7 JRPGs That Others Hated, But I Loved

[@Brandonfriggenstaleylol]

I had zero idea that Triangle Strategy was divisive 😮 that game was fantastic

[@huskizzle]

I have never heard this either. It was one of my favorite games the year it released and I look forward to replaying it in the future.

[@Sortyourselfout-cu7en]

A lot of people had this weird argument that it was 'too slow' and had 'too much dialogue', which is one of the weirdest things to criticise for a story centric game.

[@jamesrule1338]

@@Sortyourselfout-cu7en that's like complaining there are too many weapons in Dark Souls.

[@NuageMH]

While I liked the gameplay and ambition of the game, I think the story and the player choice was awful, they sold the game with the idea that your choices matter but the reality is that your choices don't matter as 99% of them result in a more or less bad endings, or endings that are okay with an horrible aftertaste like "yeah our MCs survived the war and built back the kingdom ! But there's a difference between classes and people are suffering from starvation all around the country..." and then you have the perfect golden ending something that demands that you either play with a guide or go into ng+ which I often do not play. This and the characters that literally disappears from the story to just reappear later as recruitable characters and don't participate ever in the story which is just fucking weird, the blond guy's mentor has such an important role in the blond guy developpment. His fake death is huge and then he come back later and that's it, nobody reacts to it and it doesn't matter if he's here or not for the rest of the game, same for the warrior women from the north. Finally some characters make horrible choices during the last part of the story that makes no sense whatsoever and goes against their whole personality, it felt very weird and I didn't like any of that, mainly the characters related to the endings, the MC's mentor, blond guy and his wife. Overall the game was fun but that was definitely a disappointment from what I expected after the trailers.

[@birifumi]

I agreed with@@NuageMH, I won't say that the game deserve to be hated but it doesn't deserve to be defended. Most of the 'choice matter' only last for 1-2 chapters, once it reached the main branch again it likes it never mattered. Despite how many choices it left you, I prefer the choices in Tactics Ogre: LUCT and that game only has 2 endings and 3 story branches. Triangle Strategy has too many branches and most of it doesn't even matter, it focus on showing how horrible war is which makes either choices doesn't matter. It will always result in ugly path.

[@Food4Dogs]

To me, Celceta always was one of the really popular pillars on the Vita and was constantly highly recommended during the heyday of the Vita community. Celceta was custom-made for the Vita and its qHD resolution. Ported to PC and consoles later inevitably took some of the shine off it, I think. It's really built for handheld play, which is why it's so strange that it hasn't come to the Switch - that would be a perfect fit IMO. Just my thoughts on why nowadays it's maybe an underappreciated gem.

[@sengan02]

Playing it on the Steam Deck makes it feel like the definitive way to experience the game, especially on the OLED model at 90fps (and also with Adol as a red-haired adventurer instead of carot-haired on the LCD model, but that's another topic)

[@Food4Dogs]

@@sengan02 Had to chuckle about that "carrot top" Adol 😁. OLED really is the way to go.

[@peaceribbon8322]

Triangle Strategy, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, and Neo: The World Ends With You are all stellar in my mind, so I’m glad to see them get love here. Haven’t played most of the others except for CS4 which is admittedly bottom three Trails games for me, but I’m not super passionate on arguing against it so I can understand your appreciation.

[@Jordunk]

There were some qualms I had with Star Ocean 4, but something I always liked were the level designs and the fact that you actually travel to different planets.

[@TheKisekiNut]

And it's the only game that's done that even years later! If I'm in a 'Star Ocean', I'd expect to go to multiple planets.

[@theoaremevano3227]

@@TheKisekiNut : Divine Force seemed like it was on a tight leash with that and wanted to do more. I hope we see more of that down the road since it was still my favorite section of the game. SO6 kind of set itself up to hit both interpretations of the SO title, starting out 'washed up' from the ocean of stars like in the first couple of games, and hitting some actual space travel later on.

[@nelsonw9483]

I loved CS4. It never even occurred to me that there would be anyone who didn't.

[@Ragnarok2060]

My reaction too! It was an awesome finale to the arc, and the ensemble feel was great. I think cold steel in general is popular to hate for whatever reason.

[@wjo9272]

On my first playthrough of it, I liked it a lot. Replaying it made me have a much more negative opinion. It has some really high points but there are lots of very low points. If anything, I would simply cut out like 30% of the game and I think it would flow much better. Even Falcom admits how meandering Cold Steel became. Edit: oh yeah, forgot about the plot device. Yeah that was terrible

[@Haarwyvern]

Totally disagree, almost every single thing story-related is one of the worst I've ever seen. 6 fake death in the same game, the curse that justify too much things and even change the vision of some of Sky interesting moments, return to school was useless, Black Alberich is the worst antagonist of the franchise and many other things (dislike Osborne being and Itachi-like etc..) If we add social link between Juna&Altina and Rean that made me puke it's by far the Cold Steel game we the most flaws, and probably the videogame the most flawed I played at least story-wise. Despite that I loved some moments, and I do like a lot the OC7 (especially Ash, Juna and Altina) so I liked it, but it's by far the most frustrating peace of fiction I ever did. My love-hate relationship with this game is tiring, I wanted to love it so much but there are thing that just aren't possible imo. (And the fact that Crow&Millium are still alive is sooooo riduculous, I already know that would happend but pleeease. They already did it for Angelica, Oliver&cie but those one were dead and they still find a way to cancel everything) And then there is hype moments and the best side quest (Hamel) of the franchise :'(

[@luchi91]

@@Ragnarok2060 Cold Steel is the most controversial trail saga, people don't like it just because. There are more than genuine reasons not to like this game, especially if you started this franchise with Trails in the Sky. its not weird to see people debate how the story and characters were handle in cold steel

[@OJvdH]

I love cold steel 1 and 2. 2 especially is my favourite trails game to date. I went in cs3 with high expectations and despite some frustrations I mostly loved the game. However than the plot device got introduced and I was very pissed off! In Cs4 it was only worse because it made everyone's actions meaningless. Who ever made up that plot point should get a studie course in story wrighting atleast. Than you have the endings and both of them suck as! In the normal ending Reans character development never gets completed which I found horrible! Than in the true ending everyone gets revived which should never have happened! It's so disappointing because I like a lot the other parts of the ending a lot. But it all gets ruined by the revival. On top of this due to Cs4 being such a low point it also retroactively makes cs1, 2 and 3 worse due to the plot point mentioned, the revival ruining cs2's emotional ending and Rean not completing his character development. Thank god reverie is better than cs4.

