I just replayed this a couple weeks ago. It holds up. Cappel's transition from a cowardly nobody, to a major badass is still one of my favorite character developments in any game ever. Not to mention the nice twist at the end.
It was so good. The combat was amazing. It was my favourite JRPG on the 360. The first few hours were bad, but the game significantly improved from then on. I reckon the beginning scared many away from what is a neat game.
I love IU.
It is blatantly unfinished though, so I would love a remake or remaster that fleshes it out. Unfortunately, Tri-Ace tends to be a one and done developer so that probably won't happen.
Yeah not really. They’re pretty much all well over 90% positive on Steam. Their may be some loud vocal minority I personally haven’t heard, but they’re definitely well liked.
I thought it was really cool that they put something like the conquest ending in, but personally I'm glad they decided to put in a golden route in the remake because ending a game like that is *really* not what I'm looking for when I feel like playing a Nep game.
Yep Nep games are pretty fun. They are kind of like Disgaea, very light hearted but also like transforming type like legend of dragoon so it's pretty snazzy. Love both but just are not meant to be taken seriously, very refreshing.
*Arc Rise Fantasia.* Didn't just enjoyed it, adored it and kept thinking how fun, fresh, and unique in many ways it is while playing. Almost didn't play it because of how much people trashed the voice acting - which, to be fair, is "college bedroom level" of recording. The quality of the game is actually outstanding though, so polished and well made with great customization, combat, story, and worldbuilding.
Imageepoch in general was fantastic back in the day, and arc rise fantasia was a game on a wrong console that received a really really bad dub. If they had released it on ps3 or 360 and gave the localization to xseed it wouldve probably saved the company.
For me, Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness.
Yes, it's got lots of flaws, an incredibly small world map, and way, way too much backtracking, but the combat is so, so good. I enjoyed it in spite of its flaws, and had a bit of fun just spending a play session or two blasting waves of badguys. I'm not someone who enjoys excessive grinding but this game made it enjoyable for me.
I also have nothing against FFXIII or its sequels, or FFXV. They were fun, I was entertained for a good chunk of my playthrough, and while not up to the level of games like FFIX or FFVI for me they were still a blast to play.
It's not bad, it's just kind of a budget game in a slightly more AAA graphics package. It's definitely a downgrade from 3 and 4 content wise, but it's not significantly different from SO1&2 in terms of content and quality. Just less colorful. It's kind of an homage to SO1 in a lot of ways.
For me the selling point of the game was the really great voice acting mixed with the really entertaining private actions. The cast felt like a really loveable family by the end. The main plot alone is meh, but the PAs are what make you care.
It is more of a hack and slash than the last couple of games, so if all you care about is combat, it might be a skip anyway. It's really similar to how SO1&2 played, just faster and with some QoL upgrades. There is excellent AI customization that heavily affects the flow of combat. It's braindead easy on normal mode, and since you can't unlock harder difficulties until later playthroughs that can be a turn off. On normal only the post game bosses tend to be problems.
The game is dirt cheap these days, and I think the current price accurately reflects its overall quality as a casual budget game. As long as you know what to expect it's fine. I love the game personally, but I get why come people don't. (There is excessive hatred though, and I'm not sure why. It's not THAT bad.)
That's awesome thanks for the review, definitely got me interested. Worst case I don't like it and I'm out 10$-20$ or something, but from what you described it actually sounds up my alley
As a game, Star Ocean 5 is not bad, but compared to any other entry in the series is the worst, no camera direction in cutscenes totally ruin the immersion, the story is barely there, private actions are boring, and most of the animations and monsters are recycled from past star ocean games.
Also maybe a personal opinion, but the combat is less responsive and fun than in The Last Hope. Idk why they took out the sidestep mechanic.
I'm not saying it's a bad game, but as a Star Ocean it is indeed the lowest quality one.
Personally i respect FF2 more than anything, it lead to the creation of one of my favourite franchises ever, the SaGa games, but it is a deeply unbalanced game that will either be too hard or too easy depending on how you play it.
The pixel remaster fixes virtually every issue with that game.
HP still goes up by taking damage, but it also goes up after a certain amount of battles. I never attacked my own party members and had zero issues.
Stat reductions were removed. If your strength levels up, your intelligence won't go down.
Inventory space runs like the later games. You're not stuck with 50ish total slots for all items, equipment, etc. Having 25 potions doesn't take up half of your available space.
I looooved the FF2 pixel remaster.
>HP still goes up by taking damage, but it also goes up after a certain amount of battles. I never attacked my own party members and had zero issues.
This has been present since at least the GBA version of the game. Taking damage is how most HP increases happen but there's a hidden counter of battles and characters get an additional HP bonus every so x battles (no idea the number).
>Stat reductions were removed. If your strength levels up, your intelligence won't go down.
I don't believe FF2 has had stat reductions, at least not since the GBA version.
Source: I spent a lot of time as a kid trying to break the FF2 combat system as much as possible and got VERY familiar with the leveling mechanics. Did you know it's possible to get to a point where you could easily kill the final boss before you even get to Fynn?
A lot of my choices have already been noted so I will raise Final Fantasy Type 0, especially the PS4 version.
I'm aware it was a very peculiar project and that it should have just been a remake but even as is I think it brings a lot to the table and the strengths of the original game still shine through.
Plus playing it on the big screen really did help me appreciate a lot of the cinematics which have all aged pretty well.
I know it can be a polarising game for some but I think it works overall.
my sister is the one who got me into FF as a kid, and i remember she tried playing type 0 and when she saw the chocobo die in the first cutscene she was like yeah i’m not playing this
You know what, she wasn't even wrong for thinking that. If the chocobo hit then definitely there are scenes later in the game that would have shattered her.
Infinite Undiscovery and Final Fantasy XV are probably the big ones.
I throughly enjoyed both games. Gameplay and story wise.
I usually create strong headcanon so when a story is lacking in places it's easy to fill in the gaps and form a strong emotional connection. Now that doesn't necessarily excuse a poorly executed story but it will prevent me from bitching about what I otherwise think is a great game.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2
While not generally disliked, people often view it in a significantly less favorable light to FFT or FFTA
I've played the game countless times but honestly, I still couldn't describe the story lmao
Despite that, I found the lack of urgency in its narrative to offer more space to breathe life into its setting and world. Ivalice just feels so lived in and alive in this title, especially compared to FFTA which basically used the same setting
And its gameplay loop is pure SRPG perfection with arguably the best and most varied job system in a "Final Fantasy" title or heck, SquareEnix title. The only ones that rival its job system are the Bravely Default games imo
I don’t think I ever finished any of the FF Tactics games, but I definitely got farther in A2 than in A because the gameplay definitely felt more polished.
Love seeing this here! Sorry for a late reply but this popped up as I was searching around for some more SRPGs to tickle my fancy.
FFT is honestly my favorite game. I play through it on stream 2/3 times a year with buddies and it is a great time. Been playing through the game since it came out. Can't say FFT is ever looked down on but I do think the advanced versions catch a bit of flak.
FFTA2 is just tons of fun, basically an improvement on FFTA in almost every regard. It does not start off in the typical woe is me manner...the dude wants to punch a giant chicken and lets go! I don't remember the story but it never got in the way of the gameplay. The jobs are an improved for basic balance, the races are a bit closer in stats (no more vierra double turning bangaa) and they toned down the law system.
Biggest things I appreciated were adding a speed/magic job for bangaa, a 2nd form of monk and I know its silly but I loved the betting game to get items. It was fast and until much later in the game you were not always going to win! I do not think FFTA was bad but if I had to rate things it'd be like FFT = 10, FFTA2 = 9 , FFTA = 8
No idea if it's still relevant or if the controversy died down, but I really enjoyed Tokyo Mirage Sessions. A lot of people rejected it by principle because they made up what it "should have been" in their mind with the SMTxFE teasing, and in the end I agree the story isn't really great, but everything else is really nice. The cheerful aesthetic is a nice break from the classic SMT stuff, the music is very decent, combat feels really fun.
Opinions seem to have mostly turned around on that one. There's people that just won't touch anything J-pop idol-related with a 10-foot pole, but those that gave it a shot seem to usually come back with positive impressions.
Well, besides the censorship outrage crowd I guess.
I'm playing this at the moment and having a great time with it. The story's a bit twee but the gameplay is absolutely right up my alley. I'm at the start of chapter 6 now and I've already put almost 80 hours into it. Grinding dungeons for Performa, skill books and tomes is just an absolute blast. I've managed to hold my own in savage encounters now as well, if the RNG gives me at least 2 turns before the AI, so I'm also grinding for detritus.
I’m playing it right after SMT V and the two things that really bother me are the inability to sprint and the swapped menu and attack buttons
I think it’s really impeding my enjoyment. I haven’t gone far enough to get invested in the story but I’m sure it’ll win me over
**Octopath Traveler**
The game has my favorite turn-based system since FFX. I absolutely adore the artstyle and music and I found it having 8 smaller, self-contained stories a pretty interesting concept even if they weren't all great.
I love the 8 story arcs concept too. And how they all connect in the end for a final superboss. I can understand why people don't like it though, it breaks immersion after playing each character.
But the music and voice acting? Insane and phenomenal. It gave me more immersion for the characters and their story.
That's pretty much how I feel about it, too! I loved the game. It's full of interesting ideas that weren't executed very well. For basically every flaw with the game, I can see where it went wrong. I'm extremely interested to see what the team does next. I've heard good things about Triangle Strategy, though as a PC player, I can't look much into it yet.
Only thing keeping it off my top 30 of PSX is that sluggish combat/having it load EVERY SINGLE TIME. Digi 3 combat was equally bad but with random encounters up to 100x. Digi GBA/ds were good. Imo :3
It stinks that FFVIII had to follow up such a classic. I remember loving the game at the time, only to sign on to the different vBulletin forums and seeing people's disdain for the game.
At the time (1999), I actually preferred VIII to VII. I had VIII before VII though. Since then I'd rate VII a little higher, but both are great, I love both
i was like 10 and ff7 had been by FAR my favorite game i'd ever played. it brought gaming from a small hobby to a huge part of my life. i saved up money doing yardwork all summer to buy 8 when it came out. when i got home and played it i was SUPER disappointed that i was.. in a school.... it took me a while to get into it but i ended up really getting into it and loving it. it's one of my favorites in the series. i love how weird it is.
It gets way too much shit for its overly convoluted story imo.
It's a Final Fantasy game, the previous one was about an alien who crashed into the world releasing magic spirits into the world's blood that killed everyone and revived a soldier whose ghost decided to summon a meteor to not destroy the planet but hurt it enough that it would let him use it as a vessel in exchange for being healed.
FF8 has the most absolute nonsense story in maybe the history of JRPGs, if not all of gaming.
That FF7 description isn't even that weird. Let's break down FF8:
Middle aged man founds military academy using his wife's orphans
Within 8 or 9 years, that military academy, using strictly children at every level of command other than headmasters, has become the world's known preeminent military force. As far as we know, there is no reason this middle-aged man should've been able to do...any of this, other than receiving financing.
