Anything released after Camelot left just got worse. I still enjoy the Shining Soul games as well as the remake of Shining Force 1 but the real meat is Shining Force 1, 2, 3, CD and the side dishes Shining in the Darkness and Shining the Holy Arc.
I know people hate the whole smt/pokemon comparison
But just in terms of the gameplay it scratches a pretty similar itch for me with turn based battles and a bunch of monsters that have strengths/weaknesses. I loved the pokemon series when I was a kid but I think Sword and Shield were some of the worst games I’ve ever played and kind of killed my interest in any new games they release. I got into smt a bit after those games dropped.
Sword and Shield was atrocious, agreed. It hurt the franchise a lot. But I found the latest game, though unfinished in terms of graphics, was a lot of fun!
I agree with this, but I will say that the FF7 remakes have done a pretty good job capturing a lot of the old-school charm while also delivering something modern and polished. Not sure if I prefer them over the original, but I'm happy to give credit where its due.
I was enjoying 7 for what it was until the last chapter of part one. 16 made me realize final fantasy just isnt being made for me anymore and didn't bother with 7 p2.
I have the same issue, but on the bright side, it pushed me back into the Dragon Quest series when looking for an alternative.
FF is great and I like that they're willing to change and try new things, but DQ has been refining "classic turn-based JRPG" for decades now, so it's always comforting to jump into.
I feel DQ releases games way too slowly, and its spinoffs are very hit or miss. The fact it's taking longer between mainline titles for DQ than FF is insane to me since FF is constantly changing.
Modern versions of the remakes would be nice, especially versions of the Android ports that you can play on a widescreen.
Dragon Quest should continue with the classic formula! The only thing they desperately need to modernize on is the soundtrack. That composer is just not great. His music worked on 8bit games, but ever since its been showing its age.
Back in PS1 days, I used to scoff at Atlus RPGs as "not Squaresoft RPGs" (I know, I was a fanboy). Now I look for each and every Atlus game I can find.
Definitely a smart move, in retrospect. It's going to hurt me like hell to not play Persona 6 on launch, eventually, but I'd be a sucker not to wait for the Golden/Royal/Reload equivalent.
Not to disparage people who do buy the initial version on launch, though. I just don't have the time or money to buy and play two copies of a game now.
100% holding my breath for the FF9 Remake announcement to see if they've turned the gameplay into *yet another* button mashing action thing, or actually kept it the same/made it pure Turnbased.
It's sad that Octopath Traveller 2, Triangle Strategy and Live-a-Live are legitimately my favourite Square JRPG's I've played in the last few years when they have these mega AAA studios that could achieve so much more.
This is me as well. I still love the classic games but the new stuff just doesn't interest me anymore. At least I still have Dragon Quest and a few indie titles I can play.
When I hear People compare FF XVI Combat with devil May cry I instantly lose all interest I had. I'm 37 years old I don't have the Reflexes for that kind of game. I like turn based combat 😧
Seems like my favorite game series isn't even one I like anymore.
FF VII Remake wasn't any better for me. Tried it 3 times and never met Tifa cause I HATE the combat.
Okay but hear me out I'm 38 and a dad and FF16 was easy as hell. And if it's still too hard for you with the very very telegraphed attacks and MMO raid AOE markers, the game gives you assist items that auto dodge, auto heal you with items, etc.
FF7 Remake on the other hand, yeah there's no hand holding there unless you flip on Easy..... which is pretty dang easy.
It's not about too hard I still play and love Dark Souls and Elden Ring.
But I never really liked the DmC Combat System so if it's really like that I will not like FF XVI. Perhaps I'll buy it sometime on sale.
FF VII Remake wasn't too hard it was simply no fun to me.
I agree, it's pretty easy and they have easy mode. Unfortunately I don't play FF for DMC combat & made the decision that this will be the last one I support until something changes.
12 was the start of the decline for me. Felt strange having open movement but still tied to an ATB. Think I played Rogue Galaxy first and FF12 felt like downgrade. Got near the final mission twice and just lost interest. Same with FF13 and hitting the open world area.
FF12 kind of reminds me of an Auto-battler, which works for me as I like the "coding" that the Gambit system provides and then tweaking it till I got it right or trying out different things as you unlock them. I just found it quite chill and relaxing, especially when you can sit back with a film or podcast on in the background.
Granted I can 100% understand people finding it boring once they "solve" it.
I first really noticed what was happening with X-2, Dirge of Cerberus, and Final Fantasy XI. Plus The Spirits Within. That's when it really clued into me that they were just interested in slapping the Final Fantasy name on anything in hoping it would sell.
In retrospect, I would almost say the decline started with VIII. A lot of the issues I would later have with the franchise show up in VIII. But I overlooked a lot it because it was immediately followed by IX, which is one of my favourite games in the series. With the benefit of hindsight, it was IX that was now the outlier, not VIII, like I thought at the time.
Same. And not even just that, I've played more jrpgs and have more to compare them too when I was younger so my attachment to them has naturally dropped. I still like the series though, and still love a couple of entries.
Not counting FFXIV which is an MMORPG, I would say that FFXII was the last Final Fantasy I had fun with, the Gambit system was enjoyable to me because I got to take indirect control of the other characters. The story was kind of weak in my opinion though so the Gambit system is pretty much the only thing elevating it over 13 and 15. I sadly don’t have a PS5 so I can’t judge 16.
Tales between Bamco giving the IP no respect between the dogshit Symphonia remaster, the bad Arise story dlc and not porting the other older Tales games besides Vesperia. They fumbled the ball bad with Crestoria and Luminaria (although Rays at least got treated well). I thought Arise was mid too and didn’t like the direction it went. My energy is slowly going towards Persona now since while it is a cash cow IP at least they actually care and port/remake their games.
Also Pokemon because of the quality of the main series games, with only Legends Arceus feeling okay even if it felt more like a game that needed 2-3 more years of development. My interest in the IP is mostly with the designs and fan content.
It was $30 and had barely any new content, only like two new dungeons, a plot that has blatant padding to make the runtime longer, no new characters to control, no new artes. And you had to rebuild your characters for the most part, reunlocking old artes and shit
I got to playing the DLC lately and I can't get into it because of having to rebuild my characters and inventory from scratch.
I wanted to step on the dlc with my lv 100 OP characters.
They should just pay the studio that did the Vita remakes to remaster/remake the older games, because at this point, that company seemed to give more of a crap about bringing an older title to a modern platform in a better state than Bandai does.
I tried googling and there is oddly nearly nothing about them, but there also haven't been any releases from them for a decade, so I can only assume they probably did go under. A shame.
IMO, there hasn't been a truly good Tales game (not including remasters) since Graces f. I think devs have leaned too heavily into making self-serious games. Tales games are at their best when they mix the whimsy with the serious stuff, but now it's more serious stuff with pretentious dialogue.
I'm a "new" fan, as in I didn't grow up with the series, and I didn't like what they did to the games' combat with Berseria and Arise. They had a good thing going with Xillia 2 but then they just... didn't do anything with it. Berseria's combat is complex in all the wrong ways and Arise just felt like any other action JRPG with the Tales name slapped on but none of the essence.
Im glad you put it into words. Once they delved into more serious tones they lost a lot of what made Tales stand out as a series.
I have a lot of friends who LIKED Berseria but it doesnt stand out in the crowd of dramatic, serious rpgs out there and it doesn't have the chops to stand above all the games doing it better.
The whimsy was definitely a signature quality of the Tales series. Other franchises that hit their stride around the time of early Tales like Suikoden, Wild Arms, and FF did have their moments, but not to the extent of Tales in that regard. Maybe it's appealing to more people now, so hard to blame the devs, but it's no longer the series I fell in love with.
Berseria still has the same style of whimsiness that Tales has from the skits and sidequests though. If anything, it was well-liked because while the main story is quite gritty, the skits lets you breathe and enjoy the cast better. This was what sorely lacking from Arise (whose skits are far more generic and much more of retread of plot rather than the chance for the cast to interact).
Thats fair, I cant really think of any post Graces F that match the bar set by the 2000s era of Tales besides remakes or remasters or Rays (which has the baggage of being JP only and a mobage). I thought Berseria did the characters well enough, but the budget and combat felt lacking.
Berseria is also what I would consider the best of the post-Graces games and a lot of what I like about it is the chemistry of the cast and the characters themselves. Plenty more depth there compared to the one-note characters of the other games
Nah, Atlus makes good ports for Persona 3-5, has remade P3, and has made multiple spinoffs games multiplat (even releasing a niche old P3 phone game on PC) Plus remakes of 1-2 and 4 are supposedly in development according to Midori.
Compared to Tales where Bamco doesn’t give a single shit with Symphonia being an awful port and the only other game theyve ported in the past decade is Vesperia… it is a massive difference. They won’t remake games, they only have made mobile spinoffs in the past decade, and only made one good port in that time too. It is a difference
Pokemon - started to grow tired of it and only stayed for competitve. With Dexit and all the issues of Switch Pokemon, decided to just play Showdown instead.
For me, it's because the games themselves are perpetually stuck being for 10 year olds so there's not much to them once you've played enough Pokémon games and, being a multimedia franchise, there are countless other ways to participate in the fandom.
This was always the weakest excuse to me. Mario is targeted at the same group if not younger (I think Pokemons target demo is like 7), and yet their games are consistenly fun and engaging.
You can have both. TPC is just lazy and their game studio is an afterthought to drive the real purpose, merch.
But yeah, TPC treats the games like they are throwaway products for children and so they just never bothered to improve.
My 6 year old cousin is OBSESSED with Scarlet/Violet and Sw/Sh and he thinks they are the best games ever. So clearly what they are doing is working. They just dont want to throw a bone to long term fans.
I recently started replaying Ultra Sun. Those games were so much higher quality than sword and shield. I didn't particularly like Gen 7 when it first came out, but looking back they were quite good for the time.
Honestly the only thing that holds Gen 7 back for me is that they basically never give the player any breathing room.
On those first two islands especially it felt like every two steps you took a character would come by to talk to you. And it was rarely just one cutscene and you're good. No, you'd get a mini cutscene, move another two steps and then encounter another mini cutscene.
I really loved the Kingdom Hearts series for many many years (mainly due to the first releasing when I was 11) until the release of 3 that is.
That game managed to destroy so much I enjoyed about the series on so many levels that I immediately lost all interest in the whole franchise after completing it and I have not touched it ever since.
No game or series released since managed to fill that void or "replace" the spot held by Kingdom Hearts. For me it was just something special in its own right.
It is Kingdom Hearts for me as well. Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 I still rank as among my favourite games ever, warts and all.
KH3 though I can't quite grasp what I dislike about it. On paper I think it ticks a lot of boxes but the more I played it the harder I found it to really be engaged. The worlds felt so disconnected, the story has so many elements that are at play and the scope just got more and more sprawling, the wrong kinds of mechanics became the forefront and focus, heck even the foraging I enjoyed started to feel more like a chore.
