The 5 Best Mobile RPGs – A New Take on Old Favorites

Let’s throw out the acronym RPG: that’s role-playing game for the unfamiliar.

Traditionally, in a console/PC kind of context, RPGs can gain an extra letter in their genre title, that letter being “J.” The Japanese RPG really started it all, with titles like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy rocking the world with the tabletop-turned-console RPG experience.

But RPGs in the mobile scene haven’t all taken the route of the lengthy and strategy-heavy, preferring instead a more simple and elegant style of gameplay.

This allows certain attributes of playable characters and monsters to take over the strategic decision-making in large part, while also providing hybridization to make for a more immersive and technically challenging experience. Take a look at these 5 mobile RPGs, both classic favorites and original loves, to make sure you get the most out of your next foray into an RPG experience.

Glyph Quest

If you’re looking for a quick, pick-up-and play RPG experience with an inspired art design and an insane spellbook, then Glyph Quest ( iOS | Android ) is just the game for you. It offers an amazing amount of content, including the ability to track the spells you’ve casted, with greyed-out sections holding those you’ve yet to figure out, as well as a wide range of items to use on your quest to save the village.

Chrono Trigger

Indeed, the time-traveling classic is available for your mobile device! Chrono Trigger ( iOS | Android ) started a huge following, and it grew into the much-loved and long-time sequel-demanded Chrono Cross. Let’s be real, the creator of Dragon Ball, Akira Toryama, worked on this one—what’s not to love!?

Final Fantasy

As Verizon Wireless puts it, “You can’t have a “Top RPG” list without the words “Final Fantasy” showing up somewhere.” And, sure enough, here it is! Full ports of Final Fantasy through Final Fantasy VI are available on both the iTunes store and Google Play. That even includes the Final Fantasy IV: The After Years title.

Not enough? You can continue your out-of-the-way RPG battling with Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy: Dissidia for your mobile devices as well. The rich, new recordings of the Nobuo Uematsu favorites and remastered visuals, some in full 3D, will offers hours on hours of gameplay, complete with the replay value we’ve all come to love.

Puzzle and Dragons

Probably the most-played and well-known puzzle RPG these days, Puzzle and Dragons ( iOS | Android ) will have you logging in every day to get the daily bonus and to check the news regarding the regularly-updated dungeons.

The game borrows a Pokemon-esque beginning by allowing you to choose a monster of the three basic elements but will totally wow you with its inventive collaboration dungeons, the most recently notable of which was with Evangelion. Get some!

Oceanhorn

Wanna play Zelda without playing Zelda and with a different storyline in isometric 3D? Oceanhorn ( iOS ) is the answer! With a score written by Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy’s legendary composer), you’ll be sure to find something to love here. Like I said, complete with heart-piece gathering and action button equipment including Bombs and Arrows, this nostalgic walk in another reality will keep your attention for a long time. It even has those next-to-impossible bosses—no wonder, then, that the Metacritic score is so solid.

And there you have it: the JRPG, RPG, puzzle RPG, and action-puzzle RPG are all available to your smartphone, so don’t waste another minute on those quicky titles when you know you have five or ten to gain a level in your newest favorite (of sorts!).

Cheers,

Blaine Kelton

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