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Atlus are fast becoming the leaders in innovative JRPG’s not because of any one innovation but because as a package they put out consistently strong JRG’s that adhere to what people love about the genre but mechanically innovate successfully in areas that other companies ignore
I gotta give props to Falcom. They're basically the underdogs in this group. Lower budget, lower sales numbers on average than the other two, and obviously less popular with the general populace. But their games are consistently fun, and there's generally good quality put into them. Not to mention the fanbase is extremely loyal. I do believe Atlus may come out on top simply because of the quality of the multiple games they released this year. The reaction to Metaphor has been extremely positive as well, and it has brought even more newcomers in. Square has always had the numbers, especially because of their legacy, but I think Metaphor actually has a good chance against Rebirth for the awards. Either way, us JRPG players are all winners this year. Can't wait to see what next year brings.
Man i can't stand to cold steel really bad game imo, can i jump to reverie i really want to know what happens to Lloyd and sss team and people say that's epilogue for azure, is it true?
Man, I really think Monolith Soft has a huge opportunity to disrupt the JRPG landscape when the Switch 2 comes out next year. I would love to be able to see more of their work unhindered by the constraints of the Switch. Realistically however, I think Atlus is taking the cake right now with just the consistent quality and accessibility (most of their games being on pretty much every modern platform).
I agree about Monolith Soft being limited by Nintendo's weak hardware. The sheer scope and size of Xenoblade games would lend itself to a more powerful machine. My experience in Xenoblade games has been hampered by slow downs and frame rate drops even though overall I still love the series and enjoyed each of the games to varying degrees. Hopefully the successor to the Switch can really let the developers go wild and design the massive beautiful worlds Xenoblade is known for without being limited by outdated hardware.
@@MJ-oi6ul I mean not fully. They helped co-develop both BOTW and TOTK, but they mainly just work on Xenoblade. I don’t think you need a large repertoire of franchises to be a titan of the industry. The amount of work and innovation that goes into Xenoblade series I would far and away say surpasses most individual franchises from other companies, if not the whole list of franchises they have.
My man asking the important questions out here! I'm always honored to be a part of your videos, brother. This one was a hard one for me because recency bias says Atlus but my childhood tells me Square all the way. Keep up the good work my friend.
I'm always grateful to have your support! You already know I gotta challenge you guys haha It's definitely a tough question for sure! That's what I wanted to know! Thank you always for your amazing beats, you keep up the amazing work as well friend!
I wouldn't consider Trails from CS on having good art direction, though. It's embarrassing at times how enormous everyone's tits are. Don't want to play that shit around anyone lmao.
Humm, I mean Square is still the best, Visions of Mana, Dragon Quest, Nier, Final Fantasy, Romancing Saga, Octopath Traveller II was so beautiful and games you mentioned such as Strangers of Paradise or Star Ocean the Divine Force or even FF XVI are amazing, damn, Strangers has such a neat combat, FF XVI combat is peak, Atlus is pretty solid too, the Xeno saga is fantastic and the Tales saga too, I like Tales more than many other games, Tecmo with Atelier Ryza and the Atelier series too.
outside of the ones listed in the video, I would definitely also nominate Monolith Soft and RGG. Xenoblade has come a long way (lol just got to the point where you mentioned it) from a small niche title that a fan group attempted to prop up, to one of the more popular and well known JRPG series out there. I know RGG is known for being more action rpg than traditional jrpg but with their love and care put into really nailing the vibe of an old school jrpg in a modern setting with Ichiban & Like A Dragon (8 too I imagine, but I haven't played it yet so I can't fully commit xD) they at least deserve a runner up nomination imo. Bandai Namco might be crawling back up that list too, we'll have to see how they handle the Tales franchise in the future but Graces getting a remaster is a huge step in the right direction.
This is a hard one to answer. I would break it down to this. Square Enix: King of AAA JRPG/RPGS (FF Series). Brandi Namco: King of name brand JRPG/RPG Dragon Ball/ONE PIECE). Atlus: King of Original JRPGS/RPG (Persona Series/Etrian Odyssey). Konami used to be King of Storytelling JRPGS (Suikoden). Nihon Falcom: Current King of Storytelling JRPGS and continued sequel (Trails Series). Monolith Soft: King of keeping it safe JRPGS/RPGS (Xeno Series). The True King of JRPGS back in the day is SEGA. (Shining Force, Persona, Phantasy Star, Skies of Arcadia, Valkyria Chronicles, Y's)
Storytelling is also good with Tactics, Xenogears, and Vagrant Story. Konami had Suikoden 2, Capcom had BoF series, Atlus has SMT and Persona, Bandai has Tales (at least Berseria and Abyss)... People dont seem to mention Vanillaware, tho... Odin Sphere was amazing Altho ultimate comfort food goes to Dragon Quest... so cozy
Monolith is the King of keeping it safe? If anything it's the complete opposite, they're the gods of pushing boundaries in this genre ever since Xenosaga. Between the unparalleled worlds, the ambitious thematic commentary, the volume of content within each game, the batshit combat systems and the fact that they manage it all under Nintendo's limiting hardware is just a level of inspiration that I don't see an equivalent to among any of these companies. Never have I seen a series go out of its way to divide a fanbase with each entry with elements that feel so estranged from each other (especially between XC1 and 2) and then turn around and smash it all together and produce a game of the year contender that's generally well received by all sides. The only reason they don't deserve the top spot is they lack the same volume of output as some of the other top competitors (Atlus), but they're rapidly gaining ground as what they actually do have is very top-heavy.
This is an interesting because they're all so good but I'll try to rank them in terms of personal favorites currently. 1. Atlus: These guys are really great at their craft and they can bring in a massive audience into playing their games. Not only that but the quality is absolutely phenomenal. Whether it's Persona, SMT, or the new Metaphor, Atlus knows how to reel in newer and veteran players into playing these games with their stylish presentation, likable characters that you can interact with and addicting combat. 2. Falcom: This probably won't be a surprise to most people but my reasoning is slightly different. Personally, I'm more of a massive YS fan than I am of Trails so whenever they make an YS game, I'm always excited to dig in and play them. However, I also think Trails is great as well and this series really demonstrates how Falcom are amazing at world-building, engaging cast of characters, and an interesting storyline over the span of 9+ games. When it comes to consistency and quality, they're pretty dang solid. Honestly you can make an argument for Falcom being on top but it's a close second for me. 3. Square Enix: While they're definitely not on the same level as they used to be back in the 90s and early 2000s era, Square still makes solid JRPG releases that I enjoy quite a bit. Games such as Star Ocean Second Story R, the Mana games, FF7R, and even Dragon Quest. They still got it in them but they just need more of a push to bring back some more true classics. 4. Monolithsoft- I really appreciate the effort they put into the Xenoblade Series games. While the XC series isn't my favorite of the Xeno franchises, these games are still very well crafted and fun to play. More specifically, Xenoblade Chronicles 1&3. Didn't really like 2 that much but besides that whichever one you jump into, these games will keep you well fed. I don't think they're at the top but they definitely can get there depending on how their next project goes. Overall, all these companies are phenomenal but if I had to crown a king, it's obviously Atlus. In terms of quality, consistency, and appeal, they pretty much exceed in all categories in my opinion.
ATLUS is the current king of JRPG. Square lost that title a long time ago. My personal favorite are the Tales of series, they hold a special place in my heart.
I love the tales of series, it pained me not to include it but it just hasn’t been active at all. Thankfully there is graces remaster but yeah…I think I’m leaning towards Atlus too
@@TyandOnGoing all of these comments really are making me realize that the studio no longer matters as much as it used to, it feels like the creatives have much more sway in these projects now.
Atlus getting better and better, I do think they are one of the biggest contender for King of JRPGs right. I loved every game I played from them so far. With Square Enix I feel the same as you, I don't love the Square Enix from today as much as I loved the Square(Soft) Enix of the 90s and the 2000s. I do think the direction thry are going with Final Fantasy is hurting them and I feel like sticking to the first ten manline games of the series. I would love a remaster of Chrono Trigger on modern systems though. From Falcom I only played Trails from Zero and I didn't like it. Stopped playing it after reaching chapter 4 and playing it for 60 hours. I will not say they are in the last last place from those who were mentioned since I only played one game, but I didn't get a good first first impression of the trails series, maybe I try Y's. Never played a Xenoblade game so I don't know much about Monolith Soft but since the Xenoblade games seem are one of the most popular JRPGs I think it was right to mention them. Maybe I give Xenoblade a try.