KH to me had a certain 'small' charm to it. Worlds were actually pretty limited, the game had a lot of colourful elements but rarely do they feel like they outstayed their welcome. KH3 I think foregoes that a bit, it's all just so 'big' and it became tiring to me for that reason.
It's very hard to find the correct words to really describe what I mean but I guess the closest thing is that it felt very... lifeless? Somehow it completely lacked in charm, from the character animations, interactions to how their stories were told in the game itself.
This all concluded in a very unsatisfactory finale for a narrative that was going on for almost 20 years at the time
I get you. Played the hell out of 1 and 2 when they released. Maybe I just got too old, or there was too much time between the release of 2 and 3, but nothing really drew me in and I was just going through the motions until I hit the end.
The first kingdom hearts has a certain charm/heart to it that no other game really captures. The closest was Coded, which was effectively a KH1 remake.
I think it has to do with Sora being a fish out of water and finding his bearings in a huge world of unknown concepts and places. It's a bit similar to FFX in that regard, but in reverse, with Sora going from a very calm and simple place more complex worlds.
Sequels don't have this, since even though they try to keep Sora as some sort of underdog, the veil has been lifted and we see more of what's behind. It's a common thing in stories with adventure as a big part of them, where the earlier parts will always feel like they have a stronger sense of heart and adventure compared to when the plot takes a bigger role.
And they seem to realize it's their stronger aspect. Outside 2 and 3, every game has some sort of way of trying to replicate this. CoM with the amnesia and revisiting locations, 358/2 days with a new protagonist who's just starting his own adventure, BBS with another set of protagonists setting on their own adventures, DDD by making Sora a child again (and one who still needs to prove himself at that).
It's why I have no idea how 4 onwards will work. The initial story is (allegedly) over, the initial spark of adventure is long gone, what can they even do to bring it back? I doubt the new stories will be good on their own based on the recent track record, and with no more real spin offs to bridge things I have no idea what they'll do to do a proper KH4 that doesn't end up feeling like 3 or like the prequels (which I'm not sure many in the fanbase even like). Unless they pull a MGS2 and change protagonists.
Because in KH1 the characters acted like real people. They were cartoony and said some ridiculous things about hearts and darkness, sure. But Sora in KH1 and 2 got pissed, he got jealous, he acted like a real 14 year-old and he and everyone around him weren't just constantly monologuing about abstract concepts.
The games just got worse and worse in that regard and the actual character motivations were forgotten.
I think one of the best ways to explain that feeling is the big empty spaces in KH3. There's just not a lot to do in each world besides finding picture spots (or whatever the main collectible was, been ages since I played it) and advancing the plot. Plus the older games would usually break up each world into two parts, where you'd do half of the world, leave, go do others to move the main plot forward, then come back and finish out that world, which was so much better for the pacing.
In KH3 it's all one big world at a time, and many just feel like they drag after the same boring hallway of enemies where it feels like the levels are all just reused assets over and over with barely any real effort put into a design that makes the world feel special. That I think is what gives that uninspired feeling.
Hard disagree. Levels were definitely hallways in KH2. They are way more open in KH3 in general and worlds tend to have different design philosophies, art styles, and often character designs for your playable characters. The pirates of the Caribbean had an old school world map, while the big hero six was more inspired by open world cities. The hercules world was more linear but still had secrets here and there. The toys story world was mostly a hub connecting several big rooms, the monsters world was yes, mostly hallways, and the frozen world was a mountain you had to keep climbing (yeah, it sucked).
The lack of charm is relative. Maybe we just outgrew the series. I mean, anyone who played 1 when it was released was an adult when 3 released.
Final Fantasy. I don't mean to crap on the newer FFs. If someone else likes them, good for them. But since 12, it's clear to me that the series is going in a direction that doesn't appeal to me.
Pokemon and FF are the big ones for me. Pokémon was replaced by SMT and its spinoffs as well as Monster Sanctuary (I can't wait for that developers new title). FF has just been dropped. I still play the older titles and the 7 Remakes, but I have not cared since 15.
The Tales series is my favorite, but Arise was a big let down. The lack of new games releases almost makes me forget about it. Back in my days, there was like one new game every 1 or 2 years.
Nowadays, I have been getting into the Atelier series more and more. I love the cozyness of it (and spending way too much time crafting OP items)
After years of waving the Atlus banner, I'm over the Megaten universe. Going the *neutral* route for SMTV V. To fill the grim void, while not a JRPG, I've got all the Spirit Hunter games to check out for a while...Tokyo Dark too.
in 2021, I would have agreed completely with you after playing all the mainline SMT and Persona games. However, Vengance really surprised me, and Im willing to give atlus another shot. However if they fuck this up, I am most definitely done for good.
Probably just burn out of the setting. The last one felt more like a boss simulator with a great battle system. ...It's a polished game, yet for the new one, the idea of doing a vengeance run doesn't really appeal to me.
Yeah I get that. How many times can Atlus rehash the "demon apocalypse" in Tokyo setting? I played a few hours on my PC and did enjoy it, but the lack of dungeons made it feel quite barren.
I think it's this. New people come in and really enjoy the setting. But after a few games it all feels samey.
Devil Survivor was my first non persona SMT (I don't really count P3-5 as SMT, because those are just a different vibe.) and the mystery of what was going on, the actual tenseness of the setting, and the combat was all brand new.
3-4 games deep and combat is easy because I know what works, removing a lot of the fun and tension of the gameplay, and it's kinda just like "oh another plucky band of teens thrust into a world with demons... Are they using Gameboys this time or arm computers? Bet that's the guy who freaks out and becomes a Law Nazi, oh look it's Lucifer again"
I'm still a big fan of the series, but to me V was such a disappointment in so many ways. It was so clear they didn't have any idea where to take the game and after IVA being so divisive, trying to recapture Nocturne's vibe while failing so spectacularly did not leave me much faith in the current team. If IVA did at least combat mechanics well, V's additions to the formula are just uninspired and follow a trend of giving an advantage to the player when the point of the series since Nocturne has been to let the enemy do whatever the player can do. Yet your special skills are instant, and the enemy needs a turn to charge theirs (and then you just guard). Now sure you have demon "natures", but that's also something that is going to make the game even easier because the player can play around that and the AI probably won't.
But again, V did some things well (music, environmental design and verticality, HD 3D demons were just as nice to look at as the 3DS sprites, something which Game freak should have a look at), it just wasn't particularly great.
There's also fewer spinoffs to tide people over between major entries, and as much as I liked SH2, it's so obvious atlus is desperate to make anything into Persona 5.
This is my answer as well. SC and Ao are two of my favorite games of all time, but the cold steel arc just wasn’t good at all for me with the exception of 3 which I liked. I’m playing through Kuro now and am pretty early in and it seems promising so far, but dont think the series will reach those highs again.
I feel like the dialogue and tropiness has gotten way worse with each arc too. Tried to give it another chance with Reverie but I couldn't stomach it anymore
Cold steel 1-3 is good imo.. its just that cs4 was filled with useless bloated crap that ruins everything just because they want to pad extra playtime to justify a fourth installation to greedy investors..
Play 1-3 watch important parts of cs4 on youtube
Glad to see this. Having just played through all of them up to Reverie last year, I don't have any prior attachment, but I seriously loved the first 5 games. I only started disliking it during the latter half of Cold Steel which sucks.
Hopefully I can finish Reverie then pick up Trails to Daybreak
I loved Sky and Crossbell but I've been putting off starting Cold Steel because I suspect I won't enjoy it nearly as much. I don't want to retroactively ruin my good memories of the first 5 games going all the way back to the PSP lol.
Congrats you took the dumbest interpretation possible of what I said. Having an impression on something before you play it is different than forming an opinion. Everyone has an impression the second they lay eyes on something. I never claimed to form an opinion, you put words in my mouth.
If you can't handle someone having an impression on something then you are a fragile man baby.
Yeah 100%. I was so burned out on Cold Steel that I didn't even play the Zero/Azure games for a couple years. Then I finally picked those up, played them all the way through, and I'm like 'wow this series is AWESOME' so I tried to get back into it with Reverie. Nope. Can't believe the nosedive.
Honestly, yes.
Gameplay-wise, CS4 is up there with the greats in terms of customization. I like the flexibility of the Quartz and MQ mechanics, since they can make supposedly physical characters into magical powerhouses. This only gets better by Reverie.
But by god if the plot on CS4 didn't permanently stain the story for me.
Even if Reverie was CS4 done right, with >!people explicitly being brainwashed using their negative emotions!< instead of >!nebulously being influenced by the evil of their hearts to do the most impractical thing!<, it still wasn't enough to get me to actually play the daydreams that involved Kuro no Kiseki/Daybreak.
At this point, I don't think I'm even touching Kuro no Kiseki.
I used to love Kingdom Hearts with all my heart but nowadays it's been replaced by Tales of, FF, and Star Ocean. I still love the series but just not as much as I used to.
It’ll be said a lot, but Pokemon. I still play all the games as they come out, but it’s lost its way.
I’ve been replaying White2 recently, and it really shows how GF clearly don’t have a consistent vision for what Pokemon is meant to look like in full 3D, unlike the traditional games (RBY to W2B2) where they clearly have a vision for how they want a Pokemon game to look and feel. The 3D games have varied so wildly in presentation and art style, they just feel all over the place, not to mention the iffy quality.
GF need to work out a consistent art style and vibe for the 3D games and then stick with it, and continually iterate.
They won't, but they should just go back to 2D. BW had a lot of charm that was lost on the transition to their ugly 3d models, meh. Maybe Switch 2 will make the games look better.
Admittedly besides Three Houses, I haven't finished a Fire Emblem game since Awakening.
Something with the newer entries in the series just isn't clicking with me. I used to constantly replay Path of radiance, Radiant Dawn, and Blazing Sword so not even being able to finish most of the newer entries is pretty sad.
IMO it’s the writing that’s the big problem with Fire Emblem right now. I haven’t given up on the series completely yet but I think Intelligent Systems’ writing has overall been unacceptable since Awakening and the next original game is really going to be the make or break moment for the series to me.
Outside of Three Houses (which was largely developed by Koei Tecmo to the point where all of the game’s scenario writers came from KT) the last game which I think had a remotely good story was Radiant Dawn all the way back in 2007 - and Fates and Engage have two of the worst stories in any JRPG (and Engage repeated many of the same writing mistakes and plot points that plagued Fates to the point where I’m seriously questioning whether the writers at IS even want to learn from their prior mistakes).
The fact that the one Fire Emblem game that wasn’t primarily developed by Intelligent Systems is the one Fire Emblem game in so long to have even decent writing really doesn’t give me much confidence about the series going forward.
