10 JRPGs That SURPASSED My Expectations 4

[@10k-Noodles]

Xillia’s my favorite Tales. Funny to see this vid the day after the GTA6 trailer because I got GTA5 the same day as Xillia.

[@kevinmccullagh5558]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 absolutely blew me away, it was first entry in the Xenoblade series and wow it was amazing, in my top ten of games ever! The battle system was a bit weird to start with, but once you got the hang of it, it was exceptional. Great video as always Eric, take care 💎

[@CompassIIDX]

I finished the first game, X, and am about twenty hours into 2. I have NO idea what the hell is going on in the battles, lmao.

[@steve.nighthawk]

For me it was Nier Automata. I expected it to be decent, not to be blown away by how amazing it was.

[@ICgay4]

Weerrk, I haven't played it but have em and I am sure they will be awesome

[@kumonojuza5583]

I had the exact opposite experience. I was already a big fan of nier and drakengard and I expected nier automata to be amazing, but it ended up being one of my least favorite games in the series

[@xxJing]

​@@kumonojuza5583I think it's possibly because Automata is by far the least depressing of the series. It has it's depressing moments. But if I were to rank the titles in terms of depression D1 gets a 9/10 D3 gets a 10/10 Nier Replicant gets an 9/10 Automata gets a 6/10

[@vulcan4d]

I hear this a lot but I tried playing it 3 times and find it tedious and boring. Just can't figure the fascination but heck might not be for me.

[@ltb1345]

I thought Nier Automata was gonna blow me away, but it ended up just being a really good game. Ys VIII, which I'm close to beating, is basically what I thought Automata was gonna be.

[@TIDbitRETRO]

“Master Detective Archives: Raincode”. The visuals, the varied gameplay, the clever puzzles/mysteries. The game has honestly blown me away.

[@manamaster6]

I remember buying the Club Nintendo magazine here in Mexico and reading about Tales of Tempest, waiting for it and never getting it due to it not leaving Japan. I hope I play it at least once in the future, but my backlog of JRPGs is busy nowadays and not much time to play them.

[@NadiaRayne]

Playing Nayuta right now, and I LOVE it so far. Great action RPG mix of Ys, Zwei and Gurumin.

[@metalrob6713]

For me, the jrpg that surpassed my expectations was none other than Yakuza: Like a Dragon. I never thought that Yakuza game could work as a turn-based jrpg game, lots of cool fights, a job system which is really good to dwell into, and great main lead character who's also a fan of jrpg's. Yakuza Like a Dragon, will always be one of the BEST jrpg games that I've played.

[@Mosashi_EX]

Never thought collecting cans can be so fun 😅

[@DatBoiSaint]

Same I completed this game so easily but I felt it sluggish to progress through the other Yakuza games. I was disappointed when the newest Like a Dragon wasn't turn based.

[@minhphanbao6795]

@@DatBoiSaint Because the current latest Like a dragon is a "Kiryu game", not Ichiban, so of course they go with the traditional brawler like previous ones. Next game is Ichiban game again, so you will get those turn-based goodies again. I know I will enjoy it, after playing the demo.

[@THESUPREMEDJ]

Xillia definitely in my top tales of. It deserves a remaster or at least a re-release

[@anthonygerardotorresgonzal6269]

Alongside Mi Personal Pick: Velvet Crowe. Milla Maxwell has the same chances as Lloyd and Yuri to become the Tales rep. (If posible) for a Future Super Smash Bros. DLC / Game.

[@cactusman07pim]

That´s a nice feeling. It makes you all euphoric and exited. Octopath Traveler II did that to me this year.

[@sunekoo]

The tactics ogre level cap wasn’t in the original versions. It’s new for Reborn

[@matthewwolf5528]

As someone who recently played many SNES-era JRPGs for the first time, Phantasy Star IV was MILES ahead of its time in terms of storytelling, and the gameplay held up well due to being well-balanced (albeit somewhat difficult). Another JRPG I played recently that pleasantly surprised me was Suikoden 1. Despite the simplicity of the dialogue, it told an exciting story with stakes and consequences, and the gameplay was buttery smooth (outside of inventory management, which was a nightmare). It got me so hyped for Suikoden 2 which people say is even better.

[@zangy3748]

Finally someone on KZbin I find by chance who gives Tales of Xillia the recognition it deserves. I only bought a PS3 to play those games xD And well, I didn't even know about most of the games on the list minus Star Ocean 2 which is my favorite game since childhood and Nayuta since I am a fan of Falcom for about a few years now.

[@ivanbluecool]

Tales games surpassed my expectations as xillia i was thinking it was gonna be some school thing but no it actually was fun snd gave character development as the story flower not like most games where they need some big moment. Also the luke hair cutting scene is way better than dagger

[@Kyle81290]

Tales of Xillia is my favorite Tales ever, it has the best combat system of all the Tales I've played and it makes me so mad that Bamco refuses to port it to PC.

