There is a long debate about whether it is even fair to call games born outside the Land of the Rising Sun JRPGs. However, this abbreviation is now perceived more as a definition of the genre than the geographical affiliation of the games.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which can already be called a superhit and one of the contenders for the title of Game of the Year, is constantly called a JRPG, although its creators live in France. Perhaps it would be worth inventing some other name for this phenomenon, but for now we have what we have, so let's try to determine what exactly are the features that make a game a JRPG. And let's mention a few interesting projects that fit this definition, although they were not created in Japan.
We invite you to share your favorite non-Japanese Japanese role-playing games in the comments.
JRPG Family Traits
First of all, when talking about JRPGs, most people mention the features of the combat system. In the classic version, battles are turn-based. This is the case in the genre-defining Dragon Quest series, as well as in most Final Fantasy, the Persona/Shin Megami Tensei series, and games starting with Xeno- (Xenogears/Xenosaga). However, in Xenoblade Chronicles, battles already take place in real time with pauses, and the latest "Finals" also use a similar approach. The Persona series has a spin-off called Persona 5 Strikers, where the action is real-time action with elements of tactics (musou style: many enemies + active abilities). Even the most classic Dragon Quest has an action spin-off with a completely different style of battles - Dragon Quest Heroes. Well, the famous Zelda, Tales of... and Star Ocean series have always had real-time battles, which does not prevent them from being one hundred percent JRPGs.
While early Fallout games seem to have turn-based combat, they are not to be confused with JRPGs. These are Western RPGs (WRPGs), where the emphasis is not on ready-made heroes with a pre-written character, but on creating your own character from scratch. Fallout is about freedom of choice, side quests, an open world, and the game's reaction to your actions. And JRPGs are more often about a clearly written story with emotional moments, ready-made characters, and a focus on the plot.
In JRPGs, leveling up heroes is most often tied to gaining levels: defeating a monster, gaining experience, gaining new abilities. Most characteristics (strength, magic, endurance, etc.) increase automatically, the player is more of an observer than a creator of his own character. The main thing is to keep up with the level of the bosses, and if you fall behind, you need to grind a little, that is, beat a few optional monsters for experience or complete additional quests. This is another iconic feature of JRPGs, which, however, often annoys players.
But in Western RPGs, it's increasingly the opposite: leveling is a constructor where you yourself distribute the points of characteristics and skills, building your character the way you want. If you want a mage with an axe - please do. In JRPGs, this option is usually not provided: here the heroes have clearly defined roles, characters and even destinies. You control not a faceless avatar, but a ready-made character, with his own dramas, friends and enemies.
As we've already mentioned, the plot in JRPGs is often linear, or at least with a very tight main narrative that's hard to deviate from. Sometimes there are dialogue choices or side quests, but the main story moves clearly forward, regardless of whether you put the character in pink shoes or not. But nonlinearity happens, and it's been that way since ancient times.
For example, Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom, released in 1990 for the Sega Mega Drive. The uniqueness of this game is in the generations of heroes. You play as a prince, and at some point he can choose one of two girls as his wife, and the next protagonist is born from them, a very specific son of his parents with his own character and abilities inherited from his parents. In this turn of events, you could play the game as one of the two heroes, while the other simply did not exist.
And then another generation: your hero (now the son of the first) also chooses a wife, and so the game moves on to the third generation. As a result, there are four possible final heroes, and depending on who you play, some events, the team you assemble, and small plot branches will differ. Although the overall ending is the same, the path to it can be very different. For 1990, this was incredibly progressive.
In everything else, Phantasy Star III is a true classic JRPG: random battles (fortunately, in newer games there are fewer of them, and often they can be avoided altogether), a team of heroes, each of whom has their own motivations, and even a plot twist with a traitor. And it's also a space fantasy that blends beautifully with fantasy motifs.
Another feature that is often inherent in JRPGs is the anime-like visual style. There is nothing to add here.
So, in short, we play as pre-created characters with pre-written personalities. They experience drama, friendship, betrayal, and save the world (sometimes twice).
