Pretty much any game with Matsuno at the helm is gonna fit this category, so I'm a little surprised you didn't mention that connection between FFT and Ogre Battle. A deep dive on Matsuno's games would be a great topic for its own video, actually.
Definitely. We plan on covering Tactics Ogre in the next video on this topic so I was waiting to bring up that connection then since that’s more alike FFT than Ogre Battle, but yeah in hindsight I probably should have mentioned it here anyway since it still was relevant. Also that would be a really cool idea for a video sometime, thanks for bringing that up
Great video! Loved seeing The Last Story here especially. For Octopath Traveler (without spoiling anything) there is a final optional part of the story at the end that kind of ties all of the paths together in a way. I do still agree that all of the stories feel disconnected for the most part, though.
The Last Storyyyyy :D I love it when someone talks about this. So rare to see people mention it! - They really need to remaster this on Switch like Xenoblade!!
Will never happen, at least not as long as Sakaguchi is alive/part of Mistwalker. He has outright said he has zero interest in/there is zero chance of older games getting remakes or remasters. It definitely deserves it though, such a good game.
Thank you for bringing up The Last Story. It got released at the same time as Xenoblade on the Wii and got overshadowed and it's a GREAT GAME that no one talks about!
@Warmaster00 I agree, and I'm saying I do prefer Last Story to Xenoblade so I'm glad it made this list. I'd also recommend Last Story over Xenoblade, but if someone said I could only have 1 I'd keep Xenoblade. I'm not a fan of 60 hour+ JRPG's, it's too much of an investment IMO, but Xenoblade is worth it. Most JRPG's should be 20-40 hours IMO. Pandora's Tower also wasn't bad, if you played Last Story and Xenoblade it's worth finishing the 3rd of the Project Rainfall titles. Not as good as the other 2, but most of the criticism with the game comes from game freezing glitches near the end and a bit of a weak plot. Still, it's like a 20 hour Majora's Mask dungeon, it's fantastic.
@Warmaster00 100%, my opinion reflecred exactly. "Edges out" is a good word for it because Last Story is a better game, but Xenoblade is a better package. But both are fantastic. I agree with you about Pandora's Tower, but using a Majora's Mask dungeon is a good way to sum up what the game is like. Not as good as Majora's Mask by any means.
I'm glad those two games are so different. TLS was beautifully easy to get in and xenoblade was a fat chunk of a delicious bite to swallow slowly and careful. Cheerz✊
Thanks for another entry into this great video series guys! A few to add to my backlog since I'm always looking for great stories from past JRPGs that I may have missed. I've heard so many great things about shadow hearts in particular and hope to get around to it soon.
No problem, thanks for always watching! Shadow Hearts is indeed awesome, I never played it as a kid but played it later on and it still holds up really well
Any time there’s a Gaming Broduction video it’s like a warm blanket of nostalgia washes over me. Another great video, this one! You mentioned the Valkyrie Profile DS game. That one is hard as balls and the story is really dark as well and that’s why I still play both VP 1 and VP DS occasionally.
Ya love to hear it, thank you! I really need to check out the VP DS game one of these days, I seem to hear mixed things on it but I think that’s more due to the difference in gameplay as the ones that do enjoy it like yourself seem to really love it
Glad to see The Last Story get some love. I adore that game, and I wish we'd get another game like it. But at least if we don't, TLS will always be a really unique JRPG.
@@sharebear421 Fair enough. I loved the gameplay. It's really unique, has a lot of strategic opportunities, it's flashy, you can dodge behind stuff, you can use the environments to your advantage. I love how each battle scene is meticulously planned out and designed for you to be able to use certain tactics, rather than just being a random encounter with three goblins or whatever. It's also not a hack n slash, which I appreciate. But it's not for everyone, of course.
Man, this video really made realize just how many classic JRPGs I've never checked out. Really awesome to hear Valkyrie Profile will be getting a HD-port soon, can't wait to try it!
the moment I read the title I thought I'd end up having to mention Shadow heats in the comments, but then you actually listed it.. and I'm speechless. Legit ranking!
Next time please mention Fragile Dreams, the most underrated game for the Wii it's a Survival Horror RPG, the story is incredibly emotional and deep, don't be fooled by the cutesy characters, it gets dark fast.
Fragile Dreams would indeed be a good one. We did actually talk about that game in one of our earliest videos about RPGs to play around Halloween, but that video is pretty old now and rough in some aspects lol. Need to talk about it sometime in a newer video for sure
I really loved parasite eve back in the day as a ps1 classic on the ps3. I had no idea that it had a prequel in form of a novel! I definitely gotta cop that! Thx for sharin that info! I’d really like to see a part 3 video as well!
I loved Parasite Eve also. Was disappointed in 2, and then even more so after searching for awhile and finally finding The 3rd Birthday, and it being absolutely trash. Hopefully the series gets remade/remastered, in a way like the 1st game.
I haven't been able to watch all your new videos, but as this is a topic I think about a lot these days, I took time out for this one and I'm glad I did. Really stellar and thoughtful work as always! The last I saw you had less than 5k viewers and I'm so glad to see you guys have a bigger audience. :) Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work. This topic is one that I've really thought about more as I've gotten older, and in fact you've listed almost all the RPGs that I love and still keep going back to as an adult! (And others that I want to try, like Ogre Battle 64.) I mean, still like playing as young heroes in the right context (Ni No Kuni and Little Dragon’s Cafe come to mind), and games like Lunar and FFX will always have a place in my heart...But as I get older it just gets harder and harder for me to play games about 15-year-old master swordsmen or 22-year-old generals. I’m just not capable of that kind of suspension of belief anymore. Actually, I wonder -- Does anyone else still think of their age relative to the ages of game characters they grew up with? Almost like they were milestones? Like when I was 12, I looked up to characters like Alex from Lunar, and thought Kyle was a big grown man at 18. At 16, I agreed with Tidus and thought Auron was an "old man" at 36. In my early 20s, I thought Beatrix from FFIX was a cool older lady at 28. And now being in my early 30s, I realize that I am officially in the "old" category as far as RPGs were concerned! Aging characters up with the audience, on the other hand, unfortunately seems to be very rare. I remember an interview from the Making of Lunar disc that came with Lunar SSSC in which the producers of the game said they aged up the characters by 2 years each, since the players of the original Lunar TSS would have gotten older, too. In Lunar's case, that just meant that Alex went from 13 to 15...But I wish more games, especially those in long-running series like Final Fantasy, would more feature older casts and themes that gamers who grew up with the earlier games could relate better to.
