5 JRPGs Worth Buying in 2023 & 5 That Are NOT! 

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CryMachina may not be worth full price, but I really like it and didn't regret 100%ing it

The thing is, I feel like a roguelike dating sim could work. Having to work with whatever specs you get a given run, perhaps having to give up on one romantic interest in a given run because of that, and perhaps even having to maintain the relationship instead of just getting into it... I can see some potential for some interesting applications of roguelike elements. That said, looks like Loop8 isn't the way to do it. And I can get that just going through dialogue probably isn't engaging enough to form the core roguelike loop. But hey, I think the idea is worth looking into. Maybe with some pseudo-battle system but with flirting instead of fighting? Anyway, someone with more involvement in game design than a random commenter on the Internet like me would have to flesh it out but I think it's worth looking into.

Disliking for promoting a pick up artist as sponsor

I adore the fact that you put time stamps in the description to go straight to the game titles for each entry on the list. Really strong video structure, I appreciate it a lot!

Ngl the SAO games are soooo shallow and dull, and that's coming from a die hard SAO fan. The only good one is Fatal Bullet which still holds up today imo

Star Ocean Second Story R is definately one of the best RPG's of 2023 and it honestly got me playing the other Star Ocean games i own (Except SO5 cause that game is trash).

Great list! It's great to hear good things about Eternights. I'm hoping to try it come the beginning of next year. On the topic, I fell in love with both Void Terrarium games this year. Fantastic takes on the mystery dungeon style.

Great video, and I always like how you are to the point. Nayuta: Boundless trails is in my to play pile, and I will likely get into it soon before I pick up the next chapter in the actual Trails series. I'm holding off on Sea of Stars for the physical release, and I've had my eye on Silent Hope. Crymachina look intriguing when I first heard about it, but I think your video reaffirms my decision to pass on it for now (especially at that price).

I bought Monster Menu on sale and it was honestly a good purchase: it's fun on short bursts and I enjoy the experimentations with cooking to give you buffs, but also make items work differently depending on how you cook, so if an item is bad on its own, cooking it in some way can change its stats and also give you buffs. And you can also use the items on enemies, some of which can give some nasty debuffs too. Really enjoyed the experimentation process...just not a fan of how if someone dies you can't ress them until you find an altar. And I still haven't understood how classes get their skills... Also, Crystar is better than Crymachina. Crymachina's got good music though, but that's about it.

The name Monster Menu was making me hope for a game with some meta elements where the idea is you upgrade the menus themselves to give you more abilities in combat and things like that

Eterknights were actually great. The fast paced combat are quite fun. The characters were so endearing as well. I just wish the game a little bit longer. Too short by rpg standard. I recently start playing Tales of Arise with mods for the first time. Man, it was such a game changer

One of these days I'll play Loop8, just don't got much free time. I'm a story buff so all the negatives you listed for Loop8 and CryMachina are positive for me, except the setting of CryMachina doesn't really appeal to me. Anyways, the game here I've played is Eternight. It was a pretty good game, the combat is decent enough to keep you entertained but the real draw is the character personalities and interactions, much like the Persona games.

I bought Loop 8 because I love the art style and I also love Visual Novels and Turn based battles. Oh boy, the rogue like mechanica was seriously a bummer to be honest. And btw, I don't regret buying CryMachina.

Nice to see Silent Hope getting some love. What do you think of Chained Echos? I feel like it released too late to be added to 2022 lists but gets forgotten on 2023 lists.

I feel like it´s worth mentioning that Nayuta is part of the Trails series. While it has different gameplay and is, as of right now, only very loosely connected to the rest of Trails (as in, basically not connected at all) It could become relevant, and it might be a good incentive to check out the rest of the series, if you get interested in checking out a 10+ game narrative

I have a question about the Second Story. Since there are three different voice choices, which one of them warrants the great voice acting praise?

I was on the fence about boundless trails but thanks to your review I'm definitely going to look for it when it goes on a good sale

My favorite JRPGs of the year are Octopath Traveler 2, Fate/Samurai Remnant, Star Ocean Second Story R, Super Mario RPG and Fire Emblem Engage. I still need to play Sea of Stars and Chained Echoes but I'm sure they'll be up there as well once I do. Awesome year for the genre.

I think you sold me on Silent Hope. I haven’t heard much since the release trailer so it’s good to hear some praise for it

Surprised there's no Octopath Traveler 2 on the list anywhere.

1:48 - "It's a gorgeous game" Holy heck that water looks amazing. God I love the look of these newfangled HD pixel games.

I was wondering, the thing you mentioned in Eterknights that you can slow down time if dodge at the right moment, is it the same dodge mechanism in the Ys series?

