10 JRPGs That Deserve A 10/10 

Lunar SSSC is the ONLY JRPG to ever have a merchant make sense. You're out to SAVE THE WORLD and Remus goes "Oh, well I don't wanna DIE so here, take every item you need for free".

You had me at Grandia 2 and Radiant Historia. Absolute masterpieces!

Started Chrono Trigger this week and I have to agree that the enemy encouters are so well done. Attacking an enemy so that he can kill the more annoying one for you or beating the enemies in specific order so that they can't be used as a counter. Xenoblade Chronicles, Trails in the Sky SC, Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana, Tales of Berseria, FFIV, FFVI, FFVII, FFX, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, The Witch and the Hundred Knight, Nier Replicant, Lost Odyssey and Bravely Default would be 10/10 games for me.

Final Fantasy 6 would be the first thing to come to my mind when i think of a 10/10 rpg, it really feels like a culmination of the genre and pushed the boundaries and fully holds up to this day

Lunar is so charming in its simplicity. I've seen it once described as "the greatest RPG love story of all time" and it really is in my opinion. It feels like the archetype JRPG in that regard. Love your assessment of the FFVI "everyone can do everything" argument. The game's so open to possibilities that you CAN teach everyone every spell but there's really little reason to other than "completionism". There's fun stuff like "natural magic only" challenges or deliberately limiting your party so every playthrough is different. It's absolutely a 10/10 and easily my favourite JRPG of all time.

Yup, Lufia II is still a tie for my favorite game of all time to this day. The memorable characters, music, and story have stayed with me to this day. It may be time for another playthrough. :)

Congratulations on the sponsorship!! And these are all undoubtedly 10/10 games. I've replayed Suikoden II, FFVI, and Chrono Trigger countless time, and they still move me to no end, like I'm playing them for the first time again.

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Lunar was the main reason my Sega CD back in the day was not a disappointing purchase. Lunar 1 and 2 are both 10s in my book.

I’m a simple guy - I see Millennia, I click. Also XBC2 is amazing, fight me.

Radiant Historia needs a modern remake so bad. Most underrated game of all time.

Etrian Odyssey 4 is one of the few games in recent memory I would consider giving a 10/10. Great graphics for 3ds, fantastic music, engaging exploration and skill tree system, and challenging, rewarding combat. Really glad I got this game before the 3ds eshop closed down. I strongly recommend to play this if anyone is reasonably able to.

Shadow Hearts will always be a 10/10 for me. Nothing quite like the unique, dreary story and atmosphere there. Coupler with the judgment ring system, it is literal perfection

My favorite part of lunar is when you go to get the “Dragon Diamond”. The dragon happily gives it to you but says “don’t you know that’s my shi…”

Wasn't expecting to see Lufia 2 on this list. DQ3 being on the list as high as it was is kind of a surprise too. Glad both of them made it, truly amazing games.

9 is my favorite but I agree that 6 is the best Final Fantasy.

Golden Sun totally slipped my mind and I came across it the other day. Glad you included it on your list.

The scene where the airship burst out of the ocean and started playing searching for freinds played. I decided that day video games are art.

Yeah Golden Sun was awesome. Camelot was an amazing developer made Golden Sun and Shining Force games. DQ3 is excellent I am looking forward to the HD remake of it. FF6 is great too. Suikoden II great as well. Some really awesome games on this list. The trails games are awesome too.

So glad to see that 10/10 love for Lufia 2. I can't even tell you how many times I've played through and the HUNDREDS of hours I spent in that damned ancient cave.

So glad to see Grandia 2 on the list, it’s always been one of my favorites and by far the best in the series. Skies of Arcadia is another underrated gem that would be in my top 5!

As much nostalgia as I have for Golden Sun: the lost age, getting through that without a guide was _rough_ . That was maybe a year or two BEFORE I had constant access to internet and GameFAQs, and oh boy I'm not sure even nearly 20 years later if I could bring myself to play through it again. Random rant over lol, another great video David! 😊

I only clicked on this one as the thumbnail showed just enough for me to say out loud "is that Grandia II?" Was not disappointed.

Fantastic list. ChronoTrigger, FFVI and Lufia II always swap places in my top 3 of all time.

