I've beaten 4 or so in the last year, even with a full time job and friends. It's hard, but definitely doable. Started in April wanting to get back into gaming after spending 10 years too mentally ill to concentrate. Started with Persona 4, then Shin Megami Tensei 1, 2 and 3 and Phantasy Star. I've found it helps to approach it like a project, not the all-consuming obsession games were as a kid.
I feel so targeted by this Toonami like styling in the intro. And it worked. Awesome production. Nostalgia hit aside it’s so well done. Loved the list too. Happy to see some of my favorite ‘challenging’ JRPGs make it. Scared to try the older ones I haven’t played 😅
Just wanted to say that I love your content, I stumbled upon your channel and watched literally every single one of your videos. I thought I essentially put every JRPG I'm interested in on my backlog but you showed me some that I'd never seen before in my own research or on any other JRPG channels. Keep on with the great content!
Oh wow, thanks for checking out all our vids! Even the earlier ones which were pretty rough to say the least 😅 glad to hear you’ve been enjoying the content though and have found some games to add to the backlog. We really appreciate the kind words and your support!
18:45 Phantasy Star II.. that takes me back. Zero hand holding. No overworld map, no dungeon map. The dungeons themselves were not only mazes, but elevator puzzles that needed to be taken in the correct order. I remember young me wasting all the printer ink printing out maps, and drawing routes on them with a marker. Truly an immersive experience. There was also the anxiety of making the walk back to town after clearing a dungeon just to "save" the game. Only to later discover there was actually a "secret" in game item called a visiphone that would allow you to save anywhere, again no hand holding, but man was it fun.
@@louiepooh1510 I was aware of the strategy guide much later... unfortunately my first time playing was on a game boy advanced port. It was super bare bones with a paper thin booklet, it was just like: figure it out lol. Still it was a very rewarding experience for young me, researching a game online and what not, on those gamefaqs text guides. Hopefully one day I'll own a proper copy.
the best version of phantasy star 2 is stuck ps2 with better graphics & expanded storylines for the side characters, elemental atk / def, and --- is now fully playable to the end but only after a first clear and specific things are done (phantasy star generations 2 - part of the sega ages 5200 series)l If you want to expand the gameplay of the orginial, each character has an official text adenture that was downloadable via sega game Toshokan service (jp only).
I only had real issue with THAT battle (you know which). The rest I figured out well how to overcome. I was lucky with THAT one. Geomancy is a curious tech. ;)
Oh man just from the thumbnail seeing Phantasy Star 2 brings back a lot of memories. The control tower, climatrol, the insanely high encounter rate, the monsters becoming robots halfway through the game that render your traditional weapons useless. Great times. Definitely the most ahead of its time JRPG for the decade (the 80's).
Phantasy star 2 was my first RPG and I fell in love with it. I even wrote all maps of all dungeons in the game. It was my first game with battery to keep savings, I and my friend had no idea how to beat it for couple of months. We even tried to keep Sega turned on during nights to save our progress and didn't understand how to finish it. After a while, one of our friends said that we needed a battery. There was also pirate copies of Phantasy Star 2 from China without battery slot)
I only ever finished one game on this list: Resonance of Fate. By the end of the game you had guns with three sights on them, multiple handles, barrels, and grips somehow. It was a blast once you figured it all out though.
Nice video! Okay, I loved Phantasy Star 2, but I *needed* the maps for those dungeons. I agree with you; it's a very cozy game with late 80s anime vibes
I don't know if it's a topic you already tackled before but I'd like to suggest a video about best stories stuck on old consoles, also thanks for your amazing content
7th Saga got overworked in terms of difficulty. They wanted to be sure you couldn't just rent the game and beat it over the weekend, so they ramped up the difficulty. But they overcorrected and introduced other issues. Definitely recommend a ROM hack that fixes the difficulty issue if you want to play at a more casual level.
I was about to point out the same thing. The physical version of Phantasy Star 2 on Sega Genesis came with a thick book which had very detailed maps showing off the dungeons and revealed lots of helpful tips and special items and how to get those items (some of which were near obligatory to get to survive the final two bosses of the game). It was obligatory to use that book or else the dungeons (specifically the later ones) would become a nightmare. I'm shocked Sega didn't package a digital version of that book with the Sega Genesis collections and Sega Genesis minis Phantasy Star 2 is on. I guess they assume players will just use the internet but the problem with that is when I bought the game years ago and saw that it had a book with the maps and tons of tips, that clued me in that it was going to be a hard game and I should use that book (which the book itself strongly recommends).. A lot of modern gamers have no clue what they are getting themselves into with that game, especially since a lot of them are too prideful and refuse to use help like maps online. There is no shame in looking up help (or even buying the book the game came with. That book was necessary when I beat the game years ago during the 90's).
@@Pezint I hear you and I'm the same way , with that said the dungeons in phantasy star 2 are some of the most brutal and unforgiving dungeons in all of RPG history. They are huge ,confusing ,insanely high random encounter rates that seem to spike every dungeon and you have limited storage space for your curative items those of which are weak in comparison to most other games . I enjoy the game but it's a game that if you don't excessively grind or use maps you won't survive .
7th Saga with the patch that restores the original stats is actually quite fun. The localized version is definitely not the fun kind of difficulty, at least for me.
