RPGamer is pleased to announce the inaugural edition of the JRPGL, a contest where teams of four aim to navigate a punishing divisional stage and subsequent playoffs and emerge as champion. Inspired entirely by recent draft news in American sports leagues the JRPGL sees sixteen RPGamer staff members drafting their choice of JRPG characters to form their own parties before facing off in a reader-decided contest. For those who wish to remind themselves of the rules, as well as read the introductions to all sixteen teams, can check our initial announcement post.

This post and the poll below will determine the winner of Division 1, who will qualify for the final. Voting will close at 7am Eastern on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. Readers are asked to consider party balance when casting their vote, but otherwise have free choice over who they wish to pick. Our contesting parties and their members are as follows:

River City Rollers

Eiko Carol (Final Fantasy IX)

Cornet Espoir (Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure)

Nei (Suikoden III)

Mamori Minamoto (Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE)

Alltrades Abbey Apollos

Psaro the Manslayer (Dragon Quest IV)

Serena (Dragon Quest XI)

Kiefer (Dragon Quest VII)

Alena (Dragon Quest IV)

Heliodor HEYAAAAS

Sylvando (Dragon Quest XI)

Prompto Argentum (Final Fantasy XV)

Goro Majima (Yakuza)

Zaveid (Tales of Zestiria)

Toad Town Townies

Bowser (Super Mario RPG)

The Demi-fiend (Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne)

Minwu (Final Fantasy II)

Aya Brea (Parasite Eve)

If readers wish to learn more about the parties to help inform their decision, the full introductions provided by the GMs can be reviewed below.

River City Rollers GM: Zach Welhouse

Pick #10 in rounds 1 and 3; Pick #7 in rounds 2 and 4 Eiko Carol (Final Fantasy IX)



Cornet Espoir (Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure)



Nei (Suikoden III)



Mamori Minamoto (Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE) Gonna keep on dancing

with the rocs and trolls

and keeping it light, keeping it light;

Dancin’ to the rhythm

In our heart and soul

And keeping it light, keeping it light Cornet is her name and she’s a puppeteer, too! With her singing friends there’s nothing that she can’t do! Fresh out of Marl Kingdom, Cornet Espoir and the rest of the River City Rollers are ready to bring the noise to the JRPGL. While other musical acts may fall back on slick moves and non-threatening sap, the Rollers lay down polyharmonic soundscapes to amaze and delight. Their lyrics are bright and incisive, touching on young love, socioeconomic inequality, and the importance of dancing. Following a licensing dispute with the River City Chamber of Commerce (“Only the smiles are free”), Cornet took her gig on the road. In addition to her musical talents and weaponized dessert-summoning horn, Cornet’s showings in Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure and La Pucelle Ragnarok demonstrate her keen tactical mind and experience with crossover situations. Strengths: Horn, vocals, support, tactics, craft services Eiko Carol lights up the stage with a trill of her flute and blast of holy radiance. Her lilting melodies keep her friends on her feet and the dead off the dancefloor. When the tour van breaks down and hecklers are on the rise, she puts in a call to the Rollers’ very own instant fan club: Earth, Wind, and Fire. Strengths: Flute, backup vocals, visual effects, summon magic, white magic Making music is all about teamwork. It’s also about shrugging off the haters, whether they’re slinging harsh words or hellfire blades. When the River City Rollers need someone to deflect criticism or sing a heartfelt ballad, it’s Mamori Minamoto’s time to shine. In deepest dungeon or pop-up promotion, the Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE idol is always ready to put on a show. Strengths: Vocals, dance, giant axe, defense, team-ups Suikoden III’s Nei joined the Rollers thanks to a generous travel grant from Haud Arts Council. As an elf, she lends a mature, worldly spark to the River City sound. Casual listeners credit the band’s success to her more exuberant bandmates, but true fans know Nei’s support bouzouki and backup vocals keep everything running smooth. Her custom blend of shield, water, and jongleur runes have a little something for everybody. Strengths: Strings, backup vocals, support, healing Don’t forget to stop by the merch table before you leave.

Alltrades Abbey Apollos GM: Matt Masem

Pick #14 in rounds 1 and 3; Pick #3 in rounds 2 and 4 Psaro the Manslayer (Dragon Quest IV)



Serena (Dragon Quest XI)



Kiefer (Dragon Quest VII)



Alena (Dragon Quest IV) The Alltrades Abbey Apollos is a Dragon Quest group ready to take on any opponent in the JRPG multiverse with mainly heavy physical attacks backed up with some powerful magic attacks and support skills and healing. The Apollos are led by the royal physical powerhouse pair of Dragon Quest VII’s Prince Kiefer, son of Donald, and Dragon Quest IV’s Tsarina Alena. Dragon Quest IV’s antagonist-turned-hero Psaro the Manslayer provides more offensive firepower, and the team is rounded out by Dragon Quest XI’s sage, Serena. Prince Kiefer is a physical powerhouse that learns skills such as adding elemental damage to his sword attacks and focusing his power to double his attack skill. He’s a bit of a roguish character prone to overindulging in women and wine, but his love of adventure and his need to help those in need make him the perfect prince to propel the Apollos to victory in any situation. Standing equally tall next to Kiefer is Tsarina Alena, master of hand-to-hand combat. Her natural speed augmented with some falcon blade earrings have her dealing critical hits to the enemy at an alarming rate. Her determined personality and need for exploring the world around her make her qualified to lead a group of adventures wherever they need to go. With a title like “The Manslayer,” one wouldn’t expect Psaro to simply stand in the background casting buffs to increase attack power and fling his dark magic at the enemy. No, he’s a physical powerhouse in his own right and can call upon the power of evolution to change into a monstrous five-eyed, laser-beam-shooting beast when the need arises as well as having access to single and multi-character healing spells. He’s the complete package! That can almost be said of sage-like Serena. Due to story reasons, the Serena of Dragon Quest XI Act 2 not only has a full range of debuff and healing spells at her disposal, but a wide range of powerful elemental and light light-based spells as well. There are very few types of situations she’s not prepared to take on and support her party members with her deep pool of magic and her calm demeanor keeping her focused on what’s most important at all times.

Heliodor HEYAAAAS GM: Sam Wachter

Pick #2 in rounds 1 and 3; Pick #15 in rounds 2 and 4 Sylvando (Dragon Quest XI)

Prompto Argentum (Final Fantasy XV)

Goro Majima (Yakuza)

Zaveid (Tales of Zestiria) We are the Heliodor HEYAAAAS and we are here to sing you a song, and charm your pants off. Whether its showing you our soulful side or be taken home to mom, the boys of the HEYAAAAS want you to know girl, that we are so very, very into you. Roll call! Sylvando — The Entertainer and Talented One!

Zaveid — The Shirtless One!

Prompto — The Sweet One Who Moms 100% Approve of!

Majima — The… Crazy One? Since when do boy bands have the crazy one? Eh, whatever, let’s roll with it. The Heliodor HEYAAAAS will be the heartthrobs to beat during this JRPGL.