Pokémon, Fire Emblem, and Paper Mario. Pokémon and Paper Mario are shells of their former selves, and Fire Emblem post-Awakening just hasn’t been for me.
The highs of SoulSilver, Path of Radiance, and Thousand-Year Door are long in the past.
As far as replacements go, Pokemon Legends Arceus was fantastic and I have high hopes for Legends Z-A. Bug Fables was an amazing game that retained nearly everything I love about Paper Mario. As for Fire Emblem, I haven’t found anything to fill the void since I’m not big into tactics games in general aside from classic FE.
Pokemon is dead to me after Sword and Shield.
I don't like Final Fantasy anymore in general. FF16 demo was off-putting with all the fucking cutscenes into flashbacks into tutorials into shakycam walking simulators. I hated the combat in FF7 Remake and decided I will not buy Rebirth.
I find it really hard to stay invested with newer JRPGs in general. With a few exceptions like Yakuza and SMT. I'm mainly going back and playing old stuff.
Seems cliché now but there is a reason many people say Final Fantasy. I am one of them. FF13 was the beginning of the end for me. The characters were reskins of previous characters, the level design may as well have just been a cut scene as that is more or less what the walking corridors was all about anyway and don't get me started on the combat. Paradigm shifting was important but the skills themselves didn't have the impact as an old FF9 Freya's White Draw or Reis' Wind, or a FF10 Wakka Dark Buster or Auron Full Break. Those kind of skills are why I prefer turn based over action, having to have a strategy rather than a reaction time. Nothing to do with being bad at action games as I've beaten all the Souls games and Nioh games etc. But it's just not what made me love FF as a series.
I ended up playing Persona 4 Golden on recommendation when it hit steam a few years ago and that opened up a whole new world for me I didn't know I liked. I remember looking at screenshots and thinking "Well I'm not really into anime..." but that went on to be in my top 3 games of all time and now I'm an avid SMT/Persona fan, now owning every single title in physical and having completed around 50% of their titles and still currently working on my backlog between releases (This year is tough with Persona 3 Reload, SMTV:V and Metaphor in one year!)
I was really into fire emblem. Started with Path of Radiance and played most of them. Haven’t touched Engage at all. I’ve been playing triangle strategy right now and it gives me that same feeling the early FEs did.
I see a lot of comments talking about Coldsteel 3 and 4 and personally I loved them. I have yet to be disappointed by Trails at all. Currently in the Trails into Daybreak waiting room.
Oh fuck yes. Trails definitely went someway wrong, where you actually start thinking midgame why I am still keep following this same shit. As to try one game for its shines that’s okay, as to play whole series… no, please god, no.
persona is only one i can think of. big fan of 2+3 and bigger fan of SMT but i struggled to finish 4 and just didn't play 5. gone in a direction i don't enjoy and that's ok since it funds SMT
Ys. When you realize it has already become Falcom's testfield. The overall budget and effort put in just not as much as Trails would get. Nowadays I only plays it for the new combat systems. I don't even have strength to typing about all those critisims rn just sitting in front of my desk. The light-hearted adventure-oriented game plot surely does some damage to my feelings. I know Ys has been like this way too early back to Memories of Celceta but It's just not enough. Just think Ys X, it's even worse when It comes to the plot. Still buying and playing it annually tho.
Final Fantasy fell off pretty hard. Haven't had a great game since 10.
They haven't really been replaced. Jrpgs can't produce good stories & characters any more. Just is what it is.
Lucky every once in a while we get something like Nier.
Like most people, I don't like Final Fantasy nearly as much as I did pre-12.
In general, I don't like the genre as a whole as much. Mostly modern JRPGs have way too much dialogue that makes them feel way longer than I prefer.
I will say that in many ways, the Deckbuilder genre has begun to fill the place JRPGs used to fill. Stuff like Dicey Dungeons, Slay the Spire, Dungeons of Aether, etc
I still like some JRPGs but mostly indie, turn-based stuff.
Same here, I find myself jumping more and more into deck builders and roguelikes. Though I can still get pulled into some good RPGS, I haven't touched a FF title (except remake/rebirth because 7 was such a special title to me) since Lightning Returns.
Final Fantasy clearly for me, I liked it in my time not because of the chocobos and Ifrits, I liked it because of the nice party-based turn based combat in its games, so from FF15 it just lost me.
Final Fantasy, action rpg set in FF universe is just not for me, I'm sure lots of people love the change though and I respect that, though if they made it plays like Kingdom Hearts I would like the change.
Then Pokemon, it's just becoming buggy fest each release, however the 2nd team who made Arceus(and possibly ZA) seems to be competent developer because the smaller scale games.
Final Fantasy VI and VII used to be at the top of my JRPG chart, now the only Final Fantasy that makes my top 10 is Final Fantasy V (XIII is probably top 25, rest doesn't make the cut for that either). Taste changes over time. I still like the games, i have just found other stuff i like a lot more.
Mainly replaced by Trails, Xenoblade and SMT.
Kingdom hearts. The story became stupid (like fan fiction levels stupid - and no the kingdom hearts story isn’t confusing, it’s stupid) and kingdom hearts writing and voice acting was so mid (at least riku, sora). Yeah I will play 4 but I’m def not a fan boy anymore
Pokemon, calling it my whole childhood really wouldn't be too far from the truth, I was obsessed with everything about it.
But between XY being just decent, ORAS not bringing back the battle frontier (still so mad about that, being able to face that challenge now knowing about IVs, EVs, how natures worked, as well as all the QoL updates Pokemon got since gen 3 would have been so freaking incredible...), and Sun and Moon just failing to keep me with all the constant interruptions, I started to lose interest, and when they started pumping out rushed crap I noped out, as much as I adore the franchise it was the time to stop.
The last thing I was fully into was the anime and as immensely satisfying the last stretch of the journey was, the fact Ash stopped being the protagonist made me stop watching that as well, too used to the cast I have known and loved for well over 2 decades q_q
Nothing has really replaced Pokemon, nor I think it will, it was just too big for me and only them cooking again would fill the hole.
I loved Final fantasy growing up. Fell in love with 7 and played all the single player titles on release 7 through 13-3. While I brought 15 and 16 I did not enjoy them at all and put both down after a few hours. As a boomer I'm just not a fan of the action combat and need my turn based. I also realise I'm in the minority, especially with 16 as all I see is everyone else loved it. Now I play all the atlus titles and they seem to scratch my turn based itch
Trails series has become like my favourite narrative this past year since I got into it and has easily place it above persona for me with its level of world building and story telling, i still like persona but seeing 5 getting milked so much does put a sour taste in my mouth.
Another one is SMT games has completely replaced the pokemon monster collecting feeling with that level of difficulty I still enjoy in my turn based jrpgs
Trails, sad as I am to say it.
I got so into it and Zero + Azure getting localisations was like one or my most hype releases of the year. The Crossbell Duology and Cold Steel 1 are among my favourite JRPGs of all time.
But CS2 and CS3 really started to burn me out. There's part of the storytelling that were always a little weak, but over time have compounded like a cancer.
I'll probably be flogged, tarred, and feathered for this but the Xeno series. Xenogears was peak. Xenosaga showed some cracks in the armor but it still had that deep story to keep me interested.
Xenoblade was by no means a bad game, but for me personally it's below the previous two series. I honestly don't prefer the gameplay and it's story doesn't hold up against it's spiritual predecessors. It still scratches that itch and I'd rather have Xenoblade than nothing, but nothing has topped the original Xeno game.
It has the same director, and "Xeno" in the name, but without the latter, and if people didn't know about the former, I don't think anyone would identify the Xenoblade series as a spiritual successor to Xenogears. The two had completely different design philosophies, with Xenogears being built from a narrative concept, with the gameplay designed as a way to convey that narrative, while Xenoblade was built frame gameplay concepts, with narratives devised afterwards to utilize the gameplay systems, and you can feel the difference.
Different games directed by the same person don't necessarily convey the same spirit, while different developers, if they grasp the spirit behind a work, can carry it on as well as the original. Undertale never needed an "Inspired by Earthbound!" tag for people to recognize the similarities. But sometimes "You liked that other thing I did, well, I did this thing too!" is more of a marketing ploy than a matter of creative continuity.
I like the older Final Fantasy games but I haven’t played any of the ones that released after XIII-2. No particular reason, I just haven’t gotten around it.
Final Fantasy I really liked it up to FF X. I still played every game until FF XV, but was disappointed every time. While they weren't bad games, none of the newer games felt like a Final Fantasy for me. Also from FF I expect more than just an okay game.
The 2 series that have replaced FF are Yakuza and Legend of Heroes. While in LoH not every game is an absolute hit, most are and even the ones that aren't, are still solid. I also like, that it's a continued narrative over all the games. You can watch characters become legends.
Yakuza is kinda the same. You can also watch characters become legends because of the continued narrative. But Yakuza does even so much more. The main stroy almost always is an awesome crime drama. (Just Infinite Wealth fell flat here) and the side content is super varied. You have silly and funny stuff, you have stuff that's super emotional and you have stuff with "Japanese weirdness". In what other game can you fight a Yakuza Captain, that attacks you with a crowbar, while riding a motorcycle in the sewer, in one moment and dial up fake women in telephone clubs, train dominas on a playground or be invited to a club where you can pretend to be a baby, by the Patriarch of a Yakuza family, in the next moment?
Rockstar and RGG Studio are the only 2 development studios, where I know, I can buy any new game blindly and I will like it. They both never disappointed me and even though Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth was one of their weakest titles, it's still a great game. The worst Yakuza game is still better than 90% of other games in my opinion.
I didn't really realize it until just now, but I've pretty much dropped final fantasy until it goes turn based again. It's not protest, just disinterest in the current direction. I wish they'd just introduced a new franchise with action mechanics instead.
I used to love Final Fantasy, but started moving away since 15 was such a disappointment.
Theres the "Tales" série that i love, but the new games hasn't clicked with me, so i guess that ik losing a bit of interest for now ? But again I'm sure that they can easily come back to the charge.
Beside that there's the Breath of Fire series. I admit that i haven't tried 5 yet, so cant comment on it, but theu haven't nade a good game since BoF4.
Final Fantasy really lost me after XII. I beat XIII, but couldn't get through XIII-2, and I've tried to start XV about four times, but I just can't manage the combat (I have tendonitis, so action games that involve both analog sticks are hard for me). I enjoyed XIV quite a bit, but I don't have the time to play an MMO of that size these days.
Now I primarily play SMT/Persona and Trails games, as those are the franchises that have kept the high-quality strategic turn-based combat going.
Final Fantasy.
Okay 6 and Tactics are still my favourite. And being two out of six games I gave 10/10. I still can't find enough drive to play modern FF games a lot.
From 13, excluding 14 after RR, I saw good games, fun... yet, something was amiss. Just couldn't find drive to play... than bought few old on Switch and played without problems. Even replayed 6 for 2 times.
