14. Super Metroid SNES
Still the second best game in it's own genre to date, Super Metroid is a classic that has truly stood the test of time. The pixel art is highly detailed without trying to push the hardware of the SNES too hard. The result is something that looked awesome back then, and still looks good today. "Better looking" SNES games like Donkey Kong Country, or Starfox have not held up well. Super Metroid has a better run n' gun feeling to it than the Prime series thanks to it being a 2D game. This makes the boss battles a lot more fun than the Prime series. The atmosphere in this game was so good that nothing really beat it in that department until Hollow Knight came around. The sheer number of powerups you get in this game, and the amazing things they do really sells the game. You start out as kinda slow, and end the game as what I can only describe as Godlike. Seriously, Samus with all her gear from Super Metroid would make short work of most video game protagonists. The story is simple but comes with a surprise twist at the end. I think it's an even better ending than finding out Samus was a girl in the first Metroid game.
13. Etrian Odyssey 4 3DS
Turn based JRPG combat has a lot of potential, but most developers just don't take this combat engine to it's fullest. Real challenges aren't ever presented to the player, because the developer hasn't added enough complexity to give the player more than one option. Beating a truly hard enemy in a JRPG usually comes down to using the same OP tactic. There's no room for finesse or being original. The Etrian Odyssey series changes all that by *gasp* allowing you to do to the boss anything you can do to a regular enemy. Normally bosses resist status effects like crazy in JRPGs to the point where using them is a bad strategy. But in Etrian Odyssey bosses can be... Poisoned, given concussions, turned to stone, tripped, tied up, paralyzed, confused, blinded, and much, much more. Now, I know what you're saying. That sounds like the bosses would be too easy to beat. Yeah, well EO bosses deal a ton of damage, can inflict the same status effects on you, and usually come with a downright devious twist. Oh? Did I mention that bosses don't wait for you to fight them in this series? Bosses actively hunt your party down. Movement in this game is grid based, and everytime you move bosses can move as well. When you are in combat each turn you take let's the enemy boss move closer to you. So you can sit there in a fight with normal enemies and suddenly a super scary boss (that you weren't really ready for) finds you!
EO IV gets the top spot in the series for multiple reasons. First off, this entry introduces cross classing. Each character has a main class, and a secondary class. You get access to exactly half the skills in your secondary class, as you get in a main class. So if you go Ninja main, and Black Mage secondary, you can only level up your Meteor to level 5/10, but can level up your Ninja Stars to 10/10. Anyway this leads to combinations that would normally be super OP, but not in an EO game. EO IV also has an open world that is explorable in an airship, unlike previous games, and it was the first EO game to take the series from lazy unanimated 2D alphamaps to full blown 3D. Finally the music in this game is just a cut above the rest of the series. That's mostly because Yuzo Koshiro is at the top of his game. He even made #15 in VGChartz's top 50 video game composers. Have a listen...
12. Fire Emblem 3 Houses Switch
Fire Emblem Three Houses has very simple AI. All it tries to do is find the character in your formation that is the easiest to kill in a single turn, and then take them out. You would think that this would make the AI stupidly predictable. That's not true though because, there are often so many combinations of possible outcomes that the player playing the game can't see which one of his characters is the most open to dying. This is especially true on the Hard and Maddening difficulty levels. Three Houses offers the choice of your characters either dying forever (Classic Mode) or simply retreating back to base upon defeat (Casual Mode). Playing on Hard Difficulty and above with Classic Mode turned on offers a very satisfying challenge. Thanks to the time warp system if one of your characters dies during a battle you can rewind time a few turns to attempt a quick fix of your mistake. But use these warps sparingly because once you've used up your stock of time warps you'll have to choose between starting the level over again, or continuing with one of your soldiers having permadeathed.
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Normally losing a soldier is okay in a tactics game. But in Fire Emblem games almost all soldiers are unique with their own abilities, life story, and importance to other characters in the game. There are 36 different recruitable characters in three houses. All 36 characters have a story to be unlocked featuring one of the other 35 characters in the game. So in other words there are well over 100 unlockable stories to be told, depending on what combination of characters you choose to recruit. Combine that with the fact that the game has four different routes and you have a truly massive game! I'm only 250 hours deep into this game, and I've yet to complete the fourth route. Then there's a 5th route that I have to play through thanks to the DLC.
There are 40 classes all with their own unique skills to be unlocked. Each of the 36 characters in the game comes with their own unique powers and stat growth rates as well. You can crossclass in Three Houses meaning you can take a skill or passive ability you learned in a previous class and use it in your current class. Throw in battalions of stat boosting soldiers that you can assign to each character, and you've got a huge amount of customization. Each battalion also happens to come with it's own ultimate move that effects multiple tiles at once. There's also a huge amount of weapons to choose from in Three Houses, as well as secondary items like Rings or Shields.
Outside of battles you spend most of your time running around a large university speaking to each of your students, having lunch with them, fishing and growing crops. During your first playthrough this will be a little tedious because there's just too many people to talk to, and too many things to do. Once you've started your second playthrough though, this part of the game smoothes right along. That's because during your second playthrough and on, your professor is fully leveled up making many university tasks unneeded or instantly completed.
