What a nostalgia trip! I got a Brave Fencer Musashi story for you. When I was living down South, I went with my mom to Movie Gallery and saw Brave Fencer Musashi was there. My little brother and I were convinced we HAD to get it, because it also having the FF8 demo felt like renting two games at once. We weren't going to wait to convince our Mom to rent it. (Some Moms and games didn't mix back then AT ALL, ours was one of them) We scraped up all of our loose change, and decided to go on an adventure to get it while my mom was still at work. We convinced my brothers best friend to come along with us. We decided not to take the main road, because it went really far out of the way, and we didn't want to get caught that far away from home. So we went through the tall grass in a direct line to our destination. I knew what direction the store was in, and I knew it didn't take long to drive there, so that was good enough. (Kid logic) Well, we ended up walking on a log to cross a ravine and our friend lost his balance and fell in! We got all muddy pulling him out. Continuing on, we had to avoid the snakes and the ants, pick our favorite walking sticks, etc. We ended up back at the outlet stores over an hour later, and it felt like finding the holy grail. We got funny looks being a group of dirty kids renting a game with change, but I had my moms membership card, so they accepted it. We got home and the sun was down, and we were tired from all that walking, but as soon as we turned that game on, it was all worth it. We still have fond memories of playing the game and going on the adventure for the game. It was like our own mini-RPG. This time period was pre-y2k when the Dreamcast was the hottest thing at Toys R Us. Musashi 2 was good, its just got some Kingdom Hearts vibes going on in it. (I thought the cel shading was great at the time). It also had a really cool surf rock soundtrack for the opening. Gameplay wise, I like the first better, but the 2nd still good enough to merit a playthrough. I remember getting it around the same time I got Castlevania: Curse of Darkness. I probably also like Musashi 1 better because of the Lv1 JRPG adventure I had to go on to get it! 😆😆😆
Despite the quality of the tat, it's nice to see these classics re-released with a form of reverance from Square. It wasn't just something slapped in a "Greatest Hits" case.
I wish we got more stuff like this now, especially with all the games getting released on every platform, seemingly every generation. Probably requires too much logistics and planning, though, and for a company like Square-Enix, just releasing the games as is, port quality be damned, is making a ton of money.
I had no idea these existed! I also did not expect Saga Frontier tea sets to be a thing. Honestly, if one day I sold off most of my game collection, my PS1 RPGs would be some of the games I just couldn't part with. I'm a huge dork and they are dear to me.
I feel the same way--and visually, even though the black spines (often printed with boring white text) may not look like much on a shelf, seeing them is something special for guys like us who grew up in the era. They still seem so...official, elegant, something like that? Words escape me, but I think you know what I mean.
Nice topic! I think you missed the main reason of being of the collection, in your "context" chapter. Squaresoft was going to have one of its weakest years in terms of output as all its dev teams were shifting to more complex PS2 development. In addition, the combined costs of PS2 development and the FF movie (while being frozen off the booming Game Boy Color market) was a huge strain on the companies’ finances. The output part was especially problematic because Squaresoft ‘s wholesale subsidiary Digicube had just launched a costly direct-to-consumer service via kiosks installed in convenience stores in 1999. So they needed to find ways to make their back catalogue sexier to drive kiosk sales. Initiatives included this Millennium Collection as well as a special CD-ROM that allowed uploading tons of special saves on your PS1 Memory Card for almost the entire PS1 Squaresoft catalogue.
Damn, I wish I had at least mentioned this in the video--my approach is more nostalgia-based than anything, but thanks for the info, it would have been very good to include! I vaguely remember reading something about there being kiosks a long time ago, but didn't know it was intertwined so closely to these releases, and the PS2 shift/cost and making some money in the meantime makes a lot of sense, I'm sure it was a move not only to fund development, but to appease the always unappeasable board of directors. Anyway, thanks for bringing this up!
Thanks for picking up on that, and I bought a LoM music box a few months ago when I was in Tokyo at the Square-Enix Cafe, I think there are two and you can purchase them online, if you're interested.
Ahh freshly opened 23 year old cards, what a smell. Love the packaging these have. Japan really goes all out with presentation. Thanks for showing these off
Ah squaresoft era back when the developer were kings of the rpg genre and how they cared about their games even the ones that didn't sell well but many gamers including myself loved to death. Also look at their logo back in the day it's so cool and badass looking SQUARESOFT look at the logo and tell me that logo looked amazing. During that era game after game had became a well remembered classic from the Uber popular ffvii to the shooter titled einhander it saddens me how square enix after merging with enix and the failure with ff spirits with changed square forever and never ever become like their former selves.
Great video. I have a sealed Xenogears Fei set I bought in 2000. Was always surprised with the lack of footage/coverage these collections have received. Not even many photos existed of them just ten years ago.
Thank for you covering all of these! Even if they're all just special editions with tchotchkes, it's definitely still interesting to look at as a curiosity. Of these, I'd definitely be the most interested in the Front Mission 3 one because of the mechs. The clock from the Tactics one is cool too. But as much as I adore Parasite Eve, the PE2 one really looks the most disappointing. That plaque is also really cool, though. Not the same Front Mission, but Front Mission 4 has a special place in my heart because it really ignited my love for mecha anime and games as a genre. 17:42 I didn't even know there was a Sentimental Graphiti 2. I bought Sentimental Journey, the anime adaptation of the first game, on a lark mostly because I thought the guy running the booth was cute. The whole thing is an anthology of short stories about the girls, so i didn't know until years later that it was based on a dating sim. For a while I've wondered if I've missed out not being able to play the games, even if the games and the anime seem incredibly different. You regretting getting the sequel kinda suggestions that no I'm not, lmao.
