I am interest in the series, as it's explanation of the general premise is very intriguing. However, there is so much to the series at this point that it just feels overwhelming to try to get into.
I played Trails 1234. Its super let down. Half 3 half 4 The first one are great, it introduce many things and foreshadowing. After that, its like Bleach, they got character right, but cant tell a good flow of story. Heck they probably want to try to make a GRAND saga of trails. At least Ichigo is a good character with good backbone. Trails arent, Rean got so much shit with basically unlucky. The Author proposely make things so cliche. And despite you farming alot, your enemy just escape again and again. Nothing changes. Rean is still powerless just for the sake of cliche. Its funny to me that the first one are soo good, and after that it just spiraling down feed with same cliche. Its similar to assassin creed situation, many people how amazing Assassin Creed is. After one game played, you realize its not really a story.. but a formula to show scene by scene. The world always revolves around Rean is so cringe and thats precisely why Author put shit onto Rean. Its unbearable how sissy most character is to situation.
Haven't played a lot of JRPGs but the ones I played on this list are ranked as - 1. DQ 11 2. The Legend of Heroes - Trails in the Sky (what I'd give to get a Remake in a 3rd person modern graphics) 3. Nier Automata 4. Tales of Arise
Trails series #1 I love that they keep it consistent world that makes world that feels alive more alive because it keeps progressing as you live through your life, while other series just happened to have the same old name but always reset or make new world. And also the series is pretty down to earth, you deal with underworld, secret organization, and political situation. Not the, travel to another realm and fight God unrelatable kind of story.
@@gosozoey398 PC has the most access to all games in the series! There is multiple ways to get into this series but the best one is play it in release order, it is a Chronological order. Sky trilogy-> Crossbell games(trails from Zero&Azure)->Cold steel tetralogy->Trails into Reverie(this is an epilogue to Crossbell and Cold steel) -> on going Kuro no kiseki . . But because of the design of the story telling, first games in each Arc(Trails in the sky 1, Trails from Zero, Cold steel 1 or Kuro 1) it is viable to get into this series by playing those first games to see if it'll hook you in the series or not, Because 1. Those first games are the introduction to new cast and new region 2. There is less spoiler compare to its sequel(cold steel 2 is an exception you can play it for the most part tho. The way i'm doing is I finished Sky games first, finished Cold steel 1 and play cold steel 2 for 3 chapters I stopped and wait for Crossbell games to release, trails from zero is already released, Azure is coming next year, So it's the perfect time for newcomer to play sky games right now!)
@@gosozoey398 you're welcome! Just make sure to manage your expectation, this series takes its time to tell story and build up hype and when I say "those first games are introduction" I really mean it. And also Sky games have full voice patch! Just look up on youtube for installation, i really recommend playing with voiceover.
I just finished Trails of Cold Steel IV and I legit cried at the end. Partly because the ending was so touching but mostly because I will miss these characters. I've played all four and it felt like I was there with them. Amazing series. I played Trails from Zero (it was excellent) and will be playing the Trails to Azure when it comes out. If you don't want to play all of the Trails games, I highly recommend you read the lore so when you play Trails of Cold Steel III and IV, you will know all of the characters and it will give much more depth to the story.
i played kuro no kiseki already in eng (calvard arc).. trust me it's way better than hajimari/ cold steel in general.. cold steel story for me tbh too cringy sometime/cheesy but i still respect the story as part of the whole franchise since i've been playing this since sky 1 long long ago.. well with every game improvement is made.. but what i feel sad about is.. for a story that focus on industrial advancement the story went fantasyesque way too much on erebonia
Yeah, playing Cold Steel during 3 and 4 actually cover both Crossbell and Liberl current situation (Crossbell/North Ambria annexing and Liberl's reaction during Calvard declaration of war toward Erebonia). So they're very good for reading context. However for playing context, still you missed two of the best villain Ive ever seen in any Trails series (even in any JRPGS Ive played so far), Loewe/Leonhardt from Liberl arc and Arianrhod from Crossbell arc (continuing beyond this would result as spoiler, so i'll stop here w)
@@aprianhamdan1795 yes but only partial eng patch (all main story already english) but npc/ stuff still jp.. main city/ important bits gear battle all eng.
It was interesting to see the perspective of a young person make his favorites list interesting. It is so different for people like me who grew up in the 80s and 90s.
Absolutely, so many games I'd have on my Top 25 as a 90's kid that aren't included here: Lunar Silver Star Story, all the early gen Final Fantasy games, Legend of Legaia, Wild Arms series, Shadow Hearts, Legend of Dragoon, etc.
Great list. Especially appreciate you put Harvestella on it. A highly underrated jrpg with some of the best storytelling I've seen past decade. Some of the plot twists, even those of the silly side quests, kept me thinking about them long after finishing the game.
I'm glad to see Xenoblade Chronicles ranked so highly on this list. The series is finally starting to get the recognition it deserves. I was so happy to see Xenoblade Chronicles 3 nominated for multiple awards including game of the year at The Game Awards this year. I think it would have won best score and music, best role playing game, and possibly game of the year if The Game Awards didn't so heavily favour games that cater more strongly to Western audiences. I'm not disappointed that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 lost game of the year to Elden Ring. Out of all the nominees, Elden Ring is the only one that I had no qualms beating Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 wasn't nominated for anything at The Game Awards in 2017, but that's most likely because it was probably the weakest numbered Xenoblade game coupled with the fact that it had to contend with more well known heavy hitters from both sides of the Pacific just to be nominated for anything at all. It's ridiculous just how good a year 2017 was for gaming. I think if The Game Awards were around in 2009 then Xenoblade Chronicles would have been a strong contender for game of the year, for single-handedly reviving interest in JRPGs in the Western market at a time when industry heavyweights like Final Fantasy were seeing fewer sales outside of Japan. Operation Rainfall was a miracle, and sight to behold. I humbly thank the dedicated fans of good games who passionately wrote to Nintendo of America en masse to bring us one of the best games of all time, that spawned a series that has touched so many hearts and minds and will hopefully stand the test of time. Only time will tell.
Why do you care about awards? I don't get it. Games are now art, just like films are, and art is subjective. Awards for something which is subjective makes no logical sense whatsoever.
I remember I got xenoblade from gamefly on accident back in the day instead of xcom2. I was pissed at first but ended up playing it non stop for 3 weeks hahaha.
when i see Xenogears and suikoden i know am in the right place if swuare didnt interfare and taking staffs from the xenogears it will be alive until todays but u miss this master piece" legend of dragoon and arc the lad and digital sage 1&2 "
ty for the list! besides pokemon and persona saga i´ve never played other JRPGs, i bought xenoblade definitive edition, xenoblade 2 and fire emblem three houses after watching this!
Hmm nice list. Played most of the games on the list..BUT where's: 1. FFVIII 2. Tales of Destiny (PS1) 3. Valkyrie Profile 4. Grandia 5. Breath of Fire 6. Vagrant Story I think these pretty good..sad to see they are not here 😢
Great list. I am a little confused though why are the Persona games ranked separately instead of together like other series' with similar connectedness like Xenoblade?
I love that game so much I just platnuim'd it like a few months ago and I started another playthrough of it because I love it that much. But I'm also playing tales of berseria on ngp for the 2nd time and I'm over halfway through on my way to my platnuim trophy ontop of I'm also going for my platnuim on tales of vesperia that game stole my heart 2 hours into my first gameplay of it over a year ago. And I just bought the legend of heros games including trails of cold steel all the games in the franchise well the ones for PS4 anyways does anyone have any good jrpg recommendations as I'm always looking to buy great games so at least I have them when I need something new to play. I didn't think I'd like jrpgs but after playing the tales games most of them anyways I fell in love and now I'm a huge fan of jrpgs so if there are any 10 out of 10 jrpgs to recommend I'd be very greatful thank you and have a blessed day or night wherever you are. Was gonna get monster hunter but not sure which one is the best in the franchise there's so many to choose from lol
Chrono Trigger is one of the top 3 games that will EVER exist (I have zero nostalgia as I didn't encounter it til I discovered emulation in the mid-2000's).
