@@xelldincht4251 ALL SMT games are hard, especially when you get 1/3 in, and enemies start resisting / Voiding / and REFLECTING normal physical attacks....which is what you do the most of. You are required to have multiple types of skills and such...or you'll end up in a position where you can't defeat a boss...or a random enemy.
@@xelldincht4251 The remake has the "Mercy" difficulty included...which lowers the difficulty (but not enemy resistances). You get more XP and Macca....but the trade-off is a greatly reduced encounter rate. I had Riberoma (increase encounter rate until the next new phase)...for two whole cycles...without an encounter. That's how much lower the base encounter rate is in Mercy Difficulty. The Base difficulty is the same as the PS2 version...although there are some QoL stuff...like being able to pick what skills fused demons can have (instead of pure RNG). Honestly...in any SMT game, you CAN get screwed in the first fight. You max HP is only 30-50...and enemies can deal 12-16 damage at that point. How you can get screwed...is if enemies land crits, which increases the number of turn they have...or you miss, which takes away turns. The major issue is...if the Protag dies, it's game over...and in later areas, enemies do have insta-kill skills (which your protag does NOT have base resistance for.) That's why the SMT games are so difficult.
The Pyra/Mythra argument is invalid. The original blond/redhead duo inhabiting the same body with either kindness and chaos as their character traits belongs to Elena and Millenia from Grandia II. The difference I suppose is the kind one is blond and the chaotic one is the redhead.
Time and Eternity shouldnt be included on these kinds of lists, I agree. It's not awesome, but it's really unique, especially visually. I'd love to see another try at the style!
have u finished it? I mean I still have to find anyone who dared finishing it.. it is visually interesting sure but in terms of gameplay is the worst of the bunch hands down... anyway this list I suppose is based on metacritic's results...it's the usual titles everybody says are terrible. Are they really the worse? I don't know... Awaken fate and the other one in the series I can't remember the title are in my op much worse than Neptunia, Cross Edge or Agarest that are all quite ok in reality.
I love the neptunia games and I’m not afraid to admit it. HOWEVER I love the remakes they did for the original trilogy the original ps3 versions major suck.
@@grthjryrd7552 You cannot simply use a health item during battle. There is a 50% to use one that heals for 50% HP when under 50% of your max health. You can upgrade it as you progress in the game but you often end up wiping because there is nothing you can do about the dumb RNG. Soo, if you want to play the first game, get the Rebirth 1 and stay away from the original. It is a very painful game.
I have a soft spot for Compile Heart jank because they always put out games that in one way or another really swing for the fences, and I can appreciate a cool idea even when they didn't quite have the ability to execute it. That being said, there's no reason to go back to the first Neptunia now that it's seen two remakes. They're still junk food but it's much more competently presented than the PS3 original.
If you think you'd like the art style and general tone of the humor then yeah. The gameplay is serviceable but nothing to write home about, at worst a bit grindy at times@@mountainmgtow5421
I'm hoping that Compile Heart's quality begins to increase, because it seems the company has undergone a bit of a re-structure internally, like having a new Director/Producer. I thought Neptunia Sisters Vs Sisters was one of the best Nep games in a long time, so I got some faith.
I played it on vita and I also have the remake but the color contrast is kinda annoying there... in my op Neptunia VII stays the best in the series. That game is just brilliant in its refusal to make sense I truly love it... beats disgaea by a landslide... which is no easy task let's be honest as Disgaea is also over the top dada ;)
@@sonny167349 it's satire tho.. I mean the fan service is unnecessary and that is precisely why it makes u laugh... it is not a game that takes sex seriously but laughs at the tropes. This said I never had problems with fan service in my life honestly, once you make clear the game is not for kids...
@@n3r0n3 I'm using steam version with some graphics mods to improve the quality, I would like if the game had bit less dialogue overall and put like 2-3 cutscenes over some scenes. Anyway I think the remake is actually fun, also disgaea up to 5th release is in my opinion really great last two realeses were fun as well, but the 3d graphics don't give the same feeling.
Yeah, I really wanted to like this game because of the art style (2D character in 3D third person) but as stated in the video, the combat got repetitive very fast.
Compile Hearts games tend to recycle their battlesystems a lot, but Agarest Zero is a game I'm very fond of, it has the best version of this particular battlesystem imo, story was very average but there was a charm to the characters. Going for overkills on every boss can be a fun challenge to do. I wouldn't say it's super hard for newcomers, but if the player doesn't wanna take a little time to learn, then they will also have a hard time.
@@sannice Try a game like Eternal Saga.... I've played most, if not all, RPG's on the PS2/PS3 and of all of them I think the ones listed here weren't half bad over a RPG where you can literally encounter 100's of enemies in the same random encounter (making those encounters take HOURS) only to go level DOWN, break your gear PERMANENTLY and all of it because the leveling system is heavily tied to RNG with battle and field mechanics that are never explained, not even in the manual... how's that for a bad RPG ?
I really had fun with Time and Eternity. Yes, it is not perfect, but on a sale it is a fun experience. About the switching mechanic- its main point it for the affinity system. You see, as bosses gives way more affinity, the point is to do bosses with the girl who you want to marry. I wanted to marry Toki, so I did bosses exclusively with her.
I actually really liked Time and Eternity and I remember back when it released everyone I knew asking why I was playing it because they heard it was bad. I feel like I was one of the few people who played on launch after not buying into hype and went in with zero expectation because I liked the artstyle and it worked out for me. I very rarely get hyped for games though so that most likely played into it.
I think saying that Compile Heart and Idea Factory make nothing but bad games is kind of a diminishing way of looking at them. They obviously work on a low budget and a lot of their games feel kinda middling, but they don't make "nothing but bad games"; hell sometimes I feel like they're the only dev willing to try anything different, because on such a low budget what do you have to lose? Death end re:Quest is a legit hidden gem as far as I'm concerned, no doubt due to the writing of Makoto Kedouin who wrote the *good* Corpse Party entries, and Mary Skelter is full of interesting mechanics and ideas, and makes for a fun little dungeon crawler. You really don't get too many weird experimental titles like that anymore, which just makes me appreciate them all the more when they do make something genuinely interesting.
I like the concept of the Agarest War with the whole "The story goes through generations from your main character" Cross Edge is my favorite, sure the whole battle system could use some work and I completely agree that the scanning to progress the story is horrendous, but the actual interactions with the cutscenes were hilarious and kept me playing, including the post game interactions with the former boss characters now that they don't have to play as bosses. Also the intermission being gags like in the disgaea games was a plus for me.
yeah, Cross Edge is not user friendly at all and that learning curve is steep. the combo system isn't explained well (though it works great once you figure out its quirks), the area scanning is painful (you have to go back to WHERE to recruit Lilith?!), and especially item crafting needs a guide to use... but I loved it anyway. It all sort of comes together and works when you get into it. and yes, the story actually comes together too. they made a good version of what is usually the worst way to end a story in the world. "It was all a dream..." is terrible. "You are trapped in a dream and have to break out" is great.
Low budget JRPG's tend to have a charm you don't get from the big budget blockbusters. I think that's a big part of why there are so many of them and a lot of people seem to have a fondness for them. Personally I grab one on a sale or something every few years or so just to try something different and I find I usually enjoy them since I go in without any lofty expectations.
There's a difference between great low-budget jrpgs like Soma Union or Blackout hospital and soulless slop from compile heart or kemco though. Latter is not charming in the slightest.
@@-bold5999 Right. There has to be some passion behind it because that passion usually shines through whatever jankiness or lack of polish there is. I can spot a Kemco game just by looking at the title logo at this point. Mass produced garbage.
@@Greeny83 nah, mass produced garbade is mobile and browser shit That is literally 0-2/10 Compile Heart games, at least have memorable characters, so they're way better
20:04 And the whole Blade and Driver thing from XC2 is also suspiciously similar to the Furies and Fencers from Fairy Fencer F. Turns out Monolith Soft has been ripping off the creative geniuses at Compile Heart and Imageepoch all along.
I think Time & Eternity could do with a remake that keeps the artstyle but overhauls the battle system, mazes and story elements. Not a remaster, but a full-fledged remake.
I had some fun with Time and Eternity, despite it's many many many many flaws and...oddities. Neptunia too, though I only got into it with the PS Vita versions, it seems compa has gotten better with their newer games like Death End Request and Fairy Fencer, but I've yet to check those out.
From what I hear, the PS3 version is broken and the Vita version is a full-on remake that fixes a lot of the problems and is considered the definitive version.
I've played all of them, unfortunately, and the only one I managed to finish was Neptunia. However, I'm a huge Noire simp, so that got me through the game. As for how IF and CH are still alive, some of the Neptunia games are actually good. The remakes of Neptunia 1-3 are playable junk food rpgs, and the some of the action games like 4 Goddesses online and the Senran Kagura crossover were quite fun.
There's a reason they straight up remade "Hyperdimension Neptunia" with an entirely different game engine and combat system for the PS Vita called "Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth", and then based its sequels and the PC versions on that, which is probably the version most people today know. The original PS3 version is a relic that nobody knows and really isn't worth the time compared to its far better remake. Also yes, "Time and Eternity" is SO underrated. I loved that game when I played it back in the day.
