What Are The Best New JRPGs To Play Right Now?

I think we can all agree anime is rad and that playing a JRPG is pretty much like playing an anime.

The interesting settings, the spiky hair, the big swords, the characters that can be kind of annoying but make up for it by having cool designs with way too many zippers… yeah, that’s the good stuff.

These ten JRPGs will give you the full anime experience, where you can play the part of the plucky protagonist and go fight some monsters!

10. Yakuza Kiwami 2

 

Yakuza Kiwami 2 combat gameplay

Everything is cooler in Japan, including the mafia. In this game, you play as Kazuma Kiryu, stoic yakuza badass and professional tiger kicker. You must journey through the crime-ridden streets of Japan, beating thugs senseless and playing eclectic minigames.

Whether you’re beating up scrubs in packs or facing characters tough enough to get actual names in a one-on-one brawl, Yakuza Kiwami 2 is sure to satisfy your latent bloodlust. It’s a bombastic beat-em-up RPG with the overall vibe of a mildly cheesy, but still pulse-pounding, action movie.

Being a remake of a popular title in the Yakuza series, this game boasts improved graphics, customizable controls, and a brand-new story campaign featuring proclaimed eyepatch weirdo, Goro Majima.

Creative combat: It’s like a food review. But, you know… violent.

Minigames in the toilet: Probably the most realistic thing in this game.

9. Super Neptunia RPG

Super Neptunia RPG gameplay

This series is essentially Moe: The Game. You run around as a series of cute girls in thematic outfits and beat stuff up. Now, with Super Neptunia RPG, you can control these adorable anime girls in turn-based combat!

This game brings popular characters from the Neptunia series into the world of 2D combat and exploration. You can run and jump your way through a beautiful digitally-painted world, traversing unique environments as you work to save the world of 3D gaming as we know it.

When you enter combat, you can switch between the four available heroines for different attack options. On top of that, you can equip weapons and accessories that give you a variety of different skills, giving you even more choices!

Four-on-four battle: The non-moe bundles of teeth and anger must be purged!

Imperialists: Aw, look at how cute and spunky that girl in uniform is… wait, why is that other girl tied to a pole?

8. Epic Battle Fantasy 5

Epic Battle Fantasy 5 combat and exploration

Epic Battle Fantasy 5 is an enjoyably weird turn-based RPG. It’s basically a chibi adventure full of unique fantasy monsters and violence, which is pretty cool.

While you’re fighting turn-based battles through a colorful collection of worlds and combatting fantasy Nazis, this game gives you the option to capture any enemy you’ve defeated and use it against your foes in the future. The characters also have customizable appearances that change with the equipment they’re wearing, which is always fun!

Summoning your enemy: When the giant meat skull brings out its stabby tentacles, that’s a pretty good sign to pack it in for the day.

The equipment screen: Functional and chibitastic!

7. Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet

Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet gameplay

This game is a grittier version of Sword Art Online’s usual world. Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet brings you a third-person RPG shooter where your main goal is to flip your way around a dystopian environment and kill things.

This game allows you to create your own character (a feature I always love) so you feel like you’re really part of the action. There are both large and small enemies to take down, from the humble bitey sand worm to the giant mech that wants to rearrange your face with missiles. You can either experience the story alone or partake in online multiplayer… just make sure your avatar is cooler than everyone else’s.

The grappling hook: The art of not getting shot in the face.

Rocket girl: You can customize your avatar to be however you like! Even if that means she’d deeeeefinitely skin her knees on all those hard rocks and bits of rusty metal.

6. NieR:Automata

NieR:Automata boss fight

NieR:Automata takes place in a world of depressing beauty. Take control of three androids (IE post-apocalyptic desert goths) and wander through a wreckage of a destroyed world, exploring the devastated wasteland and beating the crap out of creepy-looking robots.

NieR:Automata’s world is vast and open with an artfully subdued color palette. The game encourages you to freely explore its environments while you fight to re-take control of the world from an invading robotic force.

