10 JRPGs Everyone Knows But NO ONE PLAYS
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- Опубліковано 5 жов 2024
- These 10 JRPGs are very-well known, with good reviews, but most people, despite knowing them too, don't play them. Here's probably why.
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I have played the radiant historia remake and I can assure everyone that it’s a masterpiece. Good story, gameplay and ost.
Does gameplay get better or more in depth than lining up your enemies to strike them all at once? And does the game have a big and expansive world cause all game play videos I see show the same tiny towns with small populations and not much variety in areas/enemies/etc
@@sharebear421 well to be fair the game is composed of zones like villages and fields and is not an “open world”. And for the gameplay, moving monsters to one tile and dealing massive combat is the main appeal of the battle system. So to be fair, if you dislike it, don’t bother I think with the game (but it’s one of the most satisfying things to pull of ).
Can’t agree enough!
I enjoyed it, but I wish it was on something other than DS and 3DS
Use the word "remake" very lightly.....
13 Sentinels was one of the most memorable games I have ever played. All the parts have been done before (kinda) but it all came together for an experience I'll never forget. I'd personally add The Last Story to this list.
I wouldn't add The Last Story. I've never seen anyone talk about it. This comment is I believe the 2nd time
13 Sentinels was very good, but probably the last VN I'll ever play. It did not change my opinion of that genre. Just not for me.
13 Sentinels was an incredible surprise. Got it on sale for $20 and feels like a steal at this point. I’m not a fan of the mech genre but got pulled into the story so strongly I ended up sacrificing sleep many nights to see one more route which ended up turning into 3 or 4. Trails in the Sky to me is still the best arc of the entire series and Estelle is easily in my top 3 greatest protagonists of all time. Haven’t seen a game with this much charm since Lunar and even if the story moves slowly at times the payoffs are so worth it!
Great video brother
Always so happy to see Tales of Graces mentioned, so thank you for that! One of my fave Tales games and one that I wish more folks would talk about for sure
love graces, was my fav tales of game for a good while and is still my favorite opening song
I absolutely love Graces F. The story is good and the battle system is fantastic also. liked it way more than xillia
I plan to play that one after I finish xillia 2. I've only ever completed tales of Vesperia(xbox360 version) and tales of xillia out of the series.
Tales of graces is honestly my favorite in the series. I played it with my roommate nonstop it was a little difficult to start but once you get into it the combat is super fun and rewarding!
This was my favorite till Berseria came out. So now it's my 2nd.
I never really got into Monster Hunter even though all of my friends were playing it, but the God Eater series just blew it out of the water for me. From the first game, then Burst, God Eater 2, Rage Burst, Resurrection; they just had that wow factor for me that Monster Hunter never had. Also, you pretty much nailed it with the Trails in the Sky series; I finished the first game and loved every bit of it, but it was such a slow burn that I had to stop and never touched the series ever since.
10. Tales of Graces - guilty. I own the game, it is on my list for years now. Shame
9. Breath of Fire IV - Hell yes, that is an impressive game. Tbh I could never decide if I like III or IV more (my favourite still is II)
8. Wild Arms 3 - Kind of guilty here, started it many years ago, but never finished it.
7. Tales of Phantasia - Played it in the early 2000s on GBA and Emulator, no need to go back again. I still liked it.
6. Lost Odyssey - Great Game, played it, loved it.
5. God Eater - Tbh the games did not interest me at all, skilled them intentionally.
4. Trails in the Sky - damn I tried so hard to like this series... And I couldn't get into it. I gave up.
3. 13 Sentinels - Did not interest me as well.
2. Odin Sphere - Was nice, played it once. No masterpiece, but still fine.
1. Radiant Historia - A brilliant Masterpiece! Discussion over! One of the best RPGs of the last 20 years.
Yeah, played 13 Senrinels. Teriffic game, way beyond my expectations and lots of battles to do after the game is finished. Can't say enough about it...fun, likeable characters, mystery. And very addicting battles. 10/10
I've played and beaten Lost Odyssey, for me personally it's in my top 3 jrpgs that i've ever played. The story is excellent, the dream memory sequences are all excellently written. If you enjoy turned based combat, with a decent challenge in parts, i see no reason why anyone would not enjoy it. Even on the Xbox One or Series consoles it can be picked up digitally, sometimes on offer too.
Bought my mates 360 off him just to buy this game brand new 😅
Got lost odyssey on ps4 it's a pretty good game underrated n unque imo.
@@rakaigaming5830 You may be mixing it up with another game?,Lost Odyssey was exclusive to the 360 but you now can purchase it digitally on either the XB1 or Series consoles.
I loved Lost Odyssey!
Yeah, I absolutely loved this game too. Beat it to about 95%, including the DLC
Some real home truths spelled out in this video ... Kudos. 🌟
I'm currently playing Radiant Historia. I'm 20 hours in an I'm loving it. Great gameplay and amazing story.
Perfect Chronology is definitely worth it. It's not just quests it adds, there's a whole new, long chapter added to the story. It's like a remake-sequel hybrid.
Oh do believe me when I say that I do want to play many of these eventually. Graces F is in my backlog on my shelf. It’s just right now I’ve been going through many of the must play classics lately. Currently I’m playing Chrono Cross and I have other older JRPGs I need to experience that I also know are must plays like FF6, FF9, Xenogears, Chrono Trigger and Star Ocean The 2nd Story. So yes I’d love to get to these, but these other “must play” games have been taking up my time lately.
I highly recommend graces f. One of my favorite tales of game. That game started the no more TP bar battle system like zestiria, berseria, arise.
I finished 'Chrono Trigger' a few years back and all I can say is this: is it overhyped, for sure. Is it still as great game, definitely. For the past five years or so I've been playing catch up with classic JRPG's as well. I had a SNES growing up but my dad was only a fan of Mario so most of the games I played as a kid were platformers. Still fun don't get me wrong I Iove platformers; but it's a little frustrating seeing games I could've been playing. In saying that, I was very young I don't think I would've understood them until I was teenager.
