Key facts
- Cheapest right now
- € Standard · Global · Difmark
- Live offers
- 15 offers · 14 stores
- Our pick
- Standard · eShop Code · Europe · Gameboost — €
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Our Switch catalogue has 175 pages tagged JRPG with at least one live offer today. Nobody reads 175 pages, so here are twenty of them in four families, each with the same two things next to the name: the Steam verdict of the PC version, given as a raw count rather than a percentage, and the lowest offer its Switch page shows right now.
Steam does not collect reviews for Switch releases, so the verdict always belongs to the PC version of the same game. That rule also decides who is missing: the list only includes JRPGs that exist on PC, which leaves out Xenoblade and Fire Emblem.
The prices are the ones our pages display, with any discount code we show next to an offer already applied.
Shared accounts and eShop regions, before the list
On Switch, the first offer you see on most of these pages is not a copy of the game. It is access to somebody else's Nintendo account, sold by Difmark and a couple of others under the label Account. The game never lands in your own profile, and if the original owner changes the password you are left holding a receipt. On 17 of the 20 pages below that account is the cheapest thing listed, so for every game we also give the first offer that is a real code or a cartridge.
Then there is the region. An eShop code is tied to the region of the Nintendo account you redeem it on: a US code does nothing on a European account, and several of these pages mix the two at very different prices. Cartridges from Amazon, Fnac, Media Markt or PCcomponentes have no region, which is why a box is sometimes the sensible answer even when it costs a few euros more.
The Square Enix back catalogue, starting at €4.49
FINAL FANTASY IX is the one I would hand to somebody who wants to know what the PlayStation era felt like. Four characters on screen, Active Time Events that cut away to the rest of the party, and Vivi carrying the story from under a pointed hat. The port has the speed boosters, which matter on a handheld. Overwhelmingly Positive on PC, 11,771 of 12,391. 15 offers from 9 shops on Switch. The Difmark account is €9.32; the cheapest European code is K4G at €12.11, then Eneba €12.64 and Cdkeys Com €14.19, and Fnac has the cartridge at €19.99.
FINAL FANTASY VIII REMASTERED is the divisive one, and the junction system is why: you draw magic out of enemies and bolt it onto your stats, and if you never work that out the game feels unfair. Work it out and it breaks in your favour by disc two. Mostly Positive on Steam, 3,604 of 4,805, below every other Final Fantasy here. 12 offers on Switch: the account is €8.39 at Difmark, codes start at €9.87 at Gamivo, €9.99 at Kinguin and €10.02 at Gameboost, all Europe. Fnac, again, €19.99 for the box.
FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD Remaster is two games and a very long time. X is the last one with turn-based combat proper, and the Sphere Grid is still the best levelling system Square Enix has drawn; X-2 is lighter and sillier, and the dressphere job system is worth the price on its own. Very Positive, 17,205 of 19,776. Only 6 offers on Switch, and it shows: the Difmark account is €8.39, but the first code is Kinguin at €17.99 for Europe, with CJS-CDKeys at €19.79 for a Global one.
CHRONO CROSS THE RADICAL DREAMERS EDITION needs a caveat before the recommendation. The game underneath is a classic, with dozens of recruitable characters and a battle system built on stamina and element fields, and Mitsuda's soundtrack is the best he has written. The remaster shipped with frame-rate problems, and Steam did not forgive it: Mixed, 1,342 of 2,165. Here the cheapest offer really is a code. Eneba has it at €7.00 for Europe, Difmark Digital Keys right behind at €7.30, and the Fnac cartridge is €14.95. 8 offers in all.
Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion is the PSP prequel with new models and a combat system that no longer fights you. It is action rather than turns, the DMW slot machine still decides your limit breaks, and the ending remains the best thing Square Enix has done with Zack. Very Positive, 6,159 of 6,920. It is also the cheapest entry on this whole list: Eneba has a European eShop code at €4.49 and nothing else is close, since the next offer is Cdkeys Com at €14.49 and the Fnac box is €19.99. 9 offers.
