Since 2017, the same question has come up every January - which JRPGs can I play this year? What has changed in 2026 so far is a lot: We've only had four months of new releases (and more to come), but there have been enough already to fill out the first half of the calendar. This guide is an attempt to not just show you the new releases, but to provide a comprehensive list of games to play right now, what will be released soon, what you should dig out of your backlog, and where to get started if you've never played a JRPG before.
I will be updating this page as new titles are released and as my opinions change, but as of April 2026, the above information should still be accurate.
I've also created guides for GBA, DS, 3DS, PSP, Vita, SNES, PS1, PS2, PS5, PS4, Switch, Steam, and Xbox. I also have a JRPG tier list that ranks all JRPGs across all platforms, and I also have a JRPG meaning that explains what the genre has been in the past.
Already Released in 2026 — Play These Now
To continue with the Trails series, after the 1st Chapter remake allowed new players to pick up the franchise for the first time, Falcom released the follow-up to the 1st Chapter, and it has been everything we could have hoped for. The Trails formula (slowly building a world and then, in a big reveal, giving the players several connections from that world through each chapter) started at the 2nd Chapter off of the 1st Chapter being completed by players last year. Therefore, if you finished the first chapter, the 2nd chapter is a must-read. If you did not finish the first chapter, then that is where you should start. The all-encompassing series has been discussed under the Vita JRPG entries and PS4 recommendations. All four chapters of Cold Steel [I through IV] could be listed under both of those categories, and there is some merit to that. The completion of the second chapter resolves one growing criticism of the first chapter: it ended too abruptly; and the second chapter adds another ~40+ hours of gameplay to reach a conclusion very satisfying (emotionally). The quest structure of the side quests has now been more easily interwoven with the main story (the quests now feel less like side quests than they previously did) and there are now new ways to approach boss encounters due to the addition of S-Crafts (Super Crafts); the final dungeon also contains the best dungeon design in the entire series. The first chapter (original) was completed on PSP in 2015, and the remake/HD will compare favorably to the original for everything that made it special and also creates a lot easier gameplay for many gamers who would never have played the original. See the Vita. If you want to understand why Trails, Persona 4, and FFVIII are considered the gold standard for RPG romance, the Big Three Romantic RPGs breaks it down.
I played the 3DS original version of the game when it was originally released, and one of my favourite turn-based JRPGs of the 2010s. The HD Remaster now gives PC/Xbox players the chance to play it for the first time. The Brave/Default System (banking turns before completing multiple actions in one round) still is enjoyable and playable in 2026. The 3DS version of Bravely Second is included in the 3DS JRPG rankings; therefore, Bravely Default Remaster offers a way for everyone who never played the game on hand-held to finally play it. Square Enix put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into the Bravely Default Remaster, and the end product was worth the wait. The Job System is probably the most in-depth of all JRPGs, and it has 24 jobs to combine and configure, which are enough to allow any skilled gamer to stop the game from being a challenge when they understand game mechanics. The 3DS edition consumed roughly thirty hours of my time, with an additional ten hours used to experiment with various class combinations after finishing the game. The HD Remaster provides two enhancements around which the original complaints centered: 1) a speed-up function for grinding, and 2) a bestiary function that tracks drop rates of all items. See the 3Ds guide.
The ground-based tactical mech combat featured in Front Mission 3 on PS1 has been completely reconstructed to run on modern hardware. One of the standout features is that your choice during the second half of the game gives you access to two fully independent campaigns of Front Mission 3, with total playtime of around sixty hours each. Although the political thriller narrative of Front Mission 3 stands up better than most JRPGs from their original release date, it still has substantial depth when it comes to customizing mechs if you like tinkering with your character builds. I played the PS1 original in 2001, and I would recommend starting with the Alisa route first as it’s much more story-focused than the Emma route; the Emma route is effectively a mystery about political conspiracy and military intrigue. After you complete both campaigns, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of the entire world and story of the game. Additionally, the tactical grid-based combat system is unchanged, but various quality-of-life improvements have been made to include mid-battle saves and an ability to compare parts, something that was much-needed in the original. See the Ps1 guide.