Divine Force was actually seen as a huge comeback for us Star Ocean fans. But Valkyrie Elysium was a very weird release for sure. I still like it anyway.
I feel that there still are some traces of the Squaresoft days. They keep pumping out all these HD2D Art Style games and HD ports of old games. Even though they closed, Tokyo RPG Factory released 3 BANGER Old School RPGs. So I hope buying those smaller RPGs are going to encourage more budget for those titles. Harvestella was another randomly good "smaller" game to come from square recently.
If SE can stay down that AA release angle they would be so back! So I agree with you! They need to get in touch with that risky and creative side again
I think when your portfolio of games is diverse like Square, stinkers will inevitably happen. As i previously said, people don’t talk about the fact that Square created HD2D which is a major factor in today’s old school style jrpgs. Monolith, Falcom and Atlus are excellent in their own right. They know their strengths and weaknesses so they stick to what works while Square covers all bases. While they are clearly not the Square we grew to love, they still make some creative games like Voice of cards trilogy, Diofield Chronicle and Dungeon Encounters.
@@Suikojunkie I 110% agree with the ending. Square really has been trying new ideas and it is cool to see. And let’s be honest, the reputation of Square is massive in the West when compared to other studios.
@@wisteriaotaku Square Enix is just leeching off the reputation of what Squaresoft built. Yeah, while they have DQ and Octopath, the rest of their catalogues are outright stinkers or average at best.
@@suiken3149 I think a lot of this comes down to the dissonance between developers and executives. Square Enix today has great developers and creatives, but oftentimes the ambitions of these truly excellent devs get turned away or soured by poor decisions made by the executives.
Great list! It’s almost impossible to choose just one best company. Have you played Triangle Strategy from Square Enix? It’s one of the best games I’ve played in years. Especially if you like Strategy RPGs.
Before 2007 I would've said Square but after i got introduced to "Persona 3" (Shout-out to the play n trade employee that recommended it) its been Atlus for me, i prefer turn based JRPGS and they always find a way to keep the combat systems from getting stale besides thet fact. I can't really speak on Falcom because I've only played maybe 5hrs of a "Trails" game on the psp yrs back. Now Square is a little tricky for me because I've played more Square JRPGS then any others, but have found myself bored of them pretty often. I've played almost all of their major JRPGS from ps1-present and only a few of those games captivated me "FF9", "FF12" (Personal favorite) "Chrono Cross", "FF Tactics Advance", "KH2" & "The World Ends With You" (Top 5) "Star Ocean:tteot" all of the others regardless of popularity were just "meh" to me, i do plan on revisiting some though. I am playing through my 1st "Dragon Quest" game so maybe I'll have another to add to that list. With that being said i wish Capcom would revive some older IPs, because "Breath of Fire 3" is imo the best JRPG ever made I also feel that the "Battle Network" franchise needs to get more recognition those games were 🔥
You could make a solid case for any of these. I personally don't care for Square Enix' output, and haven't really since the merger, but they've definitely had a few bangers since. That said, to reach GOAT status again would require a confluence of raw talent, manic decisionmaking, and fuck-you money, none of which they have now. You'd have to match FFVII, Vagrant Story, and Xenogears, to say nothing of their weird and wonderful one-offs, like Racing Lagoon or Einhander. I simply can't picture them being capable of that anymore.
The current king is hard to decide honestly, but the race is really close for this era. Falcom, Atlus, & Monolith have put in serious work this past decade. And yes, Square Enix has made a lot of missteps this gen but for the number of remakes & remasters they've given us, they will always have my praise. Unlike a certain company who's now only recently getting into the remaster business after actively ignoring it for years. Anyways, all four are close to the top for me.
I love your response man! Fair and balance! I respect it for sure! For me I loved star ocean second story r, it was literally my JRPG of 2023! So square definitely still has some sauce left
Right now, Falcom is the company that anything they make, anything at all, I will buy. They made a new trails game? I'm buying it. They made a new Ys game? I'm buying it (playing through Ys 10 right now). They released a PSP era game that is really a Zwei successor and called it a trails game? Doesn't matter, I'm still buying it (Nayuta Boundless Trails was really good). Golden age Square (when they were releasing FF 4 - 10 and Chrono Trigger and Cross) was the only other company where anything they made, I bought. That being said, while the fandom for Falcom is passionate and intense (I saw that first hand at anime expo in LA this summer) they don't have the mass market appeal of the big boys. I would rate Atlus as the current #1 developer in the space; it seems like everything they make is a banger. I played Persona 3 Reload earlier this year and it's a terrific game. Square Enix is also still a top line studio, but the problem is that I feel like a lot of their games are "very good" and not "all-time bangers" like Atlus and Falcom are putting out right now. No one makes more 7 out of 10 and 8 out of 10 JPRGs than Square, but the 9 out of 10s and 10 out of 10s are rare. Bandai Namco is also right up there are the top of the list, alongside Monolithsoft, for me. The Tales of series is one of the foundational franchises in the JRPG space, and no discussion of JRPGs is complete without Bandai Namco.
I can’t choose. They are too good! I mean, not all RPG’s are created equal. All I know I’m getting all the good ones! Don’t forget Mario and Luigi Brothership! It’s amazing! I personally don’t like Atlas’s games too much due to the calendar system. Because of that I could never give them a 10. But Refantazio is a 8.5 for me. I recently beat it. Trials Through Day Break is amazing. I need to beat it! I have a lot of these and I didn’t even start them! 😂 I have to start Ys Nordics. Dragon Quest started the whole JRPG genre on NES so I’ll always have a soft spot for them. They lead the way for Final Fantasy, SMT/Persona. Star Ocean 2 Remake is amazing! Try that one if you haven’t. Oh shoot it was your game of the year for 2023! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Monolith Soft is definitely apart of it. All the XBC’s games is amazing! You have a good video man. I’m gonna share it with my friends!
Square Enix WAS the king of JRPGs, especially since they gave us my favorite thing ever, that being Xenogears. As for which is currently the king of JRPGs, I'd say it has to be Falcom and Monolith Soft. I mean think about it, Falcom is doing all the things Square Enix was doing way back when, which is giving us all the high quality goods, and then of course there's Monolith Soft for making the Xeno franchise (my favorite gaming franchise to this day).
So I grew up with Squire Enix making some of my favorite jrpg of all time final fantasy series, kingdom hearts series, and dragon quest series, I love all those series especially kingdom hearts. I also grew up with Nintendo jrpg games like fire emblem and Pokémon. Bandi namco also made some of my favorites like the tales of series. I never got into persona so atlus never made anything I really liked. But my favorite jrpg game of all time is from monolith soft, Xenoblade Chronicles 1 is one of my favorite jrpg games of all time. I apologize for any wrong spelling.
It's technically not 100% confirmed, but Persona 6 is likely to be released next year. with P3 reload and metaphor Refantazio out of the way, and Besides P5X global release, they probably won't make any more P5 spin-offs. And several leakers including Midori say the same leak about P6 that it will be released in 2025 and that it will be set in an art school l, that it will be an open world game, and that the theme will be Black and white and modern vs traditional
I am a JRPG and SRPG gamer to the core, Square Enix i only finished FFX and loved it but the other FF i honest to God i played FF 7,8,9, and couldn't bring myself to finish them and Dragon Quest 12 is amazing and the only dragon quest game i finished , Atlus has one of my favorite games Persona series and doing an amazing job in every persona release good enough for me, Falcon i dont like any of their games even thought i tried .
Right now personally Atlus and Falcom are neck and neck. Haven't played any square games in awhile, currently waiting for the FF7R games to end so I can binge them. There's also Monolith which is good but I don't vibe with the gameplay very much.
