7 JRPGs with Mature and Memorable Stories

[@TheKisekiNut]

Thank you to KiwiWalks and WitchSpring R for sponsoring this video! 📌Link to purchase (digital and physical) - bit.ly/3MOTES3 It's currently on sale on Nintendo Switch and for Steam Turn-Based RPG Fest 2024. The game is also available on PS5, so take your pick!

[@mintcake2668]

We really need a Tales of the Abyss remaster.

[@Nikita_Akashya]

Agreed man. I have a physical copy of the 3DS version, but I really wanna play it on my TV. This game is just too good.

[@henrikfisch]

Would have bought immediately.

[@menhirmike]

Aren't we getting one? I thought that a bunch of Tales remasters/re-releases were announced a week ago at TGS, including Abyss?

[@sollato0293]

Hopefully it will happen in 2025 as part of the remasters project.

[@mintcake2668]

@@menhirmike Just Grace, but they did say there will be more.

[@TheAwsomeuser]

Man just seeing tht scene of Estelle finally catching Renne brought a tear to my eye again The best moment in the crossbell saga

[@cranesalvation8391]

We know it’s coming everytime but I appreciate how you put Trails on these lists

[@bemybff205]

Witchspring R definitely deserves a video of it's own, genuinely the best game I've played this year

[@TheKisekiNut]

Great little game.

[@enzomercier2789]

Holy sh*t, Witchspring R is actually so good that's insane. It's been YEARS since a game made me smile this much, the story is great, the characters oozes with personality, the gameplay mechanics are really fun, the difficulty (in hard mode, which for a first playthrough worked really well for me) is on point being challenging and requiring you to use the many systems available to boost Pieberry as well as actually thinking about your combat strategy without being bullsh*t nor requiring unreasonable amount of farming. I sincerely wish we'll either get the rest of the mobile games remade to this level of quality, or a fully new title, but this need to become an ambitious console/PC series

[@giuseppeparry1365]

It's funny how FFIX is one of, if not THE goofiest Final Fantasy game, yet at the same time is one of the most emotional stories in the series. Did you wait on the opening menu and see the quotes from the different characters? Vivi's sorrow. Freya's despair. (Quina's "I do what I want, you have problem!?" is pretty hilarious.) Minor Sky the 3rd and Daybreak spoilers below: As for Trails, I know “Most mature and memorable” isn’t just the same as “Darker” but I think most of Zero’s heavy content come at the last fifth of the game. I’d personally put Daybreak and Sky the 3rd ahead on that front. Daybreak did something no other Trails games did much of: it showed characters going through traumatic events like watching their friends die mid-game in current events, rather than just have tragic backstories that you hear about. Trails is often really dark with their backstories but light on its current stories. Daybreak gives you serious stuff in both. And you really feel the impact of EVERYONE’s suffering, both past and present. Also Sky the 3rd I’d say while not all of it is dark, almost all of it is mature. Like Kloe’s struggles to fit in and unwillingly pushing them away. Like Anelace finding meaning in her sword. Like Tita learning how any of her inventions - no-matter what her intentions - could be used for destruction. And if you want to talk about dark stuff, it’s not just Renne’s backstory. The whole main story with Kevin is he’s fighting his literal demons in a place where he wants to be tortured for all eternity. All for being a scared little boy whose mum tried to kill him then killed herself, before he lost his mind and kills someone who was like a sister to him. And then there’s Schera’s backstory. Goddamn, Schera’s backstory. And no-one ever talks about it! I should start a petition for people to start talking about Schera’s Moon Door and what she went through! Support me in this, TKN! Sorry, I rambled a bit here. Great list! I’ll take a look at the ones on Steam (only have PC). I’ve been trying to get into Tales. Going through Symphonia at the moment. Sounds like I have some great stuff to look forward to with Abyss! (and Berseria. Heard a lot of great things about that one too!)

[@TheKisekiNut]

It has humour, but it has an actual well structured story, and delivers.

[@lukasvitroler2178]

wow ff9 already on the list!

[@TheKisekiNut]

Definitely, great story!

[@r4nddon]

The best story so far for me was Xenoblade Chronicles, after that Nier Replicant (havent played Automate yet) and the Trails series (probably Zero the best)

[@adrianfranco1833]

FFXIV Shadowbringers and Endwalker will forever be my favorite when it comes to jrpg stories. It's sadly limited to mmorpg gameplay which hampers its potential. Oh, and can we please have a Lost Odyssey remaster/ remake or even a port to modern platforms?