I remember when I was younger looking at the PE2 set and thinking it was so cool/exquisite, but it's really just kind of cheaply made, and it's weird to include the Yumiko Shaku card (cheapens the "image" they were going for, I think). I need to revisit the Front Mission series--I saw a few weeks ago that there's a remake of the first coming out soon, so I think I'll go with that! But it would be nice to play the originals again sometime. I always wondered about Sentimental Journey, thanks for letting me know about it and reminding me of its existence. Despite Sentimental Graffiti 2 being probably my second biggest regret with a gaming purchase, it has a special place in my heart. The summer I bought it, I stayed at my grandma's house and played that game day and night, with terrible Japanese reading skills (somehow worse than they are now!) and just being obsessed with one of the girls (Manami). I'm not a fan of dating sims or adventure games, really, but I think it's a solid one!
The only one that I own under the Square Millenium Collection series is Final Fantasy Tactics, but still trying to get Legend of Mana and Chrono Cross at some point.
The Tactics one is a solid entry, good luck finding those other two. Chrono Cross might be a little pricey, but Legend of Mana should still be reasonable.
That FF8 demo version of the prelude theme is still my favorite version of it and Square didn't even put it in the official game. It's such a chill theme.
Thanks for sharing these amazing sets with us! I played most of these games and they're all Squaresoft classics. I hope you could talk about stuff like this more often, it was really interesting and fun! :)
Thank you, these are some of the best games Square ever made...no, some of the best games ever made, period. And I'll talk about similar stuff again in the future!
CZcams didn't warn me this video was out :( Man, I gotta say, collector's editions seemed way cooler back then. Certainly, they were rarer and felt more important. Now, there's so many floating around that I don't even bother anymore
Good luck hunting, hope you find some good deals! Also, I know you said you'd be interested in buying some of my stuff, sorry I never got in touch about it!
Not seen what these are actually like before. One of them things I knew they existed but didn't know all the contents of. I'd probably want these just for the disc art.
Cool video, I had no idea that these games were rebundled like that. Must have been quite a treat for the fans in Japan, especially those that remembered Square as that "nice Action game dev" from back in the day, the guys that sighed in relief when Square released the first Mana game. Still, for Musashi and Ehrgeiz of all games to get this honour - I'm impressed. Shame the Bushido Blades didn't get in. Wish Nomura would just find it in himself to helm a Musashi and Bushido Blade renaissance with remasters, similar to what Actraiser had a while ago. Maybe do something cool, like releasing a Musashi and BB collection on the Switch with the Musashis as playable characters on BB this time? Honestly, the last time I saw these types of collections was during the PSP era, with Falcom's boxes for their limited editions, before everything becoming more or else uniform in them having a big box, figurines, an OST cd and an artbook or something.
I'm down for anything Bushido Blade or Musashiden. When I recorded footage of BB1 for this video, I had a blast and remembered all the hours I spent getting good at the second game and playing through all the modes...only for those skills to be completely absent when dusting off the game in God knows how many years. I remember the first person mode being mind-blowing at the time, too. I agree with limited editions being kind of blah nowadays, it's mostly the same stuff...less gimmicks than before that gave them flavor, even if those gimmicks were often honestly kind of useless/junk.
I remember hearing about all these! never imagined I'd see an unboxing video for the lot, but here we are, haha. great timing as well I just got theatrhythm over on nintendo switch, so it's definitely been a blast from the past musically revisiting all my favorite FFs! I was always more partial to Chrono Trigger, but mainly because my playthrough of Cross basically ended at the Goblin Tank! These are some cool sets, for sure.
I credit the original Theatrhythm for the creation of this channel, at least as one of the major factors, so I was excited about the new release and almost pre-ordered it. All the DLC has me hesitant to pick it up, though--what are your thoughts? Sorry to hear you didn't get through Chrono Cross, I hope you'll give it another chance someday.
@@ImportGamingFTW well I'm loving the base game... I mean there's something like almost 400 songs in it so there's definitely no shortage of songs to play. as far as DLC goes, I'm not super familiar with squenix's other stuff minus the chrono games... I loved trigger so that DLC at least is definitely on my radar to pick up. also I heard the CC re-release on modern systems got a new patch this week, maybe the time is right to give it another try!
Some of the enclosed items were a mixed bag on quality. The SaGa Frontier teacup and saucer were from Narumi which is a decent Japanese porcelain brand.
Definitely the top tier regarding quality in the entire collection. When I was younger, I thought the Xenogears and Ehrgeiz sets were amazing because of the figures...my standards were pretty low back then, but I suppose that video game collectible standards in general weren't so high then, either.
The extras in those set totally blow away anything included these days. Such a great variety. It’s a shame the Aya perfume bottle yellowed a bit. Wonder if there is any way to clean that up in a similar manner folks clean yellowed consoles. Speaking of Aya, I also love any video where you reveal yet another actress/model/singer you have a crush on. We need a complete series soon!
Thanks for watching, and happy to spread awareness of their existence. I mentioned it in another comment, but I'm surprised that more people seemed to not know about these than I had anticipated.
I remember these. I was considering then buy the 2 SaGa games just had a tea set and wasn’t very appealing. The FFT set with the cards is the best though. The irony is that a few years ago they did a SaGa collab with the Saga prefecture and had a bunch of SaGa porcelain goods and china. Seemed like they predicted the future.
