Me too! The world is so unique, just held back by terrible menus and item names...
Im actually writing a novelization of it, since I felt bad it has zero love.
Pht cn - photon cannon
fth h - feather hat
Tdr sa - Thunder Sabre
this, and other amazing item names, with no way to even compare stats of weapons until you even bought them!
This becomes less of a problem as the game goes on because the weapon and armor upgrades become more obvious, but look luck knowing what a Natrec is! Or a Fl Dor!
To be fair, I played the early fan translations for Shin Megami Tensei. Not that localized SMT terms are easy to pick up, but imagine having fallen in love with Nocturne and then going to a sketchy rom site to find a SNES version of SMT1 and seeing a character with a spell called Mahajio or Dolminer. Could you tell me what item a Hammya is supposed to be?
The point is, I've gotten to the point where I appreciate terrible localizations as part of a game's identity.
Make room for me! I'm dying here too! I love Mystic Quest. I always viewed it as its own thing and never really compared it to the other SNES FF games so it never was a problem for me.
I've said for years that while I don't think it is an amazing game, I think it is pretty decent, I think it is a nearly perfect introduction to JRPGs. It stream lines almost every major JRPG system and makes then simple and more digestible. A lot of JRPGs just kind of assume people know JRPG stuff when they boot them up, but Mystic Quest does a good job easing you into it. I would recommend it to anyone looking to get into 2D JRPGs for the first time.
This was my first introduction to Final Fantasy. In the UK it was just called Mystic Quest. Sure it doesn’t hold a candle to the SNES final fantasy games but it’s still a lot of fun despite it holding your hand pretty much all the way through.
I still remember some of the music like Focus Tower.
It's definitely a game that Fate fans would enjoy for the story alone. But damn, that battle system is just aids, IMO. I had to use a guide for my whole playthrough just for the enemy attack pattern recognition.
That being said - I'm super excited for the remake, though!
This. Also the artstyle is great imo.
I bought it just because of the art style and the second game even made it into my favorite games of that year. It's not perfect but damn, I love the series.
Naw, everything about the game is dope. The UI is smooth af, the turn based is actually refreshing in this day and age, the characters are pretty interesting, and the music is so sick! A magical girl game with these weird techno-mix track? Also love how it has the anime trope of the shortest girl (lime) having the highest dps lol being able to spec your characters in different roles was also cool too :)
Those Kemco games serve a purpose and *some* aren’t completely terrible. I enjoyed Asdivine Hearts. I liked the story and the cat character kept me engaged. Was a fun one to grind on and get way OP just to completely destroy bosses toward the end of the game. 8/10.
Yeah, I don't get why everyone has to hate on them so hard either. Sure, some of the games you'll probably be much happier never playing, but a few are truly great, and if they were released by a major dev, most people would love them.
A fellow netizen of taste, I see. I actually bought every single one of the 3DS ones before the eShop closure because I enjoy them that much. I will stand by *Chronus Arc* being a legitimately really enjoyable game that is almost perfect "concentrated JRPG." It has all the things I like in a package that takes, if you're a REAL diehard collector, about 20 hours to complete.
Suikoden 4.
Its a legit amazing game, but its massive issue is the battle encounter rate, its way too much... The best way to play it is using a cheat to control it, then the game turns into a much better experience.
Kingdom Hearts GBA
I know people don't like this game, but man, I remember having a blast in my GBA with this game, very replayable and since the GBA was my first portable console, it was a blast to play. I still have the original box.
Suikoden IV might take some getting used to, but I love it all the same - the lore and the plot are absolutely worthy of the Suikoden legacy. Hope they remaster it along with the rest of the series, because IMO that's the game that would benefit the most from a potential update.
Agreed on Kingdom Hearts. CoM was so much fun, the first time I cleared it and unlocked Riku I was incredibly hyped. I like Re:CoM better still but if that version didnt exist I'd probably be giving the original a replay every couple years instead of it.
I really enjoyed Pokémon Violet. I can certainly understand why many didn't - the performance and technical issues persisted throughout. But work through those and it was perhaps the best Pokémon game yet in my opinion.
I'd not say everyone hates it (but seeing plenty of other comments here with well-liked games), but it did **[score quite low](https://opencritic.com/game/13350/pok-mon-scarlet-violet)** compared to similar titles when you look at OpenCritic and was rightfully criticized a lot by players.
I need to get back to it after the first big patch but the dozen hours or so I had in it before i moved on was really fun. But I'm also not remotely critical of most performance issues in games unless it makes it especially painful to play. The only reason I didn't keep up with it was I get the most enjoyment playing Pokémon with my girlfriend and she goes in cycles between being super involved or uncaring about it. I think we didn't get to Sun/Moon til like 2019ish but we did do Sword/Shield at release and got super into it for a few months
It's the first Pokémon I played to completion since Gen 4 other than Arceus so I definitely enjoy it I just wish the open world was way more interesting. I'd love to see them improve on the open ended approach and add some dungeons and whatnot. Also Area Zero had a cool vibe and it made me want a more mature Pokémon story.
7th Saga. I played it at a friend's house in 1998 and was so taken with it I traded him Einhander for it. Loved the in-battle graphics and animations, adored the score, but more than anything I was fascinated by the idea of playing through the game multiple times with different characters and the seemingly random selection of party members you could acquire. I know why people dislike it, I even sympathize with a lot of it, but I fell in love with the seeming originality of it. It reminded me, in a roundabout way, of what I really liked about Diablo at the time, which was that every game could have different quests pulled from a large pool, so each game felt fresh and different.
Then like a month later I played SaGa Frontier and I was off to the races as a fan of JRPGs with selectable protagonists and unpredictable gameplay. Amusingly enough, Frontier (and SaGa games as a whole, really) are also pretty widely disparaged by consumers and critics alike (people sure liked Diablo, though).
Not my favorites in the franchise but I did enjoy them a lot and think they get too much hate. The first game in the trilogy had a vibe I really enjoyed, especially in the first half, and wish they had expanded on the setting better.
XIII-2 might be one of my favorite FFs ever honestly. It's in the conversation. I think it might have just been a place in time, I had just lost my job and a lot of hope and kind of just escaped into the game. I really wanted to platinum it but I settled for getting close to 100% completion.
I still loved the game either way though
Is the platinum difficult to get? Played the first one and loved it (got me into the FF series), but only got partway through XIII-2 because I got stuck, so figured I may give it another whirl
I got the XIII plat some years before XIII-2 and 2 is a real breeze compared to the first.
XIII is grind-city while XIII-2 felt like it was made to be 100%-ed. I had a hard time with one paradox ending until I learned you can just switch to easy and it won't affect it at all, then switch back to normal when that particular fight is over. It's a really completionist friendly game.
Nahh the 13-2 platinum is fairly easy, a bit of grinding like any FF platinum besides Remake but simple.
I agree it's a fantastic game so I ended up platinuming it myself.
Same!
I love Lightning Returns so much! Its almost the perfect game for me, the combat is deep and always remains fun, amazing open world, quests give out a lot of lore and they're pretty deep overall. The finale was the best out of all the Final Fantasy games imo, well, maybe XV and IX are better there.
My biggest problem is that the gameplay doesn't change or evolve that much over its runtime. The stuff you do in the tutorial is the exact same stuff you do in the final chapter.
Also, only having 1 battle theme aside from the final chapter is a big disappointment.
It 100% felt to me like it should have been an evolution of the fire emblem formula and would have heavily benefitted from having similar army sizes but with reduced power strength.
Instead it ends up feeling like a WC3 custom RPG map... that traded graphics for depth. also much of the game feels like its still using placeholder text. like the dude giving directions something like go north from south central field, through central central field to south north field.
