Nintendo losing Final Fantasy 7 was a major hit to the N64's RPG library. After FF7 became a worldwide success and news got out that the N64 was not built for RPGs, everyone went to the PS1 over the N64 in a heartbeat.
The differences between the N64 and PS1 were so vast that I don’t think we’ll ever see something like this ever again. If you were an RPG fan and you only had an N64 hoo-boy were you in dee shit.
Man, Super Nintendo was the king of RPGs but the torch was passed to the PS1. It’s a shame because I was really hoping for some hidden gems but I guess not
I remember loving hybrid heaven as a kid. Unfortunately you could break the system by leveling a leg really high and you would be unstoppable iirc. Great list!
I was this close to getting HH but I only had money for one new game so I went for Jet Force Gemini for two reasons and both are thanks to Nintendo Power: HH got an 8.5 and JFG A 9.0. Also HH was only 128 mbits vs JFG 256 mbits. Thanks NP!
Hybrid Heaven is a definite hidden gem. I have fond memories playing from back in the day and over the years. It is fun as hell learning new moves after they've been performed on you. Then your fighter leans differently over time depending if you're more a boxer or kicker? Plus independent offense and defense values for each limb, the head, and the body. Individual skills can be leveled up. I thought the story and characters were memorable and well done. Jerry, Hunter, Dr. Bross, all memorable characters who display unique personalities and psychologies as they prepare to either replace or coexist with humanity. One of my personal fav hidden gems on any console.
Aidyn Chronicles is an amazing game if you have the patience for the long battles. Huge world to explore, tons of treasure to find, and crazy character customization for the time. It wont do much for action heavy jrpg fans. But for those who are into character building and exploration, who dont mind 5-10 minute battles, Aidyn Chronicles has a ridiculous amount of content to offer
Gauntlet legends is still one of the best couch co-op experiences I’ve ever had. Used to go down to the local bowling alley with friends as a kid and spend many quarters playing it until we finally got it at home with the n64.
Love RPGs and was thinking about it... as a kid i dont remember a y RPGs on the N64. We had Quest 64 but i didnt get any like... real turn based RPGs i would just go play the snes if i wanted a good RPG until we got a PS1 with FF7
Oh Quest 64 did made some emotional damage in some people, for example I remember back in the day a classmate brought Quest 64 because he thought it was going to be similar to Ocarina of Time and would keep him entertained until Majora's Mask came out, but the game was so disappointing for him that it make a BIG emotional scarring and he said he wasn't going to touch another Rpg in his life, when the Gamecube came along I tried to make him play my copy of Tales of Symphonia and he denied saying the imaged as boring like Quest 64, he even didn't even wanted to watch gameplay, too bad we didn't had youtube reviewers at the time, however he enjoyed playing the Diablo games a LOT and he didn't knew they are considered a Rpg, lol
@@farfromirrational948 ty i Just got the mupen pro z yeah i remember controls be a pain in the arse but later battles in the game dificulty escalates . Any tips ?
@@frikicomputerwizard2237 the easiest way to plow through it is to focus on about 2 or 3 units being overpowered. Not the most strategic method, but with the focus on those three, they kill faster, therefor take less damage, and you use less healing items. So healers are a great choice as well. Play cautious. Take the time to chase down and wipe out enemies or else your units become under leveled quickly. If you have enough money, use training between missions. Reading guides to aquire special units is fun and will bolster your ranks. Save between every mission, load and replay if your important characters die and become zombies. If all else fails, use the item dupe cheat and dupe the stat inreasing items to make your favorite characters stronger. Good luck, and have fun. Theres lots of ways to play, find whats most satisfying for you If all else fails
@@frikicomputerwizard2237 just remembering it took me a looooong time to realize you can press R on the map screen between missions to access organize screen, save function, training, and hugo tips. Letting you know incase you didnt know like me for my first playthroughs growing up xD The game is much harder without knowing that lol
honestly one of the things i enjoyed most about aidyn chronicles was the leveling system where you could level each stat skill and spell individually, allowing you to focus solely on one at a time if you so choose which i learned early on if you focus on the dexterity stat it makes your characters take so many more turns and hit more often compared to the enemies.
I think quest 64 was pretty good. It was unique. I like that you had to use your melee to increase damage, get hit to increase defence. Lose health to get higher max xp, and move more to increase you move circle, i thought it was good rpg mechanics that would have been cool to see in other rpg games. But thats just my opinion
I hope Erick takes time to the Etrian Odyssey games on 3DS before making any 10 ten for 3DS. Since the first and second game of the series have been remade for 3DS (has 'Untold' in the title) with an official story mode along side classic mode, every existing EO game (with the exception of EO3) has been on 3DS. The last entry for the 3DS is EO: Nexus which releases February.
I'll consider them for "best of" videos but hidden gems? I wouldn't count them since they're pretty well known. Not as known/popular as others like Fire Emblem or Pokémon or even the PXZ games, but known nonetheless.
Had to drop by and show some Aidyn Chronicles love as I am one of those few people that find it to be a gem and likes posting content about it. Really appreciate the review (and video as a whole) felt very far all around and definitely still blows my mind at the lack of RPGs we had for this console. Bomberman 64: The Second Attack came to mind for this game too with level-up mechanics but idk like you said we all have the borderline I mean at that point we would be saying Zelda would be on here at that point haha!! Regardless, really appreciate the upload friend! Will be checking out more of your stuff for sure.
I want to try Aidyn Chronicles... Quest 64 was great when I played it. Ogre Battle 64 is a classic. I remember a friend and I making a big deal out of Paper Mario when it released. Gauntlet Legends is probably the closest you'll get to cooperative action rpg on the system. Hybrid Heaven's martial arts rpg battle system is still one of the most unique in all of gaming. I like them all more than most people Im sure.