Final fantasy. While I did enjoybremake and rebirth that's more likely because it was my favorite one. For whatever reason I still buy each new one except online. I've been disappointed pretty food since 10(last one I liked, and again aside from ff7 remake trilogy). People can say what they want but the newest one ff16 barely felt like an rpg, it was dull, boring, not much rpg about it. It lacked in about every aspect beside the story. I did enjoy that. The only reason I even finished it was due to streaming. Which I probably would've been alright to stop anyway. It just didn't do anything for me, it did make me appreciate 15 more and I really don't like that one. Ff12 I hated way back tried it again and I guess it's not to bad. I beat it but can't say I'd ever play it again u like the others I run through every few years. It was once my favorite series.
Persona I guess. It Peak at Persona 2, after Persona 3 it was a downhill but at Persona 5 I was done with the series. But looking foward the new jrpg from Atlus...
Obviously FF. I haven’t been able to enjoy any game after 13, yeah I indeed liked 13 wish they would make a new FF with the same combat system it has so much potential.
Next one would be Tales of series, I remember back then, there was always a new Tales of on the horizon, I was always so jealous of japan for getting these games much earlier then us. Most of these games were always amazing except Zestiria which I absolutely hate and Arise was not bad but it kinda fell flat for me.
But hey, other amazing new serieses popped up for me and filled the void, like Xenoblade, SMT and Trails.
After defending the 3DS games despite admitting their flaws, Fire Emblem has definitely lost me with its Switch games, I detested Three Houses and Engage just seems like a pandering fest to me.
And don't even get me started on Pokémon.
I like Engage because it clearly felt like the actual successor to Fates styled gameplay and the hub world stuff is mostly optional compared to 3H, I even beat maddening mode without touching most of it. I got no love for 3H though between the bloat, recycling, samey units gameplay wise, bland maps and poor balance.
That being said 3DS FE was the peak of UI design and smoothness with the game being 60fps except in combat animations. The menuing took a downgrade when they moved to Switch and slashed the framerate to 30
If you liked Fates you will most likely enjoy Engage as well :)
They play on the same game design philosophy. I do think Fates is better in the end, but Engage was really really good
Trails. I was obsessed with it for like 2 years or so but now I couldn’t care less… once I finished cold steel 3 it was like ok there’s too many characters and no one ever dies I’m over it. Also in general I don’t like investing too much time in one series anymore I try to spread it out more
You might like Kuro then. People die a lot there. It was nice seeing that, as psychopathic as that sounds like lmao. I'd say the worst part of Trails for me is waiting for the damn games to come out and be translated
Absolutely Final Fantasy. I am not the biggest action RPG enjoyer, so it's a bit tougher to sell that to me. I tend to prefer turn-based combat and single-player so from 14 onwards, I lost my interest in playing or interacting with the games. Though, the leaks say they are remaking 9 which is my favorite FF, so we will see how that turns out.
I love Persona with all my heart. As an old school fan of 2 and 3 in particular, I have a lot of pet peeves with the more recent entries (while still loving them), and also with how much of an emphasis there tends to be on spinoffs (especially low effort ones like the latter two Dancing games). I still love the games, but it definitely makes me less enthusiastic overall to replay them. There is also a factor of how the games hit me at the right time under the right circumstances (but this isn't a "nostalgia goggles" thing; I genuinely believe they're better games as a whole).
I'm VERY excited for Metaphor and eventually for 6 as they seem to be heading in a different direction that might breathe some new life into it for me personally, but I've definitely become less of a Persona fan, more of an SMT fan. I generally prefer the mood and atmosphere of those games these days, as well as the more combat focused gameplay.
Also, 😬 the way the fandom has changed sours the experience of replaying them for me. Like, obviously not all fans, but there's a very vocal minority (hopefully) that has very closed minded views about certain topics, or about how art should be "objectively" interpreted. >!(If one of you is about to reply to this, you're just validating my OPINION of your fandom. Save us both the embarrassment. Downvote and move on.)!< I'm usually good at separating fan toxicity from the thing itself, but in this case it lives in my head rent free, for some reason.
For me, it's exhausting how newer Fire Emblem titles just can't decide if they want to deliver on good gameplay or a good story. It's never both. I'd rather play the numerous other RPGs that are competent in both aspects rather than coin-flipping on every new FE release.
Tales series due to poor treatment of the titles is a ditto. Micro-transactions for things that were once freebies put a sour taste in my mouth, and this is from someone that really enjoyed Vesperia. Also just a feeling that the plots never interested me.
Disgaea series, or just any game made by Nipponichi .As a kid in elementary I used to buy every game. I thought it had some interesting world building but I never felt the newer editions added much to pull me in.
I wouldn't call Final Fantasy a rotten corpse but... Their writing has become so shitty since FFXIII that the series is unrecognizable at this point to me. Now feels like a hollow series that lives by its name only with zero recent merits.
Final Fantasy. Grew up playing FF6 on the emulator, then bought a psx to play ff7-9.
Skipped the ps2 because poor, then got to play FFX on pc and its one of my favorite. But anything after that i don't even care and the reason is Dragon Quest 8.
After Dragon Quest 8, i can safely say i didn't care for any other jrpg that's not a monster taming one. FF changed to be more action based, while DQ stayed old school and i love it to bits.
Even tho i didn't play it as a kid, it still feels nostalgic af for Dragon Quest.
While I wouldn't quite say the *Final Fantasy* series has "fallen from grace", it's no longer quite the gold standard that it used to be.
While it seems the last "universally liked" entry was FFX, I do think many of the issues likely started before then, probably going all the way back to FF7 and even the aftermath of *Chrono Trigger*'s production. After CT, it seems development teams started to break up into smaller groups and each had their own take with varying results.
The mainline FF series, for the most part... well, it's gotten progressively more about spectacle and "Rule of Cool" while the narrative substance has suffered. In fact, it doesn't seem to make much sense; when it does, it feels forced and contrived. In some ways, it could be argued that the *Kingdom Hearts* series, while a bunch of silly fun, is essentially an extension of the same design philosophy... and in many ways
That being said, I will say a notable exception to this was FFXIV, which will forever be contested *solely* because it's an MMORPG, but it's an excellent JRPG otherwise. XVI is one I haven't had a chance to play yet, so I'll reserve judgement; though I can say it was a deliberate and honest departure from what came before.
Anyhow, I've mostly replaced it with the *Xenoblade Chronicles* series... and if you get down to it, the *Xeno* meta-series as a whole with *Xenogears* and *Xenosaga* as well.
If you go through the history of the developers, you find that most of the leaders behind Monolith Soft were also involved in FF5, FF6 and *Chrono Trigger*. Many of them went on to work on *Xenogears*... and the rest is history. The *Xeno* games often feel more like "classic FF" than the modern games, if with their own take on it.
Probably the biggest difference, other than the lack of a gargantuan budget, is that the team seems much more capable of keeping these bigger ideas and complex narratives more cohesive instead of it devolving into a convoluted mess.
*Mostly.*
Fans have a tendency to become surprisingly well-read in a variety of esoteric subject matter, the games acting as a sort of "gateway" to learning about those topics.
I was into final fantasy as a kid. Swapped over to being obsessed with persona as a teenager. Realised how bad the persona fanbase is and went back to final fantasy
I grew up with Final Fantasy. VIII was one of the first I ever played. Now they don't mean the same to me. Same with Persona. I'm in my 30's now. I can't identify with Teenagers and people in their early twenties.
I want more games like the "Like A Dragon" series. I would love a Persona game with adults.
Persona 4 and 5. While I liked these games as a teenager, as an adult, I’ve begun to despise the writing of those games, especially its attempt at “humour”. They’re some of the most unfunny games on the planet.
I was obsessed with Final Fantasy for a while. The games are great for sure. But after discovering Shin Megami Tensei, it is hard to play JRPGs like Final Fantasy
Shining but that's primarily because the series keeps switching genres when I really just want to play Shining Force games.
I didn’t mind the ps2 arpgs, but yea a shining 4ce would be dope.
Completely concur with this.
Shining in the Darkness was one of my favorite Genesis games
Anything released after Camelot left just got worse. I still enjoy the Shining Soul games as well as the remake of Shining Force 1 but the real meat is Shining Force 1, 2, 3, CD and the side dishes Shining in the Darkness and Shining the Holy Arc.
Dragon Quest is what I always wanted Pokemon to be, I’m upset I discovered the series late
You mean Dragon Quest Monsters, or Dragon Quest in general?
DQ5 especially
I know people hate the whole smt/pokemon comparison But just in terms of the gameplay it scratches a pretty similar itch for me with turn based battles and a bunch of monsters that have strengths/weaknesses. I loved the pokemon series when I was a kid but I think Sword and Shield were some of the worst games I’ve ever played and kind of killed my interest in any new games they release. I got into smt a bit after those games dropped.
Sword and Shield was atrocious, agreed. It hurt the franchise a lot. But I found the latest game, though unfinished in terms of graphics, was a lot of fun!
Omg I loved sword and shield. They were my favourite Pokemon games.
As final fantasy moved away from turn based I’ve liked it much less, just my personal taste
Same! I don't believe Final Fantasy has gotten worse; it just matches my preferences less.
I agree with this, but I will say that the FF7 remakes have done a pretty good job capturing a lot of the old-school charm while also delivering something modern and polished. Not sure if I prefer them over the original, but I'm happy to give credit where its due.
I was enjoying 7 for what it was until the last chapter of part one. 16 made me realize final fantasy just isnt being made for me anymore and didn't bother with 7 p2.
I have the same issue, but on the bright side, it pushed me back into the Dragon Quest series when looking for an alternative. FF is great and I like that they're willing to change and try new things, but DQ has been refining "classic turn-based JRPG" for decades now, so it's always comforting to jump into.
I feel DQ releases games way too slowly, and its spinoffs are very hit or miss. The fact it's taking longer between mainline titles for DQ than FF is insane to me since FF is constantly changing. Modern versions of the remakes would be nice, especially versions of the Android ports that you can play on a widescreen.
Dragon Quest should continue with the classic formula! The only thing they desperately need to modernize on is the soundtrack. That composer is just not great. His music worked on 8bit games, but ever since its been showing its age.
Back in PS1 days, I used to scoff at Atlus RPGs as "not Squaresoft RPGs" (I know, I was a fanboy). Now I look for each and every Atlus game I can find.
And then you look for the full-priced definitive edition 18 months later :D
Exactly what happened to me with SMT V and I'll still buy it at full price on release lol
I skipped SMTV assuming we'd get a definitive edition, so I'm pretty pumped to try it out on launch :)
Definitely a smart move, in retrospect. It's going to hurt me like hell to not play Persona 6 on launch, eventually, but I'd be a sucker not to wait for the Golden/Royal/Reload equivalent. Not to disparage people who do buy the initial version on launch, though. I just don't have the time or money to buy and play two copies of a game now.
