FF7 Rebirth And Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth Have The Best Modern JRPG Party Banter

I’ve always been a massive fan of characters in my RPG interacting with each other on various occasions, leading to moments you wouldn’t imagine with others or lighthearted information about their background. It’s stuff like that and party banter where my favorite RPGs like the Mass Effect Trilogy and Baldur’s Gate 3 masterfully nail down party member chemistry.

However, my focus today is on JRPGs specifically, two of which launched just recently, AKA Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. While I have slight criticisms for both these titles, I cannot undermine how much they make you fall in love with their diverse cast of characters, thus offering to me what is the best party banter in modern JRPG right now.

What Exactly Makes For Engaging Party Banter In Video Games?

Now, that question’s answer can come down to personal preferences for many, but if you ask me, as someone who’s loved this aspect in both Western and Japanese RPGs, the heart of it lies in fleshing out the respective character’s chemistry with other party members or just poetic moments to develop their personality further.

Whether it’s random moments of dialogue between party members sprinkled in while exploring the world (Shout out to the Tales Of series.) or comedic scenes to take your mood off the serious beats of the narrative, there’s a lot that substitutes for them, mostly the characters and if they’re engaging enough to capture your affection.

JRPGs with top tier party chemistry?
byu/robolink inJRPG

Putting aside the two titles I’ll be discussing briefly today, while I profoundly adore both of them, I can’t forget to appreciate the classics that made me adore this element in the first place, such as Chrono Trigger, which had me discover that a timeless gem so amazing for the era it released that it had a variety of moments where the key story dialogue would differ depending on your active party.

When you discover things like this, it makes the next playthrough much more incentivizing, making you equip different party compositions to make sure you see each and everything their moments offer with one another.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Cast Is Relatable And Full Of Charm

Now, I know that anyone who’s played the game, like me, would argue that Rebirth doesn’t have the traditional RPG party banter sprinkled in.

However, I stand by how it still has the best banter because the game compensates for that with its numerous sidequests and the Protorelic activities that feature your party members tackling tasks with you. Even my fellow colleague Hamid Shah loved the idea of the game inserting the characters in sidequests so that their inclusion doesn’t feel half-baked in the grand scheme of things.

I understand how it would’ve benefited more if every party member was involved with the sidequest cutscene (instead of eerily standing in the background), but trust me when I say that each character gets their spotlight to shine and develop equally.

yuffie and barret’s friendship/dynamic is something so ******* serious to me pic.twitter.com/qBTvnUhQgQ

— jess Δ (@cienfleurswing) March 17, 2024

However, my point still stands is how one of FF7’s strongest qualities is its characters, whether it’s the entire party making fun of Vincent and Cloud for being loners or the fact that Yuffie and Barret have the serious father/ unhinged daughter dynamic, the charmful banter never gets old in this game.

Moreover, the cast being in their early twenties, even with Red XIII being a teenager, makes many people relate easily to them, making the entire cast’s on-screen moments together feel much more precious and endearing.

Infinite Wealth’s Chaotic And Ambitious Characters

Now we all know Ichiban is the perfect successor to Kiryu and how he’s the most pure-hearted protagonist right now in gaming, but what I want to talk about here is how RGG Studios managed to perfectly capture the beauty of party banter in Like a Dragon which of course, also returned gracefully in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth.

THIS IS SO ??? pic.twitter.com/IMLtZUhpi7

— rob (@kazumaji_) January 30, 2024

Both titles feature an extensive array of activities that develop and help you bond with your party members, from the comedy play-esque Table Talks at restaurants to even the tons of “Party Chats” scattered around the world. The latter is my absolute favorite, as they’re like slice-of-life moments that occasionally show lighthearted or informative interactions between party members.

Besides these activities, I haven’t even mentioned the various Bonding episodes you can partake in, a similar aspect to the Persona franchise’s Social Links, where you can learn more in detail about party members. It’s just one of several things I love what they’ve done with the series ever since Kiryu’s departure as the sole protagonist.

Even the party banter aside, I’m more glad that RGG Studios brought back all the party members from LAD 7 into Infinite Wealth; they feel so fleshed out and developed that I wholeheartedly wish they don’t ever get abandoned due to how much potential they have for spin-offs or cameo appearances in future RGG projects.

Takeaway

Needless to say, you can agree or disagree with me here. Still, the fact is that both of these titles have been showered with so much adoration from their respective fanbases for the characters specifically. In contrast to FF7 Rebirth’s adolescent cast, Infinite Wealth’s adults are surprisingly just as engaging, with the same emotional depth and unique personalities that make them so unique from other JRPG game parties.

However, if you haven’t played either Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth or Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, I urge you to give them a chance despite the huge time investment needed for them or the fact that you may need to play their individual prequel titles. Both of these have the most well-written and charismatic group of characters I’ve ever experienced till now.