Aidyn Chronicles is an amazing game if you have the patience for long battles. Huge world to explore, tons of treasure to find, and crazy character customization for its time. Game is huge and awesome. But battles will take you around 5-10 minutes each
I played every single N64 RPG as a kid, either owned or rented, it had so few RPGs on it, you could count them on two hands. The console was simply ill suited to RPGs, it simply lacked the the storage space on the Cartridges for them. Aiden Chronicles was the only real attempt to try to bring out a full RPG on the system (roughly 40 hours of gameplay), but due to the limitations of the storage the game had a lot of unintended bugs, such as companion permadeath, rather than fix it, they made it a feature, something I absolutely hated about the game because half the game story was about progressing the companion side stories because all the side quests were little more than fetch quests, so the companion quests were the only other content outside of the main storyline and when a companion died it would freeze the questline, you couldn't abandon quests either; The game also had a memory leak, if you played for more than four hours at a time, it would crash, much like with Donkey Kong 64, except in the case of that game it was more like 8+ hours thanks to the Expansion Pack. To put it simply, the N64 didn't like content rich or complex games, it was never designed for it; Which is why most of it's library are sports, shooters, arcade, racing and platformer titles.
Ogre Battle 64 is a damn good game. I beat it twice (once with the bad ending, once with the good). March of the black queen is great too, but overall the money system is a bit more difficult in that one and you can't get through the game as naturally as you can in 64.
I had bought an N64 just for both Zeldas and I regretted it afterwards... Sold the console but today I regret doing so. Quest 64 was boring. I completed it in around 15 hours iirc.
I wonder how things would have turned out if Fire Emblem the Binding Blade,Mother 3 and Golden Sun got thier N64 release? Would they have even sold well? I think Quest 64 would've been a decent 8bit RPG or even a early 16 bit. But during the late 90s it didn't even have a chance.
I see. Both would have been a great addition to the console's poor library, but I just don't imagine myself playing a Fire Emblem game in the N64. I just don't.
It'd be awesome if one of those got included in the N64 Mini, similar to how Star Fox 2 finally got its official release. Granted, Star Fox 2 was pretty much already completed before getting shitcanned in favor of promoting the new system (much like the English localization of the first Mother, which also saw the light of day as Earthbound Beginnings). I don't think any of those planned N64 games were practically completed, but I do recall Mother 64 was pretty far along in development nevertheless.
As bad as the system is for RPGs it's kind of amazing how a couple of the best ever were also on the system. I remember searching for months to get Ogre Battle 64 until one day it was actually in Walmart. I happily plopped down the 100 bucks I had been saving for the thing and it's definitely my most cherished N64 cart, barely edge out my Gold Ocarina of Time and my almost as hard to get Harvest Moon 64.
I know it's way late to be saying this since I didn't watch this video until now, but technically speaking, Quest 64 is a traditional turn-based RPG with the only action elements being that you can dodge enemy attacks during their turn.
Of all these games, only Paper Mario is both a real JRPG and truly great. I was really hoping there was some awesome N64 RPG I had never heard of, but it doesn't look like it.
Tbh i started liking Rpgs in the psx,saturn and N64 era but i owned a N64 it was hard seeing all the Rpgs in the psx and almost none in N64. I completed Quest 64 and hybrid heaven in n64 but if i had a psx and those games were also in psx i would never played those games
It's no surprise to me that the N64 wasn't known for having a lot of rpgs. The N64 was better known for having shooter games like Goldeneye, Turok, and Quake. It was also more focused on Multiplayer games like Mario Party and sports/racing games.
@@ErickLandonRPG AVGN constantly compares Nintendo and Sega to nerds and jocks, respectively. Well, with the N64, Nintendo became the jocks for that generation, and Sony were the new nerds. Then Microsoft came and now I don't even know if we can make such comparisons anymore.
Nintendo makes games for people who will outgrow games eventually. Sony has games for addicts. I mean mario 64 is amazing and one of my favourite games ever. But without games like Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo or Final Fantasy 7 we wouldnt have the gaming universe we have today. Those 3 had HUGE specific fan bases. Making it clear there was many huge types of worlds to explore.
I played through Quest 64 and was very disappointed with the ending. The world also felt a bit empty. I found Hybrid Heaven on a clearance shelf at ShopKo and took a chance on it and was very pleasantly surprised.
I’m very glad you made this video. The N64 is one of my favorite consoles with a great library of games. Sure, it doesn’t have the best lineup of JRPGs. But besides Aiden Chronicles, they aren’t that bad
For most people, an RPG is a game that has battles, character stats, and in which your character levels up. Therefore, Harvest Moon 64 is sure as hell not an RPG! Mega Man 64 is very close, but it's not an RPG either. Strange how you consider that one an RPG, but not Mystical Ninja (which you pegged correctly as not being one). Also, Gauntlet Legends *is* actually an RPG, but you consider it not to be for some reason. At least you didn't mention the Zelda games, which are 2 more almost-RPG's that many people list as real RPG's. The rest of your list is very good. Great video overall. P.S. In case you're wondering, I consider Harvest Moon 64 a farming simulation, and Mega Man 64 an action adventure game. Both have RPG elements, although MM64 is closer to being an RPG then Harvest Moon is.
Sometimes I wonder about what could've been.... Not that the PlayStation would've never existed and had the best RPGs of the time, but what if those same Japanese developers would've put an equal amount of effort into making games for the N64? What kind of games, what graphics and music, and what innovative ideas could have been implemented on the console? If only 😔
Ogre Battle 64 and Paper Mario are great games. Japan had more exclusive games such as Zool, PD Ultraman, Robopon 64, Onegai Monsters, Shiren the Wanderer 2 and Super Robot Taisen 64. Shiren 2 is up there with Ogre Battle 64 and Paper Mario. Super Robot Taisen is nice. Zool is kind of great, and Robopon 64 is average, but playable. Onegai Monsters is bad. PD Ultraman is terrible. I don't consider Harvest Moon 64 to be an RPG. It's more of a simulation game, but if you consider it an RPG, you should consider Doubutsu no Mori (Animal Crossing) an RPG too. Overall, the N64 library is very disappointing. In retrospect, Paper Mario, Ogre Battle 64 and Shiren 2 are great games, but not enough to satisfy me. Even the Saturn had better options with Panzer Dragoon Saga (one of the greatest, it not THE greatest, games ever), Soul Hackers, Grandia, Shining Force III, Suikoden, Vandal Hearts, Lunar I and II, Super Robot Taisen F and F Final, and the spectacular Tactics Ogre.
