Like this page and what I do here? Consider supporting me on patreon! www.patreon.com/davidvinc [0:35] - 1) Arc The Lad [1:42] - 2) Bahamut Lagoon [2:38] - 3) Growlanser Generations [3:28] - 4) Just Breed [4:27] - 5) Monstania [5:26] - 6) Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen [6:24] - 7) Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure [7:17] - 8) Shining Force [8:14] - 9) Tactics Ogre: Knight of the Lodis [9:03] - 10) Treasure Hunter G
OMG Ogre Battle is one of my absolute faves from the SNES era. It's not too tough to beat, but finding all the secrets will take the rest of your natural life.
And Bahamut Lagoon has a hidden appeal for adults as well; the idea that people in a past relationship (Jojo and Byuu) aren’t necessarily destined for each other, nor does being heroic guarantee you anything (Byuu). Love is complicated, and I thank the game (and the translation especially) for not sanitizing such realities. But then again, you can feed your Dragons poop in this game, so there’s appeal for many age groups :)
I am not comfortable discussing how much accumulated time I’ve spent in my life playing FFT and Shining Force. Also, I recently found you and binged your videos; gotta say, they are some quality stuff!
Look up Fell Seal: Arbiters Mark on PS4. (I'm not sure if it's on Xbox). It was made by FFT fans who wanted a proper sequel. I'm losing hours upon hours to it.
Oh man David, I also had the Ogre Battle strategy guide, but could never find the game either! I read it front to back, all the time. I also remember seeing it was $100 in a Funcoland catalogue. Thankfully, when I got my PS1, my mom brought home a game for me to play that she rented. It was the special edition rerelease/remaster of Ogre Battle! And my strategy guide still was useful!
strategy RPGs are my absolutely favorite so i just added a vast majority of these to my buy-list. i am always amazed by the encyclopedia of rpgs you have played! i would love to pick your brain one day about all of these + geek out
Arc The Lad is kind of a cheeky inclusion, because the reason it's so short is because it's only about 15% of the overall story. It ends on a cliffhanger. It assumes that you're going to continue your save file in Arc The Lad II. Growlanser 2 and 3 do sort of the same thing, but the stories of each game are actually more independent of one another.
This is a stellar list and once again somehow you have released a list with 2 more JRPGs from the SNES era that somehow I have never heard of. Growlanser - Recently I purchased Growlanser Generations and Heritage of War (just need Wayfarer of time on PSP to complete the US releases). I'm glad you addressed this series since it is rare I come across a channel who does. Soon I'm going to set aside some time to play these but its good to know which ones are a little easier to play for timing issues. Doesn't it seem odd though that we didn't get Growlanser 1 or 6? Monstania - Good heavens with this one. I have never heard of this, not even once. The killer about this is that it looks super fun, and we never got direct initial access to play it. In some ways I'd like to smack some of the decision makers years ago across the face for keeping these titles overseas. Just Breed - Again, what? I have never heard of Just Breed. I don't know if you have mentioned Just Breed and Monstania on your channel and I just missed it but this one also got my attention. I love Langrisser (Warsong here) and this just screamed to me that type of game. Looking forward to at some point giving this a go. Ogrebattle - You mentioned that you had a lot of trouble finding a copy of the SNES game. Were you looking for a complete copy or just a cartridge? My first experience with this game was on a rental from a local movie rental outfit in the mid 90's. Ogrebattle was one of the main reasons I love strategy games like the ones in this list. My friend and I played the hell out of this and couldn't put it down. I unfortunately don't have the SNES version (in a way I wish I never took the game back to the rental store haha) but the Playstation version which I was so hyped to buy when it launched. I wish I hadn't used the stickers that came with the PS version because complete that game is getting silly expensive (like so many, yikes!) Shining Force - I love just looking at this game and its sequel. Those 45 degree battle positions on the fighting screen were I thought well ahead of their time and so nice to look at. The time they spent divising the character models and animations I always thought was impressive. To me, those battle screens still look good today especially in comparison to many other games like it over the years. Fantastic list, its definitely helpful to know what games won't take a crazy amount of time. Thanks David!
I was sort of hoping that some of these would be ones that, you know, I could actually pick up. Well, a lot of these I didn't know they even WERE strategy RPGs even though I'd heard of them, so thanks for the education there. Oh, and imo Shining Force doesn't really qualify as short. Also, have you heard of Battle for Wesnoth? Might be worth an honorable mention...though its very luck based accuracy system could be problematic there.
