The BEST JRPGs of the Year! Shopping Guide

[@davidvinc]

Use these links to get discounts and support the channel at the same time! Beloved Rapture store.steampowered.com/app/2017620/Beloved_Rapture/ www.gog.com/en/game/beloved_rapture Massive Discounts at Instant Gaming www.instant-gaming.com/en/?igr=davidvinc Dragon Quest 3 HD2D www.instant-gaming.com/en/17212-buy-steam-dragon-quest-iii-hd-2d-remake-remake-pc-game-steam/?igr=davidvinc amzn.to/3CM8FSJ LAD: Infinite Wealth www.instant-gaming.com/en/15651-buy-microsoft-store-like-a-dragon-infinite-wealth-pc-xbox-one-xbox-series-x-s-xbox-series-x-s-xbox-one-pc-game-microsoft-store/?igr=davidvinc amzn.to/3V6iqBp Granblue Fantasy Relink www.instant-gaming.com/en/10180-buy-steam-granblue-fantasy-relink-pc-game-steam/?igr=davidvinc amzn.to/4eN0dQt Trails Through Daybreak www.instant-gaming.com/en/17821-buy-steam-the-legend-of-heroes-trails-through-daybreak-pc-game-steam/?igr=davidvinc amzn.to/4gpVxS3 Visions of Mana www.instant-gaming.com/en/15528-buy-steam-visions-of-mana-pc-game-steam/?igr=davidvinc amzn.to/4fNaqh7 Metaphor www.instant-gaming.com/en/17123-buy-steam-metaphor-refantazio-pc-game-steam-us-and-ca/?igr=davidvinc amzn.to/3AXdFDF Romancing SaGa 2 www.instant-gaming.com/en/17908-buy-steam-romancing-saga-2-revenge-of-the-seven-pc-game-steam/?igr=davidvinc amzn.to/499o63r Fantasian www.instant-gaming.com/en/14707-buy-steam-fantasian-neo-dimension-pc-game-steam/?igr=davidvinc amzn.to/4g4j2je

[@LadyLunaNini88]

Bought Romancing SaGa 2 just yesterday. I'm having a tough time, cause it's my very first time playing a Saga game. But the challenge is SOOO worth it. And of course DQ3 HD2D remake is soooo much fun and honestly, christmas came early for me this year. To be honest DQ HD2D/Romancing Saga 2 were GOTY games for me. This year was all about retro gaming collecting and jrpg playing this year for me.

[@warmybear0451]

I've only just started but if your waistcoat/vest isn't one of the items on the list, we riot

[@kazsassin]

True story 😂

[@acwano]

Trails through daybreak was so gooood, I cant wait for the sequel.

[@celebi734]

My favorite JRPG or hell, my favorite game of the year is Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. From the improved gameplay to the fantastic story and characters, I absolutely loved this game. I loved Final Fantasy VII Rebirth so much, in fact, that I actually got the platinum trophy for it. It might have taken me 194 hours to do so, but it was totally worth it!

[@ogun6464]

Daybreak is my game of the year so far. Just starting Metaphor, and so excited for Fantasian!

[@bandrew1442]

I literally was about to do my last big game shopping for the year, so this video came at the perfect time.

[@davidvinc]

Be sure to use my links! it helps me out a ton! :)

[@Eagleknight815]

Awesome guide. Cant go wrong with any of these to be honest. What a great year for JRPGs! The backlog battle is real (IYKYK) 😆😆😆😆

[@theshadowman8801]

I'm so happy all these cool rpgs are coming out.

[@NeoSonicStrike]

I'm currently playing Ys X and this is my favorite game I've played this year, I am biased because it's my favorite RPG series out there right now but it's just a blast to play, I've played most of the games on this list, after watching this video and putting it into perspective, 2024 has been one hell of a year for JRPG fans, I hope 2025 can continue that trend and it's looking pretty solid so far with a new Atelier game, Romancing SaGa, Ys: Oath, Tales of Graces F. This may be the best time ever to be a jrpg fan right now.

[@Slappaccino]

Oh man I'm a longtime massive Ys fan and Oath is the goat. Time to buy it yet again on modern consoles lol.

[@ParasaurolophusZ]

I love watching your sub count nudge upward with each video! Rooting for that 100k! Some of these games I have already on my To Play list. The backlog is real. The rest are on my wishlist. 2024 has been such a strong year for JRPGs. Also, that's a super snazzy vest!

[@davidvinc]

Much appreciated!

