what are the best jrpgs

[Gamerforlife]

Well if we toss in strategy rpgs I really like:

Pretty much all Final Fantasy games
Skies of Arcadia
Grandia
Valkyria Chronicles
Jeanne D'Arc
Mario rpgs

I've never been into Fire Emblem, but Fire Emblem Awakening surprisingly took over my life for a while. I may play the next one they release

[BoneSnapDeez]

Chrono Trigger (PS1)

Chrono Trigger, I approve. But on PS1?! Noooooooo.

Pretty much all Final Fantasy games

Final Fantasy II on Famicom?

[pierrot]

Dragon Slayer
Megami Tensei
Majou Densetsu II
Final Fantasy III (the real one), Crystal Chronicles
Dragon Quest IV, VIII
Dragon's Trap, Monster World IV
Dungeon Explorer III
Light Crusader
The Story of Thor
Ragnacenty
Suikoden I, II, III
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Chrono Cross
Dewprism (Threads of Fate)
E.G.G.
Phantasy Star Online
Breath of Fire V
Genei Toshi "Illusion City"*

*No, not really. It was a lot better than I thought it would be, though.

I kind of prefer ARPGs.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Some good picks there. And some odd ones.

Dragon Slayer is decent, especially in the context of 1984. There are many other games in the series that I think surpassed it eventually, such as Sorcerian and Legend of Xanadu I&II.

Majou Densetsu II is another name for The Maze of Galious, no? I recall playing that years ago on MSX and enjoying it.

I gotta be honest: I have no idea what Dungeon Explorer III is. Are you referring to Crystal Beans? The Sega CD game? Did you add an extra I?

Threads of Fate rules.

Illusion City is okay. There are other vastly superior Micro Cabin JRPGs though.

Ragnacenty I found to be a disappointment. Felt like an inferior Link to the Past with loose floaty controls. Happy I spent "only" $30 or so on it a few years ago.

[Nemoide]

Chrono Trigger (PS1)

Chrono Trigger, I approve. But on PS1?! Noooooooo.

Hey, I never had an SNES! And the DS version came out after I had already played it on PS1.

[ejamer]

Lots of good posts here. It's really hard to nail down "best" JRPGs... but my sentimental picks would probably end up being:

* Final Fantasy VI - I've replayed the game at least a half dozen times, and had multiple other partial play-throughs. It's got faults, but remains probably my favorite 16-bit RPG. My preference if the GBA port because using the GBA Micro makes it uber-portable and always accessible.
* Xenoblade Chronicles - This game hit me just the right way. The world was just so much fun to explore and I loved the soundtrack. Playing was such a relaxing and enjoyable event that I often didn't care if I made any progress in the story.
* Dragon Quest ... IX? - The DS remakes of IV through VI were all great, and the original IX was also fantastic. It's hard to choose which I enjoyed most. Playing through these games took a lot of time but made me realize that I enjoy the simple mechanics and solid stories found in the Dragon Quest series better than the more experimental but less consistent Final Fantasy series.

Close calls: Suikoden series, Xenogears (which I apparently like more than most do), Tales of Symphonia, Final Fantasy III, Etrian Odyssey Untold. That's about all that jumps to mind in a pinch, although it feels like I'm missing many games...

[MrEco]

Reading this thread is making me kind of depressed now. I'm starting to realize that over the course of my life I've played far more western RPG's than Japanese ones, and I've missed out on many classics. Despite the fact that I actually grew up playing JRPG's.


Well, anyway, after a little bit of thinking (and in no particular order) here are my favorites.

Kingdom Hearts - One of the first RPG's I ever played, and I'm quite certain the first JRPG I played. A bit rough around the edges even when it came out, but it will always hold a special place in my heart. The story, combat, and environments are spectacular.

Kingdom Hearts 2 - Improved on almost everything from KH1, though it took a few steps back in my opinion. The different worlds you visit aren't as interesting over all compared to the first game, and KH2 relies on gimmicky feeling mini-games a little too often for my liking. But the combat and soundtrack are over all improved, two things which you spend a large amount of time doing, so that's good. The controls and camera also got a lot better with this one.

