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Overrated/Underrated JRPGs
- Thread starter BryceNobody
- Start date
Roman Empire
Member
Overrated: The Tales of series
Underrated: The Legend of Heroes series
I love how much effort is put into characterization and worldbuilding in each The Legend of Heroes game. Too bad it doesn't get the recognition it deserves.
Underrated: The Legend of Heroes series
I love how much effort is put into characterization and worldbuilding in each The Legend of Heroes game. Too bad it doesn't get the recognition it deserves.
Roman Empire
Member
Wow, I almost forgot about Utawarerumono. I played the original game back then and played only the Maks of Deception a few years ago. I heard the third game goes bonkers, and knowing from where the second left off, I don't doubt it. Still need to get some time to play the last one.
Punished Miku
Member
Loved that game. The Conqueror was sick.Underrated:
The Last Remnant.
Play this game.
KiteGr
Member
I wanted to try this one, but I can't find it on a retail version for my Sony Consoles. I wouldn't had a problem getting it digitally if it was on steam, but I can't find it there either.
Captain Toad
Banned
Man. I tried playing that for the first time a few months ago. What a complete PoS. I've played tons of JRPGs all from the NES to today and I can't ever incision a time where that game isn't complete garbage.There are no hidden gems anymore thanks to the internet. So I'll just post the best jrpg ever made:
So yeah, my overrated JRPG goes to Skies of Arcadia.
For underrated, maybe Ni No Kuni (the first, the second was nowhere as good).
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saintjules
Member
Well this is certainly interesting. Did not know that. SO2 is probably one of the best in history. Somewhat takes a dive on disc 2, but still holds up.
Also, how many versions of the ending did you get?
SeraphJan
Member
The entire Super Robot Taisen franchise is underrated IMO
NeoIkaruGAF
Gold Member
Overrated: FFX. I will forever hold the opinion that JRPGs took a nosedive the minute they turned from text-only dialogue to VA and “cinematic” cutscenes, and FFX spearheaded the revolution because duh, it was the first FF to do so and FF was huge at the time. Narrative quality suffered immensely from this, and the game is desperately boring, too. The character design is so over the top it’s simply offensive, and while I admit the story does get good in its final parts, you have to suffer through an awful lot of cringe to see the best the game has to offer.
Underrated: Chrono Cross. One of the best-looking and best-sounding PS1 games, it has excellent writing and fat-free gameplay, with so many QoL features that the whole genre took years to recognize and adopt. While JRPGs only went towards more complexity and bloat for the sake of it, CC went the opposite way, providing a compact experience that does more in 20-25 hours than most JRPGs from that era and beyond managed to do in 60+ hours.
Underrated: Chrono Cross. One of the best-looking and best-sounding PS1 games, it has excellent writing and fat-free gameplay, with so many QoL features that the whole genre took years to recognize and adopt. While JRPGs only went towards more complexity and bloat for the sake of it, CC went the opposite way, providing a compact experience that does more in 20-25 hours than most JRPGs from that era and beyond managed to do in 60+ hours.
Fbh
Member
Overrated:
Persona 5
I don't really get how this is one of the highest rated games ever. It's a fun 50 hours game that gets stretched way too thin over a 100 hours of horrible pacing, repetitive dialog, a generic anime plot and increasingly worse dungeons. Even the "highschool sim" aspect isn't as good as it could be due to its restrictive nature and uninteresting side stories.
It's not bad, it has a lot of style, nice music, and the SMT combat and monster collecting is fun. But to me it's like a 8/10
Underrated
The Last Remnant.
Game isn't perfect but does a lot of unique things and I think it still carries a lot of the negativity from the original Xbox 360 release despite a lot of those issues getting fixed on the Pc port and newer releases
Persona 5
I don't really get how this is one of the highest rated games ever. It's a fun 50 hours game that gets stretched way too thin over a 100 hours of horrible pacing, repetitive dialog, a generic anime plot and increasingly worse dungeons. Even the "highschool sim" aspect isn't as good as it could be due to its restrictive nature and uninteresting side stories.
It's not bad, it has a lot of style, nice music, and the SMT combat and monster collecting is fun. But to me it's like a 8/10
Underrated
The Last Remnant.