Actually the 8 stories in octopath traveler come together quite well at the very end, if you fight the secret boss. These connections are hinted at throughout each of the 8's stories, but unveiled just before the final secret boss. It is a shame though that most people playing this game will not experience this...
Think about what you just said though. If the stories don't come together until the very end--even more-so not until an optional, secret portion of content you can miss... then you've failed to deliver a cohesive story. That's just a whole lot of copium to disguise a poorly paced, segmented story. That is an absolute failure in storytelling and in game design. Imagine the next movie you went to see didn't wrap up by the end of it; that only by staying after the credits does it supposedly come together. You wouldn't call that a success, nor is this for similar reasons.
For Shadow Hearts fans, the man behind those games teamed up with the creator of Wild Arms and had a Kickstarter for new games in their respective styles. Penny Blood and Armed Fantasia. Both games are still coming along nicely based on the updates
Please make a Part 3, Part 1 was why I subscribed to you and your comments about wishing to uave more games with characters in their 20's and 30's really resonates with me. That comment of a 25 year old being aveterans who have seen it all and the other of Persona being mature, but you don't want to play as a high schooler really stand out. I'm 33, and I find it hard to take games seriously when the protagonist is under 20. Playing Fire Emblem Thracia 776 now, and Lief the protagonist is 15 BUT the game rips on him all the time and constantly points out "How is this 15 year old leading the army?" He is nobility, and he is only leading because no one else would stand up, so at least in this one game I don't mind being a 15 year old. Keep up the great work.
@Zold Do you not still play as a high schooler in Persona 2? I read that you play as Maya who is 23 in Eternal Punishment, but Tatsuya in Innocent Sin who is still only 18. Might be mature, but being 33 years old myself, the high school setting is a drawback (I also personally don't like dungeon crawlers). I gave Persona 3 a real effort on PSP (Can't believe I sold my copy, that's a rare game now), and after 8 hours of playing I just couldn't do the high school thing. I'm going to give Tokyo Mirage Sessions a shot because I'm a fan of Fire Emblem.
It's mentioned that Shadow Hearts spawns from the bad ending of Koudelka. It should be mentioned that this means the ending where the final boss defeats you in battle. There is a second bad ending where if you don't pick up the protective amulet you lost at the beginning of the game, the boss simply dissolves the flesh and soft tissue off the party's bones.
I miss so much Parasite Eve and Shadow hearts series... I think you should definitely mention FF7, if you make another part. I can't believe it is not included in both videos so far. Maybe 8 too but some of the characters are young.
Thank you! There are some games here I was on the fence on and ones I never looked into. Thanks for giving some good mature plots and characters to invest some time into!
I definitely feel a Part 3 could be made with this topic. There are a few more JRPGs out there with mature storylines that don't get as much recognition as they should. An example, Magna Carta: Tears of Blood for the PS2. It's an incredibly dark story with a bit of a rough battle system, but it's definitely a story people should experience.
Didn't see the first lost so sorry if it'd already mentioned. But the Utawarerumono games definitely fit this, especially Mask of Truth. While it could be considered mature based just on the fan service, but the story is very mature and dark at times also. If you like strategy RPGs, and are ok with visual novels(there is a ton of text), then I highly recommend that series, even tho not the easiest to find games. Also has a hack n slash version of the Mask of Deception game.
There is no overarching plot in Octopath Traveler? LOL, you most likely stopped playing after finishing each character's main story and didn't go to Galdera. That's where all the stories get connected and make sense.
Played many of these; Parasite Eve and PE2, FFT, and Front Missions 3 & 4 (never found the earlier 2, wish I had). From the previous list, Xenogears, plus honorable mentions Shadow Hearts Covenant and ANW (wish I'd found the original instead of the sequel!)
Thank you for part 2! I have been playing Lost Odyssey and now I need to find a way to check out the Last Story. Also - I am trying FANTASIAN on my Apple TV. It’s a pain that we can’t play it on an actual console but if you have enjoyed Mistwalker games then I would recommend it.
Fantasian was fucking brilliant. It's the missing 90s golden era Square game. People who just ignore it because it's mobile (even worse, apple) just....try being open? I kinda just laugh when people dismiss EVERYTHING with a mobile association these days. Fantasian Is a must for any golden era Final Fantasy game. Last game from Uematsu and Sakaguchi aswell. It's literally FF. Just better. Somewhere between 8 and 9 of put it.
For anyone that hasn't played shadow hearts from the new world it is indeed a good game, so when people say "it's not as good" most are just upset it's a whole new cast/story. It still has a good and fun cast, the story is decent, the same good battle system and amazing OST.
Parasite Eve may be some what short at only 10 to 15 hours long but you forgot to mention the Sears Tower that gets unlocked after bearing the main story which adds like another 10 hours or so of game to play.
The one thing ii disagree with are non JRPG games. Not every RPG made in Japan is JRPG, FFT, Ogre Battle and more are tactical RPG for example. And for me FFT is THE best final fantasy game not because it's tactical and not JRPG but because gameplay, music, plot are just incredible. One of the best RPGs i've ever played and probably the best tactical RPG. Yeah, i'd say it is better than Front Mission 3/5 which i also think are incredible TRPG.
@@ThereWasNoFreeName I hope the rumors are true of FFT getting remastered and ported to modern consoles, it’s most definitely the best tactical rpg ever made.
I love all of your videos and can not get enough of them. You guys have the best channel on UA-cam for gamers hands down! My only complaint...why no Discord server? I'm relatively new here so I have no idea if this issue has already been addressed. I would love to see a Discord server for this channel where I could meet like minded peeps and discuss all the great videos and all my favorite games! Pretty please...🥺...
First of all thank you for the very kind words! I forget which video but we did bring up our Discord in the outro in one of our videos from a few months ago. Currently our Discord is only for those who join our Patreon, which our lowest tier for that is $2 per month. Obviously there is no pressure to join that at all though as we don’t try to push it on anyone, we’re happy just to have you here watching. For people that aren’t able to join our Patreon but still want to engage more with the community, we’re trying to be better going forward about making more community posts here on UA-cam for people to converse in.