David, can't recommend highly enough Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark. It's basically a spiritual successor / love letter to Final Fantasy Tactics. Pretty short too. If you don't grind I'd say 20-30 hours.
I got the Growlanser that was released on PSP on a whim and loved it. It's kind of like two games as well because late in the game there is a huge decision your character has to make and on second playthrough you can choose the 'bad' choice which changes the plot entirely.
When you started with footage from FFT, I thought "oh geez is this what he is considering a SHORT sprg?!", but then you started to speak out about how long it is lol 😂 Good fake-out friend Edit: Very glad to see Tactics Ogre Knight of the Lodis on this list, it is fantastic (and also a great way to experience Tactics Ogre if you don't have endless hours for Let Us Cling Together)
Ogre Battle was actually the first ps1 game I ever bought with my own money. I bought Vandle Hearts and Suikoden soon after and I started thinking that single disc games that came in those fat, double disc boxes were special. I was right.
Shining Force had a huge impact on my childhood. First SRPG I ever played. Though back then we'd just call it a RPG. Anyways one of my all time favorites.
Being a busy adult myself usually means I get only so far in tactics games before dropping them. I’ve only beaten FF Tactics and Bahamut Lagoon. Bahamut Lagoon being one of my favorites since it’s so quick and easy to beat. Nice list!
I agree with your general sentiment. As long as a long game's engaging, then I can think of it as a long-term project that brings me more enjoyment for my money.
As a busy adult myself, I just love this series! I'll definitely be coming back here for recommendations once I finish the original Dragon Quest trilogy.
Knight of Lodis seems too hard to be on a list of short games. I can't remember which battle it was, around 7 or 8 story battles into it, but there was a pretty big curve that I could never seem to get over in that game...
Just breed, now that's a game I havent heard about before. I loved me some shining force. I'm going to have to give this one a play through, I'll watch your video while I'm going through it. Also David, I believe shining force also came out on the Game Gear. My cousin had game gear and I believe I played shining force on it.
@@ateliertohka7327 Ah ok, yeah its showing my age a bit. Think I was about 8 when I played it so bout 20 years since then. Might have to go back and replay those cause I cant remember them for the life of me.
He also reused the storyline for one of Ogre Battle's recruitable characters, Ashe, for Basch in FF12. The only real difference is that Gares isn't his brother.
I still don't understand why "linear" is so frowned upon. Vandal Hearts' class system and the variation created in strategy because of it made up in spades for any sort of perceived linearity.
I was a Nintendo guy, but I loved Shining Force as a kid. My friend was a PC gamer, and lent SEGA Smash Pack 3 to me. He wanted me to give Sonic 2 a whirl, but I ended up engrossed in Shining Force. I told him how cool it was, and we tried to beat it together at a sleepover. Good memories, good game. Maybe I'll give a couple of these a shot. They sound pretty fun!
Arc the lad one of my favorite SRPG's You can also move your completed save to Arc 2 to carry over stuff as well to unlock hidden events especially one that is very important especially if you completed the bonus dungeon in Arc 1. Considering 2 & 3 in the trilogy are long games and having every little bit of an advantage helps.
Thanks for this. I wish you put a bit more focus on games that can be bought on Steam for those of us that don't have classic consoles and/or who don't want to mess around with emulation.
I personally don't feel as though length is much of an issue for busy adults as long as the game doesn't require you to play a long time in one sitting. Back in college, when I was extremely busy between classes and extracurriculars, I could play Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for a half-hour session or so when I was burned out and needed to relax.
Yeah, Shining ended after part 3, which didn't even fully release outside Japan. Loved 2 back in the day. Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre games are great too. I wish it was available outside the PSP. Need PSN ports.
@@Lightspeeds It does, but only because it expanded on the game and added new characters. It's kinda hard to fuck up a remake that mostly just does what the original did.
Good list. There are a lot here I haven’t played. But I would’ve liked to see Advance Wars on here. The story is straightforward but has a few places where it branches for replayability. By the way, I enjoyed Rhapsody back on PS1. I only wish it had a hard mode. It was just way too easy.
Ogre Battle is my favorite console SRPG but it took me six years to find a copy. I remember cashing out my savings account (set up many years earlier because my grandmother sent me two birthday checks one year and told my parents to let me hold onto the money from the second until I found something I really wanted) and going to Funcoland only to find they had sold their copy but another Funcoland nearby had one then begging my parents to take me to get it They were still feeling bad about having accidentally thrown out much f my SNES and virtually my entire Gameboy collection during a move a couple of months earlier so they agreed. I also have a huge soft spot for Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis because that was the first birthday present my best friend ever bought me.