That was 17 years ago, thats not really a strong argument for nostalgia not being a factor. I played around the same timeframe, I was maybe 15 years old, and that's a highly nostalgic period for me. Hell I'm nostalgic for Persons 5 and I played it 6 years ago for the first time.
Amazing list! There are some I still not played yet, of course. Let me try make mine: 1. Nier Automata 2. Valkyria Chronicles 3. Nier 4. Final Fantasy VIII 5. Trails in the Sky SC 6. Tales of the Abyss 7. Final Fantasy VII 8. Shadow Hearts Covenant 9. Valkyrie Profile 2 10. Ys VIII 11. Persona 5 12. Valkyria Chronicles 4 13. Trails of Cold Steel III 14. Trails of Cold Steel IV 15. Kingdom Hearts II 16. Chrono Cross 17. Dragon Quest XI 18. KH Birth by Sleep 19. Persona 4 20. Tales of Graces f 21. Ys IX 22. Trails in the Sky FC 23. Yakuza: Like a Dragon 24. The Legend of Dragoon 25. Dragon Quest VIII This is it, I guess.
I am going to assume that the only reason Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology is not on this list is that Joel has never heard of or played it. That game is something else. One if the most unique combat systems I have ever seen in a turn-based game, and the actual plot is told in such a fun and interesting way with a neat twist that I absolutely loved.
I've played it, it's a good game. Just not my top 25. Maybe because the world doesn't portrayed perfectly that makes me not fully immersed. But as you said, as for the combat and plot, it is a great game.
@@JoelRPG Would you mind explaining why you think the world isn't portrayed well enough? I'm very interested. Considering the game has a boatload of timed interactions across many different areas of the world, and even alternate/branching timelines to explore "What if?" scenarios, I'd personally say the world is pretty fleshed out. NPCs have trackable daily lives and priorities, react understandably to side-quest progression, and world events follow a fairly strict A-to-B cause and effect that lends itself to the mystery involved in using time travel to hand-craft the right timeline to reach the true ending. Plus, that secret boss in NG+ is WHACKY and legitimately hard as hell even when you know what you're doing. It's both fun and a fair, major test of your skills learned through the entire game.
@@gagejoseph91 No, it's not that kind of portrayed that i meant. More like the artstyle and the way that you always felt like in a confined space despite the game obviously has an interesting world is kinda make me not fully immersed. Does that make sense? haha. Again, in terms of world building (which portraying the world through its narrative experience) i think the game nailed it. But in a visual and atmosphere design i think it's not really my taste.
@JoelRPG Ah, okay, that does make sense. I felt the same when playing it the first time. It takes a while for the world to open up. You are fairly regularly (lightly) railroaded based on which "chapter" you are currently playing. Even if the town, room, etc looks reasonably big, the game will not let you explore it for plot reasons. If you want to explore Room A, you have to be playing one of the chapters that allows you to go in that room, even though other chapters let you get near it. It was a minor annoyance to me, but I understood it as either a limitation of the 3DS, balancing reasons, and/or giving intrigue to the player to encourage curiosity, backtracking, etc. It never bothered me enough to hinder my experience since RPGs always have "Come back later" moments, but I can understand why other people might be bothered by it more. P.S. Since I know you're reading this, let me just take a moment to thank you for giving Abyss and Xenogears their due love. I am also a huge Kingdom Hearts fan, but that series is not obscure at all lol FAR fewer people know and appreciate the older Tales games and the OG Xeno game. Xenogears is one of the greatest games ever made, but nobody talks about it anymore.
My TOP10, one game per series: 1. Final Fantasy IX 2. Tales of Symphonia 3. Chrono Trigger 4. Suikoden II 5. Xenogears 6. Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War 7. Tales of Eternia 8. Radiant Historia 9. Dragon Quest XI 10. Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3 FES
I've just started Trails From Zero. It's the first I have played in the story & I'm really enjoying it. There are a lot of fans of this series who act like gatekeepers, basically saying you can't play it if you haven't played the others. Total bullshit. Having fun with it. It's VERY chill. Good for late nights. Personally, I feel that Final Fantasy 7 remake intergrade is the single best one player experience I've ever had (am having), followed by Nier & Persona 5. It's all down to personal taste :)
If you watch this list to help you decide what to play next, then don't forget to try Lunar 1 or 2 Silver Start Sorry.. I understand, twenty five is a short list for all time greatest on all platforms.
Thanks for the list and the information! (you nailed it with the descriptions of various games in a short time) You gained a new subscriber! I've never seen some of the RPGs you mentioned, worth to try some of them. And yes, the Trails Series are awesome! i started with Cold steel, then instantly switched to Trails in the Sky for the lore and better understanding of the general saga.
My personal top 5 games list (not going to 25 lol...also was just focusing on just games and not necessarily rpgs but still wound up that way for the top 5...honorable mentions have a few other genres though) would be (top 3 are also my 3 favorite series in order lol, but with the exception of 2 (which I explained) I'm just going with 1 game from said series)): 1st Tales of Symphonia (easily the most solid of all the Tales games (as in unlike all other games it doesn't do anything really bad, granted outside of Story it also doesn't excel in anything either but in all categories I'd say it does everything well at least). As far as the series goes though Xillia 2/Hearts R has my favorite combat system (followed by Arise where a huge + to it's combat over all other games in the series is the fact the enemies aren't easy to kill bunching bags to the degree of other games, especially the bosses....honestly combat was getting boring due to how easy all the games were getting before Arise which is a feeling I didn't have since I first started the series with Symphonia and wasn't used to the series combat (which once you are all enemies become a cakewalk in older games)). 2nd is Trails in the Sky 1 and 2 (gonna count them as 1 game as both are needed for the full story arc and by the sounds of it it was intended to be 1 game to begin with but got too big) mainly due to the storytelling. Combat wise I prefer action over TB but the Trails series as a whole has my favorite TB combat (in particular Zero and AO) however the story of the Trails series is enough to put it up there at the top for me...If I was to count the entire Trails series and not just the Sky arc then maybe it could take #1 in this list however if we go by just each game by themselves I feel Symphonia's just a bit stronger story wise (probably cause it tells everything in one game and wraps everything up neatly) and easily can't overtake Symphonia in combat for me (even if said combat has aged in comparison to later Tales combat systems it is still incredibly fun even now imo...hell if you like Smash Bros it's almost essentially the same as far as inputs and fighting game mechanics go just without the ridiculous knockback at higher %s and platforming). 3rd is Valkyria Chronicles 4 which easily took the great art style, storytelling, and tactical combat of VC1 and improved in each area...I mainly put 4 over 1 just a bit due to the new Grenadier class, the new ship orders, tanks using 1 ap instad of 2, and the squad stories that drastically improve giving background info on the rest of the squad and not just the 4 or 5 main characters (probably the biggest upgrade over 1 tbh...hell done first in Valkyria Revolution which I would also said had a better story than the main series as a whole but some major issues elsewhere with difficulty balance, map design, and drastically nerfing gun combat in turn for melee combat (which I liked the melee combat tbh, granted think they could've done better than 1 tap of X for the full normal attack combo, but feel like they should've kept the focus on gunplay a bit more....or at least gave us a shitload more ammo/means to regen ammo. The ragnite skills were decent enough though and some had interesting reactions with one another (if you use tornado in burn field for exampel it sets everyone on fire again and extends the burn field's time on the screen) but it could still have used a bit more tactical aspects to the combat system tbh)). 4th is Tokyo Xanadu which if Falcom ever decided to give sequels could easily take #2 or even the #1 slot on this list as it easily combines both the great combat of the Ys series with the great storytelling of Trails (especially with the side stories). On top of that the music is great. Only real changes needed that would've landed this game higher would've been if they could get a bit better graphics (using the Ys 9 or Kuro graphics would make a TX2 look great), slightly more interesting dungeon layout (the traps in TX though were awesome and something I wish more games, rpgs or otherwise would include as only maybe Ys or Souls adds traps often nowadays), and getting an actual competent localizer to take the project who will hopefully also add in English dub too as the Aksys team butchered the Vita version's translation and only made it passable (still very flawed) with the PS4 EX+ version (I played both and there are very very horrible translation errors in the Vita version in comparison...hell it makes Sword Art Online Hollow Fragment's initial localization look good and THAT's saying something, hell Hollow Fragment's issues were at least funny at times, the same couldn't be said for TX on Vita). 