Yeah but Ryza is better at that than older Atelier games. The auto-synthesize gets the job done. You won't get the best items by doing that but you'll be able to progress the story.
The Ryza series is big on crafting, which I'm not huge into either, and it was also my first Atelier game. The combat is fun, music is great. The story isn't supremely high stakes, and is more about friends enjoying their time together. I will say about the crafting: there are no consumable combat items. Once you make a potion, it basically becomes a re-usable spell based on the stats you craft into it. I can't say for sure if you would like the series, but I did enjoy my time with it and I usually don't like crafting/item management games.
You will not like SMT if you don't like the fusing mechanic, because the way you beat the difficulty curves and stage bosses are by optimizing the summons through fusing to get the correct stats and abilities on a higher level monster with the correct immunities.
Regarding Bravely Default 2, I bought it but put off playing it for awhile because of similar uncertainties. Once I finally took the plunge and started playing, I couldn't stop. It's best described as a turn-based final fantasy game without actually being called one; you can see a lot of SquareEnix influence in the game like the plot, items (Potion, Hi-Potion, Ether, Elixir, etc.), job class system, and such. Admittedly, boss fights have a steep curve to overcome because you can't just blindly attack, you have to carefully plan a number of moves ahead using the game's default and brave system where you can stock extra turns, spend said extra turns (which enemies can also do) in a manner similar to a game of chess. As you unlock more job classes (there's 24 in total), it's really fun mixing and matching different skills from different jobs to balance your party and each job has a different weapon type proficiency that determines what kind of stat bonuses you get from equipping said weapons. If you ever played Blue Dragon for the X360, you might notice similarities to the job classes and mixing/matching skills for party members. All in all, Bravely Default 2 is one of the best games I ever played and would recommend it highly; I don't normally pull all-nighters for games but this was an exception that warranted such effort.
I totally agree on Bravely Default 2 too! Cause, I'm still playing Bravely Default 1 on my nintendo 3dsxl, and I'm still loving it!! The battle and combat system is highly addictive, as soon as you figure out!! I Do Absolutely Highly Recommend Bravely Default 2 on the Switch!!!
For me it’s Majoras Mask. I actually own it but have put it off for years! It’s because it has a timer. Zelda with a timer? Someday I’ll get to it but I’m always putting it off lol
I've played so much of MM. I know that the idea of a timer can be weird or stressful. However, in the beginning of the game you learn (remember) the Song of Time which you can use to reset the 3-day timer whenever you want. If you play the Song of Time backwards then it slows down time (30% of the original speed). So there's no stress really. You can play the game like a normal Zelda game and just clear dungeons if you want to. It's cool to go around the world on the 3 different days to see what's different or the same depending on the day. How's it sound? You own the game so go ahead and give it a try :D I love Zelda OoT, MM, WW and TP. Oh, and I forgot to mention that you'll play as a Deku Scrub, Goron and Zora in MM and it's awesome! I especially like the Goron and Zora form since they can move really fast:)
I hate anything with time limits but I played it for completionist sake, and it ended up being one of my favorite Zelda games. Definitely give it a shot if you love the series.
With Ryza, I liked the story and combat. I did grind to get resources from monsters and plants. But in the second half of the game I did have to use a guide to find what I needed to craft next to move the story. And I would look up where to find resources on the wiki. Also it's Japanese voices with subtitles. I don't like but I knew all the Ateliers are like that. Wasn't bad.
I love Etrian but I am pretty sure its not for everyone. Basically you do the same thing over and over. Go into dungeon, draw maps (if you turn that function on), try to get as far as you can and then TPing back to town where you report quests and recover. You do like four maps before fighting a boss which is pretty difficult usually. The biggest enjoyment I got from the series was a sense of progression which i think is the point of these games - building characters from scratch (looks, names) and big skill trees. Nothing really looks good graphics wise. You just gotta like numbers and building your party members little by little.
Dragon Quest Monsters games may be spinoffs but without a doubt they have the most effort put into them of any spinoff in DQ history and Dark Prince is the best example of that. The combat is fun, the story is good, especially if you've played the mainline DQ game it's connected to there are a lot of exclusive and new monsters that you can get in it and the post game is a lot of fun as well. The story probably won't blow you away, but personally, I think it's just nice to see a game that has a connection to a mainline game after so long.
