Japanese computer role-playing games Origins (early 1980s) YIS503II
MSX personal computer While the
Japanese video game industry has long been viewed as
console-centric, due to the worldwide success of Japanese consoles beginning with the
NES, the country had in fact produced thousands of commercial computer games from the late 1970s up until the mid-1990s. The country's computer market was very fragmented at first;
Lode Runner, for example, reportedly required 34 conversions to different hardware platforms. The market eventually became dominated by the
NEC PC-8801 and
PC-9801, though with some competition from the
Sharp X1 and
X68000;
FM-7 and
FM Towns; and
MSX and
MSX2. A key difference between Western and Japanese systems at the time was the latter's higher
display resolutions (640x400) in order to accommodate
Japanese text which in turn influenced game design. Japanese computers also employed Yamaha
FM synthesis sound boards since the early 1980s, allowing video game music composers such as
Yuzo Koshiro to produce highly regarded
chiptune music for RPG companies such as Nihon Falcom. Due to hardware differences, only a small portion of Japanese computer games were released in North America, as ports to either consoles (like the NES or
Genesis) or American computer platforms like
MS-DOS. The
Wizardry series (translated by
ASCII Entertainment) became popular and influential in Japan. Early Japanese RPGs were also influenced by
visual novel adventure games, which were developed by companies such as
Enix,
Square,
Nihon Falcom and
Koei before they moved onto developing RPGs. In the 1980s, Japanese developers produced a diverse array of creative, experimental computer RPGs, prior to mainstream titles such as
Dragon Quest and
Final Fantasy eventually cementing genre tropes by the 1990s. Japan's earliest RPGs were released in 1982. The earliest was
Koei's
Underground Exploration, released in March 1982. It was followed by
Pony Canyon's
Spy Daisakusen, released in April 1982; based on the
Mission: Impossible franchise, it replaced the traditional
fantasy setting with a modern
espionage setting. It was then followed by Koei's
The Dragon and Princess (ドラゴン＆プリンセス) for the
PC-8001 in 1982; it featured
adventure game elements and revolved around rescuing a kidnapped princess. Following a
random encounter, the game transitions from a
text adventure interface to a separate, graphical, overhead battle screen, where a
tactical turn-based combat system is used. Also in 1982, (
Seduction of the Condominium Wife), These early experimental Japanese RPGs from 1982 are considered "proto-JRPGs" and predated the arrival of
Wizardry and
Ultima in Japan.
Mid-1980s In June 1983, Koei released
Sword & Sorcery (剣と魔法) for the PC-8001, and it also revolved around rescuing a princess in addition to killing a wizard. That same year, Koei released
Secrets of Khufu (クフ王の秘密), a
dungeon crawl RPG that revolved around a search for the treasure of
Khufu. version of
Hydlide (1984), an early
open world action role-playing game The trend of combining role-playing elements with arcade-style action mechanics was popularized by
The Tower of Druaga, an
arcade game released by
Namco in June 1984. While the RPG elements in
Druaga were very subtle, its success in Japan inspired the near-simultaneous development of three early
action role-playing games, combining
Druagas real-time
hack-and-slash gameplay with stronger RPG mechanics, all released in late 1984:
Dragon Slayer,
Courageous Perseus, and
Hydlide. A rivalry developed between the three games, with
Dragon Slayer and
Hydlide continuing their rivalry through subsequent sequels.
Nihon Falcom's
Dragon Slayer, released in 1984, is a historically significant title that helped lay the foundations for the Japanese role-playing game industry. It was a real-time hack & slash
dungeon crawler that is considered the first
action role-playing game.
Dragon Slayer was a major success in Japan,
Hydlide, an action RPG released for the PC-8801 in 1984 and the Famicom in 1986, was an early
open world game, rewarding exploration in an open world environment. It also added several innovations to the action RPG subgenre, including the ability to switch between attack mode and defense mode, quick
save and load options which can be done at any moment of the game through the use of
passwords as the primary back-up, and the introduction of a
health regeneration mechanic where health and magic slowly regenerate when standing still, a feature also used in Falcom's
Ys series from 1987 onwards.
The Tower of Druaga,
Dragon Slayer and
Hydlide were influential in Japan, where they laid the foundations for the action RPG genre, influencing titles such as
Ys and
The Legend of Zelda. Also in 1984,
The Black Onyx, developed by
Bullet-Proof Software, led by
Henk Rogers, was released on the PC-8801 in Japan. It became one of the
best-selling computer games at the time and was voted
Game of the Year by
Login, the largest Japanese computer game magazine at the time. The game is thus credited for bringing wider attention to computer role-playing games in the country.
Dragon Slayer's success led to a 1985 sequel
Dragon Slayer II: Xanadu,
Xanadu also featured innovative gameplay mechanics such as individual experience for equipped items, and an early
Karma morality system, where the
player character's Karma meter will rise if he commits sin which in turn affects the temple's reaction to him. due to being an "RPG turned on its side" that allowed players to run, jump, collect, and explore. The way the
Dragon Slayer series reworked the entire game system of each installment was an influence on
Final Fantasy, which would do the same for each of its installments. According to
GamesTM and John Szczepaniak (of
Retro Gamer and
The Escapist),
Enix's
Dragon Quest was also influenced by
Dragon Slayer and in turn defined many other RPGs.
Hydlide II: Shine of Darkness in 1985 featured an early morality meter, where the player can be
aligned with justice, normal, or evil, which is affected by whether the player kills evil monsters, good monsters, or humans, and in turn affects the reactions of the townsfolk towards the player.
Square also released their first RPG that same year, which was an early futuristic sci-fi RPG for the PC-8801, featuring a post-apocalyptic setting. Other sci-fi RPGs released in 1985 include
The Earth Fighter Rayieza by
Enix, and
Kogado Studio's
MSX game
Cosmic Soldier, which introduced an early
dialogue conversation system, where the player can recruit allies by talking to them, choose whether to kill or spare an enemy, and engage enemies in conversation, similar to the later more famous
Megami Tensei.
