10 Switch Games JRPG Fans Should Own (In Every Subgenre) 

My personal best: 1. Dragon Quest XI 2. Xenoblade Chronicles (1-3) 3. Persona 5 Royal 4. Fire Emblem 3H 5. SMT V Vengance 6. Monster Hunter Stories 2 7. Final Fantasy X 8. Ys VIII 9. 13 Sentinels 10. Ni no Kuni I

I appreciate how you always strive to spotlight the lesser mentioned games instead of recommending the mainstream most popular selections. I also enjoyed the sub-genres that you identified, i didn't know there are so many interesting different types.

I'm shocked Unicorn Overlord wasn't mentioned for Strategy RPG . That's one of the best games of this year.

Brownie point for including Tokyo Mirage Sessions! ❤

Triangle Strategy is an absolute masterpiece of a game. Looking forward to TS2, cuz it exceeded all financial expectations by a considerable margin and seems very likely to be in the works already

The Paper Mario series definitely deserves a shout out! With Super Mario RPG and Thousand Year Door remakes on Switch, they make for a great 'Family Friendly' RPG sub-genre.

Xenoblade series is a masterpiece, can't wait for Xenoblade Chronicles 4 on Switch 2 😀

Really enjoyed your list because of how varied it was! I am hands down going to finally give Ryza a try soon! I just need to try an Atelier game and I’ll start there!!!

Great choices! Loved Astral Chain as well.

I’ve been picking up games based on your suggestions since you actually seem genuine and passionate about what you talk about. I’m slowly getting into jrpgs and rpgs in general

If anyone has 300+ free hours to spare, The xenoblade series (including future redeemed, torna, etc) are by far the best story ive ever experienced. I cant count how many times i cried just during 3.

Grerat picks Emily! Worth adding for those unaware, Anno Mutateum has recently been announced for a retail EU release by Clear River Games, so that game will become more accessible :)

Some great choices! Glad to see Tokyo Mirage Sessions get a mention, criminally under-rated game! Some of the interactions with your peeps in that game are amazing!

Your list has a lot of variety and something for everyone. I have a lot of Switch games (some from this list) that have wound up on my pile of shame, but I am going to make Xenoblade a priority next year. Good shoutout to Ryza... that game pleasantly surprised earlier this year.

Triangle strategy hooked me. The story was awesome and the combat was fun. Loved it!!

A Switch RPG I really got into recently was Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition. I ended up playing nearly 200 hours on it. So I recommend that to anyone.

Great list! I love to see Ys Origin on here! One of the best action RPGs that doesn't get enough love in my opinion.

As someone who has been playing through the Ys series in numerical order and is just starting Ys Seven, I can't recommend Ys Origins enough. I wish all of them were re-released on Switch so the entire franchise is all in one place

excellent video! Always happy to hear someone mention DQ 11 cause it's such a fantastic game.

My personal favorite that was on this is Tokyo Mirage Session FE! But I would say another one I would add is LiveALive. A gorgeous 2DHD JRPG and with character stories all segmented, so you can play at your own pace. It's just amazing, in my opinion

I really need to play Tokyo Mirage Sessions. I remember seeing a clip where the redheaded male character is a big Tokusatsu fan and that speaks to me :D

I own about half of these games. I especially love Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and Triangle Strategy. I'm looking forward to getting more of both of those games in the future. Edit: I think for HD-2D/turn based games the Octopath Traveler games are pretty high up there for me personally.

I appreciate considering the physical copies and availability of them!

There's so many great RPGs on the switch and as displayed here the amount of sub genres are pretty vast meaning there's something for everyone.

Real time sub genre jrpg: The Diofield Chronicle is extremely good as well I wish growlanser would get a switch port they were so dope back in the day.

Said it many times before, but i always appreciate how you highlight non popular games, rather niche series or even games that aren't always on people's radars and thats why i adore your videos immensely Emily! As always, amazing work :)

Glad to have most of these in my collection already! Also, I hardly ever see anyone mention ANNO: Mutationem on their lists and I'm happy to see it here! I absolutely adore that game.

