7 JRPGs That Are NOT Beginner Friendly

[@jdrobertson42]

Back in the late 80’s, Nintendo often refused to port popular JRPGs to the west because conventional wisdom was that “Americans don’t like hard/complex games”. So the fact that Fire Emblem ended up translating hard difficulty as normal difficulty for an English release feels especially ironic.

[@lpfan4491]

Tbh, it is less crazy than the fanbase actually recently going "Oh, but it makes sense because the game was made a bit easier!"(Nevermind that it makes no sense because the general sense of difficulty is still intact, the endgame was actually made harder and FE8 was nerfed much more without normal being renamed "easy" and difficult renamed "normal")

[@Vugtis_El_VillaVODS]

FE Breaking Dawn too

[@drowningin]

Did Nintendo make many RPGs back then?

[@TheKisekiNut]

If I remember correctly, this is one reason why Mystic Quest was made. It was the first FF we got in Europe and it was marketed as 'beginner friendly' to broaden appeal for the genre.

[@codebreaker4866]

Yeah the Radiant games are far from beginner friendly as you can get. Recruitment could be difficult and oh don't get me started on Ch9 or any of the survival maps.

[@mistermastermeowmeow1385]

It's interesting seeing a younger generation playing SMT games and seeing 4 as one of the harder ones. A lot of the arguments in RPG spaces around the time it came out were people saying it was too easy and beginner friendly and often pointing to Strange Journey as the "real" SMT 4. Personally SMT4 and 4A are my favorite of the series so it's nice seeing people talking about it fondly.

[@SSBBPOKEFAN]

I'm gonna say that the lack of an Endurance stat really exaggerates the early game hell most SMT games have.

[@HandOn-c40009]

I find the real difficulty of SMT 4 is the timing on hitting the enemy with your sword, I thought I was playing turn based rpg not actual samurai action game where lack of reflex would cost you your life

[@Demonic0Jester]

@@HandOn-c40009 well or the random times when you can't finish off the enemy immediately and their turn is SMUG

[@Xpwnxage]

4 has a brutal early game but gets easier as it goes on, the opposite of the ideal difficulty a game should have. 4A nails the difficulty by progressively getting harder and the endgame gets excessively difficult, which is appropriate because of who the final battle is against. This is at the highest difficulty level for each game. 4 and 4A are my favorites because they're the first two I played.

[@makikuma91]

SMT IV brought me to tears...especially the minotaur. I loved it

[@biertje3734]

I am playing SMT V Vengeance, got my first ending and working on my 2nd one right now. It's kicked my ass quite a few times, but I am glad that it is the one to ease me in the series, while playing it I bought SMT III Nocturne to play in the future.

[@corey2232]

I'm interested to hear how you end up liking Nocturne with SMT V as your entry point. I don't think I could go back & play Nocturne these days, not because of the difficulty, but because of the tediousness of endless hallways & random encounters.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Nocturne is very different to SMT V. Less open, and fairly unforgiving. You learn to save constantly in that game, still great though.

[@cmhsky]

Totori's time management is crazy. Though you can ng+ it any time you run into the end date. Exploration equipment carries over and vastly helps cut down on time used.

[@yamatohime2035]

I would not say it was very hard but I could imagine it would be not really friendly for neophites.

[@dantelan-i-er5466]

It was the first Atelier game I played and I failed. I haven't played it since but will again one day.

[@always_serpico]

Resonance of Fate/End of Eternity is one of the only games with a reputation for being difficult, that I actually thought was. There are times where you have to perfectly implement every mechanic in the game to take out some of the bosses. And even then some luck was required. It’s a bonafide hidden gem.

[@Pokeeko]

True, thats truly a game that in all the emaning of the word, is difficult, be it in understanding what to do to the core gameplay in battles

[@Retro_Ra]

Definitely a difficult one. I temember getting too a dungeon boss and it was like fifteen levels higher than the rest of the enemies. It was a fun gum but was incredibly unbalanced grom time to time.

[@hiddenalien]

1. SMT 2. The Last Remnant 3. Atelier Totori 4. Baiten Kaitos Origin 5. Ys 1 and 2 chronicles plus 6. Star Ocean second story r 7. Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn

[@Vsm426]

Thank you the KZbinr is just being a jerk deliberately just putting numbers instead of names sneaky jerk

[@Negoya]

Great list! I‘d also add Chrono Cross and Resonance Of Fate. Love both games but it took its time to see through the complex battle mechanics.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Can't add games I've never played unfortunately!

[@statesminds]

I also said resonance of fate haha

[@TrollingKiwi]

Resonance of Fate definitely needs to be here. But I love it for how much it DID NOT CARE about me and forced me to learn on my own ❤

[@argylega]

Resonance of Fate was one of the first games that came to mind when I saw the title. That game is extremely convoluted. Not bad, but VERY confusing.

[@OwGash]

C-cross wasnt super hard

[@Pumatyger]

I feel like Unlimited SaGa would make this list in Spades. I consider it to be one of the hardest, most obtuse games ever released in the "JRPG" sphere.

