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The 10 best JRPGs last 10 years?

This goes by US releases, not JP releases.

1. Star Ocean: The Second Story (PS1)
2. Valkyrie Profile (PS1)
3. Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)
4. Skies of Arcadia/Legends (DC/GC)
5. Suikoden II (PS1)
6. Xenogears (PS1)
7. Shadow Hearts: Covenant (PS2)
8. Baten Kaitos: Origins (GC)
9. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter (PS2)
10. Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria (PS2)

Runners up: Lunar: Silver Star Story (PS1), Tales of Symphonia (GC), Digital Devil Saga (PS2)
 
Dr. Kitty Muffins said:
FFX has no business being on that list. It was pure garbage.
Click to expand...


I wont call it garbage, but i laugh when people have it on their top jrpg's list i figure either....

1. It's their first jrpg
2, Final Fantasy is the only jrpg series they have played.
3. They just have shit taste and haven't played many great jrpg's.
 
Lets see, 98 to 08. This will not be easy.

1. FFIX
2. Xenogears
3. FFXII
4. Persona 3
5. Shadow Hearts" Covenant
6. Suikoden II
7. VP: Silmeria (I love the original, but I think the sequel is better)
8. Suikoden V
9. DQ VIII
10. Star Ocean: The Second Story

There are a bunch of JRPGS I love that didn't make the first cut, but would easily make the top 20. I would probably have to extend my list to 30 to really list the JRPGs I enjoyed over the past decade.

EDIT: Just noticed I left out a spot.
 
Santa's list includes Baten Kaitos AND Skies of Arcadia. I really have nothing to contribute to this thread as a result.

No wait, Persona 3. Duh.
 
No particular order:

* SMT III Nocturne ~Maniacs~
* Vagrant Story
* Baten Kaitos Origins
* Etrian Odyssey
* Dragon Quest VIII
* Final Fantasy XII
* Blue Dragon
* Romancing SaGa (PS2)
* Fire Emblem 7 (GBA)
* Persona 3 FES
 
All in all, I am pleased with your lists, GAF. I like to think that I don't suffer from Internet Hyperbole Syndrome (where one arbitrarily magnifies dislike for something into hatred proportional to how much others seem to like it), and none of the items I've seen on the list seem to irk me.

A few notes:

-People like Shadow Hearts 1 and 2, but not 3. Nice work! SH2 was just far too easy, in my opinion, but hey, everybody prefers different difficulty curves.
-Final Fantasies 9, 10, and 12 get the props they deserve. Each succeeds brilliantly in their own unique ways.
-A lot more people have played Nocturne than I would have thought, but many, many people regard it with great extreme. My personal favorite.
-Breath of Fire 5, but not 4. It is a shame that the series might be dead forever...
-Dragon Quest 8 is all over the place, but I'm a bit surprised at 7's absence. Less polished, but a fantastic adventure if you can put up with the slowest opening in RPG history and frequently infuriating placement of vital tablets.
-Skies of Arcadia: I hated it at first, but by the time I fought the Red Gigas, I was in love. Sega has earned nothing but my contempt for benching the series.
-Suikoden 2 and 5 as the best in the series. Still haven't beaten 2, unfortunately.

-I still haven't been able to get into Tales of Symphonia... I just flat out don't like the battle system or the characters, and no matter how many times I pick it up, it just doesn't click with me; I never feel the draw that compels me to turn the game back on.

-Baten Kaitos Origins... is it really THAT much better than the original? I got the... 4th playable character, but I'm not feeling the draw...
 
1. Skies of Arcadia (Legends)
2. Final Fantasy VIII
3. Baten Kaitos Origins
4. Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
5. Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
6. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
7. Dragon Quest VIII
8. Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter
9. Tales of the Abyss
10. Tales of Symphonia

Honorable mentions: Golden Sun: The Lost Age, Paper Mario, Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword)
 
Yaweee said:
-Dragon Quest 8 is all over the place
Click to expand...


