7 JRPGs That Only GET BETTER

[@davidvinc]

More than HALF of the people that watch my videos aren't subscribed! Let's change that and hit 100k by the end of the year! Twitter! x.com/TheDavidVinc Patron! www.patreon.com/davidvinc

[@SuperSupersoda]

If you want to know why I watch your videos and am not subscribed to your channel, it's because of shameless stuff like putting the GOAT best girl on the thumbnail to your video and not including Trails in the Sky in the video, like I fully expected. Bait and switch and shameless false advertising is how you lose subscribers, my friend.

[@jacob7718]

I always felt like leaving Sue was a huge betrayal in Grandia. I mean the poor girl goes with you more than half way across the world before he's like.. oh you're tired? yeah.. you're too young for this. If it happened some time before you cross the wall it would have made more sense but damn, she's must be among the most seasoned adventurers in the world at that point!

[@bongatumtum]

Top 10 RPG Betrayals

[@ThomasstevenSlater]

What you don't like suplexing trains!!!!

[@rubrub5132]

Xenoblade 2 starts and is rough, but the late/end game is so ridiculously good in both gameplay and story that it nullifies any flaw or critique i have of the game. Scaling the big final dungeon gave me such a high, from it's combat encounters, visuals, music, story beats, character moments, all the twist and the penultimate boss. And as icing on that 10/10 cake, you get the bombshell final chapter opeing and final boss speech and ending. By the end, Xenoblade 2 had established some of my favorite heroes and villains ever, one of the best soundtracks and settings, and probably my favorite combat system of all time.

[@teneleven2818]

I disagree on FF 6 issue. It’s great getting magic for everyone but their abilities make them unique and blitz can replace magic a good amount of the time. Plus I think Sabin’s section was the best of the three. Sabin carries my party practically the entire game.

[@owlyus]

I have kind of the opposite opinion of you on FF6. I love the beginning parts, and I think something gets lost once you get to the WoR and the amount of character-specific text decreases

[@Masterom2000x]

The Trails Series is truly the Marvel Cinematic style universe of a game series. Never thought a game series that long could write a story so great and cohesive.

[@b00g3rs21]

It really is, they made such an insane lineup of great characters and you can honestly jump in at the start of any arc without really missing much. But it's always great when you see characters from other games pop in or get talked about. Can you believe we're only halfway through what they have planned?

[@R3GARnator]

@@b00g3rs21 Bullcrap about jumping in at any arc. The cold steel games spoil a ton of twists in the Trails in the Sky games. Like, who is the prince who helps Rean? Their is a whole epic scene revealing their identity in Trails in the Sky games. But that is ruined if you played Cold Steel first.

[@b00g3rs21]

@@R3GARnator Nah I totally disagree, I started with the CS games and went back and played the others and enjoyed it thoroughly. You can tell there's backstory to Olivert but that's also true of characters like Sara and Sharon too, who are new characters for the CS arc.

[@R3GARnator]

@@b00g3rs21 It completely ruined the surprise, it was such a well constructed scene too.

[@Vaquix000]

@@b00g3rs21 If it's actually only half way through they're shooting themselves in the foot, since when something is too long the story loses steam. I've watched the whole series since trails of sky (even the ones before that story started, started all the way back with dragon slayer) and in every game there is SO much they could take out that only serves as time wasting. So many required quests that are incredibly minor like solving an incredibly dull crime, combined with an absurd amount of dialogue they take so long to get to the damn point that the games are a chore to get through until the end where they remember that things actually have to happen in an rpg. If they cut out all this padding these games would be a much more memorable experience. However, it seems that making them this filled with padding is a business decision because they want to make a long series and this series would not be that long if they took out this stuff. Plus the fact that no good character dies (unless it's a flashback) makes it feel like I'm watching an anime show for kids that can't handle the concept of death... they'll make it ridiculously kid friendly like that but then have absurdly messed up things like Renne's backstory (why would you even put that in your game) so who the hell are they even targeting? Kids can't see things like Renne's backstory and adults will find the fact no one ever dies to be too childish. I'm at Trails of Cold Steel 1 currently... I'm assuming the "no protagonist or other good character ever dies unless it's a flashback" rule is still in the next games, would be happy to be wrong but I doubt it considering how the series has been. There's never any tension because of it, kind of hard to make an "epic adventure" story without tension. I thought Trails of Reverie was going to be the finale or something, but then I hear that's the halfway point which sounds absurd and sounds like milking the franchise as much as possible. Hope they back off from that idea and are more interested in giving the franchise a good ending then just caring about dragging it on to be a certain length.

