5 best Nintendo JRPGs you should not be sleeping on in 2023

Japanese role-playing games, or JRPGs, embody a style, or rather, design philosophy, pioneered by Japanese developers during the Nintendo and Super Nintendo era.

JRPGs like Dragon Quest and Shin Megami Tensei are characterized by their deep plots, character-focused storytelling, and relatively linear progression with leveling, gear, and magic skills. This style was widely popular among Japanese gamers due to the way it simplified Tabletop RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons yet continued to tell compelling narratives.

JRPGs are a staple of the gaming world. Some of the stalwarts of gaming, like Pokemon and Final Fantasy, are JRPGs. Year after year, studios pump out incredible, emotionally resonant stories with deep gameplay and customization. Unfortunately, many of these phenomenal games are disregarded due to complications like advertising, translations, and a lack of international renown.

Fortunately, they’re on the uptake. With over a hundred million Nintendo Switch systems sold, the install base is ravenous for new games, and developers know it. The Nintendo Switch is one of the best systems to get JRPGs on, and with the increased sales and exposure they’ve been getting through the internet-unifying coverage of the Nintendo Directs, it’s only getting better.

That said, here are the best JRPGs of the last year on the Nintendo Switch that you should definitely give a shot, whether you want to get into the genre or are a returning veteran.

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5 superb Nintendo Switch JRPGs for beginners and veterans alike

1) Octopath Traveller 2 [February 2023]

The second installment in the critically acclaimed Octopath Traveler series, Team Asano once again produced a well-rounded, quality JRPG. With its titular eight story paths of eight playable characters that get you invested from the get-go, there’s no shortage of content in this game - taking around 80 hours to complete.

Its beautifully crisp HD-2D style and delightful soundtrack make the game a joy to look at and listen to, let alone play. Clean lighting melds pixel-art spritework with just the right amount of detail to resemble what you fondly remember those retro titles as being.

Grinding aside, its battle system is the cherry on top. Finding the enemy types' weakness points and knocking them into a vulnerable state to deal extra damage and strip them of their turns makes for a great puzzle, guessing game, and forward-thinking planning sequence all at once.

Unfortunately, if you’ve already played the original Octopath Traveler, you won’t find it to be much of an upgrade; the gameplay and battle system remain largely untouched. But the story alone is enough to drag you back into the world of Solistia for just one more quest.

Octopath Traveler 2 is also available on PS4, PS5, and Windows alongside Nintendo Switch.

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2) The Diofield Chronicle [September 2022]

An all-new intellectual property, once again from Square Enix, The Diofield Chronicle is a fresh take on the traditional Tactical JRPG formula that is dominated by the likes of (their own) Final Fantasy Tactics and Nintendo's Fire Emblem. Rather than taking a turn-based approach, however, the battle goes on in real-time, akin to a real-time strategy game, or RTS like StarCraft and Company of Heroes.

What sets this game apart from those examples is how the skills and magic systems emulate more traditional JRPG elements than grander strategy RTS games.

As always, Square nails the art style with cinematics using splendid anime-style art with fluid animation and CG models. The gameplay balances simplicity with style as the environments and character models maintain distinction from each other and look unique enough for every unit to mean something to you. Unfortunately, combat animations lack weight, but it’s hardly noticeable.

With an interesting story set on the island of DioField, long said to be the home of the gods (creative naming, truly), involving politics, mercenaries, and blood vows, the DioField Chronicle is a welcome change of pace if you want something new in the fray without straying too far from JRPG roots.

The Diofield Chronicle is also available on PS4, PS5, Windows, XBox One, and XBox Series X|S alongside Nintendo Switch.

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3) Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion [December 2022]

A classic of JRPGs, Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core is a prequel to the main events of the FFVII game, focusing on Cloud’s colleague from before the story. The third Square Enix entry on this list is technically a remaster of the original game. However, with overhauls to the combat and the fact that it looks majorly better than what it used to on the PSP — its home system — it toes the line of a remake.

Featuring upgraded graphics in the style of FF7R, with revamped visuals, UI, and textures, the game has gotten a complete overhaul from what it used to be, and you would never guess that it’s a re-release of a game from 2007. It features the all-time classic soundtrack from Square’s composer Takeharu Ishimoto, with flashy effects backing it up.

The redone combat still preserves the original game’s dodge-and-slash primary loop. With controls modernized for a proper, twin-stick controller and the overall pace of the fights quickened, the game is a far cry from the simplistic, repetitive inputs that used to define it. The DMW boost system also returns, with the random chance buffs remaining random as ever.

Crisis Core is a great remaster that’s almost a remake, but not quite, and is a must-play for any fans of Final Fantasy, especially with the updates it's received. And if you’re jumping into JRPGs for the first time, the story is still plenty gripping.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is also available on PS4, PS5, Windows, XBox One, and XBox Series X|S alongside the Nintendo Switch.

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4) Fire Emblem Engage [January 2023]

Riding the success of Three Houses, Intelligent Systems delivered a vastly different experience set in the world of Fire Emblem. While in no way a sequel to any of the previous games, Fire Emblem Engage is a callback to many of the past games with its unique new mechanic - summoning past protagonists as Emblems.

Modifying the art style of Three Houses to follow more anime-esque design languages, the game is a shiny, clean treat for the eyes. While you look at the myriad attractive fighters in the game, the Fire Emblem trademark “Support Conversations” go on, and the music is nothing to scoff at either. A well-rounded soundtrack keeps the mood in check at all times, even if the writing doesn’t always deliver - you’ll either love it or hate it.

Where this game really shines is in its level and encounter design. With the variety of Emblem-Unit combinations and customizability in playstyles, you’ll always be able to build up a squad perfect for the occasion, while the expression involved in the Emblem mechanic keeps it fresh and fun to play. Longtime fans often say it features some of the best gameplay in the series, hands down.

If you’re looking to get into the more strategy-focused side of JRPGs, this is a great starting point.

Fire Emblem Engage is a Nintendo Switch exclusive.

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5) Xenoblade Chronicles 3 [July 2022]

While it’s been making waves in the JRPG sphere, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is most certainly slept on for its caliber. Nominated for several awards at 2022’s The Game Awards, including Game of the Year, XC3 is potentially one of the best capstones to a trilogy ever put out, rivaling the likes of Halo 3 in sheer quality.

The game's visuals push the Nintendo Switch’s Tegra chip to the absolute limit while still maintaining stable performance, stunning vistas, and a gorgeous world. Capped off with a Best Soundtrack nominated OST (that arguably should have won), it is nothing short of a feast for the eyes and ears, with character designs to match.

Not that the gameplay is slacking, either. Real-time combat means the game keeps you on your toes to position and time your attacks, combos, and skills to output maximum damage. The role system does limit character options slightly, but with a party size of eight, you won't face a shortage of ways to play.

Even if it does feel a little overwhelming at first, the game eases you into combat at an appropriate pace, meaning that once you get the hang of it, you’ll be putting out combos like there's no tomorrow.

Finally, the writing is simply phenomenal - a classic story of wartime enemies banding together to fight a greater evil in rebellion, interspersed with themes of life, death, and mortality that resonate emotionally like no other.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is a Nintendo Switch exclusive.