You mean like awesome, with great pacing, packed with content, great characters and VA, lots of variety in enemy types, monster battles, music, etc.
 
These threads don't make much sense, but hey.

No particular order:
- Suikoden 5
- Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
- Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga (I count this as one game)
- Suikoden 2
- Xenogears
- Ar Tonelico
- Shadow Hearts (1!)
- Persona 2
- Final Fantasy X
- Xenosaga 3

I've not included SRPGs or ARGPs in the list.

Not in any way, shape or form Dragon Quest 8
 
This thread needs more:

box-l.jpg
 
Speevy said:
You mean like awesome, with great pacing, packed with content, great characters and VA, lots of variety in enemy types, monster battles, music, etc.
Click to expand...

Nononono! I meant it was all over the place on people's list. I absolutely adore the game and agree with all of your points.

BKO and Wild Arms 5 are both now on my 'list' of games to track down.
 
In non-numerical order:

-Chrono Cross - flawless aesthetic design, great story.
-Dragon Quest VIII - it took twenty years but they made the perfect Dragon Quest.
-Shadow Hearts 2/3 - Tied. The story is certainly better in Covenant but the characters in both are raw magic. The first Shadow Hearts was little more than a prototype for these. Here's hoping the team hasn't been too broken up, the best parts of Lost Odyssey had their fingerprints all over them.
-Persona 3 - The ideal blend of classic dungeon crawling and anime/manga-styled storytelling. Raw awesome.
-Final Fantasy XII - and all of a sudden, Final Fantasy gets interesting again. High five, Matsuno.
-The World Ends With You - What a game. Arguably the best game with Nomura's name on it.
-Ogre Battle 64/Final Fantasy Tactics - Tied for best SRPG. Double high five, Matsuno.
-Panzer Dragoon Saga - An epic feat of world creation and still one of the most interesting battle systems around.
-Parasite Eve - It wasn't always successful in achieving its ambitions but turning Resident Evil into an RPG was a damned cool idea. We miss you, Aya Brea.
-Skies of Arcadia Legends - Too many random battles, a little slow at parts, but man what a wonderful creation. The only problem with a sequel is where would they explore? That game let's you discover a whole freaking world.

I'll be the first to admit that I have some gaping holes in my experience in the past decade. I skipped Grandia 2 and 3, hate the Star Oceans and the Xenosagas, and still have never played a Baten Kaitos or a Tales game, not to mention my complete lack of experience with Nippon Ichi's SRPGs. There's just too many good RPGs out there.

ps- Both Golden Suns suck. *runs*
 
seaandthebells said:
-Ogre Battle 64/Final Fantasy Tactics - Tied for best SRPG. Double high five, Matsuno.
Click to expand...
Actually, Matsuno was gone from Quest for the majority of OB64's development. They used his story, but that's basically it.
 
Dr. Kitty Muffins said:
FFX has no business being on that list. It was pure garbage.
Click to expand...

pure garbage is stretching it. It's a solid game that should be on a list of jrpgs released last 10 years. Besides, the int version is better.
 
GaimeGuy said:
Actually, Matsuno was gone from Quest for the majority of OB64's development. They used his story, but that's basically it.
Click to expand...

Oh man, I thought he was still producing by the end. But hey, still a great story. The high five stands!
 
Pojo said:
What makes Shadow Hearts 3 so mediocre? I loved 2, never played 1...
Click to expand...

Though others might disagree...

1) It is distinctly low budget in terms of animation, voice acting and environmental designs.

2) The characters are... blah. It tries to be a comedy, but the only characters I liked were Mao and Frank The Ninja. I absolutely despise Hilda, and are mostly neutral on the rest.

3) The music. The first battle theme is awesome, but most of the second half of the game uses the other, kind of crappy, music. There are some good tracks, but I just don't feel a lot of them.

4) The game is generally... goofy, and rarely tries to be serious until very near the end. The comedy that it does aim for almost always falls flat, unless it involves Frank or Mao.