I think the tea set inclusion is kind of an odd choice, seemed to be aimed more toward women than the teenage boy/early 20s man who would probably make up the largest portion of Square's customer base, but I think they're two of the best sets in the Square Millennium Collection, certainly the most "classy." I do remember hearing about the Saga prefecture collab thing not too long ago, but completely forgot about it--thanks for reminding me, I'm going to give it a look.
very cool! nice to see xenogears represented. surprised to see ff viii, ff ix, vagrant story and parasite eve 1 (i did not care for the second one) snubbed as those are some of the best squaresoft games from the era!
Love FFIX, Vagrant Story and Parasite Eve! Maybe Square was still making good money off of Parasite Eve and FFVIII for them to get a repackage, and I imagine that Vagrant Story and FFIX were simply still too new to be a part of the collection.
Thanks, brother--happy to hear about that patch/fix, too. I'm glad we're in an era where such things exist to improve or enhance our games...but not so glad that more often than not it just means publishers will rush unfinished or not-so-thoroughly-tested games onto the marketplace.
Thank you for sharing these, Jimmy, they're gorgeous! Any advice for those of us in the States interesting in importing one? Are they overpriced on eBay?
Thanks for watching! I checked ebay, the prices seem a bit high. I mean, if they're worth that much to a person, I can't say they're overpriced, but you can get them for cheaper in Japan, of course/obviously. Have you ever tried the proxy services for Mercari/Yahoo/etc. like Buyee or Zen Market? I think Tenso is another one, and I had someone buy from me using a service called "doorzo" recently. You also might want to try the Surugaya online store. You might get a game in less than stellar condition that way, but the prices are often very good there. Good luck!
@@ImportGamingFTW Thanks so much for checking on my behalf, Jimmy! That's too kind of you! I haven't heard of Buyee or Zen Market, but I'll have to check them out next time I'm up for an import order. Likewise I didn't realize Surugaya had an online store. Thank you for the resources, you are too kind :)
Holy crap, people were amazed that you could still buy ps1 games from the squareenix store, but it has nothing on this. Genuinely believe that 99% of western gamers weren't aware these existed.
I'm from the weird perspective to where I thought 75% of Western gamers who were around in the era WERE aware of their existence...more confirmation that I am indeed just weird, therefore my perspective reflects that.
Besides this would you like to make video about premium box like arc the lad, popolocrois, and wild arms from PS2 too? They are kind of similar with this too...
I know you'd love something on Poplocrois, ha ha. I do plan on talking about more box set/collection stuff here, even though they're very unpopular...but so are all my videos!
@@ImportGamingFTW hahaha yes, is just i can't stop talking about this game so much and adore it for the PS1 trilogy. I little bit envious you have popolo stuff that i don't have yet like from older magazine but i love the content your made on the videos, I keep to updating to see more future information about this franchise... It is too bad for epics ( who has the right now) can't do anything to remaster or remake the previous title because sony right now. At least they can do like reboot, make a new game or adaptation like Popolochronicle novel turning into game but with different publisher now. The possibility of new popolocrois game is not zero, hoping this time on consoles now. I saw a message by creator has hinted it after the service for mobile game 2018 has ended.
If I had it my way, I'd have one of each out every month or so. Probably VGOV coming out in the next month or so, thanks for always inquiring/anticipating, Ben.
Yeah PS1 was peak square, they were never the same once enix snapped them up, sad because I wonder what they could have done on the ps2/dreamcast era even though they did of course have hits in that time too. These collections look nice, not sure I would buy them now though, as usual the price has gone up perhaps too much for what they are.
That "what if" scenario would be a great topic for a video discussion. Not something I could do well, but maybe someone like a Happy Console Gamer. A few years ago, these sets were still ridiculously cheap. Even in Akihabara, I saw them at places notorious for higher prices (Mandarake, the Potato) and they were around 20 except for Xenogears. I hope you see them for a good price if you're interested in buying, there are a few that are certainly worth owning for fans of the games/company/era.
@@ImportGamingFTW I think you are more than capable of making such a what if video, even though I know its not your wheel house, not to discredit HCG, he could probably do it too. For me I'd probably only be interested in xenogears and Front mission 3, but for the last couple of years I've really slowed down collecting, if I'm never going to play it or in this case already have the games, then another gaint collectors box taking up space is just pointless to me.These days I'm actually more interested in collecting artbooks for games and good old school anime and those are expenisve too.
Hey ho Jimmy ma Boy! I´ll be in Osaka from 02.06 - 25.06. I said I´ll be back ^^ I know it´s a bit spontanius to tell you but do you think it´s possible to see each other? Me and my girlfriend will be in Osaka and Kyoto till 15.06 after that, it´s only me in big Japan till the 25.06. I would go so far to say, I´ll visit you at home even it´s for just one day of drinking and game hunting. So, if you think you have time at your hand, let me know. Love you Dude and have a damn good day!!!
I can tell BFM on PS2 your not missing anything Jimmy that game was AWFUL And I even beat it and honeslty...I don't remember jack about it other then was awful while remember so much silly English lines and bosses of BFM on PS1 so think that speaks for itself ;p Such lovely box sets honestly never knew about them I be almost tempted ask about some them if I haven't already have so much stuff holding for me already xD
Yeah, I didn't think much of it at the time, and despite owning it later down the road, I never felt the need to put serious time into it. If I had all the time in the world, though, I would like to play through it, if only for completion's sake. I'll have to get in touch with you about some of the stuff I still have for you, sorry I haven't replied to your email a while back!