@@GamingBroductions well I'm glad there is a Discord for me to join! Now the tricky part, convincing my wife, who already says I pay more attention to Discord than her. Lol 😆 It will be a hard sell, but I have a plan. I like your channel SO MUCH that I'm willing to cancel my Shonen Jump subscription to defer the cost of the Patreon fee. If that's not a true fan idk what is! Lol, don't worry I have all the Manga I need in hard copy.
awesome video and content. Could you someday make a video of great and obscure JRPGs per system (like a compilation list)? And also looking forward to best SRPG videos (more like all the good srpgs) =D
Thank you! We have talked about making a video like that sometime actually, shining some light on some lesser known titles in the genre that have been overlooked over the years
Drakengard - Not as weird as Nier, but just as dark. I don't recall if you included it in your first video. Fire Emblem Geneology of the Holy War/Thracia 776. These two Fire Emblem games are particularly dark. You can see why the original team moved off Nintendo platforms with these games. The story of Deirdre and Quan in particular are very dark and Brutal. Many main characters in these games have mandatory unavoidable deaths, and they do a good job of giving you a little hope too. Quan's death in particular was a whole level.
@Lilith Smolinski I would argue that Drakengard wasn't an RPG. There are rpg elements to it, but it's a straight up action game, at least from what I remember.
Really the under rated part of valkyrie profile was the dub team was the Pokémon team so hearing nurse joy saying to my side dark warriors battle awaits us is special. Also ash wishing his gf dead.
The first video made me start a list of games to try, not all of the ones mentioned (not as much of a fan of tactical RPGs but I might give some a try), and I saw that one just the other day but it made me look for a 360 (never had one) and got one pretty cheap and Lost Odyssey as well for cheap and they're already on their way to me :D As for other games, Bravely Default that I started playing thanks to my late best friend, made me get Bravely Default 2 on PC and damn, betrayal, corruption and religious fanaticism are themes in it, and there's this one powerful scene at one point that made my eyes tear up... That same friend is the reason I gave Octopath Traveler a shot and I will finish that one as well at some point (I have a tendency to not finish a lot of games even though I love them.).
The last story dissapointed me at the first hour(played that long after release). 2hours in, I felt so damn lured into this world. I thought about it at work, dreamt about and so on. It is a bit linear realm, but keeps you on your toes inside it.The city is charming as heck. It is a fantastic interactive movie with tactical elements when it comes down to character development and fighting. Characters are desinged from believable to incredible cheezy, there are situations that are downright hillarious. Such an entertaining journey.
I think Valkyria Chronicles 3 is a great fit for this list. More so than 1, 2, or 4 as the protagonists are part of a penal squad and are pitted up against a squad of Empire Darcsen soldiers. For some context for those not familiar with the world, it would be like in WWII if a squad composed of Japanese internment camp volunteers (who the NAMELSS squad shares a squad number with) was fighting a squad of Jewish soldiers from Germany trying to fight to earn a place for their people. Both are equally despised and discarded by their countries yet still have to find ways to fight and survive during a turbulent period. It's also criminally underappreciated because it NEVER came to the west and was only on PSP (Thank god for the community who made the fan English patch)
We definitely plan on it, I love making those videos they just take a little more time than videos like these so we like to space them out a bit to get some content out sooner. Tentatively we plan around 2-3 videos in between those retrospectives
I love Shadow Hearts 2. First one in the series I played. Confession: I got it because I heard it was an RPG from Game Informer (it got a 8.25) and I had (or have) a thing for red heads. So, busty red head protagonist in an RPG? I'm sold. Glad teenage me was horny that time at Gamestop. Loved the game so much, I went searching for the original game after and eagerly waited for the 3rd installment. A shame we only got 3 games in the series but they are 3 great games so at least we were spoiled with quality.
I also rented Ogre Battle 64 from my old game store! When they were closing down I offered the owner 100 for the cartridge. I'm still mad he said no. Young me was crushed.
God im so sad that nobody took inspiration from ogre battle 64 combat and RTS aspect into a modern game. i know there a few that mimics the class system and all but still.
The Fan Translated Front Mission crashes about 10 hours in. I remember I tried multiple versions with my save data on multiple devices and it kept crashing. I tried the fan translation before the DS version came out and beat it on DS in the end. Looking forward to the remake on switch.
I am pretty surprised Parasite Eve still has yet to receive any treatment like that myself. Seems like Square has been showing some love to some of its older IPs as of late though so hopefully they’ll do something with it soon enough
I guess after a big poo-poo Square made of PE3 (the 3rd birthday) chances are really low and franchise is dead. 1st was awesome, 2nd was good, 3rd was barely playable piece of shit.
@@GamingBroductions After killing franchise with 3rd birthday i think they won't be doing anything. FF is their best selling series so far and Chrono trigger/cross is also very popular and cult classic. Some may say what Chrono Trigger is THE best JRPG so far. Parasite Eve on the other hand - less popular, less known game. 3rd Birthday had very low sales, and sales outside Japan were absolute fail (40k US and around 40K EU), for grand total of 350k copies. PE made well over 2m in total and PE2 around 1.1m, so i consider 3rd one a commercial failure. By the way, in 2011 both PE and PE2 were added to PSN, so there was a bit of treatment from Square.
As far as I know, they lost the rights to use the original material from Hideaki Sena, the writer of the original novel. That's the main reason they ditched the Neo-Mitochondria Creatures in The 3rd Birthday and went for that... thing instead. I don't know if they rekindled the rights in recent years tough.
I played the shit outta parasite eve 2... I still own the original playstation disks. It's definitely not something that holds up today. However, it was a mature story with cool monsters and a "hunter" feel about it. The boss fights are all above average, weapon selection is astounding, replayability is through the roof and has four separate story modes. I couldn't get enough at the time.
I wouldn't put tactical SRPGs in a same bucket with JRPGs, no matter how good they're, it's still a different beast. What is missing here (at least): Vagrant Story, Xenogears/Xenosaga, Radiant Historia, Legend of Dragoon, Suikoden franchise, Xenoblade Chronicle X...
We talked about Vagrant Story and Xenogears in our first video about the subject. Those are some other solid examples though, the only one I haven’t played is Radiant Historia but I really need to check it out as I keep hearing amazing things
this was absolutely rad. Your videos have gotten better, bro. Octopath is getting a mobile prequel this July. I am absolutely jumping on it. OST is flipping stellar.
