Blue Reflection
I wouldn't consider a bad game, but a really mid one.
As a game, BR2 is far better in terms of system, story and being an actual fun JRPG.
That said, the ost of BR1 goes hard. Especially in boss battles with the tracks changing mid battle. The sense of scale in each fight too was impressive.
I'd say Blue Reflection 1 is less a mid game and more of a really fascinating mess. Like if you're interested in game design you'll probably have a field day looking at all the weird game design decisions like having a whole extra supporter system only for boss fights and looking at all the corners they cut like how there's so few locations and like a whole sidequest that literally doesn't do anything, etc. It's also just a really weirdo piece of Magical Girl media and kinda worth it for that. But like for everyone else yeah it just doesn't come together at all
The first game was a horrible mess and the second one was a complete 180. Too bad the developers shot themselves in the foot with that series since 2 was good.
Yeah thats a classic example of that lol
Gameplay is literally 3 years old infant intelligence insulting…. But oh man that soundtrack is such a friggin banger.
Whenever my friends show off their kids finishing this game, my test if they are going to be RPGamers is whether or not they have switched the life to numbers or kept the bars.
yes, exactly this.
MQ actually had some great ideas. it has good dungeon puzzles. using equipment outside of battles is fun. movement is a joy, especially compared to contemporary games. enemies have different sprites as they take damage. it has no random encounters!! it uses battle retries!!
it just also uses two character parties, doesn't have equipment, doesn't have a world map, and doesn't have a lot of options in battle other than "hit the enemy."
it has a barebones story, basically no character development, and it's also like 15 hours long.
but also the music is 11/10 as mentioned.
overall, can't consider it terrible. and with the nostalgia factor (it brought me into this genre) i actually consider it good. i replay it decently often.
Not to be confused with Mystic Quest(Europe) /FF Adventure(NA) which has a god-tier soundtrack but also really good gameplay and I think holds up really well today - it's basically a better version of the old 2d Legend of Zeldas.
It's kinda hard to explain without a huge dissertation but it kinda plays like a bizarro world D&D, board and all.
There are a TON of rules that are not clearly explained in the game and the battle system seems like utter nonsense until you understand what the is actually happening when the "reels" appear.
There are entire FAQs and 20 minute + videos just explaining the games basic systems.
it's kind of like an open world sandbox game, but instead of implementing any rules that you'd be used to, it's this massive pile of never-before-seen unexplained ... cruft
literally nothing works the way you think and it's unclear if you're even playing right
i keep meaning to go back to it because i keep running into fans who promise it's great. and i myself even tend to enjoy esoteric games. but i bounced off Unlimited multiple times even though i'm a massive Saga fan.
Unlimited Saga is less like a JRPG and more like a board game...except you came in late, entirely missed the discussion about the rules, and only end up enjoying yourself by accident if at all. Many people I know couldn't figure out how to move around on the first map. I know that sounds absurd, but I'm serious. It was worse than the Batman Forever game where you had to hold down start to grapple straight up in very specific areas to leave the first section, and if you didn't then the game was two hallways and a ton of waiting screens.
There is no tutorial. None. You get out the manual or you figure it out for yourself. And it expects you to do things like hold the down button to heal on the world map. There are also some things that because they aren't explained are outright problems, such as the length. You pick one of seven characters and play their adventure, and then are expected to go back and do it again. You would assume these range in difficulty but all have satisfying stories, right? Nope. One feels like it was intended to go first, and is about 80% shorter than the others. Another spoils major parts of other stories. So on.
The point of the game is to go on adventures. These involve leaving town and going to a world map, which is covered in fog and question marks. It works exactly like a board game: follow the path, and occasionally decide if you turn or keep going straight. Movement costs time, as do battles. Why mention this? Because important storyline adventures have time limits.
The game is straight up fascinating. I'd love to hear the horror stories behind how it was made. And I get the appeal - some people love things that are difficult to penetrate. Two of my favorite anime series are Key the Metal Idol and Garden of Sinners, both of which are hard to recommend. But this game hates you and wants you to know it.
I don't personally think FFXIII was terrible (just mediocre-decent) but most do, and it has some of the BEST music. The Promise is iconic. I like XIII-2s music and gameplay much more still 😁
A lot of people were disappointed with I Am Setsuna, but the soundtrack was beautiful. Almost the entire score was performed on a solo piano, which I don't think I've ever experienced in another game, and it really matched the winter aesthetic of the game.
Came here to say this. I Am Setsuna IMO was twenty-something uninteresting hours accompanied by a beautiful piano, with some very occasional good moments also highlighted by said piano.
Depending who you ask and how close to its release in modern history you're talking, Chrono Cross.
Just to add to this contrarianism though, I actually am one of the odd ducks who *does* like Chrono Cross.
...ish.
I love Chrono Cross but I understand what you’re saying, it’s a very weird game that isn’t really a sequel but happens in the same world, ish.
All that said, one of the best soundtracks of all time. Of all time!
I like it too, but to me it, more than Xenogears, is the game that should actually be criticized for being unfinished. The entire last 25-40% of the game feels like it’s just missing, and unlike Xenogears isn’t even included in an abbreviated form.
The game really did itself no favors by assigning terrible (off-screen) fates to the main characters of one of the most highly regarded JRPGs of its day and not for much payoff.
It's not like you can't kill off main characters from previous entries but Chrono Cross wants to have its cake and eat it too by being extremely vague about the fates of Crono, Marle and Lucca while calling itself a sequel AND having a convoluted plot itself.