Should be mentioned to the actual first game's credit that they might as well not have had a budget at all with how little they were actually given. Props to the devs for making due with what they had and managing to pull off getting a sequel okayed that turned into a full-blown mascot franchise.
It wasn't a new engine. It was one they recycled from the 3rd Neptunia game. Honestly, the 3rd Neptunia game is the best in the franchise. Just the fact that they are still using the same system to this day since that game came out shows how good that game was for the franchise.
They remade them simply to relicence them to Idea Factory International. If they didn't fall out with NIS and NIS America, they wouldn't exist and they would have just moved straight on with the next game.
@@Shadowespeon17 Not entirely true, though that was part of it. The franchise was the one Idea Factory IP that actually took off somewhat, and then further with the second game and even much more with the third. They had something that put their name on the map but with their falling out with NIS, coupled with how terribad the first game was, they had plenty of incentive to remake them and do them right this time.
You're nuts. I mean you're entitled to that opinion but I heavily disagree with this list. Time and Eternity is an incredible game. It's a super unique style you just don't see anymore. I recommend anyone who has the chance to try it to do so.
Good old neptunia. It's a guilty pleasure thing. The games are low effort in so many ways, and they always have a battle system that COULD be good, but is balanced to be quite mindless . It's this weird series where I never seem to want to play it because they aren't good. But whenever I tie myself to a chair and actually do play it, I'm like 'I'm actually kinda enjoying myself'. it's just dumb fun lol.
Only play Neptunia at Rebirth or Reverse levels the remakes all use Victory's engine and Battle system and replace the recycled art from other CH rpg games and update the score so the music is less recycled.
Time and eternity is one of those games that's good but at the same time I'm glad it exists because if nothing else it could act as the groundwork for a much better game in the future.
I bought Tactica for cheap and realized it´s basically a sequel to Persona 5, so I´m now 50 hours into that just so I can finish and play Tactica funny how things work
I honestly don't think Time and Eternity ever deserved a low score. There are definitely issues, but most of the reviews I see online complain about things that even good games have (mostly palette swapping and reusing sprites). I don't know why they got so butthurt about it for Time and Eternity but with other JRPGs they didn't care. I love the game and it has a lot of charm. Most of the critical reviews are just completely unfair on it compared to other JRPGs
Damn, I feel nostalgic with Neptunia. Sure it wasn't great but I really enjoyed its quirkiness and the satire. Definitely felt more lighthearted than the sequel and its Conquest ending! Last Rebellion honestly had an interesting combat system that...kinda screws up on making it too random. On the other hand, if you do it right you can practically overlevel and beat the game in no time - which is already short anyway. Also I hated how I was forced to constantly seal the enemies after they died...also the plot kinda sucked so meh. And Time and Eternity...urgh, great concept, really bad execution, and EXTREMELY cringy dialogue that often ruin the moment. Combat is also easy to break with magic but I remember really getting bored and just not liking how it felt. That's too bad because I even tried to go for the true ending (which requires a second playthrough), and it was so underwhelming...yeah that's the best word I can describe this game: underwhelming.
At least Neptunia got a LOT better as the games went on. Mk2 is a huge step up from the first game, Victory refines what Mk2 did and that battle system was in my opinion perfected in V2. Now if only we could get another mainline game instead of remakes and spinoffs :/
i have thought about a game looking like time and eternity, and i can't believe nobody has tried this style again. it doesn't look perfect, but with a bigger budget and graphics of today it would look awesome.
Time and Eternity is probably the tackiest game I've ever played. Nearly every creative choice makes the game viscerally unappealing to experience. And yet it's a functional video game, and not a completely broken mess. It's like dating a girl covered in the worst tattoos and piercings you've ever seen, but she has a steady job at the Better Business Bureau.
So i have a huge problem with this list. One alot of the score are different between critics and users. Where the user is mostly higher that the critics.Another is that the size of how many people ranked it. Where i appreciate your video and your point of view. I feel that some of these games look interesting and that games are mostly subjective. I have notice is the couple of reviews that you have done that i have watched. When you describe something as boring you hardly say why. What makes the parts in the game boring. Just so you know i just found your channel today but i appreciate the quality of your videos.
User scores are unreliable IMO. They’ll give a solid game all 0s for no reason. Thanks for the feedback on the boring bits though! I’ll strive to do a better job explaining my thoughts.
True about the user scores. You got a new subscriber. That is why I watch channels like yours to see game play and your point of view on games. Thank you for the work you put in to the videos . I will definitely send my friends to your channel.
@@TheGamingShelf also it is... kinda wrong that 5 is considered bad and not mediocre Yeah, that is the most correct word to say about these games They're not bad, they simply don't have much that makes them stand out
to be fair, "original" hyperdimension neptunia is like failed attempt of a good concept. even the fans hated this one but rebirth fixed that. rebirth is basically a remake. based on the 3rd installment style. Just pretend the original never existed and you are fine
I can't help but notice the game he promoted, Persona 5 Tactica, has a lot of the same issues he calls out in these games lmao, at least one from each entry. Cross Edge for doing the generic anime portraits for dialogue scenes. Check. Record of Agarest for having skip dialogue which fast forwards through the scene instead of just skipping it. P5 Tactica does that, yep. Neptunia for having a solid battle system and nothing else, and being little more than cutscenes and battles. Pretty much, though you could argue that is expected for tactics games. Last Rebelllion for having battles where every single fight you use the same mechanic to win. This is P5 Tactica's biggest offence, it is the one more / all in loop ad nauseum for each battle. Time and Eternity for having dialogue choices where your choice has no impact at all. Quite clear, if you look for it you will notice how they write the choices and responses in Tactica so that it does not matter which you choose. Time and Eternity for the game being way too easy. I beat every map in Tactica with 3 stars on the highest difficulty, only had to restart two maps. The fights have turn limits to get 3 stars, and I never even came close to missing it. BY the end, with no grinding at all, I had 300+ health with enemies doing 20-40 damage. Yikes
I bought my ps3 for Cross Edge and I didn't regret it. I remember nothing of the story but the battle system was really fun and it's nice to see a crossover with all those niche characters.
Yeah I had a lot of fun with it too though I was a teenager at the time nowadays I'd say that overall the game is kinda mediocre like it's metacritic rating shows but I think it's battle system is really fun if you get how it works. The only thing I think is exceedingly bad about it is it's utterly inane requirements to get the true ending like the game just expects you to know to leave certain enemy characters alive in certain battles and defeat certain bosses when they normally would retreat with absolutely no hints in the story that doing so would actually do anything or to even attempt to do so in the first place.
I'm actually happy I stumbled on this video. I recently unpacked and found my copy of Project Xzone 2, and vaguely remembered a divisive console game that was similar but I couldn't recall what. Like the only thing that came to mind was Namco x Capcom. Cross Edge completely slipped my memory.
wow all 5 of those games are some of the ones i enjoyed the most in that era, so much nostalgia. neptunia and crossxedge were games i replayed more than a few times.
Ngl I always enjoyed the Agarest Trilogy, though zero - the prequel- is the worst of the three. I’d have put Trinity:Souls of Zilol(?) on here. What a shite action rpg. I can’t even.
I don't really agree with this list. I really love both Cross Edge and the entire Neptunia franchise. I'm surprised Resonance of Fate isn't in the Top 5, that was easily the worst JRPG I've ever played on PS3 and I've played many.
Shining Force was supposedly going to get a reboot with a genshin style game (Gacha+Multiplat) that had combat animations that looked a lot like T&E with their cartoony cell shading. Then the studio fell apart, I think.
@@Stavekoff I suppose I begrudgingly agree. I tried Marvel Puzzle quest for a couple of months at the beginning of the pandemic and while I did like the game, I grew increasingly annoyed with how the game wanted me to play it at certain times on THEIR schedule rather when I wanted to play. That said if you get the chance to check out the 3 minute or so long trailer they did for the Shining Force gacha game, the animation WAS very good.
Great job on the video. I know most of those games are not great but it did feel like you spent so little time on each. Just would have been nice to try and at least understand the nuances of the games mechanics to try and explain to us why it's bad and not just being like I'm dying alot and I don't know why. Still appreciate seeing stuff about obscure games like this.
I actually enjoyed Last Rebellion and didnt die as much as you did. It seems you die a lot in these games and lose interest. I didn't really find the art that bad.
1/ Loved Cross Edge since I played after Namco X Capcom, but it was rough yes. 2/ Record of agarest war was a guilty pleasure, but it is bad, honestly it is. 3/ I played Neptunia mk2 first and I liked it, so I was honor-bound to play the original, not great, but, funny. 4/ Never played Last Rebellion, never will. 5/ Yeah, Time and Eternity is actually fine, but on my Ps3 it was.. lagged? sluggish? it was frustrating to lose hp or mis a dodge not on timing but on a massive fps drop, but the idea was really good as you say :D I have the Platinum for all those games, that much I liked them honestly.
@@TheGamingShelf Neptunia is a breeze, just the shares thingy is a mess. Cross Edge definitely with a step by step guide. Record of agarest war i kinda cheated with PP dlcs, becauee the endgane bosses are quite something. Time and eternity is quite a breeze, it reminded me of Thousand Arms in a wat and I enjoyed it.
Idea factory's Neptunia series is probably why they're still alive. They have a dedicated following. I have a love hate relationship with them because that one series is actually worth your time if you're into fan service.
