Most Powerful JRPGs of the Seventh Console Generation

Weird topic I know but it all started when I was comparing the actual games of Final Fantasy XIII and Star Ocean: The Last Hope.
I suddenly started thinking "I wonder which would win in a fight." 'cuz I'm a total dork like that.

Then I realized that was a pretty small-time topic. It also might get little to no replies.
Oh and I was glancing at a page on TVTropes that says there's some sort of universal apocalypse possible in Xenobblade. That got me curious because it's always seemed to be way weak. (at least compared to Gears and Saga)

There's also no SMT game for the 7th gen consoles, which means other series have a chance.

And so here we are.

Which are the strongest Japanese role-playing game universes of the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii? DOn't have to just do #1 because I believe there's a Disgaea game there so it probably takes that spot. So feel free to say second, third, fourth strongest, etc..

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought Xenoblade was kinda overrated. Personally I thought the battle system was kinda lame, and the graphics weren't what they were cracked up to be at all. Maybe there's something I'm missing here.

For me, most of the best RPGs were on the handhelds. Legend of Heroes: Trails of the Sky was pretty good. I also really liked Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light and the FFIV remake. Oh, let's not forget The World Ends With You either. Golden Sun Dark Dawn had some annoying stuff but was pretty fun.

As for PS3, 360, and Wii, I personally liked:

360:
Lost Odyssey - A sprawling RPG that feels like the old FF games, but with a fresh coat of paint.

Blue Dragon - This game felt like a spiritual successor to Final Fantasy V, what with being able to mix abilities. I liked the kinda-sorta-steampunk setting.

Last Remnant - LR is very polarizing, but I thought the idea was pretty cool. It felt like a new Saga game without actually being one.

PS3:
Atelier Ayesha - The problems with the Arland trilogy were fixed with this game. I really like Ayesha as a protagonist; she's adorable but not overly cavity-inducing like Meruru. The refinements made to the battle system, like the follow-up attacks, were great too. And alchemy had its biggest purpose in this game, being the main way that Ayesha fights.

White Knight Chronicles 2 - I am a big fan of this game's battle system. The fact that they included a fixed-up version of the first game was cool too. The story and characters may not be the best, but this game was great to me just because of how the battle system was handled.

Wii:
Arc Rise Fantasia - This game is just one big clustersmurf of crazy, right down to the abominable voice acting. lol But that tends to work in its favor for me, and it's a pretty challenging and big game. I was surprised that Imageepoch was able to pull off a console RPG, since they'd pretty much only made handheld ones before.

I think that, on a whole, Ayesha needed to do better with some of it's characters, though Ayesha herself, Keithgriff, and Lilca were wonderful.

Mechanically it is easilly the best of the PS3 Ateliers though, with the best crafting system I have ever seen.

Even Keithgriff's NAME is awesome. Not just Keith (though he does go by that), but KeithGRIFF.

A big thing that Ayesha fixed for me was that the game actually tells you where you need to go. You can choose to do other events during this time, but that was a big thing for me. I got stuck on Meruru about 15 hours in or so, and still don't know what to do.

So I think the JRPGs this generation were all about big BIG gameplay innovations rather than trying to get the palyer caught up in the sweeping, epic sagas of the last two generations. It was kind of a return to the SNES days when you had a lot of different voices trying different things, and that's fine by me. All my favorite JRPGs this generation embody this.

Of course you have Demon's Souls. This title has really changed gaming as a whole, with everyone trying to get a piece of the competitive co-op and world invading that it pioneered. I think this game came at the right time, because this gen was all about responsive real-time action games, and if any Japanese RPG was going to make it big, this was going to be it. I guess we shouldn't be surprised by its success. But the game hardly had any story, very typical of this generation, that I never got taken on the emotional rollercoasters of the PS1 and 2 days.

White Knight Chronicles also carried this theme. It actually did try to have a story, but it really wasn't worthwhile at all. But if you really enjoy traditional JRPG combat and watching where it's been heading since FFXII and Xenoblade, this game is for you. The customization system is truly excellent and the game brings your traditional fantasy landscapes to life with some beautiful environments and effects. The first time stepping out of the castle into a large, sprawling open world was just... perfect. Like Demon's Souls, the big innovation here was online, and you can complete ignore the story and just have a blast playing the quests with friends. I think they took the servers down, though... :(

Valkyria Chronicles and its excellent PSP sequel round out my list and also opens up everything that went down on handheld. We also got such badass remakes with Dragon Quest and Tactis Ogre.

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Originally Posted by Polnareff

For me, most of the best RPGs were on the handhelds. Legend of Heroes: Trails of the Sky was pretty good. I also really liked Final Fantasy: 4 Heroes of Light and the FFIV remake. Oh, let's not forget The World Ends With You either. Golden Sun Dark Dawn had some annoying stuff but was pretty fun.

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I agree that the best RPGs this gen were on handhelds. But how could you mention them without the great Radiant Historia? I loved that game. It was on par with classic SNES games, but released in the 21st century.

Radiant Historia, I'm sad to say, wasn't that fun for me. Mainly because of the battle system. A boring (IMO) battle system just makes an RPG unplayable for me.

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Originally Posted by Bolivar

Valkyria Chronicles

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This is one of the best PS3 games, but I wouldn't call it an RPG.