I would love to see a list of RPGs you weren't expecting to enjoy, but ended up really enjoying.

For context, 1994 was a really good year in gaming: Donkey Kong Country, Earthbound, Earthworm Jim, FF6, Doom 2, Super Metroid, Street Fighter 2 Turbo... and then there's Vay.

I’m glad I found this channel, I genuinely enjoy this content.

dungeon encounters looks like exactly what you'd get from a game called "dungeon encounters" in 2021

I bought Unlimited Saga on a whim because I saw Squaresoft's name on the cover. I learned an important lesson that day.

Even when you're displeased with a game, Johnny, you still manage to give them fair reviews, and now if I ever encounter either of these four I'll have much more suitable expectations going in, so thank you for that. I hope you're having a restful Sunday!

i love how even if you hate these games you still talk about the positive things about them and what made you try them in the first place! You made me interested in Vay, the mecha in a fantasy medieval setting sold it to me, i'll try it later and maybe i'll love it or end up hating it like you, but in the end the important thing is that i'll have a new experience on a game i never heard about before and it's thanks to you and this video!

For me it’s “The 7th saga”. It always looked cool and there was many characters to choose from but the game was so hard and some the battles were endless

This channel is criminally underrated. Always great content!

I am almost scared to admit it but an RPG that everybody seemed to love but me would probably be undertale.

Thanks for the video John - to me you are one of the few legit gaming critics on youtube. Not just in scope of knowledge but in giving real "criticism". Why wasn't this a good experience or a great experience -- you bring the detailed receipts. Always a pleasure to watch someone talking about their passion. 💛👑

I remember being so curious about Vay, but didn’t have the system. Such a trip to be reminded of it so many years later

Ahhh, Sunday morning, granola bar in my belly and a cup of coffee in my hand, perfect time for John to upload another video

I liked Vay enough to play through it multiple times growing up. I watched someone do a run on twitch a couple of years ago and it was rougher than I remembered. I think I remember it most because it was the only RPG with a major party member death since FF7.

your story about Baten Kaitos is pretty much a perfect mirror of my own experience with it. I played it, got some hours in (I recall being in some candy land when I stopped), and just stopped due to lack of enjoyment. And yet, looking back, I feel nostalgic for it, and I want to play the remakes.

Baten Kaitos is my absolute favorite JRPG. Cannot wait for its remaster this September!

Stoked to play Baten Kaitos remakes. Great games I played them both. Hope we finally get a sequel.

Astria Ascending is one that comes to mind for me. Luckily it's not a long game, but it had potential that it seemed the devs didn't quite tap into.

I have to agree that at first Baten Kaitos felt weird but its so fun once you figure out how the card system works :D

Great idea for video….just wish you talked about more recent RPGs❤

I actually dug Dungeon Encounters. I enjoyed the minimalistic gameplay and had fun guessing the classical covers of each level's fighting theme. It was a chill game to wind down to at the end of a long day. There also was the dopamine of walking over all of the tiles.

I hope you give Baten Kaitos a good chance this time around. It does take some time until the game gets going, but it gets really good when things start to click. The battle system is also the same since you get limited amounts of crappy cards at the beginning.

I am feeling now the way you did in 04 about baten kaitos. I had a GameCube and all the previous consoles back then but I didn’t even know about its existence and wasn’t into rpgs as much. So I hope I can get into the battle system because this is the game I’m most looking forward to finally playing this year.

Still my favorite game channel on KZfaq. So many similarities and someone who always reminds me of my love of video games

Working Designs had some of the best box art back in the mid-90's and their Sega Saturn Action RPG's were amazing.

Octopath Traveler for me. I just didn’t care enough about the characters for it to feel like a big deal when the stories finally converged

I really enjoy your perspectives on games man! I love baten kaitos but I understand not everybody can jell with a card based battle system. Thanks for your thoughts!

Awww... I loved Vay. I even bought It for my iPod touch back in the day.

Dragon Age Inquisition. I really loved Origins, but I still don't understand how Inquisition got all those 9/10s and GOTY awards.

As a massive fan of hardcore dungeon crawler, I adored Dungeon Encounters. The minimalist presentation and remixed ATB combat makes for some of the most interesting gameplay ideas. It’s absolutely crammed with systems and hidden synergies-but yes, the presentation is super streamlined, and I get why some people don’t click with it. Especially because you really have to dig to find and understand those systems. For me though, it was absolutely perfect.

