Summary

• RPG endings are crucial, leaving a lasting impression, often more important than the beginning.
• EarthBound's emotional finale relies on prayers and post-boss tranquility.
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3 wraps up its trilogy with a touching generational sacrifice.

tend to demand a lot of your time. Whether it’s 20 hours, 30 hours, or even g🐲etting close to 100 hours, you spend a lot of time in their worlds, getting to know the characters and their problems. A lot of the time, it’s about the journey, not the destination, but when JRPGs can stick the landing and end in a great way, it sets them apart from other games in the genre.

A satisfying conclusion for the world and the characters wraps everything up in a neat bow. It’s the last impression you’ll have of the game, and it’s ♒almost even more important than the first impression, and it’s what you’ll remember most vividly after the credits. These are the best JRPG endings across the genre.

Spoilers for all the JRPGs mentioned below.

8 💝 EarthBound♏

EarthBound has a highly emotional ending. Rather than using all the skills and strategies you learned throughout your journey to beat the final boss, as you do in the majority of RPGs, what you need to defeat Giygas is the prayers of the p꧒eople you’ve met on your adventure who believe you can defeat him. Even your prayers, as the player, are needed.

After defeating Giygas in this heart🌼felt battle, the ending is made even better by the fact you can walk around the world you’ve saved, now with no threats or enemies. The NPCs even have different dialogue after you’ve defeated Giygas. It’s a unique approach that not many RPGs g👍o for.

7 🃏 Final Fantasy 9

A lot of Final Fantasy games have excellent endings, but 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy 9's stands out largely because of one ༺thing: Vivi’s monologue. The game does♌n’t explicitly tell you who is saying the monologue, but from the context, we can deduce it’s Vivi.

Throughout the game, Vivi😼 has to come to terms with his limited lifespan as one of the black mages created by Queen Brahne. In the ending, it seems that Vi༒vi has already passed on, as he says goodbye to the rest of the party. He finishes the monologue with “My memories will be part of the sky…” which is one of the best quotes in the series.

In case you didn’t realise, a part of Final Fantas♊y 9’s ending directly quotes Star Wars: "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” How Square Enix got away with that, we don’t know.

6 ♔ Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed ꦏ

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed doesn’t just wrap up Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the e🏅ntire Xenoblade Chronℱicles trilogy as a whole. The protagonists of t🎃he first two games, Shulk and Rex, return as party members in the DLC scenario, nꦐow older and wiser.

At the end of the DLC, Shulk and Rex decide to give their lives to the future of the City, sꦆpecifically to Nikol and Glimmer, their respective children who are part of Aionios’ cycle and have short lifespans as a result. It’s a loving send-off to the two characters and leaves you with a feeling of hope for the future.

5 ꦚ The Wo🅷rld Ends With You

Despite being 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:such a short JRPG, especially when compared t﷽o the 100-hour mammoths𝓡 that are common today, The World Ends With You has a lot to say and will have a profound effect on you if you connect with its characters and world.

It primarily focuses on teenager Neku Sakuraba, who is drawn into the deadly Reapers’ Game. He always wears headphones to drown out the noise of other people, and spends the game learning to open up himself, and his worldview, to others. They’re not ൩just an iconic part of his design, but an important part of his character. So, when Neku throws his headphones to the ground in the ending to signify how he’s now opening himself u🌠p to others and the world around him, it’s a moment you never forget.

4 🎃 Chrono Trigger 🔜

Chrono Trigger has numerous endings, but the most common (and the best) ending is Beyond Time, which is achieved by defeating Lavos after bringing Crono back to life. This ending is a full-circle moment, as you return to the Millennial Fair from the very beginning of the game where Crono𝄹 met Marle.

Afterwards, everyone in the party returns to their own times in the Telepods. It’s a simple and straightforward ending, but it’s bittersweet and sa💟tisfying, wrapping up the entire experience neatly.

3 Dragon Quest 11: Echoes Of An Elusive Ag🌠e

Dragon Quest 11: Echoes of an Elusive Age seemingly ends after Act 2ﷺ finishes, but you can keep playing through Act 3 to reach a true ending. This ending is much more satisfying than Act 2’s endi𓂃ng, and reveals the truth behind Mordegon.

If you beat Calasmos, the true final boss, you will be granted an audience with the Yggdragon, otherwise known as Yggdrasil, and the Luminary is given the title of Erdrick, linking everything back to the original Dragon Quest trilogy. There’s even a neat title drop for 11’s subtitle: “The echoes 💦of that hero’s valour shall ring throughout the ages.”

2 ⛦ Metaphor: ReFantazio

Metaphor: ReFantazio is an exp💦a🐽nsive RPG you’ll spend hundreds of hours with, so does it manage to stick the landing? Yes, yes it does. After fighting to take down the tyrant Count Louis, Will fina🅠lly wins the crown for the United Kingdom of Euchronia and becomes its king, with his party members being his loyal supporters.

What’s interesting about Metaphor’s ending is that it doesn’t claim that everything is fixed now Will is king. ꦉThere’s a lot of ingrained bias towards other tribes for the people to unlearn, and this isn’t something that goes away overnight. It’s a realistic but hopeful ending that leaves you believing progress will be made in the future⛦.

The post-credits epilogue is excellent too, as it shows Will doesn’t ꦬjust want to sit around with a crown on his head. He wants to get out there and ensure ch𓂃ange happens for the better of everyone.

1 Kingdom ꩵHearts 2 ♋

The Kingdom Hearts 2 ending is almost universally beloved am𒅌ong Kingdom Hearts fans. After defeating the leader of Organization 13, Xemnas, Sora and Riku are trapped in the Realm of Darkness, which leads them to h🃏aving a heartfelt discussion about how they value each other’s friendship.

A m𝕴essage in a bottle washes up on the shore, which opens the Door to Light. Sora and Riku walk through, and they finally return to Destiny Islands, where Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey are waiting. It’s the first time since the beginning of KH1 that Sora, Riku, and 🌄Kairi are all back on the islands together, which makes it all the more special. Hikaru Utada’s Sanctuary playing throughout is just the cherry on top.