Menu combat done right: classics, tactics games and modern turn-based RPGs.
Turn-based combat never went away — it got better. Modern turn-based RPGs borrow from tactics games, deckbuilders and immersive sims, while the classics remain playable because nothing about a good menu ages.
This is our ranked list of the best turn-based RPGs, split into modern picks, all-time classics and tactical RPGs. Every entry says roughly how long it runs, because that is what actually decides whether you finish one.
2023 · PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Mac
D&D rules given a physics engine and a cast that reacts to everything. Around 100 hours, and it supports drop-in co-op.
2019 · PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox
A school-life sim wrapped around stylish dungeon crawling, with the slickest combat UI ever made. Expect 100-plus hours.
2024 · PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
The Persona team's fantasy RPG, with an archetype class system and a genuinely political story. Faster-paced than Persona.
2017 · PC, PS4, Xbox, Switch, Mac
Elemental surfaces turn every fight into chemistry, and four-player co-op lets everyone ruin the plan together.
2023 · PC, PS5, Xbox, Switch
A modern love letter to Chrono Trigger with timed hits and no random encounters. About 30 hours, and never grindy.
2023 · PC, PS5, Switch, Xbox
Eight interlocking stories with a break-and-boost battle system that rewards saving turns. HD-2D art at its best.
1995 · SNES, DS, PC, Mobile
Combo attacks, no random battles and thirteen endings in a 20-hour package. The most efficiently designed RPG ever made.
1994 · SNES, PC, Mobile, Switch, PS4
An ensemble cast and a mid-game catastrophe that reshapes the whole world map. The Pixel Remaster is the version to buy.
2001 · PS2, PS5, Switch, Xbox, PC
The Conditional Turn-Based system shows you the turn order and lets you manipulate it — the most tactical mainline Final Fantasy.
2017 · PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox
Traditional turn-based questing done with enormous polish and warmth. The most comfortable long RPG on this list.
2009 · DS
Two regions in one cartridge and a following partner Pokémon. Still the high-water mark for the series' structure.
1998 · PS1, PS5, Switch, Xbox, PC
A war story with 108 recruits, army battles and duels. The HD remaster removed the collector-price barrier.
1997 · PS1, PSP, Modern remaster
A job system with genuine build depth attached to a political tragedy. Difficult, dense and endlessly re-buildable.
2019 · Switch
Grid tactics plus a school calendar, with four routes that recontextualise each other. Casual mode removes permadeath.
2017 · PC, PS4, Xbox, Switch, Mac
Squad tactics where losing soldiers is the story. The expansion's named enemies give every campaign a villain.
2018 · PC, Switch, Mobile, Mac
Perfect-information tactics on an 8x8 grid, with runs that last under an hour. The best short turn-based game ever made.
2022 · Switch, PC
Elevation-heavy tactical battles between long political debates your party votes on. Slow, talky, and excellent.
2022 · PC, PS5, Switch
Branching-law tactics with a rewind system so mistakes cost minutes, not hours. The classic Matsuno design at its sharpest.
Baldur's Gate 3 for scope and reactivity, Persona 5 Royal for style, and Metaphor: ReFantazio if you want something newer with a faster pace.
Chrono Trigger (around 20 hours), Sea of Stars (around 30) and Into the Breach, whose runs fit inside a lunch break.
They are the most beginner-friendly RPGs there are — you can pause and think on every action. Start with Sea of Stars, Dragon Quest XI S or Pokémon.
Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin 2 both support drop-in co-op for up to four players, including split-screen on console.
All classic JRPGs are turn-based, but plenty of turn-based RPGs — XCOM 2, Divinity, Baldur's Gate 3 — come from the Western tradition with different pacing and character creation.