I didn't play Shadow Hearts for the first time until about two years ago. Coming into it with a 2022 gaming perspective I would still rate it much higher than that. The battle system had that unique wheel element, the story was dark, but not cringey or corny dark. The setting was cool and fit the story, the characters were pretty well written and likable. For me it was more like an 8/10. I really liked it and should make time to play the sequel.
Honestly IGN is a JOKE when it comes to criticizing games. Case and Point, "Days Gone". They got torched so bad, that they Had to make a separate video on "why they gave it, that score"...which it was a bigger joke😡
I don't get it ? I went to see and it got 6.5. I'm French and it's exactly the average user score it got on a quite popular platform to rank games here. Days gone is fine but nothing too special
Maybe it's just me but a 6-7 score is not bad? It just means it was "mid", average etc. It didn't do anything to innovate the genre or take risks, it's a get if you want it or skip game. When I hear the word destroyed, I expected scores lower than 5....
Most of these companies & magazines (in the West) have 7/10 as a defacto score for games unless otherswise. Lower than 7/10 is "bad" while the true scale is difference from 7/10-10/10.
Some entries here seem placed more on how they're discussed/compared to others than just their scores. The discourse around 'mid' rated games can get pretty negative, sometimes even being treated worse than outright 'bad' because of the idea that at least a terrible game is remembered. However, people also tend to severely overrrate their own memories, and can have opinions shift a lot based on post-play input from others. I feel like a lot of games in the middle range of popularity end up feeling like they've been 'destroyed' these days when they overall did fine for themselves despite a few 6-7 scores here and there while popular games can get a lot of forgiveness over some stuff that might have earned them similar ire from critics if they were less popular to begin with.
7/10 is seen as terrible cause people get too invested in the hype cycle when in reality it just means the game is decent. And while it doesn't do anything special it can still be a pretty enjoyable experience, though it might be hit or miss for some people. Like you can still go out and recommend it to fans of the genre with a few caveats.
@@sentoworf : I think it's that hit or miss part that gives 7/10 the negative impression. It's sort of the dividing line where a lot of people who play that game would personally add or remove a point or two. However, since it's boiled down into a single number, it creates the impression of a 'definite meh' rather than a game that might be great for around half of its players or more, and those who like it will always feel like it's underrated.
3 หลายเดือนก่อน +3
Shadow hearts I and II are one of my favourites jrpg games. The first was released at the same time as FFX. The story is more adult and dark and really interesting. Moreover, the story between Yuri and ALice remember me to Cloud and Aerith....SImply precious!!
For reaaal. I think it's time to bring a lil romance back into the JRPG formula. It was usually light enough not to become overbearing yet almost always added more depth to the story and party's dynamic
"it's a list of rpgs destroyed by critics, not suspiciously praised" - may i dare to propose making a list of 'suspiciously praised' rpgs? could be just as interesting, in my opinion.
Put FFXV in the first slot of that list, holy shit, what a piece of garbage, the only salvageable thing about it was the fishing minigame, and everyone sang it praises as if it where the second coming of FFVII
@@unlimitedslashthe soundtrack was pretty nice, honestly I enjoyed the game overall, but it's laughable that switching characters wasn't in the base game on release, and how entire parts of the story are locked behind DLC, not to mention having to buy said DLC AND watch a movie and an anime so that you just might understand the story. Still though, i never bought any of the DLC but I still enjoyed the overall game, especially the last few chapters where it became more linear
@@SmashTheAdam naa, you can't proper understand the story even watching the anime, movie and playing DLC.s. They gave different scripts to anime and movie teams, in particular there's too many plot holes between movie and game, as well as in the game. Square even cancelled 3 story DLCs, really important to understand the main game.
The only reason Code Vein gets shit on is because insulting anime æsthetics and people who like them is considered acceptable (same issue as Xenoblade 2), you can tell because theres nothing acctually wrong with the game.
Other than the level design being quite stale, pretty whelming enemy variety, with it's few bosses, most of them weren't really good fights. Could you remember anything about the story? I certainly can't. Great art design for what it was, pretty solid in terms of build crafting, but also built around a partner system that almost feels mandatory.
star ocean 6 was an amazing game i love it , can not understand the hate when we talk about dio field chronicols & reademption reapers !!! awosome tactical jrps too , and for arc rise fantasia ohh mann it was a hard game but realy fun and technical i love the gamplay and the charecters of this game .
Sometimes, it's more of habit: like seeing Atlus today = great game (and no, not always and with few moments), the same for Star Ocean 6. I love this game, it's more like original trilogy, far better than the infamous IaF, but most seeing it... series today have bad reputation so critics and some users are biased.
I really liked Code Vein for what it was. Not to mention that it ties into God Eater, which is one of my favorite series out there. I wish we get a sequel to Code Vein and another God Eater instalment.
I love Growlanser 5. And I also like Diofield Chronicles and Redemption Reapers. Many people expect AAA production everywhere because of the price tags. For example I see everyday big production games like God of War or Batman Arkham series on sale on GOG or Steam. On the other hand games like Ys series are often much more expensive.
Yeaaah I stopped checking reviews and critics a long time ago, unfortunately these scores have huge leverage and people just refuse to check out a game that's listed as below 8/10. Weird.
The first Nier (Replicant / gestalt) for PS3 and Xbox 360, at the time was misunderstood by "experts" on the subject. Then automata came out, and now they wanted to revisit the previous game.
The gameplay in automata was much better hence the better reviews. Critics have to acknowledge and assess graphics, sound, gameplay, story, etc and weigh them accordingly. They also have to compare them to other games in the genre that retail at the same price. This guy definitely doesnt get it.
thanks for the video ❤ I recently got SO Divine Force on PSN sale and I'm having a blast! it feels a bit hard even on easy difficulty (comparing to FFVII remake, for example), but it feels good on PS5. I'm stopping myself from upgrading to deluxe edition to get those P2W items and weapons, cuz I think it will make the game too easy then.
I dont care how much you hate IGN but stop with the lies dude. IGN this year alone has rated JRPGs higher than most Western games and hell even gave Stellar Blade an 8/10. You just dislike they gave one of your favorite games a low score.
