Top 10 Favorite Turn-Based JRPGs Ever! 

"... with a game like this, I don't care about being predictable." Very well said, my friend.

My first RPG was Super Mario RPG and I thought it was great. I played it many times. I didn't know RPG was a genre until I played FF7 and loved it. Then I started picking up all types of RPGs. Of the ones you listed, I only played FF legend 2, Super Mario RPG, FF9 and Chrono Cross. My favorite RPG is still FF7.

sweet deftones shirt. white pony is such a good album

my number 1 would be Shadow Hearts 1. While the second was technically more sound, the first really sets that dark eerie mood for what the series should have been. Great list.

Love watching your videos bro! Love hearing your stories and your enthusiasm towards these games. Keep it up man

Seeing Eternal Sonata in your honourable mention, that's my number 1 pick, absolutely loved the games story,music,combat and beautiful graphics An amazing game I felt.

I love your JRPG content! You have so much knowledge of these.

Suikoden 2 the goat and agreed persona 3 is the best persona

Loved this video. Would like to see another video with srpg and a second 11-20 turn based 😉

Was expecting one Brearh of Fire game in your list. A personal favorite of my that I was hoping to see was Lufia 2 Rise of the Sinistrals. It was my first turnbased RPG so I wear nostalgia glasses.

I would seriously be interested in a top 50 of this! Seeing what your numbers 11-50 would be super cool honestly!

Erik! Long time subscriber first time commenter. This is your best video yet! Enjoyed the real life stories included, and just the humor and personality. Keep it up!

Good top 10 ! Mine is a lot different but there are so much good turn based rpg : 1. Grandia 2 2. Shadow hearts 1 & 2 3. Trails of cold steel 1-2-3-4 4. Persona 5 5. Resonance of fate 6. Golden sun 1 & 2 7. Cross edge 8. Agarest generations of war 2 9. Valkyrie profile silmeria 10. Shin megami tensei III

Solid choices. Could be many others to make the list too. Lots of good jrpgs to go around

Great list man. My top 10 in no particular order: 1. Final Fantasy Tactics 2. Shadow Hearts 3. Shadow Hearts 2 4. Chrono Trigger 5. Final Fantasy 6 6. Final Fantasy 7 7. Persona 3 8. Yakuza Like A dragon 9. Lost Odyssey 10. Ogre Battle

I just got done playing through Radiant History: Perfect Chronology (3DS version) and I COMPLETELY echo your thoughts. It’s one of the best stories in games period. It’s combat is unique and was one of the biggest surprises for me as I knew nothing of this game prior. Best JRPG on the 3DS for sure. Great call!

A very refined taste, Sir. Thanks for the recommendations! I'll for sure check on Suikoden V and VP2.

Seeing P3 on your list has me super happy. I'm glad I'm validated Persona 3 being my favorite game of all time.

This is an aboslutely SOLID top ten list. Many of which are in mine. So glad to see some niche and well written stories getting some love.

Awesome video, an absolute gold mine for JRPG enjoyers! Got some games for my list that i'm going to play for sure.

There are some good choices on this list, though my top 10 would differ quite a bit. Mine would be: 01 Phantasy Star IV 02 Phantasy Star 03 A tie between Shin Megami Tensei III, IV, and V 04 Suikoden II 05 Final Fantasy VI 06 Chrono Trigger 07 Sweet Home 08 Xenogears 09 A tie between Lunar: The Silver Star and Lunar: Eternal Blue 10 Dark Wizard Honorable mentions: Shining Force I, II, & III, Final Fantasy IV, Langrisser I, II, III, & IV, Suikoden, Phantasy Star II & III (yes, I actually love this game), Shin Megami Tensei Digital Devil Saga I & II, Shin Megami Tensei I, II, and If..., Shin Megami Tensei Devil Summoner Soul Hackers, Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey Redux, Shin Megami Tensei IV Apocalypse, Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor 1 & 2, Xenosaga I, II, & III, Grandia I & II, Shining the Holy Ark, Breath of Fire I, II, III, & IV, and Persona 4 Golden (the only Persona I've played so far, but I love it). As you might be able to guess, I'm very fond of Phantasy Star and SMT. My action JRPG list would be easier as my top 10 would all probably be Ys games (counting the two original versions of 4 and the remakes, there are more than 9 Ys games). Though for variety, maybe I'd put the Ys series as the number 1 entry.

