high schooler, the presence of adults among the protagonists like Largo and the radio lady. But VC1's story pacing is relatively slow. The chapter to chapter experience feels like you are just kinda plodding along. Whereas VC4's story becomes gripping a few hours in once it begins snowing and maintains tension and a fast pace all the way to the end. VC1 also has a problem where most of the missions are pretty boring until towards the end, whereas in VC4 the missions stop being vanilla after the first 3 or 4 and then become pretty creative one after another through to the end. VC4 also the mortar class.

What's your fav

Hard to decide which of my favorite's are "better" than the others and form a numbered list.


Final Fantasy X - good timely story, good main trio of characters, fantastic aesthetics and soundtrack. Novel South-East Asian/Pacific setting. Solid turn based battle system with each character having a unique attack type like being strong to shatter armor or fast to hit wolves or being ranged and able to hit flying enemies. Negatives are the false promise of character customization of the sphere grid system and the tediousness of statting up. Game has a boring middle section where there is little tension around Macalania Woods/the ice temple.

Final Fantasy IX - great first two discs and first few hours of disc 3 as there is near constant danger and you are being swept from setpiece to setpiece and discovering new kingdoms. Likeable cast of characters. Great aesthetics, good soundtrack. Downsides are that the combat is braindead boring, story falls off once you return to Lindblum a few hours into disc 3, and the empty overworld.

Trails of Cold Steel pentalogy - Appealing fantasy early modern period setting with a fantasy Prussia experiencing civil turmoil and a cold war with an antagonistic "republic". Cool magitek mechas and airships. Cool swordsmen in trenchcoats and nobles who run dojos practicing their family's special brand of swordsmanship. Cute princesses and tea parties. Likeable cast of characters. Romantic castles and countrysides of rolling hills. Lots of illustrated flashback art. Indepth and fun battle system and character building, was very engaging and satisfying to play through blind on nightmare/abyss difficulties. Fabulous soundtracks. The first two games have an above average English dub. Great PC ports. Downsides are that the 3rd game discards the narrative trajectory the second game left off on. Much of CS3, CS4, and Reverie feels like empty, repetitive filler. CS4 squanders the tension built up not just across the CS games but the whole Trails series as well. The romances never matriculate.

Aselia the Spirit of Eternity Sword - Heavy atmosphere with the protagonist being isekaied to a fantasy world and being promptly blackmailed and enslaved by people who speak a different language and force him to fight in their army and conquer other countries, and gets bonded with a demonic sword that tries to tempt him. Introspective protagonist with melancholic reverie scenes that actually feel heavy because of what he has done. (I don't intend to oversell it as some grimdark thing when it is not, but I was really invested in the story). The main romance relationship is better than most JRPGs. Novel strategy gameplay as you conquer cities and build structures in them and have to move your units down roads, and how the EXP/building resources was used both in the story and mechanically in the last act. I am in love with the soundtrack, I cannot think of any other game track where almost every single track on the list was a hit for me. Downside is that the game is VERY, VERY HARD and you have to spend many, many hours savescumming.

Suikoden 1 - for aforementioned reasons.

Pokemon Sapphire - feeling of adventure as you bushwhack your way through dense rainforests during a thunderstorm and your supplies are running out, or you are lost in a labyrinthine of islands sailing across the ocean. Decent music.

Pokemon Black & White - good tight story and likeable characters without feeling tedious, drawn out, or utterly stupid like the stories of the following gens. Completely brand new fresh roster of Pokemon to discover. Gameplay is sufficiently challenging. Good music. Downsides are the linear corridor world design and lack of a substantial postgame.

Valkyria Chronicles IV - for aforementioned reasons.

Final Fantasy XIV - Grossly overrated, and I have gone into its many flaws and disappointments, but I cannot think of any other JRPG that at least minimally engaging enough for 400+ hours. Interesting enough geopolitical conflict from ARR through Stormblood, climatic traditional light vs dark story in Shadowbringers, and then after that it is overall lukewarm with disappointing payoffs occasionally punctuated by a cool moments. At its worst, you get to go through anime filler episode tier stories with high visual production values, good aesthetics, and a huge amount of protagonist customization in terms of jobs or what you are wearing, and an overall good enough soundtrack.

