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00:00Power awaits thy command. The time has come to awaken the hero within. Engrave thy very heart.
00:10Welcome to Mojo Plays, and today we're counting down our picks for the best JRPG of every year between 1996
00:18and 2025.
00:20Before we begin, we publish new videos all week long, so be sure to subscribe to Mojo Plays and ring
00:25the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
00:301996, Tactics Ogre, Let Us Cling Together
00:39Long before the genre learned to ask truly difficult moral questions, this tactical RPG dared to go somewhere uncomfortable.
00:48Set against a backdrop of civil war, ethnic cleansing, and political betrayal and conspiracy, Tactics Ogre forces players to make
00:56choices with no clean outcome.
00:58Choices that alter the entire course of the story as you move along.
01:04Its branching narrative system was revolutionary for 1996, rewarding replays with entirely different perspectives.
01:11The grid-based combat layered class systems, terrain advantages, and elemental affinities into something remarkably deep, demanding real strategic thinking
01:21rather than brute force.
01:22Few games before, or since, have made a battlefield feel so morally weighted.
01:281997, Final Fantasy VII
01:36Not many games have left a scar on the medium quite like this one.
01:40Cloud Strife's journey from brooding mercenary to reluctant hero peeled back layers of trauma, false memory, and identity crises in
01:49ways players simply weren't prepared for in 1997.
01:52The story of eco-terrorists fighting a soul-devouring megacorporation felt urgent and strange and devastating all at once.
02:00Its active time battle system kept combat dynamic, while Materia customization gave players enormous freedom in how they built their
02:08party.
02:08And then there's that moment, the one that nobody warned you about, that still hits like a freight train decades
02:16later.
02:221998, Xenogears
02:29This one is for the players who wanted their JRPG to double as a philosophy seminar.
02:34Xenogears tangled together psychology, morals, religion, and mecha combat into a narrative so ambitious, it should have collapsed under its
02:43own weight.
02:44And yet, it's unforgettable precisely because of that ambition.
02:48The dual combat system, blending ground-based martial arts with giant gear mech battles, gave the action genuine variety.
02:55Yes, the second disc famously shifted to visual novel territory due to budget constraints, but the emotional core of Faye's
03:03fractured identity and humanity's cyclical suffering remained utterly gripping throughout.
03:09Can you believe this was supposed to be Final Fantasy VII initially?
03:121999, Pokemon Gold and Silver
03:21What makes the sequel genuinely surpass its predecessor?
03:25Gold and Silver answered that question definitively.
03:28Building on the foundation of Red and Blue, these entries introduced night and day cycles, breeding mechanics, and 100 entirely
03:36new Pokemon that expanded the world in organic, exciting ways.
03:40The real Masterstroke, though, was the post-game, an entire second region to explore after the credits rolled, culminating in
03:48a battle with Red that felt like the genre's ultimate mic drop.
03:52The bond between Trainer and Pokemon had never felt more personal, making every gym badge earned feel like a genuine
04:00accomplishment worth celebrating.
04:02In the year 2000, Skies of Arcadia
04:13Imagine a world where the sky itself is the ocean and piracy is an act of heroism.
04:19That's the irresistible premise powering this Dreamcast gem, as odd as it sounds to say aloud.
04:26Vice and his crew of air pirates sailed through one of the most joyfully adventurous JRPGs ever made, a game
04:32that wore its love of exploration on every billowing sail.
04:36Ship to ship battles added a strategic layer that broke up dungeon crawling with satisfying tactical depth.
04:42The story never pretended to be darker than it was.
04:45It was swashbuckling, optimistic, and genuinely fun, which is exactly why it carved out such a devoted fanbase that cherishes
04:53it to this day.
05:11Tidus' laugh may have become an internet meme, but everything surrounding it is sincere, sophisticated, and emotionally devastating.
05:19The story of a young athlete hurled into a dying world, and falling in love with the girl destined to
05:25save it through self-sacrifice hit players with a tragic weight that lingered long after the credits.