@@NinoNakanoSupremacy It's not a lie if you look at their exceedingly long history of it. I haven't read much of them this year because their reviews are absolutely terribly written with little to no editing (so much so that it's common place to see errors in their headline titles). It is also evident when they don't play much of a game. And, as you will see, I did mention they aren't as bad as they used to be. By all means though, keep jumping to assumptions about internet strangers and trying to pick fights over nothing.
Not sure what you are on about in regards to Code Vein. 7/10 is a decent score and definitely a deserved one. I played it and really liked playing through it and I'm still hoping for a continuation. However the level design can be a bit bland, that made especially the cathedral of the sacred blood a pain in the ass to navigate. The combat, while perfectly fine, still has it's flaws. The story is fine but at times it felt a bit generic. So yeah 7/10 is a deserved rating and is far from "destroyed" and if the Waifus were the issue, the score probably would have been lower. The anime aestethic isn't necessarily everyones thing and while the market wasn't oversaturated, there were plenty of other souls likes at the time of Code Veins release. Among them Sekiro that was released earlier that year, that might have had an adverse effect on Code Veins sales.
I reviewed Shadow Hearts for a small Swedish video game site giving it 9/10 saying it was a legitimate contender for FFX, I was a little edgy 18year old, but still an PS2 favorite.
crystar used the artist that does some EDs for the Monogatari series(bakemonogatari), you can see that very distinctive artstyle at the cutscene where she is eating something I think.
I just completed Code Vein yesterday and I somehow understand this ratings. This is a good game, but it doesn't reach the level of Souls or Elden Ring if you take them as a standard. If for me DS is 8-8.5 then it’s logical to give Code Vein 6-7
I don’t agree with everything said but that’s kinda normal. Everyone has different preferences/taste at the end of day, nothing wrong with that. Just find out for yourself what’s to your liking and what not. Having a Demo-Version of a game is really helpful most of the time.
The reason why people expecting AAA quality from even small developers is because they sell the game with AAA game pricetag. Diofield for example, is priced at $60, ofcourse people going to expect $60 game quality. What do you expect? I don't get it, this is indefensible.
You're aware we were paying $60 for SNES games way back in '93, right? Adjusted for inflation, that would be like $132 today. Today's games are a lot harder to code, and take tens of times more hours to complete. More people buy games nowadays which is the only reason prices haven't kept in step with inflation.
@@dragonnasxavier3473The price of making cartriges along with coding the game is why they were that expensive, CDs eliviated that cost somewhat when they started getting shipped on those. However, today, the actual price of a *full* game isn't 60 dollars, it's in the range of 120 and more since they literally cut the game into DLC and then sell you the other half after you've already bought the game. We've come full circle, not because the games are harder to make today, which they really aren't, but because of corporational greed and manchild incompetence on the consumer part.
@@j4kfr05t5 I agree that releasing an incomplete game and then selling DLCs to complete it is a predatory business practice. For sure CDs were easier to print games onto than producing cartridges, and now digital distribution and slowly abandoning physical copies makes that portion of production cost even less. The Diofield Chronicle however is a complete game, and its DLCs are only an artbook and soundtrack. You say it isn't harder to make games today, but it takes a LOT more people to make games today than the teams of the 90s for 16-bit games. As far as incompetent manchild consumers, people just need to have a more discerning eye and stop jumping on bandwagons to buy the most expensive cookie cutter rehash of last year's products to play with friends.
I want a remake of Vanguard Bandits. I liked the branching storylines and endings depending how you did on the mission. My only complaint with Star Ocean 6 was the crafting system.
That's hilarious!.. Eric, referring to Western RPGs as bland. When all he plays are jrpgs that all look and sound the same. All are anime inspired. Just change the name of the account to Eric Landon jrpg.
I really like Star Ocean The Divine Force. It's really good game and doesn't deserves critic it got. Now any lower budget game got all the hate. It's pissing me off.
7 is still above average though. Keep in mind many reviewers only get a week to try out a new game, and that's not really enough time to really get into most JRPGs. Also doesn't help that a lot of today's gamers have 0 patience for turn-based combat or excessive dialogue, with the most popular modern genre still being the online shooter. As a JRPG-devoted channel, you would naturally have more tolerance for the genre's common failings- everyone has different things they want out of a game. I might try Redemption Reapers after your recommendation though.
I would agree. Code Vein was fun to play, challenging, and looked fine for it's time. The story was bland and tried to be edgy, but failed in that regard. Ultimately it was ok as an anime Dark Souls clone, but it didn't do anything new or revolutionary that we hadn't played through before. 7/10 seems perfect.
In this day and age, any score below 8 for a big game is often met with hostility from today's gaming community. I mean, 7 is still a good score. Personally i'd rate most of AAA games in the past decade or so somewhere around 5 - 6/10 (provided its not broken or a buggy mess). Are they "bad" games? No, but its just nothing special imo. That doesn't mean that a game with a score of 6 doesn't have its strengths though.
I need to give Code Vein another shot. Some parts of it hit with me when I first tired it, some really, really didn't. I got sick of it after a while and never gave it a second chance.
I played all the way through, and the maudlin story and characters sort of ruined it for me. It did have some good mods that made it tolerable, but I wouldnt recommend it.
Hello, Erick. I'm starting with some strategy RPGs, but sometimes is like playing chess (kinda slow). Don't get me wrong, I just would like an updated video about SRPGs, and why do youl like them so much.
my favorite gaming streamer i respect, he was former fighting games champion, called easy mode as journalist mode. He never take those gaming journalists from IGN etc seriously
Idk man. So a game being rated too low by some, and another game being rated too high by others are both problems? Where do you draw the line between these two... concepts in practice.?
Long time viewer, first time commentor. Couldn't agree more about redemption reapers. The game play is tough but fair and that ending took my breathe away. Great list. Diofield Chronicle is in my backlog and looking forward to slotting it in soon.
