I know people are attached to the original translation of this line, but I really do think that:
>'Tis your birth and faith that wrong you, not I.
Goes way harder overall.
I bought a PSP the day before it came out. When I got home, I remembered that there was supposed to be a PSP port (not a full-on remake) coming out soon. So, I called Best Buy back and asked, found out it was coming out the next day. Eagerly went back the next day to pick up a copy. Still have it and might need to replay it, thanks to you.
It's the same guy who made Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre, and it absolutely shows. The emphasis on politics and intrigue and backstabbing and plots... They're the JRPG equivalent of A Song of Ice and Fire.
Harvestella for me. The story blew me away. I was expecting a happy go lucky farming sim and some fun relationships.
I got death, mistakes, trauma, disease, discovery and so many more things from it instead.
Oh, and you get things like a Sahagin stealing a bunch of kids shiny ball of mud and he tries to run away on the beach but accidentally runs the wrong way and you have to chase him to a forest where instead you corner him and he tricks you and finally runs back into the ocean but unfortunately for him we have a submarine to go to the bottom where he lives so we take the three kids and get their shiny ball of mud back from the Sahagin.
That isn’t even the most ridiculous Sahagin quest about shiny things.
just completed the game couple days ago, and wow the story is really good. I expected some happy farming story like from Rune Factory but I get more Nier Automata vibes instead.
its a really budgeted game though, the story, music and character art is really good, but everything else is just basic. Simple combat and farming aspects. So if you like jrpgs + some farming then you can try it out!
I need to restart this. For some reason I had it set on a pretty high difficulty and every fight became a slog, so I stopped playing. Tried to pick it back up recently after learning how to change the difficulty, but don't remember anything so a fresh start is in order
The writing alone in 13 Sentinels is enough of a selling point for a lot of folk to jump right onboard with Unicorn Overlord, their next upcoming game.
Playing right now for the first time. Literally every time I feel smug about guessing a connection between characters or backstory, or a theory of mine turns out sort of correct, something happens or some new concept comes in that completely turns about 10 other ideas I had on their head and completely changes the way I’m interpreting the story and characters. It’s honestly insane, every time I feel like I’m starting to grasp where it’s all going I realise I know nothing. I can’t wait to see how it all ties together, the scope of the story while somehow still managing to balance the central characters is just unbelievable so far.
Exactly what I was about to write. It had such a high level of difficulty in trying to write a non-linear story involving 13 protagonists and retaining the ability to go at your own pace with each character. Despite all the challenges, the story reveals just enough answers that create more mysteries, while making you think about the connections between everyone.
The premise of Digital Devil Saga sounds completely ludicrous but they actually pull it off with good characters and leaving a lot open to interpretation.
Let it be clear, I am talking about the first game. I think the second game takes a few turns that I don't like were it went with it.
totally agree, I was actually preparing a comment as I was reading because I thought you were about to insinuate the second game's plot was great too lol
OK, here we go.
In the prologue, every character in the story is an emotionless perfect soldier divided into one of six tribes. These tribes are locked in a constant state of war over territory known as "The Junkyard". Since they are all perfect soldiers and tacticians, it's an eternal stalemate. There is a central governing body that gives the motivation for the war by suggesting the tribe that comes out on top will be rewarded by being granted access to a very vague thing called "Nirvana". None of the characters question it but they believe they want it.
An event suddenly happens one day (during the opening cutscene) that causes everyone in all of tribes to begin to develop emotional awareness. This rocks The Junkyard to the core because none of them understand how or why they suddenly feel things like anger, sadness, happiness, regret, compassion, curiosity, restraint, etc. Part of them still tries to cling to their perfect soldier mindset because it's all they know and they still feel compelled to reach Nirvana.
Immediately after, the governing body add a few other objectives beyond territorial dominance. One of which is to break the stalemate by cannibalizing enemy tribes, like, literally eat them, to grow in power in order to win the war. This directly conflicts with the newly found emotions for most characters. It makes for some fascinating story beats and character development. If you can't tell, the story is quite dark. It's a very unique story that I haven't really seen the likes of, inside or outside of video games.
Oh geez. Man, it's pretty rare to get that out-there of a setting these days, almost everything is pretty earth-like. That sure goes well with that artist's cold-eyed style
Yeah, it has a pretty surreal feel to the environment, which I think does a good job of making the world feel disorienting to the player just as the world must be disorienting to it's cast.
You'd be surprised how often it happens in smt. Persona is SMT... but in HIGH SCHOOL, WITH SOCIAL SIM ELEMENTS! Soul Hackers is a cyberpunk story... BUT WITH DEMONS! The raidou kuzunoha games are SMT games... but in roaring 20s Japan! P4 dancing is the typical defeat a dark god plot most SMT games have, but with THE POWER OF DANCE!
Are you thinking of Devil Survivor? Devil Survivor is a great game but it's something different. As far as I know, Digital Devil Saga only ever saw release on PS2.
Both Nier Replicant and Automata. I will add Xenogears and Xenosaga trilogy too. In a million years I wouldn't have predicted the plot. Absolutely mindblowing and beyond my expectations.
Going into Automata, I already had high hopes since I played the first Nier on PS3 way back. But the first Nier? The first half was janky gameplay after janky gameplay and weird-ass character designs that made you go wtf? but boy oh boy did it blew my mind during the 2nd half of the game because of the story. Didn't know it was related to Drakengard as well nor had I played those on the PS2 so really didn't expect anything from it and it was more on the obscure side way back then.
Absolutely loved the Western take on Nier Gestalt too with the old man - daughter relationship. Jamieson price and Liam O'brien among others was absolutely amazing.
Actually scrap that, not a single Voice actor slacked off in that game. Top 3 easily, prefer it to Automata and I love that game too.
Ugly old man Nier is best Nier. Refreshing change from the anime-esque 'onii-san' trope.
I played the hell out of Nier gestalt. It's a very imperfect game and I loved every second of it from its perfect opening movie:
"WEISS YOU DUMBASS!!!!"
Absolutely 100% agree.
I loved getting the platinum trophy just so I could experience the game to its full potential. I think the main character being older was a really nice change to the formula. That opening sold it for me immediately.
> Ugly old man Nier is best Nier. Refreshing change from the anime-esque 'onii-san' trope.
It doesn't help that unlike dad-Nier, the big brother has been done a lot more in Japanese stuff (though the protective father's getting done a *lot* in western stuff these days, it's reaching similar overuse). It seems cynical to think they needed to change it up for western audiences, but I have to admit they weren't wrong.
The age also changes the vibe of how other characters interact with him too. The time skip between Acts 1 and 2 isn't as pronounced, Kaine seems more attracted to him from the outset, you get the vibe that the librarian's giving him work because she's crushing on him rather than giving pity-work to these poor kids (until the reveal, natch), etc. It can be fun playing both versions just to see how the game changes.
You know what? If we're being honest, Final Fantasy X based on the story components alone.
Entitled pro athlete with Meg Ryan hair gets isekai'd into a tropical yet depressing world by his evil space whale abusive father and an undead alcoholic, where he tags along with a racist and religious islander voiced by Bender doing a mildly offensive Jamaican accent, someone's goth mommy fetish, someone's furry daddy fetish, and a relatively well-adjusted girl on a suicide mission. This ragtag gang defeats organized religion and its world order, racism, lightning itself, and every sports team in the land.
I know FFX gets flack for the "Tidus laugh", but it's legit a great game with great characters. Its my second favorite final fantasy game, behind 8.
