I’ve always judged JRPGs based on their endings. If a game brings everything together for a spectacular finale, it’s an experience that can stick with you for weeks. A great ending can even transform your entire perception of a game. With JRPGs often taking up to 100 hours to complete, they have more to reward players with than other genres of games.
The endings selected for this list are ranked based on how they make you feel, the clarity of the story, and how they respect the time you put in. They aren't ranked by how impressive they are visually or how much money was put into them. Some of the endings had me put down the controller and watch the credits roll in silence, while others had me start a new game immediately to witness the ending again.
If you’ve seen our list of best JRPG stories, there will certainly be some repetition here. But it should be noted that a great story doesn’t necessarily mean a great ending, and that’s what this list is about. If you want to see how the best of the genre stacks up, check out the entire JRPG tier list.
10. Persona 3 Reload
Until recently, Persona 3 was the most controversial entry point in the series. The reason behind this is due to the nature of the game's ending. There is an ending where the main character is put in a position where he is forced to make a decision that contradicts every relationship he established throughout the game. The last month of the game is a preparation step for the dreadful event to come.
I was 13 years old when I finished Persona 3 for the first time, and the ending still haunts me to this day. In reload, the scenario is up to date, but the emotional toll remains the same. On the PS2, the voice acting in the final scenes didn't come close to the weight of the modern version. The rooftop scene is one of, if not the most emotionally charged scene I have encountered in a piece of fiction.
What makes this ending special is the sheer length of time that was needed to build the relationship that was ended. The social links alone are not a game mechanic, but also the superficial reason that explains the grand finale. Even if players skip all the links, the ending will still look the same. However, if you take the time to invest in the game to build the social links, the ending will leave a mark.
“I knew the ending was coming. I read about it years ago. It still broke me. Reload proved that a great ending transcends spoilers.”
9. Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VI stands out from its JRPG competitors by giving each party member closure during the final scenes. Instead of focusing on a single hero character, the player’s party of fourteen gets their own scene(s) to finish their character arc while the Tiles of Fantasy VI’s final dungeon collapse around the heroes. Celes falls and is saved by Locke. Cyan, steady and watchful, observes the Doma wind one last time. Edgar and Sabin lock eyes, and their unspoken words would fill pages of dialogue.
Even as a kid, the finale was hugely satisfying on a personal level. It was like the developers acknowledged the amount of time spent investing in each of the characters. The end scene of the airship escape, complete with a full orchestral version of each hero’s theme, is still one of the most creative pieces of game design from the 16-bit era.
The Pixel Remaster in 2022 offers re-recorded sounds and updated visual assets while preserving the original 16-bit art and game design. The end scene after 30 years of disappointment has still retained all its emotional impact. No game since has come close to the level of ensemble casting that FFVI presented.
“FFVI\'s ending is a love letter to every character in the game. Fourteen personal farewells in ten minutes. Nothing has topped it.”
8. Chrono Trigger
Chrono Trigger also has multiple endings with each of its a dozen possible outcomes. What makes it primary ending special is the divergent and converging scope. The Moonlight Parade Celebration offers closure for players who take the time to build relationships between characters over time. The celebration feels earned.
I have completed Chrono Trigger over 7 times, and I always discover new details in the variations of the endings. The Developer's Room ending is fun and rewarding. The Epoch-less endings is bittersweet. The New Game Plus endings incentivize you to fight different versions of Lavos during the store and get different endings.
The original SNES endings still set the bar, even with the added Chrono Cross-related endings in the DS version. Chrono Trigger knew that when a game is based around time travel, you have to give players multiple endings. Each ending feels like it is essential, and not just filler.
“13 endings and not a single throwaway. Chrono Trigger respects your time more than games ten times its length.”
7. NieR: Automata
Automata has 26 Endings, but not all of them are important to completing the game. The game ending that most people remember is Ending E. This ending completely changed the face of gaming and what players came to expect from game endings. After doing 3 entire playthroughs, which each have unique versions of the ending, the game finally asks you a question.
There will be no spoilers from me. What I will say is that Ending E made me react due to the medium of the game and not the on-screen characters. Yoko Taro's use of game elements like save files, credit sequences, and difficulty settings as a narrative and immersive tool made me react strongly. This is an ending that I don't think could exist outside of the world of video games.
Journeying to Ending E certainly requires a lot of patience, especially with the other routes. While some may find Route B to be a drag since it is longer than Route A, it is for good reason. When you get to Ending E, you'll know exactly why you had to repeat each of those previous routes. What you put into it will pay off tenfold from what is set up in the last ten minutes of the game. If you want to appreciate the medium of video games and what you can do, this is something that you NEED to play.