Love that you created catgories just to include your favorite games! XD Your videos are always great!

Think p5 royal would fit a modern turn based :)

I'm jealous of the shelf behind you. I'm slowly building my up my Falcom game collection lol.

it's interesting to see all of the sub-genres of JRPG. as a video gamer I feel a bit marginalized as an rpg-player but super marginalized as a JRPG-player, so it strikes me as funny to go deeper and deeper down into the rabbit hole

Best Action JRPG: XenoBlade Chronicles 3; Runner up: XenoBlade Chronicles Definitive Edition Best TurnBased JRPG: Persona 5 Royal; Runner up: Persona 4 Golden Best Tactical Strategy JRPG: Fire Emblem Three Houses; Runner up: Triangle Strategy

For Arpg I'd definitely recommend Astral Chain. It felt so unique and refreshing. Truly underrated imo

First time subscriber here. Great video! You've got quite the solid list here (and game/collectible collection too - awesome set in the background). I greatly appreciate your relaxed, conversational approach to your videos. Very thoughtful overview of each entry and great flow to your presentation overall. I look forward to following your channel for more updates! Happy gaming☺️

Thanks for the video. I haven't touched my Switch in a while. Anyway Timestamps: 1:35 Xenoblade Chronicles 3 2:40 Ys Origin 3:31 Dragon Quest XI 4:46 Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE Encore 6:08 Triangle Strategy 8:22 Digmon Story Cyber Sleuth 9:42 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim 10:43 Rune Factory 4 special 12:00 Anno Mutationem

People should really check out Dragon Quest Monster Dark Prince if they want a great monster taming game.

Really happy to see Rune Factory 4 Special included in this list!

Digimon Story Cyber Seluth was my system seller for PS4. Story is great (The ending of Hacker Memory hit hard...), combat is amazing, and it is grinding rewarding. By the way, just like an hour ago I've beaten World of FF and it is very recommneded. The characters are funny, the combat is Monster Catching with a twist, and while the story is Eh, it becomes decent in the end.

I wouldn't say I am obsessed with JRPGs since I play other types of genres but, I really did enjoyed playing games like Valthirian Arc, Shining Resonance Refrain and I Am Setsuna. I highly recommend playing I Am Setsuna, it is a gorgeous game.

Thanks for the ANNO Mutationem recommendation. I tried the demo this morning and saw very quickly this was going to be a definite pickup for me.

That Ys Origin segment nearly triggered my epilepsy, my lord lol. Great list!

Let's go Emily! I agree 100%. I also like "I am Setsuna" on Switch

Pretty cool and varied list!

Legend of Nayuta: Boundless Trails, Star Ocean 2, Tales of Symphonia (patches fixed it), Tales of Vesperia, Tokyo Xanadu Ex, Ys Oath in Felghana

so good many options to choose from in all the different categories, i like anno mutationem but chained echoes would be my indie pick

some great choices and some I will definetly need to have a look at playing myself sometime

great list! I was on the fence about digimon but I may have to seriously consider giving it a try now! thanks Emily! and that indie jrpg seemed interesting too! I'll see what I can find out about it! xD

I can’t get enough of dragon quest 11. I finished it on the switch earlier this year then just replayed it on Xbox one just so i could get all the achievements. It’s one of those games that i can play over and over, i just finished dragon quest 8 about a hour ago, another great game very similar to 11

very solid list, i will have to look into getting Anno Mutateum physically because that sounds really fun. 13 sentinels and tokyo mirage are also two games i've been meaning to pick up, so this vid reminded me that i definitely have to buy them next!!

Bravely Default 2 would be my recommendation. The game is extremely well polished and perfectly blends old school with new school. Its also always on sale right now so there probably isn't a better time to pick it up than now lol

I just started playing jrpg games last year and it has been a great experience. I just finished Dragonquest XI and it is my favorite jrpg so far. Such a great game! Xenoblade is really good as well. I’m excited to get into the Atelier Ryza series! Thanks for the video 😁 a lot of great games!

