JRPG Games | The best of 2022
Among their main strengths, JRPGs have always been able to boast an excellent character design, exciting and long-lasting stories and in general a relationship between their price and exceptional content, rarely equaled by other genres videogames. In the following list, therefore, you will find all the best of what JRPGs can offer today, transporting you to wonderful and maniacally cared for worlds, characterized by an often out-of-scale visual and aesthetic sector. Before starting, we remind you that on our pages you will also find a guide dedicated to the best Western RPGs (complementary to the one you are about to read), one dedicated to the best metroidvania and one to the best anime-style games. Having said that, let's embark on a journey to discover all the best that “role-playing” Japan can offer!
The best JRPG
Pokémon Legends Arceus Shin Megami Tensei V Tales of Arise Ni No Kuni Yakuza Like a Dragon Persona 5 Royal Bravely Default II Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition Final Fantasy VII Remake Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of RuinLegends Pokémon Arceus
Platform: Nintendo Switch The Pokémon series returns a couple of months after the launch of Pokémon Shining Diamond and Shining Pearl, remake of the main games of the fourth generation, with a spin -off set in the region of Hisui, a Sinnoh of the past. Pokémon Legends Arceus is a title that seeks to renew traditional Pokémon JRPG gameplay by introducing new turn-based combat, a new narrative focused on the past of the Pokémon world, and brand new action game mechanics that see trainers struggling in the wild. Game Freak with this work tries to stimulate long-time fans, now grown up and eager for more exciting and captivating gameplay. Alternatively, if you are looking for more traditional gameplay, remember that Generation IV remakes are still among the most played titles on the Nintendo Switch.» Click here to buy Pokémon Arceus Legends - Bundle 2 Copies
» Click here to buy Pokémon Shining Pearl
Shin Megami Tensei V
Platform: Nintendo Switch Back after a recent Parenthesis remake with Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster, the final, revised and corrected version of the epochal JRPG of ATLUS from the distant 2003, the saga has finally marked its return to videogame screens with Shin Megami Tensei V, exclusively for Nintendo Switch (for the mome nto). The game is part of the same narrative universe as Persona, but has a more mature story and arguably deeper JRPG structure. The player tries to make his way through a Tokyo invaded by demons and monsters, a post-apocalyptic setting dominated by aberrations that takes the name of Da'At.Tales of Arise
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, PC Tales of Arise is the best JRPG in the "Tales of" saga and therefore probably one of the best JRPGs of 2021. The new battle-system based on fast-paced action is fun and makes the battles truly spectacular with lots of mechanics to experience. Each new game in the saga draws the player into new imagery, and this time Bandai Namco tells a story of liberation with a surprisingly charismatic cast of characters. The game uses the Atmospheric Shader, a technology introduced in Unreal Engine 4 that makes anime-style shaders a feast for the eyes.Ni No Kuni
Platform: PS4, PC, Nintendo Switch Ni No Kuni The Threat Of The White Witch was born from an impossible marriage, which left everyone speechless when it materialized: the one between Level 5 and Studio Ghibli, one of the most important Japanese production studios, directed by the legendary Hayao Miyazaki. Thanks to this collaboration, and to the drawings of the extraordinary artists employed by the Japanese animation master, the first Ni No Kuni could count on exceptional art design, which blended well with a classic but still enjoyable game structure. The game has recently been revived in a remastered version, which prompts us to recommend it "at the expense" of the second chapter, Revenant Kingdom, a title that, although slightly inferior to its predecessor, you should still recover once the first one is over. The second Ni No Kuni, The Destiny of a Kingdom doubles the dose of love for Studio Ghibli but with a smoother combat system and a nostalgic open world.» Click here to buy Ni No Kuni The Destiny of a Kingdom
Yakuza Like A Dragon
Platform: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X | S, PC Yakuza Like A Dragon is the name by which the seventh chapter (eighth, also considering Yakuza Zero) of the Yakuza series, or Ryu Ga Gotoku, is known in the West. Surprisingly, with this new iteration, SEGA has decided to transform one of its best-known action games into an RPG, and the experiment has been very successful: Yakuza Like A Dragon integrates a deep RPG system very well into the classic action gameplay, with four characters that can be used and managed in total freedom and even a job system, typical of some classics of the genre. All against the backdrop of a story that reinterprets various Japanese stereotypes, making it humorous and at times even hilarious. One of the best JRPGs of recent years, without too many discussions.» Click here to buy Yakuza Like A Dragon for PC on Instant Gaming
Persona 5 Royal
Platform: PS4 Persona 5 Royal is the definitive edition of the outstanding RPG of Atlus released in 2016, already in itself one of the best JRPG ever , to which it "changes" the connotations a little, adding numerous contents, new characters, and further deepening some subplots. Lately Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers has also been released which readjusts the game a little to the musou genre, but we are here to talk about JRPG and the Royal version is the greatest exponent of the saga. If you missed Persona 5 at the time of its original release, the Royal version is a great way to rediscover a video game that will take you dozens of hours, spent in a Thieves' Guild that moves in the shadow of a cross-section of Japan reconstructed in visually and culturally perfect way. To play it, among other things, it is not necessary to know the previous titles in the series by heart, which makes it even more attractive.Bravely Default II