I'm one of those who consider Aidyn Chronicles to be a hidden "gem". I put "gem" in quotations because it's more like a diamond in the rough. I was a huge fantasy lover as a kid (still am), and Aidyn Chronicles was the first game that gave me a relatively dark, non-Japanese fantasy story. I was reading the Dragonlance novels at the time, and the game just really resonated with me. I've always wished some indie developer would remake and modernize it into the form it deserves.
If they had just not fuck up and get FF7 as it was the original plan. Even if the cartridge would had gone for 4 times the price (since it was 2 times RE2). It would have resolved this problem. The fans would have spent the extra bucks for it for sure.
Guys Quest 64 isn't that bad. It is massively hard, but once you know what your doing is very enjoyable. Get any turbo n64 controller and play it then when you get an upgrade press A for turbo. Instead of getting one you will get roughly around 5-8 upgrades of your choice. Water magic is the most important as it heals you then comes in Earth which is very op in mid to late game because of defense which help greatly against bosses. Wind and Fire are allright, but not too important.. If Anything I would stick with Water,Earth and Fire as I think Wind is slightly less important than fire.
Yeah, I agree it was clunky as hell, but I'd be willing to give them some leeway. It was one of the first attempts to incorporate an analogue stick onto a controller (and one of the first attempts at 3D gaming in general).
Idk guys.....that controller was dope, and it never felt awkward to me. The games didnt make it so you had to switch how you held it a bunch, they were made for the controller. First joystick ever, and it has a trigger behind it. Revolutionary if you ask me
You use the right 2 handles.for shooters so left hand could use stick and Z as trigger. Fighting games You only use outside handles. How You hold it depends on the game.
ps1 is not the best imo, it is leagues above n64 though. I'm curious how many JRPGs were made for the Xbox 360 though... and how many we'll get in the end for Xbone.
Im trying to convince myself to buy a n64 but since im a jrpg player, i do bot see a compelling issue of getting one. Lets just say i buy one, since the selection is almost to none, it will just collect dust in my cabinet.
I did play Quest when it came out. I remember liking it back then but I couldn't stand it on a replay when I was a teenager. The game is as barebones as it could be. Ogre Battle is the only decent RPG there along with Paper Mario. Megaman 64 was decent, but I played that on PS so I don't know. It's funny how many RPGs were announced for the 64DD and it's Disks and it was all cancelled. Only Paper Mario (Super Mario RPG 2 back then) survived. N64 cartridges simply weren't a good format as they had almost no storage. That's why Quest sucks for instance. Why would RPG developers work in such a restricted (storage memory wise) format that is also more expensive for the publisher? To the few developers thst tried it, they had to make small maps, had to use and recycle MIDI tunes and had to develop small scope games (Quest is the best example) oooooorrr they used only 2D stuff like Ogre Battle did (which was a big No No from any publisher back then who wanted to publish a game on N64).
I blame square soft and enix. Because they made most rpgs out of all other companies. I don't understand why any of the game makers of all the great snes RPGs or even the gameboy... Where the fuck was chrono trigger 64? Some different type of final fantasy game? A similar game to Castlevania SOTN or aria of sorrow. I wish I would learn to program for the n64 and create one myself. That's the good thing about still having the systems. Creators can improve and figure out what was lacking in the system. Imagine a megaman game like legends but cut out the rpg and make it like the original but in 3 freaking d. That's very immersive right there. Megaman 64
@@jagan2 very true it's an action rpg but it still counts. But 1 other thing I will say is the n64 is definitely lacking rpgs. . there's less rpgs then there is shooting games on n64 . why is it the majority of the n64 library is either sports or racing games ?
@@larrykoolthegamer3646 Well, at that time the PS1 offered a better system for developing RPGs, because of the CD format (CD quality audio, cutscenes, games with multiple disks) and better platform for game developers. Nintendo didn't get Squaresoft back even with the latest consoles, but Sony will never get Zelda and Supermario.
@@jagan2 that is true the ps1 had a lot more variety in the rpg field then the n64 . But nintendo could've made more rpgs for the system if they had tried harder !!!!
@@larrykoolthegamer3646 I also believe so. But they needed new developers. Squaresoft and Enix were the 2 biggest developers of RPGs for the snes, and both moved to ps
Lo que paso fue que la PS1 se comio a N64, practicamente todas las desarrolladoras de RPG se fueron con la innovadora promesa de la PS1 y por eso la N64 quedo seca en ese tipo de genero.
The only console I can think of that's worse for RPGs is the Atari Jaguar but that system bombed so it's to be expected. there are probs over forgotten systems too like that crappy British handheld console that had built in GPS.
I wonder how bad the Jaguar's RPG library is (if any). You know you done fucked up when even the Virtual Boy at least had Jack Bros. (and of course, given the system's tiny library in general, if you wanted to talk ratio-wise, even one RPG title makes up a good percentage of that library).
