Role-Playing Worlds
Games where you inhabit another life — sweeping narratives, turn-based battles, and worlds built for getting lost in.
88 games in this room
▶ Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Dragon Quest
ドラゴンクエスト
Dragon Quest (1986) is the game that established the Japanese role-playing game (JRPG) genre on home consoles. Designed …
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Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Final Fantasy
ファイナルファンタジー
Final Fantasy (1987) was Hironobu Sakaguchi's final gamble. Square was struggling, and Sakaguchi decided that if this ga…
Read more →Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line
ドラゴンクエストII 悪霊の神々
Dragon Quest II is the 1987 Famicom sequel that introduced party-based combat to the Dragon Quest series, expanding from…
Read more →Family Computer Disk System
Esper Dream
エスパードリーム
Esper Dream (1987) is an action RPG by Konami for the Famicom Disk System, set in a fairy-tale world where a young boy w…
Read more →Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei
デジタル・デビル物語 女神転生
Released in September 1987, Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei was Atlus's first video game and the origin of a franchis…
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Uncommon Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Getsu Fuuma Den
月風魔伝
Getsu Fuuma Den (1987) is one of Konami's most distinctive Famicom titles: a hybrid action game that blends side-scrolli…
Read more →Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Dragon Quest III
ドラゴンクエストIII そして伝説へ…
Released on February 10, 1988, Dragon Quest III became the defining mass cultural event of Japanese gaming. Developed by…
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Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Hanjuku Hero
半熟英雄
Hanjuku Hero is a 1988 real-time simulation RPG developed and published by Square for the Famicom — an uncharacteristica…
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Uncommon PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Ys I & II
イースI・II
Ys I & II, released for the PC Engine CD-ROM² on December 21, 1989, is one of the most historically significant games in…
Read more →Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
MOTHER
MOTHER
Released on July 27, 1989, MOTHER is one of the most distinctive role-playing games ever made for the Famicom — and argu…
Read more →Game Boy
The Final Fantasy Legend
魔界塔士Sa・Ga
The Final Fantasy Legend — known in Japan as Makai Toushi Sa·Ga — is the first RPG ever released for the Game Boy, the f…
Read more →Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
Phantasy Star II
ファンタシースターII 還らざる時の終わりに
Phantasy Star II is the 1989 Mega Drive RPG developed by Sega — the sequel to the 1987 Master System original — and one …
Read more →PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Dungeon Explorer
ダンジョンエクスプローラー
Dungeon Explorer (1989) is one of the earliest home console games to support up to five simultaneous players in cooperat…
Read more →PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Military Madness
ネクタリス
Released in February 1989, Nectaris was one of the earliest hexagonal turn-based strategy games to appear on a home cons…
Read more →PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Tengai Makyō: Ziria
天外魔境 ZIRIA
Released on June 30, 1989, Tengai Makyō: Ziria is widely recognised as the world's first RPG on CD-ROM media. Exploiting…
Read more →Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
ファイアーエムブレム 暗黒竜と光の剣
Released on April 20, 1990, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light established the tactical RPG as a genre on…
Read more →Game Boy
Final Fantasy Legend II
Sa・Ga2 秘宝伝説
Final Fantasy Legend II (1990) — known in Japan as Sa·Ga 2: Hihou Densetsu — is the sequel to the Game Boy RPG that crea…
Read more →Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
ドラゴンクエストIV 導かれし者たち
Released on February 11, 1990, Dragon Quest IV was the final and most ambitious Dragon Quest on the Famicom. Its revolut…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Final Fantasy IV
ファイナルファンタジーIV
Released in 1991 as the first Final Fantasy on Super Famicom hardware, Final Fantasy IV introduced the Active Time Battl…
Read more →Game Boy
Final Fantasy Adventure
聖剣伝説 〜ファイナルファンタジー外伝〜
Final Fantasy Adventure is the 1991 Game Boy game that launched the entire Mana franchise — though at the time it was ma…
Read more →Game Boy
Final Fantasy Legend III
Sa・Ga 3 時空の覇者
The third and final SaGa title for Game Boy, released in Japan in December 1991 as Sa・Ga 3: Jikuu no Hasha. Developed by…
Read more →PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Ys III: Wanderers from Ys
