Cozy Anime RPGs

[@peach_total]

“did we ever really leave the dark ages, or did our eyes just adjust?” is going to be circling my brain for the next 76 hours

[@Americansikkunt]

Yes, technology is being suppressed.

[@joshmcguire1911]

I want that on a shirt I'M just sayin

[@sagethelemur]

76 years

[@hahasamian8010]

32:51

[@tgcid2018]

Me,comparing capitalism to feudalism and not seeing much difference. Leaving predatory phase when.

[@VyNyLoKo6]

These long videos are perfect for work days where nothing is going on and just listening to you talk about anything is great, thanks for the effort hazel

[@comradeScallion]

maybe the real cozy anime rpg was hazel the whole time :)

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

I get soooooo torn when one drops on a day off. Watch it now, or save it for work.

[@user-js7zw2zk1c]

These videos literally saved me, I had a ton of homework to finish but couldn’t find nice videos so the little guys from foster home for imaginary friends wont come to pay a visit

[@chocobomaster210]

The issue I find at work is I want to look at these games while it's running haha.

[@rpgs6218]

I work at a Historical Museum and some days we dont get anybody. Its just me at the front and my boss in her office. May i ask where do you work at, that lets you have such a relaxing vibe. At least rn. I opened at 10AM EST and its 11 now still no people have stopped by. Some days we do get a lot other days zero people.

[@sammorin254]

Shit man, I work at Enzyme! So I can tell you what happened. We were an independent studio back in the day that did basically all sorts of QA stuff. We were bought out by Keywords a couple years ago which is a big worldwide conglomerate of studios that help with game/sound/tech design. I wasn't there at the time of summon knights, but one of my supervisors was. I'm not surprised about the cut corners, considering a lot of stuff was done on paper back then. Add to that that we're in Québec, there's an alright chance that this was translated by someone who's mother language might have been french. (That or it was done in the super tiny (like 5 to 10 people tiny) Japan office the company had back in the day).

[@hhhazel]

all that considered the translation is still great in my opinion, especially for a game so text-hevy

[@LieseFury]

@@hhhazel You might be able to ask Woolie Madden about this, he worked in QA in Quebec for a long time so he might have heard something.

[@scroptels]

Hey, it's great to get some kind of insight about the translations of the Summon Night games. I'm glad the games got localized when for years all we had of the franchise or any game by Flight-Plan was Twin Age and these two Swordcraft story games, not even the third one made it here. Also as Hazel pointed out these games have huge amounts of text for bein pretty much half visual novels and half RPG so any mistakes are are honestly understandable. However, I do sometimes i feel a lot is being lost in translation, specially in Swordcraft story 2 with one of the 4 main companions, Arno the Human-Beast child. This is a character that doen't have a gender at all in the game, something that's much easier to write in a gender neutral language like Japanese, but the english translation often treats the character as pretty much a boy. Characters refer to them as "he" instead of something neutral like "they", and at one point in the game the character literally says "I'm an errand boy", which seems extremely weird because the character never refers to themselves as a boy nor girl. It all leaves me wishing i knew japanese to know what the characters were really saying in those scenes. But despite that issue i'm not really mad at the localizers, it must have been so dificult at that time trying to translate a gender neutral character, even today it's really dificult, but i'm glad they didn't decide to just turn the character into a boy completly and kept the ambiguity. And more than anything i'm glad i found the character, i love them so much that my pfp currently is a drawing of Arno i made myself. Needless to say that character means a lot to me personally... i mean, they kinda changed my life a little bit, hee hee....

[@justcuz2105]

@@LieseFury I..did not know that about him

[@cB-sr9kd]

@@LieseFury Did you also end up at this channel starting from SBFP, then hearing from them about Super Eyepatch Wolf, then hearing from him about Hazel?

[@EldenAndelGames]

Okay, just want to shoutout Hazel as being the real MVP for providing a full song list with each video, so I don't have to go on a 3 hour hunt because I vaguely recognize a song and it gets stuck in my head until I listen to the full version. Saves me so much of my sanity.

[@Guruc13]

For real though, that's a shit ton of extra editing effort, and hazel is goated for doing it

[@ShinzouKatsune]

​@@Guruc13The world would be infinitely better with more Hazels and less everyone else on youtube. Lol

[@Lucifronz]

Oh wow, and here I thought adding the game title for every single clip was an incredible bit of dedication. Hell, that's worth a sub.

[@pigeonluvr420]

I absolutely love the way this video just rambles on from topic to topic like a friend excitedly talking about their favorite interests. It just hits the brain JUST right

[@Vorael]

idk what makes a game "cozy" but i do know this is one of the coziest channels on youtube which is kinda funny given some of the subject matter but still!

[@laise5904]

yesss something about her voice makes me feel cozy, I honestly watch some of these videos to sleep

[@samt3412]

It's cozy purely because of Hazel's narration.

[@MissPoplarLeaf]

She just has cozy ~vibes~ which provides a nice contrast with the uncomfy subject matter

[@indigowendigo8165]

Well... I'd say lighthearted stuff like Slice of Life anime such as Non Non Biyori, Yotsuba and Yurucamp and various Nintendo games would count as cozy. :p Stuff about family, friendship or romance... going on a great, big adventure and saving the world, or something... :? Things like that. :p I'd say Eastward is pretty cozy.

