15 Great JRPG Series that Aren't Final Fantasy

Twinfinite Writes: Final Fantasy may be the most well known JRPG series out there, but there's plenty of other fantastic franchises out there for fans to dig into.

[PhoenixUp]

"The Tales series has been running for over 20 years, and has seen an entry on nearly every system since the PS1."

Tales of has been running since SNES

[Razzer]

Too many clicks. Here is their list:

Shin Megami Tensei/Persona
Tales of
Dragon Quest
Star Ocean
The Legend of Heroes
Suikoden
Mana
Xenoblade
Golden Sun
Lunar
Valkyria
Grandia
Wild Arms
Breath of fire
Nier

[3-4-5]

Solid list, thanks for posting.

I love Dragon Quest, Xenoblade, Legend of Heroes.....been meaning to get around to some of these other series as well.

[indysurfn]

Anyone missing LEGEND OF HEROES is really missing it. Especially if you prefer turn based jrpg's. Even though it is a linear story I am on my third and final time playing it through (the number II) it is about a 185 hours the first time through. Less each time after that. The story of this game is awesome.

Graphics is only okay because number 1 and 2 or only on PS3 and Vita. But number 3 is going to be on PS4 and PC. You need to play number 1 before playing number 2 because the story just starts right off where number 1 left off at.

The music is easily the best since FFVII and may be better to many people (esepcially the 2nd game). And it is one of the best games EVER! Period. GAMES not just turn based JRPG's

[_-EDMIX-_]

real MVP!

[hellkitten]

Thank you. I love Tales of... and Star Ocean though I haven't played all of their titles (just two each). I've played some of the others but I don't remember/don't like them too much.

[dillydadally]

Let's be honest, not all of those are great jrpg series. It's like he just listed most every series with over 3 games. Star ocean and wild arms have had a ton of sub par games. The mana series really only had one big hit and the rest were poorly rated. I'm going to even state an unpopular opinion and say the Tales of series, despite its popularity, is not exactly a high quality series. They push out a new Tales game every couple years, each one full of shallow cliche characters and a shallow cliche plot and a battle system that is very repetitive and button mashy. The first one on the SNES was great, but boy do I wish that series would put a little more time into creating something original and polished these days!

[Canary]

Specifically "Trails," not simply "Legend of Heroes." The Trails games are a spin-off series of the Legend of Heroes series, which is itself a spin-off of the Dragon Slayer series.

[Kreisen]

Most of these games are very old and scattered around mutliple platforms. Not to mention titles like Xenoblade chronicles had limited prints so you would probably have to spend ALOT of money to get your hands on it. So yeah gl checking any of these out without an amulator.

[heartnet13]

You can purchase Xenoblade on the Wii and Wii U eShop luckily, so the only hard part would be getting a physical copy.

[PiNkFaIrYbOi]

Hmm. glad that I already own most of these games so don't have to worry about not being able to play them. I would much prefer that most of these series came out with some new games.

[Tross]

Great list, and thank you. I have no beef with Final Fantasy but I think it gets way too much credit, especially when there are plenty of other great JRPG series out there.

[KingofGambling]

I love the Suikoden series.

[Tokasmke]

Prove it with games

[Canary]

Final Fantasy hasn't been a great RPG series for more than a decade.