Phantasy Star 2 is interesting because the US version came bundled with a hint book. That had maps for every dungeon. Played it for years using that hint book and it always required a lot of grinding at points. Which wasn’t great. Then I decided to do a playthrough where I manually mapped each dungeon. Suddenly the need to grind vanished lol. As the natural encounter rate I ran into while mapping, led to a more correct rate of advancement for my party. It’s kinda funny. If you play it, and manually map, it’s tuned perfectly. But if you shortcut you end up having to make up that time saved, via intentional grinding.
Dang, I remember that. And I also remember it was $70-80 + tax (back in 1989 dollars)! Had to throw a lot of papers that summer to buy that game but it was worth it.
Dude, I was a teenager when Saga 2 came out and I swear, that game is SO esoteric. Having all those battle systems, the way characters could overlap.. and the LP system... not to mention the system for learning skills. Gah, I loved AND hated that game at the same time lol. The look of it is something magic though.. and that music! Another great video, fellas!
Check out Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete on the PS1. It's made by Game Arts and is the precursor to the Grandia series, it's decently hard and they designed it to keep the difficulty curve pretty consistent, it has an Epilogue that's new from the OG Sega CD version and the even the regular battles kicked my ass. Also thanks for talking about FFIVDS, I bought this game at launch and thought I was crazy for the longest time at having this tough of an experience with it, glad to know I'm not crazy. Doesn't help I missed out on many of the extra abilities because I thought it would be similar enough to the original game. I ended up beating it without Dualcast, and I think I had to grind to level 80 and get a Dragon Whisker drop for Kain to even beat Zeromus, crazy times.
The only game I played in this list is FF IV DS, and proud to say I finished it. Totally agree that buffing your team and debuffing enemies, especially bosses, is key.
I’ve started a vagrant story video strategy guide series on my channel to help people play that game. It’s so good and it’s such a shame so many people never get to experience the whole thing because they give up.
I really enjoyed Resonance of Fate. I'll admit I was definitely confused and frustrated early on, but as I slowly learned the mechanics, I started to have a blast with it. Definitely an underrated game in my eyes.
Last Remnant is the most challenging JRPG I've ever played. Weirdly addictive if you work out its complex and badly-explained systems though. Loved the chillwave Shevat remix too!
Saga Frontier II is a strange bird! You have to have the right story node to have any access to a shop and even SHIELDS at all! The move discovery mechanics I actually digged heavily. The watercolor art kept me hooked too!! I hope they remaster that game!
Back in October 2020-ish I was in my senior year of high school and got my wisdom teeth removed. I took a few days off of school, naturally, and while my mouth was in pain and I was recovering- I sat on my recliner and played through Strange Journey pretty much the entire time. All things considered, my teeth were the *second* most painful part of that experience. In all seriousness though, Strange Journey is fantastic and I’d love to play it again eventually
I did finish Phantasy Star 2 back on the Genesis in the early 90s when I was in high school. It took over 6 months of pretty regular playing,. I don't know that I could've done it if the game didn't come with a strategy guide packed in though.
I’ve had a vague memory of the combo system from Saga Frontier 2 in the back of my mind for like 15 years and I had no idea which game it came from until today. Thank you.
Always love to see another video from you guys! And too much to explain for Vagrant Story? Might need to make a video dedicated to a retrospective on it, if you're up for another magical journey through it.
Vagrant Story is one of my favorite video games of all time and its combat is incredible. Story is fantastic. Great coverage on it and all the games in this list boys. Another banger vid as usual
I was dropping $60 on new games left and right and beating them in a few days max, then started hitting up classic jrpgs and now I feel like I’m getting my moneys worth haha
The physical version of Phantasy Star 2 on Sega Genesis came with a thick book which had very detailed maps showing off the dungeons and revealed lots of helpful tips and special items and how to get those items (some of which were near mandatory to get, in order to survive the final two bosses of the game). It was obligatory to use that book or else the dungeons (specifically the later ones) would become a nightmare. I'm shocked Sega didn't include a digital version of that book with the Sega Genesis collections and Sega Genesis minis Phantasy Star 2 is on. I guess they assume modern players will just use the internet but the problem with that is when I bought the game years ago and saw that it came with a thick book with detailed maps and tons of tips, that clued me in that it was going to be a hard game and I should use that book (which the book itself strongly recommends).. A lot of modern gamers have no clue what they are getting themselves into with that game, especially since a lot of them are too prideful and refuse to use help like maps online. There is no shame in looking up help (or even buying the thick book the game came with if they don't like having to look online so much. That book was necessary when I beat the game years ago during the 90's. I still have mine and it still has tons of pencil marks that I drew on each of the maps so I could tell where to go).
I'm amazed to hear Redux actually reduced the difficulty from the original. That one wrecked me hundreds of times, especially Jack and Mem Aleph. The new content also gives us probably the hardest RPG final boss I've ever beaten with Shekinah.
7:03 Omg I had so much fun with this game just by customizing my character (costume, shirt, pants, boots, hair color, eye color, etc). It was quite mindblowing for a jrpg of that era ahah. Also I really liked the music ambiance/vibe of this game.
I clicked on this video simply because I saw Gustave XIII from SaGa Frontier 2 on here and was just glad to hear it being talked about, as it was a game I grew up with and recently replayed earlier this year.
So many of these are among my favorite games. SMT: Strange Journey, Phantasy Star II, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy IV DS, and SaGa Frontier 2 are great experiences, even if they can be rougher than others.