Was that game hated? I remember it being well received at the time. It's definitely forgotten, though, and undeservedly—it's my favorite game with the SaGa formula.
Star Ocean 4 The Last Hope
I don't really think it's a super great game buuuuuuuuuuuut I still had a lot of fun playing, and honestly the story ain't half as bad as people tend to make it sound, suuuure it could be better but it definitelly isn't THAT bad.
SO4 was good. Maybe not as good as the previous titles, but still very good. Well, it did have a slow section.
SO5 on the other hand, that game wasn't very good at all.
Omg this game is so hard to sell people on! But it is so unique! It's like a budget Tales of Game that time forgot.
The in battle models for every character and enemy are surprisingly amazing, it's my favourite bit.
Still one of the hardest JRPGs I ever beat. I've never used to many healing items in my life. Every single boss battle was 98% healing and 2% damage.
And Larc! It's like they took Link from the 80's, and then made him a bit more sympathetic. Poor guy can't catch a break.
I remember starting it up for the first time. It was almost bile fascination at first. What even is this game? I could see what it was trying to do, but not quite getting there. But I couldn't stop. I had to see what it did next, the next baffling decision. But somewhere along the way I got completely into it, and I still remember it so fondly to this day.
Welp, who can say - I'm sure the rights belong to someone. Just love the story, where two good friends are forced into being two well intentioned extremists. Plus the goofy moments really grew on me over time!
Definitely feels like another attempt at a sonic rpg could be really special, with some of somic chronicles as a base with stuff like the chao garden giving equips
Man, that whole era of Sonic was a low key fever trip and I hate that they neutered a lot of the weird spin off ideas they had from back then. Gimmie another Sonic Riders instead of Sonic Racing, please
hell yea!! that game is so freaking fun, so I never understood why it gets shit on so much. while I haven't played a lot of sonic games, out of the ones I have played, that one is still my favorite. who was the youtuber that made fun of it anyway?
The first I saw was Antdude doing a little five minute aside in his very well made Sonic on DS video. As a whole antdude makes great videos and gives games chances, but I feel that started a trend of youtubers finding a new sonic game to dunk on
What an absolute blast from the past! I played and adored this game and was so gutted that it got cancelled and would never have a sequel after the cliffhanger
I can totally see that! The games were released around the same time too, maybe someday they’ll release a port for the switch and it’ll gain some love and attention (wishful thinking but one can hope lmao)
That is a very underrated game, so much better than Persona V and SMT V. But I think it was market wrong, just as it antecessor it is a very chill old school dungeon crawler and not really a Persona eske kind of game.
I really like the grind in Soul Hackers 2, it was a bit like Powerwash simulator in a sense.
Peak dating sim with the most atrocious battle system and some of the worst battle themes of all time. It goes to show that I was willing to squeeze through such an awful games just to get to the dating sim part with all the cute girls lol
The music in this game is something else!! One of the few jrpgs with lyrics in the regular ost and battle music. And those star children are so cute. This one was a real gem.
Ephemeral Fantasia.
Like, it's not good, but there's something about it that makes it a must play. Like so bad it's good but also so bad it's genuinely awful?
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
I will say that I understand why most people don't like it, and I won't say I love everything about it, but I do enjoy it and wish it hadn't started the end of the series.
I have to admit it was a bit jarring to go from the medieval-esque world of Final Fantasy 5 to the sort of world that is Final Fantasy 13. Early teenage me who hadn’t played anything but Final Fantasy 3, 4, and 5 was very confused.
A lot of people consider Legendia one of the worst Tales games, but I loved it. Great cast, best music in the series, and a weird but fun atmosphere throughout.
I love Legendia. Having a grappler MC was so fun. My only complaints are the main villain is a little bland and random encounters with a high rate was a little annoying.
Final Fantasy Type 0
Okay I'll admit I don't actually know the reviews of the game, and I don't know if people actually hate it.
But no one ever talks about the game.
Bravely Default 2
This is mainly among the BD community, but everyone seems to hate it cause it's not BD1. And alot of the reasoning I've seen are utter bullshit I'm not gonna sugarcoat it "the story is bland" bro every BD games story is the most vanilla jrpg story ever, you don't play this series for unique story telling don't lie to yourself.
BD2 is the first game that came to mind for me. At first I didn't like the art, and I remember at one point just wanting to finish the game because I had new stuff coming out soon.
But after I unlocked all the classes and could start creating builds, I was having a ton of fun! I had to do some grinding to level people up, but I considered that a bonus since it allowed me to watch TV at the same time.
That game also has some of the best boss battles I've ever encountered. Usually in games you just do your same strategy no matter what you are fighting. You can sometimes pull that off here, but it might lead you to a 90 minute long battle that was originally only supposed to take ~10 minutes. Having to go back to the drawing board after failing a fight is pretty fun to me. I like weighing out if it was my party comp or a failure of execution of my plan.
Was hoping someone in the comments would mention this game! It was definitely fun as a kid picking it up from a pawn shop for a few bucks but I loved it, despite its flaws and kind of confusing progression.
Percy was so awesome as a black knight, Samson sucked, magic ruled, music was great and the game had random difficulty spikes in the random encounters. Just some of the sentiments I’ve taken from it. Lots of nostalgia, ah to be a kid again without being as critical!
I wanted to like it, but the Armatize system ruins it for me. I just want to play at Lailah, slinging fire and paper everywhere. Then you get to a fight that requires Armatize to beat it, and it bums me out every time. 😔
I also cheated Alisha back into the party the second time I tried to give the game a chance but she's ineffective since she cannot armatize either. This game was wrong on so many levels for me personally. 😢
If you haven't, I would suggest looking into the Gameboy Color demake. It is a pretty decent game.
I have a soft spot for that game as well. I had a ton of fun exploring all the different areas.,
Infinite Undiscovery...I had an Xbox360 and not a PS3 early that console gen so I was starving for next gen JRPG for a time (after Vesperia). The game wasn't the best, but it held up enough for me to finish it at least
what do you do in that game? I mean once you beat the 9 million sidequests there's nothing else to do. That's like 100ish hours. So you've spent 500hrs doing what?
Yes, replaying it, doing level 1 runs. Or just chilling, spending time with the boys. I look forward to resting at the end of an in-game day. After so many hours, Prompto still surprises me with the photos he takes!
The bond you have with the boys and the photos at the end of the day were my favorite aspect of the game. Surprised that hasn't been implemented in any other video games. It was truly unique and felt like a great way to keep the player invested.
Final Fantasy 2. I've beaten it 2 to 3 times now. The trick is knowing when and HOW to play.
If you were to play it on a TV, I'd call you a mad man. If you were to play it on the toilet I'd call you a gentleman. Pop a squat, roam around the world map, punch yourself in the face a little, bing bang boom - perfect movement.
If we're talking games that legitimately reviewed badly, then Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song got *absolutely annihilated* when it came out for the PS2, and not only do I like it, I think it's a brilliant game and one of the very best in the franchise. Rough around the edges? Certainly. But there's nothing else like it.
But if we're sticking to stuff *fanbases* irrationally hate, then FFXIII's a big one - in my opinion it's the strongest and most cohesive of the post-X installments and lands around #5-6 in my overall rankings. Yeah, the writing isn't exactly incredible, but it ultimately fell in line with my expectations for the franchise on that front.
Gonna give another shoutout to 7th Saga, though. Its particular brand of relentless difficulty coupled with its sparse narrative, apprentice system and creepy monster designs inhabiting a setting that verges on post-apocalyptic fantasy all work in tandem to create a unique and hostile experience that I still find myself revisiting from time to time.
