Considering the angle of this video, this forgotten series could have multiple parts. Because of a resurgence of tactical appreciation (Triangle Strategy, Fire Emblem, FFT Remaster talk and others) remastering or bringing back Arc the Lad seems like a good idea. If they could remaster/remake or put out a new game fitting its own success originally, Id bet people would take notice of it more now than maybe a few years ago.
I'd also add some games that got localized out of nowhere, like The Legend of Ghost Lion for the NES; nobody remembers games like that pretty much. Naturally, the most obscure stuff is usually JP-exclusive, as it's only accessible by a very small number of people outside of the country itself, but that's obvious.
What do you mean with resurgence? I feel like they never went away and were always present. Since the days of the PSP whenever i saw a interesting cover it was a damn strategy rpg.
Alundra is pretty much my favorite Adventure RPG ever, Zelda and it's series is merely second. I recently cleared Shining Force Exa and you're entirely correct we all know every single Tales games even those we never touched. I also never played this game. Atelier Iris, my favorite trilogy in the franchise. And of course, I'm not to keen on strategy RPGs, but Arc the Lad is a clear exception, I played every single one of them from beginning to end, I even like the disaster that was End of Darkness
You've unburied my early teenhood of playing Arc The Lad: Twilight Spirits, I borrowed that from my twin brother and I used to skip school just to play it. I can't remember if I beat it, but I remember getting pretty far in it.
Will always remember Lufia 2, if only for the challenge of the Ancient Cave. Would like see another game in the series done better with some new twist in the setting, like maybe a human-Sinistral hybrid is born.
Show that love to Atelier Iris 1 and 2. They are gems and the best in the series in my opinion. Not a fan of the new formula for the games in the series and I wish that Gust would make an Atelier title similar to the Iris games.
I just got my hands on atelier iris 1 and 2! I got atelier Iris 3 from my first part time job picking strawberries around age 14! I loved it a lot, but never found 1 and 2 in stores nearby. I kinda forgot about it until I found my old PS2. And after looking around online, there was someone selling the two for 15 euros on our equivalent of craigslist! He even delivered it to me personally since I live close to his job! It was perfect 😊 I'm really loving 1 so far! But it'll be a while before I'll get into 2 🤭 I want to finish 1 first before heading into 2 ❤
If you're using JRPG to include non-turn based games, I think Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll definitly belongs on the list. Weird name, Koei game, seems like the perfect match for a forgotten about series. Then again, maybe nobody really heard of it, so they can't forget it in the first place!
I'm pleasantly surprised that Erick Landon has finally found a way to express himself in his videos without expletives and angry rants or even wild swearing. I don't mean that patronizingly, but after a long break - I needed that - I can finally enjoy his interesting output around my favorite games again. Before, the Rage mode was just too intensive for me. Thank you!
@@tryingtobebetter7235 agreed man It is a true gem to me however it’s unlikely to have a remaster since I think…to the world it is forgotten and the company believes it is not worth it
I can't say Arc the Lad 1-3 and Twilight of the Spirits are forgotten as they were re-released on PSN and TotS is also on PSNow for anyone to enjoy. While not yet confirmed, there's a slimmer of hope all 4 of them will get added to the revamp of PS+. With this new version of PS+, they'll add more classic games on it over time, so who knows when will they pop up.
Mana Khemia is still my favourite Atelier-esque game. I also love Ar Tonelico 2, if it counts as a more loose spin-off. I played them (and many others) during rehab after spine surgery, when I couldn't walk much or sit at all. Those games will forever have a very special place in my heart.
I never bought White Knight because at the time everyone was saying "eeehhh, they are OK". And yes, they were pushed as online compatible and it looked like yet one more attempt to revolutionize JRPG during the PS3 years, while all the actual JRPG were being released on low hardware power handhelds. When I think forgotten I think: Front Mission (usually met with "ooohhh yeeeaaahh! I remember those!") Granstream Saga Quest 64 Dawn of Mana (might be considered a platformer I guess) PTO2 and PTO4 (more of a strategy rpg) If we want to talk more modern stuff, 13 Sentinals Aegis Rim seems to have come and gone and no one paid much attention If we expand to PC there are a lot of games, but the King's Quest series I think is fading to time.
Love the low key style of your channel. Just a smart dude talking about good games. I really appreciate all the hard work and I’ve been getting a ton of great JRPG recommendations.
Golden Sun: "hold my beer". Nintendo really fucked it up big time with this series, letting it rot in their basement. It's always so undervalued and underepresented.
I remember being disappointed by Blue Dragon, but I had been falling out of love JRPGs at the time. I was focused on Halo and Gears of War. I'm sure it would have found an audience on a different console.
That blue drago was a huge investment and a huge success in japam, spamming trading card games with it own toys, figures, light novels and mangas(not drawn by toriyama) and even a cafe, crazy how popular was
No matter how bad/mediocre a game is, I feel like no game should ever be forgotten. I can't stand it when things become lost to time and become lost media. I value preservation.