5th is Ys 9 (yes a lot of Falcom love here and for good reason lol) which is easily Ys's highest point as far as story goes and the combat is just as good as 8 with a few more interesting features with the Monstrum powers added in. Ironically enough though as far as combat goes my favorite games are Oath in Felghana and Origin's combat system evne if they don't have skills you can swap out with and are more like Tokyo Xanadu's charged, ranged, jump attacks but as far as story and side content goes it has to go to either 8 or 9 and I prefer 9 more. Will also say like Tokyo Xanadu with how it combined Ys combat and Trails' storytelling Ys's recent change in storytelling to be more like Trails in 8 and 9 in regards to mains story and side stories as well as all character development (main characters and npcs) may push Ys ahead of Trails and maybe even Tales in the future tbh especially as the traps in dungeons and boss fights in Ys and Tokyo Xanadu are a real treat imo. As for honorable mentions I won't really go into detail with like the above 5: Dragon Quest 8 (11 was great too but kinda like 8's characters and story a bit more), Radiata Stories (imo the best game published by Square Enix that I've played lol (note I haven't played Chrono Trigger/Cross which is why it's not above or in here...maybe one day I will but too busy with other stuff right now)), Lunar Silver Star Harmony (could easily hit the top 5 too but I've yet to beat the game...got distracted with work/other games that released at the same time that I kinda wanted to play more), Octopath Traveler (another game I need to finish tbh, on chapter 3 for all characters), Rogue Galaxy, Ni no kuni 2 (liked combat more than 1 tbh), Stein's Gate (ya a VN but a good one), Ace Attorney (fun VN/puzzle game), Layton games (another fun VN/puzzle game), Star Ocean 6 (currently playing and almost done, probably, easily the best SO game story/combat wise imo), Zelda Botw and Windwaker (liked WW more though tbh), Guilty Gear, Blazblue, and could probably name another dozen more but I think the above is good enough. As for why no FF, KH, Persona, or Xenoblade: -unlike most jrpg fans I find Final Fantasy to be meh for pretty much every entry, VIIR was good I guess, same with Crisis Core. All others were average or disappointments or I just outright hated (FFXV in particular...easily the worst full on action combat I've ever played in a game and story was shit/wasted potential due to resources that were used up on graphics/the frist continent rather than expanding the game's story beyond the first continent (1st continent could've been a 1/3rd of the size and they could've used that to add more to Nefelheim and Tenebrae)). -Kingdom Hearts is just mediocre/confused storytelling plain and simple and combat passable I guess -Persona I just couldn't get into...feels like too much fluff is added with the calendar system tbh with pointless activities...hell I preferred P5 Scramble's calendar due to it cutting out the stuff (main issue it had though was SP management was horrible)...it could probably make it into honorable mentions but just barely I guess cause story was decent and combat not too bad but I'd still say it'd be hard for it (any game in the series) to hit my top 50 tbh. -Xenoblade has great characters, decent stories (granted 3's not pulling me in yet and I"m halfway through chapter 4), but imo a horrible combat system (I loathe MMO style auto attack systems, I don't play many MMOs cause of that and I barely play Xenoblade soley due to story/characters)...2 and 3 definitely have better combat systems than 1 and X imo but still this aspect f the combat system is a complete turnoff for me...give me either full turn based where I have a turn and then the enemy has a turn (even if it's a system where I run around for my turn like in Eternal Sonata or Fairy Fencer F) and I can think and plan at my leisure or full action where I control every action of the character...the only games that feel remotely good with an ATB like system is a tactical game like Valkyria Chronicles and Xcom which still have turns in them.
I have just discovered your channel and your videos and I have already learned a lot. Could you please make a video about Turn based games that don't include a lot of overwhelming information? I mean games that give you a lot of tactical options, but without endless rules and details. Basically like Chess but as a video game. I guess something like fire emblem but I don't have a Nintendo (PC and Ps4 only)
Trails is pretty closed to that, with a grid system, You have moves that have different shapes and depending on the size, aoe, one target, all, It's technically like chess since you have Rook like moves and have to set yourself up so you don't get hit while making sure they get hit, etc.
i love how you recommend to play trails from beginning to end.. that's how it should be.. i hate those who said it is ok when ppl ask if it's fine to play just from cold steel series and said you won't lose much or no diff and so on.. for me story is also everything.. and well calvard arc is gonna be a banger
I'm playing Trails From Zero as my first Trails game ever & thoroughly enjoying it. I don't feel I'm missing out on anything at all. I have no interest in going back and playing all the older ones. Same with Persona. I'm absolutely loving 5 after hating 4. There are so many of these series I want to play and for someone just getting into JRPGS, I'd rather have the variety than play 50 games to catch up. Trails From Zero was stated by many reviewers/players as a great entry point and prior knowledge of other games in the series really wouldn't add or take much away.
@@yarbles66 you say smthg totally off.. persona is a standalone series.. each of their game got nothing to do with each other so ofc it's fine to start play from 5/4/3 it's your call.. why do you even making a comparison of persona with trails.. while trails series story are connected it's of the same storyline you even meet the old character and you face ouroboros from the start knowing them bits by bits and them advancing the plan slowly.. later on the series they just bombard you with spoilers of what already happen but because you don't understand you just accept it as it is since the game tend to just repeating it for you kindly when you say you are not missing much.. well not technically wrong but it's way less enjoyable experience especially they all will return in the next game and it's not smthg you can do by just playing the recent game and you lost alot you just ain't noticing it.. there are many games with connecting story one of the example is yakuza series if you play it.. but not persona that one is standalone know the diff sir
@@yarbles66 and stop using words you found on YT videos as if it is a for sure fact.. so simply put it's about how much you like Trails in general.. those who play randomly sure they can do that.. but that's their limit.. for them trails is just one of the so many games for them.. i can bet you my ass.. later on when kuro no kiseki 2/3 comes out ppl will say it's fine to start from kuro 1.. you won't lose alot.. is there even any need to know rean past and so on.. that's just how internet is.. if you love it you play from start.. if you don't like the game as much than go ahead and play the latest.. simple as that.. but i can say for sure it took alot of fun out of it if you don't play alot you just didn't notice it especially from immersion side.. but even if you start now it's already too late anyway
@@yarbles66 you see one of my fav char is reene.. i love seeing her grow up from the start of trails where she is just a kid to now in kuro no kiseki she is of rean's age now it's one of my guilty pleasure of playing trails/ kuro no kiseki in general.. this is just one of the very small things which attract ppl to trails series.. their character.. as much as you can argue you won't lose alot in term of story.. for sure you will lose alot in term of enjoying their characters if you see 1/2 ppl that you barely know their past of.. btw i'm sorry for the so many typing.. i'm just one of the kind of hardcore trails player who enjoy the game alot and have spent like so many years with their series.. tho i find it their weakest installment is sadly cold steel..(but the best in graph) lucky we already move on to kuro no kiseki and it is so good.. try it if you haven't ^_^
Cool video. I really enjoyed most of these RPGs and can't disagree. Just 1 question about the list. On some of the entries, you list the entire series, Trails series or Xenoblade series. But then when it came to Persona, you listed 3, 4 and 5. Is that because you wouldn't recommend the entire series so they each got their own slot? Or were the games just that good that they deserved to be labeled individually? Also, I'd replace Shin Megami Tensei 5 with 4 and Apocalypse. 5 is decent but 4/A is just unbelievably fantastic. I feel 5 is a step back in comparison.