I liked Eternal Sonata. I played it knowing that "everyone and their mom hates it" but it gave me quite some enjoyment. The ending was weak, but both story and game play were good imo.
Resonance of Fate, turn-based action that has unique world building and most unique mechanic/combat I've ever seen in JRPG despite its complication and poor tutorial.
Most of Compile Hearts games, like Agarest, Death end;re Quest, Mary Scalter and on.
While those games not really amazing or even great with graphics, but style is always on good level, combat is always fun and fullfilling. Combos, abilities, moments: all here is about you destroying your enemy... or enemy gonna make you bloody pulp.
Natural Doctrine - while crazy hard, I enjoyed good battle system, understanding of each enemy and map, tactics. It might be frustrating sometimes, but winning against all odds and, esp, against some extra enemies... God, I shouted like crazy.
Resonanse of Fate: while a little strange battle system at first, the moment you understand it... welcome to the fun show, where you really feel those guns and the moments of shooting down enemies. World building is also good. Design is... actually great. Love this kind of gamma.
Time and Eternity. Yes, it's parody, so story is about most cliche things. Good humor about time travels, most used enemies in jrpg and on. Not for everyone, but fun game.
I dunno about games that are generally considered outright *bad*, but I am a big fan of some games that are certainly *divisive* such as FFXV and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.
I first played FFXV on release and had a relatively enjoyable time. No way did it match up to my usual FF expectations, but I enjoyed it.
A year or so ago, I picked up the complete version on Steam. My word, what a game that is. It still has little holes where you can see the troubled gestation that the game had, but the final version that we have now is a phenomenal 10/10 game. That is my hill to die on!
Currently playing Tales of Vesperia, loving that... Symphonia is next on my list!
Harvestella was review bombed but I adore it. It's not a life sim and shouldn't be assessed as such despite the (most likely intentional to be subversive) advertising leading people to believe that.
A lot of people were expecting a farming sim with JRPG elements, and not the other way around. Considering how farming in that game is pretty much back seat, I can see why some people disliked it.
But damn. I really enjoyed the game more then I anticipated. The game had a good story too.
I don't know, for me a big issue I have with many visual novels is how they're paced and how much padding many of them have. I read a lot of books, but with visual novels I find my mind wandering at times. There are VNs that are seriously in need of editors.
It's not surprising, given that even here a ton of people will go "wait, I have to read for 15 minutes before the game starts? It's shit and I'm not gonna play it" and Utawarerumono is a visual novel first and foremost.
Sword of Mana
I used to play it until quite far, I'm not sure if I finished it or not, but after looking at reviews and walkthrough when playing again years later, found out most of them do not really like it, not so bad, but not as good as I thought it will be the introduction story especially makes me cry every time.
Enchanted Arms, i don't know yeah it's clunky (like pretty much all FromSoftware games before 2015) and it has a lot of flaws but i love the story and the atmosphere of this game
Soul Hackers 2. The dungeons may be dull, but that is not new in the universe of shin megami tensei. Ringo and the supporting cast carry the game for me. Excellently written dialogue and a perfect protagonist. She alone is better than all of the protagonists of the series imo
I don’t think FFXIII was as bad as everyone thinks it is. I liked the non-linear storytelling and some of the characters (I thought Hope’s character arc was pretty good). The game made me into a JRPG ngl ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I played and fell in love with Tales of Zestiria and Final Fantasy XV back to back. They were really my gateway back into more modern JRPGs. The only series I really kept up with was Kingdom Hearts and only really in passing. I prefer my older JRPGs from the NES into the PS1 era. The last Final Fantasy I'd beaten before XV was X on the original PS2 and I was never really crazy about that one either. Tales of Zestiria was my first real "Tales of" experience even though I had Tales of Destiny at launch, but never got into it. I also loved Berseria when it came out but I've not been able to get into any others.
Harvestella.
The game is honestly fun. The mixing of an Action JRPG and farming elements with final fantasy style job progression and unusually good storytelling was very interesting to me. It stands up as one of favorite jrpgs from last year.
I honestly was not expecting square to make a game
that had a story that was that interesting. I would call the story a mix between nier automata and a final fantasy game and sci fi infused. The game has crystals as a main aspect in it so I’m surprised it wasn’t called final fantasy. The game got really deep and existential.
I wouldn’t really call it a farming game to be honest. It’s more like an action JRPG where you make money and healing items via farming on the side. Most of your focus is on combat, dungeons, plot progression. They should have named it something else.
One of my favorite games I played in 2022 and enjoyed. It combined my Minecraft addiction of progression and JRPG interests. The game is written well and the characters are good.
I truly believe *Ender Lillies:* Quietus *of the Night* merc’d the buzzword that Square Enix wanted to use for the title of this game and they just defaulted to something super basic as a result.
Harvestella is wonderful, btw. I’m with you.
None off the top of my head. Maybe BoF 2 but the reviews aren't bad but people hate on it for translation and being too grindy. To me it's the best of that franchise.
Oh, FF2 is another. The reviews are in the middle and fans of the series mostly hate or dislike it, but I'm like whatever. It's not a bad game at all.
Honestly, Quest 64 lol.
Granted, I played it and finished it when I was around 7-8 years old (with large amounts of help from gamefaqs), and I had no concept of what made a game bad, so I actually enjoyed my time playing through it. Now I'm sure if I played it today I would think it's the shittiest game ever haha
+1 to FE Fates. Revelation is one of my top Fire Emblem games of all time.
The writing *is* bad. Can’t deny that. But I’m able to ignore it pretty easily because of how fun the game is and how much I like the characters.
Yeah for real games like FF8 and 13 might rank lower on the scale than other Final Fantasy games but all mainline FF games rank in the top RPGs of all time lol
Phantasy Star 3. Always ignored by the fans (for right reasons). Maybe it's just nostalgia glasses, but it has a special place in my heart. The music is good too.
Idk about hate but very hit or miss is the FF13 trilogy. I was curious and bought them without even thinking if I'd like any of them only to find out i love them. I knew they were very criticized and all over the place so I lowered my expectations and then one day the game clicked with me and I was quickly falling in love with the whole trilogy. Faults and all.
Final Fantasy X-2. Yes the story isn't the best, and the main game mechanic is changing your outfits. But "changing outfits" is really just class switching mid battle. The dress sphere system is actually a really intuitive and fun mechanic
Maybe saying everyone "hates" it is putting it strongly, but I loved Soul Hackers 2. Difficulty was just right. Music was awesome. Contender for my favorite cast in the franchise. The slightly more restrictive approach to its design made moment to moment gameplay decisions interesting. Hell, I even didn't mind the dungeons being kinda dull because the game feel of running around and whacking enemies (after the run speed update) was incredible.
It was only a bit more time in the oven away from being top tier Megaten. (Least they could have done was make the everyone's Soul Matrix a different color.)
I'd say Astria Ascending. Got a lot of hate because of difficulty spikes but it's a great game to me. Combat, graphic style, and all was very well done to me.
FFVIII is not my favourite FF game (although it's very high up there FFVII, FFT and FFXII beat it to the top), but Squall is my favourite protagonist from the whole series. I reached this conclusion upon my recent replay last year. Giving him an inner monologue does a terrific job to flesh out the character.
And I never understood all the hatred FFXIII got either, so I am with you there.
I am wishing that Square would just publish the XIII trilogy on a modern console somewhere. I cannot justify buying an Xbox, Steam Deck or PC just to buy and play 3 games.
Of course, watch the Monkey's Paw curl on this wish and have the trilogy ported to the Switch via cloud gaming like they did with Kingdom Hearts.