@@femtrooper I think it's worth playing, even if you don't finish it! I particularly enjoyed that the character I expected to be the least wholesome was entirely wholesome. :)
OT2 characters do have some shared moments but it still feels minimal. Like, they don't interact within the setting they are in, take part in each other's stories, and it's idle chit chat, not really interesting to me. Sort of disappointed. Maybe it gets better.
I just started my first Atelier game with Ryza 1 and loved it. The crafting isn't that difficult for a newcomer and the story and characters are so charming. You can always play on Easy difficulty if you need to. I'm working through Ryza 2 now and having an absolute blast. So far it's even better than 1 and I find myself doing every sidequest I can just for the character interactions and silly banter. The games I have been avoiding are Zelda BOTK and especially TOTK. They seem to have so many complicated mechanics I picture it just becoming a chore to learn and play through.
Fusions are key to smt iv and v. And you’re right: it’s such a frustrating game since you need to stay on top of the best fusions plus you could always run into a random enemy that wipes your party. The story is fun in the sense that it’s the classic smt good vs evil proxy war that they love covering in their recent games. It’s certainly a game that i play in short bursts since it’s annoying to play sometimes but i do love the game overall.
One thing that's really unfortunate these days, is rental stores are basically gone. That would be a good way to try the games you're interested in before you fully commit. Some games have demos, sure, but it can be hard to tell if the demo is representative of the whole game, or just a slice of the game. Longer demos are better of course (looking at you, Square) but the initial point I brought up still stands. RIP rental stores.
Gamefly was a cool alternative for awhile but it’s up to $18 for a single game plan. As someone who buys budget games/waits for prices to lower that is the same as buying and owning 1-2 games a month.
I absolutely love the level of honesty across all of these games that you’re talking about. I definitely don’t feel the same way about some of them, but I know exactly what you’re talking about. This was refreshing.
Wow!! How have I never seen this woman on RU-vid until now?😳Her husband is a lucky guy to have an awesome beautiful Gamer Gal!! Great video. I’ve subscribed.👍🏽
The atelier ryza series is fantastic. I’m currently on the third installment and I’m absolutely loving it. The first two were amazing also and it’s great to see that each game that succeeds the other ups, the quality and storytelling.
@@femtrooper no there are items you use to get a bunch of experience in battles quickly, so basically you get a job class you want some skill from, use the item, then thirty minutes later your back on your progression. I have beaten the game 2x and love it. Honestly hope they make another but anyway I never grind more than like 45 minutes and you don't even have to do that much really
@@Riz2336I did exactly that in octopath 1 and I'm currently going through octopath 2 and i plan to do the same. The last bosses in both require so much grinding 🥲.
Smt games are hard, but if you understand the press turn system and take advantage of buffs and de buffs, you may enjoy it! Personally I would wait for SMTV Vengeance that comes out in June. The fusion system is important to use in order to get stronger demons. Personally I love the series but I’m not sure how much you’d consider the bare minimum for demon fusion.
Ryza is the most stream lined out of all the ateliers, you can auto craft the items if you don’t want to maximize( mind you the crafting makes your weapons, battle items & story items) not all items are from gathering but also enemies, Ryza by far the “easiest” of the atelier series, the story is basically coming of age type, definitely recommend to newcomers also my favorite games of the series.
First of all, fun video! I don't think I've seen this type of format of video but it's a fun way to have a conversation about what games might appeal to people. For the ones I've played: Atelier Ryza: I tried this and dropped it after about 10-15 hours. From what I saw it was mostly a grind for resources, forge better items, use those items to beat stronger enemies gameplay loop. Music is nice and the atmosphere is very pleasant, feels kind of like an Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon in terms of tone. The story is very slow and laid back. DQ Monsters: This is actually similar to SMT in that the core of the game is collecting monsters, fusing them, and getting stronger monsters, so if you're not into that at all I wouldn't recommend this one. Story is alright, it's kind of a companion piece to DQ4 that follows one of the other characters of that game. Octopath 2: The sequel is an improvement on the first game in every way imo and fixes the few issues I had with the original. They do a better job of staggering the missions so there aren't huge spikes in difficulty like the first one had during campaign, but I wouldn't say it's significantly easier - some of the endgame battles are still quite challenging and there are superbosses at the end that definitely require grinding/planning. SMT 5: Again, collecting and fusing monsters is at the core of this game so if that's not your thing there probably isn't much here for you besides pretty visuals (if you've played Persona you've already seen a lot of the demons anyway). You're not missing much story wise, most people agree there isn't much of a plot in this one, we'll see if the updated edition fixes that. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: I'm actually playing this for the first time atm. If you're not into the collecting this might actually appeal to you because in this game you don't really have to switch up your group if you don't want to. Gameplay is pretty straightforward, some of the challenge is just managing your use of items in the bigger dungeons. Story isn't Shakespeare but I think it's cute and pretty enjoyable. I will say if you're just playing the campaign and you're not interested in the postgame grind then it's not a huge amount of content, likely around 15-20 hours at most.
