So, what's the best 'single installment' JRPG game you know?

[TentaclesMod]

Dark Savior
Lucienne's Quest / Sword & Sorcery
EGG: Elemental Gimmick Gear
Crusader of Centy / Soleil
Okage: Shadow King
Battle Blues
Kartia: The Word of Fate / Rebus
Azure Dreams
Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth
Terra Phantastica
Guardian War / Powers Kingdom
Soldnerschild
The Mystic Dragoons
Neugier: Umi to Kaze no Kodou
Princess Minerva
Orphen: Scion of Sorcery
Eternal Eyes / Koukroseatro: Yūkyū no Hitomi
Linkle Liver Story
Bealphareth
Ecsaform

He asks for "best" game and you say Hoshigami?

 

[rugal]

hexyz force
nayuta no kiseki
jeanne arc
thread of fate
azure tower
guardian legend
radiata storie
baroque
gandstream saga
brave prove
i am setsuna

 

[Leon]

Some i'd mention have already been mentioned so i'll just stick with this.

Harvestella, while technically a mix of action rpg and farming sim, the story of the game is what makes it so unique, honestly the farming aspect could be completely removed and the game wouldn't suffer at all from it.

Adding this one as it's technically a tactical rpg so kinda doesn't fit the bill, but i feel it doesn't get the respect it deserves.

Rebus or as it's called in the west Kartia, it's really hard to describe the game's story and feel without spoiling alot of it so i'll just say like harvestella's story, it's story is unique and in a rpg, that's what's really important.

 

[Mopeybloke]

Radiant Historia is probably a good candidate. Then again I could never stand the changes on the 3DS version.

 

[MistHunter]

Good night...
here's a second part (totally forgot):

shadow brain (nintendo entertainment system).
arkista's ring (nintendo entertainment system. protagonist's screen, be like go for a dating, if you ask me).
battle of olympus (nintendo entertainment system).
dr. chaos (nintendo entertainment system).
kick master (nintendo entertainment system).
sword master (nintendo entertainment system).
stargazer (yes, the legendary kusoge. famicom).
arcana: seal of rimsala (super nintendo).
aqutallion/secret of the stars (super nintendo.
to be honest, always confusing up "homncruise", with 'tom cruise').
bahamut lagoon (super famicom).
bounty sword (super famicom).
emerald dragon (super famicom).
imperium (super nintendo).
nosferatu (...kind of. super nintendo).
popful mail (super nintendo/sega cd/others)?.
rudra's treasure (super famicom).
treasure hunter g (super famicom).
xardion (super nintendo).
ehrgeiz: god bless the ring (quest mode of the game. playstation 1).
silhouette mirage (playstation 1).
the legend of dragoon (playstation 1).
cubivore: survival of the fittest (nintendo gamecube).
the last story (nintendo wii).
avalon code (nintendo dual screen).
contact (nintendo dual screen).
fatal labyrinth (sega genesis/megadrive).
sword of vermilion (sega genesis/megadrive).
panzer bandit (playstation 1).
gurumin: a monstrous adventure (playstation portable).

...and well, I could go on with pc, cell phones, online minigames and arcade, however, that's another horizon and story, to prove which one and which not...

 

[JelloJake]

Summon knight for GBA. The sequel is also great and a huge step up. Both one off individual stories super worth your time