As a gamer who plays only rpgs since late 80s i must say, N64 was one of the biggest disappointment of a console. After a HUGE library of rpgs on Super Nintendo, Nintendo gave us a console with ZERO games in the genre. PSX had a solid 30+++ RPGs to play. This video literally have only 2 real rpgs, all others are just games with few rpg elements here and there and not to be considered rpgs in any case. Just awful.
lol kinda brutal to blame nintendo entirely. u should blame the devs who favored psx n saturn. over the nintendo 64...which i find very funny since most of these companies didnt have a issue pumping out tons of rpgs on the way less powerful snes. its sad they just over looked the potential of the n64. not like it was super hard to program for either. in comparison to saturn. and im guessing in huge part of rpg lacking on n64 is directly due to squaresoft and theit FF7. which made everyone flock to cdrom format and hope to cash in on the huge rpg wave that game brought. was disappointed the utter disrespect n64 got for rpgs. it makes zero sense when you think about snes days. this was a more powerful console just limited by cartridge tho. but again snes days had tons of rpgs and jap only exclusives! poor n64 it didnt deserve that kind of neglect. 😞🤔
@@bossace2294 Well, RPG elements in a game doesn't necessarily make it an RPG, but some people have a much broader view of what qualifies as an RPG then most people do. In my opinion, Sub Zero Mythologies sounds like it may qualify as an RPG of some sort (haven't played it), but the N64 Castlevania's do not. To me, an RPG has to have leveling, stats, and battles or fighting of some kind. Games like Zelda OoT and Mystical Ninja come super close, but don't quite qualify. Most people consider them action adventure games, but some people group them in with RPG's. The problem is, if you consider those games to be RPG's, then what is an action adventure game?
JMFSpike I agree with what you're saying for the most part Zelda and mystical ninja goemon are great action games with some rpg elements... I think the best rpgs are action ones like the witcher for example but I'm only including sub zero mythologies because there wasn't many rpgs on the console and at least in that game you do level up Your character... I do like some traditional turn based ones also
JMFSpike basically was saying action adventure games with a level up System and some customization just a different kind of role playing game but I know what you mean like I said I'm just including some games with role playing elements because there was very few true rpgs on the console
N64 was dogshit! Came out in 1996 and used a small storage cart system. When the next gen PS1 came out 2 years earlier and used a DVDs. Yes there were a small handful of masterpieces on the N64 (Zelda, Paper Mario, ext.), but look at all the revolutionary games and superior RPG's the PS1 had! I grew up in this generation, and i still think the N64 was shit when it first came out.
In terms of physical releases, yes, the Wii-U is much, much worse, but at least there were digital releases there that make up for its ridiculous library (even though most of them were released for everything, even microwaves).
The console that came before it and the console that came after it were a million times better Maybe the n64 was a mere filler between the snes and gamecube 😐 Hell even the handheld consoles were better than this one But now Nintendo switch is worst than the ps5 Though not as worst as xbsx
Nintendo losing Final Fantasy 7 was a major hit to the N64's RPG library. After FF7 became a worldwide success and news got out that the N64 was not built for RPGs, everyone went to the PS1 over the N64 in a heartbeat.
Kind of disappointed about the lack of RPGs on the N64, especially considering Nintendo has a huge library of RPGs on the other consoles.
Back then the ps1 is the home of jrpgs. N64 is best known for platformers and kart games.
The differences between the N64 and PS1 were so vast that I don’t think we’ll ever see something like this ever again. If you were an RPG fan and you only had an N64 hoo-boy were you in dee shit.
They probably set their sights too highly on Mother 3 which ended up cancelled for that system
Man, Super Nintendo was the king of RPGs but the torch was passed to the PS1. It’s a shame because I was really hoping for some hidden gems but I guess not
This channel never disappoints me.
Thanks, man.
Paper mario 64 is one of my all time favourites
Its been a while I have been watching your channel! You are great! Greetings from Brazil!
Thank you!!!
Um BR por aqui :)
abraços
É Brasil porraaaa
I remember loving hybrid heaven as a kid.
Unfortunately you could break the system by leveling a leg really high and you would be unstoppable iirc.
Great list!
Thanks!
I was this close to getting HH but I only had money for one new game so I went for Jet Force Gemini for two reasons and both are thanks to Nintendo Power: HH got an 8.5 and JFG A 9.0. Also HH was only 128 mbits vs JFG 256 mbits. Thanks NP!
Hybrid Heaven is a definite hidden gem. I have fond memories playing from back in the day and over the years. It is fun as hell learning new moves after they've been performed on you. Then your fighter leans differently over time depending if you're more a boxer or kicker? Plus independent offense and defense values for each limb, the head, and the body. Individual skills can be leveled up. I thought the story and characters were memorable and well done. Jerry, Hunter, Dr. Bross, all memorable characters who display unique personalities and psychologies as they prepare to either replace or coexist with humanity. One of my personal fav hidden gems on any console.
@@AlexRN I have both still... both are great, dont feel too bad. Both unique.
Imagine games like zelda ocarine of time but with rpg element like level system or loot. N64 had the power
Aidyn Chronicles is an amazing game if you have the patience for the long battles. Huge world to explore, tons of treasure to find, and crazy character customization for the time. It wont do much for action heavy jrpg fans. But for those who are into character building and exploration, who dont mind 5-10 minute battles, Aidyn Chronicles has a ridiculous amount of content to offer
Gauntlet legends is still one of the best couch co-op experiences I’ve ever had. Used to go down to the local bowling alley with friends as a kid and spend many quarters playing it until we finally got it at home with the n64.
Love RPGs and was thinking about it... as a kid i dont remember a y RPGs on the N64. We had Quest 64 but i didnt get any like... real turn based RPGs i would just go play the snes if i wanted a good RPG until we got a PS1 with FF7
Harvest moon is minecraft for old people
Oh Quest 64 did made some emotional damage in some people, for example I remember back in the day a classmate brought Quest 64 because he thought it was going to be similar to Ocarina of Time and would keep him entertained until Majora's Mask came out, but the game was so disappointing for him that it make a BIG emotional scarring and he said he wasn't going to touch another Rpg in his life, when the Gamecube came along I tried to make him play my copy of Tales of Symphonia and he denied saying the imaged as boring like Quest 64, he even didn't even wanted to watch gameplay, too bad we didn't had youtube reviewers at the time, however he enjoyed playing the Diablo games a LOT and he didn't knew they are considered a Rpg, lol
Ogre battle 64 is one of my favorite games of all time
Ty i Was looking this bastard i never managed to finish it.
