5 Best JRPG’s Shown at TGS 2019

Final Fantasy VII Remake

It seems like it was just recently that we saw the Final Fantasy VII Remake’s big showing at E3 2019, but Square Enix wasn’t satisfied to just sit on their laurels. Tokyo Game Show just a few months later had just as impressive of a showing for the Final Fantasy VII Remake, giving us a hot new trailer and plenty of gameplay for the JRPG.

The latest trailer gave us a good look at Shinra characters in the remake, like Reno, Rude, and Tseng. There were even a couple of big surprises with brand new events, like 7th Heaven being attacked, and a brand new SOLDIER character.

The remake continues to impress on the gameplay front, showing off the Aps boss battle in the sewers of Midgar, as well as our first full look at Tifa gameplay. Past that, we even got to see how summons will work in the Remake, and saw Shiva and Ifrit.

On top of all of that Square Enix announced a “Classic Mode” for the game, letting players use a combat style that emphasizes menu commands, making it feel more in line with the turn-based style of the original. A move that is sure to make lots of purists feel a lot better about the remake.

Final Fantasy VII Remake might have been the most impressive game at TGS, period, and it continues to look fantastic in pretty much every regard.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot

Dragon Ball Z game are a dime a dozen, but like we noted at E3, Kakarot is trying to do something different. That still rings true from the showing we saw at TGS this year.

A new trailer finally gave us a release date that’s surprisingly not far off, releasing on January 17. On top of that, the trailer revealed that the game would also be including the Buu saga, great Saiyaman and all.

There was a decent amount of gameplay shown off at the show as well, and interestingly, most of it focused on Vegeta, instead of the main character Goku.

We’d heard that Kakarot would let us play as other DBZ characters, but this is our first look at actually playing as one of those characters.

With that absurd pink shirt of his, Vegeta looks like a blast to play, and Kakarot continues to look likes a huge breath of fresh air for Dragon Ball games.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon

Yakuza has hit a huge wave of success over the last couple of years, especially in the West, and the most recent title made a big splash last month when it was announced it’d be introducing a turn-based JRPG combat system.

Whatever your thought on the change one thing is certain, Yakuza 7, called Yakuza: Like a Dragon in the West, had a phenomenal showing at TGS.

The turn-based combat is much more than your simple JRPG battles, as it still retains the quirkiness and intensity of Yakuza. For example, you might knock an enemy into the street only to have a car run into them and send them flying into a wall.

Other gameplay shows us some hilarious “job changes” that give characters ridiculous costumes, and equally ridiculous summons.

Like a Dragon still has all the crazy side content you’d expect out of a Yakuza game too, like a kart racing minigame where actual weapons like rocket launchers are your power-ups.

There was a ton of footage shown at TGS, which is exactly what the game needed after dropping the surprising news of genre changing.

At its core Like a Dragon still has everything that makes Yakuza what it is, whether it’s the absurdly dramatic story or the wacky side content.

Project Sakura Wars

Project Sakura Wars had a big showing at TGS, with tons of gameplay, trailers, the announcement of an anime series, and more.

One trailer showed us the gorgeous anime opening of the game, while another focused entirely on the game’s heroine, Sakura, with an original song featuring vocals by the character’s own voice actress.

The art style of Project Sakura Wars continues to look fantastic, and the character designs by Tite Kubo, the creator of Bleach, really work for the game.

In nearly 40 minutes of gameplay footage we also get a look at some adventure mode exploration, character interactions, and of course, mech gameplay.

The mech battles of Project Sakura Wars are fast-paced and furious, a far cry from the turn-based strategy of previous games. Still, it seems to be a change that fits the franchise and combat looks smooth and responsive, something hugely important for any action-RPG.

Fans have been waiting a long time for the return of Sakura Wars, and what we saw at TGS 2019 certainly provides hope for the upcoming JRPG.

Nioh 2

Souls-like games continue to be all the rage, especially considering we’re on the cusp of The Surge 2 and Code Vein releasing. However, Nioh still remains one of the most unique titles released in that trend, and Nioh 2 seems to be continuing that legacy.

Nioh 2 looks even more brutal than the first game, something that’s sure to please fans of the genre. Plenty of details were shared on the game, like howe every youkai enemy will drop a Soul Core that allows you to learn their unique moves.

While plenty of the footage is intense, the real highlight of the showing was Nioh 2’s multiplayer, which looks absolutely insane.

Nioh 2 will allow up to three players to play together in real-time, meaning you can recruit a couple of friends if you’re having trouble.

Koei Tecmo decided to only show two-player multiplayer at the show, but even with just that there’s so much happening on-screen at once, what with enemies attacking and the speed and complexity of the player’s moves.