@@ImportGamingFTW Oh you fine Jimmy xD I know how it is being busy with real life and doing varying projects be it youtube, streaming and other ;p I just keep feeling bad been holding it for so long now due all mailing stuff before xD
That stupid movie ruined Square so freaking hard that they had to get bought out by Enix, and that was the end of good RPGs from BOTH companies forever. What a sad story.
That's sounds just a little too dramatic to me. It's fair to say both companies had their golden age long ago, but's they still had some decent games over the years. There's certainly much worse games than post-merge Final Fantasies and Dragon Quests out there. No company is the same they were 20+ years ago, only the ones who appeal exclusively to nostalgia.
@@Daniel_Rodrigues_89 sure, I've got some nostalgia-bias, but you can't tell me that any of the Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest games AFTER the merger were anywhere near the quality of the ones that came before (granted, FF12 is heavily underrated). Nowadays Squeenix games are entirely designed by boardrooms with zero artistic integrity. The most obvious sign of this is them putting Nomura in charge, with his silly flamboyant nonsense aimed at the J-Pop idol crowd. Just look at the way Vanille speaks in FF13, always making those stupid hand gestures like she's dancing on a stage. Nomura is a hack that should have stuck to character design, and even then, Yoshitaka Amano was SO much better than him.
@@Daniel_Rodrigues_89 I agree--while they're not in the same league overall as they were many years ago, Square-Enix has still put out a lot of great games...more misses than hits in the last decade+ in my opinion, and they REALLY take advantage of the fanbase with their constant stream of poorly thought out merchandise that seems to get cheaper in quality as the prices increase exponentially...but I have had a few genuinely great experiences with their games in the last twenty years, big and small releases.
@@-TriP- When I was in junior high, I LOVED Nomura's art sense and style...I think once Kingdom Hearts came out, I got tired of it (and all the buckles).
Man these are some epic collections. Man I miss the old Square when they made all kinds of games that was a bit different and their JRPG was fun whacky cool adventures. I mean take FF8 or 10 and 9 which are prime examples on how different their JRPGs where. And now we have games Like FF13 and 15 and Forspoken that makes me question if I even like square enix anymore and looking at FF16 trailers on a game that makes me think game of thrones and Witcher wanna be and not original fun whacky ideas. I mean Square can make epic Jprgs if they wan´t I mean Bravely default 1-2 and Octopath traveler. But yeah I kind of given up on Suqare and mostly look at indie Jprgs or jrpgs from Nis and so on..
I would kill for a game done in the same style of world like FFVI or FFIX on today's systems, make it turn-based, or at least a less actiony hybrid that goes around today. I tend to enjoy some of the smaller or less promoted Square-Enix stuff today, but the way the company milks its fanbase annoys the hell out of me.
The ps1 era of square was truly magical.
100%.
The best era ever!!!
What a nostalgia trip! I got a Brave Fencer Musashi story for you.
When I was living down South, I went with my mom to Movie Gallery and saw Brave Fencer Musashi was there. My little brother and I were convinced we HAD to get it, because it also having the FF8 demo felt like renting two games at once. We weren't going to wait to convince our Mom to rent it. (Some Moms and games didn't mix back then AT ALL, ours was one of them)
We scraped up all of our loose change, and decided to go on an adventure to get it while my mom was still at work. We convinced my brothers best friend to come along with us. We decided not to take the main road, because it went really far out of the way, and we didn't want to get caught that far away from home. So we went through the tall grass in a direct line to our destination. I knew what direction the store was in, and I knew it didn't take long to drive there, so that was good enough. (Kid logic)
Well, we ended up walking on a log to cross a ravine and our friend lost his balance and fell in! We got all muddy pulling him out. Continuing on, we had to avoid the snakes and the ants, pick our favorite walking sticks, etc. We ended up back at the outlet stores over an hour later, and it felt like finding the holy grail.
We got funny looks being a group of dirty kids renting a game with change, but I had my moms membership card, so they accepted it.
We got home and the sun was down, and we were tired from all that walking, but as soon as we turned that game on, it was all worth it. We still have fond memories of playing the game and going on the adventure for the game. It was like our own mini-RPG. This time period was pre-y2k when the Dreamcast was the hottest thing at Toys R Us.
Musashi 2 was good, its just got some Kingdom Hearts vibes going on in it. (I thought the cel shading was great at the time). It also had a really cool surf rock soundtrack for the opening. Gameplay wise, I like the first better, but the 2nd still good enough to merit a playthrough. I remember getting it around the same time I got Castlevania: Curse of Darkness.
I probably also like Musashi 1 better because of the Lv1 JRPG adventure I had to go on to get it! 😆😆😆
What an adventure, what a story! I love to hear stuff like this, Musashi has a real special part in your childhood gaming memories.
Truly the golden era for Square. I'm not sure if we'll ever have a solid decade of releases like we did in the 90's.
Agreed--and nice FFT profile pic.
@@ImportGamingFTW Thank you, i'll keep it on until we finally get a remaster or a collection for FFT.
Despite the quality of the tat, it's nice to see these classics re-released with a form of reverance from Square. It wasn't just something slapped in a "Greatest Hits" case.
I wish we got more stuff like this now, especially with all the games getting released on every platform, seemingly every generation. Probably requires too much logistics and planning, though, and for a company like Square-Enix, just releasing the games as is, port quality be damned, is making a ton of money.
Wow, those collectors ps1 editions are awesome. Happy to see some of my childhood PS1 RPGs there as well.
Thanks for watching, brother--these are definitely better than any of the Gal Gun collector's sets.
