9 JPRGs With Beach Episodes

Summary

• Beach episodes in anime and JRPGs offer a fun and lighthearted break from the main storylines.
• Games like Fire Emblem and Phantasy Star Online 2 feature beach-themed DLC with special bonuses.
• Beach episodes in games like Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Persona series add extra fun and adventure to the gameplay.

If you've spent any time at all watching anime, you might have picked up on the trend of having an entire episode or plot dedicated to the beach. Besides the fact that Japan is an island nation, so the beach is literally a big part of the land, the beach episode is a nice way for the characters to have some fun, lighthearted downtime in the middle of whatever other drama is happening.

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And it's not just animes that have beach episodes. JRPGs also get in on the fun, whether in cutscenes, mini-games, or DLC. They may just be an excuse to see your character in a swimsuit, but that doesn't mean we don't still enjoy them. After all, who doesn't want to take a little vacation?

9 Fire Emblem

Both a strategy game and a role-playing game, the Fire Emblem series has been running since 1990, so it's no surprise to see that the beach has come up multiple times.

• Fire Emblem Awakening has a beach themed DLC available, called Summer Scramble, where you and your party retreat to a beach only to have to fight off enemies that appear. Every Sorcerer gets a swimsuit, there's new special dialogue, and several characters get their own swimsuit-centric scenes.
• Fire Emblem Fates also has its own beach DLC, Beach Brawl, where your siblings fight each other to go with you to the beach. Multiple new swimsuit skins are featured.
• The mobile game, Fire Emblem Heroes, also has several seasonal episodes that feature the beach. They feature unique beach-themed story lines and new swimsuit skins and art for characters.

8 Phantasy Star Online 2

This online role-playing game turns up the summer heat in, you guessed it, special beach-themed releases. These themed quests, called Beach Wars, take place on the ocean-themed planet of Wopal. Not only do you fight ocean-themed monsters for Beach Points, but there are, of course, new beach-themed skins for the characters.

These outfits aren't just for show; they also give you a special bonus effect. You can take pictures of your team hanging out decked in their new outfits, and interact with special NPCs, also in swimwear.

7 Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth

Not to be outdone by cute anime girls in swimwear, Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth takes place in Hawaii, so the beach is bound to be part of the story. You can swim in the ocean, hang out on the beach, and even work on the beach. Beach Guardian is a three-part substory that puts you, as Ichiban Kasuga, in the shoes of a lifeguard.

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You then play several minigames related to this job: handing out water, finding missing kids, and beating up people looking to disrupt everyone's fun. Plus, yes, you do get to wear a swimsuit.

6 Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth

In Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Cloud and his party travel to Costa del Sol, which is a beach resort town perfect for a beach episode. It's a location that those of you who played the original will be familiar with.

You're able to check into a resort, enjoy the sun, sand, and ocean, and dress up your characters in swimsuits. There's even a bunch of beach/vacation themed minigames available, to really get you in the spirit. Unlike some of the other beach episodes, this one takes place in the course of the plot.

5 Tales Of Arise

There is a beach DLC for Tales of Arise that includes swimsuit skins and hairstyles for characters as well as beach-themed titles. There are three costumes and a handful of new hairstyles for six of the characters.

Finally, the DLC also includes a new, summer-themed soundtrack, so that you can create your own beach episodes as you explore. While there aren't any mechanics specific to this DLC, or plot-related beach content, we all know there's the beach episode to thank for its existence.

4 Tales Of Hearts

In Tales of Hearts, your party comes upon a private beach after a fight, and, after convincing several party members to relax, you get a brief cutscene featuring everyone wearing swimwear as they have some summer fun. After teasing each other, they have a swimming competition that results in most of the team collapsing on the beach in exhaustion.

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From Super Mario 3D World's Sunshine Seaside to Grand Theft Auto 5's Del Perro Beach, video games are full of wonderful beaches.

Though brief, this little splash of fun makes sure we aren't just teased with the beach setting without it being given the beach episode treatment.

3 Xenosaga Episode 1: Der Wille Zur Macht

One of the cutscenes in Xenosaga Episode 1 takes place on a private beach, allowing your party to take a well-earned rest. Characters play beach volleyball, lounge on the beach, and hassle a character who is still trying to work. Not that this beach episode is all fun and games. When the owner of the beach demonstrates its remote-controlled weather, the thunder triggers a traumatic flashback in one of the characters over an earlier death, and the others comfort her.

Besides using this cutscene to contribute to the character's emotional development, there's also one minigame. You're tasked with finding a fish that's swallowed an engagement ring.

2 The Legend Of Heroes: Trails Series

One of the long-running JRPGs there is, The Legend of Heroes series has something for everyone, and, yes, that includes more than one beach episode. Specifically in the Trails series of games.

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• In Trails to Azure, there's a beach-themed intermission where you can build sandcastles, apply sunscreen to someone else, play beach volleyball, and judge swimwear to get bonding points. These bonding points will determine who you see that night for a date.
• Trails into Reverie features minigames that are beach episode themed. You can take trips to the Mishelam Resort, flirt with girls by answering a series of questions, play a watermelon splitting game, and ride a Banana Boat while collecting flags to unlock swimsuit skins.

1 Persona

The Persona series might be as close to playing an anime as you can get in a JRPG, so it's no wonder there's more than one beach episode across the multiple entries.

• Persona 3 Reload features a beach episode that takes place while the characters are on vacation. You spend time trying to flirt your way to some dates (and failing), accidentally discover a robot girl, and hang out on the beach talking to everyone in swimwear.
• Persona 4 Golden also has its own beach scene. You can swim, fish or just gaze out at the beauty of the ocean. Oh, and a character loses their swimsuit, but it's probably not the one you'd expect.
• Following this tradition, Persona 5 has you spend a day at the beach as well as go on a trip to Hawaii later. As you'd expect, there's lots of cute swimwear and flirting inspired by both events.

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