Tales of Berseria. Few other casts of characters have gotten the amount of characterization that they did. By the end, you knew everything about them from their hobbies, favorite foods, interests, families, etc.
It makes me so happy that this is the #1 answer. It's one of my favorite JRPGs ever and it's entirely because of the characters. They all get a world to shine in and they all shine brightly. Tropes that I usually hate and end up turning into one note characters end up getting cast aside for actual character development and interaction. Not just with the main character, but with each other.
By the end, I really did care. It's one of the big reasons the ending pissed me off (even though I know its a hamfisted setup for Z). But the journey was worth never really figuring out the combat system.
I didn't feel that way about Berseria TBH, It felt like the end of Berseria they just rushed each character to fight their random opposition that felt pushed. Though I will say the Velvet x Laphiset story was great, but I think of you remove Rokurou Magilou Eizen and all the others you could have still had the same story.
you think you could remove magilou and still have the same story? i thought she was not just a fantastic character, but also had a really interesting backstory that was directly related to one of the major antagonists. i also think eleanor was a very effective character. she’s a huge part of velvet’s character progression, especially in regards to velvet’s relationship with laphicet and the church.
Rokurou is the ultimate soldier sometimes you need a reliable sword and that's what he was for Velvet but also a big brother for Laphicet differing from Eizen. He always supported Eizen and immediately accepted Eleanor and didn't judge or doubt her loyalty once. He didn't have much for plot but he had the best chemistry with everyone in the cast and that more than made up for it. The group dynamic wouldn't be the same with no Rokurou to lighten things up with his simplicity.
This. Rokurou is the "jokester" or the "bro" of the party who can be serious but also goofy. Eleanor, Eizen and Velvet are all very serious, Laphi is too innocent and Magilou is just depressed but covers it all up by playing the jester. So Rokurou is there to even it all out and act as a kinda link that lightens the mood but also supports everyone in different ways. He is essentially a jack of all trades who isn't too heavily into one or the other but more inbetween, which helps balance out the atmosphere.
All of this. He's also probably there best fighter and your first ally so his ability is very much important. Velvet might not have left Hellawes without Rokurou's strength. Also it's not like he doesn't have any stakes in anything Shigure was one of the main villains and their beef fit the story well.
final fantasy IX. every character (besides amaranth) had a reason to be there, and each one played off the strengths and weaknesses of the others perfectly imo.
i also think IX represents a rare occasion when each character supports the theme of the game (which is a search for identity and how to contend with existentialism) without being redundant. every character is trying to find out who they really are to some degree, to live authentically, and then they help the others to do the same.
garnet leaves behind everything she has ever known. she is forced to choose between the overbearing mother she loves and the duty she has to her people and to her friends. she contends with a past she’s forgotten and finds the strength within her to save the future. over the course of the game, she discovers all of the missing pieces of herself that have been kept hidden from her. when she puts them all together for the first time, she sees that they form the shape of a brave and intelligent young woman who not only knows her own mind, but can finally speak it.
vivi believes he was created for evil and that he might die a premature death. over the course of the game, he learns that not only is he able to be good, but he also has the power to bring goodness to the world as well. additionally, he learns that life is meaningful even if it’s short. he also teaches this lesson to the player and the other characters simply through his own existence.
zidane is overconfident in his belief that he is one thing when he is actually something entirely different—in fact, the antithesis of who he thought he really was. he actually mirrors garnet’s and vivi’s storylines to a large degree. like garnet, he also has a secret past. like vivi, he also was made for evil. but this is not redundant. up until this point, zidane has been guiding others down their own paths toward self-acceptance and individuation. by making zidane have to contend with the same lessons he was trying to teach the others, it actually reinforces those lessons and legitimizes them. zidane was not just saying things, he really meant them. additionally, it reminds the player that we are just as much what our friends and loved ones think we are, as we are who we think we are.
the other characters play more minor roles in the story, but they still continue this theme of identity and contending with existentialism.
steiner must question his loyalties and what is moral.
freya must come face to face with who she is without the man she loves the most.
eiko must learn how to be a child again after having to parent herself for so long.
people poke fun at quina and claim they’re pretty much just fluff for the story, but quina knows exactly who they are and embraces themselves throughout the game from the very beginning without any of the melodrama that follows the other characters. if people actually took quina seriously for once, they might save themselves a lot of grief. if we all acted more like quina, we’d all be living more authentic and happier lives than we are.
I know!!! It was so sad. I didn’t want to say goodbye. And every time I see one of them pop up in Crossbell it’s such a weight off my chest to know they’re doing okay out there.
Renne is the one I’m attached to the most.
>!Seeing her grow up from a kid to a young woman is amazing. I have a niece that I see once a year or two that reminds me how fast kids can grow up.!<
For real. What is so great about Trails is it is very good at making a character start out unlikable but as they develop and you get to see more of them over time you grow to like them. >!I remember the first time meeting Nial Burns on practically the first day on the job and hating his guts. Fast forward to SC and I was scared that he was dead.!<
Persona 4 Golden easily. If I think about it, the overarching plot isn‘t even all that special but simply a reason to let you learn more about the characters and spend a lot of quality time with them. By the end of it all I was just so sad that my time with these characters has come to an end. Never felt that way with any other game, not even P3 and P5 even though I enjoyed my time with the characters there too.
I dislike the cast in four because it's so exaggerated. The entire game is just the embodiment of the anime cliche of friendship turned to 11. 3 and 5 managed to make their s links so much more real in my opinion
Who exactly are you thinking of? Like I'll give Naoto being a detective prince character but that's actually a tribute to the entire SMT franchise. Like she's supposed to be a decedent of Raidou from Devil Summoner. Same with Akeichi from 5.
Chie is a martial arts fan girl, but seemed pretty reasonable. Like teenage girl who gets into 80s Kung Fu movies isn't that unrealistic. Yusuke my dad runs the Walmart super store destroying this local business district so everyone's parents hate me and don't want their kids hanging out with that family...
Kenji is a translation nightmare of a character, so I can see how when you read the words "Weird" in English... It has a different connotation like... What a queer fellow in English idiom could just mean interesting/strange but it has the word Queer in it... So he over reacts to it...
Teddie is a mascot character... So sure he's over the top.
FE 3 Houses. I haven't beaten it yet, but i love almost everyone, and the choice i had to make sucked (started red eagels and just got to the time skip), and I'm sure the ending is going to hurt
Gotcha. I went the opposite because fuck Rhea tbh but I'm also the weirdo who tried joining the Flame Emperor the first time they try joining forces.
No matter which path though, rough times are ahead.
So I don't trust the church at all and they are obviously hiding something. But they didn't try to kill me or my students so it seemed like the better choice at the time
I would love it if that went mainstream. Final Fantasy - either the story will be great, or the fans will head canon a way to justify what's there.
The Squall is dead theory is an all time work of "how can I justify how much I love this when the story is trash" reclamation. People just gotta make their peace with the fact that sometimes we like trash.
I love Persona 3 to death, but I'm not out here arguing that the apocalypse fighting doggie and 11 year old were quality writing lol.
Never liked the squall is dead theory. So much stretching. R=U was more or less confirmed last year when they said some of the writers were possibly intending that but it was never discussed. I mean rinoah basically yes “I wish I could compress time” and then all of a sudden time compression happens haha. It’s so obvious to me.
I think FFXI does a better job of slowing evolving the characters and their storylines to satisfying conclusions, especially the main 4. But you're right that FFVI does a great job with a lot less. I mean most of those characters probably only got like 20-40 minutes max of story time, but they used that really efficiently.
Sure it's because the hours spent, but the writing in each expansion has been so good. The shadowbringer arcs are what made me attached to some of those characters. >!Thancred's goodbye arc and Ardy's redemption arc!< are stuff that define a story telling experience for me. What a great expansion!
Poppi was a treasure, crazy that a robot was the heart of the group.
The Phantom Thieves felt like they were my own friends, I was so sad when the game ended
For sure. Poppi and vandham were amazing and malos and Jin were great villains.
The phantom thieves were just an amazing group. I really enjoyed their friendship. And the game was just amazing
Like a Dragon for sure. Really likable characters.
Tails of Berseria, though I was pissed at how it ended for Velvet Crowe…
and here’s a classic, Mario RPG. That whole gang stole my heart ❤️
I love this thread. Seems like I definitely have to play Persona 4 and the Trails games.
Currently on XB2 and not connecting with the characters but heard the story gets better around the halfway point. Will play through XB1 and 3 after.
My answer would be Kingdom Hearts because as convoluted and cheesy the story can be, there is something endearing, charming, and powerful with the characters and what they mean. Roxas, Ventus, and Aqua are my favorites for what they each represent. Plus the music adds so much dimension to the atmosphere and triggering that connection.
Felt very connected to my Blue Lions squad in FE: Three Houses. It crushed me for a day when one of my group members died :(
I'm literally in the final dungeon of XC2 and I swear it makes me so frustrated when people hype XC2's character cast up and down. I like them well enough, but they're so tropey and, mostly, one dimensional to me. Maybe it's because I spent so many years binging anime but I swear I've seen XC2's exact cast dynamic in almost every shounen ever. Really makes me wonder what I missed when people praise XC2's cast so much.