[@SirJyrsy]

Cold Steel IV is my favorite game in the series. It never even registered to me that act 2 was dragging, i was having so much fun. I did not also realise Triangle Strategy was contested in any way, i haven’t come across many actively disliking it. But i guess the ratio of exploring/story content and combat can be a bit skewed for some people.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Same, Act 2 may be the weakest part but it never dragged. I guess it helped that it followed one of the high points with the Fragment section.

[@rinfurinto2621]

My only issue with Tokyo Mirage Sessions was that the censorship in the west took out just how scathing the game was towards how idols are treated in Japan.

[@ltb1345]

It got the worst localization ever.

[@AcanthaDante]

I think that there was a bit of a balancing issue on some bosses, the experience boosting dungeon in the flower temple was a serious crutch for me and that was a source of frustration for me.

[@ohnosmoarlulcatz]

It wasn't even just the censorship. The changes essentially invalidated Tsubasa's character development as her own character quests are about what she should have already learned in the censored dungeon. It just makes the writers seem like they didn't even read their own script.

[@plentyoflulu4694]

i remember when the game came out on the WIi, people defendend Gravure idols as "is just a job, it shouldn't been censored". After playing in japanese, the people vocal about the censorship of the game didn't get the point of everything that was censored x-x Wish they kept everything expect the scandatly clothes, and localized to make understand how flucked up is to experience that as a 17 year old idol.

[@therealjaystone2344]

Fates vs TMS: who wins being the worst localization

[@dawnaeaclaudiuscaesaraugus714]

Wait, people hated Triangle Strategy? That's news to me. I'm right with you on Star Ocean: The Last Hope though, that one gets WAY more hatred than it deserves.

[@Anni_ka]

I think I remember people complaining that there was too much story? I also vividly remember one reviewer who complained about the story saying a war over salt is silly (clearly someone didn't pay attention in their history lessons), so 🤷‍♀️

[@Sortyourselfout-cu7en]

Yep, there were a few people who said it had 'too much dialogue' which is one of the weirdest arguments I've ever heard. JRPG fans love to read, or so I thought.

[@danielgrezda3339]

@@Anni_ka Funniest line in a review!

[@joaocbcneto]

​​@@Sortyourselfout-cu7enif I remember right there was some overlap for triangle strategy with Fire Emblem fans who tried the game. I'm guessing it comes from that part of the player base because there's this weird cold war on whether only story or gameplay should matter in a game that fandom has been having for a bit now and it only got more out of hand with Engage coming out.

[@Chelaxim]

​@@Sortyourselfout-cu7en The length was self indulgent. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Imagine Tetsuya Takahasi during his too ambitious for his own good youth...imagine Monolith Soft was still independent and made games for PS5...now imagine him making a game on a 100 GB triple layer Ultra HD Blu Ray...dude got carried away with two 900 MB CD Roms.

[@KensaiArsenal7]

OMG I just finished Memories of Celceta late last night [east coast USA time]!! I really enjoyed my time with this game. The ability to add status effects to your weapons and armor was FREAKING COOL. Ys VIII & IX certainly better but I had fun with Celceta :). Congrats on the big win against Villa. I'm still floating after Arsenal beat Liverpool ;)

[@Nikita_Akashya]

Congrats. I played it last year. So, what were you favorite effects to put on your weapons? I personally loved Freeze and absorb. I get to be invincible and the enemy never gets to move! Bio terrorism is also quite fun. I am currently playing Ys 6. I reached a not so fun dungeon and I still need to grind. I hope you have fun with the other games too. Ys 8 was great. Sadly no bio terrorism. Anyway, congrats on finishing the game. I'm glad you had fun.

[@KensaiArsenal7]

Thanks so much!! I loved Freeze, Absorb, and Paralysis. I can't play Ys 6 at present because my PS2 is on the fritz. Plus my backlog has a host of more modern, essential games than that one. I'm eager to see when the new Oath in Felghana remake hits American shores. Next five on my queue are Star Ocean Second Story R, Granblue Fantasy Relink, Triangle Strategy, Eiyduen Chronicle 100 Heroes, and Sea of Stars. @@Nikita_Akashya

[@Nikita_Akashya]

@@KensaiArsenal7 Oh, that sucks. But hey, you have other priorities right now. I also still need to play Star Ocean and finally finish Harvestella this year. I bought it in 2022. I just really suck at the game, but I actually like it and want to finish it. I just can't play it until my Switch is docked. My current main goal this year is to finish Harvestella, play the rest of the Ys games I still have open and maybe also finish my other 2 Ace Attorney games. I am currently plaiyng Dual Destinies. And if I have some time after that, maybe start my Azure replay. I hope we both have a good time and enjoy our games. Oh, and I am also getting all of the nasuverse VNs that are hitting the west this year. I may be insane for opening that can of worms. But Tsukihime is just so cool! I am such a teenager! And I'm already 25! I hope you have fun with Star ocean.

[@KramerJones]

I love every ys but I need a 1 & 2 remake in the style of origin(which is my favorite ys game) haven’t played 9 yet

[@TheKisekiNut]

It was a nice surprise after just accepting we were gonna get smashed! I'm still trying to wrestle with which of the evils I'd rather have for the title though.

[@thepack2028]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that enjoyed SO4 and I definitely loved TMS. Blue Reflection and Triangle Strategy are definitely on my to play list

[@TheKisekiNut]

SO4 is still my favourite, it actually felt like a proper space-faring adventure.

[@thepack2028]

@@TheKisekiNut I didn't realize it had a re-release on the PS4 I'm gonna have to pick it up next time it goes on sale

[@blue_storybook3230]

People mostly hated Edge during 'that part', Reimi being annoying and Lymle but overall i find the battle system extremely fun, a bit grindy if you wanna be busted but its still fun enough.

[@jonathanhunter7670]

CS4 is divisive? that game is amazing!

[@nickwick35]

TMS is a fantastic game. I remember people complaining about the dungeons but it was so much more satisfying exploring and figuring out the puzzles compared to most JRPG's nowadays where you run in a straight line and flick a switch every once in a while. I still need to play Triangle Strategy but I think it looks fantastic.

[@therealjaystone2344]

It was at the time when Atlus changing their perspective at dungeons being less important

[@EndlessIX]

I played FF13 fairly recently and I loved it. I did not expect to like it as much as I did given its reputation but it was honestly amazing.

[@countryboyred]

FF13 is underrated. I would be on board with a remaster of the entire trilogy.

