Mature JRPG's?

[Flying-Emu]

Tales of Symphonia. It's pretty good and seems to not be bogged down with childish humor or actions

What about everyone's favorite in-the-closet pervert, Zelos?

 

[AtticusSP]

Xenosaga would work, but the second game is a huge bite in the ass.
It ruined the series, it's just so bad.
First game is amazing.

The only Final Fantasy that might work is 6, the rest of them, not so much.
No Tales of game. I like the series, but it's the last thing from mature.
The Shin Megami Tensei games, minus Persona 3 and 4, also fit. Persona 3 and 4 are great, but any game with a character like Teddy isn't mature.
Terranigma(SNES) is a bit more complicated than most JRPGs for its time, could fit.

 

[RollForInitiative]

Thanks for the warning about Xenosaga. I've looked at some of the cutscenes from both games, and they seemed quite different, yet xenosaga seemed to get pretty high scores which confused me.

The Xenosaga trilogy is an interesting beast. The story degraded over the course of the three titles while the overall gameplay got better. So the first had the best story, the third had the best gameplay, and the second was just "meh" on everything.

Hrm... Parasite Eve?

Seconding Parasite Eve; it's an old one but it's not often you see a dark, modern day JRPG like that. The dialogue is a bit dated now - I was replaying it recently - but it still manages to hold up fairly well overall.

 

[Blood_Lined]

Simply put, Star Ocean. The Star Ocean series is also great for it's science fiction theme.

 

[Chaosut]

Thanks for the warning about Xenosaga. I've looked at some of the cutscenes from both games, and they seemed quite different, yet xenosaga seemed to get pretty high scores which confused me.

The Xenosaga trilogy is an interesting beast. The story degraded over the course of the three titles while the overall gameplay got better. So the first had the best story, the third had the best gameplay, and the second was just "meh" on everything.

Hrm... Parasite Eve?

Seconding Parasite Eve; it's an old one but it's not often you see a dark, modern day JRPG like that. The dialogue is a bit dated now - I was replaying it recently - but it still manages to hold up fairly well overall.

Hmmm, so maybe i should check out Episode 1. Parasite Eve is definately one i should get round to playing too .

Simply put, Star Ocean. The Star Ocean series is also great for it's science fiction theme.

Cool, i've never had any experience with the Star ocean series yet, but it looks like a good sci-fi. Is there any particular one in the series you'd recommend?

 

[NeutralDrow]

People have already mentioned FF6 and Symphonia, so I'll add my recommendation for Baten Kaitos Origins. The game itself is really fun, the voice acting is superb, and since it's a prequel, it naturally deals with the lead-up to the world of the first game, and shows what might happen when Good uses Evil to fight more evil...to put it in simplistic terms. The first game is no slouch in the department, either.

Honestly, almost all of the JRPGs I've played have had mature storytelling aspects...so much that I can't really think of any exceptions post-PSX era, and very few beforehand.

Final Fantasy VI is very mature and dark, with an emotionally captivating story and great characters.

Yes. Best FF ever.

Anyways, Tales of Symphonia is fairly easy to find, and while it has its humorous moments, the overarching story (once you get past the first ten hours or so) can get rather... dark.

Genocide, farming humans like cattle, and the destruction of many to save the one you love. Mature enough yet?

Not to mention the very entrenched themes of multi-sided racial prejudice, abandonment, and deep psychological trauma.

 

[Flying-Emu]

People have already mentioned FF6 and Symphonia, so I'll add my recommendation for Baten Kaitos Origins. The game itself is really fun, the voice acting is superb, and since it's a prequel, it naturally deals with the lead-up to the world of the first game, and shows what might happen when Good uses Evil to fight more evil...to put it in simplistic terms. The first game is no slouch in the department, either.

Honestly, almost all of the JRPGs I've played have had mature storytelling aspects...so much that I can't really think of any exceptions post-PSX era, and very few beforehand.

Final Fantasy VI is very mature and dark, with an emotionally captivating story and great characters.

Yes. Best FF ever.

Anyways, Tales of Symphonia is fairly easy to find, and while it has its humorous moments, the overarching story (once you get past the first ten hours or so) can get rather... dark.

Genocide, farming humans like cattle, and the destruction of many to save the one you love. Mature enough yet?

Not to mention the very entrenched themes of multi-sided racial prejudice, abandonment, and deep psychological trauma.

Goddammit, now I have to go back through the game with the Minimum Experience and Minimum HP Ex traits on.