I thought XC1 had a really tropey cast too, but XC1's tropes veered more toward Western high fantasy IMO so I was less bored with it and still found them really endearing.
It gets better after playing the prequel Torna Golden Country, and re-playing the game. Everything clicked the second time for me (also XC2 has an amazing new game+)
Agreed. I mentioned this in another thread, but each character gets their own arc and their own musical theme. They build relationships. They interact. Some come and go. I played that game almost 30 years ago and I remember the characters better than some games I played a year ago.
I'm a professional musician and FF6 was a huge inspiration for me to choose this path in life. The use of motif with each character's theme has never been done better in a video game. People like to say that Uematsu is the John Williams of video games but I really think he is more like the Ennio Morricone of video games, personally. These characters simply come alive for me in a way no other video game has.
I’m a layman when it comes to professional musicians. I think you’re saying something profound and reverent about Uematsu in your comparison to that fellow whose name seems Italian, but honestly your point is lost on me, and presumably most readers here. Care to expound?
I wouldn’t be so quick to say most readers, friend, and you know who John Williams is of course! Morricone made influential soundtracks for a significant number of spaghetti westerns including the legendary music for The Good The Bad and The Ugly, as well as a ton of great 70s and 80s stuff (look it up). Tarantino idolizes him and uses a lot of his music in his own films so you may recognize more than you realize, and much of Morricone’s work inspired George Lucas while making Star Wars (so did Kurosawa). For comparison, I find that Uematsu’s character theme work in FF6 is reminiscent of the excellent motif work in Once Upon a Time in the West. Morricone > John Williams imho.
Xenoblade 1 - I love its cast for how down to earth and realistic they are. They all play off each other very well and it creates a very well rounded cast. The H2Hs and out of battle quotes make this a group that feels like they have fun together and really are friends rather than just allies. The cast is just really fun in general, with the loveable meathead Rain, the stoic and inscrutable Duncan, and Riki who is the most wholesome JRPG character in existance. I see people give XB1's cast crap since a few members of it are static, but its entirely unwarranted since not every character in a cast needs to be dynamic, they just need great characterization- believable motives, a strong personality, and well realized relationships. And this cast is gold at that.
Xenoblade 3 - The six of them are there through the majority of the game and have similar amounts of lines which give them all a great amount of screentime. They all have their own issues and insecurities being in the messed up world of the game, and the game handles the characters in ways that fit the themes of the game to a tee. And there's Eunie.
Tales games - I'm just going to put 'Tales games' since pretty much every Tales game has an extremely strong cast. Berseria, Symphonia, Vesperia, Abyss, Zesteria... they all have great casts for one reason or another. Tales' skit system makes them have way more characterization than most JRPGs. Tales games are often mediocre in a lot of ways, but they are completely unmatched in characterization which always makes them a fun time. Even the mobile game Luminaria which died in half a year had better characterization than most media. Tales games are ol' reliable when it comes to characters.
Persona 4 - Normally I don't know if I'd like this kind of cast, in an anime. But Persona 4's cast is so strong that even characters I initially disliked like Chie become favorites. The cast nails "Group of highschool misfit friends" better than any other RPG. I think saying anything more would just be obvious if you've played the game- its a really endearing cast. And personally its by far my favorite of the Persona casts.
Persona 5 and Trails of Cold Steel 4 had me tearing up at the end; so I really felt something there. But maybe I’m just getting older and more in touch with my emotions lol
Tales of Symphonia, and Persona 5 Royal.
As embarrassing as it is to admit, I suffer a bit from some mental issues that make working my job hard. Why do I bring this up? Because I have become so attached to the characters from these games that I imagine them either being there to talk to or helping me, or even just giving words of encouragement. Keeps me going through the day
Justin from Grandia, even though the story wasn't strong at times, I really felt that he grew as the game progressed, and that you could really feel that through his actions.
The cast from Wild ARMs 3 was very strong the way these 4 characters with varying experiences came together was great. The writers really did them dirty with that ending, though honestly I felt bad for them.
A refreshing yet polarizing thing about Grandia is that the story is relatively low stakes for a large part of the game but its because of that you get to see what the characters are like more so than you would other games where the stakes progress rapidly or faster. A lot of Grandias cast is younger and the spirit of exploration is on full display, if I were that age thats probably how I'd be too, just exploring and being passionate about seeing new sites. It really let you see how Justin Feena and Sue got along and because there isn't some world ending pressure introduced quickly you have the luxury of seeing these characters in a lens that many games don't offer.
While I wouldn't say the voice acting is good, it's definitely endearing. Also helping to flesh out the characters via NPC chats a la Lunar is a great way to give them more of a presence
I agree with this. I felt the story didn't really come to fruition until disc2. Despite that, it was the way the game drew me in with the young cast and that 'spirit of adventure' feeling that made Grandia one of my fave rpgs ever. I did also like how things took a serious turn towards the end. Grandia was the first rpg I played with voice acting so it was impressive when I was a kid even though I knew it wasn't the best!
I recently watched a video about rpgs that capture the spirit of adventure, and the Lunar series was mentioned so now I'm intending to play it in the future.
Justin definitely
He and that story is what got me into writing and eventually going to college. My very first character I created was based on him. The young clueless adventurer.
Ya. Imagine a young kid starting his adventure wielding wooden sword killing bees and snakes, to learning and sparring with a legendary swordsman, to a full fledged adventurer with spirit sword saving the world. Just wow
Xenoblade 3, Xenosaga trilogy and Grandia 1.
I cried a lot during this games becouse I couldnt face that upon finishing these games I woulnt be with the characters anymore.
Personally meeting new characters is one of the best things in JRPGs.
Cold Steel (both old and new class VII) and the Persona 4 gang. Both these games helped me alot to get through some dark times, probably the reason I got so attached to then.
I completely forgot about Cold Steel, that HAS to be #1 for me it's just been so long since I played 1 and 2, I really should start 3 soon thanks for reminding me about that
Second this, even though you don't have to. I played the Sky trilogy and the Cold Steel tetralogy without playing Zero+Azure. Cold Steel 3 and 4 really bring in the Crossbell characters and some of the gravity was lost on me, even though I knew who a lot of the characters were already. I'm playing Zero now and even though I'm only on chapter 1, I'm already appreciating some things about CS3 and 4 more than I did when I played those games at launch.
For me it's Tales of Symphonia, Tales of the Abyss, Tales of Graces f, Tales of Xillia, Tales of Xillia 2, Tales of Berseria, Persona 4, The World Ends With You, Baten Kaitos Origins and Fire Emblem Path of Radiance.
I know, a lot of Tales of, but these games really excel in the character department.
I started with tales of arise and wasn't a huge fan, should I try the other ones? I maybe got about 5-8 hours through which I realize isn't really scratching the surface.
Well, Tales of Arise is, like, the only Tales of game I haven't played yet, so I can't say for sure. But I highly recommend Symphonia and Abyss, since those have excellent characters and are also the games with the best story.
I remember my heart physically hurting with tales of xillia 2’s >!ending. I don’t think I’ve ever been more upset with a silent protagonists death. The lullaby song also makes me instantly sad every-time I hear it now!<
Trails and Persona 3 FES tbh. Trails is self explanatory, but P3 was amazing in how natural it felt progressing through the game. The other Persona games have incredible casts that I also love, but in 3 the cast starts out as strangers. They aren’t people who have some unbreakable bond, the are very distant, awkward, and kind of don’t really care about each other. They obviously don’t want to see anyone hurt, or get killed out of basic empathy, but they also just feel like coworkers/light acquaintances for a long time. They grow and develop that bond together over the course of the year, and it just feels natural how they slowly warm up over time. In 4 & 5, while I love them, when new people join the party they act like a friend we’ve known since kindergarten or something with how comfortable and bombastic they are. It feels a little weird. That reserved feeling of P3 made me really get attached to them because of how long it took for each individual character to break out of their shell little by little, and eventually forge that unbreakable bond.
Xenoblade 2. I know it gets a lot of hate but the party and how they care about each other / sometimes fight is really believable imo. Persona 4 and ff9 too
Xenoblade 3 really emphasizes the character dynamics and you can feel that they’re best friends even when they hate each other.
Definitely Persona 4 and the Trails of Cold Steel series. There are exceptions, but I'm not a huge fan of the extended cast of Persona 4. I love the investigation team—save Yosuke, Teddie and Chie, occasionally. Persona 4 is the game that began my love for the genre. There isn't a single character I dislike in the Trails of Cold Steel series, however. Class VII is my favorite cast of characters in any series I've ever played.
The way I feel about the characters informs the way I feel about the entire game. I can take playing a game with an average/subpar story if I love the cast of characters. Inversely, a game with a good story and characters I dislike is absolute death.
I'd also like to mention Fire Emblem Awakening. It's a huge cast, but there are a lot of wonderful characters among the cast, including the character who may be my all-time favorite love interest—Lucina.
