Top 10 JRPGs With A Dating Sim Or Romance In 2024

[@TagTheLegend]

What is your favorite JRPG with a dating sim element in it?

[@AKOTCM]

persona 3 reload is great in 2024 for beginner who want to get into the persona series while tales of arise is a great game for those who felt like I need to have more jrpg it also great idea to add fire emblem 3 houses since it kinda does have a dating sim element while it more a hangout game

[@Alma-kz4zo]

Does SMT Devil Survivor counts?

[@noa5334]

Trails of Cold Steel Games (though the 3rd feels very limited in this regard) and the Persona games

[@gamemaster21]

Brave Soul JRPG

[@PawapuroJRPGfan878]

@@gamemaster21 What is Brave Soul?

[@therealjaystone2344]

Ah yes, fire emblem is my favorite dating sim

[@bukojoetheslapsoils8273]

If this was some years ago, I would say dating sim from Awakening killed the interesting writing of political drama in the series, but Three Houses gave me hope for the future that the writers can still do some good. The should've just toned down the goddess thing in that game because she was totally unnecessary.

[@99Pierogies]

More like eugenics program

[@Grim_Bud]

@@bukojoetheslapsoils8273 Its the one that made me love the franchise though. I really liked the interaction you got with the Children especially in the DLC map. Plus the soundtrack was top notch.

[@MagillanicaLouM]

"Sakura Wars is a series you can argue is more dating sim than rpg" yeah lol. I like to describe it as "playing a romcom mecha anime". It's amazing though, got a vibe all to itself. Love it all.

[@thegodforger923]

A Growlancer reference? Me and the 16 other remaining fans salute you good sir.

[@jg2116]

this is exactly what I was thinking too, lol

[@lockedin_08]

It's my first time seeing it, and I'm surprised to see the art. I first saw it on an 18+ video.

[@PawapuroJRPGfan878]

That mechanic alone most of the time (not all) is the reason why I got into and fell in love with JRPGs. The fact that you can date a cute anime girl of your choice really got me when I first found out about JRPGs back during 2020 and 2021 and it still does to this day.

[@michaelbarrett8141]

Its great right? They also could make Jrpgs with the Harem System different they just need to make a Option to Pick a Girl in the Beginning as Canon and she appears in all important Romance Scenes or flirting Scenes. And who ever you Pick appears in this Scenes or Dialogue Options.

[@aussieseal9979]

Or boy! I’m here for the cute boys

[@cloudsurfertom3268]

Tales of Arise is a beautiful game, the story itself is absolutely fantastic. Alphen and Shion are so well thought out too, I really like how their love grows throughout the game. Such a good game!

[@chapacoka]

I love the game, just wish my boy Law got more respect.

[@DracoRach]

The problem with Trails of Cold Steel is Cold Steel 3, since Cold Steel let you romance one of multiple girls. Then Cold Steel 2 let you continue your choiced girl. But Cold Steel 3 says, "*uck your girl, i'll only let you pick one of 3 girls and if your picked one is not there i don't care". Cold Steel 4 tries to fix that problem but the damage is done. Furthermore, Cold Steel games give you multiple girls to choose but the story and events let you know pretty clear which girl is the "cannon girl" that you should pick which can be a bit annoying. Most of the fans dislike the romance system of Cold Steel, it's a mess and only works if you don't care enough about your choices. Trails in the Sy 1 and 2 is a better choice, i mean, it hasn't a romance system but it has a better romance story.....one of the best in rpgs in my opinion.

[@riddif]

Also the contents inside each sequels just doubled as well, it's good but at the same time exhausting. I've already more than 120 hours on CS3 and then just burned out hard, even then it's probably still in mid game (also not helping that i'm kinda completionist).

[@jackiechan7909]

Yeah CS sucks in this regard. Would have been cool to drag your favorite girl through all 4 games and tie the knot with some kids at the end.