The story is pretty damned good in this game, but only once you've gotten most of the perspective from playing through at least three different routes. You'll see different cutscenes, and be given different pieces to the overall story puzzle depending on which of the three houses you align yourself with. It's one of those stories that really makes you sympathize with the villains. Why? Because those villains are often the exact same characters you just heroically finished your last playthrough with!
The cellshaded anime artstyle is great despite a few graphical hiccups. The animations are absolutely top notch during the combat sequences of this game. The most impressive part of the game's presentation though is the absolutely fantastic english voice acting! I mean, these guys just nailed it! This is the best english dub of a game or Anime since Full Metal Alchemist, or Sabat's Vegeta in DBZ.
Wait, did I just write a full review of this game on accident because I love it that much, and had to describe why I love each and every part so much? Damn, I guess I did didn't I?
11. Xenoblade Chronicles Wii 
Xenoblade Chronicles set a new standard for exploration in JRPGs. Yes, there's still story based progression, locking you out of areas. But Xenoblade has these large open, fully explorable areas like Bionis' Leg. This level of exploration in JRPGs has only really been bested by Xenoblade's sequels. Scratch that! This level of interesting, meaningful exploration in ANY game has only been bested by BotW, and Xenoblade's sequels!
The only few flaws in this game are the lack of good english voice acting, and the tedium of hunting down RNG drops, by walking over blue points of light. The Switch remake does a decent job of updating the look, but graphics have improved a ton since then. Luckily the style and aesthetics still hold up really well. The voice acting in english is pretty terrible, so this is a game that you pretty much have to play with subtitles on. Having to repeatedly walk over blue points of light that spawn on the map to get certain ingredients or plants is just frustrating.
Most JRPGs use some sort of turn based combat system, or have a decent, but flawed real time combat system. The real time combat systems, in JRPGs, often fail to take into account enemy positioning, or sneak attacks. They also lack a good combo system. Xenoblade's combat system handles all of this with ease. Certain attacks deal more damage, or issue different effects based on where you are standing in relation to your enemy. Sneak attacks are a very real thing in Xenoblade and can often be used to outright kill an enemy within seconds of entering combat. The Break, Topple, Daze combo system of Xenoblade, combined with chain attacks from the party gauge, really make combat dynamic and exciting. Some moves break an enemy's stance, and then you get a timer. If you can use a move with the topple effect before the timer runs out you get another timer, and knock the enemy over. If you can use a final daze move before the topple timer runs out you stun the enemy for a long time. There's also a system that let's you predict and counter enemy attacks called foresight. Xenoblade only has seven playable characters, but each one has multiple skill trees that you can reset at a moments notice. Combine that with the ability to change equipment and you have thirty or more playstyles built into just seven characters.
The story of Xenoblade Chronicles is excellent and even one that I know non-anime fans would be able to get into. The plottwists in this game are somewhat predictable, but still great. All the characters are compelling with their own story arcs, and personal epiphanies. Riki is a personal favorite of mine. He's just a middle aged guy, saddled with great debt, and a ton of kids. But the fact that he's a cuddly little Nopon makes the player look at him differently. For most of the game you might be tricked into thinking he's just an adolescent fun loving kid that is tagging along with Shulk on an adventure. Nope. He's an grown man with an adult life. He's cowardly and lazy to boot. Oh and did I mention that he makes the ultimate tank? Just imagine a round ball of fluff, suited up in impenetrable spherical armor, taunting giant foes.
10. Chrono Trigger SNES
One of the most important things, game developers need to learn is that AGLs in games are bad. What are AGLs? Artificial Game Lengtheners (full credit to Dunkey for the acronym), are the parts of a game that are tedious and time consuming simply for the sake of lengthening a game. Oftentimes a game will be fun, but will only take ten to twenty hours to beat. For some reason development studios see that as unacceptable, so they use AGLs to spread the fun content out like too little butter over so much toast. I believe that the JRPG genre is one of the greatest things ever invented in this medium, but I also admit that most overstay their welcome by about fifty hours. The genius in Chrono Trigger is that it removes most of the standard AGLs from the genre leaving pure fun in it's wake. Random battles are gone. Turn based combat uses the speedy ATB system from FFVI. Enemies are placed and spaced out so that you fight them only enough times to hold your interest and no more. Chrono Trigger only takes about twenty to twentyfive hours to beat, but it's a breakneck rollercoaster ride of fun from start to finish. This game has excellent character designs from Dragonball's Akira Toriyama, and a perfect soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda. There's a really fun and interesting combo system built into the game, that feels natural. You can combine different attacks like a flame attack, and a sword attack to get a flaming sword attack (See the cover?). Multiple endings and a New Game + mode mean anybody that loves JRPGs should be in for a good 50 hours of completionist playtime. The original SNES cart still commands $150 or more despite DS and PS1 remakes existing. This is the JRPG that transcends hatred of JRPGs. Even if you absolutely hate the genre, you owe it to yourself to play this one. Yeah, it is that good.
