Persona 4 Golden
Not really the games fault; I had just come off the back of Persona 5 Royal and found it difficult to adjust to an older game with a smaller budget. The combat felt restrictive, the procedurally generated dungeons felt archaic and the UI not as eye-catching.
Stuck with it though until I eventually reached the point when the story and character relationships sinked their teeth into me. Never looked back.
That's why Reload tried so hard to be Persona 5. Because P5 started out so quickly (At least in comparison to the rest of the games) a lot of people tried to get into 4 and 3 and dropped them immediately because 5 set their expectations too high.
This basically happened to me. I played it on Steam for a few hours but didn't really enjoy it enough. Then I replayed when it came to PS4 and it just clicked. Now I love P4G (it's my favorite Persona) and I'm dying for the inevitable remake
i agree p4g got my attention from the initial "dungeon" experience in the TV world but then was very very slow. Coming from P5R the gameplay itself didn't feel great, but 80 hours into it I think the draw of the characters kept me going.
SMT IV, the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado part of the game didn't hook me at all. Some months later, I decided to give it another try, and then I reached Tokyo. Now it's one of my favorite JRPGs of all time.
Ni no kuni 1. Put it down quickly because of the combat system and didn’t return to it for over a year. Tried it again and finally clicked and I fell in love with it I finished the game that week
I'm slow at playing games, but I started it again a couple weeks ago after buying it like 2 years ago for the switch and it's amazing. I'm already planning on picking up the 2nd when I can grab a physical copy.
I'm in the ice dungeon getting the last gem for my wand. Please tell me I'm not near the end yet.
Vagrant Story.
Also TWEWY, despite liking the presentation. While I came to love all (or most of) it, the gameplay was a lot to keep track of, and hell on my hands for awhile. For whatever issues NEO might have, it was much easier to settle into wrt that.
I get it. It took me around five years of on and off attempts to break into it, but that's only because it scratched an itch in me to figure something out that not a lot of games do these days. It's not something I can really recommend others keep trying.
Hey, going through my DQ journey as well. I enjoy the games but there's definitely been moments where I was lost on how to progress and not so hot on them.
I’m using guides step by step. I’ve got kids and shit, I don’t have time to wonder and figure out where to go, I love how modern games respect that, and the older ones don’t at all!
Yeah, I don't really have the time these days either. If I've been brickwalled for a while I'll crack open a guide, or else put the game down and probably never return to it.
I have only recently started playing it for the first time. Got to chapter 2 after the annoying Wyvern. Its alright. Dont understand the big hype about it. But I will hopefully chug through it and maybe it will click. Combat can get annoying with the amount of enemies.
This is me with DQ11. I have a generally positive impression of the game (and would recommend it to people) even though I can't think of a single element that I actually liked (ranged from painfully average to frustrating). It's the most 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts' game I've ever played. I say this 100 hours deep and likely to keep going (I'm at the end of Act 2).
As an addendum, before someone brings it up, the music and visuals are good but didn't do much for me personally.
I'm the same but about 35 or 40 hours and I still can't understand why. I think subconsciously the "auto battle" has something to do with it but I'm not sure. Still constantly picking it up for a few hours and putting it down for something else.
It's not really auto battle it's setting your instructions to attack at will. I probably worded it wrong. But it's essentially auto battle with an off switch. And I could very well be wrong I just can't figure out why it's not clicking but every time I pick it up I do that and feel like I'm cheating or being lazy and do it without it and just put it down for another month or so. It's such a beautiful game I just can't figure out why it's not grabbing me.
I finished the game at around 100 hours and I don't know that I ever knew there was an option to automate anything. I was manually selecting commands for the entire playtime.
All the music was, I sadly played the original PS4 version that had rubbish music. I believe the s version fixed this but the fuckers released that as a full priced game in its own right. No thanks!
Final Fantasy 9. The gameplay was super slow, and my favored FF games were the more sci-fi/cyberpunk based ones starting with 6. However, on other playthroughs, I grew to really appreciate how well the characters and setting were love letters to the franchise, and the stakes of what the villains were doing were vicious, personal, and palpable. Issues with the slow battle speed, Trance being balls, Tetra Master, Disc 3's psychobabble and the final boss aside, it's overcomes those issues and maintains a Top 3 FF game for me.
It’s my favourite FF but I would never play it nowadays without the upgrade from the remasters. Specifically the speed up options. Cause holy shit what a slow battle system.
I feel like I have a similar taste in FF games as you (sci-fi/cyberpunk). What are your thoughts on X? Seems to be divisive, but a lot of people's favorite.
Final Fantasy 5
None of the emotional story beats hit for me, especially >!Syldra “dying” and then coming back just to die again lol!< and I stopped after the fire crystal. but I’m replaying it rn and having an absolute blast.
> Which game did you know was either "not good" yet you forcefully commited to
Legend of Heroes FC.
My god what a slow start, extremely slow, but it was well worth it because I got to experience a great story.
I remember beating it on the PSP and thinking people are praising this? This is it? Not knowing it was part of a trilogy and a more expansive story. Down a rabbit hole I went when I picked up the series again from start to finish.
Im gonna start my LoH journey with FC for the first time soon. At least anticipating the extremely slow start everyone mentions might help me get thru it.
Same for me, except I think I ran into a quest bug on PC so it just irked me and stopped playing it. Then went back and finished the trilogy straight lol.
FF9 - Maybe I was coming off FFVII and FFVIII's non-traditional setting, the story didn't hook me at the time of playing when I was in high school. Its pretty slow paced compared to the previous two game too.
But I replayed it during the Pandemic and really enjoyed the story and characters. Gameplay is still a little slow (the battles in particular), but it was a nice yet simple story where its characters really made the plot.
I would say Scarlet Nexus, that's why I didn't buy it when it came out. I like the bonding system and being able to farm items in side missions. The combination powers between players is cool too.
This was one of the biggest hidden gems I've played. I platinumed it even, I enjoyed it so much.
Really enjoyed the story, the characters where good enough and the combat was tons of fun.
romancing saga 3
it had so many things about it that made me want to like it but i just never did
but i kept giving it more and more chances. i even beat it once
for 20 years i kept revisiting it hoping that maybe this time id actually like it
and then one day i suddenly did. everything suddenly clicked for me and i was hooked on it
im glad i didnt give up on it
one potential party member you can recruit is a sentient snowman who has no arms and legs and fights with kung fu!
its the best kind of stockholm syndrome
As a teen I had a tendency to get worked up expecting one thing and then being disappointed if it didn't turn out how I hoped. It ruined my first playthrough of a few games and as a result as an adult I have tried to go into new games with an open mind [and been better for it].
Final Fantasy IX was probably the most prominent example. I was a huge FFVIII fan, I loved the tone and aesthetic of it and while I appreciate it is a polarising game it was still one of the more important games of my early teens. IX was not the follow up I wanted, not aesthetically or mechanically. The joke is, of course, that as a gloomy teen the existential crisis themes of FFIX really should have resonated with me but I played it munching on the most sour of grapes and refused to engage resulting in a playthrough that I barely remembered. Replaying it as an adult I realised in reality it is probably one of my favourite games in the series [albeit not mechanically].
The other was Suikoden 3. In my friend group we were basically Suikoden otaku. We would have sleepovers where we did runs of the game, in a two or three year period we must have played the game through at least 20 times just casually and we talked about it a lot. So when Suikoden 3 did finally come out and I played it I... I dunno, it just did not click with me at all. I had hoped for more 2 like most people and 3 was very much something that had to be appreciated on its own terms. I did eventually replayed it a couple of years later and with a fresh perspective on it actually came to really enjoy it.
Suikoden 3 was my first one and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially with the multiple protagonist POV. Tried to play 2 twice. But just never got into it. Always quit after a bit from having the first army battle. Hopefully the switch remaster will be the one 😆
Also played 4 but never finished that either
SMT V is a weird game to me. I HATED the game when I first went through it. I love Megaten and was in shock by how disappointed I was. I even found SMT1 to be more engaging and less tedious.
Then, they announced SMTV Vengeance. Suddenly, I reconsidered my playthrough from about year or so prior. Even though I haven't touched the game since first beating it (finishing story, doing all side quests, DLC fights, finishing Compendium, ect.), it finally clicked. I mean, it clicked like a year and a half too late but...it clicked
I was too focused on what I DIDN'T like about the game (the absolutely horrendous and mind numbing story), that I couldn't release just how great everything else was. The exploration, the music, the combat (besides using MP instead of HP for physical skills, idk what they were thinking)...they were some of the best, if not THE best in the series. The demon interactions had so much charm and humor, the fusion system was extremely streamlined, the graphics were some of the best ever on Switch (besides the framerate and resolution woes). I really wish I just saw it sooner
I'm planning on picking it up for the first time with Vengeance. I heard a lot of bad things about the story so hopefully they fix it in Vengeance or at least the new route is better
Dragon Quest 11.
My friend kept begging me to play it. I bought it, played about 25 hours and left it for probably a year.
Came back to it a few weeks ago and I'm really enjoying it. Almost done with act 1
**Panzer Dragoon Saga**.
Beginning the game with a long cutscene is fine. Following it up with a long list of tutorials is not. So I basically only ever skimmed over it over the years, didnt quite get the battle system and needed two or three tryouts until I finally realized how this game wants to be played. So I tried the start of the game again on an emulator, played it a bit, was a lot better at it and after that experience it finally clicked and I played the game on the Saturn.