Paige, great list, and funny story - I've got a video coming out on Thursday that talks about a few of these games... In pretty much the same context! 😂 So I'm right there with you.
My experience with Persona helped me a lot with SMT V. I started playing recently, and about 30h in, they announced SMT Vengeance, so I'm waiting for that release because I don't have time to play the game 2 times. Demon fusion is very satisfying, and the interface is easy to navigate, with all the possible fusions for the demons you have. Then, before a boss, when you know its weaknesses, it's good to make a demon with elements the boss is weak to. If you hit weaknesses, you get more turns, and that's how you make the game easier. Before a boss, you can also grind a little bit for experience if you wish. Then, you have the side quests, the main story, which is cool and no social links to worry about. The game offers exploration and rewards it, but some challenges in the netherworld are to be taken later in your playthough, not when you first encounter them. And that's pretty much it! I think it's a turn-based jrpg for people who enjoy strategy games. Oh, and one thing that annoys me is that I can't increase the battle speed like we can do in Persona 3 Reload. It makes things way slower than they should be. Hope you wish to try it some time :)
The Atelier Series is 100% a crafting heavy series, but I noticed you liked Blue Reflection quite a bit, and both are made by Gust and share quite a bit in common. If Blue Reflection was "Usually I don't like cozy games but", maybe Ryza with its auto crafting would work out for you.
Dead watched this late at night while tweaking😫. Thanks for the vid 🤝 oh and also for the topic at hand, I’ve just taken that leap of faith and it’s been a nice pay off, I got good at things that seem tedious.
the thing about the Etrian series (and maybe every 1st person dungeon crawlers, for that mather), is that they give a lot more protagonism to the dungeon than other games. Auto complete helps knowing your way around in a dungeon, but that´s a small part of it. Drawing your own maps you can pinpoint strange plants(that you´re not sure what they do yet), zones where magic don´t work, teleports that can take you where you want...or get you lost(if you didn´t post-it a note about it before hand), But...are those games for you? Well...one thing i can´t accuse 1st person dungeon crawlers from being(Etrian odyssey included), is easy.
Octopath Traveler games are not grindy at all if you systematically do all eight characters' chapters before moving on the subsequent chapters (i.e., complete all chapter 2s before moving to anyone's third chapter). In fact, you'll end up overpowered before the end, especially if you unlock/implement secondary jobs. Your channel is great. Nice job.
It do be like that sometimes, we’ve all been there! Some JRPGs I’m a little scared atm is Drakengard 3, the Xenosaga series especially 2, Blue Reflection and don’t raise an eyebrow, and it’s Earthbound haha… or just any very old JRPGs that definitely don’t stand the test of time
Earthbound is definitely older but it’s SNES old, not NES old so I find it extremely playable still. I just replayed it last year actually and it’s still my favourite game of all time! Blue Reflection is a weird one for me but I absolutely love it!
Let's get Paige to 15k subs this year. She is so nice and fun to listen too. She deserves way more support. I bet the moment she was born her first words were I'm EARTHBOUND born to be a gamer :)
I think you should consider the Digimon Survive Visual Novel/tactical game. Not hard, amazing story. The tactical side is very easy, however enjoyable. I think you'd like it. SMT is for masochists like myself to enjoy. HOWEVER! if I could recommend any SMT game to someone who's interested into getting into the series, and you're worried about the difficulty, i'd go either Tokyo Mirage Sessions (The switch version), or Soul Hackers 2.
the alchemy is what made me hesitant to try atelier as it looked so convoluted but I’m glad I eventually tried Ryza. it has auto synthesis and overall just the easiest alchemy system to understand (apart from Sophie 2). but the games as a whole are really chill experiences and the combat is fun! I definitely recommend giving it a try, even if just borrowing a copy from someone. story wise, number 2 is really good but 1 is a good entry point to see if the series is for you. also dragon quest monsters was my top game of 2023 (beside Theatrhythm) so highly recommend that one. there’s also a quite lengthy demo of it on the eShop if you’re unsure! the demo is about 3 hours of the beginning story and teaches you the mechanics so worth giving the demo a shot!
