Top 10 Switch/PS4 JRPGs

Board 8

Board 8 » Top 10 Switch/PS4 JRPGs
MacArrowny
05/03/2024
06:13 PM
#1
10. Tales of Berseria
9. Trails into Reverie
8. Chained Echoes
7. Fire Emblem Three Houses
6. Xenoblade 3
5. Yakuza: Like a Dragon
4. Octopath Traveler 2
3. Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana
2. Persona 5
1. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Was inspired by SirChris's topic to make this list. Probably overlooked something great, but I can say without hesitation that every entry on this list is excellent. Feel free to ask me anything or post your own lists.
All the stars in the sky are waiting for you.
colliding
05/03/2024
08:37 PM
#2
I don't hate it!

However: Berseria is too low. It's missing DQ XI. I'm also assuming Nier:Automata doesn't count as a JRPG (I agree). I respect the OT2 love. I barely consider Ys an rpg but it's good. I'd fit FF7 Remake in there somewhere, knowing it's not as good as Rebirth. I haven't played Infinite Wealth yet. I enjoyed Yakuza: Like a Dragon but honestly not that much.

My list:
  1. Persona 5 Royal
  2. Tales of Berseria
  3. Octopath Traveler 2
  4. FE: Three Houses
  5. Xenoblade 3
  6. FF7 Remake
  7. Dragon Quest XI
  8. Trails of Cold Steel 3
  9. Chained Echoes
  10. Trails into Reverie
while you slept, the world changed
MacArrowny
05/03/2024
09:07 PM
#3
Pretty close lists! I really disliked the third act of DQXI, or it might've made it. Ys VIII and Nier Automata were both games I was hesitant about but considered, then decided the former was a bit more RPGish and worthy of the list - is it less of a JRPG than Kingdom Hearts? I dunno!
All the stars in the sky are waiting for you.
UshiromiyaEva
05/03/2024
09:12 PM
#4
Hmmmmm I thought this would be easy to put together from memory, but maybe not. Like, I would question if 3 Houses would count, if it does then that opens a lot of doors (one of those being me finally biting the bullet on whether Engage being a much better video game mechanically than Three Houses trumps the world and character of 3H being so much better).
https://i.ibb.co/Twbb1b6/20240223-211737.jpg
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD
Thorn
05/03/2024
09:39 PM
#5
Xenoblade 3
Nier Automata
Trails Into Reverie
Trails of Cold Steel 3
Persona 5 Royal
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Tales of Berseria
Caligula Effect 2
Trails of Cold Steel 4
Blue Reflection 2

idk something like that

Left off Soulsborne games, Nier Replicant, some other remasters-but-some-new-content, and Zero/Azure, etc. or else like Xenoblade 3 might be the only one safe lol.

Edit: If we're saying Automata doesn't count... I think TWEWY2 might have been my last cut?
May you find your book in this place.
Formerly known as xp1337.
MacArrowny
05/03/2024
10:34 PM
#6
I think counting Automata's perfectly fine, I just didn't for my list, haha.
All the stars in the sky are waiting for you.
mnk
05/03/2024
11:38 PM
#7
In some order:

Dragon Quest XI S
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Kingdom Hearts III
NEO: The World Ends with You
Persona 5
Pokemon Violet
Triangle Strategy
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Ys VIII

There's a lot of PS4 games I haven't played.

I was going back and forth a lot on whether my tenth spot should be Pokemon Violet, Yakuza 7, or Tales of Berseria.
Change is weird.
agesboy
05/04/2024
12:57 AM
#8
haven't owned a playstation since 3 but i feel like i could still make a respectable list given PC ports

all i know off the top of my head are xenoblade 3 is #1, infinite wealth is top 3, xenoblade 2 and ys 8 are top 5, three houses is there somewhere, and engage and P5R might make it
https://imgur.com/LabbRyN
raytan and Kana are on opposite ends of the Awesome Spectrum.
Kotetsu534
05/04/2024
05:41 AM
#9
Valkyria Chronicles 4 hasn't been mentioned but I thought it was very solid.
We are living our lives
Abound with so much information
Sceptilesolar
05/04/2024
06:41 AM
#10
I don't own a Switch but in terms of PS4...
  1. Ys 8
  2. Blue Reflection 2
  3. Persona 5 Royal
  4. Trails of Cold Steel 3
  5. Caligula Effect 2
  6. Atelier Lydie and Suelle
  7. Trails into Reverie
  8. NEO TWEWY
  9. Tales of Berseria
  10. Persona 5 Strikers
I think it looks something like that.
Just killing time until the world ends.
pyresword
05/04/2024
07:55 AM
#11
I don't know if I've played enough to really comment but here to say that NEO TWEWY is very good.

Also shout-out to the Utawarerumono games but that's probably more VN than JRPG and also not going to be to everyone's tastes
I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.
Sceptilesolar
05/04/2024
09:07 AM
#12
pyresword posted...