Game isn't perfect but does a lot of unique things and I think it still carries a lot of the negativity from the original Xbox 360 release despite a lot of those issues getting fixed on the Pc port and newer releases
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LazyParrot
Member
It's an Xbox 360 exclusive published and funded entirely by Microsoft. You're never going to see it on a Sony console, and it's fairly unlikely that it will ever get ported to PC.
BryceNobody
Member
Funnily enough, this is somewhat similar to how I felt about FFIX. Disc 4 ends on a high note, but the meandering story and sluggish pacing between Discs 2-3 drags down the overall experience.
Roman Empire
Member
Too bad Ni No Kuni went the Gacha way to keep its story. I heard the game is extremely good and popular in Japan but I'm already fed up with all the Gachas everywhere just like the live service games.
Captain Toad
Banned
How is Ni No Kuni a gacha game?
SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Overrated:
Skies of Arcadia -- I'm one of the biggest Sega fans around but this game was as bland as they come. An insultingly recycled story about collecting the different colored McGuffin Crystals to overthrow the Evil Empire, one note characters, and sloooow boring combat. Lovely art and music and a cool world aren't enough to dress up a boring, tedious game.
Underrated:
Tales of Eternia -- Of all the Tales games, this one is one of the most slept on and also one of the best. The art direction was gorgeous, the dungeon design fun and packed with puzzles and mini games, and the battle system really perfected the formula. Admittedly the story wasn't super original, but everything around it was so damn good. Released very late in the PS1's life (after PS2 was already becoming the RPG machine) and so it didn't get the notice it deserved.
Skies of Arcadia -- I'm one of the biggest Sega fans around but this game was as bland as they come. An insultingly recycled story about collecting the different colored McGuffin Crystals to overthrow the Evil Empire, one note characters, and sloooow boring combat. Lovely art and music and a cool world aren't enough to dress up a boring, tedious game.
Underrated:
Tales of Eternia -- Of all the Tales games, this one is one of the most slept on and also one of the best. The art direction was gorgeous, the dungeon design fun and packed with puzzles and mini games, and the battle system really perfected the formula. Admittedly the story wasn't super original, but everything around it was so damn good. Released very late in the PS1's life (after PS2 was already becoming the RPG machine) and so it didn't get the notice it deserved.
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Captain Toad
Banned
Thank you. I felt I was in bizzaro world after hearing people calling this the best JRPG ever.
Pantz
Member
Overrated:
FFVII Remake - It's an awesome game but there are too many boring filler sections. Fans don't want to talk about those sections.
Underrated:
World of Final Fantasy - It's a really really cute game celebrating Final Fantasy. Not the best but deserves better. Overshadowed by FFXV at the time.
FFVII Remake - It's an awesome game but there are too many boring filler sections. Fans don't want to talk about those sections.
Underrated:
World of Final Fantasy - It's a really really cute game celebrating Final Fantasy. Not the best but deserves better. Overshadowed by FFXV at the time.
Ev1L AuRoN
Member
Overrated - Dragon Quest XI
Underrated - Breath of Fire IV
Underrated - Breath of Fire IV
thicc_girls_are_teh_best
Member
I don't agree with this; you can't even add a 5th character until the very last stretch of the game and there's only maybe two main dungeons you go through with them (I know you can take them with you back to the planet with the various Towers but why bother doing that IMO?).
Maybe if you're abusing Macro combination attacks it can be extremely easy, and I'll concede the dungeons are pretty easy in and of themselves layout-wise (plus lack of traps except for one where the traps aren't really traps because you still get something out of them). Even aside all of that, it's not like people who rate PSIV highly ever did so because it was a super-difficult JRPG, so it's just kind of weird to say it's overrated over something that's never been a reason why most people liked it in the first place?
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
I guess my memory was off on the 5th party addition. If thats the case where most of the game is a 4 person party that makes it even easier. I plowed through that game no problem. PS2 was noticeably harder and that game is strictly 4 person parties.
I used macros ya. I forget how I even figured them out. Because watching videos later on on YT there seemed to be a ton I didn't know about.
I think many people who played PS4 think it's a good game. I dont think there's too many people saying it's not a solid game. Thats why I downplay the game since to me its easy difficulty makes it much worse than PS2, even though PS4's production values are much better. Not the type of game I'd play again. I replayed PS2 on Genesis emulator and even that Eternal Sun game too. But had no interest replaying PS4.
