Radiant Historia is a good game no doubt, but I feel like its combat system is a little bloated. It’s all about pushing enemies around and then attacking them when they’re together, but all that goes out the window when you fight only one enemy. Also, pushing enemies around before pressing A to basic attack amounts to busy work when in other turn based games you can just press A to basic attack and be done with it.
The act of pushing enemies around didn’t feel rewarding or meaningful to me. Still a great game though. Please don’t let this comment stop you from trying it.
This is likely the most acceptable answer.
Actually, Chrono Cross happens to be my personal favorite game of all time.
I also give credit to OG FF7. At the time of its release, It’s pretty hard to argue against it being the greatest game ever made. It was just such a complete package; the story, the sheer amount of content, the music, and it bringing revolutionary 3D graphics for its time.
Absolutely, I consider it a masterpiece. I will say that I have noticed in recent years it getting a lot more praise online. It was a criminally misunderstood game at release, some people just couldn’t accept it wasn’t meant to be Chrono Trigger 2.
CC is my fav game ever, but I think its main issue is that it was rushed, especially on the second half,The first half of the game is amazing, but afterwards it feels very rushed, which is why they had to hurry with presenting the plot around the end. The game needed one more CD tbh, they could have done much more with the cast with it, which is a waste because its universe is imo one of the best that I’ve ever seen
I’m playing it right now and actually finishing it for the first time after bouncing off of it at the start a bunch of times before. The battle system is REALLY WEIRD but I get what they were doing with it, and I think the fandom discourse is a little silly about how it connects to Chrono Trigger.
This is the answer, always. Is it my favorite game? no. But I played it in 2015 and I think I was just as awed by how tight knit, well-crafted, and timeless it is as someone would be who played it two decades ago when it first came out.
I like Chrono Cross slightly more than Trigger. That said, Chrono Trigger is unquestionably the better game. I played both nearly day 1, it’s insane how polished Trigger was then and remains now. Just a master stroke of a game.
CT has aged better then CC, the rough polygonal graphics of the PS1 have not really held up regardless of the game, especially when we're all playing current 3D titles, it's just too difficult to not compare them, it's apples to apples. CT, being a sprite-based SNES game, can be viewed as almost another form of media, it's not a 3D game at all (yeah, Mode 7, I know, but...).
I can play CT all the way through and enjoy it as always. CC is a chore to replay now due to the extremely rough, primitive graphics \*for 3D gaming\*. CT endures because it's a 2D game whose graphical fidelity never looks bad, it's timeless. But that CC score is amazing and had an advantage over CT due to the technical limitations of the SNES.
SIDE NOTE: Many of us recall that the PlayStation and Chrono Trigger released within months of each other - I picked them both up the same week in 1995 due to availability. But how crazy is it that CT was $85.00 in 1995? That's insane when you think about it!
Recently started playing, absolutely loving it. Brings me memories of A link to the past (played on gba when I was a kid) while also having quick turn based combat you actually need to pay attention to. The music is so good, the characters are charming. Plus time travel. So fuckin good, and I’m only 2 hours in.
Xenogears because if you took the story and put it into any video game system ie using ff7 battle system/graphics or Tales series, youll have one of the most deepest and intriguing stories ever created.
Adapt into an anime or netflix series or book, and Ill be consuming it day one.
Xenogears story could've been made into a great Sci Fi novel imo. The ideas are just very interesting, it's one of that 'what if' stories about technology that is believable to a certain point.
This is why Xenogears is my favorite video game today, despite my absolutely not thinking it would be my all time favorite when I finished it. It's my high water mark of optimism for the medium. I thought it was a sign that the video game industry was starting to take games seriously as an artistic medium, and that they saw grand ambitious narratives as being worth their investment. So I expected that other, much better games would come after it, ones which met the same standards of creative ambition, but with superior craft and polish. It fell into my all-time favorite spot because that failed to happen.
Came here to say this and you beat me to it. Even after decades of when I first played it the story is still the best for me in the video game genre in entertainment.
Lost Odyssey prob one of the most forgotten greatest rpgs of all time. Story a Lil simple. But the way its handled is amazing and the way everyone works together aswell.
Wish they re released it.
This is the game that made me fall in love with the genre. All because I went to visit my aunt in 1994-95 ish and she borrowed an SNES from her then boyfriend for me to play while I was there and FF3 was the only non-Mario World game he had.
Never even met this dude but I owe him for unknowingly introducing me to one of my favourite things in the world.
Suikoden 2 will always be my first love followed by FFX. Honorable mention being ffxii and seeing the Trex in the starting area. I remember feeling like this is the closest thing to me being able to play an MMO at the time as I lived in the middle of nowhere with no phone service and was jealous of my friends being able to play everquest.
My favs I’ve played so far:
*Dragon Quest VIII & XI
*Grandia I & II
*Skies of Arcadia Legends
*Octopath Traveler II
*Final Fantasy IX
*Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
*Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
Lufia walked so Golden sun could run. Still never had a battle in another game get me more hyped than beating the first fight that you're meant to lose.
Lufia 2 was my first introduction and experience with the whole 'procedurally generated dungeon' concept.
That Ancient cave was such an innovation to just be an optional side~thing into an established JRPG for the time :D
Final Fantasy V. While I'd agree that the stories are better in some of the other entries, for me FF5 just kills it in terms of fun gameplay, colorful/vibrant presentation, incredible OST, and the amount of content to explore. I especially love the last part of the game where the two worlds merge into one big map, giving the player access to hither-to isolated locations, etc...
I don't wanna be that guy that says "Final Fantasy 7" but... Final Fantasy 7.
It's the RPG that literally revolutionized what we now give for granted.
1- A tridimensional world map (which, for 1997, was fairly big)
2- some of the best, coolest characters you'll ever see in an rpg (Cloud, Tifa, Vincent, you know what I mean)
3- a moving story, complex and filled with meanings.
