Games like Final Fantasy can mean a number of things, especially as each entry installment is always different from the last, while Final Fantasy 16 is arguably the most radical departure from what we consider Final Fantasy to be. But they can still be summed up as some of the best RPGs, and they don't always have to be JRPGs made by Japanese developers.
Take a gander at this list of 10 excellent games like Final Fantasy, and you'll find a mixture of traditional turn-based battles like Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age, more action-based affairs like Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, and others that take the best of both worlds. What they all have in common, however, are captivating fantasy worlds and unforgettable characters you'll be glad to spend anywhere from 30 to 100 hours with.
And if none of these pique your interest, maybe you should take a look at our ranking of the best Final Fantasy games and pick something to play out of there.
10. Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition
Developer: Namco Tales Studio
Platform(s): PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox One
Final Fantasy tends to run on surly player characters. (Let's forget about Vahn and Tidus. Please.) They're the kind of people who pretend not to care for a very long time but who still eventually become the unwilling heroes of the people. Vesperia's Yuri Lowell is such a guy, a dry-witted grump with a big heart.
You'll love following him around the world of Terca Lumireis, and once you're done ,there are many other Tales games with their very own story to discover. In another similarity to Final Fantasy, each Tales entry tries something new with the franchise, to varying degrees of success.
Read our Tales of Vesperia review
9. Kingdom Hearts 3
Developer: Square Enix
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Xbox One, Switch
As a collaboration between Disney and Square Enix, combining Final Fantasy aesthetics and characters with various Disney franchises, Kingdom Hearts 3 can't be forgotten on this list. While the action combat is its very own thing, you can recognize elements of Final Fantasy characters in protagonist Sora and his friends. That's because they share a designer in Tetsuya Nomura.
Some Final Fantasy characters even have cameos in the Kingdom Hearts series. What really makes Kingdom Hearts 3 into something similar to Final Fantasy, however, is the story. Some may say that's because it makes no sense; others just get the same feeling from it – Sora is fiercely protective of his friends and would literally go to the edge of the universe to save them and all of existence from darkness. And if you want more from this series, Kingdom Hearts 4 is in development!
Read our Kingdom Hearts 3 review
8. Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Developer: Monolith Soft
Platform(s): Switch
If you enjoy open-world style JRPGs, Xenoblade Chronicles does that admittedly even better than late adopter Final Fantasy 15, as the world of Alrest is simply a treat to explore. Fear not, you don't have to have played the first Xenoblade Chronicles to start with this one, and should you want to, a remaster of the original Wii U game is also now out in the wild.
Xenoblade Chronicles is another one of those JRPGs with an epic story that's at times equal parts impressive and just that bit too much. It features the classic villain hellbent on destroying the world, but of course, the game is actually way more intricate than that.
7. Fantasian: Neo Dimension
Developer: Mistwalker
Platform(s): PS4, PS5, PC, Xbox Series X, Switch
Fantasian: Neo Dimensions is a dream collaboration between the father of Final Fantasy, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and Final Fantasy 14's Creative Studio 3, who co-developed the port. At its heart it's a classic RPG adventure as you gradually meet and gather a party of fascinating characters whose abilities are crucial in your tactics during turn-based battles.
Its unique twist is being able to skip fights by banishing enemies into the 'Dimengeon', but you can then blitz them all in one big battle with your combination of arc-based and area-of-effect attacks. It also harks back to the era of stunning pre-rendered environments, except the magic here is that these are all real hand-crafted dioramas. With new voice acting to further immerse you in its dimension-hopping story, Fantasian: Neo Dimension is the definitive way to play a new old-school classic.
Read our Fantasian: Neo Dimension feature for more details
6. Sea of Stars
Developer: Sabotage Studio
Platform(s): PC, Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X
On the surface, Sea of Stars looks like it's inspired by JRPGs from the SNES era, including Chrono Trigger as well as Final Fantasy, but it's not just pixel deep. The richer animations exist for a reason, as your characters have far more ways to traverse their environments than the old title-based titles ever could. The same goes for its turn-based battle system, which includes a variety of Paper Mario-like actions while having small pools of magic points you can refill through other attacks encourages you to not just spam the most powerful abilities.
Brimming with imagination and callbacks to classic JRPGs, Sabotage Studio doesn't just know what made those older games tick but gives everything a modern twist. Instead of digging up the oldies back up it's then tempting to just go straight to Sea of Stars instead.
Read our Sea of Stars review
5. Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Developer: Square Enix
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One
If you play a Dragon Quest, make it the best one. Dragon Quest 11 is in many ways part of the era that Final Fantasy has mostly left behind by now – turn-based combat, bright colors, and a slightly medieval feel to its art and story, featuring knights of legend and a war between countries in each installment of the long-running franchise.
If you're looking into something you can sink over 80 hours into in the way you did in Final Fantasy, surrounding yourself with a large cast of lovable characters and going on a quest to save a colorful world, you get all of that here (but funnier).
Read our Dragon Quest 11 review
4. Secret of Mana
Developer: Square
Platform(s): PC, PS4, Switch
The Mana series is another of Square's early franchises that made it synonymous with great RPGs. The story of Secret of Mana remains immensely engaging, the music is lovely, the world is large, and it's just one of the best games of its kind.
Just do yourself a favor and play the original (available on Nintendo Switch) as part of the Secret of Mana collection rather than the 2018 remaster, which you can get on PC and PS4. Don't sleep on this one, as it's arguably one of the best games of all time.
3. Lost Odyssey
Developer: Mistwalker
Platform(s): Xbox 360
After leaving Square Enix, Final Fantasy creator Hinorobu Sakaguchi formed his own company called Mistwalker to be able to try new things. This one is Mistwalker at its best, but arguably most traditional – using a turn-based battle system, emulating the cool, grown-up look of characters from Final Fantasy games like 8 and 10, and a setting combining the medieval with the first inklings of technological advance.
The story is equally as heart-warming as Final Fantasy often is, but overall less convoluted. If you can find it, it's one of the best Xbox 360 games ever. So, definitely add this to your must-play list.
2. Metaphor: ReFantazio
Developer: Studio Zero
Platform(s): PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, PC
Metaphor: ReFantazio is a radical interpretation of what fantasy can mean, which you should expect no less from the creative leads behind contemporary high school JRPGs Persona 3, 4, and 5. Set in a world rife with fear, anxiety, and prejudices, a king's assassination sets about a succession process that resembles an election. It's far from the game's most unusual element, featuring tribes that eschew the fantasy conventions we've come to expect, instead taking influences as wide-reaching as Renaissance art, British '60s fashion, and Evangelion.
The result is a fantasy world quite unlike anything else, grounded by Persona's calendar structure and building companion bonds, a deep class-based command battle system that still affords ways to speed things up, and one of the most compelling video game villains since Final Fantasy 7's Sephiroth. A royal triumph in every way.
Read our Metaphor: ReFantazio review
1. Chrono Trigger
Developer: Square
Platform(s): PC, iOS, SNES
Players love Final Fantasy for the sprawling stories the franchise tells and the memorable characters and music. If you want a game that's like Final Fantasy for all these reasons but better, you need to play Chrono Trigger. No surprise, since Chrono Trigger combines the talents of Final Fantasy creator Hinorobu Sakaguchi and Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii (more on that one later).
Frequently named one of the best video games of all time and easily one of the best JRPGs ever made, the idea of offering a time travel storyline and thus multiple endings was revolutionary for 1995, combined with the now well-known JRPG themes like friendship and overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds that make Final Fantasy so epic.
Read our Chrono Trigger review
For more recommendations, read our lists of the best anime games and the best Persona games ever made.
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