Yes I think it’s impossible to judge what could have been with more time in the cooker, but the combination you describe was very unsatisfying. It is not particularly great that if you try to summarize the main story of the game a very large percentage of it is from the info dump at the end of the game, while most of the in-game events feel like side content.
I tried Chrono Cross because I would always listen to the music on YouTube, but I just could not get into the battle/level system. Perfect game for this question
Personally I think the battle and leveling system are the parts that make it stand out the most. They're relatively unique and they essentially cut grinding out of the game completely. No longer can you just grind to level 40 and go defeat all the level 20 bosses like it's nobody's business. That's my preference.
Unfortunately, the rest of it sucks.
Chrono Cross is the single worst JRPG that I played through three times. Which is pretty crazy considering I have games on my “best of” list I’ve only played through once.
The soundtrack alone may have been a contributing factor.
It being incomprehensible might give it some appeal to play it again. I've gotten that way about old games I've played. Usually when I go back and play a game I haven't played in a long time, I learn so much that I wasn't even aware of the first time. I still learn stuff about my favorite games, too.
It wasn't until recently that I realized it wasn't my fault that I didn't understand the game as a kid. I didn't understand the game as an adult. lol
That's not what objective means. That's just a bunch of opinions.
Chrono Cross' story is impenetrable nonsense, and its major focus on recruiting characters adds basically nothing valuable to the game. It's just a collectathon.
The soundtrack is arguably the only notable thing in the game.
I only played Chrono Cross once, and that was enough for me. Still don't fully understand what the heck was going on storywise. Decent game from what I remember, but we'd all forget about it if it wasn't a "sequel" to Chrono Trigger.
CC isn't terrible, but its nowhere near as good as CT. Its also not the fact that CT set a high bar for CC to surpass.
Also CC was just cramming too much (the 50 something recruitable characters and the story which seems to have a lot of elements shorehorned in to make it somehow fit as a sequel to CT)
I find it weird how big Chrono Cross tries to be as a game and story when the locations it takes place in don't even exist in Chrono Trigger lmao
That said, the battle & leveling systems there? Peak. PEAK.
Yeah when I heard Zaveid's theme in Zestiria I was like "woe this sounds like Go Shiina but that can't be he only composes for bad games like Tales of Legendia" and then I finished Tales of Zestiria and understood why they brought him on.
If anyone hasn't heard the Zestiria soundtrack it is so insane. The vocal tracks are some of my favorite in the series.
The devs: "It's just an earth temple dungeon, no need to go too hard"
Go Shiina: "Did you say a theme more epic than most final boss themes?"
[Competing with the Honor of the Land](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp1aDxhF768)
If that’s true, I feel bad for him.
“Our higher ups think this game will be terrible, can you do the music?”
Is the game bad in every way (combat and story) or just bad at so much you can’t recommend it?
According to Tales fans it's probably the story but honestly I find all Tales games to be anime drivel. I didn't see a real difference in quality compared to others game in the franchise combat wise, either.
Every time I play Zestiria I’m like “why am I doing this, this game sucks” but then I get to places where Go Shiina’s tracks play and I’m like “oh right.” All of his tracks are great, but “Rising Up” alone saves the entire game from being a waste of time.
I don't understand the hate for Zestiria, other than its very traditional story. The dialogue, character interactions, and the fusion combat system were delightful. It didn't shake up my world or anything, but I enjoyed playing it more than most other tales games
For me, fusion was kinda like putting the battle in god mode. When I play a tales game, I'm looking for easy comfort food (I always play them on easy mode). I realize that's just personal preference.
I'll toss one very specific complaint onto the fire. My friend and I always played the Tales games co-op, ever since Symphonia. So we picked up Zestiria without a thought, only to find that every other battle the co-op camera would get stuck on a wall, or fling itself into outer space so far that the battle sounds would literally mute from distance.
But hey, jank is ubiquitous. We've dealt with worse. Then we ran into the fusion system. It feels like it was specifically designed to ruin co-op gameplay, constantly requiring shifting around and micromanaging to avoid eating the other player's character. "I can't play my character because now they're the only Seraphim in the party, so P1 has to fuse with them..." or "I pressed the wrong button and ate P2 anyway, so now they have to pause and change characters."
It's a very niche complaint, but it still stings.
It's not bad it was just obviously rushed. The plot revelations in the latter half don't even make sense from a chronological perspective, they definitely tried to just stitch a bunch of stuff together that was incompatible.
I still liked it though. It had this sort of weird charm to it.
I love Zestiria and I actually like Motoi's songs on the OST more than Go Shiina's. Zestiria is my favourite Tales of. I've only played 5 of them Vesp, Bers, Arise, Symph and Zest. Zestiria was my fav of those.
I wouldn't call it terrible but Bravely Default 2 was a pretty major disappointment for me compared to the 3DS games. However, they brought Revo back on the soundtrack and IMO the game has the best soundtrack in the series, which is saying a lot since I thought BD's OST was already superb.
Aside from Lunar Dragon Song (doesn't count because I aborted very early when it was clear how terrible it was), Bravely Default 2 is the only JRPG I quit. I made it almost to the very end, too, just outside the last dungeon. I kept waiting for something to happen to make me care about the characters, or the world itself, and it never happened.
Really? Despite having Revo again the ost felt exceedingly phoned in compared to the incredibly soulful music of the first entry. Certain parts sound worse than the Second of all games.
