JRPG games have been the best games of all time for quite some time, with a turn-based combat system, it's proven!
The “J” in JRPGs isn't just a designation of country of origin, it's an indicator of the mood, purpose, and tradition of the game's design. Early JRPGs such as Dragon Quest took inspiration from Dungeons & Dragons and were stylistically suited to a console-ready audience, giving rise to a whole new genre in the process.
By the late '90s, JRPGs had become synonymous with video game storytelling, finding audiences around the world hungry for games that gave them not just a role to play, but the opportunity to control a fully formed character, fall in love with the game, and spend dozens of hours playing it.
Attitudes towards JRPGs may have changed in recent years, but with the release of Final Fantasy 15 and Persona 5, the genre has skyrocketed in popularity as a new generation of fans have discovered its addictive, intricately strategic combat systems and unconventional, offbeat stories. This list represents the best games in the genre made by big JRPG fans at GamesRadar.
Shadow Hearts: covenant
Shadow Hearts: covenant
Release date : September 27, 2004 (NA) / March 11, 2005 (EU) | Platform : PlayStation 2
What is this? Historical fiction? She tells how the 1st World War devastated Europe, and then about the wizard teaching his creepy dolls new funny spells. Gothic? The main character, Yuri, is a brooding heartthrob in black who can turn into a monster, but one of his best friends is a magical fighter who hits people with a lamppost.
There's something that could be called phantasmagoria - in 1917 the Russian Revolution ends with a series of battles in hell - it's one of the best RPGs ever made. The wild love story in Shadow Hearts Covenant combines with world history, and together they form something magnificent and funny, delighting us not only with humor, but also with horror.
In support of this, it's a wonderful variation on the three-hero turn-based combat system, in which careful timing of button presses determines the success or failure of each action. The studio and creator of the game are long defunct, but the legacy lives on in games like Lost Odyssey.
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Panzer Dragoon Saga
Release Date : April 30, 1998 (NA) / June 5, 1998 (EU) | Platform : Sega Saturn
Panzer Dragon Saga has achieved legendary status due to the circumstances surrounding it. Notoriously difficult to copy even on modern PCs, Sega made fewer than 20,000 copies in English for the Sega Saturn and then lost the game's source code, so it became a "lost" game almost immediately upon release.
Those lucky enough to have played Panzer Dragoon Saga know the truth: it's as good as it is infamous. Mixing the surreal, desolate natural landscapes of real-life shooter Panzer Dragoon with an inimitable turn-based combat system and a sad story of survival in an endless cycle of war, Saga is a strange and beautiful variation on the JRPG.
Given that you never control more than one character, just the young man Edge and the messianic dragon who adopted him, there's a surprising amount of variation in the combat here. In battles, you need to constantly move around your enemies, waiting for an attack to open in front, behind or along the flank.
Between battles, you can change your dragon's physical state, making it big, slow and strong, or small and fast, depending on the situation. Everything here is special: the music of Saori Kobayashi, the quiet art of Katsumi Yokota. Don't hesitate for a second if you get the chance to play it, and we hope Sega finds a way to save it from oblivion.
Figures
At the beginning of the game, the pieces are placed in their camps.
In total, 40 pieces take part in the battle on the board, 20 on each side. Each figure has Kanji characters denoting their names. Typically, figures are designated by two hieroglyphs, but often the designation is reduced to one hieroglyph. We'll talk about transformations of figures a little later.
In shogi there are 8 types of basic figures and 6 inverted ones, which ultimately give 10 figures with different capabilities. Let's look at them all in more detail:
Osho (王将) and Gyokusho (玉将)
The Royal General or Osho is the equivalent of a king in European chess. It also moves one square in any direction.
Gekushō means precious general in Japanese. He walks just like a wasp.
On the field, both figures behave the same. They don't roll over. Externally they differ only in one small line to the right of the character 王 (玉)
The thing is that for the Japanese, shogi is not just a game. It is also a kind of ritual for them.