Final Fantasy X has: * Worldbuilding that succinctly explains everything from the world's cultures to the existence of every enemy you encounter * Narrative reasons behind every boss battle * Character interaction and dialogue during battles, permeating characterization throughout the game * Character deaths that are logical extensions of the narrative, rather than out of nowhere, making their deaths more tragic and heightening themes of sacrifice and loss FFX deserves a X/X.

Giving the FF6 characters access to all spells via magicite was a bit of a butt-saver imo. Because it had those multi-party dungeons that made you drag out all your b and c-tier characters that you probably haven't invested a lot of time grinding with. But if you could teach them a few relevant spells every now and then, they weren't *completely* useless when you were forced to include them lol.

TLDR: 10. Xenoblade 3 9. Grandia 2 8. Radiant historia: perfect chronology 7. Golden sun 1 and 2 6. Suikoden II 5. Lunar Silver Star Story Complete 4 Lufia 2 Rise of the Sinistrals 3. FF6 Advance 2. Dragon Quest 3 1. Chrono Trigger

phantasy star IV . combospells, unusual setting, space and magic and it all feels good as a package. The quabbles of the team were always good comedic relief while the game stayed serious in overall tone, without forgetting to give some sweet moments too. Sometimes its topics were way ahead of its time and peers. Overall it is an evergreen for me and I can't understand why there is no AAA remake of this gem.

I wish they make lunar remake for ps5

My favorite RPG as a kid was final fantasy 8 and legend of dragoon. I didn't play some of these older ones on gameboy advance. But i did have a sega dreamcast and played grandia 2 and skies of arcadia! Skies of arcadia was amazing

I truely hope we get a full remake/remaster series of the classic DragonQuest-Games. Part III (or what it was) was already announced a few years back but I think we need them ALL.

Golden Sun in HD-2D would be a dream come true!

I would've included Tales of the Abyss in that list. Yeah, Luke is incredibly grating, but his colossal screw-up and redemption arc, along with a world with such fantastic lore and a great set of characters, that makes this game a 10/10 for me.

That's a heck of a list of heavy hitters. I know some people aren't a fan of some aspects of it, but the sega cd version of Lunar Eternal Blue is among my favorites, and an easy 10/10 for me personally. Edit: just some thoughts on the game. The presentation and animation is such a huge step up from the original silver star, it's like night and day, and I LOVE the difficulty of the black wizard Borgan boss fight. He's even harder than omni-Zophar, and no matter how high your level is, you won't beat him without sound strategy.

I go to you pretty much EXCLUSIVELY and subconsciously for jrpg news and perspective besides gematsu. Your sponsorship, you DESERVE it.

Radiant Historia is a such underrated masterpiece. You had me at that game

Okay, when I was a kid back in the 90s, my best friend’s mom bought FFVII and while I had never played a PlayStation at that point, me and my buddy loved to watch her play. I was 10, friend was 8, Cloud would go on the be the name of the lead character of every game that let me name my character for the next decade… Fun story, but the real point. My friend and I where essentially little kids who where essentially very annoying, and after falling in love with FFVII and wanting to make us to be annoying away from her, she gave us Fantasy Star III for the Sega, and Dragon Warrior III for the NES. I played DQ3 until the battery died, and traded it for Lufia 2. I loved DQ3, or Warrior as it was for American kids in the 90s before the internet was big, still love that game. Thanks for putting it so high up the list! My favorite game was, and still is, through vague memories DQ1, my parents rented it when I was 2 or 3, and I put work into that rental even though I couldn’t read yet. Stairs were my enemy.

I would say this could double as an introduction to RPGs in general for anyone who wants to get into the genre! I also love that you included so many games from different eras and platforms, as well. As for me, Pokémon Black/White, Super Mario RPG and Star Ocean The Second Story would be my additions to the list. And Xenoblade 1&2, though I admit 3 is the most well crafted out of them xD

It's kinda hard to make a top 10, when there's just so many that deserve to be on that list. Star Ocean the Second Story, Tales of Vesparia, Skioes of Arcadia, Ys VIII Lacramosa of Dana, and if you count it the first Valkyria Chronicles couls easily slip into any of those spots reasonably.