Cool that you made a video about hidden gems that were unfairly criticized by the media. It’s great to see these games getting the attention they deserve. Honestly, it’s pretty unfortunate that Shadow Hearts didn’t get the recognition it deserved, likely because it was released around the same time as Final Fantasy X. While FFX had impressive graphics for its time, I found it a bit too sugary and over-the-top, with a story that felt too predictable - almost recycled from Chrono Trigger. It followed the usual Final Fantasy formula - polished, but not really taking any risks. Shadow Hearts, on the other hand, was a different beast altogether. It had a vibe reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII, with a darker, more intense atmosphere that might have felt out of sync with the times. But that’s exactly what drew me in. The story had real depth and emotion, with twists that kept me hooked, and the eerie, almost haunting vibe was fantastic. I loved how it blended horror elements with connections to our real world - those historical and supernatural aspects were unique and compelling. The soundtrack was top-notch as well, adding so much to the overall experience. It wasn’t just about being average or mediocre - it was about creating something that lingers long after you’ve finished playing. That’s why, for me, Shadow Hearts will always outshine Final Fantasy X.
This list is so bad. I usually agree with your takes. I am sorry but games like Diofield and Code vein both deserve a 7. 7 is not a bad score and exactly what those games deserve. Star Ocean i can agree was a little bit low. But i still would give it no more than a 7.5 out 10. If you honestly think the gameplay in Dark Souls is generic and like Code Vein, you're basically the opposite of everyone else. The reason why Code Vein "only" gets a 7 is because it's gameplay is generic. Not because of waifus. And Souls fans are plenty horny. There are probably more fanart for Priscilla or Gwynevere than any of the girls in Code Vein. And any of the Elden Ring waifus have even more fanart.
Sir. I love your takes on rpg. But i will not allow you to slander souls game. We souls fans love waifus its the "journalist" that hates anything anime. So dont slander us souls fan for not liking waifu cause that is a lie.
Agreed... I mean, just look at Elden Ring chokeful full of waifus, not to talk about Gwynevere from DS1, Emerald Herald from DS2 and the Firekeeper from DS3. That was a bad take from his part, but who never did the same? Living and learning...
i don't know about that one? Any rime Code Vein is mentioned in a souls subreddit or TH-cam comment section the replies are always filled with souls fans saying something on the lines of "Code Vein is an alright game but the fan service puts me" or they just bash the game for being easy.
A lot more sales happen for from software games thab any other stamina base combat games. Meaning, a majority of player dont like anime waifu in fact...
I think Shadow Hearts was a game that never got the appreciation it deserved. I know the judgement ring system could present a challenge for those that didn't know how it worked. But imo the timing of the story and the character abilities were all really good, but I agree. It just could not compete with the mainstream success of FFX
great videos! Let's be honest any game with bad graphics or looks jank will become underrated. For decades we also see lower scores from any games with an anime artstyle, too. I'll have to check Crystar! Looks right up my alley (Crymachina is just ok). Also lmao at the brutally correct souls rant! Still love Fromsoft but yeah CV was pretty good!
DioFIELD Chronicles and Code Vein are 2 hidden gems and both have a special place in my heart i really don`t understand critics. Also have the Redemption Reapers in my basket might pull the trigger next week
TheWii exclusive: Arc Rise Fantasia; looks like something I would play and really and really enjoy now lol. Never knew it was a thing until today but as far as voice acting goes you should probably check out shining Force neo on the PS2 lol that voice acting is absolutely ridiculous.
It actually depends on how scores are interpreted. 7-8 score are decent and close the hidden gems range. Though 6 level score for absurd reason is some head scratcher. ALSO, true gamer should know IGN scores are way past the gold standard of reviews.
Its a sad truth that is happening in a game genres and sometime i think the critics the these games low scores don't know an awesome game when they see it.
Star Ocean: 69 6/10 is not even a bad score for a game and honestly it is way more than this game ever deserved (user score of 6.5 proves that). It is just really boring, bland an uninspiring. Who thought that it was nice idea to give you ability to fly but also place ton of invisible walls all over the maps, especially in towns That aside critics scores are fundamentally pointless nowadays anyway, modern gaming journalism is such a joke and anyone can buy themselves good scores if they have enough money or ESG scores for that
I think the problem with Shadow Hearts was that there is just too much sexual innuendo from the part of Yuri to Alice. One of the reasons which I think why it will not have a remake. You have dialogue such as "I am the one who will eat her" which a bit too much in my opinion. Not to mention the controversial twist revelation in Shadow Hearts 2 as well.
I still have my old copy of Shadow Hearts. It had some serious pacing issues, but it definately deserved better than a 5.5. I actually really liked the bleak horror vibes the game had- though it seems like critics didn't because they made the second game goofier based on feedback. Not that I hate the second game, but it's hard to take the evil schemes seriously when the antagonist are often depicted as less competent than your average 90's saturday morning cartoon villain. *Seruously, some of my favorite parts of the first game were the cannibal village, Doll House, and Calios Mentla Hospital. I was really digging the supernatural horror tropes that you don't often see in an RPG.
Well, there are those that get destroyed by critics for some reason. But, there are also those that get overpraised by critics. I think, those are even worse. Btw. What's bad with SO Divine Force, that was not even criticised? The reason I don't like that game is its text size. I cannot read any of it, but I said this about other games as well and nobody seems to see that as a flaw.
I've seen more criticism of text size/display issues when it comes to online games for some reason, probably because of their chat features and large amounts of text onscreen at one time.
Diofield chronicles is really something. I really enjoy the demo more than triangle strategy but seems really not well recieved huh. Honestly very fun game. I will pick that when there is a huge sales (money situation not very kind to me)
Great video. That rating for Shadow Hearts shows exactly why people need to find youtubers whose opinions we can trust and ditch these publications entirely. IGN hit Lost Odyssey with a low score too of a 8.2 out of 10. An 8.2 for the best jrpg for that entire console generation? Come on bro They also only gave Resonance Of Fate a 7 when it's an easy 8.5
There are so many JRPG hidden gems out there and the sad part is that game critics nowadays are less and less apt to properly review a "classic" JRPG be it action, turn based, strategy based or tactical. As a big Star Ocean fan myself, i'm quite sure the Divine Force suffered from its predecessor curse: Star Ocean 5 was truly an overhyped game (gosh i watched all the devs newsletters...) that will forever remain as the black sheep of the series. I'll admit critics at the time made me skip Growlanser even though I liked Langrisser series, it's still in my backlog, maybe i'll give it a chance one day!
"Anything that isn't Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem gets destroyed out there!" I completely agree! In this day and age, I'm not even sure what srpg is worth picking up even though i want to get more into the genre
I've enjoyed Brigandine: Legend of Runersia and Mercenaries Wings: The False Phoenix. Both on Switch and PS4. Symphony of War on Steam was an interesting game as well. Would recommend all three.
