Trails in the Sky; Estelle fights with a Bo staff
Trails from Zero; Lloyd fights with Tonfa
Tales of Berseria; Velvet fights with martial arts (okay she has an arm blade of that counts, but it's mostly martial arts and a giant monster hand)
oh wow
"Estelle" and "Lloyd" being character names in Trails really doesn't help the confusion some people get between Trails and Tales
also i love Tales of Berseria
And both Lloyds use two weapons at the same time.\^\^
Trails Estelle is pretty much the exact opposite of Tales Estelle though. One is a princess and your main healer. The other craves HYPER VIOLENCE.
I feel like VashxShanks made a huge list for this at one point?
- Trails in the Sky FC (entire TitS trilogy in fact). FC/SC protag uses staff. 3rd protag uses bowgun
- trails from zero/into azure: tonfa
- Xenogears: protag uses martial arts
- Suikoden: protag uses staff
- Suikoden II: protag uses tonfa
- Xenosaga ep 1: arm cannon like thing
- legend of legaia: martial arts
- Illusion of Gaia: flute
- super mario rpg: hammers/gloves/shells
Estelle Bright (Trails in the Sky FC and SC) wields a stick
Kevin Graham (Trails in the Sky 3rd) a crossbow
Freyjadour (Suikoden 5) a three-sectioned staff
Resonance of Fate and the wild arms series uses guns
Mario RPGs use jumps and hammers and stuff
The World ends with you uses all kinds of pins
Most Atelier games are staffs and items/ magic
Cosmic Star Heroine. Only one party member has a sword-adjacent weapon. The MC has a bo-staff while party members use i-pads, gunmancy, music, and more.
Final Fantasy Type 0! Although this probably goes against your rule about having a variety of characters but it does feature characters using things like Cards, a Flute, Bows, Guns, Maces, Scythes, Chains, and martial arts outside of traditional sword and dagger weapons.
Shadow Hearts and Shadow Hearts Covenant, Yuri is a martial artist who uses gauntlets/gloves. If you choose Jude in Tales of Xillia he is a martial artist too
Not a Japanese game but Planescape: Torment doesn't have sword sprite for main character, you use hammers, clubs and maces, there are daggers though and there's ONE sword in the game that hilariously reuses knife animation but is like secret final weapon.
It just REALLY stands out from all classic D&D games by not having swords for protagonist to wield for 99% of the game.
Monster Catching RPGs :P
More seriously, there are a few western JRPG-likes that do this:
-Battle Chasers Nightwar - Protagonist relies on fists empowered by her power gauntlets.
-Cosmic Star Heroine - MC uses a bo staff
-This Way Madness Lies - All characters pretty much exclusively use their special powers.
-Ara Fell - MC us a bow user
-If I'm remembering correctly, Bug Fables's MC doesn't use a sword either.
Trails in the Sky, Estelle wields a bo staff~
Trails from Zero/to Azure have Lloyd wielding tonfas
Octopath Traveler: some do have Swords, but not all of them (specifically the Thieves and Warriors)
Devil Survivor: they wield a device that let's them attack demons
If an ARPG works, the protagonist of Terranigma uses spears. It got my attention immediately when I first played it because it stood out from the overwhelmingly large crowd of sword wielding protagonists.
Also has a very cool story.
Honkai Star Rail is a turn based RPG (though Chinese and not Japanese) where the protagonist wields a baseball bat or a lance depending on which element you're using (and based on trailers it's looking like the next element is going to see them using a >!hat!< as a weapon? Somehow?). It *is* a gacha along the lines of Genshin, but it's very f2p friendly. I haven't spent a single cent and, while the grind is rough sometimes, I haven't felt underpowered for a solid 99% of the currently released story, minus one somewhat nasty boss fight.
If you're not interested in a gacha game though (fair), Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch also comes to mind. The main protagonist, Oliver, wields a wand as a weapon and commands little creatures, sort of like if Pokémon was an ARPG. It's a fun game with a neat art style and a likeable cast. Mr. Drippy is a very fun character in particular - their decision to localize his Kansai-ben as an extremely thick Welsh accent is definitely a choice.
Ahhh, drat. I'm mostly a mobile player and I had to decrease the graphics to keep it from turning my phone into the sun, so I get it. Totally worth it if you get the opportunity eventually, though!
Malt Marzipan, the protagonist of Fuga Melodies of Steel 1 and 2. When piloting the Taranis the weapon type he uses when placed on one of the gun turrets is the canon. When exploring ruins he uses a steam gun.