I finished Silient Hope and tbh, its not a bad game but its a game I would wait for a sale to buy and play. Its this cozy 7/10 game you play to unwind but not rly think too much about

Eternights took me by surprise. I usually play horror or horror adjacent games for October. When I saw the Eternights trailer, I decided to give it a shot. It really was enjoyable. The characters were fun, the story just interesting enough and it was fairly easy to play through. I was skeptical about Star Ocean since I wasn't able to finish the first one. Mostly because I had other games I wanted to play, but also because it wasn't really engaging. But, Second Story was just so much fun. I loved the characters, the world, the combat. The specialties were easier to acquire. Also, I didn't mind the fishing mini game, which is rare for me in a JRPG. I bought the Tales of Arise DLC because I loved the world and the characters and... yeah. Pretty disappointing stuff. While it was fun revisiting Arise, the actual DLC was pretty short and bare bones. The only good thing about it was how it accurately portrayed mass immigration of refugees, which isn't something I actively look for in a game. Seeing the world you fought to save basically self-destructing was really a let down. I definitely want to try out Sea of Stars. Have it on GamePass but been swamped with other games. I wanted to play Loop8 but might wait for it to drop in price. The rest, I haven't heard much about. I might look into Cry Machina but it isn't high on my priority list.

It would be helpful if you included chapters with the game titles and also mentioned what consoles the games are available on.

Astlibra came out last year but got english localization this year and I absolutely loved it. Any rpg fans should check it out

nice video, next time put whats plataform the games are avalable

Quick question for anyone to answer but I've been wanting to get into the star ocean games but idk if I should play the originals or wait for the hd-2d remasters. Because I can't really find one for the first game, so I was wondering do I just play the latest version of the first game or wait for a potential remake.

I still buy old games since they usually are more accessible to third worl when discounts drop

At 11:01 I paused the video thinking, "MAN, Nayuta looks a lot like Ys.. Who made this game?" At 11:12 after looking up who made the game.. "This is a Falcom game who is famous for the Ys series..." 😂 I'm really glad I've found this channel. I've been binging your videos for the past couple days.

Personally as a switch off and play game i have been enjoying witchspring r. the story knows its not serious and leans in to that, and the gameplay feels juicy enough for what is a straightforward turn based system.

For Nayuta would it scratch an itch like Dark Cloud 2? I've missed that kind of game

Not gonna lie, I actually liked Loop 8, yeah I'd say it's pretty niche because you have to play a ton of dating sim and be prepared for it's rogue like mechanics but at least to me it's entertaining. I wouldn't suggest it to anyone, but I'm sure there are many VN gamers that could give it a chance, I wouldn't say it's bad but rather different.

thanks for the video Taylor. i bought the Tales of arise Dlc so now i have to try it and see if i like it😂😂

Loop8 was an interesting spin on Persona-like timed repetition of battles after x says, but the dialogues were really bad, and you could heavily cheese the chances for success in talks with save scumming the nonsense lower chances of ANY dialogue choice if you choose another instead of being interconnected with a max convo limit beyond the chances going into impossible odds

okay will listen to you really nice explanation subscribed i cant wait to see more

Been hesitant to buy SAO: Last Recollection, after seeing a copy at my local Gamestop(formally EB Games). Every other game on this list I don't recognize.

Hard disagree with Silent Hope and not because of how you may sound hypocritical. Before I start, here's some context: I bought it Day 1 because of first impressions and that it's from Marvelous. Wasn't expecting anything crazy going in, but I did hope that they pulled inspiration from Rune Factory because it's one of their famous franchises. I also started with the archer and also went fighter just like you did, then I tried out the Sw&Sh then the mage/alchemist, then tried the lancer farmer girl. Didn't touch the greatsword/claymore character because it felt so slow with the wind-ups. There is a feeling of progression, but it's at a snail's pace. The grinding is absurd (yes I know it's a roguelite and grinding will always be involved) and is _barely rewarding_ because the second you finally grind up the gear to beat the boss, whether you are of an average skillset or hardcore no-hit fighter, all your equipment becomes obsolete the second you progress to the next floor. "Isn't that common?" Well yes and no because even the first stage of the next floor has way tankier enemies to the point where you feel weak af again. More than half the game is a walking simulator to grab resources and there's nothing to aid you in that aspect. At least in Rune Factory, every action you did contributed to some growth no matter what (weapon proficiency, gathering skills, etc). With that in mind, $40+ USD for a walking simulator where your gear farming is not rewarding, combat becomes monotonous by spamming skills because of crit multipliers, and then bossing is the only thing to look forward to is a disappointment. "But Rune Factory and other RPGs share these aspects." Yes, but _they expand on them._ *Silent Hope does not.* Rune Factory has a complex crafting and upgrading system built in where you can transform even a beginning weapon to a god-tier item for 1/3 of the game and the effort you put in is rewarded because you can not only be funny, but be satisfied with it. RF also lets you tame even boss monsters which is neat and allow for unique party compositions (RF4 & RF5). Other RPG's don't turn your gear obsolete with every 1-2 hours of progress. Call me a hater, but what I dislike is to see people spend $40 on what ends up being a lackluster game when they could spend that $40 somewhere else like the other worth it games in this video.

