Why Relaxing JRPGs Are Important In Any Backlog

Why Relaxing JRPGs Are Important In Any Backlog
JRPGs are known for their deep and thought provoking stories, with many of them ascending to legacy defining in certain aspects. However, there are also the games that lower the stakes intentionally, and simply provide a laid back and enjoyable experience.
These relaxing JRPGs, for me, are just as important as the more involved titles, and have been helpful in whittling down my own backlog of games over the years.
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🎵 M U S I C U S E D
Atelier Meruru The Apprentice of Arland OST - Fountainhead Greens
Atelier Sophie 2 OST - Water Reflected in the Sky
Blue Reflection 2 OST - Tie
Xenoblade Chronicles OST - Colony 6
Sakuna Of Rice and Ruin OST - Cherry Blossoms
Atelier Ryza 2 OST - Skipping Along the Cobblestones

[@Pine2142]

Sometimes the best feeling is a familiar/grounded one. I could genuinely imagine living somewhere like Khurken Island from Atelier Ryza and that feeling of potentially living in a similar environment adds to the comfyness. Also I totally agree with that sense of adventure. If a game can make me feel like a kid playing Wind Waker for the first time again then it's definitely hitting a good spot.

[@makikuma91]

If you never played Dark Chronicle (Dark Cloud 2) you all might want to give it a try. It has everything relaxing you need. Fishing and breeding fishes, taking photos, grinding mats in dungeons, building villages, the good old Level 5 Story, building your own robot, golfing, recruiting villagers...and probably a lot more I missed. A very overlooked game and one of my faves.

[@Hawkstar59]

this game was my childhood and the story was really good too but we dont talk about zelmite mine :'(

[@TheKisekiNut]

I'm pretty certain I bought it recently as a physical copy! I'll have to add it to the list.

[@Krieschman]

Dark Cloud 2 is one of the most underrated games of all time imo

[@makikuma91]

@@Krieschman Yeah, still waiting for that 60 fps remaster that will never happen. :(

[@SoloRogueStudios]

Got it from a friend, rushed through it b/c I was young and stupid at the time, sold it, regretted selling it, bought another copy off Amazon. One of my favorite Action RPGs of all time. Now I just have to fix my PS2 so I can play it again.

[@marksayosmejia7251]

This is why i really got into atelier, and blue reflection. I play soulsborne, sekiro, armored core 6. And yet im drawn to the simple, easy, and cute charm of the gust titles(or animal crossing/kirby games) because it feels like a yin yang of what i usually play.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Definitely, I love me a Soulsborne too (looks like I'll be going back for the Elden Ring DLC), but they really agitate me sometimes! Games like in this video are often needed straight after.

[@marksayosmejia7251]

@@TheKisekiNut true and i havent played any atelier game with a time limit yet, i have the ps3 games in my collection. so ill look forward to those. but for now i still have to beat ryza 3 along side yakuza zero, and sometiems i go back to ace combat 7 if i fell like doing a few missions.

[@davidlewis6857]

I see what you mean, even with games not strictly designed that way. I've just finished Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and spent 120 hours in that world. I purposefully played the game on easy and used autobattle most of the time, but enjoyed exploring, filling out the map and watching my party become more powerful in a very chill fashion. Just hanging out with these likable characters in huge, dramatic landscapes was the main hook for me and I hardly ever got actually challenged, except for maybe the final boss.

[@DayFul]

Atelier Ryza was the first real slice of life type RPG I played those games are gems.

[@Eagleknight815]

Totally agree with all of your points. It's the one of the things I really enjoy about trails in my current playthrough. Great soundtrack, nothing stressful until it gets in the story. However, you still control that by proceeding in the main story. I've also heard Harvestilla is quite good. I have that in my back log this year as well

[@jclosed2516]

Harvestella is a great little fun game. Don't get the impression it all revolves around farming. The game has these mechanics, but it's mainly for generating resources and money to buy stuff. It's more of a side activity. Important, but it takes a back seat in the story progression. Personally I have a great time with this game. It's not for everybody, but what game is?