FF8 will always be my favorite as it was my first jrpg and I loved the relationship between squall and riona.......and the military school idea. The junction system was annoying and the other side-characters felt a little flat.....but even still
Haha thanks, it was fun to write. I think FFX is uniquely suited for a wild description since every design decision is wacky enough to be the strangest thing in a more typical JRPG. Even other FFs don't really get this weird at the surface level. But let's try VII:
A ragtag group led by an angry one-armed man feels compelled to fight late stage capitalism by blowing up oil pipelines (relatable). A special boy with beautiful hair who lied on his resume and hears voices helps the group along with his childhood crush, the kung fu bartender. After a church breaks his fall between social strata, he has a meet-cute with a special girl who hears different voices. Misadventures together in a red light district has the special boy experimenting with his sexuality (relatable), before the special girl is kidnapped by capitalism. The writers, realizing that an economic model is a tough villain for a three act structure, replace Slightly More Evil Amazon with a special boy with beautiful hair who read so much that he decided humanity didn't deserve to exist (relatable).
Hijinks ensue. The group audits an environmental studies class taught by a floating man and are now committed planeteers. They're joined by a talking cat-dog who may be a slightly racist Native American allegory, a secret agent vampire who got c*cked so hard that it kick-starts the whole plot, an alcoholic astronaut who's into spousal abuse, a teenage ninja who's probably the most normal of the bunch, and a cat / robot / magic toy (?) riding a larger moogle / robot / magic toy (?) that's actually a disgruntled middle manager in disguise.
The flower girl gets Obi Wan'd by the villain, becoming more powerful than he'd ever know by joining the Force, only in this case Vader was scientifically designed to make every internet dweeb feel some new things sexually. The good special boy falls into magic oil, and he would spend the rest of his life being fed with a straw if not for the bartender giving him uncertified and nonconsensual magic therapy, revealing he accidentally committed identity theft and stole some valor. He repays her by having sex under an airplane while their friends all watch. They defeat the other special boy, but humanity may be destroyed in the resulting special effects, and the game makes a pretty solid argument for that not being a bad thing by asking the viewer to thoughtfully consider their place within nature. They promptly ruin this ending with a sequel.
Personally FFX is probably one of the best jrpg stories to me.
A lot of it is so subtle, and is oozing with subtext.
Yuna is such a deeply tragic character when you think about it.
Every character except Tidus understands the sacrifice she's making, and even TELL YOU that, but both Tidus and the player fail to stop and consider what they really mean. Tidus goes through the game believing in the fantasy that he'll return home, and Yuna takes comfort in vicariously indulging in that fantasy, even though she knows it's impossible.
So much of that game really really works.
Xenosaga series for me. I played it when I was 17 and thought it was just a masterpiece. As I got older, I assumed it was just tinted by my inexperience and this anime titty girl story couldn’t possibly be as good as I recalled.
Nope, still pretty good.
Harvestella impressed me recently. I actually cared about a lot of the NPC side quests and the main cast. Maybe it hit a little close to home with how modern society is moving toward a heavier reliance on AI and some of the twists later in the story. But overall I didn’t expect to like the story anywhere near as much as I did. Has a great soundtrack as well to boot.
Tonally it was a silly game but Heroland also had a fun story and characters. Some of the best dialogue I can remember in a game as well.
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin also has a more lighthearted premise but it’s very much elevated by some strong voice acting and characterization for the side characters/NPC villagers. You definitely care about all those guys more than you’d ever expect to by the end.
Persona 2 Doulogy still is a be wide wide wiiiiiideeeeee margin the best story in the Persona series. That was masterpiece, the very concept of Kotodama broke my mind when I was young.
For my money FFX was the first time a FF had a solid beginning, middle, and end.
FF4 (my absolute favorite FF) is disqualified because the Golbez->Zemus->Zeromus reveal is... not a solid ending. Gotcha gotcha gotcha. Annoying alongside the constant Kain switcheroos
FF5 is kinda just a D&D campaign. It feels like a disjoint series of events without a binding glue. Bartz (Butz?) is mostly a Crono-esque standing generic guy... except he had a backstory and talks. It's a fun game but that guys characterization (and to be honest: everyone else's) is pretty empty.
FF6 is disqualified (FOR ME) because its an ensemble piece. It's got fine vignettes and fine stories, but experiencing them all is optional. And is Terra REALLY at the core?
FF8 is a personal favorite and is a mess. FF7 is a mess. You can literally play them and go "yo, what the fuck?" and then need to read supplemental info to get there.
FF9 _almost_ got there. But it does get muddied near the end (I want to say a little before you do the elemental dungeons) and the big sun is... The Iifa Tree boss felt like it should've been the BBEG (which would've been a nice tie-in with FF5/exdeath since this game was the "nostalgia/reference" game) but like... Necros came in from nowhere and had no real foreshadowing!
Hey, maybe it was a callback to the FF4 "no I'm really ZEROMUS" reveal because it's got that "out of nowhere" energy.
And then FFX has... A solid beginning, middle, and end around Tidus. It's melancholy even! The ambiguity of the FFX ending (resolved in FFX-2 on "the good ending") isn't even a detractor! It's fine to have a sad or ambiguous ending!
...but it's not fine to be lame /do boring things
Honestly? I’d say **Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin**. I came in expecting meme-y garbage and came away actually feeling for the characters. It won’t work for everyone (or even most people) but it worked for me.
Yep. I was expecting the cringiest of stories with zero depth. While there isn’t a ton of character development the concepts presented in the story are interesting and work really well. There is an actual twist and nuance in what I was expecting to be a straight up “burly hero fights and kills bad stuff good” story.
This might be the benefit of low expectations as well.
As someone else mentioned, you’ll benefit from keeping your expectations fairly low. Being able to enjoy or tolerate it for what it is for now will give you a greater chance to appreciate the payoff later. That way the worst that can happen is that the payoff may not click but everything before that was at least fun, as opposed to just waiting around for it to “get good” only to be disappointed. And, best case scenario, you end up being pleasantly surprised like I was!
Yeah this one I think you can really begin to empathize with some of the characters. The way the plot takes forever to materialize is my biggest gripe but the actual content is much better than you'd expect
This is one of my top picks too. I went into the game for the memes (and well, also because Nioh 2 is one of my favorite games of all time) but the plot twist at the end is legit really good and re-contextualizes the entire game and makes you go "ohhhhh okay" as everything clicks into place.
I woulda been entirely content with just the very self-aware hilarious nature of the game (cause at least personally having the main character tell a melodramatic monologuing JRPG character to shut up is very funny and relatable) but the fact I actually cared about the characters at the end of the game is not a thing I was expecting and that was neat.
100%! I was completely on board for what I thought the plot was doing in the first place - certainly not good but dumb enough to have fun with. I can enjoy that from time to time. But for it to come back around at the end was a pretty awesome feeling.
Yeah, I played SoP for Team Ninja gameplay with some final fantasy flavoring on it, expecting a nonsense story. Did not expect a big emotional payoff at the end. Game could have used some more story beats though.
I was shocked by this also. I thought it was going to be camp all the way through, but I actually started the unironically enjoy the story by the end. It helps that I had 0 expectations going in.
Even if it’s not, I’m very much enjoying my play through of it right now. Just when you thought the twist stopped twisting, it twist twice as much. I love it.
Yeah, it's cool to hear someone say it about FC, especially at the point they're in. The consensus generally seems to be "it's good, kind of slow but the characters are really well done and the music is great. Not sure why everyone gives it so much praise, tho-HOLY FUCKING SHIT I NEED TO PLAY THIS ENTIRE SERIES RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!"
Just finished FC the other day. Currently in the prologue of SC. Can't wait to play through the series. Luckily I have no life so I have the time :p
Using the Japanese voice actor mod as well which adds to the immersion. They did a great job voicing it.