Couple of recommendations for turn based RPGs - #1 for me is Lost Odyssey on Xbox 360. It's still playable via backwards compatibility on Xbox One/Series consoles and has one of the best stories of any genre of game I've played. #2 would be Legend of Dragoon. It came out around the time of FF7 - so you have the same 3D/pre-rendered backgrounds of the time - which I loved. Story is pretty good, but the combat is turn based with combos - which require proper button presses to execute completely. Super fun game.

🌸❤️I too this day have never played Persona, but it’s quite infectious the passion you show toward it.❤️🌸

Thank you for having Eternal Sonata (Trusty Bell: The Dream of Chopin in Japanese) as an honorable mention. I absolutely love it!

Excellent picks! I can't wait to give Chrono Cross a try for the first time when it comes out on Nintendo Switch this year in April!

Great video dude and this is completly off topic but I love your t-shirts dude

It's amazing how my list is like 70% exactly like yours! Mario RPG was my first RPG and it made me what I am today, an English Teacher (I'm Brazilian)!

All these years, and Suikoden II is still my all time favorite RPG. It was one of the first games I ever played that convinced me that games could do more than just be fun little experiences. It’s story was emotional and complex, it’s gameplay was varied and approachable, and it’s huge cast was memorable as hell. The attack against Luca Blight is still one of the most epic moments in gaming in my eyes, and I replay the game at least every few years to relive those wonderful memories. I’m still bummed that Suikoden has died off (damn you, Konami!), but it was such a huge part of my childhood, and 2 stood as the best of the series.

Just seeing that you put P3 over 4 and 5 brings a smile to my face tbh :)

Totally agree with Radiant Historia being on this list. I slept on this game but finally played the 3DS version last year and now it easily sits in my personal top 10 as well

1. Final Fantasy IV 2. Skies of Arcadia 3. Legend of Dragoon 4. Chrono Trigger 5. Final Fantasy VI

Here's my top 10 10: Etrian Odyssey Untold 9: Etrian Odyssey Untold II 8: Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne 7: Octopath Traveler 6: Etrian Odyssey IV 5: Bravely Default 4: Etrian Odyssey Nexus 3: Bravely Default II 2: Shin Megami Tensei IV 1: Etrian Odyssey V Honorable mentions: Persona 5 Shin Megami Tensei Strange Journey Redux Shin Megami Tensei V I only included turn based JRPGs I played, so I omitted Kingdom Hearts II and Persona 5 Strikers because they're not turn based, and I omitted Etrian Odyssey III and Chrono Cross because I haven't played them

-The Legend of Heroes series -Final Fantasy IX -lost odyssey(still hoping for a steam release) -Person 5/royal -Dragon Quest VIII -Bravely Default series

Hi Eric your videos are amazing they helped introduce me into many RPGs. I really hope you give SMT4 a proper try. It's so good and soundtrack is amazing also. The side quests are not really a must unless you going for neutral route. But personally I loved the game so much that I wanted to do them all they also have nice side stories. Please give it another chance. I liked it more than apocalypse but that doesn't mean to say that apocalypse is a bad game it's also very good and I agree with everything you say about it. I just felt that smt4 wasn't as childish and it had a hardchore darker feel to it depending if you like that kind of thing. Keep doing what you're doing ☺️ Really good video love all of the jrpg's in this list! Can't wait for the Chrono Cross remaster, hope they do a good job.