That's because i feel like each persona game can stand on its own, while some of these series feels like it has to be played in a full series. Except valkyria, i put it in a series, because the game is not that much different from one another.
My Top 5 JRPG of All Time are 1. Persona 5 Royal 2. Persona 4 Golden 3. XenoBlade Chronicles 3 4. XenoBlade Chronicles Definitive Edition 5. Fire Emblem Three Houses
here is my top 10 list of all time out of hundred JRPG I played 1. Suikoden 2 2. Chrono Trigger 3. Legend of the Dragoon 4. Persona 5 5. Nier Automata 6. Final Fantasy X 7. Final Fantasy XII 8. Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne 9. Kingdom Hearts 1 10. Bteath of Fire IV
i agree that trails series is so good :) but shadow hearts series is also so good! ( well the first two are great) but the thierd one was ok :) nino kuni is also a realy good jrpg series, the first one was (in my oppinion) mutch better thought. i have stream some rpgs in my chanel. but i can tell you that in the ps2 era, the frpgs and rpg were so great, dark cloud, cocoon, and so on. the most remastered rpg i would want now is the legend of dragoon :)
It’s a shame that the common man cannot comprehend what Xenogears provides because they are missing out on what is easily the best piece of [possible] fiction to be produced. Xenogears should be taught in schools. I learned a Heck of a lot more about life from Xenogears than I did from Romeo and Juliet.
I've played all of the trails of cold steel arc. And i am not sure, that trails series as a whole Number one. From narrative standpoint i met a lot of strange things like some evil boss laughing and than teleport six or seve times during story. Also instead of civil war and Grey morale we have arc for returning our school. There are a lot of things from narrative, that are not good and could be improved. Gameplay wise i like how they created more deep mechanic based on ff7 material system
I was always kinda meh about FF12 wasn't sure about it only watch hed reviews and. Someone play a few minutes but I did give it a chance eventually on switch before then I only saw the ps2 version but zodiac age fixed a lot of its issues and I had a lot of fun with it ^~^ The story was alittle bit of a miss for me but I loved the gameplay :D
Man... Idk, if this is best of all time. I feel like Tales of Arise should have made the list. And what about old school games like Breath of Fire or Legend of Dragoon?? It's not a bad list I just think if you going for "all time" then a few classics missed the cut.
i prefer rune factory 3 and 4 over harvestella tbh. and ff8 and ff9 are better than ffx imo my favorite jrpg is still legend of mana. i hope they do remake that game someday
You obviously were not serious about the "all time" part. Too many recent games. Final Fantasy 6 is by far the most glaring omission (that at minimum is top 5). Not to mention Dragon Quest 5 and Final Fantasy 9.
Do you know which of all those games has a continuous line that all of the above is Canon? Since some sagas have 18 games and no game connects with the previous one and that seems like a waste of time to me
I have a huge backlog of rpgs I gotta play and I refused to start a new1 unless I finish the current game I’m playing, dragon quest11 killed me it was soo boring. After 4 months And 65sh hrs in I gave up on it…
I like the list, I think a lot of people wouldn't understand why trails is #1 unless they have played it thoroughly.
Ikr!
I am interest in the series, as it's explanation of the general premise is very intriguing. However, there is so much to the series at this point that it just feels overwhelming to try to get into.
@@ShenMerrickjust start playing. Once you play one or two games you will go back and play them all anyway.
I played Trails 1234. Its super let down. Half 3 half 4
The first one are great, it introduce many things and foreshadowing.
After that, its like Bleach, they got character right, but cant tell a good flow of story. Heck they probably want to try to make a GRAND saga of trails. At least Ichigo is a good character with good backbone. Trails arent, Rean got so much shit with basically unlucky. The Author proposely make things so cliche. And despite you farming alot, your enemy just escape again and again. Nothing changes. Rean is still powerless just for the sake of cliche.
Its funny to me that the first one are soo good, and after that it just spiraling down feed with same cliche.
Its similar to assassin creed situation, many people how amazing Assassin Creed is. After one game played, you realize its not really a story.. but a formula to show scene by scene. The world always revolves around Rean is so cringe and thats precisely why Author put shit onto Rean. Its unbearable how sissy most character is to situation.
@@CrimRuiIs it okay to start with Trails of Cold Steel?
Haven't played a lot of JRPGs but the ones I played on this list are ranked as -
1. DQ 11
2. The Legend of Heroes - Trails in the Sky (what I'd give to get a Remake in a 3rd person modern graphics)
3. Nier Automata
4. Tales of Arise
i gave tales of arise a try. it felt kinda generic and uninteresting to keep playing it.
The Legend of Heroes Trails Series is the Most underrated JRPG Series of All Time
Awesome list! Love how everyone’s top JRPGs are so different. Great video!
Love to see Trails at first place, so good across all games
Couldn't agree more!
Trails series #1
I love that they keep it consistent world that makes world that feels alive more alive because it keeps progressing as you live through your life, while other series just happened to have the same old name but always reset or make new world.
And also the series is pretty down to earth, you deal with underworld, secret organization, and political situation. Not the, travel to another realm and fight God unrelatable kind of story.
hey i only have pc and want to get into the game. can you recommend me the best order for pc? thanks
@@gosozoey398 PC has the most access to all games in the series!
There is multiple ways to get into this series but the best one is play it in release order, it is a Chronological order.
Sky trilogy-> Crossbell games(trails from Zero&Azure)->Cold steel tetralogy->Trails into Reverie(this is an epilogue to Crossbell and Cold steel) -> on going Kuro no kiseki
.
.
But because of the design of the story telling, first games in each Arc(Trails in the sky 1, Trails from Zero, Cold steel 1 or Kuro 1) it is viable to get into this series by playing those first games to see if it'll hook you in the series or not, Because
1. Those first games are the introduction to new cast and new region
2. There is less spoiler compare to its sequel(cold steel 2 is an exception you can play it for the most part tho. The way i'm doing is I finished Sky games first, finished Cold steel 1 and play cold steel 2 for 3 chapters I stopped and wait for Crossbell games to release, trails from zero is already released, Azure is coming next year, So it's the perfect time for newcomer to play sky games right now!)
@@chariothe9013 thank you! I will try to play it after i finished persona 5. Thanks!
@@gosozoey398 you're welcome! Just make sure to manage your expectation, this series takes its time to tell story and build up hype and when I say "those first games are introduction" I really mean it.
And also Sky games have full voice patch! Just look up on youtube for installation, i really recommend playing with voiceover.
@@chariothe9013 yes, i hope the games' story will be really good and worth it and i also dig the art style a lot. thanks for the feedback!