13 Sentinels and Unicorn Overlord by VanollaWare are great. There are, of cource, TRPG from PS1-2 generations and emulation... but that's another story. Triangle Strategy on Switch is also great. There are more, but those are worth checking 100%
I'm gonna be honest. This video is kinda terrible. I could go into great detail, but I think its better for me to summarize it. You really don't research these topics well. You purely look at the score and just call it a day. You don’t take the time to read why they're given the scores and possibly verify that for yourself. Instead, you come up with assumptions. Implying that the reasonings are completely unknown. Furthermore, I can NOT believe you used Xenoblade 2 as a example. That game in particular had a WHOLE controversy go down because of the fanservice. And once again, you're not doing your research on the game because there were legitimate reasons for that score in particular. The whole "Bland" souls take is horrendous. Like I mentioned. Instead of you looking into the actual reasons, you use an artificial weird reasons and just gloss over that part and proceed to just call it a day. This video feels incredibly misinformed.
I'm saying... Game journalism about had a aneurysm over Pyra from Xenoblade 2. The hell is he talking about?? Also, souls fans don't like fanservice or big boobs?? Dude, Gwynever has the biggest set of tits out of ANY of these games he just mentioned. And she is one of the most beloved characters in the entire series. Created an entire fanbase and created the most messaged player messages in the entire series.. AMAZING CHEST AHEAD! Dude is so full of shit. Also Fromsoft souls games are influenced by medieval Europe but anyone who knows anything about art design know for a focking FACT that their art design is anything but generic western art. It's uniquely Japanese! Wtf man. Stupid
Yeah it just feels like a salty rant. And Xenoblade 2 got good scores but it's the most divisive entry of the series for stuff like the fanservice. A quick search for Code Vein reviews shows the story and anime artstyle as good while stuff like the game being easy, repetitive enemies, level design, and clunky combat as negatives which seems like valid complaints for the genre. A game like Xenoblade 2 still has good exploration/combat keeping you engaged even if you're not a fan of the fanservice while it seems Code Vein did not have that for most people. To me it seems like he's mad some people dismissed Code Vein for the anime aesthetic/fanservice for the same reason he dismisses souls games for the western aesthetic.
The main thing is that Erick is highly forgiving with JRPGs in general. He rates 90% of the games he plays with a score of 8 and above. The whole point of a ratings scale is to SCALE them. No offense to Erick, but I only watch his videos to find out about old, obscure games - not to actually hear his opinions on them.
Diofield and Star Ocean were two bangers from Square Enix but they came out around the time where Square was releasing way too much and they kind of got lost in the shuffle. No where near as bad as Various Daylife or Valkyrie Elysium, they deserved a better fate.
Vanguard Bandits was great. I loved how streamlined the game was with its missions and story. Not a lot of padding and filler. Still annoying how many playthroughs you have to do though. I only ever got the bad ending. I need to replay it to get the other endings.
so with Dio Field, the user scores were significantly less, a critical score of 71 is still definitely decent for a game. But like you mentioned, I bet a lot of people have never had to suffer through truly terrible games like I did growing up in the 90's as a kid and not having anywhere near the resources to learn about games before they were purchased
I noticed that if a JRPG has a lot of Visual Novel elements, has less anime tropes, is low-budget, too difficult / complicated, or not from a well-known developer / publisher, critics always lower the ratings of these games.
i agree with the critics on making games too easy. why don't they just add an easy mode for beginners and have a more challenging mode for those who want it? i have completely lost interest in modern rpg because every time i googled one it would be the same, people saying it's too easy. they are costing themselves sales by refusing to add difficulty options for those who want a challenge.
I can't comment on most of the games, I don't understand the hate for Star Ocean The Divine Force. I thought that was the best game in the series for me. It had good (but not great) graphics, cool characters, and a super fun battle system where I never wanted to run from a battle. Yes, I found it to be that good. I can understand the original Shadow Hearts scoring so low though. That one didn't have the best visuals, barely any voice acting, and I guess some might felt that the Sanity mechanic might have been to punishing. I say this as a Shadow Hearts fan.
Hey Erick, just wanted to tell you that if you haven't seen it in the PS Store yet, Rise Eterna War is a sequel to Rise Eterna and it came out on 08/22/24 for $9.99 USD, since you enjoyed the first game.
PS2 era was when I stopped using game reviews to learn about games and started using them to learn about reviewers. "Hmmm... this 'person' might be better off considering a career in fertilizer"
True, but i think that happens in the own communities too. The fans are the problem... actually the biggest part of the problem, because journalists can be ignored and they aren't even influential on specialized communities (like in certain genre or certain franchise), but when the own community behaves that way it can become a problem. The veterans have trouble to accept changes in the franchise because of their nostalgia and attachment issues, so they constantly make up arguments to defend that the franchise has to stay formulaic to "protect its identity", and changing the game would mean losing that identity.
I finished Diofield no more than a week ago and I would sadly give it around 7.5. The main character gets the best skill in the game at the beginning of the game. The skill tree is shallow and I praise the story for having no out and out good or evil characters but it’s nearly impossible to tell who is what and it really feels rushed and leaves a ton of loose ends
Why the constant Souls slander dude, i get it, you don't like them for your own reasons, that is very clear I like souls games, i like a lot of souls likes with all kinds of aesthetics and i am also a massive cultured weeb so i love my waifus Code Vein was ok, 7 is not a bad score for it, maybe 8 at most if i look at how they handled builds but even that is a stretch The game had great fan service, sure which i obviously liked but it was kinda clunky, the combat had no impact or satisfying feedback, swinging a greathammer should feel like swinging a greathammer, not a feather like it did in Code Vein and it was so easy that Yakumo, an AI companion, could solo all the bosses on his own So no, Souls games having european inspirations is not the reason CV got 7/10, Code Vein is What i agree with you on is Vanguard Bandits, i don't even like mechas and i think it is an amazing game
Do not believe in critics, they knew if a game have the potential to destroy that "mama mia" "pikapika" "an elf who cannot talk" and that "repetitive jumping"😂
I play code vein and the game is at least 9/10 for me. The problems is people say this game is soulslike which it isnt and the steam even tag the game as soulslike. If the game was soulslike then the rating at most would be 7 or 6.5/10. You would be disappoint if you expect this game as dark souls clone. The proper genre for this game would be action rpg like god eater. Fortunately im open minded and treat this game as god eater clone which i enjoy. Solid 9.5/10 for action rpg but 6.5/10 for soulslike genre.
