Why I QUIT These Legendary JRPGs

[@vorathiel12345]

10h rule seems really healthy. If not my 'bucket list' to play through every main FF title (plus few spin offs and sequels) I would probably drop like 1/3 of them. :v

[@NordicAndNerdy]

How far are you on the FF journey? There definitely are some tough stretches on that road

[@ErekLadd]

Some of those games are better than others. I recommend the pixel remaster collection if you don't have it! 1-3 can be beaten in around 10 hours and 4-6 around 20-30. I loved those games! Then 7-10 are great in their own right and it's a bit of a wash from the rest until 16 for me.

[@Sabroso27]

@@ErekLadd​​⁠​⁠never in my life I have played a FF game, but I saw the pixel remaster announced for Xbox and just had a huge interest to play it. Just think it’s a bit pricey 😢

[@ErekLadd]

@@Sabroso27 I can understand that! I paid about $120 for it (in Australia) but it was 100% worth it. I didn’t want to spend that much but I definitely don’t regret it.

[@sirbeerus6987]

If the story doesn't resonate with me after the first 10 hours, I immediately drop it. That said, as a man of culture, I played XC2 for more than 200 hours.

[@alpakafantasy5134]

❤

[@HereticHydra]

The irony of XC2 is that the story actually gets good during its final 2 - 5 hours lol. I hated that game when I first played it but I played Torna first so I felt compelled to play it through completion. XC3 has the opposite problem, I thought the story for XC3 was pretty good up until the final dungeon & final story reveals.

[@TheGunmanChannel]

This happened to me with Dragon Quest 11, you can't change the difficulty after starting the game, and how am I supposed to know what their version of difficulty is, so I chose what I chose but it posed no difficulty at all until you get to a boss where youre forced to fight manually and because you've just auto battled through the game you barely even know how to play, so I gave up because it was too easy and stuff going back 15 hours just to find the next difficulty was way too hard.

[@ErekLadd]

I can certainly understand that. DQ11 was challenging enough for me on whatever the normal difficulty was - especially end game stuff!!!

[@DONTHURTMELOL]

I'm currently replaying FF12 since it's one of my yearly games. The Zodiac Age definitely is an upgrade to its old systems and gives it a lot more replayability. The Gambit system is quite complex but once you master how AI behaves with certain setups, you can create some fun synergies - example: Having one party apply Oil so they take a lot more fire damage and then another member casting Firagas and you can dish out consistent massive damage there.

[@KonEl17]

Yes the Zodiac Age helped so much compared to the vanilla game.

[@DuffCallan]

Bummer to see XC2 here, but I 100% get it. Field skills, multiple lulls in the first half of the story (especially Chapter 4), and the awful tutorials make it a hard game to get into. With that being said, it does have one of the biggest payoffs in all of JRPG's that I've played (especially since I played XC1 on Wii). That 2nd half and the lead up to the climax is absolutely insane. However, that's obviously a big issue and a lot to ask of the player to stay committed to the game. The one thing I do have to disagree with is the combat opinions. It is by far the best of the trilogy, and the tutorials do an awful job of explaining the mechanics to the point no one seems to understand them until late in the game. The combat didn't click for me until about 40 hours in. That is a huge problem.

[@ErekLadd]

I think if there were some better story moments earlier on I could've looked beyond some of my gameplay issues but if I'm not 100% locked in to a story, I can't commit. After watching story spoilers I definitely agree, there's a huge payoff at the end but to invest X amount of hours into that? It's a hard sell. I love the overall trilogy but this is the weakest one for me unfortunately.

[@AxeMain]

Weird because I bounced off the exact same games too. I pushed through Bravely Default, but the repetitive end segment was so absurd. If you bounced off before getting to that part, then you definitely would have when you have to repeat the same sections 4 times

[@nishquikpops]

Xenoblade 2 pacing is pretty rough but I will say, knowing your Xenogears history and after me beating Gears this year, one of the coolest things about XC2 is how closely it can tie to Perfect Works! Also yeah the gameplay can be very annoying bc of field skills and the bad tutorials haha

[@ErekLadd]

That's one of things I do like about XC2. I love the overall lore of it!!!

[@guiyerod444]

Xenoblade 2 is one of the best games I have ever played. I played 1 and dropped it after 20 hours for like 5 months and then when I got to Eryth Sea the game picks up the pace and the world design becomes a lot more interesting and the game is great but you feel its age in game design and how the game is made to be an offline mmo because when it was made what was popular on that time was WoW and other mmo's. When I played 2 I never looked back, everything was better, the combat in 2 and in its DLC are both incredible. 3 for me has been amazing but not better than 2, some choices of the world concept affect the narrative progression and makes the main story a little too repetitive from chapter 2 to 4 and also I feel the combat of 2 is very complex but good and the combat in 3 is even more complex but not better than 2. However they are all 3 amazing games with one of the best stories I have played in any game. 100% recommended trilogy.

[@ErekLadd]

Hey fair enough!!!!! I prefer 1 & 3 over 2 but 2 has it's strong points for sure. Never fully stuck for me but I do really love the overall lore of it and how it contributes to the trilogy!