[@xSpyroTheDragon]

I can´t even tell a thing I LIKED about this game/trilogy. And still dont understand people who are not quitting it in the first 10 hours. FF often sucks in general after 10 but this one really took the cake

[@EndlessIX]

@@xSpyroTheDragon Personally speaking, I loved FF13 for a lot of reasons, it had amazing music, addicting combat, really good VO cast and great characters except for snow, and it looked visually impressive. I don't know exactly why people don't like FF13 except for disliking the corridors maps but it did make sense for the story. The only issue I had with the trillogy was the localization, it was so bad I had to turn off the subtitle and rely on my limited knowladge. I dont think FF13 needed a trillogy but they gave us yuel's theme so I can't complain.

[@xSpyroTheDragon]

@@EndlessIX I really hated the combat system. It´s like from a mobile game. Just spamming fixed moves and there is very little variation in fights or characters. The drop rates were also horrible and lots of optional stuff were so much work. Yeah the game looked great but that was basically the only reason why people were so hyped about it and ended with huge disappointment. The second game was probably even worse because of the characters and the stupid idea with time travel, which fails in most attempts in media. And also lots of recycled features and places. You can have great music, visuals and voice acting. But gameplay sucks and that is a huge issue.

[@cnett486]

I also loved SO4. I've always said it has a great B Movie charm. I can understand not liking Lymle though, but Merecle is probably my favorite SO character in general.

[@icebreaker913]

I played the remaster of SO4 not so long ago and I was honestly pleasantly surprised. I am not even sure if I agree about the characters, Edge I found to have a solid character arc and growth though I will say there is a few party members that feel pretty "token" and don't really end contributing much. And all the location you visit felt very inspired and varied. I wish we got more JRPGs with a space setting. I think my main issue was mostly the lack of QoL for certain things. Part of the game felt like they had an updated re-release planned like a lot of JRPG back then used to get but they never got to do it due to the reception/sales of the game which is a shame.

[@nesoukkefka1741]

Believe it or not it did got his enhance version, the PS3 version dubbed International version was an improved/rebalance which was use as the base for the Remaster, lack of QoL is imo more on Tri-Ace themselves at the time they were still with quite an old-school mindset when it comes to their games.

[@tootall4joo]

I'm one of those people where Cold Steel 4 just absolutely soured me on the series. I actually kept a running journal of my thoughts while playing it, and reading those back later showed that I just didn't enjoy the game, story, or anything much at all. I respect your opinion and to each their own. But ever since then I've yet to go back and either continue playing the old games or play any of the new ones. (Also, the digital launch for the game was a mess which didn't help)

[@tuanis90]

Regarding Trails, I only played the Cold Steel arc and I honestly got so tired of how every single supposedly dead character comes back or the whole he is wearing a small mask so it must be someone else trope... I still pushed through because of the awesome gameplay and OST, but I no longer cared whenever something supposedly major would happen to any character.

[@JaredScott]

Yeah that and “another child genius” are becoming tired tropes. Aside from that my only other issue was that to understand Clair and Scarecrows internal struggles you had to be familiar with Japanese “wa” and what I call Buddhist color theory. lol I still like that arc but they’ve got to tighten things up

[@ThenosM_]

I agree, and I personally believe that Crow and Millium should have exited the series with CS4, where their character arcs seemed complete (seen throughout the plot and bonding events) and their respective sendoffs were perfectly set. I feel like the stakes that were established with Loewe's death in Sky 2 are no longer there, and that Trails has developed a sort of "Dragon Ball" syndrome, where death ultimately has no consequence, because it will be later retconned by subpar in-world explanations.

[@gilded_lady]

CSIV is the only one I've platinumed. I unabashedly love it.

[@pgwchaos]

I did enjoy Star Ocean: The Last Hope, probably my second favorite with Star Ocean: Till the End of Time being my favorite (which also has it own issues among the fans). I really did love the combat in Last Hope, I remember it as just being so much fun; however there is no way I can take the main character seriously thanks to his name.

[@Stargazing_night_sky]

Oh, come on. How could you NOT take edge maverick serious? DEFINITELY a name I'd give my kid 😌

[@snowenn]

@@Stargazing_night_sky I've seen multiple people comment on the name, but as a non-native English speaker, I don't really see what's wrong with it. So uhh, explain to me like I'm 5?

[@Stargazing_night_sky]

@snowenn basically its just a cool dude-bro sounding name. Like, if someone told me a characters name was edge, I'd immediately think they were an edgelord type of character like shadow the hedgehog

[@Stargazing_night_sky]

@@snowenn it isn't a bad name in my opinion, it's just a funny name that's hard to take serious

[@EHARPER256]

@@snowenn So, theres like this unspoken rule in English naming where you try not to use descriptive words as names. You name can allude to a meaning, but often it's abstract. Steven, James, Rick, Tiffany, Sarah, Bob, Alice and other sort of 'normal' english names don't really have a meaning other than maybe tracing a meaning back to something Roman or Greek or Biblical. There's basically no surname you can put with Edge as a first name and not have people snicker. You COULD use it as a portmanteau with another word as a surname. Miles Edgeworth (from Phoenix Wright) sounds fine. Maverick is especially bad, though. Together "Edge Maverick" makes me recall a meme I saw about "American Horse Pirates!". It's sort of funny and something that absolutely confuses Japanese in JRPG's, since alot of Japanese names are literal words or concepts.

[@mintman3533]

Also, played Blue Reflection on your recommendation. Really enjoyed it. The OST is so good.

[@whitewolf3051]

Kind of *wish* that the original Blue Reflection *would* come to the Switch. Currently playing the sequel, but it’s not fair to get sequel without the first game.

[@NemoPropaganda]

Strong agreement on Star Ocean Last Hope. I replay it every couple years :).

[@chriswilhite5605]

I've never quite understood the divisiveness for Star Ocean 4 personally. It's not my favorite JRPG or anything, and I know it definitely had its issues, but I thought it was a fun introduction to the series, and I have nothing but fond memories of it.

[@jamesrule1338]

For me some of the characters were just too annoying. kay.

[@chriswilhite5605]

@@jamesrule1338 that’s totally understandable tbh. I’m not sure what Lymle’s appeal was supposed to be, but I can understand why people found her annoying

[@TheRoleplayer40k]

@@chriswilhite5605 I hate Edge, if he wasnt the MC id play it

[@Terranigma23]

Something that you didn't mention that was one of the biggest complaint of Star ocean 4 (that I remember from back then)it was the character design and stiff animation. Majority of reviews will said "they look like weird dolls".

[@AkihaTohno]

Blue Reflection has a goated soundtrack and one of the best menu designs I've ever seen but I got too bored of the gameplay loop around halfway through

[@whitewolf3051]

Kind of *wish* that the original Blue Reflection *would* come to the Switch. Currently playing the sequel, but it’s not fair to get sequel without the first game.

