I would have added Lufia 2 as well it did puzzles and a massive procedurally generated dungeon that could and if you worked at it would give you some of the best items in the game.
Touche, didn't read this comment before writing mine haha. MHW is the one to check out. Something I have fun debating are pillars in the genres of video games. ARPG pillars: easily, Ys and Tales of, but those difficult ARPGs in the vein of Elden Ring... Monster Hunter made those games take off
so fun fact: there was already a game called dragon quest when it was localized in the west so for legal they had to change the name to dragon warrior. the copyright on the name expired before DQ8 release and square purchased the copyright and dragon quest 8 would be the first DQ to be published in the west under its original name and every since has as well
I think one of the Mother games deserves to be on here or mentioned just because of how it has influenced indie RPGs like Undertale, Yume Nikki, Lisa, and Omori
It's funny though how they started to influence games like 10 years later because they seemingly were that ahead of their time. I still think the inclusion of Ness in smash is what started it all since pretty much nobody knew the mother games before that. One of the strangest jrpg cases in my opinion
Should also have mentioned Chrono Trigger inventing the concept of “New Game +”, now a commonplace feature, as well as really pushing the idea of multiple endings, which was already rare at all back then but no game had as many endings as it did at the time.
@@princevaliant yes, but I only claimed New Game+ was unique, I didn’t say CT invented multiple endings. I just said that it pushed the concept much further than games before it with the number of endings and things like being able to reach endings much earlier in the plot.
I'd have to add Lunar: The Silver Star Story on the Sega Saturn and PlayStation as an honorable mention, along with Star Ocean. I never played the first FF game but I did play Dragon Warrior (Quest), my brother got it with a sub to Nintendo Power; Dragon Quest is what got me into RPG's. I would say that Dragon Quest was more influential than Final Fantasy II simply due to Nintendo's marketing campaign with their magazine at the time, however DQ didn't have much story and it was a really just a grind fest. Final Fantasy II did have a more story to it but was still fairly grindy; however it did influence games to include more story telling.
With Lunar: The Silver Star and Lunar: Eternal Blue, I prefer the Sega CD versions as they were the original versions of both games, and I have both on Sega CD.
Ff7 was on litterally tv commercials in 1997 and a jrpg that sold 10 million copies. It was such a hit and name that they tried to make a movie because of it
At that time western RPGs that revived the interest in the genre were Fallout, Baldurs Gate and Diablo. But yeah, FF7 brought JRPGs back in the west. I can't think of a more influential JRPG.
@@stinky_nut_blast Just out of curiosity, what were the sales of those western RPGs back then compared with FF7 ? Maybe it's because I was a "console" gamer, but everyone around me and even the press always talked about JRPGs during the 32/64bit era (simply as "RPGs") and almost never about the western ones. I have nothing against the genre but tbh no one talked about them in my view. For me, western RPGs made a relative come back in the 128bits era with the PS2 and the X-Box, and more importantly later in the X-box360/PS3 era they overtook the JRPGs which were in decline (to this day).
@@fabcheche2576 Yes, it makes a huge difference if you were a console or PC gamer. See, in my world of PC gaming, we had the gaming magazines where JRPGs were almost no thing. In the early 90s many families had a PC, but consoles were a rare thing. I can't help you with the sales, but FF7 was huge. For a whole generation it was the first JRPG. So I guess Fallout 1+2, Baldurs Gate 1+2 and Diablo didn't sell as much as FF7. Still my point was, those games revived the RPG genre in the west.
@@stinky_nut_blast Consoles were rare? I don't know, it seems like every kid had one in the eighties and nineties. Mainly Nintendo - almost all the kids had the NES / SNES, but then there were the kids that took the offbeat path and became Sega kids. I got my first PC in 1992 when I was 12, because my family was friends with a computer nerd that made them, but outside of school (where everyone played Prince of Persia, Lemmings and Wolfenstein 3D, because a nerdy but mischievous troublemaker type kid installed pirated games on the classroom computers) it seems like PC gaming was a very niche thing around that time period. I had Blackthorn, Ultima 7 and Warcraft 2, so I dabbled in playing games on the PC, but it didn't seem like a commonplace thing at all to have a PC then, whereas nearly any kid had at least an NES. Maybe its an upper class / upper middle class thing, I don't know. I grew up lower middle class in a fairly economically depressed area, so that might have something to do with it. I do remember the hype in the news media and on television about computers as a little kid in the eighties - mainly about apple computers. The nerd family friend was a windows / PC guy, so my first PC had Windows on it and I never owned a Mac. But yeah... there was a huge push by the media in the eighties to make PCs a status symbol, where it was like being the first family in the neighborhood to own a color TV or cable, but gaming on them was niche until the late nineties when games like Doom and the other FPS stuff came out. In contrast, every kid knew about Mario and Luigi from when the NES was released until the late nineties when the playstation came out. Maybe I just have a skewed take or something...
