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I had a good feeling! Celebrating 40 Years and 108 JRPGs of Destiny

Yeah, it's long because of the time spent thinking about it. It can be quite fast despite the length if you hold down the fast-forward button on the map and skip the battle animations, but it's hard to learn how to play if you're doing that. And the battle animations are where all the money is on display anyway.

Incidentally, not that this should influence your decision, the world record speedrun is currently 19 minutes 18 seconds, and while it's hard to see them in the video, some of the strategies employed can be used in casual play.
 
Unicorn Overlord is great. My only complaints are the lack of Vanillaware’s huge, elaborate monster sprites and the story and characters being boring as week old bread. I don’t know how much traction Brandon Sanderson has in Japan, but I cannot help but wonder if someone on the writing team has read The Stormlight Archives, with the main enemy force
being very similar to that series’ Fused.
 
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52. Breath of Fire III
Capcom, 1997: PSX Points: 291 Votes: 9
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The SNES and PS1 eras were a golden age for JRPGs: a time when technological limitations enforced boundaries on the methods and means through which story could be told, a time when technology developed so quickly that the canvas for storytelling continually offered new prospects, and a time when the genre was young enough that the waters emerging from these conditions were still largely unexplored. Games of the era had to conform to a strict set of genre conventions (things like player avatars, text boxes, menu systems, etc.), and yet the possibilities of expression of those conventions were unbounded and rich for innovation.

During the middle of this era Final Fantasy 7 set a new standard and issued a challenge to other developers regarding the breadth and depth and scope that the genre could achieve. Right on its heels was Breath of Fire III, the first PlayStation installment of a series that had up to this point been chasing Squaresoft’s games in terms of style and manner. But where Final Fantasy VII would utilize polygonal models and pre-rendered backgrounds to achieve its storytelling ambitions, Capcom took almost the opposite approach to the new frontiers offered by Sony’s CD technology by constructing simple 3D environments and then illuminating them with a rich patina of gorgeous and artful pixel elements. In doing so, Capcom solidified the sense of identity the series had been lacking while also authoring one of the most compelling and charming RPGs on the PlayStation.

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Breath of Fire III has a novelistic quality that’s grounded in a direct and representational style, where characters’ actions are depicted via pixel sprite animation in a sort of performance excess that is rare even to this day. Capcom, of course, was the exemplar of the era in terms of dot art and design, and here brought the full use of their talent. Notably, they didn’t expend it only on big sprites and flashy moments, but reserved it for more subtle uses such as expression of character interiority or conveying the mood of a location: the way that bread is cooked in a bakery, or the manner with which Garr eats from a plate, or how Ryu adjusts holding his sword. The pixel art in this game isn’t just impressive in the maximalist sense, the skill involved and the volume in which it was rendered, but also in the subtlety and expression of its use.

The game is also novelistic in terms of its structure. It follows the life of its protagonist from birth to the fulfillment of a defining choice. This bildungsroman approach was used to much success in Dragon Quest V, but where that game ends in a state of pure romance, with the hero grown up to have defeated the unambiguously evil demon lord and having expelled the onus laid upon his destiny, Breath of Fire III concludes in a much more conflicted place, where it's less about its protagonist growing up to Do a Deed, but more about making a choice regarding personal moral ideals and facing an uncertain future in light of the consequences of that choice. At the end of the game, it's hard to say if Ryu should be considered a hero, beyond being the hero of his own life, which is what the game’s about.

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Worth noting too is the fineness of the game as an RPG, one bursting with charm and confidence. From the three-quarters mannered style of camera presentation, to the avant-garde smooth jazz inspired soundtrack, the clever dungeon scenarios, the robust possibilities of the master and dragon gene systems, and yes, even to the overwhelming proliferation of minigames, Breath of Fire III is a rich and delightful experience. It’s so confident in what it's doing—and so confident in doing something different from Squaresoft—that it makes an impression, and offers a strong case for the impact of classic JRPG storytelling.
 