Hmm i think in this list must be Grandia II. There displays such things like: Relationships, Responsobility, Blood ties also mentions Value of life all this game by the acts and words by characters shows you step by step.
I always wanted to try The Last Story, but never got it. I know a physical version is probably pricey. You didn't mention it, but The Last Story had online team deathmatch. I always thought that was really interesting. I recently started Triangle Strategy on Switch. It's in the same vein as Ogre Battle; have you tried it yet?
Oh I actually forgot about the online death match, very interesting. I didn’t play the game upon release so maybe that service was discontinued by the time I played it. I haven’t played Triangle Strategy yet but have heard good things about it, I’ll have to check it out soon
I haven't played Octopath Traveller yet, but Triangle Strategy has the same type of presentation. Excellent voice acting, and great gameplay, but there can be an hour of voice acted dialogue between levels. Not as good as Final Fantasy Tactics, but if you like FFT, you will enjoy Triangle Strategy.
Another game i really want to suggest is Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War, is by far the best FE story ever made with a plot full of intrigue, manipulation and very strong theme about war.
Geneology of the Holy War and Thracia 776 are definitely much darker and more mature than the rest of the FE series. I loved the plot of FE4, but I'm playing FE5 right now and I like the level design a lot more. No massive maps, they made levels the same as modern FE games, BUT Thracia has some really interesting twists to the game. As an example you really need to "capture" you enemies and steal their weapons as opposed to buying them. Plus you can spare your enemies, but it's hard to do. Sparing a few specific enemies will lead to bonus levels and items. But the main reason I like it so much is because the levels are really thought out. You regularly need to split your force, sometimes into 3 parts, and have them move on a dime when surprise enemies appear. Beat every FE game except for Thracia 777, but that will be done within the month. Looking forward to Berwick and Vestaria Saga on a steam deck next.
@@michaelp4122 i just finished FE 4 and gotta say i miss the giant maps, they give a sensation of scale and you actually visit all judgral in one game and that's amazing. I'm still playing Thracia 776 so i can't say much about except that is hard.
@@lucascardoso5390 Everyone says Thracia is hard, but maybe because I grinded so much for money in the colosseum, I find it average. I also enjoyed the giant maps, but I still prefer the more bite size levels. Still these 2 FE games are so different from the rest. Plot wise they are probably the best 2.
@@lucascardoso5390 I recommend trying out Shining Force 3. Saturn Emulation is hard, you will need an actual Sega Saturn and a red "Pseudo Saturn Card" but then you can play every Saturn game. 3 Scenarios, totalling over 100 hours of gameplay, but it's worth it. Very much the N64 FE we never got. Plays like Golden Sun meets Fire Emblem. SF3 and FE Awakening are my 2 favourite Tactics RPG's (But I haven't played the original FF Tactics, it's soon on my list).
@@michaelp4122 Oh i do love SF series i finished SF 1 a few months ago and i'm still going thru 2 but now i need some time from SRPG because took me 90 hours to deal with FE4 besides the resets. Oh god please i don't want to go to Augustria ever again
Pretty much any game with Matsuno at the helm is gonna fit this category, so I'm a little surprised you didn't mention that connection between FFT and Ogre Battle. A deep dive on Matsuno's games would be a great topic for its own video, actually.
His games are my favorite. Ff12, vagrant story, ff tactics, tactics Ogre
Definitely. We plan on covering Tactics Ogre in the next video on this topic so I was waiting to bring up that connection then since that’s more alike FFT than Ogre Battle, but yeah in hindsight I probably should have mentioned it here anyway since it still was relevant. Also that would be a really cool idea for a video sometime, thanks for bringing that up
Would definitely love more mature JRPGs, great vid my dude.
The Last Story is so underrated. Easily top 3 best JRPG on the Wii.
it came too late, great game, needs a revival..
Very good game!! Held my interest all the way through
It's my favorite on the Wii
I played it some months ago, I left a review on its subreddit I fell in love with this game!
No Offense , but top 3 rpgs on the Wii isn't very hard since there weren't a lot on the Wii.
Great video! Loved seeing The Last Story here especially.
For Octopath Traveler (without spoiling anything) there is a final optional part of the story at the end that kind of ties all of the paths together in a way. I do still agree that all of the stories feel disconnected for the most part, though.
The Last Storyyyyy :D I love it when someone talks about this. So rare to see people mention it! - They really need to remaster this on Switch like Xenoblade!!
Will never happen, at least not as long as Sakaguchi is alive/part of Mistwalker. He has outright said he has zero interest in/there is zero chance of older games getting remakes or remasters.
It definitely deserves it though, such a good game.
Thank you for bringing up The Last Story. It got released at the same time as Xenoblade on the Wii and got overshadowed and it's a GREAT GAME that no one talks about!
I actually preferred The Last Story over Xenoblade, but Last Story is only 20 hours where Xeno is 60-120 hours, so for your money....
@Warmaster00 I agree, and I'm saying I do prefer Last Story to Xenoblade so I'm glad it made this list. I'd also recommend Last Story over Xenoblade, but if someone said I could only have 1 I'd keep Xenoblade.
I'm not a fan of 60 hour+ JRPG's, it's too much of an investment IMO, but Xenoblade is worth it. Most JRPG's should be 20-40 hours IMO.
Pandora's Tower also wasn't bad, if you played Last Story and Xenoblade it's worth finishing the 3rd of the Project Rainfall titles. Not as good as the other 2, but most of the criticism with the game comes from game freezing glitches near the end and a bit of a weak plot. Still, it's like a 20 hour Majora's Mask dungeon, it's fantastic.
@Warmaster00 100%, my opinion reflecred exactly.
"Edges out" is a good word for it because Last Story is a better game, but Xenoblade is a better package.
But both are fantastic.
I agree with you about Pandora's Tower, but using a Majora's Mask dungeon is a good way to sum up what the game is like. Not as good as Majora's Mask by any means.
I'm glad those two games are so different. TLS was beautifully easy to get in and xenoblade was a fat chunk of a delicious bite to swallow slowly and careful. Cheerz✊
Thanks for another entry into this great video series guys! A few to add to my backlog since I'm always looking for great stories from past JRPGs that I may have missed. I've heard so many great things about shadow hearts in particular and hope to get around to it soon.