[@davidtimmer596]

Persona 3 Reload: Great remake of an original PS2 game that, while it tried to be unique, didn't age particularly well, especially in regards to romancing and the social links. Unicorn Overlord: A simple, fun adventure about taking back the Kingdom of Cornia, and creative squad combinations. Trails through Daybreak: The world of Calvard is very new and interesting full of secrets, and of course, Shizuna's the best character. I know I'm biased, but a hot samurai girl, please take my money! Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster. I finally got it on Switch, and I'm glad to be able to experience 4, and even played some 6

[@MwelwaOnCos]

Lots of love from Zambia, Africa..I enjoy watching your channel

[@davidvinc]

Thanks so much!!

[@Fast_Travel_Gamer]

This was an absolutely insane year for JRPGs and 2025 is also looking strong already!

[@eliechaya9690]

Love from Belgium 🇧🇪 ❤ My GOTY of 2025 will be Lunar ❤❤❤❤

[@thepaleitalian2726]

Unicorn Overload is a 10/10!! Absolutely fantastic!

[@zerokura]

If anyone like fire emblem and persona than the cross over game is for you. It's on sale on the switch till December 2 for 41 smackaroo. There alot of Nintendo games on sale now if you been on the fence than maybe buy now.

[@valentijnkratke8578]

I really enjoyed Mario & Luigi: Brothership this year. It's like a cute, turn-based Ys X: Nordics if you stop and think about it.

[@Coyoda]

I played Fantasian on apple arcade 2 years ago thanks to my sister using it and sharing, and I’ve never been glued to my phone playing a game before until that. all I wanted to play was fantasian. it was that fun and classic feeling to a game sakaguchi would make.

[@AntonioCunningham]

I'm glad you posted this list. While I only liked a few of these games, I'm glad companies are making jrpgs again. I don't want to go through the drought we had in the PS3/360 days where it was all sports and FPS.

[@123joshpearce]

Not sure what is better: 2024 as a year for JRPGs or that VEST! Currently in the middle of Romancing SaGa 2 and I’m loving it! The battle system is amazing. Onto Eiyuden once that’s done!

[@blairmcmackin8857]

I didnt realise how many great games i missed this year. Gotta lot of making up to do. Don't even know where to start

[@JohnD131]

Unicorn Overlord is probably game of the year for me, with Romancing Saga 2 being up there. Dragon Quest 3 and Fantasian are both Christmas presents, so I have a little waiting to do.

[@GymnopedieTornado]

You know how good that vest has to be for the list to be filled with games that look this good and half the comments are about the vest?

[@Petersmith57921]

Looking very jazzy there david tho you know I prefer to c u in

[@davidmahoney9877]

So, Square Enix got their s*** together and Vinc is all about some ripped anime husbandos. Great recap of what has been a legit great year brother.

[@davidvinc]

lol that about sums up the year!

[@StefanHayden]

holy shit the sponsored game looks amazing. 100% buying because of this video!

[@davidvinc]

Sweet! I’ve played it and yeah, it’s great!!

[@femtrooper]

Awesome list, David!!! 2024 has been ridiculously good!

[@davidvinc]

Yeah it has!!

[@timwardle9948]

Your videos helped me decide in dq3 and visions of mana....glad I went with them. Dq3 is such a breath of fresh air and reminds me why I started playing jrpgs. I missed the Nintendo rpgs (started playing them in middle school). Have played all the ffs but can't wait for the dq1 and 2 remakes now

[@davidvinc]

Glad you like them!

[@juzweytnc]

Definitely a great year for jrpg! A GOTY award from jrpg game will be icing on the cake.

[@chuckfinley8142]

That’s a pretty snazzy looking vest there David .. I’m guessing it adds + 5 charisma.

[@isaacmettle]

Looking good dave, I here there trying to remake Chrono trigger and remastering final fantasy tactics

[@erikskoog8415]

Thx for giving me info on Beloved Rapture, got it yesterday and cant/dont want to put it down🙂 good show sir

[@BennettRRI]

Great video and great choices. Good luck getting to 100k!

[@AbdullahMurad-h8i]

Final fantasy vii rebirth nice one 🐦‍🔥🐦‍🔥😮😮😮

[@uppernimbus]

Shipwrecked Adol is my favourite Adol 😌 It's been a great year for JRPGs, and I can't wait for next year as well! Wonderful video, David!

[@davidvinc]

Yup!! This year has definitely been a banger! And 2025 looks to be more of the same!

[@jonathancook1731]

David, I love that vest! You look super dapper.

[@davidvinc]

Oh thank you!

[@mjdf122]

2024 JRPG time with David

[@chuckfinley8142]

Hey David, I know you’re busy with your channel and gaming but do you ever get a chance to listen/read books. If so theres a book on Audible called The Wandering Inn, such a magical series. I think you’d love it considering your passion for rpg. Do some research on it if you’re new to Audible books but I cannot recommend it enough. Hopefully you get a chance to check it out one day. Thanks for your channel !