The story is linear, but emotional. The battles are either turn-based or similar to a real-time fighting anime. Leveling is level-based: killed a slug → gained experience → became stronger. And so, 90% of the time you save the world with your faithful friends in the style of "we are the power of friendship."
This formula has proven surprisingly resilient – and not just in Japan. The influence of JRPGs is evident in the game design, narrative, and combat systems of countless games around the world. Of course, a large part of these projects came about thanks to RPG Maker, a simple but powerful tool that allowed you to create your own emotional role-playing adventures even without programming knowledge. But there were others: some indie developers wrote their engines from scratch, some worked as part of large studios, some imitated Japanese models, and some reinterpreted them.
One way or another, we got dozens of bright JRPGs – from the West, South America, and even Scandinavia. And among them there are ironic, depressing, absurd, and sometimes even better than the Japanese classics.
So let's take a look at what JRPGs non-Japanese developers offered us – and what they were memorable for.
Anachronox
Release year: 2001
Battles: turn-based
Platforms: Windows
One of the first and most striking Western attempts in the JRPG genre. Magna Opus of Tom Hall, one of the authors of DOOM. Anachronox is a case where it is clear that the game was made with love and humor, but without money (in fact, the money was considerable at that time, but there was a problem with management - ed. note) and nerves. The studio almost died in the process, but managed to leave behind a small cult. The ideas here are worth their weight in gold, the implementation - um... it is unlikely that you can find a person who would not have crashed this game at least fifty times during the passage.
But what are those departures if the plot, characters, dialogues are just a bombshell. We play as private detective Sly Boots. He loves problems, drinks and sarcasm. So it is not surprising that from the first minutes we meet him with a bright fingal under his eye. Sly gets involved in an intergalactic conspiracy, assembles an absolutely crazy team, including a monk, a planet in a human body and a girl with a superpower that works on emotions.
And all this is seasoned with noir, a bit of science fiction, irony, and Tom Hall's trademark absurd humor. The combat system here is turn-based, but dynamic, with special attacks and positional tactics.
Anachronox is like an old VHS with your favorite childhood movie: it creaks, it flickers, but you still love it. It always reminded me a bit of the first Star Trek from the sixties: cool stories, charismatic characters, but the technical level is like from a garage workshop, maybe intergalactic. But at the same time, there is an atmosphere that you remember for years. And I want to believe that Anachronox, like Star Trek, will experience its own renaissance. And maybe not alone.
Cris Tales
Release year: 2021
Combat: turn-based (and with timed tricks)
Platforms: Windows, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
As the developers themselves wrote, Cris Tales is a letter of their sincere love for classic JRPGs... but since the authors are Colombian, this letter seems to be written with colored markers on a bright Latin American stained glass window. The style of the game is not anime at all, but rather an incredible mix inspired by Disney cartoons, Catholic churches and North American traditions. Beautiful, stylish and original.
The main character is a girl named Crisbell, an orphan who gains the ability to see the past, present, and future... simultaneously. And, of course, she immediately sees that everything in the future is going in the same direction as our reality. And who is to blame? In the case of the game, it's the Empress of Time herself, and for some reason this villain really wants to wreak total havoc. Only we don't really want to.
The game uses turn-based mechanics. We attack, use spells and items – everything would be as usual, but before us is not just a JRPG, but a JRPG with an interesting gameplay feature: the heroine in battle can throw the enemy into the past or the future. For example, she poured poison on the enemy – and then threw him into the future to immediately see the consequences. Or send him into the past so that he was still small and inexperienced. This is not just a style, it is also a working mechanic!
And there's also a frog in a hat, Mathias. He talks. And helps. In the first chapter about the signs of a JRPG, I forgot an important point about the presence in such games of a mysterious character, who looks like a very cute, but at the same time very intelligent and powerful creature. In addition to Mathias, there is another assistant, and they all travel the world map, fight evil, help the weak, and complete quite interesting quests. There are important decisions about the fate of regions and several endings.
