You know what trope I hate in JRPGs? The smell ya later trope. A major villain character brags about being better than you, is a tough fight but you canonically have to win, then they run off claiming your victory a fluke or something (holding back, or next time they'll be serious, or even how could I lose). And this little tussle happens more than twice. Like, by the third time, I don't find the person intimidating anymore. I want antagonists that are scary. When I've beaten them a few times, they are less scary the next time.
One trope I love is when things finally start playing in your favor, that one song starts playing during the cutscene, and when a battle starts... the song continues! And the song doesn't change until you complete that sequence!
I hate the story trope, when a character knows something is wrong but does not tell anybody. They ask him if anything is wrong and the characters just say "No, everything is alright".
Dude, I _know_ I've seen this one a million times in games, but just can't remember specific instances to substantiate my complaint. It was actually already written as "Just talk already!" in the script, but I kept drawing a blank. This one is sooo frustrating when you eventually do bump into it though! >.
@@Yuzu_8829 In fairness to Tifa, she was worried what telling Cloud might do to him. She could already tell he had a fragile psyche (headaches and the belief he was in a place she didn't think he was, talking about stuff that she knew didn't happen to him). She was worried about what the truth might do to his mind.
I’m only okay with losing in a cutscene after victory if they make it clear that the villain was either forced into a desperation move, was impressed and had to stop holding back, or pulled a last minute dirty trick since they couldn’t beat you fairly.
This is one I haven't seen too often, but I bet I'd love the idea! I think Final Fantasy X had the rival summoner party that was a really good way to motivate the team! I suppose the Pokémon games kind of had that? But I'm struggling to think of others at the moment.
@@vorathiel12345 I was thinking BG1 & 2 were my immediate thoughts! I also use that idea all the time in my irl DnD games as well. JRPGs Im thinking of are Baten Kaitos, some of the Tales games. Even the Trails games have some!
@@SuperDerek I know some of the Tales games has them, Baten Kaitos has rival party you sorta fight through out the game. The Trails games as well! they're usually highly antagonistic, but I love concept of "adventurers" having different goals whether "good" or "bad" clashing with the main characters. I believe Golden Sun 2 sorta has this concept as well ? I could be wrong, its been awhile. I also love using this concept in my Dungeon and Dragon sandbox campaigns, usually the rival party is actually real people just playing in my DnD world at different sessions. It can get heated haha, especially when they meet up.
I also love prison escapes, as long as I don't need to manually re-equip all my stuff once I've retrieved it. Sometimes I've had stuff equipped for so long that I've forgotten my exact loadout. Every type of game has that moment when you fight through 30 standard enemies and a huge boss, then a cut scene in the next room forces you all the surrender to 4 standard enemies that you've beaten already: 'Oh no, we are completely surrounded! Lay down you weapons'.
I don't like the "power of friendship" as a story element but I love it as a gameplay mechanic. Where you have access to all the characters chip in and take down the final boss together or they help in their own unique way. Although, with careful execution the "power of friendship" can be great, as long as it isn't a get of out of jail free card.
Definitely agree there! I appreciate it as a mechanic, where the gameplay informs the character growth or interpersonal relationship development. It's only when it shows up out of nowhere to save the day that my gears get grinded the most.
I think the Combat Links from the Trails series are a good example of this as a gameplay mechanic. The team attacks get stronger the closer the bond between the characters is. As a story element it's gotten a bit old. I don't really hate it, but I've watched so many anime in my life that I'm just used to it. It's part of my worldview that friendship is the most powerful force in the universe that can overcome everything and even destroy dark gods. That's just a fact, I've learned to accept. And when I start a new JRPG, I fully expect to see this to at least some degree.
One trope I really hate is when the entire party barely interact with each other aside from the protagonist, doubly so if said protagonist is a blank slate avatar. Like, I don't need these character's lives to just revolve around the protagonist, especially since the protagonist is 95% of the time the least interesting character in the party.
I love the Escalating Stakes Trope! They are almost ubiquitous with the genre, but I always love to look back on to compare. Shin Megami Tensei, getting your mom coffee evolves into killing your best friends and God. Xenoblade Chronicles, helping the people of Colony 9 by the end is rejecting becoming a God yourself. Trails in the Sky, going to search a sewer for a package which eventually ends up with thwarting a coup d'état to take over the government and discovering a grand conspiracy with a secret evil society controlling things behind the scenes.
The tropes I hate are 1. You are The Chosen One 2. Real boss comes out at like the 90% mark and the villian youve been fighting the whole game becomes just another fodder enemy who was actualy being controlled by the bigger badder evil 3. Main character loses his resolve because of something insignificant 4. Bad dungeouns that dont offer any puzzles 5. 99 items limit
I kinda like the idea of someone "earning" the title of chosen one, or becomming/fulfilling that role. But I hate the idea of someone just being "chosen," like out of a hat.
Hard agree on 99 items limit, and unlimited inventory space as well. You could potentially add to it HP/MP restoration after each battle. Dungeons should be designed to slowly whittle your resources down.
My favorite part of any JRPG is the beginning, when everything starts very simple and humble, where you don't deal high damage or have a million spells. Instead every single encounter is almost a fight over life and death. But then you level up a bit and the tables start turning. I love that. Specifically Dragon Warrior/Quest IV was really awesome in that regard. I loved the first four chapters.
Great video and really neat topic actually! Lots of things that are overdone but I still enjoy in JRPGs, but oh man, the amnesia thing has gotta stop LOL
Thank you Paige! I can't remember the last game I played where someone _didn't_ lose their memories. I mean, I'm sure it's recent, I ...just can't remember.
The worst trope is the good guys not killing the bad guy even though the bad guys commit genocides. Im looking at the Turks and the Shinra bosses of Final Fantasy 7. And also Don Corneo, the Jeff Epstein of the game who is treated like a comic relief baddie.
Yeah, that whole "If I kill this guy who made it their life's purpose to kill _millions_ of people, I'll be no better than _him!"_ trope is such a cop out.
@@SuperDerek and we know why they do that. To have a returning villain they can re use over and over. Cause if all the villains died in Midgar, what would you fight in the rest of disc 1 and disc 2-3? Only Sephiroth and Genova?
OG FF7 the Turks always manage to get away and the party gets the information out of Corneo before he tosses them in the sewer. Also pretty sure the Turks finish Corneo off in Wutai if you do the Wutai sidequest with Yuffie.
Trails is my favorite series, but Losing when I win is seriously making me grind my teeth sometimes. I don't actually mind the "can't remember" trope though.
I used to like Trails until every other battle just ends with someone jumping in to save you, and the enemy to go "fufu, I must now retreat." Just kills any potential for tension or stakes.
I've always hated the "Logan's Run" trope where all the characters are plucky young teenagers with almost zero experience but in a couple weeks are somehow the ultimate warriors and only hope of saving the world. And I dunno if it's a trope per se but jrpgs with tedious and intricate sequences of actions and choices that basically force you to follow a guide the whole time to get the "good" ending takes all the enjoyment out of just playing a game. One I love though is lost ancient tech/civilizations that were impossibly more advanced. Call that one the "Atlantis" trope lol. Even better if there's a floating continent/temple/castle somewhere in the mix. 🥰
Atlantis trope would be more interesting if they explained why the civilization became lost and forgotten. I'm talking Planet of the Apes levels of explanation.