Also shout-out to the Utawarerumono games but that's probably more VN than JRPG and also not going to be to everyone's tastes

Mask of Truth would be on my list for sure if it counts as part of this generation.
Just killing time until the world ends.
agesboy
05/04/2024
11:39 AM
#13
pyresword posted...
Also shout-out to the Utawarerumono games but that's probably more VN than JRPG and also not going to be to everyone's tastes
if we allowed VNs, I feel like there'd be a lot more 13 Sentinels up in here. that game has to be b8's jam
https://imgur.com/LabbRyN
raytan and Kana are on opposite ends of the Awesome Spectrum.
colliding
05/04/2024
11:42 AM
#14
Kotetsu534 posted...
Valkyria Chronicles 4 hasn't been mentioned but I thought it was very solid.

I wish this was good. Like it's completely fine and I'm glad it exists, but I don't think I actually finished it. It was just missing something that the original (and even the PSP sequel) had

Nier: Automata is more of an rpg than Final Fantasy XVI but I think it's an action game. I've never understood why most players agree that Zelda isn't an rpg but stuff like Nier is.
while you slept, the world changed
Thorn
05/04/2024
11:50 AM
#15
Utawarerumono: MoT and 13 Sentinels would absolutely be on the list if I counted them. lol i think i've now listed enough "would have been on the list" to basically be its own top 10. any more and i'll start being a liar
May you find your book in this place.
Formerly known as xp1337.
agesboy
05/04/2024
11:55 AM
#16
as someone who moderately enjoyed the original back in 2010~ when i was still figuring out my VN taste and never finished Tears to Tiara, are the newer utawarerumonos really that good?
https://imgur.com/LabbRyN
raytan and Kana are on opposite ends of the Awesome Spectrum.
Thorn
05/04/2024
11:59 AM
#17
Yes, IMO. MoT had, at the time, displaced P3 as probably my favorite video game final boss/ending and still remains in the handful of like three that I'd consider the best.

Deception might start a bit slow as it sets things up but towards the end of it and then through basically all of Truth it's incredible. Way better than the original (which I do like, but no comparison IMO)
May you find your book in this place.
Formerly known as xp1337.
UshiromiyaEva
05/04/2024
11:59 AM
#18
Stuff like Automata is why I think the jRPG moniker has become worthless. It's easy to see why you wouldn't consider it one, but at the same time this means you also can't consider Remake and Rebirth to be jRPGs, and that sounds way stranger. Undertale is more of a jRPG that any of these, but it isn't made in Japan.

At this point, the genre just comes down to personal vibes.
https://i.ibb.co/Twbb1b6/20240223-211737.jpg
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD
agesboy
05/04/2024
12:02 PM
#19
Thorn posted...
with like XB3, Trails in the Sky 3, and Persona 3
stop specifically targeting me like that wtf

(i havent got to sora 3 yet but I will some day i promise. 1 kicked ass)
https://imgur.com/LabbRyN
raytan and Kana are on opposite ends of the Awesome Spectrum.
MacArrowny
05/04/2024
02:24 PM
#20
Does Utawarerumono have leveling mechanics?
UshiromiyaEva posted...
Stuff like Automata is why I think the jRPG moniker has become worthless. It's easy to see why you wouldn't consider it one, but at the same time this means you also can't consider Remake and Rebirth to be jRPGs, and that sounds way stranger. Undertale is more of a jRPG than any of these, but it isn't made in Japan.

At this point, the genre just comes down to personal vibes.
People can decide for themselves what it means. It's perfectly fair to call Remake/Rebirth JRPGs but not Automata. You can narrow the genre down if you like too, depending on how you want to classify stuff like Fire Emblem.

Also Undertale is absolutely a JRPG by my definition. Same with Chained Echoes and Sea of Stars.
All the stars in the sky are waiting for you.
Sceptilesolar
05/04/2024
02:35 PM
#21
MacArrowny posted...
Does Utawarerumono have leveling mechanics?

Yes. It is very much a TRPG.
Just killing time until the world ends.
colliding
05/04/2024
04:33 PM
#22
UshiromiyaEva posted...
Stuff like Automata is why I think the jRPG moniker has become worthless. It's easy to see why you wouldn't consider it one, but at the same time this means you also can't consider Remake and Rebirth to be jRPGs, and that sounds way stranger. Undertale is more of a jRPG than any of these, but it isn't made in Japan.

At this point, the genre just comes down to personal vibes.