7) Final Fantasy XII

My problem with FF12 is that it is more enjoyable to watch the cutscenes on Youtube than to play the actual game. Great CGI opening. The first level is pretty novel where you are in a squad with a dozen party members on the field, feels like it could be Tactics Ogre realized in 3D or a prototype for The Last Remnant. But then the story becomes a slog, and while there is a cool geopolitical stuff and adult characters, there is just no tension and it is overall very boring. The long stretch to Raithwall's Tomb, and then to Mount Bur Omisce, and then to Archades is brutal on the attention span. The moment to moment RTWP gameplay is boring, where your three party members stand around and do lame MMO tier autoattacks with no fancy camera angles or cutscene attacks as in your usual Final Fantasy game (cool visual presentation is what made even the boring battle gameplay of the PS1 FFs tolertable). Really needed to have more characters on the field or to have cooler visual presentation. I overall do not like Hitoshi Sakimoto's soundtracks. They are very noisy, busy, and cacophonous.

 

[d1r]

Val the Moofia Boss
Well, it's not an objective list. Back then when I played FF12, when I just got into PS2 emulation and experienced the whole world of console games, I was completely blown away by the sheer amount of production quality, the music, and especially the comfiness of FF12. It's definitely a game I wouldn't replay again because of how tedious it can get, but it's an absolute joy for someone who experiences it for the first time. And man, I wasted a lot of time on this one.

 

[Ash]

1. Final Fantasy 7
2. Final Fantasy 9
3. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
4. Final Fantasy 6
5. Dark Souls
6. Dark Souls 2
7. Final Fantasy 5
8. Final Fantasy 8
9. Pokemon Gold/Silver
10. Parasite Eve 2
11. Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams
12. Parasite Eve
13. Pokemon Blue/Red
14. Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
15. Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
16. Vagrant Story
17. Golden Sun 2
18. Dark Souls 3
19. Final Fantasy 10 & Final Fantasy 10-2
20. Castlevania: Circle of the Moon
21. Final Fantasy Tactics (Or Advance, both good but not great to me)
22. Golden Sun
23. Koudelka
24. Final Fantasy 12
25. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night

90s Final Fantasy is the king of JRPG by a country mile and I am tired of people pretending it's not, despite the clear higher quality in literally every metric. Compared to all the "renowned" godawful JRPGs I've suffered through anyway. The list is not exactly tiny: Suikoden 2, Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Front Mission 3 and 4, Breath of Fire IV GBA, Star Ocean: 2nd Story, 80s and Modern FF (awful!), Dragon Quest 8. Shadow Hearts: Covenant, Lufia 2, and many more. Endless garbage or mediocrity.

 

[Dark Souls II]

>no Dark Souls 2
>no Black Souls
>no Black Souls 2

 

[Yuber]

My TOP 3 are always changing position but in general my list would be:

1) Skies of Arcadia Legends
2) Final Fantasy 7
3) SMT Nocturne
4) SaGa Frontier 2
5) Dragon Quest 8
6) Final Fantasy 12
7) Lufia 2
8) Breath of Fire 3
9) Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter
10) Final Fantasy 9
11) SMT Digital Devil Saga 1
12) SMT Digital Devil Saga 2
13) The Last Remnant
14) Demon's Souls
15) Suikoden 2
16) Final Fantasy 10
17) Final Fantasy 8
18) Baten Kaitos
19) Vagrant Story
20) Star Ocean 2
21) Star Ocean 3
22) Suikoden 5
23) Grandia 2
24) Wild Arms 3
25) Rogue Galaxy

​

Some JRPGs I have not played in 20 years like Jade Cocoon so I don't remember anymore, they might be in the TOP 25 too... I should replay some of those games to compare properly.
JRPGs I have not played yet are Grandia 3, Grandia Extreme and Xenosaga 1&3 so I can't rank them.
Beside those I think I played every JRPG there is.

 

[Ysaye]

What do you think of my top 25 japanese based rpg?

