The JPRG genre has always been a staple of gaming. Ever since the original Dragon Quest, players have been guiding casts of characters through fantasy worlds to complete grand adventures. As the genre has evolved over the decades, so has the way these parties and the stories they can tell are depicted.
Top 9 JRPGs Available for PlayStation 5
Games available on PlayStation 5 which any JRPG fans owes it to themselves to play!
With nearly every JRPG in history having a party, it can be difficult to decide which is your favorite. However, if one were to judge these parties based on qualities like how unique they are, how well-written their storylines are, and how popular they are in the gaming community, then the following list of the best JRPG parties can be formed.
Unique Subversions
While Square Enix’s Nier Gestalt isn’t a turn-based RPG, the small cast of characters this game stars still has all the energy of a classic RPG party. Watching as Nier recruits various societal misfits into his group throughout the first half of the game and watching them grow closer during the hell of the game’s second half never fails to bring a tear to the eye.
When comparing the cast of Nier to others in gaming, there truly is no other party that feels like this one. From the bad-mouthed Kaine to the skeletal Emil, they all feel truly unique in the gaming pantheon. They would have ranked even higher on this list if not for the fact that Nier Gestalt isn’t a traditional RPG, and thus it wouldn’t have felt fair to not place them low. If you want to experience one of the best casts in gaming, do yourself a favor and play through this title.
9Persona 4
Accepted Themselves
Persona 4 Golden
Atlus’ Persona franchise centers both its plot and gameplay around the bonds the protagonists forms between themselves and other characters, with premises centered around that it would be ridiculous for the parties of each game to not be incredibly well written. While picking a single Persona party to put on this list can be a difficult task, the cast of Persona 4 simply shines above the rest.
While theparty members of Persona 4might not wear outfits as cool asPersona 5’s party, it is extremely gratifying to see each character in the game go through a small arc of accepting themselves during their dungeons and then further developing during their social links. Stand-out characters in the cast include Yukiko and Naoto, who are beloved online. With a party this good, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they were all later playable in a fighting game spinoff title.
8Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes
The Largest Party Ever
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
When thinking about the best parties in gaming history, one will naturally think about their end-game party compositions and the variety of player choice for how they can be set up. Perhaps no game on this list offers more variety than Eiyuden Chronicles: 100 Heroes, which offers over 120 different characters for players to use during combat!
8 Things Every Good JRPG Needs
A solid story? A colorful cast of loyal teammates who’d follow you anywhere? These are just a few things quality JRPGs have.
Any character archetype a gamer can conceive of is on full display in this game. From a trio of magical girls who can unleash magical attacks to furry animal-people hunters, there is no limit to the number of ways the player can construct their party. If you love variety in your JRPG parties, consider picking up Eiyuden Chronicles: 100 Heroes.
7Metaphor ReFantazio
Fantasy Isn’t Dead
Metaphor: ReFantazio
Atlus’ Metaphor ReFantazio takes the gameplay formula and loop of their Persona titles and applies it to a fantasy setting. This allows for aparty of charactersmore akin to a classic JRPG but with Atlus’ writing style. These characters range from a summoner who is awkward around people to a bat-like creature who is also a middle-aged man.
Even amongst Atlus’ catalog of well-written characters, the cast of Metaphor stands out as one of their best. No character feels like a wasted slot in the party and each of them have incredible moments in the game’s plot. It would be ludicrous to not include one of the best JRPG casts in recent history somewhere on this list.
6Yakuza: Like a Dragon
Aged with Grace
Yakuza: Like A Dragon
When Sega’s critically acclaimed Like a Dragon (formerly known in the West as Yakuza) franchise transitioned into being a series of turn-based games, the cast of characters they starred also changed. This new party of characters was composed of an ex-Yakuza, a homeless man, a barmaid, and many more people from unique walks of life.
While most JRPG parties, and games in general, tend to star casts of characters in their 20s, the turn-basedLike a Dragon gamesuniquely star characters whose ages push closer to 50 and beyond. This allows for many unique moments and story beats that only a cast of older characters could go through, with many fans of these games requesting that other JRPGs star older characters as well. With a reputation like that, it would be ridiculous not to include this party on the list.