Huge fan of ogre battle, I played this one and the one for n64, gameboy and ps1, but my favorites are the snes and n64, I wish they made more with that real time tactics theme! 20 thumbs up just for that game!
Thanks! This came at the perfect time for me. I'm just about to finish a 100% Xenoblade 1 playthrough, and have been looking for something lighter to play after.
i would recommend FM3 for a short srpg. its considered the black sheep of the main series. but it still a good game. -if you're into real mechas genre and militaristic and modern settings. -pretty good story, it has 2 branching main story lines. that consist of 59 and 70 missions total. -missions are fast, due to high damage, less enemies and the battlefields consists of small and medium sizes (compared to other recent FM titles.) which usually can be done in 10-20 minutes. even less so, if you remove the attack animation. -can be finish without tinkering too much on the wanzers.
I remember disgaea being pretty easy to play over a weekend if you don't count the extra stuff (of which there is a toooon) glad you brought up arc the lad, the one for the ps2 was soooo great and you never hear about em . Killer games
I don't know if you could consider it short, but Saiyuki for PS1 is an SRPG that I liked, and I rarely come across anyone who's even heard of it, much less played it. It's basically the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West", but in strategy RPG form (and with a few "minor" liberties taken). Also, how do you feel about Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume on DS? I feel like that one could be manageable in
i would put vandal hearts on the list, but maybe it is too long and extremely difficult if you dont know what you are doing . It can be even worse than FF8 with the level system.
These games look pretty cool. I'll have to hunt some of them down! My favorite part was when you said one of them was for the PS1 and bastardized to the DS!
On the ps3 there was this Vandal Hearts prequel. I remember that I liked it and it was pretty short, but not much else to be honest. It's been a while since I played it.
It doesn't fall into the short SRPG category, but if you like FFT, check out Fell Seal: Arbiters Mark. My friend recommended it as FFT is one of my all time favourites. It was made by FFT fans who wanted a proper sequel, and it's gorgeous.
Video request: Current gen RPGs for busy adults! I just finished (and loved) Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but hoo boy, I logged 80-90 hours into that game and it really took it out of me! The reason I've played Dragon Age Inquisition a hundred times is because I can finish it in about 20 hours. I know it's not a JRPG, but it IS one of the best rpgs imo. And I need more of that length.
Did you ever play Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes? Originally for DS, but also bled over the Steam and PS3 fairly quickly. I think it's a tad longer (internet puts it around 25 hours), but it's also good for short bursts of gameplay as well
I would love you to have a look at my favorit tactical rpg of the playstation. "Vandal hearts" there's a second one wich never really gave me the aame feeling of the first one. I don't recall exactly if it is short or long but I guess it is not that long.
The shining series will always be in my top 3 favorite rpg series' especially number 2 it was my first rpg many moons ago love your lists brother always find new games to play
David, How on earth are you finishing some of these games so quickly?? Haha. When you said in a previous video that Suikoden 1 would take no longer than 10 hours, I looked up the speedrun record to see if that was even possible (which it is, if you tear ass and know where you're going). But Ogre Battle in 15 hours? Is that because you're fast-forwarding in an emulator? I've played it since I was a kid (on the cartridge) and never finished the main campaign anywhere near as quick.
When I talk about the hours it would take, I'm talking about a casual run. A run where you don't do the post game or spend tons of time looking for every single secret - just a run where you go through the main story. For example, suikoden can take twice as long if you get all 108 starts of destiny and wander around in your castle for hours.
@@davidvinc Right. I understand. But that's still really fast! The average low%, rushed Suikoden 1 run on How Long to Beat takes 15.5 hours. I just did one in 20. howlongtobeat.com/game.php?id=9301 Far fewer people have reported for Ogre Battle, but that low%, rushed run average time, for whatever it's worth, is 19 hours. That'd be my time if I had a leader with a hit-all magic spell and was just spamming him/her through every area. howlongtobeat.com/game.php?id=6717 Your casual run is my god mode. :-)
Ogre Battle needs a remake. Ogre Battle 64 needs a port. Nintendo will never do it but a guy can wish. Btw, Rhapsody was amazing especially because my gamer crush Marjoly was the antagonist.
It took me about a dozen attempts over the past 20 years as well. Finally I beat it a few years ago on emulator, best ending. I've never tried for any other ending. It could be breezed through pretty easily though, if you don't care about your Lord's alignment or reputation.