I love Blue Dragon, the class system was really fun and addicting to use as you could combine skills from every class with every character, each character was better for some stuff obviously, a mage wasn't really going to be a good melee attacker for example, but those classes could offer good passives/skills for the mage, and had some good gameplay mechanics that baffles me how no other, at least that I know of, has used again, like being able to use a spell/attack immediately or charge it for 1,2, etc turns and deal more damage, same thing with heals, buffs and debuffs, using them immediately would make them single target, but charging them would make them AoEs, the size depending on how much you charged them. I know its wishful thinking, but I hope MS releases a PC port some day. The last boss theme, "The Seal is Broken" is one of Uematsu best works too.
13:47 Been playing Atelier games for about five years and I've only played as far back as 'Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland,' when looking at other games in the series these stood out and I can't wait to play them myself if ever they get ported.
Atelier Iris 2 and 3 (didn't get 1) are imo the best Atelier games imo followed by Mana Khemia (do got both) imo due to the stories feeling more generic good vs evil with it's story (especially with Iris 2) in comparison to the other games that focus too much on more personal issues/slice of life imo. Ryza 1 kinda brought back some indications of this with it's enemy and how said enemy could put Ryza's town at risk but still didn't give the epic feel that Iris 2 gave imo. As for Shining Force Exa ya it was a good game as well, unlike most Shining fans though I never played the turn based games and only the action games so I do not have the whole 'feel like Sega betrayed me due to swapping battle systems' stance they push half the time. Honestly along with Shining Tears I should go back and play Exa sometime.
I just downloaded Blue Dragon on my xbox a few weeks ago. It's one one of the only games my wife has ever liked enough to complete, and I thought it was time to try it.
I had a good chuckle when Shining Force CD came up, because I just played that during my lunch break while work from home! lol. Thank god for the MiSTer. What a wonderful device.
I liked White Knight Chronicles. The music was incredible. Also, I'm curious where Shining Tears fits in to the Force Neo and Force EXA timeline. As in, when in relation to those games was it released?
Pleased I’ve still got Alundra and Blue Dragon. One ultra obscure one I’ve got that I’ve never heard anyone mention ever is Cross Edge on PS3. Really cool game.
Well, these games surely are forgotten JRPGs, some hidden gems others not so much. The positive thing about this is that these games are usuamly dirt cheap, physically and digital (like Arc the Lad is on PSN Store and usually in sale)
Shining Force and Arc The Lad are two of my favorite series ever. They still hold up to this day imo. Phantasy Star, atleast the 4th one, does too. What happens to Alys hits harder than Aeirth to me.
As I recall the first two Arc the Lad games had a digital release on PSN for PS3 and PSP/Vita. Now, if you want something really obscure, anyone remember Ar Tonelico Qoga? It was one of the first RPGs where synchronising your actions to the music mattered. (You could manage without, but syncing gave you some major advantages.) Or Cross Edge... even I barely remember Cross Edge, and I played the thing.
I want to play Ar Tonelico Qoga but I only have ps3 for games that it's on so could only play Knell of Ar Ciel and Cross Edge expensive so I'm good on that lmao
Chronicles 2 made me ragequit after I got completely walled at pretty much the first major boss since it included the worst parts of an escort mission as well and I could NEVER keep that damned girl alive.
just gonna drop a shout out on The Last Story on Wii good game with a nice romance story and great ost from Nobuo Uematsu (and the game gave me FF8 vibes which i also unironically loved despite its flaws) game got very overshadowed by Xenoblade as part of Project Rainfall
Wow, I've actually heard of all these games. Haven't played all (or even most of) them though. As for the ones I did play, I actually really liked Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology. Was disappointed to find out that there were two more after it but they never got released outside of Japan. =(
I actually have a copy of Alundra. Havent played it yet though. But looking forward of trying it out eventually. Its on my ever growing backlog. And it hasnt gotten smaller since I found this channel :D
I'd throw Lunar 1 and 2 up there. Another RPG series with an absolute gem of a translation from Working Designs. I still find myself going back to the Sega CD to play those, especially 2, which was absolutely fantastic. Yeah, they got remakes elsewhere, Lunar 1 got remake after remake, with the GBA and PSP versions being different from the PS1 and especially the Sega CD version. But the originals just had that special charm to them, that makes me value them above the others. Since you mentioned Shining Force CD, that one NEEDS to get a port somewhere. So, the game essentially had 3 scenarios. You had to beat the first two ports of the Game Gear version before being able to tackle the 3rd. What sucks, and the big reason it definitely needs a port somewhere, is that the save files were massive. Sega CD has some internal memory for saving games (Not sure why that wasn't standard on CD consoles, having to buy a console plus a memory card just to save sucks). The amount was alright but Shining Force CD's data took up essentially all the memory the system had. And, let's face it, you're not dedicating all the memory you had on your console to a single game's save file. So, were essentially forced to buy a memory expansion for the Sega CD so you could hold more saves. I never saw one, probably because the Sega CD wasn't that popular and most people opted to just delete save data rather than buy a memory card that cost about as much as a game.