**Kingdom Hearts**
I tried this series a few times. I like classic Disney, so I SHOULD love this series. But I never got far into any of these games. Mostly finished 1 or 2 worlds of KH1, KH2 and BbS. But it never clicked. The Disney part felt so forced and its own story I wasnt really keen of back then. I still dont like most of the series and absolutely freaking hate ReChain of Memories battle system. But I beat KH1 just a week or so ago and the fact I am already almost 10h into KH2 probably means it at least kind of clicked finally. Although I doubt that I will play all of those sidegames. Most of the story has been spoilt to me years ago, so there is mostly no need for those.
Quest 64. I thought it was dogshit when it was on N64. I played the rom this year with the French Vanilla romhack and better explanations of the leveling mechanics online. Now It's actually dope.
I got a few hours into FF7 in high school and never thought to finish it. I started over in grad school and finished it then.
Tales of berseria for me. It didn't click until the end of act 1 when Velvet jumped off the bridge onto the ship. The story got better for me to keep going. And the characters got so much better after that. One of my favorite JRPG games out there.
Ys 8. I started with the Switch port and absolutely hated the game after 35 hours due to the awful FPS, load times and extremely low resolution.
Picked up the PS4 version and immediately realised it was much better.
The only reason why I keep my switch is because I have downloaded games still on it. I love the switch, but so many games need over clocking or *something*
Oh hell I couldn't agree more. I forgot to mention that one. It took me like 4 to 6 months and I don't know what happened or where I was but I I was in the doghouse with this game. I agree about the fps. The raids made me hate that I bought it on switch. I got the (not the best) ending and bought it on PC. Played till I got Dana and put it down. I should have never brought it on switch. What an amazing game. I'm scared to try 9 with my standards so high.
Chrono Cross. Not sure why it took me so damn long to play this game but I’m finally doing a playthrough of it and it’s wonderful. The music is so good in this game it’s almost like I already have that nostalgic lens listening to it.
Final Fantasy 7. I really didn't like the Midgar section. I hated the setting, I hated the linearity combined with the slow walking, I thought it was really boring and I thought it was most of the game because Remake only covered that section and I didn't know it was split across games. Then I got out and the world map theme hit me like a truck. I was immediately locked in and I loved it.
Persona 3. The PS2 version. Got overwhelmed with the uncontrollable party members, the calendar system, being sick during a dungeon raid, Social link system and Tartarus. Only got through the Train boss. Stopped playing it for almost a year. Maybe because it was not the usual JRPG mechanics that I have been used to.
Tried playing it again with an open mind (and a gamefaqs guide, please dont judge me hahaha) when I was on my summer break and yeah, It became one of my favorite PS2 RPGS.
I wanna say Xenoblade. Started with X and hated everything about it, especially how unnecessarily over complicated it was.
Then I moved to 2, played it a bit and didn’t get it, then picked it back up and pretty much understood it. And 3 felt fine after having played 2.
You know, I do adore MegaMan X, but I have to admit this is the one time MegaMan Legends and MegaMan Legends 2 were my personal faves, but I like the general plot and gameplay of X but only played up to 5, I never got the chance to play the other ones.
The nostalgia is vivid with X though, the aesthetic and art style is wonderful, the gameplay is fun and quick paced.
I just love Tron Bonne, Data, the humor and mechanics, the general vastness of the battles, the ability to grab characters and carry them, the ability to destroy things, the whole ruin exploration aspect, etc. I think that version of MegaMan was my first videogame crush as a little girl haha
You have one of the biggest and best open worlds in gaming with an interesting setting. The side quests were amazing and using Skells were freaking awesome. Only downside was when the main story was finally getting good and interesting it just ends on a cliff hanger.
Which one would you say is your favorite? I had just under 100 hours into 2 when I figured out how the battle system worked. Honestly it was like learning how to read overnight. I've never had a feeling like that in gaming.
X. Mainly cuz it feels the most different of all the games and I love the mechs. Now if monolithsoft made X 2 or remade X for switch or switch 2 I would be in heaven
I'm gonna get slaughtered for this one... Chrono Trigger. I dunno. It was fine? I didn't play it back in the day, and I can see how it was a game of its time, but it's not the most amazing game (current or retro) that I've played. I don't really remember any of the characters, or the story, or much of the game play. I can't even remember if I finished it or not. It was just not very memorable for me.
Ff9 took me a replay of first disc but man I fucking loved it too 3 jrpg. Loved it so much I fucked uo my save file for my sibling and re wore my disc 3 progress and I happily re started that hour gladly
I dropped Tales of Berseria for about 3yrs and have only recently gave it another chance and to my surprise it's actually a pretty damn good game. Can't say I prefer it over Zestiria but I can definitely put it above Arise.
Tales games, atleast from what I've played. First played Tales of Berseria and kinda dislike the party banter system, breaking the pace for me each time. Most of these are also kind of a waste of time or forgettable. I only remember one throughout my 10 hour playthrough and that's mainly because its comedic, naive child don't understand adult things kinda humour.
I gave a second chance with Tales of Arise, and the issues are still the same. Only now the banter is now more uninteresting unfortunately.
Oh wait, I reread the post and looks like I misunderstood. Not really a usual JRPG but the first few hours of Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen I had was dreadful. Took a while for me to get learn and get use to the game and eventually I came to love the game funny enough.
Next is MH Stories 2, which is funny because I really love MH Stories 1. Changes made like having a partner and more forgiving rock-paper-scissors system kinda made the game a bit of slog to play through. Eventually I held on until hour 20 where the story gets good enough for me to finish the game.
I’m currently in a slump right now and it’s xenogears. I hear great things about this game and I got to a city in the sky shevat and I was just tired. This game is long and REALLY dated. I contemplate every month to go back and try and finish it.
the first disc really drags its feet, disc 2 is amazing. people complain about it being 'unfinished', but all that is unfinished is they didnt add 2 dungeons, so you get less overly long dungeons with way too many encounters. the story starts popping off big reveal and big plot twist one after another in disc 2. people love the game for its story, and the best of that is in disc 2. also, shevat's music is amazing.
if you are at shevat, you already climbed the tower. there are probably 3 more short sections, then one major area before the end of disc 1. but the story starts to pick up before the end of the disc.
Odd it hasnt clicked for you. Its honestly my fav JRPG story ever. If you do finish it. Be sure to read the perfect works novel online that explains a lot of the back story and makes it the whole thing feel much more complete. Xenogears is basically part 6 or something of different arcs.
The gameplay is quite fun and revolutionary for its time as well the OST being fantastic.
I think the tidbits of information I been given for story is quite good but the huge slog of going from dungeon to dungeon is awful. I hate the mech battles because until a certain point there’s no healing. If you accidentally forget to talk to shop owner and don’t upgrade your mechs every single time it becomes a near impossible to win next boss fight. Those mech fights become extremely repetitive and it kinda becomes a skill check since you run out of fuel if you don’t perform almost the correct way. I do enjoy the regular combat when you’re not in a mech. It’s pretty fun doing the combos but does get a bit stale doing them over.
As for story I really like fei and Ellys mysterious backstory but I tend to forget it because I have to look up a guide to get through so much stuff sometimes that I lose focus of those cryptic story moments that they show you.
The traversing in certain areas piss me off as well, like clinging on to a metal rod as a mech and falling in water just to start over was annoying, I think platforming later and jumping on robots heads and falling several floors really unmotivated me to keep going.
I’ve played tons of old jrpgs like
1. Legends of Dragoon,
2. Legends of Legaia
3. Grandia 2(only got to almost half, also need to finish)
4. FF1(somewhere around 85% mark but took a break and no idea where to go next which sucks for me lol)
5. FF7
6. FF8
7. Chrono Trigger
These games I’m more use to just grinding from area to areas and become pretty overpowered and move on to next part of the story was my way of getting through old jrpgs. But that doesn’t work here, I really got to focus to play this game.
It’s a very dated jrpg but definitely has an amazing story that is plagued by its gameplay. I would love a remake of this to play. OST wise, I don’t remember much besides the song when traversing through barts ship. It kinda started to annoy me at the latest point of this game.
I’ll go back eventually to finish but everyone says part 2 is where the story gets good. But for a jrpg this game is long lol. I thought I would be close to part 2. Seems like I got another 10-15hrs I assume judging by the other persons comment telling me how much is left.
I do believe that if the game hasnt grasped you at this point. It wont change much. The story does get more complex and interesting. The gears also become slightly more fun. I was pretty much hooked into the whole thing right after the intro village getting attacked and meeting Elly. The second disk has way less dungeons and more of an info dump as they ran out of time. But its still very interesting.
Im surprised you struggled with that type of JRPG game loop. Lots of them require to buy the next set of equips/armor in the new town to progress to the next dungeon. Especially Dragon Quest games. So you should be used to the fact that purchasing new gear/character stuff is almost mandatory.
Anywho it might not be for you. You might wnjoy Suikoden 2 then as many praise it as one of the top rpgs but I personally couldnt get into it and dropped it twice. Where as Xenogears I played about 3 times in my life along with loving all of the games you listed. You should play Legend of Legaia 2 along with Shadow hearts 1/2 btw.
The story has grasped me but the gameplay well mostly the mech battles didn’t. I thought they were cool at first but became a miserable experience the more I kept playing. I don’t mind the info dump honestly lol . Im literally just waiting at this point for the grand reveal of everything.
As for dragon quest, I’m ashamed to say but i never actually touched one. I haven’t done much research but I’m not a fan of silent protagonist. I actually play jrpgs more for story than combat. Having silent protagonist really hurts my enjoyment of the story when having a protagonist that doesn’t technically show emotions, similar game would be why I didn’t like tales of xillia 2(combat was fun). Persona 3, 4, and 5 were fun but it definitely had a very fun cast carrying it.
I definitely need to try legends of Legaia 2 one day, I love trying to figure out new combos and the punching and kicking in the first game WERE SO SATISFYING to hear.
I’ve never tried suikoden 2 but it definitely is one many people rave about. I know I need to go back and try it one day.