Thanks. Also, the game is far better when you do the friendship choice to get Kratos back.

 

[NeutralDrow]

People have already mentioned FF6 and Symphonia, so I'll add my recommendation for Baten Kaitos Origins. The game itself is really fun, the voice acting is superb, and since it's a prequel, it naturally deals with the lead-up to the world of the first game, and shows what might happen when Good uses Evil to fight more evil...to put it in simplistic terms. The first game is no slouch in the department, either.

Honestly, almost all of the JRPGs I've played have had mature storytelling aspects...so much that I can't really think of any exceptions post-PSX era, and very few beforehand.

Final Fantasy VI is very mature and dark, with an emotionally captivating story and great characters.

Yes. Best FF ever.

Anyways, Tales of Symphonia is fairly easy to find, and while it has its humorous moments, the overarching story (once you get past the first ten hours or so) can get rather... dark.

Genocide, farming humans like cattle, and the destruction of many to save the one you love. Mature enough yet?

Not to mention the very entrenched themes of multi-sided racial prejudice, abandonment, and deep psychological trauma.

Goddammit, now I have to go back through the game with the Minimum Experience and Minimum HP Ex traits on.

Thanks. Also, the game is far better when you do the friendship choice to get Kratos back.

I'm sorry. I like Zelos too much to do that just yet. I still have Raine, Presea, and Zelos to get through before then, I think.

 

[Flying-Emu]

I'm sorry. I like Zelos too much to do that just yet. I still have Raine, Presea, and Zelos to get through before then, I think.

Presea and Regal's were absolutely lame. Sheena's was my absolute favorite, but that might just be because I like my women... fiery.

 

[coldfrog]

Hmmm...I find the moral overtones in Disgaea to be very mature, but then I'm completely biased in favor of the game.

I will concur with this, it has a very silly outlook with some mature concepts underneath, and a great and addicting game to boot.

Then again, what he said as well.

 

[dstryfe]

Where Xenosaga went wrong imo is that the games themselves are very linear.

My chief complaint with the game. At least it's still long-ish, if very...deus-ex machina.

The combat is completely different than the awesomeness that Xenogears introduced. Also the story just cannot compete with what the original was doing.

Note that even within the trilogy itself, Xenosaga can't make up it's mind about combat. The first two parts have very different mechanics, and the third is a mix of assorted bits from the first two with a bit of new stuff. The story is kinda the same, with plot points seeming to stab each other in the back, leaving the third installment to try sewing them back up before the ending.

Kos-Mos was badass though I must say.

Spoiler: She was.

Then she got her ass handed to her by T-elos, who became the new epitomy of cool. With a better outfit.

Sorry for the long post.

 

[Woe Is You]

Simply put, Star Ocean. The Star Ocean series is also great for it's science fiction theme.

Wait what? I fail to how Star Ocean is a "mature" RPG series. It's basically the epitome of pastel-coloured teen fluff.

 

[Grampy_bone]

Unfortunately there is nothing quite like Xenogears, not even Xenosaga. Xenosaga is a pale imitation. It's Xenogears hotter but dumber younger sister.

Another Mature RPG With Adult Themes would be Final Fantasy Tactics. Full of machiavellian politics, a corrupt church, and demonic sacrificing. Plus it has the job system! There is also Vagrant Story (aka "Medieval Gear Solid") and Final Fantasy 12 by the same guy, with similarly adult themed storylines (though I don't really recommend FF12 in any case, despite the story).

I agree that Star Ocean is not mature in any sense; it's pure shonen.

If you liked Persona you may enjoy Digital Devil Saga; games where you turn into a demon and get stronger by devouring your enemies.

Valkyrie Profile is pretty serious, considering every character that joins your party does so after a vignette depicting their death. Plus it has Guts-ripoff Arnigrim! (if you don't know who Guts is stop reading this and go watch Berserk right now) The story is rather dry at parts though and the gameplay has its own learning curve.

The Shadow Hearts games deal with decidedly adult themes but they do so in a satirical manner, with a considerable helping of zaniness. One of your party members though is a gay vampire pro wrestler; how can you NOT play that?

 

[Remleiz]

Panzer dragoon saga and grandia 2 i found quite mature for jrpgs

 

[Chaosut]

Unfortunately there is nothing quite like Xenogears, not even Xenosaga. Xenosaga is a pale imitation. It's Xenogears hotter but dumber younger sister.