[@acidwizard6528]

@@ErekLadd Same for me. I ended up finishing Xenoblade 2, but it wasn't nearly as enjoyable as 1DE and Xenoblade 3. The blade Gacha elements were annoying, the battle system is overly complicated, there were too many female characters that were overly sexualized and poorly developed, and as you mentioned the skill tree for blades is super confusing, grindy and you get locked out of a lot of areas by not having the right blades with the right skill levels. The overarching narrative is good, but there's too much cringey anime nonsense in between main story beats. I'm glad I finished it, but it was very frustrating at times and not up to the lofty standards of the first and third entries.

[@antoniojsanchez7892]

@@acidwizard6528 the strength of 2 is the story and the characters not the game play, is specialy good if you are an anime fan because it has a lot of anime troops but the good ones, also while shulk has a revenge story and rex has a heroes journey the oldest yet most beloved stories. P.S. if you watch the end of xenoblade 2 and don't cry you are dead inside

[@SuperNintendad]

Great video! I'd love to see a group of RPGs you didn't think you'd be into, but fell in love with by the end.

[@ErekLadd]

Oh great suggestion!!

[@retrobrandon]

My guess is, based on the feedback you gave on Eiyuden Chronicle, that you may not like Suikoden I & II 😂 Definitely give it a shot, but that feeling of being overwhelmed is no less in the Suikoden games

[@ErekLadd]

True!!! We'll see though!

[@andyreichert499]

For both FF XII and Eyuden Chronicles, I felt like the story was just a string of events that tied the exploration or character recruiting together, instead of feeling like the story was driving your actions. I very much prefer to have the story drive my actions, so they fell flat for me.

[@ErekLadd]

Couldn't agree more with that point honestly.

[@DeniosTheGamer]

Xenoblade 2, Octopath 2, FF12 and even BRAVELY DEFAULT??? Man you seem to not like every single game I love :D

[@DavidAmarante]

I'm kind of surprised to see Last Story here, especially for the story and characters. LOL. It's one of my favorite games of all time just because of these two reasons. I remember not being able to put the controller down as soon as I started playing the game. I felt so compeled to know more about each and every character from the party and how the story would play out. I agree that the gameplay may not have aged well, since it wasn't at all perfect at the time the game was released, but I enjoyed how different it was from anything I had seen at that time. Especially how you can strategize the spells to boost weapon attacks and stuuf like that. I think I played, like, some 200 hundred hours of that game. I wish they remade the game and polished some of the problems with the battle sistem. Oh the soundtrack, for me, is also soooo wonderful. Got myself the special edition of the game... it's one of my most treasured possessions. hahahaha

[@femtrooper]

These are great picks for this topic!!! Somehow I was able to beat XC2 but omg the locked stuff drove me NUTS. Also, I dropped OT1 and BD1 lol

[@ErekLadd]

Gosh IDK how you would've finished XC2 but dropped the others.. haha!

[@femtrooper]

@@ErekLadd Haha, fair! I don’t know myself!

[@BigBossCQCLegend]

I like XenoBlade Chronicles 2, but not as much as: XenoBlade Chronicles 3 with Future Redeemed DLC; and XenoBlade Chronicles Definitive Edition

[@PamonhasDePiracicaba]

One game that I had to force myself to finish was Tactics Ogre Reborn. What made it worse was that I heard reaching the shop in the 20th floor of the Tower of the Dead would help me against the final boss. That was the most boring, repetitive experience I’ve ever had in a video game. Then I went to challenge the final boss, and I had to go through an entire dungeon. Who came up with the idea of having dungeons in a turn based strategy game?

[@rafaynoman1180]

So Hironobu Sakaguchi the one of the main creators of FF made another game called "The Last story".......hmmmm. Also completley agree with you on XBC 2 even though I nearly 100% the game and enjoyed my time with it, I will not be going back to reply it any time soon or likely even ever simply because of how much of a chore it is to upgrade every blade you have.

[@BigBossCQCLegend]

I didn’t like FF8 at all; and forced myself to finished the game, because I kept hearing how great the story, characters and gameplay is; I Hated the Story; I Hated the Junction System; I Hated The Force Love Story; I Hated Squall as a Character and Protagonist.

[@ErekLadd]

Definitely understand that. Especially if you've essentially forced yourself to get through the game!

[@aquilananashi1260]

Force your way reference

[@nickcliche]

I beat FF8 for the first time this year. I thought I was going to hate it. It’s so bad lol. And I loved it. Go figure. It’s not a good game lol.

[@Skylotgh]

ff8 is trash i agree only ff game i absolutely disliked.

[@infernofoxgaming10]

The 10 hour rule you have is VERY gracious. I usually give 1-2 hours, though a little more or less, depending on the game's genre. I was right there with you with Xenoblade 2 for the LONGEST time. I *finally* played through it this year! It still remains my least favorite entry in the trilogy by a mile, but I'm glad I finally played it and its DLC through.

[@ReagwinplaysRPGs]

How about you play JRPGs for 10 hours because you’re still in tutorials after 1-2 hours.

