5 JRPGs That Will Actually Make You Cry

JRPGs are a dime a dozen these days, but ones that will truly make you cry are a rare breed. Making any game emotional is pretty challenging, as it is with movies and novels, but JRPGs really need to pull out all the stops to get you to tear up. Fortunately, there have been several over the years that have proven more than capable of tugging on your heartstrings and wrenching a tear or two from even the most cold-hearted of players. These JRPGs live rent-free in our heads, their most emotional beats playing over and over any time we feel like getting a little sad.

Of course, those new to the genre, or those reeling off a particularly tear-jerkingly sad JRPG, may be looking for what else is out there. These games don’t just make you cry for the sake of it, but really earn their most heartbreaking moments. They build up a great cast of characters you care about, blast you with incredible soundtracks, and play anime episode-length cutscenes to get you truly engrossed. These are the very best JRPGs at making anyone cry and are undeniably worth playing to both embark on an emotional rollercoaster and just experience some true video game gold.

5. Yakuza: Like A Dragon

The Yakuza series has always been known for its over-the-top cinematics and emotionally charged narratives. However, none have come even remotely as close to making players tear up as the seventh game in the series, Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Featuring the same high-quality cutscenes as its predecessor, Like a Dragon really takes its JRPG roots seriously, pulling out all the stops in order to make its heartbreaking finale and every devastating moment before then punch as hard as possible.

Like a Dragon may just be the very best Yakuza game as a result, its narrative largely spared from the complexities of its predecessors due to it being a totally standalone experience. Sure, there are references here or there, but if you’re just looking for a staggeringly good turn-based JRPG with a whole host of emotional moments, then you can jump straight into Yakuza 7 without having played the previous 6.

4. NieR: Automata

One only needs to listen to NieR: Automata’s soundtrack (the Japanese version of Weight of the World specifically) in order to shed a tear or two. This is a highly emotional game from start to finish, one filled with as much sorrow as it is moments of genuine joy. There’s a coziness to be found in exploring its hauntingly beautiful environments, in beating each of its main endings, and in seeing the story of 2B and 9S to the very end. You’ll never quite experience a game like it or a story as beautifully complex.

Of course, I won’t spoil anything here, as that would surely ruin the key moments designed to make one cry. However, I will say that NieR: Automata is worth all the fuss of beating its numerous endings, the dozens of hours you’ll spend revisiting familiar locales under entirely different contexts, and the occasionally frustrating side quest or two. NieR: Automata is widely considered to be one of the greatest JRPGs of all time for a reason, and I highly recommend, if you have somehow missed it already, giving it a go. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.

3. Persona 3

I wish I were a bigger fan of Persona than I am, but with each entry, something has always held me back. Perhaps I have outgrown the high school setting; maybe its segmented approach to narrative is too irksome for my liking. Whatever the reason, Persona and I have never quite jived. Yet, every time I think about it, I remember my sibling talking excitedly about Persona 3, specifically, and its incredibly emotional ending. So, I put my differences with it aside and finally beat the pretty great Persona 3: Reload, and I have to say, they weren’t wrong.

Persona 3 is full of dark, mature, and depressing moments, ones that will make you think, cry, and feel a whole host of other emotions you never quite knew existed. What makes Persona 3 hit particularly hard, as with all of the games on this list, for that matter, is the way it balances heart and cheer with its grittier, more sombre moments. You’ll fall in love with its cast, for better and worse, and you’ll wish you could live in its dark world a little longer as the credits roll. Persona 3 may not be my favorite JRPG, but it is nevertheless immensely effective and getting me to tear up.

2. Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy is one of the greatest JRPG series ever created, and for very good reason. It is as a result of entries like FFX that it has endured so long and left behind such a beloved legacy of phenomenal games. Frankly, any Final Fantasy game could have made it onto this list (it nearly was all Final Fantasy games), but X really stuck with me as being a truly heartbreaking and tear-worthy experience. FFVII and FFIX will make you cry, for sure, but Final Fantasy X will make you weep.

Despite a lot of its flaws, Final Fantasy X remains an extremely enjoyable game today and one that is worth sitting through in order to experience the narrative at the heart of it. Tidus and co. have to be some of my favorite JRPG party members, straddling the line between humorous and deeply traumatized perfectly, and their adventure across its roughly 50-hour run time will get you talking about it for years to come. Sure, the Blitzball minigame is dreadful, but that’s a small price to pay to experience the beauty of Final Fantasy X’s story.

1. Xenoblade Chronicles 2

For the longest time, very little could make me cry. Sure, Matthew McConaughey bawling his eyes out in Interstellar got me, and as a child, E.T. had a profound effect on me, but beyond those and a handful of other experiences, I was pretty much tear-proof. Well, that was until Xenoblade Chronicles 2 opened the floodgates. This is easily the most emotional JRPG ever crafted, packed full of deeply sad, beautifully heartwarming, and phenomenally uplifting moments that will have you buy out your local supermarket’s tissue supply before you hit the end credits.

Everything in XBC2, from its incredible score (listen to Drifting Soul and tell me you didn’t cry), its gorgeous anime-inspired cutscenes, and genuinely amazing writing coalesce to deliver one of the best narratives in JRPG history and one that won’t just make you cry at the end, but will have you weeping throughout. It is all very much earned; Xenoblade Chronicles 2 doesn’t just throw a million character deaths at you and asks you to care. It sets up every emotional moment perfectly and delivers them with aplomb. If you only want to experience one truly emotional JRPG, then go for Monolith Soft’s masterpiece. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is my favorite JRPG for this particular reason, and I shan’t be forgetting its most emotional story beats any time soon.

Which JRPGs made you cry? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!

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