Wanted to do this at the years end, but was waiting until I finished Abyss so I could judge it accurately. From Best to Worst:
#1 Ryu Ga Gotoku (close enough to the action rpg category that I'm going to count it as an rpg.)
+Incredibly well-written and well-presented story. One of the best brawler systems ever. Huge game with tons to do on the side.
-Could've used some quicker load times.
Overall: A+
#2 Tales of the Abyss
+Best story in a Tales game to date and one that holds up well against the quality rpg stories out there. Great cast of characters. Incredibly fun, flashy battle system with good depth. Really good dungeons with fun puzzles. Nice and challenging battles with intense boss fights. Really big game (around 60-70 hours) with a huge world map to explore. Costumes and mini-games rock. Art direction is impeccible.
-Music is still Sakuraba Tales music, hence midi-ish tunes that loop after 10 secs. Load times are bad on the world map.
Overall: A
#3 Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2
+Good original story. Excellent battle system. Long, challenging dungeons. Great art design and awesome battle music. Super quick load times. Character skill development system is perfect.
-Not enough dungeons. Entire game is restricted to a small area so it doesn't quite give that epic explore a huge world rpg feel.
Overall A
#4 Kingdom Hearts 2
+One of the most fun games I've ever played in my life. Battle system is extremely fun and satsifying. Boss fights rock. Really really good visuals and an interesting story premise keep you hooked in the game. Disney worlds all rock besides Little Mermaid. Steamboat Wille section > *. Main song Passion rocks.
-Last hour or two goes downhill quickly. Pacing of the Square original story is disjointed and doesn't fit with the Disney worlds. Music isn't that great.
Overall A
#5 Ys Oath in Felghana (Remake of YsIII for PC. Not a console release, but whatever)
+Awesome action rpg with great art and modern visuals. Some amazing boss fights. Some really fun platforming. Story still holds up. One of the best soundtracks of the year. Runs at 60fps with graphics on max for most pcs.
-Need to use a gamepad. Keyboard = hahahaaha. A little unbalanced.
Overall: A
#6 Oz (Not coming to the US because of SCEA. Euro release soon)
+Excellent story that makes the player think and put together the pieces for themselves. Amazing 2d art. Top-notch soundtrack. Very original and well designed battle system that has a high learning curve but once you understand it, the system is incredibly fun and intense. Good length game with tons of unlockables that actually rock. Best action game with heavy story elements since ZoE2.
-Graphics are pretty weak in levels. Not coming to the US ;_;
Overall: A
#7 Fire Emblem GC
+Simple yet fun battle system. Challenging maps. Acquiring all the characters and keeping them alive is addicting. Entertaining story. Nice and colorful with some good music.
-Actual 3d graphics are lacking. Last level sucks. Ending sucks. Story that seemed like it was going somewhere bails out in the end.
Overall: A-
#8 Phantom Kingdom
+Buildings = yay! Vehicles = yay! Comedy = yay! Very fun N1 SRPG with a cute and funny story that goes along with the most insane SRPG ever made. Heck, it's even somewhat balanced this time around. Best N1 SRPG IMO.
-Some people want better graphics (not me). Graphics are even lower resolution than Disgaea. Story all takes place on one screen for the most part. Very low budget feel.
Overall: A-
#9 Front Mission 5 (Only about 10 hours in, so this might not be accurate)
+Excellent presentation that gives it the look of a high budget real rpg (aka FFX) but with a realistic world and realistic characters. Battle system and menus have been improved and streamlined since FM4 leading to faster battles with more intensity. Story seems good and the Wanzer customization is hot as always. Bizarre Mysterious Dungeon type mini-game. Graphics are GOOD. Music is great too.
-AI seems better than FM4 but ...not by much. From what I've played it seems like enemies in the distance will not move forward until the nearest group has been demolished or until a pre-set AI command kicks in and tells them to move. Not that ANY SRPG has decent AI (so I don't really mind), but a lot of people bitch about the AI in SRPGs so they'll probably be upset as this too.
Overall A-
#10 Gundam True Odyssey
+Old-school battle system that steals a little from SMT3/DDS in a good way. Customization is EXCELLENT. Highly challenging. Big world to explore. Gundam fans will love it. Graphics are pretty good and AMAZING for a Bandai game
Feels like a SFC/SNES rpg in 3d.
-Lots of time spent on clearing dungeons slowly (IE haivng to leave, restock, come back). Probably will be too hard for many. If you don't like Gundam the game won't have much appeal.
Overall: B
#11 Radiata Stories
+Excellent graphics with a really nice art look that feels like walking through a pop-out book. Some great characters (Ganz), good comedy, and nice music. Collecting people is fun. Two very different story paths let you see the story from both sides. Great cameo characters. The visable armor sets rock. Nice worldview. Overall a very enjoyable adventure that feels different from all the other rpgs out there.