@@PloysMaw yeah I get what you mean. I was exposed to the first Zelda and the first dragon quest was I was too young for them and didn’t understand them and was put off by the “dated graphics”. It wasn’t until Super Mario RPG that I gave RPGs a try again and loved it. Then I played FF7 and it blew me away and have been a massive fan of the genre since.
Personally, I don't think Chrono Trigger is overhyped. Well hype is an individual measure. I'd say it is not overrated for sure, it is a great game and its extension is not overdue. It is a fun and great even if somewhat short JRPG.
If you ask me, from that backlog I'd tackle those games in the following order: Chrono Trigger, FF6, Xenogears and FF9. I really liked all of those games, but playing two Final Fantasy games back to back can be very tiresome even if they are quite different.
Out of this list I've played only Tales of Graces F. As for the difficulty part, Graces F can be very easy game- if you play on the hardest difficulty. It is a wierd case. Since in chaos mode you get around 5-6 times more title EXP than easy mode. The result becomes that even if you bosses you struggle against on chaos, they become easy when you switch to hard for example.
I'm glad there are folks that know about this difficulty hiccup. The combat system does take some experimenting and getting used to, but it's definitely worth playing for gameplay alone. The story is alright, but it really gets good around the post game.
My first Tales of was Graces.. I was a child at the time and I'll never forget the story.. I love the story and the characters so much.. The scene of Asbel crying in the rain 'cause everyone left him and Sophie come to be with him is memorable to me!
Oh, yeah, I remember that. I was tearing up at that point. I played it in my early 20s, but it was pretty topical for me since I was trying to deal with growing up, things changing vs. things staying the same, friendships and relationships etc... so even if the story is maybe not the best in the series, it was meaningful to me. Not to mention the combat is to this day my favourite Tales battle system in the whole series, and I've played every Western release except Tempest and Hearts.
"10 RPG's Everyone Knows but no one plays" *sees Odin Sphere as the thumbnail*
*Me, a huge Odin Sphere fan* "... IT'S TRUE!" *SOBS IN THE CORNER*
I've played Radiant Historia multiple times, and the entire Trails series starting with Sky FC. Always recommend them and some friends know me as that ones Trails guy. Ends up being fitting due to my name. Radiant Historia is probably my favorite standalone game ever, with one of my favorite soundtracks by the goddess that is Yoko Shimomura.
Actually that’s the thing. A lot of people still don’t know about these games. We loved through a golden age in the 90s we had new RPGS coming out all the time. Still to this day we get plenty of new unheard of releases. Unless you are die hard it’s hard to keep up with everything.
Odin Sphere is a beautiful game, with great writing and fun mechanics. Especially the PS4 remaster. But it's just so repetitive 😭
Every area is like 10-20 long battles vs. the same enemies.
And even though the interwoven plotlines are really good, you basically have to play the game 5 times to finish the story.
I've started it about 4 times and still haven't beaten it
Yeah then you have to do the alternate scenarios for the endings and I got those. I got the platinum for it and haven't gone back
being honest is true the story get's repetitive but the gameplay of the remaster makes up for it, if you are just mildly good at it you can make devil may cry like combos, I have beaten sub-bosses not even letting then touch the ground using the shortcut skills and different attack tipes
@@inumobolt9300 I'm not that good (or good in general), but even I could pull up a few "decent" combos and compensate the challenging fights with potions for DoT and damage boost. I loved the game.
Totally agree. It gets really tiring, could never finish It.
Thoughts:
-Never heard of Tales of Graces.
-Damn, I didn't know there were that many Breath of Fire games. I've only played Breath of Fire 2 thanks to NSO, and never heard of it before that.
-Huh, so Wild Arms is a series. Probably should've known that.
-I've heard the name in passing, but that's about it. Only Tales game I've played so far was Symphonia, which I picked up at a used-game store; you know, one of those places that still sells older games. I mistook it for another Tales game I heard was really rare, and picked it up immediately. Unfortunately, that particular copy was bugged, and would freeze during a cutscene in the first forest area. Pretty sure it was the "How to save your game" cutscene or something. I managed to get another copy later. I should get back to that at some point.
-Never heard of Lost Odyssey.
-Yoooo God Eater is the shit. I saw the anime as a kid and really loved it, and figured out it was based on a game thanks to Project X Zone (weird, I know). I got God Eater 3 on Switch a while back but waited to get the original 2 games before playing through them. I haven't gotten around to playing much of the first game yet.
-I kept hearing so much about the Trails series that I started playing it pretty recently. I'm only like 4 or 5 hours in on the first game (Sky 1), though. From what I understand, these are pretty big games, so I guess I have a long way to go.
-Ahhh, 13 Sentinels. I really want to get this one, but haven't gotten around to it yet. The trailers and gameplay I saw really intrigued me!
Edit: Finally got the game recently, and now it's on my backlog... which is admittedly way too big.
-I'm almost certain I've heard of Odin's Sphere somewhere, but I'm not sure.
-It feels like no one knows Radiant Historia, man. I thought it looked pretty cool, so I played the demo on 3ds and was hooked. Managed to pick it up at a Gamestop, and they even had a cool 1st edition version or something. Idk if that's just how it comes complete in box, but I thought it was pretty cool. Haven't finished it yet, but I've really enjoyed it so far, except for that one time I played the DLC difficulty. It was an experience. I think I've made like 3 or 4 separate save files, and that's probably the reason I haven't finished it yet lol
Excellent video! The only one I played is Radiant Historia on 3DS and boy, it was such a good ride. Not only the argument and the concept of "fixing the timeline" just like the anime Re:zero is well executed, the gameplay, and the characters are well designed. It is one of those party games where you truly want to experiment different combinations (and not sticking to the first 3 characters) because everyone brings something different to the mix
ReZero and Radiant Historia really did have the same feel.
Let's see, out of the 10 on the list:
10. Played and loved it. Haven't replayed it.
9. Played and loved it. Played 1.5x.
8. Played and loved it. Played through on PS2 and got Platinum on PS4.
7. Played through SNES/PS1/PSP versions. Loved 'em.
6. Played through it twice and loved it. 2nd run was to get ONE chest I missed for all achievements.
5. Have them, but haven't played through them yet.
4. Have played the first one and have the others. Keep meaning to replay on Steam and play all the Trails games in order after Azure's released.