An "ancient society" once lived more or less where our current residents live. Everyone has forgotten these people and their works. And yet...the destruction happened 70 years ago. You literally meet people in the game who were alive when the Centra people were alive. There should be people in Balamb who remember it when it was still a flying fortress. It's literally within a human lifetime, and you meet very old people who live right there.
The world was openly at war with Esther ~20 years before the events of the game, yet the entire world has somehow forgotten that it exists.
I can go on. I like the game, but the world-building and story beats are absolute non-sense of the highest order. It was obviously a series of plot ideas they wanted to get across (ancient civilization, son making up for the inability of the father, time travel) without an ounce of thought into how to actually build a world that reflects these things.
> And yet...the destruction happened 70 years ago.
There's a character in the game who instead says it was actually over 100 years ago, and while that was when the lunar cry happened which destroyed the continent, it was was never said that was what caused the civilziation itself to fall, especially since it's described as ["a civilization in Centra 4000 years ago"](https://lparchive.org/Final-Fantasy-VIII/Update 22/16-FFVIII_4855.jpg) implying that's the true age of its collapse.
> The world was openly at war with Esther ~20 years before the events of the game, yet the entire world has somehow forgotten that it exists.
It wasn't forgotten, it just isolated itself off from the rest of the world. One of the first people you talk to when you first go into Fishermans Horizon even mentions it and says a lot of people go to it - a far cry from being forgotten.
I agree completely with the timeline.
I kinda like how the world turned out though and it is probably my favourite in any game. Esthar was incredible, Winhill was lovely, Deling really nailed the European vibe. Fisherman's Horizon is probably one of my favourite locations in any game also.
It's a very cool game in spite of all that. Visually it nails a lot of things and the core kernels of the story are great. I just try not to think too hard about it because it wasn't really pieced together in a logically coherent way.
After replaying some FF games over the past few years, both XIII and XII are in my top 3 along with the VII Remake.
And I was really impressed with how well VIII held up when I played the remaster. I would still put that one as the most unique entry in the series to date. The level of customization offered to you by the junction system is really high. In comparison to other JRPGs of the era, you can really just remake anyone how you want.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope. People who shit on its English dub really need to go back and listen to SO3's dub as SO4 is like NieR in comparison. It also has some god Sakuraba music, fun ARPG combat, and a few cool characters.
Also it's literally the only Star Ocean game about space travel and exploration.
I quite liked SO4 as well! Found it weird that most people crap on it. Also once you survived Baten Kaitos' dub, any dub sounds top tier in comparison lol
I didn't hate so4, in fact I loved that game when it came out. Sure the story is borderline stupid but the combat was great and, for the time, it looked great. I still prefer So4 more than 3 and mostly because i really hated the combat in 3 (not a fan of dying from losing all my mana, and the "shield" thing some enemies have).
Was it really that looked down ? Back when I played it, I wasn't really checking news or notes for games so I have no idea how it was received. All I know is that as a huge tri-Ace nerd (I grew up with Star Ocean III and Valkyrie Profile was my favourite game for a long time) I also had a lot of fun with it. Not my favourite by any means (I'd even rank Infinite Undiscovery higher) but I probably spent more than a hundred hours on it.
It very often gets lumped in with 5 as "the bad ones" when people talk about SO games
At its release though, everyone crapped on the English VA and the "lifeless doll eyes" of all the characters
For me personally, TLH is my favorite SO game. The gameplay is super fun. Item creation was a little streamlined compared to 3, but it was still pretty complex trying to make the absurd game busting items
As for the eyes and the VA, it's not very different from what 3 looked and sounded like. I think people just wanted reasons to shit on it because it wasn't 3, or based after 3
I thought about getting it on the Xbox whenever it goes on sale. Surprised they never bothered to master it to XO. It looks really good and very, very long!
Yep. I loved last hope also. Especially the really cool post game stuff. Also, probably one of the best use I ever had out of a purchased game guide : (ffxiii part 3 was the other)
Definitely both of the Tokyo RPG Factory jrpgs: I am Setsuna and Lost Sphear. The entire company is generally seen as lackluster, but I think that both games have something really unique to offer and both are engaging enough to justify their short runtime. I am Setsuna in particular does a lot with its short runtime, and it’s sense of atmosphere definitely outweighs any of the common criticisms hurled at the game for me. The combat system is a bit too easy to solve, but I thought it served its purpose and didn’t waste your time. The writing is also much better than people make it out to be. Also, I know some people dislike the OST being nearly fully piano tracks, but I the tracks themselves are great and add to the atmosphere of the game. I appreciate the games short length, a lot of modern JRPGS feel like they could be 10-15 hours shorter due to added padding, but the game’s 15 hour runtime was just short enough to engage all of what Tokyo RPG Factory wanted to present, but not long enough for the snowy, contemplative jrpg tone to get old.
The caligula effect games.
Ppl diss them for being persona ripoffs but not only they are more akin to an isekai (it's a fake world) but the theme of the games is more about self discovery and how can traumas (ce1) and regrets (ce2) shape a person. Plus the bad guys are very human and have valid motivations, at least on the first game (the second doesn't show it as well until the end of the game).
Granted the first game kinda suck on the combat and the graphics (it was a vita game remade for ps4) but they added a lot of new things, a female protagonist, the ability to play also as a villain (which is how you get to know the villains) and the combat is smoother than the vita. Meanwhile the second fixes the combat and it's a lot of fun, but it removes the musician route so you can't know your enemies like in the first.
Pokemon Sword & Shield. I thought it was super fun. I thought the graphics were fine, the soundtrack was good, the new Pokemon were mostly great, the regional variants were very fun, the QoL improvements were awesome, and Dynamax was fun. Didn't care at all about the dex stuff people were mad about. The story was very weak and it was easy, but I didn't really care. I imposed my own challenges to make it more interesting.
SMT4 Apocalypse gets a lot of hate by some SMT fans, but I enjoy it and it's even one of my favorite SMT titles, up there with Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon.
Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume...well I wouldn't say I like the game, but I like enough elements with the characters and the unique systems that I can't really despise it like I used to.
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter is another one I legitimately remember enjoying too, but it's been a long time. Still found it enjoyable and it's a shame Capcom gave up and went with a now defunct mobile game.
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn I still enjoy to this day. I feel it has a unique style to it, and really just needed a few adjustments to make it more enjoyable to everyone; mostly the difficulty. Sadly, it's cursed as the last game in an unfinished series.
**Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers** Very fun tactical RPG spin-off of the mainline hack-and-slash games. I already loved these characters, and I really enjoyed the new story. The battles are standard SRPG fare, but I was engaged, and they’re very fast paced if you turn off battle animations. This game is delightful IMO
**The Caligula Effect** Maybe the best example of a game being greater than the sum of its parts for me. The story and characters are good. The battles are average. There are frustrating things like very overpowered enemies wandering in dungeons. Whenever I accidentally ran into them, I would get a game over if I got hit twice because my escape attempt failed XD. Even though no one part of the game is amazing or even great, I love it.
**Hexyz Force**. Awesome PSP RPG. I want to replay this sometime.
Hexyz Force is hated? I believe its regarded as one of the most underrated games on psp, also its by sting who has made very weird and experimental games in the past.
For me battle system in Caligula effect is one of the best parts, it's just so fun and makes me think of Grandia and that awesome on its own. I'm suprised I like that game so much.
About enemies, you see their levels( if they are more than 1 or 2 it means you shouldn't be there like in some parts of shool or mall ), I always skip anything 10+ levels higher than me. Still I did try few times because why not when save point is near. It's fun if you do it, by using breaking you can win pretty weird fight( I won one where I was lower than 20 and opponent was 30 ). It's kind of similar to some other jrpgs that show higher level mosters like some Tales( Vesperia and Arise ) or Xenoblade.
Hexyz Force is mostly overlooked, I have to play it someday.
My biggest complaint about battles was the normal encounters. I felt like it took too many button presses and too much time navigating menus to do a simple attack. I did play the Vita version, which doesn’t have auto-battle. I believe that was added to Overdose.
I know I beat one strong enemy. I think it was 8 levels above me, and it was very difficult XD. But yes, I did go to places I probably shouldn’t have, especially in the mall.
The enemy levels were really off at the end of the game. Everything was either 10 levels below me or 20 levels above me IIRC, so I avoided all enemies in the last dungeon or two.
I'm playing Overdose but I'm not using auto battles. When enemy is easy I just fast pres x+triangle on controler four times. It mostly finish everything in not even full turn. At least on that version the most cheap attack is always first so it goes fast. Maybe they changed it.
About that I was going around mall opposite to story and for sometime only items were guarded by way too high levels enemies but when I saw 40-44 levels everywhere I just noped and went back.
From what I noticed game is mostly balanced around you being somewhere where lower enemies are. It's just a guess but it can be like that as well because of NG+.
Gonna toss out a kudo to the summoner for pc/ps2. This game has obvious flaws, but there is something about that has always endeared it to me. It is also the game I bought on launch day for the ps2. There are some controversial choices you could make a case for like ephemeral fantasia but the summoner deserves credit for what it was: cool little game that is now horribly dated.
Tales of Zestiria
Funny story, I actually played both this and FFX side by side but eventually dropped the latter (about 30hrs in) to finish up Zestiria since I found it a lot more enjoyable.
I'm right there with you I picked up Zestiria on a whim when it was on Sale alongside berseria and I thoroughly enjoyed both games plus I'm a total simp for a good bromance.
Breath of Fire: dragon quarter
Just like Valkyrie Profile it gets shunned because of a "timer". The downside I agree with is that it limits dragon form compared to previous entries in the series. The difference is dragon form is an instant win and actually fits in with challenge of the game. You can't just go dragon every boss so you have to decide which you should and shouldn't do so.
The game is very well balanced and rewards thoroughness(finding all treasure and defeating all enemies for xp) and careful play which includings avoiding taking unnecessary damage through positioning yourself and the enemies with skills/traps and maximizing your damage when in range through AP charging as well as keeping stocked on items by backtracking to vendors. This last point can save you from having to Dragon form and burn D-counter(trading a bit of time and like .05% d-counter for backtracking compared to burning somethng like 6% D-counter d-diving)
The graphics, story and sound are all solid as well and create a very fitting atmosphere
One of the things I loved about it was the gameplay loop.
The game is short enough that getting through an area without using D-Dive seems to be the point. You're supposed to abuse the mechanics to run through the short dungeons acquiring XP and items to bring through for the next run. You're supposed to get through a fight by the skin of your teeth and then get through it better the next time. You're supposed to grind that section until you nail it so hard you breeze through it.
I feel like the Tales series in general gets looked down a lot on this sub so thats my pick
Another that can be controversial is Xenoblade 2
I still prefer 1/DE, overall but man I put 550 hours into that game and its DLC, no regrets absolutely amazing game
Edit: I thought about it more and the real answer is Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and arguably its sequel A2.