Osyo is a figure for a more experienced or older player in age or title. Gyokusho is a piece for younger or less experienced players. This is how the Japanese show respect.
So, for example, if a father and son play, then the king of the osho will go to the father. The situation is similar with the owner of the house and his guests; osyo is for the owner.
Exceptions may arise if one of the players has a professional rank.
Hisya (Flying Chariot)
Hisya is one of the strongest figures in shogi. Moves vertically and horizontally to any number of cells. Just like a chess rook.
Placed above the right horse. During the revolution, he receives the name Ryuyu.
Ryuyu (royal dragon)
After the revolution, the dragon king retains the ability to move vertically and horizontally for any number of cells, and also gains the ability to move in any direction for one cell (like a king).
Kakugyo (elephant)
Kakuge, along with the flying chariot, is considered another of the strongest figures. The kakuge moves similarly to the bishop in chess - to any number of squares along the diagonals.
Located above the left horse. When flipped over, kakugyo turns into ryuma, 竜馬
Ryuma (horse dragon)
After the flip, the bishop can move diagonally for any number of squares, as well as in any direction for one square.
Kinsho (golden general)
Abbreviated as kinsho, it is also simply called gold. The Golden Generals are the king's personal bodyguards. Each player has 2 gold on the board. When the pieces are initially placed, they are to the left and right of the king.
Kinsho moves much like a king, but cannot move back diagonally.
Just like the king, gold does not turn over. Its reverse side is empty.
Ginsho (Silver General)
This figure is abbreviated as gin or silver. Silver is slightly weaker in rank than gold. Walks one square in all directions, but does not walk backwards or to the sides.
Each player has 2 silver generals on the board. Initially, on shogiban, silver is located on the side of gold.
Transforms into nari-gin.
Nari-Gin (reversed silver)
Inverted silver moves like gold.
Keima (horse)
The knight in shogi has fewer capabilities than its European counterpart. Keima can move 2 fields forward, and then right or left. An extremely vulnerable figure. Can't retreat.
Each player has 2 knights. The starting position is on the side of the silver general.
Transforms into Nari-kei.
Nari-Kei (inverted horse)
The inverted horse loses its abilities and becomes a golden general, gaining all its power.
Kyosya (spear)
Literally translated from Japanese, the name of this figure is “smelling chariot”, but it also has a nickname - yara. Yara is an arrow or spear in Japanese.
More often this figure is called an arrow, but I like the spear better. After all, this figure, like a spear, pierces all the cells in front of it.
Useful, but extremely vulnerable figures. They cannot retreat before the coup.
At the beginning of the game, each player has 2 spears. Their starting positions are the left and right edges of the first horizontal line. Transforms into Nari-kyo
Nari-Kyo (inverted spear)
After the coup, the nari-kyo loses the capabilities of a regular spear and walks exactly like the golden general.
Fuhyo (infantry)
Pawns are the weakest piece in shogiban, but should not be underestimated. A skilled commander is able to turn them into a formidable force and defeat the enemy.
Fuhyo is the most numerous figure in shogiban. In total, each player has 9 pawns. They are all located on the third horizontal. Turns into tokin.
Tokin (promoted pawn)
Once in the enemy camp, a pawn can become a golden general. If we literally translate tokin = “like gold” and this figure moves like gold.
Valkyrie Profile
Valkyrie Profile
Release Date : August 29, 2000 (NA) | Platform : PlayStation, PSP, PS3/Vita (PSN)
Death is a key element in the story of Valkyrie Profile. As the Valkyrie Lenneth, you must scour Midgard for the Einherjar, the recently slain warriors who will join you in Valhalla for the battle of Ragnarok, the Norse apocalypse. Each of these 24 characters deals with their own deaths, each in their own way, while finding a way to correct mistakes and overcome regret before the end of the world. Valkyrie Profile's story and characters will keep you engaged, and the dungeon settings and combat will keep you coming back for more.
