Top 10 Most DISAPPOINTING JRPGs | I Expected More From These Games! 

As a huge kingdom hearts fan since high school in 2006, I was also let down by kingdom Hearts 3. It was far from a bad game. They just waited so long and built it up so much, I was expecting so much more than they inevitably delivered on. They focused too heavily on gimmicks and cashing in on current juggernaut franchises like Frozen, that they gave far too little respect to the gamers who have been here from the start and needed something more satisfying to end a 15 year journey.

As a long time Kingdom Hearts fan. No 3 did not hit the mark for me. I was incredibly disappointed. Gameplay was fun at times but I came away not really liking it all that much.

You know I’ll be honest I’ve been wondering if there were any JRPGs you didn’t like lol. Love the list, and I agree with many of these!

Every time I play something on Switch with a terrible framerate and awful loading times, I play Xenoblade Chronicles 3 and know with certainty that there is no excuse for poor performance on the system aside from unskilled programmers.

Do you have games that exceed you expectation? Like games that turns out to be more fun or interesting than you initially thought.

the issue I had with kh3 was that all the plot was left for the last 5 hrs of the game, They try to redeemed Xeahnort and you need to play the mobile game for lore. They removed all the final fantasy characters and tried very hard to make this a disney carnival ride. you could spam those moves and kill everything. The game was visual nice and the voice acting was good and the endings for the villians and the reunions were great but I wanted so much more. I feel like they dragged their leggs on this game so much and we lost the original voice actor for xeahnort both in the english and jpn dub and thats also hurt the game. It was an okay game but the delays and the waiting made the hype go so high and it didnt even match what we got.

The attractions in Kingdom hearts 3's combat system killed that game for me

I think I agree with most of the points on here. I haven't played it yet myself, but I think if you treat Strangers of Paradise more like a Dark Souls and less like a Final Fantasy it becomes more enjoyable. I'm torn on KH3 because the story is a dud, but it has the best level design of any game in the series and it looks so gorgeous. No excuse to make us wait ten years for a predictable story, but I'll probably replay it.

The last remnant had such a learning curve to it that I watched a video playthrough just to play through it. I enjoyed it though but man there was so many hidden mechanics and you can screw yourself over so bad if you didnt know any of it just by battling too much cause you would screw yourself over with that BR mechanic

“It’s a pale imitation of the games it seeks to emulate” - BOOM roasted. Love it man haha. Great video.

Pretty much agree with all of these or can't comment on a few having not played Lost Sphere or White Knight Chronicles. DQ Treasures I can see where you are coming from, but I enjoyed my time with it. I'd definitely put Disgaea 6 up here for me, huge step down from 5 in almost every single way. Shining Resonance Refrain I also loathe, I had overblown expectations thinking it might be like Shining Force... not so much!

I didn't have particularly high expectations for Final Fantasy XIII and XV, so I wasn't terribly surprised to see those flop. On the other hand, XVI I did have expectations for, and goddamn did it fall short of those.

Valkyrie Elysium was a miss, VP Lenneth and Silmeria were both awesome games, should have not veered away too much from those two.

I’m sad that you don’t like DQ Treasures I had fun with that one. But I get it, it’s pretty basic. I couldn’t agree more about Elysium man that games just terrible.

Final fantasy XV when it came out and Final fantasy XV what it is today are like 2 different games supposedly. I played it when It came out and finished the story and plat it on my ps4. I was disappointed in the story mostly cause it was butchered and put into dlc and other medias and I was like why. plus there suppose to be a war happening in this game if memory serves right and I never felt like a war was happening. Like you mentioned the side quest were very dull half of them was like hey my car broke down do you have a part that can fix it? plus the world was empty as hell. visual and voice acting was good but the story fell very flat.

I.. actually agree with this entire list. I wanted to love stranger in paradise and ff15 but just couldn't get into them.

Octopath Traveler put the fear of ludonarrative dissonance in my soul

Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2 are in my top 10 games of all time, so KH 3 is not a bad game but it was a huge disapointment😢

Final Fantasy 15 is pretty much Entourage TV Series but not produced by Mark Walhberg

I disagree with The Last Remnant. I quite enjoyed that game! The battle system is what made the game really good in my opinion. The original Xbox360 release was not as good because you could not disable abilities. This led to abilities that I did not really want to use popping up as choices during battle. But once it was released and PC and later remastered on PlayStation, you could disable skills you did not want characters to use. This gave you way more control over character development, which was a huge part of the strategy. Yes, it has a slightly steeper learning curve than some games. But not every game has to hold your hand every step of the way. But hey, to each his own. I personally enjoyed this game a lot.

I've never seen anyone else agree with me when it comes to both KH3, Zestiria, White Knight Chronicles or Last Remnant.

