The Only 26 JRPGs You Absolutely Have to Play

[Exhuminator]

As to the order of games, who's to say. Even I would change my mind day to day. So just taking a look at what was posted...

Stuff I agree should be on the list:

Final Fantasy VI
Chrono Trigger
Final Fantasy VII (only because it's a seachange milestone)
Final Fantasy Tactics
Secret of Mana
Valkyria Chronicles

Stuff that should not be on the list:

Illusion of Gaia (it's okay, but not top tier)
Final Fantasy IX (second half of game is trash)
The Last Story (good fun but not top tier)
Lufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals (great puzzles & dungeons, nice OST, but has a lot of problems)
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride (boring plot / scenarios)
Final Fantasy Type-O HD (just hell to the no)

Stuff I have not played (or played long enough) so neutral opinion:

Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Xenoblade Chronicles
Xenogears
Dark Souls
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
EarthBound
Radiant Historia
The World Ends With You
Suikoden II
Tales of Vesperia
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together

Stuff that should be on the list but isn't:

And that's just for starters.

[MrPopo]

Stuff I have not played (or played long enough) so neutral opinion:

Xenogears
EarthBound
Radiant Historia

You should fix that. These three are fabulous.

[Sarge]

Xenogears turns into an absolute train wreck, though. It's a great game, I just don't know if it's a must-play.

Earthbound is certainly wonderful. I don't think Exhuminator likes the aesthetics of the game, though.

Radiant Historia is awesome. It's not the amazing world-beater people were making it out to be when it came out (seriously, we were starved for good classic-styled JRPGs), but it's better than almost everything on the DS that wasn't a port or remake.

I'd personally pick a different Dragon Quest for the list. I'd likely either go with Dragon Quest III or IV, although if we want a more modern take, put in Dragon Quest VIII, particularly if it involves removing Ni No Kuni. DQVIII does everything that game does, but better. I think DQV is good enough for inclusion, and you have to have at least one DQ.

Oh, wait. That's Eternal Blue Complete. Screw that. Yank it from my list. Sega CD version is superior. I didn't really enjoy my playthrough of the PSX version that much.

[Exhuminator]

Xenogears
EarthBound
Radiant Historia

You should fix that. These three are fabulous.

I played Xenogears back in 1998, but not long. I remember being annoyed at the frequency of random battles in the starting area, and just turning it off. It's obvious now I missed out on some epic stuff, so yeah, I intend to play it someday.

Earthbound... I played this in 1997 for a little bit. I recall not enjoying the art style (back then anyway) and finding the whole thing to be a bit cloyingly twee. Since then this has become quite the cult classic, so it's totally possible I missed the point. I shall someday give it a go, but I've yet to read a compelling reason why Earthbound is supposed to be so amazing.

Radiant Historia, I have on DS but simply haven't played yet. Of the three you mentioned I am most interested in this. The only reason I haven't tried it yet, is I've heard the game has a lot of repetitive backtracking through time lines. Just what I read, not saying it's accurate.

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Sarge I agree a different Dragon Quest would be better. I'm okay with IV or VIII.

[Sarge]

I would also swap out Persona 4 for... probably SMT: Nocturne. Illusion of Gaia has no place on the list. If it makes it, there's a slew of action-RPGs that are better, just on the SNES alone. We can argue if it's an RPG or not, but IoG is light enough in that category that you could include A Link to the Past instead. Or if we want to stay in-series, Terranigma is far superior as well.

I'd swap Secret of Mana for Seiken Densetsu 3, but we may be constraining ourselves here by US-only releases... which would also nix Terranigma.

Trails in the Sky is a strong contender for "best visual novel in RPG form", but the RPG elements are really nothing to write home about.

I'd be okay with pulling Eternal Blue Complete for something like Phantasy Star IV. As important as it was, I wouldn't include the original Phantasy Star, much like I wouldn't include Dragon Quest I or II.

[MrPopo]

There is backtracking in Historia, but no more than what you do in Chrono Trigger. The main place that it can get repetitive is if you are trying to fill out all the endings where you cock up the timeline and doom the world.

[Sarge]

There is backtracking in Historia, but no more than what you do in Chrono Trigger. The main place that it can get repetitive is if you are trying to fill out all the endings where you cock up the timeline and doom the world.

Indeed, but those are really fun to witness.

There is a bit more backtracking, but it's not completely overwhelming. It doesn't feel like the game is stretched too thin, at any rate.

[noiseredux]

something something Phantasy Star.

[Stark]

something something Phantasy Star.

This is a really glaring lack honestly.

[Michi]

something something Phantasy Star.

This is a really glaring lack honestly.

Clearly no love for the Sega consoles.