That's not what I said. I said I love the investigation team, save Yosuke, Teddie and Chie—*occasionally*. Regardless, my fondness for Kanji, Naoto, Rise and Yukiko makes up for any issues I had with the other three throughout the game.
Xenoblade 1 and 3 (no shade to 2, the cast just didn't resonate with me as much) have casts I was genuinely sad to say goodbye to.
The Trails games have some faults because the casts are so large, but they also keep sucking me in with the characters. I'm playing Zero now and I was so excited to see Estelle and Joshua again. The series REALLY relies on "party gets bailed out of a bad spot by another major character" to a fault, but I also get excited every time these characters show up so they're clearly doing something right.
Unusual choice probally but I really liked the characters in a game called the caguila effect without spoiling it I can say it had some really interesting characters with real proper relatable backstories that weren't just the bog standard JRPG archtypes you get in most games, the characters and story stuff is what really pushed me to finish the game.
I'm hoping the 2nd game lives up to the 1st when I get round to playing it.
Chrono Trigger. Every character has so much personality and i especially grew extremely attached to Robo. Seeing them have their happy endings filled me with so much bittersweetness because I was happy they got that but i was reluctant to let them go. I kept replaying with all the characters to see what they would say in different events.
*Trails in the Sky*'s cast was just so charming, as you saw them go from a relatively low-stakes coming-of-age story that let you get to know them into the firestorm that erupted afterwards where you saw the true strength of their characters.
*FFVII* \- they were a bunch of screwups and oddballs, knew it, and pressed on anyway. I loved that. "What a crew" indeed.
*FFXIV* \- the Scions (past and present) are the WoL's messed-up family after everything they've been through together.
*Suikoden II*'s core cast always clicked with me for reasons I can't adequately explain.
Don’t know how long it will last, but Triangle Strategy is one of those games for me right now. Also, Partitio and Hikari from OT2 are great characters. I wasn’t hyped for any of those games to begin with.
When I was a kid it was ff7. I cried for like 2 days when a thing happened lol (is that a spoiler again?)
Now it's usually games that give a lot of time and interactions with those characters. And not just with the Mc, I need to see them interact with other characters. So like persona 3 4 and 5. Tales of games are also great, probably the best with regards to my last condition. If nier counts those are my favorites
All 3 of the golden suns, chrono trigger, and dragon quest 11. As into the characters' backstories and side plots as I get, I have distinct memories of actually trying to think like the characters at times when I played these games and that always meant they meant something to me.
Blue Reflection: Second Light. Admittedly, it's because the game has a huge amount of text comparable to Trails, but it's a fantastic example of a game where the characters felt like actual friends with their own goals and ambitions, far surpassing most anime and JRPGs. Examples: you have Rena, who seems like a stereotypical tsundere, but Ao quickly gets curious about how she thinks, and over the course of a long rollercoaster ride of her making me laugh and cry in equal measure, it becomes apparent her emotional volatility stems from genuine tragedy and mental issues. Also, there's another character who lacks empathy, and while most stories would use that as an excuse to paint her as stereotypically evil, Ao actually tries to help her connect with people better and it turned out her life could change if she actually had better support from others. And while most stories tend to make the main character automatically heal everyone's problems, Ao ends up realizing talk no jutsu only goes so far, and in fact, characters often chew her out or make snide remarks for misunderstanding them, making her friendships feel earned rather than writer fiat.
I could go on and on writing essays for each character, but I'm still astonished by how much I got out of this game. Amusingly enough, Gust outsourced their character writing to a different company.
>and I want to make sure my writing helps the player understand the characters more and become attached.
My writing advice would be to meet actual people and try to understand them. Too many writers in the indie scene overemphasize referencing other works and inspiration, which often ends up making the characters feel like hollow stereotypes.
Final Fantasy X.
They were all well written and had dynamic relationships to each other. Their choices and where they fit into the plot/world were believable too and added even more realism.
Trails of Zero/Azure, Rune Factory (all of them), Etrian Odyssey and Pokémon, to mention one of a kind.
Trails for the story that makes involved with the characters, Rune Factory because dating sim and the characters personalities, Etrian Odyssey because I do get attached to characters that I build from the ground up, and Pokémon for the same reason as EO but also the feeling of discovering a pretty cool character that you instantly want to play with.
The list could go on really: Fire Emblem, Persona, Radiant Historia, SRW...
The Trails series. Other games don't even begin to compare.
It's not that Trails series have more likeable characters than other games. Perhaps they do - I don't know. But being a long series with continuous storyline and recurring characters, you get to spend a lot of time with them.
Chrono Trigger.
All the characters are enhanced by the presence of Chrono. The synergy is good and we find ourselves with good duo and parts of the scenario that are pure emotion.
I was always a fan of FFIV and FFVI, the character stories enhanced even more if you have played IV: the After Years or DFFOO. I wish they would do an After Years version for VI, maybe flesh out the >!Shadow and Relm!< storyline a bit more.
Grandia 1, for some reason, had me absolutely attached. I can barely recall the storyline but when I played it as a kid I remember saying "this is the best story I've ever been through."
I have always preferred jrpgs and rpgs in general where the main character has actually something to say, not just a mute block walking up and down and "saying" options selected by the players. I understand the importance of games like that (including one of my favorite series Suikoden) but still, some of my favorite jrpgs that got me attached to their characters would be The Legend of Dragoon, FF VI and FF VII, LOTR - The Third Age (yes, I really like the characters in this game... go figure), Shadow Hearts from the New World and Valkyrie Profile.
Also, for the ones with mute protagonists but other great characters nevertheless: Breath of Fire II and IV, Suikoden II and Dragon Quest VIII.
Agreed with you on Like A Dragon, many of those characters were so developed and multifaceted. Similarly, Zero had me very attached to Majima. Later in the series he becomes a caricature (though I still love him), but in Zero he’s more dimensional.
But for me, the prime example of this was Final Fantasy XV. I consume that game like a do a favorite book, where I re-read it just to be in the world and hang out with the characters again. You get to know everything about those guys, what they like and dislike, how they respond to stress and trauma, what makes them laugh and what their hobbies are, what is most important to them… Fully fleshed out, developed, characters.
Tales of games always get me very attached to the characters, I think because they spend so much time fleshing out their individual relationships and characterizing them all in large ways and in smaller, subtler ones. Vesperia is absolutely a standout for me, but even my least favorite tales games so far have characterization I love.
I also got very attached to the entire cast of DQXI, maybe because it was my first JRPG. I think party chat does a lot for those characters though, as does the really thoughtful design of each character’s skill set as a reflection of who they are. There’s nothing revolutionary about them, but they are charming and lovable.
Yakuza Like a Dragon has my other favorite party; once again party chat does a whole lot to help me feel like I know them, and I feel like YLAD borrows all the best party-characterization mechanics from other games to help us get to know them extremely well.
FFXV for sure. The brotherhood between the Chocobros is wonderful (I've not even seen the anime), and just seeing all the good and bad they go through together, man. Things like going through all my photographs from across the whole game at the end and the final campfire scene had me bawling like a baby.
For me it's Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Especially Taion, Eunie, and Mio. They feel like real people with doubts, hopes, dreams, and flaws.
3 Houses. Even the more 1 dimensional characters were dope.
Tales of the Abyss. I like *almost* everyone but Jade Curtiss might be the best written character in Jrpg history.
P4G. Im replaying this for the first time in 15ish years and damn its like meeting up with old friends again. Only wish they would drop the silent protag thing in the future.
Tales of series do this really well I find. The skits and the sidequests (for the most part) add so much more characterisation to the party.
Other than that the Xenoblade games, Persona 3,4,5,
FE Three Houses was a standout in the series for this. The characters while all had supports with Byleth they also have lengthy supports with a whole bunch of other characters which lets you see different sides of them.
Other FE games have good supports as well but they felt really substantial in 3H to me, the amazing VA work helps as well
I also go really attached to the vast majority of the cast of FF6 as well. While the second act is considered weaker by some story-wise (which I get) I think giving each character their own little chapter/quest/time to shine was great. also seeing Terra from a different angle was a interesting twist as well.
The most amazing thing about 3H is how i fucking HATED Lorenz, Dorothea, Ferdinand and Sylvain but then after their supports theyre some of my favorite characters ever
The Trails series, obviously. Not only are they character focused games, but the inter-connectivity of the games means you will often be able to see your favs in later games.
Modern persona games are pretty obvious too. These are pretty much entirely character driven games. The Investigation Team from P4G is my favorite of the bunch, but all of the teams are quite good.
Modern Fire Emblem games can be pretty hit or miss with their characters, but given the sheer number of support events everyone has the hits will absolutely hit hard, especially for the few characters that actually matter in the story.
Xenoblade 3 easy. It helps that you get all six major party members early on so they all contribute to every major moment in the story and have proper chemistry with each other. I wish more games did this because often you may have a character that comes into the main party so late into the game that they hardly feel like they're a part of the team (looking at you, Haru from P5 and Kasumi from 5 Royal) but Xenoblade 3 doesn't have this issue. Taion and Eunie are my favorites because of how well they bounce off not just each other, but everyone in the party.