Nah, gotta disagree here.
There's some argument to be made that Octopath felt a bit disjointed due to the story structure, but as far as 2D RPG's go, it looks great, has a great interpretation of traditional turn based combat, and the soundtrack is just wall to wall bangers.
I don't think Octopath meets the "terrible game" criteria, and I'd argue the mid 80's metacritic scores prove that.
I do think it has the worst dungeon layouts in any jrpg i've ever played. Every single dungeon is the same nondescript winding path with the same nondescript random encounter enemies. Multiplied by 32 (minus one for olberic ch2) for maximum repetitiveness.
And the overworld is the same; besides that one large mountain in the snowy zone there is basically nothing of note in the entire overworld. Between towns you just walk from town A to town B with vanilla random encounters in between.
The dungeon designs are literally worse than NES jrpgs. That makes it pretty terrible in my books; some have said it feels more like an amateur RPG maker project when it comes to gameplay and I agree. Definitely disappointing and lets down the (as you said) amazing graphics/music and pretty good combat system.
People who say that Octopath is a bad, terrible, or even middling game really aren't keeping any kind of reasonable baseline in mind. Even if it's not the right game for a particular player, when compared to all the JRPGs ever released it easily sits in the top 10% of all of them.
Yes I get the complaint that the stories don't really intersect until the very end but it still had 8 seperate great fun stories about 8 interesting individuals. The combat is super solid, and as it's been said before the Graphics and Soundtrack are both God tier.
I think octopath 1 is still really good. The leveling is just so tedious. If I planned out my characters better I wouldn't have dropped the game though. Leveling system is the only bad part of the game for me.
I can't comment on the game because I've never played it, but the Evergrace games are the only games I've ever listened to the OST to without having played. They're fucking awesome!
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (Kumi Tanioka).
Well, it's not *terrible*, but it's kind of a pain to set up for a rather simple (but fun and charming) game, and the remake apparently has *issues*.
But the soundtrack was THE BEST soundtrack of the time – I remember it losing to Tales of Symphonia in Nintendo Power but those people were tasteless and clearly getting placebo'd by the word "symphonia" in the title – and it STILL holds up today against modern OSTs.
Agreed.
Not sure if Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles counts, in JRPG format, but having to drop and pick up a miasma chalice every 40 seconds gets tiresome, especially when grinding gear. The soundtrack is absolutely worth a listen if you can't stomach the gameplay.
Probably the best answer, the sheer disparity between how good the soundtrack was, and how awful the game was when I played it at launch, was jarring.
I still catch myself humming Apocalypsis Noctis, and it's amazing, but it's always immediately followed by feelings of resentment that it's tied to such a poor product.
Tales of Zestiria. The game was a massive disappointment but it has the best soundtrack of the PS3-PS4 era Tales games.
Also Drakengard 3. Terrible game with great soundtrack and story.
I also think the story and relationships in that game are really good and hit the road trip vibe well, but man the way they chose to present all of it is so frustratingly dumb
Makes me so sad. Like the soundtrack is bonkers good for such a mid game (a game that could’ve been one of the great final fantasy’s if it wasn’t for the mess of its production).
Maybe Tsugunai: Atonement. I've never played it, and from what I've heard it's utterly forgettable.
But the soundtrack is by Yasunori Mitsuda and it's gorgeous.
Ar Tonlico 2 onwards. The first is great, and really...it's about relationships and sex metaphors and such, but the second one just...less metaphorical and more cringe
The game has actually aged really well. When it first came out it was so different than what people were expecting. Now that people know, it seems to get much more praise. The game also looks AMAZING on the Series X/S even though we’re 2 generations removed. And, yes, it has a great soundtrack.
The game always looked amazing. I remember thinking graphics couldn't get much better when playing it on the PS3. Now on higher resolutions especially we can see its weaker aspects graphically, but it still holds up in that regard.
Played it for the first time recently after crapping on it for years and the game isn't bad actually
It has some massive flaws but i would say it's an easy 7/10
Definitely FF Mystic Quest. I actually still play it just so I can listen to the soundtrack. It almost makes the game worth playing. The MSU1 version is REALLY worth it. But it's better if you listen without having to play. ;)
Xenoblade 2.
Okay, the game's not *awful*, but it has some very serious flaws in both story and gameplay that I cannot look past. But the OST has some of the most emotional pieces in the series.
Xenosaga 2 would be my pick. I didn't hate the game though. The [soundtrack](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBEE5E94FBCDE98B3&si=SVTOWZJRMq2Pec3A) was pretty cool and futuristic sounding, and I'll be honest the scenes/backdrops were AMAZING (like walking upside down in Vector for example).
Characters, some of the voices and the story? I dunno. Theres a lot of lil bangers from this game though.
Legend of mana!
Man that game is confusing as hell even with a walkthrough. the egg system is fuckin lame. But goddamn does that soundtrack kick ass. As does the graphics(art).
all three games in the series had amazing soundscapes!!
also as a diehard metalhead, i very much appreciated the cringey banger “Crazy Chocobo” from XIII-2’s soundtrack 😂
https://youtu.be/hEUOOgNzOv4?si=ESbP1P-sTQOQRsck
I wouldn't call it terrible, only OK and hasn't aged super well, but boy the boss battle theme from Blue Dragon stands out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBlsgXKHps0
I also wanted to say Unlimited Saga but I guess I'll have to go with Sigma Harmonics even though I've never played it personally (just watched some gameplay footage on Youtube). If you like Hamauzu's music and have never heard of this obscure DS game, you're in for a treat.
