Can you believe we didn't have a best JRPG list until now? Baffling. To be fair we did once tackle this topic with a preliminary blast of recommendations for those completely new to the genre. We also have a few familiar fantasys in our list of the 50 best RPGs on PC. But until now we haven't addressed the genre in its own right. In an act of contrition, we offer you this: our list of the best JRPGs you can play on PC this year, according to our own tastes.
]]>Dragon Quest Treasures, a prequel to the excellent Dragon Quest XI: Echoes Of An Elusive Age, is out now on PC. The game launched last year as a Nintendo Switch exclusive, carrying the series’ iconic slimes, and music over to a brand new setting. Dragon Quest Treasures is also Steam Deck verified, should you want to complete its bite-sized treasure hunts on the go (or in the comfort of your bed.)
]]>It's been two years since Dragon Quest XI: Echoes Of An Elusive Age first came to PC, and today its shiny new Definitive Edition arrives. This version of the game allows you to turn on a "retro" mode to play the 3D JRPG as a 16-bit 2D game instead. I feel like downgrading the graphics is the opposite to what a "Definitive Edition" should do, but it sounds fun throwback nonetheless.
]]>Whether you like wizards, sword-and-board warriors, the irradiated wasteland, vampires, or isometric text-heavy stories, the RPG is the genre that will never let you down. Accross the dizzing number of games available where you can play a role, there's something for everyone - and we've tried to reflect that in our list of the best RPGs on PC. The past couple of years have been great for RPGs, so there are some absolute classics as well as brand spanking new games on this list. And there's more to look forwards to, with rumblings of Dragon Age: Dread Wolf finally on the horizon, and space epic Starfield in our rear view mirror. Whatever else may happen, though, this list will provide you with the 50 best RPGs that you can download and play on PC right now.
]]>Ahead of its release on PC next month, the horrifically long-named Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes Of An Elusive Age - Definitive Edition has a free demo you can play right now. It lets you explore the first 10 hours of the turn-based RPG, and all your progress will carry over into the full game if you end up buying it after.
]]>Two years after Dragon Quest XI: Echoes Of An Elusive Age hit PC, a new edition is coming round with additions including new quests and the option to play this 3D JRPG as a retro-styled 16-bit 2D game. Pleasingly daft, that. Bearing the triple-barrelled name Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes Of An Elusive Age - Definitive Edition, this new version debuted on Nintendo Switch in September 2019, and will be coming to PC on December 4th.
]]>I bet you thought that what with all the spooky stuff we’ve had on the site over the past while, we were leading up to a big horror extravaganza of Halloween-themed stuff today. “Someone is going to use the word ‘spoopy’,” you thought. Well you’re wrong!
All our special Halloween features are about nice things today. We are wall-to-wall niceness. Dare I say suffocatingly cute. Guaranteed no fun jump scares built into the code of the website as you scroll down. The only thing you have to fear is being so relaxed that you fall asleep and nap for too long and then you wake up with a fuzzy brain and aren’t able to do anything except nap again. Oh no! You were going to make dinner but now you’ll just have to eat a can of pringles and a bag of Bitsa Wispa! Let RPS be the light you turn on when your living room is a bit dark and you think the bag on the sofa is actually a monster about to kill you. And you turn on the light and you're like, phew, it's okay, it's just the replacement Bitsa Wispa I bought from Tesco. Everything is okay.
To start, here is a big post rounding up lots of sweet, cute, or otherwise lovely things we’ve written or made or talked about on the site for the last few months.
]]>Some might tell you that the latest Dragon Quest XI patch sounds great, lifting the cap on framerate and adding more key binding options to the game our Noa called "a beauty of a JRPG". These people are incorrect. The patch has introduced a grave injustice by allowing people to leave their horses behind. Just think of the sort of monster that would leave a digital horse alone in a land of slimes. The game previously punished such monsters by sometimes making the game crash but now Squeenix say that was a "bug" and they have "fixed" it? So people can abandon their horse without consequence? Terrible. Terrible patch. Terrible news. A terrible precedent.