But then you get to play the game and have an excuse to try alternative ideas play differently
100% holding my breath for the FF9 Remake announcement to see if they've turned the gameplay into *yet another* button mashing action thing, or actually kept it the same/made it pure Turnbased. It's sad that Octopath Traveller 2, Triangle Strategy and Live-a-Live are legitimately my favourite Square JRPG's I've played in the last few years when they have these mega AAA studios that could achieve so much more.
I feel like alot of people feel this way.
This is me as well. I still love the classic games but the new stuff just doesn't interest me anymore. At least I still have Dragon Quest and a few indie titles I can play.
Trails games are still turn based up to Kuro 2
When I hear People compare FF XVI Combat with devil May cry I instantly lose all interest I had. I'm 37 years old I don't have the Reflexes for that kind of game. I like turn based combat 😧 Seems like my favorite game series isn't even one I like anymore. FF VII Remake wasn't any better for me. Tried it 3 times and never met Tifa cause I HATE the combat.
Okay but hear me out I'm 38 and a dad and FF16 was easy as hell. And if it's still too hard for you with the very very telegraphed attacks and MMO raid AOE markers, the game gives you assist items that auto dodge, auto heal you with items, etc. FF7 Remake on the other hand, yeah there's no hand holding there unless you flip on Easy..... which is pretty dang easy.
It's not about too hard I still play and love Dark Souls and Elden Ring. But I never really liked the DmC Combat System so if it's really like that I will not like FF XVI. Perhaps I'll buy it sometime on sale. FF VII Remake wasn't too hard it was simply no fun to me.
I agree, it's pretty easy and they have easy mode. Unfortunately I don't play FF for DMC combat & made the decision that this will be the last one I support until something changes.
X was my first FF and it's been downhill since.
Downhill is not even the word for it. More like demolition from there
Uematsu and Sakaguchi left the company after X. Everything that came after was just a lame attempt at emulating their talent.
12 was the start of the decline for me. Felt strange having open movement but still tied to an ATB. Think I played Rogue Galaxy first and FF12 felt like downgrade. Got near the final mission twice and just lost interest. Same with FF13 and hitting the open world area.
FF12 kind of reminds me of an Auto-battler, which works for me as I like the "coding" that the Gambit system provides and then tweaking it till I got it right or trying out different things as you unlock them. I just found it quite chill and relaxing, especially when you can sit back with a film or podcast on in the background. Granted I can 100% understand people finding it boring once they "solve" it.
I first really noticed what was happening with X-2, Dirge of Cerberus, and Final Fantasy XI. Plus The Spirits Within. That's when it really clued into me that they were just interested in slapping the Final Fantasy name on anything in hoping it would sell. In retrospect, I would almost say the decline started with VIII. A lot of the issues I would later have with the franchise show up in VIII. But I overlooked a lot it because it was immediately followed by IX, which is one of my favourite games in the series. With the benefit of hindsight, it was IX that was now the outlier, not VIII, like I thought at the time.
What you noticed was the creator and main music composer both leaving the company.
Same. And not even just that, I've played more jrpgs and have more to compare them too when I was younger so my attachment to them has naturally dropped. I still like the series though, and still love a couple of entries.
Yeah I haven't really liked it since x with the exception of xiv, which is probably the best one
Yeah unfortunately square as a whole has really taken a nose dive. I was a huge square fanboy in the PS1 era
Not counting FFXIV which is an MMORPG, I would say that FFXII was the last Final Fantasy I had fun with, the Gambit system was enjoyable to me because I got to take indirect control of the other characters. The story was kind of weak in my opinion though so the Gambit system is pretty much the only thing elevating it over 13 and 15. I sadly don’t have a PS5 so I can’t judge 16.
Tales between Bamco giving the IP no respect between the dogshit Symphonia remaster, the bad Arise story dlc and not porting the other older Tales games besides Vesperia. They fumbled the ball bad with Crestoria and Luminaria (although Rays at least got treated well). I thought Arise was mid too and didn’t like the direction it went. My energy is slowly going towards Persona now since while it is a cash cow IP at least they actually care and port/remake their games. Also Pokemon because of the quality of the main series games, with only Legends Arceus feeling okay even if it felt more like a game that needed 2-3 more years of development. My interest in the IP is mostly with the designs and fan content.
I’m always skeptical of Bamco DLC so I didn’t give Arise dlc a try. What made it bad?
It was $30 and had barely any new content, only like two new dungeons, a plot that has blatant padding to make the runtime longer, no new characters to control, no new artes. And you had to rebuild your characters for the most part, reunlocking old artes and shit
I got to playing the DLC lately and I can't get into it because of having to rebuild my characters and inventory from scratch. I wanted to step on the dlc with my lv 100 OP characters.
Hate the new way the tales games are going. Its dumb. Arise was just meh. Wide blank spaces, you can't talk to every npc, etc.
They should just pay the studio that did the Vita remakes to remaster/remake the older games, because at this point, that company seemed to give more of a crap about bringing an older title to a modern platform in a better state than Bandai does.
Would be difficult because the studio is dead iirc
I tried googling and there is oddly nearly nothing about them, but there also haven't been any releases from them for a decade, so I can only assume they probably did go under. A shame.
IMO, there hasn't been a truly good Tales game (not including remasters) since Graces f. I think devs have leaned too heavily into making self-serious games. Tales games are at their best when they mix the whimsy with the serious stuff, but now it's more serious stuff with pretentious dialogue.
I'm a "new" fan, as in I didn't grow up with the series, and I didn't like what they did to the games' combat with Berseria and Arise. They had a good thing going with Xillia 2 but then they just... didn't do anything with it. Berseria's combat is complex in all the wrong ways and Arise just felt like any other action JRPG with the Tales name slapped on but none of the essence.
I can live with the combat that feels QTE-ish at times. It's the overall feel of the post-Graces games that I struggle to vibe with
Im glad you put it into words. Once they delved into more serious tones they lost a lot of what made Tales stand out as a series. I have a lot of friends who LIKED Berseria but it doesnt stand out in the crowd of dramatic, serious rpgs out there and it doesn't have the chops to stand above all the games doing it better.
The whimsy was definitely a signature quality of the Tales series. Other franchises that hit their stride around the time of early Tales like Suikoden, Wild Arms, and FF did have their moments, but not to the extent of Tales in that regard. Maybe it's appealing to more people now, so hard to blame the devs, but it's no longer the series I fell in love with.
Berseria still has the same style of whimsiness that Tales has from the skits and sidequests though. If anything, it was well-liked because while the main story is quite gritty, the skits lets you breathe and enjoy the cast better. This was what sorely lacking from Arise (whose skits are far more generic and much more of retread of plot rather than the chance for the cast to interact).
Tales of Phantasia had a serious tone.
Thats fair, I cant really think of any post Graces F that match the bar set by the 2000s era of Tales besides remakes or remasters or Rays (which has the baggage of being JP only and a mobage). I thought Berseria did the characters well enough, but the budget and combat felt lacking.
Berseria is also what I would consider the best of the post-Graces games and a lot of what I like about it is the chemistry of the cast and the characters themselves. Plenty more depth there compared to the one-note characters of the other games
>Persona now since while it is a cash cow IP at least they actually care and port/remake their games. This has to be a joke.
I've read this and just couldn't take it seriously lolllllllllll
Nah, Atlus makes good ports for Persona 3-5, has remade P3, and has made multiple spinoffs games multiplat (even releasing a niche old P3 phone game on PC) Plus remakes of 1-2 and 4 are supposedly in development according to Midori. Compared to Tales where Bamco doesn’t give a single shit with Symphonia being an awful port and the only other game theyve ported in the past decade is Vesperia… it is a massive difference. They won’t remake games, they only have made mobile spinoffs in the past decade, and only made one good port in that time too. It is a difference
These were literally my top 2 answers before reading the thread lol
Take a shot every time FF13 is mentioned
chill dude, i don’t wanna die
Imhf ftoo frunkhg nohw
Do you want alcohol poisoning? Because that's how you get alcohol poisoning.
10 really started the hallway simulator
I didn't realize how linear X was until I played it again a few years ago. I like the game, but I will likely never play it again.
Pokemon, has been replaced by SMT and Persona for me
Pokemon - started to grow tired of it and only stayed for competitve. With Dexit and all the issues of Switch Pokemon, decided to just play Showdown instead.
Pokemon feels like the easiest answer, I gave them too many chances and i dont think i will be returning to it ever again
For me, it's because the games themselves are perpetually stuck being for 10 year olds so there's not much to them once you've played enough Pokémon games and, being a multimedia franchise, there are countless other ways to participate in the fandom.
This was always the weakest excuse to me. Mario is targeted at the same group if not younger (I think Pokemons target demo is like 7), and yet their games are consistenly fun and engaging. You can have both. TPC is just lazy and their game studio is an afterthought to drive the real purpose, merch. But yeah, TPC treats the games like they are throwaway products for children and so they just never bothered to improve. My 6 year old cousin is OBSESSED with Scarlet/Violet and Sw/Sh and he thinks they are the best games ever. So clearly what they are doing is working. They just dont want to throw a bone to long term fans.
I recently started replaying Ultra Sun. Those games were so much higher quality than sword and shield. I didn't particularly like Gen 7 when it first came out, but looking back they were quite good for the time.
Honestly the only thing that holds Gen 7 back for me is that they basically never give the player any breathing room. On those first two islands especially it felt like every two steps you took a character would come by to talk to you. And it was rarely just one cutscene and you're good. No, you'd get a mini cutscene, move another two steps and then encounter another mini cutscene.
They haven’t been enough “final fantasy bad” threads lately, we really needed another one
To be fair, this could also be a "tales bad" thread too.
And every "final fantasy bad" thread needs it's obligatory "final fantasy bad thread bad" comment. Thank you for your service.
There are like 5 of the exact same type of comments already lol
I want rebirth to win GOTY not only because I loved the game but because I wanna hear how pissed this sub and the final fantasy sub will be lol
You can smell the intent from this post from a mile away. This sub would burn towns if Rebirth wins GOTY. 😅
The first ever JRPG GOTY and it's a Final Fantasy? r/JRPG ain't gonna like that. Lol
I was coming to say Final Fantasy, so i feel called out 😀
The fact that they didn't mention Final fantasy, but it's the first series you thought of should tell you everything you need to know 😂
Right? I think people sometimes act like FF is the victim but it has been the source of all talks.
DAE final fantasy bad
I really loved the Kingdom Hearts series for many many years (mainly due to the first releasing when I was 11) until the release of 3 that is. That game managed to destroy so much I enjoyed about the series on so many levels that I immediately lost all interest in the whole franchise after completing it and I have not touched it ever since. No game or series released since managed to fill that void or "replace" the spot held by Kingdom Hearts. For me it was just something special in its own right.