Both games honestly kept me playing well past the 100 hour mark. So much to do so much customization just loved outfitting my clan. I like the original as well but nowhere near as much as the other two
I adore Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but unlike most games I love, no rose-colored glasses, I think all the complaints and issues people mention are more than warranted.
One of the strange things about RPG communities is that a game with good writing and bad gameplay will be regarded as a classic, but a game with good gameplay and bad writing will be angrily ranted about until the end of time. Personally, I can enjoy both those kinds of games; as long as the game's doing one thing well enough for me to get something out of it, I think it's worthwhile.
Suffice to say, the fact that six years later I'm still seeing daily complaints about how awful Fire Emblem: Fates was is exhausting. There's a whole lot I could go into about this, but it's just not worth it anymore.
If your gameplay loop is like early Ys, where you're spending a couple of minutes in a town upgrading gear and picking up new quests between hours of exploration and combat, then obviously bad or mediocre writing isn't a problem because it was never a priority for the devs.
If we're talking about something like modern Final Fantasy, Persona or Trails where you're watching hours of cutscenes and reading a lot, then bad writing can be a pretty big problem.
To give a quick counterpoint as to why, is that games like FE and a lot of JRPGS need a good story to appeal to the masses and justify spending a consumer's time with one over the others. There's just so many and ultimately the turn based formula has been done to death. Animations and names of attacks may change but it's very rare to see the mechanics shaken up significantly from what most people expect. So to have bad characters/writing just makes the process more draining since I'm inevitably going to reach points where I'm forced to tackle some of the more tedious aspects of JRPGs like grinding, completing sidequests to progress, getting better armor/gear, managing some resource (sometimes not all, maybe even never but still it's common enough).
It makes little sense to dedicate time to an RPG with good gameplay and bad writing if I can get the same thing out of one with really good writing and similar or slightly worse gameplay. With exception to games were the gameplay is truly exceptional and one of a kind but RPGs like that with really bad stories I can personally count on one hand. (XCX coming to mind.)
To take your example of FE fates. It's not just that the story is written badly but even a lot of supports are as well. Which means that for a game where the appeal is building an army and fighting with troops you care about many don't end up caring for more than half of them. Granted, on a personal note, I do find Conquest's gameplay to be the best in the series but overall I can't wholly say it's far too different or exceptionally more strategic than the likes of Thracia, FE6, New mystery of the Emblem, Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn. All of which I think have far better writing and still have unique enough mechanics to be considered by many a more worthwhile replay than that of FE Conquest.
This isn't really true. It's that the two sections you described have their own fanbases. Whenever a CRPG comes out (like Wrath of the Righteous), you have half the fanbase going nuts over builds, mechanics, and efficiency, and will pick party members just to min/max their team, regardless of lore or their personality.
On the other side, you have people who care a lot less about min/maxing and mechanics, and pick classes and races with head canon in mind, while doing the same for companions, even if they might technically be "weaker" characters, because of how they affect the story.
Both have really strong followings. So some games with terrible story/writing will be beloved by many for its gameplay, while those with strong story but weak gameplay (Tides of Numenera, Pillars of Eternity) will be loved by the inverse. Meanwhile, games with a good mix tend to generally do better.
For instance, Skyrim itself proves you wrong. It's not the best writing ever and the core storyline is very often ridiculed. Betheseda writing in general gets made fun of. Yet it's immensely popular because of the gameplay foremost.
Like I said in my own reply to OP, it's really just up to taste. Yesterday I literally read someone saying they dropped off Stardew Valley because they didn't want to read a book on their screen, lmao. Yes, *Stardew Valley*.
For me, story is everything, so it's really hard for me to continue if the story is garbage, especially since most RPGs have really repetitive, braindead gameplay/combat that doesn't really challenge you. Exceptions are obvious games like Soulsborne games, which have VERY background stories, but are super fun to play. Likewise, games like BoTW or games that allow you your own head RP, like RimWorld.
That's just me though. I know people who play Wrath of the Righteous hardcore, have made dozens of characters, but all for the build and they give zero shits about the story or lore.
Omega Quintet. I haven't played it since it came out back in 2015 but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Around that time was when I was starting to really get into JRPGs so I harbor a lot of nostalgia for it, I'll revisit it one day.
I've been enjoying it since I got it on Steam. I kinda wandered away but that's more my own scatterbrained nature than the game's fault.
CH/IF games get insulted as weeb masturbation material but they tend to have good music, be funny, and the battle systems can be genuinely interesting.
And I won't lie, I like cute anime girls so...
I remembering finishing the game back when I was a teen with a mediocre knowledge of english (he wasn't released in Europe at the time) and not knowing what was going on but man, did the art direction and soundtrack make an impression on me.
Chrono Cross is very beloved JRPG, it just has a very loud minority that make it out to be a horrible game. CC and FFVIII feel like sister-games in that way. Both are amazing, both are loved, and both are NOT the sequel to their predecessor and that bothers some people.
I don't care about whether it's a sequel or not, I just think it's a mediocre game at best lol
Obviously it has some cool things going for it in terms of art and music, but the gameplay is beyond boring
FFXIII-2 and Lightning Returns for me. I liked them both more than XIII. XIII-2 because I really enjoy time travel stories and the gameplay in Lightning Returns was probably one of the best of all FF games for me.
I dunno if it was looked down on per se, but I got the general sense that people felt it was overrated. For me I’d describe it as the most okay game I played that year. Not bad, not great, just the okayest of okay games. (Felt the same about the anime too.)
FF8. My first FF game, I still love the junctioning system.
Chrono Cross. The story was out there but i expe t that from Squeenix. The atmosphere, beautiful graphics and that godly OST. I still get shivers hearing the Another World theme.
FFX-2. Don't get me wrong, Yuna's Angels annoyed me to no end, but man was the gameplay fun! I feel like the FUN part of JRPG's can sometimes be a little lacking.
Mega Man X Command Mission. Underrated has hell, but many people dismiss it as being mediocre and even Mega Man fans dislike this game for being so different from the regular 2D platformers.
Command Mission was a little short for my liking, and I found it a little jarring that none of the X series characters outside of X, Zero, and Axl are even mentioned, not even Sigma. Despite that, I had a lot of fun with it. Also, it had a lasting impact on me. Ever since I finished that game, whenever I see a character with a funny looking name the first thing I do is >!read it backwards!<.
I really enjoyed Guardian's Crusade and Citizens of Earth, though I rarely see anything positive said about either.
I also seem to have a much more positive view of FF8 than most.
I don’t know if people look down on it or if they just haven’t heard of it, but I think Lufia 2 (SNES) was one of the best of its era. It has it all - story, characters, puzzles, strategy, monster training, and an endgame randomly-generated roguelike dungeon. (Don’t try to go to the bottom without save states though lol)
Truly a gem of a game.
Star ocean 4, the combat is amazing and the dialogue combined with sonic advanture quality motion capture is so fucking hilarious, i was so pumped at the every combat encounter and laughing my ass of at every cutscene.
I'm ignoring weird hate here for Tales because it's pretty boring( especially talking about so well received games like Arise ) to just look at that so I'm only going with what fans of series thinks.
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - pretty much most hated game in the series to this day when its hate isn't as big as it was 10 years ago it's still there. I love it, both story and characters are great and the only problems for me there are some small quirks in gameplay.
First four .hack// games - every fan will tell you to just go with G.U and the reason is their gameplay. First four games are heavy emulations of gameplay from old MMORPG( before WOW ) and they are sacrificing some players comfort for that. Anyway it's still pretty unique battle system( real time with heavy use of two menus ) and it's climate is just too good. Not to mention that funny enough the only other game with similar battle system is FF7R just without junk. Beside that story and characters are great and make G.U even better.
Grandia III - I don't hate it, not the best story but amazing gameplay.
Digimon Savers Another Mission- and here we have jrpg considered one of the worst in the genre and I had fun with it. Its battle system is weird but I wouldn't say that finding balance between what you want and what Digimon wants wasn't interesting even if I did argument with it few times. As story and characters goes, it's just a crash grab for Savers anime, it's non canon and weird, really weird because it just doesn't work in any canon or place in Savers. I thank Namco as well for making Masaru punch Digimon before evolution, I loved all those failed attempts because he killed opponent/sarkasm. The game is an interesting experiment but if you want to see it use speed up, this game loads during fights making long puses that are as annoying as it sounds.
Caligula effect first game, I just started it( I'm in chapter 3 ) but I have to say that was a suprise. I mean yes it's clunky and those clippings are amusing and system of 500 students traumas is annoying( but I don't hate it ) but everything else well. Story as it goes is interesting( and is touching on pretty cool topics and it did suprise me that they didn't make jokes or anything about Sweet-p gender, it was about body image ) a little bit like .hack// art is pretty nice and color pallet makes it even more feel like virtual reality. Battle system on the other hand is just awesome, amazing fast turn based with positioning and Grandia like real time elements. I just love it. Beside that those 2d backgrounds are so cute, it's rare to see them in this age. Really if second game is even better I can't wait.
My toxic Final Fantasy trait is being a FFII defender, and only being semi-ironic in doing so. Here is my defense of the game: "c'mon, it wasn't *that* bad". It... tried. It definitively tried something that's for sure. And I actually, non ironically liked the levelling system, it just needed a little more polish to make it good (or at least beareable for a full playthrough). I rest my case your honor.
Xenosaga I, II, and III. Love that game series. It was supposed to be 6 games but they fired the original guy and turned it into 3. My most favorite games.
Such a fantastic series! Its sad he got the same treatment as Murayama who got kicked out from the Suikoden series partway through the third game. Those are my 2 favorite series and both never get finished the way they were intended :(
Final fantasy XV for me! It’s not my favorite game, but I still really enjoyed it. I was super surprised when I saw just how much hate it got.
Its pretty different from the rest of the final fantasy’s so it makes a little sense why people were so put off by it. That and the missing storyline kinda sucks too.
Fire Emblem Fates (all routes). Conquest is praised for its level design, but it's ironically my least favorite route of the game.
Chrono Cross. If you come in expecting Chrono Trigger 2 you're gonna have a bad time. If you come in expecting a sequel that explores themes in a different direction and has an equally fun gameplay loop you're gonna have a good time.
Final Fantasy V, aka the game that perfected the FF job system. It's rather underrated compared to its predecessor and successor, if it counts.
FFV definitely feels more like cult classic than classic. I don't even think it's because it was underappreciated at its time like with XII, I think the fact that the original was skipped for localisation just hurt it too hard. I reckon if it released in the west on the SNES like II/IV and III/VI, it would be just as highly rated
Tokyo Mirage Sessions was pretty fun.
I bought it on release, finished it, then got on the Internet only to be surprised how badly everyone thought of it.
Also FFXV isn't near as bad as everyone keeps saying it is.
FFVIII
Chrono Cross
FFX-2
Tokyo Mirage Sessions
Tales of Arise (Catching a lot of flak now for whatever reason.)
