Final Fantasy 7 RebirthBetween Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and Persona 3 Reload, the year of the JRPG is healing my horror-addled heartWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Final Fantasy 7 RebirthBetween Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, and Persona 3 Reload, the year of the JRPG is healing my horror-addled heartWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Sega)
As a gainfully employed 30-something, I’m of the strong opinion that video games are just too dang big these days. I joke about it, but it’s a genuine struggle keeping up with so many buzzed-about releases when so many of them are 100-hour commitments. And yet, even with JRPG behemoths like Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and Persona 3 Reload gluttonously eating up every ounce of my free time, I couldn’t be happier.
Light in the darkness
(Image credit: Square Enix)
There’s nothing like the thrill of a good horror game, but even my black and cobwebbed heart occasionally grows weary of the macabre, especially after a stellar 2023 withResident Evil 4 Remake,the new Dead Space, and my dazzling pick for GOTY 2023,Alan Wake 2. Keep in mind, I’m also prone to true crime binges and forbidden explorations of the darkest, most obscure Japanese horror movies, so I’ll naturally find myself crying in a puddle of my own making from time to time, in need of something of bright contrast.
JRPGs aren’t just the life-affirming counterweight to my obsession with the dark and twisted. They’re also the only kinds of games I can surround myself with, on rotation, for weeks on end and not once think of reaching for something else until I’m finished with them.
Not even my tried and true evergreens – Sea of Thieves, Smash Bros., and old Zelda games – can claim unilateral control of my limited attention span. I won’t claim to know exactly why, but there’s just something about JRPGs very specifically that scratches my brain itch like nothing else.
Different folks
(Image credit: Sega)
At risk of sounding reductive, I fully acknowledge that the three massive JRPGs I’m playing right now are very different games with their own distinct vibes. It’d be an awful disservice to Ichiban Kasuga and Kiryu Kazuma’s bloody romp through Hawaii, Cloud Strife and co.’s crusade against Shinra, and Makoto Yuki’s quest to uncover the mystery of the Dark Hour to suggest otherwise. In fact, the stark tonal contrasts between the respective games, and between most games in the loosely defined JRPG space, is another reason I find the genre so endlessly enjoyable.
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It also helps that, about 40 hours in, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth has become my favorite Yakuza game yet. I was introduced to the series with 2020’s Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon and have grown accustomed to its turn-based combat and endeared toward its chief protagonist, the aloof but strong-willed Ichiban Kasuga. I’m a big Kiryu fan too, so seeing them together, leading me through a powerful, dramatic story of friendship, trust, and rehabilitation, has been a source of eternal delight.
I’m not as far into Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, having gotten a code from the publisher a couple of weeks ago, but already it has the potential to top Final Fantasy 10 and Final Fantasy 15 (yes, I said it) as my favorite entry in the long-running series. Its weighty narrative and emotionally charged characters hit with an equal or superior intensity to 2020’s Remake, but there’s an added openness to its design that lets me decide my own pace. In particular, exploring Costa Del Sol via segway dressed in beach attire is exactly the sort of silly, lighthearted touch I felt was missing in Rebirth’s predecessor.
It’s the friendships, stupid
(Image credit: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio)
I touched on it before, but to expand a little, I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety since early childhood, and it would take more therapy sessions than I can afford to figure out why I’ve decided to turn to horror, of all things, as my preferred entertainment subgenre. I’ll never know what stubborn inner mechanism demands to be fed disturbing, hopeless, and depraved content all the time in the face of so many real-world horrors, but thankfully I have a much better understanding of my affinity for JRPGs.
I’m privileged to have a wonderful support system in real life, and it’s undoubtedly the only thing getting me through the unprecedented turbulence not only globally, but in my personal life in recent years. JRPGs not only reflect the faces of my friends and family in their diverse characters, but provide a whole other support system that exists in these virtual worlds reminding me, without fail, to always have hope.
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1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
1
Nemesis review: “A magical sense of tension”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
2Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
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Arcs review: “A whole lot of game in a small package”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
3Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
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Path of Exile 2 review: “A stellar start to a thrilling and brutal dark adventure”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
4Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
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Indiana Jones and the Great Circle review: “The best adventure Indy has embarked on in over 30 years”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
5Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
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Marvel Rivals review: “So preoccupied with trying to be like Overwatch that it forgets to play to its own strengths”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
1Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
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Sonic the Hedgehog 3 review: “Keanu Reeves as Shadow is wasted whilst Jim Carrey steals the show”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
2Mufasa: The Lion King review – “It’s no Hakuna Matata but this Disney origin story is a class above the 2019 movie”
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3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
3Kraven the Hunter review: “The insistence on an R-rating helps save this, with a decent helping of bloodthirsty action”
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4The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim review – “An uninspired expansion of the most iconic screen take on Tolkien”
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1Doctor Who 2024 Christmas special review: “Ncuti Gatwa is as magnetic as ever in this delightful festive treat”
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2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
2Secret Level review: “An uneven experience with serious highlights that ultimately make up for the misses”
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3Skeleton Crew review: “Perfectly captures the vibes of classic Star Wars with a swashbuckling twist”
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4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
4Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
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Creature Commandos review: “James Gunn’s heartwarming, R-rated tale about super-monsters proves that the DCU is in good hands”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
5Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”
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Cobra Kai season 6, part 2 review: “Returns to the sort of hard-hitting form that made it such a fan favorite in the first place”