After the “failure” of the Gamecube and the massive success of the DS, Nintendo tried another round in the home console market by launching the Wii in 2006, to compete directly with Sony’s PS3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360.
As usual with Nintendo consoles, the Wii featured something innovative, the Wii Remote, a handheld device that detected the user’s movements, thus controlling the console.
This gave the Wii great versatility in terms of games, making its catalog one of the most varied to date. From sports games, to platformers, to traditional role playing games. And those are what we are going to talk about today, The best Wii RPG games of all time!
Many classic role-playing games were released on the Nintendo Wii. And like the best Wii games, many of the best RPGs took advantage of the console’s unique motion controls to immerse the player more than ever in their incredible stories and fantasy worlds. With this premise, I present the
10 Best Nintendo Wii RPGs Of All Time
Marvel Ultimate Alliance (2006)
We start with an action RPG based on the superheroes and villains that nowadays conquer Hollywood. Developed by Raven Software and distributed by Activision, Ultimate Alliance is an adventure that every Marvel and comic book fan can’t miss.
The story begins when Dr. Doom and the Masters of Doom attack the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, so Nick Fury calls in all available superheroes to assist him.
This is just the prologue of a long adventure that features more than 140 Marvel characters and 17 different scenarios, from cities on Earth to unknown dimensions.
The story is already fascinating, but it’s the gameplay that shines the most, allowing you to lead a team of 4 heroes, that although you only control one at a time, you give orders to the others to succeed in the battles.
Throughout the game, you fight against the typical standard henchmen to dozens of classic comic book villains. No one is missing in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, so even if you’re not a fan of the superhero genre, you’ll enjoy this action RPG with Hack & Slash overtones, good graphics, and immersive sound design.
And if you are a Marvel fan, open your eyes wide because there are many hidden references.
Rune Factory: Frontier (2009)
Developed by the Neverland studio, Rune Factory: Frontier is a simulation and RPG game set in a fantasy world.
Raguna, the young protagonist, suffers a timely amnesia that makes him move in with a girl named Mist.
Everything was going well until Mist disappears, so Raguna embarks on a journey to find her, leading him to the town of Trampoli, where he finds his friend and decides to move into a farm. But a new threat appears when the young man discovers that the floating whale island may fall into the village, heading off on another adventure to avoid it.
This title is a good combination of action and simulation. On the one hand, the dungeon exploration section is simple but effective, fighting different enemies until you reach the final treasure.
Your weapons and equipment increase in quality as you advance in the dungeons. But the most entertaining part is taking care of and customizing your farm, where you can plant different crops depending on the time of year.
The social component is also very present, creating ties with your neighbors and even finding the love of your life.
Although the game doesn’t have a real-time cycle like Animal Crossing, you do encounter a lively and dynamic town, with stores that open and close according to their schedules and characters that follow their daily routine.
Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (2008)
We couldn’t miss a chapter of the mythical Dragon Quest saga in this list of best Wii RPGs, although they may have gone a little overboard with the name, don’t you think?
Developed by Genius Sonority and 8ing, this game immerses us in the kingdom of Avalonia, where Prince Anlace is worried about the behavior of the queen, who insists on wearing a mask covering her face all the time.
The young Anlace will have to face a threat looming over the world along with other allies while discovering the queen’s truth.
With this premise, the player embarks on an adventure through 10 different scenarios with final bosses and other enemies to face in first person, taking advantage of the Wiimote function.
One of the peculiarities of Dragon Quest Swords is that the main character cannot die in combat, but he loses half of his goods. Because of this, he must keep trying while only maintaining experience.
Perhaps its combat system of throwing swords is not to everyone’s taste, especially for those who prefer a more classic JRPG, but for those who enjoy a little action in their fantasy, this is the title for them, they will feel like true knights.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (2010)
Created by Square Enix, The Crystal Bearers is a game of the Crystal Chronicles sub-series, which belongs to Final Fantasy. It’s a bit confusing but that’s the way things are with the Final Fantasy franchise.
1000 years after the events of the first Crystal Chronicles, the story is set in a world with 4 distinct races: the pacifist Clavats, the mage Yukes, the rebel Selkies, and the militaristic Lilties. Each of them is represented by a magic crystal.