No problem, thanks for always watching! Shadow Hearts is indeed awesome, I never played it as a kid but played it later on and it still holds up really well
Any time there’s a Gaming Broduction video it’s like a warm blanket of nostalgia washes over me. Another great video, this one!
You mentioned the Valkyrie Profile DS game. That one is hard as balls and the story is really dark as well and that’s why I still play both VP 1 and VP DS occasionally.
Ya love to hear it, thank you! I really need to check out the VP DS game one of these days, I seem to hear mixed things on it but I think that’s more due to the difference in gameplay as the ones that do enjoy it like yourself seem to really love it
@@GamingBroductions
VP DS plays basically like VP 2, it is great.
I honestly just love lists where I can learn about games I may have missed. You could do 10 parts and I’d check ‘em all out.
Shadow Hearts is awesome! Not just the story, but the battle system is awesome in the Shadow Hearts games!
“Triangle Strategy” I thought had a pretty mature storyline. So did “Suikoden V”.
Glad to see The Last Story get some love. I adore that game, and I wish we'd get another game like it. But at least if we don't, TLS will always be a really unique JRPG.
Had a really good story but I hated the gameplay sadly
@@sharebear421 Fair enough. I loved the gameplay. It's really unique, has a lot of strategic opportunities, it's flashy, you can dodge behind stuff, you can use the environments to your advantage.
I love how each battle scene is meticulously planned out and designed for you to be able to use certain tactics, rather than just being a random encounter with three goblins or whatever. It's also not a hack n slash, which I appreciate.
But it's not for everyone, of course.
Corbin my man, another solid video. Can't wait for part 3.
Appreciate it my dude! Thanks for always watching
Corbin Dallas multi pass
Man, this video really made realize just how many classic JRPGs I've never checked out. Really awesome to hear Valkyrie Profile will be getting a HD-port soon, can't wait to try it!
I don’t understand why they keep remaking these meh games that is already HD while leaving these legends
Was hoping another video would come out soon! Amazing stuff right here!
Thank you! Appreciate you watching as always 👍
Im so lucky to had the last story special edition as a christmas present. I treasure it so much
the moment I read the title I thought I'd end up having to mention Shadow heats in the comments, but then you actually listed it.. and I'm speechless.
Legit ranking!
As someone who quit playing JRPGs for years once I got older I'm glad to see the games I missed that I can look into now
Next time please mention Fragile Dreams, the most underrated game for the Wii it's a Survival Horror RPG, the story is incredibly emotional and deep, don't be fooled by the cutesy characters, it gets dark fast.
Top ten JRPGs that deserve more recognition
Fragile Dreams would indeed be a good one. We did actually talk about that game in one of our earliest videos about RPGs to play around Halloween, but that video is pretty old now and rough in some aspects lol. Need to talk about it sometime in a newer video for sure
@@lanceknightmare this is a problem with the perso consuming the media, not the media itself
This channel almost has made me spend 1000 bucks on getting a lot of these old jrpg for the past year.
I really loved parasite eve back in the day as a ps1 classic on the ps3. I had no idea that it had a prequel in form of a novel! I definitely gotta cop that! Thx for sharin that info! I’d really like to see a part 3 video as well!
I loved Parasite Eve also. Was disappointed in 2, and then even more so after searching for awhile and finally finding The 3rd Birthday, and it being absolutely trash. Hopefully the series gets remade/remastered, in a way like the 1st game.
I'm a simple guy. I see Parasite Eve getting some love, I upvote. But seriously, PE is a criminally underrated jrpg and Aya is just *chef's kiss*
I haven't been able to watch all your new videos, but as this is a topic I think about a lot these days, I took time out for this one and I'm glad I did. Really stellar and thoughtful work as always! The last I saw you had less than 5k viewers and I'm so glad to see you guys have a bigger audience. :) Thanks for sharing and keep up the good work. This topic is one that I've really thought about more as I've gotten older, and in fact you've listed almost all the RPGs that I love and still keep going back to as an adult! (And others that I want to try, like Ogre Battle 64.) I mean, still like playing as young heroes in the right context (Ni No Kuni and Little Dragon’s Cafe come to mind), and games like Lunar and FFX will always have a place in my heart...But as I get older it just gets harder and harder for me to play games about 15-year-old master swordsmen or 22-year-old generals. I’m just not capable of that kind of suspension of belief anymore.
Actually, I wonder -- Does anyone else still think of their age relative to the ages of game characters they grew up with? Almost like they were milestones? Like when I was 12, I looked up to characters like Alex from Lunar, and thought Kyle was a big grown man at 18. At 16, I agreed with Tidus and thought Auron was an "old man" at 36. In my early 20s, I thought Beatrix from FFIX was a cool older lady at 28. And now being in my early 30s, I realize that I am officially in the "old" category as far as RPGs were concerned!
Aging characters up with the audience, on the other hand, unfortunately seems to be very rare. I remember an interview from the Making of Lunar disc that came with Lunar SSSC in which the producers of the game said they aged up the characters by 2 years each, since the players of the original Lunar TSS would have gotten older, too. In Lunar's case, that just meant that Alex went from 13 to 15...But I wish more games, especially those in long-running series like Final Fantasy, would more feature older casts and themes that gamers who grew up with the earlier games could relate better to.
Actually the 8 stories in octopath traveler come together quite well at the very end, if you fight the secret boss. These connections are hinted at throughout each of the 8's stories, but unveiled just before the final secret boss. It is a shame though that most people playing this game will not experience this...
Think about what you just said though. If the stories don't come together until the very end--even more-so not until an optional, secret portion of content you can miss... then you've failed to deliver a cohesive story. That's just a whole lot of copium to disguise a poorly paced, segmented story. That is an absolute failure in storytelling and in game design. Imagine the next movie you went to see didn't wrap up by the end of it; that only by staying after the credits does it supposedly come together. You wouldn't call that a success, nor is this for similar reasons.
It is not the games fault people judge it without finishing it. It is another proof of how 90% of human species is ignorant and narrow-minded.
Great video. Would definitely like part 3
For Shadow Hearts fans, the man behind those games teamed up with the creator of Wild Arms and had a Kickstarter for new games in their respective styles.
Penny Blood and Armed Fantasia.