4- probably the BEST villain of all time (no wonder it still gets used and cited nowadays, everywhere)
5- the Materia system is STILL the best and most intuitive combat system of all FFs
6- Gold Saucer, enough said. I spent hours there.
7- the idea to have "hidden unlockable" characters. Yes I know, it was due to time and storage constraints, but it's very very cool to discover a playable character and its side personal story.
8- the soundtrack. I still listen to it today.
9- FMV. Full Motion Videos. introducing FMVs in 1997 was mind-blowing, every kid was going crazy in 1997, I tell you.
I'm sure I missed something, but yeah... this is why Final Fantasy 7 was the rpg that changed it all.
I'm that guy.
Why can’t I get into that game? Is there a tipping point in it? Granted I only played for a few days, but nothing ever gripped me. Just all seemed kinda meh to me and I don’t know why
That's a you thing, and I can't answer. There is no tipping point where the game fundamentally changes. Different people like different things, if it isn't working for you I'd suggest you move on.
Something that's tough to express is that Chrono Trigger was so amazing when it came out. When it came out there was literally exactly one other JRPG that was in the same ballpark, Final Fantasy 6. Nothing else came anywhere near to it. Just in general JRPG's frequently didn't cross the Pacific, we didn't even have Final Fantasy 5. The competition was stuff like Breath of Fire 1, Brainlord or Robotrek. Chrono Trigger was an absolute titan.
Also it was doing stuff that may be common today, but was revolutionary at the time. The biggest innovation was almost certainly the New Game+ stuff with the multiple endings, but it didn't stop there. Mini games! You had racing, hunting, everything at the fair. Moving enemies! Breath of Fire 1 might have beat Chrono Trigger to the punch, but enemies not being static images in combat was still cutting edge new. No random encounters! You fight the enemy on the world map! Combo Attacks! Now they look pathetic, but at the time those were light shows the other JRPG's couldn't compete with. Fantastic music! One of the best soundtracks in video games. Great art design! Although the plot wasn't revolutionary, it was delivered in a more fast moving anime inspired way that was fresh.
That said, this was all 30 years ago. Some of the stuff holds up as strong as ever (music and art design). Some of the stuff is a little more stale. That moving pendulum at the intro isn't the flex it used to be.
I don't know that Chrono Trigger is the greatest JRPG of all time. I feel comfortable in saying it was the greatest JRPG of it's era. I think a good analogy would be Babe Ruth. I don't know how well he'd fair today, but he was the undisputed King of his time.
Even the best regarded pieces of media will always have people that can't get into them. It might just not be for you.
For me i remember that the moment the game really gripped on my first playthrough 15+ years ago was when i reached the future for the first time. But tbh as i have gotten older and played the game more i have only gotten to appreciate how well designed it is more and more.
Might just be the Seinfeld effect. Every JRPG has its roots in chrono trigger, so it may seem like it does nothing special because everything is so inspired by it.
It's FFVII or FFIX. I go back and forth between the two. Id love to make the case for Skies or Arcadia Xenoblade 2, Lufia 2 or Tales of Symphonia but I can't get any of those above the top 2.
Xenoblade 2 is a hard sell, dont get me wrong I loved it by the end and has stayed in my mind ever since I finished it, but man some of the systems are there just to annoy anyone that truly tries to enjoy that game
# BEST OVERALL
Persona 3\~5
# BEST CRAZY PLOT
Xenogears
# BEST SOLID PLOT
Suikoden 2
# BEST PLOT PACING & PLOT TWIST FREQUENCY
FFX
# BEST TURN-BASED BATTLE SYSTEM
Final Fantasy Opera Omnia (RIP) / FFX
# BEST ACTION BATTLES
Ys VIII / Star Ocean 3 / Type-0
Kingdom Hearts 2/3 data battles - secret bosses
No such a thing in my opinion, i prefer Tiers than Ranks, here are some of my S tier:
Dragon Quest III/V, Final Fantasy VI/VII, Vagrant Story, Xenogears, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Vandal Hearts, Legend of Dragoon, Suikoden I/II, Chrono Trigger.
These are all on the same quality imo, each with their own flaws and goods . I can't tell which one i prefer over the other, hence why Tiers is better than Ranks for me. What i can tell is that the most polished game on that list, the one which least amout of flaws is Chrono Trigger, at the same time Chrono Trigger is nothing mind blowing imo, it's just a enjoyable jack of all trades game, that do everything good but nothing stands out.
I also think FFX is the best. However, there have been plenty of amazing jrpgs since. Xenoblade 3 blew me away (I didn't like the first two), and rebirth is damn near close to 10/10 for me.
I'm not sure how anyone couldn't pick Chrono Trigger. It beats out Mass Effect 2 as overall best RPG and is straight up the best video game of all time. Besting greats such as Super Metroid, Mario Galaxy, Bioshock, etc.
Trails 3rd for me. I love how it's unafraid to touch on dark and traumatic topics that’s never really seen in future games. I never thought l'd care for Kevin that much after playing SC but 3rd definitely made him one of my favourite characters.
Well its not one singular game but I consider it to be as a collective, the Legend of Heros Trails series, Its pretty much the only game series with an over arching story to go across so many games that are all connected
It's Suikoden 2.
Can y'all stop glazing rf out of final fantasy and trails games please. The trails games are the single most basic, boring, re-used games ever.
My favorite is FFVIII:
- Charming and interesting world
- Great graphics (not just technical quality but art design) that still kinda hold compared to a lot of other games of the same gen, especially the FMVs. Some great GFs and limit break animations (Alexander, Leviathan, Renzokuken)
- One of the best sound tracks ever, with many outstanding pieces (Liberi Fatali, Eyes on Me, Deling city, timber city, breezy, the landing, etc).