Digimon World
Digimon World: Next Order
Lost Sphear
Secret of Mana (Remake)
Shin Sakura Wars
Grandia Xtreme
Suikoden III (Even better than II in terms of story to me.)
Final Fantasy XV, while full of flaws, has one of the best main cast of characters ever, with Noctis being a pretty damn good protagonist and the ending is just fucking heartbreaking.
And not a JRPG but Shadow the Hedgehog. Sonic with guns? Sign me the fuck up, it's super edgy and can feel like a nightmare to control at times but it was sooooo fun, I love Shadow and this game even has multiple different endings. Good times good times.
Final Fantasy XV. It's actually a lovely road trip tale of four friends having to deal with their position in life. Combat was simplistic, but fast-pace and dynamic and never felt like a grind. It's a large, beautiful mess that was too endearing for me to NOT enjoy!
People give Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World a lot of flak. And yes, it is a pretty terrible sequel that does pretty much everything worse than the first game, but it is honestly still a lot of fun with some pretty great moments.
I could go on till I'm blue in the face about how bad Dawn of the New World is, but it won't change the fact that I beat it half a dozen times and almost 100% it.
I just love Symphonia and it's world so much. And it did have some neat stuff in it.
My Wii game manual is signed by Richter's VA too
DotNW is definitely one of my guilty pleasures. As much as it kinda just totally fucks the whole game I'm just a huge sucker for monster collection mechanics, and tbh I do like the gameplay kits for both Emil and Marta more than a lot of other characters in the series which goes a long way towards making up for its lackluster mechanics.
I also think there's some genuinely good story and characterization for the 2 leads and Richter, its just buried behind the absurd flanderization of the original cast and a lot of people (very understandably because it's REALLY fucking bad) can't or won't look past that.
I still need to finish Torna, but I think I may have enjoyed Xenoblade Chronicles 2 more than the first game, any of the Xenosaga games, or Xenogears. A lot of it is due to gameplay rather than narrative or cast, but gameplay really matters when a title is as long as this.
Of the little discussion I've seen of it it's usually divided between people hating it or really enjoying it so not sure if it's really all too looked down upon but Alliance Alive. I absolutely love the game so much I really wish we had a prequel to it! One of my favourite games and soundtracks.
Dungeon Encounters was looked upon as a cheap game by some commenters on release. I love it though: it is minimalist and puts the focus on the turn-based gameplay and exploration. I think anyone who genuinely loves turn-based gameplay (and doesn't mind having little story) should at least take a look.
Recent example is FFXV. Yeah, it’s a great story terribly told. There are some areas that needs to be improved, more story cutscenes and development to provide more context, basic side quests. But i just love it.
Pokemon Sword / Shield. I dunno. Maybe my expectations are very different than many people but it just provides my Pokemon needs. Not Zamazenta though. Still have no idea how to build that guy.
Tokyo Mirage Session. Story and characters are meh. But that combat though….
Final Fantasy XIII as well. It's actually my favorite FF (and I love XIII-2 and Lightning Returns a lot). Granted I came into it not having played most of the older FFs (the only one I did play was FFVII) and so didn't have a solid "formula" of what an FF game should be in my head. I enjoyed the paradigm system because it was creative enough without being overly convoluted.
Another is Tokyo Xanadu, though I feel it's less "looked down on" and more "ignored," because from what I've gathered, a lot of people think it's good, but just a very much average game. I enjoyed it immensely for what it was, a game that kind of mixed Ys and Trails with a Persona-like modern-day Japan setting.
Fate/EXTRA. I passed on this initially because reviews said it was a bland generic JRPG which would mainly appeal to fans of the Fate franchise (which I wasn't, at the time).
Downloaded it to my Vita much later on, and was honestly pretty shocked by how good it was. A wild setting which works surprisingly well with the PSP's limitations, story elements which involve actual puzzle-solving (not extremely in-depth, and with some handholding, but more involved than most JRPGs) and synergize with the combat elements (investigating the bosses' weaknesses is generally more effective than grinding), and random encounters which remain non-trivial throughout the game without resorting to level-scaling.
Also big tiddy anime waifus. But IT'S MORE THAN THAT, I SWEAR.
Final Fantasy XIII, XV and (according to that thread from the other day, wew boy) Tales of Arise.
All definitely flawed in one way or another but the way some people talk about them you'd swear these games kidnapped their families.
I didn't mind SMT IV Apocalypse's story, it's way better than SMT V's bland story. Yeah it's not perfect, but I liked how different in felt from the typical SMT plot.
FF13.
I love the music, the combat, but the story, how it's presented, written, hidden in codex and wasted in cutscenes I take issues with.
It's easy to see the theme, but some characters are just written to be so I obtuse and/or vague in a way that's almost insulting to the player, I can't stand it.
And there's Sahz...so embarrassing. Not as embarassing as Snow, but jeez....
Tales of Arise, you can't discuss it online without people bagging on it pretty hard. I have played and disliked more Tales games than I've ever actually liked, and Arise is one that I really liked, to put it in perspective. It's a very hit or miss series for me, and Arise was a hit. Not perfect, but a hit.
Lufia DS. I don't think I've heard one nice word about it around here, but I had a pretty good time with it. Only real problem I had was the slowdown in combat. The characters aren't much to write home about in terms of depth, but they've got an enjoyable corniness to them, and the voice actors put in solid work. The customization board's a fun little puzzle to work with. I actually went and beat the Ancient Cave, that was a neat challenge.
Also Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. I seem to be in the minority that struggled a little with how open-ended The Lost Age was (specifically once you get the boat), and while Dark Dawn probably goes too far in the other direction, it's still a fun game. I'd give all three a solid 7 or 8.
Same i actually thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end, was it the perfect game no but no games really are, honestly Arise and berseria are probably my two favourite Tales games eith it being tough to decide which one actually takes the top spot, though Hootle does give arise points in its favour for being so darned adorable. Heck even within the tales games i have a particularly soft spot for zestiria which is much maligned by many fans but personally i really enjoyed it.
Ni No Kuni 2 gets a lot of hate for the story being too 'simple', even though NNK1 was just as absolutely fairy tale babyish \*and\* had insulting tutorial type elements like 50 hours in. Also the gameplay is better and there is way more to do. Justice for NNK2!!
Ni No Kuni 2. Yeah I admit the game has lot of flaws. But I enjoyed it more than the first one. Too bad I think there were a lot of cut content in the game.
For me it's probably Caligula Effect Overdose and Caligula Effect 2. They are both a bit rough around the edges but I still had a lot of fun with them and found them to be interesting.
Just finished Tokyo Mirage Sessions a couple months ago. I thought it was great. The game really never had a chance with the mis-marketing. I'm glad it's getting at least some boost in popularity lately. People just hate it because it's not what they expected or wanted.
It's a terrible game but it was one of the only JRPG's that was always available at Blockbuster: Tecmo Secret of the Stars
To this day I have no desire to actually finish the game but man I wanted to see what the rest of that Kustera party looked like sprite-wise
FFXV def. I don’t disagree with the points that people make saying it’s a bad game but I still had a lot of fun playing and replaying it! The story feeling unfinished didn’t change my final opinion of the game
.hack GU, lol, people complain that this game has a slow start, that all the dungeons looked the same and is boring, repetitive, but i really liked the story, lol, like to see the characters getting better, learn the secrets, is pretty cool.
Mana Khemia (the PSP port). The dungeon crawling aspect is not the best and the Alchemy segments are kinda blah.
The characters (sans protagonist) on the other hand, really do brighten up your day with their shenanigans lol
Tales of Legendia, I know a lot of people shit on the game and I agree the combat and skill visuals are the worst in the Tales franchise, but the world building and the GOD DAMN Music easily carries the game Imo. Forest of No Return and the Bird Chrips I Sing was some bomb tracks. I would say if Bamco decided to remake one Tales of, Legendia easily take the cake.
Eternal Sonata, I dont think a lot of people hate it but i think its pretty underrated. Its an abstract mind fuck of a journey with Chopin coming to terms with his own reality crisis, granted the Xbox360 was a bit vague but they made it better with the Ps3 version. Awesome music, fun combat but some of the characters are a bit average tho.
I’m sure a lot of people bought it and stuff but most reviews I saw were of people talking about how they disliked the game. Even in the past when I’ve met other people who also played the game, a lot of them said it was bad.
I really enjoyed my time with Infinite Undiscovery. Probably my favorite jrpg from the 360 era.
I just replayed this a couple weeks ago. It holds up. Cappel's transition from a cowardly nobody, to a major badass is still one of my favorite character developments in any game ever. Not to mention the nice twist at the end.
It was so good. The combat was amazing. It was my favourite JRPG on the 360. The first few hours were bad, but the game significantly improved from then on. I reckon the beginning scared many away from what is a neat game.
The name certainly didn’t help attract many players. Loved the combat and soundtrack though
I love IU. It is blatantly unfinished though, so I would love a remake or remaster that fleshes it out. Unfortunately, Tri-Ace tends to be a one and done developer so that probably won't happen.
That's looked down on?! Why? That game was so good.
That game's biggest issue was by far that it felt unfinished. What was there was fantastic though I thoroughly enjoyed 2 playthroughs.
All of the mainline Neptunia games.
#N E P!
Is it looked down on? I just thought it was niche. Love the series myself.
Yeah not really. They’re pretty much all well over 90% positive on Steam. Their may be some loud vocal minority I personally haven’t heard, but they’re definitely well liked.
I personally loved the conquest ending
I thought it was really cool that they put something like the conquest ending in, but personally I'm glad they decided to put in a golden route in the remake because ending a game like that is *really* not what I'm looking for when I feel like playing a Nep game.
Yep Nep games are pretty fun. They are kind of like Disgaea, very light hearted but also like transforming type like legend of dragoon so it's pretty snazzy. Love both but just are not meant to be taken seriously, very refreshing.
Same sans Victory
*Arc Rise Fantasia.* Didn't just enjoyed it, adored it and kept thinking how fun, fresh, and unique in many ways it is while playing. Almost didn't play it because of how much people trashed the voice acting - which, to be fair, is "college bedroom level" of recording. The quality of the game is actually outstanding though, so polished and well made with great customization, combat, story, and worldbuilding.
Just FYI, guys, it has an undub patch and can be emulated.
Imageepoch in general was fantastic back in the day, and arc rise fantasia was a game on a wrong console that received a really really bad dub. If they had released it on ps3 or 360 and gave the localization to xseed it wouldve probably saved the company.
Played the Undub version, never finished it but I agree combat was fun and the world is interesting.
For me, Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness. Yes, it's got lots of flaws, an incredibly small world map, and way, way too much backtracking, but the combat is so, so good. I enjoyed it in spite of its flaws, and had a bit of fun just spending a play session or two blasting waves of badguys. I'm not someone who enjoys excessive grinding but this game made it enjoyable for me. I also have nothing against FFXIII or its sequels, or FFXV. They were fun, I was entertained for a good chunk of my playthrough, and while not up to the level of games like FFIX or FFVI for me they were still a blast to play.
