Old school style JRPG. By old school I mean the classic sincere heart felt deep story games as opposed to Saturday morning cartoon inspired JPop filler that's more prevalent today.
The heart breaking traumatizing stories, the sweeping orchestrated soundtracks, the endearing characters that become your family, the breathtaking hand drawn art. So much tragedy and drama. Shakespearean tales of friendship, betrayal, love, hate, good vs evil, inner conflict, and sacrifice. The emotionally charged dialogue choreographed with perfect delivery alongside the slowed camera pans and zooms and symphony and choir crescendos and slow string instruments. The plot twists that take everything you think you know about the world and smash it into a million shards with revelations you never saw coming. The endless horizon of the world map as you soar through the skies on a dragon or airship in search of another hidden world while losing yourself in the clashing symbols of inner resolve enforcing adventure inspiring theme music. And of course the exploring and constant upgrading of gear at every new town and dungeon on your path to becoming a level 99 god with best in slot gear and ultimate weapons. And you CAN BE OVERPOWRED if you want because its single player offline and it will never be patched or nerfed on a daily basis.
No other genre can shake your soul and leave you emotionally empty and yearning for something you can never change for months after completion. My soul still shows the scars of the multiple revelations of Xenogears many years later.
Take Ni no Kuni. A LOT of love went into that game, a true gem in the modern investor infected Call of Duty/Madden/Halo/Gears era that only care about record profit quarter after quarter. The production value of the OST of a game like Ni no Kuni or Xenoblade Chronicles alone has more weight and value than any entire COD title.
I was there for the 16/32 bit era when JRPGs were #1 before gaming went mainstream, dude bro competitive online, and overly monetized by bloated conglomerate greedy Hollywood action budget AAA fucks like EA and Activision who won't look twice at any IP or genre that won't sell 100 trillion copies to the simpleton masses in 3 seconds.
Final Fantasy. Lunar. Lufia. Wild Arms. Breath of Fire. Dragon Warrior. Secret of Mana. Chrono Trigger. Illusion of Gaia. Xenogears. Xenosaga. Grandia. Tales of *. Phantasy Star. Radiant Historia. Earthbound. Albert Odyssey. Suikoden. Kingdom Hearts. Ni no Kuni. Star Ocean
I'll never let go.
"No effect. They have turned to stone of their own will"
"It was the hull of colossal spacecraft... estimated to be at least 10,000 years old"
"Fiiiiiiioooooooooorrrrrraaaaaaaaa!"
"H..how?! The power of a god cannot be overcome!"
"Shion...set my.....sisters free"
There are so many lines I can recall from so many games that cause numb chills and goosebumps still.