3. Played and loved it. May Let's Play it.
2. Played both versions and it's one of my favorites. Did a Let's Play of Leifthrasir.
1. Played both versions and finished Perfect Chronology earlier this year.
Every single entry on this list are amazing games. I haven’t played 13 sentinels, I’m a bit on the fence but I’m sure I’ll cave eventually. Radiant historia is everything you could want in an rpg; great story, deep characters, engaging battle system. Man,…so many great rpgs
The story and characters in 13 sentinels are amazing. Just got to look past it being like a visual novel if you don’t like that. The combat and story split in 2 different sections so you can tackle each at your own pace for the most part
@@statesminds that’s the thing that’s keeping me from pulling the trigger on the purchase, the visual novel aspect. I can go with minutes long of dialogue, but when a game is composed of 80% of it, it’s worrisome. What game could you best compare 13 sentinels to?
youre saying that 80% of it is talking?? no man its exactly 50/50 and gameplay?? its really satisfying atleast for me and it really wasnt hard to understand but you know...sometimes i lose myself in the battlefield not knowing who is where but that happens rarely
@@eikichionizuka2090 oh so it’s 50/50 on gameplay and story? If that’s the case then I wouldn’t be opposed to trying it out. I’ve tried visual novels that claim to have gameplay but end up being mostly dialogue.there were times I would play a game that is heavy on dialogue and fall asleep and my handheld would fall on my face 🤦🏽♂️
@@Swaytekk i exactly feels you and criticize such a games because...we are playing video games not reading a book with pictures
in the prologue we experience the prologue of each characters and after each of them we have a gameplay
are they long??
no...each are like....lets say 5 minutes and if youre a fast reader 3 minutes.....and story is so interesting here....
after prologue you are free to go between adventure mod and battle mod
adventure mod will follow story of characters and is only talking BUT after some episodes they gets locked because you have to go through the battle mod to unlock furthermore
still each episode is short and again story is really interesting
I couldn't get into Wild Arms 3 and I loved Wild Arms 1. In general some of those early 3d rpgs have an aesthetic I just don't care for. Wild Arms 1 felt like a 16bit rpg which is why I think I enjoyed it so much. I also didn't play Wild Arms 2, so one of these days I'll get to the 2nd and 3rd game in the series. Since Wild Arms 1 was added to the new PS plus I was going to start playing it this week. It's been nearly 30 years..
I played and beat Wild Arms Alter Code F (a remake of Wild Arms 1 for PS2) and Wild Arms 3-5 but never played Wild Arms 2.
@@HARBRINGERZERO 2 is very much worth playing!
Tales of graces f is one of the best games I’ve ever played in my life. It was so good I immediately started playing it again after beating it. For context i’m a jrp junkie who’s been playing them for 30+. Its top 10 for me.
Yeah, most of the characters are lovable..
I bought Trails In The Sky on PSP because its box-set was available next to Ys 7 which was my main target of mine when I went to the store. The clerk told me he will give me a discount if I bought them together and since I heard many people sing praise for this game for so long, I decided to take his offer. Never regret it. Then I found out that chapter 2 might not be coming (that was 2006) because no one cares about the PSP anymore (except Japan, that is). I was genuinely sad.
Years later. Falcom released the definitive version of all the three games to PC and that's when XSEED started porting them to Steam. That was one the happiest news I have ever heard in my life.
My problem with the Odin Sphere is how very time-consuming it is. I remember I took 60 hours on the first chapter alone (partly because of the stamina system you mentioned). I really loved it and still want to come back to it one day. Since that system is already gone away in its remaster, that sounds very pleasing to me.
Yo he jugado Breath of Fire IV, Tales of Phantasia, Wild Arms 3 y Radian Historia, y puedo decir sin ninguna duda que son autenticos juegazos.
Played and finished: Odin Sphere (PS2 & PS4 version)
Played a good amount of hours without finishing: God Eater 3 & 13 Sentinels. Radiant Historia (DS) - Got hard not knowing what to do but will go back to with a Guide.
Played introduction but forgot about because of life: Breath of Fire IV, Trails in the Sky, Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology(3DS).
I loved Odin Sphere on ps2, it was super hard but rewarding especially in the epilogue.
I know during the time period it was released no one really played ps2 games often and one or two reasons. most people didn't care about Norse Mythology and that no one liked listening to a long ass story.
I use to always recommend a lot of games I like and Invest in to everyone because I knew they didn't know about them but they always say the same thing there was something better to play at that time...
It baffles me whenever someone says games Aren't good at stories like it use to be, when they don't go out to look for them.
Odin Sphere was a random pick up and I personally liked it, struggled with it, and enjoyed it when I finally exploited the game through the food system.
I still got a kick when Marvel had the first Thor movie and I'm like I know Norse Mythology thanks to Valkyrie Profile 1&2 and Odin Sphere. Everyone said to me I had in depth knowledge well duh, video games gave incentive to look into it.
Thanks to Erick Landon RPG let's play of Berseria.
Started playing Tales of Xillia finished it and now onto Tales of Xilla 2 on twitch. hoping to go to tales of graces F then onto Zesteria and Berseria and end up at Tales of Arise.
My friends don't watch the streams of games they don't know and its sad.
I love the Wild Arms series, and I'm strongly considering revisiting the ones I have again, including 3. I still have a functional PS2, and will continue to play it so long as it functions.
That is cool. My PS2 died finally and I still like the games I have for it.
@@David_Alvarez77 Ouch! Hope you can find a new one!
@@samanthaadams619 Thanks!
I’ve played Graces F (not long ago either) and it’s now my favourite of the Tales Of series. I played it on easy and it provided the perfect technical difficulty for me. I love the battle system where you have to regularly and strategically guard to fill your special meter, use specific types of moves to beat various enemies and learn various titles to earn specific skills. It’s a strategic master piece of battling.