[@brandonlow]

I'm a simple man, I see Trails and I click. Even if it's only bait.

[@Metaphysician2]

Ironically, I don't... because I try to avoid spoilers about games I haven't played yet. Now, once I've caught up on Trails... *ahem*

[@animevivaciousstudios3015]

Same here bro 🥹

[@4jandsons]

My man! DQ7 is one of my all time favorites. Couldn't agree with you more. The start is slow but once you get the jobs opened up it opens up so much. Great video as always.

[@davidvinc]

Thanks so much! I love the game, but I have a safe file kept for right after Dharma so I never have to do the introduction again LOL

[@4jandsons]

@@davidvinc Smart. This is my comfort game. Up until 3-4 years ago I played this start to finish once a year. There's something oddly calming about the combat in this, the grind doesn't bother me. But ya, start at Dharma is smart.

[@bobjoemac1]

Dragon quest 7 is crazy. Like I enjoyed the ps1 slow build. Really makes you feel like you truly are the only island in the world... but I was shocked to discover like 20 hours in that I was about to unlock a job system... insane some RPGs are only 20 hours long Dragon Quest 7 doesn't even allow you to customize the characters until you'd be finishing most other RPGs. And I find breath of fire 2's "opening" much slower then 3's. The amount of times you have to go back and forth between the old man's house and the mountain was insane.

[@tachikazetyler2916]

So glad I found your channel! Your positive attitude and genuine excitement always get me hyped.

[@davidvinc]

Yay! Thank you!

[@DragonKingX78]

I like the beginning part of BoF3, would love to be able to play that game on current systems.

[@gustavomenezes12]

me too. I actually prefer the beginning over the end. Same with grandia.

[@acidwizard6528]

Can a modern Playstation not play PS1 games? Did they not include backwards compatibility? I don't know a lot about Playstations obviously.

[@ElCoco1984]

A remaster would be great on steam deck.

[@veghesther3204]

NO only the PS1 PS2 and PS3 can play PS1 games the PS4 IS STUCK with PSN only Digital versions if the games and the physical copies won't actually work that's why in order to actually PLAY Dragon Quest 7 PS1 version ONLY the PS1 PS2 and PS3 can play it if your NOT playing the 3DS remake of it.

[@acidwizard6528]

@@veghesther3204 Thanks for explaining.

[@NeoLotex]

Trails in the Sky FC is also a good example. You go out into the world to do things that could be considered boy scout tasks, but then it gets good.

[@Brayniac]

It's funny, I always really liked Chapter 3 in Dragon Quest IV. Back on the NES something like running your own shop was pretty novel, but mainly it was how you became functionally invincible once you had the Iron Safe and never lost money from game overs. Actually the chapters before 5 in general I liked a lot because you had full party control, so reaching 5 and losing that was always a bit of a let down.

[@dilbert719]

I'd point to a different Final Fantasy: II/IV. It's easier nowadays, with things like the Pixel Remaster allowing for running and auto battle, so you don't have to fully grind your way through all of this nonsense, but the arc of the early game is "two competent characters until the first boss, then one vanishes. Solo character for a bit, then an escort mission. One functional magic user joins for a bit. He leaves, and now it's an escort mission with two worthless lumps. Finally you get a second worthy character, then a third, oh no, they're gone. Here, have a couple magic users, but now your main character's useless. Now everyone get back to Baron, where for the first time you feel like you have a functional party."