I gatta be real falcom is consistent but that consistancy is also leads to their games bring all over the place, while atlus's only " failure" recently is soul hackers 2 for being boring but other than that tgey mostly hace bangers
Square, it is not even a competition. Always try to innovate while still have fantastic turn base title like bravely default. Atlus just play it too safe and have some of the most predatory practice in gaming just re release their game to sell it for full price again. Falcom is light year behind.
i could say yhr opposite for square and atlus. my experience it's always the niche stuff that appeals to me as far as square goes but their big stuff they seem more proud of i just don't feel anything to me. i personally feel like they focus on the wrong things FF specially as it's been rocky for the past couple years meanwhile dragon quest, draken/nier, bravely, or even the world ends with you is in a much better place as game quality goes but i swear as far as the west goes they seem ashamed for it...for some reason and hardly uses them
Atlus is putting out one great game after another and is the clear winner for me. For #2 i'd have to go with Falcom just because i love the Trails games. Square Enix still solid but coasting on past glory imo. Can't say i'm not bias here. I'm a bit mad at them for destroying the once great FF franchise with 20 years of trash FF games.
Kings of modern JRPGs are Black Souls 2 and MGQ Paradox, but you're not ready for this discussion. However, if by "king" we mean the best graphical fidelity and consistency, then yeah, sure.
My ranking nowadays and it's not even close: 1. Atlus King of RPGs (Story, character building, design, dungeons, turn base evolution, music) 2. Falcom (Consistency, soundtrack, TLOH series is amazing and characters are awesome,) 3. Square Enix (shadow of its former self, they drinking too much of that modern woke kool-aid shit)
People says Square Enix but with the FF16 and vision of mana disappointment (which are their two newest IP because Rebirth is a Remake) they are staying behind of Atlus and Falcom... for me. I did enjoy Daybreak, Ys 10 and Metaphor this year (Vengeance and Reload were good but again remakes/re-release).
i feel like sqaure really want to like their big works that endup not as good but the actual good stuff they put out randomly feel like they are ashamed of it and then slap themselves on the back if it's a success anyway and don't always captilise on it
Square Soft used to be the emperor of gaming in the 90s early 2000s. Can hardly say the same for Square Enix nowadays. Atlus/Sega is catching up real fast to dethrone Square Enix.
I mean if you're only talking the last 12 months then it's Atlus. However, it's Square Enix and it's not close. This conversation is a bit like comparing Jordan and LeBron though. Basically if you think LeBron is better than Jordan you're just wrong
@@kali-qgames1301 personally they seem more with it, they feel more confidant in that their games will both sell and will do well. with square in the past decade i have had my fair share of frustration, they have put out good stuff but it's from the niche or lesser known stuff rather than the stuff they want me to get and i swear they shoot themselves in the foot where they hardly captalise on them
For me square enix, after the depart of Sakaguchi struggle to find the good direction. Even if i love Nier automata and Dragon quest XI, i think they are missing the mark a lot with ff (even if i like FF7 Remake and 16), too safe for me with team Asano, too focus on gacha mobile games (the scenario of Nier Reincarnation was wasted on a mobile game for me). For me they lost the place as the king and lost to atlus (:p This is the scenario of metaphor re fantazio lol). I hope the way Sega (which include atlus and ryugagotoku), Nihon Falcom ...etc make them think a little about turn-based is dead or only niche. I understand they want to focus on more action combat for ff, but i think 'party based' action like FF7 remake should be the way to go (What we liked about ff is having big party with a lot of characters and customization and interaction, which lack totally in ff16). But finally at least FF14 is consistent and beloved by fans but i prefer playing like 10 complete jrpg than putting 1000 hours in a mmo).
i like dq and draken/nier myself but i swear sqaure are shooting themselves in the foot of not capitalizing those and a few others over modern FF, yoko taro has only just barely got something to work on not long ago and despite after the steady success of automata and ver 1.22. the ff7 remake when judged as remake and as a game series? i don't think it's great and all the dragon quest remakes that have come from the 2000s and even now with 3's and later 1 and 2's will blow ff7's out the water like a nuke
So long post as I will explain my reasonings. I'm going to start with the developers and publishers I don't think deserve the title and my choice of who I think is deserving is at the bottom. Now, this is going to include published titles as games developed are still from that publisher. A publisher isn't going to just fund an entire game without any knowledge of what's going on, that's why there are members from the publisher that are producers that give their input or to see how the project is going. They're not going to just throw their money away. Unless of course they're Sony, then they'll be fine throwing away $400 million on the development of an Overwatch clone in a market that's now gone free to play. So as for Atlus and Sega, who have also published Vanillaware's Unicorn Overlord and 13 Sentinels as new games in the last 10 years. There's the Like a Dragon franchise and its spinoffs like Like a Dragon Ishin, Judgment, and Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise. Most of these games take place in Kamurocho, Sotenbori, or Yokohama, and most of these games have what's mostly the same combat system even if it's a different gameplay. They're certainly no God Hand, but the games are overall good, yet the same games on a constant basis. The turn based games have depth built into the combat system, but with character movement you can hardly put that depth into action when enemy placement on the field just doesn't allow it and they're no longer allows it, and you don't even have to, Like a Dragon, Yakuza 7, isn't really a difficult game if you don't change your classes(which actually reduces your characters stats as both your leel and your class level determine your stats, and for what, a new class that gets most of the same variety of skills?) As for Atlus games, there's been very little that's released in the last decade. SMT5, Persona 5, Persona 3 Reload, Soul Hackers 2, the last few Etrian games on the 3DS, SMT4, SMT4 Apocalypse(which like SMT5 uses the same Tokyo in SMT4 but the events and everything surrounding the entire game are completely different,) Persona Q and Persona Q2 which are Etrian games with Etrian take on SMT gameplay, and Etrian Dungeon. Also ports of Radiant Historia, and SMT Strange Journey,. An expansion of the same game is not a new game, I'm glad I get to have more content but Persona 5 Royal and SMT5 Vengeance are expansions of the same games and they mostly take you through the same content with new text. But here's a criticism with the games as good as they are. You play a SMT game or an SMT spinoff and you're playing the exact same combat system with slight differences. Don't get me wrong, these games have excellent gameplay, but you basically start from the very beginning, you start working up with your low level skills like agi, zio, bufu, lunge, etc, you build your demons or your characters around different skill set ups, and progression between each game is literally identical. Yes, on Strange Journey hitting a weakness will have all matching alignment characters deal an extra attack, on Soul Hackers 2 each character that hits a weakness will increase the combo meter and deal damage on all enemies, SMT games since SMT3 now use the press system for half turns to completely losing all your turns, Persona has the one more system or baton pass system, etc. The systems are different enough that it's a varied experience and lessens the repetion, but they still are still mostly the same systems and the progression is always identical, always. That is one thing that never changes from SMT and the spinoffs and it feels very samey across the board. So great games, but there's a real lack of variety. Even Metaphor Refantazio is just a spin on elements from Persona and SMT with different names and settings. Falcom has the same problem as Atlus but for better or worse. Starting with The Legend of Heroes Trials in the Sky, the Trails series has had the exact same gameplay for every single game in the series with a slight difference between each game. Every single game feels like it's got the same combat system. Every single game is full of text dumps to pad out the game time and offer far less of a game. You're literally playing one very long game and you're paying $60 per release to do it. On the other hand we got the Ys4 remake with Memories of Celceta, which is the new style of Ys that started with Ys7 and then we got Ys8 which is one of the absolute best action RPGs of all time. I platinumed this game on the PS4, I bought it on the PS5 and platinumed it again, and I'm someone who doesn't really go for platinums unless I really love the game. Ys9 had better combat, but the overall game itself was a bit of a disappointment, especially the massive text dumps that went on forever that seemed to be there to once again pad out the games. All my mail is sent to another location on hold so despite preordering it, I haven't yet played Ys10. So before stating the company that I'm going to choose, I''m going to say that From Software despite just being a Souls factory pretty much, is more deserving than all of the above. Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, Sekiro(despite my not caring for it,) and Elden Ring have far more effort in their designs across the board than any of the above listed games. The meticulous design of each of the games areas, every single game may borrow some aspects of a previous games AI and attack animations, but the amount of new enemies, the amount of new attack animations, the amount of bosses with massive move sets, the amount of weapon variety, not just weapons, but the variety of weapons in each game. Bloodborne for instance has 27 different weapons including the DLC and each weapon has a trick form, each non trick or trick form alone, not combined, have more attack animations than every other weapon set in a Souls, and an equal amount in Elden Ring with the inclusion of dual wield and jumping attacks. What other single RPG have you seen communities live and breath that single game outside of another Souls like such as Nioh or an MMO? Now, my username may be kupomogli, it may reference Final Fantasy, but this choice is far from biased, the explanations should make that clear, but while 2006-2014 Square Enix would never have been my choice as they fell from grace during that period of time even with their solid handheld offerings, it actually would have been Atlus then, Square Enix has been on point. They may have made stupid financial decisions, their games have been good. And one thing that Square Enix should be commended above others is that Square Enix is one of the few companies that takes risks with their properties and actually develop different games, different gameplay mechanics. They don't just release the same game, make a few changes and slap a number 2 on it, we're getting a completely different experience across each game, something that's lost on the entire video game industry. Square Enix didn't just pay for Star Ocean the Second Story R to be ported, they paid for the game to be remade, both graphically and gameplay. The exact same thing happened with Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, the game was a remaster with a new combat system which just drastically improved the experience and as much as I loved the PSP version, this new version is one of my favorite action games of all time. Starting a brand new game on hard mode, the changes that were made to the enemy skills where you can attack bosses to reduce the damage or completely break them out of using a powerful skill. Then Tactics Ogre Reborn, the games second remake by the developers. Tactics Ogre on PSP was a bad game, it had some good ideas but was incredibly grindy. They took what was good with Tactics Ogre on PSP and they perfected it. Tactics Ogre Reburn is a 10/10 game and this is the only game in this entire post that I'd say as such, they took the PSP version of the game, completely overhauled the games mechanics and statstics and developed an absolute masterpiece, a near perfect game. Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a game that I, like many others, trashed before release because Square Enix told us they were selling us the game in parts, that we'd have to pay three times for what was going to be a The Walking Dead episodic treatment, but what we got was a game. There are a lot of people who will still try to argue against the fact, but they took the first four hours of Final Fantasy 7 and they expanded it into a game that doesn't feel like it was padded. The combat system is simple yet incredibly deep, the entire Midgar section being rewritten to really improve on the characters made me love these characters even more. You've got one of the greatest cast of characters in any RPG and Final Fantasy 7 Remake made them even more likeable, this includes enemies as well. I'm going to add a video link below skipped to the Rude battle, both showing just how much more depth the game has with its mechanics and how quickly the battle can be completed if you know what you're doing, but additionally just showing how much cooler Rude is in this game than in the original game(and come on, the Turks were always awesome.) ruclips.net/video/G0y3YWnQTCs/видео.html Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Final Fantasy 14, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line's meta game, World of Final Fantasy, Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy is the closest we'll ever get to a modern day God Hand, Trials of Mana, Visions of Mana, Mana trilogy with the first ever "official localization" of the second game, SaGa Emerald Beyond, Romancing SaGa 2 remake, SaGa Frontier Remaster(with the cut content being added to include a Fuse chapter,) Octopath Traveler 1 and 2, Bravely Default, Bravely Second, Bravelyl Default 2, Final Fantasy 16, etc. Square Enix is the king and it isn't even close.
No one is gonna mention the studio intelligent systems from nintendo the guys that made fire emblem, paper mario, advance wars etc? honestly wouldnt even put falcom up there, the total trails series sold only 8M since 1981 or smth.... Its honestly between atlus and square enix, one easy way to judge is by financial report if the studio is doing great then the financials reflect that. So the Adjusted EBITDA for atlus is 27% pretty good, now square enix financial report is an bit different but the 30% decrease in operation income YOY is enough to give an clear view how bad their investements and lack of new mobile FF gaia is doing for them Obviously for us gamers the only thing we care about are games, and atlus clearly wins this comparison i mean P3R,overlord unicorn, SMTVV, metaphor are all amazing JRPG the only ones square put up this year that are worth talking about are ff7 rebirth and dq3 neither ending up an massive financial success or resounding player seal of aprovement. so its atlus from financial and player reflection.
Realistically the top 2 can only be Atlus or Square Enix, the others don't have anything on the hype of Persona 6 or Dq 12 those are gonna be huge. If we take a look into the fanbase of these Jrpgs it's pretty clear in my opinion, well for the most part. Love Falcom, but they don't have the hype waves Tbh, Trails through daybreak and the sequel were a lot weaker then Metaphor: ReFantazio a new ip and Persona 3 reloaded, come on lets be real, also FF 7 remake has goty probably, FF16 seemed to do well too. Monolift soft only has Xenoblade right now, also amazing dlc best in the business, they keep cooking, but they need more then that to be king. Atlus will be the clear king when Persona 6 comes around i think Dq 12 will be right thier with it, FF is kinda in a decline.
Square-enix was the king when they were Squaresoft but i would say in this day and age it would be Falcom for me purely for the trails series though Atlus is a close second.
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@@kali-qgames1301 absolutely. The sheer quality of Jrpgs we have gotten this year and last has been phenomenal around the board.
Atlus are fast becoming the leaders in innovative JRPG’s not because of any one innovation but because as a package they put out consistently strong JRG’s that adhere to what people love about the genre but mechanically innovate successfully in areas that other companies ignore
I agree with this! The quality and audience they are bringing to JRPGs are absolutely incredible
I gotta give props to Falcom. They're basically the underdogs in this group. Lower budget, lower sales numbers on average than the other two, and obviously less popular with the general populace. But their games are consistently fun, and there's generally good quality put into them. Not to mention the fanbase is extremely loyal.
I do believe Atlus may come out on top simply because of the quality of the multiple games they released this year. The reaction to Metaphor has been extremely positive as well, and it has brought even more newcomers in. Square has always had the numbers, especially because of their legacy, but I think Metaphor actually has a good chance against Rebirth for the awards.
Either way, us JRPG players are all winners this year. Can't wait to see what next year brings.
Falcom wore out their welcome when they stretch Trails games too much. Ys is good though
Metaphor beat FF7R at the game awards. It even beat the Elden Ring dlc! JRPG and Story of the year went to Metaphor.
@@joeyisabsb1 Guess I was right then. Cool. 👍
Man i can't stand to cold steel really bad game imo, can i jump to reverie i really want to know what happens to Lloyd and sss team and people say that's epilogue for azure, is it true?
Man, I really think Monolith Soft has a huge opportunity to disrupt the JRPG landscape when the Switch 2 comes out next year. I would love to be able to see more of their work unhindered by the constraints of the Switch. Realistically however, I think Atlus is taking the cake right now with just the consistent quality and accessibility (most of their games being on pretty much every modern platform).
Do they even make games other than xenoblade? It’s like mentioning gamefreak which only does pokemon doesn’t count as a company for rpgs in general
Monolithsoft are the best
Yes they make other games too
I agree about Monolith Soft being limited by Nintendo's weak hardware. The sheer scope and size of Xenoblade games would lend itself to a more powerful machine. My experience in Xenoblade games has been hampered by slow downs and frame rate drops even though overall I still love the series and enjoyed each of the games to varying degrees. Hopefully the successor to the Switch can really let the developers go wild and design the massive beautiful worlds Xenoblade is known for without being limited by outdated hardware.
@@MJ-oi6ul I mean not fully. They helped co-develop both BOTW and TOTK, but they mainly just work on Xenoblade. I don’t think you need a large repertoire of franchises to be a titan of the industry. The amount of work and innovation that goes into Xenoblade series I would far and away say surpasses most individual franchises from other companies, if not the whole list of franchises they have.
I loved Final Fantasy XVI so much that I did 3 playthroughs to get the platinum and 100% both DLCs
That’s legit right there! That’s what it’s all about! Thanks for sharing !