If you haven't played it yet, Ashen is one of my favorite Soulslike. Its art style is really appealing and the game is pretty simple and sweet. With a decent length. I really got into how your "round table" equivalent progresses throughout the game. Check it out!
Many of these games had an impact on me and I couldnt be more thankful that happened. Secret of Mana, Dragon Quest, Chrono Trigger and more were all apart of my upbringing in the gaming landscape and I'm happy I was able to experience these titles in their original forms when the industry was what it was then as oppose to playing them now and wondering what it was like then. Great Video Erick!
Fun fact: Persona series copied time managment system and Dating Sim elements exactly from Sakura Wars 5 So Long My Love (which was released one year before Persona 3 in Japan). If you play SW5 and Persona 4 you can see few big similatires like exploration, each chapter is dedicated to specific character, and some story plots elements. Even english dubbing in SW5 and P3/4 is nearly same.
I would heavily argue the whole time management and dating sim aspect goes all the way back to the Harvest Moon series, later going full RPG with the Rune Factory series.
@@EconomistaVJ There was also Langrisser 3-5 SRPG with Dating SIm elements like modern Fire Emblem. But those games like Sakura Taisen 1-4 also never left Japan.
My Top Ten JRPGs ( one favorite part for the whole Series) 1. Suikoden 2 2. Final Fantasy 7 3. Ni No Kuni 2 4. Dragon Quest 11 5. Vandal Hearts 6. Secret of Mana 7. Tales of Arise 8. Fire Emblem 3 Houses 9. Triangle Strategys 10. Pokemon Shield
i gotta agree with dq being the most influential on jrpgs, even for a non-fan like me, it definitely is the father of all jrpgs and set the standard and style of jrpgs for many decades to come
I agree, but the amount of padding SE put into the Final Fantasy VIIRemake was irrelevant. I just wish we could have had a remake for the next generation to enjoy, instead of all this episodic garbage.
@@Mangomesh I mean I just started playing ff7 remake a few days ago and I have been loving it so far, it’s not 1 to 1 and the original is better but it is still fantastic. All the new character development with Biggs wedge and Jessie is awesome
@@bullsteak3468 I hated the dialogues and the stupid changes in the scenario (Sephiroth became ridiculous, and appears way too soon, way too often). I must admit the game is beautiful and the gameplay is good. As for the music, not exactly my cup of tea but I guess it's subjective. Yet, as long as you had those dumb dialogues and scenes, it was to unbearable to finish for me. What a waste. I would have loved a game that almost didn't change the original but with just better graphics.
It is to honestly a little strange to pick Final Fantasy IV as the most influential Final Fantasy game when literally everyone and their grandmother knows that Final Fantasy VII is, in fact, not only the most influential Final Fantasy game, but perhaps the most influential JRPG ever made. The success of VII versus IV can not even be compared. It doesn't even need to be argued. FFVII literally woke the West up to the entire JRPG genre. FFIV may have introduced most of the staple Final Fantasy game mechanics, but FFVII is the game that influenced every other game developer to copy them.
My first jrpg experience was dragon warrior at a friends house at around 12 yrs old and i knew then i was looking at something special but i didnt know at the time, that genre of game was going to give me hundreds of thousands of hours of entertainment in the future. Hopefully hundreds of thousands more.
My first RPG too. I was a little bit younger. It came free with a subscription to Nintendo Power. It was my f it at game besides Mario and I still love it.