[@DaniAchmat]

Legend of Legaia,Wild Arm, Chrono cross,Brave fencer Mushashi ,Jade Cocoon, Thread of fate and Suikoden

[@Dhalin]

Legend of Legaia I would heavily agree with. Most of the first chapter is slow AF, your team feels so weak and it takes forever to grind and your attack bars are short which means you only do small little combos... but in the 2nd and esp. the 3rd chapter, you get way cooler looking attacks and it's just more fun in general.

[@acerimmer8338]

Practically all of the Suikodens start very slow.

[@MrBud85]

Baten Kaitos is still my favorite plot twist of all time. I can't imagine many catching on before the big reveal

[@Alpha4Sierra]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 by far. Starts of very tropey but evolves into one of the most complex JRPGs ever.

[@jealousagain783]

Besides the Trails teaser, I have to mention Tales of Graces. It’s another one with the “childhood arc” that I believe you can skip, but you wouldn’t want to do that on your first (and potentially only) play through. You’re rewarded with what is still my favorite Tales battle system so it’s all worth it.

[@bandrew1442]

This is a great list, I've definitely had games that didn't grab me in the beginning but that I ended up loving once I really got into them.

[@davidvinc]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@andrewbunch2394]

DQ 4 is one of my favorite games of all time, but DQ 7 was outright painful for me.

[@uppernimbus]

Amazing list David! I've never played all the way through EarthBound, as the beginning really was a slow crawl. I'll have to revisit the game in the future and actually beat it!

[@kewoshk]

Dropped by to comment that I really appreciate the timestamps :)

[@davidvinc]

Thanks so much!

[@TheInverseable]

For me its secret of mana. You spend FOREVER in gaia's navel but man when you leave it and get flying does it open up into a beautiful game.

[@JeanKP14]

The game is also pretty damn difficulty until you get three party members (and still is. but.)

[@TheInverseable]

@JeanKP14 gotta spend so long power leveling in the witches forest for that dumb tiger boss which is by far the hardest boss in game

[@OtakuDeju]

I feel that Grandia's biggest flaw was the placement of Manna Eggs. Story wise, I can see why they did it that way, but I really just feel like it caused the grinding strategy in the game shift gears at the wrong time. Bof 3 felt like the game was trying to encourage you to get things done and out of the way early so you don't mess up your later strategy for game play, but most gamers couldn't take a hint so they kinda screw up the early game play. I don't feel like it's the gamers fault, but it off sets the flow of the game until much later when you kinda align with the right flow of the game and it feels like a pace you can be comfortable with. I think that DQ 7 is similar as well. The game feels like it has a slow start because you are supposed to press on ahead and not waste time backtracking so that once you unlock the Dharma Temple, you can get some job classes done before you get level capped. But in reality, if you didn't know that was coming, I guess it would feel unfair. But the game was trying to hint at something, so it did feel like the pacing was wrong. So one Grandia should have been distributing Manna Eggs at the very beginning of the game and more than enough for every character before crossing the wall. Then, randomly distribute for those missed earlier. BOF 3 should have changed the way the Master system works and made it easier for monster skills to be gained so to avoid so much backtracking. DQ 7 needed to be more lenient with the job class level capping. Getting to that point was hell to begin with. So yeah you really should be able to grind some before the job class, but then you are capped from progressing the jobs further because your levels were too high. Really sucks until you get to disc 2. Sorry, other games on this list I haven't played thoroughly enough to know about. One game on this list I had never heard of before. That's unusual for me.

[@wererat42]

I remember Suikoden V takes a LONG time to get going (lots of cutscenes, lots of walking back and forth between cutscenes) but once it does get going it doesn't stop.

[@DragonKingX78]

I love the party split story part of FF6.

[@makasete30]

Yeah, me too. I remember Super Play magazine raving about it in their review as something not seen before.

[@acerimmer8338]

Agree w/ everything here... EXCEPT FF6! The start may not have the gameplay hook, but the storytelling, character building, world building and humor are marvelous and really pull you in. To me it has one of the best opening acts of the FF series.

[@TheWorstPartyMember]

Honestly, as I've gotten older and more impatient I consider most JRPGs I play to have slow starts. But usually sticking with them is rewarding...usually.