So nice to see a list include Lufia 2 and Golden Sun at the same level as Chrono Trigger. Earthbound, Persona 4, and the aforementioned two games are the only JRPGs I would give a 10/10 personally.

It's always funny to see Grandia 2 in this kind of list, cause this game is whether listed as fantastic or "the worst thing that could happen after Grandia 1". I've played the game 20 years ago, played it again few years ago again and I still think nowadays it remains as one of the most memorable RPG I've played in my life. So very glad to finally see this one listed to where it really belongs

Glad to see Lunar here, loved bother Silver Star and Eternal blue. Some of the most memorable jrpg songs.

I'll always be a huge Lunar fan and I had some of the same firsts you mentioned with the game! It was my first experience playing and RPG with so much voice acting and anime cutscenes but both of those things sucked me into the games and never let me go. The music by Noriyuki Iwadare is excellent as well. I was talking to a friend recently about how so many kids got their gaming ocarina introduction with Zelda, but mine was with Alex in Lunar.

how I cackled when David's pettiness brought up Chrono Cross outta no where

Tales of Vesperia is one of my favorite RPG. It has a slow start but once your hook it is really good

The Truly 100/10 it's Xenogears the story,characters,philosophy,ahead of his time,a truly classic

The Last Remnant definitely deserves a 10/10 in my book.

Tales of The Abyss. That is probably one of my favorite games of all time. Honestly I just like everything about that game.

Q: "Do you know games that kind of go on forever, and then they eventually wear out their welcome?" A: Xenogears.

Some decent picks in there, but it's crazy in my opinion to not include Secret of Mana, Earthbound, or Star Ocean 2 in here. I'd have them all high on the list. Blew my mind to see none of them mentioned. Star Ocean 2 was a beast with an insane amount of content that I sunk hundreds of hours into. The combat was revolutionary, the skills and crafting system was so advanced for the time, the characters had relationships that changed based on the way you played, which affected them in battle. There was 2 entire planets to explore. You could beat the main story in about 50 hours, and then play another nearly 100 hours of extra content; then you could play it all over again from a different perspective as the other main character. That game blew my mind. Earthbound is just a perfect game. It isn't as robust and extensive as many other JRPGs, but damn, it is so unique, whimsical, and fun. The English localization was done so well, it is incredible. I have replayed this more than any other RPG, and the dialogue still gets me.

Skies of Arcadia and Grandia 2 are amoung my favorites. I played them on Dreamcast but the Grandia 2 Remaster is absolutely gorgeous. Your list is so good, im lucky to own all of them.

I can't even remember how I stumbled upon a copy of Lunar SSSC, but I remember being blown away by the animated cut scenes and the fantastic voice acting at a time when that was exceedingly rare. It was my favorite for so long and I never really met very many people (pre-widespread internet forums in a small town in Arizona) who had even heard about it let alone played it. I'm hoping it gets remade for the switch, and it honestly doesn't have to be remastered, just give me a port and I'll be good.

Skies of arcadia, thr greatest RPG game ever made.

Love this list! I can't imagine how hard it was for you to narrow down Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest to one each. I haven't played all of those, but the ones I have played or seen, I can absolutely agree with. These are some top choices.

Shoutouts to my fellow gamers out there in their 4th decade of gaming. By the way, I think your mother surely has to be proud of the son who has cultivated a global audience (South African here) spreading positive vibes around a much loved topic of conversation. As for 10/10 JRPG's, I don't think I've ever encountered a 10/10 JRPG. I've played JRPG's that I came to love dearly, but nothing I'd award a perfect 10/10. JRPG's is probably the genre of gaming where it's the most difficult to get everything right, because it has so many components that individually have nothing to do with one another, but somehow have to gel together to create a cohesive experience. Even one thing being slightly off can throw the entire thing out of balance. I mean, the story and writing are already incredibly difficult to get right, and that's just the starting point; that's not even getting into things like the character designs, the world design, compelling exploration, the battle system, the side games, the extra quests etc. etc. etc. If you think about it, JRPG's are actually multiple games rolled into one, and so many disciplines go into making them, not to mention an incredibly talented director who has to be on top of all of those disciplines to keep the project on track. Chrono Trigger on the face of it looks just about perfect, but as I never finished it (because my experience was ruined because of a bad emulation), I wouldn't exactly know. For me personally, I'm just ecstatic if I get to play something where there aren't any components that grate on me. I truly loved games like Persona 4: Golden, Persona 5: Royal, Tales of Arise, Dragon Quest XI, Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, Valkyria Chronicles 1 and 4 etc. - all HIGH QUALITY experiences - but again, I doubt I'd give even these games a perfect 10. I'm currently thoroughly enjoying my second play-through of Final Fantasy VII: Remake, but again, wouldn't give it a 10.