-Ending 30 mins or so really sucks in both endings. Battle system is not only simple but broken against the higher level bosses.
Overall B
#12 Shadow Hearts From the New World
+Great battle system. Going around US locations in the 1920s is a lot of fun. Comedy tends to be good. Graphics are great and music is good. First 10 hours and last 5 hours are good.
-Story sucks compared to the first two games. Incredibly low budget feel with cut & paste dungeons + color-changed enemies. Feels like a 15 hour game padded to 30 hour length.
Overall B-
#13 Tales of Legendia
+Soundtrack is one of the best rpg soundtracks ever. Background graphics are good. Characters are little clay-animation style people with really nice motion captured animations. Worldview is interesting and the story and characters are pretty solid. Cooking is nice this time around and the bread girl is funny.
-Battle system is a bit boring as it's too easy and simple. No hi-ougi w/anime cut-ins. 30 hours of character quests have you going through the entire game TWICE with the exact same dungeons and even some of the same bosses. Very lame and boring, but the ending FMVs for each quest are nice so it makes you want to finish it all. Nothing really to do in terms of exploration or sidequests. Arena sucks. It's no Abyss.
Overall C+
#14 Grandia III
+One of the best battle systems that exist. Really nice high budget presentation. Nice looking, but empty, world map. Graphics rock. A couple of great characters. Character art is excellent. Bosses are fun.
-Story sucks, especially when it falls to pieces on disc2. Really short. Game balance is really bad. Very disappointing by the end considering how well it starts off.
Overall C+
#15 Rhapsodia/Suikoden Tactics
+Great battle system. Good skill development. Lots of characters to collect. Nice worldview. Good music.
-Battles are repetitive. Story is very dull and boring. No real challenge. 3d graphics are terrible.
Overall C+
#16 Namco x Capcom
+Tons of freshly drawn, good looking 2D sprites. Fun battle system when attacking. Lots of characters, lots of moves. Dialogue between various characters is awesome and often hilarious. Story is fairly enjoyable for an episodic adventure. Music is great. Cameos are awesome. Best cast ever. Best making fun of King ever.
-TOO LONG. 80 hour game where maps take 1-2 hours each mainly because defending is no fun and slow and you can't skip any animations because of the way the battle system is setup. Story is slow and episodic and you stop getting new characters for the most part around 40 hours in which kinda sucks so more characters would've been appriciated. Really only for fans who are willing to put up with the slow repetition to enjoy the good dialogue and fun story.
Overall C+
#17 Mario & Lugi RPG2 (Note only got about 10 hours in)
+English script is great with lots of good comedy bits. Battle system is fun and special attacks and defending are fairly enjoyable.
-Bosses take too long as they have too much HP. Dungeons aren't the most exciting. Overall game feels a bit too easy like its' predecessors.
Overall C+
#18 Wild Arms 4 (Note only got about 10 hours in)
+Graphics are fine. Battle system is enjoyable. Story isn't too slow. Only 20 hours.
-Characters and story are dull. Battle system is a bit boring because it's too easy. Only 20 hours long.
Overall C+
#19 Code Age Commanders
+Original battle system that steals some elements from ZoE2. Very interesting worldview. Lots of stuff to upgrade. Art design is bizarre but at times nice. Music is very good. 4 complete 6-7 hour stories included.
-Level design is bad. Controls feel sluggish. Can be extremely hard to the point of frustratingly cheap.
Overall C
#20 Rogue Galaxy (Note only played around 6-7 hours)
+It's pretty. Pretty much no loading so seamless experience. Seems like there is a lot to do and explore.
-Incredibly boring. Long repetitive dungeons that feel more empty than the random dungeons of DC2. Battle system is slash slash slash. Friendly AI is horrid. Cutscenes have no sense of direction and are boring. Dialogue is for 5 year old kids in a bad way that makes it boring for adults.
Overall C
---
These rpgs/srpgs/arpgs were also released in 2005, but I never found time to play them more than maybe an hour or not at all. So they could be really good and better than stuff above or they could suck:
Sakura Taisen 5
Super Robot Wars Alpha 3
Berwick Saga
Metal Gear Acid 2
Metal Saga
Romancing Saga
Eternal Mana 2
Drag-on Dragoon 2
Shining Force Neo
Tenchi no Mon
---
Then there were the ports, but as they are ports, I see no reason to mention them. If you llike the originals you'll like the ports (besides Popolocrois which got screwed up).
Popolocrois PSP
Devil Summoner PSP
ToE PSP
FFIV GBA
Phew...that's it for 2005. Overall it was a very good year in terms of jrpgs and 2006 seems like it'll be strong as well with Valkyrie Profile 2, FFXII, Baten Kaitos 2, Disgaea 2, Devil Summoner PS2, Tales of the Tempest.
the end
#1 Ryu Ga Gotoku (close enough to the action rpg category that I'm going to count it as an rpg.)