[@Zero_Tester]

The Saga series overall isn't really that beginner friendly,especially the event system can be very confusing if not doing accordingly,also the Wizardry series should also make it into the list as well,if you consider Etrian Odyssey was hard,be prepared to see it ancestor Wizardry doing them hardcore style without modern QOL,alongside few other like Valkyrie Profile 2 Natural Doctrine Resonance of Fate Yggdra Union as well,because it was made not for the mainstream jrpg fan normal standard,and whole Heaven Dept series is always looking like an experimental game with niche following Phantasy Star 2 as well because the dungeon design lol Arc Rise Fantasia soley for decent difficulty on boss fight FF Tactic Advanced(the one with Law Card system because sometimes the Law system can be very challenging if you didn't make variety of team composition alongside skill Rondo Of Swords BoF Dragon Quarter solely because it roguelike element was very punishing

[@Pumatyger]

@@Zero_Tester Yep, all of those would make a solid addition to the list, though Phantasy Star 2 might be a little more forgivable.

[@Pumatyger]

@@carlos-x1z3p That's the point though, the video is JRPGs that aren't beginner friendly. If you have to play a game a handful of times until it starts making sense, I'd say that's pretty beginner unfriendly.

[@darmacannon]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@Zero_Testerhave actually played a lot of those, except for yggdra union, natural doctrine, and resonance of fate…..and thoroughly agree they could in most cases be called not beginner friendly….especially etrian odyssey 1-2….3 and later was a lot easier by far…..and fftactics adv was easy as long as you didn’t try to speed rush it….and had decent experience with similar games

[@darmacannon]

@@carlos-x1z3pff legend which came before romancing saga was even more brutal at times then the romancing saga series imo….

[@SirBanana1992]

Not mentionned (arguably not a JRPG but it has RPG elements and is a japanese series) but old Monster Hunter games. The games on their own are pretty tough but that's not the only factor. You have to get through some early challenges with a "tutorial" that might as well not exist. At most they tell you "you can gather stuff, combine and cook a steak, now go fight this angry dinosaur". You're expected to learn how your weapon works by trial and error, the old skill system is not explained and can result in new players having absolutely no active skill at all if they're not careful. You have a plethora of deep mechanics to get familiar with and no guidance for most of it. Some people complain the new Monster Hunter games are getting "too easy". They haven't really, they just started telling their players how to play, and the old veterans just carried over their already accumulated knowledge into future games. A rathian is always a rathian and will always try to uppercut tail slap you no matter which game you play.

[@AlastorShadow0]

I think maybe the newer Monster Hunter games are easier at least to me it seems like the Monsters die quicker.

[@codebreaker4866]

Nah. They aren't.

[@AlastorShadow0]

@@codebreaker4866 how many Monster Hunters have you played?

[@Zero_Tester]

@@AlastorShadow0 true,as the player that been playing it since the first PS2 title(the only gen i didn't played is the X360 and 3ds MH) In newer MH like World they literally got so many QoL upgrade that make the game easier,HBG getting buffed among other thing

[@alsoviperlicious]

@@AlastorShadow0 for real? I feel like when I watch my brother play each raid takes a hot minute even with the badass gear o:

[@Mimimo]

You forgot about resonance of fate my bro. that game was a mindblown even for veteran Jrpg, pretty sure it's not beginner friendly as it's not just hard but everything was confusing there until you are familiar with the game. Arc rise fantasia is one of them too, but it's only hard on bosses.

[@thedecembomber]

I beat Ys 1 for the first time last month. I did it on Nightmare, and I got to Dark Fact and was playing at 144hz... I beat my head against the wall for one whole night trying to figure how the hell to do it. I dropped my framerate obviously to overcome this incredibly difficult boss. SMT IV is amazing and Minotaur really does dine on your blood that wishes to mingle with the unclean. I love that game.

[@MidnightBlackandVictoria]

Your a solid narrator. Watched a couple of RPG videos elsewhere and I couldn't stand the way they spoke. Your style of narration isnt monotoned, or cringe. A worthy sub.

[@sevencoloredmage8726]

When you look at the global achievements for Resonance of Fate, you can clearly see the chapters where the difficulty spikes are.

[@Nakatomi_Kagehisa]

The difficult Spike in RoF doesn't happen until Chapter 14 which is around 90% in the game, before chapter 14. Most enemies are around Lv 40 Once Chapter 14 begins they all get in the mid 50s. Some of them being Lv 60+

[@neko_mimi413]

i remember Resonance of Fate was crazy hard for me back then… i never got past the first chapter

[@jekw23]

Same I played it and thought “wow look at all these mechanics…..I wonder how they work”. Ended up not finding out and dropping the game early. Probably more a comment on me than the game.

[@Surikoazimaet]

There is a reason you should visit the tutorial area early on in the game to embrace the John Woe balls-to-the-face kind of gunplay the game offers. (Soft damage with submachineguns, wreck them with permanent damage with other weapons, cross paths for going heroic ass kicking, etc. )

[@ZionistGundam]

Same i gave up after the prologue

[@qwirkt]

It’s fun once you read a bit on how to play, but brutal initially

[@KendrickJinn8625]

I still have no idea how that game was supposed to work, and lost my save when I changed PC. Maybe one day I will try it again.

[@queenniamh]

I don't think I necessarily agree with Ys I & II being beginner unfriendly! I played Ys I first time blind a few years ago with no prior experience with the series, and after about 3 minutes getting my bearings with the bump combat system, it felt really simple and intuitive. And it's true that the game doesn't tell you where to go as explicitly as newer games might, but I felt like going around the world and talking to NPCs gave it a really refreshing sense of discovery. Maybe I'm just an outlier! That final boss is an absolute pain though, I was playing at 120fps and was having a nightmare of a time before I looked up that framerate bug lol

[@thomasplummer8103]

Maybe it is that I was playing normal, or that I was only 60FPS, but I found the vampire much more frustrating than the final boss-not that the final boss wasn't frustrating, but I felt like the vampire had more randomness to it(as well as a criminally small hit window), whereas Dark Fact you could figure out his movement pattern.