Romancing SaGa 2 Revenge of the Seven is the remake with the strangest design in this family: you run an empire across generations, your emperor dies and hands skills down to a successor, and the game barely explains any of it. Once it clicks it is the most interesting thing Square Enix has on this list. Very Positive, 3,630 of 3,903. Buying it on Switch is awkward: 9 offers, a Difmark account at €20.15 and no eShop code at all, so the first real copy is the Amazon DE cartridge at €29.99. Amazon FR wants €47.99 for the same box.
The big modern ones: Persona, NieR, Dragon Quest and SMT
Persona 5 Royal is a full school year of Tokyo calendar, and every afternoon you spend on a part-time job instead of a dungeon is a decision the game makes you feel. Royal adds a third term and is the version to own. The Steam sample is the largest on this list: Overwhelmingly Positive, 87,371 of 91,011. On Switch, 12 offers. The Difmark account sits at €10.07; European codes start at K4G €11.52, then Kinguin €11.80, Eneba €11.90 and Cdkeys Com €13.39. The US codes on the same page cost between €34 and €68, so mind the region label.
NieR Automata is barely a JRPG by the rulebook and belongs here anyway: PlatinumGames combat, a plot that only makes sense after the third ending, and a soundtrack people buy on vinyl. The Switch port lowers the resolution and keeps everything that matters. Very Positive, 101,128 of 114,918. 10 offers on Switch. The Difmark account is €13.43 and the first real copy is the Media Markt cartridge at €14.90, a euro and a half more. The Special Edition at Gaming Dragons is €15.49, and the first eShop code is Instant Gaming at €16.29.
DRAGON QUEST XI S Echoes of an Elusive Age is comfort food. Turn-based, Toriyama art, a party you will like by the second town, and the S version lets you flip the whole thing into 2D pixel art from a menu. Nobody will be surprised by anything in it, which is the point. Very Positive, 9,582 of 10,415. 12 offers on Switch, and the gap between account and copy is wide: Difmark's account is €16.79, Instant Gaming's European code is €24.16, the PCcomponentes cartridge is €26.22, and Nintendo's own eShop still asks €59.99.
Shin Megami Tensei V Vengeance is Persona without the friends. The demon negotiation is there, so is the press-turn combat where hitting a weakness buys you an extra action, and the calendar is gone. Vengeance adds a second route. Very Positive, 7,103 of 7,805. 13 offers on Switch, and region matters most here: the account is €15.53, the Amazon UK cartridge €22.91 and Amazon FR €26.98, while the eShop codes are US region (Eneba, €29.78) apart from one European code at Instant Gaming for €47.99. For once the box is the answer.
HD-2D and tactics, where the real copies cost the most
OCTOPATH TRAVELER invented the HD-2D look: sprites on tilted dioramas with depth of field, and eight travellers whose stories barely touch until the very end. The Break-and-Boost combat is the real reason to stay. Very Positive, 11,784 of 13,864. 13 offers on Switch: account €11.75 at Difmark, codes from €14.26 at Eneba and €14.27 at Kinguin, both Europe, the Fnac cartridge at €19.99, and Nintendo UK at the top with €58.13.
OCTOPATH TRAVELER 2 answers the complaint. The eight stories now cross, day and night change what each character can do in town, and the final chapter earns the ensemble. It is the better game. Very Positive, 12,409 of 13,343. It is also much worse to buy on Switch right now: 7 offers, the Difmark account at €15.95, and no cheap European code. The first copy that is yours is the Media Markt cartridge at €39.99; the only code we list is Gaming Dragons at €55.72.
Triangle Strategy is the tactics half of the HD-2D catalogue. Grid battles with height and elemental terrain, and a story that stops every few chapters to make the party vote, with your convictions deciding who you can persuade. It talks a lot. Mostly Positive, 2,523 of 3,234. 15 offers on Switch looks generous until you sort them: the six cheapest are shared accounts, from Difmark at €10.07 upwards. The first real copy is the Amazon FR cartridge at €42.30, and the first eShop code is Cdkeys Com at €53.79.
Tactics Ogre Reborn is Matsuno's original, the one Final Fantasy Tactics grew out of, with a branching civil war you can rewind and choose differently. Reborn's level cap per chapter annoys people; the writing does not. Mostly Positive, 2,907 of 4,037. Only 4 offers on Switch and nobody is competing on price: the account is €25.19 at Difmark, the Amazon UK cartridge is €32.19, and that is the whole picture.