Trails remaster and Tales of Graces f remaster are sure 1st day buys for me! Just want to say you are the reason I tried my first trails game which is Trails from Zero. Saw your vid when it came out. Now I have played all trails games in my switch!

I like the list based on certain requirements. It helps highlights games overshadowed by common choices like Fire Emblem. Not that FE is a bad game, but would like to see other games that also deserve some recognition

You know your passion of games and sub genre thanks for sharing and just being open with your hobby ☺️ i do love your voice its very pleasant thanks for just being humble another amazing video 🙏🏻

Solid list. I’ve either played or hope to play all of these.

This is such a great list! I've been playing Tatics Ogre and Harvestella recently.

Loved you list, SMT V Vengeance it's definitely a top nintendo switch, I think the switch catalog deserves a top 30 games, it's insane how good jrpgs it has now.

Thanks for another great video Emily 👍 I wish I could wake up to a new orbalology video everyday... 😄

Good picks, I need to try Triangle Strategy. And I’ve always been on the fence with the Atelier series, but now I am convinced. Thanks! Also, loved your hair, looks great in this video.

Solid picks! I think I’d pick sea of stars for indie or chained echoes if that release ever comes out for indie (which would likely disqualify it from your requirements anyway). Anno never clicked with me but maybe I need to give it another chance.

Awesome picks! ❤

Great list! I like the subgenre take on this. It's interesting to me that I own every game on your list except your SRPG choice since it's my least favorite subgenre. Speaking of, I do like Valkyria Chronicles, and that would be my choice. I have a couple of others I like that you didn't mention is Sea of Stars and the Cat Quest series. I think those would probably fall under the indie section. Either way, it's a fun list, and thanks for sharing!

Great list of games Emily the switch library is so diverse I think the best out of any system that ever existed it's amazing to collect for

For must haves I'd go DQ XI, SMT V, Persona V, Octopath I & II, Triangle Strategy, FE Three Houses, and Bravely Default II. To round out my top 10, while they're not JRPGs, I think you need to own Zelda BotW and TotK if you have a Switch.

Nice video and picks, definitely love triangle strategy and Digimon

You should try Grandia collection, not sure if its nostalgia but i loved that series.

Currently 75+ hours into Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition, and loving it. It’s my first non-Mario RPG, and the genre is quickly becoming my favorite, after growing up playing only platformers in the late 80s/early 90s.

Loved the way you did it

Liked the subgenre twist with your list. Allows for a more diverse list for a top 10 games list 🤓 The rune factory games go on sale alot and wasn't sure of wich one to try 1st with not having any experience with the series. Naturally i would pick "the newest one" but reviews for RF5 suggested that it didn't top previous games in the series 🤔

Just what I needed! I’ve been hungry for a new JRPG for my Switch. I haven’t found the perfect one to satisfy my appetite, but here we go!

I like your list but I would make a few changes. For example I would definitely replace 13 Sentinels with Unicorn Overlord or Valkyria Chronicles 4. Some other categories I would add are: Import Exclusive: Super Robot Wars T RPG Collection: either FF Pixel Remasters or Collection of Mana

That's a very strong list you got there and sadly I own none of them. I thought about purchasing that 'Nintendo Switch Game Voucher' to get Zelda: Echo's of Wisdom and Fantasy Life (not sure if it would qualify if it wasn't pushed back), but after seeing that last Zelda trailer I definitely want it physical. From September 26th to October 10th is roughly 15 days, so do you think there will be more than 15 boss fights in Echo's of Wisdom? or maybe it doesn't warrant the standard Nintendo full price?

another great video! just finished visions of mana, and have some time before ffxvi pc releases, and trying to figure out which of my favorites i should pick up and play

Playing XC2 now and I'm enjoying it more than the first one. I'm excited for 3! I see that XC2 CE in the background, marry me so we can share lol