[@infernofoxgaming10]

@@ReagwinplaysRPGs Depends on the jRPG. Some like Xenoblade, yes you're still in tutorials (and you're still learning stuff at 30 hours), but others like Final Fantasy don't take that long. And the fact that there are so many tutorials for certain games IS a factor to want to continue to play them or not.

[@Ayoo_Arc]

I agree with Reagwin giving 1 or two hours on a jrpg is crazy. One main element of jrpgs are story. And some stories need a build up which can't be done in under 1 or 2 hours. It's like reading the first page or a chapter of a book.

[@ADAMAGAYAN]

P.S. the title I would add would be Reynatis. It’s not epic, of course, but I just could help myself not to see the ending titles. I wish I would drop it halfway through 😂 but it’s not a hundred hours game anyways, so it’s no biggie.

[@juanchiapa2882]

Oh I love FF XII ❤❤❤

[@whentheworldwasatwar8717]

Same, crazy how people don't get it, FFXII is amazing.

[@juanchiapa2882]

@@whentheworldwasatwar8717 I kinda understand why it's not everyone favorite ;)

[@date5960]

I pushed myself to finish Bravely Default and i hated it. The pacing was horrendous.

[@ErekLadd]

100%

[@takeyourheart1]

With Octopath, focusing on one character at a time is probably a bad idea because each chapter for each character has a recommended level. If you finish one character’s story you’ll need to be level 45+ and then be going back to a level 10 chapter for another character. You’d also spend A LOT of time grinding. It’s best to do the chapters in numerical order. I personally don’t mind bouncing between stories because I found most of them interesting (basically only the Dancer story isn’t interesting to me) so I was always excited to get back to the next chapter for each character but if you find that jarring you might struggle. For me the characters, stories and the battle/jobs system are just so good. It’s one of my favorite RPGs ever for sure.

[@feiitogaming]

Oh man, had the same thoughts with Octopath Traveler 2 and Eiyuden Chronicles. I enjoyed then both initially but they lost me. Eiyuden Chronicles especially was so frustrating the more I played. Also 100% agree with Bravely Default 2. Loved it and then there was a difficulty spike that put me off. So sad about it

[@boyka6695]

For me the last one i dropped was i am setsuna. I heard many people say this is a hiddem gem and it is in a lot of jrpg hidden gems lists, but after a couple hours i still couldnt really get into it. And i even cant tell why. It just didnt vibe with me somehow

[@Darnozz]

I started the first Xenoblade game a couple of months ago and After getting far enough, I just stopped. I still have my save and will try to continue on later but for now I like playing on my steam deck. As for FF XII, I had the same issue. I stopped after a couple of hours and couldn’t go beyond that.

[@GenerationPixel]

But Eiyuden Chronicles 😮 Yoshitaka Muryama's last game! I'm genuinely shocked!

[@ErekLadd]

It was a decent game! Just didn't grab me enough to want to come back to it. Honestly though I am sure I will pick it back up at some stage. I didn't hate it by any means!

[@GenerationPixel]

@@ErekLadd maybe if you'd had started the Suikoden Journey back in the day, you'd have got much more out of it.

[@hian]

The Last Story has normal controls and manual attacks. You need to go to the menu to turn them on.

[@mrtakeiteasy]

Your reason for not finishing Xenoblade 2 is pretty similar to mine. I'm interested in the story, the interactions, and how it ends, but I couldn't get myself to get back into the game and finish it. I still tell myself to this day that I'll pick it up and finish it sometime, I liked the characters a lot. For Eiyuden Chronicles, I feel conflicted about it since I was very excited for the game when it first came out. I think the 10 hour rule is definitely fair, and I probably would have quit the game if I gave it 10 hours. It took me quite a bit of time to see the charm of the game since I kept noticing all the jankiness when initially starting the game. It took while, but I'd say it was a very worth it game to play. I feel its also very understandable to quit early, as I contemplated a lot just quitting the game at the start but pushed through just because this was the game I've been waiting for since kickstarter.

[@ErekLadd]

There's a lot to love about XC2, it's just a shame that some of it is stuck being some really unappealing concepts. I do want to go back to Eiyuden Chronicle as well. I don't think I really gave it enough of a chance but it just didn't stick. That's the hard part about hearing games really opening up after x amount of hours - how much do I have to go through to get to the good stuff. It's a tough one!

[@mrtakeiteasy]

@@ErekLadd Its probably been a while since you've played Eiyuden Chronicles. I would say go back to the game if you find yourself enjoying the Suikoden Remaster (though you might be playing Suikoden 3-5 first if you really liked it).

[@jyeo5556]

Yeah I agree with you and I think it's great you explained your reasons why. Definitely agree that sometimes games just can't keep our engagement when they hit mid game and it's where a lot of long rpgs struggle. I think personally I could put up a lot more with games when I was younger and when there were a lot less games to play so I was just stuck playing the games I had.

[@drewferguson8324]

As for octopath 2 you didn’t get nearly far enough to deep dive into the job system and customize whatever job combos seem fun to you. Octopath isn’t a story driven game imo. Not that it has no story but you play this game for the jobs/classes. If you like deep interconnecting stories and world building you play the Trails series.