5Octopath Traveler 2
Separate, Overlapping Journeys
Octopath Traveler 2
Square Enix’s Octopath Traveler franchise features a unique gimmick where, instead of there being a singular plot to follow, each of the game’s eight party members is going through their own stories. Octopath Traveler 2 features some very great tales, such as a thief trying to remove her slave collar and a businessman trying to save his dying town.
10 Longest JRPGs To Play
From Persona 5 to Rune Factory Frontier and Genshin Impact, these are some of the longest and most content-laden JRPGs ever.
While the cast of Octopath Traveler 2 is fantastic and groundbreaking, they also rank low on this list due to them not interacting as much as other parties on this list. While they certainly get to know each other better than Octopath 1’s party, it still takes quite a while for them to get to know each other in the same way as others on this list.
4Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Brave the Endless Now
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Monolith Soft’s Xenoblade Chronicles franchise has produced many characters who have entered the mainstream gaming pantheon, allowing them to appear in games such as Super Smash Bros. While the party of the most recent game in the series: Xenoblade Chronicles 3, hasn’t appeared in that sort of crossover yet, they have already proven themselves to be incredibly popular among fans.
Starring two trios who come from separate sides of the same war, the characters of Xenoblade 3 live through a nightmarish Endless Now which has been forcing them to fight for eons. This scenario allows for some great character arcs about how this situation has affected the characters and how they help others through it. While some characters like Sena don’t get as much spotlight as the others, the cast of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is still one of the best JRPG parties on the Nintendo Switch.
3Atelier Ayesha
A Band of Travelers
Atelier Ayesha Plus: The Alchemist of Dusk
The next party on the list might not be as iconic as a typical Final Fantasy party, but they’ve got enough heart and soul to earn a placement on this list: the characters of Atelier Ayesha. Part of what makes Ayesha one of thebest games in the Atelier seriesis its cast of characters who despite coming from very different backgrounds than Ayesha herself, bring her along for their personal journeys and adventures.
Ayesha’s party also has a lot of variety in its characters. They range from a young witch learning magic, a hunter who wants to take down the strongest prey, to even an old professor who is wanted for terrorism. While they might not be the most popular JRPG party in the world, they have more than earned a high placement on this list.
2Tales of Graces f
All of Them Unique
Tales of Graces F
Bandai Namco’s Tales Of franchise is very similar to Final Fantasy in that each game stars a completely different cast of characters in a unique world. Over the past three decades, many Tales Of parties have won over the hearts of gamers, so while picking just one Tales Of cast is hard for the purposes of this list, the party from Tales of Graces f shall be highlighted. Starring a lord who gave up his position and joined a knight training academy and his friends, the cast of Graces f is one of the coziest in the series.
What truly makes the party of Graces f stand out is how unique they all are from a gameplay perspective. Cheria, for example, isn’t just a typical healer; she can also throw out a million knives like she was a Jojo character. Each character brings something completely unique to the table which helps elevate Graces as one of thebest Tales Of games
1Final Fantasy X
A Perfect Fantasy Cast
Final Fantasy 10
Being the most popular JRPG series in the world, it should come as no surprise that the Final Fantasy franchise has produced several of the best parties in gaming history. Each game is filled with incredible characters who stick in the players’ minds long after the game is over. However, when choosing a single Final Fantasy party to put on this list one must go with the cast of Final Fantasy X.
From its beautiful summoner to its prolific blitzball player, there isn’t a single party member in Final Fantasy X who isn’t expertly written. All of them have their uses in battle as well due to Final Fantasy X’s gameplay, which allows the player to instantly switch out characters mid-battle to suit the situation. While it was hard to rank them instead of the party of Final Fantasy VII, anyone who chooses to play through this title will love the cast of Final Fantasy X.
10 Underrated JRPGs You Can Play On Steam Right Now
We’ve all heard of Pokemon and Persona, so let’s dig deeper for some gems!
