Best Turn-Based JRPGs On The Nintendo 3DS, Ranked

The 3DS may be Nintendo’s last dedicated portable system. It was a fine note to go out on as the lineup of RPGs was out of this world. Fire Emblem Awakening, for example, was a tactical RPG that brought the series seemingly back from the dead. Now the franchise could not be any bigger.

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Another great strategy RPG was Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked which was a port from the DS but still good. Both of those examples technically have turn-based combat but on tactical grids. Let’s shrink down the scale and look at some more traditional turn-based RPGs on the 3DS.

8 Yo-Kai Watch

Pokemon But With Ghosts

• Platforms: 3DS, Android, iOS, Switch
• Released: November 6, 2015 (3DS version, NA)
• Developer: Level-5
• Metacritic Score: 76

Yo-Kai Watch was like the developer's, Level-5, second answer to Pokemon as they also released two Ni no Kuni games before this. This game is more directly aimed at the Pokemon crowd as it is easier for kids. Instead of going around a fake world and catching monsters, players caught ghosts with a special watch around districts in Japan.

Combat was more automatic too and players could form a party like in a more traditional RPG. It’s a solid monster-catching RPG and the anime is not half bad either.

7 Dragon Quest 7: Fragments Of The Forgotten Past

A Remake Correcting The Wrongs Of The PS1

• Metacritic Score: 81

Dragon Quest 7: Fragments of the Forgotten Past on the 3DS is the proper way to play this game. When it was released on the PS1 in 2001 in North America, it felt incredibly dated thanks to the graphics and hard-to-understand mechanics surrounding ancient tablets.

Once enough were collected, these tablets could warp the party around to new eras. The 3DS game fixed a lot of tablet issues thus making this time-traveling element more accessible. The core combat and Vocation system was as solid as ever for a Dragon Quest game.

6 Mario And Luigi: Dream Team

In Luigi’s Dreams, He Is The Star

• Metacritic Score: 81

Mario and Luigi: Dream Team was the first entry in this RPG series on the 3DS. It focused on Luigi who could fall asleep on a magic pillow which allowed Mario to enter his dreams. Together with Dream Luigi, Mario helped solve puzzles and fought enemies in active turn-based battles.

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Solving problems in the dream world fixed the island they were stuck on. There were missions surrounding exploring said island too, but the creativity was mostly focused on the dream world. Seeing Luigi turn into inanimate objects like clouds or form a ball filled with hundreds of clones was a treat every time.

5 Shin Megami Tensei 4

Samurai Fall From The Heavens In This Post-Apocalypse

• Metacritic Score: 83

Shin Megami Tensei 4 is a hard game in the series for the uninitiated. The core games are not as forgiving as the Persona spinoff series. Difficulty aside, this one has an interesting gimmick wherein heaven is depicted like feudal Japan.

Players are a samurai who slay demons and eventually, they fall to Earth and enter the post-apocalypse. It’s a good twist for a story and the gameplay picks up here too. From summoning demons to exploring the ruins of Japan as a dungeon crawler, this has a moody atmosphere that will engage all.

4 Etrian Odyssey 4: Legends Of The Titan

A Dungeon Crawler Worthy Of A Challenge

• Metacritic Score: 84

Etrian Odyssey 4: Legends of the Titan is another challenging RPG from Atlus and this one is on the Soulslike spectrum of brutality. There is a story to follow but this game, and most others in the series, put gameplay before narrative.

Players can form a party based on random characters with classes. With a well-balanced team of fighters, healers, and mages, the dungeons should not be as scary. Players have to go at a steady pace though and not get too confident. One wrong move and it is curtains which makes it exciting as a dungeon-crawler.

3 Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology

A Time Traveling Paradox

• Metacritic Score: 85

Atlus is heating things up one more time with Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology. This was originally a DS game but it got a few upgrades on the 3DS for this port. The story follows Stocke, a random soldier who discovers a book that can rewind time.

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Rewinding time can affect the story as much as it can affect combat. Characters in battle can form lines and create combos to halt enemies quickly. It’s a dense game at first but the creativity it uses with time is inspiring.

2 Bravely Default

The Rebirth Of Final Fantasy

• Metacritic Score: 85

Bravely Default was a spiritual successor to Final Fantasy. It had all of the classic trappings including a Job system and a story revolving around elemental crystals. The party was condensed down to four characters, giving players ample time to get to know them all.

Besides the Jobs, the bigger gimmick was the titular Brave and Default systems that allowed players to gain extra turns. Also, players could adjust the frequency of random encounters, giving players a ton of customization all around from world traversal to combat.

1 Pokemon X/Y

Pokemon Learn to Mega Evolve

• Metacritic Score: 88 (Y)

Pokemon X and Pokemon Y were the first two mainline Pokemon games to hit the 3DS. They made two of the biggest leaps forward in the series since Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Silver. It wasn’t quite full 3D, but the camera was shifted enough to make it feel like a larger world.

The new Mega Evolutions were also a big deal, allowing some Pokemon to transform temporarily. Like many Pokemon games, it was fun to collect tons of new and old creatures to trade and battle with friends in simple turn-based combat.

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