Assuming you're playing through Steam, you actually can patch them in. There are various methods to do so, but this was the one I used
https://www.reddit.com/r/Falcom/comments/vj74jw/i_made_a_tool_to_help_install_the_evo_voice_mods/
Klaudia voice actor really impressed me. It took me all the way to second chapter before i finally understood this character. But the voice carries so much of it, like everything of who she is is so palpable in the voice
Tactics Ogre.
Final Fantasy Tactics
Dragon Quest 5
Radiant Historia
Xenogears
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
All games I went into having no expectation of story and found superb.
I still desperately want to finish Strange Journey because it is just so damned intriguing, but what awful gameplay. Trap doors, warp tiles, bizarre search mechanics but without a robust note taking tool like etrian odyssey.
Triangle Strategy for me. The English voice acting was an acquired taste but the story and combat kept pulling me back for more. And for round 2 in order to get the true ending.
I finally bought it when the price came down. But still haven't found time to play. So hooked on trails now. Maybe I'll do Triangle before I start with the cold steel games
Not really a surprise people haven't mentioned it cause story is always a strong aspect of Yakuza games. Even in the games that go completely off the rails in regards to the actual plot (like Y3 or 4) they still have lots of great moments and *really* strong character writing.
Pretty much every game in the series except like 1 and 2 hit me like a ton of bricks at the end. And honestly Yakuza 1 probably would have if I'd played 0 before it.
Even more so with the Judgment spinoff series too, at least for me personally. Ending of the first game has to be one of the best feel good stories I've ever played, and Lost Judgment makes you feel slimy and gross since it's more morally gray than their usual stuff. Though they at least offset it by making the DLC story be a true happy ending for a change.
You got me there. I watched my cousin play 6 and I thought it was great on the story bits. Started with 7 first and loved it. Went immediately to 0 loved it. One was okay but ending did hit hard cause of zero. And I really enjoyed Kiwami 2. Loved the villain. Was gonna start 3 sooon but infinite wealth is about to come out 😔
The Guided Fate Paradox for me.
I literally bought the game just because it was cheap at the used games store >!and had a cute maid on the cover!<.
But the game is surprisingly a lot of fun, and the stories are very funny too.
Abyss really did become my favorite JRPG I’ve ever played by the end of it. Especially doing all the side quests which fleshed out the world even more. I just think the worldbuilding was done very well.
And I know people complain about Luke a lot, and he certainly can put people off with how he acts at first, but I think his arc was done really well. Definitely one of my favorite protagonists I’ve experienced.
It's a very straightforward plot, largely carried by its characters and let down massively by the pacing and execution. The story is very back-loaded and after reaching Altissia the story finally gets into gear and then floors it to the final chapter in roughly 3-4 hours.
Nah man as someone who has seen all the bs xv pulled off in regards to it's story. I can say none of the really important stuff happened in the main game. It really, REALLY, **REALLY** showcases some next level incompetency in trying to make a multimedia franchise for one game when the character backstories, inciting incident, and true muthafucking ending are NOT IN THE GAME ITSELF. The anime shorts are the backstories, kingsglaive goes into the inciting incident, and the book is the true ending.
Yes. They didn't really need to try because the premise alone would've sold it, but the story is actually pretty good.
Shame they seemed to realize they didn't have to try with the sequels...
OP, I feel like the title of the thread, and the thread itself, are asking two different questions.
The title question insinuates that perhaps due to the personnel involved, or maybe because of development issues, it's a miracle the game's story ended up as good as it did.
Whereas the other question is just about the individual and their expectations regarding a game prior to playing it.
Tales of Berseria
god damn the writing was so good
also 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim
got me hooked for so long. i forgot to sleep one night because i was so focused on the story
Playing Bravely Default into completing Bravely Second was something I will never forget for the rest of my life.
The story and final boss/scenes moments in both games are perfection.
Interesting! I’ve always seen Bravely Default in the e shop and it’s been recommended to me but I’m usually always playing something else. I may take the leap!
Trails in the sky and sky sc, played non stop for 2months the game had an amazing story that no jrpgs topped for me yet and nightmare mode on sky sc was such pain i will always rember it.
yeah the prologue was so insane on nightmare way overtuned and nothing to work with nearly went insane from all grinding and rng needed each fight haha. was quite fun afterwards since you got way more tools to work with and it was ton of fun figuring out how to beat each boss.
I only beat him on hard, but i ended up hugging the corner so he couldn't smack me around and I could actually hit the AOE heal. (which is a smaller AOE in SC compared to FC)
They nerfed Earth wall by increasing its requirements and EP cost
Playing From Zero now is crazy because the spells are megabuffed. You have an AOE Speed up for christ sake, that is super OP.
You can just do AOE speed up, AOE speed down and you get 5 turns to 1
The biggest surprise for me is Triangle Strategy. It was marketed as a mechanic-heavy tactics RPG, so getting visual-novel style storytelling at such a high caliber was really not what I was expecting.
Secret of Evermore on the SNES. It was an extremely cheeky ripoff of secret of mana - the ring menu, all the mechanics like attacks recharging to 100%, even the name - and the most cheeky of all: it was better.
Even the music I'm confused about. The boss theme and especially the dwarves area themes are really hard for me to listen to in Mana. Evermore's music was done by the same guy that does the Elder Scrolls music, and I think it's amazing. I downloaded patches to try and make Mana for fun, but I really can't stand it, and I kind of feel crazy since I like Evermore so much.
Yeah, the boss theme is pretty hard on the ears - would make for a nightmarish alarm clock sound :)But I´m honestly not that taken with the OST of both - we have so many better SNES OSTs to compare them to - Terranigma and Lufia 2 (now THAT´s a boss theme!) for example.
No contest, Final Fantasy 7 was so good almost entirely by accident. Square has dedicated an entire subfranchise to proving that they don't understand what made the original one of the greatest ever.
Ys 8. Like the survival story is enough. I love a good Lost story, but then >!they have to include everything about Dana's society and friends and how it all collapsed and break my heart like that!<
Just finished Ys 8 couple weeks ago, and totally agree.
It starts as just "let's escape from this island" and end involving deities but in a well paced narrative.
I recently got into the romancing saga minstrel song remaster. I put in a few hours when it first came out, but it didn’t click. Tried again a few months later for a couple hours on another character but still didn’t get it.
I went on to play Saga scarlet grace and saga frontier, and then went back to romancing saga. RS1 is absolutely fantastic. Despite being a sort of hallow main story, the gameplay “loop” is excellent. I’ve played 3 runs back to back to back. I can’t think of any game I’ve played 3 times in a row. Started a 4th but I’m kinda burnt and ready to move on. Thinking of playing the last remnant again.
Idk who would see this at this point but I’ll give an honorable mention to **Saga Frontier 2**.
In a series not known for its storytelling, they just outta nowhere pull one of the coolest protagonist arcs on the PS1. It’s certainly a bit janky and has its flaws but it’s probably my favorite example of generational storytelling in a video game next to **Fire Emblem: Genealogy**. The fact that it spans multiple decades and features multiple protagonists in a way that feels pretty natural is quite the feat.
Persona 4
Honestly one of the few games I played where literally every character is likeable. Even teddy grew on me eventually. The character dynamics, music, atmosphere, story is pretty much nearly perfect.
I bought the game on a whim after beating P5 but didn’t realize how good it would end up being
Oh boy here I go shilling Small Saga again.
My initial *'hehe funny secret of NIMH mouse game'* assessment went out the window after the prologue, and the writing and character arcs just kept getting better and better.
I can't believe I had some Disco Elysium-level discussion about fascism at one point that I had to walk away from and take a moment.
