This list is incomplete and not necessarily in any order. This list will hopefully consist of only JRPGs. Adventure games such as The Legend of Zelda, WRPGs such as Fallout 3, and CRPGs such as Baldur's Gate are not meant to be on this list.
Needs no explanation. I'm going to give one anyway though, because fuck you. The story, music, and characters are all amazing. Also, you travel through time and can unlock one of several different endings. And there's a frog named Frog. Or Glenn. Or something.
A big and ambitious game that had to cut a lot of the planned content to be able to release as a regular SNES cartridge. Still has more to it than most games, including a good amount of quirky charm.
Such a strange game, but an awesome one as well. Great music, solid gameplay, lots of fun.
The protagonist's weapon is a flute. A FLUTE! There's something both horribly wrong and awesome about that.
This game is not the best JRPG. This game is also not the best in the Final Fantasy series. This game however, was absolutely incredible at the time of its release. Standing before the support pillar as the pre-rendered scene slowly reveals its enormity was one of many great experiences.
I was originally only going to include one of the Final Fantasy releases for PS2, but this game deserves its own place on the list. The style and story were just incredible.
One of the few JRPGs that I've played multiple times. It doesn't have the strongest story. It doesn't have the most interesting characters. It doesn't even have the best gameplay. But it does have a certain charm to it, and it does have some interesting and somewhat unique gameplay mechanics such as crafting skills (cooking, alchemy, etc.) and timed character events which affect the ending. Oh yeah, it has over 80 different endings, although this is including only minor differences between how the characters feel towards you at the end.
How did this get here? It got here because it's a fucking awesome game. Seriously though, this game has a shitload of style, so if you haven't played it, go ahead and let this game shit its style all over you. I mean, um, no wait, let's go with that.
The characters really make this game great, well along with the fact that you get to build your own town as you see fit. Oh, and if you play your cards right, the town you build can FUCKING FLY.
The game that started an obsession for me. Looking back, I'm not sure it really was as amazing as it seemed at the time, but of course, this is all relative. The genre has advanced so much farther, so to look back at a game at the genre's beginnings and expect it to hold up against its more evolved brethren isn't really fair. Despite this, it will forever remain a classic to me and many others.