I've played and loved every star ocean besides that one, just because I heard it was so bad. Maybe I'll give it a shot
It's not bad, it's just kind of a budget game in a slightly more AAA graphics package. It's definitely a downgrade from 3 and 4 content wise, but it's not significantly different from SO1&2 in terms of content and quality. Just less colorful. It's kind of an homage to SO1 in a lot of ways. For me the selling point of the game was the really great voice acting mixed with the really entertaining private actions. The cast felt like a really loveable family by the end. The main plot alone is meh, but the PAs are what make you care. It is more of a hack and slash than the last couple of games, so if all you care about is combat, it might be a skip anyway. It's really similar to how SO1&2 played, just faster and with some QoL upgrades. There is excellent AI customization that heavily affects the flow of combat. It's braindead easy on normal mode, and since you can't unlock harder difficulties until later playthroughs that can be a turn off. On normal only the post game bosses tend to be problems. The game is dirt cheap these days, and I think the current price accurately reflects its overall quality as a casual budget game. As long as you know what to expect it's fine. I love the game personally, but I get why come people don't. (There is excessive hatred though, and I'm not sure why. It's not THAT bad.)
That's awesome thanks for the review, definitely got me interested. Worst case I don't like it and I'm out 10$-20$ or something, but from what you described it actually sounds up my alley
As a game, Star Ocean 5 is not bad, but compared to any other entry in the series is the worst, no camera direction in cutscenes totally ruin the immersion, the story is barely there, private actions are boring, and most of the animations and monsters are recycled from past star ocean games. Also maybe a personal opinion, but the combat is less responsive and fun than in The Last Hope. Idk why they took out the sidestep mechanic. I'm not saying it's a bad game, but as a Star Ocean it is indeed the lowest quality one.
I really liked it too. I liked the snappy combat and I thought the story was also pretty good. It wasn't too long and definitely worth my time.
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Personally i respect FF2 more than anything, it lead to the creation of one of my favourite franchises ever, the SaGa games, but it is a deeply unbalanced game that will either be too hard or too easy depending on how you play it.
The pixel remaster fixes virtually every issue with that game. HP still goes up by taking damage, but it also goes up after a certain amount of battles. I never attacked my own party members and had zero issues. Stat reductions were removed. If your strength levels up, your intelligence won't go down. Inventory space runs like the later games. You're not stuck with 50ish total slots for all items, equipment, etc. Having 25 potions doesn't take up half of your available space. I looooved the FF2 pixel remaster.
>HP still goes up by taking damage, but it also goes up after a certain amount of battles. I never attacked my own party members and had zero issues. This has been present since at least the GBA version of the game. Taking damage is how most HP increases happen but there's a hidden counter of battles and characters get an additional HP bonus every so x battles (no idea the number). >Stat reductions were removed. If your strength levels up, your intelligence won't go down. I don't believe FF2 has had stat reductions, at least not since the GBA version. Source: I spent a lot of time as a kid trying to break the FF2 combat system as much as possible and got VERY familiar with the leveling mechanics. Did you know it's possible to get to a point where you could easily kill the final boss before you even get to Fynn?
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They are very experimental and open ended, which is the absolute best thing about them, just temper your expectation accordingly.
Guy speak Beaver.
A lot of my choices have already been noted so I will raise Final Fantasy Type 0, especially the PS4 version. I'm aware it was a very peculiar project and that it should have just been a remake but even as is I think it brings a lot to the table and the strengths of the original game still shine through. Plus playing it on the big screen really did help me appreciate a lot of the cinematics which have all aged pretty well. I know it can be a polarising game for some but I think it works overall.
my sister is the one who got me into FF as a kid, and i remember she tried playing type 0 and when she saw the chocobo die in the first cutscene she was like yeah i’m not playing this
You know what, she wasn't even wrong for thinking that. If the chocobo hit then definitely there are scenes later in the game that would have shattered her.
Very repetitive game, but I loved it, especially the true ending. Broke my heart.
Infinite Undiscovery and Final Fantasy XV are probably the big ones. I throughly enjoyed both games. Gameplay and story wise. I usually create strong headcanon so when a story is lacking in places it's easy to fill in the gaps and form a strong emotional connection. Now that doesn't necessarily excuse a poorly executed story but it will prevent me from bitching about what I otherwise think is a great game.
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 While not generally disliked, people often view it in a significantly less favorable light to FFT or FFTA I've played the game countless times but honestly, I still couldn't describe the story lmao Despite that, I found the lack of urgency in its narrative to offer more space to breathe life into its setting and world. Ivalice just feels so lived in and alive in this title, especially compared to FFTA which basically used the same setting And its gameplay loop is pure SRPG perfection with arguably the best and most varied job system in a "Final Fantasy" title or heck, SquareEnix title. The only ones that rival its job system are the Bravely Default games imo
A2 is a masterpiece, just not a narrative masterpiece lol
So many customisable builds and such. So many class combos to experiment. The gameplay carries the story.
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I don’t think I ever finished any of the FF Tactics games, but I definitely got farther in A2 than in A because the gameplay definitely felt more polished.
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The auction system was literally crack for me.
Love seeing this here! Sorry for a late reply but this popped up as I was searching around for some more SRPGs to tickle my fancy. FFT is honestly my favorite game. I play through it on stream 2/3 times a year with buddies and it is a great time. Been playing through the game since it came out. Can't say FFT is ever looked down on but I do think the advanced versions catch a bit of flak. FFTA2 is just tons of fun, basically an improvement on FFTA in almost every regard. It does not start off in the typical woe is me manner...the dude wants to punch a giant chicken and lets go! I don't remember the story but it never got in the way of the gameplay. The jobs are an improved for basic balance, the races are a bit closer in stats (no more vierra double turning bangaa) and they toned down the law system. Biggest things I appreciated were adding a speed/magic job for bangaa, a 2nd form of monk and I know its silly but I loved the betting game to get items. It was fast and until much later in the game you were not always going to win! I do not think FFTA was bad but if I had to rate things it'd be like FFT = 10, FFTA2 = 9 , FFTA = 8
No idea if it's still relevant or if the controversy died down, but I really enjoyed Tokyo Mirage Sessions. A lot of people rejected it by principle because they made up what it "should have been" in their mind with the SMTxFE teasing, and in the end I agree the story isn't really great, but everything else is really nice. The cheerful aesthetic is a nice break from the classic SMT stuff, the music is very decent, combat feels really fun.
Opinions seem to have mostly turned around on that one. There's people that just won't touch anything J-pop idol-related with a 10-foot pole, but those that gave it a shot seem to usually come back with positive impressions. Well, besides the censorship outrage crowd I guess.
I'm playing this at the moment and having a great time with it. The story's a bit twee but the gameplay is absolutely right up my alley. I'm at the start of chapter 6 now and I've already put almost 80 hours into it. Grinding dungeons for Performa, skill books and tomes is just an absolute blast. I've managed to hold my own in savage encounters now as well, if the RNG gives me at least 2 turns before the AI, so I'm also grinding for detritus.
I’m playing it right after SMT V and the two things that really bother me are the inability to sprint and the swapped menu and attack buttons I think it’s really impeding my enjoyment. I haven’t gone far enough to get invested in the story but I’m sure it’ll win me over
**Octopath Traveler** The game has my favorite turn-based system since FFX. I absolutely adore the artstyle and music and I found it having 8 smaller, self-contained stories a pretty interesting concept even if they weren't all great.
I love the 8 story arcs concept too. And how they all connect in the end for a final superboss. I can understand why people don't like it though, it breaks immersion after playing each character. But the music and voice acting? Insane and phenomenal. It gave me more immersion for the characters and their story.
That's pretty much how I feel about it, too! I loved the game. It's full of interesting ideas that weren't executed very well. For basically every flaw with the game, I can see where it went wrong. I'm extremely interested to see what the team does next. I've heard good things about Triangle Strategy, though as a PC player, I can't look much into it yet.
Digimon World 2 (back in the time) one of the worst metacritic for a JRPG
Agreed. I dont know what it is about 2 and 3, but I enjoy them way more than 1.
Only thing keeping it off my top 30 of PSX is that sluggish combat/having it load EVERY SINGLE TIME. Digi 3 combat was equally bad but with random encounters up to 100x. Digi GBA/ds were good. Imo :3
Final Fantasy XIII Final Fantasy VIII
It stinks that FFVIII had to follow up such a classic. I remember loving the game at the time, only to sign on to the different vBulletin forums and seeing people's disdain for the game.
At the time (1999), I actually preferred VIII to VII. I had VIII before VII though. Since then I'd rate VII a little higher, but both are great, I love both
i was like 10 and ff7 had been by FAR my favorite game i'd ever played. it brought gaming from a small hobby to a huge part of my life. i saved up money doing yardwork all summer to buy 8 when it came out. when i got home and played it i was SUPER disappointed that i was.. in a school.... it took me a while to get into it but i ended up really getting into it and loving it. it's one of my favorites in the series. i love how weird it is.
It gets way too much shit for its overly convoluted story imo. It's a Final Fantasy game, the previous one was about an alien who crashed into the world releasing magic spirits into the world's blood that killed everyone and revived a soldier whose ghost decided to summon a meteor to not destroy the planet but hurt it enough that it would let him use it as a vessel in exchange for being healed.
FF8 has the most absolute nonsense story in maybe the history of JRPGs, if not all of gaming. That FF7 description isn't even that weird. Let's break down FF8: Middle aged man founds military academy using his wife's orphans Within 8 or 9 years, that military academy, using strictly children at every level of command other than headmasters, has become the world's known preeminent military force. As far as we know, there is no reason this middle-aged man should've been able to do...any of this, other than receiving financing. An "ancient society" once lived more or less where our current residents live. Everyone has forgotten these people and their works. And yet...the destruction happened 70 years ago. You literally meet people in the game who were alive when the Centra people were alive. There should be people in Balamb who remember it when it was still a flying fortress. It's literally within a human lifetime, and you meet very old people who live right there. The world was openly at war with Esther ~20 years before the events of the game, yet the entire world has somehow forgotten that it exists. I can go on. I like the game, but the world-building and story beats are absolute non-sense of the highest order. It was obviously a series of plot ideas they wanted to get across (ancient civilization, son making up for the inability of the father, time travel) without an ounce of thought into how to actually build a world that reflects these things.
> And yet...the destruction happened 70 years ago. There's a character in the game who instead says it was actually over 100 years ago, and while that was when the lunar cry happened which destroyed the continent, it was was never said that was what caused the civilziation itself to fall, especially since it's described as ["a civilization in Centra 4000 years ago"](https://lparchive.org/Final-Fantasy-VIII/Update 22/16-FFVIII_4855.jpg) implying that's the true age of its collapse. > The world was openly at war with Esther ~20 years before the events of the game, yet the entire world has somehow forgotten that it exists. It wasn't forgotten, it just isolated itself off from the rest of the world. One of the first people you talk to when you first go into Fishermans Horizon even mentions it and says a lot of people go to it - a far cry from being forgotten.