Both games are still coming along nicely based on the updates
Please make a Part 3, Part 1 was why I subscribed to you and your comments about wishing to uave more games with characters in their 20's and 30's really resonates with me.
That comment of a 25 year old being aveterans who have seen it all and the other of Persona being mature, but you don't want to play as a high schooler really stand out. I'm 33, and I find it hard to take games seriously when the protagonist is under 20.
Playing Fire Emblem Thracia 776 now, and Lief the protagonist is 15 BUT the game rips on him all the time and constantly points out "How is this 15 year old leading the army?" He is nobility, and he is only leading because no one else would stand up, so at least in this one game I don't mind being a 15 year old.
Keep up the great work.
Sorry for all the typos. I dunno how to edit on my phone and I'm on vacation, but I had to watch your part 2 right away.
@Zold Do you not still play as a high schooler in Persona 2? I read that you play as Maya who is 23 in Eternal Punishment, but Tatsuya in Innocent Sin who is still only 18. Might be mature, but being 33 years old myself, the high school setting is a drawback (I also personally don't like dungeon crawlers).
I gave Persona 3 a real effort on PSP (Can't believe I sold my copy, that's a rare game now), and after 8 hours of playing I just couldn't do the high school thing.
I'm going to give Tokyo Mirage Sessions a shot because I'm a fan of Fire Emblem.
Thanks for the part 2, great video
It's mentioned that Shadow Hearts spawns from the bad ending of Koudelka. It should be mentioned that this means the ending where the final boss defeats you in battle. There is a second bad ending where if you don't pick up the protective amulet you lost at the beginning of the game, the boss simply dissolves the flesh and soft tissue off the party's bones.
Keep spreading the good name of Shadow Hearts. Its need more recognition for how amazing it is :)
I miss so much Parasite Eve and Shadow hearts series... I think you should definitely mention FF7, if you make another part. I can't believe it is not included in both videos so far. Maybe 8 too but some of the characters are young.
Thank you! There are some games here I was on the fence on and ones I never looked into. Thanks for giving some good mature plots and characters to invest some time into!
No problem! Hope you enjoy some of the games when you get around to them
part 3 please!
We have some other video topics we wanna tackle first, but in due time for sure!
Nice content man, keep up with the good work!
Thanks man, will do!
Both lists you guys made are great. I am in my 30s so I like playing older characters and am glad there are some real gems out there.
I definitely feel a Part 3 could be made with this topic. There are a few more JRPGs out there with mature storylines that don't get as much recognition as they should. An example, Magna Carta: Tears of Blood for the PS2. It's an incredibly dark story with a bit of a rough battle system, but it's definitely a story people should experience.
Didn't see the first lost so sorry if it'd already mentioned. But the Utawarerumono games definitely fit this, especially Mask of Truth. While it could be considered mature based just on the fan service, but the story is very mature and dark at times also. If you like strategy RPGs, and are ok with visual novels(there is a ton of text), then I highly recommend that series, even tho not the easiest to find games. Also has a hack n slash version of the Mask of Deception game.
Great seeing some Shadow Hearts and Last Story love. Last Story's OST is awesome too.
There is no overarching plot in Octopath Traveler? LOL, you most likely stopped playing after finishing each character's main story and didn't go to Galdera. That's where all the stories get connected and make sense.
Missing Kit's and Daughter of the Dark God sidequests unfortunately quite easy.
Cat on the outro was superb.
Played many of these; Parasite Eve and PE2, FFT, and Front Missions 3 & 4 (never found the earlier 2, wish I had). From the previous list, Xenogears, plus honorable mentions Shadow Hearts Covenant and ANW (wish I'd found the original instead of the sequel!)
Thank you for part 2!
I have been playing Lost Odyssey and now I need to find a way to check out the Last Story. Also - I am trying FANTASIAN on my Apple TV. It’s a pain that we can’t play it on an actual console but if you have enjoyed Mistwalker games then I would recommend it.
Fantasian was fucking brilliant. It's the missing 90s golden era Square game. People who just ignore it because it's mobile (even worse, apple) just....try being open? I kinda just laugh when people dismiss EVERYTHING with a mobile association these days.
Fantasian Is a must for any golden era Final Fantasy game. Last game from Uematsu and Sakaguchi aswell. It's literally FF. Just better. Somewhere between 8 and 9 of put it.
Awesome video! I would definitely like a part 3 in this series. Cheers 🍻
For anyone that hasn't played shadow hearts from the new world it is indeed a good game, so when people say "it's not as good" most are just upset it's a whole new cast/story. It still has a good and fun cast, the story is decent, the same good battle system and amazing OST.
I own all 3 for PS2, but haven't played them yet. When I get a steam deck they are 1st on my list to play in portable mode.
It took the comedy elements from the second game and ran with it, sort of like the Lethal Weapon 3 transition.
Parasite Eve may be some what short at only 10 to 15 hours long but you forgot to mention the Sears Tower that gets unlocked after bearing the main story which adds like another 10 hours or so of game to play.
Octopath Traveler may seem like all the scenarios dont connect at all. But they do post game when you fight the real final boss 🙂
Props for Including Parasite Eve, Shadow Hearts, & FFT. Definitely must plays!
The one thing ii disagree with are non JRPG games. Not every RPG made in Japan is JRPG, FFT, Ogre Battle and more are tactical RPG for example. And for me FFT is THE best final fantasy game not because it's tactical and not JRPG but because gameplay, music, plot are just incredible. One of the best RPGs i've ever played and probably the best tactical RPG. Yeah, i'd say it is better than Front Mission 3/5 which i also think are incredible TRPG.
@@ThereWasNoFreeName I hope the rumors are true of FFT getting remastered and ported to modern consoles, it’s most definitely the best tactical rpg ever made.
This is a category with too little coverage, so yeah, I'd like a part 3 as long as you've got the content to make another entry.
Cool channel hope you guys are hitting some momentum the content is A+
The true ending on VP is what makes it a great story
The Last Story's soundtrack is amazing
Funny how these coincide with being among some of my favorites.
Great list.
Dude you've literally taken over my youtube history 🤣
Haha mannn ya love to hear it!
I love all of your videos and can not get enough of them. You guys have the best channel on UA-cam for gamers hands down! My only complaint...why no Discord server? I'm relatively new here so I have no idea if this issue has already been addressed. I would love to see a Discord server for this channel where I could meet like minded peeps and discuss all the great videos and all my favorite games! Pretty please...🥺...