[@uberpinkwarrior]

I was not expecting Witchspring R. Having played all but the 2nd game (waiting to see if it gets a remake), that franchise is absolutely fantastic, and Witchspring R (remake of the first game) is insanely fantastic. Highly recommend, fantastic game, extremely fun. Easy to break, but its easy to enjoy it anyways. Third game is my favorite story, but I love all 4 of the witch protags we've had to date. (...For anyone who cares, the 2nd game covers the events of the 1st game from a different character's perspective, 3rd game is a hard sequel in a different continent that gets mentioned occasionally, and then 4th game is in another continent entirely that takes place after the 3rd game.)

[@connergaskell1909]

FF9 and trails from sky trilogy were two of my absolute favourites they had an amazing cast and story

[@SacrificAbominat]

When it comes to memorable mature stories in games I usually think of the Xenosaga Trilogy, although episode 2 is a bit meh to me, and the original 4 .hack games, not really G.U. though. Tetsya Takahashi and Monolith Soft have come up with some of the more mature stories with their Xeno series, but I think they've lightened up quite a bit since they started doing Xenoblade. I think Xenosaga was kind of the peak of the story telling for the series with Episode 1 and 3 even though it's really flawed at times, and I can't help but feel they've been holding themselves back when it comes to tackling the heavy subject matter they did in Xenogears and Xenosaga because they're owned by Nintendo nowadays. I love Xenoblade for the exploration and gameplay and I think the characters are really well written, but the one thing I think it's missing is having really flawed protagonists like Xenogears and Xenosaga had. Like Shion having Stockholm syndrome when it comes to her boyfriend makes her very unlikeable in the last game, but I much prefer seeing flawed characters like that trying to get over their flaws and move on than the rote "We're fighting for out future" messaging we've been getting with the Xenoblade games. Seriously Takahashi, Monolith, and Nintendo let loose with mature themes in future Xeno games or whatever new IP they decide to do. I much prefer Xenogears and Xenosaga's story telling over Xenoblade even though it's still pretty good. As for .hack there is a bit of a caveat to it as it is a multimedia franchise and half of the first story arc is with the SIGN anime and the other half is with the first 4 games (IMOQ). Anyway this first story arc was written by the Ghost in the Shell movie writer, Kazunori Ito, and it covers a lot of similar subject matter as that movie and series cover. There's a theme of existentialism for both the human and AI characters, and I honestly sympathize quite a lot with both sides of the conflict. A programmer wanted to create an AI child, but didn't foresee that the program he made to create that child became self aware and sentient itself. It feared it's inevitable deletion upon giving birth to the child, so it does everything it can to prevent that child's birth. Even becoming a dangerous computer virus that threatens the real world as well as the game. A lot of characters have a lot of depth to them and while some of the conversations in SIGN are about inane stuff they're doing in the real world it really fleshes them out a lot more. Honestly if IMOQ ever gets a remake I'd like to see more of these kinds of conversations show up in the actual game as you only really get a sense of who some of the characters are in the real world with the light novel (Another Birth) and web novel (New Testament) retelling of them. I also wouldn't mind more exploration of the AI characters like Aura and Mia if a remake happens too, heck give Morgana, the villain AI, some actual dialogue in the games like she has in SIGN. The reason why G.U. doesn't really make my mature story criteria though is because they went for a more comedic Shonen anime approach with it's story, and volume 1 in particular it's kind of hard to take anything but a couple scenes seriously because of this. Not to mention Haseo is a complete edgelord in volume 1, but thankfully mellows out in volume 2. Volume 2 is definitely more mature with it's story telling and I really like the whole Moon Tree infiltration segment where Atoli's backstory is explored, easily one of the best parts of the entire series as a whole. Unfortunately Volume 3 drops the ball and feels really rushed. Heck the final boss feel completely out of nowhere unless you played IMOQ and know it'll show up when all of the powers of the characters are combined. Though I do think the Tri-Edge fight part of volume 3 is on par with what volume 2 did in terms of story. I will say that CC2's current Fuga Melodies of Steel series is definitely back to being the kind of mature I liked with IMOQ and it can be even darker, like for how cute the games can be at times seeing all of the soul canon firing scenes is just devastating when you're pretty attached to the characters. I'm hoping CC2 continues with self publishing their original IPs and I would love to see them return to .hack someday too, whether Bandai approves it or they do a spiritual successor. I also hope people will eventually recognize that their original IPs have story telling on par with what Monolith Soft does and stop just thinking of CC2 as a developer that makes anime games.