Here are RPG cliches that I hate: * Personal eye for an eye (V***eance): It had been so OVERDONE!! And NOT just in videogames. there is NOTHING I HATE more than personal eye for an eye! After all, eye for an eye makes the universe blind! * Overly complicated dungeons * Forced failure: The in-game battles that are unwinnable, because of the plot reasons. Then JUST MAKE THEM INTO CUTSCENES INSTEAD if the player wasn't supposed to win!1-hit KO opponents in role-playing games * 1-hit KO opponents: They are so unfair! * Permanently missable items * Annoying stealth missions * No clear objective about where to go and what to do * Level restrictions for equipment: I had enough of that annoying cliché, especially in role playing games. *Tedious mandatory minigames *The higher the playable character’s level is in a Role-Playing Game, the less the experience points do the (usually weaker) opponents drop. * Generators in action role-playing games that constantly spawn opponents without limits, usually making the playable characters overwhelmed, so much so that it could soft-lock the game. * Opponents that level up with the playable character(s), making the level up pointless! * The evil protagonist that supposed to be quote on quote “good”, but does evil actions. * The antagonist that spares a character, especially the protagonist instead of killing it. Being a very foolish decision as that is usually the downfall of the antagonist that spared a certain character. * Protagonist's home village being burnt by an imperial army * An antagonist empire (being also technologically advanced), always the "imperial army" being antagonists, while those who are "good" just have a Kingdom or a village. * Darkness being portrayed as "evil", while light being portrayed as "good": I had enough of this overused cliche! * An “ancient” antagonist that was sealed away (usually for thousands of years) without being permanently destroyed. * The act of anarchism (li**ration): Just NO! I had enough of that cliche! Cliches that I like: * Elemental attributes: Especially elements of Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Dark, Light, Electricity, Ice, Plant, and even Metal! * A non-evil and non-annoying antagonist with good motives that gets away, not being properly defeated. * Mimic Chests (If done in a good way) * Being able to recruit monsters as allies
Power of Friendship is one of my favorite tropes and I still cheer everytime an underdog hero or team of heroes finds strength they didn't know they had because they believed in each other. That stuff is like candy to my soul. My favorite usage of it is probably Xenoblade 2, where not only do they address it with a playful tone, but the villain team *also* has the power of friendship. Another I love is the party of weird funky fellas. Characters like Red XIII, Mog, Koromaru, Peco or Chuchu just add some fun, variety and spice to a party that really makes the squad stand out. And I'll throw in one I dislike: The fated/desinted hero or someone who's a reincarnated hero and that's why they're gonna save the world. Not only is it rote, but it feels like it takes away from the hero's agency in not only their story but their life which, ironically, makes them feel like much less of a hero
Ooh some tropes I love from my favorite genre, huh? I'm with you on transformations! One of my first experiences with that is the dragon clans or the Brood in Breath of Fire. This is actually my favorite way to portray dragons even though I know it's not the norm. Now I know a lot of people dislike the next one I will mention, but I don't mind silent protagonist at all. Now I know some might just say the character is actually mute, but we do see them respond. And for me, it's not just the ability to feel more in the lead's shoes. BoF 3 for example. Like Ryu as a kid, we can clearly see how he reacts to things. Even changing how he swings a blade at a particular plot point. For me, I just assume these characters don't talk much, unless we are told otherwise. Heck Suikoden clearly shows that, especially in the second game's flashback. I also really love improbable weapons. Ones that wouldn't make sense on their own, but the game let's you use them. Miitopia is a good example of this as a lot of the upgraded weapons can be a bit odd, but I love the heck out of them! The pizza fan a Princess can use is one of my favorites! Or one for a thief? Just a fish! Can you take it seriously? No, but I love the heck out of these! Now what you called Just Reasons, which includes the power of friendship.... I'm a bit of a sap, but I don't care if it doesn't make sense. Something about these scenes just move me in ways. I will admit some are just like 'what?' But there are others that don't bother me when it does happen. But I 100% understand hating it! I'm weird with amnesia as well. I get hating this trope, but I use it as way to get to know the person they are becoming now, not the one they were before. But I will admit not remembering something at certain points, looking at you Dekar, can cause me to face palm. Note, I like Dekar but wow that moment where he saves you and then totally forgets how to do a puzzle he had to have cleared himself? Still like Lufia 2 though! If I had to mention one I personally hate or dislike the most... Spells or abilities that cost HP to use. I've largely accepted it, but I really don't like this. Like I am already worrying about my health because of enemies attacking me. Do I have to cause damage to myself? Paladin's Quest for me was when I realized I hated this. Back when I was kid, I wouldn't always be thinking and sometimes would cast spells like crazy because I love magic! But an NPC early on explains there is no MP. Only HP. The one time where it was easy to accept for me was the Rune of Punishment from Suikoden 4. There was a story reason for it. Cecil using dark powers as well in Final Fantasy 4 I think explained it at the time too. But yeah, now that I am older, I know you can't cast spells willy nilly. I just don't want to lose my HP when using a skill or spell. I will use these if I have to, but I won't be happy about it.
Alright, that Power of Friendship thing _can_ make sense if done right though! Like, if they build it up over time. It's just those last-minute things where it shows up to save the day that drives me up a wall! :)
I think a great example is dragonquest 8 where you beat all the wolves easily and the hero just stands there while the grandma sacrifices herself. Or you beat dog rapthorne and just allow yourself to be arrested and the staff to possess someone else.
Holy hell you are so right. So many times throughout the Trails series you'll fight and seemingly beat a particularly difficult boss and then in the cut scene afterwards suddenly they stand back up and are ready to go another round. That franchise relies on that trope WAY too much.
Include "Ha, I only fought with 20% of my power". "What incredible power aura he got!" *beats party to a pulp in a cutscene, even though you smacked the boss tremendously in a gameplay fight*
One of my favourite variations of the Ultimate Weapon trope is when you get a useless if not detrimental item or playable character and if you use them enough they become really strong. Examples would be the villager class from Fire Emblem or the Cursed Shield from Final Fantasy 6. I like it when the game rewards you after having you put yourself at a disadvantage. I also like the reverse trope of this. The Jagen trope where you have a super busted early game character that actually hurts you if you rely on them too much since they have bad stat growth and deny exp from your other characters.
I want to give a shoutout to the rival duel trope. The Songi fights in Legend of Legaia and the duel in Tales of Vesperia come to mind. I do have to say, I used to hate the jailbreak trope, but I'm noticing it less and less in rpg games and I've come to miss it. Vandal Hearts has my favorite jailbreak. Instead of your main character, it's a small handful of potentially weaker units and you get to play both them and the main squad saving them from execution.
I would like to hear the comment section’s opinions on games they consider examples of the “Because Reasons” trope. Derek didn’t throw any under the bus himself, so I’m curious.
