Lowtown, Or How No One Takes Poverty Seeriously in JRPGs

[Wolf Kanno]

Most games don't tackle the theme because it's complicated and nuanced, so most people just go simple is better, which frankly I feel even FFVII kind of picked the low hanging fruit on this one as well. They are heavy handed at first, but the whole thing gets quickly forgotten and underplayed once the plot starts to take off around Junon.

Thinking on the subject of games that deal with the subject, I may give it to FFTactics for doing the best job, though its more telling than showing, so it may not meet the requirements of this topic put forth by the OP. Ramza's story begins with him being tasked to put down a peasant rebellion, led by disfranchised soldiers who were never compensated for their work in the war. The first chapter largely deals with class warfare between the lords and the peasant folks, and serves as backdrop to have Ramza debate his own sense of justice versus his duties as a privileged lord. It ends badly for the peasants, but is largely resolved in the in-between times of Chapter 1 and 2. Even still, the subject still comes up about the plight of the people thanks to throwaways statements made by the various lords plotting against each other, as well as listening to gossip in the taverns. You learn that the war is causing a refugee crisis, is placing a huge crunch on a food crisis caused by famine, and ultimately the Glabados Church and Delita both count on the mass discontent growing with the poor population to enact their own political plans. Still, this is all background information and you rarely get to see the downtrodden masses as much as you do in the first chapter, but I commend the game for trying to keep that plot point going throughout the piece. What I enjoy better is that Tactics presents a more or less realistic take on the subject matter of war causing economical strain on the masses, and how governments exploit the poor classes for their own ends.

I've heard Ogre Battle 64 and Front Mission 2 also delve into the topics and serve as a central focus for their stories, but I've never played either of them.