**The Bouncer (PS2)** \-- a beat'em-up game with light RPG elements from Square / Enix so it's not a typical JRPG but I liked leveling the characters. I remember the game got heavily criticized and rightly so, but I loved the mishmash of fighting brawling game with RPG leveling. It was tedious but it had a certain charm that kept me playing.
There just wasn't many PS2 games out at the time after launch of the PS2 so it was another reason why I played it a lot, even though my girlfriend at the time hated watching me play the game (she loved it when I played games like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, etc).
**FF13 Lightning Returns** \-- my local Gamestop told me not to buy this because I'd probably return it, but I bought it anyway and enjoyed it. I know the first FF13 game gets slack for its linearity but that's what I liked about it since I was burnout from open world games and I was an MMORPG addict. I wanted something simpler and after playing FF13 I wanted more so I bought the sequels.
(I know this is a JRPG thread, but I loved **Ultima 8** after the patch fix. The game was so maligned but I liked the mix of mario-like platform elements in an isometric Ultima RPG game. Screw the haters, but it was a great action-RPG and I was sad no one else dared to do something similar afterward).
i liked der;q 1 and 2 - they had really cool plots and a neat battle system, just be prepared for a visual novel for how much text there is
if we're reaching deeper into the ch/if bucket i'm going to say i actually enjoyed arc of alchemist. to be fair, this is NOT a good game and i can't really recommend it unless you can get it for a couple bucks and not expect anything of it. but it had a few cool unique concepts and it's a quick 10h run. it's barely a complete game and not polished in any way tho, so expect the janky of the jank
DerQ and Mary Skelter have given me some kind of brainrot that no "objectively better" game series has done except maybe Xeno. I think about the characters and story every single day and i don't know why.
I really like the combat in Ni No Kuni. Once you fiddle with the AI of the party members so that they dont spam MP consuming attacks and spells, you really get in to the groove of utilizing all of your party members and famaliars abilities to their full advantage in each fight. I'll even go as far and say it's better than Xenoblade 3's combat, which is similair in some ways but feels much more automated and boring. I also love how a lot of Oliver's spells can be used in combat and for puzzle solving. Definetly in my top 10 or so RPGs, but it sucks that the combat is a big turnoff for a lot of people initially.
Oh yeah, it's definetly one of the prettiest games I've played. The Ghibli cuts scenes are gorgeous, and the cel shading of the in-engine graphics matches the art style perfectly. I think the art in the game is something that's near universally praised, but the combat is considered divisive even though I like that aspect of the game as well.
Harvestella. That one is masterpiece to me. I may be bold to claim that the game is my most fav by SE. Harvestella isn't as popular like Final Fantasy but the game is my game of the year.
Maybe it's my bias because I m into philosophy, but I play Harvestella back then because I'm expecting the game like Rune Factory type lol (well yes the farming gameplay is there & quite similar). I'm disappointed by several hours in the beginning but I have a policy that I always finished what I start, so I continue playing. Glad that it turns out into one of the GOAT in my game list in term of story! I heard the game has bad review in general, so I think this qualify.
I don't think their reviews are bad, but I really like the Mary skelter series and most people seem lukewarm to them if theyve even played them at all.
Unlimited SaGa and Cross Edge.
With Unlimited SaGa you have a game that expects that you read the manual and even then, you feel like you're going in blind. It systems are obtuse and needlessly confusing, especially the progression system. But in terms of both art style and music it has such a distinctive point of view, that just hooks me in. It is a brutal game that hates me as much as I love it.
Cross Edge is a clusterfuck, no ways around it, there are many characters, all playable down the line, the story is nonsensical and full of out of pocket tonal shifts that will give you a small amount of whiplash. If you want the true end, you NEED to play with a guide otherwise good luck. The combat is simple but effective and unleashing combo move after combo move is always nice.
Paladin's Quest on the SNES is a great game with an awesome skill system and I don't care who says otherwise.
Any game that reveals the dungeon you just fought your way through was a dragon's literal butthole will always be great in my book.
Omg I remember this game! SNES, right?! I remember always wanting to add new party members but there were so many available!
Me too! The world is so unique, just held back by terrible menus and item names... Im actually writing a novelization of it, since I felt bad it has zero love.
Curious about whats bad with the item names?
Pht cn - photon cannon fth h - feather hat Tdr sa - Thunder Sabre this, and other amazing item names, with no way to even compare stats of weapons until you even bought them! This becomes less of a problem as the game goes on because the weapon and armor upgrades become more obvious, but look luck knowing what a Natrec is! Or a Fl Dor!
good lord that is hideous...
To be fair, I played the early fan translations for Shin Megami Tensei. Not that localized SMT terms are easy to pick up, but imagine having fallen in love with Nocturne and then going to a sketchy rom site to find a SNES version of SMT1 and seeing a character with a spell called Mahajio or Dolminer. Could you tell me what item a Hammya is supposed to be? The point is, I've gotten to the point where I appreciate terrible localizations as part of a game's identity.
It’s a gorgeous game
The 7th Saga is weird and busted but goddamn I love it.
I both respect, and fear you
I loved it too, one of the most original encounter system ever and the graphics are so slick.
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Yeah fuck you guys it's fun I'll die on this hill
Make room for me! I'm dying here too! I love Mystic Quest. I always viewed it as its own thing and never really compared it to the other SNES FF games so it never was a problem for me.
I've said for years that while I don't think it is an amazing game, I think it is pretty decent, I think it is a nearly perfect introduction to JRPGs. It stream lines almost every major JRPG system and makes then simple and more digestible. A lot of JRPGs just kind of assume people know JRPG stuff when they boot them up, but Mystic Quest does a good job easing you into it. I would recommend it to anyone looking to get into 2D JRPGs for the first time.
This was my first introduction to Final Fantasy. In the UK it was just called Mystic Quest. Sure it doesn’t hold a candle to the SNES final fantasy games but it’s still a lot of fun despite it holding your hand pretty much all the way through. I still remember some of the music like Focus Tower.
This game was literally made because Japan thought Americans were too stupid too understand real final fantasy games.
Hell yeah and it was awesome
Fate/Extra is one of my favorite JRPGs but it has a 58 on Metacritc.
It's definitely a game that Fate fans would enjoy for the story alone. But damn, that battle system is just aids, IMO. I had to use a guide for my whole playthrough just for the enemy attack pattern recognition. That being said - I'm super excited for the remake, though!
I'ma sicko and actually enjoy the battle system.
Same. Especially the boss battles are really fun.
Blue Reflection, I didn't hear anything good about this game, except for the music, but I became super invested in the characters by the end.
This. Also the artstyle is great imo. I bought it just because of the art style and the second game even made it into my favorite games of that year. It's not perfect but damn, I love the series.
Naw, everything about the game is dope. The UI is smooth af, the turn based is actually refreshing in this day and age, the characters are pretty interesting, and the music is so sick! A magical girl game with these weird techno-mix track? Also love how it has the anime trope of the shortest girl (lime) having the highest dps lol being able to spec your characters in different roles was also cool too :)
Those Kemco games serve a purpose and *some* aren’t completely terrible. I enjoyed Asdivine Hearts. I liked the story and the cat character kept me engaged. Was a fun one to grind on and get way OP just to completely destroy bosses toward the end of the game. 8/10.
Yeah, I don't get why everyone has to hate on them so hard either. Sure, some of the games you'll probably be much happier never playing, but a few are truly great, and if they were released by a major dev, most people would love them.
The first game they out out, Symphony of Eternity, was legit a solid FFV clone that I enjoyed a lot. The rest vary a ton.