The story is a more basic one but does it very well about 4 young adults and friends (two are also brothers) having to learn about adulthood while also leading various forces or kingdoms. Plus learning the origins of Sophie and how she appeared was great. And finally, the Lineage and Legacies post game story is really fantastic, especially the locations.
I've played Breath of Fire IV a long, long time ago in the PS1, probably at its launch. It is an amazing classic JRPG with a great story and very mature topics. I also did play Odin Sphere until the end on PS4, the battle system is very cool and the art style is amazing. Also, great story and connected plot lines.
Breath of Fire IV is one of the PS1 RPGs that hold up graphically the best.
I was lucky/smart enough to preorder Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology on 3DS so only paid like £30-40. It’s very good. Took me about 55 hours. Great battle system. Nice graphics. Music is quite good. The story starts off pretty milquetoast generic anime waring nations but the time travel/alternating timelines really allows events and characters to develop and be fleshed out decently and by the end of the game, the story beats were less obvious/more interesting than at the start.
Only major gripe was that for a few hours (embarrassing) I really couldn’t understand how to manipulate the timelines properly to progress, once you’ve got it, you’ve got it, however sometimes it can be difficult to find the correct node in history to find the character or event you need to interact with especially for side quests. Often I’d go to where someone ought to be but they’re not there or they don’t give me the interactions I need. It’s not the most streamlined system and can be obtuse at times.
Second to that, the character interactions are often too soppy for my taste. Typical for modern anime and for JRPG’s in general but there’s too many people complimenting you, telling you how thankful they are for XYZ, saying how hard they’re going to try to do XYZ, spelling shit out that we already know, saying “wow that’s so sad” when sad stuff happens. That’s my biggest gripe by far with JRPG’s, a bit childish, tone deaf, not subtle enough. There’s not much of an excuse when you have great voice acting, where you could say something story-critical but convey entirely the right tone through the delivery, without forcing a setting of the tone with very hamfisted player emotional manipulation dialogue separately. On that subject, voice acting is quite good.
The best parts of the game are :
.Graphics/art style
.Battle system
.How satisfying moving the story forward through timeline manipulation can be
.The voice acting
Radiant Historia is one of my favourite JRPGs, also finished playing in some weeks 13 Aegis Rim, it was a great game with a strange battle system. Estelle is one of the greatest MC in JRPGs, as a long time fan of Final Fantasy, in these days I prefer to play a Trails game to any modern Final Fantasy, not only the story is good, but also the gameplay and imersion is so much better. Trails is worth the time to beat the 9 localized games that we have so far.
I got Radiant historia on 3DS on the digital store. It's an amazing game. Complex plot (although some foreshadowing is as subtle as a brick through a window). Combat that's deceptively simple, but has a lot of strategy possibilities. Good art. Interesting world.
Well worth ayong.
I played a lot of those, and Erick didn't over-hyped any of them, they're all good.
I would have no excuse not to though, since I'm a devoted user of emulators.
Special mention for trails in the sky, the steam version is actually the best and most pleasant to play.
Agree - And within a year the whole series starting from Trails In The Sky and ending with Trails Of Cold Steel IV will be available in English on the PC, as the last two missing ones will be released later this year (Trails From Zero) and beginning next year (Trails To Azure).
Hopefully they give a date for trails into reverie and then the 2 new ones cause at this point we're gonna be 3 whole games apart. I'm happy about trails from zero and azure since I've actually never played them
I'm currently playing Radiant Historia, loving it!
I bought “Odin Sphere” back when it was released on PS2. Just got the PS4 remake on sale and playing through again! And playing through “Trails of Azure” now! Love the “Trails” series, especially the Liberl saga! And “Lost Odyssey” is the true “Final Fantasy XII” in my opinion. (Such an excellent game!!! Needs a re-release so more people could play it. I wish Mistwalker would stop screwing around and give us another console RPG like that!)
*FFXI, we have a true FFXII
I played four games on this list. Tales Of Graces was great. It is one of my favourite Tales games. I know that most people say this is one of the hardest Tales games, but I thought it wasn't that hard. Honestly I thought Arise was harder. Lost Odyssey felt like the true Final Fantasy XIII for me. Great game. It should get a remaster for other consoles, because I think most people didn't play it because it is on XBox 360. Trails In The Sky is a great trilogy. Especially part 2. You will never know why Estelle is such a great character if you never played Trails In The Sky. I liked her return in later games, but she truly shines in Trails In The Sky. And then there's Odin Sphere. I played the PS2 original. Yes, it can sometimes be a very hard game. The framerate could be your worst enemy, too. But I still liked it.
Am I the only guy on here that HATES Odin Sphere? I played the Vita version years ago and the game is a repetitive button masher. If you played one character's story you pretty much played through all of them because the game has you repeating the same areas and stages, fight the same enemies and bosses the other characters have already fought, etc. It's so boring to play.
You may prefer the classic mode in oding sphere, the one that was done during the ps2 era that is available on the main title screen of the vita version, you cannot button mash in thi version because attack use stamina. it renders the whole game not unlike a souls in 2D, you may prefer that.
I snagged it a few years ago and was expecting it to be great with all the "it's amazing" views. Didn't enjoy it at all in the 3ish hours I played. Definitely not a game for me.
@@charlestrudel8308 The button mashing is not even the main problem with the game. It's the repetitiveness. There's a lot of playable characters in the game each with their own stories you need to play though. Problem is, all those characters will at some point visit the same stages and areas as well as fight the same enemies and bosses the previous character you played as had already completed once before. It gets boring after playing two characters.
I have played and absolutely ADORE Wild Arms 3. The combat, the aesthetic, Virginia's growth throughout the game, it's all just SO good. Definitely one of my Top 10 games.
I love WA3 and consider it one of the best in the series, but Damned if the late game doesn't become quite obtuse on what you need to do.