Agarest Ware Zero is probably my favorite of the games. It wasn't anywhere near as long as the first, nor was there that sudden difficulty spike like the first one had as well. Cross Edge was just my guilty pleasure as I loved it crossing over with some of my favorite rpg series
does the description button shows what the cards say in agarest zero? i played last rebellion i dont know where that 11 hour completion came from, i finished the game in less then 6 hours plus 1 or 2 hours for endgame content, i didnt finded that game bad but it was way too short, its basically a game of mastermind as the battle system, each enemy once you figure out their patterns you can just save them so you dont have to do it again every single time, also the correct solutions get marker on the balls on the right, took me less then 2 fights if i even did more then 1 for each enemy to figure out their attack pattern same for bosses
In the walking sections of Time and Eternity, the placement of the character in the frame really bugs me. Like, something, something, rule of thirds, she needs a bit more clearance above her head.
Time and Eternity having the main girl be someone who can switch between being a sweet redhead and a tsundere blonde reminds me of Xenoblade Chronicles 2
The remakes aren't bad, but the first one was hot garbage. I got it when it came out and couldn't even finish it. Neptune gets this super attack about 10 hours in that just one shots everything. Even the remakes are kinda boring, but at least they fix the combat system.
I really liked Cross Edge. The biggest issue was trying to get the true ending so you could unlock all the characters. You had to get certain events in the correct order and if you messed anything up you wouldn't get it. I'll admit the story wasn't the best and some of the characters were kind of dumb but I really liked the combat system.
yeah, I liked that game a lot too. but holy crap do you need a guide. one thing that sticks out in my memory is how, to get Lilith and Demitri (and thus the true ending) you... need to backtrack from world 5-2 to world like 2-2 (and, while you don't go to the worlds in order, that's still like halfway in the game) to use area search in a very specific spot that didn't do anything if you did so beforehand with no indication that anything at all was different. and you had to do it within like three story events or you would lose the window. that's crazy, nobody will find that on their own. I love the game regardless.
@@someguy1ification I remember copying down about 2 or 3 pages from Gamefaqs (didn't have access to a printer). Think I got about half way, messed it up and thought eff it.
Eh, i played hyperdimension neptunia after playing mk2. Got to say, it has no place on this list. while i has it flaws it was still not a bad rpg xS That said, theres a reason why it's the only game in the series with these kind of controls and stuff XD
Record of Agarest War's gameplay system are actually very deep, because in the second section of the game, you need to choose which stats you want to raise and your heroine wisely. because your next MC is your child with that heroine, and your stats will be affected by the stats you've raised and heroine you chose for the the first MC. And their Appearance changed too, so if you choose the bird lady as your wife, you'll have a boy with wings as your MC.
Compile Heart/Idea Factory has 3 types games. 1. Absolute crap. 2. Surprisingly decent. 3. Bad game but it checks enough of your favorite tropes and fetishes that you give it a pass.
I'm gonna call malarky here - Time and Eternity to this day remains one of the most visually stunning and accurate anime games of all time. Not one indie, AA, or AAA studio has been able to do a straight 1:1 game that is literally playing through an anime from start to finish. This aesthetic is RARE and deserves respect. ... Gameplay is an acquired taste though.
Yeah, I definitely think that critics were way too harsh on the game. A lot of complaints I see about the visuals are things that can happen even in fantastic games, but with those games they didn't complain. Gameplay is a bit weird but once you get used to it, it's easy to remember (or at least it was for me). Also the soundtrack is amazing, my copy of the game actually came with a separate CD for the soundtrack and it's awesome. Time and Eternity definitely deserved better
Neptunia's gameplay might have been ass, but the characters and humor more than made up for it. I get a huge nostalgia boner whenever i see anything related to the OG Neptunia.
I enjoyed the little time I had with Hyperdimension Neptunia on the Vita, but that was a remake and that original PS3 version looks SO FUCKING ROUGH. Sadly the dungeon design doesn't get better, and will eventually bore you and make you just want to move on.
I thought that was quite funny, and I do like it when games give the player more choices even if it may not have long lasting effect to the story. Just a small acknowledgement can be enough. Although, it would have been quite funny if the scene had gone completely differently: The girl says she doesn't care about you anymore and leaves the building screaming in frustration, and the game ends there.
Greetings. I can't defend CrossEdge😅 because I watched it and didn't love the battle system. But if everything were metacritic we wouldn't have the variety of games that emerge. Everything would be COD, FC, etc. just for being famous. The same thing happens in jrpgs, of my friends I'm the only one who likes Disgaea. I try any type of game that catches my attention, after 1 hour you know if it can be more interesting. I lent PS2 SMT Nocturne to my friend and he got angry because he lost several times in the first level, it usually happens, I told him with a hidden smile 😏
Last Rebellion one kusoge of the year and created the Japanese meme "Just level up and smack them with a physical (attack)," as pretty much that's all you needed to do to beat enemies in the game.
Apparently i like bad Games Neptunia and Agarest Series count towards my favourite Series Sure, theyre not the best Games out there, but yeah... Ok, Agarest Zero wasnt nearly as great as Agarest War 1 and 2, but still, not bad per se in my eyes. Neptunia Series i guess is mostly Fanservice, the fact that they wont ever take themselves seriously and an actually funny and same time more or less serious Story - But i get why the first Game is not that good - The System for Menu and Battle was aweful... wich they optimized as the Games came out
Whoa I completely forgot about time and eternity! What a cool and unique game. I agree gameplay is a bit shallow but I miss these types of new risky/inmovative type games. You can find some indies but I feel like most big studios don't want to take much risks.
The nep games are good budget games, yes avoid the PS3 games get the remakes and the spinoffs. We love that series because of the characters and thier interactions not because of the gameplay or grapichs. And idc I'm gonna play time and eternity, the idea and visual is just too good. And if the story is at least funny I'm fine with it. I don't mind simple combat.
Mad respect for actually saying something positive about Time & Eternity! I consider it both a terrible game and an absolute must play for its ambition! I remember when it came out in Japan they were saying weird stuff like "there are no sprites or polygons in this screenshot", which was a lie but as a connoisseur of Laserdisc games I get what they mean. A lot of this is FMV clips strung together, they were trying to use modern technology to do a more advanced FMV game! BUT that kind of thing costs WAAAY too much money to pull off and they had to cut corners real hard to make it work, which is why no one else has really attempted this (thanks for the tip off about that one game though). I'd say the closest is Don Quixote on LaserActive and maybe Tengai Maikyo IV on SEGA Saturn. That said, I think you stopped just before the game got REAL bad. See, I like the combat because I totally get what they were doing: It's Punch Out!! It plays REALLY similar to Punch Out!!...but fighting an endless stream of Glass Joes only works for so long and when Bald Bull becomes the normal enemy, it gets frustrating. But where it falls apart is when you go back in time again and can no longer go back? There's a sudden MASSIVE difficulty spike and the amount of EXP you get versus the length and challenge of the fights just does not pan out! You have to fight too many Bald Bulls to level up! This drives me NUTS because EVERY professional reviewer claimed the combat was too easy and all you had to do was mash buttons and my progress is COMPLETELY blocked by obscene fight difficulty and length versus EXP earned! I do, sadly, own all of these games but my Last Rebellion is still in its shrinkwrap...maybe I'll keep it there.
I don't trust auto saves I've had them courrpt beforeor save someplace a bug happened and stuck in that bug, so I always save in a few slots to make sure of things. I've been playing rpgs for over 30 years
I like Cross Edge and Neptunia. Both games are strangely addictive once you get to a certain point. - Though Cross Edge takes some work to get to that point. Right off the bat, it expects mastery from the player in building and comboing with your team. And, that is not an easy thing to pick up, much less pick up so early in the game.
Cross Edge is hilarious to me because you get your short tutorial section of the game and then it immediately throws you into the deep end. Turn based games at the time were generally fairly easy so having one where the enemies can actually hand your ass to you on a silver platter was pretty fun.
I have played every game on this list and I enjoyed them all. I think in context of the time they were released, they were not that bad. I remember Last Rebellion as the game I got my first ever Platinum Trophy (because it was very easy). Time and Eternity was an interesting idea but I remember it being really unbalanced in the combat and I was sad there wasn't a more polished 2nd game. I actually think there were games that were much worse than these from this time. I would say the worst games I played from this time are Mugen Souls, Trinity Universe and the original White Knights Chronicle.
Same here. I take these kinds of videos with a grain of salt. I could give a care about other peoples ratings and opinions. I mean they are playing them today and you really needed to play them when they released. I am not sure why people say the PS3 sucked and was devoid for JRPGs. I sure liked most of them at the time. Yeah we have amazing stuff in the PS4 and PS5 generation but the PS3 wasn't that bad.
Funny you mention that because Mugen Souls was primarily by Idea Factory, and Trinity Universe was a collab between iF, Gust and NIS. White Knights Chronicle was by Level-5, however.
I loved the White Knight Chronicles games and they are head and shoulders above the Neptunia games and last rebellion for me, spent a lot of time playing the online mode too. I thought Cross Edge, Time and Eternity and the Agarest games were great though.
I still have my copy of Time and Eternity and haven't touched it in years since I got bored with it. HDN also surprisingly grew from being a bad game, if I hadn't received Mk2 first I probably wouldve shunned it forever
I was about to fight you over Hyperdimension Neptunia until i remembered that i too disliked the original ps3 release and it was hyperdimension neptunia rebirth on Vita that i loved/was legitimately great.