[@molluscumlore]

Somehow I think the appreciation she has for darker, weirder, and/or more questionable media helps make this channel more cozy. No cinemasins "thing you like is bad and you're stupid for liking it," just a lot of "thing you like is bad but that makes it better, actually." Also, hearing nostalgia from an era I saw the tail end of just gives off certain warm feelings, and the thought that while the things I like now will soon be just as old, the kids after me might get to feel the same things about my current enjoyments is just nice

[@DiceCavok]

The truly relatable situation of “I was a dumb idiot child and I can’t tell if game was busted or it was the rocks in my head”

[@aprinnyonbreak1290]

For me, one of those was Tekken 3. I THINK the game had something like a manual save you had to do to keep characters, records, ect. I, being an idiot child at the time, didn't know that, and thought you just had to unlock characters every time you wanted to play them. That or maybe the memory card was full or something, I have no idea. It was an entire process, getting the characters I, my friends, or my dad liked. I knew who I could beat the game with quickly vs reliably, and exactly how to get everyone I needed, and would leave the game on for days. The wild thing was that I knew enough to set up the same controller bindings to sweep the arcade mode with one of Gon's moves after I had unlocked him, but not how to save the game. An inverse case is Pikmin 2. When I was younger, I had apparently cleared all of the challenge maps and gotten perfects on all of them, getting every treasure, killing every enemy, all without losing a single Pikmin. Fast forward to now, and I can't even complete some of the maps with grievous casualties along the way. Youth is a strange thing.

[@davidmeron4562]

For me it was the Sonic DS collection :( never actually got to play any of those games cause I had no fucking idea how to start them it was weird

[@longlivethekingisded]

I feel seen

[@davidmeron4562]

@@longlivethekingisded me too man

[@JohnOhno]

I absolutely LOVE the "present day present time" opening. If you turned that clip into its own video I would post it every christmas.

[@matiascardullo9892]

same

[@arashi86]

Yup

[@umbram8073]

Seriously- I'll at least be saying it every christmas from now on =P

[@indigowendigo8165]

"And you don't seem to understand..." XD

[@susurrus7383]

Summon Knight: Swordcraft Story is such a great game. The fact that at the start of the game there are four different guardian beast partner options and there is a dedicated button to talk with them is such stunning content for a GBA game. Thanks for covering it. Hearing someone talk about more obscure games is so fascinating.

[@frds_skce]

Best GBA action RPG game, played and finished both game on GBA with all weapons and all partners. 8/10, need more partners

[@kylefreeburg9353]

And they each have their own story beats and everything!

[@xLadyRaine]

I wish the rd game was localized

[@anonimowelwiatko9811]

Agreed. Great game. Played both on emulator as a kid. Good memories.

[@DeepDives69420]

i've never played the first one but i sunk an ungodly amount of time into swordcraft story 2

[@MarshSMT]

Such a good vid can't believe I've never heard of that magical vacation game. The part where Nicky spoke about SMT, Saetia, and Jerome's dream made my jaw drop, I've never heard someone else mention all of my interests in the same sentence like that

[@connorbooth7207]

Same. When he said Saetia and Portraits of Past I was like “I listen to them too!” 😂

[@FrogmaskMusic]

real recognizes real

[@Pefonmo]

This is a very nice list of recommendations, I'll be sure to keep those in mind. Btw, in Summon Night there a few dialogue changes depending on your character's gender. For example, Sugar kissing the protagonist is exclusive to the female option.

[@eggsburst789]

Lesbos for the win

[@sincalo]

NICE

[@42Caio]

Exactly. Swordcraft Story isn't an example of lazyneess making them just reuse the script like many other similar games (Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth comes to mind). It's intentionally more overt when you play as the girl, though due to the limited scope of the game it only manifests in a couple of choices.

[@rilken2326]

The "present day" had me frozen I didn't realize how much the show still haunts me

[@poiuytrewq3546]

which show?

[@peptopeko]

I would love to see you talk about the 2010’s rpgmaker renaissance!!

[@unsuunsu9952]

Oh my god this would be so fucking nice

[@zerimas_]

yes please!!

[@maybepolly_]

this is such a good topic!

[@okawesome2746]

Rest in peace Nicky, you convinced me to give SMT another try and I'm fucking loving it. This playthrough of the OG Super Famicom game is for you.

[@privatelyattack]

Every time Nicky talks about the things they loved my heart heals a bit. I’m going to miss them dearly.

[@rosedotmov]

went back to this one just for nicky's section.. wonderful person to listen to and watch even if my only exposures were through pod spirit/human insects and this video. them and hazel had such great chemistry. i love how passionate they were about their interests! nicky will always be missed

[@edanefelia9431]

what happened?

[@daynechrisco9070]

@@edanefelia9431 Nicky died unexpectedly.

[@duncanedgin9433]

Was Nicky a boy or a girl?

[@marafolse8347]

​​@@duncanedgin9433Question 1: are they alive Question 2 apparently: WHAT IS THEIR GENDER Like it doesn't matter, everyone's using they/them only in this thread for a reason I imagine

[@KazooKid0214]

Just a quick note- I actually do recommend "Fantasy Life", a title that was worked on by the Magical Starsign team. It was headed by Level 5 (who worked on Prof. Layton, Yo-Kai Watch, and Ni-No-Kuni) and it's a very charming oddball rpg that has a cult following to this day. It's actually one of my favorite video games of all time. It's not necessarily a game that's fantastic at any aspect, but it's LOADED with charm. The characters are all memorable and distinct, the side quests are fun, and the "Life Class" system is probably one of my favorite mechanics I've never really seen replicated. The combat is also pretty easy to get a hang of, and a lot of the more optional bosses are pretty difficult for those who want a challenge. I've sunk hundreds of hours into that game, and would willingly spend hundreds more

[@cyncynshop]

Fantasy life! Nice!