I actually played some from this list:
Tales of Phantasia: When a friend first taught me about emulation, ToP was amongst his suggestions of games to play for the snes. This also means it is amongst one of the first experiences for me playing JRPGs meaning it always has a special spot for me. It was a really solid english fan translation i believe from a group called dejap. I really liked it back than as the battle system really felt fresh after first playing a lot of atb based games from the FF series before that. I also have the GBA version (which apparently is a port from the playstation version). Compared to the snes version this has some extra content (chester fully skilled, suzu playable, lower moria+summon) but I hated some changes to skills and dialogues compared to the snes version I played earlier. Could be due to the fan translation though but especially for certain things involving Arche there were some big differences.
GE series: i played all of these on the pc versions. When i was playing for myself a friend saw me playing it, bought games too and we finished all 3 of them in coop too. I liked the story and character loadout system in resurrection (GE1 rerelease combined with GE2) best, but prefer the overall gameplay in GE3 as it got rid of some sluggishness in battle.
Trials in the sky: i played through all of skies (and CS too) on the pc versions from steam. I liked the games overall even with the slow pace at times. Most tedious thing i remember was getting all bracer points though. Damnall those hidden quest or special solutions to get to full ranking. Had to play with a walkthrough for that. Plus the chest notices: best thing ever invented in a JRPG. As simple as they might be always good for a laugh.
So of these, I've played Graces, Breath of Fire IV, Wild ARMs 3, Tales of Phantasia (still mad we didn't get the PSP version), and both versions of Odin Sphere (the Remaster made me cry tears of joy when it came out), and Radiant Historia. Have had some experience with Lost Odyssey through my parents owning and playing it. I also own Trails in the Sky thanks to a Steam sale, but haven't had time to play it (you're right how they're so many these days and I don't have the time I had when I was in High School and College sadly).
Glad I snatched Radiant Historia just before it shot up in price (3DS complete in box, at that! For like $40), because it's a top 5 JRPG of all time without question and my favorite 3DS RPG (my favorite DS game is Ghost Trick, also not played enough). I really hope it gets a Switch remaster or something because something with a story this good shouldn't slip by and fade into time.
Hey Eric could you do a retrospective discussion on lunar? I recently played silver star story complete, I really loved it and am looking for a copy of the sequel at my local retroshop
I played Tales of Phantaisa SNES version through emulation. i LOVED it. I played it after finishing Tales of Destiny because I wanted to see if there were others in the series. I loved Tales of Destiny too. So I started with the 1st one. All the other ones are in my backlog.
I played all god eater series and I love it cause its a fast-paced version of monster hunter still with technical stuff like weakness to certain elements, just guard/perfect guard, when to quick devour/charged devour and stuff. Odin sphere I also happened to play that one, but the remake version which is leifthrasir played on vita, its much more better than the old one on another note trails in the sky is awesome I also love jrpg's; some are just slow burn so long as the story/plot interest me or doesn't suck.
Breath of Fire IV, Wild ARMs 3, and Lost Odyssey are among my favorite games ever; each one a masterpiece.
I've played 4 of these. My thoughts:
Tales of Graces: If you don't like puzzles, battle systems without something equivalent to a mana bar, or plots that don't have shocking twists then this game isn't for you. If you like puzzles, gameplay that rewards you for proper move execution, and character driven narratives then you'll probably love this game.
Tales of Phantasia: If you have trouble going back to old games, it's a slog to get through and many games that have come since have improved upon it. If you like experiencing the foundations of what made JRPGs what they are, then it's an enjoyable, basic adventure.
Lost Odyssey:.......I think it might be good? I feel like it's fun whenever I try it, but I never finish it. And I know I'm not the only one who's like that. It's weird.
13 Sentinels: If you can stand the very point-and-click adventure style gameplay and enjoy plots that keep throwing creative ideas at you in a non-chronological way, I cannot recommend it enough. It's a love letter to science fiction that wears its inspirations on its sleeve while being a great story in its own right.
The problems I had with Lost Odyssey were the random encounters (I prefer Trails/Grandia encounters), the encounter rate in dungeons, and the battle system itself. It took the worst parts of FF8 (the ring system was just like the gunblade trigger) and FF9 (found better armor? Too bad you're only halfway to learning the spells on it).
I ended up giving up on it when I got to a tower/oil rig looking thing where it was constantly storming. Those little kids were annoying as shit.
Played a decent number of these.
Tales of Graces - I bought it on release, and played a good chunk of it before a power outage corrupted my save. One of the best Tales games I've played though, and I should go back and finish it. The combat is sooo much better than the classic system.
Bof4 - Great game, top tier JRPG for the PS1. I got close to the end, but this is another I never actually finished. This one was back when I was obsessed with 100%'ing every game I played, but here I got bored grinding the fishing.
On the rest of the series - Loved 1, didn't care for 2, and 3 and 5 are on the backlog. But I don't remember there being a 6? I thought Capcom killed the franchise after 5 (Dragon Quarter).
Wild Arms 3 - I'm aware of the series. Played a bit of the first one and didn't care for it. Never really looked back into the franchise.
Tales of Phantasia - Just haven't got around to playing it on emulator, and am less inclined to try it after playing Symphonia and Vesperia. Maybe it works better in 2D, but like I said above the classic 3D combat is kind of trash.
Lost Odyssey - No XBox. if it comes to PC I'd like to try it.
God Eater - I played the trilogy somewhat recently as well. GE3 was really good, though it took some time to grow on me as I didn't really understand the appeal of the repetitive game loop. Going back to GE1 and GE2 after was rough though, GE3 is far superior.
Playing these games got me to try Monster Hunter Rise as well, but that one I did not like at all. They might have a similar gameplay loop, but they really are completely different. It's like comparing Dark Souls and Nioh - similar structure, but completely different gameplay.
Trails in the Sky - Played the first on PSP, it was solid but not as good as its reputation, I do need to play through the rest of the series though. The time commitment is intimidating though, in the face of the dreaded backlog.
13 Sentinels and Odin Sphere - I've heard good things. They don't really look like my cup of tea, but I'll consider giving them a shot if they come to PC. About Odin Sphere not being as popular as you thought, I always thought they were considered pretty niche even by JRPG standards.