Alundra is so, next level special to me, I can’t even properly explain it. One my top 5 favorites of all time. There will probably never be another that’s like it, not in the same way, not with that same “special something” that brought Alundra together into what it was. It’s cool to see Shining Force get some attention. I always hoped for a compilation of all of them in one package. At least the Sega Genesis, Game Gear and Sega CD titles. Even better to throw Shining Wisdom in there.
Shoutout to Blue Dragon: That was the very first game for the X360 I got all achievements in. I played through the game multiple times so all party members could have the best equipment including accessories that could be acquired once per play through, challenging the DLC dungeon on Impossible mode-heck, the entire game on Impossible with max level party and shadow ranks was the perfect balance, and just enjoying the experience. Cheers for Mistwalker both for Blue Dragon and even more so for Lost Odyssey.
@@ericmeiring2512 End of Darkness was one of the worst games I've ever played. It's borderline unplayable. I don't know how they managed to go from one of the best to one of the worst from one game to another like that but they did. It's quite the feat actually.
Alter Iris 1 2 and Mana Khemia 1 and 2 were some of the few games i 100% completed back then. (we dont talk about Alter Iris 3) Still have my physical copies (including 3 T.T), those games were absolutely amazing. a few years after, when i tried to play another Alter game all i could do was laugh and say "what is this????" couldnt bring myself to play the series ever again.
Hilarious fact! I've been listening to the Alundra OST in my car at the moment because my commercial music MP3 Player is glitching out so I put my secondary MP3 Player on and that has mostly video game OSTs on it. It's actually one of those games I play again every so often...once I've forgotten the answers to the puzzles so I could solve them again. The Lufia series is another I take down and play from time to time. At least just the original trilogy. Like Alundra, it's usually after I forgot the answers to the puzzles in Lufia 2. It's also one of the things that helped me through the early months of 2020 along with the Trials of Mana Remake. I definitely enjoyed the Atelier Iris subseries. Enjoyed the stories and characters, and having a more traditional RPG like experience alongside the synthesis from the earlier games.
So two more Shining Force games?! Never knew! Loved them back then. Nowadays it might be hard to get into older games. Might give it a go if I find a decent emulator.
For White Knight chronicles one design choice I do not understand is why did they have a character creator if the created character is not the main character
Lufia 3 (The Legend Returns) is most definitely NOT a prequel. It is in fact the last game chronologically, as it's where the Sinistrals are destroyed for good. Not sure how someone can confuse it for a prequel when the opening text scrawl literally summarizes the first two games in past tense.
Thank you for remembering the Iris games I’ve been hoping for a rerelease of them or something. If they put them out digitally on modern it would be a shut up and take my money situation pretty quick. Then again the vintage game market being so volatile the past two years has crushed my hopes of buying a ps2 and just rebuying them
Another problem of White Knight Chronicles was that the time between transforming into teh knights was to long, becoming a giant knight and fighting against giant enemies and obliterating smaller ones was fun, but it took so long to charge that at most time I was unable to do it more than once per zone.
Think it was something like an EB Games or Electronic Arts Mag. Where I first saw FF7 which is why I got the mag, but in it were some of the images of Arc the Lad in it. This was before FF VII dropped and I wanted Arc the Lad more. It looked better to me back then and it still does now.
What?! No they didn't...Shining Force III is on the Sega Saturn. The problem is the game is sold in 3 parts and the only one that was translated was the first part, officially. You can get fan translations of the other two parts and man is it amazing.
People saying Alundra was a Zelda clone used to really upset me back in the day. Such a surface-level analysis. Purists concerned about Working Designs manipulating game difficulty, myself included, would be glad to know that there are patches that return everything to normal available for many of their games now. Alundra feels too easy with its native difficulty, if you ask me. Atelier peaked for me with Iris, Mana Khemia. I like to group in Ar tonelico, too. I still really enjoy the music, though. Lufia II is like the ancestor of those very fun puzzle dungeons with tool systems we would later have in Wild Arms and Golden Sun. RPGs need to bring that back. Arc the Lad 4 isn't really a reboot so much as a large time skip. As someone who doesn't really enjoy SRPGs, it's my favorite series. It somehow manages to feel fast. As for Blue Dragon and Xbox360, I believe that the failure is primarily a Japan-based rejection of the Xbox, which later fulfilled itself by tuning it into a RPG desert with most of the original 360 JRPGs being ported to PS3. I originally had a 360 before PS3 for Eternal Sonata and Mistwalker. PS3 used to have no games. It was even a meme. I think I only had like Folklore (which isn't an RPG, if I recall) and Valkyria Chronicles for a couple years before FFXIII finally came out. I don't think I got a game for 360 after Vesperia came out. I never forgot any of these games, but I agree that some definitely had more impact.
Oh shit Phantasy Star Portable, a surprsingly amazing great set of games despite the limited hardware. Yeah they are unfortunately ignored despite being my first exposure to the Phantasy Star series. Atelier Iris admittedly I knew about those gamss existence, but thats mainly because of Ar Tonelico since they did look similar.