I would add a bunch of Fire Emblem games to this list. The DS Fire Emblem games are short enough to meet this list's criteria (although the second one, New Mystery of the Emblem, is much better than Shadow Dragon), while the GBA Fire Emblem games are only slightly too long for this list (about 25 hours each).
Can we get a play list on your channel for this series? Enjoying the series but I don’t know if I have seen them all as they are hard to pick out mixed i. With all your let’s play videos.
All my Top 10s are in a playlist on the front of my home page and all of the videos from this particular series can be found in the video description. I hope that helps!
Hey, games industry. More Arc The Lad attract mode theme quality music, please. Tried to play the game only to end up letting that music loop. Wish I was in the timeline where Sega learned from Fire Emblem's success and kept Shining Force alive, would love to see some way to pair combatants up with each other to enhance the combat.
I remember Arc, I poured hours into leveling up the individual summoned monsters...and FFT....oh boy....I actually read some of the in game novels...then Tactics Ogre...what a sadistic game. I got assassinated....that was my ending...ha ha ha😹
I found the original Rhapsody too tedious and never finished it. Most of the fights are so easy they should be Earthbound-style insta-wins rather than dragged out through SRPG mechanics. The only challenge is getting close enough to hit things without falling asleep. I consider the rerelease an improvement.
It's the same game, but with a slightly shinier coat of paint, some improved text...oh, and load times. I recommend emulating the SNES version instead. You're not missing much otherwise.
Like this page and what I do here? Consider supporting me on patreon! www.patreon.com/davidvinc
[0:35] - 1)
Arc The Lad
[1:42] - 2) Bahamut Lagoon
[2:38] - 3)
Growlanser Generations
[3:28] - 4)
Just Breed
[4:27] - 5) Monstania
[5:26] - 6)
Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen
[6:24] - 7)
Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
[7:17] - 8)
Shining Force
[8:14] - 9)
Tactics Ogre: Knight of the Lodis
[9:03] - 10) Treasure Hunter G
Thanks for these. Will you be doing a modern game version of this and/or your action JRPG list?
When you talked about reading the strategy guide just because it was as close as you could get to actually playing the game... I felt that
OMG Ogre Battle is one of my absolute faves from the SNES era. It's not too tough to beat, but finding all the secrets will take the rest of your natural life.
And Bahamut Lagoon has a hidden appeal for adults as well; the idea that people in a past relationship (Jojo and Byuu) aren’t necessarily destined for each other, nor does being heroic guarantee you anything (Byuu). Love is complicated, and I thank the game (and the translation especially) for not sanitizing such realities.
But then again, you can feed your Dragons poop in this game, so there’s appeal for many age groups :)
Yeah I agree, I loved the story and characters in that game
I am not comfortable discussing how much accumulated time I’ve spent in my life playing FFT and Shining Force. Also, I recently found you and binged your videos; gotta say, they are some quality stuff!
Look up Fell Seal: Arbiters Mark on PS4. (I'm not sure if it's on Xbox). It was made by FFT fans who wanted a proper sequel. I'm losing hours upon hours to it.
I barely got to Chapter 3 and I have over 17 hours put into the game. I had to grind so long for the Math Skill of Calculator.
I'm not proud of my time spent either.
Mung Lahtaw Yeah I usually have a few days put in before Dorter... I have serious control issues, lol.
Bahamut Lagoon blew me away when I first played it.
It's a crime we haven't gotten a true successor. Great video David!
It's playtime might be over 20 hours (it's been a long time since I've played it), but Vandal Hearts is a wonderful one!
Yes. Vandal Hearts is probably right around 20 hours and well worth the time for strategy fans.
It's such an underrated game.
I've just finished it in exactly 20 hours. Great game that should be in this list
Oh man David, I also had the Ogre Battle strategy guide, but could never find the game either! I read it front to back, all the time. I also remember seeing it was $100 in a Funcoland catalogue. Thankfully, when I got my PS1, my mom brought home a game for me to play that she rented. It was the special edition rerelease/remaster of Ogre Battle! And my strategy guide still was useful!
Front Mission for the snes is a really good and short mecha style tactics rpg, give it a try. Also, Onimusha Tactics for the gba is solid too.
strategy RPGs are my absolutely favorite so i just added a vast majority of these to my buy-list. i am always amazed by the encyclopedia of rpgs you have played! i would love to pick your brain one day about all of these + geek out
Arc The Lad is kind of a cheeky inclusion, because the reason it's so short is because it's only about 15% of the overall story. It ends on a cliffhanger. It assumes that you're going to continue your save file in Arc The Lad II.