05:31Turn-based combat returned with a vengeance through the conditional turn-based battle system, letting players swap party members mid
05:38-fight with surgical precision.
05:39Sphere-grade character progression gave customization a tactile, visual satisfaction that felt rewarding at every step, cementing Final Fantasy X
05:49as one of the PS2's absolute crowning achievements.
05:52A flyer! My kind of customer!
05:562002, Kingdom Hearts
06:05Nobody expected the mashup of Disney and Final Fantasy to produce something genuinely moving, and yet here we are.
06:13Beyond the spectacle of fighting alongside Donald and Goofy, Kingdom Hearts told a surprisingly heartfelt story about friendship, loss, and
06:22the terrifying power of darkness within the heart.
06:24Sora's journey across beloved animated worlds felt both nostalgic and emotionally sincere, particularly in its quieter moments between the action.
06:34The real-time combat was snappy and intuitive, making it immediately accessible while rewarding mastery through ability customization and timed
06:41mechanics.
06:42It launched one of gaming's most sprawling, bewildering, and inexplicably beloved franchises.
06:482003, Tales of Symphonia
06:57The Tales series has always prioritized character chemistry over everything else, and this GameCube entry perfected that approach.
07:05Lloyd Irving's quest to restore the world's mana spiraled into a story about racism, sacrifice, and the corruption that grows
07:13inside even the most righteous idealism.
07:16What made it sing, though, was the real-time linear motion battle system, fast, fluid, and endlessly satisfying, which encouraged
07:24players to learn each character's rhythm rather than defaulting to one fighter.
07:28The bond between Lloyd and his companions felt genuinely earned through hours of skits and shared struggle, making the story's
07:36darker turns land with real emotional impact.
07:402004, The Legend of Heroes Trails in the Sky
07:50Patient storytelling is a rare virtue in any medium, and Estelle Bright's debut is one of the finest examples the
07:58JRPG genre has ever produced.
08:00Set in the nation of Liberal, this slow-burn adventure built its world through thousands of conversations with ordinary citizens,
08:07creating a sense of place that felt genuinely alive rather than merely decorative.
08:12The turn-based combat was engaging without being overwhelming, making effective use of its orbment system to encourage elemental strategy.
08:20What truly hooked players, though, was the warmth. Estelle's relentless optimism and genuine growth made her one of the most
08:28lovable protagonists in the genre's history, and her story demanded to be continued.
08:332005, Kingdom Hearts 2
08:44The sequel refined nearly everything that made the original Kingdom Hearts click, and then amplified it dramatically.
08:52Roxas' haunting prologue set a melancholy tone that carried through Sora's return, threading themes of identity, belonging, and the fragility
09:01of memory into the action-heavy adventure.
09:03Combat evolved magnificently through the reaction command and drive-form systems, giving players flashy, satisfying ways to dispatch heartless and
09:13nobody enemies with effortless style.
09:16The antagonists of Organization XIII added genuine menace and intrigue to the overarching mystery.
09:22While the plot grew undeniably convoluted, the emotional beats, particularly in the game's final hours, delivered the kind of gut
09:30-punch closure fans had been waiting two years to experience.
09:34Run, run away!
09:42Okay.
09:432006, Tales of the Abyss
09:46Thanks to them, now I'm going crazy.
09:49Luke began this adventure as one of the most deliberately grating protagonists in JRPG history, which turns out to be
09:56entirely the point.
09:57His transformation from arrogant, sheltered brat into someone genuinely worthy of the world's faith is one of the genre's most
10:04convincing character arcs, built through consequence, humiliation, and hard-earned growth.
10:10The story's interrogation of fate, free will, and what it means to live authentically gave the game surprising philosophical heft.
10:18Combat through the evolved free-run system kept battles feeling dynamic and expressive, while the FOF change mechanic added satisfying
10:27depth for players willing to master its intricacies.
10:30A criminally underappreciated gem, indeed.
10:34There's the way out.
10:352007, Blue Dragon
10:44Akira Toriyama's unmistakable art style splashed across this RPG from Mistwalker, giving it an irresistible visual identity from the very
10:53first screenshot.