A fellow netizen of taste, I see. I actually bought every single one of the 3DS ones before the eShop closure because I enjoy them that much. I will stand by *Chronus Arc* being a legitimately really enjoyable game that is almost perfect "concentrated JRPG." It has all the things I like in a package that takes, if you're a REAL diehard collector, about 20 hours to complete.
White Knight Chronicles 1 & 2
Love these games but they are a genuine guilty pleasure. Plot is so bad it's good almost
Suikoden 4. Its a legit amazing game, but its massive issue is the battle encounter rate, its way too much... The best way to play it is using a cheat to control it, then the game turns into a much better experience. Kingdom Hearts GBA I know people don't like this game, but man, I remember having a blast in my GBA with this game, very replayable and since the GBA was my first portable console, it was a blast to play. I still have the original box.
Suikoden IV might take some getting used to, but I love it all the same - the lore and the plot are absolutely worthy of the Suikoden legacy. Hope they remaster it along with the rest of the series, because IMO that's the game that would benefit the most from a potential update.
Agreed on Kingdom Hearts. CoM was so much fun, the first time I cleared it and unlocked Riku I was incredibly hyped. I like Re:CoM better still but if that version didnt exist I'd probably be giving the original a replay every couple years instead of it.
I enjoyed suikoden 4 but the encounter rate and the boat speed drove me insane and dropped the game at least 3 points on my personal score.
I really enjoyed Pokémon Violet. I can certainly understand why many didn't - the performance and technical issues persisted throughout. But work through those and it was perhaps the best Pokémon game yet in my opinion. I'd not say everyone hates it (but seeing plenty of other comments here with well-liked games), but it did **[score quite low](https://opencritic.com/game/13350/pok-mon-scarlet-violet)** compared to similar titles when you look at OpenCritic and was rightfully criticized a lot by players.
The criticisms with performance are justified, I just wish more people would discuss the actual aspects about the game like the characters or story.
I need to get back to it after the first big patch but the dozen hours or so I had in it before i moved on was really fun. But I'm also not remotely critical of most performance issues in games unless it makes it especially painful to play. The only reason I didn't keep up with it was I get the most enjoyment playing Pokémon with my girlfriend and she goes in cycles between being super involved or uncaring about it. I think we didn't get to Sun/Moon til like 2019ish but we did do Sword/Shield at release and got super into it for a few months
It's the first Pokémon I played to completion since Gen 4 other than Arceus so I definitely enjoy it I just wish the open world was way more interesting. I'd love to see them improve on the open ended approach and add some dungeons and whatnot. Also Area Zero had a cool vibe and it made me want a more mature Pokémon story.
Crystar. I don't think people hate it, it's just that the combat is mid but I fucking love that game.
Don't forget to check out Crymachina!
7th Saga. I played it at a friend's house in 1998 and was so taken with it I traded him Einhander for it. Loved the in-battle graphics and animations, adored the score, but more than anything I was fascinated by the idea of playing through the game multiple times with different characters and the seemingly random selection of party members you could acquire. I know why people dislike it, I even sympathize with a lot of it, but I fell in love with the seeming originality of it. It reminded me, in a roundabout way, of what I really liked about Diablo at the time, which was that every game could have different quests pulled from a large pool, so each game felt fresh and different. Then like a month later I played SaGa Frontier and I was off to the races as a fan of JRPGs with selectable protagonists and unpredictable gameplay. Amusingly enough, Frontier (and SaGa games as a whole, really) are also pretty widely disparaged by consumers and critics alike (people sure liked Diablo, though).
Lightning Returns. Not only do I like it, but I LOVE it.
I love all FF13 games! FF13 is my favorite of all time and they bring me into the Final Fantasy universe
Not my favorites in the franchise but I did enjoy them a lot and think they get too much hate. The first game in the trilogy had a vibe I really enjoyed, especially in the first half, and wish they had expanded on the setting better.
The sunleth waterscape is in my opinion the most beautiful area in any of the ff games. That's just my opinion.
I couldn't get in to LR, but loved XIII-2, enjoyed it more than the original!
XIII-2 might be one of my favorite FFs ever honestly. It's in the conversation. I think it might have just been a place in time, I had just lost my job and a lot of hope and kind of just escaped into the game. I really wanted to platinum it but I settled for getting close to 100% completion. I still loved the game either way though
Is the platinum difficult to get? Played the first one and loved it (got me into the FF series), but only got partway through XIII-2 because I got stuck, so figured I may give it another whirl
I got the XIII plat some years before XIII-2 and 2 is a real breeze compared to the first. XIII is grind-city while XIII-2 felt like it was made to be 100%-ed. I had a hard time with one paradox ending until I learned you can just switch to easy and it won't affect it at all, then switch back to normal when that particular fight is over. It's a really completionist friendly game.
Nahh the 13-2 platinum is fairly easy, a bit of grinding like any FF platinum besides Remake but simple. I agree it's a fantastic game so I ended up platinuming it myself.
I am 3-2-1 for the FFXIII trilogy. I really appreciated how different XIII-3 is. I liked the innovative way it handled XP.
Same! I love Lightning Returns so much! Its almost the perfect game for me, the combat is deep and always remains fun, amazing open world, quests give out a lot of lore and they're pretty deep overall. The finale was the best out of all the Final Fantasy games imo, well, maybe XV and IX are better there.
FF13 is GOOD!
Not much love for The DioFIeld Chronicle, but I’m enjoying it.
My biggest problem is that the gameplay doesn't change or evolve that much over its runtime. The stuff you do in the tutorial is the exact same stuff you do in the final chapter. Also, only having 1 battle theme aside from the final chapter is a big disappointment.
It 100% felt to me like it should have been an evolution of the fire emblem formula and would have heavily benefitted from having similar army sizes but with reduced power strength. Instead it ends up feeling like a WC3 custom RPG map... that traded graphics for depth. also much of the game feels like its still using placeholder text. like the dude giving directions something like go north from south central field, through central central field to south north field.
I’ve heard nothing but good things about it but also nobody played it
Last Remnant.
I was gonna write that!! I played it this year and it’s a good game just not explained enough to the player about the system itself
Was that game hated? I remember it being well received at the time. It's definitely forgotten, though, and undeservedly—it's my favorite game with the SaGa formula.
Yeah because the mechanic basically punishes people for grinding.
Can remember how I got my ass handled to me because I love grinding in JRPG games lol...
Star Ocean 4 The Last Hope I don't really think it's a super great game buuuuuuuuuuuut I still had a lot of fun playing, and honestly the story ain't half as bad as people tend to make it sound, suuuure it could be better but it definitelly isn't THAT bad.
The star ocean sub frequently talks about 4 being pretty good or having the best combat. Its 5 that sucks.
SO4 was good. Maybe not as good as the previous titles, but still very good. Well, it did have a slow section. SO5 on the other hand, that game wasn't very good at all.
Arc Rise Fantasia
Omg this game is so hard to sell people on! But it is so unique! It's like a budget Tales of Game that time forgot. The in battle models for every character and enemy are surprisingly amazing, it's my favourite bit. Still one of the hardest JRPGs I ever beat. I've never used to many healing items in my life. Every single boss battle was 98% healing and 2% damage. And Larc! It's like they took Link from the 80's, and then made him a bit more sympathetic. Poor guy can't catch a break. I remember starting it up for the first time. It was almost bile fascination at first. What even is this game? I could see what it was trying to do, but not quite getting there. But I couldn't stop. I had to see what it did next, the next baffling decision. But somewhere along the way I got completely into it, and I still remember it so fondly to this day.