[@hanasakiran]

Love this concept. Especially since you’re breaking down reasons rather than just hating on everything.

[@andyreichert499]

I really enjoyed Octopath Traveler 2. I played the first one, but that one took a few tries to catch. I do think it's better to follow at least a group of character stories and not just one all the way through. But, for me, the draws are the mechanics and character build options, and the lack of walls. It's really easy to get to higher level areas and get higher level items once you have a full party, so you can power up through exploration and mechanics instead of mindless grinding. But it's also good for an hour here and an hour there, and less so for marathon sessions.

[@astrths1228]

I'm almost done with octopath traveller 1 being mid of the 8th character of chapter 4 so yeah the game is great but I can't marathon it. Like for every session I play it's either 1 or 2 chapters or sometimes trying to upgrade party stuff. Other than that I couldn't play like 3 chapters in a day or smth even tho I could play 6 hours of the same game at once

[@occ3616]

FF12 was my second FF ever after 10 and it’s still to this day my favorite game in the series. It’s just so so unique in comparison to literally every other game in the series, and I personally really love the cast even the villains which I know get a lot of flack like Vayne is really interesting when you start to pick up all the flavor text about why he is the way he is. Idk 12 just has such a special place in my heart lol

[@trollingisasport]

All of these games make sense and I've had the same issue with all of them. I do recommend Octopath 2 if you haven't played it because it addressed all the issues I had with the first and I was able to play it all the way through.

[@keeptv1918]

I think it’s interesting with XC2 because i almost have the opposite feelings on it I freaking love XC2 and torna and breat them both and then I’ve started playing XC DE and I am really really struggling to get into it I just got to where you can start to rebuild colony 6 and I just met melia and Riki but I don’t know why I really just can’t seem to get into the game

[@Emelenyt]

I had a similar experience with Octopath Traveler. I played about 7 or 8 hours before i gave up, beacuse I really didn't like the structure of the game. Bravely Default was great but I didn't like essentially playing the game 4 times over because of the time stuff. However Bravely Default 2 was fantastic

[@st.spencer]

That's a shame about Octo 2, it's one of my favorites! I feel you though, it can be tiring and confusing to follow all 8 stories at once. I'd recommend just making one party, and following their stories all the way through, then doing the same with the other 4. It's like 2 rpgs in one! Doing it that way still took me a good 95 hours to complete

[@ErekLadd]

Okay great suggestion!!! I may actually play it that way!!

[@ItsATMDrums]

Bummer to see Xenoblade 2 on here. I hadn’t played anything in the series either until 2 and it ended up being an incredibly emotional journey and well told story. Battle system was the biggest improvement in 2 compared to 1 as well which is interesting, thank god they made it more than a d-pad simulator lol

[@marcrics]

I find a lot of it is timing. I can't tell the amount of times I've put a game down to retry a year or more late only to completely fall in love with said game.

[@NivraNabru]

5:30 i like Balthier too, but according to the dev team, Basch was supposed to be the main, but they wanted to be relevant with younger audiences thats why they picked Vhan as the main 😅

[@lswhere40]

They should have went with Basch, yeah. Tidus in FFX as a side character explaining the hero Yuna's story worked so much better. Van telling his side of things just comes off as a watered down version of X, which is saying something because FFX was an entire water world compared to the FFXII world desert.

[@NivraNabru]

@@lswhere40 i see what you did there 😁

[@lswhere40]

@@NivraNabru 😁

[@addisonmcqueen3850]

I used to always want to finish what I started but this year I started practicing a similar 10 hour rule. I've only dropped 2 games so far but they're both very beloved: Skies of Arcadia and Chrono Trigger. Their stories weren't really gripping me and funnily enough I transitioned to playing an Ace Attorney game after both of them.

[@ErekLadd]

Gosh I felt the same about Skies of Arcadia as well. Everyone loves that game, I finally tried it and.. I was really bored! Maybe I should try again but it did not grab me whatsoever.

[@addisonmcqueen3850]

@@ErekLadd I'm personally holding out for a Skies of Arcadia remake as part of Sega's big franchises revival they got going on. Also hoping for a HD-2D Chrono Trigger to see if it would grab me more!

[@jesserivera2043]

Honestly, admitting that you reviewed a game mainly for making a video, and not finishing it actually makes me trust you more as a reviewer. Sometimes it's hard to tell if someone is genuinely giving a positive review or if it's motivated by sponsorships, so hearing that authenticity is refreshing But I honestly understand what you mean with Bravely Default: I was able to finish the switch installment, but it felt like a slog. I appreciated the twist of the first installment, and I absolutely loved the party dynamic with the second, but the Switch version felt like it was made first with how tropey the characters and story were. It's a weird nitpick, but I did not like how each character represented an element. I felt like the main party felt less interesting and important to the story, despite them getting their own crystals each chapter. And I also didn't like this story's explanation for the rematches against the asterisk holders. I think by that point the four heroes of light representing each element was too much of a recurring trope, so not seeing this game do anything interesting with it sucked.

