Summary
The JRPG genre is one of the oldest in gaming. People often say you may’t have too much of a good thing, a lesson that Japanese developers seem to have taken to heart. Thebig JRPG franchises release a lot of gamesand tend to be extremely long-lived. Many of the JRPG franchises fans are playing today are older than many of the gamers playing them.
Plenty of JRPG franchises have faded away over the years but most of the big ones remain. Some of them are over thirty years old and still going strong. A few, likeFinal FantasyandPokemon,seem to release entries fairly often, while others release new games once in a blue moon. We’ve ranked all the longest-running JRPGs by age. Impressively, all of them have either had games released recently or have entries coming up in the next year or so, meaning despite their ages, they’re all pretty active.
Atelieris the relative baby of this group with its first game,Atelier Marie: The Rise of Salburg, releasedjust27years ago on the PS1. Since then, the franchise has produced over forty entries with the next one expected in early 2025.
TheAtelierfranchise isn’t as well known as some on this list, but there are somegreat Atelier games. The franchise broke the JRPG mold back in 1997 and has continued to stand out. That’s thanks to its focus on alchemy and item synthesis and the fact the games tend to be lighter-hearted and more laid back than other long-running JRPG series. Each game’s art style tends to be “cute” with the main plots being more fun than serious.
These days,Pokemonis an entertainment behemoth that has grossed an estimated $150 billion since the first game hit Japanese shelves in 1996. Multiple generations of children have grown up catching and battling the little pocket monsters, begging their parents for more pocket money in the process.
As one ofthe best-selling video game franchises of all time,Pokemondoesn’t need an introduction. However, we often forget that, at its heart, it’s still a JRPG. The franchise follows many of the traditional JRPG mechanics and is one of the few to still feature turn-based battles.Pokemonhas had its ups and downs, and many feel the franchise has grown stagnant, but Game Freak is likely to keep pumping out entries. Thanks to pressure from recent creature-collectors likePal WorldandTemtem,maybe the franchise is ready for a shake-up.
TheTalesfranchise is more popular right now than ever before thanks to the success of 2021’sTale of Arise. The first entry,Tales of Phantasia, stood out thanks to its innovative Linear Motion Battle System (LMBRS), which made it one of the few JRPGs at the time not to use a turn-based system. That original system gradually evolved into the brilliant real-time action combat fans saw inTales of Arise.
The franchise also stands out because of its uneven publishing history. It only produced two main entries in the 90s but then spat out eleven entries between 2002 and 2009. Things have calmed down since then and releases have become much more sporadic. While the franchise isn’t dormant, fans are still waiting for concrete word on the next installment, with the publishers seemingly happy to just keep dropping the occasional hint. ConsideringTales of Arisewasthe best game in the franchise, they’re probably still trying to work out how to one up themselves.
When people think of Nintendo exclusives, they tend to think of family-friendly franchises likeZeldaorMario. However, theFire Emblemfranchise has been around since 1990 and has produced some of thedarkest Nintendo games ever made. These tactical JRPGs usually have grown-up focused stories and can be pretty difficult. Not many games make permadeath one of their central mechanics.
Fire Emblemhas evolved quite a bit sinceShadow Dragon and the Blade of Lightcame out way back in 1990. That evolution looks set to continue. Fans don’t know much about the next entry yet except the fact Nintendo plans on it being a launch title for the Switch’s successor. If nothing else, that shows how much faith the company has in this long-running but slightly more niche franchise.
TheSaGafranchise is a weird one. It began in 1989 with a Game Boy game calledThe Final Fantasy Legend. Produced by Square, it was created by the mastermind behindFinal Fantasy 1and2and waskind ofa spin-off from that franchise, but not really. They shared quite a lot of the same DNA butSaGavery quickly became something different.
Most of theSaGagames haven’t been released outside of Asia, and those that have been released in the West haven’t done particularly well. This is likely because of how odd they tend to be. TheSaGaseries is known for featuring non-linear progression and for having unconventional mechanics. It’s basically the franchise Square Enix goes to when it wants to try something new and weird. The franchise has a cult following among hardcore JRPG fans but has never hit the mainstream like other long-lived JRPG franchises. In a gaming landscape where new ideas are becoming increasingly rare, it’s good to know that Square Enix hasn’t given up onSaGayet.