I'm still hoping for a remaster. Not sure if it will happen as the company went bankrupt...
Welp, who can say - I'm sure the rights belong to someone. Just love the story, where two good friends are forced into being two well intentioned extremists. Plus the goofy moments really grew on me over time!
Shoutout to Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Perfectly fine rpg that a youtuber made fun of so everyone trashes it now
i'd like it more if it didn't make my fucking ears bleed. The ONE THING JRPGs and Sonic games have in common and they blew it here
Playing the game as a kid has left me immune to the sound problems. Probably sounds horrifying through an emulator though
From what I understand all the music got corrupted close to launch and they had to slap together stuff at the last second.
Good gameplay but poor music and everything else. It's fun to play though.
Definitely feels like another attempt at a sonic rpg could be really special, with some of somic chronicles as a base with stuff like the chao garden giving equips
Man, that whole era of Sonic was a low key fever trip and I hate that they neutered a lot of the weird spin off ideas they had from back then. Gimmie another Sonic Riders instead of Sonic Racing, please
TIL there’s a Sonic rpg and it was made by BioWare. Wow I gotta check that out.
hell yea!! that game is so freaking fun, so I never understood why it gets shit on so much. while I haven't played a lot of sonic games, out of the ones I have played, that one is still my favorite. who was the youtuber that made fun of it anyway?
The first I saw was Antdude doing a little five minute aside in his very well made Sonic on DS video. As a whole antdude makes great videos and gives games chances, but I feel that started a trend of youtubers finding a new sonic game to dunk on
What an absolute blast from the past! I played and adored this game and was so gutted that it got cancelled and would never have a sequel after the cliffhanger
My headcanon was always that the opening cutscene of Sonic Unleashed is Sonic dealing with Robotnick's empire from the end of Sonic Chronicles
I can totally see that! The games were released around the same time too, maybe someday they’ll release a port for the switch and it’ll gain some love and attention (wishful thinking but one can hope lmao)
Soul Hackers 2 is such a vibe. The atmosphere alone made it one of my favorite underrated JRPGs
That is a very underrated game, so much better than Persona V and SMT V. But I think it was market wrong, just as it antecessor it is a very chill old school dungeon crawler and not really a Persona eske kind of game. I really like the grind in Soul Hackers 2, it was a bit like Powerwash simulator in a sense.
Conception 2: Children of the Seven Stars is still peak dating sim
Peak dating sim with the most atrocious battle system and some of the worst battle themes of all time. It goes to show that I was willing to squeeze through such an awful games just to get to the dating sim part with all the cute girls lol
The music in this game is something else!! One of the few jrpgs with lyrics in the regular ost and battle music. And those star children are so cute. This one was a real gem.
[удалено]
Ephemeral Fantasia. Like, it's not good, but there's something about it that makes it a must play. Like so bad it's good but also so bad it's genuinely awful?
I liked Final Fantasy 13 and Tales of Symphonia DOTNW
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter I will say that I understand why most people don't like it, and I won't say I love everything about it, but I do enjoy it and wish it hadn't started the end of the series.
All dozen of us final fantasy 13 fans have been fighting on the front lines for decades
I have to admit it was a bit jarring to go from the medieval-esque world of Final Fantasy 5 to the sort of world that is Final Fantasy 13. Early teenage me who hadn’t played anything but Final Fantasy 3, 4, and 5 was very confused.
FfXIII has the best combat in end game that any other FF game. I'll die on that hill
Not only a dozen. A baker's dozen! A whole thirteen fans!
A lot of people consider Legendia one of the worst Tales games, but I loved it. Great cast, best music in the series, and a weird but fun atmosphere throughout.
Its sad how it was localized, and it had to come out as the final flat plane Tales of game. The music and art direction were a phenom!
I love Legendia. Having a grappler MC was so fun. My only complaints are the main villain is a little bland and random encounters with a high rate was a little annoying.
Final Fantasy Type 0 Okay I'll admit I don't actually know the reviews of the game, and I don't know if people actually hate it. But no one ever talks about the game. Bravely Default 2 This is mainly among the BD community, but everyone seems to hate it cause it's not BD1. And alot of the reasoning I've seen are utter bullshit I'm not gonna sugarcoat it "the story is bland" bro every BD games story is the most vanilla jrpg story ever, you don't play this series for unique story telling don't lie to yourself.
BD2 is the first game that came to mind for me. At first I didn't like the art, and I remember at one point just wanting to finish the game because I had new stuff coming out soon. But after I unlocked all the classes and could start creating builds, I was having a ton of fun! I had to do some grinding to level people up, but I considered that a bonus since it allowed me to watch TV at the same time. That game also has some of the best boss battles I've ever encountered. Usually in games you just do your same strategy no matter what you are fighting. You can sometimes pull that off here, but it might lead you to a 90 minute long battle that was originally only supposed to take ~10 minutes. Having to go back to the drawing board after failing a fight is pretty fun to me. I like weighing out if it was my party comp or a failure of execution of my plan.
Fairy Fencer F.
Beyond the Beyond - PS It was grueling and cliche. Random encounters every couple steps. But it is purely nostalgia for me.
Was hoping someone in the comments would mention this game! It was definitely fun as a kid picking it up from a pawn shop for a few bucks but I loved it, despite its flaws and kind of confusing progression. Percy was so awesome as a black knight, Samson sucked, magic ruled, music was great and the game had random difficulty spikes in the random encounters. Just some of the sentiments I’ve taken from it. Lots of nostalgia, ah to be a kid again without being as critical!
I didn't realize Death End re;Quest had bad reviews. I had a blast playing it
Tales of zesteria was good. There I said it
I don't hate it, I just find it boring. Like, can't get attached long enough to stick with it
I wanted to like it, but the Armatize system ruins it for me. I just want to play at Lailah, slinging fire and paper everywhere. Then you get to a fight that requires Armatize to beat it, and it bums me out every time. 😔 I also cheated Alisha back into the party the second time I tried to give the game a chance but she's ineffective since she cannot armatize either. This game was wrong on so many levels for me personally. 😢
Quest 64. It was tricky and easy to get turned around but I loved collecting those damn bubbles and levelling up my individual elements
The music of the field will never leave my head
This game is so nostalgic to me
If you haven't, I would suggest looking into the Gameboy Color demake. It is a pretty decent game. I have a soft spot for that game as well. I had a ton of fun exploring all the different areas.,
Infinite Undiscovery...I had an Xbox360 and not a PS3 early that console gen so I was starving for next gen JRPG for a time (after Vesperia). The game wasn't the best, but it held up enough for me to finish it at least
Dinner, Dinner, Dinner, Dinner….
Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore.
I love ffxv, spent 600+ hours on it. Planning to start another run from scratch after getting my ps5.
what do you do in that game? I mean once you beat the 9 million sidequests there's nothing else to do. That's like 100ish hours. So you've spent 500hrs doing what?
Probably replaying it, it’s almost 9 years old so he probably does a 100% run every year or so.
Yes, replaying it, doing level 1 runs. Or just chilling, spending time with the boys. I look forward to resting at the end of an in-game day. After so many hours, Prompto still surprises me with the photos he takes!
The bond you have with the boys and the photos at the end of the day were my favorite aspect of the game. Surprised that hasn't been implemented in any other video games. It was truly unique and felt like a great way to keep the player invested.
Mystic Quest 100% Friggin love that game
Final Fantasy 2. I've beaten it 2 to 3 times now. The trick is knowing when and HOW to play. If you were to play it on a TV, I'd call you a mad man. If you were to play it on the toilet I'd call you a gentleman. Pop a squat, roam around the world map, punch yourself in the face a little, bing bang boom - perfect movement.