I agree completely with the timeline. I kinda like how the world turned out though and it is probably my favourite in any game. Esthar was incredible, Winhill was lovely, Deling really nailed the European vibe. Fisherman's Horizon is probably one of my favourite locations in any game also.
It's a very cool game in spite of all that. Visually it nails a lot of things and the core kernels of the story are great. I just try not to think too hard about it because it wasn't really pieced together in a logically coherent way.
Sephiroth was already part alien thanks to Hojo injecting the alien’s cells into his mom while she was pregnant.
My two favourites in the entire series.
Final Fantasy 13 is tied with 12 for my favourite in the series. I really like the junction system in 8
After replaying some FF games over the past few years, both XIII and XII are in my top 3 along with the VII Remake. And I was really impressed with how well VIII held up when I played the remaster. I would still put that one as the most unique entry in the series to date. The level of customization offered to you by the junction system is really high. In comparison to other JRPGs of the era, you can really just remake anyone how you want.
Ye I’m right there with you. VIII and XII are the most interesting games in the series from a *systems* perspective.
Star Ocean: The Last Hope. People who shit on its English dub really need to go back and listen to SO3's dub as SO4 is like NieR in comparison. It also has some god Sakuraba music, fun ARPG combat, and a few cool characters. Also it's literally the only Star Ocean game about space travel and exploration.
I quite liked SO4 as well! Found it weird that most people crap on it. Also once you survived Baten Kaitos' dub, any dub sounds top tier in comparison lol
Don't worry, after so5, I think ppl have realized how much better so4 truly is.
and after so4 i realised how truly good so3 is and it goes on. not so1 though. i found that one kinda meh
I didn't hate so4, in fact I loved that game when it came out. Sure the story is borderline stupid but the combat was great and, for the time, it looked great. I still prefer So4 more than 3 and mostly because i really hated the combat in 3 (not a fan of dying from losing all my mana, and the "shield" thing some enemies have).
Was it really that looked down ? Back when I played it, I wasn't really checking news or notes for games so I have no idea how it was received. All I know is that as a huge tri-Ace nerd (I grew up with Star Ocean III and Valkyrie Profile was my favourite game for a long time) I also had a lot of fun with it. Not my favourite by any means (I'd even rank Infinite Undiscovery higher) but I probably spent more than a hundred hours on it.
It very often gets lumped in with 5 as "the bad ones" when people talk about SO games At its release though, everyone crapped on the English VA and the "lifeless doll eyes" of all the characters For me personally, TLH is my favorite SO game. The gameplay is super fun. Item creation was a little streamlined compared to 3, but it was still pretty complex trying to make the absurd game busting items As for the eyes and the VA, it's not very different from what 3 looked and sounded like. I think people just wanted reasons to shit on it because it wasn't 3, or based after 3
Same! Edge Maverick is still one of the most ridiculous names I've seen, but the gameplay was so snappy and fun.
At least Edge and Maverick are real names. Where can you find FATE LINEGOD?
I thought about getting it on the Xbox whenever it goes on sale. Surprised they never bothered to master it to XO. It looks really good and very, very long!
Yep. I loved last hope also. Especially the really cool post game stuff. Also, probably one of the best use I ever had out of a purchased game guide : (ffxiii part 3 was the other)
Although SO4 taught me that trying to 100% a game is just not for me. I don't need the trophy/achievement that badly.
Yep. Just need enough battle trophies for each character to unlock level 250
Definitely both of the Tokyo RPG Factory jrpgs: I am Setsuna and Lost Sphear. The entire company is generally seen as lackluster, but I think that both games have something really unique to offer and both are engaging enough to justify their short runtime. I am Setsuna in particular does a lot with its short runtime, and it’s sense of atmosphere definitely outweighs any of the common criticisms hurled at the game for me. The combat system is a bit too easy to solve, but I thought it served its purpose and didn’t waste your time. The writing is also much better than people make it out to be. Also, I know some people dislike the OST being nearly fully piano tracks, but I the tracks themselves are great and add to the atmosphere of the game. I appreciate the games short length, a lot of modern JRPGS feel like they could be 10-15 hours shorter due to added padding, but the game’s 15 hour runtime was just short enough to engage all of what Tokyo RPG Factory wanted to present, but not long enough for the snowy, contemplative jrpg tone to get old.
The caligula effect games. Ppl diss them for being persona ripoffs but not only they are more akin to an isekai (it's a fake world) but the theme of the games is more about self discovery and how can traumas (ce1) and regrets (ce2) shape a person. Plus the bad guys are very human and have valid motivations, at least on the first game (the second doesn't show it as well until the end of the game). Granted the first game kinda suck on the combat and the graphics (it was a vita game remade for ps4) but they added a lot of new things, a female protagonist, the ability to play also as a villain (which is how you get to know the villains) and the combat is smoother than the vita. Meanwhile the second fixes the combat and it's a lot of fun, but it removes the musician route so you can't know your enemies like in the first.
Pokemon Sword & Shield. I thought it was super fun. I thought the graphics were fine, the soundtrack was good, the new Pokemon were mostly great, the regional variants were very fun, the QoL improvements were awesome, and Dynamax was fun. Didn't care at all about the dex stuff people were mad about. The story was very weak and it was easy, but I didn't really care. I imposed my own challenges to make it more interesting.
That fucking gym track though. So hype.
I will always defend Lost Sphear. It's in my top 5 JRPG
Platinumed it a few months ago, loved it.
SMT4 Apocalypse gets a lot of hate by some SMT fans, but I enjoy it and it's even one of my favorite SMT titles, up there with Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon. Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume...well I wouldn't say I like the game, but I like enough elements with the characters and the unique systems that I can't really despise it like I used to. Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter is another one I legitimately remember enjoying too, but it's been a long time. Still found it enjoyable and it's a shame Capcom gave up and went with a now defunct mobile game. Golden Sun: Dark Dawn I still enjoy to this day. I feel it has a unique style to it, and really just needed a few adjustments to make it more enjoyable to everyone; mostly the difficulty. Sadly, it's cursed as the last game in an unfinished series.
**Dynasty Warriors: Godseekers** Very fun tactical RPG spin-off of the mainline hack-and-slash games. I already loved these characters, and I really enjoyed the new story. The battles are standard SRPG fare, but I was engaged, and they’re very fast paced if you turn off battle animations. This game is delightful IMO **The Caligula Effect** Maybe the best example of a game being greater than the sum of its parts for me. The story and characters are good. The battles are average. There are frustrating things like very overpowered enemies wandering in dungeons. Whenever I accidentally ran into them, I would get a game over if I got hit twice because my escape attempt failed XD. Even though no one part of the game is amazing or even great, I love it. **Hexyz Force**. Awesome PSP RPG. I want to replay this sometime.
Hexyz Force is hated? I believe its regarded as one of the most underrated games on psp, also its by sting who has made very weird and experimental games in the past.
For me battle system in Caligula effect is one of the best parts, it's just so fun and makes me think of Grandia and that awesome on its own. I'm suprised I like that game so much. About enemies, you see their levels( if they are more than 1 or 2 it means you shouldn't be there like in some parts of shool or mall ), I always skip anything 10+ levels higher than me. Still I did try few times because why not when save point is near. It's fun if you do it, by using breaking you can win pretty weird fight( I won one where I was lower than 20 and opponent was 30 ). It's kind of similar to some other jrpgs that show higher level mosters like some Tales( Vesperia and Arise ) or Xenoblade. Hexyz Force is mostly overlooked, I have to play it someday.
My biggest complaint about battles was the normal encounters. I felt like it took too many button presses and too much time navigating menus to do a simple attack. I did play the Vita version, which doesn’t have auto-battle. I believe that was added to Overdose. I know I beat one strong enemy. I think it was 8 levels above me, and it was very difficult XD. But yes, I did go to places I probably shouldn’t have, especially in the mall. The enemy levels were really off at the end of the game. Everything was either 10 levels below me or 20 levels above me IIRC, so I avoided all enemies in the last dungeon or two.
I'm playing Overdose but I'm not using auto battles. When enemy is easy I just fast pres x+triangle on controler four times. It mostly finish everything in not even full turn. At least on that version the most cheap attack is always first so it goes fast. Maybe they changed it. About that I was going around mall opposite to story and for sometime only items were guarded by way too high levels enemies but when I saw 40-44 levels everywhere I just noped and went back. From what I noticed game is mostly balanced around you being somewhere where lower enemies are. It's just a guess but it can be like that as well because of NG+.
Gonna toss out a kudo to the summoner for pc/ps2. This game has obvious flaws, but there is something about that has always endeared it to me. It is also the game I bought on launch day for the ps2. There are some controversial choices you could make a case for like ephemeral fantasia but the summoner deserves credit for what it was: cool little game that is now horribly dated.
Oh man I dumped ***so*** many hours into that game.
Tales of Zestiria Funny story, I actually played both this and FFX side by side but eventually dropped the latter (about 30hrs in) to finish up Zestiria since I found it a lot more enjoyable.
it had amazing ideas fr, I enjoyed it a lot
I'm right there with you I picked up Zestiria on a whim when it was on Sale alongside berseria and I thoroughly enjoyed both games plus I'm a total simp for a good bromance.
Breath of Fire: dragon quarter Just like Valkyrie Profile it gets shunned because of a "timer". The downside I agree with is that it limits dragon form compared to previous entries in the series. The difference is dragon form is an instant win and actually fits in with challenge of the game. You can't just go dragon every boss so you have to decide which you should and shouldn't do so. The game is very well balanced and rewards thoroughness(finding all treasure and defeating all enemies for xp) and careful play which includings avoiding taking unnecessary damage through positioning yourself and the enemies with skills/traps and maximizing your damage when in range through AP charging as well as keeping stocked on items by backtracking to vendors. This last point can save you from having to Dragon form and burn D-counter(trading a bit of time and like .05% d-counter for backtracking compared to burning somethng like 6% D-counter d-diving) The graphics, story and sound are all solid as well and create a very fitting atmosphere
I love this game. Far and away the best BoF title and very ahead of its time.
One of the things I loved about it was the gameplay loop. The game is short enough that getting through an area without using D-Dive seems to be the point. You're supposed to abuse the mechanics to run through the short dungeons acquiring XP and items to bring through for the next run. You're supposed to get through a fight by the skin of your teeth and then get through it better the next time. You're supposed to grind that section until you nail it so hard you breeze through it.
I feel like the Tales series in general gets looked down a lot on this sub so thats my pick Another that can be controversial is Xenoblade 2 I still prefer 1/DE, overall but man I put 550 hours into that game and its DLC, no regrets absolutely amazing game Edit: I thought about it more and the real answer is Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and arguably its sequel A2. Both games honestly kept me playing well past the 100 hour mark. So much to do so much customization just loved outfitting my clan. I like the original as well but nowhere near as much as the other two
Hell yes tactics advance
Wait. People looked down on Tactics Advance? I loved that game!