+Incredibly well-written and well-presented story. One of the best brawler systems ever. Huge game with tons to do on the side.
-Could've used some quicker load times.
Overall: A+
#2 Tales of the Abyss
+Best story in a Tales game to date and one that holds up well against the quality rpg stories out there. Great cast of characters. Incredibly fun, flashy battle system with good depth. Really good dungeons with fun puzzles. Nice and challenging battles with intense boss fights. Really big game (around 60-70 hours) with a huge world map to explore. Costumes and mini-games rock. Art direction is impeccible.
-Music is still Sakuraba Tales music, hence midi-ish tunes that loop after 10 secs. Load times are bad on the world map.
Overall: A
#3 Digital Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner 2
+Good original story. Excellent battle system. Long, challenging dungeons. Great art design and awesome battle music. Super quick load times. Character skill development system is perfect.
-Not enough dungeons. Entire game is restricted to a small area so it doesn't quite give that epic explore a huge world rpg feel.
Overall A
#4 Kingdom Hearts 2
+One of the most fun games I've ever played in my life. Battle system is extremely fun and satsifying. Boss fights rock. Really really good visuals and an interesting story premise keep you hooked in the game. Disney worlds all rock besides Little Mermaid. Steamboat Wille section > *. Main song Passion rocks.
-Last hour or two goes downhill quickly. Pacing of the Square original story is disjointed and doesn't fit with the Disney worlds. Music isn't that great.
Overall A
#5 Ys Oath in Felghana (Remake of YsIII for PC. Not a console release, but whatever)
+Awesome action rpg with great art and modern visuals. Some amazing boss fights. Some really fun platforming. Story still holds up. One of the best soundtracks of the year. Runs at 60fps with graphics on max for most pcs.
-Need to use a gamepad. Keyboard = hahahaaha. A little unbalanced.
Overall: A
#6 Oz (Not coming to the US because of SCEA. Euro release soon)
+Excellent story that makes the player think and put together the pieces for themselves. Amazing 2d art. Top-notch soundtrack. Very original and well designed battle system that has a high learning curve but once you understand it, the system is incredibly fun and intense. Good length game with tons of unlockables that actually rock. Best action game with heavy story elements since ZoE2.
-Graphics are pretty weak in levels. Not coming to the US ;_;
Overall: A
#7 Fire Emblem GC
+Simple yet fun battle system. Challenging maps. Acquiring all the characters and keeping them alive is addicting. Entertaining story. Nice and colorful with some good music.
-Actual 3d graphics are lacking. Last level sucks. Ending sucks. Story that seemed like it was going somewhere bails out in the end.
Overall: A-
#8 Phantom Kingdom
+Buildings = yay! Vehicles = yay! Comedy = yay! Very fun N1 SRPG with a cute and funny story that goes along with the most insane SRPG ever made. Heck, it's even somewhat balanced this time around. Best N1 SRPG IMO.
-Some people want better graphics (not me). Graphics are even lower resolution than Disgaea. Story all takes place on one screen for the most part. Very low budget feel.
Overall: A-
#9 Front Mission 5 (Only about 10 hours in, so this might not be accurate)
+Excellent presentation that gives it the look of a high budget real rpg (aka FFX) but with a realistic world and realistic characters. Battle system and menus have been improved and streamlined since FM4 leading to faster battles with more intensity. Story seems good and the Wanzer customization is hot as always. Bizarre Mysterious Dungeon type mini-game. Graphics are GOOD. Music is great too.
-AI seems better than FM4 but ...not by much. From what I've played it seems like enemies in the distance will not move forward until the nearest group has been demolished or until a pre-set AI command kicks in and tells them to move. Not that ANY SRPG has decent AI (so I don't really mind), but a lot of people bitch about the AI in SRPGs so they'll probably be upset as this too.
Overall A-
#10 Gundam True Odyssey
+Old-school battle system that steals a little from SMT3/DDS in a good way. Customization is EXCELLENT. Highly challenging. Big world to explore. Gundam fans will love it. Graphics are pretty good and AMAZING for a Bandai game
Feels like a SFC/SNES rpg in 3d.-Lots of time spent on clearing dungeons slowly (IE haivng to leave, restock, come back). Probably will be too hard for many. If you don't like Gundam the game won't have much appeal.
Overall: B
#11 Radiata Stories
+Excellent graphics with a really nice art look that feels like walking through a pop-out book. Some great characters (Ganz), good comedy, and nice music. Collecting people is fun. Two very different story paths let you see the story from both sides. Great cameo characters. The visable armor sets rock. Nice worldview. Overall a very enjoyable adventure that feels different from all the other rpgs out there.