Radiant Historia - I have it, but haven't played it. Big problem is I just hate handhelds, but I always hear this game is amazing.
I never played the PS2 version of Odin Sphere, but I did play and beat the remake of it for PS4, one of the few games I actually got the platinum trophy for even. I really love the game, the art style just has such a charm to it that I love. :)
Out of this list, I've played and completed Tales of Graces f, BoF4, Wild ARMs 3 and I stopped playing Phantasia partway through.
All I'm going to say is that Graces to this day has my favourite approach to combat and difficulty in the entire series, and the characters (especially Asbel and Hubert) have a pretty special place in my heart. It feels like Zesteria, Berseria and to a lesser extent Arise were all unsuccessfully trying to recapture what it was that made Graces combat so special.
I think any fan of the series should at the very least give it a shot.
After playing Phantasia start to finish 7 times and discovering something new each time I played at a time where walkthroughs are not a common thing, it became one of my favourite games of all time. I tired gba and psx versions but didn't get the same enjoyement of snes version. But it has been a good 12-14 years since I last played it.
I still remember the happiness I felt after I said "It was a good game, I wish it continued" after the Dhaos fight and someone comes from the future said we need your help and the game actually continued.
this channel rocks, no sugarcoating. Let’s begin!!! I’ve been meaning to get into tales of graces f and lost odyssey, but this video is totally right they have just been sitting in my backlog for months!
I have Wild Arms 3, OdinSphere and Trials in the Sky in my RPG Collection and have played them for some time. I would love to get back into those games when I get the best chance to do so.
I actually started Trails in the Sky FC back in like February 2020, right at the beginning of the pandemic. I absolutely loved it to the point where I'm now a little over 2 years later playing Cold Steel 4. Series is absolutely worth getting into if you have the time.
Do you must start from the beginning to understand the story?
@@blackpepper2610 I'd say the best starting point is Trails in the Sky FC, but you can start at the beginning of any arc and be fine. (So like Trails in the Sky FC, Trails from Zero, or Trails of Cold Steel 1.) Every arc is pretty much self contained outside of some character from earlier arcs popping up again from time to time. However Cold Steel 3 and 4 more directly involve events of previous arcs so those two games are a bit less self contained.
Found a copy of Lost Odyssey at a local retro game store for $25 USD, copped it entirely because of your videos lol
Haven't gotten around to playing it but I am looking forward to being the one guy in all of my friend groups who shills a game that nobody else has ever heard of lmfao
Great video Erick! I love most of these games and I have played and beaten: Tales of Graces F, Wild Arms 3, Odin Sphere, 13 Sentinels, Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology and Trails in the Sky. The last three are on my top 10 jrpgs of all time. The only one I haven't played yet is Lost Odyssey, maybe some day I will.
So you moved to London huh? Nice try.
Brilliant list as always and i love how you explained each and everyone of them in a humble and interesting way. Your theories definitely made sense and I think its good to preserve these great games as much as possible. I am slowly getting into the Tales games. I started from Tales of Arise and now i am getting into Tales of Berseria and the rest. I also played 13 Sentinels Aegis Rim, its pretty damn epic and great combat system based on Mechs and strategy. I have some experience playing the Gundam Strategy games so i was having a great time with that game.
I highly recommend playing Tales of Symphonia
Breath of Fire IV is one of my *FAVORITE RPGS EVER* and I cannot believe it is not more widely celebrated.
Loved Wild Arms 3 and Radiant Historia, hated Phantasia (could NOT beat that stupid vampire) 🧛🏻, and wasn’t crazy about Odin Sphere on PS2 cuz it felt too frantic, but may try it on PS3.
I just did a review of Ys 8. Can’t wait to upload it. I am so glad I finally went into the Ys series. I have 9 also and I am very excited.
Tales of Graces was my first Tales game, my favorite Tales game, and to this day, one of only 2 that I've finished. (The other was Xillia.) And here's the freaky part: I didn't find it too hard. In fact... I played through 90 percent of the game, all the way to the end, on auto combat! Not kidding.
OMG, I LOVED Trails in the Sky! I have the physical copy of the first, and finished it and most of the second, then got distracted by something else and never went back to it. (I have a bad habit of not finishing games.) And hey... Who doesn't want to play a game with the abbreviation TITS? But seriously, I liked it much more than Cold Steel. The quartz system was much more flexible, for one thing, and the characters more likable.
Radiant Historia. The original DS version, yes. Loved the art. The battle system was different from a lot of JRPGs, but not bad. The whole steampunk setting was cool. I remember getting lost a lot, but it's been so long since I played it, I can't really remember much else.
I also own Wild Arms 3 and God Eater 3, but haven't played either.
Out of all of them on the list, Trails in the Sky is definitely my favorite, although I would probably have enjoyed Radiant Historia more than I did if I had put more time into it. Graces I obviously enjoyed a lot too.
BoFIV was one of the very first JRPGs I ever played. I was in fact so addicted to it that I played myself to the point of being sick and even then I didn't want to stop before I finished everything in it.
I have the new PS plus and it's opened up a whole world of games I never had access to before. Now that you mention Wild Arms I remember seeing it on the list of games premium users have access to, I'll have to give it a try. I also feel like the Ys games are a series that doesn't get much attention anymore (though with the releases of Lacrimosa of Dana and Monstrum Nox things seem to be picking up) I got hooked during quarantine and now own all the titles available on PS4.
I managed to obtain a copy of Breath of Fire 4 for the ps1 from a local gamever videogames store before covid19 happened, and I enjoyed completing all of what the game offered, including the mini games that everyone tends to complain about because completing these seemingly meanless tasks reward you with a power-up for each of Ryu's dragon forms.
I've played every Vanillaware title except 13 sentinels at this point, I really should get on that. I agree with what you said about Odin's Sphere, I really do feel like people bring up these Vanillaware games and then don't play them. Grim Grimoire remaster soon however!