I would give Octopath Traveler 2 a shot. The story telling is much better than the first, and there's always a couple quests that are level appropriate on the map. It doesn't have the big jumps in level requirements that the first game had. I would also skip the dungeon crawlers. The joy there is in fighting for every inch making to each new level. They are all about the challenge, and usually light on story, and that doesn't sound like your thing.
The level requirement in octopath was a great reason I just started exploring the world. In the end, i completed everything except the final secret boss. Bearing in mind that was the first turn based JRPG I've ever played, i absolutely loved it, although character interactions could have been done better.
I recommend Atelier Iris 1-3 on PS2 or Shallie before Ryza if you're not into the crafting too much. Ryza's combat also gets pretty fast later in the game Shallie is a shorter game and you don't automatically advance to the next chapter when you meet the requirements like other timed Atelier games. I can't do first person dungeon crawlers. I tried Class of Heroes on PSP and hated it. There was like no story and you have to do so much grounding be able to even advance in the first dungeon. I hear the 2nd has more of a story and has a more steady difficulty. For Octopath Traveler 2, I would say play the demo. I feel it gives a pretty good indication if you'll like that game.
Great idea for a video! I completely feel the same way about dungeon crawlers like etrian Odyssey looks like it can be hard and frustrating trying to find your way around. Might be something I'd try if I could get it super cheap digitally or something.
Based on what you’ve said about hating demon fusion and loving story over gameplay, I’d guess you wouldn’t like SMT but I think you’d be missing out to be honest. SMT V was a breath of fresh air to me. I usually play JRPGs for story and in all fairness the story isn’t great but the atmosphere is incredible. The gameplay is where it’s at though. These games have a reputation for difficulty but equally they can be laughably easy as they are completely open in terms of strategy. Buffs and debuffs work on every enemy - including bosses. I remember working out I could 2x lower the accuracy of a boss and 2x raise evasion on my team to the extent they missed every time and lost all their turns! Thinking that SMT is just Persona without the story is doing a disservice to how good the combat system is in these games.
One game I am afraid to try and complete is Majora's Mask. The reason being is because of the 3 days to get everything done and not knowing if there is a way to reverse it. Another is Dead Rising because of the Timed factor as well. In terms of Octopath 2 I think you will enjoy it. I have not played it personally yet but I heard that it is more of coherent story then the first game was.
Not a rpg but for me it was Returnal. I'm not a fan of soul games but the sci-fi vibe really interested me. I ramdomly found a physical version for like 20$ so i figured why not! It was hard but the gameplay, atmosphere and mysteries always made me want to continue playing. After 64h, i finally got the real ending and now this is one of my favorite ps5 game!
Have you considered looking at guides online to understand tactics and strategies etc? I watched fighting cowboy and it was because of him I was able to play and enjoy the souls series/genre. Some of these games bat far above their weight. This is what I do, I get the best examples of games I do not currently have interest in and add th3m to my collection. The reason is because I from time to time, get sick of playing the same types of games and need a pallet refresh. So I have some tactics style games, some graphic novel types, some farming, not because I'm a fan but for that above reason.
As someone who doesn't like crafting I love the Atelier games. A slow burn but the story and characters are so cool the game mainly is character focused but especially Ryza is more traditional RPG and has more world building than the kther games I have played. It is also gradual you will mostly be fufilling requests but there is dungeon exploration and you can switch the difficulty at anytime both up and down. Either way I respect your opinion just from me playing the games from someone who hates crafting.
As much as I think SMT is a brilliant series that everyone should try at least once, If you don't like t he fusing in Persona, then you will not enjoy SMT because it's all about convincing demons to join you and fusing them into more powerful demons. If you are doing then actually the games are not quite as tough as people make them out to be. But if building your perfect team of demons isn't something you will enjoy it will probably be something you won.t like in the long run. That said, there is a new version of SMT V coming out in June subtitled Vengeance that is adding a whole seperate route through the game that is going to be way more narrative heavy, so if you want to finally give it a chance, I would recommend it. SMT is actual a precursor to Pokemon.
I didn’t thing I’d like the Etrian Odessey games either but I got really hooked when I played it! Mind you I also DO like drawing maps and figuring out mazes etc. They can get fairly grind heavy Imho though not epically bad. But the leveling, loot, monster and fighting mechanics combined with the maps is horribly addictive I found! There’s a really nice feeling of progressing down into deeper and deeper layers as you progress. I do believe that yeah there is an auto map feature on a number of them that allows you to just turn it on and it will draw out the map as you move around!
