JRPGs have a long, rich history that spans decades. With their often colorful, imaginative themes, fantastical premises, and combat that tends to balance rewarding, tactical gameplay with thrilling action, they’ve naturally gained a passionate following. JRPGs have evolved greatly over time — just look at the leap from the humble, pixelateddebutFinal Fantasycompared to the latest flashy rendition.
Yet, they’ve tended to adhere to a certain linearity and yield several successive plot beats and cutscenes. While often epic, a plurality of them don’t let players wandertoofar from the established track; even some of theaction-oriented romps. Still, a growing number of more dynamic, free-roaming, highly customizable action-JRPGs have made their presence known.
While one of the more linear examples of a dynamic, flexible RPG — this rare, overlooked JRPG gem on Xbox 360 (and a few other platforms) merges Western and Eastern sensibilities and brings a cool steampunk backdrop. The result is a unique role-playing romp that leaves an impression with its tactics-means-swift-shooter combat.
The game’s “tri-Attack Battle System” juggles real-time and turn-based inputs, allowing players to plot their next move, while keeping the pacing and intensity at a thrilling pace. The expansive, free-flowing and flashy combat — and a slew of rewarding missions — makes the player truly feel like a steampunk action hero.
If there was ever an ARPG from Japan that could be likened to Bethesda’sSkyrim,Dragon’s Dogmaand its sequel would be the games. In the name of hunting an elusive dragon, the christened “Arisen” will trek through deep and dark organic locales, slaying monsters, managing quests, and gathering goodies amidst strife and warfare between rival kingdoms.
Utilizing branching classes called Vocations, players will gain more power and versatility as they progress, with the help of two unique “Pawns” that aid in chaotic battles. With new/altered classes and a map that’s four times the size of its predecessor, this sequel makes for an especially epic, often overlooked ARPG.
Dragon’s Dogma 2is not a conventional JRPG, but it shares enough elements to warrant at least a mention.
Along with its whimsical, vibrant tone, theTalesseries is most known for — and thrives on — swift real-time combat that channels fighting games about as much as RPGs battles. WithArise, Bandai Namco mostly ditches the former trait, opting for a grittier, ominous look akin to open-world WRPGs.
It’s fitting, given the relative free-roaming nature of this ambitious sequel; traits that often comprise Western role-playing romps. Players are given more latitude to wander about at their own pace while largely carving their path — though the anime-style cutscenes and “Linear Motion Battle System” are still present and both shine.
Square Enix and tri-Ace’sStar Oceanseries was truly ahead of its time, quietly building a cult following in the 90s — thanks to its nuanced system of branching storylines through in-game actions and character choices. While this fantasy thriller has seen several entries to its name in the decades to follow, many point to PS2/PS4’sTill the End of Timeas the culmination of this shining star.
Featuring a multi-layered combat system that fuses tactics with chaotic action — which forces synchronicity and managing many aspects — the game keeps things interestingwithinits battle arenasandacross thevibrantStar Wars-esque sci-fi worldsbeyond. While not too newbie-friendly even after the more refinedDirector’s Cut, thisStar Oceanrendition greatly rewards players willing to navigate its many moving parts.
Sega’s premiere RPG attraction dates back to its humble Master System days, and the elaborate epic has come a long way since. In staying true to its groundbreaking gameplay,Phantasy Star Onlinepresents a quasi-MMO structure, which was novel for its 2000 origins. This more refined, vibrant sequel takes things further into the ether, with countless character customizations, campaign pathways, and goodies to explore and play with.
With a highly involved interface rife with several commands and hot keys that frame the vast worlds — made more easily traversable through Photon Dash and Glide abilities — this ARPG feels as much likeWorld of Warcraftasanyconsole game in the genre. The detail and flexibility extends from the thrilling real-time combat to bits as simple as player uploadable object symbols to communicate with others.
This follow-upto theZelda-esque adventureSecret of Manaharnesses the series' fun action leanings, while putting a colorful twist on the formula. Not only can players largely control the pace, placements, and strategies of the fast-paced fighting; but they’ll now cobble together their own campaign structure through the novel “Land Make” system.
This has players place biomes and points of interest at locations of their choosing on an empty grid map, giving a vibe somewhere between a choose-your-own adventure tale, non-linearMega Manstage selections, and digital tabletop assembly. Collectible artifacts generate unique lands which are then explored in isolation and vary in difficulty depending on different factors, creating a uniquely malable, unpredictable journey.
Following its lead from the distinctly epicXenoblade, this spinoff manages to eclipse at least theXenodebut for Wii despite its more divisive — but nonetheless fun — inclusion of customizable mechas called Skells.
Fans were excited to hear that essentially the last worthwhile title was finallypoached from Wii U’s library and made even more stunningon Switch. Along withZelda: Breath of the Wild, this game is perhaps the largest, most ambitious Nintendo-published game of the Wii or Wii U eras. With its countless sprawling worlds of impressive verticality, ample distinct sidequests, impactful character interactions, and ahugecampaign, it’s certainly among the most memorable.