For me the rules are basically:

  1. Do you shift from "exploration" to "combat" mode when encountering an enemy? In other words, does the loop consist of some cycle between non-combat/exploration/character customization and combat/dungeon? If yes, you're (probably) a role playing game. This covers most titles, from Dragon Quest to Tales to old-school Final Fantasy.
  2. However, even if there are two distinct modes in the gameplay loop, if combat is predominantly skill / real-time reflex based, I'm likely to consider this an adventure game. To me, there's a clear difference between Tales and FF7 Remake (which ask you to manage energy and input commands) and games like Kingdom Hearts and Nier (which might have "MP" but primarily want you just to hit the enemy with weak/strong attacks and dodge their attacks simultaneously)


This is admittedly just me and probably semantics but it's how I've always thought of the genres. That being said I also consider SRPG's their own genre so I shouldn't have listed FE: Three Houses on mine too.
while you slept, the world changed
GranzonEx
05/04/2024
04:35 PM
#23
Thanks for this list I'm going to start Ys VIII and Berseria soon
2 line break(s), 160 characters allowed
UshiromiyaEva
05/04/2024
04:49 PM
#24
To be clear, I don't think any answer is wrong. It's more that, rather than a binary answer of "I think these types of games are jRPGs, and these types aren't", there's a full staircase sperating the most actiony entries at the top (FF16/Nier) and most rigid entries at the bottom (FF1/DQ) that could be considered jRPGs, and people are going to have to decide how high up those steps they're willing to climb.

And then games like Fire Emblem are the bottom step alongside DQ, but they're sitting on that little part that goes past the railing and sticks out of the side a bit, and you need to decide if that's technically part of the step or not.

I'm going to make a stance here though that Valkyria Chronicles just....isn't in the conversation. In no way is that a jRPG.
https://i.ibb.co/Twbb1b6/20240223-211737.jpg
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD
Xiahou_Shake
05/04/2024
05:10 PM
#25
Utawarerumono 2 + 3 really are that good and together are probably the best story I've ever seen in a game. That said while I'd agree they belong in the RPG conversation, the ratio of visual novel to gameplay is absurdly lopsided. You could go actual IRL days playing the games (2 especially) and not experience any gameplay at all. (Hilariously, my #2 story in all of gaming is 13 Sentinels, which is also like that!)

I've basically switched to using "ARPG" to describe stuff like Kingdom Hearts and Nier - it's technically not wrong to call them JRPGs and they do very broadly belong in that bucket but I think it's better to use a more accurate term that immediately gives a better idea of what kind of games they actually are. Really though we're at a point where a big enough share of Japanese-made RPGs have action gameplay that "JRPG" really just means "RPG made in Japan" which is almost completely meaningless as a descriptor so it might be better to just differentiate between "ARPG" and "turn-based RPG," though that still leaves out the seemingly increasing hybrid breed like FF7R, modern Trails and now Metaphor.
Let the voice of love take you higher,
With this gathering power, go beyond even time!
pyresword
05/04/2024
05:24 PM
#26
Mask of Truth is incredible and one of the best VN's ever imo. Mask of Deception is I thought solid overall with an incredibly slow start (and probably grating, depending on your tastes) and a very good ending. The payoff of MoT does depend a lot on the setup in MoD though so I wouldn't recommend just skipping straight to Truth. I only watched the anime for the original game, but that was quite good and I imagine at least the Prelude to the Fallen remake is similar.

Utawarerumono is pretty similar to Fire Emblem in terms of what the games involve. The story/gameplay ratio is way more skewed towards story though which is why I don't know if it really belongs in a JRPG discussion or not.
I didn't do guru this year but azuarc can be in my sig anyways.
UshiromiyaEva
05/04/2024
05:28 PM
#27
I don't know if I'd call Metaphor a hybrid, it seems to basically a Persona game that has Ryuji's social link from Royal built into the core mechanic. I don't think the world combat is really.....combat. Maybe that changes deeper into the game, though.
https://i.ibb.co/Twbb1b6/20240223-211737.jpg
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD
mnk
05/04/2024
05:40 PM
#28
It looked to me like Metaphor dungeons will specifically include groups of trash mobs that you will always kill through action commands, like a musou game. And then there's the regular enemies you'll have to switch to turn based mode to fight (but then those will presumably transition to trash mob status as you level up). Either way, the action portion doesn't look very involved, and almost all of the gameplay mechanics they showed off were clearly focused around the turn-based fights.
Change is weird.
MacArrowny
05/04/2024
11:39 PM
#29
UshiromiyaEva posted...
(one of those being me finally biting the bullet on whether Engage being a much better video game mechanically than Three Houses trumps the world and character of 3H being so much better).
is Engage's gameplay better than Unicorn Overlord's?
All the stars in the sky are waiting for you.
UshiromiyaEva
05/04/2024
11:55 PM
#30
MacArrowny posted...
is Engage's gameplay better than Unicorn Overlord's?

I would say so, yes. I LOVE UC and that it's doing something unique (having strong similarities to a N64 game isn't exactly chasing a trend lol), but FE is still my jam, and Engage is arguably the franchise frontrunner from a mechanical standpoint. Though I do year for the structure of Tellius, I am getting tired of maps with random battles and the ability to grind out fights.
https://i.ibb.co/Twbb1b6/20240223-211737.jpg
https://youtu.be/qj9p6IFSlnk?si=cZ5L4OPM0TjVjwCD
Board 8 » Top 10 Switch/PS4 JRPGs