I spent a total of eighty hours playing the original; the remake is an entirely new experience that is visually stunning, but has no direct relationship to the original—this is not a straightforward conversion. A new generation of players who did not experience it when it first came out is experiencing The Vocation System and dual-timeline structure again through this remake. Quality-of-life improvements (e.g., difficulty options, fast-forwarding battles, and a shared inventory) address almost every complaint with the pacing of the original. If you loved Dragon Quest XI and want to dive into the history of the franchise, then VII Reimagined is your next step. The original had an extremely slow start; it took two hours of play before you were able to fight your first battle; but this remake addresses this at the same time as allowing for the slow-burn world-building that makes VII unique. Each of the islands in the past timeline serves as its own story; the emotional weight of returning to the present and seeing how your past actions affected your surroundings creates a narrative structure for VII unlike anything else in the franchise. I spent approximately eighty hours on the original PS1 version of VII, and there is excitement to see how the reimagined version handles the class combinations at the end of the game that changed the difficulty curve dramatically (for the better). A Hybrid Paladin-Gladiator with maxed sword skill could single-handedly defeat most of the end bosses, and I spent hours farming Vocations at Metal Slime spawns just to see what would happen if I stacked all of the weird class passives together. I'm being cautiously optimistic regarding the follow-up game to Three Houses; it is one of the largest releases among JRPGs on the release calendar 2026. Fortune's Weave appears to continue with the multi-route structure that allowed for high replayability for Three Houses, while the new Switch 2 hardware should help eliminate some of the poor performance experienced in the original version. There is cautious optimism; regardless of how Team Asano's games earn a position on the list of JRPGs for the Switch; and based on the length of time that it took them to create the game, it doesn't appear that Nintendo will be rushing the game to market.
Coming Soon — The 2026 Watchlist
The trailer for Fortune's Weave appears to display a new relationship system, one that builds upon the social mechanics of Three Houses; the new map designs appear much more diverse and creative compared to the loop of the monastery and then going to conflict that many players believed was repetitive. My main interest is will the multiple routes be unique like the three different routes of Blue Lions, Black Eagles and Golden Deer were for Three Houses; Team Asano executed this very well in Three Houses and hopefully, Fortune's Weave will measure up to its predecessor. See the Jrpgs On Nintendo Switch guide.
Team Asano's first action RPG using the HD-2D Engine. Everything that this development team has produced so far from Octopath Traveler, Triangle Strategy and Live A Live has produced great quality, so this is another action RPG that should be watched very closely. The time-travel concept and the top-down perspective create an atmosphere similar to a combination of A Link to the Past and Chrono Trigger, which seems to be very appealing. A confirmed release date of June 2026 makes it one fraction of the few JRPGs with a real calendar commitment thus far for the calendar year 2026. There is already a demo for the Switch 2 out and based on various comments by friends who had demo'd the game. The action combat is told to feel very responsive while maintaining the same depth of strategy that Team Asano's turn-based titles possess. I was able to demo Fortune's Weave last month at one of my friends' homes. My overall impression is that the HD-2D looked great on a real-time battle setting and the particle effects for the spell attacks looked very clear at 60 frames per second.
I played the original Relink; it received much less attention than it should have going up against Persona 3 Reload and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth in its first month of publishing, which occurred in early 2024 and was released for the PS5. Out of the experience from 4-player co-op action RPG gameplay, I can honestly say that I have not had happier gameplay than my experience with Relink. With this title, Endless Ragnarok, we will receive new characters, a new endgame mode, and a Switch 2 port. If you were unable to play the original Relink; this is the version that you need to purchase. The combat system consists of switching between 20+ characters; for example, using a katana will require the timing of attacks to be precise, while a tank-style character will give benefits for positioning aggressively; while on the other hand, a healer will need to monitor the party's health bars. The original 2024 version took approximately 60 hours and probably only allowed for completion of less than half of the available ronkos; Endless Ragnarok will take the issues of the orignal 2024 version and double that total of playtime with no trouble whatsoever.
Ys Memoire: Revelations in Celceta remakes the PS Vita classic for Nintendo Switch with upgraded graphics coming in late April 2023. Code Vein II recreates the anime soulslike genre as a time-traveling action RPG with many endings. Edge of Memories developed by the creators of Edge of Eternity will use hand-painted backgrounds and party-based action video game combat system. Alabaster Dawn developed by CrossCode creators is going into Early Access in May 2023 after being inspired by Devil May Cry's 2D/3D action combat. Monster Hunter Stories 3 is Capcom's third turn-based role-playing game that allows players to befriend different kinds of monsters. Finally, Brigandine Abyss brings back the tactical RPG franchise by adding kingdom management gameplay for 6 different factions. SacriFire creators were inspired by Vagrant Story and Valkyrie Profile games while composing the soundtrack, which will be written by Motoi Sakuraba. Last but certainly not least is Level 5's Decapolice; it fuses law enforcement duties with turn-based RPG combat in an open-world environment. Sadly, due to multiple previous release date delays, I will only believe that Decapolice will release into retail stores on December 31, 2026 once I see it myself.