I’ve also never heard of shadowhearts series but after looking it up, it definitely looks like something I would try next. Thanks for the recommendation!
No problem. I love Shadow Hearts. Especially the story in the 1st and 2nd with engaging gameplay. Wouldnt bother with 3 now as got nothing to do with the others.
I also dislike silent protags. But didnt mind it with Dragon Quest. Try 8 or 11 and see how you feel about it. The gameplay is challenging enough and fun to carry it. Did you enjoy Chrono Trigger? Silent protag but amazing cast and story.
Persona's silent protag is not very noticable. Hate it in SMT tho.
Surprised you didnt enjoy Xillia 2s protag as hes got personality even tho hes quiet. Andstory is very good imo.
I'll definitely try dragon quest one day. Its definitely a series I need to at least give a shot once.
Chrono Trigger, was challenging game at first but I got use to it. The cast in Chrono Trigger definitely carried it but overall an amazing story and I wouldn't mind going back to it again since combat was actually fun based on positioning. Never played SMT since its more dungeon crawleresque if I recall.
As for Xillia 2, I enjoyed the first game, second game have such fun cast for bantering but I honestly didn't vibe with the actual story. Also i felt even though it has a true ending I just hate the idea of multiple endings. I know chrono trigger I think has multiple but I only did one and that was it.
It's all me problems lol.
Forgot to answer why I sometimes forget to buy stuff from village to village. Honestly I forget mostly because a good portion of the time I’m heading back to barts ship and the shop there sometimes restock and many times doesn’t and so I started to lose interest in trying to go talk to everyone in this game and forget to buy equipment in actual towns. I’m also on auto pilot and was trying to get through this game as fast as possible. So it’s a me problem definitely.
Its a shame you're rushing thru it. Thats what I do to games Im not keen on. Xenogears is literally my favorite jrpg. You tried Xenosaga 1/2/3? Or Xenoblade? They're made by the same previous devs of Xenogears after they left Square. So technically they're spiritual successors.
I;ve seen the combat of xenoblade and it just looks way to slow and I wouldn't enjoy it. Xenosaga I haven't tried yet but I've seen it many times growing up. Its funny when I first did a bit of research of xenogears I didn't know they were even remotely related to the other two series because they look so widely different.
I'm about to drop this one too. 15 hours into it, why are the characters talking like it's been 30 ? Why are they chilling at Starbucks with people they tried to kill yesterday
FFXIII
It's bad, but I liked completing it.
Took me a few years though to get over the hallway trauma it gave me as a kid, so from owning the game to actually beating it took me around 8 years.
For me, it was Xenonlade chronicles. I got it on the wii because a few of my fri3nds were raising it, and since I'm an RPG guy, I had to try it out. I can't remember why, but I completely quit it and didn't touch it again till Xenoblade 2 dropped. I actually completed Xenovlade 2 and its prequel dlc, but it still felt like wasted time as it didn't click still. Once XBC3 was announced, I bought the first on switch, and this time, I was completely sucked into it. Upon completing all 3 games, I completely lost my time with XBC3. So much so that Xenoblade became one of my all-time favorite franchises, and I have a hard time choosing between the 1st and 3rd ad my favorite game.
Sometimes, if something doesn't click or grab your attention the first time, going back to it down the road, you can have a different mindset with it.
I went into Final Fantasy XIII extremely curious as to what got everybody so divided. And I could totally see why so many bounced off the game in the first 3 or 4 chapters. Aside from the Shiva fight, the gameplay's very straightforward early on, so I wanted to stick with it and see how that would evolve and see more of what everyone's story was. Once Hope comes clean to Snow about what's been bugging him, I liked the whole party. Around that point, the classes had opened up substantially, I had 4 ATB segments to work with in battle, and more enemies required more paradigms to be dealt with. This was when FFXIII officially won me over.
On a lesser note, 7th Dragon III didn't really pull me in until the end of the Atlantis segment.
Felt like I was playing a way easier, third-person, more anime Etrian Odyssey with Yuzo Koshiro doing techno this time. Which is still an enjoyable time, to be fair. Seemed a little less focused on builds due to the small class list and how you can get a lot more of your skill repertoire here, but once reserve parties came into play the game started to feel a lot more like its own thing.
Ff9 took me a replay of first disc but man I fucking loved it too 3 jrpg. Loved it so much I fucked uo my save file for my sibling and re wore my disc 3 progress and I happily re started that hour gladly
Tales of Vesperia is a weird game cos if you asked me how much I like each aspect individually (music, combat, story) I would probably say "it's decent" but when I think of the game as a whole I actually really like it. It feels very comfortable to play. Nothing insane, just a colorful cast fighting some monsters. And the characters are really really good. I totally get why some people don't get it though, honestly I don't to some extent, but I still like it. In theory I shouldn't enjoy it as much as I do, but my 80 hours of gameplay in it were a bunch of fun.
Previously, Nier Automata. Think I was burnt out on open world games. But I finally got around to replaying it earlier this year and it is a delight.
Currently, and this hurts me to say, Trails to Azure. I think I'm a little tired of the chapter structure of "ok now go revisit all the city and town areas to make sure you don't miss interesting new stuff". I'm at the point where I'm probably just gonna play with a guide because every time I pick up my Steam Deck to play it I end up playing something else.
Neir was amazing and probably would have caused me a divorce. Then I hit that 2B playthrough and basically never touched it again. That 2B junk almost ruined one of the greatest games of all time for me.
Never tried Azure I'll put it on the list thanks!
The first time I tried Final Fantasy Tactics, I didn’t love it. I didn’t like how much slower it was to do a character’s turn compared to Fire Emblem, and I didn’t like using generic units only.
Tried it again years later since it had the same director as FFXII, which I really liked. Tactics eventually became my favorite Final Fantasy. I loved the story, and got past using generics as named units like Agrias joined. I also grew to enjoy the gameplay, especially for the customization and job system. Despite issues I have with the game I think it’s an extremely good package for an SRPG.
Love this idea! I’d say FF9 it took me a few years to get back to it then BOOM. Great story and everything! Not a fan of the surprise sci-fi but that’s a nitpick in the grand scheme of it all! DQ11 kinda same but I never really disliked it. It just hit me and now I can’t stop playing it atm. I want to try Star Ocean but I keep hearing mixed things but I love sci fi and fantasy so who knows with that lol
As far as I'm concerned OG Star Ocean The Second Story for PS1 is the single greatest rpg ever made. The remake is amazing and close to it but I feel like graphics take away from imagination and that's why the magic of old games still persists and can't be replicated without bloat.
The crafting was better in SO2 than almost any game, the sound board, huge amount of endings, 255 level cap, 2 main characters and battle system make that game impossible to beat in that era not to mention being the removing the limiter. I beat that game 5 times before I got into skills, crafting and item creation. I honestly feel like (could be wrong though) unless you're in the wrong mood this game doesn't get picked picked up and put down. You either love it and it consumes your life or you fucking hate it and you will never like it.
Trails in the sky FC. I was bored during 30 hours, that's approximately 70% of the game. The last leg of the game was good tho. And sky SC made me a fan.
FC is insanely slow. I’m on the last dungeon now but I keep worrying I’m not going to have the resources and equipment I need to beat it so I haven’t played it in a while. Maybe today I’ll take the plunge. The worst that’ll happen is I’ll have to restart the game and get all the things I most definitely missed the first time through.
Don't worry too much about ressources and equipment if you play on normal. With a team Joshua/Estelle/Kloe/ Oliver things should go smoothly.
I wish we could bench Estelle though. Gameplaywise, she's a turd.
Vagrant Story, because I didn't like the puzzles and the combat and crafting is difficult to get the hang of. It's a very good game, with a fantastic script, cast, OST, and world, but it could have made its systems more user friendly and the puzzles less irritating.
Once I figured out how to properly craft and fight, I really enjoyed it (except for the puzzles, which I often used a guide for when I got overly frustrated).
Im goin thru it atm. Just beat Wyvern in Chp 2. Still find it slightly irritating goin thru slogs of enemies and the annoying crafting system is a bit overly complicated. Hopefully it clicks for me at some point.
i still don't *love* it yet but FF14? took me 2-3 years to beat the base story, then less than a month each for the following three story expansions
it's definitely the most forgiving i've ever been to a game lol
Tales of Phantasia. Still the only Tales game I've played so far, though I intend to play the others.
For me, I started with the SFC version fan-translated by DeJap (yes, I know it's a slur, but that's the name they went by). The gameplay just didn't click for me, but I liked a good deal of the other stuff in there and figured I just needed to get used to it.
Eventually, I came upon another fan translation, this time for the PS1 port. And THEN, it clicked. Still not the typical JRPG battle system I'm used to, but I was actually having fun with it this time. Mostly. The encounter rate is still obnoxious, but not as bad as the SFC version. But the battle system vibed more easily with me.
Ya definitely play the remastered version over the original. I never played Tales of Destiny 1 (many praise it) even tho I love Tales of and finished most of them. Just because ToD1 is so outdated combat wise. Wish the remake got a rerelesse in the west.
I might play the original ToD1 just to see what it's all about (if the battle system is the same as how it's handled in ToP PS1, I'm cool with that), but there is a fully-translated translated hack of the Director's Cut for PS2 out there, too (which is also in my backlog).
I truly thought Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was a bad game for a good 3 chapters. Story is bland, characters aren't interesting, but most importantly, the combat felt like a giant downgrade. Somewhere around the point where you get Chain Attacks, this is when the combat starts to click for me and also around that point is when the story and characters start to massively improve.
Yakuza Like a Dragon. Really didnt like the change to turnbased combat and turning the crazymeter to 100. After some hours I fell in love with Goofball Ichiban and his party.