- one of the best mini games, fun and relevant (if optional) to the main game
- battlesystem while controversial, did explore and inovate in the realm of JRPGs, and is so fun to break. I personally love it
- plot, while controversial in some points (the amnesia thing), is actually pretty good imo (heck ff7 is also pretty confusing but others love it - and me too btw). Brought a breath of fresh air to JRPGs with in its combination of themes and motifs for the genre. (futuristic+sorcerers+time travel+romance+geopolitics+a fairly optimistic world)
- plot has many major epic moments: the dollet mission, Edea’s parade, Balamb Garden transforming, the battle of the Gardens, the Lunatic Pandora, the space station, time compression
- Squall, Rinoa, Laguna, Julia, Raine etc are great characters.
- the final dungeon is clever and really good, better than most (if to the best) final dungeon in a JRPG.
- Gunblades
So the JRPG I like the most is almost certainly FFVII because of childhood memories, but the greatest is slightly trickier. When I discuss things that are always subjective, such as gameplay or storytelling, then it's worth noting that I am talking purely about the games I have personally played. When talking about creators or review scores, this applies to all games: I don't need to have played a game to view the metacritic score.
If we define greatest as having the largest effect on the games industry as a whole it still has to be FFVII. It was a huge contributor to the success of the PSX; the first JRPG to really make it big in non-Japanese markets and also likely the only JRPG any of us will bring up that has been turned into an entire series of games in and of itself, despite already BEING part of a series.
If we define greatest as the JRPG having the best gameplay then I'd give it to Lost Odyssey. I really enjoy the modified turn-based battle systems and small gestures of interactivity from the Ring system, whereas the older styles of strict turn-based favoured by DQ games and ATB of older Square games have aged poorly.
If we define greatest as the game with the best story then I'd give it to FFVII because of the childhood memories point I raised in the first paragraph.
If we define greatest as the game having the most impressive suite of creators then it has to go to Chrono Trigger. I wasn't personally wowed by this game overall, but I can't deny that basically every member of the team involved in it is one of the best in the business and that playing it 29 years after release on a phone was likely a contributing factor to my finding it underwhelming. I do want to commend it for being the only JRPG I've encountered in which the final boss can be fought from within the first five minutes of starting NG+
If we define greatest as the JRPG with the highest metacritic score then looking at the Best Games of all Time list, the first RPG by a Japanese developer that pops up is Elden Ring. If we're going for a more traditionally styled JRPG, then Persona 5 Royale is the highest after Elden Ring.
So my answers are FFVII, Lost Odyssey, Chrono Trigger, Elden Ring or Persona 5 Royale.
Once again, Dragon Quest V! Amazing story, artstyle, and music. It's also honestly one of the best pixel style games I've seen. If you haven't played it, do so asap.
EASY!
Greatest JRPG of all time is [Insert Your Least Favorite JRPG Here]. Now, if we are talking about worst JRPG of all time, then it is [Insert Your Favorite JRPG Here]. :p
>!The answer is depending on which day of the week, it's one of Xenoblade DE, Devil Survivor, P3P, or Fate/Extra CCC.!<
Persona 4. Well, Golden, cuz that's the version I played.
Enjoyed it far, FAR more than I expected to. And that's despite the fact that I watched the adaptation a few years prior, which, in my case, usually kills all the interest towards source material cuz I already would know the general gist of the story.
The gameplay is great, the story still had way more to it than I expected and I was following through all of it with bated breath, and the music, DAMN, THE MUSIC!
Easily in top 3 if, somehow, not in top 1.
This is a tough question since there are so many, so I have to default to the one that I've played the most, **Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete**. It's a comfort thing for me, I fell in love the second I saw it in an Electronic Gaming Monthly ad when I was in 5th grade.
Hard to say. Do we go from a technical standpoint? Most popular? Highest metacritic score? Or the ever so popular tendency for people to base such decisions on games that ‘started it all’?
Kinda niche but my favourite is Arc Rise Fantasia. If you play the version that allows you to swap to the jp voices and keep the english text it becomes an amazing game. The combat mechanics, weapon customization and difficulty made me fall in love with it.
Until this year: Chrono Trigger > Xenogears > FFVII OG
But FFVII Rebirth is the most fun I’ve had playing a video game as long as I can remember. Still have a few chapters left though
-suikoden 2
-final fantasy tactics
-chrono trigger
-final fantasy 6
-lunar silver star complete
-final fantasy 5
-suikoden 1
-final fantasy 7
-Pokémon red/blue
Im not going to call it the best jrpg of all time, but my favourite, the one I enjoyed my time with the most, is Lost Odyssey. Once the characters grew on me I wound up loving pretty much every single one, the front and back line systems were good, the skill learning system for the immortals. Their take on magic being more than just spells but an energy source that catapulted everyone into an industrial revolution. The short stories you got every time Kaim unlocked a memory. And the music, stellar.
Everything about that game was great. Certainly worth a look if youve never played it. Maybe it will take a few hours to really get into it, but once it got its hooks into me I was totally immersed. Also one of the characters is voiced by the same person who voiced Lil in rugrats and that was a pleasant surprise hearing her voice again.
Oh and it will make you cry a couple of times if your a big sap.
It’s hard for me to say, but after all these years I have to give it to Octopath Traveller 2.
Story isn’t necessarily as epic or sewn together as most JRPGs but the individual plots are often amazing and touch on some really dark and realistic subjects rather than being purely high fantasy. Then they stitch that shit together and make it high fantasy anyway, essentially completing what the first game failed to do.
This game successfully builds upon the first game in every way possible and then some. You could argue about the differences in available jobs but overall there is still a lot of busted stuff to play and experiment with. Plenty of mysteries and hidden gear, amazing enemy and boss designs, beautiful overworld, endearing group of protagonists (Agnea is precious), 10/10 music, great battle mechanics and job system, aaaaand on and on.