Combat combines turn-based strategy with action-packed action, and dungeons are 2D labyrinths built into winding passages in the style of Castlevania's Symphony of the Night. It's a complex, emotional story that's worth playing through multiple times to see all it has to offer, and it's still compelling almost twenty years later.
Monster Hunter: World
Capcom's best-selling game in history. If you've been a fan of Monster Hunter from the very beginning, then you've definitely been waiting for the developers to improve the title and release it on new hardware that will really make the game sing. That time has finally arrived in 2021 when, after nearly a decade of staying away from home consoles, World has returned to dominate the sales charts.
The basic formula that many have enjoyed on the 3DS and even the PSP over the years of taking down increasingly larger beasts and using their claws, teeth, hides, fur, etc. to create better gear is what keeps people coming back.
If a player walks in on you with a huge katana made from the jawbone of the creature that attacked you last week, that in itself is a reason to stay, fight alongside it and see what else you can find.
Starve creatures, set traps, coordinate special actions, and ride monsters across the map to the next stages of battle. Monster Hunter: World offers exquisite multiplayer as well as a great single-player experience.
The World Ends with You
The World Ends with You
Release Date : April 18, 2008 (EU)/April 22, 2008 (NA) | Platform : DS, Mobile
The World Ends with You is an absolutely wild game. The action takes place in an alternate version in Shibuya, where in a recently concluded battle, souls are controlled by gods. To win, the player must solve riddles in the Japanese city before the time limit on their hand runs out.
You also need to fight a variety of demons in battles that take place on the other side of the DS screen, activate attacks and abilities using special icons, and use the D-pad to interact with attacks on the touchscreen. The World Ends with You is strange and esoteric, but beautifully executed in a distinct style. Seriously, there is no game like this.
Super Metroid
Another franchise that deeply captivates players. 2D Metroid has been put on the backburner for now as Nintendo wants to bring back Metroid Prime first, but Super Metroid combines everything fans loved about the original games.
Taking the SNES by storm, this Metroid boasts a dark soundtrack, incredible graphics, and fast-paced, thrilling action platforming. The surrounding world of the game turned out to be more complex and complete. It was he who (along with the Castlevania series titles) helped give birth to the Metroidvania genre, characterized by progression through items and abilities.
A must-play for anyone who wants to understand why Metroid is so important to gaming history, or where the above approach to progression has been perfected. Super Metroid can't be recommended enough.
Pokemon Sun & Moon
Pokemon Sun & Moon
Release Date : November 18, 2021 (WW) / November 23, 2016 (EU) | Platform : 3DS
Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon shook up 20-year-old series in such a way that it's hard to imagine a company working with these untouchable series. The gyms were cleared out, old Pokemon took on Alolan forms, a new movement system called “Z-Power” was invented, and there were even new creatures that weren't exactly Pokemon known as Ultra Beasts that could be used in battle.
There are also a host of quality changes that make the game less cumbersome and more fun, from the game now telling you if your move was effective to the ability to throw a Pokeball with the press of a button. And yes, the design of this generation of Pokemon is really good. No mountains of garbage.
Densha de D
Motorcycle racing? Let's say. On motor boats? I am ready to personally take part in such a race. What about trains? Wait, on trains? Race? I do not understand anything. But the Japanese understood and created an entire game dedicated to train racing. This is where a meme with “double-rail drift” even came from, because in this game you can drive one part of the car on one rail, and the other on another. Double rail drift, oh yeah!
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Release Date : February 4, 2013 (NA)/April 19, 2013 (EU) | Platform : 3DS
Why Fire Emblem: Awakening and not Fire Emblem: Fates? It's true that Awakening lacks some of the mechanical tweaks and big combat scenarios that make its sequel a better tactics game. But while the main characters of Fates barely move beyond their starting point (not to mention getting embroiled in some creepy brotherly love), the stars of Awakening develop into friends you'll love for years to come.
