What would you consider to be the 10 *essential* JRPG's?

The Lunch Legend

The Lunch Legend

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief and Nosiest Dildo Archeologist
Hey all... My name is WTC, and I love JRPGs.

I'm just playing through Golden Sun on GBA at the mo', and I'm thinking it's time I spent some more time with this lovely genre. Having played FFVII Rebirth for almost 100 hours, I'm actually yet to pick up another console RPG that hooked me in in such a way.

So, what would you consider the 10 essential JRPG's that represent the genre the best?
The 10 that pretty much sum up and define what's great about the genre?

From my limited knowledge, just going off of what is popular, a solid list might look something like:
(please note: none of these are in particular order or ranking)

1 - Chrono Trigger
2 - Final Fantasy III (VI in Japan)
3 - Final Fantasy VII
4 - Suikoden 2
5 - Persona 5
6 - Lufia II
7 - Dragon Quest V
8 - Breath of Fire III
9 - Final Fantasy Tactics
10 - Phantasy Star IV

Would this be a reasonable list? Or are there any glaring omissions present?
 
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None as they are all so similar mechanically. Though I do have favorites, which spice things up.
 
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If you like Golden Sun, playing Shining Force III would probably be a fantastic experience for you.

I tend to prefer older games, they are much more focused. Modern games WILL waste your time with padding and social shit. Star Ocean 2R is a great remake of an old game. Again if you like Golden Sun, you might like this one. It has Motoi Sakuraba to the music, this man is a legend.

I don't want to recommend tons of games because it ends up being overwhelming, so I will just say Phantasy Star IV. This is a timeless masterpiece, still very playable today. Available in the NSO, as well as older Shining Force games.
 
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My first ten playthroughs of Final Fantasy X-2.

Seriously though your list is reasonable and a good starting point. Somebody will definitely bring up Xenogears though.
 
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII
Secret of Mana
Tales of Symphonia
Chrono Trigger
Persona 5
Suikoden II
Golden Sun
Super Mario RPG
Dragon Quest VIII
Xenoblade Chronicles
 
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1. Chrono Trigger
2. Dragon Quest V
3. SMT Nocturne
4. SMT IV
5. FF6
6. Earthbound
7. Skies of Arcadia
8. Xenoblade
9. Lost Odyssey
10. Xenoblade 2
 
Chrono Trigger
Suikoden I-II, V
Final Fantasy IV, VI, VII, IX
Wild Arms 1 and 2
Tales of Destiny, Symphonia, Vesperia
Live a Live
Golden Sun 1 and 2
 
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1. Skies of Arcadia Legends
2. Final Fantasy XII
3. Tales of Vesperia DE
4. Trails of Cold Steel arc
5. Ys VIII
6. Tales of Symphonia
7. Persona 4 golden
8. Persona 5 Royal
9. Xemoblade 2
10. Xenoblade DE
 
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Cross
Phantasy Star 4
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy IX
Xenogears
Lunar: Silver Star Story
Secret of Mana
Breath of Fire IV
Xenoblade Chronicles
 
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy X
Dragon Quest 1

Probably it honestly. I could obviously add 30 more. You could branch into the MMO-lite stuff like FFXII and Xenoblade. The social dating stuff like Persona. The real time action stuff like Mana, or tons of other more modern games. Tactics games are also numerous. But I think this basically gives you the essentials.
 
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hell yeah, love muh lists

1. Chrono Trigger: should be the entry point into the genre. Short, sweet, easy, charming, and very fun.
2. Final Fantasy V: Job system = cocaine & hookers in videogame form.
3. Dragon Quest: any of them, because once you've played one of those you'll want to play them all.
4. Lufia II: imo has one of the best dungeons and puzzles in the genre. Also, no random encounters inside dungeons, pretty cool for 1995.
5. Secret of Something: I guess Mana is the go-to but I prefer Evermore. Great atmosphere, same gameplay as the mana games, the alchemy system, Jeremy Soule OST... game is great basically.
6. Mario RPG: another great entry point, plus it has the "press a button when attacking mechanic" which makes it much more engaging than the average turn based game. The first Mario & Luigi could replace this one.
7. Tales of Symphonia: very good dungeons in this one too, plus the story is nice and the combat's fun. Sheena's tits
8. Valkyrie Profile: great and original combat system, great graphics and music, and an adult and depressing tone to it's many stories. Amazing game.
9. Riviera: The Promised Land: A personal pick, I played this game ages ago but remember enjoying it a lot. Nice art and music and a great challenge too, specially the GBA version.
10. Shin Megami Tensei V: left the best for last. Game is just pure gameplay and has the best combat system in any JRPG. At least imo.