5) Absolutely completely retarded method to getting the 'Good' ending. Getting all of the transformations and totems isn't that bad, but maxing all of them? Wow, that's just a fucking terrible grind that doesn't involve any skill, just takes an assload of grinding.

6) TERRIBLY designed sidequests. Not only do you have to take pictures of every enemy to enter the bonus dungeon, but you have to take MULTIPLE pictures of enemies to trade for some of the unattainable cards. Honestly, who wants to sit around taking nine fucking pictures of the same goddamn enemy?

However, the battles are distinctly better/more-varied/harder than SH2, which does earn quite a few points in my book.

I forced myself through the game, but I honestly wish I hadn't. It made me question my very approach to the backlog, and made me realize that yes, it is okay to put a game down for good.
 
Yaweee said:
Nononono! I meant it was all over the place on people's list. I absolutely adore the game and agree with all of your points.
Click to expand...



Oh my bad. "All over the place" usually means some piece of entertainment wildly fluctuates in quality and tone.
 
Speevy said:
Oh my bad. "All over the place" usually means some piece of entertainment wildly fluctuates in quality and tone.
Click to expand...

Yeah, my bad. I was just referring to what games were on people's lists and didn't think of the standard meaning of the expression.
 
1. Skies of Arcadia Legends
2. Skies of Arcadia
3. Skies of Arcadia Legends
4. Eternal Arcadia
5. Skies of Arcadia Legends
6. Cielos de Arcadia
7. Skies of Arcadia
8. Eternal Arcadia
9. Skies of Arcadia Legends
10. Skies of Arcadia
 
Azuran said:
1. Skies of Arcadia Legends
2. Skies of Arcadia
3. Skies of Arcadia Legends
4. Eternal Arcadia
5. Skies of Arcadia Legends
6. Cielos de Arcadia
7. Skies of Arcadia
8. Eternal Arcadia
9. Skies of Arcadia Legends
10. Skies of Arcadia
Click to expand...

This man got it right
 
Himuro said:
I'm working on my list now. Since I started posting at Something Awful when I was perma banned, it's hard for me to make a list without details because if we do that at SA, we get banned. So I'm going to go through each 10 game and say why they're my favorites.
Click to expand...

looking forward to it
 
My top ten and their lasting impressions, in no particular order:

-Xenogears (music and story)
-Final Fantasy IX (music, story, art direction)
-Skies of Arcadia (characters and world)
-Dragon Quest VIII (characters, world, and music)
-Chrono Cross (music and story)
-Mass Effect (graphics, story, and world)
-Grandia II (battle system)
-Final Fantasy Tactics (story, characters, music)
-Final Fantasy XII (battle system and graphics)
-Blue Dragon (graphics)
 
I'm one of the few who liked Shadow Hearts 3, but I wouldn't put it on a top list. Story wise, its not as good as 1 or 2, but with pretty much an all new cast, I didn't expect it to be. Gameplay wise, it has the best battle system of the three games.
 
Dr. Kitty Muffins said:
FFX has no business being on that list. It was pure garbage.
Click to expand...

9_9

(Everyone else with a lame drive-by slam like this can generalize that eyeroll to themselves as well.)

FFX has a lot of great things going for it: an excellent customization system, an intensely strategic battle system (not shown off too well in random encounters, but which truly shines in boss fights and especially against the postgame arena bosses), a pretty vast amount of character development for the supporting cast (I still can't think of any other game that really established everyone's relationships to one another as effectively), and an interesting premise that's reasonably well executed.

I don't think there's any reasonable argument that can be made that it's "objectively" bad enough that no one should put it on a list like this.

Yaweee said:
-Baten Kaitos Origins... is it really THAT much better than the original?
Click to expand...

It's like a whole new world. Every part of BK that was good (fun battles, interesting sidequests, cool artstyle and world) is still there, but the voice acting and writing/localization, game design, flow, etc. are all drastically improved. A huge, wonderful surprise to me.

Speevy said:
You mean like awesome, with great pacing, packed with content, great characters and VA, lots of variety in enemy types, monster battles, music, etc.
Click to expand...