Hi Emily, great video and great choices for the restrictions. Dragon Quest 11 is not my favorite RPG but it is one of the best and it's my favorite Dragon Quest, next is Dragon Warrior 7 on PS1. Ys8 is my favorite in the series and I'd say probably my favorite action RPG on the Switch, I own it for PS4 and PS5 and have platinumed it on both(one of my few platinums.) Ys Origin however is an amazing game and I like the way Ys Origin and classic RPGs tell you a story, but they don't fill it with such unnecessary text. I think the Trails games a great games but way too much text. I don't cry when playing video games, but Ys Origin's storylines are one of the few that have me holding back doing so and almost tearing up with the storylines from Yunica and Toal with the goddesses. If you haven't played through with all three characters you should do so, or atleast watch the story for the other characters on RU-vid. Tactics Ogre Reborn is possibly the most underrated TRPG of all time. I say this because being the third release, there's a lot of people who have played the original and PSP version that stated they're not interested in playing the game yet again, despite that it's a complete remake when it comes to the gameplay, others that didn't like the original two, and then the fact that it's just not a Final Fantasy or a Nintendo published Square Enix game to help give it that visibility. Tactics Ogre Reborn though is one of the few 10/10s and if my favorite game of all time wasn't another TRPG on the PS1, Tactics Ogre Reborn would be the best, it's only the second best. I would say runner up is Brigandine The Legend of Runersia because it's the first and only sequel of my favorite game Brigandine(which had a remake also on the PS1.) Runersia is a great game even with its issues, still an 8/10. For farming simulator RPG, I'd have to go with Cult of the Lamb. Now, I have heard that this game doesn't run well on the Switch, but to be fair, it doesn't run well on the PS4 or PS5 either. On the PS5, every time the night changes to day there's a massive stutter where the framerate appears like it should be smooth but drops to a stutter then down to 0fps for a second. I don't mind the procedural bits of Cult of the Lamb because they're all so short and you're always making progress when you are working on building up your town. You've got thsi adorable lamb and other animals, the other animals will help you do work and you'll gain more power and gain level ups towards your town whenever they're praying to do more stuff. Everything that's done feeds into more stuff, or leveling up your lambs combat prowess. Not sure if you ever watched How I Met Your Mother, but if I was to ever make a video review, I'd talk about the town, and then when talking about the combat system in dungeons, I'd show clips of the combat while playing the murder train song(look up murder train scenes you'll see what I mean.) For indie RPG, I also liked Anno Mutationen and finished it, would definitely recommend picking it up because of the style and story, even the gameplay was solid but while it did have solid gameplay it was pretty jank. Honestly, it would be one of the best action adventure games ever if they were to nail a more fluid gameplay with equally good AI. My choice for indie RPG would be Star Renegades. I mean, I know Cult of the Lamb is also indie, but that filled the farming simulator genre. Star Renegades is a turn based RPG, and while there are procedural aspects, this game is not procedurally generated. The game has three world maps and an end game map all of which are idenntical, there are some dungeon maps that you may enter on the world maps that are one of a few presets(these may be procedural but they're small and only have a few battles, they appear to be preset maps.) Now, the game is the same every time, it's just the locations of the enemies and objects as well as your fourth and fifth characters that are randomized. However the game is extremely fair and completely skill based. Playing on normal I completed the game my first try in 8-10 hours. If all your characters die in a battle you fail, but after multiple replays, I've won more than 50% of the time even on higher difficulties. There are around 16 different character clases and they range from attacker, delayer, support, tank, and armor destroyer. While every character can be a combination of one or more roles, the game has this reactive type gameplay where the enemies actions are already shown and you do your actions based on where the enemies fall in the timeline etc. You can delay enemies enough to send break their turn, or outright defeat them to minimize damage received. Despite being an indie game this game is just as good as