[@nightwolf235]

Glad the last remnant is on it. This game is hard if you dont follow a guide or at least know how the battle system actually works. I followed a video guide on the game and enjoyed my time with it. But one playthrough was enough.

[@cmhsky]

If you played it on the 360, you could really easily lock yourself out from going any farther by grinding a little. I'm glad they changed it on their other releases

[@CannedTuna1994]

Honestly, The Last Remnant is the first game ever where I can't exactly wing it or instinctively know what to do and what to use X"D I've come across other games I don't immediately understand by instinct more as I grew older, but that confusion in my high school brain? I still rmb that till now LMAO X"D

[@nightwolf235]

@@CannedTuna1994 yeah it punishes the regular jrpg mentally of grind to lvl up. Plus there were skill level up mechanics that split between weapons, magic, item usage, then for the weapons skills their were the speed and power branches depending on the weapon that was being used. The random stat lvl up and the random move level ups to unlock new moves. Tied in with the BR rank where the enmies get stronger with you and then the guild rank for the quest. Plus not getting the good characters till mid to late game and the full party line up. Could really mess yourself up in the beginning if you tried grinding.

[@nightwolf235]

@@cmhsky did not know about that. Glad I played it on my ps4 last year ago or so

[@rodelcorton8815]

Ps one games were hard i remember playing alundra and got lost too many times for my own good but nothing frustrates me more than vandal hearts specifically the 2nd. The fact that enemies move as you do messes your strategy and some skills even need charging time so you really have to plan ahead to bit those enemies or else your attack will miss

[@joerittmeyer4490]

I would like to nominate Resonance of Fate as a certified controller chucker. It is not beginner friendly, or even veteran friendly. Its just not a friendly game and it will gruesomly punish those who don't master its game mechanics. Those who know, KNOW how frustrating this game is.

[@ZionistGundam]

True, gave up on the game i don’t understand how the gun turn/real time based worksss

[@qwirkt]

Ah the game where random robbers kill almost every new player immediately

[@mewimi]

It isn't too bad once you get used to it. Great battle system :3

[@preposteroussvideos]

The contrast between the topic and the peaceful music😂

[@bobbytagget5511]

Cheers for hyping me up to try Baiten Katos, still keen on giving this system a go one day.

[@JaredScott]

Good to see SaGa get a mention. Each game tries to add extra layers of obscure mechanics. I like it but it ain’t for most people

[@TheKisekiNut]

They're definitely not for everyone, it'll be interesting to see how the Romancing Saga 2 remake does.

[@JaredScott]

@@TheKisekiNut I’m predicting bad reviews because people won’t understand the mechanics. I literally watched hours of videos before playing Scarlet Grace Ambitions and it still took me 10 hours to find my sea legs. I haven’t had that happen to me since Lightning Returns

[@JC_Jowoco]

Oh. I feel a little relieved.. I bounced off of Atelier Totori when I tried that as my first entry in the series. Games with time management (even most lenient ones) induce so much anxiety that I just couldn't handle it and dropped it, staying away from the series for the most part. I know better now that there are better entry points, but I just haven't had a chance to get back to it.

[@Sonnance]

It’s kinda funny seeing Second Story R as the example on this list, since it’s probably the most beginner-friendly entry in the series. (Specifically the R version, since it basically gives you a cheat sheet for Item Creation, among other QoL changes.) But yeah, Star Ocean in general is *definitely* not a beginner RPG. In some ways, it’s almost a satire of the genre, mechanically, as it riffs on the gameplay conventions you’d expect and dials them to 11. But if you’re not already familiar with the genre, not only will the humor go over your head, but you’ll be completely lost regarding a lot of the systems.

[@corey2232]

I didn't know that the entire series was like that, as I only played Second Story R. It definitely wasn't difficult, as it gives you so many options to just trivialize the game. But if you were a complete beginner & ignored those things, I could see it being hard. I had to restart my play through because it got too easy, too fast with the skills that allow your party members to seek out enemies on the map & auto kill them, then just continuing to farm levels lol

[@Sonnance]

@@corey2232 Yup. The core ethos of the series (mechanically, at least) is that the games *want* you to break them. The exact “how” varies from game to game, but the games are kind of puzzle boxes where your reward for solving them is NG+ level power, even on a fresh file. Of course, higher difficulties are balanced around that, so your first playthrough is kind of the tutorial. It’s why the series typically doesn’t do New Game+, it’s not necessary. The only thing standing between you and NG+ level power is an understanding of the systems.

[@Zero_Tester]

@@Sonnance i dont think it was hard,the quest and secret might be hard to uncover with proper guide but the gameplay was pretty normal once you get hang of it,even the side game like SO2 Blue Sphere,i was able to finish it in mid 2000s before they had English translation underway

[@subtledemisefox]

It's too bad the two latest Star Ocean games were trash. I love the aesthetic and character designs of Star Ocean

[@gilded_lady]

SMT: Strange Journey for sure!