Man this video came at the perfect time for something cozy to watch after a long day. I've only ever played Vagrant Story from this vid so I guess I've got work to do, lol! Awesome vid as always.
Spending hours on a JRPG then realizing you can do this neat trick. Also such a great feeling going back and beating and boss that destroyed you 2 levels ago.
Man you aren't wrong, each of these games are hard as heck! Resonance of Fate is something I've tried to play 5+ times and I just couldn't finish it no matter what I did. Which is awful because the music and story is so good!
The SaGa Frontier 2 remaster is coming soon. The main artist accidently leaked her work on it in an interview, and they are taking suggestions on what people would like to see when they revisit Unlimited Saga.
I did beat Phantasy Star 2 without a guide back in the day, but as much as I adore it, I definitely use guides now when I play because I'm old (34) and I don't have the same time I did when I was a kid.
PSO 2, this right here. Count me among those who did it the pre internet way. As in 35 sheets of printer paper, and a 50 sheet graph paper, both regular graph and dot graph. All with drawn homemade maps. I actually ended up with vision loss and a month's worth of headaches from the drawing, and doodling of maps. All toll, close to 150 sheets of paper. Even a piece of a map on toilet tissue Fun fact: I printed those graph paper maps, and sold the main dungeon maps for twenty dollars a pop. Keep in mind, this was July 1990 money at 20$ a pop. I sold a map to one of my teachers, and was told I a future as an architect if I choose so. Later on, I would sell Mortal Kombat 2 moveset lists, 15$ a piece, 20$ if you wanted all of Shang Tsung's morphs included. It got me through middle school, yes it did!
I happen to own final fantasy IV 3D Remake on steam and I do intend to play through it sometime. I also own vagrant story on the duckstation emulator had a feeling it would be a very hard JRPG.
+1 for Phantasty Star 2, such a great game! Love the story, characters, labyrinthine dungeons, and the battle system. The OG Phantasy Star quartet is one of my favorite series ever! 👍
Final fantasy 4 on the DS is one of the best game remakes of all time IMO. I spent hours and hours grinding for tails to exchange for the best gear in the game. They had like a 1% drop rate in the final dungeon where the standard encounters were essentially boss battles, such a good game.
FFIV DS is my pick from these, with Strange Journey as a close second. Phantasy Star 2 on original hardware was brutal. Even with access to good maps the resource management was savage. 7th Saga is the only SNES RPG to make me abandon it due to the difficulty. Thanks for another great video!
I remember playing PS2 on a device called the Sega channel back in the day. I remember getting to the point where Nei died and then my sister erased my game. I never picked the game up again 😂
Love Resonance of Fate but I don't think I ever understood it completely, sadly I got stuck around chapter 16 and could never get back into it despite some attempts to go back some time later. The "we only have grapes" scene will stay with me forever.
Oooh SaGa Frontier 2 ! Nobody ever talks about that title. I loved it so much! The music, the visuals, the characters. But man the battle system is tough and unforgiving. AND in some scenes characters can die permanently, when you pick the wrong decision...
Phantasy star IV actually doesn't need much grind, tough spot is not knowing what items and magic do, the devs wanted the players to go wild with imagination by not knowing things but it is indeed an old idea, if you know a couple of techs and combos or macro the game become quite easy actually compared to previous episodes
One series I always found to be quite difficult was Etrian Odyssey! I feel like each game had such vastly different classes that the strategy for each was never even remotely the same either, and required quite a bit of team planning to not get destroyed.
I absolutely LOVE SaGa Frontier 2. I beat it once, but I had to use a Gameshark. I REALLY hope they do a remake. I can always emulate, but it's just not quite the same.
I was expecting to see a Ys game here. I'm not well versed enough in RPG's to contest your list, it's just that I've been getting into the series and recognized a boss from Ys Origin in your intro
Saga Frontier 2 is a game I will ALWAYS play with a guide open. TOO many random things can happen and it's very hard if you go the wrong way. But it's also a GREAT SaGa game. Still can't decide if I like it or Minstrel Song more.... both are incredibly obtuse though. I personally feel like SF2 is a good starting point for people wanting to get into SaGa if they are use to more linear RPGs because it's definitely the most linear of them. I need a remake now.
Fun fact about the GBA version of Phantasy Star Collection; if you saved your game at the same time that the background music looped, it would corrupt your save file. Happened to me =(
I usually beat every jrpg i get my hands on, but nothing infuriated me more with its complex layouts, insane grinding and disoriented dungeon crawling then the original Megami Tensei on the Nes/famicom. There is no rpg more difficult then that game. Strange journey is a cake walk compared to that, at least you have auto mapping.
Golden Sun has spot on difficulty. I beat both game final bosses on my last possible turn, doing something like 130 damage with a basic attack on a boss with 120,000hp. Ran out of items, magic, Dijin, summons, and literally killed both bosses with 1 party member standing. Camelot is a legendary developer.
FFIV DS is such a troll of a game. Like every boss is specifically designed to counter whatever strategy was used for the original version of the fight. Any SMT game is pretty high on difficulty. I would also nominate the Bravely Default series - they're not the hardest out there, but they all expect you to understand the interplay between all possible abilities by the end. Of course any old dungeon crawler from the '80s and early '90s is also going to be completely unforgiving, but the newer examples stand out more.