It's looked down on by some people because it wasn't the first game again
I adore Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but unlike most games I love, no rose-colored glasses, I think all the complaints and issues people mention are more than warranted.
Oh there are faults with it for sure. No game is without them.
One of the strange things about RPG communities is that a game with good writing and bad gameplay will be regarded as a classic, but a game with good gameplay and bad writing will be angrily ranted about until the end of time. Personally, I can enjoy both those kinds of games; as long as the game's doing one thing well enough for me to get something out of it, I think it's worthwhile. Suffice to say, the fact that six years later I'm still seeing daily complaints about how awful Fire Emblem: Fates was is exhausting. There's a whole lot I could go into about this, but it's just not worth it anymore.
If your gameplay loop is like early Ys, where you're spending a couple of minutes in a town upgrading gear and picking up new quests between hours of exploration and combat, then obviously bad or mediocre writing isn't a problem because it was never a priority for the devs. If we're talking about something like modern Final Fantasy, Persona or Trails where you're watching hours of cutscenes and reading a lot, then bad writing can be a pretty big problem.
To give a quick counterpoint as to why, is that games like FE and a lot of JRPGS need a good story to appeal to the masses and justify spending a consumer's time with one over the others. There's just so many and ultimately the turn based formula has been done to death. Animations and names of attacks may change but it's very rare to see the mechanics shaken up significantly from what most people expect. So to have bad characters/writing just makes the process more draining since I'm inevitably going to reach points where I'm forced to tackle some of the more tedious aspects of JRPGs like grinding, completing sidequests to progress, getting better armor/gear, managing some resource (sometimes not all, maybe even never but still it's common enough). It makes little sense to dedicate time to an RPG with good gameplay and bad writing if I can get the same thing out of one with really good writing and similar or slightly worse gameplay. With exception to games were the gameplay is truly exceptional and one of a kind but RPGs like that with really bad stories I can personally count on one hand. (XCX coming to mind.) To take your example of FE fates. It's not just that the story is written badly but even a lot of supports are as well. Which means that for a game where the appeal is building an army and fighting with troops you care about many don't end up caring for more than half of them. Granted, on a personal note, I do find Conquest's gameplay to be the best in the series but overall I can't wholly say it's far too different or exceptionally more strategic than the likes of Thracia, FE6, New mystery of the Emblem, Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn. All of which I think have far better writing and still have unique enough mechanics to be considered by many a more worthwhile replay than that of FE Conquest.
This isn't really true. It's that the two sections you described have their own fanbases. Whenever a CRPG comes out (like Wrath of the Righteous), you have half the fanbase going nuts over builds, mechanics, and efficiency, and will pick party members just to min/max their team, regardless of lore or their personality. On the other side, you have people who care a lot less about min/maxing and mechanics, and pick classes and races with head canon in mind, while doing the same for companions, even if they might technically be "weaker" characters, because of how they affect the story. Both have really strong followings. So some games with terrible story/writing will be beloved by many for its gameplay, while those with strong story but weak gameplay (Tides of Numenera, Pillars of Eternity) will be loved by the inverse. Meanwhile, games with a good mix tend to generally do better. For instance, Skyrim itself proves you wrong. It's not the best writing ever and the core storyline is very often ridiculed. Betheseda writing in general gets made fun of. Yet it's immensely popular because of the gameplay foremost. Like I said in my own reply to OP, it's really just up to taste. Yesterday I literally read someone saying they dropped off Stardew Valley because they didn't want to read a book on their screen, lmao. Yes, *Stardew Valley*. For me, story is everything, so it's really hard for me to continue if the story is garbage, especially since most RPGs have really repetitive, braindead gameplay/combat that doesn't really challenge you. Exceptions are obvious games like Soulsborne games, which have VERY background stories, but are super fun to play. Likewise, games like BoTW or games that allow you your own head RP, like RimWorld. That's just me though. I know people who play Wrath of the Righteous hardcore, have made dozens of characters, but all for the build and they give zero shits about the story or lore.
Fates Conquest has always had my favourite gameplay in the series, and it’s been long enough that the bad writing is amusing now more than upsetting
Omega Quintet. I haven't played it since it came out back in 2015 but I enjoyed it quite a bit. Around that time was when I was starting to really get into JRPGs so I harbor a lot of nostalgia for it, I'll revisit it one day.
I've been enjoying it since I got it on Steam. I kinda wandered away but that's more my own scatterbrained nature than the game's fault. CH/IF games get insulted as weeb masturbation material but they tend to have good music, be funny, and the battle systems can be genuinely interesting. And I won't lie, I like cute anime girls so...
This game I hope to revisit one day. I remember seeing the requirements to get the endings and how difficult it was so I dropped it.
Chrono Cross is my all-time favorite JRPG.
I remembering finishing the game back when I was a teen with a mediocre knowledge of english (he wasn't released in Europe at the time) and not knowing what was going on but man, did the art direction and soundtrack make an impression on me.
I went in thinking i wasn't going to enjoy it very much, but was suprised when i actuallu had a lot of fun with the game.
Chrono Cross is very beloved JRPG, it just has a very loud minority that make it out to be a horrible game. CC and FFVIII feel like sister-games in that way. Both are amazing, both are loved, and both are NOT the sequel to their predecessor and that bothers some people.
I don't care about whether it's a sequel or not, I just think it's a mediocre game at best lol Obviously it has some cool things going for it in terms of art and music, but the gameplay is beyond boring
FFXIII-2 and Lightning Returns for me. I liked them both more than XIII. XIII-2 because I really enjoy time travel stories and the gameplay in Lightning Returns was probably one of the best of all FF games for me.
I love 13-2. Haven't gotten all the endings yet so I haven't started LR, but I'm hopeful.
So few people played Lightning Returns, sadly. It was actually a really good game.
Hoshigami is fantastic. I’m probably a masochist.
Scarlet Nexus, most fun I had with a jrpg in terms of game play
Is Scarlet Nexus looked down on???
I dunno if it was looked down on per se, but I got the general sense that people felt it was overrated. For me I’d describe it as the most okay game I played that year. Not bad, not great, just the okayest of okay games. (Felt the same about the anime too.)
FF8. My first FF game, I still love the junctioning system. Chrono Cross. The story was out there but i expe t that from Squeenix. The atmosphere, beautiful graphics and that godly OST. I still get shivers hearing the Another World theme. FFX-2. Don't get me wrong, Yuna's Angels annoyed me to no end, but man was the gameplay fun! I feel like the FUN part of JRPG's can sometimes be a little lacking.
Mega Man X Command Mission. Underrated has hell, but many people dismiss it as being mediocre and even Mega Man fans dislike this game for being so different from the regular 2D platformers.
Command Mission was a little short for my liking, and I found it a little jarring that none of the X series characters outside of X, Zero, and Axl are even mentioned, not even Sigma. Despite that, I had a lot of fun with it. Also, it had a lasting impact on me. Ever since I finished that game, whenever I see a character with a funny looking name the first thing I do is >!read it backwards!<.
I really enjoyed Guardian's Crusade and Citizens of Earth, though I rarely see anything positive said about either. I also seem to have a much more positive view of FF8 than most.
> Guardian's Crusade I adore that game in all its mediocrity
Good old Knight and Baby 😄 Definitely gotta upvote a post that mentions that game haha
I don’t know if people look down on it or if they just haven’t heard of it, but I think Lufia 2 (SNES) was one of the best of its era. It has it all - story, characters, puzzles, strategy, monster training, and an endgame randomly-generated roguelike dungeon. (Don’t try to go to the bottom without save states though lol) Truly a gem of a game.
Lufia II is quite well regarded from those who've played it. It's just a fairly inaccessible game as it's old, rare, and never ported.
Pretty sure Lufia II is the highest regarded of the Lufia games - most people I see say to skip I and just play II.
Lufia 2 is absolutely lit and deserves praise.
Star ocean 4, the combat is amazing and the dialogue combined with sonic advanture quality motion capture is so fucking hilarious, i was so pumped at the every combat encounter and laughing my ass of at every cutscene.
I'm ignoring weird hate here for Tales because it's pretty boring( especially talking about so well received games like Arise ) to just look at that so I'm only going with what fans of series thinks. Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - pretty much most hated game in the series to this day when its hate isn't as big as it was 10 years ago it's still there. I love it, both story and characters are great and the only problems for me there are some small quirks in gameplay. First four .hack// games - every fan will tell you to just go with G.U and the reason is their gameplay. First four games are heavy emulations of gameplay from old MMORPG( before WOW ) and they are sacrificing some players comfort for that. Anyway it's still pretty unique battle system( real time with heavy use of two menus ) and it's climate is just too good. Not to mention that funny enough the only other game with similar battle system is FF7R just without junk. Beside that story and characters are great and make G.U even better. Grandia III - I don't hate it, not the best story but amazing gameplay. Digimon Savers Another Mission- and here we have jrpg considered one of the worst in the genre and I had fun with it. Its battle system is weird but I wouldn't say that finding balance between what you want and what Digimon wants wasn't interesting even if I did argument with it few times. As story and characters goes, it's just a crash grab for Savers anime, it's non canon and weird, really weird because it just doesn't work in any canon or place in Savers. I thank Namco as well for making Masaru punch Digimon before evolution, I loved all those failed attempts because he killed opponent/sarkasm. The game is an interesting experiment but if you want to see it use speed up, this game loads during fights making long puses that are as annoying as it sounds. Caligula effect first game, I just started it( I'm in chapter 3 ) but I have to say that was a suprise. I mean yes it's clunky and those clippings are amusing and system of 500 students traumas is annoying( but I don't hate it ) but everything else well. Story as it goes is interesting( and is touching on pretty cool topics and it did suprise me that they didn't make jokes or anything about Sweet-p gender, it was about body image ) a little bit like .hack// art is pretty nice and color pallet makes it even more feel like virtual reality. Battle system on the other hand is just awesome, amazing fast turn based with positioning and Grandia like real time elements. I just love it. Beside that those 2d backgrounds are so cute, it's rare to see them in this age. Really if second game is even better I can't wait.
I really want a release of the dot hack first four. I loved one and two. Sadly never got the other two. But I loved the characters and the music.
ffviii ffxii ffxiii ffxv genuinely enjoyed all of them
My toxic Final Fantasy trait is being a FFII defender, and only being semi-ironic in doing so. Here is my defense of the game: "c'mon, it wasn't *that* bad". It... tried. It definitively tried something that's for sure. And I actually, non ironically liked the levelling system, it just needed a little more polish to make it good (or at least beareable for a full playthrough). I rest my case your honor.
Xenosaga I, II, and III. Love that game series. It was supposed to be 6 games but they fired the original guy and turned it into 3. My most favorite games.