I do like chapters. Your number 2 hated one is the one I was going to mention if you hadn't. Along this same line, is where your victory over a couple waves/groups of enemies is acknowledged, but "there are way too many of them" even if you could have easily handled another 100. It feels like there should be a ton of other plausible reasons you need to fall back that could have been used instead.
good list, a trope that i love in jrpg's is that the hero always starts as a sword user,or just uses a sword as a weapon for the entire game,and one that i truly HATE,when the villain's motivation is something like "destruction is the only path to salvation!" or something like that,i always see this motivation as if the writer couldn't come up with a good reason for the villain to be actually evil
one game that I think actually did the amnesiac trope well was Bravely Default. chances are you'll put the pieces together before the characters do, but by the time said character's past is revealed, I feel like the payoff was worth it
I remember in manakhemia 2 they did the "you can't even see how you lose" instead of the "you win. Just kidding" when trying to fight Flay Gunnar as a teacher lol
Definitely! As long as that power was previously established and maybe a part of the narrative, that's fine. It's the last minute, from left field occurrences that bug me the most. :)
Super Wholesome SuperDerek: I was really disappointed that Arthur didn't purge the nobles the second he pulled Excalibur from the stone, that wuss. I kid, I know what you meant, but the timing painted a massacre, lol.
My favorite jrpg troupe is meeting/fighting the previous hero that save the world. The only jrpg I know using this troupe is the tales series. It always give me a huge smile in my face when I meet/fight the previous hero.
Because reasons….yeah flashback to when I was playing Xenosaga 3. The game is amazing and it’s easily in my top 5 JRPGs of all time. But it was obvious the writers got themselves in a corner at one point where it was established for many hours that you were in the main characters dream but then coming out of the dream apparently what happened in there also affected the real world as well with no explanation. That’s the best example I’ve experienced with that and it really puts a stain on what would have been a “perfect” story otherwise.
For me: I love when devs put npcs dialogue changes overtime, like after several plot scenes. I dont like sudden boss difficulty hike, and you need grinding to overcome it.
I get a kick with the impostor trope. Someone pretending to be the hero and ruining your reputation. Skies of Arcadia and Dragon Quest come to mind. Great video!
The annoying comic relief animal/alien/chibi mascot character is one of my most hated tropes in anime and gaming. Think Teddy and Morgana from Persona 4 and 5, or the little Nopon's that accompany you from Xenoblade series.
Yeah I kinda hate how tropes suddenly got a negative connotation all of a sudden. I remember it wasn't that long ago when we all enjoyed looking at tropes in games and just thought it was a fun thing to recognize, but now people see it as some kind of lazy cop-out instead of 'proper' storytelling when it's probably impossible that any story element or idea hasn't already been invented by now. The only TRUELY new storytelling gimmick I've seen (at least that I know of) is Crosscode's where your character is nearly mute. Not that she's a silent protagonist, she's not. She's just nearly mute in a world that acts like if you were NOT a silent protagonist, it's actually pretty cool. In any case, there *IS* one trope I absolutely hate seeing, and that's the effing amnesia one. I think I hate it more than I justifiably should though because I'm a weirdo who likes FF4 more than 6, and I played these as a kid growing up, I didn't play them after they already became retro or classic, I played them new. But yeah, I liked 4 more than 6 and I didn't really like Terra much as a character. Then FF7 came out, Cloud has an amnesia-like thing too, and well, I didn't like cloud much either. Then FF8 came out, and EFFING EVERYONE has amnesia. *AND* Squall is such a immature cringe edgelord that I just coudln't get into the game and it actually RUINED my interest in JRPGS for a *LONG* time despite them being my absolute fave genre up to that point. Thank god I discovered xenogears years later (like 2 days before It got its greatest hits rerelease making me pay like 3x more for a copy than I would have had to if only I waited like 1 dang week. ARGH lol). Funny you mention the prison break thing on Chrono Trigger. It's not the fact that it's a prison break that bugs me, but it's the perfect example of my 2nd least fave trope, which is not nearly as bad as the first, but still bugs me. Is the whole barely a teeenager picks up a sword for the first time and is suddenly the bestest strongest swordsman in all the realm thing. Like Chrono isn't a soldier or a knight or a warrior. He's just some kid who has a wooden sword that is an even match for some carnival brawler bot meant for fun just a couple hours ago. And suddenly he is strong enough to bust thru prison guards, fight off the chancellor's royal guard, and defeat their ULTIMATE KINGDOM weapon the DRAGON TANK. I'm sorry. No. I just can't think Chrono trigger has epic story telling because epic means a slow believably build up from the mundane to the grand, and single-handedly busting through a force of kingdom guards wearing prison attire and defeating their ultimate secret uber weapon just jumped past 99% of that supposedly slow believable buildup. Estelle from Trails on the other hand, you really do see her grow from an aspiring young adventurer who is barely capable of the simplest of tasks into a true hero where she doesn't take any massive leaps or shortcuts along the way. Chrono does NOT. One of my fave things that I think most people hate though are powerful rare drops from enemies. I'm completionist in the sense of story and sidequests. But I honestly don't give 2 cents about collecting 100% of the item/bestiary/etc catalogues. I can live with not getting some rare drop or something along the way. So I really enjoy it when they are there because it makes replays and such feel more fun and interesting when I get some crazy cool drop in the middle of the game that completely changes how my playthru goes for a significant portion of it. I like it when these happen throughout the game though, not just in the final dungeon where you can't really make use of those drops for too long. I also really like it when antagonists are actually not bad guys in a way that makes sense. I too dislike the 'they actually weren't bad...because we just said so!'. I really like the story in Xenogears, even disc 2. I feel like a lot of it makes sense. But right at the very end when they suddenly say (I wont mention who to spoil anything) 'was actually a good person'. I'm scratched my head being like 'wut? how?'. Last time I played that game though I was quite a lot younger so maybe I needed to bigger brain still but I kinda doubt it. But going back to Chrono Trigger. I rather like Magnus. I mean I wouldn't say he's a purely good guy, but but he wasn't pure bad either. I rather liked him that way.
I don't know if you would call it a trope but in trails, especially the cold steel arc. The game director/story writer is obsessed with having the characters stand up high on things! I didn't hate it, but it got ridiculous that every single human enemy or friend that comes to save you has to be up high somewhere. Somebody may play all the games without noticing it, but once you realize the pattern, it is insane how many times they do it throughout those games! Like even that short clip of trails you showed, where was Arios standing? Guess what, it was up high! As for what trope, I love and unfortunately it's very rare! It's when the opening anime cut scene is not actually at the opening when you start the game, and it comes in later after something serious goes down kind like welcome to this game you're in for a hell of a ride! Plus the few games where they actually have a second animated opening cut scene later in the game showing now things have really gone to shit, but we will prevail! Chef's kiss!
You don't have to imagine it, we're currently live-streaming Lufia II Rise of the Sinistrals! Come hang out and watch me evade law enforcement by not breaking any laws! 😂
What about also being able to find a secret area behind a waterfall? If a JRPG doesn't let you explore behind a waterfall then 1/10! Actually, I always hated that scene in the goonies under the well as it makes all the traps they've fought through till then pointless: all they had to do was lower themselves down the well and bypass all the danger. Also, the local kids now know about the secret, so they'll soon get a ladder and there'll be dozens of kids hanging out down there, throwing litter and leaving used condoms (rubbers) everywhere. Not so romantic and fantastical now!
i actually love the ‘you win just kidding’ trope… feels really cinematic while still having good boss fights vs plot important characters. it’s so much better than fighting no name summons or having a character appear only once and then die in the boss fight and never return. that’s so underwhelming to me in comparison.