I would replace either Blue Dragon or Lufia 2 with La Pucelle Tactics. Even their own developer keeps porting every single other game they have created outside of La Pucelle.
It's not just a port it has the best version the Japanese version had extra content that the American version didn't get. If it's like phantom brave. The wii and PC both had different versions with extra content the switch version has both versions and all content. They have done the same with makai kingdom, we got the Reclaimed & Rebound. It was the Japanese version with extra content. I haven't played vol 2 yet but vol one had extra options that the PC version had to give smoother pixels and anti-alis. So switch la pucelle would be great remaster.
As a fan, I certainly haven't forgotten about Lufia 1 and 2. They killed the franchise with lackluster follow-up titles and trying to "modernize" it with miserable results. They should've gotten an HD-2D remake, *that* would have been amazing. Arc the Lad is a mixed bad but Twilight of the Spirits was amazing. Atelier is love or hate, I think I've been following it since Iris so I'm biased as hell, lol. I don't care for the girly vibe as people call it, I just think it's generally relaxing.
Personally I feel like Tokyo Xanadu is gonna wind up in here. It's an JRPG that I think is pretty awesome. And I certainly do not think it deserves to be forgotten.
I will never forget Lufia II. It's the first video game to make me cry. That ending.....
A series with a great heart.
I’m not even go lie I’ve played plenty of rpgs in my life and I never heard of growlanser until I started watching this channel. 😂
Yep, he’s certainly the connoisseur
That was a great PS1 game. I still have my Physical copy of that game.
It’s a pretty niche series, pretty average too IMO lol
I've seen the psp one that's it
I love all the growlansers I found 2&3 combo for ps2 randomly and was instantly hooked for the series
Considering the angle of this video, this forgotten series could have multiple parts. Because of a resurgence of tactical appreciation (Triangle Strategy, Fire Emblem, FFT Remaster talk and others) remastering or bringing back Arc the Lad seems like a good idea. If they could remaster/remake or put out a new game fitting its own success originally, Id bet people would take notice of it more now than maybe a few years ago.
I'd also add some games that got localized out of nowhere, like The Legend of Ghost Lion for the NES; nobody remembers games like that pretty much. Naturally, the most obscure stuff is usually JP-exclusive, as it's only accessible by a very small number of people outside of the country itself, but that's obvious.
What do you mean with resurgence? I feel like they never went away and were always present. Since the days of the PSP whenever i saw a interesting cover it was a damn strategy rpg.
I've never forgotten Lufia! Once in awhile, I go back and play the original four games.
Alundra is pretty much my favorite Adventure RPG ever, Zelda and it's series is merely second.
I recently cleared Shining Force Exa and you're entirely correct we all know every single Tales games even those we never touched. I also never played this game.
Atelier Iris, my favorite trilogy in the franchise.
And of course, I'm not to keen on strategy RPGs, but Arc the Lad is a clear exception, I played every single one of them from beginning to end, I even like the disaster that was End of Darkness
Alundra for life.
You've unburied my early teenhood of playing Arc The Lad: Twilight Spirits, I borrowed that from my twin brother and I used to skip school just to play it. I can't remember if I beat it, but I remember getting pretty far in it.
Will always remember Lufia 2, if only for the challenge of the Ancient Cave. Would like see another game in the series done better with some new twist in the setting, like maybe a human-Sinistral hybrid is born.
Show that love to Atelier Iris 1 and 2. They are gems and the best in the series in my opinion. Not a fan of the new formula for the games in the series and I wish that Gust would make an Atelier title similar to the Iris games.
As Erick said, Mana Khemia are more obscure than the Iris-trilogy but I honestly believe Khemia are the peak of those era.
@@birifumi I cannot comment as I've never played them but of the series i have played Iris is my favorite by leaps and bounds.
I just got my hands on atelier iris 1 and 2! I got atelier Iris 3 from my first part time job picking strawberries around age 14! I loved it a lot, but never found 1 and 2 in stores nearby. I kinda forgot about it until I found my old PS2. And after looking around online, there was someone selling the two for 15 euros on our equivalent of craigslist! He even delivered it to me personally since I live close to his job! It was perfect 😊
I'm really loving 1 so far! But it'll be a while before I'll get into 2 🤭 I want to finish 1 first before heading into 2 ❤
If you're using JRPG to include non-turn based games, I think Trinity: Souls of Zill O'll definitly belongs on the list. Weird name, Koei game, seems like the perfect match for a forgotten about series. Then again, maybe nobody really heard of it, so they can't forget it in the first place!
Jrpg is not just turned based games
I'm pleasantly surprised that Erick Landon has finally found a way to express himself in his videos without expletives and angry rants or even wild swearing.
I don't mean that patronizingly, but after a long break - I needed that - I can finally enjoy his interesting output around my favorite games again. Before, the Rage mode was just too intensive for me.
Thank you!