Golden Age (late 1980s–early 1990s) The late 1980s to early 1990s is considered the golden age of Japanese computer gaming, which would flourish until its decline around the mid-1990s, as consoles eventually dominated the Japanese market. Unlike first-person RPGs at the time that were restricted to 90-degree movements, ''WiBArm's
use of 3D polygons allowed full 360-degree movement. The game was non-linear, allowing the eleven levels to be explored in any order. Dragon Slayer Jr: Romancia simplified the RPG mechanics of Xanadu
, such as removing the character customization and simplifying the numerical statistics into icons, and emphasized faster-paced platform action, with a strict 30-minute time limit. The action took place entirely in a side-scrolling view rather than switching to a separate overhead combat screen like its predecessor. These changes made Romancia'' more like a side-scrolling
action-adventure game. Square's 1986 release,
Cruise Chaser Blassty, was a sci-fi RPG that had the player control a customizable
mecha robot from a
first-person view. an early action RPG to feature two-player
cooperative gameplay, In 1987,
Dragon Slayer IV: Drasle Family (
Legacy of the Wizard) returned to the deeper action-RPG mechanics of
Xanadu while maintaining the fully side-scrolling view of
Romancia. Another "
Metroidvania" style open-world action RPG released that year was
System Sacom's
Sharp X1 computer game
Euphory, which was possibly the only Metroidvania-style
multiplayer action RPG produced, allowing two-player cooperative gameplay. Falcom also released the
first installment of its popular, long-running
Ys series in 1987. Besides Falcom's own
Dragon Slayer series,
Ys was also influenced by
Hydlide, from which it borrowed certain mechanics such as health-regeneration when standing still, a mechanic that has since become common in video games today. and it is known for its 'bump attack' system, where the protagonist Adol automatically attacks when running into enemies off-center, making the game more accessible and the usually tedious
level-grinding task more swift and enjoyable for audiences at the time. The game also had what is considered to be one of the best and most influential
video game music soundtracks of all time, composed by
Yuzo Koshiro and Mieko Ishikawa. In terms of the number of game releases,
Ys is second only to
Final Fantasy as the largest Eastern role-playing game franchise. Also in 1987, the
survival horror game
Shiryou Sensen: War of the Dead, an
MSX2 title developed by Fun Factory and published by
Victor Music Industries, was the first true
survival horror RPG. Designed by Katsuya Iwamoto, the game revolved around a female
SWAT member Lila rescuing survivors in an isolated monster-infested town and bringing them to safety in a church. It was
open-ended like
Dragon Quest and had
real-time side-view battles like
Zelda II. Unlike other RPGs at the time, however, the game had a dark and creepy atmosphere expressed through the story, graphics, and music, '' (1988), an early
role-playing shooter, combined
first-person shooter and role-playing game elements along with
3D polygon graphics. In 1988, Arsys Software's
Star Cruiser was an innovative action RPG released for the PC-8801. combined with
first-person shooter gameplay, It won the 1988
Game of the Year awards from the Japanese
computer game magazines POPCOM and
Oh!X.
Star Cruiser was later ported to the
Mega Drive console in 1990. Another 1988 release,
Last Armageddon, produced for the PC-8801 and later ported to the
PC Engine CD and NES consoles in 1990, featured a unique post-apocalyptic storyline set in a desolate future where humanity has become extinct and the protagonists are demon monsters waging war against an alien species.
The Scheme, released by
Bothtec for the
PC-8801 in 1988, was an action RPG with a similar side-scrolling
open-world gameplay to
Metroid. beginning with
XZR: Idols of Apostate. The series was controversial for its plot, which revolves around a time-traveling
Crusades-era Syrian
Islamic Assassin who assassinates various religious/historical figures as well as modern-day political leaders, with similarities to the present-day ''
Assassin's Creed action game series. The gameplay of Exile'' included both overhead exploration and side-scrolling combat, featured a
heart monitor to represent the player's Attack Power and Armour Class statistics, and another controversial aspect of the game involved taking drugs (instead of potions) that increase/decrease attributes but with side-effects such as affecting the heart-rate or causing death. It was an action-
strategy RPG where characters could be controlled using a cursor. It was cited by
Camelot Software Planning's Hiroyuki Takahashi as inspiration for the
Shining series of tactical RPGs. According to Takahashi,
Silver Ghost was a simulation action type of game where the players had to direct, oversee and command multiple characters. Unlike later tactical RPGs, however,
Silver Ghost was not
turn-based, but instead used
real-time strategy and
action role-playing game elements.
Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes in 1989 departed from the action-oriented gameplay of previous
Dragon Slayer titles, and instead used a more traditional
turn-based combat system. In 1990,
Data East's
Gate of Doom was an
arcade action RPG that combined beat 'em up
fighting gameplay with fantasy role-playing and introduced an
isometric perspective. That same year,
Enix released a unique
biological simulation action RPG by
Almanic that revolved around the theme of
evolution,
46 Okunen Monogatari, a revised version of which was released in 1992 as
E.V.O.: Search for Eden. That same year,
Alpha Denshi's
Crossed Swords for the
arcades combined the first-person
beat 'em up gameplay of
SNK's
The Super Spy (released the same year) with RPG elements, while replacing the first-person shooting with hack & slash combat. Also in 1990,
Hideo Kojima's
SD Snatcher, while turn-based, abandoned
random encounters and introduced an innovative first-person shooter-based battle system where firearm weapons (each with different abilities and target ranges) have limited ammunition and the player can aim at specific parts of the enemy's body with each part weakening the enemy in different ways; an auto-battle feature could also be enabled. Such a battle system has rarely been used since, though similar battle systems based on targeting individual body parts can later be found in Square's
Vagrant Story (2000),
Decline and independent titles (late 1990s–2000s) From the mid-1990s, the Japanese video game industry began declining. This was partly due to the death of the
NEC PC-9801 computer format, as the
Sega Saturn and
Sony PlayStation became increasingly powerful in the console market while the computer market became increasingly dominated by the
IBM Personal Computer and
Microsoft Windows 95. This led to many Japanese PC manufacturers either continuing to develop for Windows 95 or moving over to the more lucrative console market. While most developers turned their attention to the console market, some developers dedicated to content unsuitable for consoles (such as
eroge and complex military
strategy games) continued their focus on the PC market. An early successful example was
Corpse Party (1996), a
survival horror indie game created using the RPG Maker engine. Much like the survival horror
adventure games
Clock Tower (1995 onwards) and later
Haunting Ground (2005), the
player characters in
Corpse Party lack any means of defending themselves; the game also featured up to 20
possible endings. The game was not released in Western markets until 2011. In an interview with
GameDaily in 2007,
MTVN's Dave Williams remarked that "games like this [user generated] have been sort of under the radar for something that could be the basis of a business. We have the resources and we can afford to invest more... I think it's going to be a great thing for the consumer".