[@PowerPandaMods]

Bravely Default's story is eggregious. I made it 25 hours in, and then just gave up. I watched the rest of the story on KZbin, cutscenes only, and still got annoyed with how shallow and repetitive it was.

[@ErekLadd]

Yeeeep. That pretty much sums it up for me.

[@madkaiser4887]

Yeah I don't blame with Xenoblade Chronicles 2, as the pacing and the general combat impressions at first is definitely ROUGH or any of Team Asano's games, as their infamous for Difficulty Spikes, even the Remake of Live A Live, I believe in a chapter like Prehistory had an INSANE Difficulty Spike.

[@ErekLadd]

I hear you! Live A Live was a bit hard at some points but man I loved that game!!!

[@xahtep2747]

The first Octopath Traveler and I suppose technically Nier Replicant and DQ XI. Octopath I really liked but the level jumps between each story was really rough, the grind required was also not the most fun. I loved the idea just didn't love the execution. Replicant I reached ending A and was satisifed stopping there. The game was fun but I just didn't connect with it like Automata did. DQ XI I absolutely loved but the post game Act III content was such a difficulty spike that I just gave up after getting stuck too long on the second boss in the painting/ruins

[@Silvamoon]

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is one of my favorite games of all time. I love the art, the music, the plot, even the battle system. I think the hate is because you do have to put some time and effort into it. For me though I legitimately loved everything about it. The Gapcha, the leveling, the salvaging minigame. Everything. I think this is the game I spent more hours on than any other in my life. And I plan on playing it again one day.

[@lindenstromberg6859]

Looking at the games you can't get into, it looks like you simply get worn out by games that have bloated battle systems. The games you picked (Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Bravely Default, Octopath Traveller) all have elaborate menu systems for battle input, but are simplistic when it comes to battle strategy output (even when compared to Dragon Quest games). IMO, these can be draining/unenjoyable because at best it feels like battle systems become chores that are more elaborate than they should be - and at the worst they feel like bland/chore-like mini-games that feel disconnected from the battles.

[@animalntaz]

I rented Final Fantasy XII a few times for PS2, but it was only semi-interesting to bother getting around to buying it. I regret selling off my Xenosaga trilogy, that was worth keeping despite some of its flaws.

[@ErekLadd]

Now that's a trilogy I need to finally play! Xenosaga has alluded me for years but I think it might be time to finally play. Much prefer the idea of that to FFXII tbh.

[@Vilehand]

Eiyuden didnt live up at all to its hype, coming from a Suiko fan. It felt too happy go lucky, everyone is just so excited to kick butt of the evil emperor, from the beginning to end. It felt cringe. I still put in 112 hours tho. Meh

[@Jxudo]

I agree with all of these except XII, I love XII. But yeah all the others I feel the same way. Especially The Last Story, people harp on and on about that game and yes, boring story, boring characters, nothing to make you want to move forward.

[@cylith5627]

I forced myself to finish Xenblade Chronicles 2. I love XBC1 and LOVE XBC3. I played them all back to back for the 1st time this past January. Like playing FF14, you will be constantly told that "yeah it gets REALLY good 60hrs in!" which, yeah it does(I also forced myself through since the game was a gift and it is amazing true), but that is terrible for a story based game. Its chapter 4 in XBC2 where the story finally picks up and starts you on the ACTUAL main plot. Which can be 12-16 hrs in depending on how you explore and sidequest. One of the WORST things XBC2 did tho, TERRIBLE tutorials for its game systems. It explains ONLY ONCE, there is no menu to look at the tutorials you have seen, what a system does and THEN explains it terribly. Like watching your combat clip, you were doing what the game sorta explained, but that is NOT how you actually do it to make it all work. It takes outside sources to be able to actually "GET IT". Which also, all the combat systems don't unlock UNTIL chapter 4 or 5 either. And to finish, except for FF12(its in my personal top 5 FFs), I agree a lot with the list overall. I never played Eiyuden Chronicles though. I'd add Sea of Stars to my list of RPGs I didn't finish. It has a beautiful art style, great OST, but for me only ok combat and TERRIBLE main characters. They have zero personality and besides one being a boy and one a girl, there is zero difference between them.

[@ErekLadd]

Great points!!! I will say, I agree with Sea Of Stars. I finished it but man it was such a drag. Very hard to finish that one!!

[@rdyfrde]

I'm not into any of the Xeno games. Whether it's Xenoblade or Xenogears. I didn't like either of them and only played about 2 hours before turning them off. I can't slog through games that I'm not having fun playing.

[@Xeakerr]

I don't understand why people keep thinking FF12 has MMO Battle system? I played pretty much every MMO there is and none had FF12 battle system.

[@lindenstromberg6859]

I was a big fan of Xenogears, Xenosaga, Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and X, but Xenoblade Chronicles 2 were not as much for me. For me, I think it was the bloated battle systems (filled with chain attack mini-games/repetitious combos, and disconnected from strategy), weird maze-like maps, WAAAAAY too much tutorial/handholding, and everything kind of felt like it was taking longer than it should. I'll try 3 again, but after 10+ hours and still in the tutorial section put me off.

