The Best JRPGs That Reinvented The Fantasy Genre

Summary

• Fantasy worlds can go beyond medieval settings, incorporating elements like sci-fi, space, and dreams into their narratives.
• Games like Final Fantasy 7, Phantasy Star, and Mother 3 challenge traditional fantasy norms with unique storylines and settings.
• Titles like Valkyria Chronicles, Eternal Sonata, Xenoblade Chronicles, and Kingdom Hearts offer diverse and imaginative fantasy worlds.

Fantasy can mean a lot of things, but the word often conjures up images of medieval-inspired dungeons, knights on horseback, and mages casting spells with wands in their hands. It can be so much more than that, however. After all, a fantasy world is basically whatever we imagine it to be as long as it is not directly based on the real world.

The games below are irrefutable proof of this. They are not bound by the preconceptions of fantasy, and as a result, players gain a new understanding of what is possible if they let their imagination run wild.

7 Final Fantasy 7

Fantasy Meets Cyberpunk

Final Fantasy 7 was not the first entry in the series to dive into a more sci-fi direction. Final Fantasy 6 also had more of a steampunk aesthetic than the prior titles. However, Final Fantasy 7‘s fantasy world has dirt and grit. The first portion of the story takes place in the Midgar slums located literally underneath the richer parts of the city.

The story deals with corporate greed that is literally draining the planet of its life. It retains this theme throughout the game but introduces more fantastic ideas such as an ancient alien race, a piece of magic capable of wiping out all life, human experimentation, and giant monsters capable of destroying entire cities.

6 Phantasy Star

8-Bit RPG Goes To The Stars

• Release Date: December 20, 1987
• Developer: Sega
• Publisher: Sega
• Platforms: Master System, Sega Saturn, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Switch

In the 1980s JRPGs were still definitively sword and sorcery-type games. This is what made Phantasy Star so unique when it launched. The game is set in the cosmos, with the action split between three separate planets.

While it is set among the stars, the aesthetic does not veer too deeply into hard science fiction like 2001: A Space Odyssey or Star Trek. It is more in line with Star Wars, with the designs still feeling distinctly based in fantasy while still set in the future.

5 Mother 3

Weird Even By The Series’s Standard

People might have heard the name Mother 3 a lot over the years due to its odd development history, but few have actually played and explored this strange JRPG. The game takes place on the enigmatic Nowhere Islands. Though it is set in the same continuity as the prior two games, these islands feel outside of any era, unlike the distinct small-town American setting of Mother 2 (or Earthbound, as it is known in North America).

Outside of the the esoteric setting, much of the story is also extremely dark, dealing with themes most games still did not touch even in 2006 when the game came out after years of development struggles.

4 Valkyria Chronicles

A Fantasy Setting Inspired By Mid-20th Century Europe

Valkyria Chronicles is not quite steampunk since the time period is a little too modern for that distinction. This turn-based strategy game is set in a fictional continent heavily based on Europe.

The war the game’s characters find themselves in is loosely based on World War 2 but with some major differences. The inspirations make for a wholly unique setting. Characters use rifles and tanks and many of the towns resemble small European villages of the mid-20th century instead of the 15th.

3 Eternal Sonata

The Dying Dream Of A Legendary Composer

Revealing everything to be a dream is a plot twist bound to make millions of eyes roll. Eternal Sonata rips the rug out from under players by revealing the game world to be a dream in the first cutscene. The game is the dying dream of famous romantic-era composer Frederic Chopin.

As a result, the setting is filled with allusions to music. Eternal Sonata is not the first story to take place in a dream world that is heavily influenced by the dreamer’s real-world companions and life.

The Wizard of Oz is over a hundred years old, after all. However, it earns a place on this list because it retains the distinct JRPG aesthetic while telling a story about a Polish composer in the early 19th century.

2 Xenoblade Chronicles

A Hidden Twist That Connects The Whole Series

The Xenoblade Chronicles continuity sounds confusing to explain but it is exactly as bizarre as it sounds. Without diving too deep into spoilers, the three numbered games are both directly connected and entirely separate. The first game takes place on a planet where the only landmass is two giant titans in the middle of an endless ocean.

The end of the game presents a stunning revelation about the origin of the game’s world that is followed up on in the next two games. Where many fantasy settings have stories about their world’s creation, Xenoblade Chronicles’s lore dives deeper into existential themes instead of feeling like padding.

1 Kingdom Hearts

A Crossover Too Weird Not To Work

Rewind the clock 25 years and you’re likely to find a lot of people skeptical about the idea of a Final Fantasy and Disney crossover. Kingdom Hearts destroyed all doubts when it came out and became one of the most beloved action RPGs of the generation.

Players control Sora, a now iconic character, as he goes to various worlds that just so happen to be various Disney properties while accompanied by Donald Duck and Goofy.

The crossover feels so much more than a simple cash-in or event that gamers are so accustomed to now thanks to live-service games like Fortnite. Kingdom Hearts uses the various settings to tell a unique story that, while often convoluted, always has heart.