10:54Shu and his friends wield shadow monsters as magical extensions of themselves, and this was genuinely a fun premise, lighthearted
11:03on the surface, but with enough narrative sincerity to keep players emotionally invested.
11:07The class-based job system rewarded experimentation, letting players mix and match abilities across different shadow types for genuinely personalized
11:16builds.
11:17Though critics called it traditional to a fault, that faithfulness to classic turn-based JRPG mechanics was also its greatest
11:24strength, especially given it was a time when the genre was drifting towards action.
11:29Blue Dragon, though, stood proudly and unapologetically old school.
11:33This is bad!
11:35We better hurry!
11:372008, Valkyria Chronicles
11:40Hello again, son.
11:42War stories and games rarely carry genuine weight, but this tactical RPG delivered something startlingly human amid its canvas-sketched
11:51battlefields.
11:52Set in a fictionalized World War II Europe, it followed a small militia defending their homeland against an overwhelming imperial
12:00force, and it made you care deeply about every soldier under your command.
12:05The Blitz combat system blended turn-based strategy with real-time movement and third-person shooting in a way that
12:11felt fresh and intellectually demanding.
12:14Alicia and Welkin's understated romance bloomed naturally through the chaos, grounding the geopolitical stakes in something personal and tender.
12:22Its watercolor visual style remains one of gaming's most distinctive and breathtaking artistic achievements.
12:29Welcome?
12:30You okay?
12:33Delicious!
12:352009, Dragon Quest V, Hand of the Heavenly Bride
12:42Spanning three generations of a single family, this entry does something virtually no JRPG dares to attempt.
12:49It makes you live an entire life.
12:53The nameless hero's journey from childhood wonder to parenthood and beyond unfolds with a quiet, emotional gravity that sneaks up
13:02on you completely.
13:03Recruiting and training monster companions added a layer of strategic freedom years ahead of its time.
13:09The infamous marriage choice between three very different women wasn't merely a gimmick, it genuinely reshaped the emotional texture of
13:17the adventure's later chapters.
13:18Dragon Quest V understood that the most powerful stories aren't just about saving the world, they're about the personal cost
13:25of saving it as well.
13:312010, Xenoblade Chronicles
13:37The Bionis and Mechanus, two colossal titans frozen mid-battle and transformed into living continents, form one of gaming's most
13:45breathtaking settings.
13:46And the story set within Xenoblade matches the spectacle.
13:51Shulk's quest for revenge against the mechanical mechon who destroyed his home gradually expanded into something far more philosophically ambitious,
13:59touching on fate, determinism, and humanity's desperate desire to control its own destiny.
14:04The real-time combat system built around positioning, chain attacks, and vision premonitions felt endlessly rewarding to master.
14:12Though initially a Japan-only title, fan pressure managed to bring it to the west, and the passionate response proved
14:18definitively that ambitious, system-rich JRPGs still had a massive, hungry audience waiting for them.
14:362011, Ni no Kuni, Wrath of the White Witch
14:49Studio Ghibli's fingerprints are all over this one, and the result is one of the most visually stunning JRPGs ever
14:55created.
14:56Oliver's journey into a parallel magical world to save his mother, a story wrapped in grief, love, and the innocent
15:03belief that pure-heartedness can fix anything, struck an emotional chord that resonated well beyond its target audience.
15:09The creature-collecting combat system drew obvious comparisons to Pokemon, but layered in enough strategic wrinkles to feel distinct.
15:18Joe Hisaishi's orchestral score elevated every scene it touched, transforming already beautiful visuals into something genuinely cinematic.
15:27Even when the AI companions are frustrating to deal with, the world itself remained utterly enchanting from beginning to end.
15:342012, Persona 4 Golden
15:40High school murder mysteries set inside a television world powered by suppressed psychological shadows.
15:47On paper, this sounds absurd, and in practice, it's completely brilliant.
