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.
Don't get me wrong, it pains me to have to hold off on games like Pacific Drive and Helldivers 2 for the time being, but if there's one genre I'm happy to be swallowed whole by, it's JRPGs. With colorful, expansive worlds to explore; lovable, unambiguously heroic protagonists; themes of redemption and friends becoming family; and oodles of silliness to break up the melodrama, JRPGs in general are uniquely built to not only hold my interest, but provide such pleasing worlds in which to live that sometimes I never want to leave.