Tbh, I feel like these "professional" critics that review games have no clue how to review games. Like it's very easy to draw comparisons from one said review game with another established game. I usually like lookin at steam reviews and other user reviews. Because not always but sometimes, people do compare say said JRPG with Final Fantasy, they usually only do minimal comparisons but people tend to see specific game as their own entity. Like Suikoden 2 was not considered great when it came out but I'm sure it's way different now.
Star Ocean 6 probably took most of its hits off of quality issues. It was clearly not robust in that category and it came out at a time when that was a HUGE issue in the gaming world, because of an over-abundance of severely bad/scuffed releases, so right from the start, people were suspicious of it being yet another one of those. (Unfortunately, people tend to overcompensate when they feel like they've been slighted and will be eager to call out anticipated failures to prove they're too smart to get fooled again.) Other than that, I find that the hype around some games like Persona 5 being a breakout hit tends to limit what people think of as a 'good' story, and yeah, there are certain themes and character types that people label as signs of lower quality, and looks can definitely be a factor. (That can be its own criticism, of course, but shouldn't be a defining factor.) I'm sure plenty of people overlooked Raymond's effectiveness as a protagonist for his looks, and/or never looked past Laeticia's polite and often deliberately sweet and conciliatory speech to notice just how shrewd she is.
Game journalism is pretty hard to respect most of the time, unless they're simply providing unbiased news. Try not to take it too personally when these journalists have no sense of taste.
I played Star Ocean Divine Force on PlayStation Plus and I didn't understand what people didn't like about it this is why I don't listen to people when it comes to video games anymore.
Maaan, Shadow Hearts needs a remaster trilogy
And by trilogy, you mean 1, 2, and Koudelka, right?
Just 1 and 2 in my opinion
Yes it does.
5.5 for Shadow Hearts LMFAO GTFO IGN
Can't spell ignorant without IGN indeed. 🤦♀️
To complicated battle system, mature dark story, game is hard and no waifus !!! - IGN 5,5/10
I didn't play Shadow Hearts for the first time until about two years ago. Coming into it with a 2022 gaming perspective I would still rate it much higher than that. The battle system had that unique wheel element, the story was dark, but not cringey or corny dark. The setting was cool and fit the story, the characters were pretty well written and likable. For me it was more like an 8/10. I really liked it and should make time to play the sequel.
@@nr2676 he said none of that also it was the import that he did
God Hand fans: "first time?".
Honestly IGN is a JOKE when it comes to criticizing games.
Case and Point, "Days Gone". They got torched so bad, that they Had to make a separate video on "why they gave it, that score"...which it was a bigger joke😡
Indeed, they have some of the worst. Video game critics. EVER!
@@HolyCross9Yeah they gave Witcher 3 a 9,3, and considering how boring that one is yes
ign gave dustborn a 7, nuff said
Days Gone is mid though...
I don't get it ? I went to see and it got 6.5. I'm French and it's exactly the average user score it got on a quite popular platform to rank games here. Days gone is fine but nothing too special
Maybe it's just me but a 6-7 score is not bad? It just means it was "mid", average etc. It didn't do anything to innovate the genre or take risks, it's a get if you want it or skip game. When I hear the word destroyed, I expected scores lower than 5....
I like this comment. i wonder why 7/10 is seen as a bad grade. I think 14/20 would be enough for most of students.
Most of these companies & magazines (in the West) have 7/10 as a defacto score for games unless otherswise. Lower than 7/10 is "bad" while the true scale is difference from 7/10-10/10.
Some entries here seem placed more on how they're discussed/compared to others than just their scores. The discourse around 'mid' rated games can get pretty negative, sometimes even being treated worse than outright 'bad' because of the idea that at least a terrible game is remembered. However, people also tend to severely overrrate their own memories, and can have opinions shift a lot based on post-play input from others.
I feel like a lot of games in the middle range of popularity end up feeling like they've been 'destroyed' these days when they overall did fine for themselves despite a few 6-7 scores here and there while popular games can get a lot of forgiveness over some stuff that might have earned them similar ire from critics if they were less popular to begin with.
7/10 is seen as terrible cause people get too invested in the hype cycle when in reality it just means the game is decent. And while it doesn't do anything special it can still be a pretty enjoyable experience, though it might be hit or miss for some people. Like you can still go out and recommend it to fans of the genre with a few caveats.
@@sentoworf : I think it's that hit or miss part that gives 7/10 the negative impression. It's sort of the dividing line where a lot of people who play that game would personally add or remove a point or two.
However, since it's boiled down into a single number, it creates the impression of a 'definite meh' rather than a game that might be great for around half of its players or more, and those who like it will always feel like it's underrated.
Shadow hearts I and II are one of my favourites jrpg games. The first was released at the same time as FFX. The story is more adult and dark and really interesting. Moreover, the story between Yuri and ALice remember me to Cloud and Aerith....SImply precious!!
For reaaal. I think it's time to bring a lil romance back into the JRPG formula. It was usually light enough not to become overbearing yet almost always added more depth to the story and party's dynamic
"it's a list of rpgs destroyed by critics, not suspiciously praised" - may i dare to propose making a list of 'suspiciously praised' rpgs? could be just as interesting, in my opinion.
Put FFXV in the first slot of that list, holy shit, what a piece of garbage, the only salvageable thing about it was the fishing minigame, and everyone sang it praises as if it where the second coming of FFVII
@@unlimitedslashthe soundtrack was pretty nice, honestly I enjoyed the game overall, but it's laughable that switching characters wasn't in the base game on release, and how entire parts of the story are locked behind DLC, not to mention having to buy said DLC AND watch a movie and an anime so that you just might understand the story.
Still though, i never bought any of the DLC but I still enjoyed the overall game, especially the last few chapters where it became more linear
@@SmashTheAdam naa, you can't proper understand the story even watching the anime, movie and playing DLC.s.
They gave different scripts to anime and movie teams, in particular there's too many plot holes between movie and game, as well as in the game.