My man asking the important questions out here! I'm always honored to be a part of your videos, brother. This one was a hard one for me because recency bias says Atlus but my childhood tells me Square all the way. Keep up the good work my friend.
I'm always grateful to have your support! You already know I gotta challenge you guys haha
It's definitely a tough question for sure! That's what I wanted to know!
Thank you always for your amazing beats, you keep up the amazing work as well friend!
Falcom because they always hit the trifecta of Hype Music, Interesting Characters, and art direction.
I'm starting to see the appeal as well! They are consistently good!
I wouldn't consider Trails from CS on having good art direction, though. It's embarrassing at times how enormous everyone's tits are. Don't want to play that shit around anyone lmao.
In terms of my personal enjoyment my big four are Falcom, Monolith Soft, Square and Altus.
Humm, I mean Square is still the best, Visions of Mana, Dragon Quest, Nier, Final Fantasy, Romancing Saga, Octopath Traveller II was so beautiful and games you mentioned such as Strangers of Paradise or Star Ocean the Divine Force or even FF XVI are amazing, damn, Strangers has such a neat combat, FF XVI combat is peak, Atlus is pretty solid too, the Xeno saga is fantastic and the Tales saga too, I like Tales more than many other games, Tecmo with Atelier Ryza and the Atelier series too.
outside of the ones listed in the video, I would definitely also nominate Monolith Soft and RGG.
Xenoblade has come a long way (lol just got to the point where you mentioned it) from a small niche title that a fan group attempted to prop up, to one of the more popular and well known JRPG series out there.
I know RGG is known for being more action rpg than traditional jrpg but with their love and care put into really nailing the vibe of an old school jrpg in a modern setting with Ichiban & Like A Dragon (8 too I imagine, but I haven't played it yet so I can't fully commit xD) they at least deserve a runner up nomination imo.
Bandai Namco might be crawling back up that list too, we'll have to see how they handle the Tales franchise in the future but Graces getting a remaster is a huge step in the right direction.
This is a fair take too! RGG is actually becoming solid in their approach!
This is a hard one to answer. I would break it down to this.
Square Enix: King of AAA JRPG/RPGS (FF Series).
Brandi Namco: King of name brand JRPG/RPG Dragon Ball/ONE PIECE).
Atlus: King of Original JRPGS/RPG (Persona Series/Etrian Odyssey).
Konami used to be King of Storytelling JRPGS (Suikoden).
Nihon Falcom: Current King of Storytelling JRPGS and continued sequel (Trails Series).
Monolith Soft: King of keeping it safe JRPGS/RPGS (Xeno Series).
The True King of JRPGS back in the day is SEGA. (Shining Force, Persona, Phantasy Star, Skies of Arcadia, Valkyria Chronicles, Y's)
Storytelling is also good with Tactics, Xenogears, and Vagrant Story. Konami had Suikoden 2, Capcom had BoF series, Atlus has SMT and Persona, Bandai has Tales (at least Berseria and Abyss)... People dont seem to mention Vanillaware, tho... Odin Sphere was amazing
Altho ultimate comfort food goes to Dragon Quest... so cozy
Monolith is the King of keeping it safe? If anything it's the complete opposite, they're the gods of pushing boundaries in this genre ever since Xenosaga. Between the unparalleled worlds, the ambitious thematic commentary, the volume of content within each game, the batshit combat systems and the fact that they manage it all under Nintendo's limiting hardware is just a level of inspiration that I don't see an equivalent to among any of these companies. Never have I seen a series go out of its way to divide a fanbase with each entry with elements that feel so estranged from each other (especially between XC1 and 2) and then turn around and smash it all together and produce a game of the year contender that's generally well received by all sides.
The only reason they don't deserve the top spot is they lack the same volume of output as some of the other top competitors (Atlus), but they're rapidly gaining ground as what they actually do have is very top-heavy.
Love the way you broke this down fam! 🙏
Put respect on Sega's name! Not only cool old titles, but remember that they own Atlus AND they make the Like a Dragon/Yakuza games.
@@antbrow8957 Its the only reason I kept it at "keeping it safe" no new IP on JRPG front. aka keeping it Safe. Also note this is just my opinion :)
This is an interesting because they're all so good but I'll try to rank them in terms of personal favorites currently.
1. Atlus: These guys are really great at their craft and they can bring in a massive audience into playing their games. Not only that but the quality is absolutely phenomenal. Whether it's Persona, SMT, or the new Metaphor, Atlus knows how to reel in newer and veteran players into playing these games with their stylish presentation, likable characters that you can interact with and addicting combat.
2. Falcom: This probably won't be a surprise to most people but my reasoning is slightly different. Personally, I'm more of a massive YS fan than I am of Trails so whenever they make an YS game, I'm always excited to dig in and play them. However, I also think Trails is great as well and this series really demonstrates how Falcom are amazing at world-building, engaging cast of characters, and an interesting storyline over the span of 9+ games. When it comes to consistency and quality, they're pretty dang solid. Honestly you can make an argument for Falcom being on top but it's a close second for me.
3. Square Enix: While they're definitely not on the same level as they used to be back in the 90s and early 2000s era, Square still makes solid JRPG releases that I enjoy quite a bit. Games such as Star Ocean Second Story R, the Mana games, FF7R, and even Dragon Quest. They still got it in them but they just need more of a push to bring back some more true classics.
4. Monolithsoft- I really appreciate the effort they put into the Xenoblade Series games. While the XC series isn't my favorite of the Xeno franchises, these games are still very well crafted and fun to play. More specifically, Xenoblade Chronicles 1&3. Didn't really like 2 that much but besides that whichever one you jump into, these games will keep you well fed. I don't think they're at the top but they definitely can get there depending on how their next project goes.
Overall, all these companies are phenomenal but if I had to crown a king, it's obviously Atlus. In terms of quality, consistency, and appeal, they pretty much exceed in all categories in my opinion.
I would have said Square decades ago.....but my hot take is that there is no king at the moment.
Ohh! I love this! Please elaborate and explain more!
Sega's Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is the uprising Prince on his way to succeed the King!
ATLUS is the current king of JRPG. Square lost that title a long time ago. My personal favorite are the Tales of series, they hold a special place in my heart.
I love the tales of series, it pained me not to include it but it just hasn’t been active at all. Thankfully there is graces remaster but yeah…I think I’m leaning towards Atlus too
1. Square (KH, FF, DQ, OctoPath)
2. Monolithsoft (Xenoblade)
3. Atlus (Persona, SMT, SMT Devil Survivor)
Honorable mention: Falcom (trails of and Ys)
@@TyandOnGoing all of these comments really are making me realize that the studio no longer matters as much as it used to, it feels like the creatives have much more sway in these projects now.
Atlus getting better and better, I do think they are one of the biggest contender for King of JRPGs right. I loved every game I played from them so far.
With Square Enix I feel the same as you, I don't love the Square Enix from today as much as I loved the Square(Soft) Enix of the 90s and the 2000s. I do think the direction thry are going with Final Fantasy is hurting them and I feel like sticking to the first ten manline games of the series. I would love a remaster of Chrono Trigger on modern systems though.
From Falcom I only played Trails from Zero and I didn't like it. Stopped playing it after reaching chapter 4 and playing it for 60 hours. I will not say they are in the last last place from those who were mentioned since I only played one game, but I didn't get a good first first impression of the trails series, maybe I try Y's.
Never played a Xenoblade game so I don't know much about Monolith Soft but since the Xenoblade games seem are one of the most popular JRPGs I think it was right to mention them. Maybe I give Xenoblade a try.
Divine Force was actually seen as a huge comeback for us Star Ocean fans. But Valkyrie Elysium was a very weird release for sure. I still like it anyway.
Oh trust me, I’m a big Divine Force fan! I thought it was a great return for star ocean! I really hope it’s built upon if there is another one!
I feel that there still are some traces of the Squaresoft days. They keep pumping out all these HD2D Art Style games and HD ports of old games. Even though they closed, Tokyo RPG Factory released 3 BANGER Old School RPGs. So I hope buying those smaller RPGs are going to encourage more budget for those titles. Harvestella was another randomly good "smaller" game to come from square recently.