Another Mature RPG With Adult Themes would be Final Fantasy Tactics. Full of machiavellian politics, a corrupt church, and demonic sacrificing. Plus it has the job system! There is also Vagrant Story (aka "Medieval Gear Solid") and Final Fantasy 12 by the same guy, with similarly adult themed storylines (though I don't really recommend FF12 in any case, despite the story).

I agree that Star Ocean is not mature in any sense; it's pure shonen.

If you liked Persona you may enjoy Digital Devil Saga; games where you turn into a demon and get stronger by devouring your enemies.

Valkyrie Profile is pretty serious, considering every character that joins your party does so after a vignette depicting their death. Plus it has Guts-ripoff Arnigrim! (if you don't know who Guts is stop reading this and go watch Berserk right now) The story is rather dry at parts though and the gameplay has its own learning curve.

The Shadow Hearts games deal with decidedly adult themes but they do so in a satirical manner, with a considerable helping of zaniness. One of your party members though is a gay vampire pro wrestler; how can you NOT play that?

I really got to get round to playing Xenogears, but can't really find it on ebay for a decent price. So I may have to resort to emulators. I also am trying to get my hands on Shadow Hearts: Covenant, which looks like a ineteresting mix of maturity and zaniness.

 

[Biek]

Sorry but when I read "mature jrpgs" I thought this thread was about hentai flash games.

Im not sure if the ones I played fit the bill of mature. But im sure at least some FF's will sooth your fancy. And ill always recommend Suikoden.

If your looking for a Japanese Witcher in terms of maturity. I cant help you...

Unless you want me to recommend hentai flash games.

*flees*

 

[Gladion]

The only Final Fantasy game I can really recommend is FF 12, due to the gameplay which is pretty addictive. I didn't like FF7's characters at all so I had to stop playing somewhere in the middle of disc 2...

Now, why the fuck is it that noone has yet mentioned fucking Shadow Hearts?! It's probably the darkest JRPG (yet funniest) of all, being set before (respectively during in Shadow Hearts 2) World War I. Yet they still feature magic and ancient gods and stuff. I'd say, Shadow Hearts 2 is pretty much the best RPG I've ever played, but Square fans will probably disagree.
On the other hand, I've heard Digital Devil Saga 1&2 are pretty mature as well, if you like your games more sci-fi, don't know about their qualities, though.

Let me repeat myself: Shadow Hearts, ffs.

 

[lordsandro]

I've already played Shin Megami Tensei Persona 3 & 4 and thought they were excellent. I've also heard that great stuff about Xenogears, but i haven't got round to playing it yet. So i just wanted to see if people wanted to share their thoughts on the matter & if they had any recommendations for me. Also could someone tell me if Xenosaga is anything like Xenogears? Thanks

Try Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga and Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 both spin off from Shin Megami Tensei series. The settings are dark, the heroes mature (well most of them) and the story ends with the secound game, so no stupid cliff hangers. The story begins when the main hero and his tribe(more of a band if you ask me) plus their enemies reseave the power to turn into powerful creatures, the downfall - the hunger for flesh. The story then comes around a mysterios girl with the power to calm their hunger. Be warned, the first game ends on a cliff hanger so you better have both before starting to play.

Plus the games the guy before me mentioned. They are more funny than mature, but I have sick sense of humor.
So do the Shadow Hearts series.

 

[yeah_so_no]

I haven't played it because I don't have a 360, but I've heard good things about the story of Lost Odyssey. I really want to play the English version just because of the translator: they got Jay Rubin, a Harvard professor who is famous for translating Haruki Murakami's works, to translate the memory sequence/backstory parts of it, and he agreed to do it only after he read the story.

Also, there's Persona 4, which has a lot more mature themes behind it, especially since the characters' "personas" are the hidden aspects of themselves they don't want to face.

And there's something oddly surreal about Eternal Sonata, mainly because you're playing a dying man's "dream," and as you get more details about Chopin's life as you play the game, the things in the 'dream' start to take on more significance and symbolism.

 

[D_987]

Adult themes abound in Lost Odyssey. That is a JRPG made for adults. Also Tales of Vesperia is pretty grim. The main character, Yuri Lowell has some serious issues. Murdering and assassinating people on a whim.

This. Even though I'm yet to play Tales of Vesperia; just 3 more days =D

I also think The Last Remnant has a deeper, more mature story than it appears at a glance (if you can get past Rush Syke's personality, it gives the big message : War is bad.

My top 2 recommendation's would have to be:

Lost Odyssey
Final Fantasy IV