Square even cancelled 3 story DLCs, really important to understand the main game.
The only reason Code Vein gets shit on is because insulting anime æsthetics and people who like them is considered acceptable (same issue as Xenoblade 2), you can tell because theres nothing acctually wrong with the game.
Other than the level design being quite stale, pretty whelming enemy variety, with it's few bosses, most of them weren't really good fights. Could you remember anything about the story? I certainly can't.
Great art design for what it was, pretty solid in terms of build crafting, but also built around a partner system that almost feels mandatory.
From what I heard the cathedral level is atrocious and deserves criticism.
@@TheHeartThatRunsCold I 100% disagree about the story. You obviously just skipped everything related to the story.
@user-yb7xj4jg9e I didn't skip anything, we just have VERY different ideas of what a good story is.
code vein gets shit review because people expect it as souls like clone which it isnt. The game was more like god eater which is action rpg.
star ocean 6 was an amazing game i love it , can not understand the hate when we talk about dio field chronicols & reademption reapers !!! awosome tactical jrps too , and for arc rise fantasia ohh mann it was a hard game but realy fun and technical i love the gamplay and the charecters of this game .
Star Ocean 6 while a bit different felt so much more like 1-3 and had a great story.
Sometimes, it's more of habit: like seeing Atlus today = great game (and no, not always and with few moments), the same for Star Ocean 6. I love this game, it's more like original trilogy, far better than the infamous IaF, but most seeing it... series today have bad reputation so critics and some users are biased.
I really liked Code Vein for what it was. Not to mention that it ties into God Eater, which is one of my favorite series out there. I wish we get a sequel to Code Vein and another God Eater instalment.
I love Growlanser 5. And I also like Diofield Chronicles and Redemption Reapers. Many people expect AAA production everywhere because of the price tags. For example I see everyday big production games like God of War or Batman Arkham series on sale on GOG or Steam. On the other hand games like Ys series are often much more expensive.
Hell yeah! Star Ocean: The Divine Force was amazing! It was my game of the year for 2022 as well as my favorite Star Ocean game.
All the shadow heart games were amazing
I finished 1 and 2 but couldn't for 3 and i think it's mostly for the protagonist.
You could make 12 lists just around the nonsense takes of IGN
Yeaaah I stopped checking reviews and critics a long time ago, unfortunately these scores have huge leverage and people just refuse to check out a game that's listed as below 8/10. Weird.
The first Nier (Replicant / gestalt) for PS3 and Xbox 360, at the time was misunderstood by "experts" on the subject.
Then automata came out, and now they wanted to revisit the previous game.
The gameplay in automata was much better hence the better reviews. Critics have to acknowledge and assess graphics, sound, gameplay, story, etc and weigh them accordingly. They also have to compare them to other games in the genre that retail at the same price. This guy definitely doesnt get it.
@@Azael1332Xrd Nah. Those games legitimately were bad gameplay wise.
Original Nier sucks lol.
@@ltb1345So many different languages and you chose the truth.
thanks for the video ❤
I recently got SO Divine Force on PSN sale and I'm having a blast!
it feels a bit hard even on easy difficulty (comparing to FFVII remake, for example), but it feels good on PS5. I'm stopping myself from upgrading to deluxe edition to get those P2W items and weapons, cuz I think it will make the game too easy then.
IGN has always had a negative bias towards Japanese games, but it used to be a lot worse.
IGN: If game is not like Persona, Fire Emblem, or Final Fantasy GTFO
I dont care how much you hate IGN but stop with the lies dude. IGN this year alone has rated JRPGs higher than most Western games and hell even gave Stellar Blade an 8/10. You just dislike they gave one of your favorite games a low score.
@@NinoNakanoSupremacy It's not a lie if you look at their exceedingly long history of it. I haven't read much of them this year because their reviews are absolutely terribly written with little to no editing (so much so that it's common place to see errors in their headline titles). It is also evident when they don't play much of a game. And, as you will see, I did mention they aren't as bad as they used to be. By all means though, keep jumping to assumptions about internet strangers and trying to pick fights over nothing.
@@NinoNakanoSupremacy Korean game, Stellar Blade is not Japanese game.
@@Teflondex True but its's still an Asian game
Not sure what you are on about in regards to Code Vein. 7/10 is a decent score and definitely a deserved one. I played it and really liked playing through it and I'm still hoping for a continuation. However the level design can be a bit bland, that made especially the cathedral of the sacred blood a pain in the ass to navigate. The combat, while perfectly fine, still has it's flaws. The story is fine but at times it felt a bit generic.
So yeah 7/10 is a deserved rating and is far from "destroyed" and if the Waifus were the issue, the score probably would have been lower.
The anime aestethic isn't necessarily everyones thing and while the market wasn't oversaturated, there were plenty of other souls likes at the time of Code Veins release. Among them Sekiro that was released earlier that year, that might have had an adverse effect on Code Veins sales.
I reviewed Shadow Hearts for a small Swedish video game site giving it 9/10 saying it was a legitimate contender for FFX, I was a little edgy 18year old, but still an PS2 favorite.
crystar used the artist that does some EDs for the Monogatari series(bakemonogatari), you can see that very distinctive artstyle at the cutscene where she is eating something I think.
I just completed Code Vein yesterday and I somehow understand this ratings. This is a good game, but it doesn't reach the level of Souls or Elden Ring if you take them as a standard. If for me DS is 8-8.5 then it’s logical to give Code Vein 6-7
I don’t agree with everything said but that’s kinda normal. Everyone has different preferences/taste at the end of day, nothing wrong with that.
Just find out for yourself what’s to your liking and what not. Having a Demo-Version of a game is really helpful most of the time.
The reason why people expecting AAA quality from even small developers is because they sell the game with AAA game pricetag. Diofield for example, is priced at $60, ofcourse people going to expect $60 game quality.
What do you expect?
I don't get it, this is indefensible.
You're aware we were paying $60 for SNES games way back in '93, right? Adjusted for inflation, that would be like $132 today. Today's games are a lot harder to code, and take tens of times more hours to complete. More people buy games nowadays which is the only reason prices haven't kept in step with inflation.