[@sonicfraisheya4028]

i played harvestella and for what it is, its more of an rpg rather than farming like Rune factory. all of the farming parts is more like a collectable , a fun collectable however so i dont mind it much. the rpg is actually pretty good, but it is a numbers game, and you need to upgrade your stats to progress easily throguh the game, the story does feel padded somewhat near the end but for what it is i actually do enjoy it a lot. however as much i enjoy it, it is definetely not worth full retail price, on a 50% sale i'd still have some doubts buying it, but at 60% or higher discount, sure . at that point it does feel bang for your buck.

[@vgbm]

Cool to hear that other people also rotate between multiple games at once. I really love RPGs but the lengths of RPGs make it hard for me to complete them in one sitting. Rotating between games has let me finish games I never would have otherwise.

[@martinomagic9230]

I find most turn based JRPGs as laid back, but I know you are also talking about the atmosphere and story, haha. What strikes me as funny as most of your relaxing games are about what would be in real life a tedious job, which is opposite of relaxing lol. One of my favorites is Earthbound (mother) series, even though they have some darker elements the humor where nothing takes itself too seriously. Games that can just put a smile on your face the whole way through are rare and always appreciated. It's part of the reason why even though some people don't like it, the story point of the power of friendship always lands with me. The dark, gritty, and psychological storylines can be interesting, but they reflect real life so much that it never truly feels like fantasy.

[@shoked99]

This is a great topic to do a video on. Having cozy, relaxed games to play when you need them is a great thing. Thanks.

[@NotThatBob]

Just holding the disk for Dragon Age 11 puts a smile on my face. When you just want to win without effort, have fun, waste time and forget the day, this is the game to play. Good list.

[@RenegadeBastard]

My ninja! Blue Reflection: Second Light is what it’s all about. 😍 I also would highly recommend Harvestella on Switch.

[@TheKisekiNut]

I hear great things about Harvestella, and it is on the list for me!

[@iveybullard8988]

Its nice to just play a super relaxing and charming jrpg between all the god killing stories. Couldnt agree with you more. I love me some cozy games.

[@sanjithechef]

Really nice narration and progression of the video. The video itself was relaxing too haha

[@ShowDrews]

Love your videos man. Keep up the good work

[@angrynimbus270]

Couldn't agree more After something like Persona, Octopath 2 or Crosscode (not quite jrpg, but still), something relaxing and silly at times like Sakura Wars is heavily appreciated

[@mewichigo3410]

While I do find the gameplay of Octopath 2 and Persona super relaxing, I see what you mean; the story themes can be pretty dark and heavy. Definitely nice to get a palette cleanser of something lighter in between.

[@angrynimbus270]

Yup, it is all about the emotional state after completion

[@DayFul]

Crosscode is so good (The music is exceptional) but the puzzles melt my brain.

[@arabeauty3998]

I really like Ys 9 and any atelier game to relax. If I am tired I just hunt for petals/tresures or do some lemures grinding. In any atelier game I just go exploring or do some lowkey alchemy stuff.

[@Adrian_888]

OMG! When you showed the Trails in the Sky opening you had me in tears! 😭😭😭😭 Great video! I'll add Atelier Sophie and Blue Reflection Second Light to my list! Some of my favorite relaxing moments in JRPGs were fishing and playing Blade in Tokyo Xanadu and Cold Steel, fishing and Another Life in Yakuza Ishin, fishing in Ookami and in Nier Automata. Ookami and Trials of Mana as a whole are a very relaxing experience 😌🥰

[@beddall6]

Great vid as always. Just want to say I really appreciate your work and you are my fave JRPG channel out there right now. Greetings from a fellow Brit :)

[@hyzenthlay7151]

I have just finished the original Blue Reflection game and really enjoyed it, and am now watching Blue Reflection Ray before going onto Second Light. I also have a nice little backlog of Atelier games to enjoy including the Marie remake which just looks so cute!! Another game that caught my eye in the sense of relaxing which I was lucky to get on clearance sale in physical on Switch was Potion Permit, which I got along with Sakuna, , and I am looking forward to diving into them.

