Summary
Thanks to the likes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it feels like every big franchise has been turned into a “universe” now. Want to understand the plot of the latest entry? No problem. Fans just need to spend a few dozen hours catching up on countless game tie-ins, TV shows, and movies. Not just a phenomenon in Hollywood, this need to add an overarching story to everything has long infected gaming too.
But some genres have stood strong against it. Some of the longest-running franchises in all gaming are JRPGs, but surprisingly few of these games have overarching stories that last more than a sequel or two. Instead, the norm is to have entries that are either completely unconnected or only very loosely so. Yetsome JRPGs do have incredibly complicated lorewith stories that stretch over multiple sequels. The following games all feature some kind of overarching plot that plays out over multiple games.
Updated July 12, 2025 by Robbie Mitchell:While it’s still not that common for JRPG franchises to have overarching narratives that last for more than a game or two, there are still a handful more. We’ve got one new entry covering a franchise most JRPG fans have long forgotten, Ar Tonelico, and another covering a JRPG franchise many gamers may not realize even has an overarching story.
We’ve ignored franchises where games are only very loosely connected, likeFire Emblem, as well as examples where there is only one sequel.
TheAr Tonelicogames probably have the weakest overarching story of any entry on this list. Each of the three games is set in a different part of the planet Ar Ciel, a world that experienced a devastating event 700 years before the events of the first game. This event left the surface uninhabitable and left what was left of humanity to live in massive artificially constructed towers.
Each game in the series tells a mostly standalone story focused around a new tower and its respective Reyvateils, artificial women who wield the power of song magic. Despite telling standalone stories, each entry in the story added to the franchise’s larger lore, diving deep into the history of the towers, Reyvateil, and their symbiotic but often tense relationship with humanity. While this mythology can be ignored, paying attention to it reveals a larger, overarching story.
Next to the likes ofFinal Fantasy,Dragon Questhas to be one of the most famous JRPG franchises around. Much likeFinal Fantasy, most JRPG fans associate the franchise with telling standalone stories, but that wasn’t always the case. In fact, the first six games in the franchise were made up of two distinct arcs.
The first three games in the franchise make up the Erdick Trilogy. The first game introduced a lone hero and his struggle against the terrible Dragonlord. The second entry then expanded on this story by following the descendants of the first game’s hero. The third entry then acted as a prequel, fleshing out the original protagonist’s hero’s journey and his origins. Entries four to six did something similar but focused on theZenithianlineage but this arc was a little looser. Later games gave up on telling an overarching story but shared plenty of elements and themes. This peaked withDragon Quest 11, which is an epic homage to the franchise’s decades of shared traditions and storytelling elements while still managing to tell a standalone tale.
As one ofthe longest-running JRPG franchises,Final Fantasyis famous for having sixteen main-entry games with completely separate stories. Outside some recurring elements, each entry in the franchise is completely separate. But there are exceptions.
Within the franchise, there are at least a couple of overarching stories. For a start, the ill-receivedFinal Fantasy 13somehow spawned two sequels, both of which were considerably better than the original.Final Fantasy 13-2followed Serah, the little sister of13’s protagonist, whileLightning Returnsonce again followed Lightning. Then there’sFinal Fantasy 7. This 90s icon has its very own universe called theCompilation of Final Fantasy 7. The original version of the game received three prequels, while the current remake series is spreading the original’s story out over at least three entries (and whatever spin-offs Square Enix comes up with).
TheYsseries has been around since 1987. Throughout ten games (and counting), the series has followed one protagonist, Adol Christin, as he adventures across the globe, constantly getting into trouble. Sometimes he’s stranded on an island fighting dinosaurs; sometimes he’s locked up in jail inheriting weird demon powers. The series is mainly known for being agreat JRPG without turn-based combat, but each entry’s story is also usually excellent.
Whether the franchise has an “overarching” plot is a little debatable. Technically, each game has a standalone story,butthey all have the same protagonist and a chronological order. Later entries have also increasingly mentioned elements from older games, mentioned Adol’s apparent character growth, and brought some old characters back. Put together, they tell the story of Adol and his many adventures. It also seems likely that at some point, perhaps when the series finally ends, Nihon will decide to release a game that ties together some of these titles retroactively in an attempt to reveal an overarching plot.
TheTrailsseries is a spin-off of the already long-running and complicatedThe Legend of Heroesfranchise. When gamers talk about JRPGs with overarching plots,Trailsis usually the first to be mentioned. And for good reason. As one ofthe RPG franchises with the most games, the lore ofTrailscan get pretty confusing. Each arc is set on the continent of Zemuria, with every arc spanning various feuding nations and focusing on a unique cast.