Nice video) have you ever played Vagrant Story? My favorite game, square greatest game in my opinion. Hope they Will do the remaster..

I really liked Dungeon Encounters! Other than when one of your party members fell and you had to find him… and going into the negative dollar amount from thieves 😂

I remember being exited for the Last Remnant for 360. I was still holding on to the “square can do no wrong” thing. Couldn’t get more than 5 hours in. As far as newer games? Hmm I try to only play the games I know I’ll like these days 😂

Man I can't wait for the re-release of Baten kaitos. I loved this game

A thumbs up for effort Johnny

I had the iphone version of Vay. I forgot this game even existed until you brought it up.

The narrator at 3:12 must have also done Albert Odyssey for the Saturn. Sounds almost identical.

I tried to like legends of dragoon but was not feeling it. But at the time i was younger so i may try it again someday

Unlimited Saga for the PS2. I was sooooo excited. But the static images - static world map. It just killed it for me. Gourgeous images and the packaning for the EU made it one of the prettiest games on my shelf. But I could not get into it. 😢

dungeon encounters was a very enjoyable game for me. i loved finding the hidden treasures, making it to the next floor, upgrading gear etc. what i DIDNT like was the traps that forced your whole party to scatter to random floors of the dungeon! i was on floor 44 when it all came crashing. but i still enjoyed it. it's definitely not for everyone, very niche!

Dungeon encounters is one that i actually enjoyed to the point where i 100%'d all tiles and all monster battles. It is simplistic as hell but the game rewarded you for trying things while punishing you in the brutalist of ways at the same time. Uncovering all tiles gave you points to apply to abilities that you find and leveling gives you more cap points to wear stronger gear that you find, sometimes you need to give up armor to put on that stronger aoe spell, the trade off is that you're ally wont actually start taking damage until they hit through your armor so you can get away with a lot more. I started myself by fighting every battle i came across, but once i got up to the tree area (area 4), i did I end up falling into the floor 97 trap and losing my entire lvl60 team at the time. So i said fk it and took a lvl 1 ally up the tower, collecting wanders along the and using my displacement abilities to dodge all encounters. When i got all the strongest wanderer then i made a team of them and worked on getting all the secret things (which incidentally includes gear for the said wanderers, and some stupidly strong spells). Maxing out the in/out of battle speeds and writing down coordinates for things does make the game a lot more manageable. like where you wiped, where stores are, rest stations, puzzle locations, gorgon alters, just notepad the shit out of everything like you would in a normal bare bones dungeon crawler or dnd session. But even without that there is a list of found points as well as enemy groups you can look at at anytime, it was just easier for me to look to the side and see it on my notepad. Grand old time if you aren't one for story and just like to see what is at the end of dungeon by any means necessary, and only took me 35 hours to do it all. 👍

The Witcher 3 and Borderlands 3 are games i tried to love but just can't get into them. It really sucks because Borderlands 3 was a game i was hyped for since i loved Borderlands 1 and 2.

I legit at the end there thought you were gonna say Skies of Arcadia haha...

Haha dude I LOVE Vay!! It’s not one of my absolute FAVORITES by any means, but it’s a game that has a special place in my heart

I still want to try Baten Kaitos when it's remade.

The Witcher 3. I tried HARD, like 5 or 6 times to get into this game but I just couldn't do it. I don't even know exactly why but I just couldn't vibe with that game at all

Dungeon Encounters was one of the most engrossing games I have played in so long!! I'm so sorry to hear you didn't like it. I personally adored this game.

I’m just getting into RPG’s I’m currently playing breath of fire 1, love it .

I tried to play the Neptunia series, but everything about it turned me away immediately.

For me its Vagrant Story. With near perfect reviews and a friend in high school who couldnt stop raving about it, I got it for Christmas and quickly got bored with it. The only upside is i was able to sell it about 10 years later for a lot of money.

when I saw the title of this video I started thinking about RPGS I tried to like and Baten Kaitos came to my mind. I thought I was the only one who just didn't enjoy this game and when you said it I for the first time knew I wasn't alone. I do want to try it again with the remake but it just was not what I expected when I got it.

Just like you I was so excited to buy and play this game. The game was beautiful, but the card system did not suck me in. I do plan on picking up the HD remasters and giving them another go. Maybe I will like them now. Not sure, but I am willing to give it a try. Had to preorder from Play Asia just to get a physical copy.

Vay has a much better prequel game -- it's called "Oy".