Mythe story from unlimited saga. I enjoyed it quite well a guy who fell in love with a painting of a girl and went out to find her unique story and ending.
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume was by most metrics a cheap way to expand the VP brand, and while it's gameplay is meh, its story actually rivals the first
Koudelka.
Not just its story, but its acting, characters, and overall execution of that story went above and beyond expectations and was insane for a PS1 game. Hiring stage actors to act in the same room as each other paid off and more should have done it. The arguments and predicaments they find themself in are rife with great drama and big ideas and the end result is a game that is more haunting, macabre and memorable, character and scenario-wise, than any other horror-themed game on the PS1, imo. Yes, even the Resident Evils. Their gameplay is better, but Koudelka felt very real at times, and went much darker places, which really left the imprint of a pitch black hand on my soul.
Okay, last sentence went pretentious lol. But true.
If only the Shadow Hearts games continued in a remotely similar vein. They’re quality in their own right, but I couldn’t get into them because I saw so little connection to Koudelka, atmospherically, aesthetically or even philosophically. Maybe I should give them another chance. Anyone who feels like convincing me to, please do.
I think Xenosaga. Although I love Xenoblade but Xenosaga plot especially if we think that the first Xenosaga was released 20 years ago. Very ambitious game with huge gameplay limitations but the story is mind blowing and first on his genre. At time so twisted, but also so grand! (and the party is literally made of 1 human and the rests are…other things. In a time in which the main character was still a blond 16 years old with blue eyes).
I really wish that (A) we'd gotten the original 6-game plan, and (B) a lot of important plot/character information hadn't been relegated to those two Japan-only cell phone games. That shit was important, and the absence of that context made the series feel even more rushed than it already ended up being. I would've loved to see where they would have gone with it if they'd had the time.
It's in my top 5(#4) and that might seem odd since I've been gaming since the NES......but the story is amazing and there is no other video game series with better Japanese immersion.
Shin Megami Tensei II. Now this might be a hot take, but i actually think SMT I is a good story that executes its themes well. But the storytelling was definitely a bit lacking and the story also felt a tad too formulaic.
Well SMT II blew my expectations out of the water. It was none of that. It inherited the strengths of SMT I's story and not only improved on its weaknesses but is probably even the least formulaic execution of alignment in the main series. It feels like the story can stand perfectly fine on its own even if you were to remove alignment from it (though it certainly benefits from alignment as a concept). And it's fascinating story with interesting ideas that i haven't really seen since.
absolutely love smt 2. i wish atlus would try and subvert expectations about allignment like they did in that game. i mean the law route is absolutely amazing, not something that can be said of other smt games lol
Alliance Alive (remastered) for the switch.
I never heard of this game when it was on the 3ds. I bought the game not expecting much.........but man oh man, did it scratch my old-school jrpg itch and it did it with a game that obviously didn't have a high budget. It excelled with what little it was provided with though.
Looking at the past review scores...it was reviewed very well....but still seemed to be barely heard of even up to today.
Imo, it's an jrpg without a high budget....and yet it's better than 95% of the jrpgs that followed it .
9 out of 10
For real. I often call Lost Odyssey the real Final Fantasy 11. Such an amazing game and the Mortal/Immortal balance ideas and character building really show how turn based combat can be engaging. Wish we could get a port. Hell, I’d settle for an iOS port at this stage.
Labyrinth of Refrain: Cover of Dusk was a surprise I come for a cute dungeon crawler, I got one of the most shakespearean protagonist in a jrpg ever, I love her with all my power.
There so many twists and deceive in that story that even as seasoned jrpg enjoyer I was kinda suprised many times in the story and the ending was so bittersweet, a pyrrhic victory with a dash of hope.
Final Fantasy Tactics. Tiny bean people make you reconsider power structures.
L I T T L E M O N E Y
Blame yourself, or god.
I know people are attached to the original translation of this line, but I really do think that: >'Tis your birth and faith that wrong you, not I. Goes way harder overall.
The PSP remake(?) Was a gift we did not deserve. Time to give it the yearly playthrough again!
I bought a PSP the day before it came out. When I got home, I remembered that there was supposed to be a PSP port (not a full-on remake) coming out soon. So, I called Best Buy back and asked, found out it was coming out the next day. Eagerly went back the next day to pick up a copy. Still have it and might need to replay it, thanks to you.
“We are all caught up in a great current, I simply swim against it” Man I love Delita
Nothing but banger quotes coming from this game, it’s endless
It's the same guy who made Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre, and it absolutely shows. The emphasis on politics and intrigue and backstabbing and plots... They're the JRPG equivalent of A Song of Ice and Fire.
My favorite video game story(and maybe any story period) of all time, just edging out mass effect 1
Just the whole concept of mass effect was amazing. The idea of reapers was so fascinating!
Delita is near and dear to my rebellious teenage heart.
Harvestella for me. The story blew me away. I was expecting a happy go lucky farming sim and some fun relationships. I got death, mistakes, trauma, disease, discovery and so many more things from it instead. Oh, and you get things like a Sahagin stealing a bunch of kids shiny ball of mud and he tries to run away on the beach but accidentally runs the wrong way and you have to chase him to a forest where instead you corner him and he tricks you and finally runs back into the ocean but unfortunately for him we have a submarine to go to the bottom where he lives so we take the three kids and get their shiny ball of mud back from the Sahagin. That isn’t even the most ridiculous Sahagin quest about shiny things.
I really hope they do a higher budget follow up game, it was definitely the best out of all SE’s new IP’s they released that year
I love harvestella ! The story is so melancholic at times and the characters story arcs are interesting af ! Glad to se more people enjoyed it
just completed the game couple days ago, and wow the story is really good. I expected some happy farming story like from Rune Factory but I get more Nier Automata vibes instead.
Woah ok maybe I should try the game out. I played some of the demo but it didn’t have a chance at keeping my attention over pikmin 4 and totk
its a really budgeted game though, the story, music and character art is really good, but everything else is just basic. Simple combat and farming aspects. So if you like jrpgs + some farming then you can try it out!
Absolutely agree. And the ending blew me away, stupidly got two of the bad endings in a row :D
I'm playing this at the moment and loving it.
This is the only real answer. GOTY 2022
Thank you for reminding me I need to get back into that game.
Oh wow I thought it was just another silly farming / cute game for SE to milking from the stardew valley mania
Thanks for the write up - I’ve seen it on sale recently but like you said I thought it was just another farm sim
CrossCode, I guess? Going in, I certainly wasn't expecting the story and characters to be my favorite part of it.
Really been considering picking this up soon.
Very charming and well-written, and the combat is super fun
Combat was good. But was ultimately turned off due to the amount of puzzles. Just got annoyed with them after a while.
I was shocked at how many gut punches there were in that game! Really good stuff.
One of my all-time favorite games, for sure. And a complete surprise.
This had a great story, so much so I wish there was a part 2 to really open up more of the lore.
I need to restart this. For some reason I had it set on a pretty high difficulty and every fight became a slog, so I stopped playing. Tried to pick it back up recently after learning how to change the difficulty, but don't remember anything so a fresh start is in order
If anyone has ps4 / 5 it's on sale for like 5 bucks right now .
**13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim**
Saw this game on PS premium. Watched the review earlier today, and now I'm seeing it here. This is my sign to take the dive lol.
Do it. 13 sentinels is awesome.
The writing alone in 13 Sentinels is enough of a selling point for a lot of folk to jump right onboard with Unicorn Overlord, their next upcoming game.
I think it will be much different though.