@@dragonnasxavier3473The price of making cartriges along with coding the game is why they were that expensive, CDs eliviated that cost somewhat when they started getting shipped on those. However, today, the actual price of a *full* game isn't 60 dollars, it's in the range of 120 and more since they literally cut the game into DLC and then sell you the other half after you've already bought the game. We've come full circle, not because the games are harder to make today, which they really aren't, but because of corporational greed and manchild incompetence on the consumer part.
@@j4kfr05t5 I agree that releasing an incomplete game and then selling DLCs to complete it is a predatory business practice. For sure CDs were easier to print games onto than producing cartridges, and now digital distribution and slowly abandoning physical copies makes that portion of production cost even less. The Diofield Chronicle however is a complete game, and its DLCs are only an artbook and soundtrack. You say it isn't harder to make games today, but it takes a LOT more people to make games today than the teams of the 90s for 16-bit games. As far as incompetent manchild consumers, people just need to have a more discerning eye and stop jumping on bandwagons to buy the most expensive cookie cutter rehash of last year's products to play with friends.
I want a remake of Vanguard Bandits. I liked the branching storylines and endings depending how you did on the mission. My only complaint with Star Ocean 6 was the crafting system.
That's hilarious!.. Eric, referring to Western RPGs as bland. When all he plays are jrpgs that all look and sound the same. All are anime inspired. Just change the name of the account to Eric Landon jrpg.
I really like Star Ocean The Divine Force. It's really good game and doesn't deserves critic it got. Now any lower budget game got all the hate. It's pissing me off.
7 is still above average though.
Keep in mind many reviewers only get a week to try out a new game, and that's not really enough time to really get into most JRPGs. Also doesn't help that a lot of today's gamers have 0 patience for turn-based combat or excessive dialogue, with the most popular modern genre still being the online shooter. As a JRPG-devoted channel, you would naturally have more tolerance for the genre's common failings- everyone has different things they want out of a game. I might try Redemption Reapers after your recommendation though.
Not in gaming journalism
Code Vein getting a 7/10 is not destroyed by critics.
It's what I would give it personally tbh.
To say souls games are boring and bland is mind blowing.
I would agree. Code Vein was fun to play, challenging, and looked fine for it's time. The story was bland and tried to be edgy, but failed in that regard. Ultimately it was ok as an anime Dark Souls clone, but it didn't do anything new or revolutionary that we hadn't played through before. 7/10 seems perfect.
In this day and age, any score below 8 for a big game is often met with hostility from today's gaming community. I mean, 7 is still a good score.
Personally i'd rate most of AAA games in the past decade or so somewhere around 5 - 6/10 (provided its not broken or a buggy mess). Are they "bad" games? No, but its just nothing special imo. That doesn't mean that a game with a score of 6 doesn't have its strengths though.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but Fromsoftware didn't reinvent ARPGs with their crappy and overrated Soulsborne games
Get it memorized or STFU
@@icedmosquito109 It's true though?
I need to give Code Vein another shot. Some parts of it hit with me when I first tired it, some really, really didn't. I got sick of it after a while and never gave it a second chance.
I played all the way through, and the maudlin story and characters sort of ruined it for me. It did have some good mods that made it tolerable, but I wouldnt recommend it.
Hello, Erick. I'm starting with some strategy RPGs, but sometimes is like playing chess (kinda slow). Don't get me wrong, I just would like an updated video about SRPGs, and why do youl like them so much.
I suggest searching the old videos in the channel because he made a lot of content about srpgs
my favorite gaming streamer i respect, he was former fighting games champion, called easy mode as journalist mode. He never take those gaming journalists from IGN etc seriously
Idk man. So a game being rated too low by some, and another game being rated too high by others are both problems? Where do you draw the line between these two... concepts in practice.?
I don't pay attention to professional reviewers or paid critics. If a game is trying something different, I'll play it.
Long time viewer, first time commentor. Couldn't agree more about redemption reapers. The game play is tough but fair and that ending took my breathe away. Great list. Diofield Chronicle is in my backlog and looking forward to slotting it in soon.
yeah star ocean divine force was very good game for me to be honest, completely enjoyed whole story. No idea why so low Score.
Vanguard bandits was one of my favorite games back on the PS1 I remember watching my brother play it
Cool that you made a video about hidden gems that were unfairly criticized by the media. It’s great to see these games getting the attention they deserve.
Honestly, it’s pretty unfortunate that Shadow Hearts didn’t get the recognition it deserved, likely because it was released around the same time as Final Fantasy X. While FFX had impressive graphics for its time, I found it a bit too sugary and over-the-top, with a story that felt too predictable - almost recycled from Chrono Trigger. It followed the usual Final Fantasy formula - polished, but not really taking any risks.
Shadow Hearts, on the other hand, was a different beast altogether. It had a vibe reminiscent of Final Fantasy VII, with a darker, more intense atmosphere that might have felt out of sync with the times. But that’s exactly what drew me in. The story had real depth and emotion, with twists that kept me hooked, and the eerie, almost haunting vibe was fantastic. I loved how it blended horror elements with connections to our real world - those historical and supernatural aspects were unique and compelling.
The soundtrack was top-notch as well, adding so much to the overall experience. It wasn’t just about being average or mediocre - it was about creating something that lingers long after you’ve finished playing. That’s why, for me, Shadow Hearts will always outshine Final Fantasy X.
Just finished Star Ocean-TDF and I only bought and played it cuz of your support for the game. I loved it. Thank you.
This list is so bad. I usually agree with your takes. I am sorry but games like Diofield and Code vein both deserve a 7. 7 is not a bad score and exactly what those games deserve. Star Ocean i can agree was a little bit low. But i still would give it no more than a 7.5 out 10.
If you honestly think the gameplay in Dark Souls is generic and like Code Vein, you're basically the opposite of everyone else. The reason why Code Vein "only" gets a 7 is because it's gameplay is generic. Not because of waifus. And Souls fans are plenty horny. There are probably more fanart for Priscilla or Gwynevere than any of the girls in Code Vein. And any of the Elden Ring waifus have even more fanart.
Sir. I love your takes on rpg. But i will not allow you to slander souls game. We souls fans love waifus its the "journalist" that hates anything anime. So dont slander us souls fan for not liking waifu cause that is a lie.