Top 25 Japanese-Based RPGs

1. Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne
2. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
3. Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
4. Shadow Hearts
5. Suikoden II
6. Terranigma
7. Romancing SaGa 2
8. Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
9. Shining Force III
10. Dark Souls
11. Grandia
12. Final Fantasy Tactics
13. Phantasy Star II
14. Ys: The Oath in Felghana
15. Mother 3
16. Panzer Dragoon Saga
17. Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
18. NieR: Automata
19. Persona 2: Eternal Punishment
20. Valkyria Chronicles
21. The Dark Spire
22. Valkyrie Profile
23. Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
24. Uncharted Waters: New Horizons
25. Wild Arms 3

I mostly play crpg though but wanted to make my own jrpg list that I enjoy inspite of not liking the genre

What's your fav

The question was what we think of the list so my opinion on the list:

Points of Strong Agreement

• You have the best Fire Emblem in there - total agreement.
• You have The Dark Spire in the Top 25 which is an underrated but great game and still have hard copy of that.
• Love Suikoden 2 and Grandia and I agree that those should be Top 25.
• Agree Panzer Dragoon Saga should get a place in the Top 25.

Mild Alignment but also Questions

• Not sure Dark Souls should be in a JRPG list but if it is one then it should be there and you have it.
• You have Lunar 2 rather than Lunar 1, I have only played a bit of Lunar 2 and I like it but I think most would say that Lunar SSSC is the standout.
• You have Shining Force 3 which I have only played the first bit of; I am not convinced that it is better than Shining Force 2, and others will argue that Shining Force 1 is better....
• Ys Felghana I like a lot but I feel that Ys Origins better for everything that I want in Ys (Music, Combat, Story).
• Not sure about Phantasy Star 2 TBH...I am more of a original Phantasy Star fan personally, but I can also accept that Phantasy Star 4 is the crowd favourite "Best".
• You have Final Fantasy Tactics which many would take over Tactics Ogre, but I would rather the latter.
• You have a heap of good DRPGs in there but I feel you should definitely have a place for Elminage Gothic, and maybe also one of Wizardry: Tales of the Foresaken Land, Falcom's Dinosaur and maybe Shining the Holy Ark in there over some of the others. I kind of agree with no Etrian Odyssey title..I think....

Disagreement

• This needs a Trails arc in here; after playing back and forth I like them all but I think the Trails in the Sky should at least be in there, and if a specific game either Trails in the Sky the 3rd (my pick) or Trails in the Sky SC (probably more broad agreement).
• I have tossed and turned over these being the "best" JRPGs over the years but for a Top 25, FF6 and Chrono-Trigger need to be there. Also Xenogears should be there to round out peak Squaresoft games (also ..Vagrant Story?)
• You have good SJRPGs in there but no Langrisser game - I feel at least Der Langrisser / Langrisser 2 should be in there
• I can accept no "Tales of" games but no Star Ocean: The Second Story?
• Not the most massive fan but a lot of people would also say where is Lufia 2?

 

[felipepepe]

I wouldn't rank them higher than what was already mentioned, but here's some cool b-side JRPGs I think are worth a mention:

• King's Field IV
• Kamidori Alchemy Meister
• Dark Cloud 2
• The Last Renmant
• Astlibra
• Digimon World 1
• One Way Heroics
• Way of the Samurai 4

 

[Elthosian]

Powerful list. If you haven’t, please play Berwick Saga. It’s pretty much what Fire Emblem would have been if they had doubled down on Thracia’s design philosophy.

 

[Tigranes]

Strange Journey for tight design and overall package, Berwick Saga for one of the best turn-based combat experiences out there, and then FF9 is my grandma's comfort food she is never coming back you monster

 

[Berengar]

I like that you just tried again 20 mins after fucking up the OP lmao

 

[Damned Registrations]

Top 25 Japanese-Based RPGs

Surprisingly good list. Mine would be a fair bit different, but nothing here makes me rage and it features a good ~15 that would probably make my own list.

