Top 5 Worst JRPG Sequels Ever Made - Part 1!
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- čas přidán 7. 06. 2024
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There are bad sequels, we've all played them, but most of the time a franchise can survive a horrible sequel and continue, but here we are going to look at sequels so bad that they completely ruined the franchise, never again to recover. #gaymer #nintendo #rpg #playstation #xbox #asmr #atelier #steamdeck - Hry
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You forgot the fact that all of your new party members in Lunar DS join at level one, so you have to go back to early game areas and grind for XP to make them even remotely usable.
So Lufia: Ruins of Lore ruins Lufia's lore? That's hilarious in a really sad way...
It's pretty forgettable. No doubt about it.
Lufia 2 was a fantastic game in so many regards, but one of the aspects that set it apart from other RPGs at the time was the tools and puzzles. I never understood why all other Lufia games completely dropped that aspect. Wild Arms is its best spiritual successor in that regard.
Also capsule monsters are essentially prototype Pokemon, they even had evolution!
And it had not just a boat and airship -- but a submarine! Before FF7!
It's criminally overlooked in how much it inspired tons of late 90s RPG design choices
YES because Dekar's there and oddly, Artea's nowhere to be found, also Jeros and why Maxim's house was sold?? Also the CM Install... UGH!
_Ironic_
Star Ocean 4 was what killed the franchise. Star Ocean 5 was a low budget cash in after it was already dead. Though the plot twist in 3 probably led to 4's characters and plot being such an embarrassing disaster.
Lunar dragon song...shudder. That one hurts lol. Who thought it was a good idea to punish people for DASHING.
lunar was the first rpg i ever played, when i played dragon song, I could not finish it, it's a horrible game
I actually still have my copy of Dragon Song I think...because no one wants to buy it lol. I paid for...about an hour before stopping
Omg! Lol I've got to be the only person who actually likes this game! But in my defense, the Ds was still a new platform and there was a limited supply of (available in the middle of B.F.E.) RPG games. Couple that with having no exposure to the originals, and lots of vacation with nothing to do because broke as fuck. You too might come to like the uniqueness of this grindy game. (But now I want to experience the awesomeness that came first...But I don't want to hate my game...)
@@Kfaircloth13457 People like what they like. I'm glad you got enjoyment out of it. I played the originals on Sega CD when they came out, same with the PlayStation remakes, so I have a lot of love for the series. Hopefully you enjoy the previous games if you ever give them a shot.
@@agranosclem I purchased it and started playing it. After I realized that you couldn't target enemies, I was done. It wasn't intuitive, strategic, and frustrating! I'll never get that hour back 😖
I mean, unfortunately the creator of Grandia actually died, so it's unlikely it will make a return
1 person doesn't make or break a franchise I'm sure there's plenty of people that worked on the grandia team that are capable of making another game...
@@bradlivey7867 let's just conveniently forget the amount of other franchises that had different directors/creators along the decades and still thrive today just to get the "internet kudos" from telling someone that they are full of shit.
Chrono cross is a bit of an odd one. It's a great game, but a terrible sequel. If it was it's own thing entirely, I would probably like it a bit more. (And also, it had way to many characters. Chrono trigger had a small, but awesome cast. Chrono cross failed hard in that category.)
Who cares if it has a lot of characters. Ever heard of Suikoden? 108 characters and still awesome 😂
@@gaspenpayne6755 it's not the amount that's the problem. But "quality over quantity". I'd rather have 7 great characters than 44 or 108 uninteresting ones. If you give me 44 good characters, then that's fine and dandy.
@@gaspenpayne6755
Suikoden also benefits from having an HQ were you can interact with the recruits. Usually their dialog will update with recent events, and non-combat characters will add functions like opening a shop.
Chrono Cross has a bunch of side quests unique to recruiting everyone, many of them locked out by specific story paths. Since there's so many characters and several branching paths early on, it encourages exploration and replay. But once they're in your party the interaction is largely identical.
I can make similar complaints about some of the characters in the first Suikoden too.
@@gaspenpayne6755 I do, its my primary complaint with the game. Most of them have zero depth and most are just puns. Funguy? TURNIP?? And then the leveling system actively punishes you for experimentation rather than sticking with a small group of 6 or so anyways.
That's because Cross wasn't a sequel to Trigger. it was a sequel to Radical Dreamers. A text based RPG on the SNES satellite service
Star ocean 6 is in development..hope its better than SO5. Star ocean 2 is my favorite game of all time :)
That was somewhere around 80 points
I'm still really sad that my copy of SO2 got stolen. I was absolutely determined to get all endings, which, if I recall correctly, is 86.
It is?! (In development?) SO5 was terrible. They didn't even have time to render space battles. There was only one planet.
Honestly, if they do make a Star Ocean 6, then I want to see actual alien designs among the protagonist characters. Less of that humans with minor alterations garbage. I cannot take Star Ocean as a gripping or interesting story when all the good aliens are just space humans. It gives the game a very shallow and narcissistic feel to it.
Baalf Games I love all the games, but I have to agree with you on this. We’re traveling in space, so why are all party members humanoids? Final fantasy and the Tales series have both done this better.
Dunno if you are aware, but Grandia 3 is not that bad and isn't the reason why we havent had sequal. It's a way more tragic reason. The series creator died in an accident. No one picked it up since, wich really upsets me. Game arts was then bought by Gung Ho and they only made Ragnarok Odyssey and a dokuro game since. No idea what they are doing these days. The last game they released was grandia 2 anniversary for PC 2 years ago.