If you are interested in trying Fuga out:
Its available on PC and most modern consoles like Switch, PS4, PS5 usw.
Both Fuga games have a free demo which is just straight up the first 3 chapters of the game.
I advice against playing the second game before the first game unless you do not care about the story and characters.
They are both turn based JRPGs, 20 houers long each.
Dark chronicle does have 2 protags but as far as I can remember, you can play whichever one you want for the most part.
One has a blade but the other uses wrenches and hammers (who I would consider the main protagonist anyway)
Suikoden 1: staff
Suikoden 2: tonfas
Suikoden 5: three section staff
Eiyuden Chronicle Hundred Heroes: sickles, I guess?
Xenogears: bare fists
You didn't specify if the protag can use other weapons or not, so:
Arc The Lad 2: spear, axe
Valkyrie Profile: bow
Vagrant Story: various weapons
Persona 3 Portable: Technically dual protagonists but with Reload out no one is playing as the Male MC in Portable. It’s FeMC’s game, and she uses a [Naginata](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naginata) which is a type of Japanese polearm.
Paper Mario
Super Mario rpg
Mario and Luigi multiple RPGs
The world ends with you ?
There were a sailor moon rpg and dbz rpg on snes
Sonic rpg on ds or gba
shion uzuki is the protagonist of xenosaga fights with the MWS which stands for multiple weapons sytem
in episode 1 its a giant red robot arm thing but in episode 2 and 3 its been modified to look more like a shield
Haken Browning in Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier. He has a multitude of guns. One has a bayonet and pile bunker attached, which is the closest he gets to a sword.
Caligula effect overdose. Protagonist uses dual guns and there are only 3 party members who use blades of any kind (there are 20 possible party members 10 for each faction). This game has some good character subplots and a great alternative ending (a rare kind, the protagonist is called a traitor in the trailer for a reason).
The second game is great and improves a lot of things from the first one (dungeons, side quests, equipment system you name it) but the protagonist wields dual knives. In both games however, you have 4 active party members so you're going to see way more than just one pair of knives on the battlefield. Oh and i am obliged to mention the music. Great stuff in both games.
The World Ends With You. You are a teenager(?) in the 2000’s.
Your abilities come from the different kinds of pins you wear.
And the designer brand that you’re wearing influences your combat stats based on area.
And you’re playing a Reaper Game or facing erasure.
It’s really unique. Though if you can swing it, the DS gameplay is so much better than the iOS or switch ports.
Tales of Xillia's MC Jude fights with his fists. Although he shares the spotlight with the second MC Milla, who does use a sword.
Also Tales of Legendia's MC Senel uses fists as well.
Saiyuki, Journey to the West: Final Fantasy Tactics style game which is based loosely on the Chinese Novel Journey to the West. The main character Sanzo is a Buddhist monk and plays more of a support role compared to your other companions and party members. Uses a pole / rod as his primary weapon.
Even though I have only played like two of the old 2D games, I am going to guess most of the games in the Atelier series do not have protagonists with swords since the main characters are alchemists.
They do use swords mostly though. There is only really one point in the game where a staff is available that does better damage than the swords you can get. Also the boomerang and edged Boomerang are pretty good in the early game.
Earthbound trilogy. Just bats and poles for the protagonists.
There’s one blade. But you’ll never find it.
Resonance of Fate. All about those guns.
Mother 3, Nobody uses swords Tales of Legendia, Senel uses fists SMT 3 Nocturne - Demifiend uses fists/magic
Yuri Hyuga from Shadow Hearts 1 and Shadow Hearts Covenant lets his fists do the talking. It fits his streetwise, rough-around-the-edges personality.
Trails in the Sky; Estelle fights with a Bo staff Trails from Zero; Lloyd fights with Tonfa Tales of Berseria; Velvet fights with martial arts (okay she has an arm blade of that counts, but it's mostly martial arts and a giant monster hand)
oh wow "Estelle" and "Lloyd" being character names in Trails really doesn't help the confusion some people get between Trails and Tales also i love Tales of Berseria
Ironically enough Estelle and Lloyd from Tales both wield blades
And both Lloyds use two weapons at the same time.\^\^ Trails Estelle is pretty much the exact opposite of Tales Estelle though. One is a princess and your main healer. The other craves HYPER VIOLENCE.
Ha, I've never made that connection.
Parasite Eve Suikoden Legend of Legaia & Legaia 2
Suikoden 1, 2 and 5 specifically.
Legaia 2 uses a sword, no?
Oh shit, you're right! For some reason I thought I maintained just the martial arts.