many of the best in the genre. For monster collecting, Digimon Cyber Sleuth? Oof. I did not like that game at all. It was too easier and the hard mode just made it too hard. It wasn't a well balanced hard mode. I wasn't liking the story and while I liked the gameplay, the difficulty was a big turn off and then I digivolved one of my digimon to go and evolve them into a new one and it reduced my level to 1, I didn't save in awhile, so I lost so much progress. I was done. Here is one I do like in the genre(I'm not much of a Pokemon fan.) Siralim Ultimate is digital only on Switch, it has not yet been announced for a physical release. I've played Siralim 3 which only has a physical release on the PS4. Whether there are people who don't mind digital or have a PS4 to pick up Siralim 3(which was LRG but you can get this for less than $30 new on Ebay.) It's relatively unknown and not popular. Siralim 3 is something I'd rate kind of middling, a 7/10, however I would highly recommend the game despite that. Why do I rate it a 7/10? Because it's a procedural game and those procedural aspects in the game I find are the worst part about the game, but what the game does well it does extremely well and this game would not be possible without the procedural aspect. The Siralim games, of which I'd only recommend Siralim 3 or Ultimate at this point as each game just improves on the next(except Siralim 3 is the only one with tavern battle where you battle against the macro AI of other players parties.) Siralim 3 has over 700 different monsters, each of these monsters have a unique trait and you can have six monsters in your party. Now each monster can equip spell gems from a procedural list of spell gems(which there are hundreds,) each monster can equip artifacts which is basically one piece of equipment that gives stat bonuses, buffs, allow to attack with debuffs, and also add one extra trait, so each party can have a total of 12 traits. This game is constantly rewarding you something new. It's like when you win something when gambling, you get that dopamine hit, but unlike all those microtransaction games, it's all self contained and you don't pay a dime. Now, I forgive the games procedural nature because this game just wouldn't be possible without an ever growing difficulty you go deeper into the games dungeon. It does start off fairly well balanced at first as the monsters you get might not pair to immediately break the game, but the more you play you'll start seeing different traits that work towards making your party better. For example there's a trait that doubles the HP of your monster but reduces HP by 15% and another trait that causes enemies to receive 40% damage based on that monsters maximum HP, there's another monster trait that doubles all allies and enemies health and if you have that on another monster, that stacks so the other monster has four times the health. There's another trait where your allies will gain 20% in all stats except speed based on your current remaining HP, so again, another trait that stacks with the HP. This is pretty long as it is, but the amount of depth that you have at creating a party build because of all the possible traits is what makes this game so good. After finishing the game you have a lot of end game content, including defeating all of the games gods who are sort of like puzzle battles, requiring you to build different parties around defeating them. So you basically build traits that work against the specific overpowered traits that these bosses have and you get rewards including the avatars of these gods. After beating all the gods there's an even more powerful version of them that you can fight. There's also a more powerful version of every boss in the game you've fought as well. Like the amount of depth this game has in terms of content is staggering and it's actually great content. It will get to the point that you just are running through floors as the last 200 monsters are itherian monsters and are extremely rare that you can extract them on Siralim 3 but at that point it's more of a chillaxin' run through floors powering up your monsters, holding down the x button if you've already set your macros up(which has a lot of depth there as well) and just running through the floors picking up materials, artifacts, spell gems, completing realm quests, etc. The game even rewards you on playing on certain holidays or over summer break. Playing on summer you'll get a mimic type monster that looks like a cooler which has trait that adds five random traits to your monster at the start of the battle. There are christmas and easter seasonal stuff as well developed in the game. I've went in a bit of detail for a few, I guess I'll leave it at that.