イースIII ワンダラーズ フロム イース
Originally released for PC-8801 in 1989, Ys III: Wanderers from Ys received its definitive home version on PC Engine CD-…
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Uncommon PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Tengai Makyou II: Manjimaru
天外魔境II 卍MARU
Tengai Makyou II: Manjimaru (1992) is the most ambitious RPG ever produced for the PC Engine, and by some measures one o…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
ドラゴンクエストV 天空の花嫁
Released on September 27, 1992, Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride is widely regarded as one of the most emotion…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Shin Megami Tensei
真・女神転生
Released on October 30, 1992, Shin Megami Tensei for Super Famicom is the game that established Atlus as a developer of …
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Final Fantasy V
ファイナルファンタジーV
Final Fantasy V is the 1992 Super Famicom RPG that never reached Western players in its era — Japan-exclusive until the …
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Soul Blazer
ソウルブレイダー
The first entry in Quintet's World Trilogy — the series that would conclude with Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma — Soul …
Read more →Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
Shining Force: The Legacy of Great Intention
シャイニング・フォース 神々の遺産
The game that defined tactical RPG gaming in the West, Shining Force arrived on Mega Drive in March 1992 as the second e…
Read more →Family Computer (Famicom) / NES
Fire Emblem Gaiden
ファイアーエムブレム外伝
Released in March 1992, Fire Emblem Gaiden is the second Fire Emblem game and a direct departure from the first — a Japa…
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Uncommon Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium
ファンタシースターIV 千年紀の終わりに
Phantasy Star IV: The End of the Millennium (1993) is the conclusion to the original Phantasy Star saga — a science-fant…
Read more →Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
Shining Force II
シャイニング・フォースII 古えの封印
Released in Japan on October 1, 1993, Shining Force II built on the tactical RPG formula of its predecessor with a large…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Secret of Mana
聖剣伝説2
Released in 1993, Secret of Mana introduced seamless real-time combat with a 'Ring Menu' system, three-player co-op via …
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen
伝説のオウガバトル
Directed by Yasumi Matsuno — who would go on to create Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story — Ogre Battle: The March …
Read more →PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16
Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys
イースIV ザ・ドーン・オブ・イース
Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys is the PC Engine Super CD-ROM² exclusive entry in Falcom's celebrated action RPG series — a title …
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Uncommon ▶ Super Famicom / SNES
Final Fantasy VI
ファイナルファンタジーVI
Final Fantasy VI is widely considered the finest entry in the Final Fantasy series and one of the greatest RPGs ever mad…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
EarthBound
MOTHER2 ギーグの逆襲
Released in Japan on August 27, 1994, MOTHER2 / EarthBound is an RPG unlike any other — set in a modern American-styled …
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Live A Live
ライブ・ア・ライブ
Released in 1994, Live A Live is one of Square's most experimental RPGs — seven self-contained scenarios set across radi…
Read more →Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
Beyond Oasis
ザ・ストーリー・オブ・トア ～光を継ぐ者～
Released in Japan on December 9, 1994, The Story of Thor (Beyond Oasis in North America) is an action RPG developed by A…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Chrono Trigger
クロノトリガー
Chrono Trigger is the Super Famicom RPG most frequently named on "greatest games" lists. Created by a "Dream Team" of Hi…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together
タクティクスオウガ
Released in 1995, Tactics Ogre is the pinnacle of tactical RPG storytelling. Created by Yasumi Matsuno — the mind behind…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation
ドラゴンクエストVI 幻の大地
Released in December 1995, Dragon Quest VI was the series' swan song on the Super Famicom and its most ambitious chapter…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Seiken Densetsu 3
聖剣伝説3
Seiken Densetsu 3 (1995) is one of the finest action RPGs on the Super Famicom and among the most accomplished Japan-onl…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Tales of Phantasia
テイルズ オブ ファンタジア