I had BoF III right in the middle of my list. It's just all-around solid, and really where the BoF series came into its own. Fun RPG that explores the interesting systems unique to its lineage, and as mentioned chock full of absolutely gorgeous pixel art - both properties which continue to get a workout in its sequel.
 
This is a series I don't know much about. I've only played BoF1 and BoF2 and I remember almost nothing about them, aside from thinking the artwork was fantastic.

I wish this one was available in modern storefronts but it doesn't seem to be. (Apparently, I own BoF4 via Steam and I had no idea until I just checked to see if BoF3 was Steamable - it isn't - and noticed BoF4 was in library. Funny the things you just kinda accrue.)
 
Top of my list. I love this game. I probably have already talked about this, so maybe I'll repeat myself here, as I tend to do anyway.

As a kid, I only had a b/w gameboy, and the only rpg I had on it was Sword of Hope, which is not a typical rpg. But I knew that I liked it a lot, having text to read, explore at your own tempo, and so on. I knew I wanted more of the genre. My cousin even had an snes, but Europe got nearly no jrpgs (no FFs until 7, crazy to think about). Another friend had a psx. And he had BoF III. I loved it from the beginning. Partly for the graphics, which were absolutely amazing to my 12 year old mind. And they still look absolutely gorgeous. The game is full of great spritework, and has unique animations, that only appear one or two times. Like one time, where Ryu and Nina as kids play around, while Momo talks to her professor friend, you know, as kids to. And he hurts himself, starts crying. Iirc, she then tries to calm him down? It's just such a nice way of making the characters more lively. There is a scene, where you see someone piss off a cliff.

I borrowed the psx, but could only play to the end of the Balio and Sunder part. The friend tended to sell games to buy other ones, and he did this with BoF III. Funny, how it ended exactly there. The Balio and Sunder part, where you are hunted by two criminals, is the part of the game with the fastest pacing. There is danger that makes you act. It is exciting.

The rest of the game is not like that. Exciting is the wrong word for it, imo. It is still wonderful, but the pace is calm and slow. After Balio and Sunder, you mainly hear about something, and try to learn about it. As a kid, you now learn about your heritage, as the last of the Brood, the dragon people. And Garr wants you to find out more. So you do. There is absolutely no urgency. I mean, Ryu is also looking for his friends, but he could do so locally.

The world isn't ending. There is no big bad. It's probably not completely unique in the jrpg space with this, but I would guess you could count games like this on two hands. That slow pace is part of the games dna. I don't even mind the city, where you have to do sidequests for hours, because the pacing is just slow anyway. You have time. I love it. And the game knows this - later on, you reach a desert. And you have to traverse it. Slowly. You get rations, and then walk over the nearly same looking screen for minutes. Following the stars, sleeping during the day. Fighting some random battles (they should have turned those of, honestly). It's super slow. And if you are doing it wrong (which you might, because the instructions are confusing), you have to do it from the start again. It seems crazy, that a game would "waste your time" like this. I can see why people see it that way. But I think it works fine.

There is the fishing, of course, which you can completely ignore. Of you try it, and get great in-game rewards. Again, slow pace.

Everything about this, the slow pace, the graphics, the wonderful, wonderful music, it all is deeply nostalgic for me. And just makes me feel good. There are also other things to mention, like the best dragon system in the series. Where you collect dragon genes, and combine up to three, for all kinds of different dragons (or variations of the same dragon). It's such a fun system, which might surprise you with some new, cool dragon sprite (they are all cool). you have the fairy town, a simple town management sim, which also can lead to great rewards. There is the mandatory story bit, where you have to train some dude to get stronger. He starts out super weak, and you have to be careful not to "kill" him. But as you go on, he gets super powerful. It doesn't take that long, I think, and it's a fun mini-game like thing.

I love the characters. Rei is still one of my favourite designs ever, but this world offers so many, cool races. You have humans, cat people, bird people with wings, dragon people, mole people, frog people, and so on. This variety in sentient creatures is one of my low-key favourite things about the series as a whole. It's such a simple but fun way, to make your world more interesting. And furries, etc... are just cool looking. Like, look at the picture Lokii added. This is your party. No regular human there. No, Momo is not a human, look at the ears. I think she is a rabbit-person. And Rei is not just a dude with a cat tail. His legs are big paws, with sharp claws. There went more into these animal people, than in typical games that have them.