I just finished Trails of Cold Steel IV and I legit cried at the end. Partly because the ending was so touching but mostly because I will miss these characters. I've played all four and it felt like I was there with them. Amazing series. I played Trails from Zero (it was excellent) and will be playing the Trails to Azure when it comes out. If you don't want to play all of the Trails games, I highly recommend you read the lore so when you play Trails of Cold Steel III and IV, you will know all of the characters and it will give much more depth to the story.
trails of cold steel series is the best jrpg game i've ever player other than persona
i played kuro no kiseki already in eng (calvard arc).. trust me it's way better than hajimari/ cold steel in general.. cold steel story for me tbh too cringy sometime/cheesy but i still respect the story as part of the whole franchise since i've been playing this since sky 1 long long ago.. well with every game improvement is made.. but what i feel sad about is.. for a story that focus on industrial advancement the story went fantasyesque way too much on erebonia
Yeah, playing Cold Steel during 3 and 4 actually cover both Crossbell and Liberl current situation (Crossbell/North Ambria annexing and Liberl's reaction during Calvard declaration of war toward Erebonia). So they're very good for reading context.
However for playing context, still you missed two of the best villain Ive ever seen in any Trails series (even in any JRPGS Ive played so far), Loewe/Leonhardt from Liberl arc and Arianrhod from Crossbell arc (continuing beyond this would result as spoiler, so i'll stop here w)
@@kayyam9959 wait, Kuro is already released for global???
@@aprianhamdan1795 yes but only partial eng patch (all main story already english) but npc/ stuff still jp.. main city/ important bits gear battle all eng.
Shadow hearts trilogy deserve a spot
It was interesting to see the perspective of a young person make his favorites list interesting. It is so different for people like me who grew up in the 80s and 90s.
Absolutely, so many games I'd have on my Top 25 as a 90's kid that aren't included here: Lunar Silver Star Story, all the early gen Final Fantasy games, Legend of Legaia, Wild Arms series, Shadow Hearts, Legend of Dragoon, etc.
Great list.
Especially appreciate you put Harvestella on it. A highly underrated jrpg with some of the best storytelling I've seen past decade. Some of the plot twists, even those of the silly side quests, kept me thinking about them long after finishing the game.
Top 25 jrpg all time
1-dragon quest 8 (3ds version)
2-valkery profile 2
3-xenoblad 1 (switch)
4-persona 5 royale
5-final fantesy 9
6-suikoden 2
7-wild armes 2
8-grandia 3
9-dragon quest 11
10-shinmegami tensei 5
11-baten kaitos origins
12-star ocean 3
13-valkeryia chronicles
14-lost odessey
15-legend of legaia
16-stella desus
17-dragon quest 5(ps2)
18-valkery profile 1
19-resenanace of fate
20-final fantesy 12
21-eternal sonata
22-dragon quest 7 (3ds)
23-shinmegami tensei 3
24-final fantesy 6
25-alundra 1
I prefer this list better
Good top. Trails series is great and doesn't have really bad games
I agree the worst i can think of is it being slow in the beginning
Props for the Kiseki series. I'm a big fan myself
I am loving Harvestella, so I’m glad to see it on your list!
I'm glad to see Xenoblade Chronicles ranked so highly on this list. The series is finally starting to get the recognition it deserves. I was so happy to see Xenoblade Chronicles 3 nominated for multiple awards including game of the year at The Game Awards this year. I think it would have won best score and music, best role playing game, and possibly game of the year if The Game Awards didn't so heavily favour games that cater more strongly to Western audiences. I'm not disappointed that Xenoblade Chronicles 3 lost game of the year to Elden Ring. Out of all the nominees, Elden Ring is the only one that I had no qualms beating Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 wasn't nominated for anything at The Game Awards in 2017, but that's most likely because it was probably the weakest numbered Xenoblade game coupled with the fact that it had to contend with more well known heavy hitters from both sides of the Pacific just to be nominated for anything at all. It's ridiculous just how good a year 2017 was for gaming. I think if The Game Awards were around in 2009 then Xenoblade Chronicles would have been a strong contender for game of the year, for single-handedly reviving interest in JRPGs in the Western market at a time when industry heavyweights like Final Fantasy were seeing fewer sales outside of Japan. Operation Rainfall was a miracle, and sight to behold. I humbly thank the dedicated fans of good games who passionately wrote to Nintendo of America en masse to bring us one of the best games of all time, that spawned a series that has touched so many hearts and minds and will hopefully stand the test of time. Only time will tell.
Why do you care about awards? I don't get it. Games are now art, just like films are, and art is subjective. Awards for something which is subjective makes no logical sense whatsoever.
I remember I got xenoblade from gamefly on accident back in the day instead of xcom2. I was pissed at first but ended up playing it non stop for 3 weeks hahaha.
This list was saved when you included Suikoden 2. But the lack of Breath of Fire 4 is unforgivable still
I love how that Giant's attack in Suikoden 2 at @6:51 has more oomph than so many current gen moves.
when i see Xenogears and suikoden i know am in the right place if swuare didnt interfare and taking staffs from the xenogears it will be alive until todays but u miss this master piece" legend of dragoon and arc the lad and digital sage 1&2 "
ty for the list! besides pokemon and persona saga i´ve never played other JRPGs, i bought xenoblade definitive edition, xenoblade 2 and fire emblem three houses after watching this!
Yakuza like a dragon, trails of cold Steel series and YS lacrimosa.
What about triangle strategy?
Hrm. Xenogears, ff tactics, and legend of dragoon are my favourite rpgs. 2/3 ain't bad.
Wow great list, played almost all of them.
Thought this was a serious top list. Then I realized that my man was trolling when I saw Suikoden 2 at rank 16. 🤣
Aside of that its a great list. :D
Came here just to say your number 1 is right. Good job.
Final Fantasy 14. It gets overlooked often because it is an MMO, but it is really one of the best stories in the franchise.
Yeah, you could literally enjoy the game like a single player JRPG game
With story do you mean Realm Reborn?
Not a jrpg
I might not agree with the rankings but overall the picks are great
Hmm nice list. Played most of the games on the list..BUT where's:
1. FFVIII
2. Tales of Destiny (PS1)
3. Valkyrie Profile
4. Grandia
5. Breath of Fire
6. Vagrant Story
I think these pretty good..sad to see they are not here 😢
Great list. I am a little confused though why are the Persona games ranked separately instead of together like other series' with similar connectedness like Xenoblade?
Great list! So many great games, so little time 😁. Currently playing Tales of Arise 🙂
Good choice!
I love that game so much I just platnuim'd it like a few months ago and I started another playthrough of it because I love it that much. But I'm also playing tales of berseria on ngp for the 2nd time and I'm over halfway through on my way to my platnuim trophy ontop of I'm also going for my platnuim on tales of vesperia that game stole my heart 2 hours into my first gameplay of it over a year ago. And I just bought the legend of heros games including trails of cold steel all the games in the franchise well the ones for PS4 anyways does anyone have any good jrpg recommendations as I'm always looking to buy great games so at least I have them when I need something new to play. I didn't think I'd like jrpgs but after playing the tales games most of them anyways I fell in love and now I'm a huge fan of jrpgs so if there are any 10 out of 10 jrpgs to recommend I'd be very greatful thank you and have a blessed day or night wherever you are. Was gonna get monster hunter but not sure which one is the best in the franchise there's so many to choose from lol
Xenoblade and Trails series definitely deserve more attention they are just that good.
Very nice list, although Vagrant Story should really be on any "top JRPG" list! Especially if you love a brilliant story.
Legend of heroes is my favorite too !
Excellent video, thank you!🎉
bro people needed to play Skies of Arcadia, that is still to this day my top jRPG.