[@Zero_Tester]

It just Xenogears and Xenosaga overall has more serious tone and mature elements than Xenoblade,especially Xenoblade 2 was made with it being developed for more mainstream audiences

[@SacrificAbominat]

@@Zero_Tester Yeah which is fine I just feel like since Xenoblade 2 the stories have played it a bit too safe. I wouldn't mind a new IP that takes on a much darker and more mature tone from Monolith.

[@ReproBates]

We need a remake or modern remaster of Lost Odyssey, one of my favourite games of all time. The little stories you would find about Kaim's past were fantastic, and some of them even brought me to tears, which doesn't happen often in games

[@TheKisekiNut]

Unfortunately looks like Mistwalker are done with it.

[@ReproBates]

@TheKisekiNut that's a real shame. One of my favourite games from that generation of consoles. Also having played the first 2 Trails of cold steel games, I've actually decided to pick up trails in the sky because of yours videos. Only just over £6 on steam on offer at the minute

[@jamesrule1338]

Lost Odyssey was so good. Pity we'll never see another one like it.

[@Zero_Tester]

It only because it was confined in X360 platform,i remember had to buy a mdded X360 just to play Lost Odyssey,Kingdom Under Fire,Blue Dragon back in late 2000s I think with advancement of emulation nowadays(since the emu for x360 back then is very unstable) most people can play it easily this times

[@evetoyoumwah]

Lost Odyssey is def my top 5 JRPGs, I wish they'd give it a modern release.

[@matthewhanf3033]

I cant sing enough praise about 13 Sentinels. Anyone whos a big sci fi fan should play this game.

[@PinkuCandyX3]

Tales of the Abyss, Persona 3 and Nier Automata are my three favorite games (and stories) ever, I was surprised to see all three here!! Great video :)

[@ned993]

If you haven't already done so, play Nier Replicant 1.22 to get the complete Nier experience since it's a prequel and what came first.

[@TheKisekiNut]

I've played Replicant, I prefer Automata.

[@SuperCoreyBlack]

We need more games like this. Give us more interesting stories!

[@joopvanhedel1372]

What I love about Aigis is that she is a robot that learns the meaning of life and death and becomes human in a game about life and death. She embodies every part of P3's themes and messages. And she is also the best written character in a series all about characters and side characters, but that is beside the point

[@Turbo_Waitress]

Always glad to see Abyss getting some appreciation. Great list overall!

[@jakerobert5374]

Lost Odyssey is such a gem , glad it made the list.

[@awkwardGardener]

With Bamco rereleasing Tales of Graces, I really hope they give Abyss another look. That game desperately needs a modern platform release.

[@TheKisekiNut]

They've got to, Xillia is supposedly coming and they must know people want Abyss.

[@jrpggamer93]

Another great video !! An my favorite part is your a huge trails fan as I am so I get to hear all the great ost !!

[@Eagleknight815]

About half of these I played and enjoyed every one of them. Persona 3 is now getting on my radar now so I'm glad to see it's on this list.

[@Hilversumborn]

Bit of out there pick but my honorable mention is Yakuza: Like A Dragon.

[@HolyHadou]

Gonna say I thought Tales of Berseria would be here but Abyss makes sense.

[@Zero_Tester]

Abyss fit both aspect though,i dont think Berseria has more memorable story than Abyss

[@vhex61]

4:25 you were mid teens when lost odyssey came out? Damn I feel old

[@rkclinite]

Witch Spring was definitely overshadowed by year-end lists. Cool that it's getting another shot.