[@shadowsquid1351]

CS4 is my favorite too, also Triangle Strategy is one of the best SRPG I played. Ys MoC was my entry to the world of Falcom & it's because of it that I love Falcom games to this day, it is one of the best RPGs I played.

[@AcanthaDante]

I only just noticed that Tokyo Mirage Sessions's acronym is Shin Megami Tensei's backwards 😂 That aside, one thing that did bug me is that the dungeon in Tiki's room was a DLC bonus for the premium edition of the Wii U game and in some parts of my play through I was dependent on the experience boosting I got from that to get through some bosses, especially ones who Itsuki was weak to since he can't be swapped out. That did break the flow and immersion for me, but I did finish it because I wanted to. Also, Memories of Celceta was the game that got me into Ys, and Burning Sword had a similar effect on me as Sunshine Coastline did when I first arrived on Seiren Island in Lacrimosa of Dana.

[@Thuxo]

CS4 and Triangle Strategy are indeed not beloved nearly enough. Both are incredible experiences.

[@brathering8644]

Triangle Strategy is One of the best Srpgs/Warstory Games I have ever played. I think it gets overshadowed by Octopath Traveler, because of the similar artstyle, but I still hope we get a sequel

[@xSpyroTheDragon]

I always thought people hated the story about it since none of your decisions really matter much and so the whole plot is kinda not there and that battles are too rare

[@brathering8644]

@@xSpyroTheDragon I think Triangle does the whole „Your choices really matter“ thing really will actually

[@joakkar]

I played celceta right after playing the super famicom version of 4 and I can just say celceta's story is undeniably an upgrade. Just like the upgrade from 3 to felghana. Not counting the two sub-villains (who were just as tropey and unnecessary on the original), everyone else actually feels like they actually have something to do in the remake. Not to mention how they tied everything up to the Akashic records in a way that actually makes sense and doesn't come out of nowhere. Celceta to me was the perfect middle ground between Ys seven's focus on gameplay and Ys 8's focus on story. I never felt like dialogues went on for too long like in 8 or that the story was dragging on with a bunch of filler like in seven. It was just a comfy game. Also it's the last game with a top down camera which means it's the last game I was any good at.

[@JaredScott]

For me it’s Mega Man Battle Network 4 Blue Moon and Lightning Returns. They both suffer from “one step forward, two steps back”, but I’ve put more time into those than the rest of their series entries

[@Dobol_41]

Always find it interesting to read/hear opinions on CS4. I personally did not like it, though I did enjoy playing it, and think that all 4 CS games could've been made into a trilogy and have a more focused narrative. Not sure if it has anything to do with it, but I think people who start with the Sky trilogy tend to like the CS games less, whereas people who start with the CS games tend to like them a lot more (that's just my guess though). I personally prefer and enjoyed the Sky and Crossbell games a lot more than the CS games, but a series so big and ambitious is bound to have ups and downs. That said, the Trails games are very special and have provided me with 100s of hours of entertainment and joy, which is the most important part. Great video! Made me want to check out some of the other games on the list.

[@davidj.medinag.6524]

As someone that's only played the first 2 Cold Steel games, liked then . It seems that the criticism mostly come from expectations, at least based on what i see regurlary is that they wanted the Erebonian arc to be darker than before, but it really has the same tone than what came before but in a bigger scale, wich sone loved and some hated, at least in the West. Mind you, this what i gather based on the disscourse that i had seen around this games and is just my opinion as someone that is mainly an outsider, i could be assuming too much.

[@Dobol_41]

@@davidj.medinag.6524that's a very interesting point. I was not expecting the story to be darker but can see how people who played previous games might've. My issues are more with how the characters are handled and how the story develops, it gets "too anime" at times relying too much in tropes, at least in my opinion

[@timidalchemist8475]

​@davidj.medinag.6524 pretty much. Especially when you look at Japanese/Chinese Fandom of the series they pretty much know how consistent the tone has been since Sky. Sky 3rd was an exception that fans were left uncomfortable and not big on it.

[@maelstrom7063]

I also had this same impression about ppl who starts on sky tending to dislike cs. As for myself, I started with the 2 first cs games and am now playing sky and plan on going through crossbell arc too before starting cs 3 and 4. Also, I won't elaborate here because I am too lazy but I feel like cs 1 and 2 are more interesting when you lack the context from the previous arcs. Also yes, I loved cs 1 and 2.

[@werty11109]

I started from Sky FC without looking at anything about the games online until I was done with CS4 going through them all. I would say my favorite was CS4, but I like it pretty much equally with Sky SC and Azure.

[@DarkPhoenix89]

Whoever doesn't like CS4 does not understand the game. Sure, it has an overly long Act II, but epic battles in that game and crazy OMG moments make that game a masterpiece IMO. Hajimari does the same but with better pacing.

[@OJvdH]

I did like playing it but I sure as hell don't like the story. Characters get revived again which is just awful it makes there sacrifice mean nothing. It especially pisses me oth because it ruins cs2's ending my favorite game in the series! Rean doesn't complete his character arc in the normal ending which is the ending I would otherwise have preferred because atleast people stayed dead. It has the least amount of voice acting of any of the cold steel games which also means no voiced Rean in final bonding events. SPOILERS the curse is just by far the worst plot device in any story I have ever seen. It basically makes all actions by the antagonists worthles because none of it was done or of free will. It's the same reason why I hate the Loki TV show it makes all previous mcu faces meaningless making me not care about any of them anymore. Also why are none of the good guys effected by it are they just immune for no reason?! It's so frustrating because I was so looking forward to see how it would end. And then they just ruined it. Man am I happy reverie was better than this. It gives me good hope for Daybreak can't wait to play that this summer.

[@TheKisekiNut]

That's what sticks to me, it has some of the highest highs of the series. And I find myself remembering those rather than it's supposed flaws.

[@albundy1485]

@@OJvdH Spot on.

[@Animechargeblog]

I think people praise NEO all the time, the problem was that not many people know it exists. I just knew last year in september, and since I love the first game, I liked what I played so far (haven't finished yet).

[@TheKisekiNut]

From the circles I've been in it's often seen as a massive downgrade from the original, particularly in it's story.

[@xSpyroTheDragon]

how you can hate something you dont know that exist? It´s not underrated it is just not liked

[@cabssoprano]

I thoroughly enjoyed Triangle Mirage Session and I played Blue Reflection because of your review of the sequel. I really enjoyed that one too, thought it was a perfect game to relax to after a long day at work lol. I'm also with you on CS4, I loved it, thought the ending was great and all the pros for me far out weighed the cons.