[@lindenstromberg6859]

Octopath Traveller 1 was one I tried, so I skipped 2. Octopath Traveller, much like XC2, felt too bloated, the battle system was (much like XC2) more complex in the UI/battle execution,, but less complex in the strategy when compared to other RPGs like Chrono Trigger (simpler in UI/execution, but more complex in the strategy).

[@jes141]

Totally agree about XC2. It’s the only Xeno game I don’t like for all of the reasons that you gave in this video

[@derekminna]

I cant speak for the others but I will say that Octopath 2 and Bravely Default 2 are worth seeing through to the end.

[@william7546]

10 hrs is more than I am willing to do, you are generous. I'm picky with Combat and Music, it has to flow and games like FF7 remake and Tales of Arise have increased my standards considerably. The biggest games that have not held my attention were Persona 5 and KH3. Persona I love everything about it, I think I was simply too busy and will need to revisit, KH3 I was sooo excited having loved 1-2 during my teens, and while they do great on the music and combat front, having to rediscover what it means to be a hero and inner strength for the 100th time pushed me away. When the kids started playing it I got interested again but.... They got stuck at a boss and I'm refusing to help this time. Edit: i forgot to mention Pokemon Violet, that game has nothing to keep you hooked and I have tried hard to give it a chance more than once. The old games had things happening as you reached towns and places, this one is... I dunno, so big yet empty all at once.

[@ErekLadd]

Gosh I really haver to agree. I finished KH3 but I have zero idea what happened in that game. All of it went over my head. Same for Pokemon Violet. I honestly don't think I will ever play a Pokemon game after that. Those just aren't for me anymore unfortunately unless they really pump up the story telling.

[@bull1709]

It took me 20 hours to get into XC2 until I enjoyed it after almost quitting it. I dont think it's reasonable to sink that much time in without enjoying it but I'm glad that I did.

[@ErekLadd]

Yeah that's the payoff of investing that much time. Glad it worked out for you though!!

[@mikagesama1990]

I'm sorry you didn't enjoy Bravely Default. The story had a couple of interesting twists in it, but even I found the grind and story too tedious at times. I finished it and Bravely Second, and enjoyed both. Bravely Default 2, on the other hand, was not my cup of tea, ironically. Oh well. 😅

[@potentatewags]

I could never finish FF12 either. Actually, since x and x-2 i didnt finish any until xvi.

[@TheGunmanChannel]

I'm tempted to unsub, not my beloved FF12!!! Lol joking of course

[@ErekLadd]

I'm so sorry!!!! 🤣🤣

[@imperix88]

lol my reason for dropping octopath 2 was that it was too easy

[@uppernimbus]

How dare you drop Xenoblade 2 🤣 I will admit that the game's ending would have been a better payoff for you if you managed to play through it all, but I understand, we can't like everything! I dropped the original Bravely Default right at the end of the game with the final boss, I was heavily under-leveled and wasn't able to return to the world map, I literally trapped myself from progressing any further. Loved the video!

[@ErekLadd]

Yeah I wanted to like Xenoblade 2 but it just never gelled with me. Too much effort to have to progress in certain areas!

[@__BlacklotuS__]

Me but with western rpgs, can't even pretend to like them

[@ErekLadd]

tbh I fully agree with this. A lot of them I can't even get into. I can't put my finger on it exactly but I understand what you mean.

[@actualcanibal4589]

Finally, someone else that doesn't like FF XII as much as I do. I found it so dull. The world is bland and ugly, the characters are uninteresting and the MMO style combat system had no depth. It's nice to find a kindred spirit. Also, I feel like Bravely Default rose fast and fell hard. I remember hearing about it all the time, but then nothing. The sequel came out and I didn't even notice. No one talked about it.

[@ErekLadd]

I've got a full length video on my overall distaste of FFXII if you're interested. I just couldn't get into that darn game!!!

[@ExireHG]

I notice with almost all of these, you're saying, "I didn't give the game a fair shot." This sounds worse than I mean, but it seems this is more of a personal issue rather than issues with the game, since you mention that about yourself so consistently. Not all though. I straight up didn't like Bravely Default 1, but I really like BD2. I find like every JRPG is so braindead easy, I loved there was finally at least ONE that didn't mind punching you in the face. I like the art style and music for it a lot too. Again, I liked Octopath Traveler 2 more than the first game as well. Didn't sell as well though, so it might be the last one we'll ever get. Also, despite being a big Xenogears fan, I didn't play any Xenoblade games. Tried the first one and didn't like the combat at all, so I've stayed away.

[@ErekLadd]

It's more-so a matter of do I continue to play the game and risk burning out or power through. Some games also come to me at a certain point in life and then life happens and I never get back to it. It's definitely a balance of life/games and some games don't stick through busier periods and I don't feel compelled to get back unfortunately.

[@FfpK.bailey]

Chrono trigger is a game I have tried to play multiple times and it just doesn't appeal to me at all.

[@ErekLadd]

Fair enough!!!!

[@s.m.4479]

I have a video idea. Ranking every final fantasy map.

[@ErekLadd]

Great suggestion!