DLC for jrpg almost never worth it for me, the main issue is if I played the game day 1 I will forget most of the game mechanic and getting back to it is kinda not fun for me.

I can agree with your list here. I also agree that Crymachina could have been more worth it at a lower price level. If the price drops enough I will probably buy it (the same goes for a very similar but older game called Crystar). I fully agree with The Legend of Nayuta, but I think the Tales of Arise expansion is just fine for the price point. Personally I have some JRPG's that where not in this list, but where great for me. These are (in no particular order) The legend of heroes: Trails Into Reverie, Atelier Ryza 3, Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburgand and The Legend of Heroes: Trails to Azure. All of these where worth the money completely...

I really liked Tales of Arise, so I was wondering if I should buy the expansion, looks like you saved me a couple bucks

Thanks enjoyed your content

Awesome list as always, Taylor!!!

Glad to know about Eterknights, I was waiting for a physical copy to release so im happy there's something good to look forward to. I'm in the middle of playing Star Ocean 2 and im really enjoying the game alot, I just got Precis and Welch so now I think I can get through tougher battles more smoothly with more characters. To be honest I still enjoy Tales of Arise's DLC, I got to return playing the game overall and seeing new contents. I want to get Crymachina but definitely not right now, i'll buy it when its on sale either on Steam or Switch.

I personally like CRYMACHINA and bought the collector's edition. I am not a hardcore Tales of fan, but I have completed 3 of the newer games, Arise being my favorite. I preordered the dlc as soon as it was announced. It waa definitely lackluster, but I did enjoy it still, completing 100% in just short of 20 hours. I agree it could've been so much more, and at a lower price. But do I regret my purchase? No.

Not trying to be a jerk, but Star Ocean came out long before Octopath Traveler, but yeah they're both great games worth playing if you hsve the time and patience.

Great video format! Please do more of these!

Thanks for sharing, nice lists.

As someone who loves Tales of Arise you are so right about the TOA DLC. The story itself (the main highlight of the DLC) starts out okay and gets progressively worse. It is a brilliant idea but the execution was borderline stupid. There was a moment were Alphen nearly goes berserk because his people were about to hurt a child. Letting the child get hurt would have given Alphen enough reason to lose his cool. Instead he saves the child (who can single handedly box his entire party lol) and still gets mad. Just a little rant about the story but all in all it didn't give enough to justify buying it. I hoped for new arts and passives but we got more clothes and story. Not bad but also not enough

Star Ocean Second Story R is amazing and I'm glad to be playing it though there are some puzzles i don't like but it doesn't stop me from playing it.

I heard Dragalia Lost playing in the background near the end for .7 seconds

This is a very good list, the ones you put in the not worth it looks like good games, but not good enough for their price, the good ones I think they dont worth the price either with the exception of Star Ocean and Sea of Stars, but again there are no bad games, just some better than others, I just wouldnt put Tales of Arise in this list, because its a dlc, not really a game

Im waitimg for the physical versions of chained echoes & seas of stars.

Glad to see ya back! I'm glad to see silent hope, I just picked it up! It's fantastic! P.s. is it sad I have 7 of the 10 on the list lol

Okay, but.... roguelike dating sim sounds like a banger idea. Like one of those hard as nails ones where doing anything wrong gets everyone killed and you stabbed by the resident yandere, but with every loop you learn characters' secrets and whatnot that you can use in subsequent playthroughs, but every loop is a bit different to keep you on your toes. Or maybe you need to go all the way into one character's route to learn something that lets you progress with another character. I'd play that.

Enternights is one game I hope to play one day

I prefer Crymachina over Eternights.