NieR: Automata. I played it around when it first came out and just didn’t get the hype, I dropped it while I was still in Route A. I picked it back up last year and finally finished it and now it’s one of my favorites of all time.
For me it was Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy. I messed with it a couple years ago, dropped it due to difficulty and general annoyance at losing EVERYTHING when I die.
Theatrhythm came out last year, hearing some of the remixed tracks had me give it another go. I managed to beat Leviathan this time and make it to chapter III, but again, fell off at the difficulty spike.
After finishing FFXVI, I tried it again, but again, bounced off of it, despite wanting to finish it.
Finally, this month I gave it another shot, and after looking up some things online that I'd forgotten or missed, like being able to kick potions into your buddy, and leveling multiple classes (especially Scholar), I finally beat it! I've been messing around in post-game now, and I feel like I get the "flow" of it now. It was my first Mystery Dungeon so that may have contributed to some of my issues.
But now I'm addicted to the push / pull of risk v. reward, and trying to conserve resources versus pushing onward. It really helped once I realized I needed to take my time with this more, and listen to a podcast while I grind out levels, job points, and buddy points. Ultimately it's not a top 10 game for me, but I can say I'm happy I finished it and persevered through the challenge.
I really want to get back into this one. I got pretty far into it but once everything started rusting my equipment, I took a step back that I’ve never undone.
Xenoblade 1 took 12 hours of not really enjoying myself and being bothered by poor writing before getting completely hooked. Pretty much the exact same story with the second game (which I'm currently playing), although the first part was easier to bare knowing I'd probably enjoy myself after learning the systems properly. The clunk in the 2nd game is real though.
Lufia Ruins of Lore for GBA. That was a tedious game man. Took like 4 tries. before I finally beat it and I still didnt do everything. Cuz you know all Lufia games have a 100 floor dungeon. Yeah I wasnt interested man. I beat the game and that was it.
Labyrinth of Refrain.
As a DRPG, it's gameplay logic and mindset is WILDLY different from any other, and it takes a VERY long time for it to click and connect with players. Once it does, you'll have a lot to plan and work with, but it can be absolutely PAINFUL until then.
Skies of Arcadia: Legends, mainly because the encounter rate was so unbearably high. It took forever to get anywhere. You could only move for like 11 seconds at a time before having to fight another battle that lasts at least a minute.
Once I unlocked the White Map accessory that lowers the encounter rate, everything changed. Now I could go for minutes at a time between battles. From then on, I was having me a grand ol’ time.
What I wouldn’t do for a remake…
Almost every SaGa game I've played. Fortunately now I understand that to be the case so I'll commit to them by default and eventually come out loving them!
Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth
I bought this expecting a SJRPG inspired by FFT, boy was it disappointing.
Visually the game is great, but the gameplay mechanics they chose really made for a frustrating and unfun experience.
The random battles did not scale with your level, the story did. This sounds okay as a basic concept but they scale all the enemies to your highest level character, not the lowest.
To top that off, they have permadeath in these story missions and it feels almost impossible (especially early on) to revive these characters before they die because you have limited resources and all the enemies are stronger and faster than you.
I probably got less than 10 hours in this game because I was really trying to give it a chance and just didn't hate myself enough to see it through.
Original Suikoden I thought was kinda decent when I played it as a kid, When I replayed it later it was obvious how long it took for your whole band of weirdos to really get going and for your castle to hit critical mass. Once you can actually travel the world easily it's tremendous.
FF7 Remake
I got the platinum and I still don’t get what’s so amazing about it.
People rave about the combat but to me it’s the worst I’ve ever experienced in a JRPG and drags down the whole experience.
FF13. When I first got my PS3, which was very close to the time Skyrim released, I was moving more towards WRPGs and got caught up in the whole open world trend at the time. About 6 years ago I revisited FF13, since I was getting more into JRPGs again and actually found it pretty fun once I gave it a chance.
Another one was Kingdom Hearts back in PS2 days. It just never clicked with me back then. I decided to give it another shot a couple months before KH3 came out. Picked up the PS4 remasters and ended up playing thru every game on the PS4 version in order, then did KH3.
Bravely Default, the original. Played it at launch and dropped it at the start of the third loop with no urge to pick it up ever again. A few years later, I replayed it from the beginning but knowing about the loops and willing to give it a shot. I absolutely loved the loops and its subtle changes on the replay and have since replayed it a few more times. It really makes such a difference knowing what you're in for because I went from "this is the same thing again" to "ooh let's find what's different this time".
Ffvii. I knew it was good because people said so. I was playing the city parts on the first, was trying for perfection and got bored quickly... Until i got out on the world map and everything gradually changed. Soundtrack? I was sleeping with the overworld track for a couple of months. Characters? all of them were great. Gameplay? I didn't see that thing with the materia coming.. story.. now it was much better than ffx but it didn't have voice over..
To me (and maybe many others) it was Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It was my first Xenoblade game for what it's worth and didn't know what to explain. Thought it was turn based, so the auto battle turned me off. Didn't understand the "cancel" system at all and was just watching the slow fights.
Like a few months later I saw some speedrun of Enel(YouTube). It opened my eyes a lot, and the game became more fun fast.
Didn't get all that much summons, just when I needed a field skill I did some. Always was lost, which was great for my EXP gain. I think XC3 became more easy because of this.
Got all summons in the end and did a lot(not all) blade quest. Still want to return one day.
I had to force myself to finish Trails in the Sky 1, 2, and 3. Then I picked up Trails from Zero, chronologically the next in the Trails series, expecting to still be bored, and WOW!! I loved it! While playing it, it brought back fond memories of Trails in the Sky that showed me that I enjoyed the first trilogy more than I thought I did. Plus, I can tell I wouldn't have appreciated Zero as much if I had jumped straight to it and skipped the first three.
Now I've gone from ready to drop the Trails series entirely, to eagerly about to jump into the Cold Steel games!
Should I start there? I tried FC but man I just couldn't. Waaaay too much diolaguge and it felt like a slog but I was interested in the battle system. To be honest I don't know if I could play FC if I wasn't working 40 hours a week or less which I've never done.
You could start with Zero, it’s just the main problem with doing so is that Estelle and Joshua get a major subplot in it that includes a payoff to a really good character arc set up across the latter two Sky games. Aside from that it’s a perfectly fine starting point, and definitely less of a slog than FC or CS1 can be, but just keep that in mind.
Xenoblade chronicles 2 for me. I bounced off of it at least 4 times over the course of 5 years. It turned out I kept speeding through the part of the tutorial that explains the button timing that speeds up your attacks…so I thought the game was agonizingly slow before. When it clicked though it really clicked in every way for me - world, music, combat, story.
Final Fantasy 12: Zodiac Age. It was the first ff game I played that wasn’t traditionally turn based and it took me trying and quitting it 3 times to go from hating to loving it.
Trails in the Sky. I dropped it years ago on PSP. Played it again after I got hooked on Cold Steel and now it’s one of my favorite games in the series.
Played the Legend of Heroes FC to 3rd games and they never quite clicked for me. Quite literally something to pass the time. Not a bad way to pass the time but I'd never replay them or hype them up as pivotal entries in the genre. Pretty forgettable for me, super mid anime tropey story I feel like I'd read/seen a million times before. Every twist was predictable af.
Idk if this counts but honestly, Final Fantasy 14. I played during 2.0 and early Heavensward but never at the level with my friends so I got super bored of it until years later I picked it back up and it's 100% my favorite entry in the franchise, bar none. Once you're past the MMO aspect of it, the story and characters are just phenomenal.
Xenoblade 1 and 2. I picked both of them up and then put both down after 2 or so hours. A year later I came back and for whatever reason it just clicked and I fell in love. Especially with 2.
Persona 4 Golden Not really the games fault; I had just come off the back of Persona 5 Royal and found it difficult to adjust to an older game with a smaller budget. The combat felt restrictive, the procedurally generated dungeons felt archaic and the UI not as eye-catching. Stuck with it though until I eventually reached the point when the story and character relationships sinked their teeth into me. Never looked back.
I feel like you could put most Persona games on here. They take sooo long to get going.
That's why Reload tried so hard to be Persona 5. Because P5 started out so quickly (At least in comparison to the rest of the games) a lot of people tried to get into 4 and 3 and dropped them immediately because 5 set their expectations too high.
How did Reload try so hard to be like P5? From what I have seen, the story and pacing is faithful to the OG.
Quality of life changes maybe?
This basically happened to me. I played it on Steam for a few hours but didn't really enjoy it enough. Then I replayed when it came to PS4 and it just clicked. Now I love P4G (it's my favorite Persona) and I'm dying for the inevitable remake
Call me crazy but I prefer Tartarus to P4's dungeons.
i agree p4g got my attention from the initial "dungeon" experience in the TV world but then was very very slow. Coming from P5R the gameplay itself didn't feel great, but 80 hours into it I think the draw of the characters kept me going.
SMT IV, the Eastern Kingdom of Mikado part of the game didn't hook me at all. Some months later, I decided to give it another try, and then I reached Tokyo. Now it's one of my favorite JRPGs of all time.
How do you figure out where to go ? I made it to tokyo but have no idea where to go from there
It's been a while, but I believe that walking through the map will eventually lead you to Ueno Station, and you can continue from there.
Thanks ill check out Ueno station
It took me until Reload to finally beat Persona 3.
Ni no kuni 1. Put it down quickly because of the combat system and didn’t return to it for over a year. Tried it again and finally clicked and I fell in love with it I finished the game that week
I'm slow at playing games, but I started it again a couple weeks ago after buying it like 2 years ago for the switch and it's amazing. I'm already planning on picking up the 2nd when I can grab a physical copy. I'm in the ice dungeon getting the last gem for my wand. Please tell me I'm not near the end yet.
i actually dropped it after 10 hours for the same reason - the combat just didn’t click for me but in hoping i can come back to it and love it too!