Every hour of set up is worth it for what you will get in those last 10 minutes of the game. In Final Fantasy X, the entire game revolves around a lie that the game tells the player during the first cutscene. The game then spends the next 40 hours of playtime convincing the player to forget about this lie. The final act refreshes every interaction between Tidus and Yuna, and that in itself is an incredible emotional experience. The ending doesn't feel like a cheat as it doesn't do any sort of twist and turn to try and trick you. The emotional experience that the ending gives the player is powerful because of how much is revealed and the weight of everything that is revealed.
“Ending E is the single greatest moment in gaming. I cannot explain why without ruining it. Just play the game.”
6. Final Fantasy X
When I was 15 my mind was blown by the storytelling in Final Fantasy X. One of the most powerful moments in a video game I had ever experienced was the airship scene. What made it powerful was the quiet and calm nature of it. instead of the chaos of a boss battle or a big explosion, or a character making an inspirational speech, we just got 2 protagonists and an empty space between them. With no words, the soundtrack composed by Nobuo Uematsu, Masashi Hamauzu, and Junya Nakano gave the scene the emotional gravity needed to really connect with the players.
When I reviewed the HD Remaster of Final Fantasy X, I highlighted the use of facial animations in the final scene as a clear improvement as it helps to not only keep the emotions of the original game, but to also add to them. I consider the FFX ending as the crowning achievement for romance endings in JRPGs, and encourage people to check out my list of best JRPG soundtracks.
“FFX\'s ending is the reason I have trust issues with JRPGs. Nothing has hit that hard since.”
5. Xenoblade Chronicles
Xenoblade Chronicles is a little different though. The ending prompts reflection on the world for Xenoblade Chronicles. The universe we play in is built on the corpses of the god-like beings Bionis and Mechonis, and by the end we come to understand just what it means. The conflict between the Bionis and Mechonis is a war of more than just the robotic and organic living Mechon and Human species; it touches on deeper themes of point of view. It all comes to a head with the protagonists final decision and that will not be about fighting, but more about the world that will end up being created.
That final cut scene is so different than the rest of the game. It just feels earned more because most of the game is combat and world exploration. All of that fighting and exploring for 70 hours only to end with something that is still quiet and contemplative, but is exactly the tone that this game composed world deserves. And it only adds to the original cutscene because the Definite Edition adds an epilogue called Future Connected that preserves the original ending.
What wins Xenoblade its place on this list is indeed structural integrity. No new plot threads are introduced in the final chapter. Everything that occurs in the final hours had prior set up in the first ten. That sort of narrative discipline in a 70 hour game is uncommon, and it serves to increase the size of the emotional payoff significantly.
“Xenoblade\'s ending turned a great action RPG into one of the best stories I\'ve ever experienced.”
4. Trails in the Sky SC
Trails in the Sky SC is without a doubt the GOAT when it comes to peanuts in the payoffs of JRPGs. The first game is a 45 hour long, slow-burn, narrative introduction, setting the emotional stage for this direct sequel's closing chapters. When the time for the final fight comes, the payoff is all of the character growth, political drama, and relational tension across both games’ 100 plus hours of gameplay. It is an ending that absolutely goes above and beyond the scope of a single game.
I wrapped up Sky SC just past 2 AM and spent around 20 minutes just sitting in the dark. The final boss is hardly even the emotional peak. The junk after is where all the feels come from. The confession scene has got to be one of the best romantic moments in gaming, just because dedicating two full games to build it up paid off.
What makes this ending so satisfying is that Falcom does not rush. Each of the main titles in the Trails series takes a lot of time from the players in order for them to appreciate the slow growth of the characters. By the time SC reaches its ending, it feels like there has been an emotional build up from every NPC, from every side quest, and even from every little note in the dialogue scribblers. This is what makes emotionally satisfying payoff world-building, and no franchise does it better.
“I played 100 hours across two games for that ending. Worth every single minute. Falcom earned those tears.”
3. Mother 3
Out of all the games I have played, Mother 3 has the saddest ending by far. I can't give away spoilers, but Shigesato Itoi's story focuses on themes of family, loss, and the world of industrialization and what it does to the things we hold dearest. Shigesato then makes you experience it as a 12 year old boy taking needles from the ground as his world collapses.
