{"id":75717,"date":"2026-08-11T18:15:03","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T10:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=75717"},"modified":"2026-08-11T18:15:03","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T10:15:03","slug":"the-best-classic-jrpgs-you-can-still-easily-play-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=75717","title":{"rendered":"The Best Classic JRPGs You Can Still Easily Play Today"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Remakes, remasters, and reimaginings are all the rage right now in video games. For the last several years, studios the world over have crafted new and vastly improved versions of all-time classic games, ranging from faithful modernizations like Capcom\u2019s Resident Evil 4<\/em> <\/em>remake to Square Enix\u2019s wildly ambitious and expanded Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy. While plenty of older games benefit from a modern glow-up, others don\u2019t need a lot of alterations to shine bright decades later.<\/p>\n

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Here are seven JRPGs that have aged like fine wine. These games may have been ported to newer platforms or lightly remastered at various points, but they look and play nearly identical to when they were first released.<\/p>\n

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\n 1 <\/span>
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\n Earthbound
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\n <\/h2>\n
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\"Earthbound\n <\/picture>Image: Nintendo \/ Ape Inc. \/ HAL Laboratory<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Where to play<\/strong>: Nintendo Switch Online (standard subscription)<\/p>\n

We may never get an official English version of Mother 3<\/em>, but we do have one of the most endearing and influential RPGs of all time as part of the SNES library on Nintendo Switch Online. Mother 2, <\/em>better known as Earthbound<\/em>,<\/em> was released in North America in 1995. Boasting some of the most clever enemy designs this side of Dragon Quest \u2014 think piles of puke, annoying hippies, and a quintet of moles jockeying to be third-best \u2014 Earthbound <\/em>is consistently weird, wonderful, and laugh-out-loud funny. This save-the-world adventure spanning a warped version of small town America has spawned countless imitators over the years, but Shigesato Itoi\u2019s timeless vision needs no updates whatsoever to be a fantastic ride in 2026.<\/p>\n

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\n 2 <\/span>
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\n Final Fantasy 9
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\n <\/h2>\n
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\"Black\n <\/picture>Image: Square Enix<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Where to play:<\/strong> Nintendo Switch, PS4, Windows PC, Xbox One<\/p>\n

In the waning days of the PlayStation 1 era, Square turned its back on the steampunk grit of Final Fantasy 7 <\/em>and 8<\/em> and did something totally unexpected by taking the series back to good, old-fashioned medieval fantasy. With a chipper hero accompanied by a sassy princess who yearns to escape the strictures of royal life, FF9 <\/em>is a heartfelt examination of love, life, and mortality that\u2019s also a love letter to the genre. Rumors of a remake have been churning around this one for years, but last year\u2019s 25th anniversary came and went without an announcement. And honestly, FF9<\/em> doesn\u2019t need a remake. The visuals and music were stunning back in 2000 and still hold up brilliantly today.<\/p>\n

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\n 3 <\/span>
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\n Chrono Trigger
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\n <\/h2>\n
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\"chrono\n <\/picture>Image: Square Enix<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Where to play<\/strong>: Windows PC<\/p>\n

Ever since the first trailer for Octopath Traveler<\/em> back in 2018, Square Enix fans have been hankering for a remake of this sweeping time-travel epic in the HD-2D style. We still haven\u2019t gotten one, but that\u2019s okay, because Chrono Trigger<\/em> is pretty much perfect already. Set across six historical periods, the memorable ensemble cast \u2014 which includes a warrior frog, a cave woman, and a massive but kindly robot \u2014 goes on a quest to change history and prevent the end of the world by a vicious alien entity. A one-off collab by the \u201cdream team\u201d of Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii, and Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama, Chrono Trigger<\/em> remains every bit as mesmerizing today as it was in 1995. Bafflingly, it\u2019s still not available on Nintendo Switch, so retro consoles like the SNES, PS1, and 3DS might be your only (legitimate) option if you\u2019re not a PC gamer.<\/p>\n

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\n 4 <\/span>
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\n Lunar: Silver Star Story
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\n <\/h2>\n
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\"lunar\n <\/picture>Image: Working Designs<\/small><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Where to play<\/strong>: Nintendo Switch, PS4, Windows PC, Xbox One<\/p>\n

A product of the early CD games era, before rendered cutscenes became the standard for RPGs, Working Designs\u2019 Lunar<\/em> <\/em>for Sega CD took the pixel-art aesthetic of SNES era RPGs and added anime cutscenes and original music. Sure, the storytelling is a little tropey by today\u2019s standards, but Lunar<\/em> has a little something for every JRPG fan \u2014 a floating magic academy, sassy cats, and a romance between a headstrong priestess and a mouthy mercenary. What\u2019s not to like? The game has seen several remasters and ports over the years, but mercifully none of them have eliminated the charming aesthetic of the 1993 original. It\u2019s widely available in a two-game bundle with its equally great sequel, Lunar: Eternal Blue<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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