Good JRPGs

[sidereal_day]

When I was a kid, the only kind of good console RPGs there were were Japanese RPGs. I still remember staying up for 36 hours at a time playing FFV. Lately the genre has been derided mercilessly (especially on The Escapist), but I still have a soft spot for the linear, turn-based model of story telling.

Thing is, I haven't really had a finger on the pulse of the genre for quite some time (last one I really got into was FFX when it came out). So my question is, what have I missed? Any suggestions for JRPGs released in the last decade? If you had to make a list of say, the top five released from 2001 til now, what would they be?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that I'm not afraid of imports or obscure titles, as long as they are at least subtitled.

 

[StarStruckStrumpets]

How many times will this thread come to light?!

Just for you:

1) Dark Cloud
2) Dark Chronicle
3) Kingdom Hearts
4) Kingdom Hearts II
5) Lost Odyssey

Obviously many more, however you asked for five. Welcome to The Escapist. Remember the search bar. It will be with you, always...

 

[AboveUp]

Tales of Vesperia during this gen wasn't too bad. Nothing too new or impressive, but it was fun for what it was: a JRPG exactly like the old once, without too long cutscenes and a few actually decently likeable characters.

Let's see last 10 years? Skies of Arcadia, Grandia 2 and Tales of Symphonia basically beat all. With the exception of a few Shin Megami Tensei titles and the first 2 Disgaea games (haven't played 3, so I won't post an opinion about that one).

 

[sidereal_day]

How many times will this thread come to light?!

Just for you:

1) Dark Cloud
2) Dark Chronicle
3) Kingdom Hearts
4) Kingdom Hearts II
5) Lost Odyssey

Obviously many more, however you asked for five. Welcome to The Escapist. Remember the search bar. It will be with you, always...

Thanks for the response. Maybe I'm just an idiot, but I tried a few different strings in the search bar and didn't get many hits.

 

[Kiju]

Hmm...recent JRPGs have been rather lacking in interest for me; as graphics and technology get higher, no one cares to make simple, cell-shaded, turn-based JRPGs anymore.

I can suggest you play Breath of Fire IV; you don't need to play the earlier ones since the series is like Final Fantasy in that they're all separate stories/worlds, but along a similar theme.

Another good one I've played is Wild Arms 2.

 

[TheIr0nMike]

Persona 3 and 4
Half Minute Hero (if you can count it as a JRPG)
The World Ends With You
The new Pokemon games are pretty good (albeit needlessly complex)

 

[Seldon2639]

1. Kingdom Hearts I & II
2. Shin Megami Tensai Person 3 & 4
3. Fire Emblem, all of them(more of a turn-based strategy, but it has RPG elements)
4. Tales of the Abyss
5. FFXII
6. The World Ends With You (maybe)

 

[Brad Shepard]

Personas 3 and 4
fire emblem
kingdom hearts 2
final fantasy 8

 

[shaun832]

Persona 4 is the first game that springs to mind.

 

[Timbydude]

Really, ANY game from the Shin Megami Tensei series is superb.

But if you only have time for one, let it be Persona 3 FES.

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

Dragon quest 8 was quite good but only if you're patient, there is quite a bit of grinding in that game

 

[Satin6T]

I like Final Fantasy 7?

oh and Disgaea is amazing
the fire Emblem series is good, but you need the study guide for it

I really couldn't get into the world ends with you, but ppl love it apparently

 

[TIMESWORDSMAN]

Good JRPGs

lol

Thats low, man.

1. The Mario RPGs are fantastic, Like Superstar Saga and Thousand Year Door.

2. I thought Sonic Chronicles was OK but thats more personnel opinion.

3. To date, Tactics Advance is the only FF game I enjoyed, And thats saying more than you think.

4. Pokemon is the SPAM of the RPG world, Always good but never different and should be avoided in large quantities.

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

Let's see last 10 years? Skies of Arcadia, Grandia 2 and Tales of Symphonia basically beat all.

I <3 me some Skies of Arcadia. Worth tracking down a copy of the GC version if you have a GC or Wii around to play it on. It feels like a better FF-style game than any FF game I've played to me. Tales of Symphonia isn't turn-based, but aside from the combat system it's pretty standard JRPG-style and pretty entertaining (no idea about the sequel, though).

While on the subject of JRPGs for the GC, the Baten Kaitos games are underrated and get overlooked a lot of the time. The voice acting may be a bit...special (in the "my mommy says I'm..." sense), but they're otherwise very well done. They also have the unusual quality that you can play either one first without really ruining anything, despite them being part of the same continuing storyline. The second one's a prequel (and probably a bit better of a game in some ways, since they cleaned up some of the in-game systems a bit, leaving it a bit less flexible in terms of what you can do but much less of a clusterfuck in terms of learning how to use it), so it ends up working out in either release date order or in-universe chronological order.

Edit: And yes, absolutely any Mario RPG game is great, whether the console or handheld ones. They're not as serious or "hardcore" as some other games, but they never fail to be ridiculously fun.

 

[lenneth]

The World Ends With You
FFXII
Odin Sphere
Disgaea 1,2 & 3 (1 has the best cast, but i prefered the gameplay of 3. they're still all awesome)
Final Fantasy Tactics A2
Valkyria CHronicles
Skies of Arcadia

These may also be worth a look depending on taste/what consoles you have
the DS remakes of FF3&4
Dissidia Final Fantasy
anything from the Valkyrie Profile series
Super robot Taisen Endless Frontier
Rouge Galaxy
GrimGrimoire

 

[Simalacrum]

Valkyria Chronicles is kind of a Tactical RPG more than a traditional JRPG, but trust me, its very good indeed.