[@tatsuyaukyo654]

Makes you have the question in the back of your mind going like:"Why bother implementing this mechanic in the first place?" Doesn't it? Falcom could have sat back and been content with writing romances without this system in place, and they've shown they could do that well with the Sky games, ironically devoid of romance choice

[@Mockingbird-c3j]

10000% agree. Joshua X Estelle is the best in Kiseki series. I'm still hoping they can be the main hero and heroine again. Dropped the game when I was about 50% of cold steel 2 because I got bored of Rean.

[@jogymogy3691]

Alisa sucks. Emma is the best.

[@hanrimail5431]

for final fantasy base on my personal taste, the best romance is squall and rinoa in the FF8

[@NotsewTheGreat]

True

[@GodOfPlague]

FF8 was one of my favorite ones

[@SeventhheavenDK]

Oh, Thousand Arms. That game is from my childhood.

[@korysoftout219]

Ah, I completely forgot about that game. I was 20 when it came out, but I still lived with my parents back then and they still dictated most of what I could do. My dad took me to the game store, and I was going to purchase it, but the clerk behind the counter literally said "You know this is a porn game, right?" Not only was I not allowed to buy it, but my dad was pissed at me for trying to "trick" him like that. Obviously I knew it wasn't porn game, but there was nothing I could do at the time. I never really thought about it since. Never played it, never even considered trying to purchase it again since I eventually forgot it was even a thing.

[@jackiechan7909]

This game needs a remake on ps5

[@michaelbarrett8141]

Should get a Remake. Its very old and difficult to obtain.

[@OrangeLoot]

Gave you a like just for having Petra in the thumbnail lol

[@TagTheLegend]

A fellow man of culture I see.

[@BLAKSOLDIER]

From wich game is she?

[@zaimanity8893]

​@@TagTheLegend did the thumbnail change? I only see Makoto, Ann, and Manuela.

[@ndykatk1466]

yeah where's petra 💀

[@franjj9803]

where is petra

[@saliver5909]

It is only a dating sim if player can choose among multiple romantic partners and be the match maker. Built in love story like FFX doesn't count as dating sim in my opinion. My favorite has to to Fire Emblem series because not only you can pair up the protagonist, but also other characters and they all have different paired endings. FE4, in particular, is the best because each pairing affects the second generation. Children of said pairing will have different build depending on the father. I haven't seen any dating sim in RPG as deep as FE4 yet. Now what I want from dating sim is to have real consequence on the story. imagine your loyal companions like Wakka, Lulu, and Yuna date somebody ELSE in FF10 and they become your enemies. Or a political match making with no romantic feelings to change the direction of the main story. For example, to turn a powerful foe into an ally. Or a very unlikely pairing that gives unexpected turn of events... the combination is limitless.

[@uchenna8885]

the fact that sakura wars is still not on steam, is a fucking crime

[@nr2676]

Because it sold bad (in West) on PS4 + Toshihiro Nagoshi, and Hatsune Miku team are Playstation biased. Hatsune Miku dev team is also too small to doing high budget and multiplatform games, while rest of Sega teams are busy with milking Sonic, Puyo Puyo and Yakuza. Plus same release date with Persona 5 Royal and Final Fantasy VII Remake ... More criminal is why this game is not also on Switch, where Switch is best selling console in Japan + Sakura Wars is popular only in Japan.

[@BlueGrovyle]

I was actually surprised to see Cold Steel 1 on this list. It might be a little more appropriate to put one of the sequels there instead, but who am I to criticize a recommendation of one of my favorite games ever?