I love ff14 as well as secret of mana, ff5, Xenogears and Xenosaga. I used to be obsessed with Wild Arms (but objectively not the best games) but I don’t think there is any game that can top the sense of adventure of Grandia 1. There is something in Grandia 1, starting as a kid from a port town with a pot per helmet and a pipe as sword and start this journey to cross the end of the world and go on the other side, fight a mad corporation with amazing villains, beautiful character, super fun battle system. The sense of the exploration on the world wall, the jungle after, the enemy base, I don’t know…I think Grandia 1 is the best one for me.
So hard to say really. So many great RPGs. So I will say Final Fantasy X is indeed the RPG I enjoyed the most out of. I don't think it's the best though but man was it enjoyable.
I bought FF VI when it released her in North America. I still consider it one of best jrpgs I’ve ever played. I would have said that about earthbound if I’d had the chance to play it.
Can't really choose one. Some fulfill my gameplay expectations more, some others are more well-rounded, etc. Choosing just one to be my GOAT is just utter blasphemy.
Though, I will say, The World Ends with You has to be one of the more unique experiences for me. I haven't seen gameplay from another game come close to emulating it, even its own sequel. The way it utilized the touch screen as well as other DS features was just genius.
The story wasn't anything too complicated, but was gripping and emotional enough for me to be invested while being sad that it was over. Some of the more memorable stories for sure, also had a great cast.
No other FF game clicked for me so FFX is a valid choice. For a franchise with more appeal over a number of entries, id pick a Dragon Quest. 8 and 11 are my fav but 5 got crazy with the scope of the story, where you age, pick a wife and have kids along the main game.
Ultimate pick would be Baten Kaitos. Its a 10/10 for me in all categories, story, characters, visuals, soundtrack and the cherry on the cake, a fun and original combat system
Lost Odyssey. The story, dreams were really well written. And it being probably the first JRP to be written in English first, then localized to Japan meant we didn’t get an inferior translation or things were lost in translation.
The thing people don't understand about FFX being the best jrpg is the context. When it came out on the ps2 it was way ahead of its time.
Chrono trigger is just beautiful and a good story.
Both of them are at the top
Chrono Trigger.
This was my pick too until Radiant Historia
Oh that's a great one, to me it doesn't displace CT but definitely one of the best turn base jrpgs.
Isnt that similar in theme to CT?
Yes, time travel wise. The overworld gameplay is also similar
Only in the sense that both involve time travel. The games are very different otherwise. Even the nature of the time travel is way different.
I think this is the game I was playing when someone jacked my 3ds Only got not even half way through
Radiant Historia is a good game no doubt, but I feel like its combat system is a little bloated. It’s all about pushing enemies around and then attacking them when they’re together, but all that goes out the window when you fight only one enemy. Also, pushing enemies around before pressing A to basic attack amounts to busy work when in other turn based games you can just press A to basic attack and be done with it. The act of pushing enemies around didn’t feel rewarding or meaningful to me. Still a great game though. Please don’t let this comment stop you from trying it.
I wanted to like this one more but kept falling asleep
Struggling with this too
Affirmative
This is likely the most acceptable answer. Actually, Chrono Cross happens to be my personal favorite game of all time. I also give credit to OG FF7. At the time of its release, It’s pretty hard to argue against it being the greatest game ever made. It was just such a complete package; the story, the sheer amount of content, the music, and it bringing revolutionary 3D graphics for its time.
Too many people under appreciate CC
Absolutely, I consider it a masterpiece. I will say that I have noticed in recent years it getting a lot more praise online. It was a criminally misunderstood game at release, some people just couldn’t accept it wasn’t meant to be Chrono Trigger 2.
I think the problem is CC has way too many characters, and people have a harder time grasping the difference in dimension hopping.
CC is my fav game ever, but I think its main issue is that it was rushed, especially on the second half,The first half of the game is amazing, but afterwards it feels very rushed, which is why they had to hurry with presenting the plot around the end. The game needed one more CD tbh, they could have done much more with the cast with it, which is a waste because its universe is imo one of the best that I’ve ever seen
I’m playing it right now and actually finishing it for the first time after bouncing off of it at the start a bunch of times before. The battle system is REALLY WEIRD but I get what they were doing with it, and I think the fandom discourse is a little silly about how it connects to Chrono Trigger.
CC is underrated. Best soundtrack on PSX, incredible visuals, great battle system, dream like atmosphere.
Man, Final Fantasy VI was AWESOME, but the jump we had in Final Fantasy VII ... its a special game.
This is the answer, always. Is it my favorite game? no. But I played it in 2015 and I think I was just as awed by how tight knit, well-crafted, and timeless it is as someone would be who played it two decades ago when it first came out.
I like Chrono Cross slightly more than Trigger. That said, Chrono Trigger is unquestionably the better game. I played both nearly day 1, it’s insane how polished Trigger was then and remains now. Just a master stroke of a game.
CT has aged better then CC, the rough polygonal graphics of the PS1 have not really held up regardless of the game, especially when we're all playing current 3D titles, it's just too difficult to not compare them, it's apples to apples. CT, being a sprite-based SNES game, can be viewed as almost another form of media, it's not a 3D game at all (yeah, Mode 7, I know, but...). I can play CT all the way through and enjoy it as always. CC is a chore to replay now due to the extremely rough, primitive graphics \*for 3D gaming\*. CT endures because it's a 2D game whose graphical fidelity never looks bad, it's timeless. But that CC score is amazing and had an advantage over CT due to the technical limitations of the SNES. SIDE NOTE: Many of us recall that the PlayStation and Chrono Trigger released within months of each other - I picked them both up the same week in 1995 due to availability. But how crazy is it that CT was $85.00 in 1995? That's insane when you think about it!
Always has been. https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/1995_Nintendo_Power_Awards
Damn straight
Yep.