Backlog Picks — Recent Games Worth Your Time
In 2024, Atlus created a title similar to their popular Persona franchise set in a fantasy world. They have returned to their trademark innovation known as "Press Turn" combat. They also included a new game mechanic for traveling from area to area called travel time that makes completing optional missions challenging because it takes longer to travel between areas than it does to complete the mission. If you played Atlus's Persona 5 Royal and wanted something similar mechanically but located in a different fantasy world, this will fulfill your desire. Available on PlayStation 5, Steam and Xbox. The drama of the royal family in regards to politics gives a sense of urgency to the characters compared to personas school-settings, adding to the variety of builds through the archetype system, something that has far more variety than social link rewards in any Persona. The game took around 70 hours to finish, after which there was an immediate desire to replay it but with different classes and observe the different paths in the story that I had missed. If you could only play one backlog JRPG for the whole year, it needs to be this one. See the Jrpgs On Ps5 guide.
I was shocked when the Yakuza series became a JRPG, but with Infinite Wealth they really captured their stride. Ichiban's second turn-based adventure takes place between Yokohama and Hawaii, with party positioning combat adding tactical depth that the original Like a Dragon merely hinted at. The substories feature the funniest jokes of any game in the series, and the Dondoko Island minigame offers an Animal Crossing simulator within a 70 hour RPG. More about where the series began is provided in the PS4 JRPGs list; entry #7 has Like a Dragon (2020). Infinite Wealth uses Hawaii as its setting to give the series a unique visual impact that has never existed before; the beach looks beautiful, the side quests exploit the touristy theme for humor purposes, and Ichiban's fish out of water-ness works so much better when he is in a location other than Yokohama. Around ninety hours were spent between the story and Dondoko Island, as well as many sub-stories that are still waiting to be completed. Some players may find hundreds of hours of playtime available to them, depending on how they use the game's time efficiently. See the Ps4 guide.
If you are going to play the second chapter, this is the best place to start. I'm backing this up as my recommendation to you. The remake modernized the original 2004 version by introducing full 3D environments, voice acting, and many other conveniences while maintaining the same story and pacing as before. There are no other characters as great in JRPGs as Estelle Bright, and the introduction to her story is now accessible than ever. I still consider the original versions of these games to be good, but the remake is the best place to get started and play through the entire series. Falcom spent many years building a reputation for trusting their audience and that was established with the first chapter of the game. It is clear that the developers have a long-term view toward building this audience, so they do not rush to introduce their villain and the stakes; there are approximately 20 hours of gameplay available to enjoy before the player realizes that they will lose! This style of storytelling is not common in the current gaming market, and as a result the second chapter will provide a greater emotional payoff than nearly all other franchises in the same type of genre.
If You're New to JRPGs — Start Here
This question has been asked many times over the years, and the answer has effectively stayed the same. The JRPG genre is often perceived as overwhelming initially (eighty hours of playtime, numerous unique systems, and anime art styles) however, once you find the appropriate entry point it becomes easier to engage with. The following is a list of suggestions pointing you in the direction of where to start based on what you are interested in.
• If you want Traditional Turn Based Combat: Dragon Quest XI S: Definitive Edition is the best example of JRPGs at their best and easiest to get into; available on every platform; it is ranked #3 on PS4 and #3 on Switch. See the Ps4 guide.
• If you want Action Combat: Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana is fast, easy to pick up, and designed more around exploration versus grinding. It is recommended on the Vita, PS4, and Switch due to its quality across all platforms.
• If you want to Play for the Story First: Final Fantasy X is a completely linear experience that keeps focus; has a great way of progressing through the Sphere Grid; and you will experience emotional moments throughout its fifty hours of playtime. It is listed on the Vita and PS2 recommendations. See the Ps2 guide.
• If you want a Shorter Experience: Chrono Trigger is about fifteen hours long, no wasted time, and has thirteen different endings. It is available on mobile, DS, SNES, and Steam; there is no excuse not to make this your game of the year for 2026.
I want you to be aware of this; you do NOT have to start with a “classic” title to enjoy JRPGs. Online communities often sport some intense forms of gatekeeping, as evidenced by people arguing that you have to complete either Final Fantasy VI or Chrono Trigger to have an opinion about what constitutes 'RPGs.' Don't worry about this sort of opinion; you can start with whatever game seems interesting to you and if you do not find it engaging, you can just try a different one. There is no one game that can be called representative of the entire genre of video games; a game like Dragon Quest that embodies traditional role-playing game mechanics may appeal to someone who will later find themselves drawn to NieR: Automata's narrative approach to mechanics. Likewise, someone who is uninterested in the daily life simulation FEMM has to offer may find the action-centered exploration of Ys VIII more than enough to catch their attention. The only wrong way to start is not to start.
For something more current: Metaphor: ReFantazio, which is Atlus at the top of their game, with enough quality-of-life additions that a new player will not have difficulty with the mechanics.