[@LightMageMike]

Thanks for the video!

[@Thtambitiousguy]

Very interesting video! I appreciate the vulnerability in this one. I relate in a lot of ways. A few RPGs that I revisit when I can simply with the purpose of relaxing and seeking peace are Cold Steel 1, Suikoden 3, and Chrono Cross. They all came into my life at very dark times and were the perfect escapes and still provide that same feeling till this day. I truly, love JRPGs and don’t see myself stopping .

[@Zero_Tester]

I would also recommend you to try some jrpg game like Steambot Chronicles in which you can actually do alot of stuff around such as working as musician,mecha pilot,chef etc etc in the game,it was short experience but a very fun one The other are games like Fragile Dream Farewell Ruin Of Moon, Rune Factory Marl Kingdom series Princess Maker series(some of the game is already translated) And London Seirei Tanteidan and game like Queen Road(you might have to use translation for this one since i used one longtime ago to play it) Also some game like Wonder Project series which is very Ghibli esque

[@ssjdennis6058]

This reminds me of the time I wanted to "only" play Dragon Quest Treasures, while I just got Trails of Azure. The first was just charming, while I did nothing really. Getting treasures and eventually clearing it.

[@tendeant]

This channel has the most unique content from the other jRPG-centric channels and is consistently well thought out.

[@jimbryant2157]

I just started Sakuna last night (also trying to work on my backlog...). Sakuna is a bit annoying, but I do like the mechanics, and will definitely have to work on my rice planting skills ('too far apart'). Also, thanks for the recommendation of the Atelier series - now to figure out where to start because there are so many games in that series!

[@RyudoFanel]

7:19 Oh wow, perfect timing. I'm playing Skies of Arcadia Legends on my Steam Deck right now while watching (or rather listening to) the video in the background ^^

[@CrowScareify]

Blue Reflection Second Light is wonderful. I really hope the weird Japanese mobile game trend Gust is on doesn’t kill their actual full releases

[@maroXUprising]

BR in general is a wonderful little series from Gust, from its music, to its UI, and general presentation. Though I feel like I’m the only one out here that misses their other series, Nights of Azure, I just like the general gothic setting set in that series. I really want that series to come back. :( Anyways, I agree…I hope gust makes another mainline console atelier game instead of focusing on this mobile/F2P practice they’ve been going on lately.

[@CrowScareify]

@@maroXUprising nights of azure is super underrated as well! And ar tonelico…. Gust is so much more than atelier! I hope they don’t throw it all away on mobile stuff

[@henrikfisch]

*Sakuna: Of Rice And Ruin* Since I've seen the video from (beloved) Tark's Gauntlet about this game, there's one quote from him which always comes into mind when talking about about the game: THE DUCK MECHANICS! Hahahaha ... instant buy! 🙂

[@TheKisekiNut]

Duck mechanics are underrated.

[@gamergod1989]

This all I want to play these days, low key relaxing games. Thanks for the suggestions.

[@jrpggamer93]

Great video I have yet to play a gust game but it's on my list for this year ! I wanna get atelier Sophie 2 an the ryza series

[@themasterdou]

The older I get, the more I appreciate a good relaxing game.

[@tendtherabbits5412]

O man, I love the dragon quest OST, but I understand where you are coming from. Trails from Zero and Dragon Quest ate my games of choice when I need to relax.

[@robertusmaximus42]

After a month and a half of adventuring in probably one of the darkest worlds I've experienced (Baldur's Gate 3) it was a nice experience spending time in Sakura Wars where everything was lighthearted and the only thing I had to worry about was if the girls would like what I said or not... that is until *spoiler* at chapter 6 made it about saving the world again lol it was mostly low key until then. I find the low key jrpgs are great for reseting my mood. Also kudos on playing more than one game at a time. I've done that for years but it's resulted in relatively few games beaten. So I made a resolution to switch it up this year. I still will drop a game after 5 hours or so if it doesn't click with me.