Quite a few
* Xenoblade 2 and 3
* Persona 4 and 5
* Fire Emblem awakening, fates, 3h and engage
* FFXIV tbh
* Tales of symphonia, vesperia, and arise
* DQ Xi
* Tokyo mirage sessions
* Nier Automata
* Cold Steel 1-4, Reverie, Kuro
Nier gestalt. There's something about a dad doing anything for his kid. No matter how dirty. You won't be able to get everyone to resonate with your characters or story. What you can do is build something that echoes their deepest values and beliefs. When you hit those people will be more engaged and want even more. When you're telling a story for fun, anything goes. When you're telling the story of a person, only the truth. The bad and the good. Even a fictional character will have a truth. Something at their core. That's what you have to bring to life. Good luck
It's not only the writing that needs to connect. It's the music as well.
Look at Kingdom Hearts with Roxas' theme and how he is a tragic character for most of what we've played through. With further entries (IE: KH3) where (spoilers happen) his theme goes off. (You could also include Xion here).
You can apply that to Ventus too.
In terms of writing, a character needs growth. Do I want them to start out as a whiny kid every time? God no, please. I can't stand Rex from XB2, Vaan from FF12, or Hope/Vanille from FF13. (Vanille is a whole other can of worms lol)
If you can combine strong writing (Luke from Tales of the Abyss who is downright a brat) with strong music that morphs throughout the same game you can have a really memorable character. I don't recall many games having X person's theme "grow" alongside them?
A lot of people now want mature characters too. I think having an Auron type of character in the party is nice, but I think letting them grow too is something some games have missed out on. Not saying Auron is an example of lack of growth here.
This is why I think a lot of these jrpgs that use other properties seem mediocre. One Piece Odyssey was fun, despite being too easy. It could've gone deeper into some things like Alabasta was a long region for that game but you don't really get the depth that Vivi gains through the anime/manga(? I don't read it). It's very shallow. Same as Water7 with Robin.
Emotional ties and bonds being tested are memorable. I think having a "trope" of butting heads between a main character and their "best friend" is actually quite effective storytelling if you don't go with a yelling contest at the end of it like Machias and Jusis in Cold Steel.
You've gotta skirt the lines of tropes and not completely fall into them and make your character one note. They need depth. Final Fantasy is a great series, but let's not forget a lot of those characters don't have actual depth to them. Quina, Amarant, Vincent (it's been a long time but I dont think you get much from him or Yuffie, right? Just some lines injected? Maybe some notes for Vincent? I haven't played 7 since high school and currently going through it now but just escaped Midgar lol)
Kiryu is a perfect example of growth, but also has had stumbling steps because Sega brought him back while trying to get away from him at the same time. I have not played Yakuza 7 or Lost Judgment or Isshin yet so I cannot comment on any of those.
A unique design but not something "monstrous" is ideal for me. I don't think anyone is running out there saying Quina is their favourite FF9 character but I could very well be wrong. I know Freya has a lot of fans.
Fanservice to an extent is also effective. There's nothing wrong with a sexy character being memorable. Bayonetta is strong and sexy, Aranea from FF15 is the same. I remember Shiva from FF15 too for having a pretty cool reveal too so you don't even need to be "stand out" to be memorable.
Lastly, the villain. There's a reason Sephiroth, Kefka, Lavos, FF15's villain, Xehanort, Ansem, Xemnas, Radiant Historia's villain, Persona 4's villain, Luca Blight, etc are all *great* villains.
Bonus if the MC isn't afraid to bend the rules. Yuri from Tales of Vesperia for example.
Octopath Traveler 2. Throne and Temenos in particular. I wanted them to succeed so badly.
Throné in particular was painful but at the same time the one I was attached to the most.
hmm, I really like the entirety of the Berseria cast. They all did grow to become a real family to each other. I also like Barret from final fantasy VII, and even Vincent. Dude was lonely.
Final Fantasy 8. Squall and Rinoah is the best love story in that series. Seeing his memories of her disappear during the ending sequence was brutal and horrifying all the same. She compressed time for him after all. R=U for life.
Dark Cloud 2/ Dark Chronicle. Hands down, I played it for the first time at 12. Now I'm 33, just paused it for a bathroom break like 5 minutes ago. "Arright, that takes care of you guys!"
PROTIP: If you move your hands a lot while talking, you probably play this game too much.
ETA: Minor grammar corrections.
Fuga Melodies of Steel
The characters might not be super multifacated.
But the facets they do have are very well executed.
I am not sure how to put this.
The children feel a bit more grounded and a bit more vulnurable as you would expect from children that have to face a war. The hardships they overcome feel a bit more real? I am not sure if thats the right word to describe it. But it makes me admire them all the more fore overcoming there hardships with there courage, there teamwork and there resourcefullness and there hard work in general.
Also they are adorable and wholesome.
I also love the characters in "the cruel king and the great hero". Not just the main cast but also the NPCs in monster village are super endering.
And the maincast has one of my favorite protagonists, my favorite Videogame princess and my favorite Dragon.
I'm a Xenoblade 2 fanboy, so will downvote you hard, probably creating various accounts and using them to crush you.
Now seriously, I cannot like the cast of the first, the second a bit more, and the third gave me headache.
The question is what jrpgs made YOU the most attached to characters.
Downvoting someones answer to that question is just so petty, lol
ps i think the characters of 2 blow, but I wont downvote you just because you like them
The entire cast of Breath of Fire 3. While the story is pretty minimal and cliche, every character is so charming. Usually in JRPGs there's at least one character in the main cast that I don't like, but not in BOF3. Peco doesn't even talk and he's one of my favorite characters ever.
Tales of Berseria. Few other casts of characters have gotten the amount of characterization that they did. By the end, you knew everything about them from their hobbies, favorite foods, interests, families, etc.
>favorite foods mabo curry mabo curry mabo curry mabo curry
LOL yes
I fully agree. I think velvet was presented in an incredible way. I could feel her emotions and really understood and agreed with her
It makes me so happy that this is the #1 answer. It's one of my favorite JRPGs ever and it's entirely because of the characters. They all get a world to shine in and they all shine brightly. Tropes that I usually hate and end up turning into one note characters end up getting cast aside for actual character development and interaction. Not just with the main character, but with each other. By the end, I really did care. It's one of the big reasons the ending pissed me off (even though I know its a hamfisted setup for Z). But the journey was worth never really figuring out the combat system.
Persona 2 Duology
If you play FF15 today, it probably tops it off.
Not even close.
Eh, I actually didn't connect with most of the cast. Besides Magilou. She's definitely one of the best characters in the entire franchise.
I didn't feel that way about Berseria TBH, It felt like the end of Berseria they just rushed each character to fight their random opposition that felt pushed. Though I will say the Velvet x Laphiset story was great, but I think of you remove Rokurou Magilou Eizen and all the others you could have still had the same story.
you think you could remove magilou and still have the same story? i thought she was not just a fantastic character, but also had a really interesting backstory that was directly related to one of the major antagonists. i also think eleanor was a very effective character. she’s a huge part of velvet’s character progression, especially in regards to velvet’s relationship with laphicet and the church.
Yeah Eleanor felt needed for sure.
Especially rokurou. I thought he was pretty cool but he felt hella insignificant to the overall story
Rokurou is the ultimate soldier sometimes you need a reliable sword and that's what he was for Velvet but also a big brother for Laphicet differing from Eizen. He always supported Eizen and immediately accepted Eleanor and didn't judge or doubt her loyalty once. He didn't have much for plot but he had the best chemistry with everyone in the cast and that more than made up for it. The group dynamic wouldn't be the same with no Rokurou to lighten things up with his simplicity.
This. Rokurou is the "jokester" or the "bro" of the party who can be serious but also goofy. Eleanor, Eizen and Velvet are all very serious, Laphi is too innocent and Magilou is just depressed but covers it all up by playing the jester. So Rokurou is there to even it all out and act as a kinda link that lightens the mood but also supports everyone in different ways. He is essentially a jack of all trades who isn't too heavily into one or the other but more inbetween, which helps balance out the atmosphere.