[@Dhalin]

The worst thing about Taloon's chapter, is trying to get someone to sell one of those special swords to the shop at the beginning of the chapter so you can buy one yourself, and hopefully it happens AFTER you have enough money to actually pay for it, since if you open the shop afterwards someone else might buy it instead. But if you can just but get your hands on that awesome sword, the rest of the chapter is fairly easy.

[@Inzoum]

You can refuse a customer until they leave, so you keep the sword in stock. I think I’ve had to say no about 50 times once, but they always eventually do leave.

[@Inzoum]

About DQIV, Torneko’s chapter. It’s one of my favourites because of how its narrative is structured. You realise that working 9 to 5 at the weapons shop doesn’t really pay all that much, and eventually just give up on it and see if you can maybe just start going out and finding other ways to make money, and then the game throws TONS of item drops from even the lowly slimes, which you can use for yourself or sell for MUCH more money than working at the shop can earn you. It does not take long to get a few levels and for adventuring to be much more efficient than shopkeeping. If you ditch the shop and head off into adventure, you come to the realisation that the world is full of opportunities if you only dare to venture out, and by extension, so does Torneko. It’s only a slog if you insist on sticking to the merchant aspect of the chapter, instead of embracing adventuring. It’s one of the chapters where I feel I can best transpose my own decisions onto the character’s development in a meaningful way. It’s brilliant.

[@jedirayden]

Kingdom Hearts 2, my favorite in the entire series. FF6. Breath of Fire 3. Ironic you mentioned Dragon Quest 4 David. I didn't mind Chapter 1 or 3 of that game, I actually disliked Chapter 2 and 4 the most. In Chapter 2 it's largely because my strongest character (Alena) is hampered by equipping weapons, which as a kid was really counterintuitive and in Chapter 4 it's because both characters are primarily magic users, which NEVER suits my taste in RPGs. I need at least one brawny warrior for me to have fun killing monsters. Either way though, I thought the chapter mechanic was a very unique approach and it was an interesting way to handle the idea of "character development" since Chapter 5 gives none of them any sort of arc, and they're just kinda "there" once you find everyone. And 4 remains one of my top 3 games in the series. 🤷🏻‍♂️ Great video though. Always love hearing your thoughts on the games we both grew up playing.

[@davidvinc]

Thanks so much!! I happen to like chapters 2 and 4 the most, mostly because you actually have a party, unlike 1 and 3

[@jedirayden]

@@davidvinc totally get that too. Even though I can't control them, Chapter 1 gets more fun (and easier) once you get Healy. And I always hire the two "mercenary" characters available in Chapter 3. I will say that I liked Chapter 3 a lot more as a kid than I do as an adult. Probably because getting up and going to work as an adult is everyday reality, but as a kid playing Taloon (Torneko) it was an interesting novelty 😂

[@Dhalin]

Once you "figured it out" about Alena and not equipping weapons (except for claws), the chapter is a lot better, but I suppose if you didn't realize that early then yeah it might be a bit painful. The magic sisters... the chapter has a bit of a slow start, but the healer is a decent-ish physical attacker once you get her a few levels and buy her a decent weapon. It's just, starting out, it takes forever because the weak monsters don't give you much of anything and a chain whip is like 550G and it takes forever to save up enough to buy it. But once you do, you can handle stronger stuff and the rest of the chapter goes way better after that.

[@jedirayden]

@@Dhalin oh yeah, we're talking about a game I played 30 years ago, give or take. I just meant when I was a kid it wasn't that those chapters were particularly difficult for me, more so that I didn't enjoy them as much. I've always preferred warrior archetypes over mage archetypes in RPGs, so as a kid on my initial playthrough, not knowing what the purpose of the Chapter system was, those chapters in particular were more of a slog to get through on an enjoyment factor. Upon reaching chapter 5 and discovering that I'm going to be gathering up my characters from the previous chapters I was excited to go collect all of them. But thanks for the tips nonetheless. Appreciate the spirit of camaraderie.