[@Official_RetroMania]

Star Door 15 hunts me even today 💀

[@GrandMasterofALLthingsbad]

Im not the emotional type but i cried

[@Official_RetroMania]

@@GrandMasterofALLthingsbad We all did, we all did. 😭😢🫂

[@jrpggamer93]

Persona 3 reload is my game of the year it was simply amazing experience ! Almost ! Brings a tear to your eye at the end with the good ending so good an great character building wishing was longer like 5 .v

[@Ophanim-ie2xn]

You'r my go to channel for everything jrpg. Can't wait for more content. \^•^/

[@Nikita_Akashya]

Oh yeah, act 1 of Abyss. That ending was horrifying back when I played it. I was only around 13 or so. This game has an USK 6 rating. People flipping die onscreen in this game! Same with Symphonia 2s finale. You fight the hardest Boss up to that point and then they literally get killed onscreen! Back to Abyss, Act 1 horrifies you and then gives the most harrowing explanation why Luke is the way he is. He is a child with no idea what is going on. His whole existence is a lie. He was born to die for someone else. For someone whose life he stole without ever meaning to. I am actually in awe for how Luke copes with this without going insane. The one person he trusted most just saw him as a disposable tool to use and then discard afterwards. This boy has it rough. Abyss is even more impactful if you realize just how insanely depressing Lukes situation is. He struggles the whole game to come to terms with who he really is. He experiences so many horrible things that would break most children. And he is a child. Abyss is just amazing and I really hope it gets the Remaster it deserves one day. This game is too good to be locked on 13 year old hardware. I love my 3DS but playing this game on TV would be insanely amazing.

[@Norbiej]

good list! Even tho so far i played SMTV has not a very grand story, i think it's writing is also very mature and i appreciate that. Also the new Yakuza games , the mainplot is pretty mature. Gosh i wish they would finally port lost odyssey :(

[@Truth-Justice-Freedom]

U forgot XENOGEARS (PS)!❤

[@forestof]

この動画でZEROを買おうと決めました。ありがとう！

[@jimkirk2527]

13 Sentinels was such a surprise to me, when I played it but in an awesome way. Nothing was kinda expected it just hit hard while the brain was building more and more ideas. It was awesome in the same way as I'm disappointed by Trails through Daybreak at the moment. Just arrived in chapter 5 and how repetitive and predictable can one game be?

[@TheKisekiNut]

That's unfortunate that Daybreak isn't clicking with you! Hopefully it comes around.

[@jimkirk2527]

@@TheKisekiNut Just wanted to let you know that it finally clicked in act5! Just finished it and wow, what a game. So, never judge before the end but act 3 and 4 where really not my thing.

[@Vugtis_El_VillaVODS]

8:20 Says "Not as direct" We see a character hold a gun to her head

[@sjstronghold9238]

Personally I would put Sky the 3rd above Zero, but it is a good choice.

[@rjproduction486]

13 aeigis sentinel is the game I at first look at it very skeptical because the gameplay looks like cheap and im not relly fan of visual novel. But after finishing it recently, man the story is a whole another level! Maybe even better than nier Automata!

[@mattmaddogwheaton4724]

No mention of Xenogears? I am disappoint!

[@laxur1312]

Every sigle time someone praises Aegis Rim for having a phenomenal story I point to the fact that it was robbed from the "Best Narrative" award at the 2020 Game Awards. A crime I shall never forgive.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Rewards are meh anyway, we know how good it was.

[@eliminatedzergling1685]

are you excited for a remake of FF9? i sure am ✌

[@SanDisk4GB4]

FFIX, P3R & 13 Sentinels back to back to back makes this list absolutely GOATED.

[@RyuuSeichi]

Seeing Renne in the thumbnail made me feel pain xD

[@ffxiikd1426]

new video nice ✨

[@f.9344]

For me in the recent years it was FF16. For me personaly it was as good as Nier

[@Gdg195]

xenogears enough said no one even close

[@homermorisson9135]

Nier Automata sadly was totally ruined for me due to its gameplay choice... not only do I not enjoy this type of twitch-shooter design, due to the heavy medication I've had to take for way over a decade now, I'm simply physically unable to play games like that... reaction time just isn't there anymore... such a shame, would love to enjoy the story, as that's the most important thing for me as well in any game, but especially (J)RPGs.

[@martinomagic9230]

I still have to play Neir Automata, but the existential dread of knowing I have to play it over and over again to see the real ending may keep from ever starting it up. But on a more positive note as someone who has played WitchSpring R it is a great game with a perfect balance of everything. I would not really call it mature even though it has some mature themes. Its a coming of age story where the character grows up through the story, and it is done in a fun/whimsical way that will stick with me.

[@jamesrule1338]

You only really have to play Nier Automata story, part 1, twice. And the second time is from a different view point. After that, you play the second half of the game once, which unlocks the ability to chapter select so you only have to play the last chapter twice to see all the endings (and get the true ending). It's not that bad.

