90. Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana
Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana is a game from a franchise full of Ateliers. In this version, you follow the adventures of the alchemists of Regallzine’s world and their journey in search of the fantastic “City in the Sky”. The Atelier series takes place in a mystical world, where magic is manifested through the Great Mana Spirits and the alchemists can use the essence of the Mana Spirits, conjuring magic and creating special artifacts.
The classic style of turn-based battles stands tall in the series, but the random encounters with monsters can be a bit annoying at times. The great differential of the game is the “Synthesize” ability, which allows alchemists to create new items and weapons, thus gaining additional powers and skills.
89. Disgaea
The story of Disgaea 1 is full of satires and humorous dialogues, with cynical characters of at least doubtful character. Everything starts with Prince Laharl coming out of a coffin, Etna, one of the castle’s vassals explains that he’s been asleep for two years and that his father, King Krichevskoy died. While sleeping, demons were fighting for supremacy in the Netherworld. With the help of Etna and some unlikely allies, Laharl will have to make his way to the throne fighting.
If you have never played any Disgaea series game before, imagine a tactical game and then multiply numbers by 9999. As far as exaggeration is concerned, everything in Disgaea is over the top. The combat system is by turns and the max level is 9999, which makes all battle numbers exceed expectations. Recruit and train a multitude of different members, each with their class.
88. Chocobo’s Dungeon 2
The beloved yellow bird-mount of Final Fantasy is the protagonist of this spinoff. The story starts when Mog takes Chocobo to a dungeon for some treasure hunting. Suddenly, they are separated and Chocobot meets Shiroma, a white mage, who helps them reunite. They find Mog, but after some events including Mog’s greed and villages being destroyed, Shiroma is kidnapped and it’s up to our dear Chocobo to rescue her.
In these dungeons, the game turns into a turn-based experience. If Chocobo moves one step, enemies can also move one step. Every step you take makes you closer to victory or defeat because a misclick step can result in a well-hit enemy attack. Chocobo can equip various saddles that function like armor, and strap-on claws for weapons. The birdie can also cast magic spells.
87. Final Fantasy Type-0
Type-0 took a while to land in occidental’s hands and only when it earned the high-res treatment did it finally arrive. Although the game keeps classic features of the Final Fantasy series – crystals as important elements, flying ships, spells, and protagonists that seem to spend considerable time fixing their hair -, Type-0 HD brought a different approach to the series.
You control 14 students from an elite group of a military academy named Class 0 and should complete missions that include protecting innocents, helping to take back territories conquered by enemies, and preventing the advance of opposing forces. During the events, you get to know more about the characters and the reason why the world lives in conflict.
The battle is in the third person, the player controls the leader of a group of three characters who have at their disposal three skills and the ability to evade and you can change between the other two at any moment.
86. Lunar: Silver Star Story
Lunar is a traditional jRPG game with 2D sprites characters, turn-based battles with a movement mechanic, world map travel, and party members each with their strength.
You play Alex, a boy who dreams of becoming a great hero just like his idol, Dragonmaster Dyne. In one adventure you enter a Dragon Cave alongside your partner in crime Ramus, your pet Nail, and Luna, your crush. There, you find Quark, an old dragon who says that your destiny is to become the next Dragonmaster. When a majestic dragon says your destiny is to fulfill your childhood dream, you just obey. And so you start a journey to become the next great hero of the world.
85. Legend of Legaia
The story of the game is about a god who gifted humans with beings called Serus, creatures that gave men abilities like flying, super strength and things like you see in Marvel’s heroes. The world lived in a period of peace and tranquility until the arrival of a mist which everyone called… Mist, that spread chaos and hatred throughout the world, besides transforming the Serus into evil creatures. After having his village affected by the Mist, the protagonist Vahn goes on a journey to discover a way to eradicate this evil.
Aided by Ra-Serus, guardians that help your characters, you fight enemies in turn-based combat that brought a new spin to the genre. Through the directional arrows, you had to try the most varied combinations to execute certain blows and if you get it right, you unleash powerful Art moves. I confess I had to look at a walkthrough to unlock all moves because the game’s opponents can be nasty sometimes.
84. White Knight Chronicles
If you like games where you can transform into giant knights and smack your squash your enemies with a silver broadsword, this game is for you. The game plot is straightforward. You play Leonard, a boy who lives in a kingdom where there is a princess, who is kidnapped. While delivering wine, Leonard stumbles upon a mysterious power that allows him to transform into a White Knight, so now it’s time to ride your sturdy stallion and rescue the princess.
The battle is pretty similar to Final Fantasy XII. There’s no transition when you find enemies. You choose a command and it readies actively until you smack someone. At launch, there was an incredible online system where you built your village and did quests with other players. Unfortunately, today you can only enjoy the single-player experience.
83. Valkyrie Profile
When a warrior, where does their soul depart? According to Norse mythology, they are recruited by Valkyries and become Einherjar to protect Valhalla during Ragnarok, the apocalypse where gods battle against each other because they are Vikings.
You play as Lenneth, one of Odin’s Valkyries who has the mission to recruit fallen warriors to aid the Allfather and you do so visiting cities, watching events unfold and your soon-to-be party member dying. To gain some levels, traverse through caverns, forests, and other dungeons while fighting in turns and unleashing powerful Einherjar powers.
82. Front Mission 3
Front Mission 3 is a tactical RPG that happens in the future, in the year 2112. So if you’re from 2113 and it’s reading this, the game happens in the past. You play Kazuki Takemura, a Wanzer test pilot. Wanzers are giant robots that you ride in battle. You are caught in the middle of a national conspiracy that involves a major explosion that occurs during your visit to a military base. From this point on, the story is divided into two scenarios that depend on a choice made at the beginning of the game.
Battles occur on grid-like maps like most tactical games. You control Wanzers which can be personalized with four major components: body, legs, and two arms. In each arm, you can equip weapons. The body provides defense and the leg, mobility. You can also add backpacks for additional support. In battle, you can destroy or have the parts destroyed, turning them into junk. If the body is destroyed, the character also is.
81. Final Fantasy Explorers
Final Fantasy Explorers has a gameplay similar to Monster Hunter but explores the potential of the job system famous in the series. You can play as White Mage, Thief, Warrior, and so on while you embark on explorations to complete various quests.
In itself, the story ends being very bland. There is a war between humans and monsters and to win it we have to restore the power of Grand Crystal, so our main mission will be to travel around the world to pick up small pieces of crystal and beat the Eidolons, also known as Summons, Eikons or Guardian Forces.