My TOP 10 turn based jrpg (without SRPG / Visual Novel hybrids) : 1. Chrono Cross 2. Digital Devil Saga 1&2 3. Radiant Historia 4. Strange Journey / Strange Journey Redux / SMT IV 5. SMT V / SMT III Nocturne 6. Persona 2 Innocent Sin / Eternal Punishment 7. Devil Summoner Soul Hackers 8. Trials of Cold Steel series 9. Skies of Arcadia 10. Grownlanser My TOP 10 turn based jrpg (SRPG or Visual Novel hybrids): 1. Valkyria Chronicles 1 & 4 2. Valkyria Chronicles 3 (Japan only) 3. Sakura Wars 3 (Japan only) 4. Sakura Wars 1 & 2 (Japan only) 5. Final Fantasy Tactics / Tactic Ogre 6. Fire Emblem The Blazing Blade 7. Devil Survivor Overclocked 8. Persona 4 Golden 9. Disgaea 2 10. Joanne D'arc

Wonderful video as always, Erich! :) I just LOVE seeing Chrono Cross get all sorts of love from you and I also adore that game man. Chrono Trigger is actually my all-time favorite game but Chrono Cross is hovering close by for sure. Loved seeing you have Xenosaga III in your honorable mentions because that game might very well be my personal #2 game of all-time. LOVED everything about Xenosaga III but especially the music and story. I appreciate your recommendations btw! I have Trails of Cold Steel III and IV (PS4) on my backlog (what's the best way to play the first two games in that series btw?) and I do look forward to playing Shin Megami Tensei V eventually. Also, thanks for giving Persona 3 some love man. I personally feel that P4 and 5 are better games overall but I do have a soft spot for P3 as that was the first game in the series that I played. :) In any case, great list!

Glad SMTV got a shout out. Loved that one. Favorite game of 2021 😁

Great list ! I'v been waiting a long time for this video Also , can you make a video about best Fire Emblem romhacks in your opinion ? I am curious to know what hacks you will choose And thank you

Nice t- shirt my bro! Deftones - White Pony is my favorite album. All time classic!

My top 5 : 5.Final Fantasy 8 4.Chrono Trigger 3.Super Mario RPG: LotSS 2.Earthbound 1.Final Fantasy 7

My top 10 turn based JRPGs: Xenogears Chrono Trigger Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King Persona 4 Golden Persona 5 Royal Yakuza: Like a Dragon Shin Megami Tensei V The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II Suikoden II Final Fantasy VII

Suikoden 2!!! Im glad its in your top 10.. I trust your taste now with your rpgs

I am very happy to see Valkyrie Profile 2 made it so high on this list. Alicia is my favorite RPG character of all time.

You giving chrono cross a shoutout makes me excited for the remaster coming out

Nice video and Deftones too :)

I really can't wait to play the 'Chrono Cross' remaster come April; it'll be my first run of the game. Some of my personal fave Turn-Based battle systems has to go to both 'Atelier Shallie: Alchemists of the Dusk Sea' and 'Atelier Lulua: The Scion of Arland' as well as the Blue Reflection games. And the Bravely games are also really solid.

I love this. Thank you for this list.

Talk about a list in the making here! We definitely have been waiting for this one. I love the little narrations you give on some of these titles and how you encountered it or at what pivotal moment in your life they entered your RPG days. FF9 I can empathize with. I have been waiting to play this game and so I borrowed it from a friend. I was pissed off that the game had major scratches on Disc 1 and so I never got past the opening CGI where we see Garnet on the boat...ugh, so disappointed. Would never play this game until many years later after FF12 was released. Still didnt quite finished it as it was a back log title. Now I got it again this week on sale so I better finish this beloved classic once and for all.

Great video! My favourite rpg list is: Sims 3 FIFA06 Monster hunter Final fantasy tactics (android) Modern warfare 2 Elder scrolls 3: Morrowind Team fortress 2 Ni no kuni (PS3) Final fantasy online Dark cloud 2

The fact that you put Super Mario rpg & Chrono Cross on here makes me 🖤 you

Love so many on the list! Suikoden is my fave series. And I’m so excited for Chrono cross. I’ll have to check out the ones I haven’t played

I love we both started with suikoden tactics to find out about this amazing series

I took a chance on new rpgs in the recent years and radiant historia was one of them. Haven’t regretted trying out new rpgs since. Lead me to the atelier games, cosmic star heroine, and ys series.