Roman Empire
Member
Ni No Kuni Cross Worlds was released in June 2021. I think it'll eventually get a Western release. It's extremely popular right now in Asia and I don't think we'll get another main line title while they focus on the Gacha game, especially when it seems to be this popular. I think it even beat Genshin Impact on player spending in its release, amounting to $100 million in only 11 days.
Edit: It's more like an MMORPG instead of pure Gacha.
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kurisu_1974
is on perm warning for being a low level troll
Overrated: everything Tales.
Underrated: everything Shadow Hearts.
Underrated: everything Shadow Hearts.
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German Hops
GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
Overrated:
Chrono Trigger.
Underrated:
1. Breath of Fire 2: Brutally underrated, one of the most glorious jrpg ever for me. Even it is much better than Breath of Fire 3.
2. Front Mission 3: I don't know if it is JRPG or not, but lets call it a JRPG. And it is so popular in Japan, however doesn't get the audience that it deserve outside of Japan.
3. Legend of Mana: This gem is, simply beautiful, and awfully underrated.
4. Saga Frontier: Another JRPG gems that is underrated. Check out the recently released remaster.
5. Brigandine Legend of Forsena: Same as Front Mission 3, I don't know if we can really call it JRPG, but lets call one, shall we? And it is highly underrated and still have its small amount but loyal fans until now. (it surprises me also in this game how the Japanese highly invest with Biblical mythology also Western mythology.)
6. Panzer Dragoon Saga
Chrono Trigger.
Underrated:
1. Breath of Fire 2: Brutally underrated, one of the most glorious jrpg ever for me. Even it is much better than Breath of Fire 3.
2. Front Mission 3: I don't know if it is JRPG or not, but lets call it a JRPG. And it is so popular in Japan, however doesn't get the audience that it deserve outside of Japan.
3. Legend of Mana: This gem is, simply beautiful, and awfully underrated.
4. Saga Frontier: Another JRPG gems that is underrated. Check out the recently released remaster.
5. Brigandine Legend of Forsena: Same as Front Mission 3, I don't know if we can really call it JRPG, but lets call one, shall we? And it is highly underrated and still have its small amount but loyal fans until now. (it surprises me also in this game how the Japanese highly invest with Biblical mythology also Western mythology.)
6. Panzer Dragoon Saga
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Pallas
Member
Overrated:
FFVII
Octopath Traveler
Persona 3-5
FFX(expecting the angry mob for this one)
Underrated:
Lost Odyssey
Suikoden 2, 3, 5.
Wild Arms
SaGa Frontier
Breath of Fire 2
Thousand Arms
Persona 2(both IS/EP)
Suikoden Rhapsodia/Tactics
Ahhh … I gotta stop myself, I’ll end up listening a ton more in the underrated section if I don’t.
Also I’m not entirely sure if Suikoden 2 would be underrated, it’s a great game but the series isn’t really well known compare to more mainstream series but I listed it anyway.
FFVII
Octopath Traveler
Persona 3-5
FFX(expecting the angry mob for this one)
Underrated:
Lost Odyssey
Suikoden 2, 3, 5.
Wild Arms
SaGa Frontier
Breath of Fire 2
Thousand Arms
Persona 2(both IS/EP)
Suikoden Rhapsodia/Tactics
Ahhh … I gotta stop myself, I’ll end up listening a ton more in the underrated section if I don’t.
Also I’m not entirely sure if Suikoden 2 would be underrated, it’s a great game but the series isn’t really well known compare to more mainstream series but I listed it anyway.
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TintoConCasera
I bought a sex doll, but I keep it inflated 100% of the time and use it like a regular wife
I think Final Fantasy V is underrated, specially when compared to other more popular entries in the series.
Game features good gameplay, an amazing job system and a pretty good OST, but I guess it got overshadowed since it has less emphasys on story than IV or VI.
PD: everytime someone refers to Zelda as a JRPG I die a bit inside.
Game features good gameplay, an amazing job system and a pretty good OST, but I guess it got overshadowed since it has less emphasys on story than IV or VI.
PD: everytime someone refers to Zelda as a JRPG I die a bit inside.
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SF Kosmo
Al Jazeera Special Reporter
FF5 is my favorite of the classic 2D FF games. Best gameplay and character building by far, and a more focused story with some cool twists and moments.
Fbh
Member
Also looking at this thread and other similar ones....I do think Lost Odyssey is a bit overrated.
Don't take me wrong, I still really like it and it was nice having a high budget traditional JRPG. When I sold my 360 the only game I kept was Lost Odyssey.