@@frikicomputerwizard2237 you can emulate it on your phone. The controls take some getting used to but its epic
@@farfromirrational948 ty i Just got the mupen pro z yeah i remember controls be a pain in the arse but later battles in the game dificulty escalates . Any tips ?
@@frikicomputerwizard2237 the easiest way to plow through it is to focus on about 2 or 3 units being overpowered. Not the most strategic method, but with the focus on those three, they kill faster, therefor take less damage, and you use less healing items. So healers are a great choice as well.
Play cautious. Take the time to chase down and wipe out enemies or else your units become under leveled quickly.
If you have enough money, use training between missions.
Reading guides to aquire special units is fun and will bolster your ranks.
Save between every mission, load and replay if your important characters die and become zombies.
If all else fails, use the item dupe cheat and dupe the stat inreasing items to make your favorite characters stronger.
Good luck, and have fun.
Theres lots of ways to play, find whats most satisfying for you
If all else fails
@@frikicomputerwizard2237 just remembering it took me a looooong time to realize you can press R on the map screen between missions to access organize screen, save function, training, and hugo tips.
Letting you know incase you didnt know like me for my first playthroughs growing up xD
The game is much harder without knowing that lol
honestly one of the things i enjoyed most about aidyn chronicles was the leveling system where you could level each stat skill and spell individually, allowing you to focus solely on one at a time if you so choose which i learned early on if you focus on the dexterity stat it makes your characters take so many more turns and hit more often compared to the enemies.
I think quest 64 was pretty good. It was unique. I like that you had to use your melee to increase damage, get hit to increase defence. Lose health to get higher max xp, and move more to increase you move circle, i thought it was good rpg mechanics that would have been cool to see in other rpg games. But thats just my opinion
Basically like Skyrim
@@jonb2756 hmmmmm yep. Pretty much
I hope Erick takes time to the Etrian Odyssey games on 3DS before making any 10 ten for 3DS. Since the first and second game of the series have been remade for 3DS (has 'Untold' in the title) with an official story mode along side classic mode, every existing EO game (with the exception of EO3) has been on 3DS. The last entry for the 3DS is EO: Nexus which releases February.
I'll consider them for "best of" videos but hidden gems? I wouldn't count them since they're pretty well known. Not as known/popular as others like Fire Emblem or Pokémon or even the PXZ games, but known nonetheless.
Had to drop by and show some Aidyn Chronicles love as I am one of those few people that find it to be a gem and likes posting content about it. Really appreciate the review (and video as a whole) felt very far all around and definitely still blows my mind at the lack of RPGs we had for this console. Bomberman 64: The Second Attack came to mind for this game too with level-up mechanics but idk like you said we all have the borderline I mean at that point we would be saying Zelda would be on here at that point haha!!
Regardless, really appreciate the upload friend! Will be checking out more of your stuff for sure.
I respect your opinion as a very valid, unbiased and reliable source. 👍
I want to try Aidyn Chronicles...
Quest 64 was great when I played it.
Ogre Battle 64 is a classic.
I remember a friend and I making a big deal out of Paper Mario when it released.
Gauntlet Legends is probably the closest you'll get to cooperative action rpg on the system.
Hybrid Heaven's martial arts rpg battle system is still one of the most unique in all of gaming.
I like them all more than most people Im sure.
Aidyn Chronicles is an amazing game if you have the patience for long battles. Huge world to explore, tons of treasure to find, and crazy character customization for its time. Game is huge and awesome. But battles will take you around 5-10 minutes each
It only takes a few to make my day
ogre battle 64 is one of my all time fav games. I still own it. i wish they would release a new version with the same battle system
exactly what i needed to know, thank you!
I played every single N64 RPG as a kid, either owned or rented, it had so few RPGs on it, you could count them on two hands. The console was simply ill suited to RPGs, it simply lacked the the storage space on the Cartridges for them. Aiden Chronicles was the only real attempt to try to bring out a full RPG on the system (roughly 40 hours of gameplay), but due to the limitations of the storage the game had a lot of unintended bugs, such as companion permadeath, rather than fix it, they made it a feature, something I absolutely hated about the game because half the game story was about progressing the companion side stories because all the side quests were little more than fetch quests, so the companion quests were the only other content outside of the main storyline and when a companion died it would freeze the questline, you couldn't abandon quests either; The game also had a memory leak, if you played for more than four hours at a time, it would crash, much like with Donkey Kong 64, except in the case of that game it was more like 8+ hours thanks to the Expansion Pack.
To put it simply, the N64 didn't like content rich or complex games, it was never designed for it; Which is why most of it's library are sports, shooters, arcade, racing and platformer titles.
Looking at that small library only no one can guess that highest rated metacritic game also came out for n64
I loved Ayden Chronicle's, beat the whole game. I think it was probably the best RPG on N64 and one of my favorite RPGs of all time
Sublime como siempre, saludos Erick!
Gracias!!
Ogre Battle 64 is a damn good game. I beat it twice (once with the bad ending, once with the good). March of the black queen is great too, but overall the money system is a bit more difficult in that one and you can't get through the game as naturally as you can in 64.
I had bought an N64 just for both Zeldas and I regretted it afterwards... Sold the console but today I regret doing so.
Quest 64 was boring. I completed it in around 15 hours iirc.
I almost fell asleep playing Quest 64, it was just so boring and mediocre. Not a bad game, but damn... far from being "good".