[@Zodia195]

My fav game of all time has romance in it, Eternal Sonata. It's such a sweet relationship too between Polka and Allegretto. There are other relationships like with Jazz and Claves (all the while 2 other women pine after him lol), but those 2 chars are the main focus. Allegretto's English VA deserves an award for one moment in the game near the end (which I won't spoil). The Grandia games (1st 3 at least) have romance in them too. I never played the first one, I just heard it had romance in there, but I have played 2 and 3 (2's one of my fav games and 3 was a disappointment due to changes in the gameplay). Between 2 and 3, I do prefer the romance in 3 mostly because I am not a fan of love triangles (2's love triangle is basically what prevent it from being my fav game). While it's not a main focus there is romance in Skies of Arcadia. I see the 3 main chars as friends, I never got any romance between Vyse and the 2 girls. However, there was an obvious romance between another playable char, Enrique and one of your crew members, Moegi. Heck, it's really funny when even Moegi's brother sets them up hehe. Out of the ones mentioned, the only one I've played is RF5, but I haven't completed the main story because of one major reason, I am not a fan of the farming mechanics, they feel too complicated. Darn shame because I love everything else, especially the chars. I'll try to get back into it because I do want to finish the main story and get married and have kids. Most of the male LIs are awesome (I am a straight female btw).

[@Gunthera1]

The brief moment of Final Fantasy X-2 in the video during the Final Fantasy X section made me smile. ❤

[@nr2676]

Technically Sakura Wars 2019 is not JRPG it's Visual Novel / Dating Sim but in full 3D, 90% of game is reading / 10% gameplay (and this is a reason why casuals mistake this game series with JRPG, because Sakura Wars 2019 is first game from this genre in full 3D, it's much closer to Shenmue than traditional Visual Novel with 2D sprites). Sakura Wars don't have traditional RPG elements like leveling up, itemization, grind etc. but instead of that (in previous games) you boost stats for upcoming battle with each heroine by interactions in Visual Novel segments. So it's pure Dating Sim with ,,gameplay''. Previous games in series were also prototype to Valkyria Chronicles series (same dev team), battle system ARMS from Sakura Wars 3-5 was improved later into BlitZ in Valkyria Chronicles,

[@doniarts]

Good list can't say id agree with Rune factory 5 considering how they gutted the DLC option for some of the other girls, so 4 would be the better option.

[@aspectofdecay007]

Heard rune factory 5 was mostly ruined by localizers

[@LeticiaAnjosDM]

It feels too good to be true when someone mentions Shin Sakura Wars in the year of our lord 2024.

[@Miss-Chino99]

Tales of Arise is Good for Story and Romantic game

[@yogawidhi1873]

As for RF5, with the help of growing modding community. You could actually forming band of harem's here, and not bound by 1 spouse. So its a goodway to enjoy your favourite characters romance event just one in single run rather than makes different save files for different spouse

[@billyhickman93]

Ngl was expecting a Records of Agarest pull on this one and a bit surprised not to see it lol

[@LoneWolfAudio0524]

Thousand Arms is one not enough people talk about. It wasn't perfect, but it has a lot of interesting qualities, and to this day I still remember quite a bit of it ... most definitely including the huge cliffhanger ending. I'd be curious how many have actually played this one. The dating elements were a novelty back then. I did not know they led to different endings though. Especially since there were some natural couplings between the characters already. Still, it was a good game in many ways, and it's a little sad it's stuck back on the PS1. I'm generally not a fan of dating elements in games, even though I will do them. The romance aspect almost always feels forced. Give me a narratively driven love story intigral to the plot, such as Lunar, Ff10 or Tales of Arise any day.

[@KaiSaeren]

Great list, too bad I know all of these and played most of them :D Maybe do a list for straight up dating sims? Or VN/dating sim hybrids? Id give that a watch for sure.

[@madkaiser4887]

NOICE! Also 10/10 thumbnail mate!

[@Silverphantom4444]

I'd say Rune factory 4 special is a better option than Rune factory 5. The graphics my be a bit inferior to RF5 but RF4S is actually difficult on hard mode and hell mode unlike RF5, the combat feels better and the characters are much funnier and feel more vibrant. But RF5 is also good

[@marinusboon104]

You have great taste choosing Edelgard

[@mrp1234]

cheered when Alphen and Shionne kissed haha

[@michaelbarrett8141]

I like how Shionne implied that Alphen should let her know that he loves her not by saying it. But instead by kissing her. The Finger from her Mouth to his or the other Way around was a nice Detail for that.