Grandia II biggest strength is also it's biggest weakness. The game left me wanting more.

1:10 Xenoblade Chronicles 3 2:02 Grandia II 2:56: Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology 3:59 Golden Sun I and II 5:06 Suikoden II 5:58 Lunar Silver Star Story 6:46 Lufia II Rise of the Sinistrals 7:41: Final Fantasy 6 Advance 8:42 Dragon Quest III 9:36 Chrono Trigger

For me they are mostly recent games: . Trails to Azure and Trails in the Sky SC . Ys 8 . Persona 5 and 4 enhanced versions . Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 . Final Fantasy X . Final Fantasy IX . Star Ocean: Second Story . DQ11 DE . Chrono Trigger . Legend of Legaia There are so much more but these ones really stand out for me.

I never hear anyone talk about Breath of Fire 3 for PlayStation 1. That game was amazingly fun!

The reason I want 100 hour games, is because of 70 dollar price tags. Or maybe double stories up.

As far as modern games go, Persona 5 will always be a perfect game to me.

You had enough deep cuts in there to be far from a basic bitch. Also, Chrono Trigger countlessly tops JRPG lists for a reason, it really is the total package in what you want from an RPG Great list

I believe it is not possible to make a complete list of 10/10 games, because there are more than we can think of. Each one value different traits of those games, and all of those opinions are well founded, because they all make sense. Some games here like Chrono Trigger could easily be 10/10 for me, because I am one of the few people from Europe who played that game the year it was released in US, renting it in a video store no less! Also Valkyrie Profile blew my mind away. I couldn't believe how much fun I was having playing it, battle after battle. I was so in love with that game that I felt I didn't want to play Silmeria at all because I was so afraid it could ruin the first one for me, but so lucky I was wrong, because the second one is as good as the first one. But one game I really really treasure from my childhood is Terranigma. I played that game alone, at home, when I was a teenager and right after finishing it I couldn't keep myself from starting it over again. There are many games that are meaningful for lots of people, the important thing is not that 10/10 but the feeling you have when you remember playing them back then. Remembering good times is one of the most precious things in life, never stop doing it :)

I don't think any game would ever deserve 10/10 but if there is, it would be breath of fire dragon quarter.

Grandia 2 is literally a underrated masterpiece If grandia 1 is your happy go lucky shonen then grandia 2 is your seinen series that goes indepth with its lore and characters, and doesn't shy away from it's dark themes and death. Plus ryudo is the best JRPG mc dont @ me

Everything in this list deserves a modern graphics 3D release, with zero to minimal change in gameplay, and probably some additional Quality of Life features (save everywhere, Speed modifier, difficulty modifier). I would love to replay FF6, Chrono Trigger, Grandia series, Suikoden series and Lunar series in full modern 3D. Hopefully some day.

Starting off strong, showing my favorite game of all time is the first thing in the video. And a great list overall.

The Suikoden series will always be one of the best RPG series ever. Suikoden 2 is easily top 5 all-time. So excited its coming on switch.

Golden sun is my favorite game ever, thanks for having it on the list. Cant wait for it to come to switch. It will be coming as a part of the switch online subscription. Idk about it getting remastered though, sadly.

I'm so glad to see Lufia 2 so near the top of this list ❤❤❤❤

Dragon Quest III is my favorite game! It's a masterpiece-glad you included it!

Golden Sun is 10/10 and my childhood favorite, it was INSANE!

I am happy you made this, i own all of these games but i have only played a few so far. It gets overwhelming deciding what games to play when you have such a massive backlog, this will help me narrow down what to focus on for now.