[@Tony_409]

The things I dislike about TWEWY Neo are that most of the character development didn't happen until the final week which made some of the character interactions feel stale after a while and some of the exposition that would better explain the situation was locked behind in the Secret Files

[@sherrdreamz7232]

Cold Steel 4 is in my top 3 Trails games aswell. It had an insane amount of content and dialogue fleshing out the end of Saga. I think i now prefer Reverie and Azure, but its still a brilliant game.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Azure remains the peak for me, but CS4 is close behind.

[@Arizona-kj4yp]

I really appreciate that you number the index, leaves it a surprise.

[@christianblackmtlrlz]

I hope switch owners can eventually get the first "Blue Reflection" on physical soon!

[@BenBom2013]

I am surprised to see cold steel 4 and Ys4 is are divisive game. I love cold steel 4, it is my fav one of all series and I did like Ys 4, it is not the best one but I do put high on the list. As for other game, I can't put any comment for them, but I could see where they coming from on those two games, Tokyo Mirage sessions (I saw it got dancing bit, not huge fan of dancing in game) and star ocean 4 (I did try it out but never complete it) Edit: I wasn't a fan of the ending of Ys 4, it just end, no show what happen to other char.

[@TheKisekiNut]

Ys IV was a big surprise to me. I remember enjoying it massively, but it got a fair amount of derision among fans

[@vitorrcardim]

"games others hated". All games on the video that are on steam have higher than 80% approval... There will always be haters, and they are usually louder, but saying players in general hated this games is pushing too far.

[@Truth-Justice-Freedom]

Totally agree🎉 Star ocean the last hope IS the BEST among the others!

[@Robina123]

Disagree: I was so let down by CS4 the problem for me was not the "spoiler" but the fact that it made all the character sidequests feel pointless. "Oh this person is not bad they are being forced to do evil things because of X" so when you solve the quest it is not rewarding because they didn't do it out of their own will. ALso the Cold Steel cast getting majority of screen time felt wrong on a conflict on this scale. Basically it should never have been called CS4 and it should given more focus on the other characters from the Sky and Crossbell arcs. Agree: Hell yeah TMS was great! Confused: Whut people didn't love YS: MoC? I thought it was great.

[@Javifaa]

Regarding Celceta: the story didn't suck, but it doesn't have an ending, and it, somehow, was a bit of a downgrade compared to the other Ys IV titles (even when ignoring the ending).

[@robertmoorhead3731]

A few of the games mentioned I feel are "Palate Cleansers". Sure you can go and have a HUGE, SERIOUS RPG with the expectation that everything is going to be absolutely refined, but every once in a while, you just want cake.

[@uppernimbus]

Tokyo Mirage Sessions is amazing, super underrated game. Great list dude!

[@Cyrus_Bright]

I'll join you on that hill, CS4 is amazing and I never felt "the thing" was out of place and it made perfect sense to me. Heck Valimar even outright partially explains what it is and how it affects people. Osborne to this day is still my favorite villain in the series, and man that ending hit me in the feels so hard. Simply beautiful. I still tear up when I see screenshots from the end credits pop up on my PC as screensavers, lol. I'm not sure where it would rank for me honestly, but it would definitely be top 5... maybe... 😂

[@menhirmike]

Cold Steel IV is fantastic! The series problem is Cold Steel III. After CS1 and 2 really got going and CS2 ended on a high note, CS3 was someone pulling the emergency brake on the train and then slowly going again, making me wonder constantly "Wait, this is just CS1 again?" until it gets going. CS3/4 should have been one game.

[@RaifSeverence]

Funny you say that because CS3 and 4 were supposed to be 1 game. Like CS1 and 2. But it was to big to finish within their allotted time. So they cut it in half

[@kuvjason7236]

People actaully hated CS4?? I thought it was an 8.5/10. For the most part, this is the conclusion of Rean Schwarzer, a guy who just wanted a simple life as a scrub. got roped into major drama, had to git gud, went through major depression doubt, and rose back up when the World needed him most. Can't wait for his next apparence and hopfully another duel with Shizuna!

[@MJ-oi6ul]

Wow you have great taste! I love both blue reflection and tokyo mirage sessions, thank you for bringing awareness to these games 😊

[@realtayo42]

I played CS4 for 230 hours on my first playthrough - it's my favorite game in the entire series. Didn't know people disliked it so much. And Triangle is a strange one. When I played it, I thought it was a rare 9/10 or even 10/10 experience. Then I saw a lot of people complaining it had too much dialog. It's a jrpg! I want a crap ton of story and dialog.

[@storm2156]

Not ashamed to admit I liked Tokyo Mirage sessions also. The battle system was so much fun and well balanced. Also, this was the building block used to help make SMTV graphically and Persona 5 and really setup the "stylized" interface we know and love for their games. To me it is the Final Fantasy X-2 of the Shin Megami series. Would have had a better reception being a standalone much like you said just as FFX-2 would have been with new characters as a standalone.

[@narius_jaden215]

I don't care who "hated" CS4. I love CS4. I fucking adore it lol

[@brigadeleaderharuhisuzumiy8589]

I love the Blue Reflection Ray Anime and Blue Reflection games. I'm glad it's getting a lot of support from everyone. One of the best Magical Girl series ever.

[@whitewolf3051]

*If* only we can get the original game for the Switch.

[@brigadeleaderharuhisuzumiy8589]

@@whitewolf3051 I bet if they put the first Blue Reflection game on the Nintendo Switch, they would have to put Hinako Shirai in Super Smash Bros. Her Reflect Counter technique for her finisher move would be to Over Powered OP for Smash. It seems like whenever Sony PlayStation puts a game franchise of theirs on the switch, they do it to get their characters in Super Smash Bros games as playable characters.

[@whitewolf3051]

@@brigadeleaderharuhisuzumiy8589 I saw in other comments that the game has an anime, which makes me ask did the game come first, or the anime did? If it's the anime that came out first, than she would be denied entry. But if it was the game that came out first, then that could happen. Remember, games like Fire Emblem or Pokemon had games before anime, so their characters can get in. But anime such as Dragonball which is anime before the games, no deal. And yes, there are suppose to be some Fire Emblem anime out there somewhere.

[@PLANTBAT]

CS4 was amazing. I really don’t vibe with the “fans” of Falcom games, which is a shame because they make incredible games

[@nr2676]

Triangle Strategy is not hated, it was well received by VN / SRPG fans. It also sold very good (1M copies only on Switch).