I'd probably include Octopath Traveller 2 or FE Engage over Silent Hope for your final "worth it" slot, assuming you weren't trying to use this list to highlight less AAA games,

Time loop stories can be great like the movie Groundhog Day but it seems like the developers did not even try to make it interesting. They probably get a very tight budget as well

I'd say that Loop 8 was worth it (But the thing that stops me is that i'm still salty from Beni enraging the boss to the point where it one-shot Ichika)

To be honest, I was overhyped for Sea of Stars and got a little burned. It was still very good but I expected it to be one of my favourite games of the decade or something. That being said, I actually liked the story a lot. I think it is my favourite story this year. So I am basically saying that the fact that Taylor did not like it all that much, does not mean you won't. Give it a chance.

Great video! Guess I'll have to stop sleeping on Eternights lol

It’s weird how smooth Ys combat in older games are but when falcom makes spin off action games it’s not as smooth kinda like Tokyo Xanadu it was bugging me how the pace and combat was a bit off so I’m guessing with nayuta they used a different team

I think it's hilarious that game developer Masahiro Sakurai classifies licensed games as "not for non-fans," because the gameplay is (usually) awful otherwise

I'm a huge RPG nerd, but I feel like I'm the only person alive that was completely disappointed by everything about sea of stars. I was really excited for it too, which is rare for me. Also ps+ subscribers can get it for free. Not sure about xbox live. I was so glad I didn't spend money on it. Being disappointed by a free game though...

Eternights requiring perfect dodges makes it a hard pass for me. That on top of the QTEs ruins what was otherwise a good game.

Gonna get the Tales of Arise DLC regardless as just as a fan for the series, when it might become cheaper

Tales of Arise was a good shot for me, I was kind out of the current JRPGs and can't say if it really doesn't bring anything new in the game compared to similar titles of the Tales of series and even similar ones like Atelier Ryza. Even so, it really got me, felt it was a worthy journey with interesting combat, the graphics are astounishing (the best looking anime JRPG for me), cool story (aside the very end where the majority of JRPGs screws up with apocalyptcis events), good pace both in main and side quest, where I did all side quests without feeling pressure by its amount. Moreover, the camp stuff are interesting to become more closer to the characters and the voice acting really caught my attention, since most of the JRPG have bad english acting. With the exception of this one, I totally agree with the list. Nice job! o/

damn, I had Eterknights in my backlog and forgot all about it because I didnt know how the game was, good know that it would be interesting. Also after mentioning Nayuata and Ys how dare you not mention Trails into Reverie (said in a jokingly angry tone), sure it wasnt officially released this year but it would still count since it locaziled this year. Personal best JRPG series.

I usually dislike when people tell me what games not to buy, because of contrasting opinions, but you did it in a thoughtful nonjudgmental way. Nice job.

I guess not all DLC can be as good as Future Redeemed for Xenoblade 3, though I thought Namco would add extra areas in that DLC, even if not many.

I notice any game with a smidge of difficulty, you dont recommend. If you are bad at games just say that

Sea of stars is good but sadly I don't see it doing as good as metroidvanias because it doesn't have voice acting and alot of people won't care about story if it's not voice acted so many people will get bored and not enjoy the gameplay and just assume the game isn't fun.

5:32 Made by a One person studio with such a good quality, nice.

$30 for the tales of arise dlc?!? i bought the base game for $10 at walmart cuz they wanted to get rid of stock....

NIS never misses with Disgaea (except for 6) and the Labyrinth series. Check it out!

Azure Dreams is a rogue-like dating sim and I still like to play it today.

My god I wanted to like Loop8. The story seems genuinely interesting and the character are pretty good. Actually playing the game is impossible though. Not only is a roguelike dating sim super obnoxiously slow and repetitive, but the game ran like complete dogshit and there was no guidance whatsoever on what it actually wanted you to do.

Eternights was a great game made by one indie dev with some helping hands. Love that gem.. unfortunately Loop8 is a bad game with poor design issues that drag out the experience for no good reason. I put in 30 hrs into it to really dig deep & its definitely a 4/10 game no doubt. Crymachina was a letdown imo too but i digress...

Id like to add Fate/Samurai Remnant to the "Do" list! My fav game this year❤😊

"Rogue like dating sim" Ouch... that gotta hurt, imagine being rejected a bunch until you are accepted

ahhh silent hope, i like it but damn i swear it feels like it was a game half completed. half realized. like after the main story, you feel that, YOU COULD DO SO MUCH MORE with the concepts of the game. but it's not, you simply replay on harder difficulties.

That last rougelike sounds pretty dull, id recomend backpack hero for the aspiring rougelike fan

I feel like you are too biased towards top down old school low graphics quality jrpgs. There is a reason those cost less and that is because they look like crap and most of the time the story is meh in them.

I disagree highly with SAO. I think its fantastic.