[@s.m.4479]

@@ErekLadd 👍

[@sebbyterasu78]

I empathize with you. If you ain't jiving with a game play something else. My tennent is if a game is making you want to play another game, it's not doing a good job. Games I don't jive with: Persona games: I don't like the life Sim. Cut that out and the bloated 80 standard playthrough is a comfy 40 hr games. Dragon Warrior/Quest games: very boring games for me. Don't like the music and they are slow to get into.

[@poleon2003]

Honestly for my tastes Shin Megami Tensei appeals to me WAY more than Persona personally despite many people arguing that they're the same series

[@sebbyterasu78]

Same. They lean more towards the occult and are straightforward RPGs. My favorite has to be the Digital Devil Saga duology. Just wish the dungeons were not so samey.

[@poleon2003]

@@sebbyterasu78 Yeah and I'm saying this as someone who hasn't played either SMT or Persona but I was just saying that feels like SMT would tickle my fancy more than Persona

[@occ3616]

FF8 imo is the worst RPG I’ve ever played I just can’t stand Squall and story of the sorceress just doesn’t amount to literally anything to me, not to mention how junctioning just seriously fucking sucks man, and I’ve never hated any RPG battle system besides that which says a lot lmao

[@federicogou]

Totally agree with FFXII.

[@I_Am_The_Social_Reject]

Bravely Default I dropped cause 1 I'm not a handheld guy. I bought a 3ds mainly for that game. And turns out it's very childish and poorly made. Cringe voice acting. Mobile game like micro transactions. I do want to try it again cause another game I dropped I ended up loving which is Dragon Quest 11. Similar to Bravely. Hated the characters. Voice acting was fine. But hated the silent protagonist. It just don't make sense to do. I still ain't a fan of that even after beating it. But I rented this game in 2020. Couldn't get into it for the life of me. Tried again early this year on plus. Approached it differently work with a mind set and goal to play many hours a day. Cause if I don't, I'll never beat it with my full time job. Still took me 3 months to beat. Similar to Persona 5. Another game I dropped speaking of that is Persona 3. Couldn't get into it much. It was okay. I can't say 5 is amazing or anything but I did enjoy it. Just way too much filler and too damn long. 3 I didn't grind enough and was stuck on a boss that one shot me. I was playing on hard mode. Restarted it but got burned out. I quit playing Tales of Xillia. Couldn't get into it. I think I'll try the Tales series again one day. I forgot which video you mentioned Enchanted Arms I listened to 3 of your videos on the way to work but you said you got it on PS3 which oddly enough is the worse version. I forgot why. I know I loved it on 360 but hated it years later on PS3. Not sure if it's cause it aged terrible or cause it's worse. Another game I dropped was Child of Light. Was boring. As for Octopath Traveler. I beat the game. However. I ended up hating it. I forced myself to beat it. It's definitely not a good game. Very boring characters. Gameplay was okay but didn't have enough depth to justify the length of the game. There is a true ending that's basically secret and almost requires a guide. I'm against using guides and I was so ready to be done I didn't care. I ended the game there. Screw the true ending

[@codered7070]

Same issue with FF XII and Xenoblade 2

[@ADAMAGAYAN]

Great video! Really like your vibes and the way you deliver the info, so definitely a like and a sub from me! ❤👍

[@ErekLadd]

Much appreciated!! Thanks so much 😁

[@ancientrunekrp6895]

Persona Series for me, I just can't get into them, same goes for SMT.

[@agroah7236]

wtf i was searching a copy of the last story earlier and now its listet here destiny ^^

[@taylorgalpin9728]

Not a JRPG but I could never get into Zelda games 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@Monoliftsoft.ninja..]

Xenoblade 2 is best jrpg if all time the combat is so deep you missed out

[@ferdinandmaldonado3582]

10 Hours?!?!?!??? 🤣😂🤣😂🤣🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣🤣

[@KonEl17]

Comparing FF12 to mmo combat is so completely wrong!!

[@dakunclear]

I enjoyed Xenoblade Chronicles 2 but only for the story so I can agree with your thoughts on the rest of it lol. The Last Story I couldn't get into either. I bought FFXII for PC and I've played about half way through and ya the battle system was a bit of a mess even the class changes was a bit of a pain. I haven't finished yet and not sure if I will get around to it anytime soon. I found I just didn't connect with the characters all that much. I have to actually work on getting through Octopath Traveller and ya all the stories are cumberson but like you I'm going to try and complete after I get through some of the new games I bought. Eiyuden Chronicles I haven't bought that yet so I can't say much about it yet. I enjoyed Bravel Default the first game but the second game I couldn't get into it. Maybe it's just the story but not sure. Anyways good video as always!

[@aquilananashi1260]

I grew up too

[@Undertow207]

Are any of these games really considered "legendary"? I did enjoy FFXII, though

[@ErekLadd]

Eh yes/no. More of a title thing than anything!

