Triangle Strategy is a masterpiece. The fact that you don't choose your route yourself, but have a poltical debate with your party, and then they choose based on what you've convinced make it so immersive.
I'm 48 and SMT V Vengeance was one of the few JRPGs I have really gotten into over the last several years. The fact that it didn't waste a bunch of my time with glacial pacing like so many other JRPGs was a huge plus.
I've only played 3 Tales games (Arise, Berseria, and Zestiria), but of the three Tales games I've played, I definitely thought Berseria had the best story and character development. I recommend that one as well.
Lost Odyssey is still my fav jrpg to this day. I feel like the Guch made one of his greatest games ever with that one. I still pray for at least a remaster. And man, Berseria, what a great game. Easily in the top Tales games imo. And what hasn't been said about Automata? Need to get back into Xenoblade. Played a bit of the original on the Wii. Haven't touched the others.
Awesome list! This might be one of my favorite videos of yours now. I’d throw in Vagrant Story, FFT, Octopath Traveler II, some of the Front Missions and mayyyube Resonance of Fate and Last Remnant.
Mine would have to be Xenogears. Contextually, video games were still nostly seen as a kid's thing in the late 90s, despite more mature games getting released for a while. Xenogears was the first RPG I played that didn't make me feel treated like a kid with his political, philosophical, and psychological themes. There's ambiguity in the characters' motivations. It really was a life changing experience back in the days.
I still have fond memories for Fire Emblem: Path of Radience and Tales of Berseria. I've played FE since the GBA and Ike's tale remains my favorite. Berseria was my second Tales game after ummm... and it was such a blast. A but long though.
Great videos. I’m new to jrpgs as an adult so I have been playing the classics which the ones I’m playing are definitely light hearted (lunar currently). Almost all of this are on my list
See Seth - instant LIKE. Great video with well-deserved appreciation for Lost Odyssey and Triangle Strategy. Feels like people don't have them on their radar all too often.
FF16 should feel a bit like Game of thrones since I remember an interview saying that they made the development team watch the first 4 seasons of it for inspiration.
Makes me so incredibly happy to see Path of Radiance here! The games doesn’t get near enough love in online discourse. Absolutely one of my favorite games!🎉
Tales of Berseria mentioned!!!!! W video. People write off Velvet as edgy goth without realizing the number of deaths that occur in Tales of series that it's actually normal yet innovative to have a character out for vengeance when we've had all these heroes.
Lost Odyssey is a backwards compatible game so unless something happened to those older titles in the Series X/S store too then it should be still there. I bought it digitally for about 10€ in a sale like a year ago😊
I own 1 360 game. Lost Odyssey. I don't even have a system. But I bought the game because I loved it. Such a great RPG and it's a shame it never got a remaster or PC port. I deserves more attention than it got.
The older I get the more I wish I could be 20 again. Still some great games on this list none the less! Triangle Strategy and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 are both games I've finished and they are fantastic and unique experiences.
as much as i agree with you i can't help but always be worried about how they will make Aye Brea a caricature of what she was. either making her look manly, act manly and not feminine and confident, or some other stupid shit. Plus there is the whole issue that I utterly disliked that PE2 was an extreme case of forgetting what it was and became a Resident Evil Clone.. Then you got 3rd birthday that... well while had some interesting gameplay (which is being explored again under Splitterheads) just didn't feel like a PE game. So i think SE has shelved it completely due to the falling off it had in fandom because it lost it's sense of what it was. IF a remake happens it could be enough to have them reboot the whole franchise. and stay away from the crazy government/corpo biological testing and just stay with the idea of a never ending battle between humanity and Parasite EVE trying to rebel against and liberate the mitochondria from the animal cells of the now.
Grandia 2 feels like a game for this category because it feels like most of the chars have to mature through the game with Merag being the 'parental figure' of the cast. Plus the dark themes of the game add to it also, not to mention that you do learn some hard lessons in the game. Then again, the story is basically your 'hero's journey' but with some twists and turns in there.