One of the bits of the video I cut for time was saying how when I talk about the tropes I hate, it's really meant to just be a "these aren't for me" kind of thing, but one person's trash is another person's treasure. There's probably a lot of tropes I love that others universally pan. :)
@@SuperDereklol. Double enlanzers yo! Chron cross is very special to me because It helped me and my younger brother bond. I played it before I played Chrono trigger so the problems that people have with it as a poor sequel never interfered with me. I think it's a great sequel though. I saw a video someone made where they explained the connections and how the games fit together and it was really cool. I really liked the overall mystery to the games story. I love how you can play through it over and over and get the different characters and since every character has their own little plot and each gives more context to the endgame. My cousin has played it problems hundreds of times. We were playing it back before RUclips and social media so all those playground rumors were in full effect. I was convinced that you could get crono, marle and lucca as playable characters because they showed up in chronopolis. Lol. Dude that made my day!
You know a great idea for a JRPG would be a deconstructive parody based on all sorts of JRPG tropes and cliches. Such as the teenage hero, The chosen one, The power of friendship and so on. I would love to play that JRPG and see all the tropes and such get deconstructed. But anyway my least favourite JRPG tropes are... 1. When the hero feels somethings is wrong/not right but doesn't tell anyone 2. When nothing ever gets explained/Because reasons (Such as the villains motivations and the power of friendship for example).
While not a parody, strangers of paradise final fantasy origin, has a main character who breaks many jrpg rules lol. He tells characters to get to the point if he notices that they start to explain stuff he never asked about, he punches a villain in the face while he has his villain speech, in the DLC a villain tries to flee through a portal and the mc just grabs him out of there. It's really funny stuff sometimes.
I'll be honest. While playing through the trails of games, it really bugged me that despite winning a fight I'd loss for story reasons. Sir, I equipped so much delay quartz you didn't get a turn. Toss me the win.
My most hated trope is the death fakeout. FFIV used to be one of my favourite games despite never finishing it, and then I finally did and realised that ALL the character deaths were fakeouts. Cheap, worthless garbage storytelling.
Ones that annoy me are ancient being but in a kid's body and party members keeping things from the rest of the party that they should know, while i love the game,Tales of the Abyss had this and a main plot point happed because of it. Not saying what cause of story spoilers 😊the second one i mean
Not sure if this counts but the trope i hate is food. It's like "what the girls cant cook but mc can" or "wow you eat so much" or a crazy obsession over it and they wont shut up about it constantlytalking about it with that one character. I get it food is good. But keep it in your pants It's just food.
Damn woulda been the new video ever , shoulda gave examples. Who cares if there is a minor spoiler. Damn I really wanted to know what games. You don’t even have to say what part or what boss. Damn o well still a good video.
Ay that's what the comments are for. Hopefully anyone afraid of spoilers won't come looking here. 😆 One of the games I had in mind specifically was the end of Kingdom Hearts 1, where Sora proudly proclaims that "Kingdom Hearts is Light!" which somehow defeats the main bad guy. Or how Persona 3's protagonist uses the power of... _something_ to kill Nix at the end, in exchange for his life? It's poetic, but when you truly try to examine the mechanics of what happened, it just doesn't jive for me. Trails of Cold Steel IV recently pulled one of these things through technobabble that essentially granted the party a couple of wishes to revive people who had previously died in-universe, which, while makes for a happy ending, also kind of under-cuts some of the emotional investment I had in the game at the end. The problem with this trope is that it seldom rears its head until right before the final credits roll.
I really really hate that part of the Trails games. You completely destroy the enemy and the next cut scene shows you barely holding on saying you have no chances…. I understand the story needs to go that way… so maybe make the battle impossible even if you’re coming from a new game plus path
That trope is called, Win the battle Lose in the cutscene. Xenoblade 2 is the worst at this and 3 sadly continued it. Really sad when 1 and x had you only take a bit of hp if you were going to lose and half hp if stalemate.
I love having 3 levels of spells. And three pallets of the same monster sprite. It's just satisfying to my 16 bit era sensibilities. And of course, the best JRPG trope of all is the overworld map.
I really hate a lot of the copypaste generic self-insert protagonists. I'd rather play as someone interesting and/or cool instead. Or cute. Cuteness is justice!
I gotta say: the thumbnail seems a bit like bait, which is unnecessary imo - your videos speak for themself. I know you clarify it in the video but why even put OoT in the thumbnail then?
Honestly, I'm flattered that you think I don't need to bait views, but the truth is my channel has been struggling to get views for the last several months and I have no idea why. It breaks my heart, but I feel like I need to "play the game" if this channel is going to survive. But I'll do everything I can to deliver on the promises I make in the thumbnails and titles.
@@SuperDerek Thanks for the honest response! It's sad to read that the channel is struggeling because I really like your content. It's calming to listen to you and I feel like you've a lot of passion for the games you talk about. I hope more people will realize and start watching you more!
You know what trope I hate in JRPGs? The smell ya later trope. A major villain character brags about being better than you, is a tough fight but you canonically have to win, then they run off claiming your victory a fluke or something (holding back, or next time they'll be serious, or even how could I lose). And this little tussle happens more than twice. Like, by the third time, I don't find the person intimidating anymore. I want antagonists that are scary. When I've beaten them a few times, they are less scary the next time.
One trope I love is when things finally start playing in your favor, that one song starts playing during the cutscene, and when a battle starts... the song continues!
And the song doesn't change until you complete that sequence!
I love when the first game protagonist appears in a sequel game.
Ah yeah! I remember that haunting in Suikoden II and loved it!
I hate the story trope, when a character knows something is wrong but does not tell anybody. They ask him if anything is wrong and the characters just say "No, everything is alright".
Dude, I _know_ I've seen this one a million times in games, but just can't remember specific instances to substantiate my complaint. It was actually already written as "Just talk already!" in the script, but I kept drawing a blank. This one is sooo frustrating when you eventually do bump into it though! >.
@@SuperDerek More recent one would be Shulk from Xenoblade Chronicles. Even more than once :D
Tifa in FF7 not telling Cloud about his faulty memories
Dragon Quest 11 beginning of act 3.
@@Yuzu_8829 In fairness to Tifa, she was worried what telling Cloud might do to him. She could already tell he had a fragile psyche (headaches and the belief he was in a place she didn't think he was, talking about stuff that she knew didn't happen to him). She was worried about what the truth might do to his mind.
I’m only okay with losing in a cutscene after victory if they make it clear that the villain was either forced into a desperation move, was impressed and had to stop holding back, or pulled a last minute dirty trick since they couldn’t beat you fairly.
Yeah, some sort of consolation prize or something, even if it's just being acknowledged helps a lot.
A trope that I've always loved, that should be in more JRPGs is a rival adventuring party.
OMG, I loved when I encountered another party in Baldurs Gate 1 and 2,but never seen anything like that in jrpgs. Any titles?
This is one I haven't seen too often, but I bet I'd love the idea! I think Final Fantasy X had the rival summoner party that was a really good way to motivate the team! I suppose the Pokémon games kind of had that? But I'm struggling to think of others at the moment.
@@vorathiel12345 I was thinking BG1 & 2 were my immediate thoughts! I also use that idea all the time in my irl DnD games as well. JRPGs Im thinking of are Baten Kaitos, some of the Tales games. Even the Trails games have some!