SMT V was a dissapointment i went back and played SMT Digital Devil Saga and Nocturne and i was reminded of how good JRPG's can be.
nice list, but I'd pick SMT 3 or Strange Journey instead of SMT V.
Pretty good list. A lot of my favs on here
Glad you enjoyed!
yakuza like a dragon should be on the list :)
Oooh. I was surprised to see Code Vein on here. It's one of the view games I've 100%'d but I don't see a lot of love for it in the jRPG community.
Same here!
I'm so happy the trails series is at the top honestly. though IMO nier should be a bit higher :P
Chrono Trigger is one of the top 3 games that will EVER exist (I have zero nostalgia as I didn't encounter it til I discovered emulation in the mid-2000's).
wow you played it in mid 2000’s ? so how is the world in 2500 ?
That was 17 years ago, thats not really a strong argument for nostalgia not being a factor. I played around the same timeframe, I was maybe 15 years old, and that's a highly nostalgic period for me. Hell I'm nostalgic for Persons 5 and I played it 6 years ago for the first time.
Only 2 games on your list wouldn't be on mine that's some major agreement great list imo
Trails series is much better than final fantasy
Trails had zero bad game period
Amazing list! There are some I still not played yet, of course.
Let me try make mine:
1. Nier Automata
2. Valkyria Chronicles
3. Nier
4. Final Fantasy VIII
5. Trails in the Sky SC
6. Tales of the Abyss
7. Final Fantasy VII
8. Shadow Hearts Covenant
9. Valkyrie Profile 2
10. Ys VIII
11. Persona 5
12. Valkyria Chronicles 4
13. Trails of Cold Steel III
14. Trails of Cold Steel IV
15. Kingdom Hearts II
16. Chrono Cross
17. Dragon Quest XI
18. KH Birth by Sleep
19. Persona 4
20. Tales of Graces f
21. Ys IX
22. Trails in the Sky FC
23. Yakuza: Like a Dragon
24. The Legend of Dragoon
25. Dragon Quest VIII
This is it, I guess.
I recommend Suikoden 2, out of all JRPG i played, it is still my most favourite JRPG of all time
@@kleberson777 Yeah. It's on my shame list for years. Guess I'll wait for the remaster version now.
Great games 👍
I am going to assume that the only reason Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology is not on this list is that Joel has never heard of or played it. That game is something else. One if the most unique combat systems I have ever seen in a turn-based game, and the actual plot is told in such a fun and interesting way with a neat twist that I absolutely loved.
Is installed on my 3DS for when I finish the Trails, Ys and Yakuza series. Man, the 3DS had a lot of great JRPGs.
I've played it, it's a good game. Just not my top 25. Maybe because the world doesn't portrayed perfectly that makes me not fully immersed. But as you said, as for the combat and plot, it is a great game.
@@JoelRPG Would you mind explaining why you think the world isn't portrayed well enough? I'm very interested. Considering the game has a boatload of timed interactions across many different areas of the world, and even alternate/branching timelines to explore "What if?" scenarios, I'd personally say the world is pretty fleshed out. NPCs have trackable daily lives and priorities, react understandably to side-quest progression, and world events follow a fairly strict A-to-B cause and effect that lends itself to the mystery involved in using time travel to hand-craft the right timeline to reach the true ending.
Plus, that secret boss in NG+ is WHACKY and legitimately hard as hell even when you know what you're doing. It's both fun and a fair, major test of your skills learned through the entire game.
@@gagejoseph91 No, it's not that kind of portrayed that i meant. More like the artstyle and the way that you always felt like in a confined space despite the game obviously has an interesting world is kinda make me not fully immersed. Does that make sense? haha. Again, in terms of world building (which portraying the world through its narrative experience) i think the game nailed it. But in a visual and atmosphere design i think it's not really my taste.
@JoelRPG Ah, okay, that does make sense. I felt the same when playing it the first time. It takes a while for the world to open up. You are fairly regularly (lightly) railroaded based on which "chapter" you are currently playing. Even if the town, room, etc looks reasonably big, the game will not let you explore it for plot reasons. If you want to explore Room A, you have to be playing one of the chapters that allows you to go in that room, even though other chapters let you get near it.
It was a minor annoyance to me, but I understood it as either a limitation of the 3DS, balancing reasons, and/or giving intrigue to the player to encourage curiosity, backtracking, etc. It never bothered me enough to hinder my experience since RPGs always have "Come back later" moments, but I can understand why other people might be bothered by it more.
P.S. Since I know you're reading this, let me just take a moment to thank you for giving Abyss and Xenogears their due love. I am also a huge Kingdom Hearts fan, but that series is not obscure at all lol FAR fewer people know and appreciate the older Tales games and the OG Xeno game. Xenogears is one of the greatest games ever made, but nobody talks about it anymore.
My TOP10, one game per series:
1. Final Fantasy IX
2. Tales of Symphonia
3. Chrono Trigger
4. Suikoden II
5. Xenogears
6. Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War
7. Tales of Eternia
8. Radiant Historia
9. Dragon Quest XI
10. Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3 FES
I've just started Trails From Zero. It's the first I have played in the story & I'm really enjoying it. There are a lot of fans of this series who act like gatekeepers, basically saying you can't play it if you haven't played the others. Total bullshit. Having fun with it. It's VERY chill. Good for late nights. Personally, I feel that Final Fantasy 7 remake intergrade is the single best one player experience I've ever had (am having), followed by Nier & Persona 5. It's all down to personal taste :)
@@zymox2342 I didn't say that. You really need to work on your communications skillset. Both as a recipient & as a contributer.
@@zymox2342 bye.
@@zymox2342 jesus christ, grow up.
If you watch this list to help you decide what to play next, then don't forget to try Lunar 1 or 2 Silver Start Sorry.. I understand, twenty five is a short list for all time greatest on all platforms.
Thanks for the list and the information! (you nailed it with the descriptions of various games in a short time) You gained a new subscriber! I've never seen some of the RPGs you mentioned, worth to try some of them. And yes, the Trails Series are awesome! i started with Cold steel, then instantly switched to Trails in the Sky for the lore and better understanding of the general saga.
You should try octopath traveler 2. It got overwhelming positive review from steam
I approve this list since Trails is no.1
My personal top 5 games list (not going to 25 lol...also was just focusing on just games and not necessarily rpgs but still wound up that way for the top 5...honorable mentions have a few other genres though) would be (top 3 are also my 3 favorite series in order lol, but with the exception of 2 (which I explained) I'm just going with 1 game from said series)):
1st Tales of Symphonia (easily the most solid of all the Tales games (as in unlike all other games it doesn't do anything really bad, granted outside of Story it also doesn't excel in anything either but in all categories I'd say it does everything well at least). As far as the series goes though Xillia 2/Hearts R has my favorite combat system (followed by Arise where a huge + to it's combat over all other games in the series is the fact the enemies aren't easy to kill bunching bags to the degree of other games, especially the bosses....honestly combat was getting boring due to how easy all the games were getting before Arise which is a feeling I didn't have since I first started the series with Symphonia and wasn't used to the series combat (which once you are all enemies become a cakewalk in older games)).
2nd is Trails in the Sky 1 and 2 (gonna count them as 1 game as both are needed for the full story arc and by the sounds of it it was intended to be 1 game to begin with but got too big) mainly due to the storytelling. Combat wise I prefer action over TB but the Trails series as a whole has my favorite TB combat (in particular Zero and AO) however the story of the Trails series is enough to put it up there at the top for me...If I was to count the entire Trails series and not just the Sky arc then maybe it could take #1 in this list however if we go by just each game by themselves I feel Symphonia's just a bit stronger story wise (probably cause it tells everything in one game and wraps everything up neatly) and easily can't overtake Symphonia in combat for me (even if said combat has aged in comparison to later Tales combat systems it is still incredibly fun even now imo...hell if you like Smash Bros it's almost essentially the same as far as inputs and fighting game mechanics go just without the ridiculous knockback at higher %s and platforming).