Lunar is one of my favorites

I've been watching you for over a decade and I've never seen you talk about Legend Of Dragoon. I thought that this video might finally be the one, but the fact that it isn't must mean that you just haven't played it. It's so up your alley and had groundbreaking combat for it's time, not giving it a shot is pure insanity, you must try it.

3:12, oh wow, it's the narrator voice from Albert Odyssey on the Sega Saturn. "In ancient times..." 😅

Dragon Age: Inquisition. Which is weird because on paper it should tick all of the boxes for things I like in an RPG, but I just couldn’t get into it at all.

There was a game for the PS2 Called Ring of Red .....and there was just one thing that put me off the game completely, during a battle there would be a sight that comes up with a percentage to hit rising....and i was hoping it would be skill based aiming ....and it was not it was luck and that disappointed me a lot.

Starting off the video with Fatalize? Major props.

Same I gave up on dungeon encounter when I realize how momentous it is

I went to GameStop because I thought Fallout 3 or Dragon Age or something was out that day. Turned out, it wasn't out the week after, and I went home with Borderlands which had just come out instead. I played it twice, and never touched it again. I still have it though!

Can we get a "rpg's I didnt know I would like". For me I had very low expectations for the 2 baten kaitos games on the gamecube but I think they are pretty cool.

That happened to me with Lost Odyssey for the Xbox 360.

No love for Vay? Victor Ireland is crying right now. 😆 I actually never got to play it but always wondered about it since I do love most Working Designs games. Happy to learn more about it and that I did not miss anything special.

One of the voice actors for Vay reminds me of Deckard Cane. Diablo has been on the brain lately.

I tried playing the Witcher 3 on 4 separate tries. The final try I got about 40 hours in. It grew on me a little but I still think the actual combat is overrated. I feel weak when swinging a sword or casting magic.

I agree with the card combat... it's not for everyone. I picked Baten Kaitos recently ( never played before ) and I had the same feeling once I got to the battles...

Oh man. Didn’t expect Baten Kaitos to show up here. I’m by no means a card player but something with Baten Kaitos card design just grabbed me and I was hooked from start to finish and it is one of my favourite games on the Gamecube. Played the second Baten Kaitos games as well and loved it. After playing Baten Kaitos I got hooked on Metal Gear Acid 1 and 2 on the PSP as it too does a similar card battle design and I absolutely love it and I can’t wait to dive into Baten Kaitos on the Switch. I have my preorder in.

For me FF15 when I played the combat for the first time. I don’t understand why the combat is just hold down a button. The design choice is so strange based off their other action RPGs

The older game was Fable for me. I was so psyched but it was far more easy and cartoony than I thought and it just didn't hold my interest. Modern-ish are the new Fallout games. I really tried to like them but just don't. Which is odd because I love Elder Scrolls games. It's just the setting, everything is brown and destroyed and not that interesting to me.

Baten kaitos was awesome.. finished it twice and bought origins when that came out.

final fantasy 7 on the ps1 was that game for me, a friend hyped it up and so I hired it and hated it haha. I played it a few years later as a teen and liked it though.

Dungeon Encounters set off so many red flags for me. It felt like what i wished i'd been warned about with Unlimited Saga.

Surprised you didn't like Dungeon Encounters. The game gets more challenging and a bit more involved as it goes on and you unlock more equipment and the floors get trickier, and it definitely does have different biomes (changing every 10 floors IIRC). As for the music, all the songs are famous classical music pieces covered on the electric guitar by Michio Okamiya. Uematsu is credited as "Music Director," but the songs aren't originals of his.

i played and beat vay on my ipod touch about 15 years ago...... I liked it at the time but i cant remember a thing about it

I really love Baten Kaitos 😢 But I completely understand about the cards. I didn't like it at first but I kept going. I loved how some cards changed with time. Story was interesting too. The characters could use some work. 😅 I'm really looking forward to jumping back in!

The Outer Worlds is what comes to mind when it comes to disappointing games i really tried to like. The writing was great but everything else felt bland.

The Diablo series, if it counts as rpgs n not exclusively jrpgs. I tried 3, then tried 4 n tried 2. I tried to like them n my friends were playing with me n i couldnt like them. They were good games but not the stuff my friends were hyping up.

I still want to play Baten Katos, but I'm not a card game lover either. But it looks beautiful and people rave about it.