I've probably left some very cool ones that I'll remember about later on, but right now this would be my list.
I still have to play many that I've never touched, like Suikoden, Phantasy Star and Breath of Fire.
 
DQ4
DQ5
FF4
FF6
Chrono Trigger
Xenogears
Suikoden 2
Persona 5
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
FF7 Rebirth

Honorable mentions:

FF7 OG
FF9
Lufia 2
Persona 4 Golden
Vagrant Story
Lunar Eternal Blue
 
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West Texas CEO said:
Oh man, this is a touchy subject.
Would we have to include Zelda, too?
Click to expand...

Pokémon 2G (Gold / Silver) is one of the best J-RPG. (+250 pokémon, 2 town, 16 gym badges, night and day, eggs, more types, more attack, colorful). They never reach this quality / quantity and challenging in later games. (Thanks to Iwata and his coding wizardry for include all that in a GameBoy)
 
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Daneel Elijah said:
As long as Pokemon is not forgotten, you can put whatever game you want, OP. But like Mario is a pillar of the platform genre, I think that Pokemon is the same for RPG games.
Click to expand...
Shin Megami Tensei and Dragon Quest make it redundant unless you are a brand loyalist.
 
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squarealex said:
Pokémon 2G (Gold / Silver) is one of the best J-RPG. (+250 pokémon, 2 town, 16 gym badges, night and day, eggs, more types, more attack, colorful). They never reach this quality / quantity and challenging in later games. (Thanks to Iwata and his coding wizardry for include all that in a GameBoy)
Click to expand...
One of the best sequels ever made. I forgot if it was for Gold/Silver or the Cristal version, but fighting Red as the ultimate boss was amazing.
 
West Texas CEO said:
Hey all... My name is WTC, and I love JRPGs.

I'm just playing through Golden Sun on GBA at the mo', and I'm thinking it's time I spent some more time with this lovely genre. Having played FFVII Rebirth for almost 100 hours, I'm actually yet to pick up another console RPG that hooked me in in such a way.

So, what would you consider the 10 essential JRPG's that represent the genre the best?
The 10 that pretty much sum up and define what's great about the genre?

From my limited knowledge, just going off of what is popular, a solid list might look something like:
(please note: none of these are in particular order or ranking)

1 - Chrono Trigger
2 - Final Fantasy III (VI in Japan)
3 - Final Fantasy VII
4 - Suikoden 2
5 - Persona 4
6 - Xenogears
7 - Dragon Quest VIII
8 - Breath of Fire 4
9 - Legend of Dragoon
10 - Star Ocean the second story

Would this be a reasonable list? Or are there any glaring omissions present?
Click to expand...

I'm going to use your list as a jump off point, and just edit your list where appropriate. See above.
 
NeverYouMind said:
Shin Megami Tensei and Dragon Quest make it redundant unless you are a brand loyalist.
Click to expand...
It would be like saying that the Harry Potter books are redundant because Lord of the Rings exist. Pokemon had a reach that few other IPs ever had, and one of the biggest gaming IP ever. I think that it helped many people to discover RPG games.
 
I'm not very much into JRpgs, i mean i like them but haven't really played many of them in my 30 years of gaming experience but i have to say Dragon Quest 7 on the 3DS was as good as it gets to me.
 
I chose my favorite in what I consider the 10 most important JRPG franchises

1. Final Fantasy X
2. Dragon Quest XI
3. Pokémon Legends Arceus
4. Persona 5
5. Tales of Vesperia
6. Xenoblade Chronicles 1
7. Fire Emblem Three Houses
8. Star Ocean 2
9. Kingdom Hearts 2
10. Chrono Trigger
 
Daneel Elijah said:
It would be like saying that the Harry Potter books are redundant because Lord of the Rings exist. Pokemon had a reach that few other IPs ever had, and one of the biggest gaming IP ever. I think that it helped many people to discover RPG games.
Click to expand...
High medieval fantasy and modern hidden magic society are not interchangeable. Acquirable summons with upgrades are.
 