Persona 2 Eternal Punishment feels like it belongs here big time. Its a Persona game with an all adult cast where the main theme of the game is growing up and owning up to your mistakes.
10:41 Parasite Eve is a classic. Moody background, definitely a Mature tone. An it was just different from every Rpg of its kind during the time it dropped. 11:30 Tales of Beseria is the most underrated Tales. The most gripping story of the entire series. Definitely my favorite.
I love the yakuza games. I went through a marathon of beating every yakuza n spin off that came out in America. A franchise that I never beat one game n now easily one of my favorite series. I hope the amazon tv show does it justice.
I did the same I had Yakuza 1 on the PS2 but it wasn't until 0 that I finished a game then I went through everything. I hope the Amazon series is good if he doesn't throw a bike through someone's face then I'll be disappointed 😂
@RPGStory yea had the ps2 one when it first came out. But never got around to it. Always had the games, bought them on sale on steam. But one day I decided I wanted to beat all the games before infinite wealth. I was able to do it within 6 months n finish the last one the day before infinite wealth came. I really hope they capture the battle spirits from the game to the show.
Very solid list of games here, I think Triangle Strategy and Path of Radiance in particular are very solid picks. I also recommend: - *Radiant Historia* - *Suikoden II* - *13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim* - *Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn* - *Tales of the Abyss* - *Final Fantasy VI* - *Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean*
Great sequel to your JRPGs That Make You Feel Young video! 🎮 I loved hearing your thoughts on Lost Odyssey and NieR Automata-such great choices! Thanks for diving into these fantastic games and sharing your perspective with us! 👍😊
Title of video made me think of Astria Ascending. A couple years back while holding the physical copy at a Best Buy debating if I should get it because it was on sale. The back of the box was basically "This is a Jrpg game...but mature...you're an adult now, play this game..." 🥴
I’m always happy to see Ichiban mentioned on any list. I’m on the final chapter of “like a dragon” and I can definitely say that as a 40-something year old dude, that Ichi is in the top 5 characters ever created.
I love iciban n never thought they could replace kiryu. I love how in yakuza 7 you start off rock bottom being a bum to being a bad ass ex yakuza. A series that teaches you no matter how bad you hit rock bottom, there is always a way to get back up.
@@michaelmacorso4479 agreed man! I was looking for a more “mature” game with a protagonist who’s around my age, and I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the game as much as I did. Great writing, great characters!
@gmoney0987 you going love the games. I started playing the yakuza games about a year ago. Wanted to beat all of them before infinite wealth came out. I even beat judgement 1 n 2, ishin. Even 10 years ago I beat project 2 on 3ds that had kiyru n majima. Such a hidden game love the crossovers with sega, capcom, namco n nintendo with xenoblade n fire emblem.
I think Persona 3 Reload could also be on this list. One weird thing i noticed about that game: When i first played it on the PS Vita (Persona 3 Portable) it didn't hit me that hard, because i still was missing some life experiences. Nowadays i can relate far more to some of the darker topics. By the way, thanks for mentioning Infinite Wealth. Persona 5 Royal, Nier: Automata and Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth are my personal best JRPGs of all time, with Ichiban being the BEST main character ever in a video game.
Nier: Automata has stayed my #1 favorite game of all time ever since I played it back when it came out. Put almost 100 hours into the game and loved every single second of it, the final ending is the cherry on top of the games culmination of an amazing and crazy story. It's absolutely perfect. No game has ever come close for me to being as good as Automata, it's one of the very few games I would give up everything for just to play for the first time once more...
Can't agree more with Nier, I was struggling to find more mature stories in gaming around the time Nier came out, after playing The Witcher 3. So Nier ticked all the right boxes for me as a gamer. And once I played Replicant it brought out a sense of maturity in the world even more.