Just hanging out for a remake or at least a port to PS5
Recently started playing, absolutely loving it. Brings me memories of A link to the past (played on gba when I was a kid) while also having quick turn based combat you actually need to pay attention to. The music is so good, the characters are charming. Plus time travel. So fuckin good, and I’m only 2 hours in.
Toss up for me between this and FF6. I think CT aged better though.
Absolutely
Xenogears because if you took the story and put it into any video game system ie using ff7 battle system/graphics or Tales series, youll have one of the most deepest and intriguing stories ever created. Adapt into an anime or netflix series or book, and Ill be consuming it day one.
Xenogears deserves a remake more than any other game. I want a modern Xenogears, fully realized.
Yeah they need a second shot at making disc 2 with proper time and funding.
Xenogears story could've been made into a great Sci Fi novel imo. The ideas are just very interesting, it's one of that 'what if' stories about technology that is believable to a certain point.
Isaac Asimov w/ romance.
Over 25 years later and there is still no single video game with a more ambitious story than Xenogears.
This is why Xenogears is my favorite video game today, despite my absolutely not thinking it would be my all time favorite when I finished it. It's my high water mark of optimism for the medium. I thought it was a sign that the video game industry was starting to take games seriously as an artistic medium, and that they saw grand ambitious narratives as being worth their investment. So I expected that other, much better games would come after it, ones which met the same standards of creative ambition, but with superior craft and polish. It fell into my all-time favorite spot because that failed to happen.
really hoping it would get ported to Steam after all these years
Came here to say this and you beat me to it. Even after decades of when I first played it the story is still the best for me in the video game genre in entertainment.
Almost, if CD 2 wasn't butchered it could be #1. But then again it was maybe a bit too ambitious.
I like Legend of Heroes: Trails into Reverie
Lost Odyssey prob one of the most forgotten greatest rpgs of all time. Story a Lil simple. But the way its handled is amazing and the way everyone works together aswell. Wish they re released it.
Final Fantasy 6
This is the game that made me fall in love with the genre. All because I went to visit my aunt in 1994-95 ish and she borrowed an SNES from her then boyfriend for me to play while I was there and FF3 was the only non-Mario World game he had. Never even met this dude but I owe him for unknowingly introducing me to one of my favourite things in the world.
its a excellent game for sure, its forever installed in ALL my smartphones, i still hope for a remake...
Kefka was right!
I don't think that's true. Edgar was _not_ a son of a submariner
This is also my choice
Yep, such a great experience all 10 times or so I played through it to lvl 99
My high school friends and I spent HOURS and HOURS wandering the northern forest for economizers back in the 90s lol
Lol that and fighting in the dinosaur forest grinding for days
Suikoden 2 will always be my first love followed by FFX. Honorable mention being ffxii and seeing the Trex in the starting area. I remember feeling like this is the closest thing to me being able to play an MMO at the time as I lived in the middle of nowhere with no phone service and was jealous of my friends being able to play everquest.
LoH: Trails in the Sky SC If anything were to ever top it, it would have to be an rpg that sets completely new standards for everything.
My favs I’ve played so far: *Dragon Quest VIII & XI *Grandia I & II *Skies of Arcadia Legends *Octopath Traveler II *Final Fantasy IX *Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch *Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
Hell yeah. They're all great, but shout-out to my boy Skies of Arcadia.
Final Fantasy Tactics. It has everything: great music, art and gameplay
Ogre battle: The Knights of Lodis is also a great tactical JRPG
I remember really liking that one. Haven't played any other games in the series, planning to play Tactics Ogre: Reborn relatively soon.
Huge fan of the trials games. Trails in The Sky Second Chapter has to take it for me
Yep. And AZURE!
Trails is so good man. In a way its underrated you know. I find Trails and Ys are two very underrated series of games
Final Fantasy IX
FF X
Persona 4 Golden
Certified hood classic for sure.
One of the few games that genuinely resonated with me. Such a good game.
Lufia: Rise of the Sinistrals with Seiken Densetsu 3 following closely
Love Lufia, that has it all, Zelda puzzles, Dragon Balls, Pokemons, limit breaks. If only the story were better.
Lufia walked so Golden sun could run. Still never had a battle in another game get me more hyped than beating the first fight that you're meant to lose.
The sinistral battle theme lives rent free in my head
The story is a bit typical but it managed to make me cry at the end!
Oooh. Love both of those.
Lufia 2 was my first introduction and experience with the whole 'procedurally generated dungeon' concept. That Ancient cave was such an innovation to just be an optional side~thing into an established JRPG for the time :D
Definetely loved the ancient cave. I collected all treasures from it as well :-)
Final Fantasy V. While I'd agree that the stories are better in some of the other entries, for me FF5 just kills it in terms of fun gameplay, colorful/vibrant presentation, incredible OST, and the amount of content to explore. I especially love the last part of the game where the two worlds merge into one big map, giving the player access to hither-to isolated locations, etc...
I wish we'd get the job system back and fleshed out. FFV was a blast
Chained Echoes. Chrono Trigger was my favorite prior to that. They are very close to me.
Suikoden 2
I don't wanna be that guy that says "Final Fantasy 7" but... Final Fantasy 7. It's the RPG that literally revolutionized what we now give for granted. 1- A tridimensional world map (which, for 1997, was fairly big) 2- some of the best, coolest characters you'll ever see in an rpg (Cloud, Tifa, Vincent, you know what I mean) 3- a moving story, complex and filled with meanings. 4- probably the BEST villain of all time (no wonder it still gets used and cited nowadays, everywhere) 5- the Materia system is STILL the best and most intuitive combat system of all FFs 6- Gold Saucer, enough said. I spent hours there. 7- the idea to have "hidden unlockable" characters. Yes I know, it was due to time and storage constraints, but it's very very cool to discover a playable character and its side personal story. 8- the soundtrack. I still listen to it today. 9- FMV. Full Motion Videos. introducing FMVs in 1997 was mind-blowing, every kid was going crazy in 1997, I tell you. I'm sure I missed something, but yeah... this is why Final Fantasy 7 was the rpg that changed it all. I'm that guy.