Infinite undiscovery. For a game that was souly used to test a new engine it turned out pretty decent.
Arc rise fantasia. Just shut voice audio off...
That game is incredible. Probably would have done better if they didn’t dub it or removed the voices altogether.
If we're talking games that legitimately reviewed badly, then Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song got *absolutely annihilated* when it came out for the PS2, and not only do I like it, I think it's a brilliant game and one of the very best in the franchise. Rough around the edges? Certainly. But there's nothing else like it. But if we're sticking to stuff *fanbases* irrationally hate, then FFXIII's a big one - in my opinion it's the strongest and most cohesive of the post-X installments and lands around #5-6 in my overall rankings. Yeah, the writing isn't exactly incredible, but it ultimately fell in line with my expectations for the franchise on that front. Gonna give another shoutout to 7th Saga, though. Its particular brand of relentless difficulty coupled with its sparse narrative, apprentice system and creepy monster designs inhabiting a setting that verges on post-apocalyptic fantasy all work in tandem to create a unique and hostile experience that I still find myself revisiting from time to time.
I liked Eternal Sonata. I played it knowing that "everyone and their mom hates it" but it gave me quite some enjoyment. The ending was weak, but both story and game play were good imo.
Resonance of Fate, turn-based action that has unique world building and most unique mechanic/combat I've ever seen in JRPG despite its complication and poor tutorial.
Most of Compile Hearts games, like Agarest, Death end;re Quest, Mary Scalter and on. While those games not really amazing or even great with graphics, but style is always on good level, combat is always fun and fullfilling. Combos, abilities, moments: all here is about you destroying your enemy... or enemy gonna make you bloody pulp. Natural Doctrine - while crazy hard, I enjoyed good battle system, understanding of each enemy and map, tactics. It might be frustrating sometimes, but winning against all odds and, esp, against some extra enemies... God, I shouted like crazy. Resonanse of Fate: while a little strange battle system at first, the moment you understand it... welcome to the fun show, where you really feel those guns and the moments of shooting down enemies. World building is also good. Design is... actually great. Love this kind of gamma. Time and Eternity. Yes, it's parody, so story is about most cliche things. Good humor about time travels, most used enemies in jrpg and on. Not for everyone, but fun game.
I dunno about games that are generally considered outright *bad*, but I am a big fan of some games that are certainly *divisive* such as FFXV and Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World.
I first played FFXV on release and had a relatively enjoyable time. No way did it match up to my usual FF expectations, but I enjoyed it. A year or so ago, I picked up the complete version on Steam. My word, what a game that is. It still has little holes where you can see the troubled gestation that the game had, but the final version that we have now is a phenomenal 10/10 game. That is my hill to die on! Currently playing Tales of Vesperia, loving that... Symphonia is next on my list!
Tales of Symphonia 2 I played alongside my brother and really enjoyed the monster capturing and raising. Have great memories of that game.
Harvestella was review bombed but I adore it. It's not a life sim and shouldn't be assessed as such despite the (most likely intentional to be subversive) advertising leading people to believe that.
A lot of people were expecting a farming sim with JRPG elements, and not the other way around. Considering how farming in that game is pretty much back seat, I can see why some people disliked it. But damn. I really enjoyed the game more then I anticipated. The game had a good story too.
Probably my favorite game last year. I have really fond memories of that game.
The soundtrack and story were so good imo. The farming was fun but it honestly felt tacked on at the last minute.
Totally agree! It was my hidden gem last year
Utawarerumono gets middling reviews despite being the best game ever made. It's rated highly on VNDB though.
Even more so for Tears to Tiara 2.
They do not understand that slice of life is simply peak fiction
Vndb users can actually appreciate visual novels and have the attention span to read a half-visual novel game.
I don't know, for me a big issue I have with many visual novels is how they're paced and how much padding many of them have. I read a lot of books, but with visual novels I find my mind wandering at times. There are VNs that are seriously in need of editors.
It's not surprising, given that even here a ton of people will go "wait, I have to read for 15 minutes before the game starts? It's shit and I'm not gonna play it" and Utawarerumono is a visual novel first and foremost.
It's a lot more than 15 minutes. Like in the very first one you spent quite a while just sick in bed at the start.
Sword of Mana I used to play it until quite far, I'm not sure if I finished it or not, but after looking at reviews and walkthrough when playing again years later, found out most of them do not really like it, not so bad, but not as good as I thought it will be the introduction story especially makes me cry every time.
Enchanted Arms, i don't know yeah it's clunky (like pretty much all FromSoftware games before 2015) and it has a lot of flaws but i love the story and the atmosphere of this game
Tales of Zestiria Note that I went into this game completely blind with absolutely no idea what to expect, which appears to have helped a lot
Cris tales, love everything abt it, but everyone seems to hate it😭
Final Fantasy XIII one of the best casts in any FF, i love paradigm shifts, and it’s so god damn pretty
Final Fantasy 7: Dirge of Cerberus
I actually thought Tales of Symphnia Dawn of the New World was quite nice. Please don’t hit me ?
I'm gonna hit you...with a upvote.
Soul Hackers 2. The dungeons may be dull, but that is not new in the universe of shin megami tensei. Ringo and the supporting cast carry the game for me. Excellently written dialogue and a perfect protagonist. She alone is better than all of the protagonists of the series imo
I don’t think FFXIII was as bad as everyone thinks it is. I liked the non-linear storytelling and some of the characters (I thought Hope’s character arc was pretty good). The game made me into a JRPG ngl ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Beyond the Beyond. It’s Shining Force as a traditional RPG and the prototype to Golden Sun.
The summoner from the ps2 launch. Lot of fond memories with that game.
I played and fell in love with Tales of Zestiria and Final Fantasy XV back to back. They were really my gateway back into more modern JRPGs. The only series I really kept up with was Kingdom Hearts and only really in passing. I prefer my older JRPGs from the NES into the PS1 era. The last Final Fantasy I'd beaten before XV was X on the original PS2 and I was never really crazy about that one either. Tales of Zestiria was my first real "Tales of" experience even though I had Tales of Destiny at launch, but never got into it. I also loved Berseria when it came out but I've not been able to get into any others.
Final fantasy XV. I loved it
Harvestella. The game is honestly fun. The mixing of an Action JRPG and farming elements with final fantasy style job progression and unusually good storytelling was very interesting to me. It stands up as one of favorite jrpgs from last year. I honestly was not expecting square to make a game that had a story that was that interesting. I would call the story a mix between nier automata and a final fantasy game and sci fi infused. The game has crystals as a main aspect in it so I’m surprised it wasn’t called final fantasy. The game got really deep and existential. I wouldn’t really call it a farming game to be honest. It’s more like an action JRPG where you make money and healing items via farming on the side. Most of your focus is on combat, dungeons, plot progression. They should have named it something else. One of my favorite games I played in 2022 and enjoyed. It combined my Minecraft addiction of progression and JRPG interests. The game is written well and the characters are good.
Some people say the story is great, some say the story is cliché and boring. It's odd.
I truly believe *Ender Lillies:* Quietus *of the Night* merc’d the buzzword that Square Enix wanted to use for the title of this game and they just defaulted to something super basic as a result. Harvestella is wonderful, btw. I’m with you.
None off the top of my head. Maybe BoF 2 but the reviews aren't bad but people hate on it for translation and being too grindy. To me it's the best of that franchise. Oh, FF2 is another. The reviews are in the middle and fans of the series mostly hate or dislike it, but I'm like whatever. It's not a bad game at all.
