(ThyBlackMan.com) On AfroGamers, you’ll see a lot on RPGs. It’s my favorite genre and Japanese RPGs played a massive part in me getting into them. We’re going to jump into seven classic JRPGs that are must play.
Definitive 7 Classic JRPGs
With the reboot of Final Fantasy VII dropping, let’s dive into seven of my JRPGs to play. Most of these games are available on Nintendo eShop, Xbox Live, or PSN. We’re jumping into JRPGs from 90s and early 00s period since that was a hot period for the genre with the Super Nintendo and PlayStation really pushing Japanese RPGs in the West.
Before we get this party started, Chrono Trigger didn’t the make the list. Yes, it’s must play and yes, it’s one of my all-time favorites but Kwame has also already dropped Chrono Trigger as a fave. Twice. So, I’m giving Chrono a rest this time. Let’s dive in!
Final Fantasy VI (SNES, Square 1994)
I got around to playing Final Fantasy VI while in high school. By that time, it had been out almost nine years and we were two console generation removed from the Super Nintendo. Now, I could’ve had Final Fantasy IV and V here, both are ridiculously dope JRPGs.
The reason VI is here instead is that it presented a new setting for console RPGs. Final Fantasy VI had sprinklings of fantasy in that magic and monsters were still there but now it was heavily sci-fi focused and would keep this direction for the main series going forward for the most part.
It’s like if Nintendo finally decided to do a futuristic, sci-fi setting for Legend of Zelda. Even Breath of Fire attempted sci-fi on the PS2. Being a 90s FF game, Square wasn’t going to drop the ball here and everything from gameplay to story were on point.
Pokemon Gold/Silver (GBC, Nintendo/Game Freak 2000)
Even though Pokemon and Super Mario are two of the reasons for the joke “Nintendo prints money.” When a Pokemon game drops, there’s going to be a ton of buzz and that game is going to sell. Main games, spinoffs—it doesn’t matter.
Pokemon Gold/Silver is my favorite game from the franchise’s GameBoy days. While Red/Blue laid down the template for the main series going forward, Gold/Silver pulled in features that would modernize it going forward. Such as the day-night cycle. Pokemon didn’t need it at the time. Hell, Square Enix still hadn’t put it into the main Final Fantasy games and it merged with the company that began using it first in JRPGs.
The communication device also made its debut in Gold/Silver. In-game, it was the email age and items could be sent through PC or stored there but Professor Oak was still sending assistants to you—why?
At any rate, Gold/Silver took an “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach gameplay and story-wise while giving players a new setting, new Pokemon, and few new features.
Breath of Fire II (SNES, Capcom 1994)
Now, Breath of Fire is something of an underappreciated elder statesman of Japanese RPGs. None of the games really brought anything new to the table innovation-wise, worked with a fantasy storyline, and ran the same two main characters in different settings each game for some reason.
I’d really like that explained to me. Capcom could’ve just made a continuous story with Ryu and Nina. Anyway, Breath of Fire II is my favorite of the franchise. While BoF III looked beautiful on PlayStation and by going the Capcom art style route instead of 3D, BoF II was a pure JRPG experience complete with an unraveling story, solid characters, simple gameplay mechanics, and difficult bosses.
Like most games on this list, if you’re not down with grinding in games or you’ve never been through 90s-00s mandatory grinding for XP, Breath of Fire II might not hit it for you.
Suikoden IV (PS2, Konami 2004)
This is a franchise I really rock with. I’d heard of Suikoden but I didn’t actually get to play it until 2005 with Suikoden IV. While I prefer the setting and characters of III—which I played sometime after—Suikoden IV is a great intro to the franchise.
The thing about Suikoden in general is that it keeps everything simple gameplay-wise but generally has this really good, sprawling story. These games tend to be particularly lengthy by JRPG standards of the time. Part of this is in the effort of collecting all 108 Stars of Destiny, important characters to the story who are drawn to the main character.
Not all of them are playable on your team but some have other things they can do for you such as crafting. Don’t expect Konami to reinvent the Japanese RPG wheel here but the game is worth playing just for the characters, story, and the challenge!
Final Fantasy IX (PS, Square 2000)
Now, Final Fantasy IX is one of the FF games that is appreciated but tends to get overshadowed by Final Fantasy VII and VIII from the franchise’s PlayStation era. That’s weird since it has some of the highest ratings in the franchise’s history—especially when paired against the previous two.
It’s a natural progression from the gameplay mechanics of VII and to a degree VIII while having stronger storytelling than VII. It’s what you’d expect from a sequel plus FFVII came out in 1997 and the game was developed at the same time VIII was developed.
So, great gameplay, very strong storytelling, good graphics for the period. The main reason I rock with IX is that it brought back the heavy fantasy direction of the pre-VI games. A game was released as a kind of throwback to the franchise’s roots and it turned out being more than that.
Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (PS2, Square Enix/Level-5 2004)
Before Dragon Quest VIII, I’d played the GameBoy ports of the first DQ games and Dragon Quest Monsters 2 on GameBoy Color is one of my favorites. Pretty much my favorite Pokeclone. After that, I didn’t get the chance to play DQVII on PlayStation. Enix’s DQ series was the closest competitor to Square’s Final Fantasy franchise and got to the JRPG starting line first by a couple of months.
That brings us to Dragon Quest VIII, a strong game on a console with a ton of JRPGs. It’s also the first main DQ game developed following Square and Enix’s merger into Square Enix. It’s also the first 3D DQ game. While it has some innovations to the franchise, a degree of crafting, and lots of side quests and stuff to do, the meat of this game is all in stuff Enix was known for.
It has strong characters who interact well with a main character with few lines, a beautiful cel shading art style, and turn-based combat. The story is solid, it’s not particularly different from other DQ games or other fantasy-oriented JRPGs in that you meet party members along the way—most of which won’t be regularly in your party.
One significant thing that Dragon Quest VIII had over Final Fantasy X-2 from 2003 or even Final Fantasy X is that the game is open and doesn’t feel linear in play even though the story is very linear. You could play for a while and not feel like the game is ending soon. It’s a significant but minor thing that is missing from many games now—even JRPGs.
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (SNES, Nintendo/Square 1996)
This was my first JRPG and RPG in general. I actually remember going to Blockbuster and checking out this game along with Street Fighter Alpha 2. What I loved about this game is that it gave Super Mario a strong story. Every game prior to Super Mario RPG was basically Princess Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser or Mario is in some spinoff painting or correcting history—some nonsense.
In Super Mario RPG, the Mushroom Kingdom is defined with specific places and towns. This isn’t Mario and Luigi adventuring through several uninhabited lands to find a princess who had no protection to begin with. It was a straight up turn-based JRPG and it was awesome.
I really wish there were sequels to this one but Paper Mario on the Nintendo 64 and the Mario & Luigi RPGs on portable are great successors.
What Are Your Classic JRPG Picks?
As always, I want to know your furious five or magnificent seven of classic JRPGs! It was a hard list to do since there were originally 21 games on the list from those generations that were must play titles and five was a head scratcher! Here’s hoping you don’t have that same trouble. Drop your list in the comments below!
Staff Writer; M. Swift
This talented writer is also a podcast host, and comic book fan who loves all things old school. One may also find him on Twitter at; metalswift.