But I don't think it's as amazing as everyone online says, the story always felt like it didn't reach its full potential (the 1000 years of dreams short stories are way more interesting and so much better written than the actual plot), Gongora is so generic and bland he almost feels like he is from another game, the kids are terrible and add needless cringe to every scene, the combat system had some fun ideas but is really slow and gets repetitive towards the end (could also have used a bit more flashiness for my taste) and random encounters in any game past the Ps1 era is a shit tier mechanic .
On the other hand the soundtrack is underrated. It's not just good, it's the best work by Uematsu IMO
Don't take me wrong, I still really like it and it was nice having a high budget traditional JRPG. When I sold my 360 the only game I kept was Lost Odyssey.
But I don't think it's as amazing as everyone online says, the story always felt like it didn't reach its full potential (the 1000 years of dreams short stories are way more interesting and so much better written than the actual plot), Gongora is so generic and bland he almost feels like he is from another game, the kids are terrible and add needless cringe to every scene, the combat system had some fun ideas but is really slow and gets repetitive towards the end (could also have used a bit more flashiness for my taste) and random encounters in any game past the Ps1 era is a shit tier mechanic .
On the other hand the soundtrack is underrated. It's not just good, it's the best work by Uematsu IMO
Skelterz
Member
Underrated: Lost odyssey, Grandia II.
Lost odyssey may be the most faithful and rich JRPG made since FFX.
Grandia II is often overlooked but is a classic JRPG with a great battle system.
Overrated: Pokemon, Xenoblade Chronicles, FF7
Pokemon has only just started to innovate this being an extremely easy target for the Overrated moniker
Xenoblade chronicles in my opinion isn’t as good as X or Xeno 2/Torna but still gets the kudos for being the OG experience.
FF7 although I have a softspot for this title I find it the hardest of the PS1 titles to go back to, the translation is pretty damn poor I don’t like the Psudo job system/materia and unfortunately it’s really hard for me to look at this title now without thinking about all the unwarranted expanded universe of FF7 nobody ever wanted that’s literally sucked the very soul out of the game.
Lost odyssey may be the most faithful and rich JRPG made since FFX.
Grandia II is often overlooked but is a classic JRPG with a great battle system.
Overrated: Pokemon, Xenoblade Chronicles, FF7
Pokemon has only just started to innovate this being an extremely easy target for the Overrated moniker
Xenoblade chronicles in my opinion isn’t as good as X or Xeno 2/Torna but still gets the kudos for being the OG experience.
FF7 although I have a softspot for this title I find it the hardest of the PS1 titles to go back to, the translation is pretty damn poor I don’t like the Psudo job system/materia and unfortunately it’s really hard for me to look at this title now without thinking about all the unwarranted expanded universe of FF7 nobody ever wanted that’s literally sucked the very soul out of the game.
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penguininthesun
Neo Member
Underrated: Final Fantasy Tactics (including Advance), Megaman Battle Network, Ni no Kuni, Final Fantasy XII, Shining Force
Overrated: The other Final Fantasies, The Kingdom Hearts series (Although the first one is still amongst my all time favourites for nostalgia's sake), Nier Automata (still really enjoyed it)
Overrated: The other Final Fantasies, The Kingdom Hearts series (Although the first one is still amongst my all time favourites for nostalgia's sake), Nier Automata (still really enjoyed it)
Isa
Member
Man so many to chose from across different gens.
Some Underrated Jrpgs that come to mind would be
I don't want to be a Debbie Downer with the Overrated section, and since it all seems to be very selective based on personal preferences I'll just throw out a few for fun.
Some Underrated Jrpgs that come to mind would be
- Shining Force Series, we got them before Fire Emblem came west and the whole vibe and art, plus town exploration, secrets and humor
- Valkyrie Profile 1&2
- Lunar 1&2
- Phantasy Star 1-4
- Landstalker, Alundras
- Golden Suns
- Atelier Franchise for providing consistent, colorful, pretty escapes from a stupid world
- Nioh 2 for having a better character creator than any Souls clone around save for Code Vein, I hate my character in Elden Ring
- Nights of Azure 1&2, good games that were low budget but fun with great "assets"
- Shadow Hearts series were great and unique
- Growlanser Games
- Langrisser Games
- La Pucelle: Tactics, those gurls are T H I C C and funny
- Wild Arms franchise, shame we'll probably never see another one, same with Arc the Lad series
- Anything Ys or Falcom, amazing games with often spectacular rippin' tunes, that I've yet to hear another person mention IRL
- Trials of Mana, Secret of Mana, the whole Mana series really
- Vagrant Story, I love the vibe, writing, story, art, music etc
- Parasite Eve, among my favorites of all time
I don't want to be a Debbie Downer with the Overrated section, and since it all seems to be very selective based on personal preferences I'll just throw out a few for fun.