First of all thank you for the very kind words! I forget which video but we did bring up our Discord in the outro in one of our videos from a few months ago. Currently our Discord is only for those who join our Patreon, which our lowest tier for that is $2 per month. Obviously there is no pressure to join that at all though as we don’t try to push it on anyone, we’re happy just to have you here watching. For people that aren’t able to join our Patreon but still want to engage more with the community, we’re trying to be better going forward about making more community posts here on UA-cam for people to converse in.
@@GamingBroductions well I'm glad there is a Discord for me to join! Now the tricky part, convincing my wife, who already says I pay more attention to Discord than her. Lol 😆 It will be a hard sell, but I have a plan. I like your channel SO MUCH that I'm willing to cancel my Shonen Jump subscription to defer the cost of the Patreon fee. If that's not a true fan idk what is! Lol, don't worry I have all the Manga I need in hard copy.
awesome video and content. Could you someday make a video of great and obscure JRPGs per system (like a compilation list)? And also looking forward to best SRPG videos (more like all the good srpgs) =D
Thank you! We have talked about making a video like that sometime actually, shining some light on some lesser known titles in the genre that have been overlooked over the years
Love your videos bros
Appreciate it man 👍
the last story wasn't the first mistwalker game directed by sakaguchi, that was mistwalker's first game, blue dragon
Awesome. Now you just have to finish the trilogy.
Looking forward to that ps5 Valkyrie Profile game. Gameplay looks solid, hopefully the story is as impactful as the original.
Drakengard - Not as weird as Nier, but just as dark. I don't recall if you included it in your first video.
Fire Emblem Geneology of the Holy War/Thracia 776. These two Fire Emblem games are particularly dark. You can see why the original team moved off Nintendo platforms with these games. The story of Deirdre and Quan in particular are very dark and Brutal. Many main characters in these games have mandatory unavoidable deaths, and they do a good job of giving you a little hope too. Quan's death in particular was a whole level.
I would argue that Drakengard is a lot darker than Nier, at least the first game
@Lilith Smolinski I would argue that Drakengard wasn't an RPG. There are rpg elements to it, but it's a straight up action game, at least from what I remember.
Really the under rated part of valkyrie profile was the dub team was the Pokémon team so hearing nurse joy saying to my side dark warriors battle awaits us is special. Also ash wishing his gf dead.
Me: I want to play that. Ohh I want to play that too. Ohhh I should play that,
Me: ugh there's not enough time in the day
These lists are top notch
Suikoden tactic about origins or rune canon is really mature
The first video made me start a list of games to try, not all of the ones mentioned (not as much of a fan of tactical RPGs but I might give some a try), and I saw that one just the other day but it made me look for a 360 (never had one) and got one pretty cheap and Lost Odyssey as well for cheap and they're already on their way to me :D
As for other games, Bravely Default that I started playing thanks to my late best friend, made me get Bravely Default 2 on PC and damn, betrayal, corruption and religious fanaticism are themes in it, and there's this one powerful scene at one point that made my eyes tear up... That same friend is the reason I gave Octopath Traveler a shot and I will finish that one as well at some point (I have a tendency to not finish a lot of games even though I love them.).
The last story dissapointed me at the first hour(played that long after release). 2hours in, I felt so damn lured into this world. I thought about it at work, dreamt about and so on. It is a bit linear realm, but keeps you on your toes inside it.The city is charming as heck. It is a fantastic interactive movie with tactical elements when it comes down to character development and fighting. Characters are desinged from believable to incredible cheezy, there are situations that are downright hillarious. Such an entertaining journey.
Great list! Thanks for sharing!
I think Valkyria Chronicles 3 is a great fit for this list. More so than 1, 2, or 4 as the protagonists are part of a penal squad and are pitted up against a squad of Empire Darcsen soldiers. For some context for those not familiar with the world, it would be like in WWII if a squad composed of Japanese internment camp volunteers (who the NAMELSS squad shares a squad number with) was fighting a squad of Jewish soldiers from Germany trying to fight to earn a place for their people. Both are equally despised and discarded by their countries yet still have to find ways to fight and survive during a turbulent period. It's also criminally underappreciated because it NEVER came to the west and was only on PSP (Thank god for the community who made the fan English patch)
Can u do more of the single rpg retrospective videos they're insanely good.
We definitely plan on it, I love making those videos they just take a little more time than videos like these so we like to space them out a bit to get some content out sooner. Tentatively we plan around 2-3 videos in between those retrospectives
Yes part 3!
I love Shadow Hearts 2. First one in the series I played. Confession: I got it because I heard it was an RPG from Game Informer (it got a 8.25) and I had (or have) a thing for red heads. So, busty red head protagonist in an RPG? I'm sold. Glad teenage me was horny that time at Gamestop. Loved the game so much, I went searching for the original game after and eagerly waited for the 3rd installment. A shame we only got 3 games in the series but they are 3 great games so at least we were spoiled with quality.
Try koudelka the ps1 prequel
great list for a deep and mature person such as myself!
I also rented Ogre Battle 64 from my old game store! When they were closing down I offered the owner 100 for the cartridge. I'm still mad he said no. Young me was crushed.
The best part about Parasite Eve was it's New Game Plus. Not sure how many times I played through that game. One of my top PS1 games I own for sure.
God im so sad that nobody took inspiration from ogre battle 64 combat and RTS aspect into a modern game. i know there a few that mimics the class system and all but still.
The Fan Translated Front Mission crashes about 10 hours in. I remember I tried multiple versions with my save data on multiple devices and it kept crashing.
I tried the fan translation before the DS version came out and beat it on DS in the end.
Looking forward to the remake on switch.
Love your videos
Appreciate it my dude 👌
crazy how you just had to mention a timeskip to sell me on Ogre Battle 64. I'm a sucker for timeskips lol
I would like to see a Persona with adult characters.
Good to know that Valkyrie Profile will be available on the PSN alongside Valkyrie Elysium.
Persona 2 has adult characters.
The original Ogre Battle game is a masterpiece.
Bring on part 3!
Definitely want another one of these, I'm 33 and I get tired of teenage protagonists, this is refreshing
Parasite Eve could use a remake or at least a HD remaster.