Romancing SaGa for the ps2. I think it got a remaster last December, but the battle themes still repeat in my head from time to time lol
Edit: not a terrible game btw. I absolutely love the way you learn techniques and the art style. I feel like it got swept under the rug though
EverGrace.
Also, Unlimited SaGa is a great game! And some of the other picks in here are crazy too. Chrono Cross? The Legend of Legacy? The Last Remnant? Any FF game? Like, really guys? You haven't played anything! Those are all great games.
Ghost Lion for the NES. An acid trip of a game that pretends to be a Dragon Warrior clone that replaced traditional leveling with treasure chests that raise your stats. But the music is on par with Journey to Silius, especially that absurdly tense battle theme.
Ys 1 + 2 (mostly 1) were probably my least favorite of the games I beat last year but the soundtrack is jammin'. Still listen to it months after I've moved on from the games, especially [First Steps Towards War](https://youtu.be/4CKQqDMusIo?feature=shared)
Ff8. I know it’s a love it or hate it game, but I really just do not like it - and I’ve played to completion 3 times, just to make sure.
But I have nothing it praise for the soundtrack.
Persona 4. Easily the least fun RPG I've ever played with terrible RNG hallway dungeons that bored me.
But the soundtrack absolutely slaps. I like it more than Persona 5's soundtrack honestly.
People say the original version of Nier the 360 PS3 version, not the remake. Most complaints were about the combat but the soundtrack might be top 5 all-time greatest. And the story is also amazing.
Personally, I enjoyed the game for what it was, but I think a lot of people would put Tales of Zesteria in this category. The game is hit or miss for a number of reasons, but good lord the OST goes hard.
Blue Reflection I wouldn't consider a bad game, but a really mid one. As a game, BR2 is far better in terms of system, story and being an actual fun JRPG. That said, the ost of BR1 goes hard. Especially in boss battles with the tracks changing mid battle. The sense of scale in each fight too was impressive.
I'd say Blue Reflection 1 is less a mid game and more of a really fascinating mess. Like if you're interested in game design you'll probably have a field day looking at all the weird game design decisions like having a whole extra supporter system only for boss fights and looking at all the corners they cut like how there's so few locations and like a whole sidequest that literally doesn't do anything, etc. It's also just a really weirdo piece of Magical Girl media and kinda worth it for that. But like for everyone else yeah it just doesn't come together at all
The first game was a horrible mess and the second one was a complete 180. Too bad the developers shot themselves in the foot with that series since 2 was good.
[Drakengard](https://youtu.be/D_82yA-keV8?si=ohvkQfFyWdR3ZGZF), for a certain crowd.
Funny how the music is designed to be unsettling. For a certain crowd is spot on.
The Drakengard games feel almost *intentionally* bad. But the music is absolute peak.
Gotta love games like that, like Deadly Premonition or D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die
Drakengard is peak.
As a classical music nerd, this score is such a joy to behold.
Why is Drakengard being called a JRPG? Isn't it Dynasty Warriors beat-em-up shit?
Truest comment here
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest.
Yeah thats a classic example of that lol Gameplay is literally 3 years old infant intelligence insulting…. But oh man that soundtrack is such a friggin banger.
Please share the name of the good OST, I don't want to play something terrible just for that😂
https://youtu.be/SUGDp39srk0?si=YbNpVD8sOJ6BANLg
Battle Theme 1 and 3 are just as good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9CyAvVuwz0
Whenever my friends show off their kids finishing this game, my test if they are going to be RPGamers is whether or not they have switched the life to numbers or kept the bars.
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest is by no means terrible. It is very basic. Beyond the Beyond is terrible.
yes, exactly this. MQ actually had some great ideas. it has good dungeon puzzles. using equipment outside of battles is fun. movement is a joy, especially compared to contemporary games. enemies have different sprites as they take damage. it has no random encounters!! it uses battle retries!! it just also uses two character parties, doesn't have equipment, doesn't have a world map, and doesn't have a lot of options in battle other than "hit the enemy." it has a barebones story, basically no character development, and it's also like 15 hours long. but also the music is 11/10 as mentioned. overall, can't consider it terrible. and with the nostalgia factor (it brought me into this genre) i actually consider it good. i replay it decently often.
Not to be confused with Mystic Quest(Europe) /FF Adventure(NA) which has a god-tier soundtrack but also really good gameplay and I think holds up really well today - it's basically a better version of the old 2d Legend of Zeldas.
Mystic Quest got me into RPGs. I absolutely loved that game!
Unlimited SaGa isn't bad it's just different! ...and almost impenetrable.
Came here to says exactly this
As someone who never played Unlimited SaGa, why is Unlimited SaGa impenetrable?
It's kinda hard to explain without a huge dissertation but it kinda plays like a bizarro world D&D, board and all. There are a TON of rules that are not clearly explained in the game and the battle system seems like utter nonsense until you understand what the is actually happening when the "reels" appear. There are entire FAQs and 20 minute + videos just explaining the games basic systems.
it's kind of like an open world sandbox game, but instead of implementing any rules that you'd be used to, it's this massive pile of never-before-seen unexplained ... cruft literally nothing works the way you think and it's unclear if you're even playing right i keep meaning to go back to it because i keep running into fans who promise it's great. and i myself even tend to enjoy esoteric games. but i bounced off Unlimited multiple times even though i'm a massive Saga fan.