@@ImportGamingFTW im happy to know that im known for Gal Gun on your channel 😆
Still, im still hoping since that pu li ru la review you did ages ago
Wow, I had no clue these existed! And they're really freaking nicely done too!
Glad you found out about them, even twenty years later--they're pretty cool!
I had no idea these existed! I also did not expect Saga Frontier tea sets to be a thing. Honestly, if one day I sold off most of my game collection, my PS1 RPGs would be some of the games I just couldn't part with. I'm a huge dork and they are dear to me.
I feel the same way--and visually, even though the black spines (often printed with boring white text) may not look like much on a shelf, seeing them is something special for guys like us who grew up in the era. They still seem so...official, elegant, something like that? Words escape me, but I think you know what I mean.
Nice topic!
I think you missed the main reason of being of the collection, in your "context" chapter.
Squaresoft was going to have one of its weakest years in terms of output as all its dev teams were shifting to more complex PS2 development. In addition, the combined costs of PS2 development and the FF movie (while being frozen off the booming Game Boy Color market) was a huge strain on the companies’ finances.
The output part was especially problematic because Squaresoft ‘s wholesale subsidiary Digicube had just launched a costly direct-to-consumer service via kiosks installed in convenience stores in 1999. So they needed to find ways to make their back catalogue sexier to drive kiosk sales. Initiatives included this Millennium Collection as well as a special CD-ROM that allowed uploading tons of special saves on your PS1 Memory Card for almost the entire PS1 Squaresoft catalogue.
Damn, I wish I had at least mentioned this in the video--my approach is more nostalgia-based than anything, but thanks for the info, it would have been very good to include! I vaguely remember reading something about there being kiosks a long time ago, but didn't know it was intertwined so closely to these releases, and the PS2 shift/cost and making some money in the meantime makes a lot of sense, I'm sure it was a move not only to fund development, but to appease the always unappeasable board of directors. Anyway, thanks for bringing this up!
The music for each game is such a nice too! That LoM Music box... I would die for that
Thanks for picking up on that, and I bought a LoM music box a few months ago when I was in Tokyo at the Square-Enix Cafe, I think there are two and you can purchase them online, if you're interested.
Ahh freshly opened 23 year old cards, what a smell. Love the packaging these have. Japan really goes all out with presentation. Thanks for showing these off
Unopened for 23 years, but sadly/strangely had a smudge or two on the cards! Appreciate you watching, Curt!
Ah squaresoft era back when the developer were kings of the rpg genre and how they cared about their games even the ones that didn't sell well but many gamers including myself loved to death. Also look at their logo back in the day it's so cool and badass looking SQUARESOFT look at the logo and tell me that logo looked amazing. During that era game after game had became a well remembered classic from the Uber popular ffvii to the shooter titled einhander it saddens me how square enix after merging with enix and the failure with ff spirits with changed square forever and never ever become like their former selves.
For real--that italicized Square/Squaresoft logo gives me chills whenever I see it. Nostalgia chills, if that's a thing.
Yo that Front Mission chain wallet is fucking siiiiick!
I knew you'd like that. Sadly, you're one of the only people I know who likes Front Mission. And I guess more sadly, I know you.
Great video. I have a sealed Xenogears Fei set I bought in 2000. Was always surprised with the lack of footage/coverage these collections have received. Not even many photos existed of them just ten years ago.
Jimmy!! Your alive!
Yes sir, you can withdraw that missing person's report, Reggie!
Thank for you covering all of these! Even if they're all just special editions with tchotchkes, it's definitely still interesting to look at as a curiosity. Of these, I'd definitely be the most interested in the Front Mission 3 one because of the mechs. The clock from the Tactics one is cool too. But as much as I adore Parasite Eve, the PE2 one really looks the most disappointing. That plaque is also really cool, though.
Not the same Front Mission, but Front Mission 4 has a special place in my heart because it really ignited my love for mecha anime and games as a genre.
17:42 I didn't even know there was a Sentimental Graphiti 2. I bought Sentimental Journey, the anime adaptation of the first game, on a lark mostly because I thought the guy running the booth was cute. The whole thing is an anthology of short stories about the girls, so i didn't know until years later that it was based on a dating sim. For a while I've wondered if I've missed out not being able to play the games, even if the games and the anime seem incredibly different. You regretting getting the sequel kinda suggestions that no I'm not, lmao.
I remember when I was younger looking at the PE2 set and thinking it was so cool/exquisite, but it's really just kind of cheaply made, and it's weird to include the Yumiko Shaku card (cheapens the "image" they were going for, I think). I need to revisit the Front Mission series--I saw a few weeks ago that there's a remake of the first coming out soon, so I think I'll go with that! But it would be nice to play the originals again sometime.
I always wondered about Sentimental Journey, thanks for letting me know about it and reminding me of its existence. Despite Sentimental Graffiti 2 being probably my second biggest regret with a gaming purchase, it has a special place in my heart. The summer I bought it, I stayed at my grandma's house and played that game day and night, with terrible Japanese reading skills (somehow worse than they are now!) and just being obsessed with one of the girls (Manami). I'm not a fan of dating sims or adventure games, really, but I think it's a solid one!
When I saw that SaGa Frontier comes with a teacup and saucer, as a tea fiend and rabid SaGa Frontier fanatic I was like "I MUST HAVE THIS NOW"
It's almost like it was tailor made to you--I still think the SaGa sets are the best here. Just class.
That is so freaking awesome! Wish we would've gotten it here in the US!