Did you know that let us Cling together also released on the original Playstation in North America? It was published by ATLUS and was a limited print.
I wonder how things would have turned out if Fire Emblem the Binding Blade,Mother 3 and Golden Sun got thier N64 release? Would they have even sold well? I think Quest 64 would've been a decent 8bit RPG or even a early 16 bit. But during the late 90s it didn't even have a chance.
I didn't know The Binding Blade was thought to be released for the N64, I knew about GS and Mother, but not that one.
Erick Landon RPG Well Fire Emblem 64 could have become that or Tear Ring Saga.
I see. Both would have been a great addition to the console's poor library, but I just don't imagine myself playing a Fire Emblem game in the N64. I just don't.
Quest did have a GBC game though. It is better than the N64.
It'd be awesome if one of those got included in the N64 Mini, similar to how Star Fox 2 finally got its official release. Granted, Star Fox 2 was pretty much already completed before getting shitcanned in favor of promoting the new system (much like the English localization of the first Mother, which also saw the light of day as Earthbound Beginnings). I don't think any of those planned N64 games were practically completed, but I do recall Mother 64 was pretty far along in development nevertheless.
As bad as the system is for RPGs it's kind of amazing how a couple of the best ever were also on the system. I remember searching for months to get Ogre Battle 64 until one day it was actually in Walmart. I happily plopped down the 100 bucks I had been saving for the thing and it's definitely my most cherished N64 cart, barely edge out my Gold Ocarina of Time and my almost as hard to get Harvest Moon 64.
Love your channel!
Thank you!
I know it's way late to be saying this since I didn't watch this video until now, but technically speaking, Quest 64 is a traditional turn-based RPG with the only action elements being that you can dodge enemy attacks during their turn.
You were the #1 video when I searched for it :D
Same
Of all these games, only Paper Mario is both a real JRPG and truly great. I was really hoping there was some awesome N64 RPG I had never heard of, but it doesn't look like it.
You forget about Body Harvest on Nintendo 64, it's a great 3D open world RPG on that era
He also forgot the zelda games
Tbh i started liking Rpgs in the psx,saturn and N64 era but i owned a N64 it was hard seeing all the Rpgs in the psx and almost none in N64. I completed Quest 64 and hybrid heaven in n64 but if i had a psx and those games were also in psx i would never played those games
It's no surprise to me that the N64 wasn't known for having a lot of rpgs. The N64 was better known for having shooter games like Goldeneye, Turok, and Quake. It was also more focused on Multiplayer games like Mario Party and sports/racing games.
Yeah.
@@ErickLandonRPG AVGN constantly compares Nintendo and Sega to nerds and jocks, respectively. Well, with the N64, Nintendo became the jocks for that generation, and Sony were the new nerds. Then Microsoft came and now I don't even know if we can make such comparisons anymore.
Nintendo makes games for people who will outgrow games eventually. Sony has games for addicts. I mean mario 64 is amazing and one of my favourite games ever. But without games like Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo or Final Fantasy 7 we wouldnt have the gaming universe we have today. Those 3 had HUGE specific fan bases. Making it clear there was many huge types of worlds to explore.
That's an interesting perspective. Thanks for sharing.
oooo Erick meu querido! why didnt you put Zelda Oot on the list? Aint it a RPG?
Forte abraço do Brasil!!
Ocarina of Time não é um RPG seu besta quadrada
I played through Quest 64 and was very disappointed with the ending. The world also felt a bit empty.
I found Hybrid Heaven on a clearance shelf at ShopKo and took a chance on it and was very pleasantly surprised.
I’m very glad you made this video. The N64 is one of my favorite consoles with a great library of games. Sure, it doesn’t have the best lineup of JRPGs. But besides Aiden Chronicles, they aren’t that bad
Agreed.
For most people, an RPG is a game that has battles, character stats, and in which your character levels up. Therefore, Harvest Moon 64 is sure as hell not an RPG! Mega Man 64 is very close, but it's not an RPG either. Strange how you consider that one an RPG, but not Mystical Ninja (which you pegged correctly as not being one). Also, Gauntlet Legends *is* actually an RPG, but you consider it not to be for some reason. At least you didn't mention the Zelda games, which are 2 more almost-RPG's that many people list as real RPG's. The rest of your list is very good. Great video overall.
P.S. In case you're wondering, I consider Harvest Moon 64 a farming simulation, and Mega Man 64 an action adventure game. Both have RPG elements, although MM64 is closer to being an RPG then Harvest Moon is.
Sometimes I wonder about what could've been....
Not that the PlayStation would've never existed and had the best RPGs of the time, but what if those same Japanese developers would've put an equal amount of effort into making games for the N64? What kind of games, what graphics and music, and what innovative ideas could have been implemented on the console? If only 😔
Still holding out hope for Mega-man Legends 3.
I forgot I used to play hybrid heaven all the time.
N64 Nintendos flop console best forgotten with time.
Ogre Battle 64 and Paper Mario are great games. Japan had more exclusive games such as Zool, PD Ultraman, Robopon 64, Onegai Monsters, Shiren the Wanderer 2 and Super Robot Taisen 64. Shiren 2 is up there with Ogre Battle 64 and Paper Mario. Super Robot Taisen is nice. Zool is kind of great, and Robopon 64 is average, but playable. Onegai Monsters is bad. PD Ultraman is terrible. I don't consider Harvest Moon 64 to be an RPG. It's more of a simulation game, but if you consider it an RPG, you should consider Doubutsu no Mori (Animal Crossing) an RPG too.
Overall, the N64 library is very disappointing. In retrospect, Paper Mario, Ogre Battle 64 and Shiren 2 are great games, but not enough to satisfy me. Even the Saturn had better options with Panzer Dragoon Saga (one of the greatest, it not THE greatest, games ever), Soul Hackers, Grandia, Shining Force III, Suikoden, Vandal Hearts, Lunar I and II, Super Robot Taisen F and F Final, and the spectacular Tactics Ogre.
