Right now, the anime JRPG pipeline is deeper than it's been in years — Metaphor: ReFantazio already proved Atlus can build a brand new IP that rivals Persona, Sandfall's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 flipped turn-based combat on its head with parry mechanics, and Rabbit & Bear's Eiyuden Chronicle finally delivered the Suikoden successor fans begged Konami for since 2016. If you're hunting for what to actually play next, or what to wishlist on Steam right now, this is the exact lineup worth your time and your GPU cycles.
Why This JRPG Wave Feels Different
The last few years weren't just "more anime games" — they were a genuine mechanical shake-up. Studios stopped copy-pasting the Dragon Quest formula and started fusing genres. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 grafted Souls-like parry timing onto a Final Fantasy IX-style turn order. Metaphor: ReFantazio took the Persona social sim calendar and dropped it into a Berserk-flavored fantasy kingdom with archetype classes instead of Personas. Granblue Fantasy: Relink turned a gacha mobile game into a full-blown Monster Hunter-style action RPG with four-player co-op. That's the trend you need to track: JRPGs borrowing combat DNA from completely different genres and it's working.
For PC players specifically, this matters because these games are launching day-one on Steam more often than not, with actual settings menus, ultrawide support, and frame rate targets that don't feel like console ports slapped together in a weekend. If you've ever had to troubleshoot a rough PC port before, you know how rare that used to be — check our breakdown on fixing crashes and rescuing FPS in ELEX for a reminder of how bad older RPG ports could get.
Metaphor: ReFantazio — The New Atlus Standard
Metaphor: ReFantazio isn't "upcoming" anymore in the strictest sense (it launched October 2024), but its DLC roadmap and Archetype expansions are still rolling out through 2025, and it's the game every other studio on this list is being compared against. The archetype system replaces Persona fusion — you unlock jobs like Seeker, Brawler, and Knight, each with skill trees that carry over abilities even after you switch archetypes. Combat runs on a modified press-turn system: hit an enemy's weakness with the right archetype skill and you get an extra action, chain four weakness hits in a row and you trigger a full-party synthesis attack that can nuke an entire encounter.
The Royal Virtue system tracks four stats (Wisdom, Courage, Tolerance, Eloquence) that gate dialogue options and unlock new archetypes at rank thresholds, mirroring Persona's confidant system but tied to your actual in-game choices rather than just hangout events.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 — France's Answer To Final Fantasy
Sandfall Interactive's debut game shocked everyone by nailing turn-based combat with real-time execution layered on top. Every attack, yours or the enemy's, has a QTE component — dodge, parry, or jump depending on the telegraph color. A red flash means parry-only, a blue outline means you can dodge or jump, and mistiming a parry against certain boss attacks (like the Paintress's laser sweep) leaves you completely open for a follow-up combo that can wipe a party member in one go.
Characters like Gustave, Lune, and Maelle each run on separate mechanics — Lune stacks elemental Stains that combo into bonus damage if you match the right spell order, while Maelle shifts between combat stances (Offensive, Defensive, Virtuose) that change her entire skill list mid-fight. It's dense, and it rewards players who actually study attack animations instead of button-mashing through cutscenes.
Granblue Fantasy: Relink — Gacha Roots, Action RPG Body
Cygames took a mobile gacha game's decade of character designs and rebuilt them as a full 3D action RPG. Relink plays closer to Monster Hunter than a traditional JRPG — you pick from 20+ playable characters (Katalina, Rackam, Lancelot, Vane) each with distinct combo trees, a Skybound Art ultimate meter, and a Link Attack finisher that triggers when your whole party chains hits within a tight window. Quests scale for up to four-player online co-op, and post-launch content additions (new characters like Vikala and Siegfried) have kept the meta shifting month to month.
Performance-wise, it runs shockingly well for the visual fidelity on offer — a mid-range RTX 3060 setup holds 60fps at 1080p on High settings without much fuss, which is more than you can say for a lot of anime RPGs built on heavier engines.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes — The Suikoden Spirit Lives
Yoshitaka Murayama's final project (he passed before launch) delivers exactly what Kickstarter backers wanted: a 100+ character roster, a castle-building hub that grows as you recruit heroes, and 2D-HD visuals blending pixel sprites with 3D backgrounds, same aesthetic as Octopath Traveler. Combat runs 6-vs-many turn-based battles with a Rune-Lens system letting you assign elemental affinities to any character, plus War Battles — large-scale tactical skirmishes that break from standard combat entirely and play more like a simplified strategy game.