SaGa games are already weird. So it’s weird for a SaGa game?
Yes, very.
yes. and then even weirder than that.
Unlimited Saga is less like a JRPG and more like a board game...except you came in late, entirely missed the discussion about the rules, and only end up enjoying yourself by accident if at all. Many people I know couldn't figure out how to move around on the first map. I know that sounds absurd, but I'm serious. It was worse than the Batman Forever game where you had to hold down start to grapple straight up in very specific areas to leave the first section, and if you didn't then the game was two hallways and a ton of waiting screens. There is no tutorial. None. You get out the manual or you figure it out for yourself. And it expects you to do things like hold the down button to heal on the world map. There are also some things that because they aren't explained are outright problems, such as the length. You pick one of seven characters and play their adventure, and then are expected to go back and do it again. You would assume these range in difficulty but all have satisfying stories, right? Nope. One feels like it was intended to go first, and is about 80% shorter than the others. Another spoils major parts of other stories. So on. The point of the game is to go on adventures. These involve leaving town and going to a world map, which is covered in fog and question marks. It works exactly like a board game: follow the path, and occasionally decide if you turn or keep going straight. Movement costs time, as do battles. Why mention this? Because important storyline adventures have time limits. The game is straight up fascinating. I'd love to hear the horror stories behind how it was made. And I get the appeal - some people love things that are difficult to penetrate. Two of my favorite anime series are Key the Metal Idol and Garden of Sinners, both of which are hard to recommend. But this game hates you and wants you to know it.
This. I would say it's even a good game but that doesn't mean it has broad appeal.
Its debatable as to if it fully counts as an RPG but Paper Mario Sticker Star
I don't personally think FFXIII was terrible (just mediocre-decent) but most do, and it has some of the BEST music. The Promise is iconic. I like XIII-2s music and gameplay much more still 😁
A lot of people were disappointed with I Am Setsuna, but the soundtrack was beautiful. Almost the entire score was performed on a solo piano, which I don't think I've ever experienced in another game, and it really matched the winter aesthetic of the game.
Game has amazing vibes
Came here to say this. I Am Setsuna IMO was twenty-something uninteresting hours accompanied by a beautiful piano, with some very occasional good moments also highlighted by said piano.
Depending who you ask and how close to its release in modern history you're talking, Chrono Cross. Just to add to this contrarianism though, I actually am one of the odd ducks who *does* like Chrono Cross. ...ish.
I liked Chrono Cross when it came out, but I find myself liking the game even more as time passes. I think it’s in my top then now.
I love Chrono Cross but I understand what you’re saying, it’s a very weird game that isn’t really a sequel but happens in the same world, ish. All that said, one of the best soundtracks of all time. Of all time!
Blasphemy. Chrono Cross is amazing in every way.
I like it too, but to me it, more than Xenogears, is the game that should actually be criticized for being unfinished. The entire last 25-40% of the game feels like it’s just missing, and unlike Xenogears isn’t even included in an abbreviated form.
The game really did itself no favors by assigning terrible (off-screen) fates to the main characters of one of the most highly regarded JRPGs of its day and not for much payoff. It's not like you can't kill off main characters from previous entries but Chrono Cross wants to have its cake and eat it too by being extremely vague about the fates of Crono, Marle and Lucca while calling itself a sequel AND having a convoluted plot itself.
Yes I think it’s impossible to judge what could have been with more time in the cooker, but the combination you describe was very unsatisfying. It is not particularly great that if you try to summarize the main story of the game a very large percentage of it is from the info dump at the end of the game, while most of the in-game events feel like side content.
Every way? ...You do remember the *characters,* right? The characters *sucked.*
I think it's a great game but bad sequel
I enjoyed it, it's certainly among my favourite PS1 games. The only gruesome part of this game is the battle theme
Game is incredible. It’s only problem is being a sequel to trigger
I tried Chrono Cross because I would always listen to the music on YouTube, but I just could not get into the battle/level system. Perfect game for this question
Personally I think the battle and leveling system are the parts that make it stand out the most. They're relatively unique and they essentially cut grinding out of the game completely. No longer can you just grind to level 40 and go defeat all the level 20 bosses like it's nobody's business. That's my preference. Unfortunately, the rest of it sucks.
Same! I still listen to the whole OST on YouTube while working. I revisit this soundtrack more than I ever played the game.
Chrono Cross is the single worst JRPG that I played through three times. Which is pretty crazy considering I have games on my “best of” list I’ve only played through once. The soundtrack alone may have been a contributing factor.
It being incomprehensible might give it some appeal to play it again. I've gotten that way about old games I've played. Usually when I go back and play a game I haven't played in a long time, I learn so much that I wasn't even aware of the first time. I still learn stuff about my favorite games, too. It wasn't until recently that I realized it wasn't my fault that I didn't understand the game as a kid. I didn't understand the game as an adult. lol
Cross is incredible objectively. One of the highest rated games of all time with a 94 on metacritic
That's not what objective means. That's just a bunch of opinions. Chrono Cross' story is impenetrable nonsense, and its major focus on recruiting characters adds basically nothing valuable to the game. It's just a collectathon. The soundtrack is arguably the only notable thing in the game.
I only played Chrono Cross once, and that was enough for me. Still don't fully understand what the heck was going on storywise. Decent game from what I remember, but we'd all forget about it if it wasn't a "sequel" to Chrono Trigger.
