Hi! I’ve been working on a list of RPGs (mostly japanese or j-influenced somewhat) in which the cast is mostly adults. The list is hosted on backloggd.
Leaving it here both in case it may be useful to anyone, but also in case you spot any missing titles that you believe should be added :) cheers!
P.S: the only reason for not taking western RPGs into consideration is because… well, most of them already feature adult casts. Think series such as Divinity, Shadowrun, Baldur’s Gate, etc. However, those usually play dramatically different when compared to the JRPG-style turn-based combat.
Thank you! Indeed, Trails in the Sky has been on my backlog for a while and for good reason, from what I hear. I remember looking at screenshots for the subsequent series like Trails of Cold Steel and generally it was a turnoff starting from the art/design direction.
In this regard, I think that Persona 5’s success is both a blessing and a curse: blessing, because it showed how JRPGs don’t have to be action oriented to be beautiful; curse because Atlus surely realized, already back with Persona 4, that the high school setting somehow seemed successful, thus somehow suggesting to the industry that it is a good model to follow.
Oh, I just looked at a wiki for the upcoming game (already out in JP) Trails Through Daybreak and it seems like the cast is at least balanced between teenagers and adults! I’m more than okay with this if written nicely and without creepy/disturbing tropes.
I haven’t followed that one so much; seeing a blue-haired male lead using a sword, and no sign they were moving away from dedicated “relationship events”, overall didn’t seem like the direction I wanted. I’m not quite sure the age of characters was my only issue with the series.