I was not aware of that, how tragic
yeah and the pc port is terrible, its so full of bugs, and hasent bene updated to fix it
I don't know what version you use (gog or steam) but the steam version works fine for me.
Grandia is making its way to the switch as remakes which is gonna be amazing. Hope they pay tribute to him.
At last, I find out the reason both Grandia and Growlansar died. That is sad. Their games will be remembered.
Davidvinc - **Adds in subtle jab at Chrono Cross at the very end**
Comment Section - **Explodes as if the entire video was a public flaying of Chrono Cross**
Me - **Slow Clap**
This comment made me bust out laughing. I made this video like over a year ago and I still don’t understand the hate I get about a 2 second minor reference to CC. Then the trolls dislike the video too. It’s baffling.
I liked Chrono Cross but imo much of the criticism of it, i.e The game's glacial pacing, messy story(and the fact that at times you'll be stuck for hours not knowing wtf you're supposed to do to advance it), boss fights sometimes dragging on forever, and ensemble cast of cookie cutter characters only distinguished by their accents, is 100% justified. Still a solid game with some really amazing high points, but pales in comparison to its predecessor.
@@fabesey2016 It's a pretty solid rpg overall (despite its issues) but not a very good sequel.
@@fabesey2016 Pretty much nailed it.
@@fabesey2016 I consider Chrono Cross almost more of a playable movie than much of a game and i still love it
1. Grandia 1 and 2 were classics. Grandia 3 was gorgeous but it didn't kill off the series for me as Grandia Extreme. I hope they can create it again but with a Grandia 1 premise.
2. Lunar Dragon Song was awful - I could not even enjoy this game in the first hour of gameplay!
Danny Simion totally agree grandia extreme was absolutely terrible
So I'm the only one who played Grandia Xtreme for over 100 hours?
it's sad when you think that both of gamearts series lunar and grandia both went to crap at the 3rd entry.
lunar sss and lunar eternal blue have some of the best memories of video games and childhood for me wish the series was still around
I remember playing Dragon Song and thinking how it felt like the devs really, REALLY wanted to shake up the JRPG formula and introduce all kinds of crazy, subversive mechanics, without thinking for even 5 seconds whether any of them would actually make for a fun game.
This video really make me miss the late 90's. The pinnacle of JRPG's.
Grandia, Suikoden, Final Fantasy, Lunar, Shining Force 3/Holy Ark, Panzer Dragoon Saga, Magic Knight Rayearth, Skies of Arcadia, Vandal Hearts, Wild Arms, Tactics Ogre, Parasite Eve, Star Ocean, Alundra, Zelda Ocarina of Time.
So many games in such a short chunk of years, why the fuck can't we have this now. It's fucking sad when the most excited you can get about a JRPG is the announcement of a HD remake. (Tales of Vesperia, Grandia Switch)
I see what your doing here. The sad thing is there are so many you didn't mention from that time were good too. I think the biggest change was the developers and the passion those companies had. After the early 2000s it just became money grubbing, graphics whoring, or aiming to please a specific niche of players.
Xenogears
Zelda games are not RPGs.
Also the early-mid nineties were better.
Also get off my lawn!
Greediness in app purchase destroyed the rpg genre
Skies of Arcadia desperately needs a sequel. That was such a good game.
I enjoyed the Golden Sun games, but when Dark Dawn came out for the DS, I remember putting it down after like 10 hours worth of tutorials. Maybe it wasn't that dramatic, but I really didn't like the beginning of that game and never went back.
It was a pretty bad sequel. Uninspired dungeons and plot, piss easy except for the final boss. I've also never been a fan of when a game or series shits out a bunch of kids that are near identical to the parents and expects me to care about them. Just create a new set of characters.
It wasn't as good as its predecessor. Still, worth playing more than those games on video.
@@cloudstrifex88 The dungeons were actually great. Some of the best in the series as a matter of fact. Soundtrack was also super good... you can't have a bad soundtrack with Sakuraba on charge.
True, it was too easy at times and story suffered from bad pacing and neverending conversations... although to be fair, insanely long conversations were always a problem in this series.
Dark Dawn could have been really good, but Nintendo and Camelot dropped the ball on it.
I really want a new Lunar that actually does the original 2 justice. Grandia 3 is really solid tho.
Grandia 3 doesn't really hold up compared to 1 and 2 IMO, but I still loved it as a game. It was quite good.
I like grandia 3
Yes please. Give me more good Lunar please.
@@papulapop9425 I have been waiting for Lunar games with a Blue Winged cat and a Black Winged cat
Tanice Dashney oh I get it because the first game had a white winged cat and the second had a pink winged cat.
Another problem with Dragon Song: You never get to fight the final boss. He just...falls off a cliff.
That is hilariously disappointing. What were they thinking?!
What's this? Jurassic Park: Trespasser? 😂
This game is literally a Bruh moment.
I guess Phantasy Star 3 Generations of Doom doesnt count, cause Phantasy Star 4 End of the Millenium corrected everything.
Oh god I forgot about Phantasy Star 3. What a mop bucket.
I thought ps3 was okay at best, but 4 was the best rpg on the genesis
@@GTSN38 and one of the best of that generation!
PSIII is more like a gaiden game, because it's very loosely connected to the rest of the series, PSIV is a direct sequel to the events of PSII.
