Steam Autumn Sale 2023: best JRPGs to grab at a discount

• Off by 50%
• Find Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on Steam

Final Fantasy 7 Remake was an ambitious retelling of one of the most beloved stories in gaming, and despite massive changes, a total overhaul of just about everything in the game, and some contrived Kingdom Hearts-level nonsense, it managed to pull it off perfectly. It’s an absolute blast to play, combining classic FF7 ATB gameplay with more modern action combat, with gorgeous graphics, amazing voice acting, and in Intergrade, an extra story with everyone’s favorite ninja, Yuffie. Ahead of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s release date early next year, now’s the perfect time to play Remake.

• Off by 40%
• Find Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion on Steam

We have a sneaking suspicion that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth might be a little more connected to other games in the FF7 series than previously thought, and one of the games that’s likely to play a part in the new story is Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion. This prequel story has you taking the lead as Zack Fair, exploring the origin of big bad Sephiroth, and nurturing Cloud into the stoic hero he is in Final Fantasy 7. It’s also packed with tight action gameplay that would seemingly inspire FF7 Remake, and Reunion itself is one of the best remasters we’ve seen in a long time.

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• Find Persona 5 Royal on Steam

Do you have 200 hours free over the holidays? Well boy, do we have the game for you. Persona 5 Royal is the latest and greatest game in one of the best JRPG series ever. Persona 5 was great, but its Royal remaster/enhancement fixed a lot of problems with the dungeons, added a bunch more to do, and even introduced six more months of story and a new playable character. HowLongToBeat says it takes, on average, 100 hours just to beat the story, with an extra 50 to do everything else, and all 150 of those hours are pure gold.

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• Find Yakuza: Like a Dragon on Steam

For over a decade, the Yakuza series was a pretty straightforward brawler with a heavy focus on story. Then Like a Dragon came a long and entirely reinvented the series as a turn-based JRPG, and it did a damn good job of it too. We’ll admit that there are some teething issues – balancing your first RPG is hard and developer RGG Studio didn’t quite get it perfect – but overall it’s surprisingly good. It’s also packed with heart, charm, and plenty of Dragon Quest references, all of which make it an absolute delight to play through. And at 80% off, this is an absolute steal, and the perfect time to jump in ahead of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth’s release in January.

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• Find Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth Complete Edition on Steam

What’s better than one very good monster collecting game at an absurdly low price? Two very good monster collection games at an absurdly low price. The Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth duology is a little bit like Pokemon if every battle were a triple battle, it was actually difficult, had anime cutscenes, and wasn’t afraid to delve into some adult themes. So basically nothing like Pokemon at all, really. But it is very good nonetheless, despite some pretty dodgy translation issues at times. It also runs like a dream on Steam Deck, which isn’t surprising given it started its life as a Vita game.

• Off by 80%
• All DLC off by 50%
• Find Shin Megami Tensei III Nocturne HD Remaster on Steam

The Shin Megami Tensei series is Persona’s older brother, with a much heavier focus on tough battles and dark themes. SMT3 has always been a bit of a fan favorite, and its HD remaster, while fairly bare bones, is a nice, faithful representation of the game that everyone loves. It’s probably not the best game to jump into if you’re new to JRPGs, but it is a heck of a lot of fun for anyone with a bit of experience under their belt. And yes, it does feature Dante from the Devil May Cry series, too.

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• Find Monster Hunter Stories 2 on Steam

Now, if you are getting into JRPGs for the first time, Monster Hunter Stories 2 is a really great jumping off point. It’s a creature collector game, like Pokemon or the Digimon games mentioned above, and is filled with adorable versions of normally vicious Monster Hunter monsters. It’s got a lovely little story, a great cast of characters, and plenty of fantastic – but approachable – turn-based combat. It’s also a lot of fun for experienced JRPG veterans, and you don’t really have to have played the first game to get your head around this one.

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• Find NEO: The World Ends With You on Steam

I really wish that I could say NEO: TWEWY was a game for everybody, but it’s not. It’s an action-adventure deckbuilder JRPG with a dense combat system, an even denser story, and some galaxy-brain nonsense that only really makes sense to Kingdom Hearts fans. Still, it’s one of the most fun games we’ve ever played, and a perfect follow-up to the original The World Ends With You, so any fans who’ve been waiting to jump in on this should do so now. If you’re brave enough and don’t mind some characters and plotlines going entirely over your head, you can skip the first game and still get enough out of NEO to have a fun time, but this one really is for the fans who played TWEWY all those years ago.

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• Sunbreak Expansion off by 40%
• Find Monster Hunter Rise on Steam

Monster Hunter Rise is simply the best Monster Hunter game to date. It’s got a bunch of high-level, difficult hunts for veterans of the series, a nice, gentle difficulty curve in its story for newcomers, and adorable dogs that you can ride into battle. If you’ve never played Monster Hunter, this is the place to start, and if you have played Monster Hunter, this is the next one you should play. Everybody should play it, really. Please play Monster Hunter Rise.

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• Find One Piece Odyssey on Steam

Our One Piece Odyssey review called it the best One Piece game yet, though admittedly that was a fairly low bar. It’s a solid JRPG made by ILCA – the studio who developed Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl and helped develop Dragon Quest XI – and it looks absolutely wonderful. Translating One Piece into 3D isn’t easy, but ILCA pulled it off very well, and the combat system is surprisingly very good. Throw in some absolutely incredible attack animations, and some shockingly deep strategy mechanics, and you’ve got a game that punches well above its weight and is well worth checking out.