Final Fantasy X - I'll be honest, I never actually finished this game. I borrowed it from a friend as a kid, played as far as I could (about one third through the game, right before Auron joins your party) and then I died. But, well, ten year old me didn't own a memory card. I didn't know what a memory card was. I've since then bought the game two more times, and always intended on going back and playing it again, but never found the time it seems. But the nostalgic memories of the games opening, the fun combat system, and the fun characters, are enough for me to call this one of my favorites. I hope it can hold up to that nostalgia when I finally play it for real.

Final Fantasy VII - The first game on this list without nostalgia tied to it, if you can believe that. I only played this game for the first, and so far only, time at the start of last year. But it hooked me, easily. I'm a sucker for good pre-rendered backgrounds, and FF7 has some of my favorites. They don't just look good, they give every area an entirely unique atmosphere as soon as you enter. Also I loved the story and characters, and was not at all deterred by having Aeris' death spoiled for me. It was a compelling ride through the whole time, and was always pushed forward by a very fun combat system that easily became one of my favorites.

Demon's Souls and Dark Souls - I define a JRPG by it's country of origin, simply because I find there's less confusion when talking to other people about JRPG's if I do it that way. If you don't consider the Souls games to be JRPG's, that's fine by me, consider this list done. For the rest of you, I'm putting these both on here for the exact same reasons. Demon's Souls and Dark Souls are the standard I hold all other "dark fantasy" games to. The atmosphere and tone of these games is down right oppressive. Not just in the environment or the story, but in the gameplay as well. I'm not one to play exceptionally hard games just because I like challenging myself, but here in these games the difficulty actually adds to the over all experience in a unique way. On top of that the combat is, to use a cliche marketing term unironically, simple to grasp yet hard to master. One button to block, one button to dodge, one button to attack. It never really get's more complicated than that. The depth of gameplay comes from how your weapons act. Different weapons have different lengths, damage types, move sets, and speed which can effect how they perform in different levels or against different enemies. And they all have a perfect weight behind them, behind every swing and movement, which gives the game a powerful feeling of semi-realistic skill required to become proficient at the games combat. Last but not least, the games are rarely unfair. For all their difficulty, most bad situations can be turned around or outright avoided if you take the time to think about them. It's not just a game of button pressing skill and reflexes, but one that forces you to pay attention and use your mind, and I like that. I like it very much.

[pierrot]

Dragon Slayer is decent, especially in the context of 1984. There are many other games in the series that I think surpassed it eventually, such as Sorcerian and Legend of Xanadu I&II.

I LOVE the original Dragon Slayer. It's an amazing game. I have a hard time getting into Xanadu the same way, and Romancia, and Sorcerian don't interest me that much. Draslay Family is great, but I've seen the Game Center CX of it, and don't know when I'd actually want to punish myself with clearing that. The original is so pure, and perfect. It's easily better than the original Zelda. I think I like it better than LttP, too. Just, when you slay that sixth dragon, man. Oof.

Majou Densetsu II is another name for The Maze of Galious, no? I recall playing that years ago on MSX and enjoying it.

Daimashikyou Galius, or 'Dark (Arch)Bishop Galius,' is the subtitle. I don't believe it was on the MSX, but the first one (a King's Knight like shooter) was.

I gotta be honest: I have no idea what Dungeon Explorer III is. Are you referring to Crystal Beans? The Sega CD game? Did you add an extra I?

Sega CD. Westone's title, Dungeon Explorer III: (subtitle I dare not speak) appears in the credits.

Threads of Fate rules.

Truly

Illusion City is okay. There are other vastly superior Micro Cabin JRPGs though.

I haven't beaten any other Micro Cabin games, but I thought the story in Illusion City was actually one of the best I've experienced pre-fifth gen, and Tienren and Meifan are some of the better main characters ever. The game-play is just all right. Also, everyone is boning Game of Thrones style, and they smuggled a vagina into the final dungeon, which I haven't seen too many games do: Video. (4:03)

[Exhuminator]

Illusion City is okay. There are other vastly superior Micro Cabin JRPGs though.

Can you name any in English?

[Ack]

You guys really need to explain the Threads of Fate love. I tried it and just couldn't get into it, but that was years ago. I'm curious to hear why you guys think so highly of it.