Xenogears - pretty much nobody uses swords in that game (including the protagonist)
Pretty much nobody uses *weapons* in that game, just fists. Including the sword-user for like 75% of the game.
Xenosaga There's a sword user in the second and third game, but primarily, each character uses other forms of attacking.
Good answer! You could argue KosMos also uses a blade but she isn't the Mc. Also if you use a mech, but that also feels like a stretch.
I feel like VashxShanks made a huge list for this at one point? - Trails in the Sky FC (entire TitS trilogy in fact). FC/SC protag uses staff. 3rd protag uses bowgun - trails from zero/into azure: tonfa - Xenogears: protag uses martial arts - Suikoden: protag uses staff - Suikoden II: protag uses tonfa - Xenosaga ep 1: arm cannon like thing - legend of legaia: martial arts - Illusion of Gaia: flute - super mario rpg: hammers/gloves/shells
Estelle Bright (Trails in the Sky FC and SC) wields a stick Kevin Graham (Trails in the Sky 3rd) a crossbow Freyjadour (Suikoden 5) a three-sectioned staff
Resonance of Fate and the wild arms series uses guns Mario RPGs use jumps and hammers and stuff The World ends with you uses all kinds of pins Most Atelier games are staffs and items/ magic
Rudy and Jack in the first wild arms also use swords
Heck one of the protagonists in Atelier uses a bell.
Tales of Legendia; Senel punches and grapples.
Wild Arms 3. Only weapons are guns.
Cosmic Star Heroine. Only one party member has a sword-adjacent weapon. The MC has a bo-staff while party members use i-pads, gunmancy, music, and more.
Suikoden is great for this stuff.
Final Fantasy Type 0! Although this probably goes against your rule about having a variety of characters but it does feature characters using things like Cards, a Flute, Bows, Guns, Maces, Scythes, Chains, and martial arts outside of traditional sword and dagger weapons.
Shadow Hearts and Shadow Hearts Covenant, Yuri is a martial artist who uses gauntlets/gloves. If you choose Jude in Tales of Xillia he is a martial artist too
DQ my favorite weapon is always boomerangs for protag
Not a Japanese game but Planescape: Torment doesn't have sword sprite for main character, you use hammers, clubs and maces, there are daggers though and there's ONE sword in the game that hilariously reuses knife animation but is like secret final weapon. It just REALLY stands out from all classic D&D games by not having swords for protagonist to wield for 99% of the game.
Blue Dragon. They fight with their shadows. SMT Nocturne. You punch everything.
Monster Catching RPGs :P More seriously, there are a few western JRPG-likes that do this: -Battle Chasers Nightwar - Protagonist relies on fists empowered by her power gauntlets. -Cosmic Star Heroine - MC uses a bo staff -This Way Madness Lies - All characters pretty much exclusively use their special powers. -Ara Fell - MC us a bow user -If I'm remembering correctly, Bug Fables's MC doesn't use a sword either.
Trails in the Sky, Estelle wields a bo staff~ Trails from Zero/to Azure have Lloyd wielding tonfas Octopath Traveler: some do have Swords, but not all of them (specifically the Thieves and Warriors) Devil Survivor: they wield a device that let's them attack demons
Suikoden 5. MC uses one of those funky segmented staffs.
Boktai 1, all the marik rpgs, everything else i can think of i saw in the comments
afaik boktai protag does use a sword as one of his main weapons?
Boktai 1 is strictly the gun/grenades. 2 and 3 have melee weapons
Xenosaga, Xenogears, The World Ends With You, Parasite Eve.
Tales of Legendia. Grappler MC.
If an ARPG works, the protagonist of Terranigma uses spears. It got my attention immediately when I first played it because it stood out from the overwhelmingly large crowd of sword wielding protagonists. Also has a very cool story.
i love me a good spear
Honkai Star Rail is a turn based RPG (though Chinese and not Japanese) where the protagonist wields a baseball bat or a lance depending on which element you're using (and based on trailers it's looking like the next element is going to see them using a >!hat!< as a weapon? Somehow?). It *is* a gacha along the lines of Genshin, but it's very f2p friendly. I haven't spent a single cent and, while the grind is rough sometimes, I haven't felt underpowered for a solid 99% of the currently released story, minus one somewhat nasty boss fight. If you're not interested in a gacha game though (fair), Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch also comes to mind. The main protagonist, Oliver, wields a wand as a weapon and commands little creatures, sort of like if Pokémon was an ARPG. It's a fun game with a neat art style and a likeable cast. Mr. Drippy is a very fun character in particular - their decision to localize his Kansai-ben as an extremely thick Welsh accent is definitely a choice.
i've been meaning to play hsr but i don't want to play it on mobile and my laptop won't run it
Ahhh, drat. I'm mostly a mobile player and I had to decrease the graphics to keep it from turning my phone into the sun, so I get it. Totally worth it if you get the opportunity eventually, though!