[@matteste]

Yea. Most SMT games tend to be somewhat easier after you get access to more resources. Strange Journey on the other hand is merciless all the way through.

[@HelLDeWs]

@@matteste oh god yeah SJ is rough honestly speaking of that to etrain odyssey also is a brutal time to.

[@WhiteFangofWar]

@@matteste Telling that the final bosses are the hardest. No Matadors here (although Oroboros might count), the climb stays consistent across the sectors.

[@AntonYadrov777]

That difficulty mess-up in Radiant Dawn always makes me chuckle. Not only they mistranslated them (rather, they did not rewrite original JP difficulty code), they _also_ broke PoR savedata import, so if you have a first revision NA disc of RD, it will always lock up your Wii (with the good ol' skull-cracking buzz) if you attempt to browse a GC memory card that contains an Easy difficulty savefile from PoR. They had to release a second revision disc just for that, recalling the first one from the stores. Some stores even agreed to replace your disc free of charge. Also, regarding your PAL copy- it does not emulate properly (guaranteed crash during battle preparations for the final chapter), but it does work fine on Nintendon't.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

SMT IV intro was really hard. Kicked my butt. Need to restart some day.

[@SlyHikari03]

Love the atelier mention, definitely my favorite series.

[@tsf9600]

Happy to see the Origins mention. That game is punishingly difficult at times but I really like how intense the combat feels. Regarding the MegaTen entry, imo Strange Journey (the original) is way less beginner friendly. Your main character is never going match the power of SMT III-V MCs but still is a game over if they die, the dungeon exploration can be quite challenging and the game never quite lets you break it like most Atlus games. It's just a generally difficult game from start to end with many challenges for the player, whether its maneuvering through the environment or bosses with game-ending gimmicks. Other notable JRPGs I played that are NOT beginner friendly include Arc Rise Fantasia, pretty much the entire Depth Heaven series but *especially* Yggdra Union and Knights in the Nightmare (the latter is just a Frankenstein's Monster of a game lmao), Valkyrie Profile Covenant of rhe Plume, Tales of Zestiria (due to its complicated and poorly-explained equipment system) and maybe Devil Survivor 1 (the original, not the remake)

[@Naryoril]

I remember that last Ys 1 boss... I was helplessly dying to it several times in a row, with not seeing any chance at victory. So i googled for tips, and then read about that framerate issue... i capped my framerate and 30 and the boss was an absolute joke... Speaking of which: This isn't the only Ys game with framerate issues. I think it was Oath in Felghana, where you need to double jump to get to the next area/dungeon, but that jump is impossible if your framerate is too high, once you cap it, it's no problem.

[@VanJ78]

For Ys 1 boss weird enough i capped it at 60 fps and only have 5 try (yes i know it maybe a lot for some). I think in Felghana when you jump to snowy mountain area, if the frame too much Adol will fall faster.

[@Mikiiiiiiiiiip]

I played it on my Psvita so i couldn’t cap frame rate. Took me an hour before i defeated that DVD pong

[@Legendalvin]

Why is this comment from 3 days ago ?

[@Naryoril]

@@LegendalvinIt's from the time span when the video was only available for Patrons

[@rebcommando587]

Boss fight was easy though

[@barban534]

Radiant Dawn on the Wii was putting your balls in a grinder and pushing through because you love the pain. Pushing through hard mode with my friends at a sleepover where we stayed up until 4 am to fight the final boss is a core memory in my childhood I've zero clue about any of the characters tho and I only remember the black knight and Ike.

[@maxwassermann3171]

Baten Kaitos Origins' combat is so incredibly good. It's such a shame that it was only used for this one game.

[@TheKisekiNut]

I loved the combat in Origin, but it's not gonna be for everyone.

[@tsf9600]

TFW the game literally fully heals you after every normal battle for free and it's still possible for the next battle to mop the floor with your party if you get distracted at the wrong time.

[@GeoBass_]

I've played through Last Remnant four times, spread out over the past 15 years. I always play it right up to the end, then decide I want to try to manipulate some different builds for certain characters, but by that point i'm too burnt out to do it right away, so I leave it for a year or two, then start over. I've played 100s of JRPGS over the past 30 years, and while I did also run through Suikoden 2 and Skies of Arcadia 4 times each, TLR is definitely the game I sunk the most hours into.

[@toddclawson3619]

Romancing Saga and other Saga games can be difficult if you aren't familiar with how they work. It was extremely non-linear compared to other JRPGS I had played before so I was often wandering around trying to figure out what I was supposed to do. The way you level up, unlock abilities, and how time actually passes meaning that you can't just take as long as you please to do a lot of quests meant I had a rough first playthrough. I eventually reached a point where I could tell that is just wasn't working, but I was having fun still so I actually restarted the game and used my experience to play much better and was able to beat the game. Once you figure all that stuff out though, it really is fun. Having multiple protagonists that you can pick each time you start a new game and the large cast of characters you can recruit gives you a ton of replay-ability. Each protagonist starting in different locations around the world also means you can do a lot of quests that you might miss on a previous playthrough. The music was also fantastic. I still have the boss theme "Wicked Melody" on my phone because of how good it is.

[@corey2232]

Interesting to hear you thought Baten Kaitos Origins was the more difficult of the 2 games. I haven't played them since they originally came out on GC, but I remember disliking how simplified Origins felt, especially in combat. It's been so long though that I can't tell you why, I think it had something to do with removing defense stuff (I can't remember). But after this video, I'm interested in going back & giving it a second chance!

