Best 3D Turn-based JRPGs on Switch

Best 3D Turn-based JRPGs on Switch

The Switch is well-known for its excellent selection of JRPGs, and traditionally these feature turn-based combat. However, in recent years, favor has turned to action RPGs and turn-based games have been pushed to the side; even Pokémon’s next game has real-time combat. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t excellent 3D turn-based JRPGs. On the contrary there are many excellent games on the Switch from the genre. Here are our 10 favorite 3D turn-based JRPGs available on Nintendo Switch. 

Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk

As we excitedly wait for the next entry in the series, Atelier Yumia, we had to add one of these games to the list. While the more recent entries in the Atelier series are all action combat, the series is best known for its turn-based roots. Most games from the series are available on Switch, but we’ve chosen Atelier Ayesha as the representative for this list, as the beginning of the glorious Dusk Trilogy.

As the name suggests, the series is about people working in ateliers, and there is a strong emphasis on collecting resources out in the world in order to craft items and potions that you can use in battle. This means that the strategic layer to the game is evident both in and out of combat. One of the best things about Atelier Ayesha is that once you’re finished there are plenty of other games in the series to enjoy.

Super Mario RPG

Everyone talks about Paper Mario – in particular The Thousand-Year Door – but the game that the series was built from hardly gets mentioned. Super Mario RPG originally launched on the SNES, when very few games were made with 3D graphics. It was a risk in many ways. There was not only the question of whether people would be interested in a turn-based Super Mario game, but the game also went against many long-standing RPG traditions.

Timing is crucial in Super Mario RPG, not only when you attack but when you defend as well. It adds an extra level of strategy to the game, and is something that few RPGs do. Separating it further from other RPGs is just how much damage is dealt and taken. Attacks often deal single-digit numbers, far from other bombastic RPGs that could see people hit for thousands. Super Mario RPG is not only one of the best turn-based JRPGs but the Switch version gives it several modern updates that fans love. The perfect place to start in your Mario RPG journey.

Persona 5 Royal

For many people Persona 5 is the pinnacle of the always excellent Persona series, and Persona 5 Royal improves on the already excellent game. Persona 5 returns to the dungeon crawling formula of the original Persona games, with carefully crafted dungeons rather than the seemingly never-ending procedural abysses of the modern Persona series, namely Persona 3 and Persona 4. This is one of the main reasons that Persona 5 has risen above the pack.

Persona 5 tells a beautiful, complex, and exceptionally long story about the power of friendship overcoming the status quo. Royal not only adds a new protagonist, but new social links, and additional scenes giving fans of the game even more to sink their teeth into. It runs flawlessly on the Switch, and its length means that the home to handheld feature of the console makes it the perfect way to play. Become part of the Phantom Thieves, and change society’s hearts.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus

All mainline Pokémon games on the Switch are 3D turn-based JRPGs, and most of them are great, but we chose to highlight Pokémon Legends: Arceus as a completely fresh take on Pokémon’s formula. Instead of battling your way through a series of Gym Leaders before reaching the Elite Four and becoming the champion, you will be roaming around semi-open areas, catching Pokémon and studying them for the Pokédex.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus not only changes the focus to catching, but also changes Pokémon’s standard battle system. Battles are still turn-based, but they have an active system with Strong- and Agile-style moves. While the Pokémon and their movesets are the same as other games, what each move does is completely different in Pokémon Legends: Arceus. If you’ve tried out the mainline Pokémon games, and want something a little different, Pokémon Legends: Arceus is the way to go.

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Fire Emblem is one of Nintendo’s flagship series, and Three Houses is one of the series’ best. It has all of the turn-based strategic battles that the series is known for, as well as the ability to bond with your teammates to level them up, but as the name suggests, Three Houses has three different paths you can follow, adding to its replayability.

Fire Emblem is well known for its brutal permadeath system, where if your characters die in battle, they die in real life too. However, Three Houses included a Casual Mode where nobody can be gone for good. You can still have the traditional experience, but if like many people the permadeath turned you off from the series, this is the perfect entry point.

The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak

The Legend of Heroes series is one of the longest running, beginning in the ‘80s, and many of them are available on the Switch. We have chosen Trails Through Daybreak to represent the series in this list, not just because it is one of the best, but because it is a great place to start as it begins a separate arc. Interestingly, Trails Through Daybreak is the only game on this list, which allows the player to choose between real-time combat similar to Nihon Falcom’s other major JRPG series Ys, or the turn-based combat the series is known for.

The series is known for its excellent characters and strategic combat, and Trails Through Daybreak exemplifies both of these. If you haven’t played the series before, you won’t understand every reference, but the developers have tried to make it one of the most accessible in the series in terms of the story and combat. It won’t take 30 years of video game knowledge to understand how good the intricate and complex writing is.

Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII Remastered

If you’re reading this list, you probably don’t need to be told how good Final Fantasy VII or even Final Fantasy VIII are. We’ll be holding our breaths a long time if we’re hoping for the excellent Final Fantasy VII Remake to come to Switch, but this console is one of the best places you can experience the original FF7. It can be purchased in a double pack with FF8, which is the game long-time fans of the series often point to as the best.

Both games have very different turn-based systems, which can create devastating synergies in different ways. FF7’s combat system is easier to use and more difficult to master. Creating devastating combinations requires good knowledge of Materia, Enemy Skills, and equipment that can link them in a way that stack. Conversely, FF8 is based on the Junction system, one that is difficult to grasp, but once you do, building up major damage is much simpler. Both can be purchased together at such a low cost, that it’s worth trying them out.

Monark

Monark received middling reviews when it was released, and that’s because people found the battles too difficult. However, the battles are actually one of Monark’s greatest strengths, and where it fails is in explaining its systems properly. Once you understand how it works, and how your characters best synergize, it is one of the most satisfying turn-based strategy systems out there. The protagonist of Monark can Resonate with the other party members sharing buffs across all characters, leading to extremely devastating damage.

Similar to the Persona series, Monark focuses on the character’s personal stories. Each character is based on one of the seven deadly sins, and each has a dark past. Despite this, they all band together to take on the forces that are keeping the students trapped in school and sucking the life out of them. Created by former Shin Megami Tensei developers, this one is perfect for those who enjoy diving deeply into combat systems.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is what happens when legendary anime maker Studio Ghibli teams up with the studio that created the epic turn-based JRPG Jeanne D’arc. Both Wrath of the White Witch and Revenant Kingdom are available on Switch, but we picked the first in the series as the best place to start. Ni No Kuni has an interesting battle system unlike the others on this list, it’s not just because it mixes turn-based and action combat.

Ni No Kuni’s combat features beastly familiars, and magical characters; think about it like if Pokémon let the trainers join in the scrap. If you like the taming and training aspect of beastly battlers then this is another one you should try. Above all Ni No Kuni overwhelms players with its charm, and is a must play turn-based title.

The Caligula Effect: Overdose

Written by Tadashi Satomi, best known for working on the original Persona series, The Caligula Effect: Overdose follows a group of people who have realized that they are living in the Matrix. Despite knowing that the world they inhabit is fake, there is no way to escape. First, they must take down the Ostinato Musicians, a group of people who want to keep the idyllic world alive.

Overdose adds a lot to the story beyond the original The Caligula Effect, including new party members and chapters that you can play from the point of view of the Musicians. You grow closer to your teammates, and learn more about their lives both inside and outside of the world you can currently see. The Caligula Effect: Overdose has an active turn-based system where timing and sequencing play a major role in your success or failure. It can be difficult, but once you master it, it’s very satisfying.

Let us know what your favorite turn-based JRPGs on the Nintendo Switch are in the comments below!

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