The final battle isn’t about strength, but persistence and mental fortitude when there seems to be no reason to keep pushing. The rhythm-based combat system that has been fun and lighthearted throughout the game becomes torturous here. This isn’t a fight to win. This battle is about getting to reach someone, and the game understands that getting there is what matters.
In 2008, I played a fan translation of Mother 3, and I couldn't pick up any other game for a week after finishing it. I was stuck on a black screen with what I can only describe as the most haunting "game over" screen. The game addressed me directly. Not the character, but me. After it put me through everything, it had the nerve to ask me if I was okay. That’s why Mother 3 is here.
“Mother 3\'s ending didn\'t just make me cry. It made me re-evaluate what I think games are capable of.”
2. Final Fantasy VII
Even after all these years later, the ending of Final Fantasy VII is still one of the best because of how deliberately ambiguous it is. 500 years after the lifestream and holy collide and meteor crashes, we see Red XIII running with his cubs in an overgrown Midgar. Then just like that, the music swell and the credits roll.
Two decades of arguing with friends about this ending! Did humanity survive? Is Midgar a sign of failure or renewal? Of course, the game doesn't answer, and that's the greatest strength of the ending. It forces each person to shape the ending and decide what the meaning is to them, and the game created enough thematically to support each rationale.
To this day, the original PS1 version is the purest way to experience this ending. The pre-rendered backgrounds, the blocky characters, and the FMV transitions create a unique atmosphere that the modern ports cannot recreate. The ending of FFVII worked so well because it had the audacity to leave an ending without giving the audience a last minute tie up. In a genre that usually wraps everything up, it’s revolutionary.
“25 years later and we\'re still arguing about what FFVII\'s ending means. That\'s the mark of a masterpiece.”
1. Final Fantasy IX
The best ending to a JRPG is Final Fantasy IX. Not the most dramatic, or the most ambitious, but the best because it does what it means to do. It gives you what you need with no compromises, no ambiguity, and no apologies after 40 hours.
The last scene works so well because the whole game has been focused on identity, purpose, and how to explore life when you know your time is limited. Every character in Final Fantasy IX has struggled with these questions. Vivi questions what it means to be alive. Zidane questions what it means to belong. Garnet questions what it means to govern. The ending of the game provides a strong answer to all these questions in a single scene, so well constructed, it feels inevitable.
I have played FFIX four times, and I still react to the ending every time. I know what is coming when Garnet runs through the crowd, the music shifts, and the camera zooms out. It is not a surprise. The scene is not diminished by the fact that I knew it was coming. The scene is amplified by 40 hours of character work.
The ending of FFIX proves that JRPGs matter as a storytelling medium. It shows how a genre based on drama and spectacle can create emotional and precise storytelling. It has no wasted scenes, no unnecessary twists. It only has the characters you love and provides a satisfying answer to important questions. To see more of the genre's best, check out our best RPGs of all time. To see more of the villains that make these endings a reality, check out our best JRPG villains list.
“FFIX\'s ending is proof that a JRPG doesn\'t need to be dark or ambiguous to be profound. Sometimes the best ending is the one that gives you hope.”
What Makes a Great JRPG Ending?
After ranking the ten games, I noticed three patterns.
First, let's talk about emotional honesty. The best JRPG endings do not manipulate. They earn. Persona 3 impacts you after 80 hours of social links. Mother 3 tells a story about losing everything, and it earns your sadness. FFIX teaches you about joy after 40 hours of character development. When an ending cheats, like a last-minute twist or character removal from the story, you feel it.
The best endings also have structural integrity. The last hours of the best endings do not introduce any new elements, only resolve existing ones. The ending of Xenoblade draws from seeds that were planted in the beginning. The payoff of Trails SC spans 2 whole games. FFVI treated every character as worthy. You get the payoff. When structure works, you don’t notice it. When it doesn’t work, you notice it.
Respect for investment also matters. JRPGs require big commitments. The best endings respect that commitment with conclusions only possible with that investment. Chrono Trigger rewards you with new endings if you replay it. The journey to ending E in NieR: Automata feels necessary. The length is not padding. It is the reason the ending works.
Conclusion
The ten endings featured here exemplify the best possible outcomes when it comes to closing moments in JRPGs. Whether it's the poignant sendoff in Persona 3, or the emotionally crystal clear Final Fantasy IX, these demonstrate the idea that endings aren't just conclusions, they are the summation of everything that the game has built.
I have spent thousands of hours playing these games to get to these conclusions, and not one has let me down. That is the promise of a great JRPG: the time commitment, the patience with the story, and the payoff will be rewarding. These ten games have kept that promise better than any others in the genre.