[@JeanKP14]

Healie saves Ragnar's chapter for me, but with party chat removed from our version of IV DS, it makes it less bearable. Replaying it on phone i had a blast getting as much Healie dialogue as possible lol

[@resellingwithjon]

I think the best and most extreme example I can think of is FF13. The entire main game is linear as hell and not all that fun, but the postgame content is incredible and some of my favorite RPG experience. It’s too bad it takes 40-50 hours to get there, but absolutely worth it. I think I probably put another 60+ hours in postgame.

[@Bullman422]

Getting through the first Area of Grandia Xtreme was a bit of a slog-fest/steep learning curve and you only had one save point in the entire game. It wasn't a great game but once you got past that point it got better and I loved the battle system.

[@althyk]

Secret of Evermore was a pain at the start.

[@xen0rpheus]

Great video David! The best example of a JRPG that only gets better is Xenoblade 2 : the beggining is slow, not very interesting, the characters seem childish and even a little bit cliche, the combat is very slow and I know a lot of people who dropped the game during the firsts chapters, only remembering those tedious aspects of the game, along with Pyra's ridiculous breast size... 60 hours later, this is one of the best games ever : the characters are the best in the series (heroes and antagonists), the combat system is my favourite of all time, tied with Xenoblade 3's : the more blades and abilities you unlock, the best it gets and the story is exceptionnal with "SPOILER" the moment where Klaus explains how and why he created Alrest and the connection this world has to the one in the first Xenoblade is legit some of THE best worldbuiling in ANY RPG and let's not forget about the beautiful ending with "One Last You" being the best ending song I have ever heard. This game was completely worth it and I will always remember my experience with this awsome game, this is my favourite game in my 2nd favourite series ever (Xenoblade).

[@acerimmer8338]

Thank you for the spoiler warning! I'm one of those that just dropped the game after 10 hours for the reasons you stated. But reading all the comments here has motivated me to give it one more go and push thru.

[@epicjuicebox]

I play through FF6 about once every year. One of my all time favorites!

[@cjcobracommander84]

In general I think Dragon Quest games fall under this category some slower than others to start out but all progressively get more engaging and epic. I especially like 12 that one takes you on one hell of a journey.

[@ficamnuzone7052]

For me its -Final Fantasy xii (from using basic attack command to full costumize gambit sistem) -persona 4 (intro is long as hell and then suddenly boss battle) -FFVII (midgar section is dragging until the openworld stuff)

[@webslinger325]

I love that someone exists in the same world as me. 😂 Love you man. We share and adore the same experiences in life. ❤

[@davidvinc]

Awww thank you so much!

[@LucasZero64]

Totally agree with Dragon Quest 4, I get that the introductory chapters were a novel idea for an NES game where character development wasn't much of a thing yet, but in the modern day these sections really drag. Old Dragon Quest is fun for me because of the big maps, and that you can figure out where to go from talking to NPC's and exploring, but DQ4 doesn't let you do any of that for several hours. It just means I'd rather go back to DQ3 if I'm ever in the mood to play one of those games.

[@deatho0ne587]

BoF 3 - the last couple of areas sort of sucks FF 6 - at least has a story in the first part EB - has always been boring to me for some reason, maybe just need to forget about everything beefore Paula DQ7 - I could not get through till it was on 3ds? game was just so much faster than the PS2 version DQ4 - The first four chapters are still my fav part. Actually dislike the later chapters, do wish the chapter 3 was better to be fair. I can think of several games (mostly games from the last 20 years) that started out as pure trash and ended out as something good. Most of the ones you said I do not think are that since most are just good.

[@pacocelli]

Radiata Stories. I cant remeber if David has talked about this game before...I feel like he has, regardless, amazing ps2 game that has one of the longest, slowest, mundane intros in a game. Literally hours. However once it does open it, it takes things to another level and is hard to forget. With 2 fully different playthroughs/storylines/encounters, as well as an insane epilogue, I recommend it to everyone.