Berseria would've been perfect with some more features oriented at helping people who work and plays once in a while (it's too easy to forget what you have to do)
Lost Odyssey is the best video game of all time for me! Yes, objectivly it has minor flaws and all, but man the story, the atmosphere and soundtrack, its a shame it doesnt bear the Final Fantasy name, it really should given its created by the father of Final Fantasy Sakaguchi and breathes FF with every fiber of its being...
In this day and age, what's the best way of going about playing lost odyssey? Can I buy the most modern xbox and play it on there? Thanks in advance for anyone who answers.
Does Resonance of Fate count? Definitly made me feel like I'm too old (sorry, mature) for that game. There is something about Sega games that makes me feel old (sorry, mature) maybe just because they had a lot of arcade, retro games. Felt the same with Valkyria Chronicles. Maybe just jrpg's where you shoot things then...? Yeah think I got it while writing this. Thanks for the help.
you know what I've learned? I think Japanese devs just hate being too old. Like every single Japanese made game I've played that has an immortal being shows them either hating it or being an absolute menace. Being immortal is always shown as being more of a burden than a boon.
Nice follow-up video. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore made me feel mature. Everyone there is acting irresponsibly, including the adults. That pushes the protagonist, Itsuki Aoi, into acting responsible. When Barry and Maiko go crazy someone has to be mature enough to stop the resurection of the Shadow Dragon Medeus.
FF16 turned out to be my absolute favourite FF. Now alongside with FF7 Remake Part 1 (NOT REBIRTH), its on place 1 :D Rebirth was one of the weakest FF games from ubisoft (/s)
Ah that hurts to hear you didn’t like rebirth. Rebirth is currently my game of the year and one of my all time favorites. Remake was good, but rebirth was just so much better and one of the best FF in a very long time IMO. I liked a lot of FF16 but it’s an action game and took out a lot of the RPG mechanics I love in FF so ranks quite low in my FF rankings. But I can understand why many love it.
Triangle Strategy is a masterpiece. The fact that you don't choose your route yourself, but have a poltical debate with your party, and then they choose based on what you've convinced make it so immersive.
Square Enix please remake ‘Parasite Eve!’ Such a great, weird, creepy adventure
I'm 48 and SMT V Vengeance was one of the few JRPGs I have really gotten into over the last several years. The fact that it didn't waste a bunch of my time with glacial pacing like so many other JRPGs was a huge plus.
I've only played 3 Tales games (Arise, Berseria, and Zestiria), but of the three Tales games I've played, I definitely thought Berseria had the best story and character development. I recommend that one as well.
Lost Odyssey is still my fav jrpg to this day. I feel like the Guch made one of his greatest games ever with that one. I still pray for at least a remaster. And man, Berseria, what a great game. Easily in the top Tales games imo. And what hasn't been said about Automata? Need to get back into Xenoblade. Played a bit of the original on the Wii. Haven't touched the others.
Lost Odyssey has some of the most heartwarming _and_ heartbreaking stories to read. They are MAGNIFICENT.
Awesome list! This might be one of my favorite videos of yours now.
I’d throw in Vagrant Story, FFT, Octopath Traveler II, some of the Front Missions and mayyyube Resonance of Fate and Last Remnant.
Dang, thank you for that! Really happy that this list connected with you in such a cool way!
Mine would have to be Xenogears. Contextually, video games were still nostly seen as a kid's thing in the late 90s, despite more mature games getting released for a while.
Xenogears was the first RPG I played that didn't make me feel treated like a kid with his political, philosophical, and psychological themes. There's ambiguity in the characters' motivations.
It really was a life changing experience back in the days.
I still have fond memories for Fire Emblem: Path of Radience and Tales of Berseria.
I've played FE since the GBA and Ike's tale remains my favorite.
Berseria was my second Tales game after ummm... and it was such a blast. A but long though.
Great videos. I’m new to jrpgs as an adult so I have been playing the classics which the ones I’m playing are definitely light hearted (lunar currently). Almost all of this are on my list
I would also add neo world ends witn you. Beautiful brilliant game with a touching story. Such a classic that nobody talks about.