I actually own every one of these games, because I can't pass up trying an RPG, but I honestly don't think I paid more than $10 for any of them, and haven't beaten any of them.
dont get me wrong compile heart and idea factory make some bad games, and some shitty decisions, but you make it sound like all they've made are bad games which isnt true, most of the neptunia games are good, the death end re:quest games are good, first one is better than the sequel though, and fairy fencer is a good game,
I think I rented time and eternity for a weekend, I don't remember how I felt about it, but It was at least fun enough to know it was a game I played seeing that style again
The combat systems for Record of Agarest War Zero and Crossedge are very deep. You won't have access to the best spells/attacks/combos until you get deep into the games, have party members with synergy and gear with the slots to place the spells/attacks into. The character creator in RoAW:Zero determines everything from the weapon type, stats, movement range, ability points and the elements determine the skill slots he starts with. Crossedge has by far the hardest and most in-depth path to reach the "True End". There are so many factors ranging from viewing events in a limited time, winning battle in a certin amount of turns and not damaging certain enemies. I liked the game, but the scanning for events was annoying, even when you max out the range of the scanner. RoAW and RoAw:Zero were my favorite PS3 JRPGs. They are hard to get into though, they have a very high skill requirement. They get better/easier the more you play and the more playthroughs completed, when you can carry over resources, spells, abilities and gear.
From this list I have played Neptunia out of pure curiosity since I played Victory, the 3rd one of the original trilogy before the retconning. Hyperdimension Neptunia 1 is an odd ball for me because the story is great for how far I played but the gameplay is really rough especially the dungeon crawling aspect of it since the encounters are not random chance but distance based... I am a fool to try and 100% dungeons because of how uninspired most of the areas look and feel, if the task isn't to defeat a certain number of enemies, you bet your ass I would abuse Compa's skill to disable the distance encounters. funny, recently I wanted to continue this game and came across this knowing HDN 1 would be mentioned
I dont know if its because the subgenre just doesn't have enough games or idea factory got their shit together But idea factory did a great fucking job with mary skelter
Ik a lot of people hate on idea factory however they do have some good games. One of those being that of mary skelter2 which ironically I do have fun playing.
From what I can recall the PS3 was when most Japanese devs had to step into the HD era and most were NOT making the jump with grace. Not even the big budget dev-houses had it easy due to the increased demands in quality, the sheer amount of work you had to put into making a game look as good as it "should" look was a massive shift i how much work and money went into making the games- and how much money you had to make BACK in order to make it worth it. I also think I read that most game dev houses went for the Unreal Engine to save themselves time and money, but the then current version had very poor documentation in Japanese so it was extra tough for them to adapt to new development demands. A-ny-way: I heard of all these games but not played any of them, but I was interested in finding out you liked Time and Eternity so much what with that games reputation. Reading up on it's reception I wonder if it might come from the fact it had more hype than any other game on this list, so I think a lot more people played it... aaaand a lot more people subsequently means "a lot fewer people who are also JRPG fans and thus likely to be forgiving of the genres quirks if it gets them something they want." In short- I think JRPG-fans at the time built up an unfair mental image of what it tried to do and let that disappointment color their views, but I think a larger portion of people who were just curious gamers saw it, went "huh cool cartoon"; and were then subjected to a JRPG that from what I have heard is... like, let's be real here- as JRPG fans we have a certain _tolerance_ built up towards the genres peculiarities, both in terms of gameplay and storytelling. To an audience that thought this might be a more action-filled game than it was AND who might have expected a different sort of storytelling and characters, being surprised with what the game REALLY was might have been a shock that made them bust out the banhammer. For instance, and this is just anecodtal since I haven't played it- I have heard that the male lead in this game is just AWFUL. Just an abysmal piece of shit with zero redeeming qualities. That the further in you play, the more you wish to see him in pain, or at least removed from the game enitrely. I have no way of knowing whether this is true or not, but it seemed to be such a common thread with most reviews I read at the time- they just HATED the dude, some even admitting that they thought the game was mediocre, but pulled into outright bad territory because they could just not STAND the male lead. Perhaps if I had played it I'd be able to say one way or another, but I can see where people who want to paint a rosier picture of it are coming from. In comparison to every other game on this list you are right that it not just looks better, it also looks DIFFERENT. Whereas every other game here is obviously a mini-budget production where they give you the very minimum "battlefields -> dialoge scenes -> static screens portraying different environemnts AND ALL OVER AGAIN", this at least builds a world to explore that is presented to you in a different way than just status screens and visual novel-style. There is ambition here, and in hindsight many are willing to forgive a lot for the sake of ambition. As for whether the game ACTUALLY deserves such concern... well. I'd have to actually play it to find out, wouldn't I?
i highly disagree about cross edge and record of agarest 1-3 since i enjoyed all of those alot but i do acknowledge that each person has their own tastes and you like and dont like what you want so i respect it but still disagree lol
One thing Neptunia has going for it is that despite the wiki page wrongly listing 2011's Oriemo as the first to use Live 2D, Neptunia actually did it first in 2010. The story and world is cool, but the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired, though there's a story behind it. The dev team bought out a game that killed its company and rebranded it with girls representing consoles and the games industry. The lack of a budget made sense in the first game, but they got real lazy with it in later games.
🎮Order YOUR copy of Persona 5 Tactica TODAY: i.try.games/persona-5-tactica/20wjoz
Bad idea 💡 😕 factory 🏭 🤣
@@chriscangelosi9438😉
No, I bought Last Rebellion instead
I did get Persona 5 Tatica and I love it, persona can do a lot of genres well despite being JRPG games
Sorry, I don't give my money to homophobes/transphobes/misogynists etc
“No one should be dying to the first random enemy in an RPG”
*Laughs in SMT Nocturne*
"Oh, youre softlocked on the first enemy?
Too bad, welcome to your cbt session"
I started playing the remaster on normal and finished the tutorial without dying once. Is the PS2 version really that hard?
@@xelldincht4251 ALL SMT games are hard, especially when you get 1/3 in, and enemies start resisting / Voiding / and REFLECTING normal physical attacks....which is what you do the most of. You are required to have multiple types of skills and such...or you'll end up in a position where you can't defeat a boss...or a random enemy.
@@johnhanzelyjr
Ok, my mistake. I should have asked if the remake had the same difficulty as the PS2 version or if the PS2 version was harder.
@@xelldincht4251 The remake has the "Mercy" difficulty included...which lowers the difficulty (but not enemy resistances). You get more XP and Macca....but the trade-off is a greatly reduced encounter rate. I had Riberoma (increase encounter rate until the next new phase)...for two whole cycles...without an encounter. That's how much lower the base encounter rate is in Mercy Difficulty. The Base difficulty is the same as the PS2 version...although there are some QoL stuff...like being able to pick what skills fused demons can have (instead of pure RNG).
Honestly...in any SMT game, you CAN get screwed in the first fight. You max HP is only 30-50...and enemies can deal 12-16 damage at that point. How you can get screwed...is if enemies land crits, which increases the number of turn they have...or you miss, which takes away turns. The major issue is...if the Protag dies, it's game over...and in later areas, enemies do have insta-kill skills (which your protag does NOT have base resistance for.) That's why the SMT games are so difficult.
The Pyra/Mythra argument is invalid. The original blond/redhead duo inhabiting the same body with either kindness and chaos as their character traits belongs to Elena and Millenia from Grandia II.
The difference I suppose is the kind one is blond and the chaotic one is the redhead.
Time and Eternity shouldnt be included on these kinds of lists, I agree. It's not awesome, but it's really unique, especially visually. I'd love to see another try at the style!
I recently bought a copy. Really like the art style and the music is amazing.
It has the lowest metacritic score of any of the games, I had to include it 😆
have u finished it? I mean I still have to find anyone who dared finishing it.. it is visually interesting sure but in terms of gameplay is the worst of the bunch hands down... anyway this list I suppose is based on metacritic's results...it's the usual titles everybody says are terrible. Are they really the worse? I don't know... Awaken fate and the other one in the series I can't remember the title are in my op much worse than Neptunia, Cross Edge or Agarest that are all quite ok in reality.
@@n3r0n3 beat it once. Kill me I guess?
I didn't do other than that though.
@@n3r0n3 I finished it and plan on replaying it soon. :) Love the game!
I love the neptunia games and I’m not afraid to admit it. HOWEVER I love the remakes they did for the original trilogy the original ps3 versions major suck.
only the first game really. mk2 and especially victory play just like the rebirth games.
Who thought it was a good idea to have consumables be used at random?
@@foufoufun?
@@grthjryrd7552 You cannot simply use a health item during battle. There is a 50% to use one that heals for 50% HP when under 50% of your max health. You can upgrade it as you progress in the game but you often end up wiping because there is nothing you can do about the dumb RNG.
Soo, if you want to play the first game, get the Rebirth 1 and stay away from the original. It is a very painful game.
@@foufoufun I've played the rebirth games years ago
I have a soft spot for Compile Heart jank because they always put out games that in one way or another really swing for the fences, and I can appreciate a cool idea even when they didn't quite have the ability to execute it. That being said, there's no reason to go back to the first Neptunia now that it's seen two remakes. They're still junk food but it's much more competently presented than the PS3 original.