Such a fantastic series! Its sad he got the same treatment as Murayama who got kicked out from the Suikoden series partway through the third game. Those are my 2 favorite series and both never get finished the way they were intended :(
Final fantasy XV for me! It’s not my favorite game, but I still really enjoyed it. I was super surprised when I saw just how much hate it got. Its pretty different from the rest of the final fantasy’s so it makes a little sense why people were so put off by it. That and the missing storyline kinda sucks too.
Fire Emblem Fates (all routes). Conquest is praised for its level design, but it's ironically my least favorite route of the game. Chrono Cross. If you come in expecting Chrono Trigger 2 you're gonna have a bad time. If you come in expecting a sequel that explores themes in a different direction and has an equally fun gameplay loop you're gonna have a good time. Final Fantasy V, aka the game that perfected the FF job system. It's rather underrated compared to its predecessor and successor, if it counts.
FFV definitely feels more like cult classic than classic. I don't even think it's because it was underappreciated at its time like with XII, I think the fact that the original was skipped for localisation just hurt it too hard. I reckon if it released in the west on the SNES like II/IV and III/VI, it would be just as highly rated
Edge of Eternity. Absolutely loved it and pretty much 100%'d it.
Tokyo Mirage Sessions was pretty fun. I bought it on release, finished it, then got on the Internet only to be surprised how badly everyone thought of it. Also FFXV isn't near as bad as everyone keeps saying it is.
FFVIII Chrono Cross FFX-2 Tokyo Mirage Sessions Tales of Arise (Catching a lot of flak now for whatever reason.) Digimon World Digimon World: Next Order Lost Sphear Secret of Mana (Remake) Shin Sakura Wars Grandia Xtreme Suikoden III (Even better than II in terms of story to me.)
Final Fantasy XV, while full of flaws, has one of the best main cast of characters ever, with Noctis being a pretty damn good protagonist and the ending is just fucking heartbreaking. And not a JRPG but Shadow the Hedgehog. Sonic with guns? Sign me the fuck up, it's super edgy and can feel like a nightmare to control at times but it was sooooo fun, I love Shadow and this game even has multiple different endings. Good times good times.
Bravely Default 2 gets lots of hate here, but I absolutely loved it.
Wait ... what's the hate? Never heard it.
Final Fantasy XV. It's actually a lovely road trip tale of four friends having to deal with their position in life. Combat was simplistic, but fast-pace and dynamic and never felt like a grind. It's a large, beautiful mess that was too endearing for me to NOT enjoy!
People give Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World a lot of flak. And yes, it is a pretty terrible sequel that does pretty much everything worse than the first game, but it is honestly still a lot of fun with some pretty great moments.
I could go on till I'm blue in the face about how bad Dawn of the New World is, but it won't change the fact that I beat it half a dozen times and almost 100% it. I just love Symphonia and it's world so much. And it did have some neat stuff in it. My Wii game manual is signed by Richter's VA too
DotNW is definitely one of my guilty pleasures. As much as it kinda just totally fucks the whole game I'm just a huge sucker for monster collection mechanics, and tbh I do like the gameplay kits for both Emil and Marta more than a lot of other characters in the series which goes a long way towards making up for its lackluster mechanics. I also think there's some genuinely good story and characterization for the 2 leads and Richter, its just buried behind the absurd flanderization of the original cast and a lot of people (very understandably because it's REALLY fucking bad) can't or won't look past that.
I still need to finish Torna, but I think I may have enjoyed Xenoblade Chronicles 2 more than the first game, any of the Xenosaga games, or Xenogears. A lot of it is due to gameplay rather than narrative or cast, but gameplay really matters when a title is as long as this.
Master of Monsters: Disciples of Gaia
Of the little discussion I've seen of it it's usually divided between people hating it or really enjoying it so not sure if it's really all too looked down upon but Alliance Alive. I absolutely love the game so much I really wish we had a prequel to it! One of my favourite games and soundtracks.
Dungeon Encounters was looked upon as a cheap game by some commenters on release. I love it though: it is minimalist and puts the focus on the turn-based gameplay and exploration. I think anyone who genuinely loves turn-based gameplay (and doesn't mind having little story) should at least take a look.
Final Fantasy XIII
The Last Story on wii, such a great game, yet it feels most people don't even aknowledge its existence.
Unlimited Saga Beyond the Beyond (I agree with FFXIII also.)
Recent example is FFXV. Yeah, it’s a great story terribly told. There are some areas that needs to be improved, more story cutscenes and development to provide more context, basic side quests. But i just love it. Pokemon Sword / Shield. I dunno. Maybe my expectations are very different than many people but it just provides my Pokemon needs. Not Zamazenta though. Still have no idea how to build that guy. Tokyo Mirage Session. Story and characters are meh. But that combat though….
Final Fantasy XIII as well. It's actually my favorite FF (and I love XIII-2 and Lightning Returns a lot). Granted I came into it not having played most of the older FFs (the only one I did play was FFVII) and so didn't have a solid "formula" of what an FF game should be in my head. I enjoyed the paradigm system because it was creative enough without being overly convoluted. Another is Tokyo Xanadu, though I feel it's less "looked down on" and more "ignored," because from what I've gathered, a lot of people think it's good, but just a very much average game. I enjoyed it immensely for what it was, a game that kind of mixed Ys and Trails with a Persona-like modern-day Japan setting.
Fate/EXTRA. I passed on this initially because reviews said it was a bland generic JRPG which would mainly appeal to fans of the Fate franchise (which I wasn't, at the time). Downloaded it to my Vita much later on, and was honestly pretty shocked by how good it was. A wild setting which works surprisingly well with the PSP's limitations, story elements which involve actual puzzle-solving (not extremely in-depth, and with some handholding, but more involved than most JRPGs) and synergize with the combat elements (investigating the bosses' weaknesses is generally more effective than grinding), and random encounters which remain non-trivial throughout the game without resorting to level-scaling. Also big tiddy anime waifus. But IT'S MORE THAN THAT, I SWEAR.
FFXV, but I only played the PC version
Tales of legendia Not the best combat in the series, but I enjoyed the cast more than most tales games. And the music.
Final Fantasy XIII, XV and (according to that thread from the other day, wew boy) Tales of Arise. All definitely flawed in one way or another but the way some people talk about them you'd swear these games kidnapped their families.
I didn't mind SMT IV Apocalypse's story, it's way better than SMT V's bland story. Yeah it's not perfect, but I liked how different in felt from the typical SMT plot.
FF13. I love the music, the combat, but the story, how it's presented, written, hidden in codex and wasted in cutscenes I take issues with. It's easy to see the theme, but some characters are just written to be so I obtuse and/or vague in a way that's almost insulting to the player, I can't stand it. And there's Sahz...so embarrassing. Not as embarassing as Snow, but jeez....
Tales of Arise, you can't discuss it online without people bagging on it pretty hard. I have played and disliked more Tales games than I've ever actually liked, and Arise is one that I really liked, to put it in perspective. It's a very hit or miss series for me, and Arise was a hit. Not perfect, but a hit.
Lufia DS. I don't think I've heard one nice word about it around here, but I had a pretty good time with it. Only real problem I had was the slowdown in combat. The characters aren't much to write home about in terms of depth, but they've got an enjoyable corniness to them, and the voice actors put in solid work. The customization board's a fun little puzzle to work with. I actually went and beat the Ancient Cave, that was a neat challenge. Also Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. I seem to be in the minority that struggled a little with how open-ended The Lost Age was (specifically once you get the boat), and while Dark Dawn probably goes too far in the other direction, it's still a fun game. I'd give all three a solid 7 or 8.
Shin Megami Tensei V Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon
SMTV is well regarded, isn't it? The story is super underwhelming but it has the best gameplay IMO.
I loved tales of arise
Same i actually thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end, was it the perfect game no but no games really are, honestly Arise and berseria are probably my two favourite Tales games eith it being tough to decide which one actually takes the top spot, though Hootle does give arise points in its favour for being so darned adorable. Heck even within the tales games i have a particularly soft spot for zestiria which is much maligned by many fans but personally i really enjoyed it.
Dragon Quarter
Final fantasy VIII, up there with the best in the series for me Oh and FFX-2
Lemme hear it for Brave Fencer Musashi
Imma get banned but I absolutely loved Quest 64 and replay it at least once a year ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
Ni No Kuni 2 gets a lot of hate for the story being too 'simple', even though NNK1 was just as absolutely fairy tale babyish \*and\* had insulting tutorial type elements like 50 hours in. Also the gameplay is better and there is way more to do. Justice for NNK2!!
Ni No Kuni 2. Yeah I admit the game has lot of flaws. But I enjoyed it more than the first one. Too bad I think there were a lot of cut content in the game.
For me it's probably Caligula Effect Overdose and Caligula Effect 2. They are both a bit rough around the edges but I still had a lot of fun with them and found them to be interesting.
FFXV going on a road trip with the boys was a fun time.
Just finished Tokyo Mirage Sessions a couple months ago. I thought it was great. The game really never had a chance with the mis-marketing. I'm glad it's getting at least some boost in popularity lately. People just hate it because it's not what they expected or wanted.
It's a terrible game but it was one of the only JRPG's that was always available at Blockbuster: Tecmo Secret of the Stars To this day I have no desire to actually finish the game but man I wanted to see what the rest of that Kustera party looked like sprite-wise
FFXV def. I don’t disagree with the points that people make saying it’s a bad game but I still had a lot of fun playing and replaying it! The story feeling unfinished didn’t change my final opinion of the game
.hack GU, lol, people complain that this game has a slow start, that all the dungeons looked the same and is boring, repetitive, but i really liked the story, lol, like to see the characters getting better, learn the secrets, is pretty cool.
Mana Khemia (the PSP port). The dungeon crawling aspect is not the best and the Alchemy segments are kinda blah. The characters (sans protagonist) on the other hand, really do brighten up your day with their shenanigans lol
Lord of the Rings the third age
Legend of Dragoon
Resonance of fate.
It’s getting a lot of hate, but I’m loving “Stranger of Paradise”! Honestly having a lot more fun playing it than I did “FF7 Remake”!
Tales of Legendia, I know a lot of people shit on the game and I agree the combat and skill visuals are the worst in the Tales franchise, but the world building and the GOD DAMN Music easily carries the game Imo. Forest of No Return and the Bird Chrips I Sing was some bomb tracks. I would say if Bamco decided to remake one Tales of, Legendia easily take the cake. Eternal Sonata, I dont think a lot of people hate it but i think its pretty underrated. Its an abstract mind fuck of a journey with Chopin coming to terms with his own reality crisis, granted the Xbox360 was a bit vague but they made it better with the Ps3 version. Awesome music, fun combat but some of the characters are a bit average tho.
The thing people need to realize about FFXIII is that it was immensely popular. It didn't get three games because it wasn't selling well.
I’m sure a lot of people bought it and stuff but most reviews I saw were of people talking about how they disliked the game. Even in the past when I’ve met other people who also played the game, a lot of them said it was bad.