I'd actually like to see a fully fleshed out remake of Phantasy Star 3 since its generations system was rather interesting and a great way to add replayability to the game.
Grandia needed to remain in 2D, just like the Star Ocean series and the Suikoden games. For me 3D fucked everything up.
Agreed. Plus most 2D to 3D sequels loses alot of colors and lushness which I feel Grandia always needs.
In a cruel and yet totally expected twist, lots of people are angry that you didn't bash games that it would make lots of people angry if you bashed. This is a solid list. A lesser one would have struck for the divisive games, but you stuck with the actually bad ones.
“Right?” “WRONG”
“Right?” “WRONG”
“Right?” “WRONG”
"I wonder, how can I make myself sound even more like a virgin"
"Left?"
I find many of your opinions disagreeable, sir. You have earned the full power of my NERD RAGE!
same, i liked so5 and grandia 3
@@Ubu90 I also liked grandia 3.
Hey, as long as we can agree on shaming dragon song in a public square.
I'm very pleased that you didn't actually put Chrono Cross in this list. Strictly speaking, that wasn't actually a bad game, just a bad sequel. If they removed the (very few) references to Chrono Trigger and re-titled it something like "Temporal Wanderings" then no one would have ever complained about it. It would top all kinds of "best RPGs that never got a sequel" lists, sitting right behind Chrono Trigger.
But sadly, it was actually a sequel, and that's actually the only thing that holds it down. You come in expecting more Chrono Trigger only to find that they removed literally everything you loved about that game. No time travel, none of the characters you love, and a full book of lore that feels like a completely different world from the original.
None of it was actually bad, it's just completely absurd to try to connect it to Chrono Trigger. Hell, I honestly felt like Xenogears had more in common with Chrono Trigger just because it had a few random character names that were the same, plus a secret cameo from Lucca. That's honestly as much as the Final Fantasy games are connected.
How is it different from what FF does? This is a genuine question, never played either of the Chrono games.
@@tonysmith9905 For one, Chrono Cross actually TRIED to be part of the same lore as Chrono Trigger. There were a couple scenes that had ties to the storyline from CT, one of the main characters in CC was the adopted child of a main character in CT. While the FF series often has lore and character names that are a throwback to things from earlier games, it's generally not supposed to actually be the same world. But CC told the player pretty explicitly that it was the same world as CT. (But for some reason, barely ever capitalized on that fact. And added in a lot of new lore that just feels different from the lore in CT. CT had dinosaur people, CC had mystical dragons. Not completely incompatible, but not the same vibe.)
Another thing is they changed the combat and other gameplay systems a lot more than they do with the FF games. I mean sure, over time the FF games have changed a lot, and each title tries something new. But the changes between CT and CC were like if you jumped from FF4 to FF10. One of the really neat things about CT is that there are no random battles, and the battles play out in the same physical location, and the location and position of enemies and people can effect the usefulness of various attacks. In CC there still aren't random battles, but that's the ONLY similarity. Battles transition into little arenas like they do in the FF games, and people's location doesn't matter. They have a system of attacks where you can vary your attack strength and out of battle you can build lists of techniques to use in battle that you can only use once per battle. It's a cool system and all, but it is just so completely removed from what CT did.
Plus, by far the most defining aspect of CT was the fact that you travel through time, visiting different time periods as you resolve your quest. In CC, you don't actually travel through time, but you travel between two timelines, one where certain events happened and one where other events happened. And yeah, that's a cool concept too, and it was really fun to play, but, well, it's not travelling through time. It's like, imagine if you played a FF game, but you never got to explore the world and get an airship and all that.
So to sum up, FF games aren't actually related to each other, but use a lot of the same themes, styles, and gameplay elements so that they still feel connected to their predecessors. But CT and CC were wildly different games in terms of style, themes, and gameplay, but were supposedly connected by a small selection of mostly tangential story elements. It's like the exact mirror opposite of how FF handles sequels.
i hated CC with a passion, i expected a CT sequel that was good, i was just a kid and an avid gamer. CT was the best thing i played i spent countless days as a kid staying up all night playing and to be crushed that CC was so different in every aspect and carried nothing over. i couldn't even understand it, it tried explaining what was happening but i didn't care i didnt give a shit about the characters, i don't even remember their names or what happened. i know i got to the final boss but never beat him. ask me about CT though i could give a run down about most of the cast
You should watch my top Playstation 1 games vid.
Lunar 3 should be a prequel... No, not about the 4 heroes, I'm thinking we go allllll the way back to life on the Silver Star. Before the Exodus, before Althena came to Lunar.
You mean the Blue Star (Earth), right?
That'd kinda retroactively wreck on of the big plot twists of the first two games, though, as well as risk ruining the mystique.
@@kyuven That's why you play it last ;)
Grandia 3 deserves to be on this list, however its battle system is not one of its flaws. It's probably the most refined and enjoyable battle system of any RPG I've ever played.
I know right! Grandia 3 Battle System is the Best Turn Base Battle System I have ever seen! Its so dynamic and FUN!
Lufia 2 actually got remade in 2010 for the DS, it was called Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals. It had full 3d graphics and they tried to flesh out the characters further, but the world map is gone and you just travel to different locations on a list using an airship available from the start.
They tried to spice it up by turning it into an action game, every character has their own combos, but honestly the whole time I was playing I missed the snes game.
There's zero exploration and the charm of the original game is missing, it ended up turning into a forgettable release in a huge sea of game releases.
