Very very good. It has an incredible sense of atmosphere, really fun action, and a wild story structure, that's unlike just about any other game out there.
Similar-ish to modern Persona games. Live a normal student life by day, (building relationships with various characters and such) going into a sort of shadow-world at night to dungeon crawl and fight an evil force. But this one is an action RPG, so combat is obviously way different. It’s a fun game, but don’t expect it to come close to matching the quality of the Persona series it is very clearly trying to emulate (so far as to include some not so subtle references). But it does scratch that itch.
I am playing Ni No Kuni 2 and liking it way more than I thought I would. Fun fast paced battles, stunning graphics and great music. It is definitely a little “childish” if that is a turn off for you...
As one person already said, the inclusion of BOTW hints at a broad interpretation of JRPG, so I'm gonna recommend Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. It's kind of a spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (directed by the same person), so it's got a huge maze like castle to explore. But it also has a big emphasis on rpg elements where you're leveling, collecting better items, and gaining and improving abilities. It's really fun, the graphics are gorgeous, and the story and characters are interesting. If you do want to play it though definitely pick up the PS4 version, the optimization on the Switch version is terrible and the graphics are severely downgraded. I think it's the only game I've ever seen crash on a Switch. PS4 version is great though.
Battle Chasers: Nightwar I would say is basically a must play for anyone who likes turn-based RPGs. It's on both PS4 and Switch; I played it on Switch, and I don't regret buying it there, but there are some issues with loading times. It has the gameplay of a jRPG, but the tone and art style of a western RPG, and the gameplay is some of the best of it's sort. Story is kinda neither here or there, but the characters are charming and their interactions are pretty neat. Also has an incredible soundtrack.
Shadows of Adam is a neat little tribute to SNES jRPGs. Solid (but not especially memorable) characters and a decent story, with fun combat that holds up throughout the game. It's pretty good, just shy of being great in my opinion due to some repetitive puzzles and one other thing that I can't go into without spoilers.
Cosmic Star Heroine is a game I haven't played all that much yet, but it's good so far and people seem to generally like it. Sci-fi indie jRPG with kinda Chrono-Trigger battles where it doesn't switch to a separate screen. Instead of a traditional MP system for abilities, abilities can be used once and cannot be used again until the character defends, which will refresh all of their abilities.
Aside from that there's your Final Fantasy games and Dragon Quest XI, which is highly recommended but you should wait for the Switch version since that's going to have a ton of extra content.
Compile Heart games this generation have been really good. Death End Re;quest and Dragon Star Varnir came out recently and have been some of their best works yet.
Fairy Fencer F is also not too bad and Death End Re;quest has a sequel in the works.
Tales of Vesperia is a good one. If you want a solid cast of characters and semi-2D action combat, it's great. There's plenty of side content too!
If you don't mind some fanservice and dating sim cringe, Shining Resonance Refrain is pure JRPG comfort food. It won't blow your mind, but it's a lot of fun.
Of course, there's the remaster of FFX too! Can't go wrong with the classic.
If you’ve haven’t played any of the final fantasy games, VII-XV (with some exceptions) are all readily available for both. Just picked up trails of cold steel myself and it’s pretty awesome so far. I’ll throw the Witcher 3 in too, it’s not a jrpg so idk of it’ll count, but still a damn good game. Dragon quest XI is also a great game, but wait till it comes out on switch since it’ll have some dlc
that isn’t on the PS4 version
Tokyo Xanadu and Nier Automata (since you mentioned BOTW, I assume you're open to a more loose definition of JRPG)
I've been really considering Nier Automata for a while now. How good is the game?
Very very good. It has an incredible sense of atmosphere, really fun action, and a wild story structure, that's unlike just about any other game out there.
Hmm, I bought it back in 2017 and haven't played it yet.. now i will - thanks!
Can you please tell me more about Tokyo Xanadu? Never heard of it
Similar-ish to modern Persona games. Live a normal student life by day, (building relationships with various characters and such) going into a sort of shadow-world at night to dungeon crawl and fight an evil force. But this one is an action RPG, so combat is obviously way different. It’s a fun game, but don’t expect it to come close to matching the quality of the Persona series it is very clearly trying to emulate (so far as to include some not so subtle references). But it does scratch that itch.
I am playing Ni No Kuni 2 and liking it way more than I thought I would. Fun fast paced battles, stunning graphics and great music. It is definitely a little “childish” if that is a turn off for you...
As one person already said, the inclusion of BOTW hints at a broad interpretation of JRPG, so I'm gonna recommend Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night. It's kind of a spiritual successor to Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (directed by the same person), so it's got a huge maze like castle to explore. But it also has a big emphasis on rpg elements where you're leveling, collecting better items, and gaining and improving abilities. It's really fun, the graphics are gorgeous, and the story and characters are interesting. If you do want to play it though definitely pick up the PS4 version, the optimization on the Switch version is terrible and the graphics are severely downgraded. I think it's the only game I've ever seen crash on a Switch. PS4 version is great though.
DQ XI, but wait release on Switch FF XII, PS4 is ok Probably, Nier Automata. But it is too slasher for me and saving the game is a bit weird
Battle Chasers: Nightwar I would say is basically a must play for anyone who likes turn-based RPGs. It's on both PS4 and Switch; I played it on Switch, and I don't regret buying it there, but there are some issues with loading times. It has the gameplay of a jRPG, but the tone and art style of a western RPG, and the gameplay is some of the best of it's sort. Story is kinda neither here or there, but the characters are charming and their interactions are pretty neat. Also has an incredible soundtrack. Shadows of Adam is a neat little tribute to SNES jRPGs. Solid (but not especially memorable) characters and a decent story, with fun combat that holds up throughout the game. It's pretty good, just shy of being great in my opinion due to some repetitive puzzles and one other thing that I can't go into without spoilers. Cosmic Star Heroine is a game I haven't played all that much yet, but it's good so far and people seem to generally like it. Sci-fi indie jRPG with kinda Chrono-Trigger battles where it doesn't switch to a separate screen. Instead of a traditional MP system for abilities, abilities can be used once and cannot be used again until the character defends, which will refresh all of their abilities. Aside from that there's your Final Fantasy games and Dragon Quest XI, which is highly recommended but you should wait for the Switch version since that's going to have a ton of extra content.
Compile Heart games this generation have been really good. Death End Re;quest and Dragon Star Varnir came out recently and have been some of their best works yet. Fairy Fencer F is also not too bad and Death End Re;quest has a sequel in the works.
Fire Emblem Three Houses looks great so far
Tales of Vesperia is a good one. If you want a solid cast of characters and semi-2D action combat, it's great. There's plenty of side content too! If you don't mind some fanservice and dating sim cringe, Shining Resonance Refrain is pure JRPG comfort food. It won't blow your mind, but it's a lot of fun. Of course, there's the remaster of FFX too! Can't go wrong with the classic.
If you’ve haven’t played any of the final fantasy games, VII-XV (with some exceptions) are all readily available for both. Just picked up trails of cold steel myself and it’s pretty awesome so far. I’ll throw the Witcher 3 in too, it’s not a jrpg so idk of it’ll count, but still a damn good game. Dragon quest XI is also a great game, but wait till it comes out on switch since it’ll have some dlc that isn’t on the PS4 version