I once heard Phantasy Star 2 described by stating that "Every dungeon was designed as if it was a Final Dungeon", and honestly I can't say they're wrong. To this day I enjoy revisiting it every so often, but always with the maps on hand. Maybe someday I'll try a run without. I remember as a kid I borrowed the game off a friend and managed to stumble through a huge section of the game (the 4 dams) without the hint book on hand, so it's not impossible.
7:00 oh OH OMG someone REMEBERS THIS. I bought this when it came out. Randomly from an hmv of all places(a music store that was directly across from gamestop which I find ironic.)
Nice video I completed PhantsyStar 2 in 1993 by myself with only half the map on paper. I bought it used and half the map where ripped 😂. Still one of my most memorable RPG.
I also played PSII without much guide (I took the game from a friend without guide), I had unlimited time back then to grind and explore so I ended up having a good grasp of my way in the mazes but no way I could play a similar complicated maze like game today without a guide. I love PSII for its drama and story to this day
@@Stefanswiss Totally agree with you. I could never have the time today miss and hit in those dungeon. Especially the later ones where you need to fall to other levels to get the best gear (Laconia stuff if Im not mistaken). Cheers mate.
7th Saga took a few runs to beat for me as a kid. You can get really unlucky with one of your rivals getting one of the stones that you have to fight them for, and they can be nearly impossible to beat on occasion. I needed some luck to finally make it through. FFIV DS is one I got to the end, and gave up. I beat the original on SNES, but in the DS remake, the final dungeon is just so long and brutal and with limited save locations that make dying quite painful.
beat this back in the summer of 1990. my dog tore up the guide book about halfway through and I had to finish up just guessing throughout the labyrinths. good times 🤣
I never finished saga frontier one and two as a kid. I always thought they were really hard! FFT would be my addition to the list though because of a couple fights. I do really like how that game can feel really easy and really hard at the same time and how you have the tools to overcome the challenges
I played Phantasy Star 2 up to the point where I think I had found all of the Nei's weapons but I didn't know what to do after. I was way less good English at that point. It was around 1995 so not much to rely on 😅. Excellent list. I would add Othercide and Natural Doctrine to it.
![PASULOL รามเกียรติ์ ตอนที่ 4 นนทกพบรัก [Ramakien Ep.4: Nonthok in love]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tMUQgmZzf_A/mqdefault.jpg)
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Every RPG is hard because it's difficult to make the time as an adult, tons of hours you have to dump 😅.
The true boss of any RPG.. is time. lol
So true lol
I've beaten 4 or so in the last year, even with a full time job and friends. It's hard, but definitely doable.
Started in April wanting to get back into gaming after spending 10 years too mentally ill to concentrate.
Started with Persona 4, then Shin Megami Tensei 1, 2 and 3 and Phantasy Star. I've found it helps to approach it like a project, not the all-consuming obsession games were as a kid.
Find a better job that doesn’t take as much of your time. That’s my secret.
Realest shit I've ever read.
That xenogears transition brought back some good memories. Another great video, please keep it up, you guys are amazing.
Remember beating 7th Saga. Had Valsu as my main, and Lux as my partner. The buffs of Valsu were so valuable in that game.
Esuna was better than Valsu ;)
I quit
I feel so targeted by this Toonami like styling in the intro. And it worked.
Awesome production. Nostalgia hit aside it’s so well done.
Loved the list too. Happy to see some of my favorite ‘challenging’ JRPGs make it. Scared to try the older ones I haven’t played 😅
I think it’s amazing
I really hope the SaGa Frontier 2 remaster finally comes out this year. I've been itching to replay it for so long.
We are of accord! SWEET!
Just wanted to say that I love your content, I stumbled upon your channel and watched literally every single one of your videos. I thought I essentially put every JRPG I'm interested in on my backlog but you showed me some that I'd never seen before in my own research or on any other JRPG channels. Keep on with the great content!
Oh wow, thanks for checking out all our vids! Even the earlier ones which were pretty rough to say the least 😅 glad to hear you’ve been enjoying the content though and have found some games to add to the backlog. We really appreciate the kind words and your support!
18:45
Phantasy Star II.. that takes me back. Zero hand holding. No overworld map, no dungeon map. The dungeons themselves were not only mazes, but elevator puzzles that needed to be taken in the correct order. I remember young me wasting all the printer ink printing out maps, and drawing routes on them with a marker. Truly an immersive experience. There was also the anxiety of making the walk back to town after clearing a dungeon just to "save" the game. Only to later discover there was actually a "secret" in game item called a visiphone that would allow you to save anywhere, again no hand holding, but man was it fun.
The visiphone is great!...Until you accidentally save right after getting the maraura leaf at Uzo island at half health and zero technique points 😅
@@scottevensen2615 This is why you always keep an Escapipe on hand 😉
@@louiepooh1510 I was aware of the strategy guide much later... unfortunately my first time playing was on a game boy advanced port. It was super bare bones with a paper thin booklet, it was just like: figure it out lol. Still it was a very rewarding experience for young me, researching a game online and what not, on those gamefaqs text guides. Hopefully one day I'll own a proper copy.
the best version of phantasy star 2 is stuck ps2 with better graphics & expanded storylines for the side characters, elemental atk / def, and --- is now fully playable to the end but only after a first clear and specific things are done (phantasy star generations 2 - part of the sega ages 5200 series)l If you want to expand the gameplay of the orginial, each character has an official text adenture that was downloadable via sega game Toshokan service (jp only).