[@Mockingbird-c3j]

@@michaelbarrett8141 Dang, I missed that. I thought Shionne just implied that Alphen should just let her know his feelings after everything is done. I can't believe than I'm a denser guy than Alphen 🤣

[@supercaio182]

the "Sword Art Online" games have some dating sim elements in it as well :)

[@DoggyP00]

People LOVE to talk about Fire Emblem as a dating sim, but it has literally none. It's 100% advertisement and memes.

[@Drunken_Hamster]

Now, how does the list change if I need it to be on PC (even emulators as long as they aren't trash or too demanding) and preferably real-time combat?

[@TheRealMaruki]

Cold Steel shouldn't have a dating sim feature. The story obviously shoves Alisa Reinford in your face, so they should've made that the canon one, instead of the 20 girls by the end of the tetralogy.

[@jellalfernandes9820]

Alisa is one of the worst characters in the game so in the end they made the right choice

[@TheRealMaruki]

@@jellalfernandes9820 Alright you've talked enough for one lifetime, I can already tell.

[@michaelbarrett8141]

Tsunderes are annoying tough. And then she doesnt know if she should keep up their Relationship or not. And she apologizes first two Weeks after the Incident. No matter what i dont want to see someone like her as the Main romance for any Game, Story or Main Character. There are better Tropes or Characters better fitted. Laura or Emma for Example even Fie. Tsundere are just too toxic and i hate them because they always hurt the Main Character in more Ways then One and therefore are a Red Flag. Not to mention Pyshical Abuse without any Reason. Imagine a Guy would do that. Even i could write better Characters or Romance then that.

[@MrCjosue24]

Glad you included my favorite girl Makoto in the thumbnail!

[@arienilmar]

No kiss scenes??? Then, is not a romance game.

[@JoeMama-sl8ux]

I just like how the thumbnail says in 2024 but shows two games that came out years ago

[@vitorrcardim]

Squall and Rinoa are crying on their eternal loop for being forgotten

[@ZZZZ-mkv]

Thousand Arms is a fantastic game. Definitely needs a re-release.

[@judaihyuga]

Most of these I would agree could qualify, however loosely, but I really don't think Arise or 10 count as "dating sim" jrpgs. Dating Sim implies you have options. Or, ya know, dates. The rest of these, sure you can one-on-one time with the girls to get to know them, but Arise and 10 are railroaded romance plots where you don't have any input and the relationship happens regardless of your contribution. That's not really a dating sim, that's just a romance subplot.

[@Revenant420]

I prefer Conception 1

[@jimwhite2049]

You may be an adult but the MC is not. You're NOT the MC, he's his own person. If a 60 year old man was playing the game, he shouldn't be trying to make the MC date an old lady to try to not be "creepy," that would just be weird. I get that the "self insert" is part of the appeal but you don't need to be THAT literal. I often pair the MC with the partner that I would not choose myself simply cuz it makes the most sense from the perspective of the MC and story.

[@tinytanaka8779]

My problem with like half of these games is that I'm only interested in dating men hahahah.

[@carlogustavovalenzuelazepe5774]

You can help making more girls play jrpg with dating sims, so husbandos will be more viable for companies to develop

[@AigisVibes720]

Fair enough

[@Naoto-kun1085]

So true, we need more jrpgs for women!

[@TheLukasz032]

Those games would need a female protagonist, which is additional development time, and some games were either really tight on budget, or already beyond schedule.

[@tinytanaka8779]

@@TheLukasz032 Fun fact: you can date men even if you're not a female protagonist.

[@MmntechCa]

Sakura Wars won't let you date your hot boss or Komachi. 0/10. If we're including story, one of my favourite JRPG, really game romances in general, is Eunie and Taion from Xenoblade 3. IMO it's probably the most realistic and sincere, which the series is not exactly known for. I'm still deciding who's best girl is in Three Houses. Bernadetta is a strong contender. I can fix her.

[@donut1550]

If you mean Sumire as in boss, well...