Pokemon Mystery dungeon will get grindy, but it is an adorable series. It'll be a bit tough if you don't level or evolve your team, especially getting the correct members to take down bosses due the typing formula of the base games. But if you take it at a casual pace and slowly enjoy the environments and art, you'll find a gem of a series you may love. And maybe consider Chcobo's Dungeon too!! IF you come to enjoy the style of game. 🥰
Atelier is among my favorite game series now, but don’t know if I could recommend it to you or not. The first Ryza game is tied with Escha & Logy for third place for the 7 games in the series I’ve completed so far. I’m not too serious with the crafting/alchemy in any of the games like some people, but I do enjoy doing it myself. If you’re fine with using guides (can’t remember if you are) I think finding some for Ryza might be a good choice !
My wife played Ryza and she got sick of the crafting and the end, so much so she didn't beat the final boss. I picked up Octopath Traveler II on sale after not really liking the first. I still haven't tired it out yet but hopefully soon, Ive head good things.
I never finished OctopathTraveler 1, I found it hard and also, main problem for me, was that I didnt like much the characters. I went ahead and bought OT2 knowing that i might not finish it. But then this time, I actually liked and cared for the characters and as an added bonus, I liked the music even more compared to OT1. I didnt know those two things combined helped me feel strangely motivated to grind for levels (not too much, i hate grinding and I am an adult and have a job, so little time for playing) and become stronger. I was able to finish the game. Just giving my two centz.
How far in Octopath 1 did you go? Ive played it a bunch and was pretty bad at it up until I hit the 50 hour mark. Then it all clicked, all the battle systems how to stack the characters and their jobs. I just finished all 8 stories but have heard the final boss is very very difficult, and I'm kind of worried because I've read there's no save towards the end and its like a gauntlet of bosses.
Atelier Ryza - The Atelier games all have a big focus on crafting. But I have to say I find it much more enjoyable in this series compared to most other games. I often get tired of crafting systems, but this is one of my favorite series. The story in Ryza 1 isn't too bad and somewhat interesting, but it takes a long time until the actual story gets going, so you'd have to stick to it for a while to get a proper impression. Dragon Quest spinoffs - DQ Treasures from all I've heard (I only played a little bit of it myself) is one of the weaker spinoffs of the series. Both DQ Heroes and especially DQ Builders are amazing, though. The Dark Prince is a bit like Pokemon. I've only played through the (rather long) demo, but I quite enjoyed it , so just try the demo if you're interested (sadly, you don't get to keep your progress). Etrian Odyssey - Another one of my favorite series. But, these games are hard, at least on normal difficulty. The Switch versions added easier difficulty settings, no idea how easy those are, but if you can just stroll through the areas that would kinda defeat the point of it all. Several of the games had very extensive demos on 3DS, which I would have recommended, but sadly the eShop is gone now. I don't think the Switch versions have a demo. The Etrian Odyssey series is definitely among the highest quality dungeon crawlers you can find. But if you don't like the genre, that wouldn't help either. Maybe you could try the Labyrinth of Refrain demo? That's another good dungeon crawler, just to get the feel for the genre. Bravely Default 2 - Only played a little bit of this game, but it didn't seem all that different in terms of difficulty compared to the other two. So if you were struggling that much with the first game, I doubt this will be an easier time. Octopath Traveler 2 - I'm about 50 hours into the game, and I'd say the difficulty is about the same as the first game. But it highly depends on the order you play it in. I found the first game rather easy after a while (except for the true final boss) if you just play everyone's first chapter first, then everyone's second chapter and so on. The second game is mostly the same, but it adds a bit more to do here and there and gives you more options in combat. Shin Megami Tensei V - If you don't enjoy fusion, skip this game. It's the main focus of the game. Don't know anything about the other two. As for games I'm too scared to try, maybe a couple of really long games? If it's about games I would like to get into, but can never quite manage to, the SaGa series would be on the top of my list.
