8 JRPGs Better Than They Have Any Right To Be

As a genre or gameplay style becomes more popular, more creators naturally dive into it and craft their own iterations and experiences.

This has happened recently with Soulslikes, has always been the case with Metroidvanias, and now even JRPGs are into it, with various designers producing their love letters to the genre.

That’s why we have several JRPGs not made in Japan, proving that creative influence goes beyond geography. JRPGs’ aesthetics, combat innovations, and character-driven plots have inspired creators worldwide.

However, while many dream of making the next spiritual successor to Chrono Trigger, few even manage to create a decent game. And I’m not just talking about indie developers but also well-established studios. After playing so many low-quality games, it’s no wonder I developed trust issues.

Luckily, there’s always an exception to the rule. In this list, I’ll feature some JRPGs or JRPG-inspired games that are much better than they have any right to be, whether because we underestimated them at first or because they were the first creations of a fantastic game designer.

8 Digimon World

Oh No, Not Numemon Again

I know Digimon World: Next Order is practically a remake of the PS1 Digimon World and “fixed” everything I’m about to mention that makes the latter underrated, but hear me out.

When I first played Digimon World, I was around ten years old. I had never read manuals (and I’m not sure if they had any helpful tips), and the in-game tutorial was barebones, so every discovery felt like a genuine surprise.

I had no idea how to train my Digimon, what my next evolution would be, or what facility a newly rescued Digimon would add to File City. Every time I booted up the game, it was a rewarding surprise.

That feeling lasted all the way to the end. Yeah, it was incredibly frustrating to put in a colossal effort to turn my Digimon into a killing machine only for it to become a Numemon or the constant backtracking to reach those final areas.

But the gameplay loop of choosing a new egg, taking care of my rookie, and watching it digivolve into new forms while I explored brand-new areas and rescued my fellow Digimon friends was always a joy.

7 Final Fantasy Type-0

Class Zero Deserves More Love

Final Fantasy spin-offs tend to be a hit or miss. Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the best tactical JRPGs ever made. In contrast, games like Final Fantasy Explorers or Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII exist just to ride the brand’s hype.

Final Fantasy Type-0 is a great fit for this list because it sits in the middle between good and bad. Narrative-wise, the game is bonkers. We play as a class of students, which suggests a lighthearted theme, but we get anything but.

Embroiled in war and conflicts, the game constantly presents death and despair, even as its central theme. The first scenes show a Chocobo dying, for Bahamut’s sake. That’s insane, Square!

In combat, each Class Zero character has their own specialty, almost like a Job. Battles are straightforward, but the character-switching adds an absorbing layer to the fights and promotes the gameplay.

Final Fantasy Type-0 bites off more than it can chew, offering too many unnecessary features that make the game feel confusing or overly bloated. But in the simplest terms of gameplay and narrative, it delivers everything it sets out to do, plus a few surprises.

6 Resonance of Fate

For All You Weirdos Out There

Resonance of Fate is one of the JRPGs with the most confusing battle systems on the market, so of course, it would be overlooked—and rightfully so. But let’s do an exercise: what if a player learns the gist of it and pushes through? Does a good game await them?

The answer is yes. Resonance of Fate is at fault for creating such a bizarre combat system, but at the same time, it’s weirdly refreshing in an industry that, at the time, was flooded with button-mashing action games.

The steampunk setting with modern weapons and guns was also innovative. Playing as Zephyr and his group of degenerates, we tackled odd missions in a weird narrative that doesn’t really explain itself, even at the end. But it’s the journey that makes it worthwhile.

This is not an appeal for you to play it. Because if it was, it’d be a lousy one. The thing is, Resonance of Fate gets a bad rep for its battle system when there’s so much more to it. If you’re into genuinely unique systems that will put your gray matter to the test, you just found one.

5 Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song

It Grows On You, Trust Me

Anyone familiar with the SaGa franchise knows that many of its games are difficult to grasp, whether due to their luck-based gameplay, nonlinear narrative, or an unorthodox design philosophy that ruins the game—looking at you, Unlimited SaGa.

Even so, some titles in the series stand out while maintaining their unique traits. That’s the case with Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song, which comes the closest to being a classic JRPG while embracing the SaGa style.

Each character still develops attributes individually in battle, a mechanic inherited from Final Fantasy II. Skills can be glimmered (learned) mid-battle, turning the tide of a confrontation doomed from the start into a win. The gameplay becomes more understandable the more we play.