I agree on many things about Valkyrie Elysium, but I do disagree on the combat. I think it was very well made, with great ideas and variety. The problem was on the upgrade system and the fact you don't have a party, just the temporary summons. I think another game with more polish (and a better story, because it sucks on Elysium for sure) but keeping what they made, could be a great game.

I like a lot about Zestiria. But it has lots of bad points. It's the only game where I just turned the difficulty down as the game progressed, all the way to medium or maybe even easy for the final boss. Most of these games have a decent difficulty uptick for the final boss, but the frustrating equipment system wasn't something I wanted to learn properly on to be able to get over that. That said, apparently good games in the series like Symphonia and Vesperia... I just got hung up on them and have never finished. The missables all over the place style of the old games is very tiring to me, but only Abyss was compelling enough to push me through regardless. Vesperia is supposed to be more adult-like but it feels like I'm running a kindergarten. There isn't a true kid character in Zestiria which is pleasant. So I will however say that despite the jank, I do think Edna and Lailah are great and memorable characters. And I do actually really like the base theme of the game, which is "Passion that Illuminates the World". Going around and tangibly improving the areas as you progress was an entertaining change of pace to me. I wasn't really disappointed because I expected it to be bad. It's bad in all the ways people said. Still really worth playing just for Berseria ties.

Kingdom Hearts 3, FFXV, and FFXVI top my list. I didn't hate KH3 or FFXVI necessarily, but they were super underwhelming for me considering the build up and hype I had for them. Every Star Ocean after 3 would probably appear on there, though I haven't played the most recent new entry as I gave up on the franchise. Valkyria Chronicles 2 is the only other one that really stands out in my mind.

Whoa whoa whoa, White Knight and Last Remnant don't deserve the hate. In their times they were absolutely amazing. I don't think they have held up well but compared to the other games on the lists they are masterpieces. Abd still are in my eyes. I would highly recommend trying them again at some point to see if a perspective changes, as both are highly fun in trying out different things. Stranger of Paradise is amazing in my eyes and not a traditional RPG (think 3d Castlevania, like curse of darkness) and should be approached differently. The rest all deserve it. But the LM and WKC hate hurts my soul

Hardcore KH fan here. Honestly loved KH3 but in the back of my mind I knew the pacing was off, and did not agree with them shoving the central KH plot all the way at the end like a gauntlet. I did think they fixed a lot of my gripes in the DLC they released a year later. Overall, I truly still loved the game and I would go back to it once in a while.

I've been wanting to try the 3 Tokyo RPG factory games for awhile and I hear so many mixed reviews about them. Some people love them. Some people say they're crap. You thought I Am Setsuna was great and Lost Sphear wasn't? Have you tried Oninaki? Valkyrie Elysium... Doesn't look good at all to me. Final fantasy 15... Jersey shores bro road trip? Always looked disappointing to me. Which is sad. Didn't it start as FF13 Versus? In my opinion the last great final fantasy was 10. Every Pokemon game is the exact same because they have no reason to improve because they've had no competition. Look at Scarlet and Violet, super buggy on launch and sold like 15 million in a week. Thank God for Palworld. I hope it lights a fire under the Pokemon company and they start making good Pokemon games. Sucks that Zestiria is bad. Isn't Berseria a prequel to it and considered one of the best Tales games? I disliked kingdom hearts 1 as it was one of the most repetitive games I've ever played. So I never even picked up another after that Great video dude. Love how well you explain your points of view.

As a gigantic kh fan, I was disappointed with 3. Agreed with the comments.

Personally, I enjoyed Zestiria despite its flaws, Arise on the other hand... that's the one that's been a huge disappointment.

Imagine criticising a game when you can't even get the name right. It's Lost Sphear.

Literally the opposite for me I did not like I am Setsuna but love Lost Sphere

For me the most disappointing were: Xenoblade 2, Final Fantasy 15, Kingdom Hearts 3, and Octopath Traveler

I dont think Last Remnant was the disappointing,it has niche following after all due to Saga series influence on them,too bad i just having hard time liking the main character and sometimes the dungeon was too annoying to traverse on,there was learning curve on the game but as you get used to them,it become less tedious and the experience felt rewarding,especially if you managed to clear the game after certain difficulty spike because of the game mechanic

Pokemon is literally such a disappointment. It’s the world’s biggest franchise, bigger than freakin Star Wars! They give no budget or time to their games, it’s a shame. The execution is so poor and they clearly don’t invest at all into their games, even COD makes them look bad, could you imagine? Maybe in the next 15 years they will release a banger, I’ll wait until til then. Agree on ff15, loved every ff but 15 requires you to watch a movie and a season of an anime to understand which I had no interest in. The open world felt like an Ubisoft game and the combat devolves into item spamming so you literally never die lol.

Honestly Kingdom Hearts 3 was a disappointment but as time went on, i grew to like it more. But i wish the best parts if the game weren't so far into the end of the game. Also I hate how Kairi was done in this game after all the build up until the dlc. The dlc was so good that i wished the rest of the game matched it's quality. Base game is a 7 for me.