If SE can stay down that AA release angle they would be so back! So I agree with you! They need to get in touch with that risky and creative side again
I think when your portfolio of games is diverse like Square, stinkers will inevitably happen.
As i previously said, people don’t talk about the fact that Square created HD2D which is a major factor in today’s old school style jrpgs.
Monolith, Falcom and Atlus are excellent in their own right. They know their strengths and weaknesses so they stick to what works while Square covers all bases.
While they are clearly not the Square we grew to love, they still make some creative games like Voice of cards trilogy, Diofield Chronicle and Dungeon Encounters.
@@Suikojunkie I 110% agree with the ending. Square really has been trying new ideas and it is cool to see. And let’s be honest, the reputation of Square is massive in the West when compared to other studios.
@@wisteriaotaku Square Enix is just leeching off the reputation of what Squaresoft built. Yeah, while they have DQ and Octopath, the rest of their catalogues are outright stinkers or average at best.
@@suiken3149 I think a lot of this comes down to the dissonance between developers and executives. Square Enix today has great developers and creatives, but oftentimes the ambitions of these truly excellent devs get turned away or soured by poor decisions made by the executives.
@@suiken3149 the brvaely series and the world ends with you are good along with the rise of draken/nier able to stick around
This is a tough one I have to agree with Duradan on how I would rank them.
Duradan put it really well I think too
Great list! It’s almost impossible to choose just one best company. Have you played Triangle Strategy from Square Enix? It’s one of the best games I’ve played in years. Especially if you like Strategy RPGs.
Before 2007 I would've said Square but after i got introduced to "Persona 3" (Shout-out to the play n trade employee that recommended it) its been Atlus for me, i prefer turn based JRPGS and they always find a way to keep the combat systems from getting stale besides thet fact.
I can't really speak on Falcom because I've only played maybe 5hrs of a "Trails" game on the psp yrs back.
Now Square is a little tricky for me because I've played more Square JRPGS then any others, but have found myself bored of them pretty often.
I've played almost all of their major JRPGS from ps1-present and only a few of those games captivated me "FF9", "FF12" (Personal favorite) "Chrono Cross", "FF Tactics Advance", "KH2" & "The World Ends With You" (Top 5) "Star Ocean:tteot" all of the others regardless of popularity were just "meh" to me, i do plan on revisiting some though.
I am playing through my 1st "Dragon Quest" game so maybe I'll have another to add to that list.
With that being said i wish Capcom would revive some older IPs, because "Breath of Fire 3" is imo the best JRPG ever made I also feel that the "Battle Network" franchise needs to get more recognition those games were 🔥
Ninhon Falcom is my personal favorite. Mostly because they make my favorite games like the Ys series
You could make a solid case for any of these.
I personally don't care for Square Enix' output, and haven't really since the merger, but they've definitely had a few bangers since.
That said, to reach GOAT status again would require a confluence of raw talent, manic decisionmaking, and fuck-you money, none of which they have now.
You'd have to match FFVII, Vagrant Story, and Xenogears, to say nothing of their weird and wonderful one-offs, like Racing Lagoon or Einhander.
I simply can't picture them being capable of that anymore.
squuenix is a distant third for me... atlus and falcom neck and neck though. I love trails, persona and metaphor
Great discussion brother
This comes down to fight between two game franchises Final Fantasy vs Shin Megami Tensei.
Monolith Soft*
Great discussion!
The current king is hard to decide honestly, but the race is really close for this era. Falcom, Atlus, & Monolith have put in serious work this past decade. And yes, Square Enix has made a lot of missteps this gen but for the number of remakes & remasters they've given us, they will always have my praise. Unlike a certain company who's now only recently getting into the remaster business after actively ignoring it for years. Anyways, all four are close to the top for me.
I love your response man! Fair and balance! I respect it for sure!
For me I loved star ocean second story r, it was literally my JRPG of 2023! So square definitely still has some sauce left
Right now, Falcom is the company that anything they make, anything at all, I will buy. They made a new trails game? I'm buying it. They made a new Ys game? I'm buying it (playing through Ys 10 right now). They released a PSP era game that is really a Zwei successor and called it a trails game? Doesn't matter, I'm still buying it (Nayuta Boundless Trails was really good). Golden age Square (when they were releasing FF 4 - 10 and Chrono Trigger and Cross) was the only other company where anything they made, I bought.
That being said, while the fandom for Falcom is passionate and intense (I saw that first hand at anime expo in LA this summer) they don't have the mass market appeal of the big boys. I would rate Atlus as the current #1 developer in the space; it seems like everything they make is a banger. I played Persona 3 Reload earlier this year and it's a terrific game. Square Enix is also still a top line studio, but the problem is that I feel like a lot of their games are "very good" and not "all-time bangers" like Atlus and Falcom are putting out right now. No one makes more 7 out of 10 and 8 out of 10 JPRGs than Square, but the 9 out of 10s and 10 out of 10s are rare.
Bandai Namco is also right up there are the top of the list, alongside Monolithsoft, for me. The Tales of series is one of the foundational franchises in the JRPG space, and no discussion of JRPGs is complete without Bandai Namco.
I can’t choose. They are too good! I mean, not all RPG’s are created equal. All I know I’m getting all the good ones! Don’t forget Mario and Luigi Brothership! It’s amazing!
I personally don’t like Atlas’s games too much due to the calendar system. Because of that I could never give them a 10. But Refantazio is a 8.5 for me. I recently beat it. Trials Through Day Break is amazing. I need to beat it! I have a lot of these and I didn’t even start them! 😂
I have to start Ys Nordics. Dragon Quest started the whole JRPG genre on NES so I’ll always have a soft spot for them. They lead the way for Final Fantasy, SMT/Persona. Star Ocean 2 Remake is amazing! Try that one if you haven’t.
Oh shoot it was your game of the year for 2023! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 Monolith Soft is definitely apart of it. All the XBC’s games is amazing! You have a good video man. I’m gonna share it with my friends!
In my view, it’s Sega. They own Altus and I love the Like A Dragon games
This is a really great point! Sega could be seen as the king
Square Enix WAS the king of JRPGs, especially since they gave us my favorite thing ever, that being Xenogears. As for which is currently the king of JRPGs, I'd say it has to be Falcom and Monolith Soft. I mean think about it, Falcom is doing all the things Square Enix was doing way back when, which is giving us all the high quality goods, and then of course there's Monolith Soft for making the Xeno franchise (my favorite gaming franchise to this day).
Square is king but i like Marvelous entertainment
They are pretty solid too!!
I Still hope we get grand knight history localized over here one day. You can tell unicorn overlord was partly inspired by it.
Atlus is the new Squareenix, even though Square is making really good games lately
Yeah they have been extremely active and consistent! It’s been great!
@ Definitely!! VoM and FF7R were fantastic. I'm also playing the DQ 3 remake now, but you know, for Atlus 2024 could be one of the best years ever
So I grew up with Squire Enix making some of my favorite jrpg of all time final fantasy series, kingdom hearts series, and dragon quest series, I love all those series especially kingdom hearts. I also grew up with Nintendo jrpg games like fire emblem and Pokémon. Bandi namco also made some of my favorites like the tales of series. I never got into persona so atlus never made anything I really liked. But my favorite jrpg game of all time is from monolith soft, Xenoblade Chronicles 1 is one of my favorite jrpg games of all time. I apologize for any wrong spelling.
This year, everyone doing great 😮
It was a fire year indeed! One of the bezt
Me 1 year ago: Im a Squarsoft guy for life. They have low and high points but still
Me now after playing P4G, P3R, P5R, and Metaphor: Atlus
I’m right there with you brother, we’re eating good in 2024. The year started off so strong
Thank you fam, it’s just a bra time right now
Don't forget about RGG studio and Like a Dragon.
IMAO Infinite Wealth has it all.
Yes they are on extreme fire right now too!