Welcome back

Have you ever played Skies of Arcadia Legends for the GameCube? Absolutely my favorite of all time! The characters, setting, combat, it's all great! Just never heard you mention it before that's why I ask haha

My list: 1) Valkyrie Profile 2) Final Fantasy 6 3) Dragon Quest 5 4) Phantasy Star 4 5) Final Fantasy 9 6) Breath of Fire 3 7) Dragon Quest 11 8) Might and Magic 3: Isles of Terra 9) Final Fantasy 5 10) Yakuza: Like a Dragon

SMT5 had the best turn based combat I’ve played

My man has good taste in RPGs and good music taste. Love the white pony Deftones shirt man

It's good to hear someone giving lots of second chances and not falling into the trap of letting initial impressions shape their opinion for too long.

I also went into Persona 3 cold... a friend recommended it to me and back then I was just getting back into gaming... after ten-years of not gaming to get my career off the ground and solid in the sky. I felt at the time, as I still do, that the nuance of Persona 3 AI party member control was "realistic" since you could not deliver commands all the time to your party members in the heat of battle... throw out a "suggestion" and go... and hope that our girl Yukari healed everyone right quick instead of taking a pot-shot with her bow.

I bought discs 2, 3 and 4 of legend of dragoon for $1 each at a pawn shop so I didn't have to keep renting it. Took me many years to get disc 1. But I found discs 1, 2 and 4 for 50 cents total. Came with the case. But by then, I had it on psn.

I'm a little sad that you don't put Xenogears in the list, but great list as always.

Golden Sun The Lost Age is my favorite Turn Based JRPG.

My number 1 is, of course, Lost Odyssey😎

Man, can't believe Grandia 3 wasn't in there. I love that battle system.

Amazing that Chrono Trigger didn't even make the top 10 for you. I still love the video but I'm very surprised. Also, FF6 and FF7 are leaps and bounds ahead of 9, imo.

Great video erick 👌!

One of the few games that had me playing 5-6 hours a day until I beat it was Dragon Quest VIII on the PS2. It's definitely one of the best games I've ever played. I also loved DQXI on the PS4, but I think DQ8 beats it.

I knew the vid was gonna be good once I heard Tie a Link of Arcus in the beginning.

Best thing about Radiant HIstoria that I think is really underrated by most other RPGs and games in general is the ability to replay all the bosses in the game minus some with special circumstances but otherwise yeah one of the best for DS/3DS

sad that none of your fav's are on switch, still nice to hear about others for different platforms :)

My first true rpg was Saga Frontier 2. Anybody else remember that one?

Persona 3 On PCSX2, you can have full control of your party, thats how im playing it. Just google it

Nice Trails music :D

Shocked that besides Trails in the Sky, I haven't played a single one of these games (well a few of your honorable mentions). I attempted to play Persona 3 FES but couldn't get into it, I played the crap out of the original SMT IV but had no idea Apocalypse was a direct sequel so I didn't bother with it. I can't really order my list but games that would definitely populate my all time favorite turn based JRPGs would be: Grandia 1 & 2 Trails of Cold Steel (all of them) The Bravely Default series Skies of Arcadia Persona 4 Golden (will probably be joined by Persona 5 Royal when I FINALLY play it) Honorable mentions would be: Eternal Sonata Lost Odyssey Octopath Traveler SMT IV Digimon Stories: Cybersleuth

Man, I'm playing through Trails of Cold Steel 1 right now and hearing the battle music in the background of the intro was like "aaawwww shit! here we go!"