[@connergaskell1909]

The fact ive got a majority whats here on release days makes me glad i bought em definitely been such a great year for JRPGs

[@Mintcar923]

I’m going to request the new Dragon Quest for Christmas! In the meantime I’ve got most of what’s in this video as my backlog lol

[@femtrooper]

Oh man! I pretty much want all of these! The ones I don’t already have anyway! Great list! This year has been outta control in the best way!

[@davidvinc]

You and me both!

[@radiolarity]

Granblue Fantasy Relink is so incredibly good it's no surprise it didn't get nominated for Normie Game Awards. IMO best game of the year.

[@Voss_Man]

Keep up the good work David.

[@nisejohnsmith]

Damn that vest is off the lock. Solid list. I forgot that I already owned Gran Blue relink until I sorted my Steam library by release date to try and test out a new PC... 60gb download and 90gb on disk. Pretty sure that's bigger than like, the entire Sega Dreamcast library or something. Also kind of bittersweet with Visions of Mana since the team that developed it was basically broken up right after it released despite being so good.

[@aaron6493]

Hi David will beloved rapture come to Switch I have a steamdeck but I prefer my Switch Lite.

[@davidvinc]

Let me ask the dev for you

[@aaron6493]

@davidvinc Thank you David much appreciated.

[@davidvinc]

He says that there’s a possible switch release in the future!

[@aaron6493]

@@davidvinc thank you David I am looking forward to that.

[@joshualangworthy4794]

The fact that I have every single one of those games other then fantaizan means I agree with this list 🤣

[@joshualangworthy4794]

Well actually I just pre-ordered my copy of Fantasian Neo dementions physical US copy on PlayAsia. So I guess I got that now too lol 😂

[@genesisrhapsodos3151]

Metaphor is the only recent jrpg I can think of that made me pull out a notebook, there is a very well done job system in this game!

[@madkaiser4887]

Can't go wrong with any of these 12 WONDERFUL picks!

[@givemetea]

Great video! totally gonna play Visions of Mana, it looks so gorgeous! Also can anyone tell me what the song at 3:40 is from? I know I've heard it before and its killing me lol

[@erikabutler6893]

I played Fantasian on Apple Arcade when it came out. It was pretty good, with an interesting gameplay, characters, and story. It got really hard in Part 2, though, so I’m glad there’s a difficulty adjustment, which makes me interested in repaying it.

[@Tessesarius]

That vest looks to be some sort of stat boosting, mythril armor. This vest and the multi-color sweater vest the other day are both amazing.

[@davidvinc]

lol, I do have some neat winter clothes, it’s not all tank tops all the time

[@calvinmatthews1527]

Let's be real, RPGs DOMINATED this year! Can't imagine any year topping this one.

[@Sisko24]

Perfect list and excellent vest!

[@Corran123]

My favourite JRPG this year is probably Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. I loved the original and Vengeance's additions are sizeable enough to warrant a second purchase. Overall I think 2024 was extremely strong for JRPGs and it felt like every month had a couple interesting new releases.

[@tenbones545]

Looking sharp brother

[@andyreichert499]

I am looking forwards to playing so many of these games in 2026. I hope to get to one over break but I'm not sure what that will be yet. Otherwise I'm playing grad student for a while.

[@oddeye9640]

Would you recommend starting Trails at beginning, or is there a particular branch you like the most that I should try?

[@tombrooke1281]

I would recommend playing from the beginning, the sky trilogy is the best in the series in my opinion. Do not skip the third game as some people recommend. It's great and fills in a lot of plot points. That being said you could start with daybreak, it's in a different area anyway if you really don't want to go back too far. I'd play the sky trilogy, then the first two cold steel games, then the crossbell duology, then cold steel 3 and 4, then reverie, then daybreak.

[@oddeye9640]

@ thanks.

[@jeffereykizior1605]

Visions of Mana super underrated, its Mana, but growing up with adult themes and choices

[@kevnosity]

Loved Rebirth! By far the hardest platinum trophy I’ve ever achieved.

[@Slappaccino]

Honestly between Ys X, Visions of Mana, and DQ3 I'm all set until Monster Hunter Wilds next year but I still love watching these videos all the same.

[@Peavey311]

METAPHOR!!! Beat it about a week ago and I still can't stop thinking about it.

[@EriesAston]

Amazing video and great outfit ❤

[@davidvinc]

Thank you!!

[@MrTehSpaniard]

David, have you ever played Fell Seal: Arbiters Mark? It’s a great SRPG on switch, pc, and PS. After what you were saying during the Unicorn overlord bit about there not being a ton of great SRPGs, it’s the first one that popped into mind. Good story, characters, and mechanics. Check it out if you can!

[@DHamblen]

Great definitive list of the best games of the year

[@davidvinc]

Glad you think so!

[@awesomemccool7285]

Thanks for yet another great video :)

[@davidvinc]

My pleasure!