@@SuperDerek I know some of the Tales games has them, Baten Kaitos has rival party you sorta fight through out the game. The Trails games as well! they're usually highly antagonistic, but I love concept of "adventurers" having different goals whether "good" or "bad" clashing with the main characters. I believe Golden Sun 2 sorta has this concept as well ? I could be wrong, its been awhile.
I also love using this concept in my Dungeon and Dragon sandbox campaigns, usually the rival party is actually real people just playing in my DnD world at different sessions. It can get heated haha, especially when they meet up.
Oh yeah! Golden Sun definitely had that! And Cold Steel III did, with the rival vs main campus. Good call!
I also love prison escapes, as long as I don't need to manually re-equip all my stuff once I've retrieved it. Sometimes I've had stuff equipped for so long that I've forgotten my exact loadout.
Every type of game has that moment when you fight through 30 standard enemies and a huge boss, then a cut scene in the next room forces you all the surrender to 4 standard enemies that you've beaten already: 'Oh no, we are completely surrounded! Lay down you weapons'.
lol, that's how you get captured, and get to break out of jail of course! They're all connected! 😆
That’s why that one quest in skyrim is so hated. Apart from Delphine.
I don't like the "power of friendship" as a story element but I love it as a gameplay mechanic. Where you have access to all the characters chip in and take down the final boss together or they help in their own unique way. Although, with careful execution the "power of friendship" can be great, as long as it isn't a get of out of jail free card.
Definitely agree there! I appreciate it as a mechanic, where the gameplay informs the character growth or interpersonal relationship development. It's only when it shows up out of nowhere to save the day that my gears get grinded the most.
I think the Combat Links from the Trails series are a good example of this as a gameplay mechanic. The team attacks get stronger the closer the bond between the characters is.
As a story element it's gotten a bit old. I don't really hate it, but I've watched so many anime in my life that I'm just used to it. It's part of my worldview that friendship is the most powerful force in the universe that can overcome everything and even destroy dark gods. That's just a fact, I've learned to accept. And when I start a new JRPG, I fully expect to see this to at least some degree.
One trope I really hate is when the entire party barely interact with each other aside from the protagonist, doubly so if said protagonist is a blank slate avatar. Like, I don't need these character's lives to just revolve around the protagonist, especially since the protagonist is 95% of the time the least interesting character in the party.
I love the Escalating Stakes Trope! They are almost ubiquitous with the genre, but I always love to look back on to compare.
Shin Megami Tensei, getting your mom coffee evolves into killing your best friends and God.
Xenoblade Chronicles, helping the people of Colony 9 by the end is rejecting becoming a God yourself.
Trails in the Sky, going to search a sewer for a package which eventually ends up with thwarting a coup d'état to take over the government and discovering a grand conspiracy with a secret evil society controlling things behind the scenes.
One of my favourites is when an former enemy joins as a playable character
Oh man, this is always great! Especially when they aren't nerfed!
The tropes I hate are
1. You are The Chosen One
2. Real boss comes out at like the 90% mark and the villian youve been fighting the whole game becomes just another fodder enemy who was actualy being controlled by the bigger badder evil
3. Main character loses his resolve because of something insignificant
4. Bad dungeouns that dont offer any puzzles
5. 99 items limit
I kinda like the idea of someone "earning" the title of chosen one, or becomming/fulfilling that role. But I hate the idea of someone just being "chosen," like out of a hat.
Hard agree on 99 items limit, and unlimited inventory space as well.
You could potentially add to it HP/MP restoration after each battle.
Dungeons should be designed to slowly whittle your resources down.
My favorite part of any JRPG is the beginning, when everything starts very simple and humble, where you don't deal high damage or have a million spells. Instead every single encounter is almost a fight over life and death. But then you level up a bit and the tables start turning. I love that. Specifically Dragon Warrior/Quest IV was really awesome in that regard. I loved the first four chapters.
I bonked my head and ship wreaked…..now I have a rusty sword and low HP - Adol from Ys
Great video and really neat topic actually! Lots of things that are overdone but I still enjoy in JRPGs, but oh man, the amnesia thing has gotta stop LOL
Thank you Paige! I can't remember the last game I played where someone _didn't_ lose their memories. I mean, I'm sure it's recent, I ...just can't remember.
@@SuperDerek 🤣🤣🤣
The worst trope is the good guys not killing the bad guy even though the bad guys commit genocides. Im looking at the Turks and the Shinra bosses of Final Fantasy 7. And also Don Corneo, the Jeff Epstein of the game who is treated like a comic relief baddie.
Yeah, that whole "If I kill this guy who made it their life's purpose to kill _millions_ of people, I'll be no better than _him!"_ trope is such a cop out.
@@SuperDerek and we know why they do that. To have a returning villain they can re use over and over. Cause if all the villains died in Midgar, what would you fight in the rest of disc 1 and disc 2-3? Only Sephiroth and Genova?
I hate this trope!
If a villain is like that he should only return later because the heroes messed up the first time.
OG FF7 the Turks always manage to get away and the party gets the information out of Corneo before he tosses them in the sewer. Also pretty sure the Turks finish Corneo off in Wutai if you do the Wutai sidequest with Yuffie.
Trails is my favorite series, but Losing when I win is seriously making me grind my teeth sometimes. I don't actually mind the "can't remember" trope though.
I used to like Trails until every other battle just ends with someone jumping in to save you, and the enemy to go "fufu, I must now retreat." Just kills any potential for tension or stakes.
I've always hated the "Logan's Run" trope where all the characters are plucky young teenagers with almost zero experience but in a couple weeks are somehow the ultimate warriors and only hope of saving the world. And I dunno if it's a trope per se but jrpgs with tedious and intricate sequences of actions and choices that basically force you to follow a guide the whole time to get the "good" ending takes all the enjoyment out of just playing a game.
One I love though is lost ancient tech/civilizations that were impossibly more advanced. Call that one the "Atlantis" trope lol. Even better if there's a floating continent/temple/castle somewhere in the mix. 🥰
The Atlantis trope is always a banger!
Atlantis trope would be more interesting if they explained why the civilization became lost and forgotten. I'm talking Planet of the Apes levels of explanation.
The trope that I kinda love and hate at the same time is characters with amnesia.
I mostly just hate it.
Here are RPG cliches that I hate:
* Personal eye for an eye (V***eance): It had been so OVERDONE!! And NOT just in videogames. there is NOTHING I HATE more than personal eye for an eye! After all, eye for an eye makes the universe blind!
* Overly complicated dungeons
* Forced failure: The in-game battles that are unwinnable, because of the plot reasons. Then JUST MAKE THEM INTO CUTSCENES INSTEAD if the player wasn't supposed to win!1-hit KO opponents in role-playing games
* 1-hit KO opponents: They are so unfair!
* Permanently missable items
* Annoying stealth missions
* No clear objective about where to go and what to do
* Level restrictions for equipment: I had enough of that annoying cliché, especially in role playing games.
*Tedious mandatory minigames
*The higher the playable character’s level is in a Role-Playing Game, the less the experience points do the (usually weaker) opponents drop.
* Generators in action role-playing games that constantly spawn opponents without limits, usually making the playable characters overwhelmed, so much so that it could soft-lock the game.
* Opponents that level up with the playable character(s), making the level up pointless!
* The evil protagonist that supposed to be quote on quote “good”, but does evil actions.