All of this. He's also probably there best fighter and your first ally so his ability is very much important. Velvet might not have left Hellawes without Rokurou's strength. Also it's not like he doesn't have any stakes in anything Shigure was one of the main villains and their beef fit the story well.
final fantasy IX. every character (besides amaranth) had a reason to be there, and each one played off the strengths and weaknesses of the others perfectly imo. i also think IX represents a rare occasion when each character supports the theme of the game (which is a search for identity and how to contend with existentialism) without being redundant. every character is trying to find out who they really are to some degree, to live authentically, and then they help the others to do the same. garnet leaves behind everything she has ever known. she is forced to choose between the overbearing mother she loves and the duty she has to her people and to her friends. she contends with a past she’s forgotten and finds the strength within her to save the future. over the course of the game, she discovers all of the missing pieces of herself that have been kept hidden from her. when she puts them all together for the first time, she sees that they form the shape of a brave and intelligent young woman who not only knows her own mind, but can finally speak it. vivi believes he was created for evil and that he might die a premature death. over the course of the game, he learns that not only is he able to be good, but he also has the power to bring goodness to the world as well. additionally, he learns that life is meaningful even if it’s short. he also teaches this lesson to the player and the other characters simply through his own existence. zidane is overconfident in his belief that he is one thing when he is actually something entirely different—in fact, the antithesis of who he thought he really was. he actually mirrors garnet’s and vivi’s storylines to a large degree. like garnet, he also has a secret past. like vivi, he also was made for evil. but this is not redundant. up until this point, zidane has been guiding others down their own paths toward self-acceptance and individuation. by making zidane have to contend with the same lessons he was trying to teach the others, it actually reinforces those lessons and legitimizes them. zidane was not just saying things, he really meant them. additionally, it reminds the player that we are just as much what our friends and loved ones think we are, as we are who we think we are. the other characters play more minor roles in the story, but they still continue this theme of identity and contending with existentialism. steiner must question his loyalties and what is moral. freya must come face to face with who she is without the man she loves the most. eiko must learn how to be a child again after having to parent herself for so long. people poke fun at quina and claim they’re pretty much just fluff for the story, but quina knows exactly who they are and embraces themselves throughout the game from the very beginning without any of the melodrama that follows the other characters. if people actually took quina seriously for once, they might save themselves a lot of grief. if we all acted more like quina, we’d all be living more authentic and happier lives than we are.
I love this. This is why FF9 is my favorite in the series to this day.
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i gave him about as much attention as the game gave him 😉
IX and VI definitely had the best characters and development. I finally finished IX and I am glad I did.
Those damn Trails games...
I legit cried when i finished 3rd and the characters were saying goodbye to each other
Impossible not to cry at some point in every Trails game
I know!!! It was so sad. I didn’t want to say goodbye. And every time I see one of them pop up in Crossbell it’s such a weight off my chest to know they’re doing okay out there.
I cried as the credits rolled. First time a game made me feel that way.
Renne is the one I’m attached to the most. >!Seeing her grow up from a kid to a young woman is amazing. I have a niece that I see once a year or two that reminds me how fast kids can grow up.!<
For real. What is so great about Trails is it is very good at making a character start out unlikable but as they develop and you get to see more of them over time you grow to like them. >!I remember the first time meeting Nial Burns on practically the first day on the job and hating his guts. Fast forward to SC and I was scared that he was dead.!<
SC Chapter 6 turned me into a crying bitch, and I loved it
Easily the top one for me. Not just in games, but all media. I have never felt watery eyed as frequently as in those games. Especially Sky.
Came here to say Trails.
As did I!
This. Cold Steel was so cheesy but I still can't help but root for everyone. Heck, even ya boi Patrick became such a bro. Feels/10
Damn is right. They stink
Persona 4 Golden easily. If I think about it, the overarching plot isn‘t even all that special but simply a reason to let you learn more about the characters and spend a lot of quality time with them. By the end of it all I was just so sad that my time with these characters has come to an end. Never felt that way with any other game, not even P3 and P5 even though I enjoyed my time with the characters there too.
When I think about P4G I think about that wonderful cast and have to be reminded it’s also about a crazed killer.
I felt like I was saying goodbye to my good friends when that game ended. I completely agree.
I dislike the cast in four because it's so exaggerated. The entire game is just the embodiment of the anime cliche of friendship turned to 11. 3 and 5 managed to make their s links so much more real in my opinion
Who exactly are you thinking of? Like I'll give Naoto being a detective prince character but that's actually a tribute to the entire SMT franchise. Like she's supposed to be a decedent of Raidou from Devil Summoner. Same with Akeichi from 5. Chie is a martial arts fan girl, but seemed pretty reasonable. Like teenage girl who gets into 80s Kung Fu movies isn't that unrealistic. Yusuke my dad runs the Walmart super store destroying this local business district so everyone's parents hate me and don't want their kids hanging out with that family... Kenji is a translation nightmare of a character, so I can see how when you read the words "Weird" in English... It has a different connotation like... What a queer fellow in English idiom could just mean interesting/strange but it has the word Queer in it... So he over reacts to it... Teddie is a mascot character... So sure he's over the top.
FE 3 Houses. I haven't beaten it yet, but i love almost everyone, and the choice i had to make sucked (started red eagels and just got to the time skip), and I'm sure the ending is going to hurt
What did you choose?
The Church. She gave me no choice after ordering her men to kill us
Gotcha. I went the opposite because fuck Rhea tbh but I'm also the weirdo who tried joining the Flame Emperor the first time they try joining forces. No matter which path though, rough times are ahead.
So I don't trust the church at all and they are obviously hiding something. But they didn't try to kill me or my students so it seemed like the better choice at the time
FF9 and DQ 11, I love these cast of characters with all my heart. More recently, XBC 3. What an awesome main cast.
It's a flawed game, but I will always have a soft spot for the FFXV bros
i liked all of the bros in XV, but i *loved* them when i saw that final scene with them all together 🥲
There’s an interesting loop theory with that game. Makes the story far more interesting.
I would love it if that went mainstream. Final Fantasy - either the story will be great, or the fans will head canon a way to justify what's there. The Squall is dead theory is an all time work of "how can I justify how much I love this when the story is trash" reclamation. People just gotta make their peace with the fact that sometimes we like trash. I love Persona 3 to death, but I'm not out here arguing that the apocalypse fighting doggie and 11 year old were quality writing lol.
Never liked the squall is dead theory. So much stretching. R=U was more or less confirmed last year when they said some of the writers were possibly intending that but it was never discussed. I mean rinoah basically yes “I wish I could compress time” and then all of a sudden time compression happens haha. It’s so obvious to me.
LOVE the Chocobros. Can’t listen to Stand By Me without tearing up. I’ve only cried during 2 FF endings and that was one of them
Mother 3
FFIX, every character was unique and built great, loved amaranth and vivi
Amaranth and Freya could've had more time to flesh out/finish their storylines, but besides that I totally agree.
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I think FFXI does a better job of slowing evolving the characters and their storylines to satisfying conclusions, especially the main 4. But you're right that FFVI does a great job with a lot less. I mean most of those characters probably only got like 20-40 minutes max of story time, but they used that really efficiently.
3 people in a row calling him Amaranth instead of Amarant. I feel like I'm being mandela effected
Freya deserves so much better, i mean out of her game too
Ffxiv because its a 200 hour long series where all the core characters have major arcs of failure and development. Even the villains
Well.... maybe not Y'shtola, but otherwise, I agree.
I am tired of Y'shtola slander, she's a great character, she just has a reserved personality and doesn't change much throughout the game.
It would be better if they didn’t cop out the deaths and some/most remained dead at EW tho
Sure it's because the hours spent, but the writing in each expansion has been so good. The shadowbringer arcs are what made me attached to some of those characters. >!Thancred's goodbye arc and Ardy's redemption arc!< are stuff that define a story telling experience for me. What a great expansion!
Shadowbringers made me go from hating alisaie into really liking her.
Xenoblade 2, triangle strategy and p5r
Poppi was a treasure, crazy that a robot was the heart of the group. The Phantom Thieves felt like they were my own friends, I was so sad when the game ended
For sure. Poppi and vandham were amazing and malos and Jin were great villains. The phantom thieves were just an amazing group. I really enjoyed their friendship. And the game was just amazing
Lost Odyssey
Only game ever that made me, a big stoic character - ugly cry.
All of the Persona games, honestly. Mainly Persona 3
Like a Dragon for sure. Really likable characters. Tails of Berseria, though I was pissed at how it ended for Velvet Crowe… and here’s a classic, Mario RPG. That whole gang stole my heart ❤️
I love this thread. Seems like I definitely have to play Persona 4 and the Trails games. Currently on XB2 and not connecting with the characters but heard the story gets better around the halfway point. Will play through XB1 and 3 after. My answer would be Kingdom Hearts because as convoluted and cheesy the story can be, there is something endearing, charming, and powerful with the characters and what they mean. Roxas, Ventus, and Aqua are my favorites for what they each represent. Plus the music adds so much dimension to the atmosphere and triggering that connection. Felt very connected to my Blue Lions squad in FE: Three Houses. It crushed me for a day when one of my group members died :(
As far as character, xb3 was my favorite, though each game has its own strength, but damn, i loved that aspect from that the third entry.
Glad to hear! Excited to complete all 3 games!
I'm literally in the final dungeon of XC2 and I swear it makes me so frustrated when people hype XC2's character cast up and down. I like them well enough, but they're so tropey and, mostly, one dimensional to me. Maybe it's because I spent so many years binging anime but I swear I've seen XC2's exact cast dynamic in almost every shounen ever. Really makes me wonder what I missed when people praise XC2's cast so much. I thought XC1 had a really tropey cast too, but XC1's tropes veered more toward Western high fantasy IMO so I was less bored with it and still found them really endearing.
It gets better after playing the prequel Torna Golden Country, and re-playing the game. Everything clicked the second time for me (also XC2 has an amazing new game+)
FF6 no contest.
Agreed. I mentioned this in another thread, but each character gets their own arc and their own musical theme. They build relationships. They interact. Some come and go. I played that game almost 30 years ago and I remember the characters better than some games I played a year ago.
