My Top 10 JRPGs on Xbox
It seemed like a fun exercise to put together a top 10 JRPGs on Xbox with my main condition being to highlight franchises other than Final Fantasy, Persona and last year’s juggernaut Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Cut me some slack on some of the descriptions because some of these were 3 or 4 years ago and who knows how many dozens of JRPGs ago. Thankfully I have an enormous screenshots folder chronicling my adventures over the years and will include several of my favorites. All captured on Xbox Series X!
I’ll apply the usual statement of “If you ask me on another day or another week, my order for these may change.”
It was fairly easy for me to come up with a Top 10 but ranking them in order was painful for me but here it is:
#10 Yakuza: Like a Dragon
I jumped into the Yakuza/Like a Dragon (LAD 7) franchise with this game. All I would ever hear about is how great a protagonist Kiryu is and I was ready to be underwhelmed with the new guy on the block with this one.
Thankfully, Ichiban is maybe the best protagonist on this entire list of games and easily near the top including all the others I’ve played. The man loves Dragon Quest and basically hallucinates into thinking fights with thugs and enemies are turn based JRPG battles. My kind of guy!
With this game, I got to see a glimpse into the Yakuza series with all of the zaniness, melodrama, comedy and everything else that goes along with that. In a sea of JRPGs with fantasy led by teenagers (or ancient looking late 20 somethings) LAD 7 stands out because Ichiban and much of the party are in their 40s and it is set in modern day Japan. This brings aspects into the game that never fail to make me laugh. A JRPG staple, the “job system” involves going to get actual…jobs. Like becoming a chef wielding a frying pan and ladles, a foreman swinging a hammer and many others for Ichi and the party. Also whenever a boss fight is a….company’s boss. Chef’s kiss
As funny as this game is, it is such a sincere and earnest story set in our world. It touches on real societal issues many of us face and for the most part, it nails it. It might be heresy for some of you to start with the 7th (or more…) game in a franchise but it really is a great jumping on point and it makes me sure I’ll get to all of the Kiryu games eventually. I just love me some turn-based games (just like Ichiban!)
#9 Grandia HD Collection
Grandia had been on my list of classic JRPGs to play for many years until the HD Collection released on Xbox in 2024 and I jumped right in as soon as they were available.
Grandia 1 is a charming globe-trotting fantasy adventure with the emphasis on the word “adventure.” It follows the young protagonist, Justin, who reeeeally wants to go on an adventure. One of the things that appeals to me about Grandia is older areas become slowly unavailable to you as you progress through the story adding to the feeling that you are traveling and soon you will end up on the other side of this world. Usually you can spot these moments ahead of time such as getting on a boat or other implications that you will not be returning. Keeping multiple save slots is 1 of the JRPG 10 Commandments!
On your journey you will encounter ancient ruins, foreign fantasy cultures, a few interesting party members (some who come and go) and even a young love story. This game was originally a Sega Saturn game, later ported to the PS1, so the English voice acting might not be up to snuff but you can switch it to Japanese if it bothers you that much. I found it to be unintentionally funny or inoffensive but I tend to have a high tolerance for bad English VA.
Overall, Grandia 1 was a pleasure to cross off of my JRPG backlog and was a pleasant trip back in time into the early 3D JRPG era
I took a break to play other games before I jumped into Grandia 2 and I was pleased to find that I ended up loving Grandia 2 a lot more than the first game. I had never played a JRPG from the Dreamcast and hoo boy, do these colors pop.
It would be hard for experienced JRPG players to not see a bit of Cloud Strife from Final Fantasy 7 in Ryudo, the protagonist from Granida 2. Both are mercenaries, both are traveling with a white mage lady. I’ll end the comparisons there but there’s sure to be more you can find.
Grandia 2 of course improves on the original game, but I was regularly intrigued and surprised by the places the story goes. The Church and its fantasy religion plays a huge part in the story of this game and really helped separate it in my mind from similar setups in FF7 or even the first Grandia.
The cast and characters in this game was a step up from the first, in particular Millenia never failed to be entertaining.
Grandia 2 delivered on everything I was thinking the first game might. Hidden gem gets thrown around a lot these days but a Dreamcast JRPG, stuck in a collection where many people might just play the first game and bounce off of the series really feels like a great example of a hidden gem to me.
