"The Japanese role-playing game is a surprisingly important genre for developers to study - both in terms of gameplay and storytelling, and Gamasutra presents an 'Essential 20' explaining and chronicling the top JRPGs of all-time.

Valkyrie Profile: In most RPGs, it's your job to stop the end of the world. In Valkyrie Profile, it's your job to start it.
The battle system is a strange beast, with actions for each of the four party members assigned to a face button. Each character has a numbe..."

"Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 is really two games bundled into one package. By day you play as a high school student in Gekkukan High. During the dark hour, the school transforms into a labyrinth known as Tartarus and you enter it to fight shadows. I’ve been playing Persona 3 for a little while and it is awesome, one of the best games I have played in a long time. One of the reasons why Persona 3 is great is because it isn’t your standard save the world from oblivion by wandering in caves unt..."