1. Suikoden II - The story, gameplay, and soundtrack are masterpieces, and the beautiful 2d sprites still hold up today. Army and castle building, memorable characters, great character customization without being too complicated, and heart. All other RPGs (Japanese and Western) just fall short as a complete package.
2. Final Fantasy Tactics - This had me addicted for a long time. Coming up with character builds has never been more fun than in this game. Story was batshit insane, but I enjoyed it anyway.
3. Baldur's Gate - Character builds are almost as cool as in FFT, but engineering a great party is where this really shines. I don't even remember what went on in the story, but rampaging across the countryside and cautiously advancing through dungeons was hella-fun. Part of what made the gameplay so great was wandering around and randomly getting your ass kicked (by a non-boss, just some enemy who is higher level), then figuring out how to beat them, coming back, and exacting your revenge. A lot of RPGs only are challenging during boss battles, but BG keeps you on your toes.
4. Suikoden III - They decided to go in a different direction after II, and the Trinity Sight system is still innovative eight years later. The story was great, and tugged on my heart-strings just about as much as II. Some of the gameplay innovations didn't quite work for me (Buddy system), and the story felt rushed near the end, so it ends up falling a bit short of II. However, this was the last time the Suikoden team took a risk, and mostly succeeded, so it deserves a high rank.
5. Valkyria Chronicles - I loved the update on SRPG gameplay, bringing aiming into consideration without being a twitch shooter. The battle system itself is still probably the most intriguing and fun system I've ever played with, but the cookie-cutter story and limited tech tree/customization keep it from being higher.
6. Mass Effect 2 - Not too much customization here so it didn't really play like an RPG. However, I loved the story, squad-based combat, space exploration, and character development. Also, Tali.
7. Folklore - The atmosphere and story just pulled me in. Gameplay was pretty cool as well. Nothing legendary, but one of the best usages of the SixAxis controller I've played.
8. Demons Souls - I'm only near the beginning, but it already is one of my favorite games to play. The controls as as smooth as butter, and they are a big part of it. I hated Oblivion because the controls were so clunky, but when I started DS I thought 'this is what Oblivion wishes it controlled like'. Being cautious is rewarding, and the dungeon crawling is just the right amount of scary for me.
9. Final Fantasy VII - The only mainline Final Fantasy I've really gotten into. A lot of it is standard JRPG fare, but it just holds a special place in my heart. Exploring the overworld, side quests, the story, and soundtrack were the strong points for me.
10. Suikoden V - Rehash of Suikoden II on better hardware. It basically did everything right that Suikoden II also did right, and also had the advantage of voice acting. However, the soundtrack was generic and I can't avoid docking points for being a rehash of one of my favorite games. Yes, you can call me a hypocrite about FFT/Tactics Ogre but I've never played Tactics Ogre so I can't comment on it.
methos75 said:
I just want to know where these JRPGs with sophisticated battle systems are at, I have probably played and beaten well over 100 JRPGS and I sure haven't found one that mets that criteria yet.
If you want a JRPG with a crazy as shit battle system, look at Resonance of Fate.
I'll also comment on JRPG vs WRPG. They're both great! I have more JRPGs on my list because I've always mainly been a console gamer. I was able to play the original BG on my parents' computer but by the time 1990-2000 rolled around I simply didn't have anything to play WRPGs on. Also, I'm a Linux zealot so I only use Windows for things I absolutely need it for and do 99% of my gaming on consoles / occasionally Linux (Battle for Wesnoth and Humble Indie Bundles FTW!). If my situation was different I might have a couple more WRPGs on my list.