#8 Visions of Mana
Visions of Mana was my first Mana game. I played it before I knew Legend of Mana and Trials of Mana would be coming to Xbox. Part of me wishes I had played those 2 games first because VoM is chock full of references, easter-eggs and callbacks to the entire Mana series but VoM is a perfect jumping on point for newcomers to the franchise. I was extremely excited to get my hands on VoM and I tried out the demo (save data does NOT carry over) and I was honestly underwhelmed. It throws the player into the game a couple of chapters in, yet the story felt extremely awkward, maybe even kinda bad. Maybe it was just me, I don’t know.
This lowered my expectations for both the game and the story and I think it was honestly for the best. For 1 thing, I think the opening chapter of VoM does an excellent job of introducing you to the world of Mana through the eyes of a young boy growing up in your typical JRPG starting village. By the time I got to where the demo portion of the game was, I was invested in figuring out a couple important story beats and why the characters in this world were reacting the way they were to everything going on in the plot.
I can’t say too much more on the story other than don’t go in expecting a ton, maybe you will be pleasantly surprised with some aspects of it like I was. A lot of it is very tropey, I saw some things a mile away while other things I was counting on to happen…well they didn’t and I am glad it subverted my expectations.
Visions of Mana is maybe one of the best looking and best feeling 3D JRPGs I’ve played. The environments are consistently beautiful throughout the game and some straight up fantasy-ass landscapes. I would regularly take a knee to admire the gorgeous vistas and I recommend you do the same.
VoM is an Action JRPG with options to choose the party you want and customize them with classes and moves that they unlock. It was enjoyable but I always end up mashing in action JRPGs so maybe I’m not the best judge for the quality of combat. What still shocks me about VoM to this day is that this game has a double jump and an airdash. A double jump AND an airdash in a JRPG?!?! Movement in the world feels fast, fluid and always satisfying. Early on I felt like there was no need for a mount in the game because of how fast the character movement was, but later on, it did make covering large distances a good deal faster and was very much appreciated. The mounts along with almost every other monster design are either cute, creative, cool or interesting and worth taking a moment to appreciate. I really felt these monster designs were something special and it’s one of the many reasons I now consider myself a fan of the Mana series. There are some very good songs in this soundtrack. I’m always going to gravitate to the slower, relaxed town and area themes and I am happy to report I really enjoyed this soundtrack a lot.
I recommend Visions of Mana if you want to play a gorgeous game filled with JRPG tropes and staples. Comfort food at its finest and a series at its best.
#7 Unicorn Overlord
Unicorn Overlord was a joy to complete and get the 1000G. UO is Vanillaware’s first game on Xbox (hopefully more to come!) and it blew me away with how addicting the loop of the game was. Of course a huge appeal of Vanillaware’s games is the outstanding art for the characters and backgrounds. There is a pretty good soundtrack here with a few tracks I still enjoy listening to.
In between story segments, the crux of the game is fighting and managing tactical, real-time-with-pause zoomed in map segments which will warp you into auto-battles that play out depending on how well you set up your squad/team beforehand. That’s what I remember about the combat system from March of 2024. There is a demo for Unicorn Overlord that allows progress made in the demo to carry over to the main game if you want to check that out for yourself.
The story wasn’t groundbreaking by any means but it had some fun characters. If you ask me, the thing I loved the most about UO was the overworld loop. Running around the different areas, collecting materials, building stuff up. Maybe it’s somewhat basic in UO but I love most town-building aspects in games. Between that and the overworld exploration being a blast, it’s what I always looked forward to when I sat down with Unicorn Overlord.
This description might be shorter than the others but that’s because there is a demo you should go try out. I fight a strong urge to replay Unicorn Overlord almost every month since I played and completed this game. One day I will but for now, I’ll try to focus on new games and I’ll be there for the next Vanillaware game that releases on Xbox, new or old!
#6 Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered
I wasn’t into JRPGs back when Ni No Kuni 1 released back on the PS3 but if I was, I would’ve been an extremely jealous Xbox 360 player staring over the fence. I don’t think video games need to look any better than this game. Partnering Studio Ghibli’s 2D anime cutscenes with Level-5’s cel shaded 3D characters and world was a genius move. NNK kicks off with a very emotional opening and quickly sweeps you away into a heartfelt turn-based, monster collecting, fantasy adventure.
It’s been a few years since I played this so I may not have much more to say on this game other than I was over the moon when I heard the news it was coming to Xbox. It makes it the easiest of recommendations if you enjoy Ghibli, JRPGs, beautiful worlds or any combination of those.
Ni No Kuni 2 is also a safe choice if you would prefer action, arena combat and an added kingdom building mechanic which is pretty great. The trade-off is no Ghibli for the sequel 
My favorite will always be the first game because I prefer turn-based but either game is a pretty solid choice if you ask me.