Echo Generation: Midnight Edition
Release year: 2024
Combat: turn-based with QTE
Platforms: Windows, Nintendo Switch
Nostalgia for the eighties swept through games and cinema like a storm. The scheme "a group of kids, a small American town, an unknown evil or mystical creatures" is elegantly combined with the vibe of slot machines, bikes, VHS tapes, ripped jeans and neon signs. In short, a variation on the theme of "Stranger Things", only in voxels and with turn-based battles and QTE.
We play as a brother and sister (or two sisters) and try to understand what's happening. And there's a lot going on - aliens, mutants, raccoons with character, and a plot that, admittedly, creeps a bit, like plasticine forgotten in the sun: you start with one thing, you end with another, some of the characters appear only to disappear... But the atmosphere is like from childhood, when every hole in the fence could be a portal to another world, and any unfamiliar sound could be a signal from aliens.
It's fun to play: the battles don't let you fall asleep, because you don't just have to press buttons, but to hit the right moment, like in old JRPGs with additional dexterity tasks. Leveling is moderate, there's no grinding, but there are some bugs. Not perfect, short, but very enjoyable and easy game.
Omori
Release year: 2020
Combat: turn-based with emotional system
Platforms: Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
This game has been in the making for a long time. Almost as long as puberty. Fans waited for years, worried it would never be finished, and then – bam – it finally arrived on New Year's Eve. And it hit. Right in the place where childhood memories, growing up anxieties, and those things you don't want to remember, but need to, are stored.
Omori begins quietly, unsettlingly: a black and white space, strange, eerie, with a cat nearby, paper tissues – an atmosphere like in a dream that you can't get out of. But to get out of there, you have to do something very scary. And then – a picnic. Cheerful, bright, with friends, in colors that hurt your eyes after that emptiness. Only this picnic is part of another reality. In one reality, the main character is locked in the house, depressed and anxious, and in the other – he travels in a fictional world with loyal friends, looking for something... or someone.
The two storylines gradually intertwine, blurring the lines between "fiction" and "reality." And each step brings us closer to uncovering the painful truth about a tragedy that happened in the past. And about responsibility. Omori is a story about loss, about mental health, about guilt, and about acceptance. And about how sometimes, in order to forgive others, you must first learn to forgive yourself.
Friends here are not just random companions. Sonny, Aubrey, Cal, Marie, Basil - each with their own story, character, jokes and pain. Together with them, the main character explores the world of dreams, encounters monsters, goes through labyrinths and learns to be... not so lonely. But between this fantastic world and reality lies something big and dark, and with each step the hero gets closer to the truth.
Game mechanics are classic turn-based JRPG with an interesting twist: everything revolves around emotions. Heroes (and enemies) can be happy, sad, angry — and this directly affects the battles. For example, anger increases attack, but lowers defense. Sadness increases critical damage, but reduces speed. You can change the mood of the enemy, combine attacks with friends, and friendship here is not just a plot move, but a real gameplay tool. As in life: you can’t even get through the internal labyrinth without support.
Omori is, in a sense, a therapeutic game. Not the kind where you are told "everything will be fine," but the kind where you are shown that sometimes you have to accept the reality that even with the most painful memories you can and should live on. It is a game about loss, about guilt, about memories, about forgiveness. And above all, about the people who stand by you when everything falls apart. Because sometimes you can only save yourself together with someone.
South Park: The Stick of Truth
Release year: 2014
Fights: turn-based with farts and sarcasm
Platforms: Windows, macOS, PlayStation 3/4/5, Xbox 360/One/Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
If you love South Park, then this game is a real gift for you, an opportunity to visit this bizarre world and laugh at everything and everyone.
So, we've teleported into the new South Park episode, not as a spectator, but as an active participant. And if you're a fan of the show (or at least not against sharp jokes about everything sacred, taboo, and physiological), you're welcome. Others should cover their ears, eyes, and souls... and get out of the game.
The plot begins as epically as any Cartman story: you are New to town, but you quickly find yourself drawn into a war between humans (led by the magician Cartman) and elves over a powerful artifact – the Stick of Truth. It’s not just a stick – it’s THE STICK. And whoever holds it controls the universe (or at least the playground). Things get even crazier as you go: there are zombie Nazis, aliens, abortions in a super hospital, underwear-obsessed gnomes under the bed, and Al Gore. In short, this is true South Park.