I love the Atelier games (my favorite is Escha and Logy, of which I even imported the OST CD from Japan. The one thing I don’t like as much is the time limit on older games in the series. As for crafting, yeah, if it’s not your thing you may not enjoy it as much. As for Etrian Odyssey, the Switch version has an easy mode that makes all three games more accessible (the original DS versions were tough at times, though the 3DS remakes of the first two games also do have that Picnic mode). The series’ main gimmick is the map making, which was awesome on the DS and 3DS. It’s there too on the Switch, but it may require the stylus included with the Euro version of Brain Age to make it more precise than drawing the maps with fingertips. I love the Mystery Dungeon series. The Pokémon ones are the easiest ones among them (since you don’t like high difficulty, avoid the Shiren The Wanderer Mystery Dungeon games, which are much more challenging). Maybe Chocobo’s Dungeon (same general rogue-like structure) would be more your thing. It’s a remake of the one that originally came out on the Wii).
If you want a sense of what Atelier games are like, but want something with a little more grounding in a more traditional RPG, the best bet is Mana Khemia. Despite the title MK and its sequel are part of the Atelier series, but it has a sort of Persona-ish school schedule structure where each chapter unlocks new dungeons, has just a few items you have to craft, and lets you ease in rather than making you immediately run out and gather ingredients constantly. The main issue here is that both are PS2 games that have no modern ports, so you’d need to shell out collector’s prices or use alternative means to play them.
Honestly I only buy things I know I'm super excited about and the gameplay is my cup of coffee. Ex I loved God Eater 1-2-3 , but I didn't fully click with Toukiden 2 , bloodborne or Code vein , either it was the difficulty spikes too much akin to DMC collection and 5 . Dragon quest I couldn't get into treasures either , due to it being a pokemon variant semi but I loved infinity strash game after the 100 Ep anime that I really loved . It's complicated 😅😅😅😅
Octopath 2 was my game of the year last year, and one of my 10 favorite all time rpgs. There's a demo for it on switch that you can play for 3 (i think) hours. Some difficulty spikes here and there but nothing insurmountable.
I constantly face the same dilemma as you, especially since I'm a collector. The tough part about recommendations is that everyone is different and can end up liking a game they never thought they would. That is me with Valkyria Chronicles as I hate (I know, that's a strong word) SRPGs but this one just clicked for me. I always recommend borrowing a game from someone or at least try to buy a physical so that way if you don't like it you can sell or trade. I'd personally rather take a chance on a game and love it then miss out on it all together. That said, I personally love the Ryza games after taking another chance on the Atelier series last fall. And same as you, I gave up on Octopath Traveler but gave a chance on the second game and it was improved in almost every way. That's also funny that you mention Various Daylife as it's been sitting on my Play Asia wishlist for a while now. Out of all on your list, this is one I am "scared" to try especially because of the price and having to import it. Maybe I should take my own advice and just go for it, right? Good luck with what ever you decide and I hope you find a new favorite on your journey. Great video! Take care!
I love the Octopath Traveler series and I hate games that are too hard. Maybe it's because I enjoy grinding levels so high the fights become trivial. In OT1 I skipped a couple of the optional bosses, but I'm pretty sure I did everything in OT2. Plus the stories are engaging and it all comes together at the end. YMMV.
I have a few games that are sealed still but scared to drop off my Trails of Cold Steel play through right now. I been playing smaller games in between but dont want to get too long not playing in-between games.
I wasn't sure if I was gonna like Etrian Odyssey either when I first played it.... it's not my favorite style of RPG, but every once in awhile, it feels good to sink into drawing the map and tweaking characters. The stories in these games are usually very thin, so if you want story, it's probably not gonna be your jam. But if you wanna try something different, and very addictive (if you allow yourself to just get immersed in it) then I'd say it's worth it if you can find a good deal.
I have a hard time getting into most Atelier games but I really enjoyed Atelier Iris (mainly 2 but that might be because it was my first one) and the 2 Mana Khemia games on PS2. They also include crafting but they feel more like traditional RPGs compared to the other Atelier games I tried.
Atelier Ryza is both a great place to start the series and not, it's not good in the sense the crafting is less complex and it doesn't have Turn-Paced combat and the stories are better in the older ones. I'd say Atelier Sophie, Rorona, Lulua and Escha & Logy are better places to begin and though yes crafting is a large focus but playing on the easier difficulties that need is lessened. Octopath Traveler II is a lot easier then the 1st even towards the end, only a few bosses gave me issues. Granted these types of games are kind of my thing, now on the other hand Bravely Default II is a lot harder then the others. As for First Person Dungeon Crawlers I tried a few, including the Etrian Odyssey games I couldn't mesh with them but the one that I did gel with was Mary Skelter Nightmares; because of the story, characters, OST and world building. Okay last thing, sorry for going on a huge monologue. The older Pokémon Mystery Games are so much better including the original Blue Rescue Team. In teams of the better story in the franchise Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers Of Sky is the best the series has to offer.
