JRPG with vampires

Key takeaways

• JRPGs offer different themes and stories, including vampire archetypes in horror and dungeon crawling games.
• Etrian Odyssey Nexus
  and
  Bravely Default
  has vampire classes that offer unique abilities and gameplay experiences.
• The shadow heart
  and
  Macaw fell
  showcase vampires as central antagonists in horror JRPGs with immersive worlds and stories.

JRPGs covers a huge amount of ground when it comes to themes, subjects, and even narrative styles. This is due in no small part to their decades-long legacy of providing substantial, deep stories for players to enjoy, mixing addictive gameplay with some incredibly dense world-building.

Even among horror JRPGs, however, a horror archetype tends to lurk and hide in the shadows. The humble vampire finds its home in platformers of such a high caliber that their games provide 50% of the name of a famous subgenre, or in intense hack-and-slash souls like Code Vein. However, there are a handful of classic JRPG experiences that allow players to fulfill their blood-curdling dreams, or take the stakes to some fanged enemies.

5 Etrian Odyssey Nexus

Heal by moonlight in this dungeon crawler

The Etrian Odyssey series is one of Atlus' oldest collections of titles, and while they tend to be overlooked in the West for being a bit more technical and focusing less on storytelling, the overall gaming experience these dungeon crawlers provide is an incredibly unique one, unlike any other traditional or dungeon-focused JRPG on the shelves today. In addition to this, there are a variety of Etrian Odyssey games, so once a player is hooked, they have a variety of titles to choose from.

The Vampire subclass i Etrian Odyssey Nexus is available to players who obtain the Scarlet Evil Eye accessory. It's not a selectable class in terms of character creation, but it gives characters vampiric abilities in addition to their chosen class, and it also provides a great pair of portraits for them to use.

4 Bravely Default

An important vampire NPC and class

Bravely Default and its sequels are some of the best JRPGs Square Enix has put out to date, and that's a pretty broad list of titles to top it off. The innovative job system allows players to cycle through a variety of disciplines and choose the one they feel best suits one of the four central characters and their skills. There's an amazing variety of jobs in both titles, showcasing Square Enix classics as well as jobs that make the environment feel more unique.

The vampire is a job won Bravely Default by defeating Lord DeRosso, a key antagonist who holds a great deal of knowledge and power. It allows players to absorb traits from their enemies and even steal enemy moves. It's a strong late-game class that can carry players to the end of the title if they so choose.

3 Dark Spire

A classic JRPG gem on the DS

Atlus' love letter to the first-person dungeon crawler subgenre, Dark Spire appeared early in the DS's lifespan as an homage to the classic gothic dungeon crawlers of the 90s. The intense difficulty and stunning, grim aesthetic will keep players engaged for a while, and Etrian Odyssey influences only enhance this completely unique title.

Many enemies in this game are vampires, or at least vampiric in appearance, along with Lovecraftian horrors and more classic bandits and dungeon vermin for the player to hack their way through. The game also features a variety of endings based on which quests are completed during the titular journey through the Dark Spire. Those with a DS or 3DS on hand should definitely look into giving this underrated title a shot, especially if they enjoy a classy vampire horror.

2 The shadow heart

A classic horror JRPG title

The shadow heart is the first in a trilogy of absolutely fascinating horror JRPGs, and it stands out as one of the best in this subgenre of titles. These games take place on an alternate version of Earth with many events in the real world still occurring, with the caveat that many dire influences and strange works of esoteric magic exist in this world as well. Lovecraftian mythos and philosophers who feed on semi-immortality share this world with everyday mortals.

Within this melting pot of horrors, an esteemed family of benevolent vampires is among the many key aspects of the plot. These three games all follow each other (with the bad ending in each game being the canon ending that the next game follows, just for fun) but the Valentine vampires remain a prominent part of the trilogy.

1 Macaw fell

A beautiful indie JRPG

Evoking some of the features and feelings of the best handheld JRPGs, Macaw fell is an indie JRPG that proudly wears its classic influences on its sleeve in a game set among floating islands, at risk of falling for a shadowy vampire cabal. Vampires take center stage as the main antagonists of this expansive game, and learning how to defeat them as they cling to the night is the game's bread and butter.

Macaw fell combines this terrifying portrayal of classic, elegant, blood-sucking vampires with a vivid, pixel-perfect world that practically begs to be explored. It's a great title for anyone looking to try an underrated JRPG title that they may have missed from the last console generation.