However, where Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song both stumbles and excels is in its freeform scenario, which prioritizes player freedom above any standard narrative. Every NPC interaction can lead to a quest, unlock a new location, or reveal a new piece of lore.

As we engage with its systems, digging deeper and patiently trying to understand what’s happening, we discover a hidden gem. Both Minstrel Song and other SaGa games aren’t for everyone, not even for JRPG enthusiasts. But it would be remiss of me not to say that there’s a grand game behind its uncanny systems.

4 Chained Echoes

One Of The Best JRPG-Inspired Indie

The indie industry is filled with creators like us, gamers from the past who long for that nostalgic feeling of discovery from our first foray into the world of JRPGs.

Fortunately, some creators don’t wait around to reclaim that feeling. They take matters into their own hands, as was the case with Matthias Linda, sole creator of the JRPG-inspired Chained Echoes.

You’re in for a treat if you love PS1 and SNES JRPGs. Chained Echoes has a beautiful story, a brilliant twist on turn-based combat, and one of the most rewarding exploration systems I’ve ever seen in a JRPG.

The thing is, these days, there are so many “love letters to JRPGs” that it’s hard to find one that truly stands out. I played Chained Echoes skeptically, worried it would just lean on its references without forging its identity. Ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised. Don’t sleep on this one.

3 Lost Odyssey

The Final Lost Odyssey

Is a game company the sum of its parts, i.e., its game designers, or is a game designer solely responsible for a game’s success? This was the challenge Hironobu Sakaguchi, the father of Final Fantasy, faced after leaving Square.

Sakaguchi founded Mistwalker, and with his portfolio, it didn’t take long for him to secure robust funding from Microsoft. With that, he first released Blue Dragon and then Lost Odyssey, which many call a Final Fantasy in all but name.

The JRPG was a new IP from a novelty company without Square’s development team—except for Nobuo Uematsu. No matter how renowned Sakaguchi’s record is, it was hard not to be wary of Lost Odyssey’s release, especially as a JRPG in the Xbox 360 library.

But for those who delved into the adventures of the immortal Kaim, who were moved by the exquisite short stories, and who challenged themselves with a classic turn-based battle system with a unique system, they know that Sakaguchi gave it his all in Lost Odyssey.

To this day, it remains one of the Xbox-exclusive games that JRPG fans most desperately want ported. I genuinely hope it happens. According to Sakaguchi, he only has one more game left before retirement, and it would be a shame if his creations weren’t democratically available to everyone.

2 Eternal Sonata

Who Knew Classical Music Was So Fun

One of the biggest crimes in the JRPG industry is the fact that Eternal Sonata isn’t more widely acclaimed, a game where we follow the dream world of a dying Frédéric Chopin. Yes, that composer.

I feel like every JRPG initially released on Xbox 360 that later got ported to other consoles proved to the industry that it was better than most assumed. This success likely motivated publishers and developers to bring them to new audiences.

That’s where Eternal Sonata stands. This game is artistically beautiful, has an enviable soundtrack—we’re talking about world-renowned classical compositions—and features an incredibly captivating and creative battle system that keeps evolving throughout the game.

It was a new IP and the first solo production by tri-Crescendo, a studio that had previously only handled sound development, so it flew under the radar of most gamers. But the more I played, the more I fell in love with it and immersed myself in Chopin’s story.

1 Kingdom Hearts

Mickey’s Most Successful Game

Nowadays, Kingdom Hearts is a phenomenon. But imagine if I pitched you an action RPG back in the early 2000s that mixed Final Fantasy characters with Disney. You’d think I was losing it.

But somehow, Square pulled it off. Not only did they manage to reframe Disney characters into universal heroes, but they also created remarkable lore and a storyline within the Kingdom Hearts universe that lives rent-free in fans’ minds.

At least for JRPG fans, Sora became bigger than Donald, Goofy, and even Mickey. Kingdom Hearts wasn’t about Disney anymore—it was only about Kingdom Hearts. And the franchise kept growing and growing against all imaginable odds.

At first, I admit that the more I felt Kingdom Hearts drifting away from Final Fantasy, the more bummed I got. What drew me into the series wasn’t Mickey wielding a Keyblade but fighting side by side with Cloud and Squall.

But now, all I want is to know about Sora’s future adventures, who the hell the Master of Masters is, and whether I’ll still be kicking it when Kingdom Hearts 4 finally releases. If it releases, that is, dear Tetsuya Nomura.