JRPG Pickups! Rare Games, Strategy, and IN-BOX GBA Classics! 

Loved the personal note about your brother!

Aw, the fact your brother decided to shared these with you for your collection and to feature on your RU-vid channel really warms my heart. Also, hope you really get into more strategy RPGs! I love those, and since you want one that doesn't take itself too seriously, you should probably play Chroma Squad! It's a fun little indie on the Switch that's not really that long, and it's a love letter to Power Rangers and Super Sentai. As always, love your videos and all the stories you share, Branden. Keep up the great work!

Hell yeah, Cursed Mountain! Thanks for the shout-out dude! Great pickups! 🔥

Really good video, enjoyed hearing your thoughts more than the actual pickups but wow, so generous of your brother. I'm sure they're both pleased that their games have gone to a good home where they'll be appreciated. Finally, thanks for sharing about your background, I had no idea. Sounds like you are on a much more enlightened path in your life, good job!! I'll be keeping an eye out for a vid for your Trails panel later in the week :)

The OCD on display during the Atelier discussion makes my heart sing.

The Project X Zone games (you were right in thinking that the X is pronounced as "cross", btw) are decent crossover games, though their stories aren't much to write home about. The character interactions are pretty good, especially if you're a fan of those individual franchises. The first one is a fairly big slog when it comes to gameplay, where enemy HP is balanced around pair units attacking five times per combat opposed to three times per combat in the sequel. The actual tactical gameplay is a bit like FF Tactics, as it uses grid-based movement and elevation. A bit of knowledge on the first game in the series, Namco x Capcom, might be needed as some OCs from that game appear in both PXZ1 and 2 that may cause some confusion on who they are and their character motivations, in addition to characters that originate from these two. TL;DR: fairly good, if a bit long, tactical crossover games with characters from Capcom, Bandai Namco, and SEGA (and Nintendo in the sequel)

I said the same thing about .hack when I impulse bought1-3. Thank you for your sacrifice.

Great video as always! It was really nice getting to know more about you and your personal history. Keep sharing who you are, it’s why we watch! 😊

There is a dot hack remaster collection for the PS4 but I think it's for the GU games. Its always nice when Alexa feels the need to interrupt, lol. Its so fun to get family games to add to your collection!

You’re not crazy. I have purchased games on multiple platforms to complete series.

Nice pickups Gems. I should make more of an effort to visit used game stores when I go out of town.

I had a strawberry cream cheese danish this morning. It was delightful. Thanks for another great video!

Awww man, Disgaea 2. One of my favorite games ever. I hope you enjoy! Glad you're liking 1 so far. You're correct on the "cross" pronunciation of Project X Zone. Tbh I'm glad I bought it, it's a cool novelty to see so many characters from different series together. But I'm not a fan of the game itself. Story did nothing for me and I didn't care for the gameplay. Jeez, 8-10 years without seeing my little bro would hurt! Glad you got to spend time with yours; and I'm glad you escaped the family cult of choice - my brother and I did the same.

Those are some awesome pickups! I had to get quarantine too just to have the whole set, still crazy how much more that one is than the others. That’s great you got to see your brother after so long!

Has summer been busy? Yes, it's 100+ degrees in the central valley of California, I work primarily outside, and my wife is pregnant with our first child. It's busy lol

Appreciate that you didn't edit out the family section. It's your frank and open personalty that keeps me coming back. That and aaaaaallllllll the games ❤❤

I like the way these videos flow. Keep up the great work!

Another fantastic video. Thank you!

Another great video man!🤘Thanks!😀

For the Harvest Moon Games, Friends of Mineral Town it's a must! 🐮

Thank you for your sacrifice in bringing the .hack remake closer to reality!

Another way to look at it is that you completed your PS2 collection. The new remake if it happens would be on another wall, and you would still have to buy it. Brandon's Logic 101

Great pickups! I do the same thing when on vacation. Regardless of where we're going; we do game hunting along the way. Our souvenirs are typically games 😂

Loved the personal bit of the video. Apparently Hoshigami has a DS sequel of some kind. Those are games I've been looking for in be Wild but... it's hard to find them, for me at least.

Glad that you had a great time with your brother and his husband. That was so sweet that he shared his collection with you. He has some great taste in games there. And thanks for potentially taking one for the team on the .hack//QUARANTINE copy. I do have the whole set as I pre-ordered them back in the day. But I am really hoping that they do a remaster with some quality of life improvements and improve the story pacing. Perhaps your pick up may make the stars align to give it to us.

Thank you for your sacrifice, brotha' lol.... all seriousness, this channel is awesome.

Have a fond memory of playing Project X Zone over a summer break in grad school. Very much worth a play.

I always love your videos!

I played Project X Zone 1 and it was pretty good! My only complaint is that towards the end of the game we just get waves and waves of enemies appearing to make the game longer and it burned me out. I enjoyed the randomness of all the characters meeting each other and I loved making my “teams”.

Wow, that Ni No Kuni edition is beautiful! I still only have the original PS3 version with the white cover, but I definitely want to get one of the newer versions. Maybe on Steam or Switch or something. It's one of my favourite games to just make me feel completely immersed 😊 I really hope we see a NNK3 someday!