[@AcanthaDante]

I definitely agree with you overall, but to clarify, the Moonfish and Bounties were new additions to Skies of Arcadia that were exclusive to the Gamecube edition. Fun fact: players complained about how high the encounter rate was in the Dreamcast version, so it was toned down for Legends.

[@obake6290]

I think it's important to change things up - aesthetic, theme, difficulty, even genre. It helps keep interest in gaming by not getting stuck in a rut. Just finished a grand tale of adventure, trials and tribulations? Go play something relaxed like Atelier and a farming sim. But I can't get behind the "play several games at once" idea. If it works for you that's great of course. But for me even if I ostensibly have 3 games going at once, in reality I'm playing one to completion while the other two are on the backburner. Very occasionally I can manage to keep 2 games going simultaneously, but that's pretty rare. 11 games into Atelier? Nice! I gotta catch up, as I'm only 9 games finished.

[@nickmaestro]

This is one of the biggest reasons I loved Final Fantasy X-2. It was just a fun game that didn't take itself serious most of the time. We don't have to have this save the world god slayer scenario every JRPG. I'm currently playing the first Blue Reflection and thoroughly enjoying it. So I'm actually in no rush to play FFVII Rebirth. Looking forward to Blue Reflection Second Light.

[@Kitten_Party]

Playing ffx and x2 back to back is a trip. What a tone change! I think it’s the perfect game to decompress the heavy ffx experience and this new tone was intentional to compliment the OG I think think.

[@JaredScott]

I might take your suggestion of playing multiple games at once but with different genres. I did that with books a few years back and read about 36 in a year not including comics.

[@TheKisekiNut]

It's blasphemy for some people to play multiple JRPGs at once, but I did the 'one at a time' method ages a go and it would cause me to stop playing for weeks on end if I hit a game that didn't click. This works much better for me.

[@Buff_Cupcake]

Atelier is something I've always wanted to get into, but knowing where to start can be daunting.

[@shinoff-tw4eq]

This is exactly why I enjoybgrinding from time to time. It's relaxing to me. After a long days work and I got a few hours before I need to get my ass to sleep. I enjoy it. Two of the newest jrpg type games I couldn't get into because it seemed or appeared to lack it. Sea of stars with the level cap and some dumb bs reasoning. Chained echoes I was having a blast with into I realized I really hated the leveling system.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Grinding is therapeutic for me if it's done right. DQXI with its metal slime/hand approach or Bravely Default 2 with the late game Wiki-Wiki hunting. There's always a great feeling from just watching numbers rise.

[@shinoff-tw4eq]

@TheKisekiNut I usually don't mind it either way, like old school ff games. Breath of fire 1 and 2 were pretty long with it if I remember right. Dq11 your right it was spot on. Dq11 has been my favorite jrpg in the last 15 years or so. Haven't enjoyed one that much since ps2 tbh. By the way therapeutic is the perfect way to describe it. Glad I'm not the only one

[@josephzamer5802]

when I feel like that, I just go back and play Chrono Trigger again

[@richardfrancis3454]

Relaxing with Ys Celceta as we speak 👍🏻😎

[@trullikoi]

I play Atelier, otome games, and visual novels when I just wanna relax. Right now I'm working on Utawarerumono Mask of Truth as my major relaxing game. The majority of it is basically reading a book

[@generaltwaff]

reminds me of the wide amount of backlash to one of my favourite JRPG's of all time: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. Apart from the typical "it isn't what I wanted out of an SMT/Fire Emblem crossover, a lot of people refused to give the game a try on the premise that it was a happy generic jrpg in modern Tokyo... I don't think I'll ever understand how some people treat a game full of bubbly characters and a lighter tone as a "lesser game" immediately without trying them

[@jclosed2516]

I agree fully. I really like Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore. This latest one is now very well playable on the Yuzu emulator with a decent computer (yes I "officially" bought the game, so no "high sea's" here). I simply like the game, and cannot care less about people that are looking down on these kind of games.