I totally agree on this list, though I would have choosen some other games for certain franchise. For FF4, in my humble opinion, the 6 and 7 were way much more influencial, because they were the first games/first FF for a lot of players and really created the success of the FF franchise, and the gameplay (for example the job system) was already in FF3 etc. Nowadays, there are still games influenced by FF6/7 : for example, Octopath Traveler is clearly influenced by FF6 : the colors, the splitted narration (chapters in OT, splitted route in FF6 with the moogle telling the thing), the scene of the opera/Primrose chapter 4... And I would have put an honorable mention to : - Atelier Iris : The first of the Atelier Games to come out of Japan, and despite its poor fame, it's a big franchise (about 40 games). - Tales of Phantasia : First Tales of, and the big brother of Star Ocean, (wich takes Tales of Phantasia graphics and gameplay and enhances it). It led to two awesome franchises : Tales of and Star Ocean, wich have unique gameplay. Did you know that the battler system of each Tales of is recreated every game ? - The .Hack (Dot hack) quadrilogy (Infection, Mutation, Outbreak, Quarantine) for the concept of playing a game in a game, the cyberworld and the consequences of viruses / human actions in such worlds etc. They are the ancestor of others .hack games, and most importantly, ancestor of all sword art online , player one (book and movie) and games/anime like that.
Where's Guardian's Crusade? First fully open world JRPG with seemless transition between town, field, etc. Had other claims to fame like the pet system and the mob size increasing or decreasing based on player level.
The problem is that it was a highly underrated JRPG. I agree though that it was revolutionary. I love when people bring it up and I hope that it goes through a revival like with Gensou Suikoden. I was listening to the music for Guardian's Crusade recently and it has such a beautiful soundtrack.
I'm kind of devastated that the Phantasy Star series didn't really influence JRPGs at all, it's such a good franchise... But for some reason, the macro system of Phantasy Star IV, character development, vehicle system etc. didn't become popular enough to set a milestone for future RPGs to look into...
@@Pokarface7 I know, I was not talking about the list itself, I was kind of reflecting on how little influence the Phantasy Star series had in RPGs in general.
@@pedroserena2234 I mean, Phantasy Star maybe. But Phantasy Star Online basically pioneered mmo lites, and went on to inspire Monster Hunter which in turn lead to Dark Souls. So I'd say that Phantasy Star is pretty influential.
Secret of Mana was my first JRPG I played throw and first game I cried in. Next JRPG I played was FF8.. Also played throw & cried. Best gaming memories for me.
I have to say with the novel additions that FF7 added into the JRPG sphere, it seems to be at the top when it comes to being influential for the future of the genre. It's omission is a bit questionable.
Final Fantasy VII, together with Tactics Ogre: Let us Cling Together, was at least the most influential JRPG on me personally, since that double whammy of two of the best games ever got me quite interested in JRPG's for years (though by now I'm almost exclusively western RPG's again).
The only novel addition it did was it being the first 3D FF. Materia? Just like Espers. Ultimate attacks? Was done in earlier FFs. Characters dying? Done in earlier FFs. Cliche characters? Done before. It is right to be omitted.
@@rockyboar7899 I can't agree to the materia part, it wasn't done the way it was in FF VII before. But since the only game I can think of that copied that system is Path of Exile, I wouldn't say it was too influential.
@@rockyboar7899 I mean, Erick included Persona 3 even though it nothing new because it popularized the sim element into rpgs . By the same token FF7 popularized the ENTIRE GENRE despite doing nothing new, so by the same standards Persona 3 is on this list, so should FF7.
@@rockyboar7899 But we are talking most influential JRPG, not the first game to implement a particular game mechanic. In that sense, there are only 2 games that need to be mentioned for the West, which is Final Fantasy VII and Pokémon Red/Blue. If we are talking about Japan, then you can add Dragon Quest into the mix. These other games that Erick mentions had considerably less influence than these three games.
Eric loved the vídeo and I agree with most of the entries. Still when you talk about Pokémon you say Satoshi Tajiri and show a photo of Tsunekazu Ishihara (president of the Pokémon Company). Even Google make the same mistake but they are two different people 😅
No Final Fantasy 7? The sheer impact it had on bringing JRPGs into mainstream western acceptance is without question, part of that was its role during the initial Playstation explosion era. It doesn't matter if you're a sweaty early adopter of some previous FF game, 7 was the most "influential" which is what this video is about.
