The 25 Best JRPGs of All Time - IGN

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Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?




25: Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne
24: Breath of Fire 3
23: Golden Sun
22: Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
21: Lost Odyssey
20: Star Ocean The Second Story
19: Bravely Default 2
18: Live A Live
17: Tales of Vesperia
16: Kingdom Hearts 2
15: Grandia 2
14: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
13: Xenogears
12: Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
11: Octopath Traveler 2
10: The Legends of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
09: Pokémon Gold / Silver
08: Suikoden 2
07: Earthbound
06: Draogon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
05: Xenoblade Chronicles 3
04: Metaphor Refantazio
03: Final Fantasy X
02: Persona 5 Royal
01: Chrono Trigger
 
adamsapple said:
14: Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
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not bad denzel GIF
 
I love the Persona games. Metaphor:RE doesn't belong that high on the list.

No Persona 3 or 4? Looks like they tried to pick single representative games from franchises. Otherwise a certain series might dominate the list.
 
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A lot of recency bias there imo. At least they included some kino games like Grandia 2 or Xenogears.
 
It's so easy to shit on these lists, but honestly? This is a good one. Even if I don't agree with all of the choices or placements, I get it.

Octopath II being on there makes me very happy.
 
good-burger.gif

Played 2.5 and heard of maybe 5 of these franchises, i must be one of those tourists that people talk about.
 
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insane ass list
 
The top 3 are actually my top 3 in the same order however, expedition 33 now exists so it's hard tht the label not being jRPG there, considering it is a jRPG in everything except location it was made...
 
Really bad list.

FF X is a bad game.
EarthBound is a bad game.
Gold/Silver are average in the greater span of the franchise.
Golden Sun is not a good game.
Live A Live was a hipster fedora game but now made accessible I can honestly say it's a 6/10 at best.
Breath of Fire IV is better than III.
Kingdom Hearts in general is straight up bad.
Vesperia is arguably the best game in the series but dunno if it should even be in a top 25 list.


Star Ocean II, Xenogears, Lost Odyssey and Suikoden II are the only ones I agree with.
 
Not my genre but skipping Final Fantasy 7 and 9 is odd. And is Pokémon a JRPG? Kingdom Hearts? And Lost Odyssey is better than all Final Fantasy except X?
 
Werewolf Jones said:
Really bad list.

FF X is a bad game.
EarthBound is a bad game.
Gold/Silver are average in the greater span of the franchise.
Golden Sun is not a good game.
Live A Live was a hipster fedora game but now made accessible I can honestly say it's a 6/10 at best.
Breath of Fire IV is better than III.
Kingdom Hearts in general is straight up bad.
Vesperia is arguably the best game in the series but dunno if it should even be in a top 25 list.


Star Ocean II, Xenogears, Lost Odyssey and Suikoden II are the only ones I agree with.
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I think it's one per franchise so it's a weird "best of all time" :rolleyes: list. While good imo, if I had to pick one Final Fantasy it wouldn't be FFX. It's not even in the top 3 best in the franchise.
 
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I played some of the titles on that list, and they were all wonderful games.

Can't judge overall list, but frankly, from my own experience, almost all JRPGs were at least 8/10 experiences.

Personally I could never actually properly rank JRPGs, because they are long games, and each one has their own highs and lows.

I often praise my favorites, but it's not like every moment was THAT amazing.

Anyway, I think / believe this is a good list, and most likely every title mentioned is a great game in its own right.
 
Fess said:
Not my genre but skipping Final Fantasy 7 and 9 is odd. And is Pokémon a JRPG? Kingdom Hearts? And Lost Odyssey is better than all Final Fantasy except X?
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I loved FF9 to death, truly, but it's far from the best FF let alone best jRPG list...
 
Give us your list gaffers. I haven't played that many JRPGs (never had a PSX nor a PS2 until quite recently) but those would be my picks for a top 10:

1. Chrono Trigger
2. Dragon Quest V
3. Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2
4. Dragon Quest XI
5. Final Fantasy V
6. Shin Megami Tensei Vengeance
7. Valkyrie Profile
8. Tales of Symphonia
9. Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne
10. Lufia II
 
From 5 years ago. A list with not just jrpgs
www.ign.com

Top 100 RPGs of All Time - IGN.com

IGN counts down the Top 100 RPGs of all time!
www.ign.com www.ign.com


10 The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
09 Vagrant Story
08 Diablo II
07 Secret of Mana
06 Planescape: Torment
05 World of Warcraft
04 Pokémon Yellow
03 Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
02 Final Fantasy VI
01 Chrono Trigger

Maybe they vote and it's a different group of people now.
 
IGN? 😂

Alanah Pearce threads have more credibility.

This is seriously one of the worst lists I've ever seen.
 
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Celcius said:
No FF7?
Trash list

Having only a single FF game is also a red flag
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I think the intro of the video mentioned that they limited the selection to one game per franchise
 
Every JRPG on there is a banger, but if this is supposed to be a list of the best JRPGs, then it's garbage because they were more concerned with diversity than quality. Of all the long running JRPG series in that list, they picked only one from each because they didn't want duplicates.
 
It seems they hit all the major franchises even if they didn't pick the right one within them. Better then expected for IGN
 
Yakuza games are not JRPGs

Kingdom Hearts is not JRPG.

There. Needed to be said.

Also. Garbage list.

If you don't have the staff qualified to make an all-time list, then don't make the list.
 
How can anybody take this list seriously when FF6 and 7 don't even make the top 25 but somehow...

Final Fantasy X at #3? It's wouldn't even make my top 5 Final Fantasy games.

Metaphor #4? It's a very overrated game, and I say this as somebody who has platinum'd it. At least they put Persona 5 Royal higher.
 
no ff6? ff7? ff9?
ffx is good, yes, but the game is kinda linear sadly and imo, even older ff is much better than x
no dragon quest 5, is also weird

also strange choices imo. some are not deserved to be the best JRPG
it might be clickbait for lot of fans. duh.
 
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I consider Final Fantasy X to be maybe the most overrated JRPG of all time.

Retarded unlikeable characters, retarded writing and direction, dumbass protagonist whose whole schtick is to loudly proclaim his ignorance so everyone has a reason to dump info on you.

Gameplay-wise it has that dumb character swapping mechanic so the only strategy, beginning to end, is "swap in whichever character can hit the enemy's weak point" which gets so old and tedious… especially since you're constantly swapping just so your party members can take some action and get AP for that battle.

Plus some of the worst, most infuriating minigames ever devised. So bad that whenever the topic of "worst JRPG minigames ever" comes up, it immediately turns into an argument about which one or FFX's minigames deserves that spot.
 
DonkeyPunchJr said:
I consider Final Fantasy X to be maybe the most overrated JRPG of all time.

Retarded unlikeable characters, retarded writing and direction, dumbass protagonist whose whole schtick is to loudly proclaim his ignorance so everyone has a reason to dump info on you.

Gameplay-wise it has that dumb character swapping mechanic so the only strategy, beginning to end, is "swap in whichever character can hit the enemy's weak point" which gets so old and tedious… especially since you're constantly swapping just so your party members can take some action and get AP for that battle.

Plus some of the worst, most infuriating minigames ever devised. So bad that whenever the topic of "worst JRPG minigames ever" comes up, it immediately turns into an argument about which one or FFX's minigames deserves that spot.
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just like FF8, i only love the world visual design and the music, but i'm agree with all of Your points.
 
I get the urge to limit the list to one entry per franchise, but it's obviously not the top 25 best JRPGs of all time with that rule in place, is it?

Final Fantasy VI and Skies of Arcadia's omission alone is a slap in the face.
 
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