[@crono_8398]

Ive tried earthbound and cant do it. I cant even beat the first boss. I want to give DQ7 another chance but i struggle w dragonquest too. I hate the resurrect method of DQ. So tedious. Id pick tales of symphonia. I thought id seen it all in RPG s by then and it surprised me. Ive played all of them, in english anyway.

[@jameshamilton6381]

Taloon's chapter was always my favorite... especially if you grind for the sword of malice at the start.

[@b00g3rs21]

Such a nostalgia trip, these games are all amazing!

[@MomIsCrying]

DQ 4 is my favorite because of the different stories. love the vid

[@rwm4768]

I love Earthbound. I enjoy replaying it. Every time, I dread the Peaceful Rest Valley. Onett can be tough but manageable. Then you get to the Peaceful Rest Valley, and the difficulty spike is insane. Really, the game is rather easy once you get past there (except for the department store section in Fourside and Magicant).

[@badboy-gn8fu]

jrpgs are best type of video games imo!!!

[@StarDragonJP]

I don't disagree that the first dungeon in Dragon Quest 7 dragged on a bit, but it was setting up the story. It's just 2 kids having an "adventure" that real kids could and have had, before finding some magic thing that sends them on a real adventure. It also introduces you to aspects that are important to the game while in a safe environment, solving puzzles, and finding puzzle pieces

[@b00g3rs21]

DQ7 is easily one of the most addicting titles in the series, the 3DS remake was perfect, really needs a new port

[@veghesther3204]

WITH The DLC dungeons intact but gotten OFFLINE since eventually the PS4 PS5 Switch WILL SUFFER the same Fate and the 3DS/Wii U so eventually the servers for PSN or the E shop on the Switch will eventually shut down permanently.

[@julioagua]

For me it is Xenoblade 1... at first it only seems to be a side-quest-athon and it only gets better after you meet Melia and Riki.

[@redmagelala]

I would have replaced BoF3 with Xenogears or FFX, but otherwise, I agree with this list. FF X doesn't really start for me until AFTER Luca and the sooner you get to Nortune in Xenogears, the better.

[@NemesisOwl]

Your worst part of Final Fantasy VI is my favorite part in all of gaming haha

[@beau-urns]

I love early earthbound. It’s so peaceful and I loved the arcade

[@lorderoks]

i totally get the frustration at torneko's chapter, but i liked to see it as a little proto-recettear, and the opportunity tt make TONS of money with those cautery swords, hehe.

[@jonathancook1731]

I agree Breath of Fire 3 is rough for the first section, but I enjoy the split scenarios of Final Fantasy VI and the chapters of Dragon Quest IV.

[@timmer919hep]

i've tried getting into DQ7 a bunch. I have the 3ds remake. Damn it's tough to get into. I wanna like it so much but it takes soooooooooooo looooooooooong to get to having jobs n stuff.

[@Baldri83]

I liked the merchant in the last entry. But I am a sucker for those. This was absolutely mindblowing back in the day. It gets repetetive though.

[@CandiBookCorner]

I absolutely loved playing Torneko Taloon’s chapter when I played DQ4 a couple of years ago. 😅 The novelty of the character himself carried it for me. Unfortunately he was less fun as a party member, so I benched him in favor of Alena, Kiryl (that absolutely broken lad) and whichever of the twins I needed more

[@MH-fe9hr]

I loved Chapter 3 of DQ3! I thought it was a pretty unique game mechanic for the time. Who doesn’t love a shopkeeping minigame 🤣

[@eliasisthegreatest]

My pick would be Cold Steel 1. It was my introduction to the trails series and so I was not immediately invested. However by the end I had fallen in love with the game and am working on finishing the entire series.

[@thehoff3189]

I always did Sabins arc last because as a kid I did feel the drag. As an adult I enjoy it alot more

[@femtrooper]

Dragon Quest IV is great! I loved it! Dragon Quest VII is one I still need to play, but hopefully soon!!!