I played Ys II on the Sega Genesis and Chrono Trigger on the PS 1, and Dragon Quest VIII on the PS2...wish I had gotten VII on the PS1. Playing Secret of Mana on the PS4 now.
I have never played any FF tactics so from where do you recommend to start? From the original one (either the PSX or PSP version) or from the Advance one?
Hmm, well the dark souls gameplay feels like it was pulled from the monster hunter formula. Since the franchise founded itself before the souls series took off, I feel like it should be there instead. (Or at least honorable mention alongside it 🤷♂️) Solid list though!
@@CharlieSquall but yeah what other rpgs you play that would make you think of final fantasy 7. None. Because the game monopolies itself. Force feed to us over and over so we don’t forget it.
It makes me sad that he didn't mention Armored Core when talking about From Software. It really has been way too long since they released an AC game, nobody even remembers that's what put them on the map anymore.
No FF7 who stablished how to make 3d JRPG's or Mother 2 (Earthbound) who spawned a pletera of indie JRPG's with great success? (Undertale, Omori Yume Nikki)
I just can't see a Tactics Ogre clone, even made by the same people, as one of the most influential without rating the original higher. It's beyond my limits. Also it's kinda a shame that Front Mission 3 wasn't more influential, it was certainly more interesting than it's in house Final Fantasy rival.
@@Mangomesh the materia system was the best magic system in the entire franchise, I remember starting to play Trials of cold steel and it used the acrus unit first thing came to me was ff7
@@Mangomesh it depends what system you have. I would suggest trials in sky (all 3 games) (librial (think that's how it's spelt) arc) first (steam for the time being) or trials of zero (crossbell arc) 1st game, trials of cold steel 1&2, then back to crossbell 2nd game then trials of cold steel 3&4 That is how I would play it, but keep in mind all these events are happening all at the same time kinda .
@@hongluong3427 Thanks for the reply, many fans tell me to play them from the beginning. Trails from Zero for PS4 is out this September, so I'm thinking about picking it up. I really like the look of Trails from Zero and Trails In The Sky, they remind me of Star Ocean 2. I would like to know which is the best Trails game, or are they all the same?
No mention of the early JRPGs to contain cinematic style storytelling such as Phantasy Star 4 & FF7? Epic, epic fail. That's like a fundamental element of almost every JRPG after for decades.
Not listing Ff7 is kinda of weird being as it might be the most influential game in the JRPG market. Literally put JRPGs on the map for mainstream audiences and caused several companies to get into making quality rpgs from then on. I get why you included 4 but in that note you could of included the original because without that game there would of been no series. But 7 is the most influential even tho your biased against anything mainstream in many of your videos.
I understand that you prefer speaking of Fire Emblem (Japan only) over Shining Force (World wild). But then for the dating sim part, i really don't understand why your privilege speaking of Persona 3 over Sakura Taisen or Princess Maker. It would be like speaking of FF7 over prior game of the genre... Even without speaking of japan only title Persona 3 was released in August 2007 for NA and in February 2008 for EU, a title like Harvest Moon (NA: June 1997 - EU: January 1998) was relesead years before. I don't know yours age, but i can assure you that even in Europe, Sakura Taisen and Princess Maker had a huge fan base (even tought it was partialy due to anime (Sakura War, Puchi Puri Yuushi)) meaning a huge influance. Yoh, lost.
I think the most influential Final Fantasy is clearly the 7th, even if it's not very original to say (you could also consider it's FF1, since it created the series). Saying FF4 was a success in the West is a big exageration. FF7 was the first to really have massive sales in the West and the first FF to be even distributed in Europe. Yeah, Europe didn't have FF1-4-6. Also, FF7 popularised for JRPGs the formula in which 3D characters moved in fixed(/2D) scenery. It had only been used by survival horrors (Alone in The Dark and Resident Evil) beforehand, and it proved to be a great idea for JRPGs considering how a full 3D game in PS1 generally looked like a mess. Many JRPGs followed that example. Don't get me wrong I'm a big fan of FF4, and anyway I think FF1, FF4, FF6 and FF7 all deserve to be in that top 10 considering how they influenced JRPGs. But for me the most "influential" strictly speaking would be either FF1 or FF7. The whole saga Final Fantasy is, I think, the most influential in the history of JRPGs, considering how many episodes were very influential on their own. And even if Dragon Quest, influenced FF1 itself.