Whoa! Another IGFTW video? What is this, Christmas?? My birthday?!
I am unworthy of your unending positivity and enthusiasm, but I appreciate it greatly.
The only one that I own under the Square Millenium Collection series is Final Fantasy Tactics, but still trying to get Legend of Mana and Chrono Cross at some point.
The Tactics one is a solid entry, good luck finding those other two. Chrono Cross might be a little pricey, but Legend of Mana should still be reasonable.
That FF8 demo version of the prelude theme is still my favorite version of it and Square didn't even put it in the official game. It's such a chill theme.
I've had those demo themes stuck in my head for over twenty years and will always associate them with "import gaming," ha ha.
@@ImportGamingFTW What other ones are there? I'd love to give them a listen.
Trivia: 3 out of every 100 copies of this edition of Legend of Mana were accidentally switched with PDF copies of the Unabomber's manifesto.
Only NOW I realize I got gypped!
Instant like after you said Brave Fencer Musashi is one of your all time favorites. Is one of mine as well
Well, I appreciate that, fellow BFM fan!
Not a coffee/tea guy but for some reason I really like those cups. Thanks for showing us your stuff.
I'm not a coffee or hot tea guy either, but I have a nice little collection of gaming mugs and tea cups...and also one of Hard Gay Razor Ramon!
Thanks for sharing these amazing sets with us! I played most of these games and they're all Squaresoft classics. I hope you could talk about stuff like this more often, it was really interesting and fun! :)
Thank you, these are some of the best games Square ever made...no, some of the best games ever made, period. And I'll talk about similar stuff again in the future!
CZcams didn't warn me this video was out :(
Man, I gotta say, collector's editions seemed way cooler back then. Certainly, they were rarer and felt more important. Now, there's so many floating around that I don't even bother anymore
I love how you use the word "warn." Like it's a boss fight in a shooting game. Susan incoming...oh, wait, no, she's gone but not forgotten.
Wow I had no idea these existed, but what a great celebration of some awesome games. My eBay suddenly has a new saved search!
Good luck hunting, hope you find some good deals! Also, I know you said you'd be interested in buying some of my stuff, sorry I never got in touch about it!
Oh wow i didnt knew these existed, they are beautiful!!
I have the Brave Fencer Musashi one. That is one of my favorite games, I really wish it would have gotten a proper sequel.
Same here!
Not seen what these are actually like before. One of them things I knew they existed but didn't know all the contents of. I'd probably want these just for the disc art.
The disc art is pretty sweet--and fortunately, it's on full display on the spines, so you can see it on your shelf, too!
FM3 was the first game soundtrack I ever imported.
Very nice--for me it was Final Fantasy Tactics...and I was heartbroken when I discovered it was a Taiwanese knock-off! Damn you, Sonmay Records!
Cool video, I had no idea that these games were rebundled like that. Must have been quite a treat for the fans in Japan, especially those that remembered Square as that "nice Action game dev" from back in the day, the guys that sighed in relief when Square released the first Mana game. Still, for Musashi and Ehrgeiz of all games to get this honour - I'm impressed. Shame the Bushido Blades didn't get in. Wish Nomura would just find it in himself to helm a Musashi and Bushido Blade renaissance with remasters, similar to what Actraiser had a while ago. Maybe do something cool, like releasing a Musashi and BB collection on the Switch with the Musashis as playable characters on BB this time?
Honestly, the last time I saw these types of collections was during the PSP era, with Falcom's boxes for their limited editions, before everything becoming more or else uniform in them having a big box, figurines, an OST cd and an artbook or something.
I'm down for anything Bushido Blade or Musashiden. When I recorded footage of BB1 for this video, I had a blast and remembered all the hours I spent getting good at the second game and playing through all the modes...only for those skills to be completely absent when dusting off the game in God knows how many years. I remember the first person mode being mind-blowing at the time, too.
I agree with limited editions being kind of blah nowadays, it's mostly the same stuff...less gimmicks than before that gave them flavor, even if those gimmicks were often honestly kind of useless/junk.
I think i remember seeing some of these on ebay back in the day but never knew exactly what they were.
I would have sent you one back in the old Hapa Box days!
I remember hearing about all these! never imagined I'd see an unboxing video for the lot, but here we are, haha. great timing as well I just got theatrhythm over on nintendo switch, so it's definitely been a blast from the past musically revisiting all my favorite FFs! I was always more partial to Chrono Trigger, but mainly because my playthrough of Cross basically ended at the Goblin Tank! These are some cool sets, for sure.
I credit the original Theatrhythm for the creation of this channel, at least as one of the major factors, so I was excited about the new release and almost pre-ordered it. All the DLC has me hesitant to pick it up, though--what are your thoughts? Sorry to hear you didn't get through Chrono Cross, I hope you'll give it another chance someday.
@@ImportGamingFTW well I'm loving the base game... I mean there's something like almost 400 songs in it so there's definitely no shortage of songs to play. as far as DLC goes, I'm not super familiar with squenix's other stuff minus the chrono games... I loved trigger so that DLC at least is definitely on my radar to pick up.
also I heard the CC re-release on modern systems got a new patch this week, maybe the time is right to give it another try!
For a long time I thought the SaGa series was the SALSA FRONTIER series, because of that weird logo and because RPG names don't have to make sense.
Hahaha, I think this would be a outstanding name for a Japanese RPG series anyway! 🤣
And I can't unsee it now, damnit!
SALSA FRONTIER INDIE RPG OF THE YEAR 2023.
@@ImportGamingFTW please somebody who knows how to do that, do that!