Tales of Berseria mention, love to see it
And yeah Nier Automata is a masterpiece
Tales of Berseria is amazing!
See Seth - instant LIKE.
Great video with well-deserved appreciation for Lost Odyssey and Triangle Strategy. Feels like people don't have them on their radar all too often.
FF16 should feel a bit like Game of thrones since I remember an interview saying that they made the development team watch the first 4 seasons of it for inspiration.
One I would recommend is Dungeons of Hinterburg. Great concept and story about a character with burnout going on a slaycation
Makes me so incredibly happy to see Path of Radiance here! The games doesn’t get near enough love in online discourse. Absolutely one of my favorite games!🎉
Tales of Berseria mentioned!!!!! W video.
People write off Velvet as edgy goth without realizing the number of deaths that occur in Tales of series that it's actually normal yet innovative to have a character out for vengeance when we've had all these heroes.
Lost Odyssey made me feel more mature, then Blue Dragon made me feel younger again.
Lost Odyssey is a backwards compatible game so unless something happened to those older titles in the Series X/S store too then it should be still there. I bought it digitally for about 10€ in a sale like a year ago😊
@@mch_6465 I’ll be editing the video to remove that statement! Thank you!
UPDATED!
Path of Radiance is one of my favorite games of all time!!! So glad to see it on this list. GameCube has some absolute bangers.
I own 1 360 game. Lost Odyssey. I don't even have a system. But I bought the game because I loved it. Such a great RPG and it's a shame it never got a remaster or PC port. I deserves more attention than it got.
Koudelka was another good mature jrpg.
The older I get the more I wish I could be 20 again. Still some great games on this list none the less! Triangle Strategy and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 are both games I've finished and they are fantastic and unique experiences.
I love those games. N the dlc for xenoblade 3 made the game even better. Man I love monolith soft n can't wait to see what they do next.
I REALLY need to try out Triangle Strategy! If it's anything like Final Fantasy Tactics, then I'm going to LOVE it!!
It pretty much is FFT 4 in all but name. Demo is still up on the eshop.
Played the demo not thinking much about. After demo went straight to eShop and purchased it full price! Something I rarely do.
@Lightspeeds I already have a physical copy, just haven't gotten around to it yet. Am looking forward to it tho!
I don't think it's as good as FFT, but Triangle Strategy is still very good!
It’s barely a game, but it was made with RPG maker, so I’m including it: To the Moon.
Keep up the channel! One of the better ones out here 🎉
Can I safely say Xenogears is Evangelion of jrpg? Both are mental! 😅
Also, this is not considered as sjrpg but Banner Saga trilogy is worth playing.
Great list Alex!
I'd add Radiant Historia to the list; Stocke and company are working professionals trying to navigate a very murky situation.
Thanks for the feature! Lost Odyssey is a masterpiece. Ill be covering Blue Dragon again in the near future.
Parasite Eve needs a remake SO bad!!!! Nice list! 👍🏾
as much as i agree with you i can't help but always be worried about how they will make Aye Brea a caricature of what she was. either making her look manly, act manly and not feminine and confident, or some other stupid shit. Plus there is the whole issue that I utterly disliked that PE2 was an extreme case of forgetting what it was and became a Resident Evil Clone.. Then you got 3rd birthday that... well while had some interesting gameplay (which is being explored again under Splitterheads) just didn't feel like a PE game. So i think SE has shelved it completely due to the falling off it had in fandom because it lost it's sense of what it was.
IF a remake happens it could be enough to have them reboot the whole franchise. and stay away from the crazy government/corpo biological testing and just stay with the idea of a never ending battle between humanity and Parasite EVE trying to rebel against and liberate the mitochondria from the animal cells of the now.
Grandia 2 feels like a game for this category because it feels like most of the chars have to mature through the game with Merag being the 'parental figure' of the cast. Plus the dark themes of the game add to it also, not to mention that you do learn some hard lessons in the game. Then again, the story is basically your 'hero's journey' but with some twists and turns in there.
