The best JRPGs that break traditional genre conventions

Key insights

• Star Ocean The Second Story R defies fantasy conventions with a sci-fi twist and offers 99 endings.
• Radiant Historia breaks JRPG linearity with divergent timelines in Perfect Chronology.
• Triangle Strategy presents a political narrative with deep moral choices and human characters.

JRPGs have set the standard for video game narrative and mechanics for years. These titles' deep lore, strong character work, and unique gameplay loops have made JRPGs one of the top genres for gamers around the world, but with such a strong library of titles, it's only natural for certain conventions and tropes to emerge.

So how does a JRPG break convention? Which rules should be followed and which should be broken? Should a story change the classic high fantasy setting, or should the turn-based combat that defined the genre in the '80s and '90s get a makeover? These games in particular have broken away from traditional JRPG conventions to great effect.

5 Star Ocean The Second Story R

Defies fantasy conventions with sci-fi flare

One of the many Square Enix games that breaks away from pure fantasy and throws in a healthy dose of science fiction. Star Ocean The Second Story R is a great turn-based game that players shouldn't miss, especially if they love influencing the narrative through their decisions. Choosing one of the two protagonists to guide them through the narrative sets players on the path to one of 99 endings from the start, which is also influenced by how they interact with the variety of companions available to them.

This game manages to enjoy all the things fans love about the classic high fantasy setting while defying many aesthetic tropes. The presence of high-tech, futuristic technology characterizes the setting Second story R as a single planet in an epic of galactic proportions. It's a great way to show how important the setting of a setting is to where it stands in the genre.

4 Radiant history

Eliminates JRPG linearity in a fascinating way

Many JRPGs are known for their strong but linear narratives. This is already a convention that has been broken by some titles, but typically, especially in older games, in the world of many JRPGs a player's freedom of choice is limited to things like party composition and perhaps which side quests to take on , rather than influencing the outcome of the story.

Radiant historyespecially those Perfect chronology Remaster on the 3DS is a perfect example of a game that defies linear narrative in an interesting way. Stocke must use the White Chronicle to explore two different timelines that are separate from his own decisions, jumping between the two to find answers to problems only found in one timeline, and saving both timelines in the process.

3 Triangle strategy

An epic political story with no major villains

Not Square Enix's most famous title, but certainly an underrated success with an incredible morality mechanic. Triangle strategy features an incredibly branching storyline that takes players across the entire continent of Norzelia. In a genre that is frankly full of evil wizards and tyrannical dark knights with comically oversized horns on their helmets, Triangle strategy breaks away from this with a surprising level of political realism and real human characters while still offering players a A twisty, brutal tale to enjoy.

Balancing the three core beliefs and having the story driven by both the companions and the player is already a sufficiently innovative departure from the JRPG form, but on top of that is added an incredibly compelling narrative that shows how Characters changing, growing, and even recognizing when something happens is too challenging or not worth the risk to engage in.

2 Resonance of fate

An incredible combat system and a novel setting

Resonance of fate Considered one of the most popular JRPGs of all time, it is praised for its stunning combat system that breaks JRPG norms in several ways. This “Tri-Attack Battle System” allows players to move freely during their battle turn, limited by their action points. You can then attack an opponent from advantageous angles while simultaneously performing an attack not just once, but multiple times.

The setting for this game combines a dark future dystopia with an iconic steampunk style, making it an incredibly novel aesthetic and one of the best post-apocalyptic JRPGs gamers can get their hands on today.

1 Shin Megami Tensei 5: Revenge

Combat is only one option in SMT

Shin Megami Tenseione of Atlus' flagship series, has continually broken down the boundaries of what JRPG combat should be, but Shin Megami Tensei 5: Revenge is mentioned here as an incredibly polished title worthy of bringing the legacy of this series to the Switch. Complicated stories aren't necessarily groundbreaking in this genre, but SMTThe discussion of law and chaos versus good and evil is always a wonderful subversion of the more binary narratives that JRPGs can have.

In almost all combat encounters that aren't boss fights, you can talk to demons instead of fighting them SMT. In RevengePlayers will want to talk to demons to win them over to their party through kind words, bribes, or intimidation. However, you can also blackmail them for items, drive them out of battle, or trade them for their essence, depending on what additional abilities they have acquired.