Is the PS5 ReVerse worth my time if I haven't played the first one yet?
If you think you'd like the art style and general tone of the humor then yeah. The gameplay is serviceable but nothing to write home about, at worst a bit grindy at times@@mountainmgtow5421
@@mountainmgtow5421 100%, tho there are characters who are exclusive on rebirth
@@dreamydreams2694 Don't say Chika Hakozaki. I fucken love her.
I'm hoping that Compile Heart's quality begins to increase, because it seems the company has undergone a bit of a re-structure internally, like having a new Director/Producer. I thought Neptunia Sisters Vs Sisters was one of the best Nep games in a long time, so I got some faith.
Funny enough I'm actually playing the remake for Neptunia right now. Rebirth is a huge improvment over the original.
It's a fun game to play through, the fanservice gets a bit obnoxius after awhile but the series itself has a certain charm to it.
@@sonny167349 I love fanservice so it's not an issue
I played it on vita and I also have the remake but the color contrast is kinda annoying there... in my op Neptunia VII stays the best in the series. That game is just brilliant in its refusal to make sense I truly love it... beats disgaea by a landslide... which is no easy task let's be honest as Disgaea is also over the top dada ;)
@@sonny167349 it's satire tho.. I mean the fan service is unnecessary and that is precisely why it makes u laugh... it is not a game that takes sex seriously but laughs at the tropes. This said I never had problems with fan service in my life honestly, once you make clear the game is not for kids...
@@n3r0n3 I'm using steam version with some graphics mods to improve the quality, I would like if the game had bit less dialogue overall and put like 2-3 cutscenes over some scenes. Anyway I think the remake is actually fun, also disgaea up to 5th release is in my opinion really great last two realeses were fun as well, but the 3d graphics don't give the same feeling.
Damn, they should really try something like Time and Eternity again. Maybe someone will try this style in the future if were lucky.
Check out Star ocean 2 R, if i got u right.
i would love a tales of with this style
@@mikhailnikolaev9927 not the pixelated one
Yeah, I really wanted to like this game because of the art style (2D character in 3D third person) but as stated in the video, the combat got repetitive very fast.
Shame it has one of the worst scripts I've ever seen in a video game.
The "Better Business Bureau" line haunts my nightmares.
Compile Hearts games tend to recycle their battlesystems a lot, but Agarest Zero is a game I'm very fond of, it has the best version of this particular battlesystem imo, story was very average but there was a charm to the characters.
Going for overkills on every boss can be a fun challenge to do. I wouldn't say it's super hard for newcomers, but if the player doesn't wanna take a little time to learn, then they will also have a hard time.
Yeah the combat is solid! To bad the rest of the game isn’t lol.
Agarest has unique battle system. It is quite interesting even though im not rly gd at it
I actually like most of the these game that he mentioned,there actually more worst jrpg game out there
@@donisehatsitanggang4389 any example you can give for the one you think is worst?
@@sannice Try a game like Eternal Saga.... I've played most, if not all, RPG's on the PS2/PS3 and of all of them I think the ones listed here weren't half bad over a RPG where you can literally encounter 100's of enemies in the same random encounter (making those encounters take HOURS) only to go level DOWN, break your gear PERMANENTLY and all of it because the leveling system is heavily tied to RNG with battle and field mechanics that are never explained, not even in the manual... how's that for a bad RPG ?
I really had fun with Time and Eternity. Yes, it is not perfect, but on a sale it is a fun experience. About the switching mechanic- its main point it for the affinity system. You see, as bosses gives way more affinity, the point is to do bosses with the girl who you want to marry. I wanted to marry Toki, so I did bosses exclusively with her.
Oh interesting! I didn’t think of that.
I actually really liked Time and Eternity and I remember back when it released everyone I knew asking why I was playing it because they heard it was bad. I feel like I was one of the few people who played on launch after not buying into hype and went in with zero expectation because I liked the artstyle and it worked out for me. I very rarely get hyped for games though so that most likely played into it.
@@FalcusDead
Same. A lot of people didn't like it but once you look past the flaws, it's honestly a pretty okay game.
I have fond memories of time and eternity actually finished it and enjoyed my time with it.
I think saying that Compile Heart and Idea Factory make nothing but bad games is kind of a diminishing way of looking at them. They obviously work on a low budget and a lot of their games feel kinda middling, but they don't make "nothing but bad games"; hell sometimes I feel like they're the only dev willing to try anything different, because on such a low budget what do you have to lose? Death end re:Quest is a legit hidden gem as far as I'm concerned, no doubt due to the writing of Makoto Kedouin who wrote the *good* Corpse Party entries, and Mary Skelter is full of interesting mechanics and ideas, and makes for a fun little dungeon crawler. You really don't get too many weird experimental titles like that anymore, which just makes me appreciate them all the more when they do make something genuinely interesting.
I like the concept of the Agarest War with the whole "The story goes through generations from your main character" Cross Edge is my favorite, sure the whole battle system could use some work and I completely agree that the scanning to progress the story is horrendous, but the actual interactions with the cutscenes were hilarious and kept me playing, including the post game interactions with the former boss characters now that they don't have to play as bosses.
Also the intermission being gags like in the disgaea games was a plus for me.
yeah, Cross Edge is not user friendly at all and that learning curve is steep. the combo system isn't explained well (though it works great once you figure out its quirks), the area scanning is painful (you have to go back to WHERE to recruit Lilith?!), and especially item crafting needs a guide to use... but I loved it anyway. It all sort of comes together and works when you get into it.
and yes, the story actually comes together too. they made a good version of what is usually the worst way to end a story in the world. "It was all a dream..." is terrible. "You are trapped in a dream and have to break out" is great.
Low budget JRPG's tend to have a charm you don't get from the big budget blockbusters. I think that's a big part of why there are so many of them and a lot of people seem to have a fondness for them. Personally I grab one on a sale or something every few years or so just to try something different and I find I usually enjoy them since I go in without any lofty expectations.
There's a difference between great low-budget jrpgs like Soma Union or Blackout hospital and soulless slop from compile heart or kemco though. Latter is not charming in the slightest.
@@-bold5999 Right. There has to be some passion behind it because that passion usually shines through whatever jankiness or lack of polish there is. I can spot a Kemco game just by looking at the title logo at this point. Mass produced garbage.
@@Greeny83 nah, mass produced garbade is mobile and browser shit
That is literally 0-2/10
Compile Heart games, at least have memorable characters, so they're way better
Mans did not play Namco X capcom to be calling the first game a "spiritual prequel"
“nobody should have to die against the first enemy in a rpg”
One more God rejected
Nah, love me some Neptunia lol
You do you 🙂
>No one should be dying to the 1st random encounter in a game
SMT Nocturne on hard difficulty would like a word with you on that.
20:04 And the whole Blade and Driver thing from XC2 is also suspiciously similar to the Furies and Fencers from Fairy Fencer F. Turns out Monolith Soft has been ripping off the creative geniuses at Compile Heart and Imageepoch all along.
i liked time and eternity
Same! It was way better than I remember.
I think Time & Eternity could do with a remake that keeps the artstyle but overhauls the battle system, mazes and story elements. Not a remaster, but a full-fledged remake.
I had some fun with Time and Eternity, despite it's many many many many flaws and...oddities.
Neptunia too, though I only got into it with the PS Vita versions, it seems compa has gotten better with their newer games like Death End Request and Fairy Fencer, but I've yet to check those out.
From what I hear, the PS3 version is broken and the Vita version is a full-on remake that fixes a lot of the problems and is considered the definitive version.
I've played all of them, unfortunately, and the only one I managed to finish was Neptunia. However, I'm a huge Noire simp, so that got me through the game.
As for how IF and CH are still alive, some of the Neptunia games are actually good. The remakes of Neptunia 1-3 are playable junk food rpgs, and the some of the action games like 4 Goddesses online and the Senran Kagura crossover were quite fun.
Neptunia is just really popular in general.
Not junk food, just junk
There's a reason they straight up remade "Hyperdimension Neptunia" with an entirely different game engine and combat system for the PS Vita called "Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth", and then based its sequels and the PC versions on that, which is probably the version most people today know. The original PS3 version is a relic that nobody knows and really isn't worth the time compared to its far better remake.
Also yes, "Time and Eternity" is SO underrated. I loved that game when I played it back in the day.
Should be mentioned to the actual first game's credit that they might as well not have had a budget at all with how little they were actually given. Props to the devs for making due with what they had and managing to pull off getting a sequel okayed that turned into a full-blown mascot franchise.
I really don't know why reviewers were so hard on Time & Eternity. Like, they absolutely dog-piled on it to destroy it! I never understood that.
It wasn't a new engine. It was one they recycled from the 3rd Neptunia game. Honestly, the 3rd Neptunia game is the best in the franchise. Just the fact that they are still using the same system to this day since that game came out shows how good that game was for the franchise.
They remade them simply to relicence them to Idea Factory International. If they didn't fall out with NIS and NIS America, they wouldn't exist and they would have just moved straight on with the next game.
@@Shadowespeon17 Not entirely true, though that was part of it. The franchise was the one Idea Factory IP that actually took off somewhat, and then further with the second game and even much more with the third. They had something that put their name on the map but with their falling out with NIS, coupled with how terribad the first game was, they had plenty of incentive to remake them and do them right this time.