#5 NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…
I wish I heard more people spreading the love about NieR Replicant as much as they do for its sequel. Automata is an incredible game with a complex plot but I connected so much more with the first NieR and the cast of characters.
Replicant is set before Automata but I played them out of order and I really don’t think there is a wrong way to do this. Both games reuse themes and have familiar plot points which may give away parts of the other game. I say don’t worry about it! NieR Replicant, maybe more than any other game I’ve played, really just makes me think about life, existence and whether our time on earth is futile or not.
Thankfully, I come out feeling pretty positive on the other end of this existential crisis every time. NieR’s world may be dark, things may feel pointless, but it’s got a great message about finding meaning in life even if things didn’t turn out the way you intended. The soundtrack is next level. There are so many beautiful songs with vocals that are sung in a made up, yet strangely familiar language that I regularly listen to. Songs to make you feel inspired, some to cry your eyes out to. A couple even drove me mildly insane because of how often I had to replay certain sections. Eventually, and with enough time and distance from the game, I grew to love even those songs too.
Replicant has upgraded and better feeling combat than the original Xbox 360/PS3 version of NieR. It even goes with the more fitting protagonist of “Brother NieR” rather than “Papa NieR” which I won’t get into here. I really hope more people check out this game. It’s one of the most meaningful games I’ve ever played and it might not technically be a JRPG but ehh, I’m counting it!
#4 Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance
For many years, I never understood the appeal of SMT. Why would I want to play a game set in such an oppressive and dark world? Normally JRPGs have inviting and cozy towns. I help the townsfolk and they help me. Well after playing many, many JRPGs on Xbox, I started to feel the urge to play something very different from what I was used to.
In SMT V, almost everything is destroyed, almost everyone and everything wants to kill you. If you’re like me, one of the things you have heard about SMT is how brutally difficult the series is. While that is definitely true, a feature new to the Vengeance version of SMT V is the ability to save pretty much everywhere. So just throw down a save when you are about to fight a boss and you won’t lose experience or progress. It allowed me to try new strategies without fear.
I grew up playing Age of Mythology and always loved learning about different cultures and mythologies. In SMT, your demons are pulled from mythology, religion, even urban legends. I enjoyed seeing a Japanese game dev’s take on certain well known creatures or figures from mythology (I know many of the designs date back to much older SMT games)
SMT VV was a JRPG experience very different from what I was used to. I started off frightened and intimidated by the world. Like most JRPGs, by the end, nothing could stop me. Vengeance added a more fleshed out story that I enjoyed but it still takes a backseat to the combat. Hell, even the platforming was enjoyable. SMT VV has some of the best turn-based combat I’ve experienced in recent years along with a haunting setting that I will not soon forget.
#3 Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars
I played Suikoden 1&2 several years ago emulated and fell in love with the games…well mostly 2 but 1 is pretty much required reading to get the most out of 2. Sadly, the inventory system in Suikoden 1 is a mess and it was not fixed in the remastered package.
In Suikoden 1, you will experience a rough, early PS1 JRPG with all of the warts and charm that comes with that. My favorite part of 1 is building out the Headquarters. It might be laid out a bit strangely but it really gets the point across that we are setting up this HQ and working with whoever and whatever we can to survive. There are still some enjoyable, funny characters and a semi-grounded political story about war. The story is serviceable but nothing that will blow you away. It does a pretty good job of creating a world and setting the stage for something that happens with a lot of video games and their sequels.
They freaking knock it out of the park with #2. I strongly recommend playing through Suikoden 1 to enhance your experience with Suikoden 2. Recurring characters at key moments, wonderful callbacks that really add to the world. And the fact that you import parts of your save to further expand the feeling that you have lived in this world and what you did in the first game had an impact in the story of Suikoden. Keep in mind this was originally a PS1 game so it’s mainly just importing the text names of certain things but you can also import stats and some progress into 2.
I’ll touch on a couple of positive things that are shared between both games. In Suikoden you gather 108 Stars of Destiny, AKA party members, shopkeepers, and other important NPCs to help you in your quest.