15:52Persona 4 Golden perfected the social simulation mechanics introduced in Persona 3, making every social link feel genuinely meaningful rather
16:01than mechanically obligatory.
16:03The investigation team's dynamic crackled with warmth and humor that made the darker revelations hit considerably harder.
16:10Turn-based combat through the pressed turn system rewarded elemental knowledge and party coordination without becoming punishingly obtuse.
16:18Golden's added content deepened the story's final act substantially, making an already excellent experience definitively complete.
16:26Few JRPGs have balanced lighthearted charm and genuine emotional devastation quite so masterfully.
16:352013, Fire Emblem Awakening
16:48This entry didn't just save a franchise, it redefined what tactical RPGs could mean to a mainstream audience.
16:55Facing cancellation just before its release, Awakening arrived as a loving tribute to series history while simultaneously being the most
17:04accessible entry Nintendo had ever published.
17:07The pair-up system transformed positioning strategy by letting units bond mid battle, adding both mechanical depth and narrative texture
17:15through growing relationships.
17:16Permadeath remained optional, but no less emotionally brutal when invoked.
17:22Chrom, Lucina, and Robin's story wove time travel and divine prophecy into a narrative that balanced grand stakes with intimate
17:30personal loss.
17:32It turned millions of players into Fire Emblem fans overnight, and every entry since owes it an enormous debt.
17:402014, Bravely Default
17:56Square Enix's love letter to classic Final Fantasy arrived at exactly the right moment.
18:02Bravely Default's job system was a master class in JRPG customization,
18:06letting players combine classes in gloriously broken combinations that rewarded creativity and experimentation.
18:14The Brave and Default mechanic, which essentially gambled turns for burst damage or banked them for defensive play,
18:21gave turn-based combat a risk-reward tension it had rarely possessed before.
18:26The story's exploration of faith, institutional corruption, and the danger of blind obedience
18:32gave its four crystals premise unexpected intellectual substance.
18:37Its notorious mid-game structure tested patience,
18:40but the payoff for dedicated players was a climax that genuinely recontextualized everything that came before.
18:472015, The Legend of Heroes, Trails of Cold Steel
18:52Surprised you heard of it, Sylphite.
18:54It was long gone by the time you started making a name for yourself.
18:58Returning to the Trails universe through the eyes of Rean and his Class VII companions
19:03felt like stepping into a living, breathing political thriller.
19:06The growing tension between Erebonia's nobility and commoner factions
19:11gave every dungeon-crawl and social event a simmering, ideological undercurrent,
19:16making worldbuilding feel genuinely consequential rather than decorative.
19:20The combat refined the orbment system with link attacks and order abilities
19:25that encouraged building synergistic team compositions.
19:28Trails of Cold Steel understood that the best ensemble casts aren't defined by a single protagonist,
19:34but by the chemistry of an entire group.
19:36And Class VII's dynamic, forged through shared crisis and mutual loyalty,
19:41remains one of the series' greatest strengths.
19:48You have such splendid form, Lady Claire.
19:532016, Final Fantasy XV.
19:56I think we can forget about hitching our way there.
20:00Thought people were friendly outside the city.
20:02Four friends on a road trip across a gorgeous open world sounds almost too simple and too...
20:08normal for Final Fantasy.
20:10And that simplicity turned out to be the entire point.
20:13Noctis, Gladiolus, Ignis, and Prompto's Brotherhood gave the game an emotional intimacy
20:18the mainline series had rarely attempted before.
20:21The action-based combat, while occasionally chaotic,
20:24delivered spectacular set pieces that felt cinematic in the best sense.
20:28The story's final act pivoted from carefree adventure into something achingly melancholic,
20:34making the journey retroactively devastating.
20:37For all of its unevenness and troubled development history,
20:40Final Fantasy XV captured something genuine.
20:43The bittersweet weight of growing up and saying goodbye.
20:47Listen, I've been worried about how you guys are doing.
20:49How's about you drop by a golden and mingle for a bit?
20:52Well, think about it.
20:542017, Nier Automata.
20:59Alert! Large enemy group detected.