[@ranielle9271]

I was about to say that. Yeah there's criticism about the game but all I heard a very solid and well regarded SRPG. It not being talked about more is Square Enix horrible marketing of this game.

[@statesminds]

I love CS4 but idk if i think its the best. CS3 is and just learned recently that some people hated on it lol. And Sky the 3rd is great and gives so much lore and Kevin is a great protagonist

[@GordonGordon]

Trails in the Sky 3 was amazing. While I like the story, I enjoy the battle system probably a little bit more--and having a dungeon-based game with story moments interspersed was a better pacing for me. And what fun, having everyone in the party!

[@DavidRBrown7]

Star Ocean 4 remains my most played game. I have now played all six main entries in the series and 4 remains the one I think of when the Star Ocean is mentioned. Sarah is my favorite character and I don't care what anyone else thinks.

[@darthrevank9564]

Really loved CS4 I've yet to play a trails game I don't like I loved them all to this date, I know I still have to do the Sky trilogy but I promise I'm gonna get it done I have all of them installed in my computer Blue Reflection I was playing that game around the same time that Elden Ring released along AI the Sumnum files and when I was done raging over Elden Ring I would always go between those two game to relax kick back and enjoy incredible story and experience I didn't know about Tokyo Mirage to me this one looks really good and I might visit it after I'm done with Persona 3 Reload

[@jclosed2516]

I really cannot do anything else than agree with you fully. A few little remarks though - I enjoyed both Cold Steel III and IV about equally. Just like you I do not get the negativity against Cold Steel IV. I think it's a very good game. I tried Neo: The World Ends With You, but I could not really get "into" the game so far. I will give it another chance in the future though. I have not played Triangle Strategy (yet) so I cannot comment on that one. And I think Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore deserves a port to the PC. I played it on a emulator, but I think it would do very well on the PC platform.

[@goodthings2life]

I loved all of Cold Steel so much, that I played and Platinumed all 4 games back to back in 2020. I had only just discovered the franchise in August and when I found out 4 was releasing in October, I busted my ass off to catch up while still being very thorough. I loved every single moment of it and was hooked on the franchise because of it. I'm my view, there's nothing bad in any of these games... only story moments that rank more memorable than others.

[@TheInfinityMaster1]

The Legend of Heroes has become my *all time favorite JRPG franchise* and while I love all of the 10 western-released entries so far, I'd order them (best to least) as follows: 1) *Cold Steel 2.* 2) *Cold Steel 1.* 3) *Cold Steel 4.* 4) *Trails Into Reverie.* 5) *Cold Steel 3.* 6) *Trails in the Sky SC.* 7) *Sky the 3rd.* 8) *Trails from Zero.* 9) *Trails to Azure.* 10) *Trails in the Sky 1.* Yes, I loved the "Erobonia arc" the most (and in particular *original Class 7 arc* in the first CS 1 & 2 games), followed by the "Liberl arc" and lastly the "Crossbell arc".

[@countryboyred]

Wow, I’ve played them all as well. It’s crazy how people can have such different opinions. I would literally take your list and flip it upside down, and that would be my list. Curious to know if you played them in order or if you started with the cold steel arc?

[@TheInfinityMaster1]

@@countryboyred Sorry for the late reply (reply notices turned off). Yes, I started with CS1/CS2 -> Sky Trilogy -> CS3/CS4 -> Zero/Azure -> Reverie. Although, even if I were to play them in order, I STILL would put CS games on top (love the modern visuals, music, grand-ier story and original Class 7 characters).

[@countryboyred]

@@TheInfinityMaster1 fair enough! Like I said I respect your opinion. Personally I thought the crossbell arc was a masterpiece (even better than the sky arc) but at the end of the day I like all the games so I can’t really complain about any of them. I just thought the crossbell arc had the best writing, tightest narrative focus, best characters (see my username haha) and just overall the quintessential Trails experience. My least favorite was probably cold steel 2 (short, not much going on other than flying around the airship and recruiting your old party members) but I still enjoyed it. I think cold steel would have benefitted from being a trilogy instead of four games. It felt like a slog at points with a lot of filler. Overall Trails is such a great JRPG series, it’s nice to see other passionate fans 👍🏼

[@TheInfinityMaster1]

@@countryboyred It's clear to me that you put "story" on top of your list and while I absolutely agree that the story element is important in any JRPG (and Trails is KNOWN for its strong story narrative/world building), *to me personally,* what I look forward to the most is the *intense boss battles* (ESPECIALLY *human boss battles)* along with the AWESOME *boss battle themes* that Trails is known for and so, from that point of view, the boss battles/themes in Cold Steel 2 (be it "Monster" OR "Human" boss battles) were simply EPICCC (along with a "grand build-up" towards a certain *rivalry showdown* AND another *major adversary* shortly afterwards) and I just couldn't contain the EXCITEMENT/HYPE I felt throughout that game. I mean... *the moment "Blue Destination" battle theme played.... GG GREATEST TRAILS GAME EVERRR* AT THAT MOMENT!!!!!

[@MrSentinel07]

Surprised CS4 has such a reception. It's tied with CS3 for my favorite Trails game. Sure it bloated, but the characters are so good that it didn't really matter to me.

[@keblin86]

Ohhh you definitely need to try Star Ocean: Until the end of Time. That one and The Last Hope were my favourites. It might be a bit odd going back though as TLH was like an evolution of TTEOT in terms of combat lol, in some ways. I was shocked to see Triangle Strategy on here, I've only heard good things about it!

[@SupriceSupplies]

Cold Steel IV's always gonna be an interesting one. I'm part of camp dislike myself, and it's interesting to see bits I personally, well, *heavily* dislike about the game being highlights for others. The connection of the plot device with past games you mentioned for instance is something that detracted from those games for me, in spite of me loving the interconnectivity of the series normally. I won't go into detail here, but let's just say I feel it went a bit too far in this case. Though there are parts of the game I do hold in high regard. I overall love the finale, and the true final boss is my favourite in the entire franchise. Act 1 was enjoyable, especially with its greater focus on NC7. Duvalie was a personal highlight, it made Rufus my favourite antagonist of the Cold Steel arc, and it threw open the floodgates for people to start theorising how a certain something might be more important than initially thought. It's far from the worst thing I've ever played, as it has quite a bit I enjoy. And I can see why things that bother me are loved by others. But overall I feel it completely fumbles the execution of some admittedly VERY good ideas while also dropping the ball on what was already established. I believe it's simply a difference of what people value and want to see in stories and how certain plot points are interpreted, which makes the divide of opinion around CS4 so interesting.