I could write more. I could go on for pages. I love this game. It is unique in different ways, even if it looks, if you don't look closely, like a standard jrpg. Like, if you go only by the pretty standard battle system. But it contains so much more, if you don't mind slow and enjoy little things in your games. And colorful, beautiful spritework.

Oh, to end my post, let me note that the still images are missing the animations (of course). Which are also great. This is the only gif I ever made, from the weakest enemy in the game. I think they really wanted to show how great they could make an enemy sprite, so they led with one of their best. It's just such a fun, bouncy guy.

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I share much the same sentiments Felix. Delightful game just through and through. Even the much maligned desert is a wonderful experience. (I like its sister minigame in Bof IV a lot too where you have to navigate a huge grassland by following birds.)

FelixSH said:
It is unique in different ways, even if it looks, if you don't look closely, like a standard jrpg.
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This is the thing. It's very much a standard and traditional JRPG, but when you look close its marching to the beat of its own drum in a lot of cool and unique ways.

And yes the gifs why not. Every frame is full of love.

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I think Felix's love letter hit all the points I would care to highlight. I love the Beyd training arc he mentions, which remains utterly unique to this day, and the fishing minigame is so robust that it belongs right next to dedicated fishing games like Super Black Bass.

Honestly, though, I was mostly in it for the Momo. I think a rabbit lady in a mortarboard with a bazooka might be one of the most unique and memorable character designs not just in the genre, but in all of gaming.
 
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On paper, I should love this more than I do. I can't explain it! But I beat it finally a few years back, and while I appreciate the craft, something just didn't gel for me like other entries in the series. But obviously your mileage will vary - mine's very much the minority opinion on this one, with most I encounter having this tops on their list.
 
When I played BoF3, it felt like I was playing a bugged version of the game. Since the guide I was following insisted that certain things happen at certain times and they just never did in my playthrough. At least, that's my 30 year old memory of things.

BoF3 exists in my headspace alongside games like Suikoden as being emblematic of being early 32bit gen games that felt more like 16bit games on steroids rather than a generational leap. I don't say that disparagingly, it's a wonderful vibe that we didn't get enough of. I blame Sony.
 
Choosing favorites in contests like this can be a weird but revealing process, especially when you are placing games that are on the "bottom" of your list. Breath of Fire 3 is one of those games - it is still a favorite but it is a least favorite. It is my least favorite Breath of Fire game (out of the ones I have played) and it is also my least favorite BoF game on the PSX. But it did seem to do better in overall placement - previously I had put it at #24 of 25 (next to last) but this time I had it at #38 of 50 (more or less between the 3rd and 4th quartiles).

It is an enjoyable game and well made. Some things about the game annoyed me but not enough to prevent me from finishing it. However it is a game that I never felt compelled to replay.

When looking at it in the overall series it does reinforce how Breath of Fire handles sequels - they're not direct follow-ups but they have many similar themes, systems (like the town building), races, character archetypes and more (and sometimes cameos). The games don't repeat but they often rhyme.

Also, I think the formations system was an interesting gameplay addition. It is something that I would have liked to have seen more games in this genre experiment with. The Breath of Fire series does seem to have different gameplay experiments like that but they are often abandoned in any subsequent games.

FelixSH said:
. This is the only gif I ever made, from the weakest enemy in the game. I think they really wanted to show how great they could make an enemy sprite, so they led with one of their best. It's just such a fun, bouncy guy.

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10 out of 10 knock-off of a Dragon Quest Slime. Would attack with the weakest weapon at the start of the game again. And then attack the palette swap(s) of it at some later point(s) in the game.

JBear said:
Honestly, though, I was mostly in it for the Momo. I think a rabbit lady in a mortarboard with a bazooka might be one of the most unique and memorable character designs not just in the genre, but in all of gaming.
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A freaking magic bazooka. It's such a wonderfully ridiculous juxtaposition with Momo's librarian motif/design.
 