Steam and resurgence (2010s) In the 2010s, Japanese RPGs have been experiencing a resurgence on PC, with a significant increase in the number of Japanese RPGs releasing for the
Steam platform. This began with the 2010 release of doujin/indie game
Recettear (2007) for Steam, selling over 500,000 units on the platform. This led to many Japanese doujin/indie games releasing on Steam in subsequent years. The Japanese game development engine
RPG Maker has also gained popularity, with hundreds of games being created with it and released on Steam by the late 2010s.
Japanese console role-playing games Origins (mid-1980s) The earliest RPG on a console was
Dragonstomper on the
Atari 2600 in 1982.
Bokosuka Wars, originally released for the
Sharp X1 computer in 1983, was ported to the
NES console in 1985, and was a commercial success in Japan, where it laid the foundations for the
tactical role-playing game subgenre. Other notable early console RPGs included ports of
Namco's 1984
arcade action role-playing games:
The Tower of Druaga, and
Dragon Buster, the first video game to feature a
life meter (called "Vitality" in-game), also ported to the NES in 1987.
(1986), which combined the overhead exploration of Ultima
with the first-person menu-driven combat of Wizardry
, created a streamlined gameplay format that made console RPGs accessible to a wider audience. After Enix published the game in early 1986, it became the template for future console RPGs. The game was influenced by the first-person random battles in Wizardry
, the overhead movement in Ultima'', and the mystery storytelling in Horii's own 1983
visual novel game
The Portopia Serial Murder Case. Horii's intention behind
Dragon Quest was to create a RPG that appealed to a wider audience unfamiliar with the genre or video games in general. This required the creation of a new kind of RPG, that did not rely on previous
D&D experience, nor require
hundreds of hours of rote fighting, and that could appeal to any kind of gamer. The game also placed a greater emphasis on storytelling and emotional involvement, building on Horii's previous work
The Portopia Serial Murder Case, but this time introducing a
coming of age tale for
Dragon Quest that audiences could relate to, making use of the RPG level-building gameplay as a way to represent this. the
damsel-in-distress storyline that many RPGs follow, and a romance element that remains a staple of the genre, alongside
manga-style art by
Akira Toriyama and a
classical score by
Koichi Sugiyama that was considered revolutionary for console
video game music. The ending could also be altered depending on the moral dialogue choice of whether or not the protagonist should join the antagonist on his evil conquest towards the end of the game. The game also had a limited inventory requiring item management, while the caves were dark, requiring the use of a torch to display a field of vision around the character.
Dragon Quest did not reach North America until 1989, when it was released as
Dragon Warrior, the first NES RPG to be released in North America. Other releases at the time were the action role-playing games
Deadly Towers (1986) and
Rygar (1987), which were notable as some of the first Japanese console RPGs to be released in North America, where they were well received for being a new kind of RPG that differed from both the console
action-adventures (such as
Castlevania,
Trojan, and
Wizards & Warriors) and
American computer RPGs (such as
Wizardry,
Ultima, and
Might & Magic) that American gamers were previously more familiar with at the time.
Deadly Towers and
Rygar were particularly notable for their
permanent power-up mechanic, which at the time blurred the line between the
power-ups used in action-adventures and the experience points used in RPGs.
Evolution (late 1980s) In 1987,
Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei by
Atlus for the
Nintendo Famicom abandoned the common medieval fantasy setting and
sword and sorcery theme in favour of a modern science-fiction setting and horror theme. It also introduced the
monster-catching mechanic with its demon-summoning system, which allowed the player to recruit enemies into their party, through a conversation system that gives the player a choice of whether to kill or spare an enemy and allows them to engage any opponent in conversation.
Sega's
original Phantasy Star for the
Master System established a number of genre conventions, and its setting combined sci-fi and fantasy in a way that set it apart from the
D&D staple. It was also one of the first games to feature a female protagonist and animated monster encounters, and allowed inter-planetary travel between three planets. ''
Boys' Life magazine in 1988 predicted that Phantasy Star
as well as the Zelda
games may represent the future of home video games, combining the qualities of both arcade and computer games. Another 1987 title Miracle Warriors: Seal of the Dark Lord was a third-person RPG that featured a wide open world and a mini-map on the corner of the screen. The Dragon Slayer
series also made its debut on the NES console (and thus to American audiences) in 1987, with the port of Legacy of the Wizard (Dragon Slayer IV
), a non-linear action RPG featuring a Metroidvania-style open world, Wonder Boy in Monster Land combined the platform gameplay of the original Wonder Boy with many RPG elements, which would inspire later action RPGs such as Popful Mail'' (1991).
The Magic of Scheherazade, released in 1987, was notable for several innovations, including a unique setting based on the
Arabian Nights, time travel between five different time periods, a unique combat system featuring both real-time solo action and
turn-based team battles, and the introduction of team attacks where two party members could join forces to perform an extra-powerful attack. It also introduced a day-night cycle that affects when certain
NPCs appear in certain locations and offered three possible
multiple endings depending on the time it took to complete the game.
Square's
Cleopatra no Mahō was an
adventure RPG with a unique plot revolving around
archeology. Square's
original Final Fantasy for the NES had a
character creation system that allowed the player to create their own parties and assign different character classes to party members, who in turn evolve through an early
class change system later in the game. It also featured concepts such as time travel; side-view battles, with the
player characters on the right and the enemies on the left, which soon became the norm for numerous console RPGs; and the use of transportation for travel, "by ship, canoe, and even flying airship". While creating
Final Fantasy,
Hironobu Sakaguchi took inspiration from certain elements in
Hayao Miyazaki's
anime films, such as the
airships being inspired by
Castle in the Sky. This class-changing system shaped the gameplay of future console RPGs, especially the
Final Fantasy series, While the earlier
Dragon Quest games were also non-linear,
Dragon Quest III was the most substantial example of open-world gameplay among the early
Dragon Quest games. It also allowed the player to swap characters in and out of the party at will, and another major innovation was the introduction of day/night cycles; certain items, characters, and quests are only accessible at certain times of day.