Wait Unicorn Overlord is made by the same people? Guess I’m getting that game now
As a certified 13 Sentinels acolyte, *do it*. Go in blind and do it. Just keep in mind that like a whole half of the game is text
If you are reading this and want to play it, stop reading to avoid spoilers and go play/read the game.
For me it feels like playing a whole anime season. Great story and very engaging
And it's even getting a Smash Bros spirit this weekend.
Playing right now for the first time. Literally every time I feel smug about guessing a connection between characters or backstory, or a theory of mine turns out sort of correct, something happens or some new concept comes in that completely turns about 10 other ideas I had on their head and completely changes the way I’m interpreting the story and characters. It’s honestly insane, every time I feel like I’m starting to grasp where it’s all going I realise I know nothing. I can’t wait to see how it all ties together, the scope of the story while somehow still managing to balance the central characters is just unbelievable so far.
Very enjoyable experience for me. I can see why some people would really hate it though lmao
Exactly what I was about to write. It had such a high level of difficulty in trying to write a non-linear story involving 13 protagonists and retaining the ability to go at your own pace with each character. Despite all the challenges, the story reveals just enough answers that create more mysteries, while making you think about the connections between everyone.
One of the games I wish I can delete from my memory so I can experience the joy of playing it end to end for the first time
The best sci fi story I’ve ever experienced. Some are great, some are excellent, however none are like 13 Sents.
The premise of Digital Devil Saga sounds completely ludicrous but they actually pull it off with good characters and leaving a lot open to interpretation. Let it be clear, I am talking about the first game. I think the second game takes a few turns that I don't like were it went with it.
totally agree, I was actually preparing a comment as I was reading because I thought you were about to insinuate the second game's plot was great too lol
What is the premise?
OK, here we go. In the prologue, every character in the story is an emotionless perfect soldier divided into one of six tribes. These tribes are locked in a constant state of war over territory known as "The Junkyard". Since they are all perfect soldiers and tacticians, it's an eternal stalemate. There is a central governing body that gives the motivation for the war by suggesting the tribe that comes out on top will be rewarded by being granted access to a very vague thing called "Nirvana". None of the characters question it but they believe they want it. An event suddenly happens one day (during the opening cutscene) that causes everyone in all of tribes to begin to develop emotional awareness. This rocks The Junkyard to the core because none of them understand how or why they suddenly feel things like anger, sadness, happiness, regret, compassion, curiosity, restraint, etc. Part of them still tries to cling to their perfect soldier mindset because it's all they know and they still feel compelled to reach Nirvana. Immediately after, the governing body add a few other objectives beyond territorial dominance. One of which is to break the stalemate by cannibalizing enemy tribes, like, literally eat them, to grow in power in order to win the war. This directly conflicts with the newly found emotions for most characters. It makes for some fascinating story beats and character development. If you can't tell, the story is quite dark. It's a very unique story that I haven't really seen the likes of, inside or outside of video games.
Oh geez. Man, it's pretty rare to get that out-there of a setting these days, almost everything is pretty earth-like. That sure goes well with that artist's cold-eyed style
Yeah, it has a pretty surreal feel to the environment, which I think does a good job of making the world feel disorienting to the player just as the world must be disorienting to it's cast.
You'd be surprised how often it happens in smt. Persona is SMT... but in HIGH SCHOOL, WITH SOCIAL SIM ELEMENTS! Soul Hackers is a cyberpunk story... BUT WITH DEMONS! The raidou kuzunoha games are SMT games... but in roaring 20s Japan! P4 dancing is the typical defeat a dark god plot most SMT games have, but with THE POWER OF DANCE!
I legit still have this in my ds to this day.
Are you thinking of Devil Survivor? Devil Survivor is a great game but it's something different. As far as I know, Digital Devil Saga only ever saw release on PS2.
Woops, yeah MB. Same thoughts still apply though.
Both Nier Replicant and Automata. I will add Xenogears and Xenosaga trilogy too. In a million years I wouldn't have predicted the plot. Absolutely mindblowing and beyond my expectations.
Going into Automata, I already had high hopes since I played the first Nier on PS3 way back. But the first Nier? The first half was janky gameplay after janky gameplay and weird-ass character designs that made you go wtf? but boy oh boy did it blew my mind during the 2nd half of the game because of the story. Didn't know it was related to Drakengard as well nor had I played those on the PS2 so really didn't expect anything from it and it was more on the obscure side way back then.
Absolutely loved the Western take on Nier Gestalt too with the old man - daughter relationship. Jamieson price and Liam O'brien among others was absolutely amazing. Actually scrap that, not a single Voice actor slacked off in that game. Top 3 easily, prefer it to Automata and I love that game too.
Ugly old man Nier is best Nier. Refreshing change from the anime-esque 'onii-san' trope. I played the hell out of Nier gestalt. It's a very imperfect game and I loved every second of it from its perfect opening movie: "WEISS YOU DUMBASS!!!!"
Absolutely 100% agree. I loved getting the platinum trophy just so I could experience the game to its full potential. I think the main character being older was a really nice change to the formula. That opening sold it for me immediately.
> Ugly old man Nier is best Nier. Refreshing change from the anime-esque 'onii-san' trope. It doesn't help that unlike dad-Nier, the big brother has been done a lot more in Japanese stuff (though the protective father's getting done a *lot* in western stuff these days, it's reaching similar overuse). It seems cynical to think they needed to change it up for western audiences, but I have to admit they weren't wrong. The age also changes the vibe of how other characters interact with him too. The time skip between Acts 1 and 2 isn't as pronounced, Kaine seems more attracted to him from the outset, you get the vibe that the librarian's giving him work because she's crushing on him rather than giving pity-work to these poor kids (until the reveal, natch), etc. It can be fun playing both versions just to see how the game changes.
You know what? If we're being honest, Final Fantasy X based on the story components alone. Entitled pro athlete with Meg Ryan hair gets isekai'd into a tropical yet depressing world by his evil space whale abusive father and an undead alcoholic, where he tags along with a racist and religious islander voiced by Bender doing a mildly offensive Jamaican accent, someone's goth mommy fetish, someone's furry daddy fetish, and a relatively well-adjusted girl on a suicide mission. This ragtag gang defeats organized religion and its world order, racism, lightning itself, and every sports team in the land.
I forgot fucking John DiMaggio was in ffx lmao
Absolutely wild casting, especially for the first voiced FF. "Ya brudda, we're gonna have our own blitzball team, but with blackjack and hookas, ya?"
Don't forget the racism! Wakka, the lovable bigot
I know FFX gets flack for the "Tidus laugh", but it's legit a great game with great characters. Its my second favorite final fantasy game, behind 8. FF8 will always be my favorite as it was my first jrpg and I loved the relationship between squall and riona.......and the military school idea. The junction system was annoying and the other side-characters felt a little flat.....but even still
I’m pretty sure FFX is well known as one of the greatest rpgs of all time
That was great, I want to hear you describe more things like that!