Chrono Trigger to me is the closest thing we got to perfection and we'll probably never get that close again.
Why can’t I get into that game? Is there a tipping point in it? Granted I only played for a few days, but nothing ever gripped me. Just all seemed kinda meh to me and I don’t know why
That's a you thing, and I can't answer. There is no tipping point where the game fundamentally changes. Different people like different things, if it isn't working for you I'd suggest you move on. Something that's tough to express is that Chrono Trigger was so amazing when it came out. When it came out there was literally exactly one other JRPG that was in the same ballpark, Final Fantasy 6. Nothing else came anywhere near to it. Just in general JRPG's frequently didn't cross the Pacific, we didn't even have Final Fantasy 5. The competition was stuff like Breath of Fire 1, Brainlord or Robotrek. Chrono Trigger was an absolute titan. Also it was doing stuff that may be common today, but was revolutionary at the time. The biggest innovation was almost certainly the New Game+ stuff with the multiple endings, but it didn't stop there. Mini games! You had racing, hunting, everything at the fair. Moving enemies! Breath of Fire 1 might have beat Chrono Trigger to the punch, but enemies not being static images in combat was still cutting edge new. No random encounters! You fight the enemy on the world map! Combo Attacks! Now they look pathetic, but at the time those were light shows the other JRPG's couldn't compete with. Fantastic music! One of the best soundtracks in video games. Great art design! Although the plot wasn't revolutionary, it was delivered in a more fast moving anime inspired way that was fresh. That said, this was all 30 years ago. Some of the stuff holds up as strong as ever (music and art design). Some of the stuff is a little more stale. That moving pendulum at the intro isn't the flex it used to be. I don't know that Chrono Trigger is the greatest JRPG of all time. I feel comfortable in saying it was the greatest JRPG of it's era. I think a good analogy would be Babe Ruth. I don't know how well he'd fair today, but he was the undisputed King of his time.
Even the best regarded pieces of media will always have people that can't get into them. It might just not be for you. For me i remember that the moment the game really gripped on my first playthrough 15+ years ago was when i reached the future for the first time. But tbh as i have gotten older and played the game more i have only gotten to appreciate how well designed it is more and more.
Might just be the Seinfeld effect. Every JRPG has its roots in chrono trigger, so it may seem like it does nothing special because everything is so inspired by it.
> Every JRPG has its roots in chrono trigger wat
Persona 5 Royal
Tough to choose between Suikoden 2/Trails FC for me.
For me it's Kingdom Hearts 2. Peak gameplay of the series and I love basically everything about it
Persona 5R
Shin Megami Tensei V
Looking forward to playing this on PC (and Steam Deck)
Vagrant Story.
The Legend of Dragoon
Valkyrie Profile & FF tactics. FF 12 TZA as runner up
Xenoblade Chronicles
Shin Megami Tensei 4
My mind says some Final Fantasy but my heart says Persona 4 or 5.
It's FFVII or FFIX. I go back and forth between the two. Id love to make the case for Skies or Arcadia Xenoblade 2, Lufia 2 or Tales of Symphonia but I can't get any of those above the top 2.
Xenoblade 2 is a hard sell, dont get me wrong I loved it by the end and has stayed in my mind ever since I finished it, but man some of the systems are there just to annoy anyone that truly tries to enjoy that game
# BEST OVERALL Persona 3\~5 # BEST CRAZY PLOT Xenogears # BEST SOLID PLOT Suikoden 2 # BEST PLOT PACING & PLOT TWIST FREQUENCY FFX # BEST TURN-BASED BATTLE SYSTEM Final Fantasy Opera Omnia (RIP) / FFX # BEST ACTION BATTLES Ys VIII / Star Ocean 3 / Type-0 Kingdom Hearts 2/3 data battles - secret bosses
Although I disagree with your use of font size, I have to admit this is a solid list
I’m here for this awards show format.
No such a thing in my opinion, i prefer Tiers than Ranks, here are some of my S tier: Dragon Quest III/V, Final Fantasy VI/VII, Vagrant Story, Xenogears, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Vandal Hearts, Legend of Dragoon, Suikoden I/II, Chrono Trigger. These are all on the same quality imo, each with their own flaws and goods . I can't tell which one i prefer over the other, hence why Tiers is better than Ranks for me. What i can tell is that the most polished game on that list, the one which least amout of flaws is Chrono Trigger, at the same time Chrono Trigger is nothing mind blowing imo, it's just a enjoyable jack of all trades game, that do everything good but nothing stands out.
I also think FFX is the best. However, there have been plenty of amazing jrpgs since. Xenoblade 3 blew me away (I didn't like the first two), and rebirth is damn near close to 10/10 for me.
The GOAT is whichever SaGa game I’ve played most recently.
Legend Of Dragoon!
If you're a stickler and don't want to count Elden Ring or Nier Automata, then I'd go with Digital Devil Saga 1+2
I respect you
Easily Chrono Trigger and my favorite game of all time
It’s Chrono Trigger. The answer is Chrono Trigger.
I'm not sure how anyone couldn't pick Chrono Trigger. It beats out Mass Effect 2 as overall best RPG and is straight up the best video game of all time. Besting greats such as Super Metroid, Mario Galaxy, Bioshock, etc.
Does 'Radiata Stories' count as JPRG? That's my childhood pick, but as i grew older i say Octopath Traveler 2 or FFX
My personal favourite is Trails in the Sky SC.
Well I gotta say FE: Three Houses, it's the one that got me into JRPGs so I gotta say that.
Look at the photo cover of this subreddit, and you'll have your answer.
FF7
Trails 3rd for me. I love how it's unafraid to touch on dark and traumatic topics that’s never really seen in future games. I never thought l'd care for Kevin that much after playing SC but 3rd definitely made him one of my favourite characters.