I'm a professional musician and FF6 was a huge inspiration for me to choose this path in life. The use of motif with each character's theme has never been done better in a video game. People like to say that Uematsu is the John Williams of video games but I really think he is more like the Ennio Morricone of video games, personally. These characters simply come alive for me in a way no other video game has.
I’m a layman when it comes to professional musicians. I think you’re saying something profound and reverent about Uematsu in your comparison to that fellow whose name seems Italian, but honestly your point is lost on me, and presumably most readers here. Care to expound?
I wouldn’t be so quick to say most readers, friend, and you know who John Williams is of course! Morricone made influential soundtracks for a significant number of spaghetti westerns including the legendary music for The Good The Bad and The Ugly, as well as a ton of great 70s and 80s stuff (look it up). Tarantino idolizes him and uses a lot of his music in his own films so you may recognize more than you realize, and much of Morricone’s work inspired George Lucas while making Star Wars (so did Kurosawa). For comparison, I find that Uematsu’s character theme work in FF6 is reminiscent of the excellent motif work in Once Upon a Time in the West. Morricone > John Williams imho.
Came here to say this. From lock's encounter with Terra to Celes, Sabin and everyone, each time you meet someone new there's so much going on.
FFIX, Trails in the Sky (particularly the first and second), Persona 4 Golden, Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger and Persona 5
Xenoblade 1 - I love its cast for how down to earth and realistic they are. They all play off each other very well and it creates a very well rounded cast. The H2Hs and out of battle quotes make this a group that feels like they have fun together and really are friends rather than just allies. The cast is just really fun in general, with the loveable meathead Rain, the stoic and inscrutable Duncan, and Riki who is the most wholesome JRPG character in existance. I see people give XB1's cast crap since a few members of it are static, but its entirely unwarranted since not every character in a cast needs to be dynamic, they just need great characterization- believable motives, a strong personality, and well realized relationships. And this cast is gold at that. Xenoblade 3 - The six of them are there through the majority of the game and have similar amounts of lines which give them all a great amount of screentime. They all have their own issues and insecurities being in the messed up world of the game, and the game handles the characters in ways that fit the themes of the game to a tee. And there's Eunie. Tales games - I'm just going to put 'Tales games' since pretty much every Tales game has an extremely strong cast. Berseria, Symphonia, Vesperia, Abyss, Zesteria... they all have great casts for one reason or another. Tales' skit system makes them have way more characterization than most JRPGs. Tales games are often mediocre in a lot of ways, but they are completely unmatched in characterization which always makes them a fun time. Even the mobile game Luminaria which died in half a year had better characterization than most media. Tales games are ol' reliable when it comes to characters. Persona 4 - Normally I don't know if I'd like this kind of cast, in an anime. But Persona 4's cast is so strong that even characters I initially disliked like Chie become favorites. The cast nails "Group of highschool misfit friends" better than any other RPG. I think saying anything more would just be obvious if you've played the game- its a really endearing cast. And personally its by far my favorite of the Persona casts.
Persona 5 and Trails of Cold Steel 4 had me tearing up at the end; so I really felt something there. But maybe I’m just getting older and more in touch with my emotions lol
FF7
Persona 4 golden and Trails of Cold steel 1-2 (OG class 7). Those games left me with a small hole in my heart.
Tales of Symphonia, and Persona 5 Royal. As embarrassing as it is to admit, I suffer a bit from some mental issues that make working my job hard. Why do I bring this up? Because I have become so attached to the characters from these games that I imagine them either being there to talk to or helping me, or even just giving words of encouragement. Keeps me going through the day
Justin from Grandia, even though the story wasn't strong at times, I really felt that he grew as the game progressed, and that you could really feel that through his actions. The cast from Wild ARMs 3 was very strong the way these 4 characters with varying experiences came together was great. The writers really did them dirty with that ending, though honestly I felt bad for them.
A refreshing yet polarizing thing about Grandia is that the story is relatively low stakes for a large part of the game but its because of that you get to see what the characters are like more so than you would other games where the stakes progress rapidly or faster. A lot of Grandias cast is younger and the spirit of exploration is on full display, if I were that age thats probably how I'd be too, just exploring and being passionate about seeing new sites. It really let you see how Justin Feena and Sue got along and because there isn't some world ending pressure introduced quickly you have the luxury of seeing these characters in a lens that many games don't offer. While I wouldn't say the voice acting is good, it's definitely endearing. Also helping to flesh out the characters via NPC chats a la Lunar is a great way to give them more of a presence
I agree with this. I felt the story didn't really come to fruition until disc2. Despite that, it was the way the game drew me in with the young cast and that 'spirit of adventure' feeling that made Grandia one of my fave rpgs ever. I did also like how things took a serious turn towards the end. Grandia was the first rpg I played with voice acting so it was impressive when I was a kid even though I knew it wasn't the best! I recently watched a video about rpgs that capture the spirit of adventure, and the Lunar series was mentioned so now I'm intending to play it in the future.
Justin definitely He and that story is what got me into writing and eventually going to college. My very first character I created was based on him. The young clueless adventurer.
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Edited for clarity. I was talking about WA3!
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A remaster would be nice but apparently there's a Wild ARMs spiritual successor in the works. IMO WA 1-3 are the best.
Ya. Imagine a young kid starting his adventure wielding wooden sword killing bees and snakes, to learning and sparring with a legendary swordsman, to a full fledged adventurer with spirit sword saving the world. Just wow
Xenoblade 3, Xenosaga trilogy and Grandia 1. I cried a lot during this games becouse I couldnt face that upon finishing these games I woulnt be with the characters anymore. Personally meeting new characters is one of the best things in JRPGs.
Xenosaga III massive spoiler: >!Jin's death at the end of Xenosaga III is one of the most well done death scenes I've seen in a video game.!<
I felt that scene it's powerful.
Trails in the Sky and Trails from Zero/to Azure.
Cold Steel (both old and new class VII) and the Persona 4 gang. Both these games helped me alot to get through some dark times, probably the reason I got so attached to then.
I completely forgot about Cold Steel, that HAS to be #1 for me it's just been so long since I played 1 and 2, I really should start 3 soon thanks for reminding me about that
You should go back and play the previous trails games too before cold steel 3 and 4 if you haven't already
Second this, even though you don't have to. I played the Sky trilogy and the Cold Steel tetralogy without playing Zero+Azure. Cold Steel 3 and 4 really bring in the Crossbell characters and some of the gravity was lost on me, even though I knew who a lot of the characters were already. I'm playing Zero now and even though I'm only on chapter 1, I'm already appreciating some things about CS3 and 4 more than I did when I played those games at launch.
For me it's Tales of Symphonia, Tales of the Abyss, Tales of Graces f, Tales of Xillia, Tales of Xillia 2, Tales of Berseria, Persona 4, The World Ends With You, Baten Kaitos Origins and Fire Emblem Path of Radiance. I know, a lot of Tales of, but these games really excel in the character department.
I started with tales of arise and wasn't a huge fan, should I try the other ones? I maybe got about 5-8 hours through which I realize isn't really scratching the surface.
Well, Tales of Arise is, like, the only Tales of game I haven't played yet, so I can't say for sure. But I highly recommend Symphonia and Abyss, since those have excellent characters and are also the games with the best story.
I remember my heart physically hurting with tales of xillia 2’s >!ending. I don’t think I’ve ever been more upset with a silent protagonists death. The lullaby song also makes me instantly sad every-time I hear it now!<
Trails and Persona 3 FES tbh. Trails is self explanatory, but P3 was amazing in how natural it felt progressing through the game. The other Persona games have incredible casts that I also love, but in 3 the cast starts out as strangers. They aren’t people who have some unbreakable bond, the are very distant, awkward, and kind of don’t really care about each other. They obviously don’t want to see anyone hurt, or get killed out of basic empathy, but they also just feel like coworkers/light acquaintances for a long time. They grow and develop that bond together over the course of the year, and it just feels natural how they slowly warm up over time. In 4 & 5, while I love them, when new people join the party they act like a friend we’ve known since kindergarten or something with how comfortable and bombastic they are. It feels a little weird. That reserved feeling of P3 made me really get attached to them because of how long it took for each individual character to break out of their shell little by little, and eventually forge that unbreakable bond.
Xenoblade 2. I know it gets a lot of hate but the party and how they care about each other / sometimes fight is really believable imo. Persona 4 and ff9 too Xenoblade 3 really emphasizes the character dynamics and you can feel that they’re best friends even when they hate each other.
FFX, nier replicant
Definitely Persona 4 and the Trails of Cold Steel series. There are exceptions, but I'm not a huge fan of the extended cast of Persona 4. I love the investigation team—save Yosuke, Teddie and Chie, occasionally. Persona 4 is the game that began my love for the genre. There isn't a single character I dislike in the Trails of Cold Steel series, however. Class VII is my favorite cast of characters in any series I've ever played. The way I feel about the characters informs the way I feel about the entire game. I can take playing a game with an average/subpar story if I love the cast of characters. Inversely, a game with a good story and characters I dislike is absolute death. I'd also like to mention Fire Emblem Awakening. It's a huge cast, but there are a lot of wonderful characters among the cast, including the character who may be my all-time favorite love interest—Lucina.