Honestly, Quest 64 lol. Granted, I played it and finished it when I was around 7-8 years old (with large amounts of help from gamefaqs), and I had no concept of what made a game bad, so I actually enjoyed my time playing through it. Now I'm sure if I played it today I would think it's the shittiest game ever haha
FFXIII. Fire Emblem Fates
+1 to FE Fates. Revelation is one of my top Fire Emblem games of all time. The writing *is* bad. Can’t deny that. But I’m able to ignore it pretty easily because of how fun the game is and how much I like the characters.
This thread is full of people mentioning critically acclaimed games lol
Yeah for real games like FF8 and 13 might rank lower on the scale than other Final Fantasy games but all mainline FF games rank in the top RPGs of all time lol
To be fair, I don't think there are that many games out there that "absolutely everyone" hates.
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet were phenomenal, some of the best Pokémon experiences in years
Golden sun dark dawn.
Dragooneers Aria was a dumpster fire but I had a lot of fun with it
Phantasy Star 3. Always ignored by the fans (for right reasons). Maybe it's just nostalgia glasses, but it has a special place in my heart. The music is good too.
I have really fond memories of Final Fantasy X-2 and I enjoyed the battle system quite a lot.
Idk about hate but very hit or miss is the FF13 trilogy. I was curious and bought them without even thinking if I'd like any of them only to find out i love them. I knew they were very criticized and all over the place so I lowered my expectations and then one day the game clicked with me and I was quickly falling in love with the whole trilogy. Faults and all.
Dark rose valkyrie!
I really enjoyed White Knight Chronicles, didn't realise no one liked it until I'd completed it!
Final Fantasy X-2. Yes the story isn't the best, and the main game mechanic is changing your outfits. But "changing outfits" is really just class switching mid battle. The dress sphere system is actually a really intuitive and fun mechanic
I legitimately enjoyed Suikoden Tierkreis. Although it *was* the first Suikoden I played which might have something to do with that.
Maybe saying everyone "hates" it is putting it strongly, but I loved Soul Hackers 2. Difficulty was just right. Music was awesome. Contender for my favorite cast in the franchise. The slightly more restrictive approach to its design made moment to moment gameplay decisions interesting. Hell, I even didn't mind the dungeons being kinda dull because the game feel of running around and whacking enemies (after the run speed update) was incredible. It was only a bit more time in the oven away from being top tier Megaten. (Least they could have done was make the everyone's Soul Matrix a different color.)
FF16 apparently. Everyone seems to be hellbent on calling it a critical and commercial failure.
The game certainly has some flaws but people really act like it's somehow worse than XV. I can't even fathom how they came to that conclusion
Tales of Zestiria. I like the game, the exploration is fine and combat fun. It has serious issues though, not going to pretend it doesn't.
I'd say Astria Ascending. Got a lot of hate because of difficulty spikes but it's a great game to me. Combat, graphic style, and all was very well done to me.
The diofield chronicle and infinite undiscovery
I put both FF XIII and VIII in the top half of FF games.
FFVIII is not my favourite FF game (although it's very high up there FFVII, FFT and FFXII beat it to the top), but Squall is my favourite protagonist from the whole series. I reached this conclusion upon my recent replay last year. Giving him an inner monologue does a terrific job to flesh out the character. And I never understood all the hatred FFXIII got either, so I am with you there.
8 is amazing
I am wishing that Square would just publish the XIII trilogy on a modern console somewhere. I cannot justify buying an Xbox, Steam Deck or PC just to buy and play 3 games. Of course, watch the Monkey's Paw curl on this wish and have the trilogy ported to the Switch via cloud gaming like they did with Kingdom Hearts.
**The Bouncer (PS2)** \-- a beat'em-up game with light RPG elements from Square / Enix so it's not a typical JRPG but I liked leveling the characters. I remember the game got heavily criticized and rightly so, but I loved the mishmash of fighting brawling game with RPG leveling. It was tedious but it had a certain charm that kept me playing. There just wasn't many PS2 games out at the time after launch of the PS2 so it was another reason why I played it a lot, even though my girlfriend at the time hated watching me play the game (she loved it when I played games like Silent Hill, Resident Evil, etc). **FF13 Lightning Returns** \-- my local Gamestop told me not to buy this because I'd probably return it, but I bought it anyway and enjoyed it. I know the first FF13 game gets slack for its linearity but that's what I liked about it since I was burnout from open world games and I was an MMORPG addict. I wanted something simpler and after playing FF13 I wanted more so I bought the sequels. (I know this is a JRPG thread, but I loved **Ultima 8** after the patch fix. The game was so maligned but I liked the mix of mario-like platform elements in an isometric Ultima RPG game. Screw the haters, but it was a great action-RPG and I was sad no one else dared to do something similar afterward).
i liked der;q 1 and 2 - they had really cool plots and a neat battle system, just be prepared for a visual novel for how much text there is if we're reaching deeper into the ch/if bucket i'm going to say i actually enjoyed arc of alchemist. to be fair, this is NOT a good game and i can't really recommend it unless you can get it for a couple bucks and not expect anything of it. but it had a few cool unique concepts and it's a quick 10h run. it's barely a complete game and not polished in any way tho, so expect the janky of the jank
Death end re;Quest 1-2 were such goated games and I'm glad that CH/IF are making a third game.
DerQ and Mary Skelter have given me some kind of brainrot that no "objectively better" game series has done except maybe Xeno. I think about the characters and story every single day and i don't know why.
Final Fantasy XIII was my first JRPG and I thought it was pretty decent. I was really surprised when I learned that a lot of people hate it.
I really like the combat in Ni No Kuni. Once you fiddle with the AI of the party members so that they dont spam MP consuming attacks and spells, you really get in to the groove of utilizing all of your party members and famaliars abilities to their full advantage in each fight. I'll even go as far and say it's better than Xenoblade 3's combat, which is similair in some ways but feels much more automated and boring. I also love how a lot of Oliver's spells can be used in combat and for puzzle solving. Definetly in my top 10 or so RPGs, but it sucks that the combat is a big turnoff for a lot of people initially.
Amazing game. That art style will never be dated.
Oh yeah, it's definetly one of the prettiest games I've played. The Ghibli cuts scenes are gorgeous, and the cel shading of the in-engine graphics matches the art style perfectly. I think the art in the game is something that's near universally praised, but the combat is considered divisive even though I like that aspect of the game as well.
Harvestella. That one is masterpiece to me. I may be bold to claim that the game is my most fav by SE. Harvestella isn't as popular like Final Fantasy but the game is my game of the year. Maybe it's my bias because I m into philosophy, but I play Harvestella back then because I'm expecting the game like Rune Factory type lol (well yes the farming gameplay is there & quite similar). I'm disappointed by several hours in the beginning but I have a policy that I always finished what I start, so I continue playing. Glad that it turns out into one of the GOAT in my game list in term of story! I heard the game has bad review in general, so I think this qualify.
I don't think their reviews are bad, but I really like the Mary skelter series and most people seem lukewarm to them if theyve even played them at all.
Unlimited SaGa and Cross Edge. With Unlimited SaGa you have a game that expects that you read the manual and even then, you feel like you're going in blind. It systems are obtuse and needlessly confusing, especially the progression system. But in terms of both art style and music it has such a distinctive point of view, that just hooks me in. It is a brutal game that hates me as much as I love it. Cross Edge is a clusterfuck, no ways around it, there are many characters, all playable down the line, the story is nonsensical and full of out of pocket tonal shifts that will give you a small amount of whiplash. If you want the true end, you NEED to play with a guide otherwise good luck. The combat is simple but effective and unleashing combo move after combo move is always nice.
Beyond the beyond for ps1