Persona 2 Eternal Punishment feels like it belongs here big time. Its a Persona game with an all adult cast where the main theme of the game is growing up and owning up to your mistakes.
10:41 Parasite Eve is a classic. Moody background, definitely a Mature tone. An it was just different from every Rpg of its kind during the time it dropped.
11:30 Tales of Beseria is the most underrated Tales. The most gripping story of the entire series. Definitely my favorite.
Yakuza always has a great balance of feeling mature and young its fun and real serious when it needs to be 😂
I love the yakuza games. I went through a marathon of beating every yakuza n spin off that came out in America. A franchise that I never beat one game n now easily one of my favorite series. I hope the amazon tv show does it justice.
I did the same I had Yakuza 1 on the PS2 but it wasn't until 0 that I finished a game then I went through everything. I hope the Amazon series is good if he doesn't throw a bike through someone's face then I'll be disappointed 😂
@RPGStory yea had the ps2 one when it first came out. But never got around to it. Always had the games, bought them on sale on steam. But one day I decided I wanted to beat all the games before infinite wealth. I was able to do it within 6 months n finish the last one the day before infinite wealth came. I really hope they capture the battle spirits from the game to the show.
Great list, Alex! I really gotta play Berseria! It’s on the list for games to play soon!!!
You really should!
Very solid list of games here, I think Triangle Strategy and Path of Radiance in particular are very solid picks. I also recommend:
- *Radiant Historia*
- *Suikoden II*
- *13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim*
- *Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn*
- *Tales of the Abyss*
- *Final Fantasy VI*
- *Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean*
Great sequel to your JRPGs That Make You Feel Young video! 🎮 I loved hearing your thoughts on Lost Odyssey and NieR Automata-such great choices! Thanks for diving into these fantastic games and sharing your perspective with us! 👍😊
Title of video made me think of Astria Ascending. A couple years back while holding the physical copy at a Best Buy debating if I should get it because it was on sale. The back of the box was basically "This is a Jrpg game...but mature...you're an adult now, play this game..." 🥴
I’m always happy to see Ichiban mentioned on any list. I’m on the final chapter of “like a dragon” and I can definitely say that as a 40-something year old dude, that Ichi is in the top 5 characters ever created.
I love iciban n never thought they could replace kiryu. I love how in yakuza 7 you start off rock bottom being a bum to being a bad ass ex yakuza. A series that teaches you no matter how bad you hit rock bottom, there is always a way to get back up.
@@michaelmacorso4479 agreed man! I was looking for a more “mature” game with a protagonist who’s around my age, and I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed the game as much as I did. Great writing, great characters!
@gmoney0987 same here I'm 38 n was great to play a jrpg around my age. Did you played the other yakuza games to?
@@michaelmacorso4479 this was the first one I’ve ever played! I’m hooked now, and need to start at Zero and move up
@gmoney0987 you going love the games. I started playing the yakuza games about a year ago. Wanted to beat all of them before infinite wealth came out. I even beat judgement 1 n 2, ishin. Even 10 years ago I beat project 2 on 3ds that had kiyru n majima. Such a hidden game love the crossovers with sega, capcom, namco n nintendo with xenoblade n fire emblem.
The Persona 2 Duology hit hard with their themes, with P3 Reload to a lesser extent
I think Persona 3 Reload could also be on this list. One weird thing i noticed about that game: When i first played it on the PS Vita (Persona 3 Portable) it didn't hit me that hard, because i still was missing some life experiences. Nowadays i can relate far more to some of the darker topics. By the way, thanks for mentioning Infinite Wealth. Persona 5 Royal, Nier: Automata and Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth are my personal best JRPGs of all time, with Ichiban being the BEST main character ever in a video game.