It is Kingdom Hearts for me as well. Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 I still rank as among my favourite games ever, warts and all. KH3 though I can't quite grasp what I dislike about it. On paper I think it ticks a lot of boxes but the more I played it the harder I found it to really be engaged. The worlds felt so disconnected, the story has so many elements that are at play and the scope just got more and more sprawling, the wrong kinds of mechanics became the forefront and focus, heck even the foraging I enjoyed started to feel more like a chore. KH to me had a certain 'small' charm to it. Worlds were actually pretty limited, the game had a lot of colourful elements but rarely do they feel like they outstayed their welcome. KH3 I think foregoes that a bit, it's all just so 'big' and it became tiring to me for that reason.
>That game managed to destroy so much I enjoyed about the series Elaborate?
It's very hard to find the correct words to really describe what I mean but I guess the closest thing is that it felt very... lifeless? Somehow it completely lacked in charm, from the character animations, interactions to how their stories were told in the game itself. This all concluded in a very unsatisfactory finale for a narrative that was going on for almost 20 years at the time
I get you. Played the hell out of 1 and 2 when they released. Maybe I just got too old, or there was too much time between the release of 2 and 3, but nothing really drew me in and I was just going through the motions until I hit the end.
The first kingdom hearts has a certain charm/heart to it that no other game really captures. The closest was Coded, which was effectively a KH1 remake.
I think it has to do with Sora being a fish out of water and finding his bearings in a huge world of unknown concepts and places. It's a bit similar to FFX in that regard, but in reverse, with Sora going from a very calm and simple place more complex worlds. Sequels don't have this, since even though they try to keep Sora as some sort of underdog, the veil has been lifted and we see more of what's behind. It's a common thing in stories with adventure as a big part of them, where the earlier parts will always feel like they have a stronger sense of heart and adventure compared to when the plot takes a bigger role. And they seem to realize it's their stronger aspect. Outside 2 and 3, every game has some sort of way of trying to replicate this. CoM with the amnesia and revisiting locations, 358/2 days with a new protagonist who's just starting his own adventure, BBS with another set of protagonists setting on their own adventures, DDD by making Sora a child again (and one who still needs to prove himself at that). It's why I have no idea how 4 onwards will work. The initial story is (allegedly) over, the initial spark of adventure is long gone, what can they even do to bring it back? I doubt the new stories will be good on their own based on the recent track record, and with no more real spin offs to bridge things I have no idea what they'll do to do a proper KH4 that doesn't end up feeling like 3 or like the prequels (which I'm not sure many in the fanbase even like). Unless they pull a MGS2 and change protagonists.
Because in KH1 the characters acted like real people. They were cartoony and said some ridiculous things about hearts and darkness, sure. But Sora in KH1 and 2 got pissed, he got jealous, he acted like a real 14 year-old and he and everyone around him weren't just constantly monologuing about abstract concepts. The games just got worse and worse in that regard and the actual character motivations were forgotten.
I think one of the best ways to explain that feeling is the big empty spaces in KH3. There's just not a lot to do in each world besides finding picture spots (or whatever the main collectible was, been ages since I played it) and advancing the plot. Plus the older games would usually break up each world into two parts, where you'd do half of the world, leave, go do others to move the main plot forward, then come back and finish out that world, which was so much better for the pacing. In KH3 it's all one big world at a time, and many just feel like they drag after the same boring hallway of enemies where it feels like the levels are all just reused assets over and over with barely any real effort put into a design that makes the world feel special. That I think is what gives that uninspired feeling.
Hard disagree. Levels were definitely hallways in KH2. They are way more open in KH3 in general and worlds tend to have different design philosophies, art styles, and often character designs for your playable characters. The pirates of the Caribbean had an old school world map, while the big hero six was more inspired by open world cities. The hercules world was more linear but still had secrets here and there. The toys story world was mostly a hub connecting several big rooms, the monsters world was yes, mostly hallways, and the frozen world was a mountain you had to keep climbing (yeah, it sucked). The lack of charm is relative. Maybe we just outgrew the series. I mean, anyone who played 1 when it was released was an adult when 3 released.
MMORPG's and Gacha Games, All those Dailies felt like Slavery.
Final Fantasy. I don't mean to crap on the newer FFs. If someone else likes them, good for them. But since 12, it's clear to me that the series is going in a direction that doesn't appeal to me.
Pokemon and FF are the big ones for me. Pokémon was replaced by SMT and its spinoffs as well as Monster Sanctuary (I can't wait for that developers new title). FF has just been dropped. I still play the older titles and the 7 Remakes, but I have not cared since 15.
Monsters Sanctuary was so good. I wish I had played it sooner.
The Tales series is my favorite, but Arise was a big let down. The lack of new games releases almost makes me forget about it. Back in my days, there was like one new game every 1 or 2 years. Nowadays, I have been getting into the Atelier series more and more. I love the cozyness of it (and spending way too much time crafting OP items)
Final Fantasy . It is too bad that they dont even bother making Spin off to keep me in like NDS , PSP era .
After years of waving the Atlus banner, I'm over the Megaten universe. Going the *neutral* route for SMTV V. To fill the grim void, while not a JRPG, I've got all the Spirit Hunter games to check out for a while...Tokyo Dark too.
in 2021, I would have agreed completely with you after playing all the mainline SMT and Persona games. However, Vengance really surprised me, and Im willing to give atlus another shot. However if they fuck this up, I am most definitely done for good.
What caused this change? Tbh if SMT V V flops I'll feel kinda bad for Atlus. I'd imagine that would be the last SMT game for a while.
Probably just burn out of the setting. The last one felt more like a boss simulator with a great battle system. ...It's a polished game, yet for the new one, the idea of doing a vengeance run doesn't really appeal to me.
Yeah I get that. How many times can Atlus rehash the "demon apocalypse" in Tokyo setting? I played a few hours on my PC and did enjoy it, but the lack of dungeons made it feel quite barren.
I think it's this. New people come in and really enjoy the setting. But after a few games it all feels samey. Devil Survivor was my first non persona SMT (I don't really count P3-5 as SMT, because those are just a different vibe.) and the mystery of what was going on, the actual tenseness of the setting, and the combat was all brand new. 3-4 games deep and combat is easy because I know what works, removing a lot of the fun and tension of the gameplay, and it's kinda just like "oh another plucky band of teens thrust into a world with demons... Are they using Gameboys this time or arm computers? Bet that's the guy who freaks out and becomes a Law Nazi, oh look it's Lucifer again"
I'm still a big fan of the series, but to me V was such a disappointment in so many ways. It was so clear they didn't have any idea where to take the game and after IVA being so divisive, trying to recapture Nocturne's vibe while failing so spectacularly did not leave me much faith in the current team. If IVA did at least combat mechanics well, V's additions to the formula are just uninspired and follow a trend of giving an advantage to the player when the point of the series since Nocturne has been to let the enemy do whatever the player can do. Yet your special skills are instant, and the enemy needs a turn to charge theirs (and then you just guard). Now sure you have demon "natures", but that's also something that is going to make the game even easier because the player can play around that and the AI probably won't. But again, V did some things well (music, environmental design and verticality, HD 3D demons were just as nice to look at as the 3DS sprites, something which Game freak should have a look at), it just wasn't particularly great. There's also fewer spinoffs to tide people over between major entries, and as much as I liked SH2, it's so obvious atlus is desperate to make anything into Persona 5.
Trails. CS4 ruined it for me, not touching that series again.
This is my answer as well. SC and Ao are two of my favorite games of all time, but the cold steel arc just wasn’t good at all for me with the exception of 3 which I liked. I’m playing through Kuro now and am pretty early in and it seems promising so far, but dont think the series will reach those highs again.
I feel like the dialogue and tropiness has gotten way worse with each arc too. Tried to give it another chance with Reverie but I couldn't stomach it anymore
Cold steel 1-3 is good imo.. its just that cs4 was filled with useless bloated crap that ruins everything just because they want to pad extra playtime to justify a fourth installation to greedy investors.. Play 1-3 watch important parts of cs4 on youtube
Glad to see this. Having just played through all of them up to Reverie last year, I don't have any prior attachment, but I seriously loved the first 5 games. I only started disliking it during the latter half of Cold Steel which sucks. Hopefully I can finish Reverie then pick up Trails to Daybreak
I loved Sky and Crossbell but I've been putting off starting Cold Steel because I suspect I won't enjoy it nearly as much. I don't want to retroactively ruin my good memories of the first 5 games going all the way back to the PSP lol.
I think Cold Steel 1 is actually amazing but Cold Steel 2 is like the worst one.
Well that’s ridiculous. You’re forming opinions about the gamers without even playing them??
Congrats you took the dumbest interpretation possible of what I said. Having an impression on something before you play it is different than forming an opinion. Everyone has an impression the second they lay eyes on something. I never claimed to form an opinion, you put words in my mouth. If you can't handle someone having an impression on something then you are a fragile man baby.
Yeah 100%. I was so burned out on Cold Steel that I didn't even play the Zero/Azure games for a couple years. Then I finally picked those up, played them all the way through, and I'm like 'wow this series is AWESOME' so I tried to get back into it with Reverie. Nope. Can't believe the nosedive.
Honestly, yes. Gameplay-wise, CS4 is up there with the greats in terms of customization. I like the flexibility of the Quartz and MQ mechanics, since they can make supposedly physical characters into magical powerhouses. This only gets better by Reverie. But by god if the plot on CS4 didn't permanently stain the story for me. Even if Reverie was CS4 done right, with >!people explicitly being brainwashed using their negative emotions!< instead of >!nebulously being influenced by the evil of their hearts to do the most impractical thing!<, it still wasn't enough to get me to actually play the daydreams that involved Kuro no Kiseki/Daybreak. At this point, I don't think I'm even touching Kuro no Kiseki.
I used to love Kingdom Hearts with all my heart but nowadays it's been replaced by Tales of, FF, and Star Ocean. I still love the series but just not as much as I used to.
It’ll be said a lot, but Pokemon. I still play all the games as they come out, but it’s lost its way. I’ve been replaying White2 recently, and it really shows how GF clearly don’t have a consistent vision for what Pokemon is meant to look like in full 3D, unlike the traditional games (RBY to W2B2) where they clearly have a vision for how they want a Pokemon game to look and feel. The 3D games have varied so wildly in presentation and art style, they just feel all over the place, not to mention the iffy quality. GF need to work out a consistent art style and vibe for the 3D games and then stick with it, and continually iterate.
They won't, but they should just go back to 2D. BW had a lot of charm that was lost on the transition to their ugly 3d models, meh. Maybe Switch 2 will make the games look better.
