For decades, JRPGs have been some of the most popular games on any given console,setting the tone and standardfor what more narrative-focused titles are able to achieve. Some JRPG series in particular are so venerated because of how long they’ve been consistently drawing fans in, across dozens of titles and consoles.
Some titles, however, whether they’reflashy action JRPGsor slower-paced narrative titles, have accrued so much lore across all their titles (or even over just one title!) that it can be hard to keep track. Very hard. Like, impossible. For players who want the challenge in a JRPG to come from figuring out what’s going on in the story, rather than combat, here are a few games and series that stand out.
Spoiler Warning: major plot elements will be explored in several of the entries on this list.
One of the many ways thatShin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeanceis adirect upgrade to its predecessoris in the story. The main cast has a lot more personality now, and the story feels more coherent, with only a few spots that stick out as strange, like the little detour trip into the armed compound filled withEgyptian gods. But, between the latest iteration of the Atlus remake girl, her tone-deaf recitals of car fatality statistics, and at least three phallic-shaped demons to fight in the game, players might be left wondering… what is actually happening?
So, the Nahobino has the Knowledge (as in, biblical tree of life Knowledge) that all humans have, but also the power of the gods? Well, of the gods before they lost the Knowledge, because without the Knowledge, they’re demons. So the Nahobino is like what all demons were before they were demons, but now only the true capital ‘G’ God has this power, and the Nahobino needs to either restore humanity’s connection to this God, or give knowledge back to some of the demons, who want to be gods. And, Tokyo is a simulation. The president and his brother are both local Japanese gods, running a magical simulation of the city, and the president’s brother fuses with the main character in order to turn the protagonist into a Nahobino… are you taking notes?
WhileNier: Automata, on the surface, doesn’t ask the player much to understand its story, to truly absorb the narrative, players will need to understand all the pieces of media that come together to form its canon — and also play through the entire story twice (earning endings A and B), before being able to continue the story in exciting ways (to achieve ending C). This is not to say that the game is a slog, however; it has sometruly exceptional combat, and the story is one of the best seen in the industry today.
But,Nier: Automata’s context is one based upon the much olderDrakengardline ofgames. Namely,Drakengard 1(on the PlayStation 2) andDrakengard 3,which came out in 2013 (between the originalNierandNier Automata).Drakengard 2is sort of theDark Souls 2of theDrakengardseries in that it’s doing its own thing, lore-wise, and many players simply don’t like it. There’s also a host of novels, and even a Japanese musical, that are all canon toAutomataand vital to truly understanding what’s going on.
So,Kingdom Hearts 3. There’s a lot to unpack here. It’s important to note that this is a fantastic game series that typically has a great, uplifting tone, but it also has a story filled with all manner of surprise twists, and information isparceled out in non-sequentialorder to make things extra challenging to put together.
There are bad guys disguised as good guys, and then when the good guys get revenge on the bad guys for the identity theft, they take it too far and theybecomethe bad guys. There are characters from the third game important to the first, macguffins, fake macguffins, and fake macguffins disguised as real ones. It all comes together to make a great — if chaotic — story, but even for fans who have played all of the games, it can still be a headache to keep track of it all.
Final Fantasyas a series is complicated. There are so many titles in this series, and some are intrinsically linked, but most are, for the most part, not relevant to each other at all andcan be played in any order.Final Fantasy 13is a standalone title that does incorporate some story beats from other games, including a massive city with an oppressive government, and one protagonist’s fight against this government. It’sveryFinal Fantasy 7in this way, but with a very different aesthetic.
There’s a floating city, and a cocoon that keeps the city safe. It’s a metaphorical cocoon, though, and the corrupt theocratic government that rules the cocoon brands its political enemies as heretics, and they stole the main character’s sister to make her a servant to a god-like being in the cocoon. There are also fairies, who control life, but different aspects of life, which the cocoon also does… but in an evil way. There’s a lot to follow, but once wrapped up in the story (cocooned in it, even?), players will be compelled to see it through.
Rounding out this list is a whopping third Square Enix title (they do seem passionate about complicated lore).Tactics Ogre: Rebornis one of those JRPGs where most of the plot revolves around a grand, nation-consuming war. These plots are typically not that hard to follow in JRPGs. Even in the case of somethinglikeTriangle Strategy—where the enemies and allies are constantly shifting, and the battle rages on more than one front — showing the players who’s who in the setting and going from there helps get players quickly interested and invested in the story.
Tactics Ogreseems to flip this. The player knows nothing about the setting and everything about the war. The Golgastani are fighting against the player’s nation, and the player is assisted by a third nation group, who are actually mercenaries and not affiliated with their homeland, and also the captain of these mercenaries has the same name and build as the legendary dark knight and commander of the Golgastani, and good god the tutorial battle hasn’t even started yet — please slow down, Square Enix!
