5 Most DISAPPOINTING JRPGs of 2023 

IMO the roguelike design in LOOP8 isn't the biggest problem because you can save scum and the game is also pretty easy. The problem is that it is repetitive even without it.

I played Trinity Trigger and Mato Anomalies at launch and I lasted about two hours in both before I gave up and I was shocked that I heard recommendations online of both around release.

the games we didnt enjoy make us appreciate the ones we do even more ! everything has its place in the gaming market and there is something for everyone !

I feel so seen by FF16 criticism. I loved playing the game but the ending of the story left such a sour taste in my mouth. Plus I found quest rewards so frustrating like I always had all this extra loot with nothing to do with it lol.

I really didn’t like ff16 at all, but it is down to personal taste, and that’s ok if others like it, even if I don’t.

Yeah, I agree with you on FF16 - I'm not sure I was AS disappointed as you, but I agreed with all your points. My biggest disappointment was that the really well done early story hooks were either reverted or abandoned. By the end, everything became pretty simple and cliché. I think the reason I still ended up with an overall positive experience was because I found the cast pretty likable. I had a similar experience with FF15, it was a mess, but I liked the characters enough to enjoy the game overall. And also, as you said, the FF7 Remake games seem to be doing everything right that FF15 and 16 messed up, so I hope they follow that trend with FF17 in a few years.

100% agree with Trinity Trigger. Best thing about that game is the Physical Version. Comes with a game guide an the box art is cool.

Final Devil May Cry Fantasy XVI. Wasn't for me.

IGN has said God of War Ragnarok was more of an RPG than FF16. Sadly, I completely agree with them

You know what did NOT disappoint? All of your videos this year! So happy I found this channel, every video is truly a treat. Happy New Year, Mr. Shelf! 🎉

Yo Trinity trigger is awesome.

Out of this list I think Mato Anomalies is on the fence for actually being better than bad. I feel like it'll become a cult favorite later on from now.

Man really am surprised with how many people were disappointed by ff16 one of my favorite games of the year for sure! Such a beautiful story

I loved FF XVI, but then again I didn't grow up playing the old school FFs. I just played FF VII Remake and XVI, and I loved both about the same.

Thank you and Happy New Year

I felt like I was being gaslit by all the articles and videos last year telling me how FF16 felt like a "real" FF. No, no it didn't. They would have been better off making that game a new franchise.

Yeah most of that you said it's kinda how I've felt. I hope Trinity Trigger is good as I bought it against your recommendation (on sale though) As far as ff16... At what point will the final fantasy series cease to be one of your favorite franchises? The last one I thoroughly enjoyed was X on the PS2. And even if you say 14, that doesn't count. 11 and 14 should NOT have been numbered. They knew not to number tactics but two MMOs they number? Crazy

I'm inclined to agree with your number 1 choice. I couldn't even finish it. I was going strong in the beginning of the game but the numerous side/fetch quests peppered in between long cut scenes with combat I wasn't really vibing with... it just bummed me out. I really wanted to love this game after not really enjoying FF15 at all, but I just couldn't. Maybe with the success of Baldur's Gate 3, Squenix will go back to turn based combat after seeing how well that was received.

I've said this before but I like your channel because you get to share your opinions whether they are popular or not. My RPG disappointment was actually Sea of Stars. I was looking forwrard to that game ever since I played The Messenger and learned it was the same studio but after playing for a few hours I just thought the combat was boring and stopped playing and never went back. Last time I felt this way was when Indivisible came out.

16 was pretty awesome for me but story was lacking the polish of the demo. It still had moments, but it fell short in hashing out the main characters and giving them more backstory. I actually wanted more cutscenes tbh.

Yyyeeeeah!! More loop8 slander! Happy new year!!

It really bugged me why I was so so on 16. This was the first time in a game I wasn't excited to open a chest, explore or get a quest reward.

Just hearing the words 'infinity strash' frustrates me. I was super excited about the game, so excited that I imported a physical copy. Only to pop it in and feel personally attacked. I'm a HUGE dragon quest fan, and I just couldn't couldn't enjoy it. I agree that you are better just watching the anime.