[@kumonojuza5583]

imo xillia and especially xillia 2 have the most fun battle systems in the series

[@Kyle81290]

@@kumonojuza5583 Ludger with that 4 weapon swap mid combo was sick, and the Arte use in general feels super smooth compared to future Tales games

[@Cyrus_Bright]

What a coincidence, I just finished Nayuta myself and I absolutely loved it. It's no Trails level of storytelling or character depth but it was insanely enjoyable. The music also blew me away, felt very Sky the 3rd and Zero inspired. Which makes sense given the game was developed alongside Zero. Oh yeah, and has a lot of fuel for crazy theories involving the main series. Lmao.

[@Manu-vm4wb]

Thanks for showing Redemption Reapers, I am intrigued by it

[@Demi-kid]

13 sentinels. Wasn't expecting this game to be that good.

[@predarek]

For me it was Ys VIII. I know everyone says it’s good, but I didn’t think it would be that good!

[@ltb1345]

Same.

[@redstratus97]

Xenosaga 1 for me. That game made me seek out and buy the other 2 games. This was before 2020 when the prices weren’t that bad.

[@natev580]

Ahh Phantasy Star 4... It was the first game I ever played on Genesis and it has a special place in my heart. Except those sandworms...

[@oddeye9640]

Phantasy Star 1-4, Lunar Silver Star Story, and Shining Force 1-2, are free to play on iPhone. :)

[@nuxcreativeworks]

I wouldn't have known about Redemption Reapers if it wasn't for this video. Thank you! Definitely something I'll be picking up when there's a sale.

[@Trigg_arte]

Tales of Xilia is still my favorite of the Tales series.

[@Krelen107]

End music is Scorching Fault! What an amazing song! Thank you

[@cwatz1221]

Tactics Ogre might have the best story ive ever played in a game (law path), not to mention the ability to jump around the paths afterwards. One of my all time favorites.

[@yoquesejeje3510]

Thank you erick for all your information , i play many rpgs thanks to you. hi from argentina.

[@cheekyphuzz_thegod8558]

The music from the Langrisser remakes sounds so badass

[@crucibleraven]

I played Nayuta for so many hours. I love that game. Even got myself the collector's edition, something I rarely do. It's one of the best games I've played this year.

[@10k-Noodles]

Tactics Ogre did pretty well. Triangle Strategy did well. Maybe we get a remaster of FFT and it does well. And then I can finally get a new Vandal Hearts. I remember playing a fan-made(?) third game back on ps3. But it wasn’t the same. First kill in the original Vandal Hearts when you see the ridiculous amount of blood that squirts out is amazing.

[@DS-ld8ns]

i went to game crazy to buy the game as a kid with my bro and we didn't know how to say the name Ogre and appariantly we were both dyslexic and asked for Tactics orgy.

[@binnybros]

Loved the beach level music from xillia so much

[@vitorhenriquebatista]

Nice list! Let me see some JRPGs that I consider much better than I expected: - Valkyria Chronicles - in the Top 10 of my life. I was expecting a good game, not a masterpiece. - Valkyrie Profile 2 - played before than the first one. Never heard of the series by the time. - Shadow Hearts Covenant - played before than the first one. - Drakengard 3 - Automata is the game of my life, but here I became an Yoko Taro fan. - Tales of Graces - my second favorite Tales game and few people consider it one of the best. - Persona 4 - my first SMT game. It blew me away. - Like a Dragon - my first Yakuza game. I didn't expecting that mix of drama, comedy and great gameplay.

[@deatho0ne587]

Tactics Orge: He talks about hating the level cap and liking the only one that has a level cap. I like the graphics in Langreser remakes, but I did skip the battle animations.

[@lahujehu]

i played tales of berseria as my first tales of -game. I think it's a pretty depressing game, and didnt even finish it. Didn't think much of tales of xillia, but once i started it, i just devoured that game, and it instantly became one of my favourites of all time!

[@JesusChrist2000BC]

Most of Tales Of fans myself included find Berseria to be easily the lamest and worst game in the franchise. They ruined the combat and the story is wack. Glad you found Xillia and liked it. The rest are all much better as well.

[@Mnemoniforma9.00]

"TEACH ME ABOUT BAZONGAS!!!!"

[@manamaster6]

Cutscenes in Tales of Xillia are 100% more badass with the RayBan shades on.

[@xquad973]

do you have the limited edition of tales of xillia i want it

[@JetBlack2024]

I forgot all about redemption reapers. It was something I thought of.