3rd is Valkyria Chronicles 4 which easily took the great art style, storytelling, and tactical combat of VC1 and improved in each area...I mainly put 4 over 1 just a bit due to the new Grenadier class, the new ship orders, tanks using 1 ap instad of 2, and the squad stories that drastically improve giving background info on the rest of the squad and not just the 4 or 5 main characters (probably the biggest upgrade over 1 tbh...hell done first in Valkyria Revolution which I would also said had a better story than the main series as a whole but some major issues elsewhere with difficulty balance, map design, and drastically nerfing gun combat in turn for melee combat (which I liked the melee combat tbh, granted think they could've done better than 1 tap of X for the full normal attack combo, but feel like they should've kept the focus on gunplay a bit more....or at least gave us a shitload more ammo/means to regen ammo. The ragnite skills were decent enough though and some had interesting reactions with one another (if you use tornado in burn field for exampel it sets everyone on fire again and extends the burn field's time on the screen) but it could still have used a bit more tactical aspects to the combat system tbh)).
4th is Tokyo Xanadu which if Falcom ever decided to give sequels could easily take #2 or even the #1 slot on this list as it easily combines both the great combat of the Ys series with the great storytelling of Trails (especially with the side stories). On top of that the music is great. Only real changes needed that would've landed this game higher would've been if they could get a bit better graphics (using the Ys 9 or Kuro graphics would make a TX2 look great), slightly more interesting dungeon layout (the traps in TX though were awesome and something I wish more games, rpgs or otherwise would include as only maybe Ys or Souls adds traps often nowadays), and getting an actual competent localizer to take the project who will hopefully also add in English dub too as the Aksys team butchered the Vita version's translation and only made it passable (still very flawed) with the PS4 EX+ version (I played both and there are very very horrible translation errors in the Vita version in comparison...hell it makes Sword Art Online Hollow Fragment's initial localization look good and THAT's saying something, hell Hollow Fragment's issues were at least funny at times, the same couldn't be said for TX on Vita).
5th is Ys 9 (yes a lot of Falcom love here and for good reason lol) which is easily Ys's highest point as far as story goes and the combat is just as good as 8 with a few more interesting features with the Monstrum powers added in. Ironically enough though as far as combat goes my favorite games are Oath in Felghana and Origin's combat system evne if they don't have skills you can swap out with and are more like Tokyo Xanadu's charged, ranged, jump attacks but as far as story and side content goes it has to go to either 8 or 9 and I prefer 9 more. Will also say like Tokyo Xanadu with how it combined Ys combat and Trails' storytelling Ys's recent change in storytelling to be more like Trails in 8 and 9 in regards to mains story and side stories as well as all character development (main characters and npcs) may push Ys ahead of Trails and maybe even Tales in the future tbh especially as the traps in dungeons and boss fights in Ys and Tokyo Xanadu are a real treat imo.
As for honorable mentions I won't really go into detail with like the above 5: Dragon Quest 8 (11 was great too but kinda like 8's characters and story a bit more), Radiata Stories (imo the best game published by Square Enix that I've played lol (note I haven't played Chrono Trigger/Cross which is why it's not above or in here...maybe one day I will but too busy with other stuff right now)), Lunar Silver Star Harmony (could easily hit the top 5 too but I've yet to beat the game...got distracted with work/other games that released at the same time that I kinda wanted to play more), Octopath Traveler (another game I need to finish tbh, on chapter 3 for all characters), Rogue Galaxy, Ni no kuni 2 (liked combat more than 1 tbh), Stein's Gate (ya a VN but a good one), Ace Attorney (fun VN/puzzle game), Layton games (another fun VN/puzzle game), Star Ocean 6 (currently playing and almost done, probably, easily the best SO game story/combat wise imo), Zelda Botw and Windwaker (liked WW more though tbh), Guilty Gear, Blazblue, and could probably name another dozen more but I think the above is good enough. As for why no FF, KH, Persona, or Xenoblade:
-unlike most jrpg fans I find Final Fantasy to be meh for pretty much every entry, VIIR was good I guess, same with Crisis Core. All others were average or disappointments or I just outright hated (FFXV in particular...easily the worst full on action combat I've ever played in a game and story was shit/wasted potential due to resources that were used up on graphics/the frist continent rather than expanding the game's story beyond the first continent (1st continent could've been a 1/3rd of the size and they could've used that to add more to Nefelheim and Tenebrae)).
-Kingdom Hearts is just mediocre/confused storytelling plain and simple and combat passable I guess
-Persona I just couldn't get into...feels like too much fluff is added with the calendar system tbh with pointless activities...hell I preferred P5 Scramble's calendar due to it cutting out the stuff (main issue it had though was SP management was horrible)...it could probably make it into honorable mentions but just barely I guess cause story was decent and combat not too bad but I'd still say it'd be hard for it (any game in the series) to hit my top 50 tbh.
-Xenoblade has great characters, decent stories (granted 3's not pulling me in yet and I"m halfway through chapter 4), but imo a horrible combat system (I loathe MMO style auto attack systems, I don't play many MMOs cause of that and I barely play Xenoblade soley due to story/characters)...2 and 3 definitely have better combat systems than 1 and X imo but still this aspect f the combat system is a complete turnoff for me...give me either full turn based where I have a turn and then the enemy has a turn (even if it's a system where I run around for my turn like in Eternal Sonata or Fairy Fencer F) and I can think and plan at my leisure or full action where I control every action of the character...the only games that feel remotely good with an ATB like system is a tactical game like Valkyria Chronicles and Xcom which still have turns in them.
Good top, but there's no Grandia ll and I'm upset a bit. Best game for first jrpg meeting
I have just discovered your channel and your videos and I have already learned a lot. Could you please make a video about Turn based games that don't include a lot of overwhelming information? I mean games that give you a lot of tactical options, but without endless rules and details. Basically like Chess but as a video game. I guess something like fire emblem but I don't have a Nintendo (PC and Ps4 only)
Trails is pretty closed to that, with a grid system, You have moves that have different shapes and depending on the size, aoe, one target, all, It's technically like chess since you have Rook like moves and have to set yourself up so you don't get hit while making sure they get hit, etc.
Great list. But why no Octopath Traveler?
I had almost all these games , thier thrill is unmatched , but you forgot about valkyrie profile series
i love how you recommend to play trails from beginning to end.. that's how it should be.. i hate those who said it is ok when ppl ask if it's fine to play just from cold steel series and said you won't lose much or no diff and so on.. for me story is also everything.. and well calvard arc is gonna be a banger
I'm playing Trails From Zero as my first Trails game ever & thoroughly enjoying it. I don't feel I'm missing out on anything at all. I have no interest in going back and playing all the older ones. Same with Persona. I'm absolutely loving 5 after hating 4. There are so many of these series I want to play and for someone just getting into JRPGS, I'd rather have the variety than play 50 games to catch up. Trails From Zero was stated by many reviewers/players as a great entry point and prior knowledge of other games in the series really wouldn't add or take much away.