I am pretty surprised Parasite Eve still has yet to receive any treatment like that myself. Seems like Square has been showing some love to some of its older IPs as of late though so hopefully they’ll do something with it soon enough
I guess after a big poo-poo Square made of PE3 (the 3rd birthday) chances are really low and franchise is dead. 1st was awesome, 2nd was good, 3rd was barely playable piece of shit.
@@GamingBroductions After killing franchise with 3rd birthday i think they won't be doing anything. FF is their best selling series so far and Chrono trigger/cross is also very popular and cult classic. Some may say what Chrono Trigger is THE best JRPG so far. Parasite Eve on the other hand - less popular, less known game. 3rd Birthday had very low sales, and sales outside Japan were absolute fail (40k US and around 40K EU), for grand total of 350k copies. PE made well over 2m in total and PE2 around 1.1m, so i consider 3rd one a commercial failure. By the way, in 2011 both PE and PE2 were added to PSN, so there was a bit of treatment from Square.
As far as I know, they lost the rights to use the original material from Hideaki Sena, the writer of the original novel. That's the main reason they ditched the Neo-Mitochondria Creatures in The 3rd Birthday and went for that... thing instead.
I don't know if they rekindled the rights in recent years tough.
I played the shit outta parasite eve 2... I still own the original playstation disks. It's definitely not something that holds up today. However, it was a mature story with cool monsters and a "hunter" feel about it. The boss fights are all above average, weapon selection is astounding, replayability is through the roof and has four separate story modes. I couldn't get enough at the time.
Part 3, Part 3, Part 3!!!
Really need to play The Last Story, hopefully it makes its way onto Steam like Octopath did
I wouldn't put tactical SRPGs in a same bucket with JRPGs, no matter how good they're, it's still a different beast. What is missing here (at least): Vagrant Story, Xenogears/Xenosaga, Radiant Historia, Legend of Dragoon, Suikoden franchise, Xenoblade Chronicle X...
Vagrant Story was in Part 1 , ua-cam.com/video/cU0RrpTRNbw/v-deo.html
We talked about Vagrant Story and Xenogears in our first video about the subject. Those are some other solid examples though, the only one I haven’t played is Radiant Historia but I really need to check it out as I keep hearing amazing things
ogre battle 64 is one of my fav
At the end if the video, plays a very nice version of road taken, which version is it? Wgere can I find it?
this was absolutely rad.
Your videos have gotten better, bro.
Octopath is getting a mobile prequel this July.
I am absolutely jumping on it.
OST is flipping stellar.
Thanks dude! Great to see more love for Octopath’s OST, it’s seriously amazing and has so many standout tracks
Hmm i think in this list must be Grandia II.
There displays such things like: Relationships, Responsobility, Blood ties also mentions Value of life all this game by the acts and words by characters shows you step by step.
BRING ON ROUND 3!!!
I always wanted to try The Last Story, but never got it. I know a physical version is probably pricey. You didn't mention it, but The Last Story had online team deathmatch. I always thought that was really interesting.
I recently started Triangle Strategy on Switch. It's in the same vein as Ogre Battle; have you tried it yet?
Oh I actually forgot about the online death match, very interesting. I didn’t play the game upon release so maybe that service was discontinued by the time I played it. I haven’t played Triangle Strategy yet but have heard good things about it, I’ll have to check it out soon
I haven't played Octopath Traveller yet, but Triangle Strategy has the same type of presentation. Excellent voice acting, and great gameplay, but there can be an hour of voice acted dialogue between levels. Not as good as Final Fantasy Tactics, but if you like FFT, you will enjoy Triangle Strategy.
I suggest Alundra for PS1 for the next part, it has a really deep and moving story
Great choice. It is by far the best 2D Zelda together with Links Awakening.
4:02 OMG please tell me what's the BGM title, it's mysteriously beautiful.
man, wishful thinking I know, but those Mistwalker games deserve a remaster and re-release on modern systems
Yoyoyoyo great video
Thank you!
What track at the end? That sax player sounds awesome, I wanna sound like that too!
Info for it is in the description! It’s called Horizons by Chinsaku, they make amazing music in general
you forgot to include the vagrant story in your list.. hands down one of the best jrpg of all time.
Vagrant Story is awesome for sure but we actually included that game in our first video about this subject. Great to see more fans of it out here
Another game i really want to suggest is Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War, is by far the best FE story ever made with a plot full of intrigue, manipulation and very strong theme about war.
Geneology of the Holy War and Thracia 776 are definitely much darker and more mature than the rest of the FE series. I loved the plot of FE4, but I'm playing FE5 right now and I like the level design a lot more.
No massive maps, they made levels the same as modern FE games, BUT Thracia has some really interesting twists to the game. As an example you really need to "capture" you enemies and steal their weapons as opposed to buying them. Plus you can spare your enemies, but it's hard to do. Sparing a few specific enemies will lead to bonus levels and items.
But the main reason I like it so much is because the levels are really thought out. You regularly need to split your force, sometimes into 3 parts, and have them move on a dime when surprise enemies appear.
Beat every FE game except for Thracia 777, but that will be done within the month. Looking forward to Berwick and Vestaria Saga on a steam deck next.
@@michaelp4122 i just finished FE 4 and gotta say i miss the giant maps, they give a sensation of scale and you actually visit all judgral in one game and that's amazing.
I'm still playing Thracia 776 so i can't say much about except that is hard.
@@lucascardoso5390 Everyone says Thracia is hard, but maybe because I grinded so much for money in the colosseum, I find it average.
I also enjoyed the giant maps, but I still prefer the more bite size levels.
Still these 2 FE games are so different from the rest. Plot wise they are probably the best 2.
@@lucascardoso5390 I recommend trying out Shining Force 3.
Saturn Emulation is hard, you will need an actual Sega Saturn and a red "Pseudo Saturn Card" but then you can play every Saturn game.
3 Scenarios, totalling over 100 hours of gameplay, but it's worth it. Very much the N64 FE we never got. Plays like Golden Sun meets Fire Emblem.
SF3 and FE Awakening are my 2 favourite Tactics RPG's (But I haven't played the original FF Tactics, it's soon on my list).
@@michaelp4122 Oh i do love SF series i finished SF 1 a few months ago and i'm still going thru 2 but now i need some time from SRPG because took me 90 hours to deal with FE4 besides the resets.
Oh god please i don't want to go to Augustria ever again