[@dogwithsunglasses4051]

CS4 is Trails, therefore it cant be bad. I have yet to play one i didnt like of the series, and i doubt Kuro will be the first one i dislike. Triangle Strategies had one major issue for me and that was that the Charakter Development felt really flat in comparison to games like FF Tactics or Tactics Ogre. But man, they effing nailed decision making in that Game. Aside from the fact that having that weird Scale thing completly ignores the reason for Regents in the first place but whatever. Some of the decisions you had to make where really really hard. I cant remember when i last had to think so much about what to do next, since so many times all choices seemed horrible. And the first Ending i got, aside from the Death End i recieved, was not a happy one, and it encouraged me to play more.

[@seanbarton4940]

I also loved Triangle Strategy. I feel like most of the hate it got was from people who really wanted it to be something else, something it never promised anyone it would be. I really liked how it stayed pretty grounded, and also how each individual character (even the ones that shared a job) came with a pretty clearly defined specialty that made it feel like everyone had a workable niche

[@Toriksta-]

I loved CS4. It rounded off the cast's stoires, the past heroes's arcs all to build up CS's cast lift them up to their peak. OST was at it's best, it's like the Marvel Endgame of the series. Up until CS4, I never felt a sense of finality and redemption in a Trails since.

[@justmkipvme]

Trails of Cold Steel IV, Blue Reflection, Tokyo Mirage Sessions, YS: Memories of Celceta - I agree with you, 'cos I loved these games too! For example, Celceta features one of the best field tracks in the series and it's overall great to play. Blue Reflection is both great as relaxing title and as the whole experience, including great designs, awesome experimental music (boss battles are mindblowing in a great way), and nice story. It surprised me, I did'nt knew it would hit me that hard. So the purchase of sequel was out of question. I don't agree with these who think ToCSIV is too bloated and messy, 'cos it's a proper final, a conslusion of the arc with so many awesome characters and their stories to tell. Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a SMT-styled love letter to an Art, I loved it. Censorship, by the way, spoiled me the fun. It's stupid and out of place. Unfortunately, Star Ocean: The Last Hope is too grindy and too vectorless for me to play, so I dropped it despite having it in my PS library.

[@bw2082]

I loved Cold Steel 4!

[@TethoSama]

Man, I am totally happy and glad that I got into the Trails of Cold Steel franchise because one single fanfic that features Hikigaya Hachiman as a member of Class VII. Just finished CS2 yesterday, taking a few days of break before continuing on CS3, I fucking love the characters there but I fell in love with Towa Herschel the most. Also, I am putting the other games on the video on my list of games that I'll play. It sounds like a cup of my liberTEA.

[@GeminiSunrise06]

I finished tokyo mirage session 3 times, even on hardest difficulty. I love it! Awesome battle system. I agree on most game, i enjoy all i played from this list.

[@carlostadashigomesribeiro9676]

Finally, someone who loves star ocean 4 and neo The world ends with you

[@JohnSmith-tt1nh]

I loved Lymle and Meracle. They never left my party. Sarah ruined the cast for me.

[@zennvirus7980]

Best Celceta track (imo): In the Fires of Ignition. That riff... Team JDK at their finest. Second Best: Seeking the Vanished Mask.

[@MrSupersonic2012]

Man i loved Neo World Ends With You. The DS Original is still one of my all time favorite games. And while the sequel isn't as good, its still a very worthy sequel.

[@countryboyred]

I largely agree with this list although I didn’t love Star ocean 4 quite as much as you (still enjoyed it though) and Tokyo mirage sessions left a lot to be desired. I love cold steel 4 though- agree that it gets way too much hatred. And triangle strategy is one of my favorite strategy games of all time, I seriously can’t believe that so many people disliked it. The story, characters, gameplay etc were all top notch.

[@guruthosamarthruin4459]

But...I haven't heard anyone say they didn't like Cold Steel 4...

[@joaocbcneto]

Hang around the Trails fandom long enough and you will start to get gaslit by a loud side of the fandom that CS3-4 were the worst games in the universe. Personally like them.

[@guruthosamarthruin4459]

@@joaocbcneto Cold Steel 3 is my favorite in the series.

[@joaocbcneto]

@@guruthosamarthruin4459 it's #2 for me.

[@TheRoleplayer40k]

I hate the entire cold steel series, but I don't hate those who like them. I just found them really stupid in the story telling. I loved Sky and Crossbell.

[@brigadeleaderharuhisuzumiy8589]

The Blue Reflection Ray Anime and the Blue Reflection games, all of them, They are masterpieces worth getting into. And exploring the world of Blue Reflection. I love this series so much. The music, gameplay, storyline and characters are very beautiful. Same with the background scenery. This series needs all the love and support that it can get from the Anime, gaming and Magical Girl communities. I highly recommend this series to everyone.

[@mintcake2668]

I never got the impression that Neo TWEWY is hated, nor is Triangle Strategy.

[@ancientofdays8644]

Most of the games in this video are extremely well received.

[@joshjulrich]

I was super hyped for Triangle Strategy and still really enjoyed it, but I was overall disappointed. The story and choices were a part of that, many choices seeming railroady or insanely illogical to the point of taking me out of the narrative (Benedict murdering thousands of people by flooding a valley that other routes very clearly show had 0 impact on the war being one case I can remember). However, the bigger issue for me was the balance. Level caps were poorly implemented because it punished using characters you like, but also made raising lots of characters pointless because of low deploy limits. There are the makings of an amazing game but I think they missed the mark in a few vital ways.

[@sengan02]

I feel most of the hate against Star Ocean 4's characters (and especially Lymle...) comes from the absolutely horrendous US dub

[@heymario256]

Always super cool to see Tokyo Mirage Sessions get the love it deserves. It's my second favorite game of all time I really don't get why people hated it.

[@YamiShirokami]

I really didn't know a lot of these games were hated to some degree. Out of these here I really loved Blue Reflection, Ys Memories of Celceta, and though I have started CS4, I paused it and went backwards to play Zero and the Crossbell Arc. Might have spoiled myself here with CS4 in the comments though.

[@PuppyPawsGamingYT]

blue reflection actually really touched me, it hit on so many things that other games didnt. the emotions of being a high school girl, the confusion, uncertainty and stress. i loved that game so much, the second one just wasn't as good.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

Blue Reflection OST is shockingly good. I've never heard piano this beautiful since Final Fantasy piano arranges or the anime Angel Beats.

[@Faustustopheles]

I am happy to say I love and own all the games except Neo . That one I just didn't care for. I didn't like the first one and I just couldn't enjoy playing the second either. But I know a lot of people love it as much as I do all the other games on the list.