But some of them awesome...
You're nuts. I mean you're entitled to that opinion but I heavily disagree with this list.
Time and Eternity is an incredible game. It's a super unique style you just don't see anymore. I recommend anyone who has the chance to try it to do so.
I didn’t make the list, I just played the 5 lowest rated ps3 JRPGs.
14:17
"when you die on the first random ecounter in the game thats a bad design"
SMT3 enter the chat
Good old neptunia. It's a guilty pleasure thing. The games are low effort in so many ways, and they always have a battle system that COULD be good, but is balanced to be quite mindless . It's this weird series where I never seem to want to play it because they aren't good. But whenever I tie myself to a chair and actually do play it, I'm like 'I'm actually kinda enjoying myself'. it's just dumb fun lol.
Not gonna lie, I kind of wanna play some of these games, including Neptunia and Time & Eternity. Loved the video, Taylor.
Thanks! Play at your own risk 😉
Only play Neptunia at Rebirth or Reverse levels the remakes all use Victory's engine and Battle system and replace the recycled art from other CH rpg games and update the score so the music is less recycled.
Time and eternity is one of those games that's good but at the same time I'm glad it exists because if nothing else it could act as the groundwork for a much better game in the future.
It's like that game Scott Cawthon made that was so bad it inspired him to make FNAF.
some are not bad , i disgree with u
"and that is all the game offers: cutscene > battle > upgrade"
So, like ANY jrpg?.
... exploration and dialogue is also usually a thing, yeah?
I bought Tactica for cheap and realized it´s basically a sequel to Persona 5, so I´m now 50 hours into that just so I can finish and play Tactica
funny how things work
I honestly don't think Time and Eternity ever deserved a low score. There are definitely issues, but most of the reviews I see online complain about things that even good games have (mostly palette swapping and reusing sprites). I don't know why they got so butthurt about it for Time and Eternity but with other JRPGs they didn't care. I love the game and it has a lot of charm. Most of the critical reviews are just completely unfair on it compared to other JRPGs
"When you die in the first encounter thats bad design" Ummmmm excuse me ill have you know SMT nocturne has done nothing wrong and is perfect
Damn, I feel nostalgic with Neptunia. Sure it wasn't great but I really enjoyed its quirkiness and the satire. Definitely felt more lighthearted than the sequel and its Conquest ending!
Last Rebellion honestly had an interesting combat system that...kinda screws up on making it too random. On the other hand, if you do it right you can practically overlevel and beat the game in no time - which is already short anyway. Also I hated how I was forced to constantly seal the enemies after they died...also the plot kinda sucked so meh.
And Time and Eternity...urgh, great concept, really bad execution, and EXTREMELY cringy dialogue that often ruin the moment. Combat is also easy to break with magic but I remember really getting bored and just not liking how it felt. That's too bad because I even tried to go for the true ending (which requires a second playthrough), and it was so underwhelming...yeah that's the best word I can describe this game: underwhelming.
At least Neptunia got a LOT better as the games went on. Mk2 is a huge step up from the first game, Victory refines what Mk2 did and that battle system was in my opinion perfected in V2.
Now if only we could get another mainline game instead of remakes and spinoffs :/
the universe demands more Plutia.
@@JeffreyPiattMore NepGear!
@@mountainmgtow5421 at least Xbox is getting some hot Sister on Sister action as decreed by it's CPU Vert.
Funnily enough Compile Heart recently said they're working on a 5th Mainline Neptunia currently
I think VIIR's version of the battle system is better
i have thought about a game looking like time and eternity, and i can't believe nobody has tried this style again. it doesn't look perfect, but with a bigger budget and graphics of today it would look awesome.
Time and Eternity is probably the tackiest game I've ever played. Nearly every creative choice makes the game viscerally unappealing to experience. And yet it's a functional video game, and not a completely broken mess. It's like dating a girl covered in the worst tattoos and piercings you've ever seen, but she has a steady job at the Better Business Bureau.
So i have a huge problem with this list. One alot of the score are different between critics and users. Where the user is mostly higher that the critics.Another is that the size of how many people ranked it. Where i appreciate your video and your point of view. I feel that some of these games look interesting and that games are mostly subjective. I have notice is the couple of reviews that you have done that i have watched. When you describe something as boring you hardly say why. What makes the parts in the game boring. Just so you know i just found your channel today but i appreciate the quality of your videos.
User scores are unreliable IMO. They’ll give a solid game all 0s for no reason.
Thanks for the feedback on the boring bits though! I’ll strive to do a better job explaining my thoughts.
True about the user scores. You got a new subscriber. That is why I watch channels like yours to see game play and your point of view on games. Thank you for the work you put in to the videos . I will definitely send my friends to your channel.
@@TheGamingShelf also it is... kinda wrong that 5 is considered bad and not mediocre
Yeah, that is the most correct word to say about these games
They're not bad, they simply don't have much that makes them stand out
to be fair, "original" hyperdimension neptunia is like failed attempt of a good concept.
even the fans hated this one
but rebirth fixed that. rebirth is basically a remake. based on the 3rd installment style.
Just pretend the original never existed and you are fine
These games look interesting, I'm going to play them
Don’t say I didn’t warn you 😆
I can't help but notice the game he promoted, Persona 5 Tactica, has a lot of the same issues he calls out in these games lmao, at least one from each entry.
Cross Edge for doing the generic anime portraits for dialogue scenes. Check.
Record of Agarest for having skip dialogue which fast forwards through the scene instead of just skipping it. P5 Tactica does that, yep.
Neptunia for having a solid battle system and nothing else, and being little more than cutscenes and battles. Pretty much, though you could argue that is expected for tactics games.
Last Rebelllion for having battles where every single fight you use the same mechanic to win. This is P5 Tactica's biggest offence, it is the one more / all in loop ad nauseum for each battle.
Time and Eternity for having dialogue choices where your choice has no impact at all. Quite clear, if you look for it you will notice how they write the choices and responses in Tactica so that it does not matter which you choose.
Time and Eternity for the game being way too easy. I beat every map in Tactica with 3 stars on the highest difficulty, only had to restart two maps. The fights have turn limits to get 3 stars, and I never even came close to missing it. BY the end, with no grinding at all, I had 300+ health with enemies doing 20-40 damage.
Yikes
I bought my ps3 for Cross Edge and I didn't regret it. I remember nothing of the story but the battle system was really fun and it's nice to see a crossover with all those niche characters.
Yeah I had a lot of fun with it too though I was a teenager at the time nowadays I'd say that overall the game is kinda mediocre like it's metacritic rating shows but I think it's battle system is really fun if you get how it works. The only thing I think is exceedingly bad about it is it's utterly inane requirements to get the true ending like the game just expects you to know to leave certain enemy characters alive in certain battles and defeat certain bosses when they normally would retreat with absolutely no hints in the story that doing so would actually do anything or to even attempt to do so in the first place.
I'm actually happy I stumbled on this video. I recently unpacked and found my copy of Project Xzone 2, and vaguely remembered a divisive console game that was similar but I couldn't recall what. Like the only thing that came to mind was Namco x Capcom. Cross Edge completely slipped my memory.
wow all 5 of those games are some of the ones i enjoyed the most in that era, so much nostalgia. neptunia and crossxedge were games i replayed more than a few times.
This guy is crazy man, Last Rebellion is the only bad game
@@matheusmarx5994 Neptunia is bad, and you should feel ashamed.
@@JayceCH. Neptunia is fun and a creative game, and I feel whatever I want, shame on you!
@@JayceCH. You should feel ashamed for shaming people for what they like. Neptunia is nowhere near as bad as games like The Last Of Us 2.
@@MyShiroyuki Agreed Bro
Ngl I always enjoyed the Agarest Trilogy, though zero - the prequel- is the worst of the three. I’d have put Trinity:Souls of Zilol(?) on here. What a shite action rpg. I can’t even.
That game was horrible. But my biggest PS3 disappointment was White Knight Chronicles.
I don't really agree with this list. I really love both Cross Edge and the entire Neptunia franchise. I'm surprised Resonance of Fate isn't in the Top 5, that was easily the worst JRPG I've ever played on PS3 and I've played many.
I built the list based off the lowest 5 JRPG metacritic scores. I think RoF was like high 60s?
Shining Force was supposedly going to get a reboot with a genshin style game (Gacha+Multiplat) that had combat animations that looked a lot like T&E with their cartoony cell shading. Then the studio fell apart, I think.
Bummer, that sounds cool!
good, I'd rather have nothing than a fucking gacha
@@Stavekoff I suppose I begrudgingly agree. I tried Marvel Puzzle quest for a couple of months at the beginning of the pandemic and while I did like the game, I grew increasingly annoyed with how the game wanted me to play it at certain times on THEIR schedule rather when I wanted to play. That said if you get the chance to check out the 3 minute or so long trailer they did for the Shining Force gacha game, the animation WAS very good.
I've never played a compile heart game that I've enjoyed. Honestly not sure how they are still in business.
Same!
Great job on the video. I know most of those games are not great but it did feel like you spent so little time on each. Just would have been nice to try and at least understand the nuances of the games mechanics to try and explain to us why it's bad and not just being like I'm dying alot and I don't know why.