[@TheKisekiNut]

I had way more trouble with Origin, it might have been due to the combat. The spikes in difficulty for some of the bosses trumped anything I saw in the first game.

[@chaossnowkitsune6377]

The Holo Holo bird I remember Having so much trouble with my first playthrough... along with so many others.

[@jdforeman79]

Digital Devil Saga 2 almost broke me. I got through the first one, but 2 felt so much more difficult.

[@Shain51]

DDS2, much like DDS1 is pretty easy to break if you're willing to grind atma for a diverse skillset for your main party members. Also, you have to have one bit of meta-game knowledge: make Gale and Cielo your main party :( Also, make Serph a strength build, and Sera a magic build (or vice versa) so that you have stupid stats at the end of the game.

[@sanshirovega9086]

+rep for that blue reflection tie BGM man, I really miss that game.

[@SmashTheAdam]

Beating Minotaur after getting beaten down like 4 times (Walter did NOT end it thus) after deciding to grind for a while, i was just happy that I got past the difficult early game boss and continued Then I got to Medusa like 10 minutes later

[@mintman3533]

Phantasy Star series, at least the first 3 I played. Games were insane with the grind.

[@drewtheunspoken3988]

Yeah, it was shock after playing Final Fantasy 2 (4) and then playing Phantasy Star 2. I was new to RPGs and Phantasy Star almost made me quit the genre. But once I git through PS2, I was in love.

[@strwrbttlfrnt]

Radiant dawn was my first fire emblem(played it when I was 8 or 12 can't remember) and I've never been able to finish the game still have it and will forever keep it cause it is my favorite but it is also the hardest and i would love them to do a port or remake of the duology.

[@TheGamingShelf]

I loved Totori but got so annoyed by the time mechanics. I’m so glad the series has gotten away from that!

[@geekintheshell6669]

I just beat YS 1 a few months back, my anguish is immeasurable knowing I could've halved the final boss' speed. Good to know about the Radiant Dawn thing now that I'm starting to get into Fire Emblem though.

[@alsoviperlicious]

YEAAA SMT4 AND 4A WOOOOO it kicked my ass when I first discovered it and so began my 100 hour journey I took those games with me everywhere! God I hope it gets a modern port and its well received its a hidden gem in my eyes but I wish it was a mainstream classic instead I went in blind and now I'm a real SMT nut

[@urmanascrewed]

Great list! I find SMT 3 harder than SMT 4 personally. The first dungeon is more manageable with a little careful grinding for sure!

[@wolffster25]

Spoilers Below: 7 - I honestly beat both bosses pretty easily I still don’t understand why they are hard. 6 - never played but I do enjoy minstrel song 5 - I’ve only played Mana Khemia I hope it gets a remake someday 4 - This is a case of the game being hard early on but once you get that one card you can make a combo that completely breaks the game like a twig 3 - I like the bump combat although fun fact Dark Fact is a joke in the TG16 version and the final boss of Ys 2 is harder but yeah GUIDE DANG IT 2 - yeah this game can be hard but you can easily break the game like a twig in any Tri-Ace game if you try to power through it you will die a lot. Instead you must use crafting to break the game also pickpocketing is broken steal from everyone. 1 - yeah that game is hard especially because the Dawn Brigade sucks but it has nothing on Thracia 776 all staffs have global range and the enemy loves its status ailments, you have to capture and steal equipment to outfit your army, and it has the single hardest recruitment in a Fire Emblem game Xavier.

[@studlytheknight]

I remember radiant dawn... it was the only fire emblem that forced me to completely ignore my normal style of leveling up the weakest people first. The end of the first story had a battle where you basically had to use the hero unit to survive but I was set in my way of never using the hero units (because they wouldn't level up very quickly)... so it took be forever to progress the game until I accepted my weakness and then steamrolled the enemy with the 1 unit who could survive the gauntlet... 2. I played about halfway through the last remnant then gave up because I couldn't progress with my current style (as you guess from the radiant dawn mention I love leveling up my characters). 3. Also... I played ys1 to the final tower then just gave up... 4. still playing star ocean 2... not given up on that one yet... 5. never played SMT 4 but 3 was quite fun. 6. (I would vote for most of the Valkyrie profile games for this list... 2 sylmaria was a crotch kicking difficult game... and the ds one had the get the good ending by not taking the easy route thing...

[@subtledemisefox]

I personally would have traded Ys for Resonance of Fate if I made this video. I beat them both on the TurboGrafx CD version and didn't find it all that difficult. Resonance of Fate, however, was the most truly BRUTAL JRPG experience I've ever had! It was an interesting and informative video though. I really want to try out some SMT games now

[@amandacosteris2162]

Omg I totally share the fire emblem thing! I was so young back then and I was simply not yet up for such a complicated game. I believe there was a part where you had to last with just two characters and I simply couldn't get past it, but also couldn't go back. Simply dropped the game after that

[@TheKisekiNut]

I remember dreading playing as Micaiah because she was so squishy.

[@strwrbttlfrnt]

I thought bronze weapons were the strongest weapons in the game. ​@@TheKisekiNut

[@renegaderaven3777]

I’m currently playing Start Ocean First departure R and I’ve also hit the issue that I’m not using all the underlying systems and my team is lacking. Will have to check out all the crafting systems and what have you.