[@sj4iy]

I loved cold steel 4 (2 and 3 were my favorites, but 4 easily has my favorite chapters and character building. Triangle Strategy was one of my favorite games of the year. I love strategy and it was so much better than Octopath Traveler. The combat could be difficult but I enjoyed that.

[@CheatPotionMaker]

Absolutely loved Trails 4, couldn't put it down (especially after binging the entire Trails series.) No reason why this game should have haters, wtf.

[@JimC1984]

Because the writing was terribly padded after wasting our time with the 3 games before it in the biggest continent of zemuria and being so hyped for it with such a well written crossbell duology and sky before it. These masterpieces in nsrrative hyped up erwbonia so much that the fanfiction padded teen school life drama we got after it was the biggest disappoinyment. Surely #4 would bring it all togeyher but no 90% of the game was padding before the actual rivaliries. A main character with some teeny fsn fiction harem narrative that only children could identitify with. It was beyond terrible slop. Kuro 1 saved it for sure van that is

[@Nel_Annette]

@@JimC1984 All of this. Plus the game was too afraid to commit to character deaths and the twist with Giliath Osbourne might be the biggest fumble in the entire series. "The Curse" is a stupid plot device. Changing the Hamel tragedy from "Weissman orchestrated it" to "The CURSE made the nobles commit war crimes" was stupid. Phrasing it as "the Sept-Terrions of Fire and Earth combining are having a horrible effect on people's minds" would have been better than "ooooh Ishmelga and his spooky curse! The devil made me do it! OOOOHHH!!!!" Why does EVERY girl want to bang Rean? It was enough in the first game when it was just Alisa, Emma and Laura, but by CS4 his former teacher wants to bang him, his students want to bang him, Crow wants to bang him... enough! All the key art from the arc puts Alisa front and center with him. Just make it Alisa and quit wasting my time.

[@degapalgamer3772]

@@JimC1984 thing is I don't really think this series in general is geared towards adults and if you like anime in general it shouldn't be a problem for you

[@JimC1984]

@@degapalgamer3772 i love anime been watching it since 1990. ( yes i am 40) I hate poorly written modern anime especially when crossbell was written much better with well loved anime tropes. CS was just lazy fanservice archetype chars youll see in fastfood style shoenun manga no fkin thx

[@Genethagenius]

While it was not what any of us were expecting, and I’m not into Japanese idol culture, I really enjoyed “Tokyo Mirage Sessions”. The gameplay was fun, if the Sessions did run long eventually. And the the different characters & outfits were cool visually. It’s a solid JRPG with some… interesting call-backs & references to SMT & Fire Emblem. I also really enjoyed “Triangle Strategy” a lot & have only heard people gush about that game.

[@prolificpeasant1007]

For Star Ocean, give Till the End of Time a try. I adored that game growing up, and the big reveal was definitely divisive as a plot choice

[@johnyjohny7472]

Triangle strategy is one of the best strategy jrpg games out there.

[@whitemageFFXI]

What a great list! There are definitely some titles here that I would have otherwise overlooked.

[@DavidVidot-xm5ql]

The only problem I faced with Triangle Strategy was some maps about halfway through the game and beyond, really did require you to use their recommended units. If they weren't up to lvl or you ignored them, you were forced to grind a lot to get them up to par. I really dislike games that have some lvls obviously designed for you to utilize certain units and force you to grind if you didn't want to use them prior. Everything else about the game was fantastic

[@TheV8maverick]

Star Ocean 4 is totally underrated. Love the combat system and the exploration. I think people overreact to the characters

[@TheKisekiNut]

The discourse is pretty much always the characters. The rest of it is generally well received.

[@Free_speech_is_dead]

Played Star Ocean: The Last Hope International Version on PS3 back in the day. It was good. Not the best ever or anything, but definitely not bad.

[@ShiniqamiHime]

Thank you for mentioning Neo: TWEWY, i totally enjoyed the sequel too ❤

[@PokeMaster22222]

I've heard that Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is somewhat divisive, compared to 1 (especially Definitive) and 3, but XC2 is among my favourite JRPGs thanks to the surprisingly deep combat mechanics, the amazing and beautiful Titans and other places to explore, and the playable cast being fantastic. No single Titan feels like it takes forever to explore, unlike XC3's Erythia Sea, the music is brilliant, and even the villains are likeable folks. The reason I like XC2 more than XC: Definitive is mostly due to the simplified Quests and deeper combat - Quests in 1 were often intricately interweaved, with branching paths depending on how you solved the core issue, which affected relationships between NPCs along with what Quests were available in future. This is admittedly far better worldbuilding, but a complete pain to keep track of for the best outcome, so XC2 simplifying them to singular solutions (yet still having Quests relating to other Quests) is a lot better. As for combat, I love the Blade Combo and Driver Combo mechanics, and how if they're performed together it becomes a Fusion Combo, earning back some Blade Combo time and dealing a lot of damage. Completing Blade Combos with specific elements has an elemental orb (of the type used as the finisher) orbit around the enemy, up to a total of 8 (one for each element), and their purpose is to be broken in Chain Attacks. XC2's Chain Attacks are also the best out of the trilogy, as there's no luck involved at all; instead, all three combatants are guaranteed a turn, and if they manage to break an orb (most effectively done by striking with the opposite element - Fire/Water, Wind/Ice, Electric/Earth, Light/Dark), there's a single guaranteed QTE that if passed earns a second round. If enough orbs are broken, then the last character to act gets to use a Lv. 4 Special to amplify the damage dealt. XC1's Chain Attacks also had a single QTE for more attacks, but it was luck-based and only for a single character instead of all three; XC3's Chain Attacks...are simply horrible. Granted, XC2 isn't perfect - its in-game tutorials are woefully awful, for one thing, and it does include gacha in the form of Core Crystals (thankfully no microtransactions - instead, Core Crystals are found from killing enemies or found in chests, etc.), and the character designs can be hit-or-miss; the English VA is also love-it-or-hate it, apparently, and Field Skills can require party-shuffling. It's still the one Xenoblade Chronicles game that I find myself returning to the most, though, as in my eyes the many pros outweigh the few cons.

[@sourcedecay]

I just started the Cold Steel series and it's real, real slow (13 hours in, no plot to speak of yet) but I see a ton of potential in it.

[@DrGamingPlays]

I actually enjoyed my tome with Star Ocean, The Last Hope as well (aside from that one character of course). Blue Reflection can at just the right time as I was looking for something more chill (after a string of heavier games and life getting heavy). I have to agree with you about its soundtrack. I need to pick up Ys Memories of Celceta at some point.