How I wanted a N64 when it first came out!!
Very glad that I eventually went for the PS1 instead.
I'm one of those who consider Aidyn Chronicles to be a hidden "gem". I put "gem" in quotations because it's more like a diamond in the rough. I was a huge fantasy lover as a kid (still am), and Aidyn Chronicles was the first game that gave me a relatively dark, non-Japanese fantasy story. I was reading the Dragonlance novels at the time, and the game just really resonated with me. I've always wished some indie developer would remake and modernize it into the form it deserves.
This video makes me wish Mother 3 released on the 64 even more
Rpg's were non existent on the n64... Thank God for paper mario. I remember owning a n64 and wondering why the heck we didn't have any rpg's
If they had just not fuck up and get FF7 as it was the original plan. Even if the cartridge would had gone for 4 times the price (since it was 2 times RE2). It would have resolved this problem. The fans would have spent the extra bucks for it for sure.
Guys Quest 64 isn't that bad. It is massively hard, but once you know what your doing is very enjoyable. Get any turbo n64 controller and play it then when you get an upgrade press A for turbo. Instead of getting one you will get roughly around 5-8 upgrades of your choice. Water magic is the most important as it heals you then comes in Earth which is very op in mid to late game because of defense which help greatly against bosses. Wind and Fire are allright, but not too important.. If Anything I would stick with Water,Earth and Fire as I think Wind is slightly less important than fire.
No Body Harvest? That game was slept on.
Loz ooc is my favorite game of all time
My only question is why it needed such a controller? Is it for people with third hand or what?
I hate the controller as well.
Yeah, I agree it was clunky as hell, but I'd be willing to give them some leeway. It was one of the first attempts to incorporate an analogue stick onto a controller (and one of the first attempts at 3D gaming in general).
At least they learned now
Idk guys.....that controller was dope, and it never felt awkward to me. The games didnt make it so you had to switch how you held it a bunch, they were made for the controller.
First joystick ever, and it has a trigger behind it. Revolutionary if you ask me
You use the right 2 handles.for shooters so left hand could use stick and Z as trigger.
Fighting games You only use outside handles. How You hold it depends on the game.
I skip this console. Sony ps1 is the best console because of a big library in rpg's
Yep.
And... ps2?, is better and bigger!!!
ps1 is not the best imo, it is leagues above n64 though. I'm curious how many JRPGs were made for the Xbox 360 though... and how many we'll get in the end for Xbone.
Hey where are the best games Legend of Zelda ocarina of time and majora's mask??
Hes talking about tactical and turn base rpg games for the N64 and those zelda games u mention are not that type of game.
1:16 Here is why he didn't add them
I think if the N64 was cd based instead of cartridge based, rpg's would have been better looking and would have given more+better gameplay
At the time, Nintendo marketed the faster loading speeds of cartridges and potential on-board saves of games like Super Mario 64 and Goldeneye 007.
Im trying to convince myself to buy a n64 but since im a jrpg player, i do bot see a compelling issue of getting one.
Lets just say i buy one, since the selection is almost to none, it will just collect dust in my cabinet.
Next time Dreamcast
Good choice, I was just thinking the same thing.
I did play Quest when it came out. I remember liking it back then but I couldn't stand it on a replay when I was a teenager. The game is as barebones as it could be. Ogre Battle is the only decent RPG there along with Paper Mario. Megaman 64 was decent, but I played that on PS so I don't know. It's funny how many RPGs were announced for the 64DD and it's Disks and it was all cancelled. Only Paper Mario (Super Mario RPG 2 back then) survived. N64 cartridges simply weren't a good format as they had almost no storage. That's why Quest sucks for instance. Why would RPG developers work in such a restricted (storage memory wise) format that is also more expensive for the publisher? To the few developers thst tried it, they had to make small maps, had to use and recycle MIDI tunes and had to develop small scope games (Quest is the best example) oooooorrr they used only 2D stuff like Ogre Battle did (which was a big No No from any publisher back then who wanted to publish a game on N64).
I've been doing the top rpg's on various consoles, and really struggled to even get to 5 for the N64.
I'm talking a break from paper mario... you forgot Zelda
I do wonder why EL never includes Zelda games as "JRPGs".
At least make an exception for the 64 to give the console 2 more games LOL ;)
I blame square soft and enix. Because they made most rpgs out of all other companies. I don't understand why any of the game makers of all the great snes RPGs or even the gameboy... Where the fuck was chrono trigger 64? Some different type of final fantasy game? A similar game to Castlevania SOTN or aria of sorrow. I wish I would learn to program for the n64 and create one myself. That's the good thing about still having the systems. Creators can improve and figure out what was lacking in the system. Imagine a megaman game like legends but cut out the rpg and make it like the original but in 3 freaking d. That's very immersive right there. Megaman 64
A better megaman 64
I think you are missing a rare rpg here. Super Mario RPG Legend of the Seven Stars.
That was a SNES game, not a Nintendo 64 game. The Mario RPG made it on Nintendo 64 is Paper Mario.
@@DigiPen92 oh my bad. I thought it was an N64 game. I never played it myself but had a buddy that raved on about it.
What a disaster Nintendo chose to do. Aside from Ogre Battle and Harvest Moon, I see no interest in these below average RPGs
Paper Mario? Maybe?
@@ErickLandonRPG maybe someday kkkk
There is this N64 rpg i'm looking for.
You forgot to mention the 2 zeldas there rpgs as well .
so right. Legend of Zelda is definitely an Action RPG, and one of the best at that time!
@@jagan2 very true it's an action rpg but it still counts. But 1 other thing I will say is the n64 is definitely lacking rpgs. . there's less rpgs then there is shooting games on n64 . why is it the majority of the n64 library is either sports or racing games ?