Some of the enclosed items were a mixed bag on quality. The SaGa Frontier teacup and saucer were from Narumi which is a decent Japanese porcelain brand.
Definitely the top tier regarding quality in the entire collection. When I was younger, I thought the Xenogears and Ehrgeiz sets were amazing because of the figures...my standards were pretty low back then, but I suppose that video game collectible standards in general weren't so high then, either.
The extras in those set totally blow away anything included these days. Such a great variety. It’s a shame the Aya perfume bottle yellowed a bit. Wonder if there is any way to clean that up in a similar manner folks clean yellowed consoles. Speaking of Aya, I also love any video where you reveal yet another actress/model/singer you have a crush on. We need a complete series soon!
Wow, I never knew these existed. They look awesome.
That's good to know, I was afraid the topic might be too common/redundant for most viewers.
Ah squaresoft the good ol days …
They were the "hitmaker!"
Cool stuff! Thanks for sharing. I don't think I have seen these before.
Thanks for watching, and happy to spread awareness of their existence. I mentioned it in another comment, but I'm surprised that more people seemed to not know about these than I had anticipated.
Dang I like that plaque!!!
I don't know how many were made, but I see them pop up for sale online here and then, and they've not really increased much in price over the years.
I remember these. I was considering then buy the 2 SaGa games just had a tea set and wasn’t very appealing. The FFT set with the cards is the best though.
The irony is that a few years ago they did a SaGa collab with the Saga prefecture and had a bunch of SaGa porcelain goods and china. Seemed like they predicted the future.
I think the tea set inclusion is kind of an odd choice, seemed to be aimed more toward women than the teenage boy/early 20s man who would probably make up the largest portion of Square's customer base, but I think they're two of the best sets in the Square Millennium Collection, certainly the most "classy." I do remember hearing about the Saga prefecture collab thing not too long ago, but completely forgot about it--thanks for reminding me, I'm going to give it a look.
Gotta say, that is a nice collection. BFM is a classic.
very cool! nice to see xenogears represented. surprised to see ff viii, ff ix, vagrant story and parasite eve 1 (i did not care for the second one) snubbed as those are some of the best squaresoft games from the era!
Love FFIX, Vagrant Story and Parasite Eve! Maybe Square was still making good money off of Parasite Eve and FFVIII for them to get a repackage, and I imagine that Vagrant Story and FFIX were simply still too new to be a part of the collection.
Fun video dude! Thanks for sharing! By the way, sounds like Square Enix is working on fixing Chrono Cross on Switch, so looking forward to that! :)
Thanks, brother--happy to hear about that patch/fix, too. I'm glad we're in an era where such things exist to improve or enhance our games...but not so glad that more often than not it just means publishers will rush unfinished or not-so-thoroughly-tested games onto the marketplace.
These look fantastic! Had no idea these existed :)
Nice Final Fantasy I image.
Teacups aren't bad.
Thanks, I love that art! And the teacups are a bit out of left field, but pretty cool!
what a cool collection thanks for showing
Fantastic sets!!
Thank you for sharing these, Jimmy, they're gorgeous! Any advice for those of us in the States interesting in importing one? Are they overpriced on eBay?
Thanks for watching! I checked ebay, the prices seem a bit high. I mean, if they're worth that much to a person, I can't say they're overpriced, but you can get them for cheaper in Japan, of course/obviously. Have you ever tried the proxy services for Mercari/Yahoo/etc. like Buyee or Zen Market? I think Tenso is another one, and I had someone buy from me using a service called "doorzo" recently. You also might want to try the Surugaya online store. You might get a game in less than stellar condition that way, but the prices are often very good there. Good luck!
@@ImportGamingFTW Thanks so much for checking on my behalf, Jimmy! That's too kind of you! I haven't heard of Buyee or Zen Market, but I'll have to check them out next time I'm up for an import order. Likewise I didn't realize Surugaya had an online store. Thank you for the resources, you are too kind :)
Holy crap, people were amazed that you could still buy ps1 games from the squareenix store, but it has nothing on this. Genuinely believe that 99% of western gamers weren't aware these existed.
I'm from the weird perspective to where I thought 75% of Western gamers who were around in the era WERE aware of their existence...more confirmation that I am indeed just weird, therefore my perspective reflects that.
I used to buy these for 15 to bucks in japan used back when I was there 20 years ago. I resold them on ebay for 50 to 100 bucks.
Awesome video,you should do a video on Squaresoft SNES games
Besides this would you like to make video about premium box like arc the lad, popolocrois, and wild arms from PS2 too? They are kind of similar with this too...
I know you'd love something on Poplocrois, ha ha. I do plan on talking about more box set/collection stuff here, even though they're very unpopular...but so are all my videos!
@@ImportGamingFTW hahaha yes, is just i can't stop talking about this game so much and adore it for the PS1 trilogy. I little bit envious you have popolo stuff that i don't have yet like from older magazine but i love the content your made on the videos, I keep to updating to see more future information about this franchise... It is too bad for epics ( who has the right now) can't do anything to remaster or remake the previous title because sony right now. At least they can do like reboot, make a new game or adaptation like Popolochronicle novel turning into game but with different publisher now.
The possibility of new popolocrois game is not zero, hoping this time on consoles now. I saw a message by creator has hinted it after the service for mobile game 2018 has ended.
Any chance of Episode 3 of Video Games on Video coming anytime soon as well as the Next Demoing Demos Video ????