[@martinomagic9230]

@@jamesrule1338 That still sounds absolutely awful considering so many games have managed to have a complete story without you playing the same stuff multiple times. But yeah, that does not sound as bad as I thought it was. So now instead of existential dread, I am at god this sucks level haha.

[@Nakatomi_Kagehisa]

I Beat automata 100% and yes it's a chore not to mention it's not even fun because enemies are super weak during your second playthrough, you're better off watching the story on KZbin

[@shiiina3132]

what game is the girl from on the thumbnail on the right?

[@Eclin]

That’s Renne, from the trails/kiseki series.

[@shiiina3132]

@@Eclin ty 😘

[@Zero_Tester]

What about FF Tactics or Suikoden 2

[@RasenTon]

3 of them is fantastic the rest is pretty meh ngl.

[@Senumunu]

Aegis rim is a cheat pick here :D If we allow visual novels then they would cover the whole list.

[@subsyrup5562]

It isn't a visual novel, is not considered as such on Vndb or Backloggd, as half of it's playtime is RPG battles.

[@mbern4530]

No Final Fantasy 12 or Breath of fire 4?

[@dunpeal83]

Ok, hear me out. Concerning Star Door 15 and Zero, I think the latter dulled that development quite a bit. The introduction of DG cult was unnecessary imho. While the 3rd blamed the human nature as such without presenting any villains the player could direct his anger to, Zero instead introduced an "evil" organization that does evil things therefore we can point fingers at them and feel relieved. And that's not how 3rd played it. While this scene was going the player was intended to feel powerless, there wasn't any villain we could shoot or otherwise punish, the message being ordinary folk can do cruel things and there may not always be an easy target to put the blame on. The other thing Zero retconned is Renne's family and how they did care for her. But the dialogue in SD15 clearly indicates that they did not and she was an unwanted child. This further darkened that whole scene even though it was plenty dark already.

[@juancarlosrodriguez5022]

9:35 Well this was a huge spoiler for me... and it kinda ruined the prospect of buying P3 completely. I was doubtful of buying P3 because there's many issues with its gameplay and Tartarus, but the story was the thing that might have convinced me to do so... but now...

[@Sortyourselfout-cu7en]

Lol that's your fault. There's a spoiler warning 10 seconds in, and chapter markings to avoid the ones you don't want to see. Blame yourself for that one.

[@juancarlosrodriguez5022]

@@Sortyourselfout-cu7en True, but usually they announce the severity of the spoilers ahead... and based on the time spent to each game I thought they'd be minor spoilers.

[@kawami-ov4zy]

:D

[@dawnaeaclaudiuscaesaraugus714]

I strongly disagree with half your choices - I think Replicant is better than Automata, and no force on earth will compel me to acknowledge FFIX or Tales of the Abyss as even worth playing, let alone having a mature and memorable storyline - but I still enjoyed watching your video and hearing your reasoning and just wanted to give you a shout-out for putting out a good video!

[@aag3298]

Final Fantasy XIX has a great story, it's just that the style seems a bit childish maybe

[@lolmuffins1]

okay TotA does not deserve catching strays like this, there aren't many other games out there that depict somebody falling into suicidal depression like TotA does, that one scene after Akzeriuth alone is more memorable than 99% of games and I still see people discussing it to this day. Yeah the middle third of TotA does not have good pacing but even then it is still better paced than most Kiseki games and if you can stomach playing through the Sky FC/SC's padding then you can get through TotA with no problem.

[@OnyxSkiesXIX]

It always feels so cheap to me to call out Lost Odyssey for having a good story. It contains good stories in the flashback short stories but it’s actual story is fairly middle of the road and it has Cooke and Mack, the two worst JRPG characters ever created.

[@KisekiFan]

how interesting Nier Automata was mentioned, final episode of the anime released not long ago and gave a more detailed ending E. Also how can we forget about Romeo and Juliet skit. 😂 While i can agree about what you said in Persona 3 Reload but i would go for Persona 5 Royal as it shows the deep darkness and cruelty of people and how people would prefer to be told what to do rather than find their own path in life. Nothing else to say about Trails than what you have already have told, Renne accepting Estelle and Joshua and vice versa after learning of her past hit right in the kokoro.🥲