* The antagonist that spares a character, especially the protagonist instead of killing it. Being a very foolish decision as that is usually the downfall of the antagonist that spared a certain character.
* Protagonist's home village being burnt by an imperial army
* An antagonist empire (being also technologically advanced), always the "imperial army" being antagonists, while those who are "good" just have a Kingdom or a village.
* Darkness being portrayed as "evil", while light being portrayed as "good": I had enough of this overused cliche!
* An “ancient” antagonist that was sealed away (usually for thousands of years) without being permanently destroyed.
* The act of anarchism (li**ration): Just NO! I had enough of that cliche!
Cliches that I like:
* Elemental attributes: Especially elements of Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Dark, Light, Electricity, Ice, Plant, and even Metal!
* A non-evil and non-annoying antagonist with good motives that gets away, not being properly defeated.
* Mimic Chests (If done in a good way)
* Being able to recruit monsters as allies
The trope I hate the most is the obligatory child character who is always rude and acts idiotic but the game is like"no, no, you love this character"
Power of Friendship is one of my favorite tropes and I still cheer everytime an underdog hero or team of heroes finds strength they didn't know they had because they believed in each other. That stuff is like candy to my soul. My favorite usage of it is probably Xenoblade 2, where not only do they address it with a playful tone, but the villain team *also* has the power of friendship.
Another I love is the party of weird funky fellas. Characters like Red XIII, Mog, Koromaru, Peco or Chuchu just add some fun, variety and spice to a party that really makes the squad stand out.
And I'll throw in one I dislike: The fated/desinted hero or someone who's a reincarnated hero and that's why they're gonna save the world. Not only is it rote, but it feels like it takes away from the hero's agency in not only their story but their life which, ironically, makes them feel like much less of a hero
Really cool video man, I never consciously thought about jail-breaks as a likeable trope, but now that you mention it, they are pretty damn exciting!
Ooh some tropes I love from my favorite genre, huh?
I'm with you on transformations! One of my first experiences with that is the dragon clans or the Brood in Breath of Fire. This is actually my favorite way to portray dragons even though I know it's not the norm.
Now I know a lot of people dislike the next one I will mention, but I don't mind silent protagonist at all. Now I know some might just say the character is actually mute, but we do see them respond. And for me, it's not just the ability to feel more in the lead's shoes. BoF 3 for example. Like Ryu as a kid, we can clearly see how he reacts to things. Even changing how he swings a blade at a particular plot point. For me, I just assume these characters don't talk much, unless we are told otherwise. Heck Suikoden clearly shows that, especially in the second game's flashback.
I also really love improbable weapons. Ones that wouldn't make sense on their own, but the game let's you use them. Miitopia is a good example of this as a lot of the upgraded weapons can be a bit odd, but I love the heck out of them! The pizza fan a Princess can use is one of my favorites! Or one for a thief? Just a fish! Can you take it seriously? No, but I love the heck out of these!
Now what you called Just Reasons, which includes the power of friendship.... I'm a bit of a sap, but I don't care if it doesn't make sense. Something about these scenes just move me in ways. I will admit some are just like 'what?' But there are others that don't bother me when it does happen. But I 100% understand hating it!
I'm weird with amnesia as well. I get hating this trope, but I use it as way to get to know the person they are becoming now, not the one they were before. But I will admit not remembering something at certain points, looking at you Dekar, can cause me to face palm.
Note, I like Dekar but wow that moment where he saves you and then totally forgets how to do a puzzle he had to have cleared himself? Still like Lufia 2 though!
If I had to mention one I personally hate or dislike the most...
Spells or abilities that cost HP to use. I've largely accepted it, but I really don't like this. Like I am already worrying about my health because of enemies attacking me. Do I have to cause damage to myself?
Paladin's Quest for me was when I realized I hated this. Back when I was kid, I wouldn't always be thinking and sometimes would cast spells like crazy because I love magic! But an NPC early on explains there is no MP. Only HP.
The one time where it was easy to accept for me was the Rune of Punishment from Suikoden 4. There was a story reason for it. Cecil using dark powers as well in Final Fantasy 4 I think explained it at the time too.
But yeah, now that I am older, I know you can't cast spells willy nilly. I just don't want to lose my HP when using a skill or spell. I will use these if I have to, but I won't be happy about it.
Alright, that Power of Friendship thing _can_ make sense if done right though! Like, if they build it up over time. It's just those last-minute things where it shows up to save the day that drives me up a wall! :)
@@SuperDerek Fair enough! X3
My favorite jail escape is in sky’s of Arcadia. You actually brake out people first time and second time escape yourself.
I think a great example is dragonquest 8 where you beat all the wolves easily and the hero just stands there while the grandma sacrifices herself.
Or you beat dog rapthorne and just allow yourself to be arrested and the staff to possess someone else.
I know this is off topic of the video. But that intro was sick. The pixelated CRT scan lines that transforms into HD…slick
Love your channel, man. You deserve WAY more subs!
Keep up the awesome work. Love your love for these games.
Thank you pudding! I'm doing my best to get there! :)
Holy hell you are so right. So many times throughout the Trails series you'll fight and seemingly beat a particularly difficult boss and then in the cut scene afterwards suddenly they stand back up and are ready to go another round. That franchise relies on that trope WAY too much.
Include "Ha, I only fought with 20% of my power".
"What incredible power aura he got!"
*beats party to a pulp in a cutscene, even though you smacked the boss tremendously in a gameplay fight*
@@cookiemamba2386 Lol only to be saved by some legendary figure
Is that some Castle Oblivion I hear?
That intro logo is freaking amazing
Heck yeah! Glad you like it! 😊
One of my favourite variations of the Ultimate Weapon trope is when you get a useless if not detrimental item or playable character and if you use them enough they become really strong.
Examples would be the villager class from Fire Emblem or the Cursed Shield from Final Fantasy 6. I like it when the game rewards you after having you put yourself at a disadvantage.
I also like the reverse trope of this. The Jagen trope where you have a super busted early game character that actually hurts you if you rely on them too much since they have bad stat growth and deny exp from your other characters.
I want to give a shoutout to the rival duel trope. The Songi fights in Legend of Legaia and the duel in Tales of Vesperia come to mind.
I do have to say, I used to hate the jailbreak trope, but I'm noticing it less and less in rpg games and I've come to miss it. Vandal Hearts has my favorite jailbreak. Instead of your main character, it's a small handful of potentially weaker units and you get to play both them and the main squad saving them from execution.
I would like to hear the comment section’s opinions on games they consider examples of the “Because Reasons” trope. Derek didn’t throw any under the bus himself, so I’m curious.
Cold Steel 4. There's a lot of it in that game's story, but the entire Fragments segment is probably the biggest offender.
Trope I love is "this isnt even my final form" moments. Another one would be obtainable items on random npc's house.
I do like chapters.
Your number 2 hated one is the one I was going to mention if you hadn't. Along this same line, is where your victory over a couple waves/groups of enemies is acknowledged, but "there are way too many of them" even if you could have easily handled another 100. It feels like there should be a ton of other plausible reasons you need to fall back that could have been used instead.
good list, a trope that i love in jrpg's is that the hero always starts as a sword user,or just uses a sword as a weapon for the entire game,and one that i truly HATE,when the villain's motivation is something like "destruction is the only path to salvation!" or something like that,i always see this motivation as if the writer couldn't come up with a good reason for the villain to be actually evil
one game that I think actually did the amnesiac trope well was Bravely Default. chances are you'll put the pieces together before the characters do, but by the time said character's past is revealed, I feel like the payoff was worth it
I remember in manakhemia 2 they did the "you can't even see how you lose" instead of the "you win. Just kidding" when trying to fight Flay Gunnar as a teacher lol
I actually do love the trope of "friendship is power", as it depends on the execution of it as a whole.