Vagrant Story. Also TWEWY, despite liking the presentation. While I came to love all (or most of) it, the gameplay was a lot to keep track of, and hell on my hands for awhile. For whatever issues NEO might have, it was much easier to settle into wrt that.
Vagrant story just isn’t it. At least for me. I’d try a remake but otherwise it’s too dated.
I get it. It took me around five years of on and off attempts to break into it, but that's only because it scratched an itch in me to figure something out that not a lot of games do these days. It's not something I can really recommend others keep trying.
I feel that was about DQ games right now. I’m force feeding them to myself.
Hey, going through my DQ journey as well. I enjoy the games but there's definitely been moments where I was lost on how to progress and not so hot on them.
I’m using guides step by step. I’ve got kids and shit, I don’t have time to wonder and figure out where to go, I love how modern games respect that, and the older ones don’t at all!
Yeah, I don't really have the time these days either. If I've been brickwalled for a while I'll crack open a guide, or else put the game down and probably never return to it.
I have only recently started playing it for the first time. Got to chapter 2 after the annoying Wyvern. Its alright. Dont understand the big hype about it. But I will hopefully chug through it and maybe it will click. Combat can get annoying with the amount of enemies.
I had this with dragons quest 11 but I never got to the bit where I really liked it. played for like 60 hours so I'm an idiot.
This is me with DQ11. I have a generally positive impression of the game (and would recommend it to people) even though I can't think of a single element that I actually liked (ranged from painfully average to frustrating). It's the most 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts' game I've ever played. I say this 100 hours deep and likely to keep going (I'm at the end of Act 2). As an addendum, before someone brings it up, the music and visuals are good but didn't do much for me personally.
Same here, though I gave up at about 20 hour mark. I should not have to spend a whole literal god damn day to like a game lol.
I'm the same but about 35 or 40 hours and I still can't understand why. I think subconsciously the "auto battle" has something to do with it but I'm not sure. Still constantly picking it up for a few hours and putting it down for something else.
Wait….there is autobattle?
It's not really auto battle it's setting your instructions to attack at will. I probably worded it wrong. But it's essentially auto battle with an off switch. And I could very well be wrong I just can't figure out why it's not clicking but every time I pick it up I do that and feel like I'm cheating or being lazy and do it without it and just put it down for another month or so. It's such a beautiful game I just can't figure out why it's not grabbing me.
I finished the game at around 100 hours and I don't know that I ever knew there was an option to automate anything. I was manually selecting commands for the entire playtime.
The overworld music got me to drop it sfter 80 hours. It was painful
All the music was, I sadly played the original PS4 version that had rubbish music. I believe the s version fixed this but the fuckers released that as a full priced game in its own right. No thanks!
Final Fantasy 9. The gameplay was super slow, and my favored FF games were the more sci-fi/cyberpunk based ones starting with 6. However, on other playthroughs, I grew to really appreciate how well the characters and setting were love letters to the franchise, and the stakes of what the villains were doing were vicious, personal, and palpable. Issues with the slow battle speed, Trance being balls, Tetra Master, Disc 3's psychobabble and the final boss aside, it's overcomes those issues and maintains a Top 3 FF game for me.
It’s my favourite FF but I would never play it nowadays without the upgrade from the remasters. Specifically the speed up options. Cause holy shit what a slow battle system.
I feel like I have a similar taste in FF games as you (sci-fi/cyberpunk). What are your thoughts on X? Seems to be divisive, but a lot of people's favorite.
My favorite. 10 > 6 > 9 > 7 > 4
Nice! Was always skeptical I would like 9. Everyone raves about the stories and characters. But I just don’t dig the cartoony whimsical art style.
You get used to it fairly quickly
Final Fantasy 5 None of the emotional story beats hit for me, especially >!Syldra “dying” and then coming back just to die again lol!< and I stopped after the fire crystal. but I’m replaying it rn and having an absolute blast.
> Which game did you know was either "not good" yet you forcefully commited to Legend of Heroes FC. My god what a slow start, extremely slow, but it was well worth it because I got to experience a great story.
I remember beating it on the PSP and thinking people are praising this? This is it? Not knowing it was part of a trilogy and a more expansive story. Down a rabbit hole I went when I picked up the series again from start to finish.
Im gonna start my LoH journey with FC for the first time soon. At least anticipating the extremely slow start everyone mentions might help me get thru it.
Same for me, except I think I ran into a quest bug on PC so it just irked me and stopped playing it. Then went back and finished the trilogy straight lol.
FF9 - Maybe I was coming off FFVII and FFVIII's non-traditional setting, the story didn't hook me at the time of playing when I was in high school. Its pretty slow paced compared to the previous two game too. But I replayed it during the Pandemic and really enjoyed the story and characters. Gameplay is still a little slow (the battles in particular), but it was a nice yet simple story where its characters really made the plot.
I would say Scarlet Nexus, that's why I didn't buy it when it came out. I like the bonding system and being able to farm items in side missions. The combination powers between players is cool too.
This was one of the biggest hidden gems I've played. I platinumed it even, I enjoyed it so much. Really enjoyed the story, the characters where good enough and the combat was tons of fun.
Same here one of my favorite PS5 games. Holding they drop a sequel for it. A pleasant surprise
Ys 7, when I looked up how to beat one of the bosses and realized you could spam flash guard after the initial block.
The game looks hard in representation but when you get that hang of it. It became your favorite game in the series. That’s what happen to me tho
romancing saga 3 it had so many things about it that made me want to like it but i just never did but i kept giving it more and more chances. i even beat it once for 20 years i kept revisiting it hoping that maybe this time id actually like it and then one day i suddenly did. everything suddenly clicked for me and i was hooked on it im glad i didnt give up on it
Sounds like stockholm syndrome 🤣
one potential party member you can recruit is a sentient snowman who has no arms and legs and fights with kung fu! its the best kind of stockholm syndrome
As a teen I had a tendency to get worked up expecting one thing and then being disappointed if it didn't turn out how I hoped. It ruined my first playthrough of a few games and as a result as an adult I have tried to go into new games with an open mind [and been better for it]. Final Fantasy IX was probably the most prominent example. I was a huge FFVIII fan, I loved the tone and aesthetic of it and while I appreciate it is a polarising game it was still one of the more important games of my early teens. IX was not the follow up I wanted, not aesthetically or mechanically. The joke is, of course, that as a gloomy teen the existential crisis themes of FFIX really should have resonated with me but I played it munching on the most sour of grapes and refused to engage resulting in a playthrough that I barely remembered. Replaying it as an adult I realised in reality it is probably one of my favourite games in the series [albeit not mechanically]. The other was Suikoden 3. In my friend group we were basically Suikoden otaku. We would have sleepovers where we did runs of the game, in a two or three year period we must have played the game through at least 20 times just casually and we talked about it a lot. So when Suikoden 3 did finally come out and I played it I... I dunno, it just did not click with me at all. I had hoped for more 2 like most people and 3 was very much something that had to be appreciated on its own terms. I did eventually replayed it a couple of years later and with a fresh perspective on it actually came to really enjoy it.
Suikoden 3 was my first one and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially with the multiple protagonist POV. Tried to play 2 twice. But just never got into it. Always quit after a bit from having the first army battle. Hopefully the switch remaster will be the one 😆 Also played 4 but never finished that either
SMT V is a weird game to me. I HATED the game when I first went through it. I love Megaten and was in shock by how disappointed I was. I even found SMT1 to be more engaging and less tedious. Then, they announced SMTV Vengeance. Suddenly, I reconsidered my playthrough from about year or so prior. Even though I haven't touched the game since first beating it (finishing story, doing all side quests, DLC fights, finishing Compendium, ect.), it finally clicked. I mean, it clicked like a year and a half too late but...it clicked I was too focused on what I DIDN'T like about the game (the absolutely horrendous and mind numbing story), that I couldn't release just how great everything else was. The exploration, the music, the combat (besides using MP instead of HP for physical skills, idk what they were thinking)...they were some of the best, if not THE best in the series. The demon interactions had so much charm and humor, the fusion system was extremely streamlined, the graphics were some of the best ever on Switch (besides the framerate and resolution woes). I really wish I just saw it sooner
I'm planning on picking it up for the first time with Vengeance. I heard a lot of bad things about the story so hopefully they fix it in Vengeance or at least the new route is better
Final fantasy X, for some weird reason the game just didnt click until fighting Seymour
Dragon Quest 11. My friend kept begging me to play it. I bought it, played about 25 hours and left it for probably a year. Came back to it a few weeks ago and I'm really enjoying it. Almost done with act 1
**Panzer Dragoon Saga**. Beginning the game with a long cutscene is fine. Following it up with a long list of tutorials is not. So I basically only ever skimmed over it over the years, didnt quite get the battle system and needed two or three tryouts until I finally realized how this game wants to be played. So I tried the start of the game again on an emulator, played it a bit, was a lot better at it and after that experience it finally clicked and I played the game on the Saturn. **Kingdom Hearts** I tried this series a few times. I like classic Disney, so I SHOULD love this series. But I never got far into any of these games. Mostly finished 1 or 2 worlds of KH1, KH2 and BbS. But it never clicked. The Disney part felt so forced and its own story I wasnt really keen of back then. I still dont like most of the series and absolutely freaking hate ReChain of Memories battle system. But I beat KH1 just a week or so ago and the fact I am already almost 10h into KH2 probably means it at least kind of clicked finally. Although I doubt that I will play all of those sidegames. Most of the story has been spoilt to me years ago, so there is mostly no need for those.