My sentiments exactly. Why they decided to completely shift genres was absurd. Also a little nitpick here: I'm not a fan of the character designs.
Here are some JRPG that are so rare to find (with the exection of number 3 and 2) and got a recepe that those need to recovering to get back from popularaty.Great list
Davicvinc
I'm one of the biggest Lunar fans out there. It's my favorite game of all time. And Lunar: Dragon Song really couldn't be worse. God. Such a heinous atrocity. I actually can't fathom how most of those design choices made it into a game.
i've been playing lunar since i got a sega cd (from toy'r us back in the day) and i just could not bring my self you even buy dragon song cause it sucks so bad
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[0:32] - 5) Lufia: The Ruins of Lore
[3:04] - 4) Grandia 3
[5:41] - 3) Star Ocean 5
[9:03] - 2) Dawn of Mana
[12:15] - 1) Lunar: Dragon Song
Never even heard of Lunar: Dragon song before despite playing lunar silver story and lunar 2 eternal blue. Guess it was that terrible
Dawn of Mana deserve that spot. Not sure about the rest.
Personally felt like SO3 is worse than SO5 because midway through the game random enemies started taking 0 dmg for everything (or if there is a way to damage them, they are health sinks). (After which i just avoided combat and murdered all the bosses without levelling up)
Yes. The bosses were weaker than random mobs.
(Then the reveal near the end destroyed everything we could have loved in the franchise.)
At least SO5 had a more coherent story.
I was expecting to see Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter on the list.
BoF:DG is a legitimately great game, though -- just not a traditional BoF.
It'd be like saying Final Fantasy Tactics is a bad sequel to 7 (or 6? Can't recall the early PSX release order.) Yeah if you're looking for a traditional FF or BoF your first impressions will be disappointing, but the games themselves are great.
The most disappointing part of BoF:DG is just that they haven't made any new BoFs since.
IMO, Breath of Fire is overrated as a franchise. Dragon Quarter wasn't a bad game if you assess the earlier games more honestly. It's not like it was the first of the series to do something differently or controversial, either.
Breath of Fire 6 is abysmal compared to Dragon Quarter.
@@donbasuradenuevoTheres a BoF6?
@@Kadaspala Yes, but it is for mobile and it sucks compared to the other BoFs
Gotta respect someone having such a broad JRPG knowledge base tbh.
I hadn't heard of loads of this stuff.
Phantasy Star III deserves honourable mention.
Just found your channel, loving it! Subscribed, well done and thank you.
Man the world of mana game I got was Children of Mana. I had loved sword on the GBA, but this game was literally endless grindy randomly generated dungeons. I put like 70 hours into it on and off over years, and I never finished it.
i did finish it but for the life of me i couldn't tell you what happened.
Lol, I loved Lufia 4 as a kid. I had no idea it was part of a series when I got it. It reminded me of Golden Sun which I adored at the time
My left pinkie for a proper Lunar 3!
I have Lunar 3 for you. Ask me where
I'm happy with the ending we got in Lunar 2, we need a spiritual sucessor
@@amimm7776 Me too, but a prequel wouldn't hurt. Or you could do like Lunar 2 did and set the game in the future 1000 years or whatever. The world of Lunar is too rich to leave with just two main games!
@@xxcrysad3000xx I would dig a prequel about one of the other dragon masters, but i don't think Lunar needs a sequel since i feel Lunar 2 was already about subverting your expectations on an rpg sequel (as in, you see the world you saved be ruined yet again and your past deeds are just fading myths).
Then again, maybe something set when the humans were colonizing Lunar and fighting the vile tribe could work, i don't think something going as far back as the blue star would be good since we already know the end result and it would also ruin the mystique of the place.
You do know we are getting Seiken Densetsu 3 right? Released next month for PS4, Switch and PC. They are calling it Trials of Mana. It looks really good.
When I was growing up, I loved Legend of Legaia. It wasnt anything amazing, but the music and combat system remain fun and memorable in my heart. Then there was legend of legaia 2. it was a dumpster fire and a cheap cashgrab of a ps2 game. Im glad I never played that lunar game you showed. That seemed terrible.
I feel this with every fiber of my being.
legaia 2 is good. but the voice actor for lang is just sucks so bad. If you mean the story, yes it's not the best. but honestly i'm fine with it. it's not like all ps1 classic have super good story either.
Legaia 2 battle imo more fluid and fast than 1. I just dunno why you dislike them as it just copy and improve the original. I really dread the stops beetween party member turn in 1.
@@raywing638 I love Legaia 2: Duel Saga. It's one of my favourite games.
I love the original “Legend of Legaia”! Such a cool battle system! I know some people really enjoyed “Legaia 2”, but I could never get into it and just didn’t feel the new battle system was as good as the original.
What kind crack are you smoking to say Star Ocean 4 was a pinnacle of the series??? Yes the combat system was pretty good, but the story and generally everything were just fucking beyond unbearable. It made Grandia 3's story seem like a masterpiece (and that was a hot dumpster fire) .
The story sucked, but the characters had a weird charm that I loved. Also it's one of the best games I've ever played in terms of sound battle mechanics.
Exactly what I was thinking. I can't speak for Star Ocean 5 yet, I just recently got it used on a whim, but I can already tell its better then 4 and possibly 3 as well since both have some glaring issues 4's story is strangely mundane and in some ways feels disconnected. 3's combat was at times really difficult and not in a good way and the invention system was next to useless. I liked 3 back in the day, but now looking back at it I shudder. In anycase I'll be the judge of whether 5 is good or not.
