JRPGs have a fascinating obsession that involves your party fighting a God as the final boss, making things jump from throwing down with typical enemies to the creator of the universe in the blink of an eye in some cases, such as the culmination of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Persona 5 Royal.
While this isn't a bad thing by any stretch - it's actually quite cool - it can grow tiring and make things seem much less grounded when the stakes are that high. Fortunately, there are many excellent JRPG titles where you don't have to turn into Kratos ♉and massacre Gods, a📖ll of which are worthy of your time and at๊tention.
10 ♈ Pokémon (Series) 𝔍
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Pokémon Legends: Arceus aside, the entire Pokémon series avoids having you battle the God of the Pꦚokémon universe in every installment, with the final battle typically coming d⛦own to a gym trainer, a rival, or the region's Legendary Pokémon.
Though throwing down with Arceus is one of the best moments in a Pokémon title in quite some time, being a normal kid battling other trainers or atte♌mpting to challenge a Legendary makes everything feel much more intimate, grounded, and fun.
9 ꦕ Atelier (Series)
Much like the Pokémon series, the Atelier series is another excellent example of a laid-back JRPG with a unique, grounded feel in its bizarre and whacky world full of magic, monsters, and legendary Ancient Rulers. The only exception would be Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm, where you battle Uroborus, which is e🎉quivalent to a God, but other than that, all the rest avoid this angle.
Atelier is a surprisingly deep series with excellent characters, gameplay, and worl⛎d-building that shouldn't be passed on. Its ability to scale back its final encounters while also keeping them engaging, powerful, and challenging while keeping the stakes feel somewhat reasonable is an achievement.
8 ෴ Suikoden (Series) 🌸
One may argue that the True Runes found in the Suikoden series are the equivalent of the universe's Gods, but it's clear that they need at least some sort ✃of host or human entity to utilize their power. Of course, the stronger the host, the stronger the True Rune's effects, but we feel that sort of disqualifies them from being considered the all-mighty ruler of the universe.
Runes are the backbone and catalyst for all magic in the Suikoden universe, being able to manifest into formidable enemies under specific conditions. It's an exceptional concept for world-bu🍌ilding and explaining the existence of magic. Still, True Runes are not sentient beings, which makes them classif🔯ied as another category of an otherworldly phenomenon.
7 Golden Sun (Series) 🌞
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Golden Sun is a series that stays true to its contained narrative without trying anything too drastic or earth-shattering, making it the perfect candidate for this list. The final boss for the first two games is a mighty dragon, the first being the Fusion Dragon and the second🤪 being the Doom Dragon. The third installment features the Chaos Chimera, the fusion of three powerful characters.
Despite Golden Sun having several tricks up its sleeves, it neve💞r feels out of place or like it escalated too quickly, which is a rarity in the scene. Golden Sun is what it is, showcasing its direction proudly by grounding its mystical world and the characters that reside within it.
6 ☂ The World Ends With You (Series)
Perhaps one of the most underrated JRPG titles is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:The World Ends with You, which recently got its first sequel fourteen years later in Neo: The World Ends with You. This series takes place in an alternate dimension of Shibuya known as the Underground, where the characters of the story must participate in the Reꦬapers' Games to determine their and Shibuya's fate.
When things such as alternate planes of reality and determining the fate of hundreds of thousands of 🌃people are in play, you can envision the final boss in your head. And it will almost always be whatever y🎃ou perceive as the universe's God or all-mighty being to look like. However, in both installments, you get immensely powerful boss encounters to close the game out, but neither is the God of the 'real' world or the Underground.
5 Ni no Kuni (Series) 🐈
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ni no Kuni has several unimaginably strong enemies to fight throughout the series. Still, it's revealed in Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom's DLC "Tal𝄹e of the Timeless Tome" that Zayin is the universe's "God of Gods," which yo𒉰u never fight in any of the installments.
The closest you come is when you fight and defeat The Great Madshadow in th🐽e DLC mentioned above, which is the expansion's primary antagonist and the amalgamation of all impure thoughts, forming where taint and nightmares reside. This enemy was able to taint Zayin, which showcases its immense power. Still, while terrifying and undoubte𒉰dly intense, it's technically not a God.
4 Valkyria Chronicles (Series) ꦗ
Technically a "gimme" and obvious answer is the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Valkyria Chronicles series, a tac𒐪tical JRPG themed around the milꦏitary in the 20th century of an alternate version of Earth. The grounded setting allows them to avoid this trope entirely while also leaning into tons of anime tropes and character types, giving you the best of both worlds.
Nonetheless, Valkyria Chronicles offers excellent strategy and is 💫a solid JRPG franchise that is often overlooked. While we almost wan♌t to see how this series would portray its God and build up to a group of soldiers attempting to kill it, we appreciate it stays true to its path and overall narrative.
3 Yakuz෴a (Series)
Speaking of "gimmes," Yakuza falls in the same boat as Valkyria Chronicles, as it revolves around dealing with powerful, real-world entities, leaving out the bizarre monsters, magical powers, and everything else you would typically find in JRPGs. In all iterations of the series, at least the mainline ones, you are in fictional districts of Tokyo, surrounded by ordinary (at least for the series) people.
Some may debate whether or not the Yakuza series is a JRPG, and while wrong, we can see where they're coming from. However, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Yakuza: Like a Dragon is a traditional turn-based JRPG, so regardless, Yakuza belongs on thiꦅs list. Besides, how can yo⛄u say "no" to Kiryu?
2 Paper Mario (Series)ꦗ
You cannot speak about JRPGs without bringing up one of the best series of them all, and that's 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Paper Mario (at least the first two installments, anyways). This seri🤡es im﷽plies that God may be Grambi in Super Paper Mario, whom you never fight.
Furthermore, the queen of The Underwhere, Queen Jaydes, is based on Hades, and you don't even fight her, meaning Paper Mario doesn't feel the need to become a bloodthirsty God killer like some other main characters. Joking aside, this series is mostly solid and always has fascinating characters and boss enc🐲ounters without ratcheting the s꧑takes up to enormous heights.
1 Nier𝓡 (Series) ♛
Lastly, we have the profoundly emotional Nier series that has unmatched music, storytelling, and remarkably engaging gameplay, making ♕it a must-play action JRPG. Even with 2B kicking off 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Nier: Automata with one of the best opening lines of dialogue in gaming, you ultimately never end up killing God in a universe filled with desp﷽air and existential dread.
Everything that live🏅s is designed to end. We are perpetually trapped in a never-ending spiral of life and death. Is this a curse? Or some kind of punishment? I often think about the god who blessed us with this cryptic puzzle...and wonder if we'll ever get the chance to kill him. - 2B (Nier: Automata)
Nier is a remarkably special and revolutionary series that manages to tie in references from famous Philosophers to religion and much more. Yet, despite its themes and overarching narrative, th💛e series executes on its bosses without having the main characters ever have to become powerful enough to overcome a God.