I gotta say, I loved how Arche's name was replaced with Megumin. Gave me a good laugh! 5:38
I have played and finished Odin Sphere on PS4 and it's one of the best Action JRPGS I have ever played. I also got my hand on Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology for really good price (on clearance basically) years ago. I loved the story and the characters but I got busy back then and I couldn't finish it. I hope it gets ported/remastered someday in this time of greedy remakes and remasters. It's truly a masterpiece of a game.
Trails in the Sky FC is actually one of the few JRPGs I actually played and finished (I watch a lot of content about em but I can probably count on my fingers how many I've seriously played). And maaan, what a great journey it was, instantly became one of my favorite games of all time.
I am already playing 13 Sentinels AMD enjoying it so much. I loved Radiant Historia and Trails in the Sky trilogy. They are masterpieces and everyone should play them.
Nice video! I have Tales of Graces f on the PS3, and I played it well into the post-game story. It's my favorite Tales of ... game, but I can't currently play it anymore since I don't have room for the PS3 on my "gaming rig". :D -- I have Trails in the Sky on Vita/PSTV (it's the PSP version) and I played some of it, but it's still on my backlog. I like it that most of the mechanics of Trails of Cold Steel were already present in Trails in the Sky. -- I have Odin's Sphere Leifthrasir on both PS3 and PS4, but I never really felt motivated to play it, it was really boring to me at the time, I should try again sometime.
Recently finished 13 Sentinels and man was it incredible. Shot up to my top 5 games of all time, never thought I'd experience a modern story on the level of Xenogears, but man did it deliver.
Same here. Enjoyed playing the game on switch.
Probably gonna take a break from it before I get back into doing the post-game bonus Battles.
In the meantime, looking forward to playing the next VW game that’s being released on switch/PS4, Grimgrimore oncemore. It being an RTS/tower defense game feels like a right moment to get excited to play it after 13 sentinels
Graces f was really an amazing game for me. Coming back to the series with this game was really enjoyable even when my last Tales of game before Graces was the first Symphonia game on the GameCube I was able to pick it up and understand the combat fairly easy. It also had a really well written story and OSTs.
I don't usually comment but I will say that Radiant Historia quickly became one of my favorite jrpgs ever. I played It because a friend recommended It to me. But after a few hours I was hooked. I played the 3ds version on an emulator. But now I have it on an actual 3ds and I plan to replay it soon.
Recently finished 13 Sentinels and i loved it. New and original concepts/ideas are strange nowadays when everything is remaster/remake or pt.4
Odin Sphere's probably in my top 3 JRPGs ever (with Tales of Phantasia actually) and the truth about these games is that not many people actually know them. I love Odin Sphere so much that I even used to speedrun it, yet, despite the fact the pace and character installments make it really easy to pick up, I have gotten zero competition due to the simple fact not many people even know the game exist (especially not the Classic version, that I played the most.)
JRPGs are not dying, but these old gems are not ingrained enough in the mainstream to be considered games that "everyone knows", and it's sad because they're all wonderful. (I wouldn't have even played 13 Sentinels if I didn't know about Vanillaware thanks to Odin Sphere... and it extends to the Atlus catalogue thanks to SMT3 Maniax.)
TL;DR: cutscene-heavy games are usually glossed over, however good they are and, unless they bear a big name like Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, they will be ignored by a fair amount of people just because they don' thave time to invest in these. That's sad, but too many good games brings that downside to the table and I know I can't do a second/third playthrough of many of these games just because of that.
Love the list. Out of it I have played Wild Arms series and Lost Odyssey. Thanks for the info that Wild Arms series is expensive. Still have physical copies of them 1-5
Live-A-Live was a game alotta JRPG fans heard about but weren't able to play except for a fan translation. Come July on the Switch everyone can! (I seriously hope they include the original alongside the remaster.)
I love 13 Sentinels. Got my brother in law to play it and he loved it too. Such a good game and so happy I randomly picked it up. The voice acting is top knotch too.
Odin Sphere is a damn cult classic. I fell in love with the story, the moment I played Gwendolyn.
God darn thing was pretty hard on higher difficulties, but doable. The fighting mechanics on each characters were both complex and fun.
I remember playing that game when my cousins were in the room, watching Nickelodeon or playing computer. But when they saw the story play out, the other monitors were turned off.
They got annoyed when I die to a boss because they want to find out the next chapter of the story.
Got Leifthrasir just a few months ago and played the heck out of it. It was such an underrated game.
And 13 Aegis was kind of confusing for me. But interesting nonetheless.
I've played Graces F, Odin Sphere (and Leifthrasir) and Phantasia on GBA. One of my all time favorites being Phantasia, I don't think it receives the love it deserves. Also, I replayed Leifhtrasir for a University Project and I did not remember it to be that beautiful.
I loved Aegos Rim, I bought it for PS4 a few days before the Nintendo Switch version was announced.
The story was amazing, the combat system was not that difficult and one could easily grind for a few minutes to pass more difficult levels.
The soundtrack was very good, I still listen to Beat Overflow and Deoxyribose while working.
Sentry guns were meta.
Odin Sphere is one of my favorite games of all time. I still have my physical copy on PS2. Bought the gorgeous collectors edition for PS4 and even bought it on Vita so that I can play my save file on the go. That should say how much I love this game. Hopefully a Steam release is on the horizon...
13 Sentinals is an amazing game! It's also an easy Platinum! Odin is another good game but I'll admit that it's one of my back burner games. I tend to play it in between bigger releases etc.
Well now I feel outspoken for admitting this, but I actually played Tales of Phantasia on GBA back in the day and I adored it. I didn't get super far into it, but I would love to pick it up again, provided my cartridge survived storage. 13 Sentinels and Odin's Sphere are both at the front of my backlog thanks largely to you continuing to spread the gospel.
Tales of Graces f was the best battle system in the serious. Loved how you to memorize what weakness each Arte exploited and perform different combos based on each enemy. Took a while but after learning the Artes i continually had to increase the difficulty setting, which i rarely do on most games.
I've been an avid gamer my whole life and I've always loved jrpgs, but Trails in th Sky FC is the one game that revolutionized everything that I knew and wanted from a jrpg. Might sound like an exaggeration to some, but it really felt like that to me, especially the rich story and game world that you enter and then never want to leave again.