Valkyria Chronicles 4 is a tactics game where you run each unit yourself in third person once you pick it, in a watercolour war across a not-quite-Europe. Sniper nests, tank cover, an action-point budget per turn. Very Positive, 4,887 of 5,683. 12 offers on Switch, and this is the closest call on the list: Instant Gaming has a European eShop code at €8.59 while the Difmark account is €7.55, barely a euro apart. At that distance the code wins every time. Cdkeys Com follows at €10.59.
Action combat and anime licences
DRAGON BALL Z: KAKAROT retells the whole Z saga from Raditz to Buu, with open areas between the fights, cooking, fishing and a levelling system that exists mostly so the fights can be paced. The combat is arena-based and reads the way the anime looks. Very Positive, 40,756 of 43,824. 12 offers on Switch: Difmark account €9.65, codes from Driffle at €16.25, Gameboost at €16.94 and Instant Gaming at €17.09, all Europe, and the Media Markt cartridge at €18.99, close enough to the codes to be worth it for the missing region.
Ni no Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Remastered is Studio Ghibli animation stitched onto a Level-5 monster-raising RPG, and the familiars you train do most of the fighting. It is gentle, long, and better than its combat. Very Positive, 3,332 of 4,015. This is the best stocked page of the twenty, with 16 offers. The account is €8.22, then three European codes within six cents of each other: Kinguin €9.00, Gamivo €9.03, HRKGame €9.06. The US codes on the same page are €45 to €49.
Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition is the Tales game most people name first, for Yuri, a lead who is willing to kill and does not apologise for it, and for the real-time combat the series built its identity on. This is the complete version. Very Positive, 3,029 of 3,786. 10 offers on Switch: Difmark account €10.07, a European code at Instant Gaming for €15.29, and the Amazon DE cartridge at €34.95.
Ys VIII Lacrimosa of DANA moves faster than anything else here. You are shipwrecked on an island, you build a village out of the other survivors, and Falcom's combat has you switching between three characters while flash guards and dodges buy you slow motion. Very Positive, 5,549 of 6,166. Its Switch page is the one to learn from. 8 offers, and the six cheapest are shared accounts, from Difmark at €9.47 and K4G at €10.75 upwards. The only copies that are yours are cartridges: Amazon UK, €80.31. Cheap only if you accept somebody else's login.
Monster Hunter Stories is the 3DS spin-off turned turn-based monster-raising game, rock-paper-scissors combat and eggs to steal from nests. It is for the Pokémon crowd more than the Monster Hunter one. Very Positive, 1,441 of 1,601. 8 offers on Switch, and the cheapest code beats the account by three cents: Eneba at €11.96 against Difmark's account at €11.99. The catch is that the Eneba code is US region. The first European code is Instant Gaming at €19.99, and that is the number that matters if your account is European.
What to buy, and in which format
If you have never played a JRPG, start with Persona 5 Royal or FINAL FANTASY IX. One is the modern template, the other the old one, and both are under €13 as a European code today. If it is Persona, buy Persona 5 Royal key from one of the four European shops between €11.52 and €13.39 rather than the account sitting above them.
If it is tactics you want, Triangle Strategy and Tactics Ogre Reborn are the two, and both are expensive to own on Switch right now: €42.30 and €32.19 for a cartridge. Valkyria Chronicles 4 at €8.59 is the tactics game for a small budget, and it is a proper one.
On a tight budget, Crisis Core at €4.49 and Chrono Cross at €7.00 are European codes, and they happen to be the only two pages in the twenty where the cheapest offer of all is a copy you keep. Monster Hunter Stories makes it three, by three cents and with a US code. On the other 17 the first thing you see is a shared account, and on Ys VIII and Triangle Strategy the six cheapest all are.
So before paying, check the word next to the price. Account means a login. eShop Code means a region, and the region has to be yours. A box from Amazon or Fnac has neither problem and is sometimes the cheapest honest way in.
I have been a gamer for as long as I can remember, and for the last 14 years I have been making life easier for other gamers. CEO and co-founder of Gocdkeys.
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