@@larrykoolthegamer3646 Well, at that time the PS1 offered a better system for developing RPGs, because of the CD format (CD quality audio, cutscenes, games with multiple disks) and better platform for game developers. Nintendo didn't get Squaresoft back even with the latest consoles, but Sony will never get Zelda and Supermario.
@@jagan2 that is true the ps1 had a lot more variety in the rpg field then the n64 . But nintendo could've made more rpgs for the system if they had tried harder !!!!
@@larrykoolthegamer3646 I also believe so. But they needed new developers. Squaresoft and Enix were the 2 biggest developers of RPGs for the snes, and both moved to ps
Lo que paso fue que la PS1 se comio a N64, practicamente todas las desarrolladoras de RPG se fueron con la innovadora promesa de la PS1 y por eso la N64 quedo seca en ese tipo de genero.
The only console I can think of that's worse for RPGs is the Atari Jaguar but that system bombed so it's to be expected. there are probs over forgotten systems too like that crappy British handheld console that had built in GPS.
I wonder how bad the Jaguar's RPG library is (if any). You know you done fucked up when even the Virtual Boy at least had Jack Bros. (and of course, given the system's tiny library in general, if you wanted to talk ratio-wise, even one RPG title makes up a good percentage of that library).
As a gamer who plays only rpgs since late 80s i must say, N64 was one of the biggest disappointment of a console. After a HUGE library of rpgs on Super Nintendo, Nintendo gave us a console with ZERO games in the genre. PSX had a solid 30+++ RPGs to play. This video literally have only 2 real rpgs, all others are just games with few rpg elements here and there and not to be considered rpgs in any case. Just awful.
lol kinda brutal to blame nintendo entirely. u should blame the devs who favored psx n saturn. over the nintendo 64...which i find very funny since most of these companies didnt have a issue pumping out tons of rpgs on the way less powerful snes. its sad they just over looked the potential of the n64. not like it was super hard to program for either. in comparison to saturn. and im guessing in huge part of rpg lacking on n64 is directly due to squaresoft and theit FF7. which made everyone flock to cdrom format and hope to cash in on the huge rpg wave that game brought. was disappointed the utter disrespect n64 got for rpgs. it makes zero sense when you think about snes days. this was a more powerful console just limited by cartridge tho. but again snes days had tons of rpgs and jap only exclusives!
poor n64 it didnt deserve that kind of neglect. 😞🤔
Hey what about Zool? That is most definitely a jrpg, but it's JP only
I want a Erick Landon Dota 2 announcer pack
Good list I was thinking you could place castlevania on the list too
not an RPG.
JMFSpike good point I thought there was rpg elements... sub zero mythologies you do level up sub zeros powers kinda like a rpg
@@bossace2294 Well, RPG elements in a game doesn't necessarily make it an RPG, but some people have a much broader view of what qualifies as an RPG then most people do. In my opinion, Sub Zero Mythologies sounds like it may qualify as an RPG of some sort (haven't played it), but the N64 Castlevania's do not. To me, an RPG has to have leveling, stats, and battles or fighting of some kind. Games like Zelda OoT and Mystical Ninja come super close, but don't quite qualify. Most people consider them action adventure games, but some people group them in with RPG's. The problem is, if you consider those games to be RPG's, then what is an action adventure game?
JMFSpike I agree with what you're saying for the most part Zelda and mystical ninja goemon are great action games with some rpg elements... I think the best rpgs are action ones like the witcher for example but I'm only including sub zero mythologies because there wasn't many rpgs on the console and at least in that game you do level up
Your character... I do like some traditional turn based ones also
JMFSpike basically was saying action adventure games with a level up
System and some customization just a different kind of role playing game but I know what you mean like I said I'm just including some games with role playing elements because there was very few true rpgs on the console
N64 was dogshit! Came out in 1996 and used a small storage cart system. When the next gen PS1 came out 2 years earlier and used a DVDs.
Yes there were a small handful of masterpieces on the N64 (Zelda, Paper Mario, ext.), but look at all the revolutionary games and superior RPG's the PS1 had!
I grew up in this generation, and i still think the N64 was shit when it first came out.
Aidyn Chronicles is an amazing game. Not sure what the crap you've been playing.
Paper mario is pretty much the only good one harvest moon if you wwant to include it.
Worse RPG library than wiiu? Didn't know it :D
In terms of physical releases, yes, the Wii-U is much, much worse, but at least there were digital releases there that make up for its ridiculous library (even though most of them were released for everything, even microwaves).
And this is why N64 was a failure of console. How did nintendo expect a console to live without RPGs?
Great multiplayer games though
Ummm...dude...what about Gauntlet Legends?
*watches the video further* oops...my bad ;-P
what about the Zeldas????
Daikatana is a RPG?
Nope. First person shooter. You gain xp points and level up skills and 1 weapon tho.
Eres español o solo es una impresión mía?
Tu consideras a pandoras tower un jrpg?
Sí. Es un RPG de acción. Sin embargo, no lo digo de manera objetiva, sino subjetiva; o sea, es debatible, por supuesto.
Why didnt you include the two zeldas?
Didn't I say why in the video?
@@ErickLandonRPG oh srry i didnt notice it
No StarCraft64 ?
I only play Mario paper of all this game
The console that came before it and the console that came after it were a million times better
Maybe the n64 was a mere filler between the snes and gamecube 😐
Hell even the handheld consoles were better than this one
But now Nintendo switch is worst than the ps5
Though not as worst as xbsx
i love megaman legends but i dont consider it a rpg
I could see Command and Conquer, or Starcraft being included.
What happened to zelda, You say hybrid heaven is an rp g but not those?....cumon buddy
You are entitled to your opinion, I am to mine. So "cumon buddy" :)
where was Aiden chronicles
Where, I wonder?
Zelda?
He forgot the zelda games