Tales of Phantasia (1995) is the origin of one of JRPG's most enduring franchises — the Tales series — and arrived as th…
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Uncommon PlayStation
Suikoden
幻想水滸伝
Suikoden (1995) is one of the PlayStation's most distinctive RPGs — a fast-loading, quick-battle system with 108 recruit…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Terranigma
天地創造
The final entry in Quintet's informal World Trilogy — following Soul Blazer and Illusion of Gaia — Terranigma is an acti…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Front Mission
フロントミッション
The first entry in Square's long-running tactical mecha franchise, Front Mission is set in 2090 on the contested island …
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Uncommon Game Boy
Pokémon Red and Green
ポケットモンスター 赤・緑
Pokémon Red and Green launched in Japan on February 27, 1996, after six years of development by Game Freak and creator S…
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Uncommon Sega Saturn
Sakura Wars
サクラ大戦
Sakura Wars is a 1996 Sega Saturn exclusive that blended tactical RPG combat with visual novel-style relationship mechan…
Read more →Sega Saturn
Dragon Force
ドラゴンフォース
Dragon Force (1996) is a Sega Saturn strategy RPG in which eight rulers of the continent of Legendra vie for dominance —…
Read more →Super Famicom / SNES
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
スーパーマリオRPG
Released in 1996, Super Mario RPG was the unexpected result of a collaboration between Nintendo and Square — the studio …
Read more →PlayStation
Wild Arms
ワイルドアームズ
Released in 1996, Wild Arms blended the JRPG genre with a Western frontier aesthetic — gunslingers, deserts, ruins, and …
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Uncommon Super Famicom / SNES
Bahamut Lagoon
バハムートラグーン
Bahamut Lagoon (1996) is one of Square's most overlooked gems — a tactical RPG set in a world of floating islands where …
Read more →Sega Saturn
Shining the Holy Ark
シャイニング・ザ・ホーリィアーク
Shining the Holy Ark is the Saturn's spiritual heir to Shining in the Darkness — a first-person dungeon crawler RPG that…
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PlayStation
Final Fantasy VII
ファイナルファンタジーVII
Final Fantasy VII (1997) is the game whose development decision defined a console generation. Originally planned for the…
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Uncommon Sega Saturn
Grandia
グランディア
Grandia is a 1997 role-playing game developed by Game Arts for the Sega Saturn — the studio's follow-up to the Lunar ser…
Read more →Sega Saturn
Shining Force III
シャイニングフォースIII
Released in 1997, Shining Force III was Camelot Software Planning's final Shining game — and their most ambitious. Conce…
Read more →PlayStation
Final Fantasy Tactics
ファイナルファンタジータクティクス
Final Fantasy Tactics is the 1997 PlayStation tactical RPG directed by Yasumi Matsuno, set in the politically complex ki…
Read more →Sega Saturn
Princess Crown
プリンセスクラウン
Princess Crown (1997) is the Sega Saturn action RPG that served as the creative origin of Vanillaware — the studio that …
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Uncommon Game Boy Color
Dragon Warrior Monsters
ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ テリーのワンダーランド
Dragon Warrior Monsters — known in Japan as Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry's Wonderland — is a monster-collecting RPG rele…
Read more →Sega Saturn
Panzer Dragoon Saga
AZEL -パンツァードラグーン RPG-
Released in Japan on January 29, 1998, Panzer Dragoon Saga is the most celebrated — and most elusive — game in the Panze…
Read more →Game Boy
Pokémon Yellow Version: Special Pikachu Edition
ポケットモンスター ピカチュウ
Released in Japan on September 12, 1998, Pokémon Yellow was created in direct response to the explosive success of the P…
Read more →PlayStation
Xenogears
ゼノギアス
Released in 1998, Xenogears is one of the most narratively ambitious games Square ever produced. Weaving philosophy, psy…
Read more →PlayStation
Suikoden II
幻想水滸伝II
Released in 1998, Suikoden II is the most beloved entry in the Suikoden series and is regularly cited among the greatest…
Read more →Sega Saturn
Dragon Force II: Kamisarishi Daichi ni
ドラゴンフォースⅡ 神去りし大地に
Released in April 1998, Dragon Force II: Kamisarishi Daichi ni is the sequel to one of the Saturn's defining strategy RP…
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Game Boy Color
Pokémon Gold Version / Silver Version
ポケットモンスター 金・銀
Pokémon Gold and Silver are the definitive Game Boy Color games — the titles that proved the platform could sustain the …
Read more →PlayStation
Valkyrie Profile
ヴァルキリープロファイル
Released in 1999, Valkyrie Profile placed players in the role of Lenneth, a Valkyrie collecting the souls of fallen warr…