Growlanser 2 and 3 do sort of the same thing, but the stories of each game are actually more independent of one another.
This is a stellar list and once again somehow you have released a list with 2 more JRPGs from the SNES era that somehow I have never heard of.
Growlanser - Recently I purchased Growlanser Generations and Heritage of War (just need Wayfarer of time on PSP to complete the US releases). I'm glad you addressed this series since it is rare I come across a channel who does. Soon I'm going to set aside some time to play these but its good to know which ones are a little easier to play for timing issues. Doesn't it seem odd though that we didn't get Growlanser 1 or 6?
Monstania - Good heavens with this one. I have never heard of this, not even once. The killer about this is that it looks super fun, and we never got direct initial access to play it. In some ways I'd like to smack some of the decision makers years ago across the face for keeping these titles overseas.
Just Breed - Again, what? I have never heard of Just Breed. I don't know if you have mentioned Just Breed and Monstania on your channel and I just missed it but this one also got my attention. I love Langrisser (Warsong here) and this just screamed to me that type of game. Looking forward to at some point giving this a go.
Ogrebattle - You mentioned that you had a lot of trouble finding a copy of the SNES game. Were you looking for a complete copy or just a cartridge? My first experience with this game was on a rental from a local movie rental outfit in the mid 90's. Ogrebattle was one of the main reasons I love strategy games like the ones in this list. My friend and I played the hell out of this and couldn't put it down. I unfortunately don't have the SNES version (in a way I wish I never took the game back to the rental store haha) but the Playstation version which I was so hyped to buy when it launched. I wish I hadn't used the stickers that came with the PS version because complete that game is getting silly expensive (like so many, yikes!)
Shining Force - I love just looking at this game and its sequel. Those 45 degree battle positions on the fighting screen were I thought well ahead of their time and so nice to look at. The time they spent divising the character models and animations I always thought was impressive. To me, those battle screens still look good today especially in comparison to many other games like it over the years.
Fantastic list, its definitely helpful to know what games won't take a crazy amount of time. Thanks David!
Man, I love this video series, David! Looking forward to the next one!
I was sort of hoping that some of these would be ones that, you know, I could actually pick up. Well, a lot of these I didn't know they even WERE strategy RPGs even though I'd heard of them, so thanks for the education there. Oh, and imo Shining Force doesn't really qualify as short. Also, have you heard of Battle for Wesnoth? Might be worth an honorable mention...though its very luck based accuracy system could be problematic there.
Knight of Lodis is one of my all-time favorites. It introduced me to SRPGs. I'm glad you included it on your list.
David, can't recommend highly enough Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark. It's basically a spiritual successor / love letter to Final Fantasy Tactics. Pretty short too. If you don't grind I'd say 20-30 hours.
It is not that good.
I actually owned Ogre Battle for SNES and PS1, and had two copies of the strategy guide. It was one of those rare games I had no issues coming upon.
all of the shining force games are fantastic
I finished arc the lad in 10 hours. It feels like a prologue for the sequel 😅. And finally someone mentions Rhapsody
Jeanne D’Arc for the PSP is a short, fun SRPG. You should check it out if you can.
I got the Growlanser that was released on PSP on a whim and loved it. It's kind of like two games as well because late in the game there is a huge decision your character has to make and on second playthrough you can choose the 'bad' choice which changes the plot entirely.
When you started with footage from FFT, I thought "oh geez is this what he is considering a SHORT sprg?!", but then you started to speak out about how long it is lol 😂 Good fake-out friend
Edit: Very glad to see Tactics Ogre Knight of the Lodis on this list, it is fantastic (and also a great way to experience Tactics Ogre if you don't have endless hours for Let Us Cling Together)
Ogre Battle was actually the first ps1 game I ever bought with my own money. I bought Vandle Hearts and Suikoden soon after and I started thinking that single disc games that came in those fat, double disc boxes were special. I was right.
Shining Force had a huge impact on my childhood. First SRPG I ever played. Though back then we'd just call it a RPG. Anyways one of my all time favorites.
Being a busy adult myself usually means I get only so far in tactics games before dropping them. I’ve only beaten FF Tactics and Bahamut Lagoon. Bahamut Lagoon being one of my favorites since it’s so quick and easy to beat. Nice list!
Didn't know busy adults could only play video games in one sitting. I hope they invent something to save your progress in the future.
I agree with your general sentiment. As long as a long game's engaging, then I can think of it as a long-term project that brings me more enjoyment for my money.