[@cybunny25]

Man I loved that game so much! I never really bought DLC for 3DS games but that game made me buy a Nintendo gift card just so I could get it. I also wanna mention that it had a sequel mobile game only released in Japan. I played it when it released in 2018 and it was okay. It was significantly more grindy than the 3DS game and heavily pay to win** but I enjoyed what time I spent with it. **Pay to win as in pay for convenience. There's no PvP

[@tomykong2915]

@@cybunny25 the mobile game is in the west now actually, just started playing it a couple days ago

[@JJSquirtle]

Hard Agree. Fantasy Life has an absolutely great gameplay loop, I really wish the sequel got outside Japan so I could try it

[@tomykong2915]

@@JJSquirtle it did, in fact the western servers are still up and from what i heard the japanese ones aren't, but idk for sure about the second half either way i was playing it a couple days back, i just installed it on the google play store and i'm in canada

[@bowloflentils]

Still making my way through the full video but I just wanted to thank you for the small shout-out in the video and on Twitter earlier this week. It really made my day :) Also Gurumin is indeed a super chill and cozy game. Although the optional boss near the end is surprisingly stressful.

[@Spodumene]

Style Savvy was, and still is, the best dress-up game series I've found. The most recent one had a banger soundtrack.

[@moonlightequilibrium]

heavily agreed. it scratched an itch i had as a kid for games with customization options, and it still holds up today.

[@fruit4evr]

it’s the only internationally released fashion game with a budget as big as it, which sucks because it has its problems but it’s good for what it is

[@maddyc2025]

For real! I adore that game, and I'm so glad hazel brought it up.

[@byakuyatogami2905]

I had such a crush on Yolanda when I played but Alina has the best songs. Honestly even the postgame isn't too bad, I'm trying to collect every clothing item

[@deerpoob]

This video touches something deep in my soul, thank you for taking the time to do this all. My dad passed away when I was a young adult and Rpgs, particularly SNES and PS1 Era ones are how I stay close to him, I have memories of him watching me play Grandia and passing out on the couch at 5am, Final fantasy tactics is my favourite game of all time largely because I watched him finish it with characters named after myself and my brothers. He introduced me to greats like Suikoden and Lunar. I'll never be able to seperate my love of JRPGs from my father and I wouldn't have it any other way. I finished this Video and immediately went to your Patreon to see that Nicky had passed only recently, they seem like the most wonderful type of weird and my heart goes out to you, I promise that the hard times will fade and you'll remember only the best of them before too long. People like them never truly leave us.

[@m0-m0597]

played Grandia when I was little, magical experience

[@Bunni89]

The boy and girl versions of Swordcraft Story actually ARE different, the girl has loads of dialogue changes where her dialogue is more comedic while the male protagonist dialogue is more generic JRPG hero. Pretty much every time you see a really funny line from the protag, that's a route change! Its actually extremely impressive how many changes there are because there's 8 whole routes, the four different summon creatures all have varying dialogue in certain scenes depending on gender. The lesbian romance is also VERY MUCH NOT 'unintentional', I was kinda laughing my ass off at 'don't go into this with the standards of something intentional'. One of the earliest route changes is that you in fact only get a kiss scene with Sugar if you're playing as a girl, and all of her scenes are longer in length on her lesbian route than the straight equivelant. The girl protag has more dialogue in a lot of scenes actually, if anything it seems her route was the favoured one by the developers. Female protag dating Sugar was also the route chosen for the official novelization of the game, and the game even has their "I kiss other girls all the time" screenshot right on the back of the box, haha! The second game also has gay routes for both boy and girl, and even a nonbinary character which is hella ahead of its time for the early 2000s. So I'm pretty sure being super LGBT inclusive was an intentional thing and the games were in fact not aimed at a teenage boy audience lol. I won't disagree though on the quality of the romance routes being a bit sparse and rushed, but I think its more because they tried to cram so many routes into the game that none of them is exceptionally long, rather than not caring about fleshing out the gay options. It's completely understandable to assume that it was a "accidental lesbian option cos the girl route was rushed" situation if you hadn't played multiple routes, but I think maybe checking if you're correct before criticizing the game for it might have been better. Cos its a review of niche games, people watching this probably wouldn't know that what you were saying is incorrect, and might give the game a miss. I hope this comment didn't come off as rude, I just really like this game and the good replay value of the route differences is a huge reason why. So I just wanted to help tell people about it, in case it helps. Thank you SO much for mentioning the game in your video, every time a big youtuber talks about it is like lifeblood being breathed back into the fandom! Oh also you seem to have accidentally used footage from the third game while talking about the second game, so its worth adding that a fan translation of that game is in progress and has released a demo with the first day of gameplay! If anyone else is interested in that, I'd greatly reccommend it!