Atlus. Persona 5 wipes the floor with squenix
This is what I’m hearing from you guys
I like Falcom best but all time they are third. Ten years from now Falcom will be #1
It will definitely be interesting to see how they grow from here
It's technically not 100% confirmed, but Persona 6 is likely to be released next year.
with P3 reload and metaphor Refantazio out of the way, and Besides P5X global release, they probably won't make any more P5 spin-offs.
And several leakers including Midori say the same leak about P6 that it will be released in 2025 and that it will be set in an art school l, that it will be an open world game, and that the theme will be Black and white and modern vs traditional
I am a JRPG and SRPG gamer to the core,
Square Enix i only finished FFX and loved it but the other FF i honest to God i played FF 7,8,9, and couldn't bring myself to finish them and Dragon Quest 12 is amazing and the only dragon quest game i finished ,
Atlus has one of my favorite games Persona series and doing an amazing job in every persona release good enough for me,
Falcon i dont like any of their games even thought i tried .
Right now personally Atlus and Falcom are neck and neck. Haven't played any square games in awhile, currently waiting for the FF7R games to end so I can binge them. There's also Monolith which is good but I don't vibe with the gameplay very much.
Such a hard question right cause atlust got a big year but so did square 😮
Thats why this had to be a discussion haha. I agree both companies are going so touchy right now! It’s a great time indeed
Before watching, answer is Falcom for me!!
They have been on quite an amazing roll!
Monolith Soft
They are doing great too
I think Atlus is the new king. Square isn’t what they used to be
I might have to agree with this
At the end of the dsy we all win hahahahahaa
That’s what I agree with too haha
The xenoblade games are the modern golden standard for me...monilith soft crushes everybody.
I gatta be real falcom is consistent but that consistancy is also leads to their games bring all over the place, while atlus's only " failure" recently is soul hackers 2 for being boring but other than that tgey mostly hace bangers
Square, it is not even a competition. Always try to innovate while still have fantastic turn base title like bravely default.
Atlus just play it too safe and have some of the most predatory practice in gaming just re release their game to sell it for full price again.
Falcom is light year behind.
i could say yhr opposite for square and atlus. my experience it's always the niche stuff that appeals to me as far as square goes but their big stuff they seem more proud of i just don't feel anything to me. i personally feel like they focus on the wrong things FF specially as it's been rocky for the past couple years meanwhile dragon quest, draken/nier, bravely, or even the world ends with you is in a much better place as game quality goes but i swear as far as the west goes they seem ashamed for it...for some reason and hardly uses them
Square Enix
Atlus is putting out one great game after another and is the clear winner for me. For #2 i'd have to go with Falcom just because i love the Trails games. Square Enix still solid but coasting on past glory imo. Can't say i'm not bias here. I'm a bit mad at them for destroying the once great FF franchise with 20 years of trash FF games.
It's Atlus now. PS2 era it was Square hands down, but they keep trying to reinvent FF so much that it's losing its identity.
big three, final fantasy, dragon quest, tales of.
I like this list alot!
Kings of modern JRPGs are Black Souls 2 and MGQ Paradox, but you're not ready for this discussion.
However, if by "king" we mean the best graphical fidelity and consistency, then yeah, sure.
Any discussion you want to bring im here for! If thats how you feel then own it! Thanks for coming in
My ranking nowadays and it's not even close:
1. Atlus King of RPGs (Story, character building, design, dungeons, turn base evolution, music)
2. Falcom (Consistency, soundtrack, TLOH series is amazing and characters are awesome,)
3. Square Enix (shadow of its former self, they drinking too much of that modern woke kool-aid shit)
I agree on all fronts right now to be honest! Falcom’s music has been amazing
People says Square Enix but with the FF16 and vision of mana disappointment (which are their two newest IP because Rebirth is a Remake) they are staying behind of Atlus and Falcom... for me. I did enjoy Daybreak, Ys 10 and Metaphor this year (Vengeance and Reload were good but again remakes/re-release).
i feel like sqaure really want to like their big works that endup not as good but the actual good stuff they put out randomly feel like they are ashamed of it and then slap themselves on the back if it's a success anyway and don't always captilise on it
Square Soft used to be the emperor of gaming in the 90s early 2000s. Can hardly say the same for Square Enix nowadays. Atlus/Sega is catching up real fast to dethrone Square Enix.
I mean if you're only talking the last 12 months then it's Atlus. However, it's Square Enix and it's not close. This conversation is a bit like comparing Jordan and LeBron though. Basically if you think LeBron is better than Jordan you're just wrong
Atlus has taken the throne
Why do you think they take the crown? Is it the output?
@kali-qgames1301 if they don't have the crown who does?
@@kali-qgames1301 personally they seem more with it, they feel more confidant in that their games will both sell and will do well. with square in the past decade i have had my fair share of frustration, they have put out good stuff but it's from the niche or lesser known stuff rather than the stuff they want me to get and i swear they shoot themselves in the foot where they hardly captalise on them
For me square enix, after the depart of Sakaguchi struggle to find the good direction. Even if i love Nier automata and Dragon quest XI, i think they are missing the mark a lot with ff (even if i like FF7 Remake and 16), too safe for me with team Asano, too focus on gacha mobile games (the scenario of Nier Reincarnation was wasted on a mobile game for me). For me they lost the place as the king and lost to atlus (:p This is the scenario of metaphor re fantazio lol). I hope the way Sega (which include atlus and ryugagotoku), Nihon Falcom ...etc make them think a little about turn-based is dead or only niche.
I understand they want to focus on more action combat for ff, but i think 'party based' action like FF7 remake should be the way to go (What we liked about ff is having big party with a lot of characters and customization and interaction, which lack totally in ff16). But finally at least FF14 is consistent and beloved by fans but i prefer playing like 10 complete jrpg than putting 1000 hours in a mmo).
i like dq and draken/nier myself but i swear sqaure are shooting themselves in the foot of not capitalizing those and a few others over modern FF, yoko taro has only just barely got something to work on not long ago and despite after the steady success of automata and ver 1.22. the ff7 remake when judged as remake and as a game series? i don't think it's great and all the dragon quest remakes that have come from the 2000s and even now with 3's and later 1 and 2's will blow ff7's out the water like a nuke
Correct answer: Squaresoft.
Facts haha
So long post as I will explain my reasonings. I'm going to start with the developers and publishers I don't think deserve the title and my choice of who I think is deserving is at the bottom.
Now, this is going to include published titles as games developed are still from that publisher. A publisher isn't going to just fund an entire game without any knowledge of what's going on, that's why there are members from the publisher that are producers that give their input or to see how the project is going. They're not going to just throw their money away. Unless of course they're Sony, then they'll be fine throwing away $400 million on the development of an Overwatch clone in a market that's now gone free to play.
So as for Atlus and Sega, who have also published Vanillaware's Unicorn Overlord and 13 Sentinels as new games in the last 10 years. There's the Like a Dragon franchise and its spinoffs like Like a Dragon Ishin, Judgment, and Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise. Most of these games take place in Kamurocho, Sotenbori, or Yokohama, and most of these games have what's mostly the same combat system even if it's a different gameplay. They're certainly no God Hand, but the games are overall good, yet the same games on a constant basis. The turn based games have depth built into the combat system, but with character movement you can hardly put that depth into action when enemy placement on the field just doesn't allow it and they're no longer allows it, and you don't even have to, Like a Dragon, Yakuza 7, isn't really a difficult game if you don't change your classes(which actually reduces your characters stats as both your leel and your class level determine your stats, and for what, a new class that gets most of the same variety of skills?)
As for Atlus games, there's been very little that's released in the last decade. SMT5, Persona 5, Persona 3 Reload, Soul Hackers 2, the last few Etrian games on the 3DS, SMT4, SMT4 Apocalypse(which like SMT5 uses the same Tokyo in SMT4 but the events and everything surrounding the entire game are completely different,) Persona Q and Persona Q2 which are Etrian games with Etrian take on SMT gameplay, and Etrian Dungeon. Also ports of Radiant Historia, and SMT Strange Journey,. An expansion of the same game is not a new game, I'm glad I get to have more content but Persona 5 Royal and SMT5 Vengeance are expansions of the same games and they mostly take you through the same content with new text.
