Summary
- JRPG endings often involve emotional sacrifices and bittersweet farewells.
- Characters in JRPGs face overwhelming odds and make heartbreaking decisions for the greater good.
- Many JRPG endings leave players feeling both empty and full, evoking a rollercoaster of emotions.
JRPGs are the premier video game genre for long-form storytelling, and are heavily influenced by anime. They’re charged with emotion and hammer home themes of love, loyalty and fighting against fate. Not every journey can end happily ever after, however. To win against overwhelming odds, JRPG protagonists often make crushing sacrifices.
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After you’ve spent dozens – and sometimes hundreds – of hours finishing the story, it can be hard to come to terms with these goodbyes, particularly when you know one thing for certain: things will never be the same again. Here are some JRPG endings that are certain to make your heart ache.
8
Tales Of The Abyss
“Why Are You Here?” “I Promised Someone.”
Tales of the Abyss
- Franchise
-
Tales
- Released
-
October 10, 2006
- Developer(s)
-
Namco Tales Studio
- Publisher(s)
-
Namco Bandai
- Engine
-
Unreal Engine 4
The endgame of Tales of the Abyss can drive you to tears more than once, from Luke shortening his lifespan to his climactic battle with his true self Asch – Luke is just a replica. Asch, whose every happiness in life has been stolen, sacrifices himself so Luke’s party can face the final boss Van.
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Afterwards, Luke stays behind as the tower collapses, to free the deity Van had fused himself with and prevent humanity from suffering. Two years later, his friends are waiting for him in the same valley where they first met. Someone appears, but is it Luke? Asch? Or both?
7
Fire Emblem: Awakening
The Good Ending Demands A Sacrifice
Fire Emblem: Awakening
- Released
-
February 4, 2013
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
- Engine
-
Unity
Fire Emblem: Awakening revitalized a stale series and brought in a new generation of fans with its Casual mode, character creation and focus on relationship building. However, to get its good ending, you have to make a sacrifice. The only way for the final boss Grima to die is if you strike the final blow, which kills your character in the process.
Your partner Chrom and his band of warriors refuse to believe you’re dead and vow to look for you. A post-credits scene shows you waking up in a field similar to the one where you first met Chrom, but is it real or a wishful dream? It’s up to you to decide.
6
Chrono Cross
“Until We Meet Again, Take Care Of Yourself, My Friend.”
- Released
-
August 15, 2000
- Developer(s)
-
Square
- Publisher(s)
-
Square
, Square Enix
A game that’s become infamously divisive among Chrono Trigger fans, Chrono Cross is packed with emotion from beginning to end. Its ending is forlorn: happy-sad, as Sing Street would call it. True, Serge manages to merge the split dimensions and return home, but he and Kid are separated.
The game ends where the opening began, with Schala ‘Kid’ Zeal recording her thoughts in her diary and pledging to search for Serge, even if it takes forever. The epilogue shows footage of Kid in the real world, implying that somewhere out there, your own Kid is looking for you.
5
Stella Glow
Redemption Song
Like all but a few JRPGs, Stella Glow ends with you fighting God to decide the world’s fate. God is Eve, a destructive force summoned by witches singing when the world is overpopulated. Every few thousand years, she crashes the moon into the Earth, triggering the Eclipse in which most of humanity dies. If you make the right choice, you can bring Eve around and convince her to let humanity be.
However, despite her wish to come to Earth with you, Eve can’t undo the Eclipse. She opts to stay on the moon, forever singing a song that will keep it from crashing into the Earth. While your party return home as heroes and live normal lives, Eve will stay on the moon, singing without a moment’s rest for eternity.
4
Valkyria Chronicles 3: Unrecorded Chronicles
Nameless Again
The first two Valkyria Chronicles titles end with the protagonists becoming celebrated heroes. No such luck for the main characters in the third entry, whose names are destined to be lost to history. In the final chapter, they avert a nuclear threat between their homeland of Gallia and the Empire.
To keep the fragile ceasefire between the two countries, Squad 422 ask their commanding officer to list them as killed-in-action and enter Imperial territory to face their foe, Dahau.
Despite their victory, Squad 422 can never go back to Gallia. Their actions saved the world, but no one will ever know. It’s heartbreaking, but the epilogue does show them living happy lives in an unknown country.
3
Persona 3 Reload
“I’m Right By Your Side, Here To Protect You Forevermore.”
There are no fewer than four different versions of this ending. Persona 3 Reload, the latest and definitive edition of the game, carries on tradition by leaving your heart feeling empty and full all at once. After defeating Nyx, all of the main characters lose their memories of the past year, except for Minato and Aigis.
As his soul slips away to seal Nyx for good, Minato feels increasingly tired. Aigis sits by him on the school rooftop, reassuring him that it’s okay to rest. All at once, his friends recover their memories and rush to meet him, but it’s too late.
2
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
A Mother’s Love
Shadow Hearts: Covenant
- Franchise
-
Shadow Hearts
- Released
-
September 27, 2004
- Developer(s)
-
Nautilus
- Publisher(s)
-
Aruze
, Midway Games
The first game in this woefully underappreciated series had a fairly sad ending in itself. Shadow Hearts: Covenant manages to one-up it on that, with Karin’s poignant character arc. Despite Karin’s love for Yuri, she is unable to replace Alice, his love interest in the original.
In a mind-bending ending, Karin is sent back in time and meets Yuri’s father. They get married, and have a son: Yuri. Despite Karin knowing her life would be cut short – she knew Yuri’s tragic backstory – she decided to give him the greatest love of all: a mother’s.
1
Final Fantasy 15
The Last In Line
Far from its public image as a lighthearted adventure with Noctis and his guy pals (or a glorified Cup Noodle ad), Final Fantasy 15 is an emotional journey with one of the most tear-jerking endings in the series.
Though Noctis starts his story as little more than a pampered prince, he ends it as a true hero who saved the world. After leaving his friends behind one last time, Noctis confronts his archrival Ardyn and lays him to rest. He then ascends the throne, willingly sacrificing himself to fulfill his prophecy as the True King of Eos.
A campfire epilogue, which shows Noctis telling his friends goodbye, only rubs salt into the wound. Then the game’s logo on the title screen is finally completed, showing him resting with his bride in the afterlife. This ending is an emotional rollercoaster.