Good list David. I started way later with the JPRGs (ps1-ps2 era), but decided to give Chrono Trigger a try and I absolutely loved it (with no nostalgia goggles and playing it like 2 years ago). Easily my top 3 :)

4:30 i was today years old when i learned its called psynergy and not 'psy-energy' 😮

I can kind of agree with Grandia 2, I literally finished that game 11 times already and never got bored while playing. I still to this day hoping SQ just slap that combat system in another game/new franchise.

Come on David. Placing Chrono Trigger at the top isn't being a "basic bitch". It's just true. That game *deserves* to be at the top.

Every time I watch Davidvinc video it’s very rare to see a game from the ps2 era.

Lufia was so great. Puzzles were top notch for my pre teen brain at the time.

7:54 Don't forget PS4, David. It's part of the compilation that is now called Pixel Remaster.

It makes me so happy to see Grandia 2 get some love. I adored that game when it came out and have yet to meet anyone - at least in person - who's played it. Cheers!

Ok. You've convinced me to give Grandia II another shot!

Grandia 2 is still one of my favorite all-time RPG games I would really love for them to remaster this game for like the PlayStation 5

I played Grandia II, Lunar, Suikoden II, and Chrono Trigger when I was a kid! I played Lunar and Suikoden during the lockdown time, and I was as fascinated as I was before. I totally agree with your list. I should play all the games you recommend :)

Great list, David! I’m definitely looking forward to replaying the pixel remastered final fantasy six once I work through my obnoxious backlog some more lol

"The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky" since that and second chapter was developed at the same time and meant as "1 game" but because of delayment and money issue they split them up... those two together would have been a 10/10 in my mind, and people can say what they want about the serie and its cult members (... me included) but there is a reason they released 11 games now in it and still making games for it, it touched some of us which we never experienced since the 90s playing zelda, mario, final fantasy etc! magical game!

Solid List. Honorable mention: Octopath Traveler. That game is a 10 in my book.

I appreciate the effort that you put into making this list wide and varied throughout numerous game systems.

Hey, just wanted to say that I just stumbled across your channel and I absolutely love it. Keep up the great work!

Love this list, and I’m so glad you included both Golden Sun 1 & 2 together. They were so much fun. But you reminded me, I’ve played Lufia 1 but still have not played Lufia 2…..the game backlog is real. 😊

Grandia 2 is still one of my favorite rpgs. Good old dreamcast days

Hey man, was nice to find this channel. Great work on the video. 🙌

when I was much younger and just started discovering RPGs around the time the SNES ruled the video game world, I had just finish FF6 (then called 3 in the USA) and FF4 (then called 2) and Chrono Trigger, Mario RPG, Dragon Quest 5, the big names of SNES. I happened to spot an RPG in Nintendo Power called Lufia 2 and I was intrigued looking for another RPG to play. I never ended up getting it or playing it, but it's nice to know that if I did, it would of been a good one as well. These days video games don't excite me the way they used to, but I still like to try JRPGs. I'd nominate the following to your list: Nier: Automata

XBC-3 is truly great and the expansion goes beyond greatness, Future Redeemed.

You are a man of culture. Every game on this list felt nostalgic, and Chrono Trigger is my favorite game of all time. I was hoping you'd put it on the list.

I wonder if I'll ever see a 10/10 list that includes Panzer Dragoon Saga... [Edit]: Incredibly grateful to see Grandia II and Lunar, by the way! I love those games so much! And besides Panzer Dragoon Saga, another one that would be on my list is "Shining the Holy Ark", a Sega Saturn JRPG made by the same team who later make Golden Sun.

Lunar, shining force 2 and suuikoden 2 Gave birth to my Passion for JRPGs

This is a damn good list! my only change would be switching Grandia 2 for the original title, but that's a minor difference.

I started playing Lunar Silver Star Story on iOS and my mac, and I'm really enjoying it! I heard the app was pretty bad when it first released, but apparently it's gotten some updates. Movement takes some getting used to, but I'm really grateful to have a way to play this super charming game that is 100% up my alley.

One of my favourites in the Nintendo years is *Lufia 2* also one of the best ost I am so glad you mentioned this