Amongthe best JRPGsof both modernity and years gone by, one of the main things drawing them together is how well they implement their parties. There will always be exceptions to the rule, but it’s hardly a controversial take to say that a JRPGs cast of playable characters - its party - is essential to the overall quality of the narrative and gameplay of the title.
For JRPGs thatexcel in gameplay, it can be important to have a cast of characters with fluid, but well-defined roles in the party. These roles come into their own as levels are boosted, gear is acquired, and the players start to get into the groove of gameplay loops. These games in particular will keep players working on their parties until the end game, with no plateau for their power, and no limit to how well optimized they can be.
Alliance Aliveis a difficultbut incredibly rewarding JRPG, with a novel leveling system inspired by theSaGaseries (which also gets a mention on this list, worry not) that really helps it stand out among other JRPGs and, more importantly, allows players to tweak and specialize almost every character up until the final boss.
Characters do not gain levels that increase all their stats at once, but instead improve in the skills they utilize in battle. A character using spear attacks often will get stronger with spears, and learn different moves, while a character focusing on shields will gain more shield abilities, and so on.
Dragon’s Dogma 2is an expansive open-world JRPG that has players managing three distinct types of character. There’s the Arisen, their in-game avatar. Their main pawn, who serves them faithfully throughout the game, and then two supplementary pawns who are the main pawns to other players, but can be brought into your world to assist you.
These supplementary pawns are essential to having a partyof balanced vocationsand viability against larger foes, but they also don’t level up, meaning players will have to consistently cycle through them as the Arisen and main pawn grow in power. This shuffling of pawns, rather than being cumbersome or overwhelming, is a great way to keep optimizing and managing the composition of the Arisen’s party.
A Classic JRPG With A Colossal Character Roster
Suikoden II
Experience An Epic Tale of Warfare, Magic Friendship and Betrayal- New Tactical Map Battles Add A Whole New Level Of Strategy- Fantastic Spells With Stunning Animation Sequences And Specialized Attacks- Over 108 Different Characters Can Join Your Party And Help You On Your Quest- Unlock Hidden Storylines Using Your Memory Card Data From The Original Suikoden- Build Up Your Castle During The Course Of The Thriving Virtual Community
Suikoden 2is a title with few equals in the JRPG sphere - a legendary title with an incredible story and an incredible cast of recruitable characters, called stars of destiny, that can be recruited and utilized in a myriad of combinations.
With such a large host of characters that are unlockable as the game continues, it’s no surprise that this game is an exceptional example of long-term party management, with new, incredibly useful stars of destiny becoming available even into late game as locations and castle levels continue to be unlocked.
Triangle Strategy’sexpansive, branching narrativeis a gem among JRPGs, and the cast of characters Serenoa can interact with are all engaging and three-dimensional allies that balance their own needs and convictions with the good of the realm.
Each character has three unique tiers of their class, and upgrading to the final one for every character can usually only be achieved by late game. With every tier, more skills to put points into unlock, and more strategies and tactics become available for the player to implement.
Romancing SaGa 3excels not only with its incredible and unique leveling system, but with its great cast of characters. Everything from party composition to the chosen main character can greatly change gameplay.
Especially asRomancing SaGa 3reaches the mid to late game, the difficulty of this title compels players to continue tweaking and managing their diverse party. Specializing in certain weapon skills and acquiring new ones for each character is almost essential to progression.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses
This monolithicFire Emblemtitle, one of the best in the series, utilizes Byleth’s position as a teacher to have the characters under their tutelage constantly learning and growing. Characters upgrade their class, level up, and focus on specific skills in a way that needs to be managed well into end game.
The well-writtenand well-rounded mix of characters in this title can serve many different purposes in their cohort depending on how Byleth has shaped their class and relationship with other students.
Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Ageendeavors to innovate on the job/class system that has defined so much of the series with a dual system that allows each character to hold not just one, but two different classes at one time.
Tweaking the properties of each class to see how they synergize with each other and how they mesh with other characters and their own dual classes is an excellent example of long term party management in one of the highlights of theFinal Fantasyseries.
Few games allow players tobe as overpoweredas theDisgaeaseries, andDisgaea 5is one of the best titles in the series with an emphasis on fast-paced, hugely scaled combat. Players can get the stats of their party members up to quadruple digits and beyond - party management continues almost infinitely in this title because of this.
Reincarnation and class mastery keep the game fresh even after players have undergone grinding for hours, and the satisfaction for reaching ten million in stats is well worth the work it takes to get there.