I totally understand buying the same game for multiple consoles. I do the same exact thing. Many times over.

I played Project X Zone and Project X Zone. Both games are a lot of fun and feature Xeno Saga characters. The second games has Chrom, Lucina, and Tiki from FE Awakening, Phoenix and Maya from Ace Attorney, and Fiora from Xenoblade. They're nothing to write home about in regards to story, but both games are definitely stupid fun.

Disgaea 1 introduced me to the band Tsunami Bomb, which became one of my most listened to bands as a teenager! Also, I once organized my shelf by series, disregarding console, and it nearly brought Mandy to tears out of laughter (and perhaps shame).

Love your content!

Thought the story about your life was really great. Also, Dissidia is one of my favorite games ever, hundreds of hours in it, but boy is it a specific flavor.

I totally understand the mentality behind having a black label vs green label, something about it is just more satisfying. It's beyond logic.

Really awesome pickups Branden, and I'm glad you and your brother were able to escape that crappy lifestyle from many years ago. I'm just like you with rare game FOMO, I've just gotta get it in the moment and worry about the financial consequences later 🤣

That Ni Nu Kuni case is gorgeous! I loved that game!

Whenever a family member whips out some games to pass on, it's always a beautiful thing! Love the pickups Brandon, now I'm holding up hope that we get the Dot Hack Collection Remastered. ;)

Love the disgaea series. Spent so many hours in fhe item world leveling up my weapon. Does require a second play through since the good ending is usually unlocked only when you beat the game without a single ally lost. New game plus makes it much easier to achieve

How do you typically sell games? I'd definitely be interested in your loose Golden Sun: The Lost Age. The complete series in box is amazing, I'm jealous.

Project X Cross Zone was a good find. Super rare. I never played it, but my brother liked it a lot

"How's your summer been?" ...too soon?? 😂

Steelbook! 🤩

Having the context about you, your brother and his husband made this video even more special. I winced when you said what hack game you had bought though 😂

I had this on with tacos and tea. Arc the Lad twilight was good! I enjoyed it. I did play twilight first however before playing the trilogy so I went in not knowing. Good stuff. Also, shout out to the brother and brother in law!

I thought there was a second bag? With all your wife's shoes? Is that pickup video coming next week? Surely you bought her the same number of shoes right? :D Great video, loved the TMI part.

I, too, want games.

your fear with the .hack remake happened to me with chrono cross, i had just finished playing it when the remaster released! also sort of a harvest moon recommendation, theres a spin off series called rune factory that combines farming with rpg gameplay and i really recommend those! i have been collecting them myself and finally got rune factory 2 which was the last game i needed

As someone with a complicated family history due to controlling religious trappings, as well, I’m glad you and your brother have stayed connected and you were able to spend time together (and that you & his husband could meet). Also … dude … PLAY those Atelier games (he says, guiltily remembering he needs to play them himself … and to stop talking about himself in the third person)!

You got rule of rose for $5?!? That's all I heard, and that's the rumor I'm now spreading :)

Is there a Final Fantasy game you would recommend to someone who loves the trails series but had difficulty getting into final fantasy.

Just ordered Monster Hunter Stories on the Switch as well! Great minds think alike!! The last expensive game I bought that later got a remaster announced was Marvel Vs. Capcom 2!!!! 😂 Lucky it was 🇬🇧 prices but still 😂 Oooo that Dissidia slipcover is nice!! The only strategy JRPGs i really like are Valkyria Chronicles series (HIGHLY RECOMMEND) and Three Houses but as someone who’s not a big strategy guy Valkyria Chronicles series is the best one for my 💰

Hoshigami! Ahh such a meh game but the chain attack mechanic was pretty cool

I've been waiting all day to watch this, and you start off with Monster Hunter Stories and Disgaea 2. Whoa stop the presses, I can't believe you got the holy grail of ps2 jrpg grails. Like where, when, why and how?!??

It doesn't count when you're on vacation 😂 famous last words

You wont be dissapointed with project x zone if your a fanof even half the franchises in botth tbose companies. Wish we got a 3rd as its been the best cross over game ever

Wait, does monster hunter stories Japan version have both on cartridge?

Project X Zone for the win! ❤❤❤

Hoping you have a great time this week with @davidvinc and hoping you both make a fun video together.

We want games ❤

17:34 what would be the name of this religious group?

Hoshigami is a game I tried so hard to play, but the difficulty spikes really quickly, and considering the story was not that interesting, I had no interest in grinding

Hoshigami is hard as ballz. I grinded for hours to get good gear/items, to then noticed that I screwed up a story choice and would miss the good ending. Put it away never to play it again

First off, congratulations on getting out of that environment of religious control. Being the gay brother in an extremely religious group, and having brothers and sisters who all went through the same environment, and how we had to have each other's back during that. Thank you, for sticking with your brother, support from family helps healing from those groups and I'm glad you both are close and have each other.

Haha, free ASMR.

Your nose looks better

I also own all the other Atelier games, except the Ryza series. Why did you get Nelke?! That's a horrible game! It's basically a mobile game on PS4!

I know its none of my business but everytime Branden brings up his religious upbringing, I'm always curious what the religion was or what they believed.