Radiata stories and sky’s of Arcadia, I don’t know if they could be considered forgotten but I love them both and they needed a shout out!
Radiata stories is one of the best selling ps2 game, sure they are forgotten now but they were famous back then.
@@-AG. thought the list was about games that are forgotten now personally I think it still holds up well and would love a remaster!
I love Radiata Stories. I think everyone adores Skies.
@@tryingtobebetter7235 agreed man It is a true gem to me however it’s unlikely to have a remaster since I think…to the world it is forgotten and the company believes it is not worth it
I can't say Arc the Lad 1-3 and Twilight of the Spirits are forgotten as they were re-released on PSN and TotS is also on PSNow for anyone to enjoy.
While not yet confirmed, there's a slimmer of hope all 4 of them will get added to the revamp of PS+.
With this new version of PS+, they'll add more classic games on it over time, so who knows when will they pop up.
Would've replaced blue dragon with infinite undiscovery
I learned about a lot of great JRPGs from you & your channel. Have been collecting & playing plenty of RPGs ever since.
Mana Khemia is still my favourite Atelier-esque game. I also love Ar Tonelico 2, if it counts as a more loose spin-off. I played them (and many others) during rehab after spine surgery, when I couldn't walk much or sit at all. Those games will forever have a very special place in my heart.
Funny you mentioned White Knight Chronicles I'm actually replaying through the first one right now.
Even if it's not as forgotten, I was hoping the Shadow Hearts games would be on the list
It kind of is, and i did too.
I'd say Koudelka is itself more forgotten than Shadow Hearts.
I never bought White Knight because at the time everyone was saying "eeehhh, they are OK". And yes, they were pushed as online compatible and it looked like yet one more attempt to revolutionize JRPG during the PS3 years, while all the actual JRPG were being released on low hardware power handhelds.
When I think forgotten I think:
Front Mission (usually met with "ooohhh yeeeaaahh! I remember those!")
Granstream Saga
Quest 64
Dawn of Mana (might be considered a platformer I guess)
PTO2 and PTO4 (more of a strategy rpg)
If we want to talk more modern stuff, 13 Sentinals Aegis Rim seems to have come and gone and no one paid much attention
If we expand to PC there are a lot of games, but the King's Quest series I think is fading to time.
Tactics Ogre should also have a mention, as most people (even fans of Final Fantasy Tactics) do not know about this gem.
Love the low key style of your channel. Just a smart dude talking about good games. I really appreciate all the hard work and I’ve been getting a ton of great JRPG recommendations.
Golden Sun: "hold my beer". Nintendo really fucked it up big time with this series, letting it rot in their basement. It's always so undervalued and underepresented.
I remember being disappointed by Blue Dragon, but I had been falling out of love JRPGs at the time. I was focused on Halo and Gears of War. I'm sure it would have found an audience on a different console.
That blue drago was a huge investment and a huge success in japam, spamming trading card games with it own toys, figures, light novels and mangas(not drawn by toriyama) and even a cafe, crazy how popular was
No matter how bad/mediocre a game is, I feel like no game should ever be forgotten. I can't stand it when things become lost to time and become lost media. I value preservation.
SAME.
I love Blue Dragon, the class system was really fun and addicting to use as you could combine skills from every class with every character, each character was better for some stuff obviously, a mage wasn't really going to be a good melee attacker for example, but those classes could offer good passives/skills for the mage, and had some good gameplay mechanics that baffles me how no other, at least that I know of, has used again, like being able to use a spell/attack immediately or charge it for 1,2, etc turns and deal more damage, same thing with heals, buffs and debuffs, using them immediately would make them single target, but charging them would make them AoEs, the size depending on how much you charged them. I know its wishful thinking, but I hope MS releases a PC port some day. The last boss theme, "The Seal is Broken" is one of Uematsu best works too.
Better than bravely default
dude fr you are one of my favorite youtubers, keep up with the good content!
I was just playing “Lufia 2” this morning! Can’t wait until I get a Steam Deck so I can play it (and other old school JRPG’s on PS1, PS2, etc)!
If possible you could try using an emulator that plays SNES games.
13:47 Been playing Atelier games for about five years and I've only played as far back as 'Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland,' when looking at other games in the series these stood out and I can't wait to play them myself if ever they get ported.
Prior to Iris, they are actually more similar to how they are now.
Atelier Iris 2 and 3 (didn't get 1) are imo the best Atelier games imo followed by Mana Khemia (do got both) imo due to the stories feeling more generic good vs evil with it's story (especially with Iris 2) in comparison to the other games that focus too much on more personal issues/slice of life imo. Ryza 1 kinda brought back some indications of this with it's enemy and how said enemy could put Ryza's town at risk but still didn't give the epic feel that Iris 2 gave imo.
As for Shining Force Exa ya it was a good game as well, unlike most Shining fans though I never played the turn based games and only the action games so I do not have the whole 'feel like Sega betrayed me due to swapping battle systems' stance they push half the time. Honestly along with Shining Tears I should go back and play Exa sometime.