In terms of mechanics, it's a classic turn-based RPG with an inventory, leveling, classes (mage, warrior, thief, and Jew), and a bunch of skills that often require timely button presses. And strategic use of the power of your own gases and wind. Yes, yes, here it's all combat mechanics.
You'll have to choose your companion from among familiar faces: Butters, Kenny, Stan, Kyle. They all have their own style and special abilities. It's all like a serious JRPG. Well, almost.
The Stick of Truth is a twisted, wild, and obscene game, but incredibly funny and candid. But only if you're into Trey Parker and Matt Stone humor. It seems like the best South Park game ever.
Sea of Stars
Release year: 2023
Combat: turn-based but lively
Platforms: Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox One/Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
Sea of Stars is one of the newest games on this list, another love letter to all things old-school JRPG, written with a nostalgic pen and filled with modern ink.
The game tells the story of two Heroes, Sun and Moon, who are not only very cute, but also possess magic, because they must protect the world from the terrible creations of alchemical abomination (that's for a short time). But the main thing here is not the battles, not the bosses, and not even the pixel graphics (which, by the way, are incredible), but the adventure. Fun, atmospheric, a little sad, but always sincere.
Your team will be interesting: each character is not just "that mage with fire", but a full-fledged personality with their own moments. Friendship, support, humor - everything is in place. Because what is a JRPG without evening gatherings by the fire?
And while Sea of Stars plays on familiar chords, it doesn't sound second-rate. Rather, it's a modern cover of a favorite song that unexpectedly turns out to be even better than the original.
A dream for those who grew up on 16-bit and want to experience the same magic again – but with a user-friendly interface, smooth animations, and game design that respects your time.
Undertale
Release year: 2015
Combat: turn-based with balls of rage
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Switch, PlayStation Vita, 4/5, Xbox One, Series X|S
Very often, if you think about it, games bring us questionable morality. Simple games force us to kill everyone in a row, more complex ones force us to kill only enemies. "What if enemies aren't so enemies?" - Toby Fox, a composer, screenwriter and programmer in one person, once decided to ask himself. He asked and answered with his small, visually simple, but deep in content game, which has already become legendary in 11 years of its existence. Although pacifism - both in this game and outside it - annoys many. Probably because this ideology is quite complex, and you can always find an excuse why blood needs to be shed...
The game is a pacifist manifesto, but without excessive moralizing, with quirky characters like the skeleton brothers or an almost holy sheep-like creature that the main character encounters when he finds himself in a mysterious underground world. This world is inhabited by monsters. But monsters are not necessarily enemies. It all depends on you. You can fight. You can talk. You can just hug (well… with some). The game remembers everything and records your actions, and if you decide to restart, it will not forget what you did before. You could say that Undertale behaves like a person who remembers insults.
And one day, at the end of the game, you find out that all these terrible monsters that you were offered to destroy were just victims of the situation. But there is a way where you don’t kill anyone. It is more difficult and longer, but it is true to this universe. I wish our own universe would take this toy one as a model…
By the way, this is not the first time such moral tricks have been seen in games. The idea that monsters are not really monsters reminded me of the old Zelda-like game Soleil on the SEGA Mega Drive, where it also turns out at the end that we were pointing our sword in the wrong direction.
Undertale's combat mechanics look like a turn-based system with bullet hell elements. Here you have to dodge attacks in the style of bullet hell shooters. And instead of hitting the enemy, you can compliment them instead of attacking.
Undertale is good and carries an important message. And while the powerful of this world continue to believe that the one who strikes first will win, the game says something completely different: sometimes the strongest is the one who doesn't strike at all.
LISA: The Painful
Release year: 2014
Battles: turn-based
Platforms: Windows, Linux, MacOS, Nintendo Switch
LISA: The Painful feels like a classic side-scrolling turn-based JRPG – until it starts ripping your heart out. It’s not a game, it’s a traumatic pixelated experience that will make you laugh through your tears, and then just cry.