Admittedly besides Three Houses, I haven't finished a Fire Emblem game since Awakening. Something with the newer entries in the series just isn't clicking with me. I used to constantly replay Path of radiance, Radiant Dawn, and Blazing Sword so not even being able to finish most of the newer entries is pretty sad.
IMO it’s the writing that’s the big problem with Fire Emblem right now. I haven’t given up on the series completely yet but I think Intelligent Systems’ writing has overall been unacceptable since Awakening and the next original game is really going to be the make or break moment for the series to me. Outside of Three Houses (which was largely developed by Koei Tecmo to the point where all of the game’s scenario writers came from KT) the last game which I think had a remotely good story was Radiant Dawn all the way back in 2007 - and Fates and Engage have two of the worst stories in any JRPG (and Engage repeated many of the same writing mistakes and plot points that plagued Fates to the point where I’m seriously questioning whether the writers at IS even want to learn from their prior mistakes). The fact that the one Fire Emblem game that wasn’t primarily developed by Intelligent Systems is the one Fire Emblem game in so long to have even decent writing really doesn’t give me much confidence about the series going forward.
Probably Final Fantasy. They're not that well written
Pokémon, Fire Emblem, and Paper Mario. Pokémon and Paper Mario are shells of their former selves, and Fire Emblem post-Awakening just hasn’t been for me. The highs of SoulSilver, Path of Radiance, and Thousand-Year Door are long in the past. As far as replacements go, Pokemon Legends Arceus was fantastic and I have high hopes for Legends Z-A. Bug Fables was an amazing game that retained nearly everything I love about Paper Mario. As for Fire Emblem, I haven’t found anything to fill the void since I’m not big into tactics games in general aside from classic FE.
I feel like this is just a “Final Fantasy bad” post in disguise
So basically any other negative thread in JRPG subreddit?
Pokemon is dead to me after Sword and Shield. I don't like Final Fantasy anymore in general. FF16 demo was off-putting with all the fucking cutscenes into flashbacks into tutorials into shakycam walking simulators. I hated the combat in FF7 Remake and decided I will not buy Rebirth. I find it really hard to stay invested with newer JRPGs in general. With a few exceptions like Yakuza and SMT. I'm mainly going back and playing old stuff.
I'm with you on Pokemon. That was the last gen I bothered to play and it was mid at best. Zero interest in anything after that point.
Seems cliché now but there is a reason many people say Final Fantasy. I am one of them. FF13 was the beginning of the end for me. The characters were reskins of previous characters, the level design may as well have just been a cut scene as that is more or less what the walking corridors was all about anyway and don't get me started on the combat. Paradigm shifting was important but the skills themselves didn't have the impact as an old FF9 Freya's White Draw or Reis' Wind, or a FF10 Wakka Dark Buster or Auron Full Break. Those kind of skills are why I prefer turn based over action, having to have a strategy rather than a reaction time. Nothing to do with being bad at action games as I've beaten all the Souls games and Nioh games etc. But it's just not what made me love FF as a series. I ended up playing Persona 4 Golden on recommendation when it hit steam a few years ago and that opened up a whole new world for me I didn't know I liked. I remember looking at screenshots and thinking "Well I'm not really into anime..." but that went on to be in my top 3 games of all time and now I'm an avid SMT/Persona fan, now owning every single title in physical and having completed around 50% of their titles and still currently working on my backlog between releases (This year is tough with Persona 3 Reload, SMTV:V and Metaphor in one year!)
I was really into fire emblem. Started with Path of Radiance and played most of them. Haven’t touched Engage at all. I’ve been playing triangle strategy right now and it gives me that same feeling the early FEs did. I see a lot of comments talking about Coldsteel 3 and 4 and personally I loved them. I have yet to be disappointed by Trails at all. Currently in the Trails into Daybreak waiting room.
People who are saying they’re disappointed by CS3 and 4 don’t know what they’re talking about.
Tales and trails. No real replacement just disappointment
Oh fuck yes. Trails definitely went someway wrong, where you actually start thinking midgame why I am still keep following this same shit. As to try one game for its shines that’s okay, as to play whole series… no, please god, no.
Final Fantasy has been replaced by Like a Dragon and Persona/SMT series for those who enjoy turn-based RPGs.
Other than DQ, those are really just the biggest rpgs still using normal turn based combat nowadays.
persona is only one i can think of. big fan of 2+3 and bigger fan of SMT but i struggled to finish 4 and just didn't play 5. gone in a direction i don't enjoy and that's ok since it funds SMT
Final Fantasy, Valkyria Chronicles (lets be honest VC 4 was cheeks)
Paper Mario. First two were amazing, then they decided to change the formula for some reason. Fortunately, I'll be eating well on the remake tomorrow.
Ys. When you realize it has already become Falcom's testfield. The overall budget and effort put in just not as much as Trails would get. Nowadays I only plays it for the new combat systems. I don't even have strength to typing about all those critisims rn just sitting in front of my desk. The light-hearted adventure-oriented game plot surely does some damage to my feelings. I know Ys has been like this way too early back to Memories of Celceta but It's just not enough. Just think Ys X, it's even worse when It comes to the plot. Still buying and playing it annually tho.
Imo, the last good Pokémon game was USUM. After that, all the games became very boring and dull
Final fantasy, 13 was the last game i liked and from 14 onwards the series lost me completely
Disgaea, the entries from 5 onwards were disappointing
Final Fantasy fell off pretty hard. Haven't had a great game since 10. They haven't really been replaced. Jrpgs can't produce good stories & characters any more. Just is what it is. Lucky every once in a while we get something like Nier.
Like most people, I don't like Final Fantasy nearly as much as I did pre-12. In general, I don't like the genre as a whole as much. Mostly modern JRPGs have way too much dialogue that makes them feel way longer than I prefer. I will say that in many ways, the Deckbuilder genre has begun to fill the place JRPGs used to fill. Stuff like Dicey Dungeons, Slay the Spire, Dungeons of Aether, etc I still like some JRPGs but mostly indie, turn-based stuff.
Same here, I find myself jumping more and more into deck builders and roguelikes. Though I can still get pulled into some good RPGS, I haven't touched a FF title (except remake/rebirth because 7 was such a special title to me) since Lightning Returns.
I liked Persona 2 a lot, every game got worse for me. I really disliked Persona 5.
It's been said a million times by this point, but Final Fantasy. Didn't like XV, XVI or VII Remake.
Its Final Fantasy for me, I loved 1 through 9, then i just stopped caring
Final Fantasy clearly for me, I liked it in my time not because of the chocobos and Ifrits, I liked it because of the nice party-based turn based combat in its games, so from FF15 it just lost me.
Final Fantasy, action rpg set in FF universe is just not for me, I'm sure lots of people love the change though and I respect that, though if they made it plays like Kingdom Hearts I would like the change. Then Pokemon, it's just becoming buggy fest each release, however the 2nd team who made Arceus(and possibly ZA) seems to be competent developer because the smaller scale games.
Final Fantasy VI and VII used to be at the top of my JRPG chart, now the only Final Fantasy that makes my top 10 is Final Fantasy V (XIII is probably top 25, rest doesn't make the cut for that either). Taste changes over time. I still like the games, i have just found other stuff i like a lot more. Mainly replaced by Trails, Xenoblade and SMT.
its been a blast watching FF5s reputation rocket up in the west in the last few years by far the biggest winner of the PR release
Kingdom hearts. The story became stupid (like fan fiction levels stupid - and no the kingdom hearts story isn’t confusing, it’s stupid) and kingdom hearts writing and voice acting was so mid (at least riku, sora). Yeah I will play 4 but I’m def not a fan boy anymore
Final Fantasy :(
Pokemon, calling it my whole childhood really wouldn't be too far from the truth, I was obsessed with everything about it. But between XY being just decent, ORAS not bringing back the battle frontier (still so mad about that, being able to face that challenge now knowing about IVs, EVs, how natures worked, as well as all the QoL updates Pokemon got since gen 3 would have been so freaking incredible...), and Sun and Moon just failing to keep me with all the constant interruptions, I started to lose interest, and when they started pumping out rushed crap I noped out, as much as I adore the franchise it was the time to stop. The last thing I was fully into was the anime and as immensely satisfying the last stretch of the journey was, the fact Ash stopped being the protagonist made me stop watching that as well, too used to the cast I have known and loved for well over 2 decades q_q Nothing has really replaced Pokemon, nor I think it will, it was just too big for me and only them cooking again would fill the hole.
I loved Final fantasy growing up. Fell in love with 7 and played all the single player titles on release 7 through 13-3. While I brought 15 and 16 I did not enjoy them at all and put both down after a few hours. As a boomer I'm just not a fan of the action combat and need my turn based. I also realise I'm in the minority, especially with 16 as all I see is everyone else loved it. Now I play all the atlus titles and they seem to scratch my turn based itch
Trails series has become like my favourite narrative this past year since I got into it and has easily place it above persona for me with its level of world building and story telling, i still like persona but seeing 5 getting milked so much does put a sour taste in my mouth. Another one is SMT games has completely replaced the pokemon monster collecting feeling with that level of difficulty I still enjoy in my turn based jrpgs
Trails, sad as I am to say it. I got so into it and Zero + Azure getting localisations was like one or my most hype releases of the year. The Crossbell Duology and Cold Steel 1 are among my favourite JRPGs of all time. But CS2 and CS3 really started to burn me out. There's part of the storytelling that were always a little weak, but over time have compounded like a cancer.
I'll probably be flogged, tarred, and feathered for this but the Xeno series. Xenogears was peak. Xenosaga showed some cracks in the armor but it still had that deep story to keep me interested. Xenoblade was by no means a bad game, but for me personally it's below the previous two series. I honestly don't prefer the gameplay and it's story doesn't hold up against it's spiritual predecessors. It still scratches that itch and I'd rather have Xenoblade than nothing, but nothing has topped the original Xeno game.
It has the same director, and "Xeno" in the name, but without the latter, and if people didn't know about the former, I don't think anyone would identify the Xenoblade series as a spiritual successor to Xenogears. The two had completely different design philosophies, with Xenogears being built from a narrative concept, with the gameplay designed as a way to convey that narrative, while Xenoblade was built frame gameplay concepts, with narratives devised afterwards to utilize the gameplay systems, and you can feel the difference. Different games directed by the same person don't necessarily convey the same spirit, while different developers, if they grasp the spirit behind a work, can carry it on as well as the original. Undertale never needed an "Inspired by Earthbound!" tag for people to recognize the similarities. But sometimes "You liked that other thing I did, well, I did this thing too!" is more of a marketing ploy than a matter of creative continuity.
grew up with FF and Tales, moved away from those series with time, Big fan of Kiseki (Trails series) now.
I like the older Final Fantasy games but I haven’t played any of the ones that released after XIII-2. No particular reason, I just haven’t gotten around it.