I disagree on FF XV, it was awesome. The only issue was the dlc butchering

i liked xv fighting and story...but i like hard sci fi and crazy fantasy books...True xv has had its ups and downs but i say it has far more ups..there are no ideal games...

Final Fantasy XVI serious lack of RPG mechanics its westernized action/adventure game instead not an actual action RPG as advertised. combat felt like beginner friendly devil may cry, no elemental dmg, no resistances, can kill fire bombs with fire attacks, malboro bad breath was just regular damage, zero debuffs in an RPG, wat. Eikon battles just looked cool but kept Interrupted you every few seconds for another QTE, some you didnt need to do and just auto-win fights without trying (ifrit, phoenix, bahamut vs evil irfit). lackluster equipment and crafting, no passives to apply to your swords, armor, just generic stats of bangles adding +10 to HP thats in the thousands, how useless. basic skill progression, just unlock everything, not an actual choices of a "skill tree". About 2/3s of story devolves by odd character logic. Only thinks I really enjoyed which most couldnt stand, where the side quests. They fleshed out the world building and side characters very well, even giving them many story arcs too. I did every single side quest, loved them all. And 2nd thing i loved was the great ending.

White knight Chronicles might be one of the worst RPGs I have ever played.

Am I the only person in the world that loved Final Fantasy XV?

Tales of z rocks. Kinda traditional, and simple jrog, but I loved the friendship between the two main toons. And playing archer was cool. Takes of A, V and arise, men. Combat sucks in those. And arise story is bad.

10:29 FF hasn't been great for more than 10 years; in fact, it's been disgraceful and disrespectful to its fanbase. F* Square.

Ff7 remake for me, did not enjoy the change to action focus at all. I tried to enjoy this game many times and i just cant

I was so hyped for Final Fantasy 16, but I quit halfway through. I was pretty much winning every battle hitting the square button. Felt more like Devil May Cry to me.

I hated The Last Remnant. Who wanted that remaster anyway?

haven't played a bunch of these, but I'll take your word for it! my list - Octopath Traveler: imo this game is just straight-up bad. it is beautiful with amazing music but everything else is painful. gameplay is just so slow, it's an utterly tedious grindfest with an inflated encounter rate, and the characters have extremely bland stories and virtually no interaction. (the sequel is a masterclass in how many very small changes can radically transform a game.) Sea of Stars: it's funny how much I see this as the mirror image of Octopath Traveler. it's strong in the few ways that game was, gorgeous with great music, and weak in the same areas but in opposite ways. where Octopath Traveler had overly obnoxious combat, SOS has combat so simple it cannot sustain the game's 25-hour run. where Octopath Traveler has no story, SOS makes you sit through cutscene after cutscene for a story that's kind of up its own butt for how simple it is at heart. ngl I really do think people who think this one is good are blinded by nostalgiabait. Ni No Kuni: the HORRIBLE combat and atrocious stealth sections completely ruin what otherwise would have been an all-timer. (again, the sequel is so much better, but it more obviously changed than OTII.) Nier Automata: ducks. but yeah it's very up its own ass, though I'll admit this is more "overrated" than "genuine dislike," it does have a note perfect ending. Pokemon Legends Arceus: yeah this was the disappointing Pokemon game of 2022 for me, as SV ran pretty jank but not terribly. this game has a bad case of what I like to call Spider-Man PS4-itis, where you play it for 5 hours and you're like holy shit... best game ever... but by 15 hours you've seen everything there is to see and you're just exhausted by it. basically any Trails that isn't the Sky series: again, ducks. but this series simply has not lived up to the Sky series whatsoever, and nowadays I mostly just wonder if the payoff could possibly be worth it in the end Persona 4: SUPER DUCKS... I think a lot of Persona is how much you like the characters and when it comes to Persona 4 I simply don't. unfortunate but true. FFXV: what you said, basically. I also really side-eye it for putting the entire fucking story in DLC... THAT NEVER EVEN CAME OUT???? FF7 Remake: SUPER DUCKS... AGAIN... but this game is stretched out to an extreme that means the pacing is often poor, but the combat was the real death knell. Squeenix has, imo, not even come close to mastering a combo of turn-based and action combat. I have basically no interest in Rebirth despite the glowing reviews because this game just was not it. Tales of Berseria: there are absolutely some really great moments here but the pacing is all over the place and the ending suuuuuucks.

To add on the list of disappointments: Shin Megami Tensei V (vanilla one) Fire Emblem Engage Xenoblade Chronicles 2 or 3

The most disappointing JRPGs I've played, I've played over the past 2 years. Chained Echoes, Octopath Traveler, Tales of Arise, Xenoblade 3, Dragon Quest XI Definitive Edition, and SMT5.

you missed ff16, oof what a button mashing turd