Definitely! As long as that power was previously established and maybe a part of the narrative, that's fine. It's the last minute, from left field occurrences that bug me the most. :)
Super Wholesome SuperDerek: I was really disappointed that Arthur didn't purge the nobles the second he pulled Excalibur from the stone, that wuss.
I kid, I know what you meant, but the timing painted a massacre, lol.
Time for Arthur to get revenge on Sir Kay! "Call me Wart again!" 😜
@@SuperDerek Arthur, finished with Kay's lesson, wipes the blood from Excalibur "Now, about those demerits 'Sir'?"
My favorite jrpg troupe is meeting/fighting the previous hero that save the world.
The only jrpg I know using this troupe is the tales series. It always give me a huge smile in my face when I meet/fight the previous hero.
Because reasons….yeah flashback to when I was playing Xenosaga 3. The game is amazing and it’s easily in my top 5 JRPGs of all time. But it was obvious the writers got themselves in a corner at one point where it was established for many hours that you were in the main characters dream but then coming out of the dream apparently what happened in there also affected the real world as well with no explanation. That’s the best example I’ve experienced with that and it really puts a stain on what would have been a “perfect” story otherwise.
Honestly I find most of the tropes that annoy most people, I find comforting and charming
For me:
I love when devs put npcs dialogue changes overtime, like after several plot scenes.
I dont like sudden boss difficulty hike, and you need grinding to overcome it.
I get a kick with the impostor trope. Someone pretending to be the hero and ruining your reputation. Skies of Arcadia and Dragon Quest come to mind. Great video!
Ohh man, the imposters are great!
FF7 actually lets you be the imposter lol
Nice hair my rpg brotha!👍👌
The annoying comic relief animal/alien/chibi mascot character is one of my most hated tropes in anime and gaming. Think Teddy and Morgana from Persona 4 and 5, or the little Nopon's that accompany you from Xenoblade series.
I stopped playing Xenoblade 1 shortly after the Nopon village was introduced. I don't remember why I stopped playing, but it may not be a coincidence.
Yeah, I feel like these cutsie characters ruin the group's vibe and the game's rythm.
Yeah I kinda hate how tropes suddenly got a negative connotation all of a sudden. I remember it wasn't that long ago when we all enjoyed looking at tropes in games and just thought it was a fun thing to recognize, but now people see it as some kind of lazy cop-out instead of 'proper' storytelling when it's probably impossible that any story element or idea hasn't already been invented by now. The only TRUELY new storytelling gimmick I've seen (at least that I know of) is Crosscode's where your character is nearly mute. Not that she's a silent protagonist, she's not. She's just nearly mute in a world that acts like if you were NOT a silent protagonist, it's actually pretty cool.
In any case, there *IS* one trope I absolutely hate seeing, and that's the effing amnesia one. I think I hate it more than I justifiably should though because I'm a weirdo who likes FF4 more than 6, and I played these as a kid growing up, I didn't play them after they already became retro or classic, I played them new. But yeah, I liked 4 more than 6 and I didn't really like Terra much as a character.
Then FF7 came out, Cloud has an amnesia-like thing too, and well, I didn't like cloud much either.
Then FF8 came out, and EFFING EVERYONE has amnesia. *AND* Squall is such a immature cringe edgelord that I just coudln't get into the game and it actually RUINED my interest in JRPGS for a *LONG* time despite them being my absolute fave genre up to that point. Thank god I discovered xenogears years later (like 2 days before It got its greatest hits rerelease making me pay like 3x more for a copy than I would have had to if only I waited like 1 dang week. ARGH lol).
Funny you mention the prison break thing on Chrono Trigger. It's not the fact that it's a prison break that bugs me, but it's the perfect example of my 2nd least fave trope, which is not nearly as bad as the first, but still bugs me. Is the whole barely a teeenager picks up a sword for the first time and is suddenly the bestest strongest swordsman in all the realm thing. Like Chrono isn't a soldier or a knight or a warrior. He's just some kid who has a wooden sword that is an even match for some carnival brawler bot meant for fun just a couple hours ago. And suddenly he is strong enough to bust thru prison guards, fight off the chancellor's royal guard, and defeat their ULTIMATE KINGDOM weapon the DRAGON TANK. I'm sorry. No. I just can't think Chrono trigger has epic story telling because epic means a slow believably build up from the mundane to the grand, and single-handedly busting through a force of kingdom guards wearing prison attire and defeating their ultimate secret uber weapon just jumped past 99% of that supposedly slow believable buildup.
Estelle from Trails on the other hand, you really do see her grow from an aspiring young adventurer who is barely capable of the simplest of tasks into a true hero where she doesn't take any massive leaps or shortcuts along the way. Chrono does NOT.
One of my fave things that I think most people hate though are powerful rare drops from enemies. I'm completionist in the sense of story and sidequests. But I honestly don't give 2 cents about collecting 100% of the item/bestiary/etc catalogues. I can live with not getting some rare drop or something along the way. So I really enjoy it when they are there because it makes replays and such feel more fun and interesting when I get some crazy cool drop in the middle of the game that completely changes how my playthru goes for a significant portion of it. I like it when these happen throughout the game though, not just in the final dungeon where you can't really make use of those drops for too long.
I also really like it when antagonists are actually not bad guys in a way that makes sense. I too dislike the 'they actually weren't bad...because we just said so!'. I really like the story in Xenogears, even disc 2. I feel like a lot of it makes sense. But right at the very end when they suddenly say (I wont mention who to spoil anything) 'was actually a good person'. I'm scratched my head being like 'wut? how?'. Last time I played that game though I was quite a lot younger so maybe I needed to bigger brain still but I kinda doubt it. But going back to Chrono Trigger. I rather like Magnus. I mean I wouldn't say he's a purely good guy, but but he wasn't pure bad either. I rather liked him that way.
I am watching this video in MPC-BE but I just wanted to pop in and say magic swords are dank AF, fr
I don't know if you would call it a trope but in trails, especially the cold steel arc. The game director/story writer is obsessed with having the characters stand up high on things! I didn't hate it, but it got ridiculous that every single human enemy or friend that comes to save you has to be up high somewhere. Somebody may play all the games without noticing it, but once you realize the pattern, it is insane how many times they do it throughout those games! Like even that short clip of trails you showed, where was Arios standing? Guess what, it was up high!
As for what trope, I love and unfortunately it's very rare! It's when the opening anime cut scene is not actually at the opening when you start the game, and it comes in later after something serious goes down kind like welcome to this game you're in for a hell of a ride! Plus the few games where they actually have a second animated opening cut scene later in the game showing now things have really gone to shit, but we will prevail! Chef's kiss!