[@tylapi]

wow i will def play this game now

[@2marshtomp]

So happy it's seeing love! That game holds some of my best memories with the GBA emulator on my smartphone, circa 7th grade or so. Great times!

[@VultureSkins]

Glad you said this !

[@GirlDotJpeg]

yo holy shit that's awesome im glad some nerd came here and told me :3

[@Bunni89]

@@GirlDotJpeg happy to be some nerd for you today, haha! It's a great game and I highly recommend it!

[@desuMaKun]

"She's different from everyone else, because SHE'S got a fidgetspinner!" 54:30 So damn good!

[@xxpauloxx31]

In Brazil we had a console called Zeebo, released in 2009 I think, and the vast majority of the games for it were mobile Java games adaptations. It had some cool ideas, such as free internet connection since it had no physical media, but it failed hard lol.

[@JeffreyPiatt]

Zeebo from Tectoy the company who has the Sega rights in Brazil and ported Duke Nukem 3D to the Mega Drive

[@k.aislinghashem-doran5762]

Thinking about how much effort must have gone into the game-identifying textboxes alone makes my head spin

[@IAmEnormous]

I played some of Alundra years ago, assumed it would make it onto this video for the simple fact it has a gravestone that reads: "Here lies [character]: He loved to work, we don't know why."

[@bigwendigo2253]

Alundra is amazing. I remember buying it from a used game store and fell in love!

[@st.haborym]

It's not really a cozy game though. Kinda dark and serious a lot.

[@GypsumGeneration]

I got a random cowboy-themed Ford commercial in the middle of this video and I actually couldn't tell if Hazel was just dropping a bomb on me with no preamble or if it was an ad until I saw the skip button about 15 seconds in and I'm kind of in love with that.

[@matilyn_rf]

The effort and fun in seeing all the different styled text boxes from other games in the top right labels is absolutely adorable. God, I love JRPGs

[@dumdumm3299]

Hazel being a touhou fan always makes me so happy. the comparison between the IN OST and the YMO song was so awesome! ZUN is a fantastic composer, truly legendary, so it’s awesome to see something that influenced him (especially from IN, which imo has one of the best OSTs of any 2hu game).

[@desuMaKun]

Yo, it's YMO not ELO ^^ One of the best bands! =D damn I love them! Also... I can belive she Rick rolled us

[@frixyg2050]

I recognized that melody from somewhere, but I've never played Touhou IN, so I was kinda confused. Turns out, I was thinking of one of the main themes from WildARMs (which, conveniently, is another cozy JRPG that Hazel might like!). The WildARMs (1996) composer Michiko Naruke probably also knew the YMO track (1978); as for ZUN, he's a pretty creative guy so I doubt he borrowed the melody on purpose for Touhou IN (2004). He might've been directly inspired by the YMO track, and that he and Naruke came up with a very similar melody might just be a coincidence, especially considering how different the styles are.

[@dumdumm3299]

@@desuMaKun i feel like every time i try to talk about YMO i end up saying ELO lmaooo i am a fan of both so my brain crosses the wires constantly. thanks for the correction!

[@cyceans]

YMO is amazing so definitely check them out. Idk why she didn't just say Takahashi Yukihiro instead of "the drummer" 🙄. Unfortunately him and the famous Ryuichi Sakamoto both passed away since then, truly devasting

[@enker1417]

hazel, when you asked when Weezer got bad, I laughed and missed spooning soup into my mouth, dropping a whole dumpling and some broth onto my desk instead of my waiting maw. Great joke

[@recino2]

I really liked how good a background video this was. Like, listening to talking about a bunch of RPGs that I haven't heard of, and to hear them talked about with such cherishment. It basically doubles as a list for my game recs file.

[@triplehearts914]

This video means so much to me tbh, Ive fallen asleep to it more times than I can count! It's also introduced me to Grandia! Thank you Hazel. Also Nicky's commentary about the Shin Megami Tensei series always makes me smile whenever I hear it. I need to actually sit down and play the first one soon.

[@J.Applejuice]

Your long-form videos are always a pleasure, thank you for all your hard work. Summon Knight Swordcraft was one of the games I sunk hundreds of hours into as a kid and I'm glad you covered it in this video!

[@PowerSynopsis]

This girl is exactly the type of nerd I'll always happily listen to for 2 hrs or more at a time. Interesting, insightful, entertaining, and so fucking relatable.

[@space_bound]

thankyou so much Hazel for making me scroll through the entire inventory listing of every game on CDromance on a near bi-weekly basis so i can find one more quirky rpg to add to my now ginormous modded 3ds backlog. (for real through your videos have been am incredible source of knowledge i always come back to and the impact you've had on me since I first watched Playstation Lain and the Weird World of Interactive CD-Roms has had me hooked since then. Thankyou so much.)

[@Danmarinja]

I want to live my life with the confidence that Nicki showed when introducing themselves as ‘Sharer of birthdays’

[@ycleptprof.5249]

4:24 Damn, you really hit me with no warning here! I LOVE Sonic Chronicles: the Dark Brotherhood! Takes me back to being six and staying home from school sick one day, listening to this banger and forgetting what I was even supposed to be doing, ha. I could go on for hours just talking about what this song alone means to me. It's one of those small things that is foundational to my childhood nostalgia.

