Six of the best JRPG series that aren’t Final Fantasy
There has never been a better time to be a JRPG fan. Where we used to have to wait years to get our hands on the weird and wonderful JRPG series that the genre had to offer, we now often get near-simultaneous localisations so we can play alongside those in Japan. While Final Fantasy usually soaks up a lot of the excitement around in the scene, there are plenty of JRPG series that also deserve your attention.
The six best JRPG series not called Final Fantasy
Not that I don’t love Final Fantasy, having written about several entries in the series before, but there are too many franchises that need some love too. Variety is the spice of life, after all, and each of these series brings something new to the genre that players need to experience.
Dragon Quest
While Final Fantasy is probably the best-known JRPG series of all time, it wasn’t the first. Dragon Quest is the series credited with starting the genre in the first place. Starting in 1986, Dragon Quest has had several main entries as well as numerous spin-offs. While the earlier games are tough to enjoy by today’s standards, many of the more recent titles are worth visiting if you’ve not played them yet.
Fire Emblem
This was a series that very nearly died before it reached its full potential. Fire Emblem Awakening was meant to be a swansong to the series, bringing in many of the elements that brought it a small but passionate fanbase. However, the game sold so well that the developers decided to make more, eventually giving us the waifu and husbando buffet that is Fire Emblem: Three Houses. As a tactical JRPG, the series puts players in control of armies of intriguing characters, each with their own personality and wants.
Neptunia
While this series has more ups and downs than most in the JRPG genre, the best entries are incredibly fun and inventive. Set in a world where gaming consoles are represented by women locked in eternal war, it has a wonderful tongue-in-cheek tone that stands out within the genre. There is plenty of humour and commentary on the state of gaming, all told with bountiful jiggle physics and fan-service. Hyperdimension Neptunia is a JRPG series that you should at least try out if you’re looking for something different.
The Legend of Heroes: Trails of…
The Trails series is actually several JRPG sub-series tied together with a shared world and shared mechanics — and in turn are part of the even larger Legend of Heroes series — but are otherwise separate in terms of plot and characters. While I adore many of these games, even I have to admit that the early PSP-era games can be painfully slow to get into if you’re less than patient.
However, by the time you reach the Trails of Cold Steel games, Nihon Falcom has perfected its formula and delivers one of the most engaging character-driven JRPGs of all time. Start with this sub-series and work your way back to Trails in the Sky, Trails from Zero and Trails to Azure discover more about the world and the characters you encounter.
Persona
This spin-off from the Shin Megami Tensei series by Atlus has grown into one of the most popular and celebrated JRPG series ever. It is remarkable partly because it manages to get better and better with every entry, particularly from Persona 3 onward. Each game is full of great characters, surprisingly deep gameplay, and stories that have something to say. While we’re likely to be waiting for several years before a sixth entry is released, at least games like Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable are getting a new lease on life on modern consoles.
Yakuza
The entire Yakuza series is built around a simple premise: what if the world of organised crime in Japan was silly? Every game features over-the-top characters and incredibly dramatic plots, all set between missions where you must help burp an adult baby or help a masochist find the sadistic escort of their dreams. The games feature many great protagonists, each with their own strengths and weaknesses and stories to tell. Yakuza is silly but also heart-warming at the same time.
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