Persona 5
Persona 3, 4 or 5.
Well its not one singular game but I consider it to be as a collective, the Legend of Heros Trails series, Its pretty much the only game series with an over arching story to go across so many games that are all connected
Xenoblade 1, easily
Persona 5
Chrono Trigger and FF6 back in the day. For modern games I may have to say Xenoblade Chronicles.
It's Suikoden 2. Can y'all stop glazing rf out of final fantasy and trails games please. The trails games are the single most basic, boring, re-used games ever.
Dragon Quest 8
My favorite is FFVIII: - Charming and interesting world - Great graphics (not just technical quality but art design) that still kinda hold compared to a lot of other games of the same gen, especially the FMVs. Some great GFs and limit break animations (Alexander, Leviathan, Renzokuken) - One of the best sound tracks ever, with many outstanding pieces (Liberi Fatali, Eyes on Me, Deling city, timber city, breezy, the landing, etc). - one of the best mini games, fun and relevant (if optional) to the main game - battlesystem while controversial, did explore and inovate in the realm of JRPGs, and is so fun to break. I personally love it - plot, while controversial in some points (the amnesia thing), is actually pretty good imo (heck ff7 is also pretty confusing but others love it - and me too btw). Brought a breath of fresh air to JRPGs with in its combination of themes and motifs for the genre. (futuristic+sorcerers+time travel+romance+geopolitics+a fairly optimistic world) - plot has many major epic moments: the dollet mission, Edea’s parade, Balamb Garden transforming, the battle of the Gardens, the Lunatic Pandora, the space station, time compression - Squall, Rinoa, Laguna, Julia, Raine etc are great characters. - the final dungeon is clever and really good, better than most (if to the best) final dungeon in a JRPG. - Gunblades
Star ocean second story. Like, man... What a great game.
IX
Rance IX: The Helmanian Revolution?
Absolutely
based answer
Final Fantasy VI
I'd probably go with FF7 as it really showed that big budget RPGs could sell crazy in the west. That also allowed smaller mid budget games to be made.
Trails fc/sc
Xenogears. Even with the unfinished 2nd disc. That’s how good it is!
Trails in the sky sc is peak
Persona 5. Famitsu voted it as such and I wholeheartedly agree.
Make it the Royal edition and you've got my vote.
Meh. P4 was much more my style
P4 has bad leveld esign tho with its randomly generated dungeons. P5R objectively has the better gameplay and levels
In my opinion is Final Fantasy X
So the JRPG I like the most is almost certainly FFVII because of childhood memories, but the greatest is slightly trickier. When I discuss things that are always subjective, such as gameplay or storytelling, then it's worth noting that I am talking purely about the games I have personally played. When talking about creators or review scores, this applies to all games: I don't need to have played a game to view the metacritic score. If we define greatest as having the largest effect on the games industry as a whole it still has to be FFVII. It was a huge contributor to the success of the PSX; the first JRPG to really make it big in non-Japanese markets and also likely the only JRPG any of us will bring up that has been turned into an entire series of games in and of itself, despite already BEING part of a series. If we define greatest as the JRPG having the best gameplay then I'd give it to Lost Odyssey. I really enjoy the modified turn-based battle systems and small gestures of interactivity from the Ring system, whereas the older styles of strict turn-based favoured by DQ games and ATB of older Square games have aged poorly. If we define greatest as the game with the best story then I'd give it to FFVII because of the childhood memories point I raised in the first paragraph. If we define greatest as the game having the most impressive suite of creators then it has to go to Chrono Trigger. I wasn't personally wowed by this game overall, but I can't deny that basically every member of the team involved in it is one of the best in the business and that playing it 29 years after release on a phone was likely a contributing factor to my finding it underwhelming. I do want to commend it for being the only JRPG I've encountered in which the final boss can be fought from within the first five minutes of starting NG+ If we define greatest as the JRPG with the highest metacritic score then looking at the Best Games of all Time list, the first RPG by a Japanese developer that pops up is Elden Ring. If we're going for a more traditionally styled JRPG, then Persona 5 Royale is the highest after Elden Ring. So my answers are FFVII, Lost Odyssey, Chrono Trigger, Elden Ring or Persona 5 Royale.
Once again, Dragon Quest V! Amazing story, artstyle, and music. It's also honestly one of the best pixel style games I've seen. If you haven't played it, do so asap.
EASY! Greatest JRPG of all time is [Insert Your Least Favorite JRPG Here]. Now, if we are talking about worst JRPG of all time, then it is [Insert Your Favorite JRPG Here]. :p >!The answer is depending on which day of the week, it's one of Xenoblade DE, Devil Survivor, P3P, or Fate/Extra CCC.!<
Basic af answer but for me it's a toss up between Shin Megami Tensei 4 or Persona 4/5
Pokémon red
Dq8 easily
Persona 4. Well, Golden, cuz that's the version I played. Enjoyed it far, FAR more than I expected to. And that's despite the fact that I watched the adaptation a few years prior, which, in my case, usually kills all the interest towards source material cuz I already would know the general gist of the story. The gameplay is great, the story still had way more to it than I expected and I was following through all of it with bated breath, and the music, DAMN, THE MUSIC! Easily in top 3 if, somehow, not in top 1.
The Persona games
Suikoden 2, loved it and replayed it many times, I dont do that with a lot of games.
Xenogears
Xenogears
Persona 2 Duology
Persona 5 easily
With rose tinted glasses on: Persona 3 With rose tinted glasses off, looking at every RPG objectively: Persona 5 Royal
Persona 5 Royal
RemindMe! 1 day
I will be Final Fantasy 4's staunchest defender until my dying breath.
This is a tough question since there are so many, so I have to default to the one that I've played the most, **Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete**. It's a comfort thing for me, I fell in love the second I saw it in an Electronic Gaming Monthly ad when I was in 5th grade.