But here's a criticism with the games as good as they are. You play a SMT game or an SMT spinoff and you're playing the exact same combat system with slight differences. Don't get me wrong, these games have excellent gameplay, but you basically start from the very beginning, you start working up with your low level skills like agi, zio, bufu, lunge, etc, you build your demons or your characters around different skill set ups, and progression between each game is literally identical. Yes, on Strange Journey hitting a weakness will have all matching alignment characters deal an extra attack, on Soul Hackers 2 each character that hits a weakness will increase the combo meter and deal damage on all enemies, SMT games since SMT3 now use the press system for half turns to completely losing all your turns, Persona has the one more system or baton pass system, etc. The systems are different enough that it's a varied experience and lessens the repetion, but they still are still mostly the same systems and the progression is always identical, always. That is one thing that never changes from SMT and the spinoffs and it feels very samey across the board. So great games, but there's a real lack of variety. Even Metaphor Refantazio is just a spin on elements from Persona and SMT with different names and settings.
Falcom has the same problem as Atlus but for better or worse. Starting with The Legend of Heroes Trials in the Sky, the Trails series has had the exact same gameplay for every single game in the series with a slight difference between each game. Every single game feels like it's got the same combat system. Every single game is full of text dumps to pad out the game time and offer far less of a game. You're literally playing one very long game and you're paying $60 per release to do it.
On the other hand we got the Ys4 remake with Memories of Celceta, which is the new style of Ys that started with Ys7 and then we got Ys8 which is one of the absolute best action RPGs of all time. I platinumed this game on the PS4, I bought it on the PS5 and platinumed it again, and I'm someone who doesn't really go for platinums unless I really love the game. Ys9 had better combat, but the overall game itself was a bit of a disappointment, especially the massive text dumps that went on forever that seemed to be there to once again pad out the games. All my mail is sent to another location on hold so despite preordering it, I haven't yet played Ys10.
So before stating the company that I'm going to choose, I''m going to say that From Software despite just being a Souls factory pretty much, is more deserving than all of the above. Bloodborne, Dark Souls 3, Sekiro(despite my not caring for it,) and Elden Ring have far more effort in their designs across the board than any of the above listed games. The meticulous design of each of the games areas, every single game may borrow some aspects of a previous games AI and attack animations, but the amount of new enemies, the amount of new attack animations, the amount of bosses with massive move sets, the amount of weapon variety, not just weapons, but the variety of weapons in each game. Bloodborne for instance has 27 different weapons including the DLC and each weapon has a trick form, each non trick or trick form alone, not combined, have more attack animations than every other weapon set in a Souls, and an equal amount in Elden Ring with the inclusion of dual wield and jumping attacks. What other single RPG have you seen communities live and breath that single game outside of another Souls like such as Nioh or an MMO?
Now, my username may be kupomogli, it may reference Final Fantasy, but this choice is far from biased, the explanations should make that clear, but while 2006-2014 Square Enix would never have been my choice as they fell from grace during that period of time even with their solid handheld offerings, it actually would have been Atlus then, Square Enix has been on point. They may have made stupid financial decisions, their games have been good. And one thing that Square Enix should be commended above others is that Square Enix is one of the few companies that takes risks with their properties and actually develop different games, different gameplay mechanics. They don't just release the same game, make a few changes and slap a number 2 on it, we're getting a completely different experience across each game, something that's lost on the entire video game industry.
Square Enix didn't just pay for Star Ocean the Second Story R to be ported, they paid for the game to be remade, both graphically and gameplay. The exact same thing happened with Crisis Core Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, the game was a remaster with a new combat system which just drastically improved the experience and as much as I loved the PSP version, this new version is one of my favorite action games of all time. Starting a brand new game on hard mode, the changes that were made to the enemy skills where you can attack bosses to reduce the damage or completely break them out of using a powerful skill. Then Tactics Ogre Reborn, the games second remake by the developers. Tactics Ogre on PSP was a bad game, it had some good ideas but was incredibly grindy. They took what was good with Tactics Ogre on PSP and they perfected it. Tactics Ogre Reburn is a 10/10 game and this is the only game in this entire post that I'd say as such, they took the PSP version of the game, completely overhauled the games mechanics and statstics and developed an absolute masterpiece, a near perfect game.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake is a game that I, like many others, trashed before release because Square Enix told us they were selling us the game in parts, that we'd have to pay three times for what was going to be a The Walking Dead episodic treatment, but what we got was a game. There are a lot of people who will still try to argue against the fact, but they took the first four hours of Final Fantasy 7 and they expanded it into a game that doesn't feel like it was padded. The combat system is simple yet incredibly deep, the entire Midgar section being rewritten to really improve on the characters made me love these characters even more. You've got one of the greatest cast of characters in any RPG and Final Fantasy 7 Remake made them even more likeable, this includes enemies as well. I'm going to add a video link below skipped to the Rude battle, both showing just how much more depth the game has with its mechanics and how quickly the battle can be completed if you know what you're doing, but additionally just showing how much cooler Rude is in this game than in the original game(and come on, the Turks were always awesome.)
ruclips.net/video/G0y3YWnQTCs/видео.html
Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Final Fantasy 14, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line's meta game, World of Final Fantasy, Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy is the closest we'll ever get to a modern day God Hand, Trials of Mana, Visions of Mana, Mana trilogy with the first ever "official localization" of the second game, SaGa Emerald Beyond, Romancing SaGa 2 remake, SaGa Frontier Remaster(with the cut content being added to include a Fuse chapter,) Octopath Traveler 1 and 2, Bravely Default, Bravely Second, Bravelyl Default 2, Final Fantasy 16, etc.
Square Enix is the king and it isn't even close.
No one is gonna mention the studio intelligent systems from nintendo the guys that made fire emblem, paper mario, advance wars etc?
honestly wouldnt even put falcom up there, the total trails series sold only 8M since 1981 or smth....
Its honestly between atlus and square enix, one easy way to judge is by financial report if the studio is doing great then the financials reflect that. So the Adjusted EBITDA for atlus is 27% pretty good, now square enix financial report is an bit different but the 30% decrease in operation income YOY is enough to give an clear view how bad their investements and lack of new mobile FF gaia is doing for them
Obviously for us gamers the only thing we care about are games, and atlus clearly wins this comparison i mean P3R,overlord unicorn, SMTVV, metaphor are all amazing JRPG the only ones square put up this year that are worth talking about are ff7 rebirth and dq3 neither ending up an massive financial success or resounding player seal of aprovement.
so its atlus from financial and player reflection.
It's Monolith soft by a mile.
Do you think one series is enough to claim the title?
If not Atlus, then SEGA.
This is a fair take! Sega is putting up quality too thesedays
For me monolith...
Do you think they are on top with just one series?
Yup...bcz I spend 380 hour for one game..my preference btw ....
Monolithsoft are the best jrpg developer
Do you think only having one JRPg gives them that title though?
@kali-qgames1301 absolutely 101%
Square Enix??? bro stop playing with us!!! 🤡😂
Lmbo I had to throw them in there though 😂
Realistically the top 2 can only be Atlus or Square Enix, the others don't have anything on the hype of Persona 6 or Dq 12 those are gonna be huge.
If we take a look into the fanbase of these Jrpgs it's pretty clear in my opinion, well for the most part.
Love Falcom, but they don't have the hype waves Tbh, Trails through daybreak and the sequel were a lot weaker then Metaphor: ReFantazio a new ip and Persona 3 reloaded, come on lets be real, also FF 7 remake has goty probably, FF16 seemed to do well too.
Monolift soft only has Xenoblade right now, also amazing dlc best in the business, they keep cooking, but they need more then that to be king.
Atlus will be the clear king when Persona 6 comes around i think Dq 12 will be right thier with it, FF is kinda in a decline.
Forsaken was ass. In addition square enix partnering with sweet baby inc has been the worst thing to happen to them.
I’m with you in that! I’ve heard there is something going on with Dragon quest too?
Monolithsoft are basically Squaresoft.
Square-enix was the king when they were Squaresoft but i would say in this day and age it would be Falcom for me purely for the trails series though Atlus is a close second.