[@KOTEBANAROT]

Sonichood is good, damn it. I wanted to play it s bad as a kid

[@heartless7494]

idk why this is in my recommended now, but damn sonic chronicles hit me like a flashbang at the start of the list lmao

[@ineptsparrow]

I can't tell you how much I appreciate the title cards above every piece of video footage. Nailed it using all the different old school text boxes too.

[@Ezakur]

Can i just say? This is a masterful video. Just genius level shit. Every transition, every music choice, jumping from topic to topic seamlessly, It's just polished to a shine. It's never dull, never overstays it's welcome. As the games discussed the video is cozy and warm and full of charm, wit, offbeat goofiness and the correct ammount of naughtiness. The work you put in shows how good you are at making videos. Inspiring, just inspiring.

[@spunkinator5000]

I love listening to Hazel's voice. Its super soothing. I'm not really into old JRPGs but I'm totally here for the voice! Please PLEASE start reading books on tape!

[@rainglxw]

i have spent more time rewatching this video multiple times than i have spent playing anime rpgs

[@tenbones545]

This is legitimately one of my favorite videos on youtube. How cool that as a byproduct of covering cozy games, it became a super cozy video. Obviously helps that all of Hazels videos seem exhaustively researched. Top shelf stuff!

[@Rhythmloid]

The fact that you mentioned witches wish brought back so many memories of going to my Nana's house. If you can manage to get the emulator to work I would recommend playing it. AND the My world my way footage??? I cant believe I still have the cartrage. Definitely one of my favorite jrpgs of all time.

[@Phudge]

Though brief, I was shocked to hear you talk about Moemon! I'm part of the new Moemon projects, and we've made lots of new sprites for ROM hacks. If you want, Hazel, please check our newer work! We even have some (very very jank) gen 4+ sprites

[@whisper_xi]

Whenever hazel posts a new video, I know that my defeated, dead heart is about to feel joy for just a bit longer. Thank you for your work.

[@bigcheese1061]

This whole channel is like a cozy comfort channel honestly

[@eliv1632]

once again, excellent video. The amount of media that you cover in these genre videos is so good, sets me down some great rabbit holes for months, and I'm still hardly recovering from taichi universe. I literally be taking physical notes to these videos!

[@mj2037]

The game that makes me comfortable no matter the season is Persona 3. God, that game like informed so much about me as a person to this day. The song, "Living with Determination," touches me like nothing else lol.

[@Suneru]

I freaked out when you started talking about Magical Vacation. I've played the sequel, Magical Starsign, a ton as a child and its was absolutely amazing. I have never seen anyone even mention the game series before, so this made me really happy

[@othiym69]

I loved The Secret of Mana and I extra-loved - LOVED - the comfy and weirdly doomed vibes of Legend of Mana, so when I read about Brownie Brown splitting off from Square to start their own studio, I got obsessed with tracking down their output. Literally the first thing I did on my first visit to Japan in 2002 was go to the Tatsuya in Shibuya (behind / under the Starbucks in the building with the giant video screen on it) and buy a copy of Magical Vacation. It is a prized possession, even though I could barely play it for years because it took a long time for my Japanese to catch up with the fairly complicated UI of the game. The good news is that the translation patch in the version Hazel was playing in the video is great and makes a game that is like a tougher but looser version of Magical Starsign (which i have also played several times). I was really happy to see it here.

[@shadow_shine3578]

My gosh I got stuck in this one spot. I'm still there too scared to try and play to that point with my other save because of how hard it was to get there. I should try again now that I'm older.

[@Zofuture]

this channel has such a unique vibe that you can’t get really anywhere else on youtube

[@AvinaStar]

Hi Hazel! I believe I’ve left a grand total of like… 5 comments on KZbin videos my whole life but just felt compelled to say something here. From the opening joke that was EXACTLY my brand of humour to the insightful and thoughtful things you’ve said about the video game industry and what games bring you joy, I have never felt so seen during my many hours watching videos on the internet. Thank you so much for creating these videos, it really means more to me than I could ever articulate. (P.S. I also will jump on the bandwagon of recommending Fantasy Life.)

[@GurdevSeepersaud]

I came back to this video after a few months and fell in love with it all over again. Your passion for video games is infectious, and I get the feeling that I'm going to be rewatching this one for years whenever I need some recommendations from someone who truly loves the medium. Thanks for making this.

[@DEMENZASGATE]

I can't believe famous anime youtuber Hazel finally made a video about video games, wow! If I had to pick some comfy ass RPGs I'd say Chrono Trigger, Drakengard, and NieR oddly enough hit that spot just right for me. For some reasons games about the imposing end of the world just give me that good good brain chemical I so badly crave. Sick video and even sicker titty mouse pad!

[@fmsyntheses]

I have to play Chrono Trigger at least once a year.

[@darkanthon]

@@SirBlackReeds You're right; she's better lol. I think they were joking about her fame. :) But fr I've been on YT since it launched and watch hours a day, but I've only heard of Jenny, Felix, and Ray from that list. And the only one of those I watch now is Jenny.

[@BWAgony]

I don't know if i would consider drakengard and nier cozy RPG's, but they are both absolutely amazing series.

[@KaiAfterKai]

Fittingly, this video was in and of itself quite cozy. Also what is a "penisy Vocaloid soundtrack"?

[@joshplaysdrums2143]

That shot of elf elf bowling awakened a sleeper cell part of my brain. I can hear the audio perfectly despite having last played it on a vista machine

[@arof7605]

Played it many years at the holidays when we stayed over at the grandparents because it was basically all their PC could handle. It was that and the GBA my brother and I shared. Fond memories.