[@rudidellama3718]

I actually disagreed with you on Grandia David, the first 15/20 hours or so were perfect pace, after you cross the wall the game felt all over the place, some part were still good, but others just drag and didnt add a whole lot, not to mention that some dungeon start to get a little to big fo my taste

[@rensro2138]

Game is a solid 8.5 but it starts to drag when Gadwin leaves

[@YoshMaster]

Grandia is absolutely a game that is sooooo much better after a few hours! I thought I wouldn’t like the game at first back when I first rented it because the first ~10 hours are really slow.. once you start playing with the eggs it’s so much better!

[@hysteria2k9]

I love how the first half is happy adventure time, then part 2 takes a dark turn.

[@Jake-X23]

I really need to push through the beginning hours of grandia, I always check out every time I try but I’ve heard it’s a really great game

[@alfredocoimbra5532]

I understand why you chose dragon quest 4 as number 1. Chapter 3 is a very broken Chapter and you could easily max out on tokens for the casino ahead of time for liquid metal slime equipment. Hope you're having a great day David 💛

[@eliechaya9690]

Love from Belgium 🇧🇪 ❤ I loved BOF 3, my first one of the series. I disagree for Grandia, is in an absolute Gem from the beginning to the end

[@willsinfinitelibrary8311]

These are some excellent games, I've played 5 of the 7 and they were all well worth it!

[@Maesterful]

Wild Arms for me started slow but soon became one of my favourite games of all tiime

[@zibba1331]

Good video here…a few thoughts: 1) DQ7, i never played the original version and i STILL think the start is too slow. Cant imagine what it was like on PS1, no thanks 2) DQ4, i dunno…young me really liked the setup and discovering the new parties. Although i agree that taloon’s chapter is tough. 3) FF6, yikes…i admit it is hard for me to say it does anything wrong. Thats a bit silly, i know, but i love this game. To this day i enjoy that early section where people have “jobs” before espers turn everyone into the same character. A great character, mind you 😬

[@RomanJr316]

I agree wholeheartedly with Dragon Quest 7. I like it but that start was very slow. Another one that starts off very slow but I still enjoyed and loved when I started to pick up is Trails of Cold Steel 1

[@sanondail1999]

The first Xenoblade, took around 15 hours to click for me.

[@gogochloechannel2284]

Hi David! I fully agree with earthbound ( quit halfway just not my thing) and ff6 (beginning is way to depressing with all the grey/black and brown color palet) But i really really feel that the 7th saga should be in the list. Better said i think 80% didnt even play the first 10% of the game because it was to hard. But once you get going its actually is a brilliant game

[@drewtheunspoken3988]

For me (the games I've played) the list is Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts, Tales of Graces and Star Ocean 3.

[@tepasgame]

Its nice to hear qbout retro rpgs. At least ive played most of them. I agree with final fantasy 6. Never really got hooked up yet. Friends tell me to keep going until the world of ruin. Still need to do it.

[@cactusman07pim]

Interesting subject. I´d add *Octopath Traveler* to the list, once you gathered all the party members for path action abilities and do some side quests the game realy gets going, but that takes a lot of time, trail and error and a bit of grinding.

[@rensro2138]

Rare disagreement with you David, I think Grandia's first half is the best part because everything is fresh, by the second half the game drags because you've already seen and mastered the battle system for a while, less great character introductions, etc.

[@dylanpeddle6859]

FF6 is a really great game. Not my absolute favourite of the series but its definitely up there. I also would love it if either the Zenithian trilogy get remade in either the hd-2d style or in the style of DQ11 as well as DQ7 get remade or remastered even though i don't see that one happening anytime soon

[@swilliams21231]

P5R. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to finish the game. But judging how I completely gave up on non-story dialogue at about the 40 hour mark and even passing the 50 hour mark and still only being through like the 4th palace, I would assume there is no where to go but up. This game can’t possibly drag more in the second half than it did in the first.

[@gregtuff4020]

Definitely agree with FF6. There's so much hype for it but it does take a while to get there. Just finished it this year and I finally get it

[@nwz6084]

I don't think pre-magicite is lame. the pacing is great and the content is fun. The problemis that you're ENCOURAGED not to level so you don't miss on Magicite level up stat bonuses. The best way to play(or replay) FF6 is playing the best romhack for the game that has QoL changes and even extra fanmade content for postgame.