Watching Chrom transform from the perfect prince to a noble king with character is an unexpected treat, as is meeting all the future children of your favorite characters. After a quarter century of history, Fire Emblem – Awakening is still the best part.
Basic rules of shogi chess
Shogi is a game for two players who battle each other on a board. As in classical European chess, players move the pieces one by one, step by step. The process of making moves until the end of the game is called tai-keku (game). In shogi, the winner is the one who first eats the enemy king, that is, checkmate him.
In shogi, unlike European chess, there are no black and white pieces - all the pieces are the same color. Their belonging to the player is determined by the direction of their sharp part.
The opposing sides are only conditionally divided into black - gote (going first) and white sente - (going later).
The main difference between European chess and shogi is the ability to return previously eaten enemy pieces back to the field, but on your side. This is what sometimes makes shogi games incredibly difficult and interesting.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Release Date : May 13, 1996 (NA) | Platform : SNES, Wii/Wii U (virtual console)
When Nintendo's Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi series launched, no one could match the charm, humor, and surprise-filled nature of Super Mario RPG. Developed with Squaresoft, Super Mario RPG follows an Italian plumber on his quest to save the Mushroom Kingdom from a mystical invader, forcing him into an old vengeance.
Super Mario RPG, joins new cute characters and fights with mushrooms in a completely new battle system. The attention to detail is so impressive - especially for a SNES game - that in Super Mario RPG you can stay in a hotel, spend all your money, and pay off your debts by working as a bellboy. This adventure remains timeless, like Nintendo's own personal mascot.
Dark Souls
What list of games that revolutionized our understanding of game design would be complete without Dark Souls? Yes, Demon's Souls came out first, but we're talking about the most important games in the franchises. The original Dark Souls wins by a wide margin.
Hidetaka Miyazaki's idea, inspired by reading picture books in other languages as a child, was to give you the building blocks of complex fiction, one item, weapon, or boss at a time.
The result is a game that's certainly brutal and unforgiving, but there's a lot more to it than just constant Game Over signs. Dark Souls's resilient world, respawning enemies, and trial-and-error immediately inspired the idea that there might be more to the title than just skeletons and a fire-breathing dragon.
Dark Souls revolutionized the way action games control and the nature of how we fight and maneuver around bosses. This title turned out to be extremely important for several genres at once, and without Miyazaki at the helm none of it would have worked.
Suikoden 2
Suikoden 2
Release Date : September 25, 1999 (NA) / July 28, 2000 (EU) | Platform : PlayStation, PlayStation 3/Vita (PSN)
You don't have to play the first game. Suikoden 2 contains several references to it, but nevertheless stands on its own and is definitely something you should play. It is a fast-paced war drama on a large scale, using Chinese mythology and history as context. The plot then unfolds within it, telling its story of how the doomed 108 Stars of Destiny came together to stop the murderous General Luka Blight.
Each Star of Destiny is a special character that you can find and recruit into your growing army. Many of them will actively participate and join you in the turn-based RPG, but many will work in the rear, setting up shop in your castle, supplying you with necessary services and upgrades, or assisting you in Fire Emblem-style strategic battles. It's like Pokemon, if all the Pokemon had their own interesting stories, and one of the Pokemon opened the bathhouse for you.
Final Fantasy 15
Final Fantasy 15
Release Date : November 29, 2021 (WW) | Platform : PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
For decades, Square Enix has been chasing the ghost of Final Fantasy 7, trying to revive that magical blend of fantasy and sci-fi that defined the series. In Final Fantasy 15, director Hajime Tabata and his team finally did it, creating a believable open world of 1950s America with chocobos, delicious food, and giant crystals hanging in the middle of a canyon, as if it were a completely normal thing for giant crystals to do.