Final Fantasy II is considered "the first true
Final Fantasy game", introducing an "emotional story line, morally ambiguous characters, tragic events" and a story to be "emotionally experienced rather than concluded from gameplay and conversations". It also replaced traditional levels and experience points with an
activity-based progression system, where "the more you use a skill, the better you are with it",
Final Fantasy XIV, and
The Elder Scrolls. and had a
dialogue system where keywords or phrases can be memorized and mentioned during conversations with NPCs, the theme of an evil empire against a small band of rebels (similar to
Star Wars), and the iconic
chocobo, a fictional creature inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. That same year,
World Court Tennis for the
TurboGrafx-16 introduced a new form of gameplay: a unique tennis-themed
sports RPG mode. 's
Phantasy Star II (1989) was an important milestone in the genre, establishing conventions such as an
epic, dramatic, character-driven storyline, The game's science fiction story was also unique, reversing the common
alien invasion scenario by instead presenting
Earthlings as the invading antagonists rather than the defending protagonists. The game's strong characterization, and use of
self-discovery as a motivating factor for the characters and the player, was a major departure from previous RPGs and had a major influence on subsequent RPGs such as the
Final Fantasy series.
Capcom's
Sweet Home for the NES introduced a modern
Japanese horror theme and laid the foundations for the
survival horror genre, later serving as the main inspiration for
Resident Evil (1996). Like
Resident Evil,
Sweet Home featured the use of scattered notes as a storytelling mechanic and a number of
multiple endings depending on which characters survived to the end.
Tengai Makyo: Ziria released for the
PC Engine CD that same year was the first RPG released on
CD-ROM and the first in the genre to feature animated
cut scenes and voice acting. The game's plot was also unusual for its
feudal Japan setting and its emphasis on humour; the plot and characters were inspired by the Japanese folk tale
Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari. The music for the game was also composed by noted musician
Ryuichi Sakamoto. Also in 1989, the early
enhanced remake Ys I & II was one of the first games to use
CD-ROM, utilized to provide enhanced graphics, animated
cut scenes, a
Red Book CD soundtrack, and voice acting. Its
English localization was also one of the first to use
voice dubbing.
Ys I & II went on to receive the
Game of the Year award from
OMNI Magazine in 1990, as well as many other prizes. That year also saw the release of
Super Hydlide, the
Mega Drive port of the 1987
MSX action RPG
Hydlide 3: The Space Memories, which adopted the morality meter of its 1985 predecessor
Hydlide II: Shine of Darkness where the player's
alignment changes depending on whether the player kills humans, good monsters, or evil monsters, and expanded its predecessor's time option, which speeds up or slows down the gameplay, with the introduction of an in-game clock setting day-night cycles and a need to sleep and eat. It also made other improvements such as
cut scenes for the opening and ending, a combat system closer to
The Legend of Zelda, the choice between distinct character classes, and a weight system affecting the player's movement depending on the weight of carried equipment. The game also introduced the concept of
memento mori, with a theme revolving around death, while the plot consisted of loosely connected stories and
sidequests rather than an epic narrative. That same year,
River City Ransom featured elements of both the
beat 'em up and action RPG genres, combining brawler combat with many RPG elements, including an inventory, buying and selling items, learning new abilities and skills, needing to listen for clues, searching to find all the bosses, shopping in the malls, buying items to heal, and increasing stats. It was also an early
sandbox brawler reminiscent of
Grand Theft Auto.
Golden Age (1990s–mid-2000s) The 'golden age' of console RPGs is often dated from the 1990s to the early 2000s. Console RPGs distinguished themselves from computer RPGs to a greater degree in the early 1990s. As console RPGs became more heavily story-based than their computer counterparts, one of the major differences that emerged during this time was in the portrayal of the characters, with most American computer RPGs at the time having characters devoid of personality or background as their purpose was to represent
avatars which the player uses to interact with the world, in contrast to Japanese console RPGs which depicted pre-defined characters who had distinctive personalities, traits, and relationships, such as
Final Fantasy and
Lufia, with players assuming the roles of people who cared about each other, fell in love or even had families. Romance in particular was a theme that was common in most console RPGs but alien to most computer RPGs at the time. Japanese console RPGs were also generally more faster-paced and
action-adventure-oriented than their American computer counterparts. The console RPG market became more profitable, which led to several American manufacturers releasing console ports of traditional computer RPGs such as
Ultima, though they received mixed reviews due to console gamers at the time considering them to be not "as exciting as the Japanese imports". During the 1990s, console RPGs had become increasingly dominant. Console RPGs had eclipsed computer RPGs for some time, though computer RPGs began making a comeback towards the end of the decade.
Early 1990s In 1990,
Dragon Quest IV segmented its plot into segregated chapters, making the game more linear than its predecessor while allowing for greater characterization. This "Tactics" system is seen as a precursor to
Final Fantasy XII's "
Gambits" system.
Final Fantasy III introduced the classic "
job system", a character progression engine allowing the player to change the
character classes, as well as acquire new and advanced classes and combine class abilities, during the course of the game. That same year also saw the release of
Nintendo's
Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Tsurugi, a game that set the template for the
tactical role-playing game genre and was the first entry in the
Fire Emblem series. Another notable strategy RPG that year was
Koei's
Bandit Kings of Ancient China, which was successful in combining the strategy RPG and
management simulation genres, building on its own ''
Nobunaga's Ambition'' series that began in 1983. which was inspired by Hayao Miyazaki's
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.