[@mclovinswagger3664]

Your script is incredibly well written and your cadence at which you speak is fitting. Was hooked through the whole video despite being a subject I'm not too familiar with. Amazing work

[@hunnybunni7680]

Best cozy youtubers of all time 1. Hazel 2. Hazel 3. Hazel

[@kakizakichannel]

It hurts knowing Nicky missed out on the best SMT game, Soul Hackers.

[@dxrbkn5145]

You mispelled strange journey pal

[@kakizakichannel]

@@dxrbkn5145 Strange Journey is a great game but it's not a comfy game

[@flayncele]

I bet they're gonna play it now that Soul Hackers 2 was announced

[@lactofermentation]

@@flayncele wait what

[@flayncele]

@@lactofermentation you bout to have your mind blown watching the soul hackers 2 announcement trailer lol

[@costby1105]

Gurumin's PC version is actually the first version of the game release, Falcom was more of a PC developer until YS 7 most of their games were developed for various home computers first.

[@MegamanStarforce2010]

24:00 27:30 yesssss Swordcraft Story mention! what a classic so to add some context to the video as someone who played both genders; there are distinct differences in the dialogue and they did make genuine efforts to change them at a lot of points in the game. i think overall they certainly *could've* removed the gay stuff but they didn't, and that's rad. also also so there's a 2nd game that's also fully translated and all(and i'd say is even better than the 1st with a new setting n all), and also there's a *3rd* japanese only game, which actually to this day 10+ years later still has an active fan translation team working on it with a whole translated script just working on being implemented ingame. if ya'll wanna hear about that lemme know, cause i was a proofreader in that project!

[@ArchaeologyTube]

Absolutely loving this video. This is such a great tribute to some forgotten games. A real meditation on the inherent value of a work of art, even if it was not commercially popular (or even very "good")

[@KnucklesMoive]

The mention of Izuna brightened my day lol I was super into back then. Its was my intro into dungeon crawlers. I remember that webcomic though. If it is what I remember, esch panel was like a scene from the game. The images weren't original drawings, but instead the few images used for when characters are talking in the game.

[@alancarson1156]

Hullo- first time viewer here! This video is an absolute delight. Your editing is fantastic, and your writing is detailed without being impenetrable. I also cannot thank you enough for displaying the name of whatever's on screen. Also, my brain is in sideways, so every time you include a short audio clip of a Doom zombie dying or Knuckles going "oh no" or *fart_reverb.wav* I have a giggle fit. I'm relieved that I'm not the only one that finds such things entertaining. Thank you for the show! I'll be sure to share this with my fiancé and his friends. Looking forward to watching the rest of your videos! edit: OH GOD Legend of Legaia!!! that's a deep cut

[@mikedean6546]

Gosh I sank so many hours into Path of the ninja. Just wanted to comment on how as a kid from a small town in canada during the mid 2000s with little access to the internet, being a fan of Naruto was really fucking hard! For years my experience of the franchise was peripheral, occasionally catching random episodes that aired on late night cable when I should have been asleep, saving up my allowance for weeks to purchase a single manga volume I'd finish in an hour, and piecing together what little information I had of the story with what info my friends had gathered. It was like a big collaborative story puzzle! But Path of the ninja was the first time I ever had first hand experience of the whole chunin exam arch. It ended up being the first video game I ever fully completed because I was just so dedicated to finding out what happened to naruto and his friends! Anyways, fantastic video as always. So glad you highlighted several games I have never heard of before that I'm now very eager to go try out. Your videos always manage to steer me in the direction of some weird piece of media that I end up falling in love with. Thank you for all your hard work :)

[@Konic_and_Snuckles]

1:07:58 - OK, so this whole video is a veritable treasury of outstanding recommendations…BUT, your shout out to Yellow Magic Orchestra was a god-tier revelation for me. I seriously cannot believe I am 35 years old and I've never heard of these legends. Not only did they essentially _invent_ synthpop, J-pop, electro, and techno-consistently among my all-time favorite musical genres-but it somehow escaped my notice that YMO, not Michael Jackson, were the original composers and performers of "Behind the Mask." That song is simultaneously my favorite MJ demo (from "Thriller 40", 2022) and favorite posthumous release (from "Michael", 2010). Thank you, @hazel. If I could like and subscribe twice, I would.

[@slick7856]

hearing someone mention summon night swordcraft, graffiti kingdom AND alundra in one video essay was so much unbridled joy it killed me on the spot!! thank you so much for this video

[@Multi-Waves_Music]

What i was expecting coming in, warm lights in a cold landscape, sun dappled forests, mages and pixel art What i got: a video teaching me how to redefine what a feeling can be and recategorizing what games can fall into cozy This .. might have changed the way i look at life

[@TindraSan]

if you want more "girl being chill about guy walking in on her" stuff, watch "My Dress Up Darling" tho the premise being half the reason she's so chill might take away the novelty of it idk but the main girl is delightful and I love her

[@mannypardo1080]

Can't go wrong with Grandia, Legend of Dragoon, and Vandal Hearts.