@@hecatomb1864 jade coocoon and monster rancher was really unique back then when pokemon hasn't even exist yet, ahh childhood..
I kinda hope we get full fan-translations of Radient Mythology 2 and 3. They have .ore characters and more importantly, more polished controls
I just downloaded Blue Dragon on my xbox a few weeks ago. It's one one of the only games my wife has ever liked enough to complete, and I thought it was time to try it.
I feel that breath of fire has been long forgotten
I had a good chuckle when Shining Force CD came up, because I just played that during my lunch break while work from home! lol. Thank god for the MiSTer. What a wonderful device.
I liked White Knight Chronicles. The music was incredible.
Also, I'm curious where Shining Tears fits in to the Force Neo and Force EXA timeline. As in, when in relation to those games was it released?
Pleased I’ve still got Alundra and Blue Dragon. One ultra obscure one I’ve got that I’ve never heard anyone mention ever is Cross Edge on PS3. Really cool game.
I think Rudra no Hihou (Treasure of Rudra) is a JRPG that should not be forgotten as well. Hope SquareEnix will release a port of the game one day
I'm surprised to not see Rogue Galaxy and Mystic Ark in any of these forgotten games videos.
I love White Knight Chronicles! I play it very couple of years
Well, these games surely are forgotten JRPGs, some hidden gems others not so much. The positive thing about this is that these games are usuamly dirt cheap, physically and digital (like Arc the Lad is on PSN Store and usually in sale)
Shining Force and Arc The Lad are two of my favorite series ever. They still hold up to this day imo. Phantasy Star, atleast the 4th one, does too. What happens to Alys hits harder than Aeirth to me.
As I recall the first two Arc the Lad games had a digital release on PSN for PS3 and PSP/Vita.
Now, if you want something really obscure, anyone remember Ar Tonelico Qoga? It was one of the first RPGs where synchronising your actions to the music mattered. (You could manage without, but syncing gave you some major advantages.)
Or Cross Edge... even I barely remember Cross Edge, and I played the thing.
I want to play Ar Tonelico Qoga but I only have ps3 for games that it's on so could only play Knell of Ar Ciel and Cross Edge expensive so I'm good on that lmao
I'm sure the first three Arc the Lad games (i.e. the PS1 titles) are all on the North American PS3's PSN Store.
I would mention Galerians and Shadow Hearts / Koudelka as forgotten series as well
OMG, galerians...That was sucha a fucked up game. I loved it.
Loved White Knight Chronciles, the thing that killed it for me though was the horrendous drop rate for items that allowed you to make good gear.
Chronicles 2 made me ragequit after I got completely walled at pretty much the first major boss since it included the worst parts of an escort mission as well and I could NEVER keep that damned girl alive.
just gonna drop a shout out on The Last Story on Wii
good game with a nice romance story and great ost from Nobuo Uematsu (and the game gave me FF8 vibes which i also unironically loved despite its flaws)
game got very overshadowed by Xenoblade as part of Project Rainfall
Wow, I've actually heard of all these games. Haven't played all (or even most of) them though. As for the ones I did play, I actually really liked Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology. Was disappointed to find out that there were two more after it but they never got released outside of Japan. =(
Yeah I was gonna grab tales of the world but when I realized I couldn't play them all I just didnt bother :/
I actually have a copy of Alundra. Havent played it yet though. But looking forward of trying it out eventually. Its on my ever growing backlog. And it hasnt gotten smaller since I found this channel :D
I'd throw Lunar 1 and 2 up there. Another RPG series with an absolute gem of a translation from Working Designs. I still find myself going back to the Sega CD to play those, especially 2, which was absolutely fantastic. Yeah, they got remakes elsewhere, Lunar 1 got remake after remake, with the GBA and PSP versions being different from the PS1 and especially the Sega CD version. But the originals just had that special charm to them, that makes me value them above the others.
Since you mentioned Shining Force CD, that one NEEDS to get a port somewhere. So, the game essentially had 3 scenarios. You had to beat the first two ports of the Game Gear version before being able to tackle the 3rd. What sucks, and the big reason it definitely needs a port somewhere, is that the save files were massive. Sega CD has some internal memory for saving games (Not sure why that wasn't standard on CD consoles, having to buy a console plus a memory card just to save sucks). The amount was alright but Shining Force CD's data took up essentially all the memory the system had. And, let's face it, you're not dedicating all the memory you had on your console to a single game's save file. So, were essentially forced to buy a memory expansion for the Sega CD so you could hold more saves. I never saw one, probably because the Sega CD wasn't that popular and most people opted to just delete save data rather than buy a memory card that cost about as much as a game.
Oh man, Alundra. What a great game, love it, finished it again last year and I will come back to play it this year.
tales of radiance is what even got me into the series
I kinda loved the way White Knight Chronicles played, i remember playing it a lot.
You forgot Wild Arms bro, that series almost be forgotten and went extinct now. Also i think Atelier Iris 3 was more underated than the first two.
That tales of the world Segway was golden. Love your vids Erick!!