I can agree with some of the points regarding Ff16 like the finding of 2gil, however with the information provided on Loop8 from you and other RU-vid, I'd say that one should be the most disappointing. Still, fun video 😊

I avoid to buy anything above 30 (in my currency) unless I see a good trustworthy review, my time n money are short to spend in something I won't enjoy

The JRPG that most disappointed me has to be One Piece Odessey. All I see is praise for the game, but I found it pretty bad. The combat is fine, and the straw hats are good characters for JRPG, but everything else is bad. The story is basically "what if" story like Xenoverse with different name of "dreams". You get new moves in the most boring method- by a fixed point at the story. Which makes grinding to feel force as you get only stat boost, which is irrelevant because it feels like I have to keep up with the difficulty spike and it does not feel like I'm getting any stronger. Skills are just a stat boost with no uniqueness, characters feel like worse version of others (Robin is worse Zoro), Chopper is one of the worst healers ever in JRPGs, and then characters who leaves the party aren't leveled up which makes the grinding even worse.

Trinity Trigger has been sitting on my shelf, and nothing I've seen encourages me to give it a try, Thank goodness I've stayed clear of Loop 8. Anyway, Happy New Year!

I think the most disappointing one for me was fire emblem engage. its the epitome of a souless entry. the gameplay in when in battle was great but everywhere else was horrible. encounters were time based so if you defeated all of them on the map you had to wait in real time for them to respawn, supports were made really difficult to level to a point leveling them was not fun or worth it, the story was so predictably bad its on par with fates for how bad it is. the hub is was ok but it was super dull and uninteresting but it was a nightmare finding characters you needed to find. also no romance with characters which was terrible just overall it was very bad the saving grace about it was the amazing combat system. but this was such a super disappointing release because of the bar 3 houses set for the franchise. I actually disagree with you on FF16. I am loving FF16 i think the combat mixups are so fun and if you know how to use your eikons the right way you can pull off some really good combos compared to 15 it feels like an insane improvement. I hated 15 it felt empty side quests were super boring and the world was so big and empty it got boring fast and the combat was just not fun and felt like you were so loose with the controls it just wasnt fun the world was so large it drowned out everything and FF16 definitely fixed that issue. It feels like the start of a new formula for modern FF and I Agree 2 things that need work is running speed and exploration needs some improvement but the world actually fills up as you go through it area you think are empty later on will have bosses and other things. but i think its in the right direction just needs some polishing. I personally like FF7 Remake but i dont think its completely the right route to go im not a fan of the slowdown to choose a skill.

I enjoyed FFXVI but with the benefit of hindsight I have to agree with all your points. The open world is dull and mostly empty, the loot system may as well not exist, and all the side quests make me think Yoshi-P forgot his team wasn't working on an MMO anymore. Thinking back, the story also kind of disappointed me because in the lead-up to launch Square-Enix was implying there would be political intrigue and that it took inspirations from Game of Thrones, which made me think the characters would be have gray morality and motivations that conflicted in interesting ways. In reality the characters and their motivations are all pretty one-dimensional. The "political intrigue," to the extent it exists at all, mostly happens off-screen and you just read or hear about it in passing. Even then, it has very little direct bearing on Clive's story so you could just ignore all of it and it wouldn't make much difference. To be fair, the cinematography is some of the best I've seen in the genre, and every major boss fight is jaw-dropping, but I think those two aspects of the game are so strong that a lot of people are willing to overlook its shortcomings. I'm probably being a little too hard on the game - I did finish it and mostly enjoyed it for what it was - but the prologue promised so much more than what we actually got.

For me its sea of stars abd after finishing it i have agread that i don't like chrono triggers encounter system and i enjoy random encounter way more also the combat had lack of option and to saming for me.

I've played some of these and I do agree with your evaluations, though Loop8 was an interesting case. In spite of its poor and critical reception, I enjoyed it! But in hindsight, that might be because I did research beforehand and got some good hints about the gameplay... Managed to beat the game having only done one loop.