DQ8 would make the top ten with reservations from me, primarily due to the slow-ass battles (by series standards) and the pretty minimal system. But definitely a great RPG of the generation.
 
Yaweee said:
Though others might disagree...

1) It is distinctly low budget in terms of animation, voice acting and environmental designs.

2) The characters are... blah. It tries to be a comedy, but the only characters I liked were Mao and Frank The Ninja. I absolutely despise Hilda, and are mostly neutral on the rest.

3) The music. The first battle theme is awesome, but most of the second half of the game uses the other, kind of crappy, music. There are some good tracks, but I just don't feel a lot of them.

4) The game is generally... goofy, and rarely tries to be serious until very near the end. The comedy that it does aim for almost always falls flat, unless it involves Frank or Mao.

5) Absolutely completely retarded method to getting the 'Good' ending. Getting all of the transformations and totems isn't that bad, but maxing all of them? Wow, that's just a fucking terrible grind that doesn't involve any skill, just takes an assload of grinding.

6) TERRIBLY designed sidequests. Not only do you have to take pictures of every enemy to enter the bonus dungeon, but you have to take MULTIPLE pictures of enemies to trade for some of the unattainable cards. Honestly, who wants to sit around taking nine fucking pictures of the same goddamn enemy?

However, the battles are distinctly better/more-varied/harder than SH2, which does earn quite a few points in my book.

I forced myself through the game, but I honestly wish I hadn't. It made me question my very approach to the backlog, and made me realize that yes, it is okay to put a game down for good.
Click to expand...

As much as Shadow Hearts: From the New World (I'm not even going to call it SH3) was a disappointment, I still had some fun with it and ended up beating is 100%, and yes, even the good ending. I just had to take it for what it is, a spin-off game set in the Shadow Hearts world. The battle system is better in the Third game, and the game has a good beginning and an awesome ending. The middle is horrendously boring.

I can't really complain much about characters though. The first two Shadow Hearts games were notorious for having really interesting characters that received no development throughout the game. Zhuzhen becomes irrelevant after the you defeat Dehuai. Margarete is SUCH AN AWESOME IDEA, but she doesn't really do anything, and Keith is just kind of there.

I'd say it was actually worse in Covenant because some of the characters literally were just there and did absolutely nothing. At least Zhuzhen was strong in the first part of the game. Gepetto was useless from the start, Lucia was, honestly, one of the worst JRPG party members I can think of. She was terrible. Kurando had some story to him, but it was pretty late in the game at that point.

Still didn't stop them from being some of my favorite games, but I really wish they had made some of the other characters... actually characters.

Yaweee said:
-Baten Kaitos Origins... is it really THAT much better than the original? I got the... 4th playable character, but I'm not feeling the draw...
Click to expand...

You have no idea. It's better in almost every conceivable way. But finish the original. The game really does get a lot better after about 3 hours into the second disc. Finishing the original will make Origins that much better.

And I forgot about Skies of Arcadia: Legends. I'm going to switch that out instead of Symphonia.
 
Damn you all, GAF! BK1 has now risen to the top of my console Pile of Shame, to be resumed just after beating God Hand. How long are BK1 and BKO, respectively?

And has anyone else play Wild Arms 5? I need to hear more opinions...
 
Yaweee said:
And has anyone else play Wild Arms 5? I need to hear more opinions...
Click to expand...
It's pretty awesome, a fun RPG with a cute sometimes funny sometimes just okay story. You also get lot's of cameos from previous WA game characters, since I was such a fanboy of WA1 I loved those bits.
 
Yaweee said:
Damn you all, GAF! BK1 has now risen to the top of my console Pile of Shame, to be resumed just after beating God Hand. How long are BK1 and BKO, respectively?
Click to expand...

Assuming you play straight through and don't bother with any sidequests, BK1 is a pretty standard 35-hour RPG. BKO is probably a little longer, though I spent much more time doing sidequests in the middle of my playthrough so I could be overestimating.
 