-Ending 30 mins or so really sucks in both endings. Battle system is not only simple but broken against the higher level bosses.
Overall B
#12 Shadow Hearts From the New World
+Great battle system. Going around US locations in the 1920s is a lot of fun. Comedy tends to be good. Graphics are great and music is good. First 10 hours and last 5 hours are good.
-Story sucks compared to the first two games. Incredibly low budget feel with cut & paste dungeons + color-changed enemies. Feels like a 15 hour game padded to 30 hour length.
Overall B-
#13 Tales of Legendia
+Soundtrack is one of the best rpg soundtracks ever. Background graphics are good. Characters are little clay-animation style people with really nice motion captured animations. Worldview is interesting and the story and characters are pretty solid. Cooking is nice this time around and the bread girl is funny.
-Battle system is a bit boring as it's too easy and simple. No hi-ougi w/anime cut-ins. 30 hours of character quests have you going through the entire game TWICE with the exact same dungeons and even some of the same bosses. Very lame and boring, but the ending FMVs for each quest are nice so it makes you want to finish it all. Nothing really to do in terms of exploration or sidequests. Arena sucks. It's no Abyss.
Overall C+
#14 Grandia III
+One of the best battle systems that exist. Really nice high budget presentation. Nice looking, but empty, world map. Graphics rock. A couple of great characters. Character art is excellent. Bosses are fun.
-Story sucks, especially when it falls to pieces on disc2. Really short. Game balance is really bad. Very disappointing by the end considering how well it starts off.
Overall C+
#15 Rhapsodia/Suikoden Tactics
+Great battle system. Good skill development. Lots of characters to collect. Nice worldview. Good music.
-Battles are repetitive. Story is very dull and boring. No real challenge. 3d graphics are terrible.
Overall C+
#16 Namco x Capcom
+Tons of freshly drawn, good looking 2D sprites. Fun battle system when attacking. Lots of characters, lots of moves. Dialogue between various characters is awesome and often hilarious. Story is fairly enjoyable for an episodic adventure. Music is great. Cameos are awesome. Best cast ever. Best making fun of King ever.
-TOO LONG. 80 hour game where maps take 1-2 hours each mainly because defending is no fun and slow and you can't skip any animations because of the way the battle system is setup. Story is slow and episodic and you stop getting new characters for the most part around 40 hours in which kinda sucks so more characters would've been appriciated. Really only for fans who are willing to put up with the slow repetition to enjoy the good dialogue and fun story.
Overall C+
#17 Mario & Lugi RPG2 (Note only got about 10 hours in)
+English script is great with lots of good comedy bits. Battle system is fun and special attacks and defending are fairly enjoyable.
-Bosses take too long as they have too much HP. Dungeons aren't the most exciting. Overall game feels a bit too easy like its' predecessors.
Overall C+
#18 Wild Arms 4 (Note only got about 10 hours in)
+Graphics are fine. Battle system is enjoyable. Story isn't too slow. Only 20 hours.
-Characters and story are dull. Battle system is a bit boring because it's too easy. Only 20 hours long.
Overall C+
#19 Code Age Commanders
+Original battle system that steals some elements from ZoE2. Very interesting worldview. Lots of stuff to upgrade. Art design is bizarre but at times nice. Music is very good. 4 complete 6-7 hour stories included.
-Level design is bad. Controls feel sluggish. Can be extremely hard to the point of frustratingly cheap.
Overall C
#20 Rogue Galaxy (Note only played around 6-7 hours)
+It's pretty. Pretty much no loading so seamless experience. Seems like there is a lot to do and explore.
-Incredibly boring. Long repetitive dungeons that feel more empty than the random dungeons of DC2. Battle system is slash slash slash. Friendly AI is horrid. Cutscenes have no sense of direction and are boring. Dialogue is for 5 year old kids in a bad way that makes it boring for adults.
Overall C
---
These rpgs/srpgs/arpgs were also released in 2005, but I never found time to play them more than maybe an hour or not at all. So they could be really good and better than stuff above or they could suck:
Sakura Taisen 5
Super Robot Wars Alpha 3
Berwick Saga
Metal Gear Acid 2
Metal Saga
Romancing Saga
Eternal Mana 2
Drag-on Dragoon 2
Shining Force Neo
Tenchi no Mon
---
Then there were the ports, but as they are ports, I see no reason to mention them. If you llike the originals you'll like the ports (besides Popolocrois which got screwed up).
Popolocrois PSP
Devil Summoner PSP
ToE PSP
FFIV GBA
Phew...that's it for 2005. Overall it was a very good year in terms of jrpgs and 2006 seems like it'll be strong as well with Valkyrie Profile 2, FFXII, Baten Kaitos 2, Disgaea 2, Devil Summoner PS2, Tales of the Tempest.
the end