@@tristemsaris7739 i thought 3's combat was pretty simple but in terms but my personal favarite is 2
As unbearable as his voice?
This is the first time that I feel glad one of your videos didn’t age well. Grandia ports on modern consoles, trials of mana released in both its original and remake forms here in the west, and a sequel to star ocean… what a dream. Love your videos!
Can't help but think what could have been from some of these titles if they didn't destroy them :(
Yeah :(
Chrono Cross is amazing!
yes. so true
THE BEST GAME EVER AND NEVER SO FUCKING AWSOME 18 YEARS OF GAMING BUT CHRONO CHROSS THE BEST
Chrono Cross is complete trash
I never had the opportunity to play Chrono Trigger, so I can't really compare the two, but I did have CC and loved it.
Chrono cross is a bit of a mixed bag. On the surface it's a great game and alot of effort was put in it.
But as a sequel to chrono trigger it's... well, underwhelming. Chrono Cross is the perfect example of "great game, bad sequel".
No Legend of Legaia 2? (It wasn't too bad a sequel, but it was still quite the step down from the first game)
I liked the first one, that's all I'll say.
Cause that wasnt a sequal but a different story unrelated to the first.
It was definitely a crappy game in comparison to Legaia 1.
They threw away everthing that made 1 unique. No more biomechanical Giger inspired monster designs, for example. 2 isn't bad, but it's painfully generic. It's like they just went for whats popular in other jrpgs and went with that.
Legaia 1 is in my top 10 favorites of all time. Was so pissed at how bad 2 was.
Agreed, they went way too far in the other direction from the 1st. Nothing wrong with trying something new, but they lost all the charm in the process
Honorable Mention: Tales of Zesteria: So bad they had to release Berseria to unfuck the entire story concept of the game it was a prequel to.
Ironically, I got into Tales just recently and played Berseria first, only discovering they were sequels after finishing Berseria, then Zesteria. And honestly, I think they play better that way because it made things more interesting in Zesteria due to "spot the reference".
Lunar Dragon Song and Dawn of Mana.... And, now my PTSD from playing incredibly shitty games is coming back. lol
Everybody has their opinion.
@@LaharlD2 Sure. I guess even Duke Nukem Forever and Sonic '06 have their fans.
Hail to the king
I liked Grandia 3 😔
Why yes, Grandia 3 was fun but I seem to hear less people mention Grandia Xtreme or even less fans mention that overly short mini game that took place after the first game somewhat...the GBA game
Me too. Grandia Extreme should have been the entry instead.
grandia 3 are fun game.. it's give me dreams too 🤕 and the opening song are so beautiful
Grandia 3 is the best battle system in the series.
James Hannan Grandia 3 was great!😋
I love all the Star Ocean games. After playing through them again, 3 while good, made Symbology kinda meh in that you would only ever use Sophia for it who would learn ALL the spells. 4 at least broke it up giving different characters different elements. And 5, as much as I missed the multiple planets and cutscenes. The shear amount of PAs really added to character depth. Having PAs about the smallest or most random stuff. I loved it. And they're all voiced.
Star ocean 4 the pinnacle of the series......ok
Alan Garcia This is the game that killed Star Ocean for me.
Star ocean 5 is the worst star ocean, a mediocre game
Star Ocean 4 is so bad, it makes SO5 look like a masterpiece.
SO4 was worse than SO3 but better than SO5 at least. To me, it's a better looking SO3 but with less content.
@@etherwxlf SO3 isn't even bad, what are you talking about
Dude, I get that you weren't a fan of Lunar Dragon Song, but can you get your mouse off the emulator and crop off the edge of the window at the top?
They didn't make an effort, why should he?
Final Fantasy 13
@Vipergaming23 13 was so bad, it almost managed to kill off one of the most successful rpg franchises. its the only FF title i never felt the urge to ever touch again after i finished it. When i remember certain aspects of the game i start feeling like i have to throw up. It's that bad.
Lunar DS was hot trash left out in the sun.
Facts
Star Ocean's downfall actually hurts my heart
@davidvinc Absolutely amazing video! Your narration is fantastic. Thanks!
they are making HD versions of grandia 1 and 2 for the switch
Don' t buy it, was a lousy port (sadly).
Yes, and so far it's awesome.
@@RC-vc2io What's wrong with the ports?
@@ScottLHowe Technical Issues, visual bugs, entire missing sound files. Really just emulate it yourself for a better experience and save $40.
I loved Grandia III. I'll admit I never played Grandia II, and Grandia III isn't as good as some other epic PS2 era JRPGs (FF-X, Star Ocean) but I enjoyed it and it brought a smile to my heart. I do agree with you that Miranda and Alphonso not getting more game time (ie: becoming permanet members) was a let down, but I still enjoyed it. I still listen to the opening song all the time on my phone(mp3 player). Both the English and Japanese version.
Well, Grandia 2 is the best because it has a great story, and the best music of series. If you played Grandia 3 before Grandia 2, then you may feel Grandia 2 battle system outdated. However, the battles music of Grandia 2 are super. All soundtracks of normal battle, boss battle, Valmar's parts battle and even final boss battle are outstanding, making the battles more epic. The non-battle music are quite good as well ( A Deus, Despair and Hope, Granas Sanctuary...)
@@khoaha6095 It's definitely on my radar as a game to play. Just gotta find a version and the time to play it.