Nice vid.
Half those games I remember seeing in gaming mags but never played them. Remembered thinking “what kind of a name is arc the lad”?!
As a busy adult myself, I just love this series! I'll definitely be coming back here for recommendations once I finish the original Dragon Quest trilogy.
Knight of Lodis seems too hard to be on a list of short games. I can't remember which battle it was, around 7 or 8 story battles into it, but there was a pretty big curve that I could never seem to get over in that game...
Just breed, now that's a game I havent heard about before. I loved me some shining force. I'm going to have to give this one a play through, I'll watch your video while I'm going through it.
Also David, I believe shining force also came out on the Game Gear. My cousin had game gear and I believe I played shining force on it.
The Game Gear games are side stories set between Shining Force I & II.
@@ateliertohka7327 Ah ok, yeah its showing my age a bit. Think I was about 8 when I played it so bout 20 years since then. Might have to go back and replay those cause I cant remember them for the life of me.
Fun fact about Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre/FFT, they were all created by the same director who also went on to be the director for FF12!
He also reused the storyline for one of Ogre Battle's recruitable characters, Ashe, for Basch in FF12. The only real difference is that Gares isn't his brother.
I was hoping to see Vandal Hearts on the list, but many didnt care for the linear progression of it.
I still don't understand why "linear" is so frowned upon. Vandal Hearts' class system and the variation created in strategy because of it made up in spades for any sort of perceived linearity.
Working Designs really were awesome. The best looking games in my collection are WD titles with their blinged out packaging.
I was a Nintendo guy, but I loved Shining Force as a kid. My friend was a PC gamer, and lent SEGA Smash Pack 3 to me. He wanted me to give Sonic 2 a whirl, but I ended up engrossed in Shining Force. I told him how cool it was, and we tried to beat it together at a sleepover. Good memories, good game.
Maybe I'll give a couple of these a shot. They sound pretty fun!
Ogre Battle also came out for the PS1. At one point I owned both. Never beat it though
Arc the lad one of my favorite SRPG's You can also move your completed save to Arc 2 to carry over stuff as well to unlock hidden events especially one that is very important especially if you completed the bonus dungeon in Arc 1. Considering 2 & 3 in the trilogy are long games and having every little bit of an advantage helps.
Thanks for this. I wish you put a bit more focus on games that can be bought on Steam for those of us that don't have classic consoles and/or who don't want to mess around with emulation.
I personally don't feel as though length is much of an issue for busy adults as long as the game doesn't require you to play a long time in one sitting. Back in college, when I was extremely busy between classes and extracurriculars, I could play Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for a half-hour session or so when I was burned out and needed to relax.
Man, I miss the Shining and Ogre Battle series.
"Shining is still around."
Tony Taka's additions don't count.
Yeah, Shining ended after part 3, which didn't even fully release outside Japan. Loved 2 back in the day.
Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre games are great too. I wish it was available outside the PSP. Need PSN ports.
So does the gba remake of force 1 not count?
@@Lightspeeds It does, but only because it expanded on the game and added new characters.
It's kinda hard to fuck up a remake that mostly just does what the original did.
Just found your channel recently, and I gotta say keep up the good work! You're doing a great job man!
Good list. There are a lot here I haven’t played. But I would’ve liked to see Advance Wars on here. The story is straightforward but has a few places where it branches for replayability.
By the way, I enjoyed Rhapsody back on PS1. I only wish it had a hard mode. It was just way too easy.
Ogre Battle is my favorite console SRPG but it took me six years to find a copy. I remember cashing out my savings account (set up many years earlier because my grandmother sent me two birthday checks one year and told my parents to let me hold onto the money from the second until I found something I really wanted) and going to Funcoland only to find they had sold their copy but another Funcoland nearby had one then begging my parents to take me to get it They were still feeling bad about having accidentally thrown out much f my SNES and virtually my entire Gameboy collection during a move a couple of months earlier so they agreed.
I also have a huge soft spot for Tactics Ogre: Knight of Lodis because that was the first birthday present my best friend ever bought me.
I'm shocked that your first was FFT. I think mine was Warsong. Great video!
Huge fan of ogre battle, I played this one and the one for n64, gameboy and ps1, but my favorites are the snes and n64, I wish they made more with that real time tactics theme! 20 thumbs up just for that game!
Thanks! This came at the perfect time for me. I'm just about to finish a 100% Xenoblade 1 playthrough, and have been looking for something lighter to play after.
i would recommend FM3 for a short srpg. its considered the black sheep of the main series. but it still a good game.