[@Treemotan]

Man what'd you do to Manuela's face in the thumbnail.

[@DengekiVR]

conception 2 was such a gem of a game.

[@medalgearsalad1419]

Weaboos UNITE!

[@thewingedserpent5823]

I dont like the dating sim part of cold steel. It feels like they had planned to make a canon romance with one of the girls but then cut it to allow players to date their favorite waifus. The romance was even one of the best parts of sky which makes ot double sad

[@TheLegendarySwordMaster]

You deserve it i am going to subscribe to you now will you hopefully make a top 10 favorite waifus and top 10 favorite characters of final Fantasy and top 10 of kingdom hearts charachters please😉👍🏻

[@fiedeltegarjiwandono849]

@TagTheLegend, I think you should play the Thousand Arms first before you review it. Because at the end of the game, there is no story or sidequest which allow the player to marry with the women

[@mikeeydoucet2902]

You choose 3 houses really the past entries had better romance and marriage

[@LoneWolf982]

Thousand Arms was a great game but it's SOOOOOO hard to find nowadays.

[@Outtachrono]

Thousand arms is top tier I wish it was remade at least

[@WimzorTheGreat]

Conception 2 never came out on ps4 or switch. It was a vita/3ds game.

[@tagon2381]

It’s also on steam, but he was probably confusing it with the first one, which is on PS4. Dunno about switch and I personally do not care to navigate the Eshop for a game I have 0 interest in unless it’s like $5

[@isaias3700]

Conception II is on 3ds too btw

[@PawapuroJRPGfan878]

Yes it is. And I wonder when Spike Chunsoft will release Conception I and II on modern consoles, including the Switch, which is obviously a perfect fit for it. The also still haven't released the entire Zero Escape series that on system despite the fact that the first one was a Nintendo exclusive and following entries also released on 3DS as well. Its surprising that the entire series also released on Xbox of all places, the least popular console in the market right now.

[@isaias3700]

@@PawapuroJRPGfan878 well,the zero escape series is on pc too,with better graphics and all,it wouldnt be much trouble porting it to the switch

[@PawapuroJRPGfan878]

@@isaias3700 I am not a PC person so that is why I want it on Switch. And yeah, Switch ports wouldn't be that troublesome. Its just strange that Spike Chunsoft has ported them yet for some reason. Not only would it make them a lot of money, but would also introduce many people to this series.

[@TheMrSammich1]

Makoto is best girl and Edelgard did nothing wrong

[@unstoppableforcevsimmovabl1701]

Tidus and Yuna love story. Best in gaming. No other games compare

[@Mockingbird-c3j]

Growlanser and Arise are the best in my opinion

[@nathanielwazhere]

Alll these and I still feel mass effect does it best lol. But I guess I’ll take fire emblem from this list

[@elizabethlestrad5282]

Does Persona really count though? The "romances" never go anywhere, and they ultimately turn into one of those silly, ephemeral "that thing that happened one summer". Where's the commitment?

[@nr2676]

Yes, but Persona 3-5 have other elements from Dating Sims (especially from Tokimeki Memorial), like time managment system (calendar), system where you rise ,,social'' stats like Guts / Charm / Inteligence etc. (Social Links), and you can pick romance options. There is also highschool setting, which is also most popular setting for Dating Sims. The only thing which diffirence Persona from real Dating Sim game is your decisions don't affect to story or with characters reactions about your protagonist, and no romance endings with love interests.

[@_fawkes]

I always imagined the Persona games like to keep romantic endings ambiguous. You can date girls. But do you remain togather after the story is over? Upto your imagination.