Crystalis also made advances to the action role-playing game subgenre, being a true action RPG that combined the real-time
action-adventure combat and
open world of
The Legend of Zelda with the level-building and spell-casting of traditional RPGs like
Final Fantasy. That year also saw the release of
Phantasy Star III: Generations of Doom, which featured an innovative and original branching storyline, which spans three generations of characters and can be altered depending on which character the protagonist of each generation marries, leading to four possible endings. placing a much greater emphasis on character development, personal relationships, and dramatic storytelling. It also introduced a new
battle system: the "
Active Time Battle" system, developed by
Hiroyuki Ito, where the
time-keeping system does not stop. The fact that enemies can attack or be attacked at any time is credited with injecting urgency and excitement into the combat system. The ATB combat system was considered revolutionary for being a hybrid between
turn-based and
real-time combat, with its requirement of faster reactions from players appealing to those who were more used to
action games. The game also allowed the player to choose the character classes for each
player character as well as create and modify the tanks used in battle. The
Metal Max series continued to allow tank customization and open-ended gameplay, while also allowing the player to obtain an ending at almost any time, particularly
Metal Saga, which could be completed with an ending scenario just minutes into the game, making it the shortest possible RPG.
Telenet Japan released a console remake of its 1988 action-platform RPG
Exile, which was controversial, with a plot revolving around a time-traveling
Crusades-era Syrian
Islamic Assassin who assassinates various religious/historical figures as well as modern-day political leaders, while the gameplay of
Exile involved taking drugs that increase or decrease statistics and affect the player's heart-rate, displayed using a
heart monitor. and it expanded the job system by offering more customization options with more than 22 job classes and giving each character greater flexibility by allowing them to learn secondary abilities from each job before changing classes. and helped differentiate the series from the character class systems and turn-based systems of traditional CRPGs. 1992 also saw the release of
Dragon Quest V, a game that has been praised for its involving, emotional family-themed narrative divided by different periods of time, something that has appeared in very few video games before or since. It has also been credited as the first known video game to feature a playable pregnancy, a concept that has since appeared in later games such as
Story of Seasons,
The Sims 2 and
Fable II. ''Dragon Quest V's
monster-collecting mechanic, where monsters can be defeated, captured, added to the party, and gain their own experience levels, also influenced many later franchises such as Pokémon, Digimon and Dokapon. In turn, the concept of collecting everything in a game, in the form of achievements or similar rewards, has since become a common trend in video games. Dragon Quest V'' also expanded the
AI "Tactics" system of its predecessor by allowing each ally's AI routines to be set individually.
Shin Megami Tensei, released in 1992 for the SNES, introduced an early moral
alignment system that influences the direction and outcome of the storyline. It gave the player the freedom to choose between three different paths: Chaos, Law, and Neutral, none of which is portrayed as right or wrong. The deep personal choices the player makes throughout the game affects the protagonist's alignment, leading to different possible paths and
multiple endings. This has since become a hallmark of the
Megami Tensei series. Another non-linear RPG released that year was
Romancing Saga, an open-world RPG by Square that offered many choices and allowed players to complete
quests in any order, with the decision of whether or not to participate in any particular quest affecting the outcome of the storyline. The game also allowed players to choose from eight different characters, each with their own stories that start in different places and offer different outcomes.
Romancing SaGa thus succeeded in providing a very different experience during each run through the game, something that later non-linear RPGs such as
SaGa Frontier and
Fable had promised but were unable to live up to. The
SaGa series has since become known for its open-ended gameplay.
Climax Entertainment's
Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole was an early
isometric RPG that combined the gameplay of an open-world action RPG with an
isometric platformer, alongside an emphasis on varied
puzzle-solving as well as strong characterization and humorous conversations. The
TurboGrafx-CD port of
Dragon Knight II released that year was also notable for introducing
erotic adult content to consoles, though such content had often appeared in Japanese computer RPGs since the early 1980s. The game was praised for its soundtrack, emotionally engaging storyline, and strong characterization. It also introduced an early form of level-scaling where the bosses would get stronger depending on the protagonist's level, a mechanic that was later used in Enix's
The 7th Saga and extended to normal enemies in Square's
Romancing Saga 3 and later
Final Fantasy VIII. The game received considerable acclaim, its innovative cooperative
multiplayer gameplay, where the second or third players could drop in and out of the game at any time rather than players having to join the game at the same time, The game has influenced a number of later action RPGs. That same year also saw the release of
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium, which introduced the use of pre-programmable combat manoeuvers called 'macros', a means of setting up the player's party AI to deliver custom attack combos. That year also saw the release of
Romancing Saga 2, which further expanded the non-linear gameplay of its predecessor. While in the original
Romancing Saga scenarios were changed according to dialogue choices during conversations,
Romancing Saga 2 further expanded on this by having unique storylines for each character that can change depending on the player's actions, including who is chosen, what is said in conversation, what events have occurred, and who is present in the party.
PCGamesN credits
Romancing SaGa 2 for having laid the foundations for modern Japanese RPGs with its progressive, non-linear,
open world design and subversive themes. In 1994,
Final Fantasy VI moved away from the
medieval setting of its predecessors, instead being set in a
steampunk environment. The game received considerable acclaim, and is seen as one of the greatest RPGs of all time, for improvements such as its broadened thematic scope, plotlines, characters, multiple-choice scenarios, and variation of play.
Final Fantasy VI dealt with mature themes such as suicide, war crimes, child abandonment,
teen pregnancy, and coping with the deaths of loved ones. Square's
Live A Live, released for the Super Famicom in Japan, featured eight different characters and stories, with the first seven unfolding in any order the player chooses, as well as four different endings. Other chapters had similar innovations, such as Akira's chapter where the character uses telepathic powers to discover information. which had introduced a unique pausable real-time battle system,
FromSoftware's first video game title, ''
King's Field'', a first-person RPG, is noted for being one of the earliest known
3D console role-playing games. In addition, the game is known for its difficulty and unconventional structure, and would go on to influence FromSoftware's future RPG titles including
Shadow Tower However, unlike the mentioned game, the protagonist sometimes use Big Bombs or Weather as a defense. During this period, comparatively few Eastern RPGs were released in Europe. The market for the genre was not as large as in Asia or North America, and the increasing amount of time and money required for translation as JRPGs became more text-heavy, in addition to the usual need to optimize the games for
PAL systems, often made localizing the games to Europe a high-cost venture with little potential payoff. As a result, JRPG releases in Europe were largely limited to games which had previously been localized for North America, thus reducing the amount of translation required. the "Active Time Event Logic" system, more than a dozen different endings, plot-related sidequests, a unique battle system with innovations such as combo attacks, and lack of random encounters.