-if you're into real mechas genre and militaristic and modern settings.
-pretty good story, it has 2 branching main story lines. that consist of 59 and 70 missions total.
-missions are fast, due to high damage, less enemies and the battlefields consists of small and medium sizes (compared to other recent FM titles.) which usually can be done in 10-20 minutes.
even less so, if you remove the attack animation.
-can be finish without tinkering too much on the wanzers.
I remember disgaea being pretty easy to play over a weekend if you don't count the extra stuff (of which there is a toooon) glad you brought up arc the lad, the one for the ps2 was soooo great and you never hear about em . Killer games
I love all of these games! I think Vandal Hearts is also a terrific short strategy RPG
I don't know if you could consider it short, but Saiyuki for PS1 is an SRPG that I liked, and I rarely come across anyone who's even heard of it, much less played it. It's basically the classic Chinese novel "Journey to the West", but in strategy RPG form (and with a few "minor" liberties taken). Also, how do you feel about Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume on DS? I feel like that one could be manageable in
Did you ever play Vandal Hearts for PS1? It was a strategy RPG. I can't remember how long it was.
I remember it being about 30-40 or so hours. But I'm always slow and deliberate in my srpgs. It was enjoyable though. I never got to play the sequel.
Monstania and Treasure Hunter G look interesting. Not used to strategy rpgs with smaller parties. Especially ones with avoidable battles.
i would put vandal hearts on the list, but maybe it is too long and extremely difficult if you dont know what you are doing . It can be even worse than FF8 with the level system.
These games look pretty cool. I'll have to hunt some of them down! My favorite part was when you said one of them was for the PS1 and bastardized to the DS!
Hey David. How have you played so many RPGs!!! It’s insane! Love the show and this series your a legend
On the ps3 there was this Vandal Hearts prequel. I remember that I liked it and it was pretty short, but not much else to be honest. It's been a while since I played it.
I loved vanguard bandits for the ps1 but I think that one can tske up to 30 hours depending on what storyline you go for
Love your videos David
It doesn't fall into the short SRPG category, but if you like FFT, check out Fell Seal: Arbiters Mark. My friend recommended it as FFT is one of my all time favourites. It was made by FFT fans who wanted a proper sequel, and it's gorgeous.
Great list, hadn't heard of a few of these! I wonder have you ever played vandal hearts 2? It's massively underrated strategy rpg imo
This list for busy adults was awesome! Thank you.
Another list to pick from. Thank you sir, much appreciated
Video request: Current gen RPGs for busy adults! I just finished (and loved) Xenoblade Chronicles 3, but hoo boy, I logged 80-90 hours into that game and it really took it out of me! The reason I've played Dragon Age Inquisition a hundred times is because I can finish it in about 20 hours. I know it's not a JRPG, but it IS one of the best rpgs imo. And I need more of that length.
this is the unique jrpg lists i'm looking for
Did you ever play Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes? Originally for DS, but also bled over the Steam and PS3 fairly quickly. I think it's a tad longer (internet puts it around 25 hours), but it's also good for short bursts of gameplay as well
I would love you to have a look at my favorit tactical rpg of the playstation. "Vandal hearts" there's a second one wich never really gave me the aame feeling of the first one.
I don't recall exactly if it is short or long but I guess it is not that long.
Agreed. The second one just isn't as good. The OST is masterful as well.
Bahamut Lagoon is still one of my favorites
The shining series will always be in my top 3 favorite rpg series' especially number 2 it was my first rpg many moons ago love your lists brother always find new games to play
David, How on earth are you finishing some of these games so quickly?? Haha. When you said in a previous video that Suikoden 1 would take no longer than 10 hours, I looked up the speedrun record to see if that was even possible (which it is, if you tear ass and know where you're going). But Ogre Battle in 15 hours? Is that because you're fast-forwarding in an emulator? I've played it since I was a kid (on the cartridge) and never finished the main campaign anywhere near as quick.
When I talk about the hours it would take, I'm talking about a casual run. A run where you don't do the post game or spend tons of time looking for every single secret - just a run where you go through the main story. For example, suikoden can take twice as long if you get all 108 starts of destiny and wander around in your castle for hours.
@@davidvinc Right. I understand. But that's still really fast!