Still appreciate seeing stuff about obscure games like this.
Fair feedback! For the next episode in this series I’ll make an effort to better explain my thoughts.
I actually enjoyed Last Rebellion and didnt die as much as you did. It seems you die a lot in these games and lose interest. I didn't really find the art that bad.
What was I missing with the combat? It felt like if I didn't get the pattern down it was basically hard mode.
1/ Loved Cross Edge since I played after Namco X Capcom, but it was rough yes.
2/ Record of agarest war was a guilty pleasure, but it is bad, honestly it is.
3/ I played Neptunia mk2 first and I liked it, so I was honor-bound to play the original, not great, but, funny.
4/ Never played Last Rebellion, never will.
5/ Yeah, Time and Eternity is actually fine, but on my Ps3 it was.. lagged? sluggish? it was frustrating to lose hp or mis a dodge not on timing but on a massive fps drop, but the idea was really good as you say :D
I have the Platinum for all those games, that much I liked them honestly.
Wow a platinum for all of them? That’s dedication!
@@TheGamingShelf Neptunia is a breeze, just the shares thingy is a mess.
Cross Edge definitely with a step by step guide.
Record of agarest war i kinda cheated with PP dlcs, becauee the endgane bosses are quite something.
Time and eternity is quite a breeze, it reminded me of Thousand Arms in a wat and I enjoyed it.
Idea factory's Neptunia series is probably why they're still alive. They have a dedicated following. I have a love hate relationship with them because that one series is actually worth your time if you're into fan service.
Agarest Ware Zero is probably my favorite of the games. It wasn't anywhere near as long as the first, nor was there that sudden difficulty spike like the first one had as well. Cross Edge was just my guilty pleasure as I loved it crossing over with some of my favorite rpg series
I had fun with a lot of these games.
I think you just don't like Idea Factory games
You’re right, I don’t lol.
does the description button shows what the cards say in agarest zero?
i played last rebellion i dont know where that 11 hour completion came from, i finished the game in less then 6 hours plus 1 or 2 hours for endgame content, i didnt finded that game bad but it was way too short, its basically a game of mastermind as the battle system, each enemy once you figure out their patterns you can just save them so you dont have to do it again every single time, also the correct solutions get marker on the balls on the right, took me less then 2 fights if i even did more then 1 for each enemy to figure out their attack pattern same for bosses
In the walking sections of Time and Eternity, the placement of the character in the frame really bugs me. Like, something, something, rule of thirds, she needs a bit more clearance above her head.
Time and Eternity having the main girl be someone who can switch between being a sweet redhead and a tsundere blonde reminds me of Xenoblade Chronicles 2
I literally said the exact same thing if you watched the whole video 😆
@@TheGamingShelf Oh I must’ve missed that, haha
"No one should be dying on the first random encounter in an rpg"
SMT Nocturne in the corner, hoping no one sees it
Would love to see the worst Vita JRPGs!
I’ll get there eventually 😉
How will you know if it's really bad if you don't finish it?
Hyperdimension neptunia isn't bad
The first one was horrendous
the first one is bad
You played that trash Horizon game. Why should I trust you.
The remakes aren't bad, but the first one was hot garbage. I got it when it came out and couldn't even finish it. Neptune gets this super attack about 10 hours in that just one shots everything.
Even the remakes are kinda boring, but at least they fix the combat system.
I really liked Cross Edge. The biggest issue was trying to get the true ending so you could unlock all the characters. You had to get certain events in the correct order and if you messed anything up you wouldn't get it. I'll admit the story wasn't the best and some of the characters were kind of dumb but I really liked the combat system.
yeah, I liked that game a lot too. but holy crap do you need a guide. one thing that sticks out in my memory is how, to get Lilith and Demitri (and thus the true ending) you... need to backtrack from world 5-2 to world like 2-2 (and, while you don't go to the worlds in order, that's still like halfway in the game) to use area search in a very specific spot that didn't do anything if you did so beforehand with no indication that anything at all was different. and you had to do it within like three story events or you would lose the window. that's crazy, nobody will find that on their own.
I love the game regardless.
@@someguy1ification I remember copying down about 2 or 3 pages from Gamefaqs (didn't have access to a printer). Think I got about half way, messed it up and thought eff it.
Eh, i played hyperdimension neptunia after playing mk2. Got to say, it has no place on this list. while i has it flaws it was still not a bad rpg xS That said, theres a reason why it's the only game in the series with these kind of controls and stuff XD
Record of Agarest War's gameplay system are actually very deep, because in the second section of the game, you need to choose which stats you want to raise and your heroine wisely. because your next MC is your child with that heroine, and your stats will be affected by the stats you've raised and heroine you chose for the the first MC. And their Appearance changed too, so if you choose the bird lady as your wife, you'll have a boy with wings as your MC.
Compile Heart/Idea Factory has 3 types games.
1. Absolute crap.
2. Surprisingly decent.
3. Bad game but it checks enough of your favorite tropes and fetishes that you give it a pass.
I'm gonna call malarky here - Time and Eternity to this day remains one of the most visually stunning and accurate anime games of all time. Not one indie, AA, or AAA studio has been able to do a straight 1:1 game that is literally playing through an anime from start to finish. This aesthetic is RARE and deserves respect. ... Gameplay is an acquired taste though.
Yeah, I definitely think that critics were way too harsh on the game. A lot of complaints I see about the visuals are things that can happen even in fantastic games, but with those games they didn't complain. Gameplay is a bit weird but once you get used to it, it's easy to remember (or at least it was for me). Also the soundtrack is amazing, my copy of the game actually came with a separate CD for the soundtrack and it's awesome. Time and Eternity definitely deserved better
Neptunia's gameplay might have been ass, but the characters and humor more than made up for it. I get a huge nostalgia boner whenever i see anything related to the OG Neptunia.
Are you kidding me?
The entire neptunia series is a hidden gem and I loved it.
I enjoyed the little time I had with Hyperdimension Neptunia on the Vita, but that was a remake and that original PS3 version looks SO FUCKING ROUGH. Sadly the dungeon design doesn't get better, and will eventually bore you and make you just want to move on.
17:36
This killed me. Lmao. I like bad games that don't take themselves too seriously.
Same! Games don’t do it enough 😂
I thought that was quite funny, and I do like it when games give the player more choices even if it may not have long lasting effect to the story. Just a small acknowledgement can be enough. Although, it would have been quite funny if the scene had gone completely differently: The girl says she doesn't care about you anymore and leaves the building screaming in frustration, and the game ends there.
Greetings. I can't defend CrossEdge😅 because I watched it and didn't love the battle system. But if everything were metacritic we wouldn't have the variety of games that emerge. Everything would be COD, FC, etc. just for being famous. The same thing happens in jrpgs, of my friends I'm the only one who likes Disgaea. I try any type of game that catches my attention, after 1 hour you know if it can be more interesting. I lent PS2 SMT Nocturne to my friend and he got angry because he lost several times in the first level, it usually happens, I told him with a hidden smile 😏
>playing jrpgs with english dub
peasantry taste
Last Rebellion one kusoge of the year and created the Japanese meme "Just level up and smack them with a physical (attack)," as pretty much that's all you needed to do to beat enemies in the game.
Apparently i like bad Games
Neptunia and Agarest Series count towards my favourite Series
Sure, theyre not the best Games out there, but yeah...
Ok, Agarest Zero wasnt nearly as great as Agarest War 1 and 2, but still, not bad per se in my eyes.
Neptunia Series i guess is mostly Fanservice, the fact that they wont ever take themselves seriously and an actually funny and same time more or less serious Story - But i get why the first Game is not that good - The System for Menu and Battle was aweful... wich they optimized as the Games came out
Whoa I completely forgot about time and eternity! What a cool and unique game. I agree gameplay is a bit shallow but I miss these types of new risky/inmovative type games. You can find some indies but I feel like most big studios don't want to take much risks.
The nep games are good budget games, yes avoid the PS3 games get the remakes and the spinoffs. We love that series because of the characters and thier interactions not because of the gameplay or grapichs.
And idc I'm gonna play time and eternity, the idea and visual is just too good. And if the story is at least funny I'm fine with it. I don't mind simple combat.
Mad respect for actually saying something positive about Time & Eternity! I consider it both a terrible game and an absolute must play for its ambition! I remember when it came out in Japan they were saying weird stuff like "there are no sprites or polygons in this screenshot", which was a lie but as a connoisseur of Laserdisc games I get what they mean. A lot of this is FMV clips strung together, they were trying to use modern technology to do a more advanced FMV game! BUT that kind of thing costs WAAAY too much money to pull off and they had to cut corners real hard to make it work, which is why no one else has really attempted this (thanks for the tip off about that one game though). I'd say the closest is Don Quixote on LaserActive and maybe Tengai Maikyo IV on SEGA Saturn. That said, I think you stopped just before the game got REAL bad.
See, I like the combat because I totally get what they were doing: It's Punch Out!! It plays REALLY similar to Punch Out!!...but fighting an endless stream of Glass Joes only works for so long and when Bald Bull becomes the normal enemy, it gets frustrating. But where it falls apart is when you go back in time again and can no longer go back? There's a sudden MASSIVE difficulty spike and the amount of EXP you get versus the length and challenge of the fights just does not pan out! You have to fight too many Bald Bulls to level up! This drives me NUTS because EVERY professional reviewer claimed the combat was too easy and all you had to do was mash buttons and my progress is COMPLETELY blocked by obscene fight difficulty and length versus EXP earned!