[@HARBRINGERZERO]

Man I love JRPG’s, they’re so versatile.

[@moejuggler6033]

Sekuna is really beautiful and a great game. I can't say the same for Blue Reflection though.

[@manboyex1621]

I feel this way about Pokemon Arceus.

[@hxntaiguy3318]

So true a simple not high stakes games are fun and relaxing no stress to grind just s relaxing time

[@Nikita_Akashya]

I feel like the only real cozy games i have are the Rhapsody titles and the Rune Factory games. And of course, some older Pokemon titles. Sure, a bunch of Pokemon games have the player quickly saving the world in the middle of the journey. But most of the time it is a low key journey where you just go challenge the gyms and raise your favorite mons. And Gen 9 had the player saving the region, but it was still mostly focused on the characters and the school and how the player made new friends. I may not play cozy games usually, but I do watch cozy anime. And read cozy Light Novels. Like angel next door and Crash course in naughtiness. Those shows gave me diabetes. Oh, and here is a little fun fact for Atelier Sophie 2: Erde Wiege basically translates to Earths Cradle. Which is quite fitting for a dream world. I should play this game. I wonder if Sophie 1 is on the Switch? I hope I can try playing this game one of those days.

[@TheKisekiNut]

I think the DX bundle for the Mysterious games is on Switch. But a physical copy is expensive.

[@Artimes.]

Why does this video hit straight home for me, after playing 50+ grueling hrs through FF XVI and feeling like I have arthritis in my hands because of it lol, i just want to go back to something calm and soothing and relaxing. I grew up playing rpgs in the SNES and PS1 era's where pretty much everything was built around the idea of simplicity and menu navigation instead of intense riveting action gameplay. Now I have to play FF VII rebirth which seems a bit more relaxing then FF XVI but it will still have a lot stressful gameplay no doubt, so I think ill be playing Suikoden HD remasters or something to help balance things out. I am getting to damn hold for this crap.

[@canisblack]

...you know this might be why I keep coming back to the Johto and Kanto Pokemon games. The biggest threat is the mafia. There's no plot to conquer or destroy or reshape the world, just...a bunch of crooks doing crook things. Even the Legendaries are low-key.

[@hyperkaiju9721]

I like to play Shin Megami Tensei games and then after beating them play Dragon Quest as a palette cleanser

[@praetorxyn]

Funnily enough, I'm playing Dragon Quest XI will Full Draconian restrictions, because if you start the game with them you can turn them off, but if you don't start hte game with them you can't turn them on. I figured I would just deal with them til they got annoying, then it became a fun challenge, because having them all on makes the game damn hard, particularly early on.

[@alastor8780]

You should absolutely play DQ4 and 5

[@NightFore]

I'm curious to know what you think of the upcoming Unicorn Overlord game.

[@TheKisekiNut]

I haven't played the demo as I want a full on experience from zero. I expect that it'll be a hit for me though.

[@mewichigo3410]

I love relaxing jrpgs and in fact tend to find most jrpgs relaxing as it's my favorite genre. But for some reason I didn't find Sakuna relaxing? I played for around 8 hours and moved on to something else. Seeing people bring the game up again makes me want to give it another chance. But still, I don't think anything can beat the comfy vibes of Trails in the Sky, Atelier Ryza, or Xenoblade 2. Those games are like zen meditation to me 😅

[@TheKisekiNut]

Even relaxation is subjective! Some people will see it through the journey, others will see it through the gameplay.