I came in expecting a fight. Instead I just nodded my head.
Well you've certainly got some contenders on there. And I totally agree with Lunar: Dragon Song deserving that top slot. I had absolutely loved the first two games, and then for that to happen...
Anyway, one sequel that I despise, though it can't be considered a franchise killer, is Final Fantasy IV: The After Years. Now, gameplay wise it wasn't THAT bad, but the writing and how they treated some of my favorite characters from when I was a kid, it was a (to borrow a line from the Spoony One) BETRAYAL!
I remember as a young teen falling for that Lufia GBA trap... I was a big fan of Lufia I and II, and then thinking that the GBA version would be at least nearly as good, but no, it felt like an unfamiliar game that didn't take long to bore me with an uninteresting plot and characters.
I'm gonna step right in and say yes SO5 needed more but I can definitely say you can switch the party position so they are closer or further from enemies. SO5 War of the Lolis
Awesome review, thanks for sharing!
I'd like to give an honorable mention to Tales of Symphonia 2. Groooaaaan
Fuck that game
Yep
It’s nice to see that the recent Trials of Mana remake is showing signs that the Mana series is finding a new life in the current JRPG realm.
And Secret of Mana coming back on PS4
12:27 Magical School was also remade for the Saturn. It's not too bad.
Star Ocean 5 was the first game of the series I ever played (I finished it about a week ago) and thought "That's it?".
I heard lots of great things about the series and was a bit disappointed. It killed time during quarantine, but it was nothing to write home about.
I'm glad to hear that 5 is the low point so I won't regret buying the previous games one after another.
Thanks for the list David :)
What is that song at the start of the Lufia segment?
Although I was never a fond of the Lufia series, I'm here with you on Star Ocean... that was the title that taught me NEVER to preorder a game... I felt so betrayed, and I had just played Tales of Zestiria and found it an interesting game...
Lol, that was my first Lufia game. It's what got me to go play the others so it's got a soft spot in my heart 😉
I played through Lunar: Dragon Song once. The biggest problem with it is that the only memorable parts of the story were copy-pasted from Silver Star, and not in the standard RPG trope way. The characters themselves I've completely forgotten. Granted it was ten-odd years ago.
I'm actually partial to the way they handled money though. Give me a regular leveling system any day, but I'm down with getting money by selling/turning in monster parts. It may be an extra step, but it's a little more immersive than rifling change out of a wolf's pockets.
Saddest thing is that after "disasters" most series never recover T-T
I actually liked lunar dragon song. It was my first jrpg and I'm still replaying it till this day.
CZcams comments are so toxic and full of nonsense lol Everyone is yelling kicking and screaming about Crono Cross when the 5 games he mentions are:
5) Lufia The Ruins of Lore
4) Grandia 3
3) Star Ocean 5
2) Dawn of Mana
1) Lunar Dragon Song
Get a grip and watch the damn video kids lol. Crying over a bunch of nothing
He mentioned how Crono Cross was originally going to be on the list, so they're griping about something. :-P
not sure why Grandia 3 is on this list, it was solid game
lol yet you doing the same
Message to you and the video creator, calling people kids does not make you mature no matter how much you cry.
I find it funny he didn't put FFX-2 on the list (not complaining)
6:22 - Questionable doesn't even begin to describe it. Yeah, all the stuff that was in the first two games? Yeah, that never happened. They were failed betas for a VR online game. Say what you want about Star Ocean 4. At least they don't pull a retcon of the series in the last act.
Chrono Cross?? Love your videos but dissing CC like that is a shame
@Madeline Monahan he shows a scene from it when he says ' there are afew games that could have made the list."
Can be a great game and a terrible sequel at the same time, which is a category that Chrono Cross fits in for alot of people.
Chrono cross is not a bad game,but its battle system is a little awful
@@zengram The battle system is one of the best parts of the game. In fact, the game over-all was fine. It had a good battle system, great music, an interesting world to explore, and some really cool story moments. The main downfalls are the convoluted story and the character spam; the latter of which resulted in nobody in the story really mattering or getting any character development beyond Serge and Kid. The story might not have been enough on its own to kill the game (in fact, a lot of people love the story), but following a game with a strong character focus with a Pokemon-esque catch 'em all style system was enough to kill the game for people who were hoping for another Chrono Trigger.
It is a pretty good game, but I really didn't like how sometimes the graphics or visual design hid some of the paths. I also wasn't a fan of how often you had to go back and forth through dimensions without the game really telling you when you needed to, which made the game really confusing.
I'm surprised no Xenosaga 2. I personally loved the game, but it gets shit on by the majority.
I'm more surprised there's someone that actually enjoyed the game honestly. I mean, power to you, but having played all three Xenosaga games, number 2 was just atrociously bad. I mean, when game designers put in pointless, mundane, time-sinks under the guise of puzzle rooms that quite literally serve no purpose other than to slow down your progression through the game, it's just bad design. It wouldn't have been so bad if the puzzles themselves felt rewarding to solve, but that wasn't the case. They were terrible. These rooms could literally have been removed entirely; IE: The room prior to it connecting directly to the room after it, and nothing would have changed. Actually, I take that back, something would have been changed. The game would have been better for it because you wouldn't have to smack your forehead while saying, "OH MY F'N GOD NOT ANOTHER ONE OF THESE STUPID F'N POINTLESS ROOMS!". And while I had many other complaints about the game, I think I wouldn't hold nearly as much contempt for it if not for those stupid af rooms.