A war between the Lilties and the Yukes ended up destroying the Yuke Crystal, making magic scarce in the world. In this context, we meet Layle, one of the few with magic who can control gravity at will, who embarks on a journey in which he meets both allies and enemies.
The adventure genre is more present than ever in this game, allowing the player to explore scenarios rarely seen before in this saga.
It is a more mature title, with a protagonist having several layers of personality, taking advantage of his telekinetic powers to complete puzzles and defeat enemies.
With graphics that still look great today and a fantastic world to explore, The Crystal Bearers is a game that engages and challenges with an innovative combat system.
Pandora’s Tower (2013)
How far are you willing to go for love? This is the question on which the plot of Pandora’s Tower, an action RPG developed by Ganbarion and distributed by Nintendo, is based.
The story focuses on Aeron and Helena, two young people from allied kingdoms who fall in love. But their relationship is threatened by a curse, the mark of the Beast, falling upon Helena.
With the guidance of Mavda, a wise old woman, Aeron embarks on a journey through the 13 levels of Pandora’s Tower, each with a boss that you must defeat to remove his flesh and feed it to Helena to prevent her from transforming into a full beast.
With typical moments of platforming (although the jump is automatic), touches of hack and slash, few but challenging fights, and lots of exploration and labyrinthine scenarios, Pandora’s Tower is a fantastic adventure in which the most complicated mission is to find the right path to save your beloved.
It was one of the last great adventures on the Wii, being an epic as good as Japanese RPGs know how to do. The better you get along with Helena, the better the ending of the game will be.
Super Paper Mario (2007)
Our favorite plumber and his famous allies debuted on the Wii with Super Paper Mario, a game that follows the path of this franchise born in Nintendo 64.
Developed by Intelligent Systems, this title presents another adventure for Mario and Luigi to save Princess Peach, but this time she was not kidnapped by Bowser, but by an evil sorcerer known as Count Bleck who wants to fulfill a prophecy that recites “when a fair and loving princess and a monstrous and furious king marry, the Heart of Chaos will be unleashed”.
This is prophecy is fulfilled when Count Bleck manages to marry Peach to Bowser, which begins to destroy the universe and it is Mario’s job to return everything to normal.
Super Paper Mario’s greatest virtue is that it combines all the elements of a classic Mario title with a one-of-a-kind action RPG theme, and of course, an aesthetic that makes the characters look like “paper” but also becomes a gameplay mechanic when it allows the player to switch between the 2D view and an innovative 3D view that expands the possibilities of the gameplay.
Continuing with traditional RPG genre elements, Mario faces increasingly fierce enemies and bosses throughout 32 levels divided into 8 chapters, in complicated turn-based battles where making a mistake is costly.
At times, its world-rotating mechanics become frustrating, but the game makes up for it with a repertoire of charismatic characters, plenty of items to collect, a witty sense of humor, and an innovative formula that makes it one of the most unique games in the Wii catalog.
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (2007)
Developed by Intelligent Systems, Radiant Dawn is a turn-based tactical RPG, the first Fire Emblem to be released for the Wii, and a direct sequel to GameCube’s Path of Radiance, with the same style of FMV scenes in cel shading.
The story starts 3 years after the events of the previous game, introducing us to the land of Daein under the rule of the tyrannical Begnion government.
Daein is already a place desolated by war, where famine has collapsed the society and uprisings happen day after day. It is in this scenario that we meet the Dawn Brigade, a group of brave rebels who seek to put an end to the yoke of the Begnion over their home.
The plot is deeper than this, allowing you to see different events from 4 different points of view, in which you control a group of characters. In total, you can play with up to 73 characters over 45 missions. It’s up to you to choose which ones best suit your combat style.
Speaking of which, turn-based combat is very challenging, where the level of your troops, their class, and equipment matter a lot.
The game system is as Fire Emblem has us used to, a map divided into squares where you must move your characters in each turn until you defeat the enemies or achieve the objective of the mission.
If Radiant Dawn has a “weakness”, it’s that it doesn’t take advantage of the Wii’s exclusive features, but it doesn’t need them either. Fire Emblem has not been known for being a saga with high technical capabilities. Instead, it offers gameplay faithful to its origins that every fan of classic JRPGs will enjoy.