I need more people to check out the Fuga: Melodies of Steel series. No physical releases yet unfortunately, but it's by the same team that created Solatorobo on the DS

"And it's been awhiiiiiile..."

You're sleeping on Sea of Stars. That game is fantastic for an indie game and it has Golden Sun vibes to it. Yes, it does have Physical Copies of it.

You know it’s a great list when it lists some you expect to be on the list and have played and sone you never heard of👍

I feel like the only RPG player who doesn't like Dragon Quest 11. Love your channel.

For strategy, my pick is Fire Emblem Three Houses. Turn-based the is Persona 5 Royal, action is either Ys VIII Lacrimosa Of Dana or Ys IX Monstrum Nox. Rune Factory is definitely a genre of its own as a hybrid rpg, then for indie Cult of the lamb. For atelier-like games, I really love Witch Spring 3 Refine ❤ I have Ryza 1 & 2 and Atelier Marie Remake but haven't played them yet so I can't say

Nice subgenre categories! I saw 13 Sentinels at the local Supermarket and wondered how it will look like. Graphics seems same like in Dragon Crown.

i’m new to the jrpg space, and gaming in general, but i loved fire emblem: three houses and sea of stars, and so far im loving octopath! i’m also eager to start xenoblade, though i’m unsure if i should start with definitive edition.

I'm proud to say I played and finished every single RPG you listed...in the first half. 😂 Never played 13 Sentinels, Rune Factory, Anno Mutationem and started but never finished Atelier Ryza. I'd also add Ys 8: Lacrimosa of Dana alongside Ys: Origin since that game is a masterpiece.

Excellent list! Hey I was wondering if you ever played games that were a "7 out of 10" but you had a blast with it? It would be cool if you did a video highlighting those.

My personal list based on my playing experienced 1. Xenoblade Chronicles 1-3 including Torna still waiting for XC X and XC 4 2. The Legend of Zelda: Botw, Fate Samurai Remnant. 3.Fire Emblem Fates, FE Echoes: Shadow of valentia must be all Fire Emblem games. 4. Persona 5 royal 5. Cozy grove 6.Pokemon legend Arceus, Nino Kuni 1 7.Ys series 8. Octopath traveler 9.Dragon quest XI 10. Atelier ryza series

Aww man not a single hack n slash rpg made it in, the switch has so many good ones

Hello! Really cool idea for a video. Anytime I can, I talk up Baten Kaitos 1 & 2 Remastered. Wonderful game. Probably in the turn based sub genre! All the best!

I own 2! Some of them get into franchises I would wanna tackle and I don't know if I have enough lifespan left to start up Shin Megami Tensei. I really enjoyed Neo: The World Ends With You (on PS4), Sea of Stars and Eastward as games I've played. Right now I just started up Collection of Mana and have Live a Live and Saga Frontier Remastered left. Trying to work on my backlog a bit before I start buying more games but I think I have my fill of RPGs for now.

Did you see the announcement for Tales of Graces f Remastered? That’s going to be amazing. Great video btw, Emily!

Hello, Emily 🙂 I may just skip previous Atelier series and just start with the latest one, Atelier Yumia 😄 For farming RPG, I only got Harvestella that recommended by Just the Gems 🤔 Monster taming RPG, I'll go with SMT V 😈 Anyway, that's a nice list, Emily. Have a nice day 🌞

I would recommend South Park, the fractured but whole, I had a blast!

I highly recommend Shin Megami Tensei 5. SMT4 was my #1 3DS jrpg. You can even buy the SMT5 vengeance rerelease. Though i recommend playing the original story before doing thr path of vengeance

I would have included Astral Chain. Great action game that not a ton of ppl who came later into the switches lifetime would have heard of. But hey you can’t add them all 😅

Love your channel! Loved the list. I should be playing one or these games instead of watching videos though 😅 gotta make good use of Sunday time. I'm struggling to decide between Xenoblade 3 and Dragon Quest XI.

13 Sentinels is such an amazing game!

I don’t understand why Tokyo Mirage sessions was divisive. It’s one of my favorites on the switch.

So many good rpgs on switch great list

Awesome stuff! Subscribed

I really need to pick some of these up before the Switch 2 comes out and the prices go up...Also I'm super envious of your Estelle statue. I don't have any of the games in the Xenoblade series so I should probably get all 3 of those. Torna necessary?