[@lnsflare1]

From what I recall, Nayuta is just a remastered port. As far as I can tell (I'm roughly a third of the way through the nation story on the remaster Street having completed the game previously on the PSP), the platforming hasn't changed and all the quality of life features that you mentioned were present in the PSP version. I think that it just manages to click with your better the second time around, which sometimes happens. EDIT: Though the new toggleable High Speed Mode dies name running through Remnant Island when you aren't in the mood to speak in the armosphere is a godsend.

[@ZealPropht]

Thanks for another great video!

[@Grind24hours]

Erick Landon is pure genius, man. I didn't have any expectations about Ni No Kuni wrath of the white Witch, and I couldn't lay the game down! The battle -system and the bosses were great. Right now I am playing Final Fantasy 4, Kotor, Pillars of eternity and Dragon's Dogma Dark arisen. I will maybe obtain Disco Elysum. Grind on, man!

[@xxJing]

Story-telling is by far the most important part of a JRPG to me. Having played masterpieces in JRPG storytelling like Suikoden and Xenogears has left me a bit critical of a lot of JRPGs. So fan favorites like Tales of Vesperia or Symphonia tend to fall flat on me because of their comparatively one dimensional characters and contrived scenarios. The trails in the sky series really caught me off guard though. It had storytelling, world building, and character development as good if not better than the likes of Full Metal Alchemist and Hunter x Hunter. Not only that but the games were really long just from pure story telling. In the same fashion Harvestella surpassed my expectations. I thought it was going to be Rune Factory. The farming was inconsequential though and honestly the game ended up being sort of like an indie feeling Nier Replicant which I really loved.

[@greatstrife]

I've never heard of Redemption Reapers! I'll have to check it out on switch.

[@keithjohnson4420]

Everyone talked so good about breath of fire 3 and 4 which are in my top ten of all time, but no one every talked about breath of fire 2 being good . So when I played through it , man was I pleasantly surprised.

[@Mosashi_EX]

Nice ! I’ll have Redemption Reapers & Langrisser 1&2 on my list then.

[@erikplayerone]

Have you ever played Digimon cyber sleuth? Or any of their RPGs in the series?

[@RidiculousThoughts]

Currently playing Nayuta and boy am I becoming hooked! Very shocked how much I like it, considering I mostly like party based RPGS. Also playing Harvestella, which I am calling an unofficial 'Xenoblade" game...that game is so surprising and not what it seems.

[@stephentrader9142]

I couldn't get into nayuta. I feel like Trials of Mana does what it tries to do better.

[@RidiculousThoughts]

@@stephentrader9142 Yes, Nayuta is very dated...you have to love Falcom style in order to really enjoy it.

[@chrisglare6354]

Great video as always!

[@zephyrealderan1743]

This may be something that you've already looked into, but have you seen the games by developer Rad Codex? Voidspire Tactics, Alvora Tactics and Horizon's Gate. For me these are some of the rare games that surprised me at how good they were.

[@Aerisetta]

Tales of Xilia 2 is EVEN BETTER than 1 and it's tied best Tales game with Vesperia for me

[@riofernando9414]

Oh look it's the grandmaster from trails series

[@Metalhawk182]

Xilia is awesome

[@kumonojuza5583]

Probably the only jrpg that has ever surpassed my expectations was bof dragon quarter. Before i played it, i had heard countless times that it was terrible and the worst game in the series etc., but i gave it a chance and now it is probably my favorite ps2 era jrpg ever

[@naberiusbuster3489]

A person of good taste here! Erick doesn't like any remotely difficult games, and Dragon Quarter qualifies as one of those. Sadly most gamers fall on the incompetent side of the skill spectrum and a lot of great games wind up getting hated on for that reason.

[@chaos0000mike7]

There are some JRPG that I hope they bring back in the new Gen. Console... this is for PSVita players Freedom Wars, Soul Sacrifice, Ragnarok Odyssey

[@chroipahtz]

I won't die happy until Sega makes another proper Phantasy Star game. Nothing after IV is the same.

[@dungskie3335]

Xillia ❤

[@dcb6113]

Thank you very much for defending Redemption reapers man ! I am a big fire emblem fan but nintendo is forcing poeple to buy the switch so i cant so support fire emblem :( chibi disgea now chibi persona they are fun but i want something dark sometimes for a change, I hope Redemption reapers 2 is in the making we need adult AAA tactical rpgs. I love prep song 2 reminds me a bit of Nier.

[@rikiki]

I haven't played the Nayuta remake but I played the PSP before. It was a great game for me albeit with some flaws. Maybe because I am a big fan of ZWEI2. It played more like ZWEI2 more than the Kiseki series. Just the story is better developed than ZWEI2, but it also nerfted many of the interesting/fun things that existed in ZWEI2, but I forgive it as it is a PSP title n it's still fun. Now you've talked about it, I feel like I wanna play the remaster now!

