The best JRPGs where you start with nothing

Important takeaways

• Some JRPGs start with characters at the bottom, like
  Code Vein
  causing players to prove their worth.
• Final Fantasy 12
  introduces Vaan, a street kid, who does not become a chosen one, but follows the events instead.
• Link in
  Ocarina of time
  starts completely empty-handed, unlike the usual
  Zelda
  formula for having little gear.

The first thing that comes to mind when JRPG tropes come up is the hero's journey, where the young protagonist awakens to some new power or destiny and must go on an adventure to understand it and save the world. As such, players are used to controlling a main character that starts with an advantage, although they must become stronger over time.

However, not all JRPGs opt for this classic story set-up, and some even choose to turn it on its head and present a character who isn't inherently special and has to prove his worth. These JRPGs all choose to start the player with nothingoften under less than ideal circumstances.

8 Code Vein

Slaves to the Blood

The world of Code Vein is a dark, post-apocalyptic future where half-human hybrids hunt for an ever-shrinking resource called Blood Beads. The player begins as nothing more than a slave, tasked with hunting these gems, not even for their own benefit but for their masters. To make matters worse, they hunt these gems in monster-infested ruins, with nothing but a lead pipe for defense.

Admittedly, Code Vein later falls back on more of a “chosen” trope. After defeating their first boss, players discover that they have the ability to absorb other people's codes, which essentially serves as the game's class system. Players really start at the bottom here though.

7 Shenmue

9 to 5 simulator

Shenmue tells a revenge story that wouldn't be out of place in a martial arts movie. The game begins with the death of the main character's father, and players must track down his killer with virtually no information to go on.

Not only has the main character, Ryo, lost his father, but he must also work to find clues, earn money, and become stronger before he can exact his revenge and start him at square one. Shenmue revels in delivering the grounded details of Ryo's life that most games would skip over in a montage, like his day job or his training schedule.

6 Final Fantasy 12

Starting from the streets

Of the entire main line Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy 12 can have the main character starting at the lowest point. Players begin, after the introduction, playing as the young war orphan Vaan. He is a street kid who relies on the kindness of an old man to survive and basically kills rats to live.

It's the drive to escape this life, as much as anything else, that starts Vaan and his fellow street kid Penelo on the adventure that leads them to the rest of the player's party. The interesting thing about Vaan's character is that he doesn't become special. He simply follows the larger events he gets caught up in and tries to do what he thinks is right.

5 The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

The link is left blank

The The Legend of Zelda games often take the same approach to building Link's power seen in Metroidvanias. Link solves puzzles or uncovers secrets, and he gains a new ability or tool that lets him get to new places on the map. At least he usually starts with something to fend off monsters.

Not in Ocarina of timewhich sees Link start completely empty-handed. He even has to navigate around and solve a short tutorial puzzle to get his sword. All other equipment must also be earned or purchased. Ocarina of time really starts Link off at the bottom, before later giving him some impressive, time-altering powers.

4 Dark souls

Prisoner of fate

All Souls games allow the player to start with nothing if they wish. The “Deprived” starting class and its counterparts are essential for Tier 1 races and other challenges. In the original Dark soulsHowever, even if players choose an equipped starting class, they must navigate the Undead Asylum before they can retrieve their gear.

This of course includes a run-in with the Asylum Demon, in one of the most memorable introductions to the tutorial area in all of gaming. The setup gives players a taste of how harsh and terrifying the world is Dark souls will be, long before they are even equipped to handle it.

3 Personas 4

High school drama every day

The Persona the series often uses a similar setting for all of its main characters. The main character must move to a new city, live with a relative and attend the local school. Unlike Persona 5which begins with a glimpse of what Joker can do, Personas 4 puts players right into the role of the average high school kid.

Personas 4 taking nothing seriously to begin with. Players are in a new city, so they have no friends, they have no money unless they take a part-time job. It even takes a while for the game to reveal the main hook, the protagonist awakening his powers as a Persona user. There are game days worth of high school drama to work through and friends to meet first.

2 Yakuza: Like a dragon

Left For Dead

The Yakuza the series has often tasked players with building themselves up from humble beginnings. However, few games have given their protagonist as many setbacks as Ichiban Kasuga does in its introduction.

Don't just do it Yakuza: Like a dragon start with Kasuga being released from prison, serving time for a crime someone else committed, it's not long before his own boss shoots him in the head. He is left for dead, in a new town, homeless and friendless, until he is rescued by a homeless guy, Nanba.

The entire story of the game revolves around Kasuga also pulling himself up by his bootstraps. He must learn to earn money and fend for himself quickly, as the events of the game begin to accelerate.

1 Blood borne

Beasts everywhere in the store

FromSoftware loves to start the player at a disadvantage, and Blood bornes introduction highlights that point. After a cryptic opening cutscene with the mention of a contract and a strange blood transfusion leading to a blood-soaked nightmare, players wake up in a seemingly abandoned medical clinic.

It's not long before players encounter a werewolf-like beast feasting on a corpse downstairs, a battle players must either run from or take on unarmed. Either dying here or running to the nearby lamp will take players to the Hunter's Dream, where they can take a breather and finally equip their starter weapons.

Of course, Blood borne also has its own version of the Deprived class, called Waste of Skin, for players who really want to start at the lowest rung of the ladder. The pervasive feeling of terror and defenselessness in Blood bornes introduction would fit in any survival horror game.