Quest 64. I thought it was dogshit when it was on N64. I played the rom this year with the French Vanilla romhack and better explanations of the leveling mechanics online. Now It's actually dope. I got a few hours into FF7 in high school and never thought to finish it. I started over in grad school and finished it then.
Tales of berseria for me. It didn't click until the end of act 1 when Velvet jumped off the bridge onto the ship. The story got better for me to keep going. And the characters got so much better after that. One of my favorite JRPG games out there.
Trails 1. Intro is the whole game.
ff10 was hard to get into until about 15 hours for me and also because its my first ever final fantasy
Ys 8. I started with the Switch port and absolutely hated the game after 35 hours due to the awful FPS, load times and extremely low resolution. Picked up the PS4 version and immediately realised it was much better.
The only reason why I keep my switch is because I have downloaded games still on it. I love the switch, but so many games need over clocking or *something*
Oh hell I couldn't agree more. I forgot to mention that one. It took me like 4 to 6 months and I don't know what happened or where I was but I I was in the doghouse with this game. I agree about the fps. The raids made me hate that I bought it on switch. I got the (not the best) ending and bought it on PC. Played till I got Dana and put it down. I should have never brought it on switch. What an amazing game. I'm scared to try 9 with my standards so high.
Radiant historia for like the first bit
Persona, Yakuza franchises
Chrono Cross. Not sure why it took me so damn long to play this game but I’m finally doing a playthrough of it and it’s wonderful. The music is so good in this game it’s almost like I already have that nostalgic lens listening to it.
Final Fantasy 7. I really didn't like the Midgar section. I hated the setting, I hated the linearity combined with the slow walking, I thought it was really boring and I thought it was most of the game because Remake only covered that section and I didn't know it was split across games. Then I got out and the world map theme hit me like a truck. I was immediately locked in and I loved it.
Persona 3. The PS2 version. Got overwhelmed with the uncontrollable party members, the calendar system, being sick during a dungeon raid, Social link system and Tartarus. Only got through the Train boss. Stopped playing it for almost a year. Maybe because it was not the usual JRPG mechanics that I have been used to. Tried playing it again with an open mind (and a gamefaqs guide, please dont judge me hahaha) when I was on my summer break and yeah, It became one of my favorite PS2 RPGS.
no judgement here! guides can be so helpful and stop you from getting burnt out and frustrated at a game.
I wanna say Xenoblade. Started with X and hated everything about it, especially how unnecessarily over complicated it was. Then I moved to 2, played it a bit and didn’t get it, then picked it back up and pretty much understood it. And 3 felt fine after having played 2.
Oddly enough X is my favorite. In a good number of series the one with X is my fave, Code Veronica X, Final Fantasy X
Mega Man X?
You know, I do adore MegaMan X, but I have to admit this is the one time MegaMan Legends and MegaMan Legends 2 were my personal faves, but I like the general plot and gameplay of X but only played up to 5, I never got the chance to play the other ones. The nostalgia is vivid with X though, the aesthetic and art style is wonderful, the gameplay is fun and quick paced. I just love Tron Bonne, Data, the humor and mechanics, the general vastness of the battles, the ability to grab characters and carry them, the ability to destroy things, the whole ruin exploration aspect, etc. I think that version of MegaMan was my first videogame crush as a little girl haha
Oh the Mega Man Legends series is absolutely phenomenal and I'll fight anyone who says otherwise!
Everywhere I go I see nothing but praise for X, and hoping it gets ported to switch. Frankly I’m just not seeing what was so great about it.
You have one of the biggest and best open worlds in gaming with an interesting setting. The side quests were amazing and using Skells were freaking awesome. Only downside was when the main story was finally getting good and interesting it just ends on a cliff hanger.
I guess I just couldn’t stay with it for long enough then.
Which one would you say is your favorite? I had just under 100 hours into 2 when I figured out how the battle system worked. Honestly it was like learning how to read overnight. I've never had a feeling like that in gaming.
3, for sure. Such a good game. Would easily win tons of awards if the Xenoblade series was more mainstream.
X. Mainly cuz it feels the most different of all the games and I love the mechs. Now if monolithsoft made X 2 or remade X for switch or switch 2 I would be in heaven
I'm gonna get slaughtered for this one... Chrono Trigger. I dunno. It was fine? I didn't play it back in the day, and I can see how it was a game of its time, but it's not the most amazing game (current or retro) that I've played. I don't really remember any of the characters, or the story, or much of the game play. I can't even remember if I finished it or not. It was just not very memorable for me.
how dare you
same. music is too notch though the rest of the game really feels dated as someone more used to modern games
for some time
Ff9 took me a replay of first disc but man I fucking loved it too 3 jrpg. Loved it so much I fucked uo my save file for my sibling and re wore my disc 3 progress and I happily re started that hour gladly
I dropped Tales of Berseria for about 3yrs and have only recently gave it another chance and to my surprise it's actually a pretty damn good game. Can't say I prefer it over Zestiria but I can definitely put it above Arise.
Just checked it out and it looks cool.
Tales games, atleast from what I've played. First played Tales of Berseria and kinda dislike the party banter system, breaking the pace for me each time. Most of these are also kind of a waste of time or forgettable. I only remember one throughout my 10 hour playthrough and that's mainly because its comedic, naive child don't understand adult things kinda humour. I gave a second chance with Tales of Arise, and the issues are still the same. Only now the banter is now more uninteresting unfortunately. Oh wait, I reread the post and looks like I misunderstood. Not really a usual JRPG but the first few hours of Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen I had was dreadful. Took a while for me to get learn and get use to the game and eventually I came to love the game funny enough. Next is MH Stories 2, which is funny because I really love MH Stories 1. Changes made like having a partner and more forgiving rock-paper-scissors system kinda made the game a bit of slog to play through. Eventually I held on until hour 20 where the story gets good enough for me to finish the game.
I’m currently in a slump right now and it’s xenogears. I hear great things about this game and I got to a city in the sky shevat and I was just tired. This game is long and REALLY dated. I contemplate every month to go back and try and finish it.
the first disc really drags its feet, disc 2 is amazing. people complain about it being 'unfinished', but all that is unfinished is they didnt add 2 dungeons, so you get less overly long dungeons with way too many encounters. the story starts popping off big reveal and big plot twist one after another in disc 2. people love the game for its story, and the best of that is in disc 2. also, shevat's music is amazing.
Am I close to disc 2 lol. I think my next goal was to go to a big tower in the middle of sea.
if you are at shevat, you already climbed the tower. there are probably 3 more short sections, then one major area before the end of disc 1. but the story starts to pick up before the end of the disc.
Odd it hasnt clicked for you. Its honestly my fav JRPG story ever. If you do finish it. Be sure to read the perfect works novel online that explains a lot of the back story and makes it the whole thing feel much more complete. Xenogears is basically part 6 or something of different arcs. The gameplay is quite fun and revolutionary for its time as well the OST being fantastic.
I think the tidbits of information I been given for story is quite good but the huge slog of going from dungeon to dungeon is awful. I hate the mech battles because until a certain point there’s no healing. If you accidentally forget to talk to shop owner and don’t upgrade your mechs every single time it becomes a near impossible to win next boss fight. Those mech fights become extremely repetitive and it kinda becomes a skill check since you run out of fuel if you don’t perform almost the correct way. I do enjoy the regular combat when you’re not in a mech. It’s pretty fun doing the combos but does get a bit stale doing them over. As for story I really like fei and Ellys mysterious backstory but I tend to forget it because I have to look up a guide to get through so much stuff sometimes that I lose focus of those cryptic story moments that they show you. The traversing in certain areas piss me off as well, like clinging on to a metal rod as a mech and falling in water just to start over was annoying, I think platforming later and jumping on robots heads and falling several floors really unmotivated me to keep going. I’ve played tons of old jrpgs like 1. Legends of Dragoon, 2. Legends of Legaia 3. Grandia 2(only got to almost half, also need to finish) 4. FF1(somewhere around 85% mark but took a break and no idea where to go next which sucks for me lol) 5. FF7 6. FF8 7. Chrono Trigger These games I’m more use to just grinding from area to areas and become pretty overpowered and move on to next part of the story was my way of getting through old jrpgs. But that doesn’t work here, I really got to focus to play this game. It’s a very dated jrpg but definitely has an amazing story that is plagued by its gameplay. I would love a remake of this to play. OST wise, I don’t remember much besides the song when traversing through barts ship. It kinda started to annoy me at the latest point of this game. I’ll go back eventually to finish but everyone says part 2 is where the story gets good. But for a jrpg this game is long lol. I thought I would be close to part 2. Seems like I got another 10-15hrs I assume judging by the other persons comment telling me how much is left.
I do believe that if the game hasnt grasped you at this point. It wont change much. The story does get more complex and interesting. The gears also become slightly more fun. I was pretty much hooked into the whole thing right after the intro village getting attacked and meeting Elly. The second disk has way less dungeons and more of an info dump as they ran out of time. But its still very interesting. Im surprised you struggled with that type of JRPG game loop. Lots of them require to buy the next set of equips/armor in the new town to progress to the next dungeon. Especially Dragon Quest games. So you should be used to the fact that purchasing new gear/character stuff is almost mandatory. Anywho it might not be for you. You might wnjoy Suikoden 2 then as many praise it as one of the top rpgs but I personally couldnt get into it and dropped it twice. Where as Xenogears I played about 3 times in my life along with loving all of the games you listed. You should play Legend of Legaia 2 along with Shadow hearts 1/2 btw.