[@TylerEdlin84]

Dude ever oasis rocks, no one talks about it.

[@Johnamekin]

Not Aerith....Alys Brangwyn is the first true tragic heroic or JRPGs. My childhood right there....wish they made another entry one of these days....1,000 years later....a familiar evil returns.

[@WrenIsPhoenix]

I see Alvin, I click

[@Solid--Snake]

for me is chrono cross, I expected a good game and got one of the best turn based rpg of all time

[@lordjosh9000]

The Star Ocean 2 remake is not easier than the OG. The animations in combat are slower and characters feel less responsive in general. The remake does have some nice QOL improvements but the combat is not one of them IMO. Grinding Tip: equip a "ring of avoidance", set Scouting to search for enemies, set everyone to "training" on, max out and turn on Bodyguard. Go to the "Trial of Love" and walk to the middle of the first platform past the Psynard. Now watch as you level up to 255 without touching the controller in only a few hours.

[@stephentrader9142]

It is way easier because of factors can literally make you invincible

[@lordjosh9000]

@@stephentrader9142 Farming the factors would take so much time. And is something 99.99% of players will not do. Especially if you wanted to outfit your whole combat squad, let alone your whole party. Probably talking about 10 to 20 hours of standing in a shop buying reform gems, magic film, and iron. That system is too convoluted for the vast majority of players. To really take advantage of factors you need to step outside the game and research the system and look up charts of which factors are possible on which gear then plan out what factors you want where ect. The whole process is so far outside the purview of the average player that I doubt the vast majority even know that they can be rerolled.

[@xRocketzFighterx]

Phantasy star 1 and 4 are awesome games but can't say the same for 2 n 3

[@Findyification]

xillia is THE best tales the music the story THE COMBAT

[@rasdan1192]

How to enjoy tales of games, disable character voices. Dear god they talk over each other in battle.

[@colinknowitall889]

star ocean second story on ps1 colour was better than remake...

[@rjproduction486]

For me the JRPG the surpass my expectation is Black souls (yeah that black souls!!!) At first glance it look like a very cheap rpg maker game with bad art style hentai. (Yeah I forgot to mentioned its that kind of game) But what Black Souls truly shines is the world building/lore and story! It can even rival my favorite soulsborne game in terms of story/lore which is Bloodborne!

[@igroteka90]

The only true JRPGs here are Death End Re-Quest & Phantasy Star 4. All the others are action-RPGs or tactic strategies.

[@skdns168]

Star Ocean Remake was the biggest disappointment for me. I love the graphics and the gameplay, never played the original but man, the story was so damn weak lol.

[@Vulpas]

Fjb

[@HellPedre]

I swear to god... Langerisser is the worst thing Ive ever played. A really mobile phone look and feel, non existent difficulty... cliche story, non existent STRATEGY on a tactical game... Theres NOTHING incredible about this games, no not even the metal OST!!! people, dont buy Langerisser games!!!

[@alecciarosewater7438]

The problems with Phantasy Star 4 is that it's not a good conclusion and it doesn't give you much to think about after. 2 has terrible gameplay but also a dark plot that sticks with you.. 4 doesn't feel like a proper ending because we never get to see if history ends up repeating itself nor does it followup to the ridiculous evil-earthmen plot introduced in 2 Sadly the fanbase of the online game gets upset when you mention a possible fifth entry. I guess they dont like interstellar adventures

[@tyfp3854]

Phanstay star rules! Final fantasy sucks!

[@soratheorangejuicemascot5809]

NieR Automata suprised me very much. I expected to be average but its actually worse. The level design in the game is really unfun, the shoot em up section is weak, the enemies are barely there, visibility is abyssmal, generic powerful parry system, boss are just too spongey and the annoying restrictions. Playing NieR Automata gave me bad impression of 3d action game.

[@DOGEELLL]

Just a worse bayonetta lets be honest

[@soratheorangejuicemascot5809]

@@DOGEELLL I havent played it yet. Bayonetta I mean

[@ahmedndanusa7446]

It's pronounced Zillia not Xillia

[@Zephyr_Weiss]

Red dead redemption 2 should be on this list.

[@nyarlathotep641]

while it's a great game, it still not a JRPG.

[@jfk4589]

If everyone had high expectations for the game, then that wouldn’t count since it wouldn’t « highly surpass them ». Also it is not a JRPG

[@fateslegacy]

Just wanted to say I don't like term Jrpg I think it can intrepreted as racist I heard other Japanese people say that too unfortunately, So EN people need using that Term just go back to regular RPG cause at the end of day that's what it is!

[@nicholasnajibi3082]

JRPGS’s are for women and children now. For reals.