Strictly writing-wise, what are in your opinion the best JRPGs?
Strictly writing-wise, what are in your opinion the best JRPGs?
Writing can refer to story, worldbuilding, character writing, etc.
Best worldbuilding: Easily the Trails series, there just isn't anything other like it. Best character writing: Best I could think of was Grandia, maybe? Best premise: Star Ocean: The Last Hope had a great premise (which, of course, like so often, it stole from Star Trek). It didn't do much with it, though. Best scenarios: Dragon Quest VII, the overall story in Dragon Quest usually isn't anything special, but the sub-stories in each of the towns are great and 7 is king among the DQ games. Best overall story: Terranigma is what stood out the most for me here.
I found the writing in Final Fantasy 9 to be awesome, the characters have a lot of personality
from a writing perspective, and as an self-professed amateur writer: Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together.
i wrote a lengthy essay on the game here: https://oncomputer.games/2023/04/25/tactics-ogre-reborn-ruminations-on-resentment-regret-and-retribution/
ultimately, Tactics Ogre explores themes around war, revenge, regret, and resentment in such a subtle and non-"in your face" way that it deserves a place in the "best jrpgs written" category. even the gameplay itself reinforces the themes of regret, with the ability to turn-back time in the story AND in the battles, really pushing the "if only i had done things differently" mindset onto the player. it's exploration of cyclical violence works tremendously as well, with the gameplay forcing the player to fight battles against people who simply want revenge for their family member's death from a previous battle, etc. you always have the "am i the bad guy?" thought in your head while playing.
Maybe not the best, but I'd like to add Final Fantasy Legend II (Saga II) to the list. The story isn't terribly detailed (it is an OG Gameboy game after all) but the overarching story us decent and has a few twists, most of the worlds have overarching stories, and there is a nice bit of conflict when the main character finds their dad (who left in the night at the start) has been acting as the father figure for a girl in another world.