One thing both games get extremely right is combat. You have 6 party members and while that may sound like a lot, the battles can fly by extremely fast. There is an auto-battle option where depending on the layout of the enemies, all or most of your party may attack simultaneously, saving some much needed time in your turn-based journey. With an enormous cast of potential party members (many cannot join you in combat) you would think it would be a slog to grind up the needed experience for the ones you leave behind but that is not the case. There is a type of rubber-banding experience system that will boost very low leveled party members up several levels at once depending on where you are fighting. Also grinding is not really needed in Suikoden. There is something I would call an “area cap” where exp becomes negligible and you will level out until you reach a new area. There are plenty more the 2 games share between each other but it’s time to move onto the sequel…
Suikoden 2 is such a massive step up from the first game. I believe most people playing it will notice most of the problems have been fixed within the first few hours of playing. Group inventory solves a huge issue. The game looks and feels way better than 1. Maybe more importantly, the story hits so much harder. I felt more in the first few hours of Suikoden 2 than I did in all of Suikoden 1 (maybe a couple good moments in 1 but nothing compared to 2)
Suikoden 2 does an excellent job of telling a semi-grounded story about war, factions and politics. It is funnier, sadder, sweeter and just a much better experience than playing 1 in my opinion. The soundtrack is an all time great, particularly some of the town themes and tracks that play during key story moments. Some of the new art for the remaster package truly shines in 2, taking what was already some fantastic sprite art that showcased a great sense of scale for certain environments and made for some truly beautiful backgrounds. I’m not entirely in love with all of the changes, certain new assets can look out of place such as a super high res barrel or household object but I feel that was more offensive in the first game than the sequel.
The relationships between characters really get a chance to shine in this game. I’m nervous to even hint at the types of relationships and archetypes but if you have played Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, I will just say Suikoden 2 builds relationships much, much better. There is a memorable, intimidating and extremely evil villain. One who lives and breathes war-crimes. I can’t really go into any more detail on the story for why I love Suikoden 2 but it really is something I hope all lovers of JRPGs get a chance to fully experience at some point in their lives.
#1 and #2 Octopath Traveler and Octopath Traveler II
I can’t pick between Octopath Traveler 1 and 2. I love them both so I choose them both. You don’t need to play OT1 in order to enjoy OT2, only vague lore references and some deep cut easter eggs. OT2 is probably the go-to recommendation (and an overall better game) but I still love OT1 even though it’s got a lot of problems that were either fixed or improved in OT2. Both games have possibly my favorite soundtracks in gaming, and they deserve a listen whether you play these games or not.
Octopath Traveler 1 is one of the main reasons I got into JRPGs. I was always fascinated by games that looked like Final Fantasy 6 but I always felt like I didn’t have it in me to get into them for whatever reason. I had only really played Pokemon back in the day.
The HD-2D style hooked me, the music wowed me, and the combat system where you suss out enemy weaknesses in order to then break them and unleash your stash of boosted turns onto them sending them into oblivion was what kept me going through the early chapters into the post-game challenges.
A common complaint I hear about Octopath is how the party doesn’t feel as connected because there are very few interactions between them (this is remedied in the sequel) but that never bothered me because I was always on board for the premise of the game: seeing 8 different characters’ stories play out. Plus, when I grab my friends to go run errands with me, I tell them to shut up in the car until I’m finished. (Ok, not really)
In all seriousness, stuff does get tied together in the end game, mainly via text in OT1 and this is further fleshed out in the sequel. I really do enjoy the lore of the world of Octopath which I feel might not be very common but there is something about these little pixel guys and girls getting backstabbed, betrayed, murdered, and tortured with forbidden magic that never fails to entertain me.
Shoutouts to the soundtrack in 1 for H’aanit’s home village theme “My Quiet Forest Home” which might be the most relaxing piece of music I have ever heard. Shout out in OT2 to Castti’s theme which fits into the same vibe for me. Both games have heart-pumping, adrenaline-fueled, rocking songs that will get you ready to stomp some bosses. Octopath 2 has 1 theme that left my jaw wide open and my hair was standing on end.
These games have a heavy emphasis on satisfying and meaningful turn-based combat wrapped in a beautiful HD-2D wrapper and some of the best video game music I have ever heard. Check out either of them and just know Octopath 2 improves on many gripes people have with the original. They are some of my favorite JRPGs ever
So that’s my list! Again, I wanted to exclude Final Fantasy, Persona and Metaphor. NieR Replicant was the only game I wasn’t actively taking screenshots during my playthrough so I just hopped into the game and grabbed some real quick.
This was really fun to put together. Some of these I truly feel are some of the best JRPGs available on Xbox and some I just love despite some of their flaws.
I’m always looking forward to whatever new JRPGs come to Xbox with my most anticipated right now being Atelier Yumia and the Lunar Remastered Collection. I have never played Atelier or Lunar so this month and next month should be great!