@Erick - What's your take on those Kemco RPGs? I have played alot of them and LOVE the storylines of those games.
Oh I remember Radiant Mythology. They kept it going with the phone games bringing the Radiant Mythology characters and I played the game to death.
Alundra is so, next level special to me, I can’t even properly explain it. One my top 5 favorites of all time. There will probably never be another that’s like it, not in the same way, not with that same “special something” that brought Alundra together into what it was. It’s cool to see Shining Force get some attention. I always hoped for a compilation of all of them in one package. At least the Sega Genesis, Game Gear and Sega CD titles. Even better to throw Shining Wisdom in there.
With all those remastered collections showing up on the Switch, you would think that this would be an obvious choice. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!
@@craiganderson7986 Definitely! Would be sweet.
Shoutout to Blue Dragon:
That was the very first game for the X360 I got all achievements in. I played through the game multiple times so all party members could have the best equipment including accessories that could be acquired once per play through, challenging the DLC dungeon on Impossible mode-heck, the entire game on Impossible with max level party and shadow ranks was the perfect balance, and just enjoying the experience.
Cheers for Mistwalker both for Blue Dragon and even more so for Lost Odyssey.
Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits is one of the best games I've ever played. More people need to experience it.
I just bought end of darkness physically have never played that one but got twilight physically and on ps4
@@ericmeiring2512 End of Darkness was one of the worst games I've ever played. It's borderline unplayable. I don't know how they managed to go from one of the best to one of the worst from one game to another like that but they did. It's quite the feat actually.
3:46 i was like wtf is sephiroth doing in a tales of game!? Lol
Alter Iris 1 2 and Mana Khemia 1 and 2 were some of the few games i 100% completed back then. (we dont talk about Alter Iris 3) Still have my physical copies (including 3 T.T), those games were absolutely amazing. a few years after, when i tried to play another Alter game all i could do was laugh and say "what is this????" couldnt bring myself to play the series ever again.
Hilarious fact! I've been listening to the Alundra OST in my car at the moment because my commercial music MP3 Player is glitching out so I put my secondary MP3 Player on and that has mostly video game OSTs on it. It's actually one of those games I play again every so often...once I've forgotten the answers to the puzzles so I could solve them again.
The Lufia series is another I take down and play from time to time. At least just the original trilogy. Like Alundra, it's usually after I forgot the answers to the puzzles in Lufia 2. It's also one of the things that helped me through the early months of 2020 along with the Trials of Mana Remake.
I definitely enjoyed the Atelier Iris subseries. Enjoyed the stories and characters, and having a more traditional RPG like experience alongside the synthesis from the earlier games.
Breath of Fire, Grandia, Shadow Hearts, Wild Arms 😞😞
Arc tonilico and resonance of fate I never hear mentioned
I just played the Atelier Iris series and Mana Khemia 1 and 2. They were pretty great :)
I love blue dragon, it's the game that got me into playing rpgs beyond pokemon, so I have fond memories of the game
So two more Shining Force games?! Never knew! Loved them back then. Nowadays it might be hard to get into older games. Might give it a go if I find a decent emulator.
I played the Shining Force one on gamegear. It had a problem where it would lose the save data periodically.
I loved the Working Design games back in the day
I recently got all of the Atelier ps2 games and then this video comes around, what a coincidence!
Lufia by no means should be on this list. Its almost always on a top 10 rpg for its console today. And lufia 5, what you didn't mention is awesome
For White Knight chronicles one design choice I do not understand is why did they have a character creator if the created character is not the main character
Little bit modified "It serves to be forgotten.. buried deep in the ground.. never to be found again.. until some day in year 2023.. :-) "
Lufia 3 (The Legend Returns) is most definitely NOT a prequel. It is in fact the last game chronologically, as it's where the Sinistrals are destroyed for good.
Not sure how someone can confuse it for a prequel when the opening text scrawl literally summarizes the first two games in past tense.
Thank you for remembering the Iris games I’ve been hoping for a rerelease of them or something. If they put them out digitally on modern it would be a shut up and take my money situation pretty quick.
Then again the vintage game market being so volatile the past two years has crushed my hopes of buying a ps2 and just rebuying them
Alundra has always looked so awesome. Wish I could afford a copy!
Blue Dragon was on sale not super long ago on the xbox live store. I bought it for 5 bucks but haven't played it yet.
"Just kidding guys, the real #1 is Skies of Arcadia" lol jp man, great vid as usual
Another problem of White Knight Chronicles was that the time between transforming into teh knights was to long, becoming a giant knight and fighting against giant enemies and obliterating smaller ones was fun, but it took so long to charge that at most time I was unable to do it more than once per zone.
I saw Vandal Hearts in the intro and wasn't in the list 😭
Think it was something like an EB Games or Electronic Arts Mag. Where I first saw FF7 which is why I got the mag, but in it were some of the images of Arc the Lad in it. This was before FF VII dropped and I wanted Arc the Lad more. It looked better to me back then and it still does now.
