A great JRPG is like a fine wine that’s been imported from Japan. The greatest of the genre get better with age and prove their systems to be utterly timeless. Their characters are on par with that of a Greek Tragedy, even if most of their final bosses typically end up becoming insanely over-powered, god-eating beings. However, as time progresses and tastes change JRPGs have begun to streamline much of the more tedious aspects that have turned some off from them in the past. Take for example the Pokémon series, which in recent years has essentially begun to fast track players through its games.
Looking back to Pokémon X and Pokémon Y version players are given a new starter Pokémon at the beginning of the game. Then, later on in the game, another starter from the original trio of Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle is also given to the player. Even later in that same game, the player is given a Lucario, just because. Players can only hold six Pokémon at a time when they go out and about, meaning that the game has essentially given the player half of their lineup. Add in the rampant return of the Exp. Share item in each version of the game since and not only has Game Freak given away Pokémon, but also absolved players of really even having to train them. It makes the game move at a brisk pace, but players are spoiled in the sense that they don’t have to endure the grind of the older games in the series.
How can older JRPGs avoid the pitfall of player expectations and not burn them out with a classic grind? It’s simple; adapt these incredible stories into anime series. Players may not want to take the plunge on an 80-100 hour game, but they certainly wouldn’t mind binging a television series with a reasonable length of 10-13 episodes per season. It’s essentially like how a sculptor works away at a block of marble, removing the unnecessary pieces of the original slab and revealing only the crucial aspects beneath the surface that make it a work of art. Here are the games that would work best with such an adaptation.
As JRPGs go, Chrono Trigger is actually quite short. If one were to rush through the main story of the game it would only take around 20 hours. What a story it is too, blasting through many time periods and featuring robots, wizards, and an epic battle for the very nature of existence. Chrono Trigger doesn’t need a remake, it’s practically a perfect game. But as an anime series, it could further capitalize upon the art by Akira Toriyama of Dragonball fame and spread its timeless tale of time travel to entirely new audiences.
Suikoden II has been referred to by players as something of a JRPG equivalent to Game of Thrones. That’s not to say that the ending is disappointing or divisive, but that there is an epic tale with a large cast of characters full of intrigue, magic, and betrayal. The story centers around the invasion of City States by a neighboring Kingdom. Given that it would fit the tone of Game of Thrones, this would be the ideal property for a team like the one behind Netflix’s Castlevania to adapt into an anime series.
Given that HD remasters of the original Grandia games were recently released, now is the optimal time for an anime adaptation of this JRPG series. Additionally, the main character of the game, Justin, is an unapologetic optimist. This personality and the general nature of the adventure he embarks upon actually would mean that an anime adaptation of Grandia would fit perfectly within the Shonen genre. It remains to be seen if sales of the somewhat lesser know franchise would spur such an adaptation, but fans can hope.
It may be tough to adapt a game that most people who’ve never heard of it would have trouble saying correctly, the Ys series is still a perfect choice for an anime series. Pronounced like “ease” but with more of a snake’s hiss than a “z” sound at the end. The action-JRPG series has much in common with something like Final Fantasy. It has several numbered entries for fans to enjoy, with each containing its own unique cast of characters and story. Most of the games already have an anime art styling, so an adaptation just feels natural. An anime adaptation could help to bring more of a mainstream audience.
This is a game that actually did not make it over to the United States, but is known among Gameboy Advance fans as one of the finest games with a fan-translation around. It features a unique cast of characters in a magic school who go on a class trip to a beach where students from other schools are known to have gone missing in the past. This kind of intrigue and the magic, plus the presence of spirits that the main character has the ability to talk to make this the perfect property for the team behind Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Mother 3 is notorious for never having been released stateside despite fans screaming at Nintendo for over a decade. There’s a fantastic fan-translation that’s been making the rounds online, but Nintendo still will not release anything official. An anime adaptation would be the perfect way to bring this story to fans while also still not requiring Nintendo to go all out on a remake. The art style of the original game lends itself to anime well, with bright colors and a loveable cast of characters like Caesar the monkey.
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