Chrono Trigger is frequently listed as one of the
greatest video games of all time. That same year, Square's
Romancing Saga 3 featured a storyline that could be told differently from the perspectives of up to eight different characters and introduced a level-scaling system where the enemies get stronger as the characters do, a mechanic that was later used in
Final Fantasy VIII. Meanwhile,
Quintet's
Terranigma allowed players to shape the game world through
town-building simulation elements, expanding on its 1992 predecessor
Soul Blazer, while Square's
Seiken Densetsu 3 allowed a number of different possible storyline paths and endings depending on which combination of characters the player selected.
Beyond the Beyond introduced a
turn-based battle system dubbed the "Active Playing System", which allows the player to increase the chances of landing an improved attack or defending from an attack by pressing the X button at the correct time during battle, similar to the timing-based attacks in the later game
Final Fantasy VIII. In 1996, the tactical RPG
Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War gave players the ability to affect the relationships between different characters, which in turn affected the storyline as these relationships led to different characters appearing in the second generation of the game's plot.
Treasure's
Guardian Heroes allowed players to alter the storyline through their actions, such as choosing between a number of branching paths leading to multiple different endings and through the Karma meter which changes depending on whether the player kills civilians or shows mercy to enemies. That same year, the
first installment of the
Story of Seasons series introduced a new form of gameplay: a role-playing simulation centred around managing a farm. The series would later inspire popular
social network games such as
FarmVille in the late 2000s. The success of
Sakura Wars led to a wave of games that combine the RPG and dating sim genres, including
Thousand Arms in 1998,
Riviera: The Promised Land in 2002, and
Luminous Arc in 2007. '' (1997), with its use of
3D graphics and
CD-ROM discs, was an important milestone that popularized the genre worldwide. The next major revolution came in the late 1990s, which saw the rise of
3D computer graphics and
optical discs in
fifth generation consoles. The implications for RPGs were enormous—longer, more involved quests, better audio, and
full-motion video. This was clearly demonstrated in 1997 by the phenomenal success of
Final Fantasy VII, which is considered one of the most influential games of all time, the ambitious scope of
Final Fantasy VII raised the possibilities for the genre, with its more expansive world to explore, much longer quest, more numerous sidequests, battles viewed from multiple different angles rather than a single angle, and for the first time full-motion
CGI video seamlessly blended into the gameplay, effectively integrated throughout the game.
Final Fantasy VII continues to be listed among the
best games of all time, for its highly polished gameplay, high playability, lavish production, well-developed characters, intricate storyline, The game's storytelling and character development was considered a major narrative jump forward for video games and was often compared to films and novels at the time. The explosion of
Final Fantasy VIIs sales and the ascendance of the
PlayStation represented the dawning of a new era of RPGs. Backed by a clever multimillion-dollar marketing campaign,
Final Fantasy VII brought RPGs to a much wider console audience and played a key role in the success of the PlayStation gaming console. Following the success of
Final Fantasy VII, console RPGs, previously a niche genre outside Japan, skyrocketed in popularity across the world. The game was soon ported to the PC. The game was also responsible not only for popularizing RPGs on consoles, but its high production budget played a key role in the rising costs of video game development in general, and it led to Square's foray into films with
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within. The characters have several different possible endings each, and there can be up to 15 characters in the party at the same time, organized into three groups of five characters. The ambitious amount of freedom the game offered was a departure from most RPGs in its time, but this led to a mixed reception due to its lack of direction. Quintet's 1997 release
The Granstream Saga was an early fully 3D action RPG that had a unique
third-person one-on-one combat system and a storyline that, while being mostly linear, offered a difficult moral choice towards the end of the game regarding which of two characters to save, each leading to a different ending. ''LandStalker's
1997 spiritual successor Alundra'' is considered "one of the finest examples of action/RPG gaming", combining platforming elements and challenging puzzles with an innovative storyline revolving around entering people's dreams and dealing with mature themes. In 1998, Square's
Xenogears was acclaimed for the ambitious scope of its storyline, which spanned millennia and explored themes rarely dealt with in video games, including topics such as religion and the origin of mankind, It is today considered one of the greatest examples of video game storytelling. That year also saw the rise of
monster-collecting RPGs which, although originating from
Megami Tensei,
Dragon Quest V, and
Robotrek, was further advanced and popularized by
Pokémon, which featured
multiplayer gameplay and was released in North America that year. Another 1998 title,
Suikoden II, was acclaimed for its "winding, emotionally charged narrative" that involved recruiting an army and gave players the choice of whether to "redeem or kill" key characters. The same year also saw the release of
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which was considered an action RPG at the time and was "poised to shape the action RPG genre for years to come". While it is still considered one of the best games of all time, its status as an action RPG continues to be debated, much likes its predecessors. Similar level-scaling mechanics have been used in a number of later RPGs, including
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion,
Silverfall,
Dragon Age: Origins,
Fable II,
Fallout 3, and
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Square also expanded on the non-linearity of
SaGa Frontier with their 1999 action RPG
Legend of Mana, allowing the player to build the game world they choose, complete any
quests and subplots they choose in any order of their choice, and choose which storyline paths to follow, departing from most other action RPGs in its time. That same year, Square's
survival horror RPG
Parasite Eve II featured branching storylines and up to three different possible endings, while the sci-fi RPG
Star Ocean: The Second Story boasted as many as 86 different endings, with each of the possible permutations to these endings numbering in the hundreds, setting a benchmark for the amount of outcomes possible for a video game. Using a relationship system inspired by
dating sims, each of the characters in
Star Ocean had friendship points and relationship points with each of the other characters, allowing the player to pair together, or
ship, any couples (both romantic
heterosexual relationships as well as friendships) of their choice, allowing a form of
fan fiction to exist within the game itself. This type of social system was later extended to allow romantic lesbian relationships in
BioWare's 2007 sci-fi RPG
Mass Effect. However, the relationship system in
Star Ocean not only affected the storyline, but also the gameplay, affecting the way the characters behave towards each other in battle. Another 1999 RPG,
Persona 2, also featured dating elements, including the option to engage in a homosexual relationship. That same year saw the release of
Chrono Cross, which became the third game to receive a perfect score from
GameSpot, after
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and
Soulcalibur. The game featured two major parallel dimensions, where the player must go back and forth between the worlds to recruit party members, obtain items, and advance the plot, with events in one dimension influencing the other. Like its predecessor
Chrono Trigger,
Chrono Cross featured a
New Game+ option and multiple endings, with at least a dozen possible endings based on the player's actions.