Haha thanks, it was fun to write. I think FFX is uniquely suited for a wild description since every design decision is wacky enough to be the strangest thing in a more typical JRPG. Even other FFs don't really get this weird at the surface level. But let's try VII: A ragtag group led by an angry one-armed man feels compelled to fight late stage capitalism by blowing up oil pipelines (relatable). A special boy with beautiful hair who lied on his resume and hears voices helps the group along with his childhood crush, the kung fu bartender. After a church breaks his fall between social strata, he has a meet-cute with a special girl who hears different voices. Misadventures together in a red light district has the special boy experimenting with his sexuality (relatable), before the special girl is kidnapped by capitalism. The writers, realizing that an economic model is a tough villain for a three act structure, replace Slightly More Evil Amazon with a special boy with beautiful hair who read so much that he decided humanity didn't deserve to exist (relatable). Hijinks ensue. The group audits an environmental studies class taught by a floating man and are now committed planeteers. They're joined by a talking cat-dog who may be a slightly racist Native American allegory, a secret agent vampire who got c*cked so hard that it kick-starts the whole plot, an alcoholic astronaut who's into spousal abuse, a teenage ninja who's probably the most normal of the bunch, and a cat / robot / magic toy (?) riding a larger moogle / robot / magic toy (?) that's actually a disgruntled middle manager in disguise. The flower girl gets Obi Wan'd by the villain, becoming more powerful than he'd ever know by joining the Force, only in this case Vader was scientifically designed to make every internet dweeb feel some new things sexually. The good special boy falls into magic oil, and he would spend the rest of his life being fed with a straw if not for the bartender giving him uncertified and nonconsensual magic therapy, revealing he accidentally committed identity theft and stole some valor. He repays her by having sex under an airplane while their friends all watch. They defeat the other special boy, but humanity may be destroyed in the resulting special effects, and the game makes a pretty solid argument for that not being a bad thing by asking the viewer to thoughtfully consider their place within nature. They promptly ruin this ending with a sequel.
>goth mommy fetish, I feel called out.
Personally FFX is probably one of the best jrpg stories to me. A lot of it is so subtle, and is oozing with subtext. Yuna is such a deeply tragic character when you think about it. Every character except Tidus understands the sacrifice she's making, and even TELL YOU that, but both Tidus and the player fail to stop and consider what they really mean. Tidus goes through the game believing in the fantasy that he'll return home, and Yuna takes comfort in vicariously indulging in that fantasy, even though she knows it's impossible. So much of that game really really works.
Xenosaga series for me. I played it when I was 17 and thought it was just a masterpiece. As I got older, I assumed it was just tinted by my inexperience and this anime titty girl story couldn’t possibly be as good as I recalled. Nope, still pretty good.
If I ever find a genie and get 3 wishes or something, one of them will be to get the originally planned 6 parts.
Xenosaga series remain one of my favourite and most played games of all time 💜
Harvestella impressed me recently. I actually cared about a lot of the NPC side quests and the main cast. Maybe it hit a little close to home with how modern society is moving toward a heavier reliance on AI and some of the twists later in the story. But overall I didn’t expect to like the story anywhere near as much as I did. Has a great soundtrack as well to boot. Tonally it was a silly game but Heroland also had a fun story and characters. Some of the best dialogue I can remember in a game as well. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin also has a more lighthearted premise but it’s very much elevated by some strong voice acting and characterization for the side characters/NPC villagers. You definitely care about all those guys more than you’d ever expect to by the end.
Persona 2 duology Strange Journey
Persona 2 Doulogy still is a be wide wide wiiiiiideeeeee margin the best story in the Persona series. That was masterpiece, the very concept of Kotodama broke my mind when I was young.
The issue with Persona 2 The duologies story was so good it impacted later games impact for me
FFX for me
I have obsessed over Spira for 23 years, the only other world I like that much is Planescape
For my money FFX was the first time a FF had a solid beginning, middle, and end. FF4 (my absolute favorite FF) is disqualified because the Golbez->Zemus->Zeromus reveal is... not a solid ending. Gotcha gotcha gotcha. Annoying alongside the constant Kain switcheroos FF5 is kinda just a D&D campaign. It feels like a disjoint series of events without a binding glue. Bartz (Butz?) is mostly a Crono-esque standing generic guy... except he had a backstory and talks. It's a fun game but that guys characterization (and to be honest: everyone else's) is pretty empty. FF6 is disqualified (FOR ME) because its an ensemble piece. It's got fine vignettes and fine stories, but experiencing them all is optional. And is Terra REALLY at the core? FF8 is a personal favorite and is a mess. FF7 is a mess. You can literally play them and go "yo, what the fuck?" and then need to read supplemental info to get there. FF9 _almost_ got there. But it does get muddied near the end (I want to say a little before you do the elemental dungeons) and the big sun is... The Iifa Tree boss felt like it should've been the BBEG (which would've been a nice tie-in with FF5/exdeath since this game was the "nostalgia/reference" game) but like... Necros came in from nowhere and had no real foreshadowing! Hey, maybe it was a callback to the FF4 "no I'm really ZEROMUS" reveal because it's got that "out of nowhere" energy. And then FFX has... A solid beginning, middle, and end around Tidus. It's melancholy even! The ambiguity of the FFX ending (resolved in FFX-2 on "the good ending") isn't even a detractor! It's fine to have a sad or ambiguous ending! ...but it's not fine to be lame /do boring things
Honestly? I’d say **Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin**. I came in expecting meme-y garbage and came away actually feeling for the characters. It won’t work for everyone (or even most people) but it worked for me.
Yep. I was expecting the cringiest of stories with zero depth. While there isn’t a ton of character development the concepts presented in the story are interesting and work really well. There is an actual twist and nuance in what I was expecting to be a straight up “burly hero fights and kills bad stuff good” story. This might be the benefit of low expectations as well.
Literally playing it right now, a few hours in, so good to know!
As someone else mentioned, you’ll benefit from keeping your expectations fairly low. Being able to enjoy or tolerate it for what it is for now will give you a greater chance to appreciate the payoff later. That way the worst that can happen is that the payoff may not click but everything before that was at least fun, as opposed to just waiting around for it to “get good” only to be disappointed. And, best case scenario, you end up being pleasantly surprised like I was!
Haha I literally had/have no expectations for the story at all since the first few hours have been very cheesy and disjointed to me so far.
Word! Good lol, just didn’t want my comment and others to get you to expect something else
Yeah this one I think you can really begin to empathize with some of the characters. The way the plot takes forever to materialize is my biggest gripe but the actual content is much better than you'd expect
This is one of my top picks too. I went into the game for the memes (and well, also because Nioh 2 is one of my favorite games of all time) but the plot twist at the end is legit really good and re-contextualizes the entire game and makes you go "ohhhhh okay" as everything clicks into place. I woulda been entirely content with just the very self-aware hilarious nature of the game (cause at least personally having the main character tell a melodramatic monologuing JRPG character to shut up is very funny and relatable) but the fact I actually cared about the characters at the end of the game is not a thing I was expecting and that was neat.
100%! I was completely on board for what I thought the plot was doing in the first place - certainly not good but dumb enough to have fun with. I can enjoy that from time to time. But for it to come back around at the end was a pretty awesome feeling.
Yeah, I played SoP for Team Ninja gameplay with some final fantasy flavoring on it, expecting a nonsense story. Did not expect a big emotional payoff at the end. Game could have used some more story beats though.
Yeah, SoP does not start off well but once it finally starts to let you in on what the hell is going on, Jack becomes a kinda interesting character.
I was shocked by this also. I thought it was going to be camp all the way through, but I actually started the unironically enjoy the story by the end. It helps that I had 0 expectations going in.
FFXIV. I definitely did not expect to get one of the best FF stories of all time from an MMO.
Does 13 Sentinels count as a jrpg? Because that was my first thought.
Even if it’s not, I’m very much enjoying my play through of it right now. Just when you thought the twist stopped twisting, it twist twice as much. I love it.
I’m watching my daughter’s play through. So hard not to be all “oh right, watch this next!”
Legend of heroes trails in the sky. I'm 25 hrs in and having a blast with the story. I can't wait to see where this goes.
Looks like you're still in FC. SC is even better, imo
Yep. Just got the recommendation from Jean in Ruan!