Final Fantasy Tactics was the hardest for me as a kid. I can’t believe I beat it when I was in 9th grade
I only had real issue with THAT battle (you know which). The rest I figured out well how to overcome. I was lucky with THAT one. Geomancy is a curious tech. ;)
Only first few battles are difficult. After Wiegraf it gets much easier
I love your intro, dude.
Also, i played Vagrant Story last year, i fricking loved it, right to my top 3 games from PS1 now.
What are the other 2?
Vagrant story has been on my list for a while, I get the same vibes as FF Tactics and Xenogears, both of which I loved.
@@michaelp4122 IDK, but Vagrant has to be one of those top 3 games on PS1 right now. Castlevania SotN too, maybe RE2 or RE3.
Videos keep getting better and better. Excellent work.
Oh man just from the thumbnail seeing Phantasy Star 2 brings back a lot of memories. The control tower, climatrol, the insanely high encounter rate, the monsters becoming robots halfway through the game that render your traditional weapons useless. Great times. Definitely the most ahead of its time JRPG for the decade (the 80's).
Phantasy star 2 was my first RPG and I fell in love with it. I even wrote all maps of all dungeons in the game. It was my first game with battery to keep savings, I and my friend had no idea how to beat it for couple of months. We even tried to keep Sega turned on during nights to save our progress and didn't understand how to finish it. After a while, one of our friends said that we needed a battery. There was also pirate copies of Phantasy Star 2 from China without battery slot)
I only ever finished one game on this list: Resonance of Fate. By the end of the game you had guns with three sights on them, multiple handles, barrels, and grips somehow. It was a blast once you figured it all out though.
I need to try this game again. Got stuck on the mission where you have to retrieve a wine bottle. Never figured out the battle system well enough.
This was so fucking hard, i have it and cant get past that weird slow man child’s quest.
Nice video!
Okay, I loved Phantasy Star 2, but I *needed* the maps for those dungeons. I agree with you; it's a very cozy game with late 80s anime vibes
I don't know if it's a topic you already tackled before but I'd like to suggest a video about best stories stuck on old consoles, also thanks for your amazing content
So a video for Sega Saturn LOL.
Some of the best JRPG's. Shining Force 3 is my favourite trilogy, and among my favourite games.
Phantasy Star 2! Yes! That music sent me down the nostalgia hole
7th Saga got overworked in terms of difficulty. They wanted to be sure you couldn't just rent the game and beat it over the weekend, so they ramped up the difficulty. But they overcorrected and introduced other issues. Definitely recommend a ROM hack that fixes the difficulty issue if you want to play at a more casual level.
Resonance of Fate got the weirdest Tutorial, but the Battlesystem and the story too is quite interesting and impressive😃😃
Also sick shooting moves and quotes. "My fallen enemies and past lovers out number the stars in the sky!"
@@RayzeCruxis Ohhhh yeah, goddamn right😃😃
that game was sweet
PS2 came with a complete walkthrough when it was released. So no one should ever feel any negative way for using maps
I was about to point out the same thing. The physical version of Phantasy Star 2 on Sega Genesis came with a thick book which had very detailed maps showing off the dungeons and revealed lots of helpful tips and special items and how to get those items (some of which were near obligatory to get to survive the final two bosses of the game). It was obligatory to use that book or else the dungeons (specifically the later ones) would become a nightmare. I'm shocked Sega didn't package a digital version of that book with the Sega Genesis collections and Sega Genesis minis Phantasy Star 2 is on. I guess they assume players will just use the internet but the problem with that is when I bought the game years ago and saw that it had a book with the maps and tons of tips, that clued me in that it was going to be a hard game and I should use that book (which the book itself strongly recommends).. A lot of modern gamers have no clue what they are getting themselves into with that game, especially since a lot of them are too prideful and refuse to use help like maps online. There is no shame in looking up help (or even buying the book the game came with. That book was necessary when I beat the game years ago during the 90's).
@@Pezint I hear you and I'm the same way , with that said the dungeons in phantasy star 2 are some of the most brutal and unforgiving dungeons in all of RPG history. They are huge ,confusing ,insanely high random encounter rates that seem to spike every dungeon and you have limited storage space for your curative items those of which are weak in comparison to most other games . I enjoy the game but it's a game that if you don't excessively grind or use maps you won't survive .
Not when you got it by borrowing from your shitty messy disorganized friends as a kid lol
@@endisbegun27 that would have sucked back then . I don't hate grinding but that would force you to lol . Bad friends 😂
I usually choose 2 old rpgs an replay them until completion helps me keep a chill life an kind my business 😊
7th Saga with the patch that restores the original stats is actually quite fun.
The localized version is definitely not the fun kind of difficulty, at least for me.
Phantasy Star 2 is interesting because the US version came bundled with a hint book. That had maps for every dungeon. Played it for years using that hint book and it always required a lot of grinding at points. Which wasn’t great.
Then I decided to do a playthrough where I manually mapped each dungeon. Suddenly the need to grind vanished lol. As the natural encounter rate I ran into while mapping, led to a more correct rate of advancement for my party.
It’s kinda funny. If you play it, and manually map, it’s tuned perfectly. But if you shortcut you end up having to make up that time saved, via intentional grinding.
Dang, I remember that. And I also remember it was $70-80 + tax (back in 1989 dollars)! Had to throw a lot of papers that summer to buy that game but it was worth it.
