tl;dr - Codex poll, for jRPGs only
I must admit I'm vexed with how dismissive the hivemind tends to be towards the broadly defined jRPGs - sure, Rance had some exposure here, SMT is a household name, and Japanese Wizardries are a guilty pleasure of any decent individual. The few jRPGs which somehow make it to the usual GOTY lists are met with impressive whinging and second-guessing their nature as RPGs, as is customary everytime a new release shakes the market. Some very old step-based stuff gets a pass, because it's rare enough to warrant 'back in my days' attention.
People like all sorts of jRPGs, though, and I think we have never had an honest sit-down and decided which games are actually good. Time for a Best jRPGs poll - modelled after
felipepepe and
Deuce Traveler polls, only I'm not a mathematical savant, so we're going to keep the rules as clear and readable as possible.
Let me rip off the premise of the recent Best Vintage RPGs poll shamelessly, because I find it very fair:
Each Codex member gets to make one post allocating 10 points to a maximum of 5 games. You cannot allocate more than 5 of your points to any single game.™
You can nominate jRPGs only - games made in Japan, not games inspired by games made in Japan. It's a poll for Japanese games only. There's no limit on whether they were officially released in the West, fan TLs and untranslated games also apply.
Whether action-y like Ys, tactical like Ogre, training like Pokemon, or classic FIGHT/CAST/ITEM/RUN - any subgenre goes, as long as it's a jRPG, an RPG made in Japan.
To remove the FOTM factor, you can nominate games from the dawn of time up to Q4 2020. Yes, your 2021 releases are the best ever, but don't nominate them.
Since jRPG polls are so infrequent, this one is going to run a little longer than usual, for a wide number of posters to have a chance to vote:
Poll will be closed on March 12, Saturday, five weeks from now.
Results will be gathered and presented shortly after.