]]>Dragon Quest is one of the prevent-the-apocalypse adventures that paved the way for the JRPG, and its huge success in Japan spawned many clones and competitors we love today. While some may consider Final Fantasy the breakout star of the genre, many look at Dragon Quest as the game that made RPGs possible back in the 1980s. Even with that level of impact and fame, Dragon Quest (initially known as Dragon Warrior in the US) never gained the same amount of traction in the United States or Europe as it did in the Japan. It’s often been overshadowed by other games in the same genre. But now, with Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age currently keeping slime lovers happy after a nine-year drought, the developers are hoping to change that.
]]>The Japanese games industry is truly huge, and boasts some of the biggest and best titles under its' belt. PC gamers have been reaping the rewards of its renaissance. It took some time for Japanese developers and publishers to get on board, especially with consoles and smartphones remaining the dominant gaming platforms in their native country. Classic console franchises finally made their Steam debuts, with better-late-than-never ports coming with full-fat optimisation options to give you the definitive experience, there really has been never a pbetter time to be a Japanese-loving PC player.
]]>Have you been checking in on the Rock Paper Shotgun Video Department? It has its very own video corner on the site where everything is collected. But in case you missed it, I'm going to round up our moving picture delights from the last week. From life-consuming RPGs to fish prisons, we covered a lot of bases.
]]>Take last week's Steam Charts, give them a little shuffle, and then breathe out a long, despondent sigh. Oh, and then entirely randomly add an Early Access racing sim. And then start sighing again, and never, ever stop.
]]>Dear RPS, Hullo everyone! Dashing off a quick postcard from my hols. Ate three sticks of rock for breakfast today. Have started wearing a hat. Sand's everywhere. Margo did it again. Sophia says she's going to kill Judith. Visited the world's largest dairy statue of Alan Shearer; have bought you a lewd souvenir. And you wouldn't believe what we found while diving in the bay - or the noise it made ha ha! All my love to Dottie, and please spoil the cats rotten for me.
Warmest regards, A
p.s. What are you playing this weekend? Here's what we're clicking on!
]]>I’ve played Dragon Quest XI for about twelve hours now - or XII hours, in Dragon Questese - which is only a fraction of the whole thing, but a fraction is enough to offer some first impressions. That said, a first impression of Dragon Quest XI is rather like meeting a new member of a family you’re already well acquainted with. It may be the first mainline game on PC, but there’s X of the things on other platforms and the founding fathers of the series have made it their mission to change as little as possible; a point of both admiration and criticism.
That said, and as expected, it's a beauty of a JRPG where, aside from a free camera mode in battle and horse riding, not much has changed at all. Which is totally fine by me. In the words of A Pop Band, At Some Point, Probably: ‘I love you Dragon Quest XI, just the way you are.’
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If you do not fwrard this article to TEN of you're Friens YOU WILL DEFINITELY DIE!!!!!!!11
]]>Today's launch of Dragon Quest 11: Echoes Of An Elusive Age feels momentous. While we've missed out on the first ten, Dragon Quest 11 is the first mainline game in the series (Dragon Quest Heroes 2 was nice though) to land on our humble and flexible platform.
Square Enix's long-running series has done much to define the JRPG as a genre and console cornerstone since 1986, and not much has changed in the series since then. Dragon Quest 11 promises a new but familiar story of magic swords, evil lords and cranky dragons to PC - unpretentious, bright, sunny and fit for all ages. Below, the launch trailer.
]]>There are few games more influential on the JRPG genre than the Dragon Quest series. Classic all-ages tales of swords and sorcery adventure, held together with traditional turn-based combat in a world of charming monster & character designs from Dragon Ball artist Akira Toriyama.
While a pair of spinoffs have made the jump already (Dragon Quest Heroes 1 & 2, which I still insist are two of the best Dynasty Warriors-derivatives), today's announcement from Square Enix marks the first time in the series' 32-year history that a core game has come to PC. Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of An Elusive Age is due out this September 4th.
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