It also matters that Noctis and his pals are the kind of people you'd definitely want to hang out with, with their hilarious banter interspersed with spirited team fights and a story that will test the strength of their friendship. And I just want to say this: Ardyn Izunia is the best Final Fantasy villain since Kefka, he steals the show every second he's on screen.
Discharges
In shogi, captured enemy pieces can be reused. When discarded, the piece is placed in any empty cell on the shogiban.
Reset Rules
It takes one turn to reset
Resetting takes a whole turn. At the same time as discarding, you cannot eat an opponent’s piece or transform a discarded piece.
When reset, the piece has its original status (not transformed)
From the next move after the reset, the piece can perform a transformation and capture enemy pieces
Reset prohibition
Resetting pieces is prohibited in the following cases:
It is prohibited to reset pieces to squares from which they will no longer be able to make moves (the last horizontal for fuhyo and kyosya and the penultimate for keima)
It is prohibited to reset a pawn to a vertical on which your pawn is already located (the presence of a token on a vertical does not prohibit discarding)
It is forbidden to discard a pawn that puts a checkmate (discarding a pawn to a king who cannot eat it or avoid being hit)
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics
Release Date : January 28, 1998 (NA) Platform : PlayStation, PSP, PS3/Vita (PSN)
Final Fantasy Tactics is a lot like chess, and I don't just mean its tactical combat, which has a lot of depth to it, especially once you unlock dozens of different classes that unlock a range of magical spells and intertwined strategies to use.
A story of deceit, political intrigue, betrayal, a surprisingly mature and serious tale of a young man named Ramza who played a key role in a kingdom-wide war until his efforts were carefully hidden by the church.
The world of Yasumi Matsuno with the bloody history of Ivalice, beautifully complemented by the scenic works of Hiroshi Minagawa and the symphony of Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata. Or to put it another way, it's like Game of Thrones, except with yellow, ostrich-sized birds that will fight for you and let you ride them.
Shogiban
In shogi, the board is called shogiban and is a rectangle with a 9x9 grid of cells applied to it. All cells are the same size and color. Also on the board you can notice four small dots that help divide the board into nine 3x3 squares, this makes the playing field easier to see.
Shogiban is usually made from wood from Torreia nutracena.
Earthbound
Earthbound
Release Date : June 5, 1995 (NA) | Platform : SNES, Wii U/new 3DS (Virtual Console)
Writer Shigesato Itoi is very famous in Japan for his copywriting, essays and his work on the Mother series, but for many years his most famous work in the west has remained Mother 2, known here as Earthbond. Earthbond is great in ways you wouldn't expect.
It may be a little tougher than games of the same year, with inventive limitations and minimalist combat animations comparable in simplicity to Chrono Trigger or Super Mario RPG, but Earthbound has a living heart beating beneath its cartoonish skin, full of humor, life, love and losses. Where else can a Blue Brothers robbery help you get out of debt, where you can call your mom from a pay phone to fight nostalgia, buy a stuffed bear at the local mall.
Get damaged by enemies, or encounter a strange race of aliens made up of small spheres that add the word "Boing" to every sentence? Earthbound is a rare game that has only grown in importance and stature two decades after its release; a strange, wonderful and disarmingly human story that is worth finding out for yourself.
Final Fantasy 6
Final Fantasy 6
Release Date : October 11, 1994 (NA) | Platform : SNES, PlayStation, Game Boy Advance, PS3/Vita (PSN), Wii (virtual console), Mobile, PC
Final Fantasy 6 truly begins when the world ends. Everything leading up to this is, of course, delightful, telling the stories of over a dozen characters who come together to defeat an evil empire in a land where magic has been replaced by powerful steam technology.
But Final Fantasy 6 went from an extraordinary JRPG to a masterpiece when Kefka, the villain you spent the entire game trying to stop, actually won. He succeeded in destroying the world, and all you can do is look for hope in the darkness and build your team again from the ashes. It's a bold, emotional story that explodes every pixel, every song on its synthesized soundtrack, with a confidence rarely seen in popular entertainment.
Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King
Dragon Quest 8: Journey of the Cursed King
Release Date : November 15, 2005 (NA) / April 13, 2006 (EU) | Platform : PlayStation 2, Mobile, 3DS
Imagine the basic elements of JRPGs as they were considered in the 1980s. These are medieval warriors, green landscapes of fields, dense forests and vast seas, giving way to mountains and deserts; There is an ancient evil to fight, hordes of wild beasts to accompany it, and a variety of magical spells and weapons to fight with.
It's all tied together by a simple story told with warmth and plenty of core but memorable characters. It all looks great, but scale is always an illusion. The world you saved was always small, you could walk the entire continent in a few steps due to technical limitations.
Dragon Quest 8 is the absolute expression of a classic JRPG, with a full-blown future, making you think of hidden treasures and monsters behind every hill, but never becoming the simple work of modern open world games. Each character here is bright and amazing, completing each scenario is a hundred hours of pleasure. The PS2 version is still the gold standard, but the 3DS remake is pretty good too.
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger
Release Date : August 22, 1995 (NA) | Platform : SNES, Playstation, DS, PS3/Vita (PSN)
Super pools are almost always disappointing. Kanye West and Jay-Z are great, of course their collaboration album Watch the Thrones will be great! Nope. The combination is expected to be like chocolate and peanut butter. Usually it's just chewing gum and a nut. But not with Chrono Trigger, the major JRPG breakthrough of the 1990s.
A time travel tale of a cartoon fighter, a frog, a disillusioned kingdom, an inventor, a robot, a cavewoman, an exiled gothic wizard stopping a parasite that wants to destroy the world, Chrono Trigger is the finest work of story makers.
The staff created their own great game - the humor and charm of Dragon Quest from Yuji Horii, the highly dramatic combat, strategy and heartache of Final Fantasy from Hironobu Sakaguchi, the cute art from Akira Toriyama, the concise but complete story from Masato Kato and the same legendary soundtracks by Yasunori Mitsuda. Whether you play it on the SNES or on the iPhone, Chrono Trigger is the best thing these creators have ever done, together or independently, the hopes of a super-team are justified.
Persona 5
Persona 5
Release Date : April 4, 2021 (NA/EU) | Platform : PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4
Persona 5 somehow did the impossible: have a classic JRPG structure, but still feel like a completely new and fresh game. Combat is still turn-based, the heroes are teenagers and there's supposed to be romance, and you still recruit your team based on your fighting style preferences. But rather than being stuck in the past, Persona 5 is relevant, modern, and relatable.
The social issues of confrontation The Phantom Thieves can be seen right from your window as they try to change the direction of predators, crooked politicians, bullies and cruel bosses. It also cleverly incorporates many of the Japanese figurative expressions that plague other JRPGs and make them too “wacky” for many players.
But it's not just its modernity that puts it at the top of our list, it's also how perfectly every aspect of the game fits together to create the whole.
The music, visuals, combat, and social elements all exist in exquisite balance, with no element overpowering the others, all elements coming together as parts of a whole should. Every iteration of the Persona franchise has proven to be superior to its predecessor, and Persona 5 is the pinnacle of that evolution.
Worth mentioning: Silent Hill 2 and Resident Evil
Silent Hill, Konami's answer to the more energetic and action-oriented Resident Evil, was all about atmosphere. The fog-covered screen barely allowed you to make out what was coming your way... and then the tension was broken in an instant as some ungodly horror burst through the window.
Resident Evil is obviously also an important title, but its development abandoned its oriental horror and originality in favor of the strong influence of George Romero's zombie films. We're talking about the most important Japanese games, and Silent Hill along with Resident Evil should be on this list, but when you read the entire top, you will understand that it is simply impossible to remove any of the next 10 games.