Lost odyssey is the goat 😊
Ar Tonelico, Radiant Historia, Any Trails games, Caligula Effect 1& 2, Witch and the hundred knight
Nier: Automata has stayed my #1 favorite game of all time ever since I played it back when it came out. Put almost 100 hours into the game and loved every single second of it, the final ending is the cherry on top of the games culmination of an amazing and crazy story. It's absolutely perfect. No game has ever come close for me to being as good as Automata, it's one of the very few games I would give up everything for just to play for the first time once more...
I think Shadow Hearts may be a good game for this list however they are still on my backlog.
Can't agree more with Nier, I was struggling to find more mature stories in gaming around the time Nier came out, after playing The Witcher 3. So Nier ticked all the right boxes for me as a gamer. And once I played Replicant it brought out a sense of maturity in the world even more.
I love the nier games. Nier replicant was a brilliant remake with a powerful extra ending. We need more nier games
Xenosaga Episodes 1-3 I would put in the same categories as these games. Great list.
Berseria would've been perfect with some more features oriented at helping people who work and plays once in a while (it's too easy to forget what you have to do)
This video is great 💯
Lost odyssey is still available digitally on the Xbox store and is playable on one and series consoles
@@l2barchives thanks! Will be editing that out soon!
Oh neat. Any PC access?
@@ty_sylicus no still locked to console you'll have to look at emulation or stream from the console to do that
@@l2barchives UPDATED!
Lost Odyssey is the best video game of all time for me! Yes, objectivly it has minor flaws and all, but man the story, the atmosphere and soundtrack, its a shame it doesnt bear the Final Fantasy name, it really should given its created by the father of Final Fantasy Sakaguchi and breathes FF with every fiber of its being...
I so badly want to play Lost Odyssey, Asura's Wrath and Xenoblade Chronicles X my lost three RPGS i cant touch sadly!!!
I would add valkyrie profile to this list
Looking to forward to FF16 on PC. In your opinion, are the dlcs worth it?
Absolutely worth it!
In this day and age, what's the best way of going about playing lost odyssey? Can I buy the most modern xbox and play it on there? Thanks in advance for anyone who answers.
@@Michael_Schlapp You can get a new Xbox and play it there!
The version of Nier with Nier being the father rather than the brother.
Great list ! But for me it's Vandal Hearts 2.
Odyssey makes me think of Highlander.
Fire emblem pathe of radiance did it best they really need to try and copy that maybe do another duology 😊
Does Resonance of Fate count? Definitly made me feel like I'm too old (sorry, mature) for that game. There is something about Sega games that makes me feel old (sorry, mature) maybe just because they had a lot of arcade, retro games. Felt the same with Valkyria Chronicles. Maybe just jrpg's where you shoot things then...? Yeah think I got it while writing this. Thanks for the help.
@@makikuma91 Resonance of Fate was actually something I considered, but the storytelling was goofy in a different way than Like A Dragon.
you know what I've learned? I think Japanese devs just hate being too old. Like every single Japanese made game I've played that has an immortal being shows them either hating it or being an absolute menace. Being immortal is always shown as being more of a burden than a boon.
Nice follow-up video. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore made me feel mature. Everyone there is acting irresponsibly, including the adults. That pushes the protagonist, Itsuki Aoi, into acting responsible. When Barry and Maiko go crazy someone has to be mature enough to stop the resurection of the Shadow Dragon Medeus.
What a great list lost odyssey feels a bit too tough for me nowadays but its definitely a game every rpg fan should play.
FF16 turned out to be my absolute favourite FF. Now alongside with FF7 Remake Part 1 (NOT REBIRTH), its on place 1 :D
Rebirth was one of the weakest FF games from ubisoft (/s)
Ah that hurts to hear you didn’t like rebirth. Rebirth is currently my game of the year and one of my all time favorites. Remake was good, but rebirth was just so much better and one of the best FF in a very long time IMO.
I liked a lot of FF16 but it’s an action game and took out a lot of the RPG mechanics I love in FF so ranks quite low in my FF rankings. But I can understand why many love it.