[@cactusman07pim]

It's hard to pick a favorite this year. It is somewhere on the list. I just can't make my mind up between four of those games. Black Friday is a great time to fill the gaps in the backlog. I wish the embargo on FANTASIAN Neo Dimension was lifted. Some expert opinion on that game would be appreciated.

[@IshvaraGodCazimi]

David did you play Trails into Reverie ?

[@davidvinc]

Yes

[@SJMcK]

The Metaphor Refantazio demo is enormous, really beefy. You will definitely know whether you want to keep playing after it’s over.

[@naiomipetric722]

Omg your vest david !!!🎉

[@KILLERMAX358]

I would add Persona 3 Reload to the list.

[@matheu6848]

This year for me was one of the best in JRPS, by the way that vest looks pretty good. Edit: YES SAGA AND MANA MENTION, both series are my favorite from Square enix, and I only play Trials and Visions , in addition to Emerald Beyond and Romancing 2 remake, now all of their games are on sale, oh boy….

[@owlyus]

That vest is a big hell yeah from me

[@rossedwardmiller]

almost every good jrpg dev has a release this year. Insane

[@TheTippsAttack]

Looking dapper, by brother.

[@davidvinc]

I try :)

[@vincentheinrich8027]

I fell in love with Eve of Calamity on PC. Seems like a little hidden. Find that very few people talk about. It scratched my 8 bit itch for about 20+ hours.

[@milodoiing2280]

Still love sea of stars from last year.

[@Dragonsi2]

Will you be reviewing The Thaumaturge? It comes out less than a week before Christmas, on the 19th, for $40. It's set at the turn of the 20th century, and your class is kind of a "Dark Summoner", you also have moral decisions and have to play Detective with clues your Summons can find for you. I'll be playing it on my PS5. Anyone is welcome to send me CLOSE FRIEND REQUESTS only, Dragonsi2.

[@jasonhubbard6775]

Yeah, I can hardly believe that Adol got paired up with a girl who had killed a sea captain when she could have put him on trial. It's something I've also planned to address in a video.

[@nickwick35]

Way too many great games this year. I don’t understand how people say this was a down year for gaming. Not true at all, imo!

[@AntonioCunningham]

Because people have different tastes in games. It was a so so year for me. Only a quarter of these games are interesting to me. The first quarter of 2025 have more games I'm interested in compared to the whole year of 2024.

[@R3GARnator]

Loved the fire spitting for Nordics.

[@kylescott2425]

Unicorn overlords all day

[@debreas6207]

Wonder if they will ever return to fashion that truly made RPGs popular. Fighting like they have been doing over team based turn based or real time battles. Not street fighter god of war style

[@NightmareOni]

Shout out to the handsomest man in all the lands: Ghandagoza

[@RescueSquadCulp]

King Arthur: Legends Rise released on Google Store mobile

[@islandboy7271]

Well look at you all fancy!🤗

[@reydavinci]

Other 12 JRPGs missing from this video: 1. Persona 3 Reload 2. Shin Megami Tensei 5 Vengeance 3. Farmagia 4. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door 5. Reynatis 6. The Legend of Legacy HD Remastered 7. Sand Land 8. Class of Heroes 1 & 2 9. Neptunia: Sisters VS Sisters 10. Fairy Tail 2 (tbr on December)

[@JohnnyTejeda-ju5vz]

The vest goes hard

[@darrelladams4886]

I can’t lie, I want to play rebirth but I worry that all the mini games and filler quests will drive me nuts. Remake already felt like it was padded for time in places or deliberately slowed down. Theres a few other games I’m debating but it’s hard to tell from demos as many games can have pretty slow starts as well

[@suprshin]

Isn’t Fantasian Neo Dimensions made by MistWalker? I loved Lost Odyssey.

[@airbooth]

Can you link your background soundtrack. Xenogears remastered sounds great.

[@marekprochazka1284]

lol. As soon as I say a Trails game, I knew there would be a comment about Rean and his harem 😆😆😆

[@AnthonySmith-bj9mo]

hi David

[@Yusei255]

Enjoying megaton Musashi wired. To me, it's wayyy better then gundam breaker 4.

[@binnybros]

Great list, just would’ve added persona 3 reload to it

[@reiperx1064]

Damn...that's a slick lookin' vest. LIke...14th century nobility or something.

[@teefa85]

Hopefully I'll get some Steam cash for the holidays so I can pick up Metaphor. If not...gonna go put money on my account myself to get it. That and Ys X are the games at the top of my list since so many great games came out this year. My backlog exploded again.

[@Magnamaster]

Ohhht that vest 😮❤

[@honeybutter8257]

Its honestly sad how much people are sleeping on visions of mana, its such an amazing game... 😢

[@123joshpearce]

I know you hate the social parts, but Persona 3: Reload is game of the year for me! It’s one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played.