I see you had a Ryza discussion, but I will add my two cents. After Atelier Firis, I swore myself off of these games. I can't remember who it was convinced me to give Ryza a try, but I am glad that I did. Great story and characters. There is no time limit with synthesis, and I think it is more straightforward even if you decide to dig deeper and make better items. The combat is better done in this game as well.
two games I'm afraid to try for difficulty are Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story; Tactics I actually did try but hit a wall 8 hours in where I just could not win, so it's more of a retry where I want to be better prepared but am still spooked by the difficulty, Vagrant Story I own but I know it's notoriously complex so I've put it off for a long while and a game series I'm afraid to try for the amount of games it has is the Trails series, b/c I know I want to start from the beginning but the more games that get released the more I think should I even consider it anymore?
If you don’t like Tactics, but you enjoy games like it you might want to try FF Tactics Advance. The leveling system is different and with the different races, I found it enjoyable. Some people dislike the story of it, but it has fun gameplay in my opinion. I liked both advanced titles more than the original, but I might be the minority
@@Aitaitaitai oh I love Tactics Advance, it's straight up a top 5 FF game for me, but it's not a substitute for the original Tactics so I still need to give it another shot
BD2 does have some tough boss spikes. I usually grind in an area until the fights are super easy. I’d do that, then go to the boss, and get wrecked. Pokémon mystery dungeon is very good. That was my pandemic game. I loved it
I never played but, The Atelier games impression came off as a cozy, mild fan service-y, alchemy based RPG. The draw is : It has good character designs and graphics. But I have no clue on music, story, gameplay polish or if it's a fluffy rpg target at young girls or horny boys. I don't know what to make of it. I should watch a playthrough.
I'm surprised I didn't see anyone defending Etrian Odyssey. This style of game is a successor to original PC RPGs from the 80's. They required creating your own map on physical grid paper, which EO integrates into the game, with or without automap. The Etrian Odyssey series also favors the unforgiving difficulty of the old-school CRPGs. There are a few other modern games like this and while some are enjoyable, none reach the heights of the EO series since the resurgence it catalyzed. I love these games and half the reason is down to the music. Yuzo Koshiro is a master and some of his best work is present here. I find this series cozy while exploring and grinding, and adrenaline pumping while fighting bosses and F!O!E!s. There's also a mystery dungeon game with an Etrian Odyssey paint job. The mystery dungeon style roguelikes also being one of my faves.
Great video and topic! :D I've also been on the fence about playing Atelier Ryza, a first person dungeon crawler and SMT, unsure if I'll like them or not. I'll probably try three I mentioned one day. Various Daylife has mostly negative reviews on Steam and the game was originally released on iOS App Store in 2019. People say that it's a bad, bland and boring game and a waste of time. I think that they're right. You're better off playing Octopath Traveller, Bravely Default or Final Fantasy instead.
First person dungeon crawlers are about a dime a dozen these days. I'm not huge into Etrian Odyssey cause the stories are boring and the games are pretty tough but I'd recommend trying Mary Skelter trilogy, Demon Gaze, The Lost Child and Undernauts: Labyrinth to Yomi. There's plenty more really good ones on switch too with excellent stories and gameplay. Various Daylife is an instant skip though. It's a low budget mobile game that is super boring.
Dungeon Crawlers are kind of a difficult genera to recommend because if you aren't a fan of that fixed camera view / movement style of JRPG then you just aren't into it . Etrian Odyssey is one that i personally really like due to the story, the fact that combat is turn based, you can turn on the auto map feature so you don't have to worry about drawing out the map it just does it for you (or if you wish to draw the map yourself you can, i like options lol). there is a lot of inventory management since you are locked in at 60 slots in your bag. i would highly recommend watching more play-though videos before deciding to get it or not ,since i recognize that just because i like this game, doesn't mean it's everyone's cup of tea. as far as a 1st person dungeon crawler to recommend for beginners to get introduced into the genera .. i haven't personally played it , but i heard a lot of good things about Undernauts
I personally didn’t find Bravely Default 2 hard at all. The only fight I had trouble with an optional post game boss fight. Octopath Traveler 2 is AMAZING! My favorite turn based game of all time, I HIGHLY recommend it.