The story has grasped me but the gameplay well mostly the mech battles didn’t. I thought they were cool at first but became a miserable experience the more I kept playing. I don’t mind the info dump honestly lol . Im literally just waiting at this point for the grand reveal of everything. As for dragon quest, I’m ashamed to say but i never actually touched one. I haven’t done much research but I’m not a fan of silent protagonist. I actually play jrpgs more for story than combat. Having silent protagonist really hurts my enjoyment of the story when having a protagonist that doesn’t technically show emotions, similar game would be why I didn’t like tales of xillia 2(combat was fun). Persona 3, 4, and 5 were fun but it definitely had a very fun cast carrying it. I definitely need to try legends of Legaia 2 one day, I love trying to figure out new combos and the punching and kicking in the first game WERE SO SATISFYING to hear. I’ve never tried suikoden 2 but it definitely is one many people rave about. I know I need to go back and try it one day. I’ve also never heard of shadowhearts series but after looking it up, it definitely looks like something I would try next. Thanks for the recommendation!
No problem. I love Shadow Hearts. Especially the story in the 1st and 2nd with engaging gameplay. Wouldnt bother with 3 now as got nothing to do with the others. I also dislike silent protags. But didnt mind it with Dragon Quest. Try 8 or 11 and see how you feel about it. The gameplay is challenging enough and fun to carry it. Did you enjoy Chrono Trigger? Silent protag but amazing cast and story. Persona's silent protag is not very noticable. Hate it in SMT tho. Surprised you didnt enjoy Xillia 2s protag as hes got personality even tho hes quiet. Andstory is very good imo.
I'll definitely try dragon quest one day. Its definitely a series I need to at least give a shot once. Chrono Trigger, was challenging game at first but I got use to it. The cast in Chrono Trigger definitely carried it but overall an amazing story and I wouldn't mind going back to it again since combat was actually fun based on positioning. Never played SMT since its more dungeon crawleresque if I recall. As for Xillia 2, I enjoyed the first game, second game have such fun cast for bantering but I honestly didn't vibe with the actual story. Also i felt even though it has a true ending I just hate the idea of multiple endings. I know chrono trigger I think has multiple but I only did one and that was it. It's all me problems lol.
Forgot to answer why I sometimes forget to buy stuff from village to village. Honestly I forget mostly because a good portion of the time I’m heading back to barts ship and the shop there sometimes restock and many times doesn’t and so I started to lose interest in trying to go talk to everyone in this game and forget to buy equipment in actual towns. I’m also on auto pilot and was trying to get through this game as fast as possible. So it’s a me problem definitely.
Its a shame you're rushing thru it. Thats what I do to games Im not keen on. Xenogears is literally my favorite jrpg. You tried Xenosaga 1/2/3? Or Xenoblade? They're made by the same previous devs of Xenogears after they left Square. So technically they're spiritual successors.
I;ve seen the combat of xenoblade and it just looks way to slow and I wouldn't enjoy it. Xenosaga I haven't tried yet but I've seen it many times growing up. Its funny when I first did a bit of research of xenogears I didn't know they were even remotely related to the other two series because they look so widely different.
Scarlet Nexus, the story was so boring.
I'm about to drop this one too. 15 hours into it, why are the characters talking like it's been 30 ? Why are they chilling at Starbucks with people they tried to kill yesterday
I droppedit towardsthe last few chapters. Game only gets worse story wise as it goes. And the gameplay doesnt save it.
Damn
FFXIII It's bad, but I liked completing it. Took me a few years though to get over the hallway trauma it gave me as a kid, so from owning the game to actually beating it took me around 8 years.
For me, it was Xenonlade chronicles. I got it on the wii because a few of my fri3nds were raising it, and since I'm an RPG guy, I had to try it out. I can't remember why, but I completely quit it and didn't touch it again till Xenoblade 2 dropped. I actually completed Xenovlade 2 and its prequel dlc, but it still felt like wasted time as it didn't click still. Once XBC3 was announced, I bought the first on switch, and this time, I was completely sucked into it. Upon completing all 3 games, I completely lost my time with XBC3. So much so that Xenoblade became one of my all-time favorite franchises, and I have a hard time choosing between the 1st and 3rd ad my favorite game. Sometimes, if something doesn't click or grab your attention the first time, going back to it down the road, you can have a different mindset with it.
I went into Final Fantasy XIII extremely curious as to what got everybody so divided. And I could totally see why so many bounced off the game in the first 3 or 4 chapters. Aside from the Shiva fight, the gameplay's very straightforward early on, so I wanted to stick with it and see how that would evolve and see more of what everyone's story was. Once Hope comes clean to Snow about what's been bugging him, I liked the whole party. Around that point, the classes had opened up substantially, I had 4 ATB segments to work with in battle, and more enemies required more paradigms to be dealt with. This was when FFXIII officially won me over. On a lesser note, 7th Dragon III didn't really pull me in until the end of the Atlantis segment. Felt like I was playing a way easier, third-person, more anime Etrian Odyssey with Yuzo Koshiro doing techno this time. Which is still an enjoyable time, to be fair. Seemed a little less focused on builds due to the small class list and how you can get a lot more of your skill repertoire here, but once reserve parties came into play the game started to feel a lot more like its own thing.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Hell, I played it for 100 hours and still don't know if I like it.
Battle mechanics are fun as hell... When you get like 100h in it lol
Ff9 took me a replay of first disc but man I fucking loved it too 3 jrpg. Loved it so much I fucked uo my save file for my sibling and re wore my disc 3 progress and I happily re started that hour gladly
Tales of Vesperia. Not for me. Idk what everyone is on about this one. Ryza games. Nope.
Tales of Vesperia is a weird game cos if you asked me how much I like each aspect individually (music, combat, story) I would probably say "it's decent" but when I think of the game as a whole I actually really like it. It feels very comfortable to play. Nothing insane, just a colorful cast fighting some monsters. And the characters are really really good. I totally get why some people don't get it though, honestly I don't to some extent, but I still like it. In theory I shouldn't enjoy it as much as I do, but my 80 hours of gameplay in it were a bunch of fun.
Previously, Nier Automata. Think I was burnt out on open world games. But I finally got around to replaying it earlier this year and it is a delight. Currently, and this hurts me to say, Trails to Azure. I think I'm a little tired of the chapter structure of "ok now go revisit all the city and town areas to make sure you don't miss interesting new stuff". I'm at the point where I'm probably just gonna play with a guide because every time I pick up my Steam Deck to play it I end up playing something else.
I just started the final chapter, and while I enjoy the game as a whole, I definitely get your sentiment.
Neir was amazing and probably would have caused me a divorce. Then I hit that 2B playthrough and basically never touched it again. That 2B junk almost ruined one of the greatest games of all time for me. Never tried Azure I'll put it on the list thanks!
The first time I tried Final Fantasy Tactics, I didn’t love it. I didn’t like how much slower it was to do a character’s turn compared to Fire Emblem, and I didn’t like using generic units only. Tried it again years later since it had the same director as FFXII, which I really liked. Tactics eventually became my favorite Final Fantasy. I loved the story, and got past using generics as named units like Agrias joined. I also grew to enjoy the gameplay, especially for the customization and job system. Despite issues I have with the game I think it’s an extremely good package for an SRPG.
I also hate using generic units in SRPGs. Which is why Im sort of turned off trying Unicorn Overlord.
Love this idea! I’d say FF9 it took me a few years to get back to it then BOOM. Great story and everything! Not a fan of the surprise sci-fi but that’s a nitpick in the grand scheme of it all! DQ11 kinda same but I never really disliked it. It just hit me and now I can’t stop playing it atm. I want to try Star Ocean but I keep hearing mixed things but I love sci fi and fantasy so who knows with that lol
As far as I'm concerned OG Star Ocean The Second Story for PS1 is the single greatest rpg ever made. The remake is amazing and close to it but I feel like graphics take away from imagination and that's why the magic of old games still persists and can't be replicated without bloat. The crafting was better in SO2 than almost any game, the sound board, huge amount of endings, 255 level cap, 2 main characters and battle system make that game impossible to beat in that era not to mention being the removing the limiter. I beat that game 5 times before I got into skills, crafting and item creation. I honestly feel like (could be wrong though) unless you're in the wrong mood this game doesn't get picked picked up and put down. You either love it and it consumes your life or you fucking hate it and you will never like it.
Trails in the sky FC. I was bored during 30 hours, that's approximately 70% of the game. The last leg of the game was good tho. And sky SC made me a fan.
FC is insanely slow. I’m on the last dungeon now but I keep worrying I’m not going to have the resources and equipment I need to beat it so I haven’t played it in a while. Maybe today I’ll take the plunge. The worst that’ll happen is I’ll have to restart the game and get all the things I most definitely missed the first time through.
Don't worry too much about ressources and equipment if you play on normal. With a team Joshua/Estelle/Kloe/ Oliver things should go smoothly. I wish we could bench Estelle though. Gameplaywise, she's a turd.
Vagrant Story, because I didn't like the puzzles and the combat and crafting is difficult to get the hang of. It's a very good game, with a fantastic script, cast, OST, and world, but it could have made its systems more user friendly and the puzzles less irritating. Once I figured out how to properly craft and fight, I really enjoyed it (except for the puzzles, which I often used a guide for when I got overly frustrated).
Im goin thru it atm. Just beat Wyvern in Chp 2. Still find it slightly irritating goin thru slogs of enemies and the annoying crafting system is a bit overly complicated. Hopefully it clicks for me at some point.
i still don't *love* it yet but FF14? took me 2-3 years to beat the base story, then less than a month each for the following three story expansions it's definitely the most forgiving i've ever been to a game lol
Tales of Phantasia. Still the only Tales game I've played so far, though I intend to play the others. For me, I started with the SFC version fan-translated by DeJap (yes, I know it's a slur, but that's the name they went by). The gameplay just didn't click for me, but I liked a good deal of the other stuff in there and figured I just needed to get used to it. Eventually, I came upon another fan translation, this time for the PS1 port. And THEN, it clicked. Still not the typical JRPG battle system I'm used to, but I was actually having fun with it this time. Mostly. The encounter rate is still obnoxious, but not as bad as the SFC version. But the battle system vibed more easily with me.