Agree with everything you said about Trinity Trigger. I even pre-ordered 3 copies of the game to play with my gf and nephew because the combat and local coop option reminded me of Fantasy Life (oh how hungry we were for Fantasy Life). In the end, I couldn't even finish the story. The soundtrack was also repetitive and mediocre I found myself muting the game most of the time. The game was also too short so can't even say the length of the game makes the price worth it if we go by the lowest standard metric of $1 per 1 hour gameplay.

Great list. Final Fantasy 16 was definitely a disappointment for me as well. It was a good action game but awful Final Fantasy. I'm not into action games much, so it not delivering on the whimsical Fantasy elements of FF was a huge let down. It also continues Square Enix's ridiculous push to westernize their franchises. A terrible decision imo. Hopefully they never do that to the main Dragon Quest series.

The first 4 games on this list i completely agree. FF16 was a mixed bag, personally the cutscenes were great, the DMC style combat was fun, but my issues were the fact that almost every enemy could be taken down with the same strat, i prefer rpgs where i can use a party aswell. The eikon abilities were fun but i hated its limited use only being able to use a small handful. The slow jog around the main hub area was boring AF. It was definitely a style over substance, having that said in think people hold this game to an incredibly high standard being a final fantasy title.

Loved the video. I know FF16 isn't everyone's cup of tea. I actually enjoyed the story and feel drew me in during the demo and I've been hooked ever since. Haven't finished it but I don't find the cutscenes that bad granted I've played the likes of Metal Gear Solid and it's movie length cutscenes. Granted I'm not a traditional FF fan. Started with crystal chronicles on the gamecube and just recently got into the main series games. Even played FF15 and that didn't bother me, though it has its short comings.

I think in the future, FF16 is going to be like FF8. Either you get it or you don't. I didn't like FF8, and I haven't been able to stay interested in FF16 long enough to really know if I don't like it.

I mean, to be fair and honest, I've been have a fun time playing Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai. Sure, I don't think it's a game for everyone. For me, the only disappointingthing is that i wished it would've last throughoutthe entire anime instead of halfway through the story. As someone who watched the anime, I feel it could've done better in terms of content, but I still feel it's fun just to pick up and play a few chapters. In some areas, it is a disappointment, but I do have a fun time playing it.

I agree with you that FFXVI is very well made in the technical department, BUUUT the game design is not that well thought out. What I mean is that the gameplay loop should've been different. It's basically a MMO loop in an action game... I love FFXIV, but I wasn't expecting that game's structures copypasted in a single player game. So, all in all, XVI is well made to a point. Also, I don't think the story is well told. It feels like TWO stories glued together and the amount of coincidences is wild XD PD: yeah, the "prologue", let's call it that, is amazing.

5:49 SO BIG 😂😂

I adore Final Fantasy 16, however I can admit that as a jrpg it's really lacking in a lot of areas, especially classic FF shit like a party, character building and progression, world and quest design, etc. But I don't think it's disappointing at all, it's simply a different idea that doesn't cater to all the old heads who want every single Final Fantasy to be like all the pre 7 ones

Adding Final Fantasy 16 to this list is just petty. That was a fun as hell game

7:54 This is every RPG ever

Totally agree, FFXVI was a fun game but I'll never play it again as frankly combat got very dull, the story was a retelling of Shadowbringers and its not a JRPG in any way shape or form

It's unfortunate that most of these games weren't super well received by most people. I remember being excited for Loop 8, and yeah... it could have been better 😅 Awesome video Taylor, great job as always!

I like Loop 8. I understand the disappointment since it was probably advertised as an RPG, but is more of a visual novel.

Knew infinity strash would be on all these lists even tho they sent it to most reviewers for free lol

Interesting while I TOTALLY agree with FF16 being more than disappointing, my biggest gripe with it was the braindead combat, nothing "excellent" about it in my opinion.

Mato Anomalies starts bad and gets consistently better as the game progresses. However, it never makes it to “good,” just “okay.” It’s somehow worse than the sum of its parts 🤨

16 was a spectacle through and thorough. Loved every minute of it!