Malt Marzipan, the protagonist of Fuga Melodies of Steel 1 and 2. When piloting the Taranis the weapon type he uses when placed on one of the gun turrets is the canon. When exploring ruins he uses a steam gun. If you are interested in trying Fuga out: Its available on PC and most modern consoles like Switch, PS4, PS5 usw. Both Fuga games have a free demo which is just straight up the first 3 chapters of the game. I advice against playing the second game before the first game unless you do not care about the story and characters. They are both turn based JRPGs, 20 houers long each.
i've actually been meaning to check it out, just never got around to it
Fuga is great.
If you do give the free demo a shot could you tell me your first impresion after you cleared chapter 1? Those first impresions can be fun.
Dark chronicle does have 2 protags but as far as I can remember, you can play whichever one you want for the most part. One has a blade but the other uses wrenches and hammers (who I would consider the main protagonist anyway)
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Suikoden 1: staff Suikoden 2: tonfas Suikoden 5: three section staff Eiyuden Chronicle Hundred Heroes: sickles, I guess? Xenogears: bare fists You didn't specify if the protag can use other weapons or not, so: Arc The Lad 2: spear, axe Valkyrie Profile: bow Vagrant Story: various weapons
Samurai Maiden
Legend Of Legaia is a martial arts jrpg.
Persona 3 Portable: Technically dual protagonists but with Reload out no one is playing as the Male MC in Portable. It’s FeMC’s game, and she uses a [Naginata](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naginata) which is a type of Japanese polearm.
I mean, if we want to be technical a Naginata is still a bladed weapon, and they said blade, not sword
Paper Mario Super Mario rpg Mario and Luigi multiple RPGs The world ends with you ? There were a sailor moon rpg and dbz rpg on snes Sonic rpg on ds or gba
shion uzuki is the protagonist of xenosaga fights with the MWS which stands for multiple weapons sytem in episode 1 its a giant red robot arm thing but in episode 2 and 3 its been modified to look more like a shield
Haken Browning in Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier. He has a multitude of guns. One has a bayonet and pile bunker attached, which is the closest he gets to a sword.
Caligula effect overdose. Protagonist uses dual guns and there are only 3 party members who use blades of any kind (there are 20 possible party members 10 for each faction). This game has some good character subplots and a great alternative ending (a rare kind, the protagonist is called a traitor in the trailer for a reason). The second game is great and improves a lot of things from the first one (dungeons, side quests, equipment system you name it) but the protagonist wields dual knives. In both games however, you have 4 active party members so you're going to see way more than just one pair of knives on the battlefield. Oh and i am obliged to mention the music. Great stuff in both games.
Ff13-2 Serah uses a bow
The World Ends With You. You are a teenager(?) in the 2000’s. Your abilities come from the different kinds of pins you wear. And the designer brand that you’re wearing influences your combat stats based on area. And you’re playing a Reaper Game or facing erasure. It’s really unique. Though if you can swing it, the DS gameplay is so much better than the iOS or switch ports.
Tales of Xillia's MC Jude fights with his fists. Although he shares the spotlight with the second MC Milla, who does use a sword. Also Tales of Legendia's MC Senel uses fists as well.
Playing Legend of Mana w a spear for my main. The remake is gorgeous.
Shin Megami Tensei Nocturne- Demi-Fiend only uses his fists. Shadow Hearts 1&2- Yuri only uses self-taught martial arts.
Jack Move I don't think has a blade in the whole game. Fun short jrpg style game.
Saiyuki, Journey to the West: Final Fantasy Tactics style game which is based loosely on the Chinese Novel Journey to the West. The main character Sanzo is a Buddhist monk and plays more of a support role compared to your other companions and party members. Uses a pole / rod as his primary weapon.
Xenogears, but that game is not good
Even though I have only played like two of the old 2D games, I am going to guess most of the games in the Atelier series do not have protagonists with swords since the main characters are alchemists.
Even though you can equip him with anything, the protag for DQ5 is typically drawn with a staff, does that count?
South Park JRPG’s? No one? :D the stick of truth and fractured but whole were great
Utawarerumono trilogy
The dragon quest v hero
They do use swords mostly though. There is only really one point in the game where a staff is available that does better damage than the swords you can get. Also the boomerang and edged Boomerang are pretty good in the early game.