Platform: PC, Nintendo Switch Bravely Default II marks the return, exclusively for Nintendo Switch, of the popular JRPG series with aerial view and turn-based battles produced by Square Enix and started in 2012 on 3DS. It is a series much loved by a very specific audience, and which you may decide to recover if you want to immerse yourself in a slightly more particular experience. Bravely Default 2 can boast a completely new cast of characters compared to its predecessor, with which it has in common the fact that it is clearly inspired by the first Final Fantasy, both in the game dynamics and in the style. If you are a lover of the "old style" JRPG but want a new story at the same time, this could really be the game for you.Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition
Platform: Nintendo Switch In the past year a trend has continued that lately is going a lot in fashion, that of remakes, aimed at rediscovering great classics or cult titles under a new guise. Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition does just that, bringing one of the best JRPGs of the Wii era (which already had an adaptation for New Nintendo 3DS) back to the Nintendo Switch. Before recovering the second chapter, released "natively" on Nintendo's hybrid console, we recommend that you play the Definitive Edition of the first, especially if you didn't do it at the time. Xenoblade Chronicles is a video game that will almost certainly appeal to fans, above all because it does not renounce the most important diktat of the JRPG, which is to mix quantity and quality.Final Fantasy VII Remake
Platform: PS4, PS5 Final Fantasy is probably the JRPG saga that can never be missing from your shelves. In particular, Final Fantasy VII Remake immediately became one of the most successful remakes and one of the best JRPG of recent years, with which Square Enix has brought back one of its most played and loved titles, in the context of a path yet to be discovered: the game's narrative arc covers only the first part of the plot of the original, but it does so in a much more detailed way, allowing you to explore Midgar as you've never seen it before. This Remake, among other things, can count on a much more action branded combat, thanks to the presence in the development team of the former Capcom Teruki Endo (Monster Hunter World), who however does not deny the basics of the 1997 title, indeed , makes them the cornerstones of gameplay. In the second link you will also find the PS5 version, which includes several visual improvements and the exclusive DLC dedicated to Yuffie.» Click here to buy Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade
Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin
Platform: PC, Nintendo Switch Monster Hunter is a profitable and enduring Capcom saga, and it's no wonder: while the games of the main series are RPG titles that mix well action elements with a nice multiplayer sector and grueling boss battles, the Monster Hunter Stories spin-off is the quintessence of the JRPG, a title that you must necessarily play before you can say that the saga is just barrel and no strategy. Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin is the sequel to the first episode that came out on the Nintendo DS, but it is very playable by newbies who approach the spin-off. In this chapter the players are Riders, knights of monsters, who venture into an epic fight against evil.» Click here to buy Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin for PC
What are JRPGs?
JRPG is the acronym for Japanese Role Playing Game. Unlike the "traditional" role-playing games, or rather Western, they are generally distinguished by common characteristics that are more or less always present in every exponent of the genre. The first clearest and most visible feature is the graphic sector, characterized in most cases by a Japanese style, for example with swords and armor with disproportionate dimensions, very colorful hair and a typical narrative of anime and manga.Another feature inherent in the best JRPGs is the division between exploration screens of game maps (overworld) and battle screens: in recent times this component is gradually disappearing, but it is still possible to find it for example in games like Pokémon, where Battles are conducted on separate screens after the player's avatar encounters a wild creature in the tall grass. Finally, another non-mandatory but very common feature is the presence of turns within the fights, a component that adds strategic depth to the game and which, depending on the titles, can have different variations on the theme: let's think for example of the Final Fantasy combat system. 7 Remake, a hybrid of real-time action and turn-based strategic thinking.
Our pick of the best JRPG games
The world of JRPGs is rich and varied. Since the 80s with the first Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, the genre had its exploit in the 90s and then had a slow but inexorable evolution up to our days with a new and intense flowering. To date, the availability of ever-changing JRPGs is remarkable, from the most strategic and thoughtful titles such as Pokémon to the most frenetic and action-packed ones such as Tales of Arise, without missing important historical sagas such as Final Fantasy and Shin Megami Tensei.C 'is truly a JRPG for every taste, from the most traditional and moving stories full of greatswords, magic and technology, to titles full of monsters and little monsters to fight or collect. In this guide to buying the best JRPGs we have decided to also include some particular variations, such as the JRPG twist that the Yakuza action saga had with its spin-off Like A Dragon, a situation that also happened to the Persona saga with Persona 5 Royal and Monster Hunter with the Stories saga.