The average low%, rushed Suikoden 1 run on How Long to Beat takes 15.5 hours. I just did one in 20.
howlongtobeat.com/game.php?id=9301
Far fewer people have reported for Ogre Battle, but that low%, rushed run average time, for whatever it's worth, is 19 hours. That'd be my time if I had a leader with a hit-all magic spell and was just spamming him/her through every area.
howlongtobeat.com/game.php?id=6717
Your casual run is my god mode. :-)
I enjoyed a decent amount of srpgs though none of the ones I played are short.
Thanks, David! I really love your videos. They are fantastic.
Theres a game featuring Red and Blue from SaGa Frontier?! Those two were my favorites!
I think I played... one of these when I was a kid. Literally one, Shining Force. :P
My only complaint is how quickly the time passed, dragging me into the dreaded category of “busy adult.”
Ogre Battle needs a remake. Ogre Battle 64 needs a port. Nintendo will never do it but a guy can wish. Btw, Rhapsody was amazing especially because my gamer crush Marjoly was the antagonist.
Hi David, You sounded very different. Hope you are OK. PS I would love if you a more extensive and detail on Bahamut Lagoon.
I am surprised the Fire Emblem series don't make this list. the GBA games are pretty short too.
Is Ogrebattle a short game because it seems like I've been playing it for 20 years and still haven't finished it completely
Yeah unless you let your characters die regularly it isn’t short. It’s actually very long if you try to get a good ending.
It took me about a dozen attempts over the past 20 years as well. Finally I beat it a few years ago on emulator, best ending. I've never tried for any other ending. It could be breezed through pretty easily though, if you don't care about your Lord's alignment or reputation.
Did you ever try Dark Wizard on the Sega CD? One of my all-time favorites.
I appreciate you making these
Bahamut Lagoon is the only game on this list I haven't tried. Looks interesting.
One of my biggest gaming regrets is selling my copy of Ogre Battle for the SNES.
Love your content, David, but you definitely muddied the water between tactical and strategic in this video
I would add a bunch of Fire Emblem games to this list. The DS Fire Emblem games are short enough to meet this list's criteria (although the second one, New Mystery of the Emblem, is much better than Shadow Dragon), while the GBA Fire Emblem games are only slightly too long for this list (about 25 hours each).
Shining Force 2 is one of the best games I've ever played!
“Short, but enjoyable” sounds like my first time ...... 😶😶
i thought u gonna include langrisser 1&2 since both pretty fun and really short too..
I have yet to play any SRPGs, i've heard Shinning Force II is a good starting point, anybody can confirm that?
That’s a great one! It’s superior in every way to the first Shining Force.
@@ibeatpudding thanks!
I think one of my favorites was Jeanne D'Arc for PsP
Wasn't that game pretty long though.
brigandine legend of forsena is another good short one
Can we get a play list on your channel for this series? Enjoying the series but I don’t know if I have seen them all as they are hard to pick out mixed i. With all your let’s play videos.
All my Top 10s are in a playlist on the front of my home page and all of the videos from this particular series can be found in the video description. I hope that helps!
davidvinc thanks! I missed that some how
Hey, games industry. More Arc The Lad attract mode theme quality music, please. Tried to play the game only to end up letting that music loop. Wish I was in the timeline where Sega learned from Fire Emblem's success and kept Shining Force alive, would love to see some way to pair combatants up with each other to enhance the combat.
I wouldn't have though Treasure Hunter G was short I got like 20 hours in and I was no where near done
I remember Arc, I poured hours into leveling up the individual summoned monsters...and FFT....oh boy....I actually read some of the in game novels...then Tactics Ogre...what a sadistic game. I got assassinated....that was my ending...ha ha ha😹
Rhapsody was fun, but it definitely needs to be played on hard mode, otherwise it is way too easy
Shining Force I, II, III and CD are the best strategy RPGs ever
I love treasure hunter G!
Can you do another one of these but for just regular RPGs ? Thanks by the way
I already have, you can see the other "short RPGs" lists I've done in the video description.
I found the original Rhapsody too tedious and never finished it. Most of the fights are so easy they should be Earthbound-style insta-wins rather than dragged out through SRPG mechanics. The only challenge is getting close enough to hit things without falling asleep. I consider the rerelease an improvement.
No mention of the PSX release of Ogre Battle, which is shown in this video. 🤔
It's the same game, but with a slightly shinier coat of paint, some improved text...oh, and load times. I recommend emulating the SNES version instead. You're not missing much otherwise.
@@SpaceCat1111 True. I have copies of both anyway.
@@insaneasock3156 Nice! I only own the PS1 version. Sure wish Squeenix would do something with the license they're sitting on...
good list.