Early 2000s In 2000,
Phantasy Star Online on the
Dreamcast introduced online gaming to consoles and was responsible for pushing console gamers "to dial up with the Dreamcast to play online and to experience a new style of play". It resulted in taking "consoles online" and defining "small-scale multiplayer RPGs", paving the way for larger-scale
MMORPG efforts such as
Final Fantasy XI, setting the template for small-scale online RPGs such as
Capcom's
Monster Hunter series and some of the later
Dragon Quest and
Final Fantasy games, and giving rise to "an entire pantheon of multiplayer
dungeon crawlers that continue to dominate the Japanese sales charts". More generally,
Phantasy Star Online made "both online gaming and the concept of fee-based services a reality for consoles", paving the way for the online gaming services later provided by all three of the
seventh-generation consoles. That same year,
Vagrant Story introduced a
pausable real-time battle system based on targeting individual body parts, using both melee and bow & arrow weapons; similar body-targeting battle systems were later used in
Bethesda's
Fallout 3 (2008) and
Nippon Ichi's
Last Rebellion (2010). The game introduced several other gameplay elements to the series, such as its
Conditional Turn-Based Battle System and Overdrive
Limit Breaks. It became a major worldwide success, largely due to its "dynamic" presentation, "movie-quality CGI"
cutscenes, and "well-scripted, well-acted dialogue", that helped it become a major success, helping to establish the PlayStation 2 as "the console of choice for gamers looking for a cinematic experience and narrative polish" that had been lacking in most previous RPGs. Around the same time, the
first entry in the
Shadow Hearts series was released. The series would later be acclaimed for its darker
Lovecraftian horror narrative revolving around "an emotional journey through the reluctant
anti-hero's quest toward redemption". In 2002,
Final Fantasy XI for the PlayStation 2 (and later the
PC and
Xbox 360) introduced the
massively multiplayer online role-playing game genre to consoles. In 2003,
Final Fantasy X-2 for the PlayStation 2 followed the "stylish narrative formula" established by
Final Fantasy X, though with a more "''
Charlie's Angels-esque" approach. That same year saw the release of the more experimental Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, the third main entry in the Shin Megami Tensei series. Much like its predecessors, it was "psychologically challenging" and featured a branching narrative with multiple endings. Nocturne'' "carved out a toehold for the series in America with its post-apocalyptic adventure set in a bombed-out Japan" where instead of "trying to stop the apocalypse", the "demonic main character's end goal is to assert his will on the new world". In 2004,
Dragon Quest VIII was released and became the first game in the
Dragon Quest series to have 3D graphics and voice acting.
Capcom released
Monster Hunter, the first title of the franchise, for the PlayStation 2. The game introduced up-to 8 players team based online hunting gameplay-style. On handhelds,
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories,
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride, and
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones were released. In 2005,
Kingdom Hearts II was released, which solidified the
Kingdom Hearts series as the new JRPG series.
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, developed by
Intelligent Systems and published by
Nintendo, was released for the
GameCube. Other notable releases include
Drakengard 2,
Xenosaga Episode II: Jenseits von Gut und Böse,
Radiata Stories,
Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song-,
Tales of the Abyss, and
Tales of Legendia. On handhelds,
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon,
Final Fantasy IV Advance and
Metal Gear Acid were released. In 2006,
Final Fantasy XII was released. It was the first
Final Fantasy game to have enemies on the field, seamless battle transitions, an
open world, a controllable camera and customizable AI. When it was released it became the first
Final Fantasy game to get a perfect score from
Famitsu Weekly magazine. Other notable releases are
Suikoden V,
Xenosaga Episode III: Also sprach Zarathustra, and
.hack//G.U. vol.3//Redemption.
Relative decline (late 2000s) In 2006,
Persona 3, developed by
Atlus for the PlayStation 2, was released. Other notable releases are
Wild ARMs 5,
Eternal Sonata,
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King and
Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk. In 2008,
Lost Odyssey, developed by
Mistwalker and
Feelplus for the
Xbox 360, was released. Other notable releases are
Persona 4,
Tales of Vesperia,
Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice and
Valkyria Chronicles. In 2009, ''
Demon's Souls'', developed by
FromSoftware for the
PlayStation 3, was released. The game received notable awards by video game media including GameSpot's Game of the Year, GameTrailers' Best RPG, IGN's Best RPG for the PS3, and
PC World's Game of the Year.
Handheld game consoles, however, particularly
Nintendo handhelds such as the
Nintendo DS, have featured a number of innovative RPGs during the late 2000s.
Square Enix's
The World Ends with You (2007) featured a unique
dual-screen action combat system that involves controlling two characters at the same time.
Level-5's
Inazuma Eleven (2008) introduced unique
soccer football RPG gameplay incorporating
sports game elements. The
Atlus title
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor (2009) blends together both traditional and
tactical RPG gameplay along with non-linear
adventure game elements as well as an innovative demon auction system and a death clock system where each character has a specified time of death and the player's actions has consequences on who lives and dies. On the
PlayStation Portable (PSP),
Half-Minute Hero (2009) is a
role-playing shooter featuring self-referential humour and a 30-second time limit for each level and boss encounter.
Infinite Space (2009) by
PlatinumGames is a hybrid of
tactical role-playing game,
real-time strategy and
space simulator elements, and features a
non-linear branching narrative with numerous choices that can have dramatic consequences, and an epic scale spanning hundreds of planets.
Aftermath (early 2010s) In the early 2010s, new intellectual properties such as
Xenoblade Chronicles from
Monolith Soft and
The Last Story from
Mistwalker found a home on Nintendo's
Wii console late in its lifespan, gaining unanimously solid reviews. Many reviewers claimed the games revitalized the genre, keeping its best traits while modernizing other gameplay elements which could appeal to a wide audience.