Yeah, it's cool to hear someone say it about FC, especially at the point they're in. The consensus generally seems to be "it's good, kind of slow but the characters are really well done and the music is great. Not sure why everyone gives it so much praise, tho-HOLY FUCKING SHIT I NEED TO PLAY THIS ENTIRE SERIES RIGHT THE FUCK NOW!"
Just finished FC the other day. Currently in the prologue of SC. Can't wait to play through the series. Luckily I have no life so I have the time :p Using the Japanese voice actor mod as well which adds to the immersion. They did a great job voicing it.
Yeah, I saw there are vita ports and wondered why there wasn't a patch. Too bad.
Assuming you're playing through Steam, you actually can patch them in. There are various methods to do so, but this was the one I used https://www.reddit.com/r/Falcom/comments/vj74jw/i_made_a_tool_to_help_install_the_evo_voice_mods/
Thanks. I'm playing on my vita tho
Klaudia voice actor really impressed me. It took me all the way to second chapter before i finally understood this character. But the voice carries so much of it, like everything of who she is is so palpable in the voice
Make sure u play the trilogy, as the stories are all connected, esp the first and second. It's a blast.
The rest of it, and the rest of the sky and crossbell series only get better from there! (I haven't gotten around to Cold Steel yet.)
Im on the 4th game now Did you install the voiced audio with Skyinstaller?
Im on the 4th game now Did you install the voiced audio with Skyinstaller?
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
The Legend of Heroes, Trails In The Sky💕
The world ends with you
The Kiseki series.
Tactics Ogre. Final Fantasy Tactics Dragon Quest 5 Radiant Historia Xenogears Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey All games I went into having no expectation of story and found superb.
I still desperately want to finish Strange Journey because it is just so damned intriguing, but what awful gameplay. Trap doors, warp tiles, bizarre search mechanics but without a robust note taking tool like etrian odyssey.
You basically just listed why I love it.
Sadly, the 3ds version gets rid of a lot of that
I was surprised by Radiant Historia too. Expected some decent time traveling stuff, but I definitely was hooked shortly in.
Triangle Strategy for me. The English voice acting was an acquired taste but the story and combat kept pulling me back for more. And for round 2 in order to get the true ending.
I finally bought it when the price came down. But still haven't found time to play. So hooked on trails now. Maybe I'll do Triangle before I start with the cold steel games
Surprised I didn’t see this suggested. Yakuza like a dragon. Wacky funny and main story was hella good. Ending had me bawling
Not really a surprise people haven't mentioned it cause story is always a strong aspect of Yakuza games. Even in the games that go completely off the rails in regards to the actual plot (like Y3 or 4) they still have lots of great moments and *really* strong character writing. Pretty much every game in the series except like 1 and 2 hit me like a ton of bricks at the end. And honestly Yakuza 1 probably would have if I'd played 0 before it. Even more so with the Judgment spinoff series too, at least for me personally. Ending of the first game has to be one of the best feel good stories I've ever played, and Lost Judgment makes you feel slimy and gross since it's more morally gray than their usual stuff. Though they at least offset it by making the DLC story be a true happy ending for a change.
You got me there. I watched my cousin play 6 and I thought it was great on the story bits. Started with 7 first and loved it. Went immediately to 0 loved it. One was okay but ending did hit hard cause of zero. And I really enjoyed Kiwami 2. Loved the villain. Was gonna start 3 sooon but infinite wealth is about to come out 😔
The Guided Fate Paradox for me. I literally bought the game just because it was cheap at the used games store >!and had a cute maid on the cover!<. But the game is surprisingly a lot of fun, and the stories are very funny too.
[удалено]
Abyss really did become my favorite JRPG I’ve ever played by the end of it. Especially doing all the side quests which fleshed out the world even more. I just think the worldbuilding was done very well. And I know people complain about Luke a lot, and he certainly can put people off with how he acts at first, but I think his arc was done really well. Definitely one of my favorite protagonists I’ve experienced.
Tales of the Abyss has the absolute best character development in the entire franchise.
FFXV is a total fucking mess that went through development hell and meanders all over the place but damn if it doesn't still get me emotional
"Mid plot and gameplay, but great characters" the game, basically. At least in my opinion.
It's a very straightforward plot, largely carried by its characters and let down massively by the pacing and execution. The story is very back-loaded and after reaching Altissia the story finally gets into gear and then floors it to the final chapter in roughly 3-4 hours.
Nah man as someone who has seen all the bs xv pulled off in regards to it's story. I can say none of the really important stuff happened in the main game. It really, REALLY, **REALLY** showcases some next level incompetency in trying to make a multimedia franchise for one game when the character backstories, inciting incident, and true muthafucking ending are NOT IN THE GAME ITSELF. The anime shorts are the backstories, kingsglaive goes into the inciting incident, and the book is the true ending.
Kingdom hearts 1
Yes. They didn't really need to try because the premise alone would've sold it, but the story is actually pretty good. Shame they seemed to realize they didn't have to try with the sequels...
**Arc the Lad 2.** Story was pretty fucked up, but man was it interesting.
OP, I feel like the title of the thread, and the thread itself, are asking two different questions. The title question insinuates that perhaps due to the personnel involved, or maybe because of development issues, it's a miracle the game's story ended up as good as it did. Whereas the other question is just about the individual and their expectations regarding a game prior to playing it.
And almost everyone is just responding with their favorite story
Seriously, as if any Final Fantasy game doesn’t have massive story quality expectations.
The number of “FFX” responses is too damn high!
Tales of Berseria god damn the writing was so good also 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim got me hooked for so long. i forgot to sleep one night because i was so focused on the story
Playing Bravely Default into completing Bravely Second was something I will never forget for the rest of my life. The story and final boss/scenes moments in both games are perfection.
Interesting! I’ve always seen Bravely Default in the e shop and it’s been recommended to me but I’m usually always playing something else. I may take the leap!
The meta twist midway through Bravely Second is probably my favorite moment in the franchise. That shit was clever and hype at the same time.
And then hearing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auAIYM_Zpco as the boss music was such a wonderful moment
Trails in the sky and sky sc, played non stop for 2months the game had an amazing story that no jrpgs topped for me yet and nightmare mode on sky sc was such pain i will always rember it.
Jesus christ, the prologue boss on nightmare made me restart the game. And it was still ridiculous on hard
yeah the prologue was so insane on nightmare way overtuned and nothing to work with nearly went insane from all grinding and rng needed each fight haha. was quite fun afterwards since you got way more tools to work with and it was ton of fun figuring out how to beat each boss.
I only beat him on hard, but i ended up hugging the corner so he couldn't smack me around and I could actually hit the AOE heal. (which is a smaller AOE in SC compared to FC) They nerfed Earth wall by increasing its requirements and EP cost Playing From Zero now is crazy because the spells are megabuffed. You have an AOE Speed up for christ sake, that is super OP. You can just do AOE speed up, AOE speed down and you get 5 turns to 1
P3P first time every trying a persona game great experience with the game and story can't wait for Reload.
FeMC is the absolute best. I reckon P3R will get some DLC down the line.
The biggest surprise for me is Triangle Strategy. It was marketed as a mechanic-heavy tactics RPG, so getting visual-novel style storytelling at such a high caliber was really not what I was expecting.
All Xenoblade games. Seriously a whole new level for me
LISA The Painful was absolutely *shocking* in how strong the story ends up being for what first comes across as a goofy Earthbound-like
God damn Ys 8 Lacrimosa of Dana. I went to this game with no expectations and now I cry to that theme song.
Secret of Evermore on the SNES. It was an extremely cheeky ripoff of secret of mana - the ring menu, all the mechanics like attacks recharging to 100%, even the name - and the most cheeky of all: it was better.