I do, sadly, own all of these games but my Last Rebellion is still in its shrinkwrap...maybe I'll keep it there.
Yeah I wouldn’t open last rebellion lol
interesting , thanks for the info , im gonna try playing eternity
Say it with me, Number one rule of rpgs save offten and save once moreafter you save just in case
Thankfully auto save is becoming more common! But yes, this too.
I don't trust auto saves I've had them courrpt beforeor save someplace a bug happened and stuck in that bug, so I always save in a few slots to make sure of things. I've been playing rpgs for over 30 years
I like Cross Edge and Neptunia. Both games are strangely addictive once you get to a certain point. - Though Cross Edge takes some work to get to that point. Right off the bat, it expects mastery from the player in building and comboing with your team. And, that is not an easy thing to pick up, much less pick up so early in the game.
Crossedge endgame is a grinder's dream
Cross Edge is hilarious to me because you get your short tutorial section of the game and then it immediately throws you into the deep end. Turn based games at the time were generally fairly easy so having one where the enemies can actually hand your ass to you on a silver platter was pretty fun.
I have played every game on this list and I enjoyed them all. I think in context of the time they were released, they were not that bad. I remember Last Rebellion as the game I got my first ever Platinum Trophy (because it was very easy). Time and Eternity was an interesting idea but I remember it being really unbalanced in the combat and I was sad there wasn't a more polished 2nd game. I actually think there were games that were much worse than these from this time. I would say the worst games I played from this time are Mugen Souls, Trinity Universe and the original White Knights Chronicle.
Same here. I take these kinds of videos with a grain of salt. I could give a care about other peoples ratings and opinions. I mean they are playing them today and you really needed to play them when they released. I am not sure why people say the PS3 sucked and was devoid for JRPGs. I sure liked most of them at the time. Yeah we have amazing stuff in the PS4 and PS5 generation but the PS3 wasn't that bad.
Glad you found some enjoyment out of them 🙂
Funny you mention that because Mugen Souls was primarily by Idea Factory, and Trinity Universe was a collab between iF, Gust and NIS. White Knights Chronicle was by Level-5, however.
I remember White Chronicles. That game was great. The 1st online game I played. I'm still bummed about the servers being shut down.
I loved the White Knight Chronicles games and they are head and shoulders above the Neptunia games and last rebellion for me, spent a lot of time playing the online mode too.
I thought Cross Edge, Time and Eternity and the Agarest games were great though.
Cross edge and agarest war are great games.
Maybe too hardcore.
They are absolutely in no way great games.
I still have my copy of Time and Eternity and haven't touched it in years since I got bored with it. HDN also surprisingly grew from being a bad game, if I hadn't received Mk2 first I probably wouldve shunned it forever
I was about to fight you over Hyperdimension Neptunia until i remembered that i too disliked the original ps3 release and it was hyperdimension neptunia rebirth on Vita that i loved/was legitimately great.
I actually own every one of these games, because I can't pass up trying an RPG, but I honestly don't think I paid more than $10 for any of them, and haven't beaten any of them.
dont get me wrong compile heart and idea factory make some bad games, and some shitty decisions, but you make it sound like all they've made are bad games which isnt true, most of the neptunia games are good, the death end re:quest games are good, first one is better than the sequel though, and fairy fencer is a good game,
I think I rented time and eternity for a weekend, I don't remember how I felt about it, but It was at least fun enough to know it was a game I played seeing that style again
Not gonna lie, i kinda liked Hyperdimension Neptunia it was so stupid it was funny, the whole thing was just a silly fan service RPG
Cool video. I always wanted Time and Eternity. It just looks good.
the first "cross zone" game is actually Namco X Capcom, same devs being monolithsoft and style etc. on ps2 jp only in 2005
The combat systems for Record of Agarest War Zero and Crossedge are very deep. You won't have access to the best spells/attacks/combos until you get deep into the games, have party members with synergy and gear with the slots to place the spells/attacks into. The character creator in RoAW:Zero determines everything from the weapon type, stats, movement range, ability points and the elements determine the skill slots he starts with.
Crossedge has by far the hardest and most in-depth path to reach the "True End". There are so many factors ranging from viewing events in a limited time, winning battle in a certin amount of turns and not damaging certain enemies. I liked the game, but the scanning for events was annoying, even when you max out the range of the scanner.
RoAW and RoAw:Zero were my favorite PS3 JRPGs. They are hard to get into though, they have a very high skill requirement. They get better/easier the more you play and the more playthroughs completed, when you can carry over resources, spells, abilities and gear.
Idea Factorys strength is within its Otome games tbh. Theyre not amazing at regular games but the Visual Novels are usually really good
From this list I have played Neptunia out of pure curiosity since I played Victory, the 3rd one of the original trilogy before the retconning. Hyperdimension Neptunia 1 is an odd ball for me because the story is great for how far I played but the gameplay is really rough especially the dungeon crawling aspect of it since the encounters are not random chance but distance based... I am a fool to try and 100% dungeons because of how uninspired most of the areas look and feel, if the task isn't to defeat a certain number of enemies, you bet your ass I would abuse Compa's skill to disable the distance encounters.
funny, recently I wanted to continue this game and came across this knowing HDN 1 would be mentioned
I dont know if its because the subgenre just doesn't have enough games or idea factory got their shit together
But idea factory did a great fucking job with mary skelter
To me "Time and Eternity" looks really good...And since I play mostly for story rather than challenge, I'd really like to try it...
Take that up with the Better Business Bureau.
The story is crap too
Ik a lot of people hate on idea factory however they do have some good games. One of those being that of mary skelter2 which ironically I do have fun playing.
From what I can recall the PS3 was when most Japanese devs had to step into the HD era and most were NOT making the jump with grace. Not even the big budget dev-houses had it easy due to the increased demands in quality, the sheer amount of work you had to put into making a game look as good as it "should" look was a massive shift i how much work and money went into making the games- and how much money you had to make BACK in order to make it worth it. I also think I read that most game dev houses went for the Unreal Engine to save themselves time and money, but the then current version had very poor documentation in Japanese so it was extra tough for them to adapt to new development demands.
A-ny-way: I heard of all these games but not played any of them, but I was interested in finding out you liked Time and Eternity so much what with that games reputation. Reading up on it's reception I wonder if it might come from the fact it had more hype than any other game on this list, so I think a lot more people played it... aaaand a lot more people subsequently means "a lot fewer people who are also JRPG fans and thus likely to be forgiving of the genres quirks if it gets them something they want."
In short- I think JRPG-fans at the time built up an unfair mental image of what it tried to do and let that disappointment color their views, but I think a larger portion of people who were just curious gamers saw it, went "huh cool cartoon"; and were then subjected to a JRPG that from what I have heard is... like, let's be real here- as JRPG fans we have a certain _tolerance_ built up towards the genres peculiarities, both in terms of gameplay and storytelling. To an audience that thought this might be a more action-filled game than it was AND who might have expected a different sort of storytelling and characters, being surprised with what the game REALLY was might have been a shock that made them bust out the banhammer.
For instance, and this is just anecodtal since I haven't played it- I have heard that the male lead in this game is just AWFUL. Just an abysmal piece of shit with zero redeeming qualities. That the further in you play, the more you wish to see him in pain, or at least removed from the game enitrely. I have no way of knowing whether this is true or not, but it seemed to be such a common thread with most reviews I read at the time- they just HATED the dude, some even admitting that they thought the game was mediocre, but pulled into outright bad territory because they could just not STAND the male lead.
Perhaps if I had played it I'd be able to say one way or another, but I can see where people who want to paint a rosier picture of it are coming from. In comparison to every other game on this list you are right that it not just looks better, it also looks DIFFERENT. Whereas every other game here is obviously a mini-budget production where they give you the very minimum "battlefields -> dialoge scenes -> static screens portraying different environemnts AND ALL OVER AGAIN", this at least builds a world to explore that is presented to you in a different way than just status screens and visual novel-style. There is ambition here, and in hindsight many are willing to forgive a lot for the sake of ambition. As for whether the game ACTUALLY deserves such concern... well. I'd have to actually play it to find out, wouldn't I?
if i could do it all over again , i'd do it all over again , i'd do it all over again it's do it 15 times over again so i can do it all over again
@@iamLI3 referencing a particular game here, or something else?
@@goranisacson2502 [YTP] No one needs foundation repair
i highly disagree about cross edge and record of agarest 1-3 since i enjoyed all of those alot but i do acknowledge that each person has their own tastes and you like and dont like what you want so i respect it but still disagree lol
I can't hate on Compile Heart too much. Their heyday as an almost exclusive shmup developer gave us some of the greatest games ever.
I liked Neptunia and it's spin offs. Also the funny thing about the character designs is that it's done by a woman.
One thing Neptunia has going for it is that despite the wiki page wrongly listing 2011's Oriemo as the first to use Live 2D, Neptunia actually did it first in 2010.
The story and world is cool, but the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired, though there's a story behind it.
The dev team bought out a game that killed its company and rebranded it with girls representing consoles and the games industry.
The lack of a budget made sense in the first game, but they got real lazy with it in later games.