Atelier escha and logy is the gold standard of atelier in mymopinion
Alundra is one of those few games that I really want a PS4/5 port of, even though it's quite unlikely to ever happen...
You named too many games I still remember and played recently dont know if I’m happy or sad
This is more like a list of my teenage games list love them all
My boi had white knight chronicles on the list, I truly appreciate that
MS Saga a New Dawn is a jrpg I've been playing a lot of recently. Criminally underrated in my opinion
you forgot Legend of Legaia, it was my first jrpg on psx, thats when all started for me
Alundra is one of my favorite ps1 games, ever. It so good!
The XENO SAGA series was forgotten and should be remade. I miss those games.
i always loved the shining force games and it breaks my heart they stoped the strategy games in the 16bit era
What?! No they didn't...Shining Force III is on the Sega Saturn. The problem is the game is sold in 3 parts and the only one that was translated was the first part, officially. You can get fan translations of the other two parts and man is it amazing.
@@Sinn0100 your right, completely forgot about that one
before watching video - shadow hearts needs to be on this list
Its not.
I am trully sad about it. SH1 and 2 are such fantastic games, 3 is kind of trainwreck.
acctually Lufia is my first RPG, then continue to Final fantasy, Chrono, etc. Will always remember Lufia and Lufia 2.
Really surprised Suikoden series, and Breath of Fire didn't make the list
People saying Alundra was a Zelda clone used to really upset me back in the day. Such a surface-level analysis. Purists concerned about Working Designs manipulating game difficulty, myself included, would be glad to know that there are patches that return everything to normal available for many of their games now. Alundra feels too easy with its native difficulty, if you ask me.
Atelier peaked for me with Iris, Mana Khemia. I like to group in Ar tonelico, too. I still really enjoy the music, though.
Lufia II is like the ancestor of those very fun puzzle dungeons with tool systems we would later have in Wild Arms and Golden Sun. RPGs need to bring that back.
Arc the Lad 4 isn't really a reboot so much as a large time skip. As someone who doesn't really enjoy SRPGs, it's my favorite series. It somehow manages to feel fast.
As for Blue Dragon and Xbox360, I believe that the failure is primarily a Japan-based rejection of the Xbox, which later fulfilled itself by tuning it into a RPG desert with most of the original 360 JRPGs being ported to PS3. I originally had a 360 before PS3 for Eternal Sonata and Mistwalker. PS3 used to have no games. It was even a meme. I think I only had like Folklore (which isn't an RPG, if I recall) and Valkyria Chronicles for a couple years before FFXIII finally came out. I don't think I got a game for 360 after Vesperia came out.
I never forgot any of these games, but I agree that some definitely had more impact.
Eternal Sonata was class.
Oh shit Phantasy Star Portable, a surprsingly amazing great set of games despite the limited hardware. Yeah they are unfortunately ignored despite being my first exposure to the Phantasy Star series.
Atelier Iris admittedly I knew about those gamss existence, but thats mainly because of Ar Tonelico since they did look similar.
I've heard Dual Hearts described as an Alundra spiritual successor. I've actually only played Dual Hearts but they both seem to share similar themes
I would replace either Blue Dragon or Lufia 2 with La Pucelle Tactics. Even their own developer keeps porting every single other game they have created outside of La Pucelle.
La Pucelle is being re-released as part of the third double Prinny classics pack along with Rhapsody.
Rhapsody a musicaly adventure. Now theres a game I havent thought about in years. Nice to see it's getting packaged with la Purcell tactics.
It's not just a port it has the best version the Japanese version had extra content that the American version didn't get. If it's like phantom brave. The wii and PC both had different versions with extra content the switch version has both versions and all content. They have done the same with makai kingdom, we got the Reclaimed & Rebound. It was the Japanese version with extra content. I haven't played vol 2 yet but vol one had extra options that the PC version had to give smoother pixels and anti-alis. So switch la pucelle would be great remaster.
@@ericmeiring2512 nice
As a fan, I certainly haven't forgotten about Lufia 1 and 2. They killed the franchise with lackluster follow-up titles and trying to "modernize" it with miserable results. They should've gotten an HD-2D remake, *that* would have been amazing. Arc the Lad is a mixed bad but Twilight of the Spirits was amazing. Atelier is love or hate, I think I've been following it since Iris so I'm biased as hell, lol. I don't care for the girly vibe as people call it, I just think it's generally relaxing.
So these games all have been brought up in conversations I've had rather recently. Good list of games, though, lol.
Personally I feel like Tokyo Xanadu is gonna wind up in here.
It's an JRPG that I think is pretty awesome. And I certainly do not think it deserves to be forgotten.
Falcom is massively popular. I don't think most things with their name are at risk, thank goodness.
@@tryingtobebetter7235 Well, you'll never know. Even things made under the popularity can still be forgotten.
@@Nosoulnopower This is true, but probably not in our lifetimes. Preservation starts now.
@@tryingtobebetter7235 What Preservation?
Now thats sad forgotten by its fans moree power to the people that emulates this lost games that are forgotten