[@KirbysPVS]

I got interested in Ys by playing Ys Origin. I decided that I enjoyed it enough to play the serious chronologically... Ys 1&2 almost threw me off entirely, but I enjoyed the story enough to push through the dated combat system, and I'm glad I did. Ys is now one of my favorite series, with Lacrimosa being my favorite in the series

[@burtblando8806]

I would add Arc Rise Fantasia. I enjoyed it but a first playthrough is difficult, especially bosses. There's a plot-mandatory boss that will kill your party on the first turn if you don't know exactly what you are doing.

[@uppernimbus]

Yup, the SMT games are the perfect definition of JRPGs which are not beginner-friendly 😅 Awesome list my dude, some great picks!

[@SeanTxty]

The last remnant is so sick once you know everything important to know which you won't find within the game lol. It is actually quite difficult if you want to do all of the sidequests, the missable mid game super boss is very very hard.

[@statesminds]

Resonance of Fate/End of Eternity was super tough to get into lol

[@jekw23]

I want to give it another go as I dropped it pretty quick after getting mightily confused. Good looking game though.

[@NadiaRayne]

Ah, Radiant Dawn. I guess it's time to tell my personal story of this game once more: In 2013 I found this game randomly in a Gamestop for a steal price of 30 €. Idk anything about this series, just was interested since I liked Ike in Super Smash Bros Brawl. It was very first (round based tactical) JRPG. My first impression was to ragequit in 1-3. One year later...I decided to give his game another chance. I could finally beat this game...and this was the door opener to this series and RPGs in general. It is my FAVOURITE and also by far most played game of ALL TIME for lots of reasons. Many people consider it is hard, and yes, it's not really the best game to start the Fire Emblem series, let alone being a sequel, however I think it's mainly because of the first part. The Dawn Brigade including their main character is fragile and the Game Over conditions are frustrating for being very specific. Still if you got used to it, it's a wonderful game! I yet have to beat a bumping Ys game, but the boss fights are so frustratingly hard for having a bad timing in attack the right spot at the right time.

[@Dragnerful]

I Love The Last Remnant but the game is brutal in what it expects from you, clearing the game is challenging enough with all the curveballs in difficulty spikes but it even baits you late game with some premade unique characters that you think are very good but they actually mess your rank making the game HARDER for you unless you know what you are doing, then is the optional bosses that are utterly brutal and require of you getting the cachexia skill to even have a chance, and getting that skill is very hard (most players wont see a character learning it because of mixed formations making hexes impossible to level to that amount of uses without grinding that is...bad as you say). Is a game that needed a sequel to iron out the combat system that is very close to being amazing, no JRPG comes as close as making you feel like a commander as this game does. Another frustrating thing about that game that is hilarious for me is that you cant even equip your characters normally, they will ask you for materials to build their own equip and they can fuck up their classes and end up WEAKER or some characters will ask for unique materials of other characters that you are using and lock their progression if you dont say no to certain request.

[@marktaylor4603]

The problem by many RPG's is not the Story, the hard/most unfair battles and all that what has to do with, are frustrating. Alliance Alive and Edge3 of Eternity are named for this, they take me the fun to play it, cause this battles.

[@animesjogoseseriesclassica8282]

The things i like more in jrpgs ARE exploding a interesting world and building up my characters. This is why as much as i love the lore i cant see myself playing those stress inducing games like Fear And Hunger.

[@shaundensmith8938]

I might put tales of vesperia on here. The sort of hybrid combat system can be hard for experienced players to wrap their head around much less a RPG rookie

[@eeeeee-u6q]

The 7th Saga should be on here. One of those games that people know about purely because of its reputation and yeah, it is really hard. Localization tried to make it a bit more difficult than it originally was but ended up going overkill.

[@ShadowBasch]

SaGa games definitely belong on this kinda list. Really love all of them though and are very rewarding once you get into them

[@stevenhoog1]

Excellent work. Other games I felt were especially difficult was Xeno-Saga. No handholding.

[@ShadowBasch]

I finally 100%'d The Last Remnant remaster last december. Totally avoiding fights was actually what made the early playthrough a massive pain for me. I took a years long break from it, longing to come back and beat it. Once I stopped worrying about battle rank and just progressing, it became an amazing experience. Tracking missable sidequests was a major pain though, haha :)

[@Llortnerof]

That might be because doing so is not actually needed in the remaster. They changed Battle Rank calculations so you no longer hurt yourself by fighting the wrong enemies. That and you can build vastly more powerful formations since you're not limited to one named character per squad.

[@DerTendou]

I found Star Ocean First Departure even harder. It's all fun until you are on the Sylavalant continent. I played it without a guide and many abilities are hidden and you don't know about them until you learn them and even if you get the abilities to craft better gear it's very obtuse to create good gear without a guide. The gear you buy in shops are terrible and the enemies wreck you. Because of the lack of explanations I forced myself to look up things which I hate with a passion. Second Story R is at least kinder and has better explanations when spending the ability points.

[@richardmethot7195]

@kiseki, wondering if you use a steam deck, if so can you do a video with jrpg on a steam deck and how they run? Love your stuff man big fan! and I appreciate you getting me into the Tales games!

[@TheKisekiNut]

I don't have a Steam Deck, but I probably will go for one in the future. I'm a shut in most of the time though, so I have no need to leave my PC!