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Although I didn't vote for BoFIII, I do think the desert is pretty incredible. Especially when I replayed it, it was like the whole game was building up to that point. After the childhood part of the game, most of the people you meet along the way are indifferent to your quest at worst, and some even try to help, but a series of coincidences and setbacks keep you from making much progress, and when you finally get close to your destination, there's this huge featureless desert in the way. It really feels like the god of this world doesn't want you to go where you're trying to go.

Then it takes an hour or so to get through the desert in real time, and for that time all you can do is follow the directions the guide at the last town gave you and hope that the stars moving slightly the way he said they would means you're going the right way. You can talk to your party members during the journey and see them get increasingly anxious about the situation, and it's hard not to feel the same way. It's one of the most effective set pieces in any game I've played.
 
Torzelbaum said:
10 out of 10 knock-off of a Dragon Quest Slime. Would attack with the weakest weapon at the start of the game again. And then attack the palette swap(s) of it at some later point(s) in the game.
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Fun fact: There are two super-powerful, randomly encountered enemies in the game, stronger than the endboss. One of them is the most powerful slime. Iirc, it normally flees from battle. Except if you steal something from it (I think an apple), then he gets PISSED and wrecks your party.
I never defeated it, because this thing is a monster.

Also, I keep thinking of little details that I like about this game. It's so lovely.
 
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51 Valkyrie Profile
Tri-Ace, 1999: PSX Points: 297 Votes: 8 Previous Rank: 39
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Valkyrie Profile is one of the most idiosyncratic JRPGs on the PS1. It doesn’t follow nearly any of the typical conventions of the form. Instead, it is a strange experience; a confusing jumble of character-building, 2D side-scrolling platforming, enemy juggling combos, and deadline management. Now, Tri-Ace as a rule is an idiosyncratic developer what with its Star Oceans, Infinite Undiscoveries, and Final Fantasy XIII-2s, but Valkyrie Profile might be the oddest of them all, almost feeling at moments like a forerunner of Odin Sphere and other Vanillaware titles.

One way in which Valkyrie Profile sets itself apart is through its machine-like integration of systems. The game sees you playing as Lenneth, a valkyrie serving in the preparation for Ragnarok. As such you travel across the mortal realm, witnessing the final moments of worthy warriors, then training up their spirits for the upcoming spiritual war. There’s not a lot of what we would call “mainline story” here. The plot is mostly a series of vignettes providing context for the tragic deaths of the various party members and afterlife recruits.

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There are hints to larger concerns sprinkled here and there, but for the most part the experience of the game revolves around making significant choices between how to spend your time (which is constantly advancing towards the final battle), how to build your characters (you assign points to stats, but in order for the units to become successful heavenly warriors you must also invest in “useless” personality traits like Honesty or Courage), and which resources (characters and powerful weapons) to keep for personal use and which to send to Odin in Valhalla. You do this until the timer counts down and then you find out if your preparations were good enough, getting either a perfunctory good or bad ending. And so this is less a game about story—other than the tragic vignettes that set up each new character—and more about discovering the nuances of its systems in order to reach a successful outcome. The game even provides different difficulty modes that grant access to different content to encourage replay. You’re meant to experience the game over multiple playthroughs, improving via understanding.

Here’s where it becomes exceptional. In this manner, Valkyrie Profile is also an empathy machine. It’s Lenneth’s empathy that leads her to souls at the verge of their life’s doom, and it's your empathy as a player—investing deeply not only into the systems of promotion and preparation but also the game’s quirky battle system, where you must feel out the nuance of each unique unit’s attack timing in order to chain combos—that leads not only success during Ragnarok but also the hidden conditions that reveal the true ending, the secret of Lennith’s identity, and her empathetic apotheosis.

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Valkyrie Profile doesn’t play like anything else. It’s a challenging game to get into because its systems and means are so off-kilter. But it is the obscurity of those systems that invite you to invest further and develop the empathic trait that aligns player and protagonist to create a potent and moving JRPG experience that endears players to this day.
 