The "Everyone Is Talking About" List
These are the Japanese Role Playing Games that are currently dominating the conversation, and the games that will likely be mentioned in comment sections, videos, and recommendation threads.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won Game of the Year in 2025 and proved to me that a French game studio could produce a JRPG that resonates with the core audience, making it the most talked-about RPG in most online communities. If you have not had the chance to play this game yet, it is guaranteed to be discussed consistently in any online community you visit. Independent developers are now looking to create new forms of hybrid combat systems. By mixing turn-based tactical with real-time dodging and counter-attacking, the battle system is entirely unique. The title was completed twice - normal and hard mode; hard mode changes how the party makes up their composition. For those who are unsure if 40 hours of playtime is worthwhile, the first 5 hours of the game can stand alone and allow gamers to determine if the rest of the game is worth playing. The artistic direction alone is worth checking out; the juxtaposition of painterly character art with super realistic French countryside environments creates a visual contrast not found in any other JRPG. Also, the boss encounter designs in Persona 3 Reload are some of the most creative in the entire genre.
There is still much debate over whether Persona 3 Reload is the "definitive" version of P3. Many FES and Portable fans disagree strongly and at length with this assertion. Regardless, Reload has pulled in many new gamers to the series, which is a positive development for everyone. Play Reload for its main story, and at the end of your playthrough, check out a YouTube video summarizing the FES epilogue titled "The Answer" for your full story. The combat in Reload features the best iteration of Atlus's Press Turn System, and the social simulation aspects of the game are sufficient enough to warrant playing through twice for anyone wishing to maximize all of their social links.
Trails of Cold Steel IV is set in early 2026 and marks the beginning of the end for the series. Fans of the western world are anxiously following how it is being received in Japan while waiting for localizations to begin coming through. Anyone wishing to catch up on this series will need to start with Trails in the Sky on the PSP and go through to Cold Steel III on the PS4. See the Ps4 guide.
With Dragon Quest VII reimagined, the visual upgrade has generated a lot of buzz. Also, The Vocation System is built upon still one of the best job systems in the genre, while the dual-timeline structure rewards patience in ways that weren't done by many 21st-century titles. The island restoration mechanic (i.e. completing past-timeline quests to modify the present-day world map) creates a symbiosis between narrative and exploration, keeping players engaged through 80 hours of gameplay. For those who are patient enough with a slow start, VII Reimagined is one of the most enjoyable 2026 calendar year JRPGs so far.
Platform Guides — Find JRPGs by Console
If you are looking for recommendations for a console, I have got dedicated lists for all major platforms, with 12 titles each, evaluated in full:
Current-generation consoles: Best RPGs of All Time Best RPGs for Nintendo Switch Best RPGs for Steam/PC See the Jrpgs On Nintendo Switch guide. See the Jrpgs On Steam Pc guide.
Last-generation consoles: Best JRPGs for PlayStation® 4 See the Ps4 guide.
Handheld: Best JRPGs for PlayStation® Vita Best JRPGs for PlayStation® Portable Best JRPGs for Nintendo 3DS Best JRPGs for Nintendo DS Best JRPGs for Gameboy Advance See the 3Ds guide.
Retro consoles: Best JRPGs for Super Nintendo Entertainment System Best JRPGs for PlayStation® Best JRPGs for PlayStation® 2 See the Ps1 guide. See the Ps2 guide.
The Best RPGs of All Time ranking may also be consulted for the definitive list for all platforms and times.
To my way of thinking, 2026 is shaping up to be one of the best years for the JRPG genre since 2024. Quality remasters/remakes (Q1), new releases confirmed (Summer), and an ambitious slate of new intellectual properties and sequels (Fall) all leave promises of a great year for JRPG fans. This page will be continually updated with new releases and recommendations as they change. It should be saved as a bookmark and returned to every few months for updates and changes noted. And if you are one of those people who have a now-formidable opinion about what constitutes a JRPG, I posted an entire article explaining my position; the short version - if it has party members, a leveling system, and a storyline that normally would take itself more seriously than it should, it qualifies. Everything on this page meets that definition; I have written about these games on this site for nearly a decade, so that isn't likely to change.
The Battle Systems ranking evaluates combat design, the Soundtracks ranking evaluates music performance, the 2026 Best Incoming New Release page has some recommendations for a first-time JRPG player, and the Upcoming New Releases page lists things coming out soon. If you are looking for recommendations on shorter JRPGs, this guide has a section of titles less than 20 hours in duration. The Best RPGs of All Time covers the greatest RPGs ever to be released in the genre. Check upcoming releases for what's next. See short RPGs for quicker picks.