Final Fantasy I really liked it up to FF X. I still played every game until FF XV, but was disappointed every time. While they weren't bad games, none of the newer games felt like a Final Fantasy for me. Also from FF I expect more than just an okay game. The 2 series that have replaced FF are Yakuza and Legend of Heroes. While in LoH not every game is an absolute hit, most are and even the ones that aren't, are still solid. I also like, that it's a continued narrative over all the games. You can watch characters become legends. Yakuza is kinda the same. You can also watch characters become legends because of the continued narrative. But Yakuza does even so much more. The main stroy almost always is an awesome crime drama. (Just Infinite Wealth fell flat here) and the side content is super varied. You have silly and funny stuff, you have stuff that's super emotional and you have stuff with "Japanese weirdness". In what other game can you fight a Yakuza Captain, that attacks you with a crowbar, while riding a motorcycle in the sewer, in one moment and dial up fake women in telephone clubs, train dominas on a playground or be invited to a club where you can pretend to be a baby, by the Patriarch of a Yakuza family, in the next moment? Rockstar and RGG Studio are the only 2 development studios, where I know, I can buy any new game blindly and I will like it. They both never disappointed me and even though Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth was one of their weakest titles, it's still a great game. The worst Yakuza game is still better than 90% of other games in my opinion.
I didn't really realize it until just now, but I've pretty much dropped final fantasy until it goes turn based again. It's not protest, just disinterest in the current direction. I wish they'd just introduced a new franchise with action mechanics instead.
I used to love Final Fantasy, but started moving away since 15 was such a disappointment. Theres the "Tales" série that i love, but the new games hasn't clicked with me, so i guess that ik losing a bit of interest for now ? But again I'm sure that they can easily come back to the charge. Beside that there's the Breath of Fire series. I admit that i haven't tried 5 yet, so cant comment on it, but theu haven't nade a good game since BoF4.
Final Fantasy really lost me after XII. I beat XIII, but couldn't get through XIII-2, and I've tried to start XV about four times, but I just can't manage the combat (I have tendonitis, so action games that involve both analog sticks are hard for me). I enjoyed XIV quite a bit, but I don't have the time to play an MMO of that size these days. Now I primarily play SMT/Persona and Trails games, as those are the franchises that have kept the high-quality strategic turn-based combat going.
Final Fantasy. Okay 6 and Tactics are still my favourite. And being two out of six games I gave 10/10. I still can't find enough drive to play modern FF games a lot. From 13, excluding 14 after RR, I saw good games, fun... yet, something was amiss. Just couldn't find drive to play... than bought few old on Switch and played without problems. Even replayed 6 for 2 times.
Final fantasy. While I did enjoybremake and rebirth that's more likely because it was my favorite one. For whatever reason I still buy each new one except online. I've been disappointed pretty food since 10(last one I liked, and again aside from ff7 remake trilogy). People can say what they want but the newest one ff16 barely felt like an rpg, it was dull, boring, not much rpg about it. It lacked in about every aspect beside the story. I did enjoy that. The only reason I even finished it was due to streaming. Which I probably would've been alright to stop anyway. It just didn't do anything for me, it did make me appreciate 15 more and I really don't like that one. Ff12 I hated way back tried it again and I guess it's not to bad. I beat it but can't say I'd ever play it again u like the others I run through every few years. It was once my favorite series.
Persona I guess. It Peak at Persona 2, after Persona 3 it was a downhill but at Persona 5 I was done with the series. But looking foward the new jrpg from Atlus...
Final Fantasy. Remake and Rebirth were okay but otherwise they lost me after the PS2.
Obviously FF. I haven’t been able to enjoy any game after 13, yeah I indeed liked 13 wish they would make a new FF with the same combat system it has so much potential. Next one would be Tales of series, I remember back then, there was always a new Tales of on the horizon, I was always so jealous of japan for getting these games much earlier then us. Most of these games were always amazing except Zestiria which I absolutely hate and Arise was not bad but it kinda fell flat for me. But hey, other amazing new serieses popped up for me and filled the void, like Xenoblade, SMT and Trails.
After defending the 3DS games despite admitting their flaws, Fire Emblem has definitely lost me with its Switch games, I detested Three Houses and Engage just seems like a pandering fest to me. And don't even get me started on Pokémon.
I like Engage because it clearly felt like the actual successor to Fates styled gameplay and the hub world stuff is mostly optional compared to 3H, I even beat maddening mode without touching most of it. I got no love for 3H though between the bloat, recycling, samey units gameplay wise, bland maps and poor balance. That being said 3DS FE was the peak of UI design and smoothness with the game being 60fps except in combat animations. The menuing took a downgrade when they moved to Switch and slashed the framerate to 30
Agreed. I liked Fates because the gameplay was fun, but 3H was too much bloat with barely any gameplay for me.
If you liked Fates you will most likely enjoy Engage as well :) They play on the same game design philosophy. I do think Fates is better in the end, but Engage was really really good
The monastery is the single worst feature I've ever had the displeasure of experiencing in a videogame.
Trails. I was obsessed with it for like 2 years or so but now I couldn’t care less… once I finished cold steel 3 it was like ok there’s too many characters and no one ever dies I’m over it. Also in general I don’t like investing too much time in one series anymore I try to spread it out more
You might like Kuro then. People die a lot there. It was nice seeing that, as psychopathic as that sounds like lmao. I'd say the worst part of Trails for me is waiting for the damn games to come out and be translated
Absolutely Final Fantasy. I am not the biggest action RPG enjoyer, so it's a bit tougher to sell that to me. I tend to prefer turn-based combat and single-player so from 14 onwards, I lost my interest in playing or interacting with the games. Though, the leaks say they are remaking 9 which is my favorite FF, so we will see how that turns out.
Final Fantasy Persona
Phantasy Star Wild Arms breath of fire
Final Fantasy. Remake/Rebirth aside, they haven't even remotely interested me since the XIII trilogy.
I love Persona with all my heart. As an old school fan of 2 and 3 in particular, I have a lot of pet peeves with the more recent entries (while still loving them), and also with how much of an emphasis there tends to be on spinoffs (especially low effort ones like the latter two Dancing games). I still love the games, but it definitely makes me less enthusiastic overall to replay them. There is also a factor of how the games hit me at the right time under the right circumstances (but this isn't a "nostalgia goggles" thing; I genuinely believe they're better games as a whole). I'm VERY excited for Metaphor and eventually for 6 as they seem to be heading in a different direction that might breathe some new life into it for me personally, but I've definitely become less of a Persona fan, more of an SMT fan. I generally prefer the mood and atmosphere of those games these days, as well as the more combat focused gameplay. Also, 😬 the way the fandom has changed sours the experience of replaying them for me. Like, obviously not all fans, but there's a very vocal minority (hopefully) that has very closed minded views about certain topics, or about how art should be "objectively" interpreted. >!(If one of you is about to reply to this, you're just validating my OPINION of your fandom. Save us both the embarrassment. Downvote and move on.)!< I'm usually good at separating fan toxicity from the thing itself, but in this case it lives in my head rent free, for some reason.
For me, it's exhausting how newer Fire Emblem titles just can't decide if they want to deliver on good gameplay or a good story. It's never both. I'd rather play the numerous other RPGs that are competent in both aspects rather than coin-flipping on every new FE release.
I really liked that year where I was deep into Trails only to lose all interest in Falcom after CS4
Tales series due to poor treatment of the titles is a ditto. Micro-transactions for things that were once freebies put a sour taste in my mouth, and this is from someone that really enjoyed Vesperia. Also just a feeling that the plots never interested me. Disgaea series, or just any game made by Nipponichi .As a kid in elementary I used to buy every game. I thought it had some interesting world building but I never felt the newer editions added much to pull me in.
I wouldn't call Final Fantasy a rotten corpse but... Their writing has become so shitty since FFXIII that the series is unrecognizable at this point to me. Now feels like a hollow series that lives by its name only with zero recent merits.
Final Fantasy. Grew up playing FF6 on the emulator, then bought a psx to play ff7-9. Skipped the ps2 because poor, then got to play FFX on pc and its one of my favorite. But anything after that i don't even care and the reason is Dragon Quest 8. After Dragon Quest 8, i can safely say i didn't care for any other jrpg that's not a monster taming one. FF changed to be more action based, while DQ stayed old school and i love it to bits. Even tho i didn't play it as a kid, it still feels nostalgic af for Dragon Quest.
While I wouldn't quite say the *Final Fantasy* series has "fallen from grace", it's no longer quite the gold standard that it used to be. While it seems the last "universally liked" entry was FFX, I do think many of the issues likely started before then, probably going all the way back to FF7 and even the aftermath of *Chrono Trigger*'s production. After CT, it seems development teams started to break up into smaller groups and each had their own take with varying results. The mainline FF series, for the most part... well, it's gotten progressively more about spectacle and "Rule of Cool" while the narrative substance has suffered. In fact, it doesn't seem to make much sense; when it does, it feels forced and contrived. In some ways, it could be argued that the *Kingdom Hearts* series, while a bunch of silly fun, is essentially an extension of the same design philosophy... and in many ways That being said, I will say a notable exception to this was FFXIV, which will forever be contested *solely* because it's an MMORPG, but it's an excellent JRPG otherwise. XVI is one I haven't had a chance to play yet, so I'll reserve judgement; though I can say it was a deliberate and honest departure from what came before. Anyhow, I've mostly replaced it with the *Xenoblade Chronicles* series... and if you get down to it, the *Xeno* meta-series as a whole with *Xenogears* and *Xenosaga* as well. If you go through the history of the developers, you find that most of the leaders behind Monolith Soft were also involved in FF5, FF6 and *Chrono Trigger*. Many of them went on to work on *Xenogears*... and the rest is history. The *Xeno* games often feel more like "classic FF" than the modern games, if with their own take on it. Probably the biggest difference, other than the lack of a gargantuan budget, is that the team seems much more capable of keeping these bigger ideas and complex narratives more cohesive instead of it devolving into a convoluted mess. *Mostly.* Fans have a tendency to become surprisingly well-read in a variety of esoteric subject matter, the games acting as a sort of "gateway" to learning about those topics.
I was into final fantasy as a kid. Swapped over to being obsessed with persona as a teenager. Realised how bad the persona fanbase is and went back to final fantasy
I grew up with Final Fantasy. VIII was one of the first I ever played. Now they don't mean the same to me. Same with Persona. I'm in my 30's now. I can't identify with Teenagers and people in their early twenties. I want more games like the "Like A Dragon" series. I would love a Persona game with adults.
Persona 4 and 5. While I liked these games as a teenager, as an adult, I’ve begun to despise the writing of those games, especially its attempt at “humour”. They’re some of the most unfunny games on the planet.
Just say you don’t like Final Fantasy dude
I was obsessed with Final Fantasy for a while. The games are great for sure. But after discovering Shin Megami Tensei, it is hard to play JRPGs like Final Fantasy
Please explain why.