The original Xenosaga IMO was just shy of being a masterpiece and the third Xenosaga does a fantastic job of recapturing most of what made the original amazing, albeit whilst rushing the plot to it's conclusion. But Xenosaga 2? Well, I'm just glad someone enjoyed it. Just remember though, the series was slated to be a 7 game septology. After the disgrace that was Xenosaga 2, they were forced to cut it short (which is why the story in 3 felt so rushed). It quite literally killed the series.
I'm a gameplay guy and I bought/ played them on ps2 when each came out (just to let you know where I'm coming from as well). At the time people were like the game was too hard and didn't give it much of a chance. Where you could kind of almost button mash through Xenosaga, I thought the battle system in the second was tactical and rewarding. Takes time to get used to it, but it flows nicely once you do. Also the robot parts were a nice change of pace that reminded me of the original Xenogears. Tack on the extra like 20 hours of gameplay after the credits roll was nice to my younger self. The first seemed bland overall in comparison. In the story and gameplay. Not many places to farm money, overly long cutscenes, what to do next wasn't very clear... Didn't really care for it too much tbh. The third was better, but it felt overly simplified. Xenosaga 2 is the only one in the series I enjoyed enough to replay a few times. I did also enjoy seeing MOMO's back story. That was probably one of my favorite chapters in all three games tbh.... but yeah, there are plenty of us out there that like Xenosaga 2 lol.
Still, always glad to see a fan of the series :)
funny that 2 was the only one released in the PAL regions XD
Really? That's interesting. That's quite a welcome to the series lol. The first game you play is what you tend to judge all of the others by.... so yikes haha. If I didn't see the progression in battle mechanics from the first to second game, I'm sure it would have changed my opinion a bit.
actually its more like if the only harry potter book released was the order of the phoenix
I'll admit Last Hope (S.O.) is a good game; in terms of graphics and fluidity of battles/movement it's an improvement over TTEoT, but it quite sadly comes at the cost of it's characters. Edge and crew are a hodge-podge of bland and/or terribly irritating personalities. Crowe is fairly awesome, but sadly not playable. The only 2 characters who didn't annoy me were Arumat and Myuria, both of whom not only are good characters in terms of personality, but are 2 pretty huge components of end-game/post-game play. Arumat because he's just so bloody powerful, and Myuria to farm for cash so you can hit up Santa for epic gear!
On the other hand, TTEoT had a fairly awesome cast to play with, and the only ones I generally didn't like were Roger and Adray... Albel is one of the most badass characters of the entire series, and Fayt (as a main character) is pretty boss as well, and the female characters are all excellent. Honestly if I could transplant Arumat into a team with Fayt, Maria, and Albel, then nothing could even begin to stand against me!
I was so hyped for Lunar Dragon Song. Then I saw the reviews. Wow lose 1 HP per step?!?! Choosing between gold and exp??? What were the developers thinking? I wish a fan patch could have made it more playable but perfectly fine passing the game. Well said!👍
Dawn of Mana’s issues are similar to Legend’s; it changed everything seemingly just for the sake of changing things.
A lot of the fun in the game comes from playing around with the juggling system, as throwing objects and enemies into one another not only makes for some interesting use of physics, it helps the combat require more strategy than just button mashing. That’s probably what the devs were thinking with the resetting of levels upon each new stage.
Fortunately, that can be compensated for by earning emblems, which even level 2/3 ones equipped grant you higher levels upon the start of each area, and given how strong some of the level abilities are (the higher capture and toss abilities at level 3) it makes the game pretty easy. The magic is overpowered too, with the fairy companion allowing auto combo spells that can be spammed, elemental swords for similar, and beyond.
In essence, we all pine for entries that play like the Mana games we remember, and while doing that probably would’ve made games like Dawn reach wider audiences, it would give them less of an identity, like any number of generic sport and FPS titles over the last few years...
I'm sorry, but I really enjoyed Grandia 3. That was one of my favorite RPG's.
I remember playing Lunar Legend on the GBA. I even bought the Dragon Song, then I found how horrible it was when I started playing it. I think I'll stick to Lunar Legend.
I liked this video because it has Superfly's song as the opening
j/k.Nice video!
To be fair in SO5 you can change the character placement so you don't start in the runaway zone, it's still annoying to do though and alot of searching through the menu to see the option.
12:33 You made a Nepgear cry.
I didn’t hate star Ocean 5, but it’s not really my favorite. I did play through it once, but that was it. 😋
I have little to no interest in JRPGs. Just a difference in taste, but i love these lists. They give me a chance to experience them without having to play them all. Great content!
What's the song that plays in the very beginning? It's super catchy
I always wondered why I kept asking myself "where is the star ocean?" In integrity. I got too bored of it to ever reach anything doing with space. Now I know I would have never reached the point I was waiting for.
Chrono Cross was easily one of my favorite JRPG's back in the day. Hell, I still love the game.
I honestly feel Star Ocean died with the third one. The first half was great, but the second half dropped the ball so hard, it died.
Yep, pretty damn good game up until THAT plot twist, a plot twist so stupid that it even tarnished SO2, one of my favorite games ever, and completely killed my interest in the continuing series
@@EvanSchatz I don't even mind the plot twist on paper, actually. It was just so poorly executed that it felt like an oversight. VR creatures being able to manifest into reality is fine and all, but when you give extremely poor reasons as to why in a Sci-Fi RPG (willpower, baby!), the whole thing falls apart. Also, as you said, it even invalidates the previous two games before it, thereby also technically invalidating the sequel. That takes some terribly shitty story-writing to do that....