21:02Yes, I'm aware of that.
21:04There are games that entertain you,
21:06and then there are games that fundamentally change how you think about games as a medium.
21:10Yoko Taro's philosophical action RPG used androids, proxy wars,
21:15and multiple branching playthroughs to interrogate the nature of consciousness, purpose,
21:20and the terrifying possibility that meaning must be self-created in an indifferent universe.
21:262B, 9S, and A2's intersecting stories grew increasingly tragic with each playthrough,
21:33peeling back layers of existential dread disguised as hack and slash spectacle.
21:37Platinum Games' combat engine kept the action viscerally satisfying while the narrative subverted every expectation you brought to it.
21:46Few games have earned their emotional devastation as completely and honestly as Nier Automata.
21:52What path will you take?
21:54It's up to you to decide.
21:572018, Octopath Traveler.
22:00Where? Where are we going?
22:07Eight travelers, eight stories, one gloriously realized world built in Square Enix's stunning HD 2D art style.
22:16The formula was deceptively simple and enormously effective.
22:20Each protagonist brought a distinct narrative flavor,
22:23from Therian's cynical heist story to Ophelia's tender pilgrimage of fate,
22:28giving players a mosaic of tones and themes under one beautifully unified aesthetic.
22:34The boost and break combat system rewarded careful enemy analysis,
22:38making every boss encounter a satisfying puzzle of elemental weaknesses and timing.
22:43Critics fairly noted the stories didn't interweave as deeply as they might have,
22:47or could have,
22:48but the individual journeys were compelling enough to carry the experience.
22:52Octopath Traveler proved that nostalgia and innovation could coexist spectacularly.
22:582019, Dragon Quest XI Echoes of an Elusive Age.
23:04If any single game represents the absolute pinnacle of traditional JRPG design,
23:09it might as well be this one.
23:11The Luminaries' quest unfolds with the kind of classical storytelling confidence
23:15that the genre pioneered but rarely executes so flawlessly.
23:20Sweeping in scope, deeply human in its emotional beats,
23:24and endlessly generous in the sheer volume of content it offers.
23:27Each party member arrived with their own distinct personality and backstory
23:31that enriched the central narrative without competing with it.
23:35Turn-based combat felt finely tuned and deeply satisfying, rewarding strategy over grinding.
23:40The post-game chapters restructured the entire adventure in a way that added profound new emotional resonance,
23:48making an already exceptional game genuinely unforgettable.
23:52I won't let you go again.
23:542020, Persona 5 Royal.
24:04Rebellion has rarely looked this stylish.
24:06The Phantom Thieves of Hearts arrived like a thunderclap,
24:10a JRPG so dripping in aesthetic confidence that even its menus felt like acts of artistic defiance.
24:16Beneath the style, though, was a story with genuine moral fury.
24:20A straight-up condemnation of institutional abuse, corrupt authority, and the social systems that silenced the vulnerable.
24:28The metaverse's palace-based dungeons gave exploration a psychological dimension,
24:33each labyrinth a physical manifestation of its rulers' distorted desires.
24:37Royals' additions deepened the narrative's final chapter substantially,
24:42adding Kasumi's arc and a new palace that recontextualized the story's themes.
24:47Turn-based combat evolved through showtime attacks and baton pass chains
24:51that made every battle feel electric and precise.
24:55This is truly an unjust game.
24:58Your chances of winning are almost none.
25:022021, Tales of Arise.
25:13A century of oppression, colonialism, and class struggle provided the backdrop
25:19for what became one of the Tales series' most narratively ambitious entries.
25:23Alfin and Xion's relationship anchored the story,
25:27a slow-burn dynamic built on mutual respect, shared pain,
25:31and the kind of chemistry that made every scene between them worth savoring.
25:35The combat system rebuilt the series' real-time foundation into something faster, more visceral,
25:40and genuinely spectacular, with boost strikes and mystic arts that delivered jaw-dropping visual payoffs.