I can't be bothered with a list that big, but my tops would be something along the lines of:

Final Fantasy Tactics
Lufia 2
Phantasy Star 4
Breath of Fire 3
SaGa Frontier
Valkyrie Profile
SMT: Nocturne
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy 5
Labyrinth of Touhou 2
Ogre Battle: MotBQ
Brigandine
Star Ocean 2


Not in that order; that's just the order they came to mind. But I consider everything on there to be remarkable some way or another. Also, most of them have some truly amazing music.

 

[Machocruz]

Mediocre genre, Japs were always far better at action games than anything else. Also their tactics and strategy games are stronger and would absolutely carry the list if I were to include them like other people have. But there are a handful of JRPGs I enjoyed and would still probably enjoy today:

Vagrant Story
Shadow Tower Abyss
FFV
Shin Megami Tensei 3.
SMT : Strange Journey
[insert random Wizardry or Wiz-like]

 

[Falksi]

What do you think of my top 25 japanese based rpg?

I mostly play crpg though but wanted to make my own jrpg list that I enjoy inspite of not liking the genre

What's your fav

It's pretty good, I'm impressed.

Mine:

Phantasy Star 4

Shining Force 2

Dark Souls

Final Fantasy V

Dark Souls 3

Landstalker

Shadow Hearts: Covenant

SMT 3: Nocturne

Lost Odyssey

Final Fantasy X

Tales of Berseria

Nier Gestalt

Persona 5 Royal

Langrisser 2

Valkyria Chronicles

Valkyria Chronicles 4

Lufia 2

Final Fantasy IV

Warsong (Der Langrissa)

Shining Force

Illusion of Gaia

Lunar Eternal Blue

Lunar The Silver Star

Dark Wizard

Phantasy Star 3

 

[flyingjohn]

I am confused by people listing ffx? The exploration sucks and the combat is too easy without any difficulty hacks, which don't exist. Plus, unskippable cutscenes kill replayability.
Am i missing something?

 

[Ascetic]

I am confused by people listing ffx? The exploration sucks and the combat is too easy without any difficulty hacks, which don't exist. Plus, unskippable cutscenes kill replayability.
Am i missing something?

Blitzball

 

[Damned Registrations]

difficulty hacks, which don't exist.

There is one actually. Pbirdman mod. Generally agree though, while I like the underlying combat system, the difficulty is shit and the rest of the game doesn't hold up in any way. Only thing I really liked was the monster arena bosses.

 

[Matador]

1. Final Fantasy Tactics
2. SMT: Nocturne
3. Fire Emblem 5 - Thracia 776
4. Dark Souls
5. Vagrant Story
6. Elminage Gothic
7. Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
8. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate (is this valid?)
9. Romancing Saga - Minstrel Song (PS2)
10. Final Fantasy XII
11. Shiren The Wanderer (Nintendo DS)

 

[Yosharian]

I'm kinda baffled by the affection for FFX. Game is complete shit. Blitzball anyone? 'Ha ha ha ha'? Tidus in general? Dear lord, I'm throwing up in the corner of my mouth just thinking about it.

I also despise FF12 but that's a more complex discussion.

 

[Falksi]

I am confused by people listing ffx? The exploration sucks and the combat is too easy without any difficulty hacks, which don't exist. Plus, unskippable cutscenes kill replayability.
Am i missing something?

I'm kinda baffled by the affection for FFX. Game is complete shit. Blitzball anyone? 'Ha ha ha ha'? Tidus in general? Dear lord, I'm throwing up in the corner of my mouth just thinking about it.

I also despise FF12 but that's a more complex discussion.

Combat is way too easy, no argument there. Game is too linear and not very replayable too.

But personally I really like the world, like a lot of the characters...even Tidus because he reminds me of Luke Skywalker...and I think the stories great, mostly because the two key relationship cornerstones (girlfriend & parents) are so relatable. Auron is badass AF, Waka is smooth with the racism, Lulu's tits, and the thing unravels quite nicely.

Came at a good time for me too, I had a car accident around the time it was released and was stuck at home unable to do much whilst broken bones healed, and it was a game I could play 1-handed and not have to really give a shit about thinking about too much. Had I played it when in better health, then I probably wouldn't have took to it as much.

Blitzball's optional, if you're hating it stop playing it.

 

[Yosharian]

Fair enough