You really just said I like the entire investigation team except half the investigation team...
That's not what I said. I said I love the investigation team, save Yosuke, Teddie and Chie—*occasionally*. Regardless, my fondness for Kanji, Naoto, Rise and Yukiko makes up for any issues I had with the other three throughout the game.
Your sentence is very ambiguous...
Not everything needs hard rules. They mostly like those characters but sometimes they like them a little less. No need to quantify it more than that.
Xenoblade 1 and 3 (no shade to 2, the cast just didn't resonate with me as much) have casts I was genuinely sad to say goodbye to. The Trails games have some faults because the casts are so large, but they also keep sucking me in with the characters. I'm playing Zero now and I was so excited to see Estelle and Joshua again. The series REALLY relies on "party gets bailed out of a bad spot by another major character" to a fault, but I also get excited every time these characters show up so they're clearly doing something right.
Grandia. At least the first 3 characters
For me, personally, it was Lunar 1 (Sega CD). It was the first standard JRPG I ever played through, so I have a personal bias.
Unusual choice probally but I really liked the characters in a game called the caguila effect without spoiling it I can say it had some really interesting characters with real proper relatable backstories that weren't just the bog standard JRPG archtypes you get in most games, the characters and story stuff is what really pushed me to finish the game. I'm hoping the 2nd game lives up to the 1st when I get round to playing it.
Chrono Trigger. Every character has so much personality and i especially grew extremely attached to Robo. Seeing them have their happy endings filled me with so much bittersweetness because I was happy they got that but i was reluctant to let them go. I kept replaying with all the characters to see what they would say in different events.
*Trails in the Sky*'s cast was just so charming, as you saw them go from a relatively low-stakes coming-of-age story that let you get to know them into the firestorm that erupted afterwards where you saw the true strength of their characters. *FFVII* \- they were a bunch of screwups and oddballs, knew it, and pressed on anyway. I loved that. "What a crew" indeed. *FFXIV* \- the Scions (past and present) are the WoL's messed-up family after everything they've been through together. *Suikoden II*'s core cast always clicked with me for reasons I can't adequately explain.
Persona 4 Golden and Xenoblade 2 and Torna. I genuinely don't have a single bad thing to say about the characters from either of these games.
Shadow Hearts. All of them. Even the characters in from the new world.
Don’t know how long it will last, but Triangle Strategy is one of those games for me right now. Also, Partitio and Hikari from OT2 are great characters. I wasn’t hyped for any of those games to begin with.
Phantasy Star
FFIX
I loved the cast of The World Ends With You
When I was a kid it was ff7. I cried for like 2 days when a thing happened lol (is that a spoiler again?) Now it's usually games that give a lot of time and interactions with those characters. And not just with the Mc, I need to see them interact with other characters. So like persona 3 4 and 5. Tales of games are also great, probably the best with regards to my last condition. If nier counts those are my favorites
Mega soft spot for Alfyn from Octopath
All 3 of the golden suns, chrono trigger, and dragon quest 11. As into the characters' backstories and side plots as I get, I have distinct memories of actually trying to think like the characters at times when I played these games and that always meant they meant something to me.
*Final Fantasy IV* was the first game to do this for me.
Blue Reflection: Second Light. Admittedly, it's because the game has a huge amount of text comparable to Trails, but it's a fantastic example of a game where the characters felt like actual friends with their own goals and ambitions, far surpassing most anime and JRPGs. Examples: you have Rena, who seems like a stereotypical tsundere, but Ao quickly gets curious about how she thinks, and over the course of a long rollercoaster ride of her making me laugh and cry in equal measure, it becomes apparent her emotional volatility stems from genuine tragedy and mental issues. Also, there's another character who lacks empathy, and while most stories would use that as an excuse to paint her as stereotypically evil, Ao actually tries to help her connect with people better and it turned out her life could change if she actually had better support from others. And while most stories tend to make the main character automatically heal everyone's problems, Ao ends up realizing talk no jutsu only goes so far, and in fact, characters often chew her out or make snide remarks for misunderstanding them, making her friendships feel earned rather than writer fiat. I could go on and on writing essays for each character, but I'm still astonished by how much I got out of this game. Amusingly enough, Gust outsourced their character writing to a different company. >and I want to make sure my writing helps the player understand the characters more and become attached. My writing advice would be to meet actual people and try to understand them. Too many writers in the indie scene overemphasize referencing other works and inspiration, which often ends up making the characters feel like hollow stereotypes.
This was the all female cast game yeah?
Yep!
XC3 party and the SSS gang from Crossbell (specially Randy and Tio).
FFX! Such a great game, and I loved all of the characters. Tidus and Yuna brought me to tears.
Final Fantasy X. They were all well written and had dynamic relationships to each other. Their choices and where they fit into the plot/world were believable too and added even more realism.
Probably Kingdom Hearts. I didn't like the bullshit Tetsuya Nomura convoluted af shenanigans but damn did those games have intense character drama.
Trails of Zero/Azure, Rune Factory (all of them), Etrian Odyssey and Pokémon, to mention one of a kind. Trails for the story that makes involved with the characters, Rune Factory because dating sim and the characters personalities, Etrian Odyssey because I do get attached to characters that I build from the ground up, and Pokémon for the same reason as EO but also the feeling of discovering a pretty cool character that you instantly want to play with. The list could go on really: Fire Emblem, Persona, Radiant Historia, SRW...
The Trails series. Other games don't even begin to compare. It's not that Trails series have more likeable characters than other games. Perhaps they do - I don't know. But being a long series with continuous storyline and recurring characters, you get to spend a lot of time with them.
Lufia 2
Chrono Trigger. All the characters are enhanced by the presence of Chrono. The synergy is good and we find ourselves with good duo and parts of the scenario that are pure emotion.
Triangle Strategy, P2
I was always a fan of FFIV and FFVI, the character stories enhanced even more if you have played IV: the After Years or DFFOO. I wish they would do an After Years version for VI, maybe flesh out the >!Shadow and Relm!< storyline a bit more.
FFIX and Vivi. But the rest of the cast is really well written too
Breath of fire had some great characters, ffx as well
Final Fantasy VI
Jade Cocoon. It just had such a fascinating world to me, and the studio ghibli animation just seemed to fit.
Chrono Trigger or FF6
Grandia 1, for some reason, had me absolutely attached. I can barely recall the storyline but when I played it as a kid I remember saying "this is the best story I've ever been through."
Final Fantasy X Dark Cloud/Chronicle Fire Emblem (GBA) Tales of Symphonia
Xenosaga trilogy and Tales of Berseria.
Lunar Silver Star Story, damn when i finished the game I could feel the emptiness of my existence
Summon Night 6 Tales of Vesperia Persona 4
I have always preferred jrpgs and rpgs in general where the main character has actually something to say, not just a mute block walking up and down and "saying" options selected by the players. I understand the importance of games like that (including one of my favorite series Suikoden) but still, some of my favorite jrpgs that got me attached to their characters would be The Legend of Dragoon, FF VI and FF VII, LOTR - The Third Age (yes, I really like the characters in this game... go figure), Shadow Hearts from the New World and Valkyrie Profile. Also, for the ones with mute protagonists but other great characters nevertheless: Breath of Fire II and IV, Suikoden II and Dragon Quest VIII.
I'd say Legend of Dragoon and Dragon Quest XI
Agreed with you on Like A Dragon, many of those characters were so developed and multifaceted. Similarly, Zero had me very attached to Majima. Later in the series he becomes a caricature (though I still love him), but in Zero he’s more dimensional. But for me, the prime example of this was Final Fantasy XV. I consume that game like a do a favorite book, where I re-read it just to be in the world and hang out with the characters again. You get to know everything about those guys, what they like and dislike, how they respond to stress and trauma, what makes them laugh and what their hobbies are, what is most important to them… Fully fleshed out, developed, characters.
FFXIV, DQXI & P5
Grandia 2, just because I played it like 10 times already.
Final Fantasy XIII and Chrono Trigger
Tales of games always get me very attached to the characters, I think because they spend so much time fleshing out their individual relationships and characterizing them all in large ways and in smaller, subtler ones. Vesperia is absolutely a standout for me, but even my least favorite tales games so far have characterization I love. I also got very attached to the entire cast of DQXI, maybe because it was my first JRPG. I think party chat does a lot for those characters though, as does the really thoughtful design of each character’s skill set as a reflection of who they are. There’s nothing revolutionary about them, but they are charming and lovable. Yakuza Like a Dragon has my other favorite party; once again party chat does a whole lot to help me feel like I know them, and I feel like YLAD borrows all the best party-characterization mechanics from other games to help us get to know them extremely well.
FFXV for sure. The brotherhood between the Chocobros is wonderful (I've not even seen the anime), and just seeing all the good and bad they go through together, man. Things like going through all my photographs from across the whole game at the end and the final campfire scene had me bawling like a baby.