It's also super-stylish, and the puzzle-platformer exploration is very cool.
 
Another game on my to-do pile! But I do think it's compelling and fascinating what I did play of it a few years ago.
 
this is among the few games that made my list (at 26) despite the fact that i haven't played it in a super long time. it's pretty funny to me that this is the tri-ace game most widely regarded as Normal Good, since it's pretty buggy, weirdly paced, and has the time limit mechanics. but, it also is really good and unique, to the point that even its sequels didn't try to imitate the structure and concepts and accepted they would have to come up with new ideas aside from the juggling. i also don't really know if "fixing" some of the problems with the game would've really made it better, considering it seems like they would've loved to add more long scenes and stuff too if they'd had the chance. even the english dub is one of my favorites of the ps1 or early ps2 era; it works way better than it feels like it "should" considering the rough edges and the fact the VAs are so obviously ones many people recognize from the early pokemon anime dub.

i used to think introducing characters mostly through death scenes was more profound than i do now, but it's still an interesting inversion of the kind of standard game storytelling methods. so often these kinds of scenes are used as fuel for character motivations or worldbuilding, but here, it's the main thing you learn about them at all, and becomes their introduction to lenneth's retinue. it also allows for some some characters (most obviously badrach) who usually wouldn't become party members in most games at all. along with that i've always thought the trait system was pretty cute. many (if not all?) characters have negative traits that you level up, reducing those shortcomings to make their overall score higher. lol.

the dungeons rock too. mostly. imo most of the "normal or hard" dungeons are kind of long and annoying but the hard mode exclusive ones tend to be really awesome, like the clockwork mansion and the one you can fall out of (celestial castle?) in the last chapter. and they all have super banging themes i thought were battle themes when i first heard the soundtrack. although those are good too. it's one of sakuraba's best for sure.
 
I played this via the PSP port, I think driven somewhat nuts by my PSP’s stick drifting causing ghost inputs. I think I used a guide rather than trying to figure it out so I suppose I denied myself the true experience but probably did get the true ending. I don’t remember very well unfortunately.
 
Breath of Fire 3: I couldn't finish this one. I remember liking it alright, more or less, but it had a combo of mechanics that turned me off and frustrated me to the point I put it down. To wit: you only have three party members at a time, BUT there are dungeons where you're forced to take certain members, AND YET members not in your party don't level up if you're not using them. (As I recall it, anyway). I had to go into a dungeon and swap someone in who I didn't use and didn't like using, and they were a low level on top of it, and it turned the dungeon into a slog and I just said "Y'know what, I think that's enough of that." That was back when it first came out, but that's the memory that stuck with me. OH ALSO I wanted to love Momo but I hated using her in battle because of the way her attacks missed so frequently (she had that "huge damage or miss entirely" kind of swingy mechanic and it Felt Bad to me).

Valkyrie Profile always intrigued me, but also the time limit mechanics and such always gave me pause; in the end, I never got around to it. If I do ever start emulating PS1 games I missed, it'll likely be on the list to try, but even then, it's something I might just appreciate the existence of from a distance instead of engaging with. Ah well, can't play 'em all. (or can you??)
 
Paul le Fou said:
Breath of Fire 3: I couldn't finish this one. I remember liking it alright, more or less, but it had a combo of mechanics that turned me off and frustrated me to the point I put it down. To wit: you only have three party members at a time, BUT there are dungeons where you're forced to take certain members, AND YET members not in your party don't level up if you're not using them. (As I recall it, anyway). I had to go into a dungeon and swap someone in who I didn't use and didn't like using, and they were a low level on top of it, and it turned the dungeon into a slog and I just said "Y'know what, I think that's enough of that." That was back when it first came out, but that's the memory that stuck with me. OH ALSO I wanted to love Momo but I hated using her in battle because of the way her attacks missed so frequently (she had that "huge damage or miss entirely" kind of swingy mechanic and it Felt Bad to me).
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This is true, you remember right. It's unfortunate, that the other party members don't level up, when not used. It's probably a good idea to swap the team around, so everyone gets trained a bit. Not defending this, just a suggestion.