While each arc tends to start fairly standalone, it soon becomes necessary to have an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the series if the player wants to know what’s going on. As each arc progresses, more and more characters and story elements from earlier arcs crop up, making it more and more difficult to follow the overarching story. The result is a series that can be intimidating to get into, but one that can be very rewarding. For those who don’t have an unlimited amount of spare time to play games, many fans suggest starting with eitherTrails from ZeroorTrails of Cold Steeland then heading further down the rabbit hole.
Casual fans of theSuikodenfranchise or those who have only played the later games likely have no idea that the franchise once had an overarching plot. Each entry in the franchise is set in the same world but follows a different protagonist and is usually set in a different part of that world. The most common returning themes are the 27 True Runes and the Stars of Destiny, elements the player is usually tasked with hunting down.
Butthe bestSuikodengameswere much more closely linked.Suikoden 2is set shortly after the events of the first game and features quite a few returning characters and references to the first game’s events. It’s highly recommended to play them in order. More interestingly, the first three games held hints of an overarching plot that revolved around the mysterious nation of Harmonia and its church’s goal of gathering all the True Runes. Sadly, after the third installment, the series' creator left, and subsequent entries ditched this overarching plot for a more standalone approach. It seems unlikely fans will ever get to see how it would have ended.
The.hackfranchise is an interconnected mess of video game sequels, manga, and anime tie-ins that all tell an overarching story revolving around a fictional MMORPG called “The World.” The franchise is roughly split into two “projects” that, while connected, tell different stories.
Project .hackwas the first. Besides the anime and manga, it included three PS2 games that followed the characters Kite and BlackRose as they investigated what had put their siblings into a coma and how The World was involved. The second,.hack Conglomerate, is set in a different iteration of The World and begins with the three.hack//G.U.games, which then spawned several video game spinoffs, including a fighting game and more than one card game. Each game in the franchise has revealed more and more about The World and its reality-warping abilities, tying into a larger narrative that is ongoing.
TheXenofranchise has a fairly complicated history. It’s made up of three separate series:Xenogears,Xenosaga,andXenoblade. While most JRPG fans will be more familiar with the popularXenoblade Chroniclesgames, they’re likely less familiar with the former. That’s a pity because both series wereJRPGs that were ahead of their time.
Xenogearswasreleased for the PS1 in 1998. It was meant to be the fifth episode in a six-part epic, but the other episodes never got made, and to properly understand its story, one needs to read the Japanese-only bookXenogears Perfect Works. TheXenosagaseries was then released for PS2 between 2002 and 2006. A spiritual successor toXenogears, these games followed protagonist Shion Uzuku and her adventures through space, uncovering conspiracies. Each entry was self-contained but meant to build up to a larger, overarching story. Unfortunately, this story was never finished. The original plan was to have six games in the series, but only three saw release, leading to an unsatisfying ending to its overarching story.
TheKingdom Heartsfranchise began back in 2002 on PS2. It took the original protagonist, Sora, threw him into a strange world, and pits him against evil creatures called the Heartless. Lucky for him, he had the help of his friends Kairi and Riku, as well as several DisneyandFinal Fantasycharacters. It’s just as strange as it sounds.
The franchise’s central conflict revolves around a battle for Kingdom Hearts, a power source that connects all worlds. With his Keyblade, Sora can lock and unlock paths to different worlds, which he uses to battle Master Xehanort and his Heartless. What started as a Disney/Final Fantasymashup has grown into a massive, overarching story covering more than ten games. The story is incredibly intricate, and understanding the story of later games often means playing all the previous games, including spin-offs and tie-ins. Sora might be one ofSquare Enix’s best protagonists, but keeping up with his story is likely to cost new fans a pretty penny.
TheAtelierseries takes a similar approach to storytelling to theTrailsgames in some ways. Its many games are split into six different arcs, with each arc having a separate overarching story. Besides some shared elements, like a focus on alchemy, each arc is distinct and mostly separate from the others. Each also handles its overarching story differently.
For example,The Arland Arcfocuses on the kingdom of Arland and its citizens as it expands its borders and becomes a democracy. This story is told from different viewpoints and covers decades of history. While the first three games can be played in any order, the fourth game requires players to be familiar with the first three. Likewise, theDusk Arc’s overarching story is fairly loosely structured and can be played in any order as the overarching story of a long-term ecological crisis is told from different viewpoints. On the other hand, theMysterious Arcis more story-focused, and its three games need to be played to understand the overarching story and uncover its central mystery. Similarly, theIris Arcshares one protagonist, Iris, across three entries, and each game has plot threads that are directly followed up in the sequel.