Xenoblade, in particular, revitalized the genre with an extremely expansive
open world. However,
Nintendo of America announced its decision to not localize the games, not having enough faith in their commercial appeal to American audiences. In response, a widespread internet campaign known as "
Operation Rainfall" petitioned the release of
Xenoblade,
The Last Story, and ''
Pandora's Tower'' in America, with participants flooding Nintendo's official Facebook page with requests and sending mail to NOA's headquarters. The former two games were released in America in 2012, with
Xenoblade debuting at the top of
GameStop's best seller list the week of its release. Despite this, the sales of both games were far less than those of console WRPGs such as
Mass Effect 2 and
Fallout 3. On handhelds, the 2010 Atlus title
Radiant Historia introduced a unique take on the concept of
non-linear branching storylines that gives the player the freedom to alter the course of history through time travel across two parallel timelines. The 2010
PSP version of
Tactics Ogre features a similar "World" system that allows players to revisit key plot points and make different choices to see how the story unfolds differently.
Imageepoch's 2011 title
Saigo no Yakusoku no Monogatari (
Final Promise Story) for the PSP has a strategic command-based battle system where enemies learn from previous skirmishes and where characters can die permanently during gameplay which in turn affects the game's storyline. In 2011, Nintendo made a conscious effort to revitalize the Pokémon brand with the
Pokémon Black & White duology, which streamlined the battle system and introduced an entirely new lineup of characters in a new region based on New York City. These games were followed up with a
direct numbered sequel in 2012, a first for the main series. 2012 also saw the release of
Pokémon Conquest, a crossover with the ''
Nobunaga's Ambition'' series of strategy role-playing games. In 2012 and onwards, a surge in new JRPGs such as
Xenoblade Chronicles,
Persona 4 Golden,
Fire Emblem Awakening,
Shin Megami Tensei 4,
Tales of Graces,
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance,
Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan,
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch and
Tales of Xillia are generally well received by fans of the genre and some critics while a number of popular WRPGs such as
Mass Effect 3 and the PC version of
Diablo III suffered from poor feedback by non-critic reviewers, especially on
Metacritic. JRPG installments from mainstream franchises such as
Paper Mario: Sticker Star performed well below expectations, continuing the decline of mainstream JRPG franchises except Pokémon. With the exception of Pokémon games, individual JRPG sales continue to pale in comparison against individual WRPGs such as
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and
Guild Wars 2. However, JRPGs released by Nintendo continue to prosper, with
Dragon Quest IX,
Fire Emblem Awakening, and
Bravely Default selling well above expectations for the genre, and
Final Fantasy XIV has reported such a strong revenue that Square Enix, its publisher, had expected turning a profit, so while certain games may still be ill-received, others are performing fairly well.
New directions and renaissance (2010s–present) Hunting RPGs are a type of action RPG subgenre featuring the player and an optional team of up to three other players hunting down larger monsters with a set amount of time, using weapons crafted from the materials extracted from the map and/or from the monsters themselves. Unlike most RPG genres, the monsters have no health bars or hit points, but have stronger attack and defense stats, forcing the players to use survival items and coordinated strategies to eliminate a specific monster. First appeared in
Capcom's
Monster Hunter franchise, these games later expanded the hunting RPG genre into other games as well, such as
Bandai Namco Entertainment's
God Eater franchise.
Soulslike games are a relatively new genre born due to popularity of the
Dark Souls series. Those games generally have common elements like high difficulty, high-risk combat with hard-hitting enemies, sparse checkpoints, and enemies dropping souls (or some other resource used for upgrading stats and/or weapons that is lost upon death), but the player has one chance to regain the dropped souls if they can reach the place of their death without dying again. Since 2016, Japanese RPGs have been experiencing a resurgence, as part of a renaissance for the Japanese video game industry. In 2016, the global success of
Pokémon Go helped
Pokémon Sun and Moon set sales records around the world. Some Japanese RPGs that were previously considered niche gained notoriety, and became million-sellers in 2017, including
Persona 5,
Nier: Automata, and
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 on the
Nintendo Switch. 2017 was considered a strong year for Japanese RPGs, with other notable releases including
Dragon Quest VIII on the
Nintendo 3DS,
Tales of Berseria,
Valkyria Revolution,
Ever Oasis,
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age,
Ys VIII,
Etrian Odyssey V,
Dragon Quest Heroes II,
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 3rd,
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia,
Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood, and
Tokyo Xanadu. 2018's
Monster Hunter: World sold over 10 million copies, becoming
Capcom's best-selling single software title.
Square Enix's
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age sold over four million copies. Its launch was the franchise's best in North America. A retro-inspired turn-based JRPG
Octopath Traveler sold over 1 million units exclusively on the Nintendo Switch.
Dragon Quest spin-off sandbox action RPG
Dragon Quest Builders debuted in the west.
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom earned critical acclaims and sold over a million copies. The first main game on a home console ''
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!'' sold 10 million units.
SEGA's
Ryu ga Gotoku Stadio released
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life, Yakuza Kiwami 2 and
Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise. 2018 saw a decent amount of JRPG remasters from the past generations including
Dark Souls: Remastered,
Shining Resonance Refrain,
The World Ends with You: Final Remix,
The Last Remnant: Remastered,
Secret of Mana, ''
Dragon's Crown Pro and Shenmue I & II. On handhelds, Atlus released The Alliance Alive, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology, and Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey Redux. Other notable games include The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II, Lost Sphear, Valkyria Chronicles 4, Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Torna – The Golden Country''. In 2019,
Square Enix released
Kingdom Hearts III selling over 5 million copies in the first month.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice earned both critical and commercial success reaching nearly 4 million sales. With the release of a large expansion
Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers, the game marked over a million active players. Nintendo's tactical role-playing game
Fire Emblem: Three Houses earned critical acclaim. Capcom released
Monster Hunter World: Iceborne. Square Enix released
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition for the Nintendo Switch. There were notable remasters released in 2019 including
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition,
Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, and
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered. On handhelds, ''
Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey and Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth both for the 3DS were released. Other notable JRPGs include God Eater 3, Dragon Quest Builders 2, Oninaki, and Code Vein''. ==South Korean role-playing games==