[@Sero-e1n]

I think the first rpg I ever found legit hard was the Trails series. Have you ever-*sees your channel description* Nice. XD

[@practicalitv]

YES!!! Finally someone who knows the greatness of Radiant Dawn. It was my first Fire Emblem and easily my favorite as well.

[@NivraNabru]

ser, what are your thoughts on the buy/sell prices on CEX, is it fair? as Gamestop already shutdown a year ago im still hesitant in buying or selling games on cex.

[@TheKisekiNut]

I don't sell games at CEX, but I think their prices for buying games are decent. I got a CIB Skies of Arcadia Legends for like 80 quid, online I'd be paying double.

[@LightsolP]

Star Ocean is a "guide required" series. The other option? Prepare to spend HOURS experimenting with Item Creation, and you'll probably miss tons of combinations due to one-time-only items and such. I broke the spine on my Prima Guide for the PS1 version, because I had to refer to it so much.

[@Armongorest]

They changed the crafting system in SO2R so that its much more manageable to figure out what you need to do. That said, I feel like its odd to include it on this list because the crafting system and skill system is so much better in SO2R that it feels like you'd have to intentionally not look into it to miss out on anything from it...

[@Nikita_Akashya]

Oh yes, RD. That game is hard as Gehenna. I didn't even get past chapter 1 when I played it on hardmode the 1st time. The game has a lot of early game lose conditions and if you don't train anyone in Part 1 then certain chapters in Part 3 get a heck of a lot harder. And I love the Dawn Brigade. They are just such a nice little family unit. I adore them so much. Eddie is my favorite. This game is so not beginner friendly that most new players probably got softlocked a few times. Like me. But I actually got the true ending and the special epilogue once! Not on hard though. But I did it! It just rook lots of meticulous planning and making sure I followed all the steps and did everything correctly. It was hard, but good.

[@fragarach]

last remnant screwed me over because of my love for grinding too much on mobs 😂 oh you put in totori too, holy crap did I make a mistake of playing it as my first atelier game because of how hard it was for a newbie to the series

[@robdiquattro5590]

Last remnant left me properly confused. Smt4’s early game is relentless!

[@giuseppeparry1365]

I always thought Atelier Rorona was considered the hardest Atelier game because of how strict it was, but I haven't played the whole thing so I couldn't be sure.

[@VileGlory]

Rorona can be strict if you're trying to do everything in one playthrough. If you just do the main quest, it's not that bad.

[@Tetrium]

I actually found First Departure R way more spiky in terms of difficulty than Second Story R. Surprised to see it on the list!

[@obake6290]

I do have to agree with putting Totori on this list, despite it being one of my favorites of the series. While just beating it is not terribly difficult, trying to get some of the endings - especially the true ending - is extremely time-constrained. I played the through the game many times getting almost every ending, yet even following my own notes and a walkthrough I never was able to get the true ending. I didn't know that the last boss of Ys 1 was harder on higher framerates, so I beat it at 60 fps. It was frustrating, but I remember it being frustrating on the PSP as well which I assume only ran at 30 fps, so whatever. Tying game mechanics and especially physics to frame rate is unfortunately a pretty common practice even today. It's the modern equivalent of tying game speed to processor speed like in the old games of the 80s and 90s. I wish devs would find a way to divorce their engines from unreliable clocks like these, but I don't know enough about programming to know how difficult that might be. I'm not sure whether I agree with the Star Ocean pick or not. Players not using their skill points sounds like a PEBKAC (or more likely PEBCAC in this case) issue. But you might have an argument for players not picking the RIGHT skills. There's a lot of options, and some builds will have an easier time than others. How much easier or harder would determine whether I'd call it "beginner unfriendly" or not. The other games seem like reasonable enough picks, but I have little to no experience with their respective franchises.

[@itsmemeg96x]

I always think Trails in the sky is not an ideal beginner one😅 when my husband was ‘courting’ me, he asked my favourite game ever and I said trails in the sky! So he bought it and he said I’ve started it in ‘nightmare’ mode 😅 and then 2 hrs later - I’ve restarted it on normal and it’s still tough 😂💜

[@Whelp140]

I just finished ys 1 2 and origins I can't believe I slept on those games for so long

[@lavayuki]

Shin Megami tensei is definitely really hard, even for veteran JRPG players let along noobs. I find that most Atelier games are super easy, but the Arland games are all hard. Lulua was probably the easiest without the time limit, but the alchemy system is so complicated, had no clue what was going on and I died a lot. Compared to Dusk, mysterious, ryza and marie, Arland demands more planning, time management and an understanding of the alchemy rather than just making random stuff, which you can get away with doing in the other games

[@ajzn97]

Actually, I only 3, SJ, 4 and 5 are what would be considered hard if you don't engage with the systems and play it like a normal RPG by grinding. On the other hand the first three 1, 2, and If are very easy games. The Megaten series was only debatably hard during the PS2 era. But it has to do more with how you approach the game either by playing it as intended or just grind.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Lulua's alchemy system is too complex for me, they tried to do too much with it.

[@navi2710]

I love The Last Remnant. This game has so much stuff under the hood.

[@sirbradfordofhousejones]

Yessss radiant dawn. Love that game so much. The Tellius games are amazing.

[@DolFunDolhpinVtuber]

I found Ayesha to be the hardest Atelier game. I only have 75% trophy for it. I can always try it again sometime to see if I can get the rest eventually. I have a Platinum for just about every Atelier game, I really love that series. I think Firis might be the easiest for beginners. You don't really have to have top tier equipment to beat the main story, no real hard bosses in the main story, only optional bosses like Palmyra.