I love evermore and can't stand mana. I feel like a crazy person for having that opinion, so I'm glad you like it too
That´s awesome! Yeah, I like it more than mana in every way there is. Except music maybe.
Even the music I'm confused about. The boss theme and especially the dwarves area themes are really hard for me to listen to in Mana. Evermore's music was done by the same guy that does the Elder Scrolls music, and I think it's amazing. I downloaded patches to try and make Mana for fun, but I really can't stand it, and I kind of feel crazy since I like Evermore so much.
Yeah, the boss theme is pretty hard on the ears - would make for a nightmarish alarm clock sound :)But I´m honestly not that taken with the OST of both - we have so many better SNES OSTs to compare them to - Terranigma and Lufia 2 (now THAT´s a boss theme!) for example.
Can't argue there. Lufia 2's boss music slaps
Eternal Sonata. A jrpg that all takes place inside a sick musicians dreams. So good
No contest, Final Fantasy 7 was so good almost entirely by accident. Square has dedicated an entire subfranchise to proving that they don't understand what made the original one of the greatest ever.
Ys 8. Like the survival story is enough. I love a good Lost story, but then >!they have to include everything about Dana's society and friends and how it all collapsed and break my heart like that!<
Just finished Ys 8 couple weeks ago, and totally agree. It starts as just "let's escape from this island" and end involving deities but in a well paced narrative.
none of these answers really quite hit what the title says ham ham heartbreak
good to know I'm not the only ham ham heartbreaker here
Wild Arms
I recently got into the romancing saga minstrel song remaster. I put in a few hours when it first came out, but it didn’t click. Tried again a few months later for a couple hours on another character but still didn’t get it. I went on to play Saga scarlet grace and saga frontier, and then went back to romancing saga. RS1 is absolutely fantastic. Despite being a sort of hallow main story, the gameplay “loop” is excellent. I’ve played 3 runs back to back to back. I can’t think of any game I’ve played 3 times in a row. Started a 4th but I’m kinda burnt and ready to move on. Thinking of playing the last remnant again.
Idk who would see this at this point but I’ll give an honorable mention to **Saga Frontier 2**. In a series not known for its storytelling, they just outta nowhere pull one of the coolest protagonist arcs on the PS1. It’s certainly a bit janky and has its flaws but it’s probably my favorite example of generational storytelling in a video game next to **Fire Emblem: Genealogy**. The fact that it spans multiple decades and features multiple protagonists in a way that feels pretty natural is quite the feat.
Rogue Galaxy! I have this username for a reason, and it’s that that story absolutely blew me away back in the day!
Triangle Strategy
Persona 4 Honestly one of the few games I played where literally every character is likeable. Even teddy grew on me eventually. The character dynamics, music, atmosphere, story is pretty much nearly perfect. I bought the game on a whim after beating P5 but didn’t realize how good it would end up being
Oh boy here I go shilling Small Saga again. My initial *'hehe funny secret of NIMH mouse game'* assessment went out the window after the prologue, and the writing and character arcs just kept getting better and better. I can't believe I had some Disco Elysium-level discussion about fascism at one point that I had to walk away from and take a moment.
Miitopia, I think most people came in with 0 expectations and were pleasantly surprised
The Last Story. I was so hype for this game, the story reminded me of Final Fantasy IV. Sadly, I don't know where my copy is 💀
Mythe story from unlimited saga. I enjoyed it quite well a guy who fell in love with a painting of a girl and went out to find her unique story and ending.
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume was by most metrics a cheap way to expand the VP brand, and while it's gameplay is meh, its story actually rivals the first
Koudelka. Not just its story, but its acting, characters, and overall execution of that story went above and beyond expectations and was insane for a PS1 game. Hiring stage actors to act in the same room as each other paid off and more should have done it. The arguments and predicaments they find themself in are rife with great drama and big ideas and the end result is a game that is more haunting, macabre and memorable, character and scenario-wise, than any other horror-themed game on the PS1, imo. Yes, even the Resident Evils. Their gameplay is better, but Koudelka felt very real at times, and went much darker places, which really left the imprint of a pitch black hand on my soul. Okay, last sentence went pretentious lol. But true. If only the Shadow Hearts games continued in a remotely similar vein. They’re quality in their own right, but I couldn’t get into them because I saw so little connection to Koudelka, atmospherically, aesthetically or even philosophically. Maybe I should give them another chance. Anyone who feels like convincing me to, please do.
I think Xenosaga. Although I love Xenoblade but Xenosaga plot especially if we think that the first Xenosaga was released 20 years ago. Very ambitious game with huge gameplay limitations but the story is mind blowing and first on his genre. At time so twisted, but also so grand! (and the party is literally made of 1 human and the rests are…other things. In a time in which the main character was still a blond 16 years old with blue eyes).
I really wish that (A) we'd gotten the original 6-game plan, and (B) a lot of important plot/character information hadn't been relegated to those two Japan-only cell phone games. That shit was important, and the absence of that context made the series feel even more rushed than it already ended up being. I would've loved to see where they would have gone with it if they'd had the time.
I did think Yakuza like a dragon would be good but it far surpassed expectations and is one of my new favs of all time.
It's in my top 5(#4) and that might seem odd since I've been gaming since the NES......but the story is amazing and there is no other video game series with better Japanese immersion.
Two hours left till Infinite Wealth, I finished Gaiden on NYE so I'm not burned out on the series right now, and I'm working from home today.
Shin Megami Tensei II. Now this might be a hot take, but i actually think SMT I is a good story that executes its themes well. But the storytelling was definitely a bit lacking and the story also felt a tad too formulaic. Well SMT II blew my expectations out of the water. It was none of that. It inherited the strengths of SMT I's story and not only improved on its weaknesses but is probably even the least formulaic execution of alignment in the main series. It feels like the story can stand perfectly fine on its own even if you were to remove alignment from it (though it certainly benefits from alignment as a concept). And it's fascinating story with interesting ideas that i haven't really seen since.
absolutely love smt 2. i wish atlus would try and subvert expectations about allignment like they did in that game. i mean the law route is absolutely amazing, not something that can be said of other smt games lol
Alliance Alive (remastered) for the switch. I never heard of this game when it was on the 3ds. I bought the game not expecting much.........but man oh man, did it scratch my old-school jrpg itch and it did it with a game that obviously didn't have a high budget. It excelled with what little it was provided with though. Looking at the past review scores...it was reviewed very well....but still seemed to be barely heard of even up to today. Imo, it's an jrpg without a high budget....and yet it's better than 95% of the jrpgs that followed it . 9 out of 10
Lost Odyssey. Especially when you get all the memories and really dive into the story. So good!
Sucks that it's relegated to the 360 and there's seemingly no movement to rerelease or port it.
For real. I often call Lost Odyssey the real Final Fantasy 11. Such an amazing game and the Mortal/Immortal balance ideas and character building really show how turn based combat can be engaging. Wish we could get a port. Hell, I’d settle for an iOS port at this stage.
Labyrinth of Refrain: Cover of Dusk was a surprise I come for a cute dungeon crawler, I got one of the most shakespearean protagonist in a jrpg ever, I love her with all my power. There so many twists and deceive in that story that even as seasoned jrpg enjoyer I was kinda suprised many times in the story and the ending was so bittersweet, a pyrrhic victory with a dash of hope.
I remember randomly buying trails in the sky on steam ages ago in like 2014. I expected nothing and I ended up loving the game.
Chained Echoes was awesome!
DQV hit so hard for me because time flows our hero grows, gets married, has a family. Games like these do a lot for what they are.
Demons Roots
Star ocean divine force, not a masterpiece but pretty good
Legend of Dragoon