Personally prefer action games a bit more but for me my top turn based rpgs would be (for some they will more or less represent the entire series half the time with 1 game in particular chosen...otherwise it'd just be a list of 1 or 2 series lol): -1: Trails series, in particular the Crossbell system (kinda like the older grid battlefield more tbh and this one also allowed counters (can't remember if Sky did) and a stronger Orbment system than 1. May swap to Kuro due to the action Hybrid system for normal attacks though (from what i heard most crafts/spells are used in turn based mode) as i prefer action/good hybrid systems more. Granted biggest draw is the story but as far as turn based combat goes this series is my favorite. -2: Dragon Quest, in particular 8 and 11 are my favorites though most of the combat has been the same, with some improvements/new systems added over the years. -3: Valkyria Chronicles: In particular 4 due to additional advancements made to the game (Ship orders), new class (grenadier), and reducing tank's AP to 1 instead of 2 AP. Was my favorite Turn based series until i played Trails (got Sky before it when Sky first released on PSP but didn't really get into it...didn't get into the Trails series until around 2015 with CS (granted stopped playing CS1 at chapter 2 due to too many references to sky popping out that I remembered so i went back to play 1 and then 2 before continuing CS1 and 2) but got into VC right away) and loved the war story and gun based combat system (also liked Revolution too, though imo they could've made it better with a light/heavy combo system imo rather than press X once for a full combo...the ragnite weapon enhancing was also a bit...too grindy). -4: Octopath Traveler, liked the game a lot due to the characters being great with each of their stories (went with Cyrus as my starting character and turned him into a magical thief lol). Gotta get aroudn to playing it again when i get through a few other games though cause just realized i put it down when a few other games i was hyped for came out and didn't get around to beating it completely yet (was in everyone's chapter 3 i think). -5: Lunar Silver Star Harmony is also one of the best turn based games that should be higher on this list (honestly...good shot at #2 tbh) but I've yet to actually beat it. Story wise i like it almost as much as Trails due to the characters' humor and very good anime style cutscenes not to mention one hell of a start...now i just need to find which Vita memory card it's on to continue playing it once if finish up some of my current games lol. Combat is of course like DQ where it's one of most most basic combat systems but it's solid through and through. Sprite work is also good in the PSP/Vita remake. -6: Eternal Sonata was a game i liked a lot due to both the music and combat system. Was somewhat like Valkyrie Profile 2's where on your turn you can combo multiple attacks while an action meter decreases during your turn before moving to the enemy's turn. The world itself was also one of the more interesting settings/maps visually as well that i played in gaming. -7: Ar Tonelico 2, Story was good imo and i had a lot of fun with the combat system as well, in particular i liked how they handled the enemies turn and actually allowed you to block damage by pressing the guard button at the right moment...was unfortunate what they did to 3 though (tried to give it a Tales like action battle system but it was way too slow and didn't combo well imo...Akiba's Beat is about the closest any game has gotten to Tales combat system (well Smash Bros too i guess as they use the same inputs) and was decent in it's own right (had a few flaws here and there such as not being able to jump over larger enemies/bosses and needing to swap characters to cancel attacks but was good nontheless). -8: Fairy Fencer F would be next and one i enjoyed more so for the characters, especially their somewhat messed up personalities at the start fo the game which were hilarious, and the combat being decent too...was my favorite of the Neptunia Rebirth/remake style combat system games (Death End Request also used something similar). -9: Valkyrie Profile 2 Also had quite a bit fun with this game (shame to say i haven't actually got aroudn to beating it yet though...at the time i got it i just had a habit of going back to playing Tales games on NG+ again and again...to give an idea i beat Symphonia about 15+ times, Abyss 10 times, and Vesperia (my lowest rated Tales game mind you, mainly due to how Act 3 drops the ball so hard...yes i rate it even lower than Zestiria which is objectively a worse game tbh because the drop in quality in act 3 took a very good story up to that point and butchered it to the point Act 3 is a worse story than all of Zestiria (which was meh to bad from start to finish) imo) so VP2 was one of the many games that i wound up putting aside, intending to play again later, but never really got around to doing yet cause of Tales (granted i still have my PS2 and all the games so i can pick it up whenever i want)). -10: Atelier Iris/Mana Khemia series, in particular Atelier Iris 3, as for why this one it's mainly due to the melee characters' ability to change their weapon types/costumes/skills in battle throughout the game and the fact Edge's default weapon is one of the cooler weapons in the series/gaming in general due to throwing out mechanical shuriken and becoming a chainsaw in some of his moves. Also will note that Iris and Mana Khemia are the Only Atelier games that i like (granted haven't played those that came before Iris) as their stories generally had far more at stake for the characters than most of the games that came after that felt far too light hearted/slice of life focused imo (Dusk to Ryza games in particular...Rorona supposedly has a bit more going on according to some people but never played any of the Rorona games so can't confirm that and cash is tight/focus is on other games right now so not gonna be buying them anytime soon). And no FF, Persona, or SMT games on this list for 1 simple fact: i liked all of these far more...Persona was good but still would be closer to top 20 turn based series than top 10 for me. Haven't played an SMT game mainly cause by the looks of them they are not as heavily cutscene/character focused as say games like Persona, Trails, or Tales and that's how i prefer stories to be handled and the combat is more or less the same as Persona for the most part (well...more accurate to say Persona's the same as SMT as SMT came first i guess) and quite frankly while it's good still not in my top 10 turn based combat systems tbh. As for FF...have never played an FF game (well turn based one anyway) that i actually liked (for reference those i played are 1 and 2 on GBA, 7 (actually the combat system i dislike the most in gaming period...i don't like ATB much at all...in fact i liked VIIR's combat system far far more and it's more or less a Kingdom Hearts copy in many regards), 10, 12, 13, and 15 (worst action combat system i played btw and horribly executed story on top of that with far too much left out imo...honestly it holds the worst rating i ever gave to a game to date)...only FF games i liked were Crystal Chronicles, FFVII Remake, and Crisis Core tbh.