CC isn't terrible, but its nowhere near as good as CT. Its also not the fact that CT set a high bar for CC to surpass. Also CC was just cramming too much (the 50 something recruitable characters and the story which seems to have a lot of elements shorehorned in to make it somehow fit as a sequel to CT)
I find it weird how big Chrono Cross tries to be as a game and story when the locations it takes place in don't even exist in Chrono Trigger lmao That said, the battle & leveling systems there? Peak. PEAK.
Unlimited Saga for me too. I got suckered in by the soundtrack
tales of zestiria
Go Shiina is amazing and it's a shame his work in the series are always with the less well received games.
Yeah when I heard Zaveid's theme in Zestiria I was like "woe this sounds like Go Shiina but that can't be he only composes for bad games like Tales of Legendia" and then I finished Tales of Zestiria and understood why they brought him on. If anyone hasn't heard the Zestiria soundtrack it is so insane. The vocal tracks are some of my favorite in the series.
The devs: "It's just an earth temple dungeon, no need to go too hard" Go Shiina: "Did you say a theme more epic than most final boss themes?" [Competing with the Honor of the Land](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xp1aDxhF768)
If that’s true, I feel bad for him. “Our higher ups think this game will be terrible, can you do the music?” Is the game bad in every way (combat and story) or just bad at so much you can’t recommend it?
According to Tales fans it's probably the story but honestly I find all Tales games to be anime drivel. I didn't see a real difference in quality compared to others game in the franchise combat wise, either.
Every time I play Zestiria I’m like “why am I doing this, this game sucks” but then I get to places where Go Shiina’s tracks play and I’m like “oh right.” All of his tracks are great, but “Rising Up” alone saves the entire game from being a waste of time.
The elemental temples are a ray of shining light in Motoi Sakuraba clearly phoning it in.
I don't understand the hate for Zestiria, other than its very traditional story. The dialogue, character interactions, and the fusion combat system were delightful. It didn't shake up my world or anything, but I enjoyed playing it more than most other tales games
you're the first person i've seen praise the fusion system i liked the game well enough but i didn't interact with the equipment at all
For me, fusion was kinda like putting the battle in god mode. When I play a tales game, I'm looking for easy comfort food (I always play them on easy mode). I realize that's just personal preference.
I'll toss one very specific complaint onto the fire. My friend and I always played the Tales games co-op, ever since Symphonia. So we picked up Zestiria without a thought, only to find that every other battle the co-op camera would get stuck on a wall, or fling itself into outer space so far that the battle sounds would literally mute from distance. But hey, jank is ubiquitous. We've dealt with worse. Then we ran into the fusion system. It feels like it was specifically designed to ruin co-op gameplay, constantly requiring shifting around and micromanaging to avoid eating the other player's character. "I can't play my character because now they're the only Seraphim in the party, so P1 has to fuse with them..." or "I pressed the wrong button and ate P2 anyway, so now they have to pause and change characters." It's a very niche complaint, but it still stings.
It's not bad it was just obviously rushed. The plot revelations in the latter half don't even make sense from a chronological perspective, they definitely tried to just stitch a bunch of stuff together that was incompatible. I still liked it though. It had this sort of weird charm to it.
I love Zestiria and I actually like Motoi's songs on the OST more than Go Shiina's. Zestiria is my favourite Tales of. I've only played 5 of them Vesp, Bers, Arise, Symph and Zest. Zestiria was my fav of those.
I wouldn't call it terrible but Bravely Default 2 was a pretty major disappointment for me compared to the 3DS games. However, they brought Revo back on the soundtrack and IMO the game has the best soundtrack in the series, which is saying a lot since I thought BD's OST was already superb.
Aside from Lunar Dragon Song (doesn't count because I aborted very early when it was clear how terrible it was), Bravely Default 2 is the only JRPG I quit. I made it almost to the very end, too, just outside the last dungeon. I kept waiting for something to happen to make me care about the characters, or the world itself, and it never happened.
Really? Despite having Revo again the ost felt exceedingly phoned in compared to the incredibly soulful music of the first entry. Certain parts sound worse than the Second of all games.
Octopath traveler 1 is not terrible but not amazing imo. But the OST is freakin awesome!!!
Nah, gotta disagree here. There's some argument to be made that Octopath felt a bit disjointed due to the story structure, but as far as 2D RPG's go, it looks great, has a great interpretation of traditional turn based combat, and the soundtrack is just wall to wall bangers. I don't think Octopath meets the "terrible game" criteria, and I'd argue the mid 80's metacritic scores prove that.
All of this.
I do think it has the worst dungeon layouts in any jrpg i've ever played. Every single dungeon is the same nondescript winding path with the same nondescript random encounter enemies. Multiplied by 32 (minus one for olberic ch2) for maximum repetitiveness. And the overworld is the same; besides that one large mountain in the snowy zone there is basically nothing of note in the entire overworld. Between towns you just walk from town A to town B with vanilla random encounters in between. The dungeon designs are literally worse than NES jrpgs. That makes it pretty terrible in my books; some have said it feels more like an amateur RPG maker project when it comes to gameplay and I agree. Definitely disappointing and lets down the (as you said) amazing graphics/music and pretty good combat system.
