"square enix"

2014 · JRPG

Dragon Quest VIII on mobile is a full-scale JRPG that has no business being this good on a phone. The Akira Toriyama art style looks gorgeous on modern screens, the turn-based combat holds up perfectly with touch controls, and the world is big enough to get genuinely lost in for 60+ hours. The portrait-mode-only restriction and occasional touch interface awkwardness remind you this is a port rather than a native mobile game. Some quality-of-life features from later re-releases are missing. But as a premium RPG with no microtransactions, no energy systems, and no compromises on content, it remains one of the best ways to experience a classic JRPG on the go.

2020 · JRPG

Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent brings the HD-2D magic and strategic break-and-boost combat to mobile in a single-player package that respects your time better than most gacha games, though the gacha system occasionally gates story content in ways that test your patience.

2020 · JRPG

Romancing SaGa Re;univerSe offered one of the most generous and mechanically interesting gacha experiences on mobile, with a style system that made every pull meaningful, though its global run ended in December 2024 after four years of service.

2021 · RPG

NieR Re[in]carnation delivered Yoko Taro's signature melancholic storytelling and Keiichi Okabe's haunting soundtrack in a mobile format that faithfully captured the series' atmosphere. The narrative, art direction, and music stood among the best available on mobile devices. The turn-based combat was barebones, the gacha rates were punishing, and the game ended worldwide service in April 2024, making it a beautiful but flawed experience that ultimately couldn't sustain itself.

2016 · JRPG

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius delivered a surprisingly complete JRPG experience on mobile, with explorable towns, challenging boss trials, a full original story, and pixel art that evoked the series' golden era. Eight years of aggressive power creep and predatory gacha mechanics eventually wore down even the most devoted players, but at its best, FFBE proved that a mobile Final Fantasy could feel like the real thing.

2015 · Open World Action-Adventure · PC / Steam

Just Cause 3 delivers some of the most satisfying destruction and traversal mechanics in any open world game, but repetitive mission design and a forgettable story hold it back from greatness. It's a fantastic sandbox toy that works best in short, chaotic sessions rather than marathon playthroughs.

2020 · Tactical RPG

War of the Visions delivered the mobile Final Fantasy Tactics experience many fans wanted, with gorgeous art and strategic grid-based combat, but buried it under one of the most demanding grind structures and convoluted upgrade systems in the gacha genre.

2020 · Tactical RPG

Dragon Quest Tact combined the series' beloved monster designs and charm with accessible grid-based tactical combat, creating a mobile experience that was easy to pick up and visually delightful. Aggressive gacha mechanics, a punishing difficulty curve for free players, and repetitive grinding undermined the formula, and the global version shut down after just two years of service.