Read more →Nintendo 64
Pokémon Stadium
ポケモンスタジアム2
Released in 1999, Pokémon Stadium brought all 151 original Pokémon to Nintendo 64 in fully animated 3D battles for the f…
Read more →PlayStation
Chrono Cross
クロノ・クロス
Released in 1999, Chrono Cross is the successor to Chrono Trigger — a game that redefined expectations so completely tha…
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PlayStation
Final Fantasy VIII
ファイナルファンタジーVIII
Final Fantasy VIII is the 1999 Square RPG, the direct successor to Final Fantasy VII on PlayStation. Players control Squ…
Read more →Nintendo 64
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber
オウガバトル64 Person of Lordly Caliber
The direct follow-up to Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen on Super Famicom, Ogre Battle 64 continues the Ogre Ba…
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Rare Sega Saturn
Dungeons & Dragons Collection
ダンジョンズ＆ドラゴンズ コレクション
Dungeons & Dragons Collection is a two-disc 1999 Sega Saturn compilation released exclusively in Japan, containing Capco…
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Uncommon Game Boy Color
Revelations: The Demon Slayer
女神転生外伝 ラストバイブル
Revelations: The Demon Slayer is the 1999 Game Boy Color re-release of Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible, a 1992 RPG orig…
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Uncommon Game Boy Color
Pokémon Crystal Version
ポケットモンスター クリスタルバージョン
Pokémon Crystal is the third and final entry in the second generation of the Pokémon series — an enhanced version of Gol…
Read more →Dreamcast
Skies of Arcadia
エターナルアルカディア
Skies of Arcadia (2000), known in Japan as Eternal Arcadia, is a turn-based JRPG set in a world of floating continents a…
Read more →PlayStation
Vagrant Story
ベイグラントストーリー
Vagrant Story (2000) is an action RPG developed and published by Square, directed, produced, written, and designed by Ya…
Read more →Nintendo 64
Paper Mario
マリオストーリー
Paper Mario (2000) — known in Japan as Mario Story — is a Nintendo 64 turn-based RPG developed by Intelligent Systems, p…
Read more →Dreamcast
Phantasy Star Online
ファンタシースターオンライン
Released in 2000, Phantasy Star Online was a watershed moment in gaming history: the first true online RPG on a home con…
Read more →PlayStation
Final Fantasy IX
ファイナルファンタジーIX
Released in 2000, Final Fantasy IX was the series' deliberate return to its roots — a response to the urban, technologic…
Read more →Dreamcast
Grandia II
グランディア II
Released in 2000, Grandia II refined the series' beloved battle system — already celebrated in the original Saturn and P…
Read more →Game Boy Color
Dragon Warrior Monsters 2
ドラゴンクエストモンスターズ2 マルタのふしぎな鍵
Dragon Quest Monsters 2 is the 2001 GBC sequel to the monster-raising RPG that introduced the series to Game Boy players…
Read more →Game Boy Color
Lufia: The Legend Returns
エストポリス伝記 よみがえる伝説
The first Lufia game on a handheld, released for Game Boy Color in September 2001 — just months after the Game Boy Advan…
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Rare Game Boy Color
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere
スターオーシャン ブルースフィア
Star Ocean: Blue Sphere is a 2001 action RPG developed by tri-Ace and published by Enix exclusively for the Game Boy Col…
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Uncommon Game Boy Color
Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors
ドラゴンボールZ 伝説の超戦士たち
Released in North America on June 30, 2002 and in Japan on August 9, 2002, Dragon Ball Z: Legendary Super Warriors is a …
Read more →Nintendo GameCube
Tales of Symphonia
テイルズ オブ シンフォニア
Released in 2003, Tales of Symphonia became the breakout RPG of the GameCube era — introducing many Western players to t…
Read more →Nintendo GameCube
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean
バテン・カイトス 終わらない翼と失われた海
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (2003) is one of the GameCube's most distinctive RPGs — a card-based comb…
Read more →Nintendo GameCube
Pokémon Colosseum
ポケモンコロシアム
Released in 2003, Pokémon Colosseum was the first full RPG adventure in the mainline Pokémon tradition on home console h…
Read more →Nintendo GameCube
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
ペーパーマリオRPG
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door is the 2004 GameCube RPG developed by Intelligent Systems and the second entry in th…
Read more →Nintendo GameCube
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
ファイアーエムブレム 蒼炎の軌跡
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance is the 2005 GameCube tactical RPG developed by Intelligent Systems — the first entry in th…
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