[@samflood5631]

Hear are my Favorite RPG dating simulators that I’ve played 1. Dragon Age Origins 2. Dragon Age 2 3. Dragon Age Inquisition 4. Dragon Age Veilguard 5. Dragon’s Dogma 1 6. Dragon’s Dogma 2 7. Elder Scrolls Skyrim 8. Persona 5 Striker/Tactica 9. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth 10. Final Fantasy 16 11. Witcher 3 12. Greedfall 13. Baldur’s Gate 3 Here’s a list of RPGs romance simulators that I haven’t played but I wish to play someday 1. Fire Emblem Awakening 2. Fire Emblem Three Houses 3. Divinity Original Sin 2 4. Persona 3 5. Persona 5 6. The Mass Effect Trilogy Oh and I don’t think that both Tales of Arise and Final Fantasy X are dating simulators, more like two love stories between each main character duo. Alphen x Shionne from Tales of Arise and Tidus x Yuna from Final Fantasy X.

[@michaelzero3626]

Veilguard hasn't even released yet?

[@samflood5631]

@@michaelzero3626 But the romance options have been confirmed.

[@musicacc2728]

3 girls on preview: 2 from persona 5. Where from third one?

[@TagTheLegend]

Manuela from fire emblem three houses

[@Rivershield]

I'm glad Rune Factory 5 is the first to include same-sex romance. Guess I will be playing 4 then

[@Chaosmite]

Titus isn’t his Japanese name, you can pronounce it either way. The way Ti-dus pronunciation came to be was from an advertisement and that’s how the advertising announcer pronounced it. However, like many others, I’ll pronounce it as Tid-us. It also go along the game water theme, where Tidus is a tidal wave to the world of Spira.

[@Tenchigo100]

You did not just recommend me Conception. I refuse to believe that atrocious anime would ever be considered.

[@mount_tai]

Unfortunate that 3 out of 10 are unavailable on PC/Switch. Already finished Tales of Arise and FE: Three Houses while Persona 5 is waiting in my library. I started Trails games last year and I'm currently playing Trails from Zero so I've yet to reach Cold Steel arcs. Conception II has been on my WL for some time. FF10 I skip, I got spoiled the ending so I don't want to play it. Lastly Rune Factory doesn't interest me in the slightest, farming games are so boring.

[@jean-philippebouchard9506]

Truth isn't a "preference"...

[@DiouBerseker]

tidus and yuna are the best romance ever

[@mr.sinjin-smyth]

Conception 2 is about the closest you'll ever get to an English voiced hentai game. 😏🤭

[@Naoto-kun1085]

Mommy Manuela appreciation! 🥰

[@Antonin1738]

well, I can't get dates irl, so might as well

[@aiswallenstein2284]

some of these are so old that they were on the playstation 2. Where are all the recent games?

[@lostdrink9491]

add xenoblade 2..pyra and mithra and their 3 forms..in 1 package

[@vectoralphaSec]

Playing all these games. Ive had so many girlfriends and thus so many exes. 😢

[@longdeptraibodoiqua]

i finish watching the video but still hasn't see my life

[@kiteflying9317]

Since you did say Top10 im not gonna trash the list. But yea throw up something not mainstream please 😅

Ar tonelico?

[@looowkey5656]

no mention of ar tonelico tho 😥😥

[@senoka4638]

I'm glad you didn't put FF8 in here. Going back to that game I realize rose tinted glasses really do exist. The writing and dialogue is horrible. Squall and Rinoa felt like Twilight but with less(more?) sparkles.

[@di9465]

No Dragon Quest 11?

[@eluvianii]

I mean... Technically you can only marry one person there, the others are roomies. Plus there's no dating sim element at all, you beat a boss and ask him to let you marry someone. So yeah

[@Kyur4deIch]

What, no Like a Dragon?

[@flpndrox]

And Sakura Wars is the worst of the Sakura Taisen series. Tite Kubo can't carry Kōsuke Fujishima's pens.

[@frogb00ts]

Ai face manuela jumpscare

[@LisaRamos-y4s]

Davis Mary Anderson Ronald Anderson Thomas

[@feliciavale4279]

little girls

[@Cornholio8787]

the first 2 are not dating sims

[@nr2676]

Yeah, and also Sakura Wars is not JRPG (it's dramatic adventure game).

[@pokelunasan]

I hated tales of arise lol