ばか！バカ！　馬鹿ー月！

I love the anime aesthetics, cute voice acting, and weird synth rock fantasy music in Japanese RPGs, but as we all know, most are very simplistic and repetitive. However, a few have satisfied me both mechanically and aesthetically, and they were simply the most fun I ever had by myself in a dark room.

For all lovers of this genre, I'd like to put together a list of all the most interesting, demanding, and beautiful single-player jRPGs. No one has the time to play all of them, so, fellow fans, please lend me your expertise. I'll add my favorite two right away.

The list:

• 
  Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (PS2)
  Mechanics: Excellent, varied 3D combat; multilayer side-scrolling dungeons with rules that can be modified by items; huge, very hard final dungeon; character development and exchange with many skills, bonuses, and tradeoffs
  Visuals: RPGFan image gallery, intro video, sidequest footage
  Sound: Sakubraba Motoi's best (youtube)
  Images:
  Spoiler! :

  
  
  
  
  Knights In The Nightmare (PSP, DS)
  Mechanics: So unusual, it'll take an hour to even begin. Command ghost soldiers as a wisp in a fast-paced TRPG while dodging enemy bullets.
  Visuals: Simple, but hypnotic in motion. Lovely character illustrations. (Atlus USA trailer)
  Music: Synth soundtrack by Hayashi Shigeki (youtube)
  Images:
  Spoiler! :

  
  
  
  
  
  

If you like the grid-based movement tactical games, perhaps Tactics Ogre? If you wanna go hardcore old school, try Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen from the SNES (I love this classic). I thnk Arc the Lad on the ps1 was decent as well. Just naming a few off the top of my head.