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NeverYouMind said:
High medieval fantasy and modern hidden magic society are not interchangeable. Acquirable summons with upgrades are.
Click to expand...
I wanted to say Wheel of time but choose Harry potter to try to make my point more clear. Here I saw what seems to be a pretty good resume of summons in games. Quite a few games got summons before Pokemon. It still got bigger than all of those games. For many people Pokemon was their first RPG. And for many Harry potter was their first book. Both helped people to get to enter the medium.
 
Unsurprisingly everyone lists an awful lot of 16 & early 32 bit games. Are we a bunch of old codgers unable to connect with RPGs of this generation?
No, it's the children who are wrong. The character designs suck, the dialogue sucks, new anime trends and themes suck. Angsty super talented teens is only considered a cool stock character in Asia.

Phantasy star IV, FF6 & Earthbound belongs on any list.
 
Holammer said:
Unsurprisingly everyone lists an awful lot of 16 & early 32 bit games. Are we a bunch of old codgers unable to connect with RPGs of this generation?
No, it's the children who are wrong. The character designs suck, the dialogue sucks, new anime trends and themes suck. Angsty super talented teens is only considered a cool stock character in Asia.

Phantasy star IV, FF6 & Earthbound belongs on any list.
Click to expand...
Its because JRPG isnt a true genre. Its a made up reference for SNES games. If you dont allow modern RPGs like Demons Souls then it has to be old by definition.
 
Prepare to be triggered:

1 Yakuza 3
2 Final Fantasy XVI
3 Paper Mario TTYD
4 Nier
5 Super Mario RPG
7 Yakuza 4
8 Yakuza 0
9 Tales of Symphonia
10 Final Fantasy VII
 
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West Texas CEO said:
Well let's have a conversation.

There are several Xenoblade games.
Which one would you consider to be essential?

XCX?
XB1?
Torna?
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Xeno 2 with DLC is like a god level RPG for me, the only thing that makes it not top 5 is the skill checks and that Kos-Mos was the last gacha i got....... but easy top 10 game

Xenoblade 2 > 3 > 1 = X
 
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1. Terranigma
2. Chrono Trigger
3. Dragon Quest V
4. Final Fantasy VI
5. Mother 3
6. Paper Mario The Thousand Years Door
7. Xenogears
8. Nier Automata
9. Phantasy Star IV
10. Ys Book I & II

* With one per franchise rule.
 
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Final fantasy tactics is a srpg, like ogre battle, disgaea or fire emblem. A genre that over the years I got to like more than classic jrpgs.

I will recommend this couple channels, guys aee jrpg old school, you can check their tops.





And do me a favor and play legend of the dragoon, an old favourite of mine (even though it's deeply flawed)
 
In no order:

- Persona 2 (Both)

- Final Fantasy VII (OG, didn't play the Remake yet, so can't say)

- Dragon Quest 4

- Chrono Trigger

- Any Disgaea game

- Parasite Eve 1

- Shin Megami Tensei Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2

- Dragon Quest 8

- Persona 4 (any version)

And

- Lost Odyssey
 
A nice list OP.

I'd have included Legend of Dragoon (PS1). What a fucking pleasure. Available on the PS store if you never tried it.
 
Dragon Quest VIII
Final Fantasy 3
Chrono Trigger
Persona 4
Suikoden
Xenogears
Breath of Fire 3
Grandia
Lost Odyssey
Yakuza Like a Dragon
 
I can't think of anything other than for sure Lost Odyssey should be on there. My God what a game that was.

I've been laughed at before for saying Paper Mario 1 & 2 are JRPGs but at least for me, Paper Mario 1 was the gatekeeper that got me into the genre 🤷‍♂️
 
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
Xenogears
Parasite eve
Ffvii
Dqviii
Star ocean 2
Pokémon b/w
Grandia
Ffvi
Chrono Trigger
Breath of fire 3
Tales of Vesperia
 
Aside from the ones you mentioned:

Xenogears
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
Lunar: Silver Star Story
Persona 4 Golden
Dragon Quest VI
 
1 - Chrono Trigger
2 - Final Fantasy VI
3 - Final Fantasy VII
4 - Final Fantasy X
5 - Super Mario RPG
6 - Earthbound
7 - Final Fantasy IX
8 - Final Fantasy Tactics
9 - Mother 3
10 - Persona 4 Golden
 
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