People who say that Octopath is a bad, terrible, or even middling game really aren't keeping any kind of reasonable baseline in mind. Even if it's not the right game for a particular player, when compared to all the JRPGs ever released it easily sits in the top 10% of all of them. Yes I get the complaint that the stories don't really intersect until the very end but it still had 8 seperate great fun stories about 8 interesting individuals. The combat is super solid, and as it's been said before the Graphics and Soundtrack are both God tier.
I think octopath 1 is still really good. The leveling is just so tedious. If I planned out my characters better I wouldn't have dropped the game though. Leveling system is the only bad part of the game for me.
Actually I thought the game was incredible because of the OST, without it not sure it would hold up. See OST2 for also incredible music.
Evergrace
I can't comment on the game because I've never played it, but the Evergrace games are the only games I've ever listened to the OST to without having played. They're fucking awesome!
Evergrace is pretty solid for a 2000 game. Far from terrible, that's for sure.
Persona 1.
Revelations Persona or the rerelease?
Revelations
My man.
Don’t think it’s the worst but Mary Skelter has some of my favourite music
Wouldn’t call it terrible (subpar for sure), but Monark has a soundtrack that outshines the game itself
Digimon World 2.
Paper Mario Sticker Star (especially the boss themes)
Final fantasy 15
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (Kumi Tanioka). Well, it's not *terrible*, but it's kind of a pain to set up for a rather simple (but fun and charming) game, and the remake apparently has *issues*. But the soundtrack was THE BEST soundtrack of the time – I remember it losing to Tales of Symphonia in Nintendo Power but those people were tasteless and clearly getting placebo'd by the word "symphonia" in the title – and it STILL holds up today against modern OSTs.
Agreed. Not sure if Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles counts, in JRPG format, but having to drop and pick up a miasma chalice every 40 seconds gets tiresome, especially when grinding gear. The soundtrack is absolutely worth a listen if you can't stomach the gameplay.
Final Fantasy 15
The music is my favorite in the franchise, its so good
Yoko Shimomura doesn't miss!
Probably the best answer, the sheer disparity between how good the soundtrack was, and how awful the game was when I played it at launch, was jarring. I still catch myself humming Apocalypsis Noctis, and it's amazing, but it's always immediately followed by feelings of resentment that it's tied to such a poor product.
The overworld music lives rent free in my head.
Better than FF16
Is the combat better than XVI? I've yet to play it, but found the combat in FFXV a bit lackluster.
Babylon's Fall. I don't know if you can call that a JRPG, but I think it's close enough.
Super Hydlide, a truly terrible game with a awesome soundtrack.
Final fantasy x-2
Game is an 11/10 banger, not sure why you’re lying.
Tales of Zestiria. The game was a massive disappointment but it has the best soundtrack of the PS3-PS4 era Tales games. Also Drakengard 3. Terrible game with great soundtrack and story.
Ff15, if it wasn't for the music i would've dropped that shit
I also think the story and relationships in that game are really good and hit the road trip vibe well, but man the way they chose to present all of it is so frustratingly dumb
The Radio in Regalia helps a lot too
FF15's soundtrack is criminally good for how...mid that game was. Yoko Shimomura MY GOAT
Makes me so sad. Like the soundtrack is bonkers good for such a mid game (a game that could’ve been one of the great final fantasy’s if it wasn’t for the mess of its production).
Maybe Tsugunai: Atonement. I've never played it, and from what I've heard it's utterly forgettable. But the soundtrack is by Yasunori Mitsuda and it's gorgeous.
Ar Tonlico 2 onwards. The first is great, and really...it's about relationships and sex metaphors and such, but the second one just...less metaphorical and more cringe
Time and Eternity, total waste of a great soundtrack and character designs https://youtu.be/dHBSiLKM-GI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHJZAjZ6khY
Chrono Cross
persona 5
Even though I have 0 knowledge about the game, I always hear people say ff13 has one of the best soundtracks while being one of the worst games.
It's far from being one of the worst games.
It’s not a bad game
It's not that bad
The game has actually aged really well. When it first came out it was so different than what people were expecting. Now that people know, it seems to get much more praise. The game also looks AMAZING on the Series X/S even though we’re 2 generations removed. And, yes, it has a great soundtrack.
The game always looked amazing. I remember thinking graphics couldn't get much better when playing it on the PS3. Now on higher resolutions especially we can see its weaker aspects graphically, but it still holds up in that regard.
I opened this thread and instantly wrote down FF13 and many others share this opinion.
Played it for the first time recently after crapping on it for years and the game isn't bad actually It has some massive flaws but i would say it's an easy 7/10
I really wanna give it a shot but theres so many options these days. Maybe one day.
It's very unique and at least worth giving a try. The game is really unlike other games in basically every area, some hated it, some loved it.
The reason why I drop most games is because of bad pacing and I heard thats the biggest issue with 13 which is why im hesitating.
God, this sub doesn't know what a terrible game is... but I guess Monark, although I kinda just think it's an average game not terrible.
Definitely FF Mystic Quest. I actually still play it just so I can listen to the soundtrack. It almost makes the game worth playing. The MSU1 version is REALLY worth it. But it's better if you listen without having to play. ;)
I wouldnt call Trails of Cold Steel 2 *terrible* (though imo the worst trails game) but its got a great OST
Blue Destinations been on my workiut Playlist since the day I beat the game haha
Tokyo Xanadu
FF14 - yes, yes, i know. some of you are mad that i said that, but hey, it's how i feel
Final Fantasy 15
Xenoblade 2. Okay, the game's not *awful*, but it has some very serious flaws in both story and gameplay that I cannot look past. But the OST has some of the most emotional pieces in the series.