- Final Fantasy franchise, its like the only Jrpg games casuals know, claim to dislike or love, yet still love Pokemon haha. My most disliked FF is X as that's where it all started going downhill. Lulu, Auron and Yuna are nice but the rest good lord, not to mention the lack of a World Map after every prior game having it. Such a letdown. But Tidus, he turned me off of Jrpgs and Anime for literal years before I came back. I actually still like the FF franchise though, but they're not my favorite by a long shot sadly.
- FF XIV's story. I don't get the love. I've spent so many hours with the game but mmo stories just don't grip me like they do others. My friends and I had a good time though.
- FF7R, I had some fun, but I'd rather have a whole new game rather than have a disappointed girlfriend who has absolutely no idea what is going on or why she should care about anything happening. It soured her on trying the OG release.
TheInfamousKira
Reseterror Resettler
Overrated: Probably Final Fantasy VI, and VII. They're my favorites in the series, and I fucking love them, but (VII in particular) was a lot of people's first RPG. It wasn't an insanely popular genre in the West to that point. The graphics, the music, the story, they were all pretty great. But I feel like it was just the perfect storm, culturally. PSX was essentially brand new and cutting edge, so there were a lot of normies first cracking into gaming. Anime was in the process of getting huge in the West thanks to the DBZ, Sailor Moon, YYH, etcs. Hell, even RPGs themselves were probably taking the burgeoning steps into the American lexicon because of the Satanic Panic and D&D. Kids would think volunteering at a retirement home was the shit if you told them they specifically weren't allowed to.
Underrated: Kingdom Hearts II. Extra points for the Final Mix version. Punchy, responsive gameplay, a shitload of abilities and different forms. Magic system, summon system, limit breaks, item synthesis, good chunk of mini games, collectibles and bestiary, fantastic visuals and awesome fucking soundtrack, pretty well known theme song, a pretty deep story before it became TOO convoluted for people who weren't hardcore into it to understand. Lots of nostalgia and fanservice for two distinct crowds. A whole fucking Bleach style roster of villains for super bosses. People dismiss it way too quick because of misconceptions and memes. It's a great game that gets retroactively pulled down by the baggage of it's own sequels.
Underrated: Kingdom Hearts II. Extra points for the Final Mix version. Punchy, responsive gameplay, a shitload of abilities and different forms. Magic system, summon system, limit breaks, item synthesis, good chunk of mini games, collectibles and bestiary, fantastic visuals and awesome fucking soundtrack, pretty well known theme song, a pretty deep story before it became TOO convoluted for people who weren't hardcore into it to understand. Lots of nostalgia and fanservice for two distinct crowds. A whole fucking Bleach style roster of villains for super bosses. People dismiss it way too quick because of misconceptions and memes. It's a great game that gets retroactively pulled down by the baggage of it's own sequels.
Mech_Warrior
Banned
UNDERRATED
Absolutely loved this game with all my heart. Does it get better than Ryudo versus Melfice? <3
I loved the art style and the battle system. Definitely suffered from screen tearing/etc but what an amazing story
The story was incredible and the "Trinity Sight System" was insane. This game does not get enough credit <3
Absolutely loved this game with all my heart. Does it get better than Ryudo versus Melfice? <3
I loved the art style and the battle system. Definitely suffered from screen tearing/etc but what an amazing story
The story was incredible and the "Trinity Sight System" was insane. This game does not get enough credit <3
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PhaseJump
Banned
Underrated:
The Last Remnant.
Play this game.
Still delisted on Steam. I forgot all about it, it's in my backlog.
It's Steam Deck verified too. What the fuck is Square Enix even thinking? The brand new Valve console has a limited library of green check marks, and they're missing out on sales with this one.
IFireflyl
Gold Member
No clue what they're thinking, but you can snag it for around $20 - $26 on key reseller websites. Personally, I think that's a good price still.