I love the adventure of Dai anime and even though I had fun with the game I agree with all of your points about the game. I would recommend the game to fans of the anime but don't spend over $20-$30 dollars on it

I agree. Super disappointed with the direction FF XVI chose. Hope they reel it in a bit next time.

I think it's bullshit that any time somebody criticizes a final fantasy or square enix game, They have to make some kind of apologetic disclaimer first.

Small correction Taylor- Mato wasn’t great but there is a weakness system to the combat, it’s slash, piece, bang.

6:58 Not just off putting but it put a massive distrust in SE future.

One reason I think some people are let down by FF16, and I say this as an observation and not excuse or defense, is those going in because they enjoyed FF14 and it’s being made by folks from the same team didn’t know it’s being made by the B squad of that team. It doesn’t have the same writer so it doesn’t have near the story quality of Heavensward or ShadowBringers (or even Stormblood).

completely agree with FF16, theres just to many elements missing from it for me to honestly say its one of the best games in the series which seems to be something a lot of people are saying. The moment for me that completely turned me off the game was the parties reaction to Jill staying behind to save clive from barnabas and odin. the fact that no one mentions her in the next cutscene is just plain bad storytelling

I'm a moderate Adventure of Dai fan. Crocodine being my favorite character. Him not being playable in Infinity Strash was the sole reason I didn't buy it, and I'm so damn glad I didn't. Dai's story deserves a good game dammit.

Agree with ff16 haven’t been able to beat it, extremely repetitive and I think its all cutscene heavy.

New Assassin's Creed games have more RPG in them than FF16.

FF16 disappoints mainly by not being a RPG but a Devil May Cry clone.

Best JRPGs for me: Final Fantasy XVI (best), Octopath Traveler II, and Star Ocean 2R Disappointing JRPG: Forspoken Okay JRPG: Sea of Stars, Super Mario RPG-R

Was also totally let down by ff16 as well but i do have to say the new Omega DLC was my favorite part of the entire game LOL

Mine were Trinity Trigger and Eternights that come to the top of my mind 🥹

Yeah. FF16 sucked. Missing too much content of a proper ff game. Characters that rush from A to B wo any interaction just to see another 30 min cutscene and a boss battle. Quests that goes nowhere. Useless progression system. It's not a JRPG, and the sad part it's not even a good action game, I'd rather play DMC or Bayonetta for action. Also Tales of Arise dlc sucked. No clue how they managed to fuck it up. It's basically a new game, and it was a major letdown. FE: Engage is another. AMAZING battle, but goddam that history, design and translation (I now can't see a house in a tree that a start to get pissed) lol

Yeah FF16 was pretty disappointing. Ultima and Barnabas were just boring villains and thank you for mentioning that you can barely call FF16 an RPG.

To be honest I did enjoy bot Trinity and Dai, they may not be perfect but are still fun and enjoyable. I was disappointed from FFXVI for the same reasons you mentioned. The other two games I skipped since they aren't bot really my bread and reviews were generally bad

Trinity Trigger is good

My big let downs were FF16, Loop 8, Enternights and Mato Anomalies - quite a bad year overall. The background music for Loop 8 provokes particularly negative thoughts for me haha. I think 2024 should be much better with sure-fire hits like FF7 Rebirth, Like a Dragon, P3R and Metaphor: ReFantazio.

I'm glad Final Fantasy XVI went back to more of a medieval setting, but I'm not interested in what is essentially Dynasty Warriors with fetch quests and amazing graphics. I get it, turn-based isn't hip anymore, but the alternative we're being given isn't cutting it.

It's sad to hear FF16 missed its mark. I am grateful to know Loop8 wasn't good so I can avoid it. So thanks for that favor.

I also found ff16 very disappointing, but besides all the problems you listed, I thought the combat was terrible, very repetitive, low enemy variety, no elements and no playable party members.

Huh, I didn't know DQ:Dai had such a long legacy. Thought it was like a recent thing based on a gacha spinoff or something. Learn something everyday, I suppose!