[@daveb0t82]

Great picks!

[@psykofreac9188]

I certainly agree with Final Fantasy VI. When I first played it over a decade ago, I didn't really like it and definitely weaker than the other Snes and Playstation FFs. But recently, I gave the game another chance and just finished the Magitek Research Facility and certainly liking it much better. The first few hours were repetitive battles mostly just spamming Auto Crossbow, it only got somewhat better with the first Ultros fight and finally got legitimately good with the war of Narshe. Still some balancing issues, Tools, Blitz and Bushido are still pretty overpowered but not as much as early in the game and the battle concepts became much better. I certainly already like more than IX but it still has a ways to go before being as good as IV, V, VII, VIII and X. But then I still haven't finished the game yet so maybe.

[@HybridAngelZero]

It's funny that several of the games listed here are also in my very top tier of favorites... guess I like a slow burn xD

[@GordonGordon]

Hahahah. Trails.. What a slow burn for the first game, but it was a delight once i told myself to just enjoy the world, to slow down. Then the games take you places!

[@deyon100]

The Legend of Heroes is personally my new favorite series. It's just so well made. It's definitely the One Piece of JRPGs.

[@jbrehm11]

Yakuza:Like a Dragon has multiple hours of long cut scenes before you can start the core part of the game

[@fangytasuki]

I stopped and started playing steins gate like 20 times, then BAM, EPIC SHIT

[@Matthew7772005]

Wonderful video. Thanks David.

[@davidvinc]

Glad you enjoyed it!!

[@adamclark8994]

I have to agree with Dragon Quest VII, despite how long it is and boring sometimes it does get more exciting towards the end. So it pays off.

[@mo_musashi_284]

Especially for new game plus, Trials of Mana drags until everyone is ready to go.

[@saintfayde4438]

Breath of Fire 3 didn't bother me so much since they made the smart decision to begin the game with you playing baby dragon Ryu going around turning everyone into a smoldering pile of ash.

[@gaomcins1236]

What about a "Top 10 Beginner Friendly RPG" video?

[@JeannieLove]

For me FF6 was the opposite, the second half I hated. Grandia, I 100% agree on. The moment when you head off and it's foggy, you can tell you're headed for a grand adventure. DQ4 is my favorite DQ game because it was the first I played where you can pick a female hero. The entire cast is also a joy to get to know.

[@neo_kitty]

Yesss... I am stuck at that exact spot mentioned in Earthbound. I keep barely surviving and then dieing in the next encounter. Actually, I thought I was just playing badly or the game was too old timey for me. DQ7 is in my backlog and I haven't touched it yet. 😅 In general, I am always a bit skeptical if someone says that it reeeaally gets good after like episode 289 or 30 hours in or so... Of course, you stick with a game for a while but there is soo much backlog and so little time 😶‍🌫

[@MiamiSunrise]

For me, BOF3's only flaw is the desert (and maybe for current day a speed up feature). WTF were they thinking with that? Anyway, a few of these games I dont have much current experience with. I personally didnt find FF6 to be a slog or non-compelling in the early parts. I loved the ghost train, Narshe (especially the music) and other parts. The game does get great later too of course. Thanks David

[@mrbobmv1638]

Sword art online HR. Hated it at the start and by the end was enjoying it. Mostly for combat. To much reading

[@davidtimmer596]

Kingdom Hearts 2. The 3 hour long Roxas prologue may be very uneventful, and boring, which doesn't really fit with a fast paced action game that combines Disney with Final Fantasy, but after that 3 hour long slog, the game picks up very quickly when Sora wakes up from his year long slumber after the events of Chain of Memories.

[@MrKitrid]

For me, this was Chrono Trigger. Honestly, the game is just your standard linear jrpg fare until you reach the end of time when it finally opens up and actually starts getting interesting. The first time I played the game I got bored of it and gave up at that exact point, lol. Took me a while to understand why it's so revered.