They gave lost odyssey digital away for free a few years ago and it's backwards compatible so you can play on 360, x1, and sx. Also avail for digital purchase teal if you missed it.
I just bought Lost Odyssey on my Series S!! Haven't started it yet, but I'm looking forward to it
I beat Breath of Fire 4 back when it was new. I didn't love it because I don't like puzzle dungeon RPGs, but the graphics were amazing, and it was mostly fun.
I also beat Wild Arms 3 some time ago, back in the days when my backlog wasn't so overwhelming. Another puzzle dungeon RPG, so not really my thing, but it wasn't bad.
I played a fan translation of Tales of Phantasia on a SNES emulator, but never beat it. Nothing wrong with the game, but it didn't keep me hooked. My backlog was starting to grow by that point.
Lost Odyssey is a pretty solid game. I even got all achievements for it. The 360 actually had a bunch of JRPGs in its first couple years on the market. At the time it had more than the PS3 by a long shot, so I got a 360 and never regretted the decision. Some of those RPGs are still exclusive to the system.
13 Sentinels is amazing. Probably the best game on this list. Maybe not for everyone as there's a big visual novel aspect to it, but I loved it.
Odin Sphere is another excellent game, as long as you don't play the North American PS2 release. It had so much slowdown I could only tolerate Gwendolyn's story. After that, I just couldn't keep going. Apparently it was just the NA localization the botched it somehow and other regions didn't suffer. I still need to track down one of the later releases so I can finish it properly.
The other games on this list I haven't played because my backlog is the size of Mt. Everest. And it only keeps growing.
I bought the Odin Sphere collector's edition on PS4 last month but I'm currently playing it on the VITA. Loving it so far. I can tell you didn't overhype it for my tastes. The game is that good. Plus the OST is fantastic. What less to expect from my favorite composer Sakimoto. I can't believe how I could live without playing this game before. I'm at 35hours of playthrough and not even finished with the 6 story arcs. I can guess there's an epilogue after that too so that'll roughly add up to 50 hours of greatness in the end I believe.
Thanks champ for recommending that one. I also recently finished the first TWEWY. Gotta play the second one which I have 2 copies of, since I still can't decide wether or not I want to play it on the Switch instead of PS4 for the fluidity haha. Next one I play gotta be Radiant Historia. I bought it on the DS for a fair price but my god is it expensive for PAL regions of the 3DS. Bid offers for that game on Ebay are cruel to me.
I was about half way through Lost Odyssey when my 360 bust. Was absolutely loving it but then I never went back. Gotta go back to it and finish.
Pretty decent systems but an amazing compelling story. Definitely recommend to anyone who has the chance to play it.
I have played the God Eater trilogy on PC. GE Resurrection and GE 2 Rage Burst are my favorite games, they mean a lot to me, and I return to them from time to time because i like so much the history and also the characters. I couldn't enjoy the third one at all, and that the aesthetics in many aspects were more cool in that anime stuff, but in terms of history and other details they didn't make it pleasant for me to play it.My favorite is GE Resurrection, but Rage Burst is right there next to it. They are the two that I recommend, (note: in my case the issue of the scenarios was not boring since I spent my time focused on combat 100%). I think the soundtrack for all three games is wonderful. With songs like "God and Man" or "The Butterfly's Temptation".
I remember picking up Odin Sphere on the PS2 and adoring everything about the game I loved the combat, the art style and the story. I even picked up the PS4 version because I wanted to support the release. I even picked up Earth's Dawn because the combat looked like Odin Sphere.
Tales of Graces has for me the most enjoyable fighting of all the tales of series, each has its own gimmick to get used to but after you sink your teeth into this one and understand how it works it gets incredibly addictive.
I also still dream of using a character like asbel all the time, the way a lot of his Artes could just be spamming from across the whole stage just for fun AND you could teleport to any enemy which I used both offensive and defensive. I mean just pure perfection right there. Lastly the pacing here is just superb, I mean even after you feel you've Mastered everything like 80 hours in the game STILL throws in extra abilities you can now use to create and maintain combos for longer, which comes at the perfect time since you honestly don't think you can be more overpowered at that point.
I've Platinumed Tales of Graces, got all the steam achievements for the all 3 of the god eater games, got all the achievements on Trails in the Sky 1 and 2 and beaten Trails 3, and I've fully completed Radiant History on the 3ds and greatly enjoyed all of them. Haven't played any of the rest though.
There are many in that list I’ve wanted to play but haven’t done. I guess there are just so many games out there that makes it hard to do. The two games from the list I have played and finished include Breath of Fire 4 years back in 2006 or so and much more recently I bought and played through Odin Sphere on the PS4 last year.
Both are great games indeed. The latter holds up so well and is crafted to perfection in its slick game play, over arching story lines and certainly it’s visual appeal.
I played Radiant Historia Perfect Chronology and have to say the voice acting was top notch. Played thr traditional route. But I want to play the DS version just for the art style.
I’ve only played Breath of Fire IV from your list. Breath of Fire III was the very first RPG I’ve ever played. I was very exited when Breath of Fire IV came out. Both of these games have become the standard in which I measure up other RPGs. Maybe because of bias... nostalgia... I think everyone has THE game that started a trend of games for them. These were my two. Superb story telling!!! I think Fou-Lou/Ryu just have great character arcs that have a satisfying resolution to them at the end (small spoiler: there a choice the player has to make). All of the characters are lovable and none are wasted. They all have meaningful reasons to join your party. This is true to both Breath of Fire III and IV (in my opinion). You can’t go wrong with either of them.
Odin sphere leifthrasir needs to be ported to pc and switch. I want to play it so bad.
With vanillaware finally beginning to porting their lesser known games as Grim Grimoire over to switch there is a finally.
Tales of Graces was on my backlog forever, but a couple years ago I finally started playing it… I LOVED it. It seriously has the best combat of any Tales game. I was in the last dungeon and my dang PS3 died