If I had it my way, I'd have one of each out every month or so. Probably VGOV coming out in the next month or so, thanks for always inquiring/anticipating, Ben.
Classic Squaresoft is the best Square
Yeah PS1 was peak square, they were never the same once enix snapped them up, sad because I wonder what they could have done on the ps2/dreamcast era even though they did of course have hits in that time too. These collections look nice, not sure I would buy them now though, as usual the price has gone up perhaps too much for what they are.
That "what if" scenario would be a great topic for a video discussion. Not something I could do well, but maybe someone like a Happy Console Gamer. A few years ago, these sets were still ridiculously cheap. Even in Akihabara, I saw them at places notorious for higher prices (Mandarake, the Potato) and they were around 20 except for Xenogears. I hope you see them for a good price if you're interested in buying, there are a few that are certainly worth owning for fans of the games/company/era.
@@ImportGamingFTW I think you are more than capable of making such a what if video, even though I know its not your wheel house, not to discredit HCG, he could probably do it too. For me I'd probably only be interested in xenogears and Front mission 3, but for the last couple of years I've really slowed down collecting, if I'm never going to play it or in this case already have the games, then another gaint collectors box taking up space is just pointless to me.These days I'm actually more interested in collecting artbooks for games and good old school anime and those are expenisve too.
Hey ho Jimmy ma Boy! I´ll be in Osaka from 02.06 - 25.06.
I said I´ll be back ^^ I know it´s a bit spontanius to tell you but do you think it´s possible to see each other? Me and my girlfriend will be in Osaka and Kyoto till 15.06 after that, it´s only me in big Japan till the 25.06. I would go so far to say, I´ll visit you at home even it´s for just one day of drinking and game hunting. So, if you think you have time at your hand, let me know.
Love you Dude and have a damn good day!!!
I can tell BFM on PS2 your not missing anything Jimmy that game was AWFUL
And I even beat it and honeslty...I don't remember jack about it other then was awful while remember so much silly English lines and bosses of BFM on PS1 so think that speaks for itself ;p
Such lovely box sets honestly never knew about them I be almost tempted ask about some them if I haven't already have so much stuff holding for me already xD
Yeah, I didn't think much of it at the time, and despite owning it later down the road, I never felt the need to put serious time into it. If I had all the time in the world, though, I would like to play through it, if only for completion's sake. I'll have to get in touch with you about some of the stuff I still have for you, sorry I haven't replied to your email a while back!
@@ImportGamingFTW Oh you fine Jimmy xD I know how it is being busy with real life and doing varying projects be it youtube, streaming and other ;p
I just keep feeling bad been holding it for so long now due all mailing stuff before xD
That stupid movie ruined Square so freaking hard that they had to get bought out by Enix, and that was the end of good RPGs from BOTH companies forever. What a sad story.
Yup it's horrifying end to a wonderful age they never seemed to recover from it.
That's sounds just a little too dramatic to me. It's fair to say both companies had their golden age long ago, but's they still had some decent games over the years. There's certainly much worse games than post-merge Final Fantasies and Dragon Quests out there.
No company is the same they were 20+ years ago, only the ones who appeal exclusively to nostalgia.
@@Daniel_Rodrigues_89 sure, I've got some nostalgia-bias, but you can't tell me that any of the Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest games AFTER the merger were anywhere near the quality of the ones that came before (granted, FF12 is heavily underrated). Nowadays Squeenix games are entirely designed by boardrooms with zero artistic integrity. The most obvious sign of this is them putting Nomura in charge, with his silly flamboyant nonsense aimed at the J-Pop idol crowd. Just look at the way Vanille speaks in FF13, always making those stupid hand gestures like she's dancing on a stage. Nomura is a hack that should have stuck to character design, and even then, Yoshitaka Amano was SO much better than him.
@@Daniel_Rodrigues_89 I agree--while they're not in the same league overall as they were many years ago, Square-Enix has still put out a lot of great games...more misses than hits in the last decade+ in my opinion, and they REALLY take advantage of the fanbase with their constant stream of poorly thought out merchandise that seems to get cheaper in quality as the prices increase exponentially...but I have had a few genuinely great experiences with their games in the last twenty years, big and small releases.
@@-TriP- When I was in junior high, I LOVED Nomura's art sense and style...I think once Kingdom Hearts came out, I got tired of it (and all the buckles).
Ad-libbed commentary? I refuse to listen to commentary that hasn't gone through at least four rewrites.
I'm sorry, my writing team was off in the Caribbean for a business vacation, so I had to make do with what I had...my stutter and a microphone.
@@ImportGamingFTW Stutter = twice as much Jimmy goodness
Man these are some epic collections. Man I miss the old Square when they made all kinds of games that was a bit different and their JRPG was fun whacky cool adventures. I mean take FF8 or 10 and 9 which are prime examples on how different their JRPGs where. And now we have games Like FF13 and 15 and Forspoken that makes me question if I even like square enix anymore and looking at FF16 trailers on a game that makes me think game of thrones and Witcher wanna be and not original fun whacky ideas.
I mean Square can make epic Jprgs if they wan´t I mean Bravely default 1-2 and Octopath traveler. But yeah I kind of given up on Suqare and mostly look at indie Jprgs or jrpgs from Nis and so on..
I would kill for a game done in the same style of world like FFVI or FFIX on today's systems, make it turn-based, or at least a less actiony hybrid that goes around today. I tend to enjoy some of the smaller or less promoted Square-Enix stuff today, but the way the company milks its fanbase annoys the hell out of me.
ERA PSONE AND PS2 IS BEST GAME EVER MADE.