The game's world is post-apocalyptic, empty and sad: all the women have mysteriously disappeared, and the remaining men are slowly going crazy. The story centers on Brad Armstrong, a failed karate teacher and not the best father. But now he is the only obstacle between the only girl on the planet, Buddy, and a world gone mad.
Brad does everything to protect her: he sacrifices body parts, his mind, his dignity – everything he has. Because this is not the hero's path. This is a fall. And you fall with him.
The combat in the game is turn-based, like in classic JRPGs. But each character has unique abilities and attacks that are activated by special key combinations - almost like in a fighting game. This adds an unexpected drive to the slow combat system, reminiscent of EarthBound, but with a much darker flavor.
The irony is that LISA looks ridiculous: bizarre costumes, absurd dances, grotesque bosses. But the deeper you go, the more it hits you. She doesn't play with comfort - she shows how painful it can be to live in a world without hope. And, what's worse, that sometimes you have to live on despite it.
Child of Light
Release year: 2014
Battles: turn-based with active timeline
Platforms: Windows, PlayStation Vita/3/4/5, Xbox 360/One/Xbox Series S|X, Nintendo Wii U/Switch
Child of Light is like a player half-asleep being sucked into a children's book of fairy tales with beautiful illustrations. A book where every line rhymes, and the enemies seem cute on the outside, but evil on the inside. And this fairy tale is not afraid of dark tones.
The main character is a little princess Aurora, who unexpectedly "wakes up" in the magical world of Lemuria after, well, let's say, a not-so-pleasant incident in the real world. And this is not just a dream - it's a quest to get home, save her dad, and learn a little more about herself than she would like.
In Lemuria, everything is completely different: there is no light, the queens are not who they seem, and the best friend is a firefly named Igniculus, who also loves jokes. Aurora's company grows over time, because even in the darkest forests you can find allies if you are a sincere and determined little princess with a sword of justice.
The battles here are turn-based, but with an unexpected rhythm: everything revolves around an active timeline, where it is important not only to plan actions, but also to accurately guess the moment to strike or interrupt an enemy attack. And there is also the same firefly Igniculus, who during the battle illuminates the weak points of enemies or heals friends - just like a magic first aid kit with wings.
It's a pleasure to play not only because of the great graphics and sound, but also because the characters are not silent: they constantly exchange lines, joke, and even fight a little. And although the game is short, it manages to leave a warm feeling in your soul.
Cosmic Star Heroine
Release year: 2017
Battles: turn-based
Platforms: Windows, PlayStation Vita/4/5, Xbox One/Series X|S, Nintendo Switch
Imagine: you launch the game and it's like you're transported back to the 16-bit glory days of JRPGs. Everything is just like back then: pixel graphics, the unfolding of a grand cosmic intrigue step by step, a soundtrack that lies somewhere between nostalgia and a hit that you could listen to forever on repeat.
The plot centers on a girl named Alice, a special agent in a security and intelligence agency on the planet Araenu. At first, she's a star: she saves, helps, and gives generously to all sorts of monsters. But everything goes awry when it turns out that there's a conspiracy in the upper management. Her bosses have decided to use forbidden mind-control technologies. And here begins what makes such stories worth loving: escape, betrayal, old friends becoming enemies, and vice versa.
Interestingly, the game doesn't drag out the action. There can be more plot twists in 30 minutes than some titles have in an entire campaign. Planetary jumps, secret laboratories with puzzles, robot bosses, side scenes at a festival with dancing, alien cats, and a shooting gallery - Cosmic Star Heroine doesn't let you get bored, even if it's stylized as "old school."
The gameplay is turn-based battles, but not banal: with a pleasant pace, overdrive mechanics, the ability to customize the order of actions and strategically plan who to heal and when, and who to launch a surprise attack on with the support of the team.
Visually – old-school, but with charm. And although the graphics are pixelated, they are colorful, expressive and lively. As is the music. If you missed the soundtrack from Chrono Trigger or Phantasy Star even a little – here your heart will beat faster again.