Wooo! Eternights love!! Booo! Tales of Arises DLC hate!! Lol, honestly a lot of the not worth it games are way better than the PS3 Idea Factory/Compile Heart games

Eternights is fun, i love the choices they offer for answers. I didn't finish the game because i was hooked in another game but i plan to finish it. I played a bit of the expansion of The Tales of Arise and it was really a bummer not having nothing new, but since i like the game i will finish the expansion. The last game that i have in the list is sword art online, i was expecting more but still for me is not bad. This is the fourth game i played but all of them lacked the spark that i had for the anime. I would recommend Trails in Reverie, the game is really good but if you want to get in the story you should play or watch the playtrough of the other Trails. I'm also playing Fate/Sanurai and i'm liking too. I played the game cause i'm a fan of the series Fate. For 2024 i'm planning to buy Granblue Fantasy, Persona 3 and off course FF7 Rebirth.

Most of these are on point. Only one I disagree with was Eternights. Definitely NOT worth it. I appreciate what the small dev team accompished but if we're comparing to other JRPGs then its easily on the lower end of the spectrum in quality and content.

i made the mistake of buying before dawn pre order. i hated the story n the fact that they added so little new killed it for me completely. though i did love the base game

I don't know why people make these contrived videos when the entire thing is subjective. Ok. You don't like these games, and love these. Guess what? That changes with the person lol

I might be in the minority here but I played Sea of Stars and something about the gameplay was not doing it for me and I put it down, I was looking forward to that game for so long so it sucks that for whatever reason I just stopped playing it and moved on to something else.

A very good jrpg that came out recently is Witchspring R. That game gripped me. Took me around 36 hours to beat.

I Tried the Dragon Quest Treasures demo & immediately bought the physical game , so that tells you a lot.

I actually got the Tales of Arise DLC and to be honest......I really enjoyed it. Of course I noticed the recycled assets part and the story was kind of a train-wreck that was like "what's the point of this?" But I did personally find Nazamil a relatable character so much to the extent I want to have an interview with the guy who written Nazamil and the final boss fight was a real show-case (a little disturbing and a little too easy, but still an awesome fight). The battle system is still addictive as h*ll.

Eternights is very rough. Compared to other ARPGs the combat is nowhere near standard for me.

Hey hollow fragment was ahead of its time!

Eternights 10-12 hours only? Thats super short :( i expected at least a 20 hours.

I got the Eternights Plat today :)

Welp, I found another RU-vidr I need to put my words towards a game they're criticizing. Crymachina, your opinions on it, are perhaps the direct opposite of how I feel about the game from the demo alone. I honestly did not like the art style, but I didn't let that stop me from trying the game from it's demo. The visual novel segments did not bother me at all. Sure, some are lengthy, but I'd rather have a long visual novel segment, than a game that rushes the story of the game. And I don't usually buy games that are visual novels. The teatime visual novel segments are peaceful, and are a way to have characters to chat and to get you to know them. And, I can kinda see where the protag is coming from with their hatred of humanity, even if I don't agree with her. There are so many bad humans out there, who don't even try to suppress their darkness within their hearts. We as humans, all have evils in our hearts. What separates the good from the bad humans, is wherever we can suppress our inner evils from getting too far out of hand they act through us at the expense of those around us. I can name a few bad humans, but to avoid this from being a rant and to avoid speaking of politics, I will not. I typically let out abit of my inner darkness, when I need to confront somebody who's acting unjust. just like how not everything can be solved with violence, not everything can be solved by being nice. Good and evil, light and darkness, are two sides of the same coin, one cannot exist without the other. Getting back about actual games, I suppose I'm abit biased with my wavering of my dislike for visual novels. The only version of Persona 3 I've played is 3 Portable, which has a more visual novel approach than other versions of Persona 3. It's also the first Persona game I ever played. I enjoyed Digimon Survive, another visual novel game, despite my distaste for visual novels. Don't get me wrong, I won't be playing most of the visual novels on Switch, allot of them are just visual novel reading. I may as well read manga instead if I want to play a boring visual novel. if a developer wants me to buy and play their visual novel, they need to add not only story, but actual gameplay, and/or tie it to a franchise I'm very familiar with and love. In short, don't hate a game only based on it's genre, or implementations of said genres. And people should really learn patience. I have the strongest patience out of anyone I know. You have to be very patient if you want to be a F2P (free to play) player in gatcha games that aren't super generous as Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail is. I should probably format this comment incase for some odd reason someone really wants to read this comment. There we go, formatted. Hope I didn't bother anyone with the contents of this comment, I tend to act philosophical when talking about the evils we all possess. And when I comment about stuff I either am passionate an/or have a problem with, I tend to derail off the main point, and don't catch myself in time till I've written so much, it's a waste to throw it all away