Phantasy Star 2 was one of my first JRPGs. It was pretty hard for me to play it. Gave up at one point and came back to it a couple of years later.
And I thought I was the only one having a hard time with Strange Journey.
Thank you for this entertaining video. Looking forward to the next one.
How has this channel gotten so damn good? Seriously it's has some of my favorite gaming videos to watch!!! Keep up the incredible work!
Dude, I was a teenager when Saga 2 came out and I swear, that game is SO esoteric. Having all those battle systems, the way characters could overlap.. and the LP system... not to mention the system for learning skills. Gah, I loved AND hated that game at the same time lol. The look of it is something magic though.. and that music!
Another great video, fellas!
You channels video intro always gives me a warm fuzzy nostalgic feeling... GOATED
Check out Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete on the PS1. It's made by Game Arts and is the precursor to the Grandia series, it's decently hard and they designed it to keep the difficulty curve pretty consistent, it has an Epilogue that's new from the OG Sega CD version and the even the regular battles kicked my ass.
Also thanks for talking about FFIVDS, I bought this game at launch and thought I was crazy for the longest time at having this tough of an experience with it, glad to know I'm not crazy. Doesn't help I missed out on many of the extra abilities because I thought it would be similar enough to the original game. I ended up beating it without Dualcast, and I think I had to grind to level 80 and get a Dragon Whisker drop for Kain to even beat Zeromus, crazy times.
I do believe this dude did a few vids on the whole series. They are referred to in multiple lists too.
The only game I played in this list is FF IV DS, and proud to say I finished it. Totally agree that buffing your team and debuffing enemies, especially bosses, is key.
ff4 ds really kick your ass when you reach the moon and also that infamous golbez fight, they nerf the difficulty down in android release.
I’ve started a vagrant story video strategy guide series on my channel to help people play that game. It’s so good and it’s such a shame so many people never get to experience the whole thing because they give up.
I really enjoyed Resonance of Fate. I'll admit I was definitely confused and frustrated early on, but as I slowly learned the mechanics, I started to have a blast with it. Definitely an underrated game in my eyes.
Last Remnant is the most challenging JRPG I've ever played. Weirdly addictive if you work out its complex and badly-explained systems though. Loved the chillwave Shevat remix too!
It's better than people want to give it credit for, but chances are... you may have overleveled. The higher your rank, the harder the enemies get
The 7th Saga was my first JRPG (not counting Zelda) and I didn’t finish it until I was 19. I’ve played it through a few times. I love love love it.
The sequel (has an English translation) is much better. Mystik ark
Saga Frontier II is a strange bird! You have to have the right story node to have any access to a shop and even SHIELDS at all! The move discovery mechanics I actually digged heavily. The watercolor art kept me hooked too!! I hope they remaster that game!
Yo yo that opening had me freestylin so hard. The 90s soul was in that track.
Back in October 2020-ish I was in my senior year of high school and got my wisdom teeth removed. I took a few days off of school, naturally, and while my mouth was in pain and I was recovering- I sat on my recliner and played through Strange Journey pretty much the entire time. All things considered, my teeth were the *second* most painful part of that experience.
In all seriousness though, Strange Journey is fantastic and I’d love to play it again eventually
I did finish Phantasy Star 2 back on the Genesis in the early 90s when I was in high school. It took over 6 months of pretty regular playing,. I don't know that I could've done it if the game didn't come with a strategy guide packed in though.
I’ve had a vague memory of the combo system from Saga Frontier 2 in the back of my mind for like 15 years and I had no idea which game it came from until today. Thank you.
Aw, yeah! Vagrant Story! Amazing game! It was Souls-like 9 years before Demon's Souls came out. Way far ahead of its time!
Awesome video! I’m someone who plays on easy so hard JRPGs aren’t my thing but I still enjoy learning about them and knowing stuff!
Always love to see another video from you guys! And too much to explain for Vagrant Story? Might need to make a video dedicated to a retrospective on it, if you're up for another magical journey through it.
I subbed because of the editing in this video gave me a nostalgic feeling of watching toonami on the 90s with Tom
Vagrant Story is one of my favorite video games of all time and its combat is incredible. Story is fantastic. Great coverage on it and all the games in this list boys. Another banger vid as usual
The shenmue music at 20:40 is so nostalgic. I used to look forward to it turning night time so i could hear it
I was dropping $60 on new games left and right and beating them in a few days max, then started hitting up classic jrpgs and now I feel like I’m getting my moneys worth haha
Yes!!! Much appreciated GamingBroductions! Another quality video.
Thanks dude, glad you enjoyed it!
Great editing in this video bro! Loved it
Thanks man!
The physical version of Phantasy Star 2 on Sega Genesis came with a thick book which had very detailed maps showing off the dungeons and revealed lots of helpful tips and special items and how to get those items (some of which were near mandatory to get, in order to survive the final two bosses of the game). It was obligatory to use that book or else the dungeons (specifically the later ones) would become a nightmare. I'm shocked Sega didn't include a digital version of that book with the Sega Genesis collections and Sega Genesis minis Phantasy Star 2 is on.