[@zenomtfr]

I wouldn't call xenoblade 2 legendary lol

[@chickenfillets]

🐻🐻🐻🐻

[@uppernimbus]

🐻🐻🐻🐻

[@PoetryAndTofu]

Glad to hear your thoughts on Xenoblade 2. Personally I'll never pick it up in my lifetime. I saw the fanservice for literally every woman in the game and thought "I'm a grown man, no thank you." The deal was sealed when I saw Tor sexualize Poppi (a girl that's coded as basically a child) become sexualized by the game itself in her transformation. I can't handle loli stuff, man. It's why I drop most anime. Great vid as always my dude, very chill way to start the day.

[@ErekLadd]

Totally agree. I didn't mention in the video but I agree with some of the over sexualization of some of the concepts. I can't get behind that!

[@janusan89]

I'm glad that someone other than me dislikes Xenoblade chronicles 2. You say you didn't hate it, but GOD I completely loathed it, I was so hyped for this game when it was announced ever since I loved the original on Wii and X on Wiiu. It was my main reason to buy a switch, and unfortunately I had no other game then, so I had to play this. I hated this game so much that I REFUSE to believe there's a sequel. To me, Xenoblade ended with X and I'm not looking beyond that. 110 hours I'll never get back...

[@Marukai-hu2pd]

I’m so glad I’m not the only one. There is literally nothing I like about XC2. I also was excited for it cuz it seemed cool in the promo material, but then I played it, and it slowly whittled me down to where I hate that game, and can’t believe anyone likes it. If I didn’t know better, I would’ve believed it if someone told me that game was made by people who only had passing knowledge of video games. As I played it more and more, I would encounter something that made me say “who thought this was a good design choice!?” Like putting ridiculously higher leveled enemies in an area, but then reducing your run speed to a crawl when in combat so you can’t EASILY run passed them like I’m sure a lot of people would say you’re supposed to do. It’s been years since endured that game, but i feel like I remember that being a thing.

[@janusan89]

@@Marukai-hu2pd Yeah it's just...such a downgrade from 1 and X. I'm sure 3 is better but...no, just no. Give me Xeno X and better skells and online or something.

[@kennethrice323]

Yeah 12 was a slog. I have no problem with political intrigue but not this heavy in a FF game. Plus I have almost never been a fan of MMO style gameplay. Closest I really got was Dragon Age and Skyrim and never finished Skyrim.

[@armorvil]

also you can make interesting & moving political stories but FF12's is sooo dry. FFT on ps1/psp/mobile is a great political story, at least for 75% of the game.

[@ErekLadd]

Yeah that's what never got me fully engaged. The political side was so dry for me.

[@DaakkuuYRS]

Xenoblade 2 was 8/10 game for me. All of your reasoning are fair (especially the field style POKEMON HM). But the main reason for me the game is not 10 is the ecchi harem stuff and the characters. Most of the main characters are terrible. Pyra, Mythra, Rex, Nia, and the worst of them is Tora who created Poppy for his erotic fantasies. Which is a shame, because the story has great a theme of wishing to not forget your loved ones.

[@ErekLadd]

Totally agree. Probably could've been presented in a better way IMO.

[@adamdam]

I'm starting to sell alot of these random jrpgs in my collection, Nis titles specifically, I think a LOT of these games are revered or 'hidden gems' fomo aside. They're mostly shit. Xenoblade also, is actually a horrible set of games and I can admit that now, convinced myself Xenoblade 3 was great...it was just OK. Totally over it now, I'll stick to my ps1 era jrpgs and classics whilst keeping an eye out on anything genuinly good.

[@calebb7012]

Xenoblade 2 was literally just waifu bait. It's tedious. Rex rivaled Vaan in how irrelevant he was to the entire plot.

[@haunter27]

I LOVED Xenoblade DE, but really couldn’t get into 2 or 3. For me it was the storytelling, art style, and overly complicated battles.

[@HyouVizer]

beat Xenoblade 2, but I didn't like it either (loved the combat). Xenoblade 1 did like but it felt too routine too linear, next sandbox zone always gated by story cutscene from an npc. Tales of Zesteria quit hard, once I had to back track some orbs to see low rent visual novel flashbacks for a dull villain spoonfed backstory, I checked out. Also hated battle circle clipping with walls or trees as didn't have transition battlefield like usual. It also ruined co-op, if someone is playing as 2nd or 4th slot for Angel party member, lose control to do their seraph/human fusion form. I love Tales but this game was so annoying to experience. FF12, same lol. Never beat it, don't dislike it. Just can't get into it, tried many times, even zodiac age version. Party member Ai settings were too much. Either you set them perfectly and game plays itself which is extremely boring or you end up manual selecting each member's action every few seconds. No middle ground meh. It's artstyle, fully realized open world of dungeons, cities and scenery incredible all on one PS2 disc back then. Also Vaan is lackluster "lead" character, main focus is on Ashe and Basch, with Balthier being screentime cutscene wise. Never played OctoPath 2, on backlog. Shocked to see it here. not liking Eiyuden, you might not like Suikoden either. I only played Bravely Default 2, didn't like it's characters nor story. Class customization and combat system carried it, then post game true ending started, I quit from difficulty spike. Also what's the point of having a weakness system when it gives enemies an counterattack free hit to your party members? Lol