Some of the best JRPGs ever made have baffling, ridiculous stories. Sometimes, this is by design. For others, it’s just another facet of what made classic games great.
We’re pretty big fans of JRPGs around here, so we decided to make a list of time-honored greats from the past and present that are just a little silly. It’s a part of their charm, though.
Japanese role-playing games are often seen as ultra-serious games where the narrative is the whole point of the experience. This is fair, but even in the most tragic situation, something ludicrous can wait in the wings.
The JRPGs on this list have some pretty ridiculous stories and plot points, but they’re by no means bad games.
Disclaimer: This article features major spoilers for the stories of the below JRPGs.
JRPGs with absolutely ridiculous stories
1) EarthBound
EarthBound/Mother 2 has a very serious story. There are unsettling cults, a psychic power from beyond the stars coming to corrupt the world, but it’s told from the eyes of a child. Child protagonists aren’t a shocker when it comes to Japanese stories – whether anime or JRPGs. It’s a trope that is perhaps a bit overused.
What makes this one of the most ridiculous stories for a JRPG? Ness and his friends travel the world as 10-12-year olds, armed with bats, frying pans, and the occasional laser gun – oh, and psionic powers.
They come together to be the children of prophecy and save the world, which is great. It’s told in such a ridiculous, comedic way, that you almost forget about the kidnapping and stories of childhood neglect that go beneath the surface. They also ultimately beat up a Space Fetus, which is also pretty godlike in its presentation.
2) Eternal Sonata
Eternal Sonata is the best JRPG to come out for the Xbox 360, and that’s just a fact, but it’s still one of the most ridiculous stories we’ve ever seen. Like EarthBound, it has a gorgeous, brilliant color palette. Very bright and cheerful. However, the main character, Chopin, in reality, is on his deathbed. The entire game is his fever dream.
That’s why all the major characters are musical references in some way or another. That also may be why the game uses a darkness/light mechanic in combat, to give players lots of options for attacks.
The ending is incredibly tragic – once you know what’s going on, you know how it’s all going to end. It’s a beautiful, sad story, but let’s be honest: it’s more than just a little ridiculous.
3) Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4
Persona is such a great series, and while the games all focus on very serious topics, there’s an underlying silly nature to all of these JRPGs. In this case, a group of teens that have the power to summon demons, angels, and all other manner of weirdness foil a dimension-hopping serial killer, who also happens to be a cop.
Let’s be serious, though, Persona 4 deals with some incredibly heavy issues, and murder’s only one facet of it. The way it’s told is incredibly serious, which is impressive considering a group of high schoolers with magical powers get caught up in such a horrifying case. We weren’t sure which Persona game to include though – they’re all more than a little weird.
The game’s tone is wild, ranging from exploring someone’s sexuality to a man stuffing corpses in an alternate dimension. It’s basically a really long episode of Scooby-Doo.
4) Robotrek
Robotrek is one of the most ridiculous, but fun JRPGs you will ever play. In this case, it’s supposed to be silly. The Japanese title of the game was “Slapstick”, and it has an incredibly over-the-top story. On the main planet, it takes place on (Quintenix), a group known as The Hackers start taking things over.
The main character, a young inventor, has to figure out why his dad (Dr. Akihabara) is wanted by The Hackers – it’s certainly for nothing good.
It’s a story of time travel, turning into a mouse, and sneaking around, and throwing Pokeballs that contain customized robots.
Players even travel through space to get to Planet Choco, to stop Gateau and his Space Fortress. It’s a charming, often overlooked JRPG, but it’s definitely not a serious game by any metric.
5) Bloodborne
Bloodborne – the game almost everyone wants to be ported to the PS5/PC – is one of the most grimdark Soulslike games we can think of. It’s beautiful, challenging, and tells an interesting story on the nature of futility.
The main character, the Hunter, has a horrifying disease that is apparently dangerous enough to send them to Yharnam. It’s said the magic blood of this place could possibly cure him. The next thing we know, the Hunter travels what looks like a Victorian England wasteland, defeating all manners of horrors, with an ultimate goal of fighting the Old Ones themselves if need be.
The Beast Blood needs to be transfused out of the protagonist’s body, but there’s a lot of murder that has to happen first. The more you dive into Bloodborne’s lore, the more wild and dark it gets, but that overall plot point really is over-the-top.
One of the things that makes JRPGs such an enjoyable subgenre of role-playing games is how much range they have. Even the most cheerful presentation can hide something dark and thought-provoking. No matter how serious a game’s plot is, it can also be quite ridiculous, offering gamers everywhere a rollercoaster of emotions over the course of a game’s run time.
