Japanese role-playing games (JRPGs) are weird man!

There are giant robots, huge

birds, tentacle demons, and all sorts of stuff. But that s just the tip of the ice
berg. The following list counts down the absolute strangest RPGs Japan has to of
fer.
10
Eternal Sonata
Eternal Sonata is kind of a cheating entry on our list because it s not really a f
ranchise, it s just a one-off game. Still, you don t get much weirder than playing a
n entire JRPG inside the fever dreams of dying composer Frederick Chopin. It als
o had a battle system that routinely changed its core mechanics every time you d
efeated a boss, sometimes specifically just to screw with you!
Eternal Sonata
9
Baten Kaitos
The Baten Kaitos series told a story of a world in the sky filled with people wi
th wings that all sort of talk like they were speaking through cardboard tubes.
Aside from the sky whales, weird pseudo philosophical magic system, and absolute
ly beautiful settings, Baten Kaitos was known for its peculiar card based battle
and inventory system. Everything you can do, from items to attacks to equipment
, is shuffled into a deck in order to be used in combat (although cards themselv
es can change during combat as well). For example, milk, when not used, can spoi
l, and eggs, when not used, can become chickens. Just like in real life!
Baten Kaitos
8
The Atelier Series
If you are the kind of person who likes complex item creation systems and magica
l girl stylings, then the Atelier series is the game for you. This is one of tho
se titles that has more fun in its mechanics than in its story. You can easily s
pend 300 hours forging items out of junk you find around the map before you even
take a step toward saving the world with your cute alchemist magical girl prota
gonist.
Atelier Meruru
7
The Sting Series
You probably haven t heard of the Sting series because it isn t really a series, so
to speak. It s a number of quirky games made by the same developer, Sting. The ser
ies includes games like, Knights in the Knightmare, a tactical RPG/bullet hell h
ybrid, Riviera, an angelic dating sim/rpg, and Gungnir, a grid based tactical RP
G that forces every unit to move on the same turn!
knights in the nightmare
6
Shadow Hearts

Shadow Hearts is a series of RPGs that follow insane protagonists through altern
ate universe retellings of important world events like World War I. It has a bat
tle system based on timing a ticking clock to stop the correct sectors of a batt
le ring, and several characters have been known to fight with weapons such as la
mp posts and giant combs. This strange clock system was used for everything, eve
n for items and shopping.
Shadow Hearts
5
Shin Megami Tensei
Most of the entries on our list could be considered somewhat obscure RPGs. Not S
hin Megami Tensei though. This series has entered the hearts of JRPG lovers ever
ywhere through its hit PlayStation 2 releases of Nocturne and Persona 3. But, if
you think about it, Nocturne was about an inverted hellscape Japan being ruled
by demons, and Persona 3 was about shooting yourself in the head to make your to
rmented high school mind cast magical spells. Weird
Shin Megami Tensei
4
Wild Arms
Wild Arms is a JRPG that never really figured out what a Western was. Sure, ther
e were rifles and train robberies and horse chases, and stuff like that, but the
n there were sand ships and demons and aliens and lots of other JRPG style trapp
ings. For a while, it was one of the more popular JRPG series on the PlayStation
, though the game fell out of public favor during the era of the PlayStation 2.
Wild Arms
3
Disgaea
Disgaea is another kinda cheat entry considering that it s actually more of a tact
ical game than a traditional JRPG. Still, it s one of the weirdest games in existe
nce, period. It has you diving into item worlds to increase item stats to find m
ore items to dive into their worlds and so on and so on and so on. It also allow
s you to increase your characters to ludicrous levels, far higher than are actua
lly needed to beat the game. It s as if Nippon Ichi distilled the desire to grind
down to its base components and made a game out of it.
Disgaea
2
Mother
The Mother series, also known as Earthbound in the
ky and loved JRPGs on the market. Earthbound alone
s of barf, living evil tents, and what might be an
at s just the second game in the series. Mothers 1
erking moments that may or may not have included a
and fuzzy pickles.

U.S., is one of the most quir

had you fight sentient puddle
amorphous alien fetus, and th
and 3 each had their own tear j
cybernetic T-Rex, acid trips,

earthbound
HAL Laboratory
1
Ar Tonelico
Finally, we have the mother of all weird JRPG series, Ar Tonelico. This series f
eatures female magic users that have to have special crystals inserted into thei
r bodies in order to keep living. No, we are not making this up. Ar Tonelico 2 t
ook place on a helicopter world that hovered over a world shaped like the messia
nic tree of life that was forged out of a girls heart. To save the girl, you hav
e to have three way cuddles. No, we are not making this up. Many Ar Tonelico gam
es featured magic advancement systems that required you to play through alternat
e universe fan fiction inside of your magic users minds in order to learn new spe
lls. No, we are not making this up! We haven t even gotten to the penguins or yoyo
shields or the sound based battle system. These things, along with tons of othe
r weird and wonky off the wall occurences, make Ar Tonelico the king of our 10 W
eirdest JRPG Franchises list.

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