Monster Hunter Tri (2010)
Capcom’s monster saga debuted on the Wii with Monster Hunter Tri, the third installment of these games.
At its launch, it was a groundbreaking game, since the Wii was considered a console where players did not expect graphic quality in their games, but quick and simple fun, without further pretensions. So what did Capcom do? Launch the game with the best graphics of the Wii and an addictive game system that hooks you for hours. Undoubtedly, a wake-up call for other developers to make an effort to create good games.
As in every Monster Hunter, you take control of a warrior, who settles in the destroyed village of Moga, which as the story advances you help rebuild to turn it into a prosperous place that will provide you with resources for your dangerous missions in the Hunter’s Guild.
The ultimate fun is in annihilating monsters, as simple as that.
In each mission, there are 3 phases, gathering, hunting, and capturing. They are self-explanatory and, amazingly, this system never gets repetitive. The tension you feel when hunting a monster is unmatched, since at times it is you who is being hunted.
The variety of monsters is huge, including fish, various herbivores, insects, and majestic Wyverns. Of course, most of them meet the parameter of being bigger than a house.
Capcom did an excellent job with Monster Hunter Tri, introducing new players to the series and satisfying its fans at the same time.
The Last Story (2012)
Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy saga, brought us this action JRPG gem from the hand of Mistwalker as the developer and Nintendo as the distributor.
The Last Story is set on the island of Lazulis, ruled by Count Arganan. The lands of the Empire have been destroyed by continuous conflicts, unlike Lazulis Island, a region that remains intact thanks to the powerful magic that protects it.
The player controls a group of mercenaries who arrive on the island to find work and become knights. In his first mission, the protagonist, Zael, finds an unimaginable power, changing the course of his adventure completely.
In real-time battles, we control Zael and his power, magnetism, which he uses to protect his allies, attracting enemies to him.
Strategy is a very important element in this game, as the terrain can play in your favor or against you depending on your tactics.
This title became an instant classic of Japanese RPGs, with unique gameplay, a repertoire of characters you empathize with, and an epic and emotional story. A must for fans of this genre, and is remembered as one of the best role playing games of the last decade. No wonder, with Sakaguchi as director, the quality is guaranteed.
Xenoblade Chronicles (2010)
The cult Japanese saga Xenogears leaped the next generation with Xenoblade Chronicles, a game that combines role-playing with action in a huge open world full of magic and secrets.
The story is about the conflict between two titans, Bionis and Mechonis, who fought endlessly until they froze and turned into an entire planet. Thousands of years later, the war continues between the humans of Bionis and the machines of Mechonis.
In this scenario, we meet Shulk, a young man who discovers that he can wield the Monado, a legendary sword capable of wounding the Mekons. This makes him start a journey around the world to turn the battle in favor of the humans while discovering the secret of the conflict between the 2 titans.
As you know, the Xenoblade franchise is famous for its incredible open worlds, which can take forever to explore 100%. But of course, exploration has to be accompanied by combat, and in the case of this title, it is one of its strong suits.
The turn-based battle system is similar to Final Fantasy XII, in which normal attacks become intervals, plus other moves such as special recharge attacks and visions, which give you quick glimpses of the future to better rethink your tactics.
The social element is also very important, as your affinity with your allies in the adventure will determine their performance in combat, along with their level, equipment, skills, enemy traits, and a countless number of things to keep in mind.
Xenoblade Chronicles has so much that words cannot do justice to all its content. A majestic audiovisual section, a huge world full of challenging missions, a dynamic combat system that never gets repetitive, iconic characters… In short, it is a Japanese RPG at its best, starting this Xenogears sub-series that continues to amaze gamers today.
There are an impressive amount of RPGs that shined on the Wii. Surely many remember it for other types of games, but several renowned developers bet on launching deeper and more complex titles on Nintendo’s console, and it paid off for them.
If you are a fan of role playing games, and you skipped the Wii in favor of its more powerful competition, it’s time for you to go back and give some of the best Nintendo Wii RPG games a chance, what are you waiting for?