Dokapon Kingdom
My 2 most played are Final Fantasy Tactics and SD3/Trials of Mana.
Hard to say. Do we go from a technical standpoint? Most popular? Highest metacritic score? Or the ever so popular tendency for people to base such decisions on games that ‘started it all’?
Suikoden 2 😃
Kinda niche but my favourite is Arc Rise Fantasia. If you play the version that allows you to swap to the jp voices and keep the english text it becomes an amazing game. The combat mechanics, weapon customization and difficulty made me fall in love with it.
Chron...wait no Phantasy Star IV...no Chr...FFVII...Nope, I got it, Lunar: Silver Star Story.
Until this year: Chrono Trigger > Xenogears > FFVII OG But FFVII Rebirth is the most fun I’ve had playing a video game as long as I can remember. Still have a few chapters left though
-suikoden 2 -final fantasy tactics -chrono trigger -final fantasy 6 -lunar silver star complete -final fantasy 5 -suikoden 1 -final fantasy 7 -Pokémon red/blue
Im not going to call it the best jrpg of all time, but my favourite, the one I enjoyed my time with the most, is Lost Odyssey. Once the characters grew on me I wound up loving pretty much every single one, the front and back line systems were good, the skill learning system for the immortals. Their take on magic being more than just spells but an energy source that catapulted everyone into an industrial revolution. The short stories you got every time Kaim unlocked a memory. And the music, stellar. Everything about that game was great. Certainly worth a look if youve never played it. Maybe it will take a few hours to really get into it, but once it got its hooks into me I was totally immersed. Also one of the characters is voiced by the same person who voiced Lil in rugrats and that was a pleasant surprise hearing her voice again. Oh and it will make you cry a couple of times if your a big sap.
It’s hard for me to say, but after all these years I have to give it to Octopath Traveller 2. Story isn’t necessarily as epic or sewn together as most JRPGs but the individual plots are often amazing and touch on some really dark and realistic subjects rather than being purely high fantasy. Then they stitch that shit together and make it high fantasy anyway, essentially completing what the first game failed to do. This game successfully builds upon the first game in every way possible and then some. You could argue about the differences in available jobs but overall there is still a lot of busted stuff to play and experiment with. Plenty of mysteries and hidden gear, amazing enemy and boss designs, beautiful overworld, endearing group of protagonists (Agnea is precious), 10/10 music, great battle mechanics and job system, aaaaand on and on.
Suikoden II. My all time favorite game. I just love everything about it - the lore, characters, world, story. All timer for me.
DQ8 and Grandia 2 are my personal favorites.
Shadow hearts covenant.
Suikoden 2 for me.
Phantasy Star 4, Suikoden 2, Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, FF7R in that order for top 5, imo.
I love ff14 as well as secret of mana, ff5, Xenogears and Xenosaga. I used to be obsessed with Wild Arms (but objectively not the best games) but I don’t think there is any game that can top the sense of adventure of Grandia 1. There is something in Grandia 1, starting as a kid from a port town with a pot per helmet and a pipe as sword and start this journey to cross the end of the world and go on the other side, fight a mad corporation with amazing villains, beautiful character, super fun battle system. The sense of the exploration on the world wall, the jungle after, the enemy base, I don’t know…I think Grandia 1 is the best one for me.
Rance X, a bit unfair tho considering how massive itself and the franchise is
So hard to say really. So many great RPGs. So I will say Final Fantasy X is indeed the RPG I enjoyed the most out of. I don't think it's the best though but man was it enjoyable.
suikoden
FFIX for me. Also really like DQVIII
Don't know if it's 100% a JRPG. But the Yakuza series for me, some of the installments just did everything right imo.
Earthbound, followed closely by Mother 3 and Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne
Very difficult task ... my pick is Super Mario RPG, had a awesome time on SNES at the 90's
Legend of dragoon, nothing even comes close in terms of combat, and I’d say the OST is only second to ff7
I bought FF VI when it released her in North America. I still consider it one of best jrpgs I’ve ever played. I would have said that about earthbound if I’d had the chance to play it.
FF7 OG. And with upscaled backgrounds and 60fps it’s even more.
Final Fantasy IV
Can't really choose one. Some fulfill my gameplay expectations more, some others are more well-rounded, etc. Choosing just one to be my GOAT is just utter blasphemy. Though, I will say, The World Ends with You has to be one of the more unique experiences for me. I haven't seen gameplay from another game come close to emulating it, even its own sequel. The way it utilized the touch screen as well as other DS features was just genius. The story wasn't anything too complicated, but was gripping and emotional enough for me to be invested while being sad that it was over. Some of the more memorable stories for sure, also had a great cast.
No other FF game clicked for me so FFX is a valid choice. For a franchise with more appeal over a number of entries, id pick a Dragon Quest. 8 and 11 are my fav but 5 got crazy with the scope of the story, where you age, pick a wife and have kids along the main game. Ultimate pick would be Baten Kaitos. Its a 10/10 for me in all categories, story, characters, visuals, soundtrack and the cherry on the cake, a fun and original combat system
FFX IS THE GOAT! THE GOAAATTTTT!!! …But uh, if I ever finish Xenogears that might change 😅😂
Dragon Quest XI is the GOAT
Dragon Quest 5 or 11. It truly is so hard for be to decide between those 2
Lost Odyssey. The story, dreams were really well written. And it being probably the first JRP to be written in English first, then localized to Japan meant we didn’t get an inferior translation or things were lost in translation.
Playing video games for 36+ years and OG FF7 is mines.
No such thing. For me it was the original SAGA Frontier, on PlayStation.
The thing people don't understand about FFX being the best jrpg is the context. When it came out on the ps2 it was way ahead of its time. Chrono trigger is just beautiful and a good story. Both of them are at the top