You’ll have to switch between close-quarters and long-range combat to survive, throwing in a bit of acrobatic dodging that looks really tough in those heels.

Robot VS Android: They’d probably both look good in that dress.

Side-by-side: It’s like the evolution of man if you were tracking the trajectory of robot sexiness.

5. Valkyria Chronicles 4

Valkyria Chronicles 4 gameplay

Have you even wanted to play a turn-based war game with realistic tanks and guns alongside the visual sound effects of a 1960s Batman punch? Then Valkyria Chronicles 4 is for you!

Fight across blizzards, cities and quaint pastoral fields to retake your home. Combat your foes strategically using a series of weapons including tanks, guns, grenade launchers and battleships. Pet a cute dog wearing a hat.

The horrors of war: Surprisingly dreamy and watercolor-esque.

A different mood: Maybe don’t hold a funeral with a girl in an Alice in Wonderland dress and a dog in a hat. It kind of ruins the somber atmosphere.

4. Tales of Berseria

Tales of Berseria gameplay

Tales of Berseria is the story of a young woman whose once-kind nature has, after a traumatic event in her past, has been replaced by anger, belts and leather. Alongside a very distinct-looking crew of pirates, she has to sail across the land of Midgand, fighting with both weapons and a giant monster claw.

Follow Velvet on a journey of self-discovery through the many different environments of Midgand’s islands. With the option to choose between any one of six characters, this game is sure to include something that fits your playstyle. Once you encounter an enemy, you can move freely within a set zone, setting up combos or simply button mashing until everything in your path is destroyed.

The cast: Every one of these guys could be the main character of their own game. I bet they’d all be different genres.

Silver lining: Yeah, I’m sure your past is tragic and everything, but you did get a cool monster claw out of it!

3. Troubleshooter

Troubleshooter early access gameplay

Troubleshooter is a turn-based strategy RPG featuring characters with a whole lot of personality. These characters have hip designs and fun powers, and they certainly seem like they’re having fun while fighting!

The game features 3D graphics for its battles and beautifully-drawn 2D scenes and talksprites for its story sequences. You’ll meet various characters to recruit in said story sequences, or maybe even in battle! It’s an early access game, meaning the story and gameplay will continue to be updated by the developers.

Making choices: I think she’s made up her mind.

Character design: So, one of my units is male stripper Cruella de Vil? Yeah, I’m down.

2. OCTOPATH TRAVELER

Octopath Traveler gameplay

No matter how much graphics advance, the jagged beauty of pixel art will always have a place in my heart. Octopath Traveler mixes that old-timey goodness with modern lighting and depth of field effects, as well as flashy combat animations, resulting in a modern re-imagining of the classic RPG.

In Octopath Traveler, you individually take on the role of eight separate characters, each with their own story to tell. Fight both one-on-one and party-based battles against monsters and humans alike. Each playable character has their own unique skill set, whether it involves magic, charm, or just straight punching.

Fighting as the cleric: Versus aggressive rocks.

Size difference: Keep shootin’, buddy. I’m pretty sure it’s just acupuncture to that thing.

1. FINAL FANTASY XV

Final Fantasy XV combat gameplay

Everybody knows about Final Fantasy, it’s the top dog of the JRPG genre. This remaster of Final Fantasy XV offers you a look into the modern fantasy world with updated, realistic graphics.

Final Fantasy XV has you playing as Noct and his friends, who all really seem to like wearing black. They travel together through a vast, open world, fighting scores of unique monsters along the way.

Ride a boat, chocobo, or even a flying car in a world featuring updated graphics, new missions and more monsters than you can shake a stick (or really big sword) at.

Improved graphics: His skin looks real. I wanna touch it.

Chocobo riding: It looks POSITIVELY DELIGHTFUL. That bird looks SO HAPPY.

You may also be interested in:

• The Top 17 Best JRPGs for PC

• Top 10 Upcoming JRPGs We're Excited For (2019-2023)

• The Top 25 Best Japanese Games for PC