Killed this list. Right on the money with Dragon Quest repetitive actions. Ff16 definitely drove me away 10 hrs in smh. Waste of money

I agree about trinity trigger stamina system sucks. I cant take it also. Playing this game atm

Great list and definitely agree with you on FFXVI!!! I just got Infinity Strash so we'll see what I think haha

FFXVI wasn't only the most disappointing JRPG of the year for me it was also the most disappointing game period for me. I thought the characters were incredibly bland (good characters are one of the most important factors for me in my JRPGs), and the female lead was also a complete nothing of a character, she mainly just stood around in the backgrounds and said nothing. And you're totally right the demo is by far the best part about the game. I'm with you on how the vision/direction of the FFVII Remake trilogy is going! Its easily my most anticipated game of 2024!

Overall I really enjoyed FF16 but it did disappoint in a few ways especially the final area/act

Last FF i liked was X

The only thing dissapointing in FF 16 was the ending

The combat is way to long for combat that simple. The different designs they tried to implement are in each others way.

When Final Fantasy XV is better than 16 we have a problem

Yeah… Trinity Trigger was probably my most disappointing title. I even went into it after reading/watching reviews so it wasn’t a shock. It just felt like wasted potential to me. Shallow mechanics. Low skill ceiling. It honestly felt like this was planned to be a mobile game and they shifted to console release later on. Sea of Stars was the other title that disappointed me. I have a lot of thoughts on it but won’t dump on it here since I know many enjoyed it. I loved XVI for many reasons but do wish it had more RPG elements. I think it would have benefited from a proper party system. And I wish exploration of the zones was more interesting. Still loved it 🥹

Completely agree

This your opinion for me top 3 games of year

16 is good if you play with the easy mide items and are in our for the story. The rest of the game around the story is not good

lmao Final Fantasy XVI is my runner up game of the year.

honestly Final Fantasy has always been a linear game, the last time they made it open would it was in 15 and even there the world was completely empty with nothing to explore. So whenever you hear Final Fantasy being open world dont expect much from it seems SE doesnt know how to create open world games.

I always call FF16 a watered down DMC game, with an FF story...

That there are people thinking that Trinity Trigger is looking good or fun to play is crazy to me. This game looks and plays so cheap!

I agree with Final Fantasy 😂

I fully agree with FFXVI being the most disappointing game of the year. The gear system is so bad that I upgraded my sword, did a few cutscenes, and then had a new upgrade available before my next combat encounter. I love FFXIV, and Heavensward was my favorite storyline, so I was hyped more than I've ever been for a game because it was that team developing it. The demo was so good at setting everything up and building even more hype, and the ending was the perfect inverse of that feeling. It left me feeling empty and as if I just wasted 60+ hours of my time. I can not stand open endings. They're pretentious and lack any resolution. They're nothing more than a cop-out.

Nah ff16 is amazing. Im sorry but it was in the running for my game of the year and i probably play tons of games lol

I mean... people still didn't gave up on Final Fantasy? You guys are hopeful dreamers for sure. Despite me mostly enjoying FF7R, it wouldn't be that good if it wasn't based on iconic entry. There's ton of meaningless sidequests, like 3 whole chapters of it. It dragged on in many bad ways and action gameplay obviously aimed at more new and wide casual auditory that supposedly came in since 15.

Trinity trigger and FF16 bad? Lol this is just your personal preference lmao

Definitely agree with #1. Worst FF in the series by far.

I was trying to remember the game with the Secret of Mana battle system. I hated it in the 3D remake. I got used to it eventually, but I hate waiting to have to attack again. Thanks for reminding me it was Trinity Trigger. FF16 is a DMC type game with the FF name. My issue is with Clive. He's just so boring and bland so he's supposed to be me the player? Well, I'm a girl so I need a girl to play

Sorry to hear how let down you were by the RPGs Taylor. But on the bright side, with Level-5 returning this year, I'm sure you'll enjoy so many more RPGs this time.

yaaaaay FF16 5.9/10 not an RPG. fuck that game ~a lifelong fan. great video. final fantasy is dead.

That dai game is pure trash

Sounds like FF16 has kind of the same issues as FF14. Its so great but at the same time its insanly bad, you love it but you also could go on an endless rant. Yea that sounds like a Game YoshiP has made, he simply doesnt care and is an ignorant to critics.