Just in case you (or anyone else) wants to try the game, and specifically Momo: There is one master (an npc who will train a character, if you want, and depending on which, they will raise some stats higher than normal at level ups, some less) who increases accuracy. He makes Momo more usable and accurate (though in my experience, she still misses more than I'd like. Good healer, though!
 
Valkyrie Profile was #30 on my list. It's probably my favorite tri-Ace game? The PS1 voice acting is iconic, and Nibelung Valesti still gives me chills just hearing Lenneth say it.
 
The only Tri-Ace game I've played is Resonance of Fate, but it left a big impression on me.

Tri-Ace is a developer that piques my interest when I see they worked on the game.

Valkyrie Profile seems like it would be up my alley!
 
This was my #4. It's my favorite PSX RPG. Does it probably require a guide to suss out the true ending? Yeah. Does it really matter? Nope. It's an incredible game, and like @Daikaiju says, it's astoundingly melancholy, both in story and with its superb soundtrack that complements it so well. Just a masterclass of unique 2D RPG gaming, something I wish we'd gotten even more of in the fifth generation.

As an aside, I had the chance to buy either this or FFIX at an EBGames when I was younger, and thankfully I bought Valkyrie Profile.
 
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50 Etrian Odyssey IV
Atlus, 2012: 3DS Points: 299 Votes: 7 Previous Rank: 26
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Here we are at the halfway point! Almost unbelievably, this is where a regular-sized list would start. All the wonderful games we’ve looked at so far would be runners-up. A big part of why this is a double-sized list is so we wouldn’t have to discard such an excellent crop. And yet, the next set of titles does have a kind of legitimacy the previous group lacks, in that they can claim a rank in the top 50. And to kick us off is the fan-favorite Odyssey, Etrian IV.

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Etrian Odyssey IV is the best-selling game in the series and is constantly regarded as one of its best. A good rule of thumb regarding sales numbers is that they usually reflect the quality of the previous game (as new players come on board to see what the hype is about), and certainly EOIII and the other DS titles had steadily built a reputation for reviving the classic dungeon crawl, but EOIV featured a number of elements that made it an especially successful sequel.

As the first game in the series on a new system, Etrian Odyssey IV was primed to capture a new audience. And rather than double down on the esoteric qualities and innovative swerves that defined EO III, it positioned itself as a sort of soft reboot or return to basics. It dropped the strange character classes from III for a more traditional set of DPSes, tanks, and supporters, and incorporated any number of QoL and UI improvements. Perhaps most strikingly, instead of presenting one labyrinth that is conquered slowly over the course of the game, it broke up crawling into various mini-dungeons which are located on a mostly non-hostile world map. Not only does this radically change the pace and psychological nature of dungeon diving, the world map itself presents lots of interesting puzzle-based exploration and alternate resources for players stymied by the central dungeon experience—something that could become a major hurdle for players in the earlier games.

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This isn’t to suggest that with its QoL features and difficulty release valves EOIV abandons the tenets of the earlier series. Everything that makes Etrian Odyssey great and memorable is still here: the complex character building and high difficulty that make choices meaningful, the satisfaction of learning and then exploiting a maze, the wonderful discovery of party synergies and overpowered tactics, the sense of danger and vulnerability upon stepping into a new stratum. And the move to the 3DS provided an upgrade that the earlier titles really needed. In those games, the uber-powerful Formido Oppugnatura Exsequens appeared in the dungeons as featureless glowing orbs, and, as fearful as it could be to witness one of these F.O.E.s bearing down on you, it’s far more visceral when you can actually see the hulking bear-god or nightmare baboon that’s about to ruin your day.

It’s no surprise to see why Etrian Odyssey IV is so well regarded. It remains true to its roots, but is polished in ways that appeal to old players and new. It’s hard to go wrong with this one, and so makes a great first step into the mysterious and inviting stratum that is our top 50.
 
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