The Legend of Heroesis one of the harder JRPG franchises to keep track of. It’s made up of 21 main entries which are split into a handful of subseries. First, players had the twoDragon Slayer games released in 1989 and 1992, then a handful of “core” games in the 90s, and then theTrailsseries has been going on since 2004. Even that series is split into three more subseries. All of these series and subseries are connected but also have their own long-running over-arching plots with lore deep enough to drown aDark Soulsfan.
It all sounds a little scary to jump into, but it’s worth the effort.The Legend of Heroesfranchise features some ofthe best JRPGs ever made by Nihon Falcomand there’s barely a dud in the bunch. The franchise is still going strong and has started its newest subseries,Trails Through Daybreak, in 2021. Western fans are still waiting for an English version of that game’s sequel, but it’s certain to sell well after the huge success ofTrails of Cold Steel 4.
From this point onward, the next few franchises all began within a few months of each other. Next toPokemon,Final Fantasyis easily the biggest franchise here. Over the last 37 years, it has spawned 16 mainline entries and over 100 spinoffs. Rarely a year goes by that fans don’t get at least oneFinal Fantasygame, even if there tends to be a bigger wait between big entries.
Final Fantasyis responsible for some ofthe most influential turn-based JRPGs ever made. Games likeFinal Fantasy 6,7,10,and15were responsible for introducing entire generations to the JRPG genre. While a few franchise hallmarks can be found in each game, the most impressive thing about theFinal Fantasyfranchise has been how it has changed and adapted over the years. The franchise has frequently changed its combat mechanics and art style, but it has retained its reputation for quality production and great storytelling. It seems likely that in another 30 years, journalists will still be puttingFinal Fantasyon lists of the longest-living franchises.
Megami Tenseihas a long and storied history. It all began in 1987 withDigital Devil Story: Megami Tensei, which after two entries, created an offshoot,Shin Megami Tensei. Later on, the franchise spawned the massively successfulPersonaandDevil Summonerseries. Each of these has its own spin-offs and offshoots.
Every series under theMegami Tenseiumbrella is known for the same thing though. Pretty much since day one, JRPG fans have loved this franchise for its dark, philosophical storytelling and complex turn-based system. In fact,Megami Tenseiwas doing the whole creature collecting thing long beforePokemoncame along and stole the spotlight. For a long time,Personawas better known thanShin Megami Tenseiin the West, but the recentShin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeancehas begun to change that. At this point, releasing new entries in either series is basically like printing money for Atlus.
Ysis an often overlooked JRPG franchise. This is a pity because, compared to a lot of them, it’s fairly unique and has produced some excellent games.Ysstands out as being one of the very few JRPG franchises to follow a single protagonist, Adol Christin, as he repeatedly gets himself into trouble across the globe.
The series is also unique in that it was one of the very first action RPGs and has never had a turn-based battle system. This made its very first entry,Ys 1: Ancient Ys Vanished,incredibly innovative in 1987, while its most popular entry,Ys 9: Monstrum Nox, is known for being one ofthe best JRPGs without turn-based combat.Yshas always been more popular in Japan than in the West, but the last couple of entries have begun to change that. WithYs 10: Nordicsset to release in late 2024,Ysis another long-running JRPG franchise that still has legs.
It’s crazy to think that theDragon Questfranchise is edging towards the 40-year mark. It’s an iconic franchise that defined many of the JRPG tropes fans know and love today. Square Enix has always taken an “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” approach to the franchise by keeping its turn-based gameplay mostly the same over the years while gradually evolving the graphics. The franchise didn’t even move away from pixel art graphics and adopt fully 3D assets until 2004’sDragon Quest 8.
People normally criticize franchises for not innovating, but that’s an approach rarely taken withDragon Quest. TheDragon Questgames are the comfort food of the JRPG world. Fans don’t want them to change. The art style and iconic Akira Toriyama character designs are adored, and some people still prefer their JRPGs to be turn-based. Unfortunately, Square Enix doesn’t seem to be in a rush to give fans moreDragon Quest. The franchise certainly isn’t dead, butDragon Quest 11dropped back in 2017 and the company is being incredibly tight-lipped as to when fans can expect the next entry. After 37 years, are they starting to run out of ideas?