[@shiki232]

Honestly, once you beat ys 1 chronicle, given how you can attack on diagonals and get magic, ys 2s combat will seem easier, though with a lot more variety obviously

[@drowningin]

Any SaGa game. You literally have to play them until you figure out wtf you are doing then restart and begin a real play through that isn’t screwed up

[@yozzu5101]

Maybe final fantasy tactic,ogre battle can join this list

[@drewtheunspoken3988]

I haven't played Tactics Ogre, but FFT was a massive leap I difficulty for me. I played FFVII but had never played a tactical RPG before, and it took me a loooong time to learn the systems.

[@looney1023]

SMT4 in particular is such a cruelly difficult game right from the beginning. It winds up mellowing out considerably and becomes one of the more fair entries in the series but damn those opening hours will make you quit early on lol

[@XionSteel]

The Arland Atelier games are just brutal in general. I played Rorona back when it came out on the ps3 and it dead ass make me quit the series for a solid decade. The time limits you had didn't seem that bad on the surface with you having a month to do the request, but everything takes time to do, travelling to and from a location can take 2-10 days, gathering takes time, crafting takes time, it adds up quick and if you don't account for it and miss the deadline you just game over (You also had to level your units and collect odds and ends in other locations you forgot to grab last time for upgrades/missions and such so you had to be everywhere and no time to do it all, the game actively works against you in that respect). The ps3 version also had plenty of bugs which also included randomly erasing saves so you had to have multiples for it, or else for no other reason that saving before a deadline and not having finished the task creates an impossible save file. The DX versions on steam fixes the bugs and has the qol dlcs but they are still hard as balls. 100% can't recommend the Arland series to anyone new or old. Imo if you want to play something with deadlines then Mana Khemia or the dusk games are best, if you want no deadlines and just want a comfy exploration and crafting game, then mysterious (sophie), and secret (ryza) games are best.

[@VanJ78]

Atelier Arland games are my first atelier games i play it on PC, the gameplay Rorona it's ok game even though i feel the game have no story and Totori it's neutral feeling of the game when i play the game, this game have a lot of travel and i kinda forgot why Totori become Adventurer until on last year of the game.

[@Suikojunkie]

Very dope list. I’d add tactics ogre and Strange Journey

[@andrewmiller5126]

You can add Agarest War to that list too.

[@gluttonyfang6674]

Is the Star Ocean 2 Remake harder than the one in the PSP? I remember no-braining it as a kid and completely obliterating every bosses with nukes and shit. The only hard part I remember was the arena one because I am probably still learning the game.

[@jimkirk2527]

I loved Last Remnant when it came out. It kinda was a time where JRPGs where dead so it was a welcome game with great graphics. Also happy that my First Fire Emblem was Path of Radiance

[@kuvjason7236]

Nahh, we need a sequel for The Last Remnant. I played the shit out of it as a teenager. Banger bgms

[@Reviver25]

I only played Smt IV and it was hard omg. Finished it but it took a while for the final boss. I have FE and Baten Kaitos Collection here to try. 😮

[@brand12855]

Have anyone here played Atelier Ayesha, honestly the "opening" was stunning, just for that and premise of a world dying or in the bord of colapse makes me wanna play it, but I'm not that sure if I'm going to enjoy it, I have never play an atelier game, but seems like a good start, gives me ur opinions.

[@BenBom2013]

I did play the last remnant, I didn't completely as it is got harder as i play on, and i never fully understood how the battle system work, but I did like the game, may give another try in the future. As for Ys1 and 2, I can agree with you, it is dated and I did having a hard time beating the final boss but it wasn't that boss giving me a hard time, it was bat boss. There are a small window time that allow you to hit it and it took me so many try to get it, develop did said it was a mistake to create like that. I did glad they kept that in newer version to show everyone how BS that bat boss is.

[@joeherrera8826]

Radiant Dawn was no joke my god I don't even know how I manage to beat the game. I hated the missions with Micaiah because she was so weak especially the part where Zelgius had to protect her against a unit of thieves and it was only them two. The final boss which is the goddess drove me crazy because you had a ton of dragon units on top off battling the leader of the dragon clan and the goddess herself was a pain.

[@FlyingFocs]

It’s odd, while playing Second Story R, I never found it that hard (except for the carrots). Then again, there were several “wait, I could’ve done THAT the whole time?” Moments in the game, so… yeah.

[@anonymousmeatloaf]

SMT: Strange Journey's final boss made me question what was I doing with my life. Decided to finish college after that game.

[@Selnathorn]

I never finished the psp version of Star ocean 2 because 1 late game boss just took no damage. Did I do something wrong? Pretty sure I did, but I also didn't see a way out of that predicament so I ultimately dropped the game at that point

[@Thtambitiousguy]

Real talk this whole video could have just been SMT games lol I died in the tutorial fight in SMTV vengeance on hard mode 😂

[@BBCGreanOnline]

Resonance of Fate is the game I found quite brutal. The battle system is very unique and the game will punish the players hard if they do not understand how the system works quite early in the game. It's a fun game though once you get through that wall. This game is definitely not friendly for a newcomer.

[@jamesrule1338]

Love Ys I and II. Would love the remakes to be on Switch.