Grind Quest Objectives
Persona 3
make some friends, do well in school and maybe get a nice girlfriend by day
demon slaying, monster summoning badass running around a giant dungeon by night
Baroque
get to the bottom of the nero tower, return to the surface and see how the items from within interact with the very creepy locals. Return again to find out the mystery of the tower
Nier
slay all the shadows roaming around, follow any leads that may end up finding a cure for your daughters black plague.
Zelda: Majoras Mask
reverse time as much as it takes to rescue the townsfolk of clocktown from their impending doom. And while you are at it make their terribly depressing social lives a little bit better
Mana Khemia
attend school as a student of Alchemy and try your best to receive good grades. Come up with clever alchemical concoctions and
solve the mystery of your past
Devil summoner
Become a detective in Taisho (1920s)period of japan history who has access to the shadow realm. Use your powers to solve mysteries surrounding the man named Dahn
Fragile Dreams
wander the lonely world completely abandoned of any life to try and find a single living human being. Have your heart broken many times along the way
The world Ends With You
Play the sick 7 day game of the Shibuya underground and manage the objectives given to you by the reapers for a chance to come back to life
BlazBlue
master combos and become a master of reflex so you have an advantage over your friends
Mega Man Legends
scour the underground ruins of the world to try and find hidden treasures, destroy all the reaverbots!
From this list I can gather that my main influence is obviously Japanese games, but also these games are all very narrative inspired save for perhaps blazblue, which I was drawn to more for the character designs which were more than likely created in consideration of the story which I have never played
In most of these games you are usually just a kid or young adult doing whatever you can to solve a strange mystery. I wouldn’t say it is necessarily the RPG genre that inspires me as much as it is the dungeon crawler elements within them, which is why Zelda seems to fit nicely on that list. All of these games involve a great deal of exploration and problem solving, most of them with core game mechanics that always answer to the story rather than the other way around.
Another common trend in these games is the use of swords, and magic, except for perhaps mega man which is better than any shooter game I have ever played, perhaps because instead of being inspired by other games with shooting it drew from elements from games such as the others on my list.
They all have very relatable characters who have strong and interesting character chemistry with the other NPCs. and make their end goals /objectives seem more worthwhile for you to pursue. where I perhaps don't get that feeling as much with the nameless custom face hero of most western RPGs.