Kotaku's 20 JRPGs That We Must Play

I haven't kept up on the Japanese role-playing game scene as much as I probably should have over the past several years, so if you're like me and could use a one-stop source proclaiming some of the best such titles, this top 20 list on Kotaku should fit the bill. They also declare which platform offers the best experience for those games that have been released and re-released over the years, which makes things even more convenient.  A couple of mentions:

Phantasy Star IV

Platforms: Sega Genesis, PC

Back in the 90s, when Final Fantasy had exploded and JRPGs were as ubiquitous as MOBAs are today, Sega offered up their own take: Phantasy Star, a sci-fi epic that would be to Star Wars what Dragon Quest was to Lord of the Rings. While some naysayers and Nintendo fanboys dismissed Sega's series as a bunch of knock-offs, people who actually played the Genesis RPGs were treated to some high-quality sci-fi RPG action. Phantasy Star IV in particular is transcendent.

Chrono Trigger

Platforms: Super Nintendo, PlayStation, Nintendo DS, iOS, Android

Look, you know all about Chrono Trigger. Time travel, talking frog swordsmen, Lavos, Lucca, mute Jesus protagonist, floating magic sky kingdom. If you've never played it before, try to keep your expectations in check it's probably not gonna change your life but it's still a top-notch RPG. (We recommend the DS version.)