in every JRPG ever

"I can't afford to fall behind!"

fictional European country observes Japanese festivals, weather patterns

ah bollocks i didn't search for plain old RPG

in every rpg ever

I think JRPG is distinct enough

- waifish healer

a cursed weapon

a character who defects from the enemy's side to join your cause

"there are more monsters around than usual"

"I lost my dog while playing out near the Smoke Hills. Will you help me find him?"

"ZZZZZzz..."

*LOUD NOISE*

"Huh? Zzzzzz.... What's that?!"

many unlikely things are "refreshing"

fishing

NPCs with mundane story arcs that unfold very slowly

fighting the undead by healing them

One character you never use and never grind

An evil wizard who has the King's ear abd has taken over the city

*and

NPCs with mundane story arcs that unfold very slowly

maybe my fav thing in jrpgs? extra points to dragon quest games where there is usually one of these with a depressing ending per game

an airship

xp yeah i am scrupulous about reading every bit of new dialogue, love to find out how the community's doing

village shop that has an unlimited stock of only 3 items:

• a healing tonic
• an instant cure for deadly poison
• a tent/shelter that can house an entire adventuring party

xp yeah thats like 50% of the appeal of trails is they go super hard on that both at a game and series level. you will get attached to following the 100th character on the call sheet's life story across 8 games

Genki Girls

on the flip side: townspeople whose job is to stand at the entrance to the town all day and tell visitors what town they've just arrived in

a sea voyage cut short by an encounter with a kraken, shipwrecking/scattering the party

a non-human "mascot" party member, like a dog or a puppet

a mid/late-game reveal that the setting is science fiction rather than fantasy

"you've become really dependable!"

maids, butlers

forest region with nuisance woodland murdercritter enemies, soundtracked by synthetic harpsichord and greasy fretless jazz bass

often experienced on the way to an early game mountain level where the party hunts some bandits or a monster, in the process experiencing a disquieting revelation about the morals of the military power they're working for or the mysterious power the player character has

the monster was just trying to protect its babies and the bandits were just trying to make a living

Library consisting only of books that explain game mechanics

america-inspired country with a princess

boss / miniboss battle where the main twist is that they used the same graphics for TWO AT ONCE

bgm absolutely chock full of arpeggios

a city that floats and yet has no significant safety features

I've had just enough drinks to say how beautiful the Laputa cities are on account of how as far as I know they come from Gullivers Travels and Swift put Laputa over Japan because as far as I understand it it was the most Incognita Terra he could envision

Unanswered questions about how everyday people travel anywhere when the roads are teeming with monsters

Churches. Lots of churches.

NPC muttering to themself about some vague problem that is totally gonna turn into a side quest down the line

moral outrage at people who "just say whatever they want"

"as a token chef character i like to relate everything that happens in the world up to and including the apocalypse to me making food for people. it's just what i do."

The big villain you've been working up toward fighting goes down pretty quickly, and it turns out you actually have to... KILL GOD!!!

which is the, nominally, same god who ostensibly inspires your healer to make your ouchies go away (weird gnostic stuff goes here)

my favorite thing about jrpgs was always "killing god"

being asked questions where the answer doesn't actually make any difference
finding hidden items by walking through apparently solid walls

Halfway through the game you lose all your party members for a time and have to go it alone

Variation: going it alone as previously minor, mascot-like or comic-relief party member, while everyone else is locked up in a dungeon.