I finally played Vay some 5 years ago or so. I got into Sega CD and Saturn stuff so much later in my life, and having started my Working Designs experience with Lunar in the 2010s, my expectations for Vay were just unreasonably high. I finished it almost purely out of spite lol

Love Baten kaidos

I tried to play the arcs of the Trails series, but somehow after Sky FC I always loose interest halfway through every other game in the series.

Hydlyde for NES. The cover looked so cool! (Thank god I only rented it 😂)

Shining the Holy Ark on Saturn was a first person grind and got all the way to end boss and didn’t have enough levels to finish it

For me it was chrono cross. I really try to get into the story but I got lost when they had so many characters. And the different routes to choose from. It was just too much for me

Johnny, don't listen to anyone who tell you that You need to stop your KZfaq channel or thet you suck Because you're amazing KZfaqr and keep the show going!

Infinite Undiscovery, Eternal Sonata and Record of Agarest War where 3 games I tried to get into on the 360 and man were they rough

Vay was my first JRPG ever and I loved it. The next one for me was Shining Force, then Lunar 1! I'm sorry you didn't like it, but if you've never played a JRPG before it's perfectly functional and even a little bit simple and a good starter JRPG. For me it was like 15 bucks used in the Blockbuster Video bargain bin. My mom paid for it though lol Want add one more thing. the style of Vay is like this older Legend of Heroes game I tried...can't remember which one, but I think it was a TCD game.

One RPG I tried to like but I couldn't is Elden Ring. I played Dark Souls 2 and 3 and enjoyed them so when I heard about Elden Ring, the game got my interest but It was a complete let down; the graphics, the art style, the world even the combat felt like a step back. I tried to finish the game like 2 or 3 times but I just get bored quickly.

Hey John have you ever played Skies of Arcadia? It's my favorite JRPG game of all time

I think it's worth noting that song that was sampled for the Dungeon game was also in Catherine so it probably doesn't use a lot of his own original compositions.

I think Baten Kaitos will really benefit from the HD Remaster. Being able to turn off battles and/or fast forward them will help immensely. The original also had an 'All your base are belong to us' worthy dub. The game can only really be enjoyed in Japanese, or with the voices muted. One of the most beautiful games ever made though, and one of the best soundtracks. Fantastic world of story too.

Final Fantasy XII. Man, I was hyped for this! But, when I got DQ-8 and it came with the demo, that's when the window shattered. The new action combat never synced with me. Still picked up the game. Still tried it. And after 15 hours, it was all torture for me and I hated it. I tried. Didn't like it then. I might not like it now but I will never forget that disappointment.

FF12. To me it feels like the game is just on auto pilot. You set up the gambits and the characters just play the game for you.

Baten Kaitos 1&2 HD collection going out ??? I had no idea this was happening, nice. I haven't played the originals on the GameCube but will buy it for my Switch, they will look stunning especially on the OLD screen.

I loved/liked Baten Kaitos. I am not a huge RPG fan, but when this came out, I loved the art and had just finish Tales of Symphonia, which was my favorite RPG I’d ever played. I started it and really did love it, but it was so long and I couldn’t commit the time. It honestly took me around 4 years to finish as I could only play a little at a time. By the time I finished it, I’d met my wife, married and had kids! But I’d gotten so far, I just couldn’t give up when I was so close. Great memories.

I found out about Vay by complete accident. I went to Blockbuster back in '94 to rent Lunar, and someone had swapped the game out with Vay before returning it. But, you know, 90s anime cover. The store clerks didn't know the difference, and neither did I. I would not get around to beating it until last year. It is a SLOG. RPG grinding abused like you wouldn't believe. You need to spend an hour or so grinding just to go from one dungeon to the next. And the game is nothing but going to the next dungeon. One spot I spent three hours to grind, beat the boss, and got an item that made go back to a locked door in a previous dungeon. I then had to grind for two hours there, beat the boss, which opened the next part of the map. IMMEDIATELY had to grind for the next dungeon which was just off-screen.

My biggest one is Octopath Traveller. I adore this game….up until about the third or fourth boss. The bosses in this game are so fucking OP it isn’t even fun. I couldn’t finish it even though I wanted to so badly! Thankfully Octopath II fixed that and is far more balanced. In Octopath I the bosses are scaled to your entire party whereas with Octopath II the bosses are scaled specifically to that story’s character.

I knew you were talking about dungeon encounters I was disappointed also 😂

All Ultima games! Tried all of them, really tried to like them, but never got hooked.