JRPGs With The Best Stories

[cheesesteak]

I delight in the plot of Bravely Default for the subversions it brings to the genre, for the simplicity of the setup, and for having one of the greatest endings to any game I've ever played (it's in the top three, it's tricky to break those down though).

I appreciate the plot of Megaman Battle Network 3 for the fantastic job it does in developing depth and maturity as the plot progresses.

This really makes me more motivated to finish Bravely Default and finally get around to the MMBN series.

Anyway, for me...? I'll first preface saying I've never played the Persona series, nor SMT3...nor a lot of JRPG franchises lol. But here's a couple separate lists for me:

JRPGs I actually finished with stories I find to be great
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy Tactics
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Cross
I am Setsuna
The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky
Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon

JRPGs I have not finished, but so far has good, even amazing, stories
Xenogears
Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey
Shin Megami Tensei IV
Radiant Historia
Lunar: Silver Star Story
Rise of the Third Power

Yes, I'm aware of Cross's story flaws. I still think the general plot and various substories and characterizations are really good.

Side note, while FF12 is one of my favorite FFs, I think its story is fairly "by the books". Great dialog writing, though. Perhaps the best in the series? Also FF6 has a great story, but for some reason it just never really resonated with me. I acknowledge how good it is, but just for me, just doesn't resonate. Maybe I need to play it again.

edit:
oh and I'd include both recent Nier games, but I don't consider them JRPGs, by traditional definition of the genre.