[@menhirmike]

2:39 Yes! It's a hundred hour game that has about 5 tracks of music, and in the original PS4 release they were terrible MIDI renditions. DQ11 would IMHO be the best DQ game by far, but the soundtrack prevents me from ranking it as #1. Put on different music in the background and dial the music volume to 0 in-game, and it's the perfect DQ game.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Indeed! I turned the music off when I came back and put on my own playlist of JRPG tracks. I'm certain that was another reason why I was able to latch back on.

[@sneakyfox1876]

Sometimes I get tired of try harding and wanna chill. Atelier is god tier for this.

[@nifftbatuff676]

I don't find anything more relaxing than killing god in the shin megami tensei games.

[@XenoflareBahamut]

Atelier games stresses me out because I don't find games that has a calendar system as relaxing. At least there's the anime adaptations.

[@gucciguy3408]

I don’t believe the Ryza games have that which is why I loved the first game so much.

[@darranrowe174]

@uy3408 The Mysterious games have almost no time limit. Atelier Firis is the only game out of those that has one, and it is so loose that you have to be doing something very wrong to fail. It also really only exists for half of the game, and you finish things off without the time limit. IIRC, L&S also has a small one for one of the exams, but that is all. It is also true that none of the Secret games has a time limit.

[@jclosed2516]

@@darranrowe174 Even the game after Atelier Ayesha already has a very, very relaxed time limit (Escha & Logy), and the games after that have no time limit at all (except a "kind of" for Atelier Firis as you explained). That means the OP can play the Atelier games "Escha & Logy", "Shallie", "Sophie", "Sophie 2", "Firis", "Lydie & Suelle", "Lulua" and "Ryza 1, 2 and 3" without being ever stressed out. That are a lot of games an many hours of relaxed game play. I can fully recommend them for that reason. If the Atelier games are not his "thing", he can also try "Blue Reflection" and "Blue Reflection: Second Light". Both games are from the same developer and (especially the first game) are super relaxing...

[@DayFul]

Ryza is very cozy I loved how much time I had to experiment. I still prefer Rorona though she's adorably dorky and too nice for her own good I just want to see her succeed.

[@XenoflareBahamut]

I think I'll start with Ryza

[@raventhorX]

If i cant hyperfocus on a game then ill never get through it lol. Anyway, i used to switch between games when i was younger though even in my youth i dodnt beat games often. These days i find if i do that i end up staying away from a game for too long that when i return im lucky to remember how it plays let alone where i left off which results in starting my file over again. I prefer to focus on one game at least until the credits roll if i can but i do occasionally take breaks.

[@user-ob1jz4et9n]

Rune factory, story of seasons etc are great relaxing jrpgs too. And Pokémon too. Unless you doing a nuzlocke 😂😂

[@Kyragos]

What you are talking about is actually one of the reasons why, as an Atelier veteran since Rorona, Ryza 1 was a bit disappointing to me. The story revolves around a world ending threat, and this takes a big place in the narration as there are no character events, making the game a bit closer to a "standard" JRPG. The other games of the series do not have this. Either they simply don't have such high stakes, or, more rarely, they do, but just in the background with a lot of side content. Currently doing Sophie 2, and it's just as great as Sophie 1, if not more. Sure, there is a world ending threat, but it's about a dream world, of a scale much smaller, and the character content is of course there. I don't evenention the alchemy that is far more prone to experimenting than Ryza.

[@klocks2543]

The older I get, the more I appreciate and often prefer the low stakes and slice of life aspects of games and media. Like, P5 is amazing. But the early game palaces tie into the character development and story more strongly and interestingly. Like, we’ve all saved the world in video games a hundred times. But we haven’t saved our friends from an abusive perverse gym teacher or egomaniacal greedy art con before. Or when I watch My Hero Academia, I’m just like… can’t these kids just go to class for a few more episodes before another terrorist attack? A grand adventure can end up at the gates of hell, but that doesn’t mean it’s the best part of the experience.

[@jaz9684]

Pretty much not all games should be saving the world xd.

[@fumomofumosarum5893]

Man, I think games like Atelier are a waste of time.. such awful plots and boring characters...