I tried Ryza 2 for a few hours but then I got sidetracked on another game. The main character was cute and everything but the combat was kinda weird and overall I was kinda bored haha. I'll give it another try sometime though.
Im scared of starting the trails series. I dont have a psp and dont want to play on pc so i cant start with sky which is the obvious starting point. I guess i could start with cold steel but i donno. Its such an expansive serie with multiple games, the amount of hours in there is mindblowing for me. But worst part is that i would most probably like it. Its sleeping in my backlog for now
I found Bravely 2 to be the easier, more player-friendly game in the series. Perfect way to start on the series. I guess the devs figured out the kinks in their system from the feedback on the first couple of Bravely games and applied what they learned on Bravely 2. Pretty much like how the Persona games got increasingly more accessible as it went along. Similar story with Octo2. Big tip about it is you take full advantage of the "actions" (steal/charm/haggle/etc) to get stuff from NPCs so you don't have to grind too much in combat mode. In Octo2, each character gets 2 actions! That's it, really. Daylight is bad. It's the main reason people don't talk about it.
Two I'm terrified of trying are the Saga games and the Soulsborne genre. Saga because I've heard they're hard, the leveling mechanic seems counter to what I'm used to, and I hear the older titles are bad for getting soft locked in. I would hate to lose all my progress because I didn't keep enough saves. Soulsbornes I've played but they terrify me. Their overall vibe and aesthetic is just very depressing and oppressive. I played through all of DS1 to prove I could but it made me so depressed at the end. I couldn't wait for it to be over. And having to learn countless enemy patterns, moves, reactions, and where tf to go from the bonfire to my next objective just was too much. Yeah there's tons of guides but man can I please get a bonfire like right BEFORE the freakin boss? Not like a mile or two before or after. The boss runs in DS1 filled me with so much anxiety. All it takes is forgetting that there's one silver knight that spawns around this corner and forgetting to parry or dodge their attack to just screw up your whole boss strategy. Because now you're at half the health or have one less estus flask all due to a normal enemy.
As someone who has only played the Persona games, I can say SMT V kicked my butt! Pretty much the only similarity between the two series are the demons you encounter. If you really want to give it a try, I'd say wait for a sale. The physical version goes on sale pretty frequently on VGP's website. Also maybe wait for SMT Vengeance, as they will probably tweak the game so progression is a bit easier. Lastly, think about maybe picking it up on PS5, when Vengeance comes out, as the Switch graphics are kind of rough and blurry.
As someone that liked Triangle Strategy and sort of was hesitant about Octopath Traveler 2, so far it does feel fine difficulty wise. Not noticing a huge amount of grinding. Battle system and character class styles are really cool. One character can collect enemies and use them in battle like Pokemon for example! My issue with it...the segmented stories is really tough for me. The characters only interact minimally and on the surface still. Just idle chit chat. It doesnt really feel like they are in the same party. This...makes it lose a LOT of points for me. But I'm still enjoying it to a degree. If Triangle Strategy was 9/10, OT2 is 8/10 for me.
fwiw i'm not a huge crafting fan but i had a great time with ryza, especially the second one (have not played the third). the story is kinda meh; the best parts are more about how the characters develop and how they exist within the setting. which is great, but it's not a very big plot game. the crafting is honestly like half the game so i would definitely understand feeling hesitant about trying it, but i think my experience was worth it. i didn't rush through the first, but i didn't understand how crucial it was so the final boss was impossible; i just lowered the difficulty and moved on. but i was compelled to do better for the second game and holy crap going head first into it especially with some of the streamlined features made the second game a fantastic experience. idk if it's too cozy, maybe just slow if you let cutscenes play at their own pace. i recommend it if you need a break from bigger stories or want to go a bit slower. such a time will definitely come and i say it'll be worth considering when you get there
So, Ryza: have you played Skyrim or some similar Bethesda game? How did you handle inventory management and the weight limit? Are you the kind of person that constantly picks up too much shit and has to teleport back to dump inventory? If so, you're going to do the same with Ryza. You don't have to go crazy with crafting. It's absolutely required for some quests, but you can half ass it and move on. If you won't allow yourself to do that though, it will consume you. I like the game, but I spend too much time trying to craft better stuff, duplicating nice crafting mats so I don't have to use them up & remake them with potential different stats, and collecting items to feed that. If you can let yourself go on that, you might still enjoy it. If you can't ignore it, probably pass over the series. For SMT, devil summons are crafting. That's why you hate it.
