8 PS2 JRPGs Where the World Feels Like It’s Slowly Falling Apart Around the Player

There was something really special about PS2 JRPGs. They might not have been the most aesthetically pleasing, but they had this special something that made the era really something to marvel at and go back and check out if you're a fan of the genre.

One theme that was always very apparent was that the world was in a state of near collapse in almost all of these stories. No matter what the series was, it seemed like at one point or another, you were seeing the world about to end.

We're going to check out some PS2 JRPGs where it felt like, no matter how it started, the world eventually felt like it was falling apart around you.

8 Final Fantasy X

Spira's Mask Falls Apart

Final Fantasy X is one of the greatest games of all time, and it set a standard on the PS2 that was almost impossible to follow and, if you ask me, the JRPG genre never really hit these heights again. The story of the game was the selling point for sure and in it, you play as Tidus as he gets teleported from the futuristic city of Zanarkand to the mysterious world of Spira. And in this world, everything seems a bit too pristine, and that's because it's in the state of Calm; a ten-year stretch where the terrifying god-like being known as Sin lies dormant before it returns to destroy everything again.

As you play, the world slowly reveals itself to you. Despite the sun-soaked beaches and the impressive forests, this world is on the verge of collapse, not because of Sin coming to destroy it, but from the lies of the church of Yevon being revealed to the public. This pillar of faith that keeps everyone in line is finally revealed to be the true villain after all, and with the lies exposed, the society upon which it's built slowly collapses as you march towards the inevitable final battle with Sin.

7 Shadow Hearts

The Darkness Spreads

Shadow Hearts is an awesomely underrated game on the PS2, and it deals with a dark and depressing world that slowly reveals itself to you as the game goes on. What starts as a seemingly innocent adventure quickly has you going from area to area, with worse and worse atrocities happening throughout.

You'll come upon an unassuming village that has somehow been possessed by a demon that has a collection of cannibalistic servants.

You'll find a seemingly pristine city that all of a sudden is under attack from terrorists. The more you play, the more it falls into a state of absolute hell. It's not like your heroes aren't affected either, as the main character, Yuri, is something of a demon himself. It's an extremely unique JRPG that shows you the world behind closed doors can be just one moment away from a state of collapse.

6 Wild Arms 3

Clinging to a World that's Collapsing

Wild Arms 3 is a game that states its reality very early in the game. The world is dying, and that's a big problem that the party is going to spend the entire game trying to fix. The planet is losing its ability to support life, and you'll see this from the vast deserts and areas that people wouldn't dare go to. In fact, the very world itself is described in game lore as a living organism that is in decay. As you play more and more, you can see it, nothing is pretty, everything feels like a world beginning its post-apocalyptic phase, and that's a haunting tone that the game maintains throughout.

The best example of this is the goal of villains. While their methods are deplorable, the Three Prophets are simply trying to restore the world to the way it was before. The big evil plan isn't to destroy the world, it's a desperate ploy to cure it. And during that, the planet is just falling apart, and your party is the only thing standing between it reaching that point.

5 Grandia 2

A World About to Be Ripped Apart

Grandia 2 is a hidden gem in the PS2 era for my money, and the way the story is set up is so interesting. It is yet another "evil church that's been lying to you" type of story for sure, but there are some really cool twists. The world, which is seemingly pristine and perfect at the start of the game, slowly becomes more and more twisted as it's revealed that the ancient vanquished evil known as Valmar never really died at all.

Instead, pieces of Valmar were scattered around the world, and sure enough, that benevolent church is responsible for activating those pieces, and when that happens. The world pretty much goes to hell. The Valmar Moon lands. Creatures of all kinds begin to attack, and a horrifying ark appears that acts as the final dungeon, and it's one of the more chilling and disturbing areas in the entire series. It's like a living evil world lands on the planet, and the way it tells that story visually is something I remember even all these years later.

4 Rogue Galaxy

The Galactic Feeding

Rogue Galaxy is one of the last original JRPGs released on PS2 and with it came a really colorful and fun game that had you traveling all around the galaxy on your mission to discover the source of a devastating plague. In terms of the world falling apart around you in this game, it's actually multiple worlds falling apart. As in the universe itself.

See, once you discover the source of this plague, an entity called Mother, it's a race against time as Mother is consuming planets at a terrifying pace and literally, the galaxy is at the mercy of this being. So it's not the world that's falling apart. It's much bigger. Existence itself is falling apart to a literal force of nature. It's a terrifying escalation of enemy in Rogue Galaxy, and it's one of the few games that has you feeling kind of helpless when you discover what the actual big threat is.

3 Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter

The Discovery of World's End

Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter is a game that takes a huge departure from the colorful and epic journeys of the first 4 games and instead has you traversing dark, dreary tunnels because the world has fallen into a state of inhabitability. The world is now a society that lives deep underground as everyone has been told that the surface is no longer safe. So here, the world is confined and dark, and you can only imagine the oppressive nature.

So the journey you go on, escorting a mysterious girl to the surface, is all about slowly dissolving the world you previously knew in order to discover what really happened on the surface. It's a unique feeling of a shroud being brought down while you play and although some might not love the lack of color in the game, the build to the surface is incredibly compelling, and it feels like you're single handedly forcing the world to change around you.

2 Drakengard

Symptoms of the End

Drakengard is one of the more disturbing JRPGs ever made. From the twisted mind of Yoko Taro, you play Caim, a murder happy soldier that is mortally wounded and takes on a pact with a dragon in order to preserve both of their lives. The story that takes place here is simply off the wall insanity and there is a prevailing feeling throughout of the fabric of the world being ripped apart as you're playing through it.

And that's because it is, at least, behind the scenes. With war, and every atrocity in the book being committed by both the good and bad guys alike happening, you get the sense that something is coming to a head. Because these terrifying beings that are actually based on biblical figures called the Watchers eventually come into play and when they arrive, it's like the breaking point of the world itself.

Everything turns into a hellscape and, for Berserk fans, the end of this game is very much the eclipse event from that story playing out in video game form. The skies open up and some of the most disturbing creatures you've ever seen pour out to unleash their judgment upon the world. There are no happy endings in this game, only a handful of shades of disturbing.

1 Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne

A Broken World Falls Apart

Shin Megami: Tensei: Nocturne is a dark and dreary as hell JRPG where the beginning of the game starts with the end of the world. And from that point, the already ended world still feels like it's slowly heading towards a collapse. With multiple ideologies being pushed throughout the game to reshape the new world, you can feel the very fabric of the world being ripped apart at the seams.

The way each area seems to be more and more unstable is such a brilliant part of the game. Starting with a medical facility and ending with a final crazy end dungeon of the Tower of Kagutsuchi, the build throughout the game and how each area starts to feel more and more unnatural and unreal is something that makes this, in my opinion, the best in the series by a large margin and that tone never lets up. It's also brutally difficult and the demons you face only get stranger as you go on through your journey, making you feel how unstable everything really is.