[@Jetsetlemming]

I bought Gurumin thanks to this video and after an hour I love it. Feels exactly like a Threads of Fate style game, this is like the platonic ideal of cozy for me. I love Parin so much for her "I'm being rude, not shy! Bye!!" line when the weirdo adult in town tries to hit on her. Kinda weird decision to put it in the game in the first place but I'm glad she had the exact right response.

[@TheUnheardSoul23]

i'm so happy to see magical vacation get talked about. it's my favourite game, like i literally have 2 physical copies of this game (one of which i got when i was 12). it's considered a cult classic in japan. I'd give it's combat another go, it has your classic rpg mechanics except for its neat seirei system. there are so many characters to like. aaaghh i could talk about this game all day i love it so much.

[@NouveauArtPunk]

Hazel, I LOVED this video. Loved it. I really think it's one of your best, most comfy projects to date. Thank you for making this and overwhelming me with a pleasent, wistful nostalgia.

[@rocksylvannia9398]

On the off chance it hasn't been mentioned- I recall reading the Izuna flash comic since I was kinda obsessed with that game in my youth. You're not missing much- The humor was fairly decent, especially if you like the source material, and it's nice seeing the characters in [presumably] officially written scenarios, but I remember it using the sprites from the game similar to unofficial comics at the time. I'm going off of like, 15 year old memories here, but I remember one of the early comics having Izuna begging you to purchase the game, and them relying on Shino's catchphrase of "Would you like to see hell?" at least 4 times. The other distinct memory I have, and this one I have 100% faith in, is that there were holiday themed comics. On Valentine's day, Mitsumoto retains full butt monkey status as he's crushed no one in the village, nor his traveling companions, have so much as given him chocolates. Kagen at one point in this multi-part series walks past Mitsumoto with chocolates, and is immediately interrogated by Mitsumoto. He offhandedly mentions the water goddess, Suiren, gave them to him, but he doesn't know what for, and remarks at Mitsumoto being weird after he runs off crying about it. Thank you so much for this type of content. I played a ton of these when I was younger besides just Izuna, and now I have even more to get to.

[@dawafflesupreme]

I don't know exactly why but your videos make me feel safe.

[@halifaxsteppenwulf7980]

Trails in the Sky is absolutely one of the comfiest games available. Estelle and Joshua are just so, so nice to spend time with (and so’s the rest of the cast!).

[@GamerGirlBongWater]

I don't know how to accurately say this, but i love that a lot of Hazel's vids have the vibe of your cool friend telling you about some stuff. I love that 10/10.

[@kokonbini]

"I *AM* cute, rich and self-absorbed!" omg FELT

[@robertcolbert232]

Grandia has a very special place in my heart, and I was so glad to see that it was the last game talked about (with like 30 minutes left in the video). You made me realize that the feeling that Hunter x Hunter had given me and reminded me of, was that same free spirit I once felt from Grandia at such a young age.

[@internetrules8522]

10:00 "There's also Witches Wish, witch I wish I could have played." Thank you for this line.

[@DeviousJinjo]

I have this crystalline memory of playing Final Fantasy 1 for the first time in high school, emulated on my PC while my snow gently fell and my mother filled the house with the scent of lemon Pledge and the waves of an Elvis Christmas CD. For whatever reason, in that moment I achieved such tranquility that winter has been the official "retro RPG" season for me ever since. I never realized that was a thing for anybody else.

[@frost8077]

For me, Kingdom Hearts is associated with Christmas because I was playing it while there was a mistletoe pine scented candle burning, the best scent ever in my opinion too. The new candles don't have the same fragrance strength that one had though, now it's like chasing the dragon for that powerful scent again.

[@RedSpade37]

​@@frost8077 Love this! Pine is one of my favorite scents. Haven't found any good candles either, but I'm always on the lookout.

[@frost8077]

@@RedSpade37 From what I've read, Yankee Candle went downhill in 2015, when they were bought by Newell Rubbermaid. So I'll certainly have to find a new brand and hope someone remembers that scent to recreate it. We actually still had that same candle around that time and used a candle warmer for it, as the wick was used up years ago. The scent was still strong even after many years. Yankee candles now barely smell.

[@RedSpade37]

@@frost8077 Thanks for your message! Hopefully, one day, we can relive the nostalgia!

[@aeiou9487]

All the music recommendations in this video are great! I loved the section of you highlighting YMO's influence on video game music. I've been OBSESSED with them for so many years, but hearing samples of these random little games taking such direct influence from YMO fills me with such... como se dice, joy and nostalgia. Work influencing work is a wonderful thing, and I'm glad creators like you can really highlight that :D

[@daltykun2577]

I love how chill you are. As soon as you name dropped the Phantasia fan translation, I SCREAMED (and then subbed). Thanks for the fun video, Hazel!

[@LongSinceDead1]

-listens to Boredoms -listens to Tatsuhiko Asano -listens Kota Hoshino How can someone be so based. I too spent many years blasting Super Ae, VCN, and Pop Tatari. Boredoms are literally one of my favorite bands.

[@irmaosaobra4319]

hi this is my second comment but i just finished watching and 1: that was probably my favorite video you made, it was awesome! 2: i'm just very thankful to you for doing the videos that you make, it's clear to me that your work is very genuine and i appreciate that a lot, specially when i relate to pretty much everything you talk about, so thanks! i really like your content. i hope you have an amazing year! :)

[@lucasv4316]

I absolutely love Yellow Magic Orchestra and especially Ryuichi Sakamoto's solo stuff and I had no idea about the influence they had on videogame music. Great video!