Agreed wholeheartedly but had ff4 failed in the west, we may not have ff7 release in the west due to the popularity and demand for it and it may be a Japan exclusive.
Good vid, liked, but a couple of them are out of place. FF Tactics? Yes, great game, but influential? Meh, not as much as Fire Emblem. Also Secret of Mana? I understand why Zelda isn't on the list, but the Mana game shouldn't be either, Ys fills that spot enough. SMT, Ultima, or even an MMO RPG (Everquest, WoW, etc) should probably have been on there instead of redundant games that were nowhere near as influential as other games on the same list.
So you know Dark Souls is literally just a Demon's Souls sequel that couldn't use the title due to licensing issues right? Also you know that Demon's Souls was only created on the back of Sony wanting a next gen King's Field? Well you hate the souls games so whatever, but you are factually incorrect. You don't get to say "fire emblem despite not getting released outside japan...." but dismiss Demon's Souls because.... Dark Souls sold more copies? You do know Demon's Souls was Atlus's highest selling game they published (yes even with US only release) until Persona 5? Also no offense but the most influential JRPG of all time is FF7. I really don't need to explain why either, it literally took the genre from a niche type of game to being one of the highest regarded genres. People who would not have given a JRPG the time of day before FF7 suddenly played them. Do I really need to mention the extreme and obvious tonal shift that started in RPG's after it came out too? How many giant sword protagonists were there before Cloud Strife? Now it is literally a trope.
2 big take aways from this video 1) to not list FF7 at all and to put FF4 ahead of it instead is insanity and 2) a LOT of people do not know what the word "influential" means
Pretty good list, but I'm not sure I agree with Chrono Trigger. I love the game, but it seems to me that it wasn't influential much at all. FF7 should probably be in that place for the effect it had on modern JRPGs and how it popularized CGI cutscenes. Now, this is coming from someone who thinks that the FF7 is severely overrated as far as characters and story and the worst FF 3D FF game up until FF13 (though FF7 is still a good game).
The presence of character levels and experience points is likely the best indicator of "is this an RPG". So, yes, the Souls games would count. Compare this to the Zelda games, most of which (aside from Zelda 2) do not use experience as a method of character progression.
@@Wyvernil I disagree, like the gender says "rol play game" is not about max stats but to encarnate a character all along a voyage in which the history plays a huge component of it, of course stats and gameplay is a huge part but more of it the game of the role character... I havent play any soul game yet, for me, base in what I see, is more about dungeon mechanics rather than take control of an history and unwraped it out, but and dont know, I have not play any of those...
Lunar Sega CD Series over several of these. It's too bad not many played Lunar because they couldn't afford a Sega CD, it was far better than anything Nintendo was putting out at the time, FF and Chrono Trigger were garbage in comparison. If Sega hadn't royally messed up the Sega CD Lunar would of been the template instead of generic, inferior, cookie cutter Square games and JRPGs would of been far better off for it
Can't say Pokenon isn't influential. The original Game Boy games were my first RPGs ever. I really wished Dark Souls would have never been such a success. I know I making many enemies with this but without the "hype" for incredibly hard games I would have played Bloodborne and Sekiro, and some other Souls-likes. Interesting, atnospheric games but I won't ever suffer through a stupidly hard game again.
Not every game has to be made for everyone. Some games value the story being a bit more important than the gaemplay and are willing to make the gameplay easier so players can experience the story but in souls games the entire point is the gameplay and the harshness of the world. Plus everyone has the same experience and can discuss it on an equal level. Also most games difficulty just means they have higher health or hit harder which is just lame. They're also not unfairly difficult
Sure. But unfortunately From Software makes games that are tempting from a setting and plot perspective. Honestly speaking all modern games set in an ancient Japan setting (e.g. Sekiro and both Nioh games) belong to that sub-genre. That's just mean because I love this setting.
sorry but, ff6 had real impact , way more than 4.... it does not matter that 4 had impact in the west, if the title is about the most influential of all time.... aannddd tactics ogre is the most influential, ff tactics WAS influenced by ogre.. come on man... this list is all messed up
I feel like FF7 should have been on here. It brought rpgs into the mainstream. Its marketing and the fact it has about as many spinoffs as they have mainline FF titled games