Mine would be something like: 1- trails in the sky 1 and 2 2- suikoden 2 3- final fantasy 6 4- final fantasy 7 5- breath of fire 3 6- dragon quest 5 7- phantasy star 4 8- chrono trigger 9- final fantasy 9 10- dragon quest 7

I already knew what number 1 would be, what I didn't know was you would make me turn it on and start playing it. P.s. how awesome is it coming to switch.

🌸❤️I do not envy the question. I certainly could not name the top 10 JRPG that I adore. I can on,y name favorite of all, which is Chrono Cross!❤️🌸

Solid list!

Dragon Quest 8,Wild Arms(1st Turn-Based RPG I'd played),Lost Odyssey,I even liked Blue Dragon,Persona 3,4,and 5 were all great but I would agree 3 is my favorite.FF7,FF9,FF13. Chrono Cross can't wait. Also want to play the Suikoden games.

First off...WHITE PONY. Second off...After hearing that first song, if that game don't appear on the list, BOOOOOIIIIIIII...I'd respect your opinion. [EDIT: Well, got the series in there, at least!]

Good tips, I never finished Chrono Cross, always thought about it, now I'm waiting for Chrono cross remaster to play and finish.

I replayed ff9 last year and omg, IT HOLDS UP, but its just STILL a great game,

I loved Radiant Historia so much that I bought a second brand new copy to hold onto for if the original cartridge dies.

Suikoden V and VP2 are underrated! Excited to play Chrono Cross again soon

i couldn't make a list like this, have you played grandia?? great simole story a d awesome tun based xombat

Radiant Historia's storytelling is so ahead of its time that this style of storytelling deserves a modern jrpg rendition. Not a remake, but a completely different story but with the same concept of Radiant Historia

super mario rpg is also my favorite game of all time! great games dude!

Smt 4 maybe for me 💪

Yeah, number 1 was no surprise

Glad there's someone out there who appreciates Suikoden 5 as much as I do. So sad we never got to see this series wrapped up properly. It was all leading up to Harmonia...and then, nothing. I'm really looking forward to Eiyuuden Chronicles, but knowing that we will never get a true conclusion to this amazing series hurts.

All are very good choices.

That is a good list. Mine is different but like you said, there are so many great turn based JRPGs that it's very difficult to choose between them. Mine is: 1. Final Fantasy VII 2. Final Fantasy VIII 3. Xenosaga Episode I 4. Xenosaga Episode II 5. Final Fantasy X 6. Final Fantasy IX 7. Final Fantasy XIII-2 (i think that one was turn-based) 8. Xenosaga Episode III 9. Chrono Cross 10. Persona 5

I am actually surprised legend of dragoon didn't make your list.

LETS BEGIN!!!

I have trails in the sky anime and I really like it. I find the its story very compelling

Yo man. I feel you chrono cross is my all time rpg. Like there is a connection I have with it that is hard to explain.

The Chrono Trigger people will be upset.