[@Alansaurus]

Same!!! I always loved their video game esc sound, so it does make a lot of sense!

[@howlingattheearth]

I love that you used music from Digimon World 3 also your band is sick!

[@Evilgenius122]

I clicked on this video solely because of the Summon Knight protag in the thumbnail. Not only was I perfectly baited into thinking you were gonna focus on Twin Age more than Swordcraft Story, but THEN you hit me full on with Shining Force's start screen theme. When I tell you my heart stopped, oh boy. Followed up with a story about it that fit my childhood to a T. This was an amazing video in its own right, and I definitely want to try Grandia now, but to have two of my favorite titles of all time treated so well, im super thankful to have come across this channel.

[@Dyundu]

I totally get this vibe. Here’s my go-to: 1) Snowy day in late December/early January 2) GBA Fire Emblem, volume turned off 3) LotR soundtracks by Howard Shore

[@bonnefetebaby8234]

Excellent that sounds lovely

[@charsiuwu8084]

In a side remark that helps bolster what Hazel says around the 1:33:00 mark, Earthbound's localization was handled by one guy whop basically rewrote the game's story from the ground up, wildly changing a lot of it's plot and story in pretty aggressive ways. Is it better or worse? Subjective - but no one hates Earthbound's English localization despite that knowledge.

[@theMoporter]

It's by no means a loyal translation, but it's not "rewritten from the ground up" or changing the plot too significantly compared to the way games often were back then. As Legends of Localization put it, it was "absolutely top-notch for the time". (Also if anyone's unfamiliar, look up their article, which has so many details it was even made into a book)

[@muticere]

That is also my favorite Silent Hill 3 track, I love how you keep putting in your videos, it immediately puts me in a good mood. 1:21:25

[@branny5820]

Great video as usual, Hazel! You the real MVP by listing each game that appears. Love having your videos playing in the background while grinding in games.

[@dizzee6089]

Btw thanks for adding a song list in the description for every vid, I know it's the bare minimum but it's so fuggin helpful. Tanks a bunch bunch bunch!

[@Alboreoh]

Please, please do a part 2 and talk about some more of the games you didn't include in this video. I've probably listened to this video 3-4 times now in the background while I work and it's so perfect. I would love to hear your thoughts on some of the other games listed (Brave Fencer Musashi, Threads of Fate, Opoona, Arc the Lad, etc). These are all games that were a huge part of my childhood and life that I never hear anyone talk about, and they're a big part of why my favorite games are basically cozy JRPGs I can lose myself in. Great video essay and an amazing effort, I'm sure it was a ton of work.

[@Sauceyjames]

I was blown away about YMO. Back in... 2011 or so, I got into Vocaloid & was into torrenting, so I got a big rip of music from it. Out of the many albums, there was one that I liked alot that was called Hatsune Miku Orchestra. A lot of the tunes sounded like cool 80's songs. During 2020 when all that happened, I discovered CityBeat music & liked it a lot. Other than Z Gundam's intro & some 80's & 90's anime I remembered when I was younger, I liked that music quite a bit. So when the recommendations happened on youtube, I came across Ongaku & FREAKED OUT. Funny thing is that, I liked Sakamoto's dramatic music, which I "discovered" around 2010, but never really bothered to listen to YMO, I thought the longer name was odd. Listening to their music, I thought "wow, a lot of these tunes sound like they go onto video games". And well, given how some composters straight up rip other songs onto their games, it all makes sense why I like YMO, I basically heard it before in video games.

[@imnotaweebiswear6941]

Thank you for gracing us with another amazing video! ✨

[@AwfulPossum]

Genuinely surprised I never found this channel! I'm so happy this was recommended to me randomly. Really love this video and I got big hits of nostalgia with a lot of these titles!

[@straydotmp4]

i've been putting this one off for a rainy day and let me just say that your videos get me through so much irl "grinding" for uni work. thank you so much for the awesome content

[@NightcoreJones]

Hello, I'm Nightcore Jones. ~Nightcore Jones

[@hhhazel]

hello nightcore jones from bbc radio

[@vee4771]

You legit made me cry with that aside at the end about all the support and new opportunities you've found in life. I absolutely adore your videos and you are my favorite content creator on this site, and one day when I'm in a stable situation, I would love to be a supporter on Patreon. As a woman in the same age group, who has loved video editing and production since a young age, and has the same interests, I feel so inspired by your content. The way you analyze media is so unique, and your videos are always so cozy (even when they're about some REALLY not cozy topics).

[@nicoleg6284]

For the longest time I thought I was the only person who heard of swordcraft story and, no joke, I'm tearing up over reading everyone else experience with this spin off franchise. That spin off has meant so much to me in my important years it was honestly my everything. I replayed that game dozens of times but I never could find anyone who played it!! So of course I see dozens of comments talking about their experience with the summon night series now where were you guys when I was a kid?!?! lol

[@GeneralTofu]

There’s so much neat stuff in here! You’re cool as hell, Hazel. Always love to see your stuff pop up in my feed.

[@SeleneRoseRM]

Even if you didn't really cover it, I'm so surprised and happy you mentioned Dark Cloud. Level 5 abandoning the Dark Cloud/Rogue Galaxy RPG style is forever one of the biggest shames in gaming for me