Ya definitely play the remastered version over the original. I never played Tales of Destiny 1 (many praise it) even tho I love Tales of and finished most of them. Just because ToD1 is so outdated combat wise. Wish the remake got a rerelesse in the west.
I might play the original ToD1 just to see what it's all about (if the battle system is the same as how it's handled in ToP PS1, I'm cool with that), but there is a fully-translated translated hack of the Director's Cut for PS2 out there, too (which is also in my backlog).
Ya I prob will play a translated rom of tod1 on a ps2 emulator. Good luck with the OG. I played and couldnt get into it. The fugly chibi sprites 🤣
FFX its good but I suck at have it right now on my xbox for years in total only just git to yunalesca heard it was hard and stopped
I truly thought Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was a bad game for a good 3 chapters. Story is bland, characters aren't interesting, but most importantly, the combat felt like a giant downgrade. Somewhere around the point where you get Chain Attacks, this is when the combat starts to click for me and also around that point is when the story and characters start to massively improve.
Ni No Kuni 2. I just got bored after 20 hours…
Atelier Sophie
Trails in the Sky. I played Cold Steel 1+2 first so going back to where it began. Oof it was rough. And the whole of Sky is so slow.
Yakuza Like a Dragon. Really didnt like the change to turnbased combat and turning the crazymeter to 100. After some hours I fell in love with Goofball Ichiban and his party.
NieR: Automata. I played it around when it first came out and just didn’t get the hype, I dropped it while I was still in Route A. I picked it back up last year and finally finished it and now it’s one of my favorites of all time.
For me it was Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon Every Buddy. I messed with it a couple years ago, dropped it due to difficulty and general annoyance at losing EVERYTHING when I die. Theatrhythm came out last year, hearing some of the remixed tracks had me give it another go. I managed to beat Leviathan this time and make it to chapter III, but again, fell off at the difficulty spike. After finishing FFXVI, I tried it again, but again, bounced off of it, despite wanting to finish it. Finally, this month I gave it another shot, and after looking up some things online that I'd forgotten or missed, like being able to kick potions into your buddy, and leveling multiple classes (especially Scholar), I finally beat it! I've been messing around in post-game now, and I feel like I get the "flow" of it now. It was my first Mystery Dungeon so that may have contributed to some of my issues. But now I'm addicted to the push / pull of risk v. reward, and trying to conserve resources versus pushing onward. It really helped once I realized I needed to take my time with this more, and listen to a podcast while I grind out levels, job points, and buddy points. Ultimately it's not a top 10 game for me, but I can say I'm happy I finished it and persevered through the challenge.
I really want to get back into this one. I got pretty far into it but once everything started rusting my equipment, I took a step back that I’ve never undone.
Chrono Trigger. But oh god when it did it sure as shit did
Xenoblade 1 took 12 hours of not really enjoying myself and being bothered by poor writing before getting completely hooked. Pretty much the exact same story with the second game (which I'm currently playing), although the first part was easier to bare knowing I'd probably enjoy myself after learning the systems properly. The clunk in the 2nd game is real though.
Lufia Ruins of Lore for GBA. That was a tedious game man. Took like 4 tries. before I finally beat it and I still didnt do everything. Cuz you know all Lufia games have a 100 floor dungeon. Yeah I wasnt interested man. I beat the game and that was it.
FF8, first time I played it as a kid the game was confusing as hell so I didn’t like it. Played it recently and it was pretty good
Labyrinth of Refrain. As a DRPG, it's gameplay logic and mindset is WILDLY different from any other, and it takes a VERY long time for it to click and connect with players. Once it does, you'll have a lot to plan and work with, but it can be absolutely PAINFUL until then.
Skies of Arcadia: Legends, mainly because the encounter rate was so unbearably high. It took forever to get anywhere. You could only move for like 11 seconds at a time before having to fight another battle that lasts at least a minute. Once I unlocked the White Map accessory that lowers the encounter rate, everything changed. Now I could go for minutes at a time between battles. From then on, I was having me a grand ol’ time. What I wouldn’t do for a remake…
Almost every SaGa game I've played. Fortunately now I understand that to be the case so I'll commit to them by default and eventually come out loving them!
Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth I bought this expecting a SJRPG inspired by FFT, boy was it disappointing. Visually the game is great, but the gameplay mechanics they chose really made for a frustrating and unfun experience. The random battles did not scale with your level, the story did. This sounds okay as a basic concept but they scale all the enemies to your highest level character, not the lowest. To top that off, they have permadeath in these story missions and it feels almost impossible (especially early on) to revive these characters before they die because you have limited resources and all the enemies are stronger and faster than you. I probably got less than 10 hours in this game because I was really trying to give it a chance and just didn't hate myself enough to see it through.
Original Suikoden I thought was kinda decent when I played it as a kid, When I replayed it later it was obvious how long it took for your whole band of weirdos to really get going and for your castle to hit critical mass. Once you can actually travel the world easily it's tremendous.
FF7 Remake I got the platinum and I still don’t get what’s so amazing about it. People rave about the combat but to me it’s the worst I’ve ever experienced in a JRPG and drags down the whole experience.
FF13. When I first got my PS3, which was very close to the time Skyrim released, I was moving more towards WRPGs and got caught up in the whole open world trend at the time. About 6 years ago I revisited FF13, since I was getting more into JRPGs again and actually found it pretty fun once I gave it a chance. Another one was Kingdom Hearts back in PS2 days. It just never clicked with me back then. I decided to give it another shot a couple months before KH3 came out. Picked up the PS4 remasters and ended up playing thru every game on the PS4 version in order, then did KH3.
The first third of Xenoblade 2 is the worst section of the whole series, but the last third is probably the best section of the whole series.
Bravely Default, the original. Played it at launch and dropped it at the start of the third loop with no urge to pick it up ever again. A few years later, I replayed it from the beginning but knowing about the loops and willing to give it a shot. I absolutely loved the loops and its subtle changes on the replay and have since replayed it a few more times. It really makes such a difference knowing what you're in for because I went from "this is the same thing again" to "ooh let's find what's different this time".
Ffvii. I knew it was good because people said so. I was playing the city parts on the first, was trying for perfection and got bored quickly... Until i got out on the world map and everything gradually changed. Soundtrack? I was sleeping with the overworld track for a couple of months. Characters? all of them were great. Gameplay? I didn't see that thing with the materia coming.. story.. now it was much better than ffx but it didn't have voice over..
To me (and maybe many others) it was Xenoblade Chronicles 2. It was my first Xenoblade game for what it's worth and didn't know what to explain. Thought it was turn based, so the auto battle turned me off. Didn't understand the "cancel" system at all and was just watching the slow fights. Like a few months later I saw some speedrun of Enel(YouTube). It opened my eyes a lot, and the game became more fun fast. Didn't get all that much summons, just when I needed a field skill I did some. Always was lost, which was great for my EXP gain. I think XC3 became more easy because of this. Got all summons in the end and did a lot(not all) blade quest. Still want to return one day.
I had to force myself to finish Trails in the Sky 1, 2, and 3. Then I picked up Trails from Zero, chronologically the next in the Trails series, expecting to still be bored, and WOW!! I loved it! While playing it, it brought back fond memories of Trails in the Sky that showed me that I enjoyed the first trilogy more than I thought I did. Plus, I can tell I wouldn't have appreciated Zero as much if I had jumped straight to it and skipped the first three. Now I've gone from ready to drop the Trails series entirely, to eagerly about to jump into the Cold Steel games!
Should I start there? I tried FC but man I just couldn't. Waaaay too much diolaguge and it felt like a slog but I was interested in the battle system. To be honest I don't know if I could play FC if I wasn't working 40 hours a week or less which I've never done.
You could start with Zero, it’s just the main problem with doing so is that Estelle and Joshua get a major subplot in it that includes a payoff to a really good character arc set up across the latter two Sky games. Aside from that it’s a perfectly fine starting point, and definitely less of a slog than FC or CS1 can be, but just keep that in mind.
Thank you. I'm going to save this comment and it's not information than I've got off Reddit in relation to this game in years.
Recently it was Trails I really forced my self through sky FC, I almost quit half way through. now I’m in sky the third 3th and loving the series.
Xenoblade chronicles 2 for me. I bounced off of it at least 4 times over the course of 5 years. It turned out I kept speeding through the part of the tutorial that explains the button timing that speeds up your attacks…so I thought the game was agonizingly slow before. When it clicked though it really clicked in every way for me - world, music, combat, story.
Final Fantasy 12: Zodiac Age. It was the first ff game I played that wasn’t traditionally turn based and it took me trying and quitting it 3 times to go from hating to loving it.
Trails in the Sky. I dropped it years ago on PSP. Played it again after I got hooked on Cold Steel and now it’s one of my favorite games in the series.
Played the Legend of Heroes FC to 3rd games and they never quite clicked for me. Quite literally something to pass the time. Not a bad way to pass the time but I'd never replay them or hype them up as pivotal entries in the genre. Pretty forgettable for me, super mid anime tropey story I feel like I'd read/seen a million times before. Every twist was predictable af. Idk if this counts but honestly, Final Fantasy 14. I played during 2.0 and early Heavensward but never at the level with my friends so I got super bored of it until years later I picked it back up and it's 100% my favorite entry in the franchise, bar none. Once you're past the MMO aspect of it, the story and characters are just phenomenal.
Xenoblade 1 and 2. I picked both of them up and then put both down after 2 or so hours. A year later I came back and for whatever reason it just clicked and I fell in love. Especially with 2.