Yaweee said:
Damn you all, GAF! BK1 has now risen to the top of my console Pile of Shame, to be resumed just after beating God Hand. How long are BK1 and BKO, respectively?
Click to expand...

BK1 is pretty easy to power through once you beat Anuenue. Mira is just plain fun to look at, and then once you get to Alfard, it starts to pick up. Hmm... I'd say BK1 is a solid 35-40 hour game.

BKO is longer. Maybe 50 hours, but there's a lot more to do besides the main story.
 
charlequin said:
Assuming you play straight through and don't bother with any sidequests, BK1 is a pretty standard 35-hour RPG. BKO is probably a little longer, though I spent much more time doing sidequests in the middle of my playthrough so I could be overestimating.
Click to expand...

35 hours??? Whaaa??? I'd say BK1 took me about 60 hours, same with BK:O... I did all the sidequests and the arena (except for
Pac-Man
) in BKO tho.
 
Since 98 huh? Ok I will give it a try (in no order)
FFXII
Final Fantasy Tactics
Ogre Battle 64
Skies of Arcadia Legends
Vagrant Story
Suikoden II
FFIX
Dragon Quest VIII
Grandia 2
Fire Emblem: PoR
 
Suikoden II.

It's been steadily pushing everything else out of the way to the point that I could call it my favorite JRPG, period.

(note: I'd make a full list, but the only newer JRPGs I've played to completion in the last few years have been Suikoden games.)
 
Final Fantasy X, Legend of Legaia, Paper Mario, and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door are the only RPGs I've really enjoyed over the last 10 years. Then again, I never gave Skies of Arcadia Legends a fair chance before selling it.

Darkman M said:
I wont call it garbage, but i laugh when people have it on their top jrpg's list i figure either....

1. It's their first jrpg
2, Final Fantasy is the only jrpg series they have played.
3. They just have shit taste and haven't played many great jrpg's.
Click to expand...
Your arrogance disgusts me.
 
What Himuro has to say about Final Fantasy X pretty much sums up why I love the game exactly. Both the customization and the characterization are incredibly well executed and a joy to return to again and again.
 
Umm, Chrono Cross...Skies of Arcadia...FF9...Grandia II...

I'm assuming Shenmue doesn't count...even though it fits the bill to me. I'm just about to start on VProfile & Xenogears, so hopefully I'll be able to add a few. Couldn't stand most of the Square PS2 stuff sadly.
 
RPGs wise in the last 10 years....

I enjoyed FFX, Xenosaga 1, FFVIII far an away the most

Chrono Cross, the SMT games are good, but I didn't think they were as good as above

FFIX and FFXII were solid but failed to deliver in a lot of ways

FFX-2 gets a lot of deserved and a lot of undeserved hate - but as a game it was fun to play (but not as fun as X).
 
Prime crotch said:
Did anyone ever played a jRPG made in the West by the name of Shadow Madness? Was it any good?
Click to expand...
Not really, next to Beyond the Beyond it is probably one of the most hated PSX RPG's. I really liked Beyond the Beyond by the way.
 
Anyone listing FF7 must be bad at math, since 10 years ago = 1998 and FF7 came out in 1997.

Anyway, here's my list in no particular order, excluding SRPGs, ARPGs, and Roguelikes since I don't consider them to be RPGs, and excluding games I haven't played.

Dragon Quest 7
Dragon Quest 8
Persona 3: FES
Final Fantasy 9
Final Fantasy 12
Vagrant Story
Suikoden 2
Suikoden 3
Romancing SaGa
Paper Mario

Yeah, that's a pretty limited list, and there are quite a few games I think would make the list if I played them (most notably the Shin Megami Tensei games prior to Persona 3). I haven't done a whole lot of jRPGing in the past 10 years.

Did anyone ever played a jRPG made in the West by the name of Shadow Madness? Was it any good?
Click to expand...

Hellll no. It is the worst console RPG i've played. Also, how the hell can you call it a jRPG if it isn't of japanese origin? jRPG is not a style, it is an indication of a game's developmental origin.
 
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