I guess they assume modern players will just use the internet but the problem with that is when I bought the game years ago and saw that it came with a thick book with detailed maps and tons of tips, that clued me in that it was going to be a hard game and I should use that book (which the book itself strongly recommends).. A lot of modern gamers have no clue what they are getting themselves into with that game, especially since a lot of them are too prideful and refuse to use help like maps online. There is no shame in looking up help (or even buying the thick book the game came with if they don't like having to look online so much. That book was necessary when I beat the game years ago during the 90's. I still have mine and it still has tons of pencil marks that I drew on each of the maps so I could tell where to go).
Two hard part in SagaFrontier 2 is "Battle of South Moundtop " and the final battle with the Egg with all his lord form
Wow, I haven't thought about Rookie of the Year in forever. Loving this millennial TH-cam content.
I'm amazed to hear Redux actually reduced the difficulty from the original. That one wrecked me hundreds of times, especially Jack and Mem Aleph. The new content also gives us probably the hardest RPG final boss I've ever beaten with Shekinah.
7:03 Omg I had so much fun with this game just by customizing my character (costume, shirt, pants, boots, hair color, eye color, etc). It was quite mindblowing for a jrpg of that era ahah. Also I really liked the music ambiance/vibe of this game.
I clicked on this video simply because I saw Gustave XIII from SaGa Frontier 2 on here and was just glad to hear it being talked about, as it was a game I grew up with and recently replayed earlier this year.
So many of these are among my favorite games. SMT: Strange Journey, Phantasy Star II, Vagrant Story, Final Fantasy IV DS, and SaGa Frontier 2 are great experiences, even if they can be rougher than others.
Awesome video as always mate 👍😁
Man this video came at the perfect time for something cozy to watch after a long day. I've only ever played Vagrant Story from this vid so I guess I've got work to do, lol! Awesome vid as always.
Man that intro got me feeling things. Wish i could find that track online
Spending hours on a JRPG then realizing you can do this neat trick.
Also such a great feeling going back and beating and boss that destroyed you 2 levels ago.
Man you aren't wrong, each of these games are hard as heck! Resonance of Fate is something I've tried to play 5+ times and I just couldn't finish it no matter what I did. Which is awful because the music and story is so good!
Tysm for talking about SaGa Frontier 2. Such an underrated gem.
The SaGa Frontier 2 remaster is coming soon. The main artist accidently leaked her work on it in an interview, and they are taking suggestions on what people would like to see when they revisit Unlimited Saga.
I did beat Phantasy Star 2 without a guide back in the day, but as much as I adore it, I definitely use guides now when I play because I'm old (34) and I don't have the same time I did when I was a kid.
Definitely feel that, as an adult no one has time for all that shit lol
PSO 2, this right here. Count me among those who did it the pre internet way. As in 35 sheets of printer paper, and a 50 sheet graph paper, both regular graph and dot graph. All with drawn homemade maps. I actually ended up with vision loss and a month's worth of headaches from the drawing, and doodling of maps. All toll, close to 150 sheets of paper. Even a piece of a map on toilet tissue Fun fact: I printed those graph paper maps, and sold the main dungeon maps for twenty dollars a pop. Keep in mind, this was July 1990 money at 20$ a pop. I sold a map to one of my teachers, and was told I a future as an architect if I choose so. Later on, I would sell Mortal Kombat 2 moveset lists, 15$ a piece, 20$ if you wanted all of Shang Tsung's morphs included. It got me through middle school, yes it did!
It’s good to Saga Frontier 2 get mentioned. I played it a lot and got soft locked a lot but the story and characters to me were pretty good.
I happen to own final fantasy IV 3D Remake on steam and I do intend to play through it sometime. I also own vagrant story on the duckstation emulator had a feeling it would be a very hard JRPG.
+1 for Phantasty Star 2, such a great game! Love the story, characters, labyrinthine dungeons, and the battle system. The OG Phantasy Star quartet is one of my favorite series ever! 👍
Final fantasy 4 on the DS is one of the best game remakes of all time IMO. I spent hours and hours grinding for tails to exchange for the best gear in the game. They had like a 1% drop rate in the final dungeon where the standard encounters were essentially boss battles, such a good game.
FFIV DS is my pick from these, with Strange Journey as a close second.
Phantasy Star 2 on original hardware was brutal. Even with access to good maps the resource management was savage.
7th Saga is the only SNES RPG to make me abandon it due to the difficulty.
Thanks for another great video!
I remember playing PS2 on a device called the Sega channel back in the day. I remember getting to the point where Nei died and then my sister erased my game. I never picked the game up again 😂
No problem, thanks for watching! Love the profile pic as well, Rune is awesome
Love Resonance of Fate but I don't think I ever understood it completely, sadly I got stuck around chapter 16 and could never get back into it despite some attempts to go back some time later.
The "we only have grapes" scene will stay with me forever.
Oooh SaGa Frontier 2 ! Nobody ever talks about that title. I loved it so much! The music, the visuals, the characters. But man the battle system is tough and unforgiving. AND in some scenes characters can die permanently, when you pick the wrong decision...
Not the beginning song of CT in the outro 😩😩💪💪
I remember Phantasy Star IV being really tough. I think Legend of Dragoon is pretty though too, especially getting the timing on the longer additions
I remember grinding for the expensive accessory that does the addition for you to put on Lavitz. He had one early addition that was rough lol.