Imagine Derek on a wild Friday night 🤣
I do love the troupes
You don't have to imagine it, we're currently live-streaming Lufia II Rise of the Sinistrals! Come hang out and watch me evade law enforcement by not breaking any laws! 😂
What about also being able to find a secret area behind a waterfall? If a JRPG doesn't let you explore behind a waterfall then 1/10! Actually, I always hated that scene in the goonies under the well as it makes all the traps they've fought through till then pointless: all they had to do was lower themselves down the well and bypass all the danger. Also, the local kids now know about the secret, so they'll soon get a ladder and there'll be dozens of kids hanging out down there, throwing litter and leaving used condoms (rubbers) everywhere. Not so romantic and fantastical now!
Oh man, waterfalls! That's another one that I always loved! Maybe another video is in order... 🧐
Teenage heroes who are just better in everything than people with years of experience- I hate that trope.
I'm still disappointed that you, who loves prision break so much, hasn't played Ys IX yet. 🙃
👀
i actually love the ‘you win just kidding’ trope…
feels really cinematic while still having good boss fights vs plot important characters. it’s so much better than fighting no name summons or having a character appear only once and then die in the boss fight and never return. that’s so underwhelming to me in comparison.
One of the bits of the video I cut for time was saying how when I talk about the tropes I hate, it's really meant to just be a "these aren't for me" kind of thing, but one person's trash is another person's treasure. There's probably a lot of tropes I love that others universally pan. :)
@@SuperDerek yeah that goes without saying so fine to not include that.
I get the chrono cross reference. Glenn dual wielding is so cool.
Dude! I think you may be the first person who knew _exactly_ what I was referring to! It's sooo freaking cool!
@@SuperDereklol. Double enlanzers yo! Chron cross is very special to me because It helped me and my younger brother bond. I played it before I played Chrono trigger so the problems that people have with it as a poor sequel never interfered with me. I think it's a great sequel though. I saw a video someone made where they explained the connections and how the games fit together and it was really cool. I really liked the overall mystery to the games story. I love how you can play through it over and over and get the different characters and since every character has their own little plot and each gives more context to the endgame. My cousin has played it problems hundreds of times. We were playing it back before RUclips and social media so all those playground rumors were in full effect. I was convinced that you could get crono, marle and lucca as playable characters because they showed up in chronopolis. Lol.
Dude that made my day!
You know a great idea for a JRPG would be a deconstructive parody based on all sorts of JRPG tropes and cliches. Such as the teenage hero, The chosen one, The power of friendship and so on.
I would love to play that JRPG and see all the tropes and such get deconstructed.
But anyway my least favourite JRPG tropes are...
1. When the hero feels somethings is wrong/not right but doesn't tell anyone
2. When nothing ever gets explained/Because reasons (Such as the villains motivations and the power of friendship for example).
While not a parody, strangers of paradise final fantasy origin, has a main character who breaks many jrpg rules lol. He tells characters to get to the point if he notices that they start to explain stuff he never asked about, he punches a villain in the face while he has his villain speech, in the DLC a villain tries to flee through a portal and the mc just grabs him out of there. It's really funny stuff sometimes.
I hate losing to Beatrix in FF9 when I have an accessory that absorbs her lightning attack and heals me to max.
I'll be honest. While playing through the trails of games, it really bugged me that despite winning a fight I'd loss for story reasons.
Sir, I equipped so much delay quartz you didn't get a turn. Toss me the win.
My most hated trope is the death fakeout. FFIV used to be one of my favourite games despite never finishing it, and then I finally did and realised that ALL the character deaths were fakeouts. Cheap, worthless garbage storytelling.
This one hits hard! _Especially_ when I "fall for them" and actually was sad about them for a while.
Ones that annoy me are ancient being but in a kid's body and party members keeping things from the rest of the party that they should know, while i love the game,Tales of the Abyss had this and a main plot point happed because of it. Not saying what cause of story spoilers 😊the second one i mean
Not sure if this counts but the trope i hate is food. It's like "what the girls cant cook but mc can" or "wow you eat so much" or a crazy obsession over it and they wont shut up about it constantlytalking about it with that one character. I get it food is good. But keep it in your pants It's just food.
My favorite 3 rpgs with prison escapes:
1. Skies of Arcadia
2. Lost Odyssey
3. KOTOR
I thought Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance handled the legendary sword really well. Once you get it you really feel the power.
yeah amneisa.. such a very tired trope lol.
How about the trope of an adult consciousness in a child’s body. That always creeps me out and I know exactly why they do it.
That's a trope I could rant about for an entire video. Ick.
Disappointed everytime I can't enter a well or fail to find anything inside it.
WHY IS IT EVEN THERE?!
Tournaments or a spooky mansion or ghost ship
I'm an absolute sucker for those!
Damn woulda been the new video ever , shoulda gave examples. Who cares if there is a minor spoiler. Damn I really wanted to know what games. You don’t even have to say what part or what boss. Damn o well still a good video.
Ay that's what the comments are for. Hopefully anyone afraid of spoilers won't come looking here. 😆
One of the games I had in mind specifically was the end of Kingdom Hearts 1, where Sora proudly proclaims that "Kingdom Hearts is Light!" which somehow defeats the main bad guy. Or how Persona 3's protagonist uses the power of... _something_ to kill Nix at the end, in exchange for his life? It's poetic, but when you truly try to examine the mechanics of what happened, it just doesn't jive for me.
Trails of Cold Steel IV recently pulled one of these things through technobabble that essentially granted the party a couple of wishes to revive people who had previously died in-universe, which, while makes for a happy ending, also kind of under-cuts some of the emotional investment I had in the game at the end. The problem with this trope is that it seldom rears its head until right before the final credits roll.
It’s as cliche as ever. But I’m just a sucker for the “Saving The World” story.
I really really hate that part of the Trails games. You completely destroy the enemy and the next cut scene shows you barely holding on saying you have no chances…. I understand the story needs to go that way… so maybe make the battle impossible even if you’re coming from a new game plus path
That trope is called,
Win the battle
Lose in the cutscene.
Xenoblade 2 is the worst at this and 3 sadly continued it. Really sad when 1 and x had you only take a bit of hp if you were going to lose and half hp if stalemate.
I love having 3 levels of spells. And three pallets of the same monster sprite. It's just satisfying to my 16 bit era sensibilities.
And of course, the best JRPG trope of all is the overworld map.
I really hate a lot of the copypaste generic self-insert protagonists. I'd rather play as someone interesting and/or cool instead. Or cute. Cuteness is justice!
I don't think you really suit a middle part in your hair, tends to be the case with certain face shapes
I gotta say: the thumbnail seems a bit like bait, which is unnecessary imo - your videos speak for themself. I know you clarify it in the video but why even put OoT in the thumbnail then?
Honestly, I'm flattered that you think I don't need to bait views, but the truth is my channel has been struggling to get views for the last several months and I have no idea why. It breaks my heart, but I feel like I need to "play the game" if this channel is going to survive. But I'll do everything I can to deliver on the promises I make in the thumbnails and titles.
@@SuperDerek Thanks for the honest response!
It's sad to read that the channel is struggeling because I really like your content. It's calming to listen to you and I feel like you've a lot of passion for the games you talk about. I hope more people will realize and start watching you more!
Because well
First! 🎉
Amnesia is so overused to explain character actions.
What a lame way to write a story
Ocarina of Time isn't even an RPG... let alone JRPG.
He literally says that lol
@@sytsma.justin But there's so much footage of it in the video, that's why I said it.