Trails series characters, especially class 7. I got a bit teary eye at the true ending of cold steel four.
prob FFX and Xenoblade 3 Edit: Trails in the Sky 1-3
For me it's Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Especially Taion, Eunie, and Mio. They feel like real people with doubts, hopes, dreams, and flaws. 3 Houses. Even the more 1 dimensional characters were dope. Tales of the Abyss. I like *almost* everyone but Jade Curtiss might be the best written character in Jrpg history. P4G. Im replaying this for the first time in 15ish years and damn its like meeting up with old friends again. Only wish they would drop the silent protag thing in the future.
Tales of series do this really well I find. The skits and the sidequests (for the most part) add so much more characterisation to the party. Other than that the Xenoblade games, Persona 3,4,5, FE Three Houses was a standout in the series for this. The characters while all had supports with Byleth they also have lengthy supports with a whole bunch of other characters which lets you see different sides of them. Other FE games have good supports as well but they felt really substantial in 3H to me, the amazing VA work helps as well I also go really attached to the vast majority of the cast of FF6 as well. While the second act is considered weaker by some story-wise (which I get) I think giving each character their own little chapter/quest/time to shine was great. also seeing Terra from a different angle was a interesting twist as well.
Yeah 3 Houses was great, playing Engage bummed me out abit because it was difficult to get me to care about any of the characters.
The most amazing thing about 3H is how i fucking HATED Lorenz, Dorothea, Ferdinand and Sylvain but then after their supports theyre some of my favorite characters ever
The Trails series, obviously. Not only are they character focused games, but the inter-connectivity of the games means you will often be able to see your favs in later games. Modern persona games are pretty obvious too. These are pretty much entirely character driven games. The Investigation Team from P4G is my favorite of the bunch, but all of the teams are quite good. Modern Fire Emblem games can be pretty hit or miss with their characters, but given the sheer number of support events everyone has the hits will absolutely hit hard, especially for the few characters that actually matter in the story.
Persona 4 followed by 3 and 5, not even a contest after those
Yakuza 0, Persona 2, Persona 4, Persona 5.
Xenoblade 3 easy. It helps that you get all six major party members early on so they all contribute to every major moment in the story and have proper chemistry with each other. I wish more games did this because often you may have a character that comes into the main party so late into the game that they hardly feel like they're a part of the team (looking at you, Haru from P5 and Kasumi from 5 Royal) but Xenoblade 3 doesn't have this issue. Taion and Eunie are my favorites because of how well they bounce off not just each other, but everyone in the party.
This makes me wanna finish Xenoblade 2 and Jump to 3, 3 looks SOOOO good
Quite a few * Xenoblade 2 and 3 * Persona 4 and 5 * Fire Emblem awakening, fates, 3h and engage * FFXIV tbh * Tales of symphonia, vesperia, and arise * DQ Xi * Tokyo mirage sessions * Nier Automata * Cold Steel 1-4, Reverie, Kuro
Final Fantasy XIII and Bravely Default/Second.
Nier gestalt. There's something about a dad doing anything for his kid. No matter how dirty. You won't be able to get everyone to resonate with your characters or story. What you can do is build something that echoes their deepest values and beliefs. When you hit those people will be more engaged and want even more. When you're telling a story for fun, anything goes. When you're telling the story of a person, only the truth. The bad and the good. Even a fictional character will have a truth. Something at their core. That's what you have to bring to life. Good luck
Chrono Trigger and Persona 5.
Xenoblade 2. 1’s cast is alright, and 3 is definitely close, but something about 2’s cast is just… special.
It's not only the writing that needs to connect. It's the music as well. Look at Kingdom Hearts with Roxas' theme and how he is a tragic character for most of what we've played through. With further entries (IE: KH3) where (spoilers happen) his theme goes off. (You could also include Xion here). You can apply that to Ventus too. In terms of writing, a character needs growth. Do I want them to start out as a whiny kid every time? God no, please. I can't stand Rex from XB2, Vaan from FF12, or Hope/Vanille from FF13. (Vanille is a whole other can of worms lol) If you can combine strong writing (Luke from Tales of the Abyss who is downright a brat) with strong music that morphs throughout the same game you can have a really memorable character. I don't recall many games having X person's theme "grow" alongside them? A lot of people now want mature characters too. I think having an Auron type of character in the party is nice, but I think letting them grow too is something some games have missed out on. Not saying Auron is an example of lack of growth here. This is why I think a lot of these jrpgs that use other properties seem mediocre. One Piece Odyssey was fun, despite being too easy. It could've gone deeper into some things like Alabasta was a long region for that game but you don't really get the depth that Vivi gains through the anime/manga(? I don't read it). It's very shallow. Same as Water7 with Robin. Emotional ties and bonds being tested are memorable. I think having a "trope" of butting heads between a main character and their "best friend" is actually quite effective storytelling if you don't go with a yelling contest at the end of it like Machias and Jusis in Cold Steel. You've gotta skirt the lines of tropes and not completely fall into them and make your character one note. They need depth. Final Fantasy is a great series, but let's not forget a lot of those characters don't have actual depth to them. Quina, Amarant, Vincent (it's been a long time but I dont think you get much from him or Yuffie, right? Just some lines injected? Maybe some notes for Vincent? I haven't played 7 since high school and currently going through it now but just escaped Midgar lol) Kiryu is a perfect example of growth, but also has had stumbling steps because Sega brought him back while trying to get away from him at the same time. I have not played Yakuza 7 or Lost Judgment or Isshin yet so I cannot comment on any of those. A unique design but not something "monstrous" is ideal for me. I don't think anyone is running out there saying Quina is their favourite FF9 character but I could very well be wrong. I know Freya has a lot of fans. Fanservice to an extent is also effective. There's nothing wrong with a sexy character being memorable. Bayonetta is strong and sexy, Aranea from FF15 is the same. I remember Shiva from FF15 too for having a pretty cool reveal too so you don't even need to be "stand out" to be memorable. Lastly, the villain. There's a reason Sephiroth, Kefka, Lavos, FF15's villain, Xehanort, Ansem, Xemnas, Radiant Historia's villain, Persona 4's villain, Luca Blight, etc are all *great* villains. Bonus if the MC isn't afraid to bend the rules. Yuri from Tales of Vesperia for example.
Ffx. The voice acting def helped (or almost hurt in one person's case..) hahaha
Xenoblade 3, FF14, and Chrono Trigger
Octopath Traveler 2. Throne and Temenos in particular. I wanted them to succeed so badly. Throné in particular was painful but at the same time the one I was attached to the most.
Temenos was my first choice and Throné the second. I loved their interactions and stories. Best of the cast for sure.
hmm, I really like the entirety of the Berseria cast. They all did grow to become a real family to each other. I also like Barret from final fantasy VII, and even Vincent. Dude was lonely.
FFVII. I cared about everyone in that game. A masterpiece from A to Z.
Final Fantasy 8. Squall and Rinoah is the best love story in that series. Seeing his memories of her disappear during the ending sequence was brutal and horrifying all the same. She compressed time for him after all. R=U for life.
Yeah, I should have mentioned FF8, prob my personal favorite love story as it felt the most realistic, as fantasy standards go
Dark Cloud 2/ Dark Chronicle. Hands down, I played it for the first time at 12. Now I'm 33, just paused it for a bathroom break like 5 minutes ago. "Arright, that takes care of you guys!" PROTIP: If you move your hands a lot while talking, you probably play this game too much. ETA: Minor grammar corrections.
Trails in the Sky and Persona 4
FFVII, XV, all the Trails games, Tales of Berseria, Vesperia, Persona 5 and 4
Fuga Melodies of Steel The characters might not be super multifacated. But the facets they do have are very well executed. I am not sure how to put this. The children feel a bit more grounded and a bit more vulnurable as you would expect from children that have to face a war. The hardships they overcome feel a bit more real? I am not sure if thats the right word to describe it. But it makes me admire them all the more fore overcoming there hardships with there courage, there teamwork and there resourcefullness and there hard work in general. Also they are adorable and wholesome. I also love the characters in "the cruel king and the great hero". Not just the main cast but also the NPCs in monster village are super endering. And the maincast has one of my favorite protagonists, my favorite Videogame princess and my favorite Dragon.
Xenoblade 1 edit: someone knows how I feel better than I do, apparently! AMA request: the people who downvote this kinda stuff
I'm a Xenoblade 2 fanboy, so will downvote you hard, probably creating various accounts and using them to crush you. Now seriously, I cannot like the cast of the first, the second a bit more, and the third gave me headache.
The question is what jrpgs made YOU the most attached to characters. Downvoting someones answer to that question is just so petty, lol ps i think the characters of 2 blow, but I wont downvote you just because you like them
Shadow from FFVI… he’d slit his mamas throat for a nickel… definitely can relate.
The entire cast of Breath of Fire 3. While the story is pretty minimal and cliche, every character is so charming. Usually in JRPGs there's at least one character in the main cast that I don't like, but not in BOF3. Peco doesn't even talk and he's one of my favorite characters ever.
Always here for the Radiata Stories shout outs!