Phantasy star IV actually doesn't need much grind,
tough spot is not knowing what items and magic do, the devs wanted the players to go wild with imagination by not knowing things but it is indeed an old idea,
if you know a couple of techs and combos or macro the game become quite easy actually compared to previous episodes
One series I always found to be quite difficult was Etrian Odyssey! I feel like each game had such vastly different classes that the strategy for each was never even remotely the same either, and required quite a bit of team planning to not get destroyed.
I absolutely LOVE SaGa Frontier 2. I beat it once, but I had to use a Gameshark. I REALLY hope they do a remake. I can always emulate, but it's just not quite the same.
I was expecting to see a Ys game here. I'm not well versed enough in RPG's to contest your list, it's just that I've been getting into the series and recognized a boss from Ys Origin in your intro
Saga Frontier 2 is a game I will ALWAYS play with a guide open. TOO many random things can happen and it's very hard if you go the wrong way. But it's also a GREAT SaGa game. Still can't decide if I like it or Minstrel Song more.... both are incredibly obtuse though.
I personally feel like SF2 is a good starting point for people wanting to get into SaGa if they are use to more linear RPGs because it's definitely the most linear of them. I need a remake now.
Nah. SF1 is the starting point. I don't think new players can handle 2.
I've finished 1 just fine but always having hard time on 2.
Fun fact about the GBA version of Phantasy Star Collection; if you saved your game at the same time that the background music looped, it would corrupt your save file. Happened to me =(
20:00 the song in this bit needs to be in a Zelda Classic quest. The reason is I like its upbeat nature.
This man’s intro is bussin
I usually beat every jrpg i get my hands on, but nothing infuriated me more with its complex layouts, insane grinding and disoriented dungeon crawling then the original Megami Tensei on the Nes/famicom. There is no rpg more difficult then that game. Strange journey is a cake walk compared to that, at least you have auto mapping.
Golden Sun has spot on difficulty. I beat both game final bosses on my last possible turn, doing something like 130 damage with a basic attack on a boss with 120,000hp. Ran out of items, magic, Dijin, summons, and literally killed both bosses with 1 party member standing.
Camelot is a legendary developer.
I really hope SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered will be a thing maybe in a year or two (we're already getting a new SaGa game this year)
The interstitials are always on point, bro! OMG!
FFIV DS is such a troll of a game. Like every boss is specifically designed to counter whatever strategy was used for the original version of the fight.
Any SMT game is pretty high on difficulty. I would also nominate the Bravely Default series - they're not the hardest out there, but they all expect you to understand the interplay between all possible abilities by the end. Of course any old dungeon crawler from the '80s and early '90s is also going to be completely unforgiving, but the newer examples stand out more.
Wheeeeeen is SaGa Frontier 2 coming to the switch? Seems like Square have given up on ports after a good run a few years ago...
I once heard Phantasy Star 2 described by stating that "Every dungeon was designed as if it was a Final Dungeon", and honestly I can't say they're wrong.
To this day I enjoy revisiting it every so often, but always with the maps on hand. Maybe someday I'll try a run without. I remember as a kid I borrowed the game off a friend and managed to stumble through a huge section of the game (the 4 dams) without the hint book on hand, so it's not impossible.
7:00 oh OH OMG someone REMEBERS THIS. I bought this when it came out. Randomly from an hmv of all places(a music store that was directly across from gamestop which I find ironic.)
hope you've been well bro! always happy to see another video. Wish you all the best brotha
Your intro is so sick, it reminds me of old school toonami!
Thanks dude! That’s the vibe we were going for
Another sick video. Just wanna say playing the first Baten Kaitos makes Origins hit harder. The hill is a sad story haha.
Nice video
I completed PhantsyStar 2 in 1993 by myself with only half the map on paper. I bought it used and half the map where ripped 😂. Still one of my most memorable RPG.
I also played PSII without much guide (I took the game from a friend without guide), I had unlimited time back then to grind and explore so I ended up having a good grasp of my way in the mazes but no way I could play a similar complicated maze like game today without a guide.
I love PSII for its drama and story to this day
@@Stefanswiss Totally agree with you. I could never have the time today miss and hit in those dungeon. Especially the later ones where you need to fall to other levels to get the best gear (Laconia stuff if Im not mistaken). Cheers mate.
7th Saga took a few runs to beat for me as a kid. You can get really unlucky with one of your rivals getting one of the stones that you have to fight them for, and they can be nearly impossible to beat on occasion. I needed some luck to finally make it through. FFIV DS is one I got to the end, and gave up. I beat the original on SNES, but in the DS remake, the final dungeon is just so long and brutal and with limited save locations that make dying quite painful.
That music in the outro section is great!
beat this back in the summer of 1990. my dog tore up the guide book about halfway through and I had to finish up just guessing throughout the labyrinths. good times 🤣
I honestly didn't realize 4 3D was harder. Played the SNES version dozens of times and for the most part, the enemies die from the same stuff.
Phantasy star is so cool looking. They are in the list. That series should come back
I never finished saga frontier one and two as a kid. I always thought they were really hard! FFT would be my addition to the list though because of a couple fights. I do really like how that game can feel really easy and really hard at the same time and how you have the tools to overcome the challenges
I played Phantasy Star 2 up to the point where I think I had found all of the Nei's weapons but I didn't know what to do after. I was way less good English at that point. It was around 1995 so not much to rely on 😅.
Excellent list. I would add Othercide and Natural Doctrine to it.
Vagrant Story is a really special game that took me at least three attempts to get into.
SaGa Frontier 2 mentioned!!!