If town-building and resource management hooks you the way it did in games like Empires of the Undergrowth, you'll want to check our fast leveling and gold farming guide for tips that carry over well to any base-building JRPG loop.
Comparing The Combat Systems Side By Side
| Game | Combat Style | Best For | Platform Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metaphor: ReFantazio | Turn-based with weakness chains | Persona fans wanting a new IP | PC, PS5, Xbox Series |
| Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 | Turn-based + real-time parry/dodge | Players who want skill-based JRPG combat | PC, PS5, Xbox Series |
| Granblue Fantasy: Relink | Real-time action combos, co-op | Monster Hunter and Tales fans | PC, PS4/PS5 |
| Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes | Classic turn-based + War Battles | Suikoden nostalgia seekers | PC, PS4/PS5, Switch |
| Persona 5 Tactica | Isometric tactical grid combat | Fire Emblem/XCOM fans who love Persona | PC, PS4/PS5, Switch |
| Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii | Turn-based JRPG with real-time pirate mode | Yakuza fans wanting fresh combat | PC, PS5, Xbox Series |
Persona 5 Tactica And The Rise Of Anime Tactics Games
Persona 5 Tactica proved Atlus can pivot its cast into a completely different genre without losing the vibe. It's isometric, cover-based, and closer to Mario + Rabbids than mainline Persona — but the Triple Threat mechanic (flanking an enemy from two sides for guaranteed critical hits) keeps that signature weakness-exploitation feel intact. It's a shorter game, roughly 25-30 hours for full completion, but it's a genuine gateway for strategy fans who bounced off turn-based menus before.
Expect more of these hybrid spin-offs going forward — Atlus has been vocal about wanting Persona to exist across multiple genres instead of one mainline release every six years.
Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii — RPG Combat Gets Weirder
RGG Studio keeps iterating on the Like a Dragon turn-based system introduced in Yakuza: Like a Dragon and refined in Infinite Wealth. Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii adds a real-time "Sea Dog" combat mode alongside the standard turn-based Job system, letting you switch mid-fight depending on whether you want tactical positioning or straight brawler chaos. Goro Majima's Mad Dog fighting style returns as a dedicated Job class, complete with dual-blade combos and a rage meter that unlocks devastating finishers.
What Kind Of PC You'll Need To Run These Comfortably
| Component | Minimum | Recommended | Pro-Tuned Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPU | GTX 1060 6GB | RTX 3060 / RX 6600 | RTX 4070 or better |
| CPU | Intel i5-8400 | Intel i5-11400 / Ryzen 5 5600 | Intel i7-13700K / Ryzen 7 7800X3D |
| RAM | 8GB | 16GB | 32GB for streaming + co-op |
| Storage | HDD (slow load screens) | SATA SSD | NVMe SSD for asset streaming |
| Target FPS | 30fps at 1080p Low | 60fps at 1080p/1440p High | 60-120fps at 1440p Ultra |
Most of these games run on Unreal Engine 4/5 variants, and the biggest performance killer is shadow quality and volumetric fog settings, not textures. Dropping shadows from Ultra to High alone can recover 10-15fps in Clair Obscur and Granblue Fantasy: Relink without any visible hit to character models. If you've dealt with similar optimization headaches before, our guide on Far Cry 6 GOTY settings for max FPS covers the same shadow-vs-fog tradeoff logic that applies broadly across Unreal-based titles.
How To Actually Prioritize Your Backlog
Don't try to play all six simultaneously — you'll burn out on turn-based menus fast. If you only have time for one right now, start with whichever combat style actually excites you: pick Clair Obscur if you want skill expression and parry timing, pick Eiyuden Chronicle if you want the classic 100+ character Suikoden fantasy, and pick Granblue Fantasy: Relink if you'd rather button-mash with three friends than manage a turn order. Metaphor: ReFantazio is the safest bet if you just want the best-reviewed JRPG of the bunch and don't mind a 70+ hour commitment with a daily calendar system to manage.
Whatever you pick, check the official Atlus site, the Sandfall Interactive developer page, or the Granblue Fantasy: Relink Steam page before buying, since patch notes and DLC roadmaps shift release windows constantly. Also worth bookmarking our Kakarot leveling and Zeni farming guide if Dragon Ball's anime RPG formula is more your speed while you wait on these newer releases.
Bottom line: anime JRPGs stopped being a niche PC category years ago, and 2025's lineup is proof the genre is experimenting harder than it has in a decade. Pick your combat style, check your rig against the table above, and go actually play something instead of just wishlisting it.