@@Mike Custer Well, I tried to do that, too. When the plot twist happened, I held on to the hope that maybe the story will fix itself. It didn't. The change in PA system prevented me from getting any of my characters to hook up, despite seeing a few here and there, storypoints that may hint and some people hooking up, and using most of the same characters for 800+ battles didn't do anything. I tried to go through the Cave Trials, but after beating the first floor, I didn't care about the characters anymore. It was playing the game for the sake of playing the game instead of spending more time with beloved characters.
+Mike Custer I got pretty far into the Trials on SO2 but would inevitably retreat out due to fear of the dreaded permanent black screen that happened after battles sometimes - I loved SO2 for the story, characters, PAs, battle system, item creation etc... SO3 is a great refinement of the battle system but falls short in pretty much every other comparison
+AkaiAzul on paper, yeah it's a totally viable basis for a story... but as you said the execution was whack. I wasted so much time reading lore at the start, about the war between the Vendoli and the Whatsits, about various ship types and light drives and so on... then they just kick you in the stomach
anyone know the song that use at the intro?
I never knew any lunar games until I saw one re released on gba and oh my god it gave me the same glorious happy feeling Golden Sun did.
You somehow forgot Grandia Xtreme existed, lol
Let's clear something up. Grandia xtreme was the worst sequel not 3. But suikoden 3 should be on that list
I agree on the grandia x part
Chrono Cross was one of the worst games I've ever played. The game did not want to use its writing to immerse you in a world and to empathize with the characters, it wanted to show you cool cutscenes and snivel about existentialism, revanchism, and misanthropy. I suspect that everyone who liked Chrono Cross also/would've loved Identity Crisis when it first came out, since both are written to directly stimulate the pleasure sensors of such juvenile fake-deep consumers.
Lufia is my fav series of all time. I tried so hard to like Ruins of Lore, so hard it just wouldn't click for me.
My list
1 Breath of Fire 6
2 Alundra 2
3 Lunar Dragon Song
4 Shining Soul
5 Dirge of Cerberus Final Fantasy VII
6 Grandia Xtreme
7 Star Ocean V
8 Heroes of Mana
9 Tales of the Temptest
10 The Third Birthday
Edit: Also Unlimited SaGa
Also it's funny how people who did not like Chrono Cross always call it a let down and people who played it before Chrono Trigger like it.
i actually loved tales of tempest despite it being the bastard child of the franchise so much so the devs removed it from being a mothership title and demoted to a spin-off, ouch lol
I agree with all of these except for grandia xtreme.. I liked it more than 3... granted it is sort of spin off.. but yea breath of fire 6 hurts sooo sooo much...
Oh, I know the Alundra series ended after Alundra 2, and 3rd Birthday shut down Parasite Eve, but did the SaGa series end after Unlimited SaGa? If so, maybe I can add these 3 awful games to a future horrible sequels video.
I liked (Not loved) chrono cross, even though I played chrono trigger first. I realized at the time that no matter what they did, it wasn't going to live up to its predecessor. I just took it for what it was and enjoyed 2 playthroughs. To be fair, I have zero interest in replaying it again.
davidvinc nope the Saga series has had a couple of releases since unlimited.. I think a ps2 remake of the original romancing saga.. and there’s saga scarlett grace coming to ps4 iOS and switch this year.... oh I completely forgot that Lufia had that remake of lufia 2.. that changed it into an action rpg with radical character design changes
Chrono Cross was great. The problem was fans wanted more Chrono Trigger. They didn't want something new they just wanted more of the same. Hell...I doubt they'd have even bought that unless it was Crono as the main character. Had it not been shoehorned in as a CT sequel, it would be hailed as an excellent game with a decent story, gorgeous graphics, AMAZING music, fun and sometimes challenging battle system, and a huge host of characters and side quests.
I had no idea how to work that battle system. The host of characters was actually a negative for me. Sure, maybe 15, 20 characters would have been a little on the high side but still manageable - 45 characters was just way too much, though. And the fact that you had to do what, two or three playthroughs to get them all? The music was fucking awesome though, that I do agree with. The intro music was epic, and I loved the overworld theme for the alternate universe.
100% agree - it suffered from "can't judge games on their own merit but have to compare it" syndrome. Heaven forbid both be solid. Nope. One has to be great and the other trash.
I played cross first before trigger but i find trigger way better.all cross have is better graphics
"Enter Grandia 3, a miserable experience from beginning to end."
No.
Does anyone know why we never got another Shadow Hearts game?
I used to love Children of Mana lol though it was the 1st one I ever saw so I had no clue about the others. Then I rented Dawn of Mana and hated it.
And I used to own Lunar Dragon Song. (Again 1st in the series I ever found)) For some reason I still played all the way through it, definitely the worst part was when they nerfed your character.
I disagree with - 15:55. Chrono Cross is an absolutely fantastic game.
Dawn of Mana and Lunar dragon song are actually the two games that got me interested in the respective series.
I came from the future in 2020, and I have good news about Seiken Densetsu in the west.
I mean, the world is shit right now, but we do have Seiken Densetsu 3 in the west.
Also, talking about controversial picks for this video with Chrono Cross playing in the background? Don't you dare get there. That might make things personal.