@@yarbles66 you say smthg totally off.. persona is a standalone series.. each of their game got nothing to do with each other so ofc it's fine to start play from 5/4/3 it's your call.. why do you even making a comparison of persona with trails.. while trails series story are connected it's of the same storyline you even meet the old character and you face ouroboros from the start knowing them bits by bits and them advancing the plan slowly.. later on the series they just bombard you with spoilers of what already happen but because you don't understand you just accept it as it is since the game tend to just repeating it for you kindly when you say you are not missing much.. well not technically wrong but it's way less enjoyable experience especially they all will return in the next game and it's not smthg you can do by just playing the recent game and you lost alot you just ain't noticing it.. there are many games with connecting story one of the example is yakuza series if you play it.. but not persona that one is standalone know the diff sir
@@yarbles66 and stop using words you found on YT videos as if it is a for sure fact.. so simply put it's about how much you like Trails in general.. those who play randomly sure they can do that.. but that's their limit.. for them trails is just one of the so many games for them.. i can bet you my ass.. later on when kuro no kiseki 2/3 comes out ppl will say it's fine to start from kuro 1.. you won't lose alot.. is there even any need to know rean past and so on.. that's just how internet is.. if you love it you play from start.. if you don't like the game as much than go ahead and play the latest.. simple as that.. but i can say for sure it took alot of fun out of it if you don't play alot you just didn't notice it especially from immersion side.. but even if you start now it's already too late anyway
@@kayyam9959 I read about two lines of that bollocks novella then 'know the difference' give over ya fruit.
@@yarbles66 you see one of my fav char is reene.. i love seeing her grow up from the start of trails where she is just a kid to now in kuro no kiseki she is of rean's age now it's one of my guilty pleasure of playing trails/ kuro no kiseki in general.. this is just one of the very small things which attract ppl to trails series.. their character.. as much as you can argue you won't lose alot in term of story.. for sure you will lose alot in term of enjoying their characters if you see 1/2 ppl that you barely know their past of.. btw i'm sorry for the so many typing.. i'm just one of the kind of hardcore trails player who enjoy the game alot and have spent like so many years with their series.. tho i find it their weakest installment is sadly cold steel..(but the best in graph) lucky we already move on to kuro no kiseki and it is so good.. try it if you haven't ^_^
Cool video. I really enjoyed most of these RPGs and can't disagree. Just 1 question about the list. On some of the entries, you list the entire series, Trails series or Xenoblade series. But then when it came to Persona, you listed 3, 4 and 5. Is that because you wouldn't recommend the entire series so they each got their own slot? Or were the games just that good that they deserved to be labeled individually?
Also, I'd replace Shin Megami Tensei 5 with 4 and Apocalypse. 5 is decent but 4/A is just unbelievably fantastic. I feel 5 is a step back in comparison.
That's because i feel like each persona game can stand on its own, while some of these series feels like it has to be played in a full series. Except valkyria, i put it in a series, because the game is not that much different from one another.
My Top 5 JRPG of All Time are
1. Persona 5 Royal
2. Persona 4 Golden
3. XenoBlade Chronicles 3
4. XenoBlade Chronicles Definitive Edition
5. Fire Emblem Three Houses
@rayhanrehemaputra1719 thanks
here is my top 10 list of all time out of hundred JRPG I played
1. Suikoden 2
2. Chrono Trigger
3. Legend of the Dragoon
4. Persona 5
5. Nier Automata
6. Final Fantasy X
7. Final Fantasy XII
8. Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne
9. Kingdom Hearts 1
10. Bteath of Fire IV
i agree that trails series is so good :) but shadow hearts series is also so good! ( well the first two are great) but the thierd one was ok :) nino kuni is also a realy good jrpg series, the first one was (in my oppinion) mutch better thought. i have stream some rpgs in my chanel. but i can tell you that in the ps2 era, the frpgs and rpg were so great, dark cloud, cocoon, and so on. the most remastered rpg i would want now is the legend of dragoon :)
I totally agree!
That's an... interesting order list. And you're DEFINTELY missing Yakuza Like a Dragon !
I am surprised there is no single Yakuza game here
Absolutely ridiculous to call them JRPGs
Good list but needs Shining Force games and Lunar games since they're objectively better than many here. 🙂
I would add "the legend of the dragoon" and "valkyrie profile:leneth"
Final fantasy 7 remake made the list but not FF7?
It’s a shame that the common man cannot comprehend what Xenogears provides because they are missing out on what is easily the best piece of [possible] fiction to be produced.
Xenogears should be taught in schools. I learned a Heck of a lot more about life from Xenogears than I did from Romeo and Juliet.
Harvestella? 👀
Xeno series is definitely my favorite game series
I've played all of the trails of cold steel arc. And i am not sure, that trails series as a whole Number one.
From narrative standpoint i met a lot of strange things like some evil boss laughing and than teleport six or seve times during story. Also instead of civil war and Grey morale we have arc for returning our school. There are a lot of things from narrative, that are not good and could be improved.
Gameplay wise i like how they created more deep mechanic based on ff7 material system
Trails of series is simply the best series you can get into. However this list is missing Wild Arms, Grandia, Breath of Fire and Xenosaga.
Also wild arms , thousand arms , breath of fire series.
Try Octopath Traveller, it's good too. I like your list btw
I am always sad that my favorite rpg never gets mentioned in this kind of list.
What is your favorite JRPG?
You should try Grandia III.
Ys8 is fucking phenomenal
After FF7, Xenogears is my favorite
Bravely default 2? Final fantasy 6? Octopath traveler? these easily belong in the top 5
Legend of heroes can't be beaten damn still the best
Hey Joel, have you played Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered ? Just saw this game on steam today, I wanted an opinion on it
i haven't played this game, maybe soon :)
What is a JRPG? What is a RPG?
I’m just glad FF12 is getting the love it deserved ❤️‼️
I was always kinda meh about FF12 wasn't sure about it only watch hed reviews and. Someone play a few minutes but I did give it a chance eventually on switch before then I only saw the ps2 version but zodiac age fixed a lot of its issues and I had a lot of fun with it ^~^ The story was alittle bit of a miss for me but I loved the gameplay :D
Mantab bang joel
Man... Idk, if this is best of all time. I feel like Tales of Arise should have made the list. And what about old school games like Breath of Fire or Legend of Dragoon?? It's not a bad list I just think if you going for "all time" then a few classics missed the cut.
i prefer rune factory 3 and 4 over harvestella tbh.
and ff8 and ff9 are better than ffx imo
my favorite jrpg is still legend of mana. i hope they do remake that game someday
GRANDIA 1 .
I wanted to like it but I could never get into Legend of Heroes. I gave it a good twenty hours before putting it down.
Click the video to find out some hidden gem JRPGs just to realize that I'd already played most of them except some old game like Suikoden
Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne????
You obviously were not serious about the "all time" part. Too many recent games. Final Fantasy 6 is by far the most glaring omission (that at minimum is top 5). Not to mention Dragon Quest 5 and Final Fantasy 9.
what is DRAGON QUEST V on
Suikoden II is G.O.A.T.!
Persona 4 golden and persona 5 royal are simply the best
Do you know which of all those games has a continuous line that all of the above is Canon? Since some sagas have 18 games and no game connects with the previous one and that seems like a waste of time to me
try playing legend of heroes trails series :)
Where's Skies Of Arcadia, Radiant Historia, Golden Sun, Riviera The Promised Land?
I have a huge backlog of rpgs I gotta play and I refused to start a new1 unless I finish the current game I’m playing, dragon quest11 killed me it was soo boring. After 4 months And 65sh hrs in I gave up on it…
The trails series is top tier and im so glad to see it get its credit here
Why no tales of arise. To me that one of the best JRPGS I have played.
Couldn’t care about Chrono Cross, Chrono Trigger is one of my favorite games of all time.
Why Star Ocean 3 and not Star Ocean 2. 2 is a better game and story in almost every possible way.
yess but star ocean 3 had the most overall experience to me.. especially the world exploration