PopMatters writes: Pay attention to the video game scene for long enough, and you start to notice cycles. Certain genres, art styles, and mechanics gain popularity, fade away, and then re-emerge. We’ve all seen examples of this: fighting games, cel shading, experience point systems, etc. More difficult to see are the cycles that happen in our own lives. Everything from personal milestones, to work schedules, and even your day-to-day mindset ebb and flow along with the video game landscape, thereby influencing the kinds of games that grab you.
This subject has been on my mind recently thanks to a renewed interest in a genre I nearly abandoned: the JRPG.
New Chrono Trigger Form-ism figures of Crono and Marle have been showcased at a Square Enix pop-up store, with pre-orders expected soon.
Xenoblade Chronicles series composer Manami Kiyota has possibly finished the final orchestra recording for the next Monolith Soft title.
Makes sense. It's been nearly 3 years since the DLC for 3 came out. The next Xenoblade or whatever they end up calling it will probably come out next year.
Final Fantasy VII 1997 exceeds 15.5 million units sold worldwide as of February 2026, reinforcing its legacy as the series best selling title.
I’d love to know how many units have been sold of all the Final Fantasy VII franchise games, including the original, the remakes, spin offs such as Crisis Core, and mobile games Ever Crisis. I bet a fair few copies.
Modern day publisher be like: "Failed to meet sales expectations. Pivoting to live service."
It's an absolute legend of a game. And I honestly really love how the remake trilogy is shaping up so far.
Some of my favorite games of this generation are JRPGs, Valkryia Chronicles, Demon's Souls and The Last Story are all great examples of why I still love this genre to this day. I believe they'll come back next generation though. Where this generation was boom in casual gamers, something JRPGs don't necessarily appeal to, I feel next gen will bring back the "hardcore." By "hardcore" I just mean games that require more thought and skill to beat.
This is interesting. I know that lately I have been spending more time playing my older games (currently revisiting the Suikoden series) instead of buying new games. Once you get past the lower quality graphics there is so much fun to be had with old JRPGs. Plus since a lot of these are games I haven't touched in years I get all nostalgic and they just put a big smile on my face. I am just happy that I never got tempted to sale my old games, so I have a pretty nice collection to choose from.
i am in agreement with pooegg, i have been playing ps one and psp jrpgs more than anything, except dark souls. i am also trying to get through FF type 0 with absolutely no understanding of Japanese. i personally think jrpgs are the best bang for your buck as far as price goes in video games, they give you usually up to a hundred hrs of playtime.
I just re-got into JRPG's after being away for ...well most of my life.
But I Just Beat DQ 9 and discovered Suikoden Tekreis and now I'm a fan of both.
It's a nice feeling knowing I've found 2 series I like and that there are multiple games in each one.
Bought DQ 4 & 5 recently because of how much I loved DQ9 and eventually I'll get 6.
I want to get a PSP eventually because I've realized over the past 2 weeks just how many good jrpg's I'm missing out on or have missed out on.
Just rediscovering my love for them now gives me a ton of games to play over the next 2-4 years.
Also this now has me anticipating and reading about anything Dragon Quest. lol
It really is like a whole new world for me to discover.