25:47The second half's tonal shift drew some criticism for front-loading the best story content,
25:52but the emotional journey of two people from opposing worlds, choosing each other anyway,
25:57remained compelling throughout.
25:59Tales of Arise redefined what the franchise could greatly accomplish.
26:032022, Xenoblade Chronicles 3.
26:07How are things with kites? What about our backer?
26:14Looks like they're busy guarding the artillery. They're not going anywhere.
26:18Monolith Soft delivered their most emotionally mature work yet,
26:21with the stunning synthesis of the trilogy's themes and systems.
26:25Noah and Mio's story, set in a world where soldiers are born only to die young,
26:31fighting an endless war that serves no one, carried an ache that grew heavier with every revelation.
26:37The game interrogated cycles of violence, manufactured purpose,
26:41and the radical act of choosing to truly live rather than merely survive.
26:46Combat expanded the series' real-time framework with Ouroboros fusion mechanics,
26:50and a 12-party member system that created extraordinary strategic death.
26:55Its quiet moments, campfire conversations, shared meals,
26:59small acts of defiance against a world built to consume them,
27:02were as powerful as any battle could be.
27:05If friends not fight, cannot survive.
27:08Sure, but I don't need to use your sword.
27:102023, Octopath Traveler 2.
27:15I understand this island was once dotted with miles.
27:20The sequel did what all great sequels should.
27:23It took everything that worked from the original game,
27:26and refined it into something richer, more cohesive, and more emotionally resonant.
27:31Eight new travelers explored a world divided between bustling industrialization and ancient tradition,
27:38each carrying a story with noticeably more thematic depth than its predecessor.
27:42Oswald's revenge tragedy and Throne's desperate fight for freedom stood as genuine narrative achievements within the genre.
27:50The addition of crossed paths events wove the individual stories together far more organically,
27:56addressing the original's most significant criticism directly and elegantly.
28:01Latent powers added a new dimension to combat,
28:05giving each character a dramatic trump card that turned the tide of the game's most demanding encounters.
28:10Octopath Traveler 2 wasn't just a refinement, it was a revelation.
28:152024, Metaphor Re-Fantasio.
28:19Oh, finally. I can hardly feel my legs.
28:23Atlas's most ambitious project to date arrived and promptly raised the bar for the entire genre.
28:29Set in a fantasy kingdom fractured by tribal prejudice and political manipulation,
28:33Metaphor Re-Fantasio used its medieval world as a pointed lens through which to examine very contemporary anxieties.
28:41Fear of the other, the weaponization of identity, and the courage required to imagine a genuinely different kind of society.
28:48The archetype system evolved Persona's DNA into something way more fluid and layered,
28:54allowing remarkable freedom in character customization and party composition.
28:59Combat seamlessly blended real-time encounters with deep turn-based strategy.
29:03The result was a game that functioned simultaneously as thrilling entertainment and genuine, uncompromising social commentary.
29:11Proof that JRPGs remain one of storytelling's most vital and daring frontiers.
29:17Thy fate is crown twined, thy soul bound for the throne. The future yet unknown dawns in this moment.
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29:512025.
29:53Digimon Story, Time Stranger.
29:56So send me any information you get, no matter how trivial.
29:59It just might lead to saving this world.
30:02Digimon Story, Time Stranger stands out for turning creature collection into something emotionally grounded,
30:08weaving its world around growth, trust, and the line between human and digital lives.
30:14Its combat keeps that same energy, with strategic team synergy and evolving monster partnerships encouraging constant experimentation.
30:22More than just a nostalgia play, it captures the spirit of adventure that makes the genre endure.
30:28Even if 2025 was a somewhat weak year for JRPGs, this game and Atelier Yumiya certainly picked up the slack
30:36among all the remasters and remakes.
30:39How can you be so calm around that thing?
30:42No telling what kind of monster it is.
30:44What do you think of our picks?
30:46Which JRPG would have been your number one?
30:48Let us know down in the comments, and be sure to subscribe to MojoPlays.
30:52What else?
30:54We'll see you guys here.frei.
30:55winding
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