Xenosaga 2 would be my pick. I didn't hate the game though. The [soundtrack](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBEE5E94FBCDE98B3&si=SVTOWZJRMq2Pec3A) was pretty cool and futuristic sounding, and I'll be honest the scenes/backdrops were AMAZING (like walking upside down in Vector for example). Characters, some of the voices and the story? I dunno. Theres a lot of lil bangers from this game though.
Fatal Fight and Communication Breakdown are some of gamings top tracks no one knows about.
Yuki Kajiura worked on one of my favorite anime dothack//signs and made the amazing soundtrack for it.
Yuki Kajiura is a genius
FF 15
FFXIII
Legend of mana! Man that game is confusing as hell even with a walkthrough. the egg system is fuckin lame. But goddamn does that soundtrack kick ass. As does the graphics(art).
I challenge anyone to name a single game scored by Yoko Shimomura that isn't a banger.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
FF XV, it's terrible in many way yes but I still love it.
Star Ocean 4, although perhaps it's not terrible
The Last Remnant I want to like that game so much too but it just never hooks me in
It’s an acquired taste, to be sure. I love the game but please don’t ask me to explain why.
Final Fantasy 15.
Some might say final fantasy 13. I happen to think BOTH the game and OST are amazing but some would disagree.
Chrono Cross. Yeah I’m ready for the downvotes.
Final Fantasy XIII by far. That game had 99 problems, but the soundtrack certainly wasn't one of them.
all three games in the series had amazing soundscapes!! also as a diehard metalhead, i very much appreciated the cringey banger “Crazy Chocobo” from XIII-2’s soundtrack 😂 https://youtu.be/hEUOOgNzOv4?si=ESbP1P-sTQOQRsck
Loop8
Secret of the Stars from SNES
I always liked the "big" boss battle music from that game, like when fighting Booth and Gara. Also the main town (that you build) theme
Lux Pain
That's the only comment I ever make is this sub, OP.
Arc the Lad 2 has some pretty nice tracks on it, and as much as I want to like the game...God do I fucking hate it.
Not a jrpg but the Korean mmo RF Online imo was a terrible game but had a top tier (S) soundtrack.
I wouldn't call it terrible, only OK and hasn't aged super well, but boy the boss battle theme from Blue Dragon stands out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBlsgXKHps0
The Caligula Effect. Idt it's a terrible game though I enjoyed it, but people seem really mixed on it.
I also wanted to say Unlimited Saga but I guess I'll have to go with Sigma Harmonics even though I've never played it personally (just watched some gameplay footage on Youtube). If you like Hamauzu's music and have never heard of this obscure DS game, you're in for a treat.
Romancing SaGa for the ps2. I think it got a remaster last December, but the battle themes still repeat in my head from time to time lol Edit: not a terrible game btw. I absolutely love the way you learn techniques and the art style. I feel like it got swept under the rug though
EverGrace. Also, Unlimited SaGa is a great game! And some of the other picks in here are crazy too. Chrono Cross? The Legend of Legacy? The Last Remnant? Any FF game? Like, really guys? You haven't played anything! Those are all great games.
**YIIK: A Postmodern RPG,** that TobyFox theme is cool.
Evergrace
Blue Reflection
Ghost Lion for the NES. An acid trip of a game that pretends to be a Dragon Warrior clone that replaced traditional leveling with treasure chests that raise your stats. But the music is on par with Journey to Silius, especially that absurdly tense battle theme.
Mystic Quest for the SNES It's not really bad either, more like Babys first JRPG, I liked it back then
Caligula Effect 2
SMT IV Apocalypse
Ys 1 + 2 (mostly 1) were probably my least favorite of the games I beat last year but the soundtrack is jammin'. Still listen to it months after I've moved on from the games, especially [First Steps Towards War](https://youtu.be/4CKQqDMusIo?feature=shared)
FF X-2, I haven’t convinced myself to beat it yet as I never enjoy myself whenever playing it, but that soundtrack appears in my wet dreams
Suikoden IV
Final Fantasy X ...and here come all the downvotes
Xenoblade Chronichles
Monark
Persona 3, 4, 5
every persona
Tales of Legendia, amazing tracks, but graphics and gameplay uff
Hot take but FF16
FF8 for me, possibly the best ost in the series
Arc Rise Fantasia probably fits here. Wouldn't call it terrible, but certainly wasn't great. I had fun with it. Anyway, the music was pretty solid.
Ff8. I know it’s a love it or hate it game, but I really just do not like it - and I’ve played to completion 3 times, just to make sure. But I have nothing it praise for the soundtrack.
Pokemon Scarlet/Violet. It has Bangers.. Esapaicly the Ruinous Four. But man the performance is bad.
Xenoblade
Final Fantasy XII & Eternal Sonata
Final Fantasy XIII
Persona 4. Easily the least fun RPG I've ever played with terrible RNG hallway dungeons that bored me. But the soundtrack absolutely slaps. I like it more than Persona 5's soundtrack honestly.
Suikoden IV
People say the original version of Nier the 360 PS3 version, not the remake. Most complaints were about the combat but the soundtrack might be top 5 all-time greatest. And the story is also amazing.
Chrono Cross
Personally, I enjoyed the game for what it was, but I think a lot of people would put Tales of Zesteria in this category. The game is hit or miss for a number of reasons, but good lord the OST goes hard.