Fromsoftware games are uninspired junk
Get over it
Agreed... I mean, just look at Elden Ring chokeful full of waifus, not to talk about Gwynevere from DS1, Emerald Herald from DS2 and the Firekeeper from DS3.
That was a bad take from his part, but who never did the same? Living and learning...
i don't know about that one? Any rime Code Vein is mentioned in a souls subreddit or TH-cam comment section the replies are always filled with souls fans saying something on the lines of "Code Vein is an alright game but the fan service puts me" or they just bash the game for being easy.
Honestly, this video isn't really good.
A lot more sales happen for from software games thab any other stamina base combat games. Meaning, a majority of player dont like anime waifu in fact...
I think Shadow Hearts was a game that never got the appreciation it deserved. I know the judgement ring system could present a challenge for those that didn't know how it worked. But imo the timing of the story and the character abilities were all really good, but I agree. It just could not compete with the mainstream success of FFX
That Vanguard Bandits song takes me back.
code vein was just bland . it still keeps me up at night that i payed more for code vein than dark souls and nioh
I loved the Shadow Hearts game and I have the Platinum for Crystar. Even though it also got a bad rap, I have to play Crymachina.
great videos! Let's be honest any game with bad graphics or looks jank will become underrated. For decades we also see lower scores from any games with an anime artstyle, too.
I'll have to check Crystar! Looks right up my alley (Crymachina is just ok). Also lmao at the brutally correct souls rant! Still love Fromsoft but yeah CV was pretty good!
DioFIELD Chronicles and Code Vein are 2 hidden gems and both have a special place in my heart i really don`t understand critics. Also have the Redemption Reapers in my basket might pull the trigger next week
Not JRPG but God Hand never resurfaced again even as a DLC or something for another Capcom game.
TheWii exclusive: Arc Rise Fantasia; looks like something I would play and really and really enjoy now lol. Never knew it was a thing until today but as far as voice acting goes you should probably check out shining Force neo on the PS2 lol that voice acting is absolutely ridiculous.
i played a undubbed patch of arc rise with exp multipliers on and it might be one of my favorite games
Loved Diofield. I wish they would publish more games like this. A sequel would be awesome too. A political intrigue game with strategy? Sign me up.
It actually depends on how scores are interpreted. 7-8 score are decent and close the hidden gems range. Though 6 level score for absurd reason is some head scratcher.
ALSO, true gamer should know IGN scores are way past the gold standard of reviews.
Hence why I don't listen to "critics" and judge it for myself.
Shadow Hearts was an awesome game, as was the follow up Covenant, I even enjoyed the PS1 prequel Koudelka
Shadow Hearts is 9/10
Shadow Hearts 1 and 2 are RPG games that I play few times. I love the games, the stories, the characters all of them. ❤
Its a sad truth that is happening in a game genres and sometime i think the critics the these games low scores don't know an awesome game when they see it.
The main issue with SO6 is probably the crafting system, random af, no way to track what you crafted already and how. I dont know if it was updated.
Star Ocean: 69
6/10 is not even a bad score for a game and honestly it is way more than this game ever deserved (user score of 6.5 proves that). It is just really boring, bland an uninspiring. Who thought that it was nice idea to give you ability to fly but also place ton of invisible walls all over the maps, especially in towns
That aside critics scores are fundamentally pointless nowadays anyway, modern gaming journalism is such a joke and anyone can buy themselves good scores if they have enough money or ESG scores for that
I think the problem with Shadow Hearts was that there is just too much sexual innuendo from the part of Yuri to Alice. One of the reasons which I think why it will not have a remake. You have dialogue such as "I am the one who will eat her" which a bit too much in my opinion. Not to mention the controversial twist revelation in Shadow Hearts 2 as well.
I still have my old copy of Shadow Hearts. It had some serious pacing issues, but it definately deserved better than a 5.5.
I actually really liked the bleak horror vibes the game had- though it seems like critics didn't because they made the second game goofier based on feedback. Not that I hate the second game, but it's hard to take the evil schemes seriously when the antagonist are often depicted as less competent than your average 90's saturday morning cartoon villain.
*Seruously, some of my favorite parts of the first game were the cannibal village, Doll House, and Calios Mentla Hospital. I was really digging the supernatural horror tropes that you don't often see in an RPG.
Well, there are those that get destroyed by critics for some reason.
But, there are also those that get overpraised by critics. I think, those are even worse.
Btw. What's bad with SO Divine Force, that was not even criticised? The reason I don't like that game is its text size. I cannot read any of it, but I said this about other games as well and nobody seems to see that as a flaw.
I've seen more criticism of text size/display issues when it comes to online games for some reason, probably because of their chat features and large amounts of text onscreen at one time.
Code Vein was amazing, I keep hoping for the day we get a sequel but I doubt it’s going to happen.
Only gripe with diofield, make use of the switch touch screen also.
Digimon game on ps 1 destroyed by critics too..and brigandine legend of forsena
Also Demikids on GBA, because of Pokemon bias.
Diofield chronicles is really something. I really enjoy the demo more than triangle strategy but seems really not well recieved huh. Honestly very fun game. I will pick that when there is a huge sales (money situation not very kind to me)
Great video. That rating for Shadow Hearts shows exactly why people need to find youtubers whose opinions we can trust and ditch these publications entirely.
IGN hit Lost Odyssey with a low score too of a 8.2 out of 10. An 8.2 for the best jrpg for that entire console generation? Come on bro
They also only gave Resonance Of Fate a 7 when it's an easy 8.5
There are so many JRPG hidden gems out there and the sad part is that game critics nowadays are less and less apt to properly review a "classic" JRPG be it action, turn based, strategy based or tactical.
As a big Star Ocean fan myself, i'm quite sure the Divine Force suffered from its predecessor curse: Star Ocean 5 was truly an overhyped game (gosh i watched all the devs newsletters...) that will forever remain as the black sheep of the series.
I'll admit critics at the time made me skip Growlanser even though I liked Langrisser series, it's still in my backlog, maybe i'll give it a chance one day!
"Anything that isn't Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem gets destroyed out there!" I completely agree! In this day and age, I'm not even sure what srpg is worth picking up even though i want to get more into the genre
I've enjoyed Brigandine: Legend of Runersia and Mercenaries Wings: The False Phoenix. Both on Switch and PS4. Symphony of War on Steam was an interesting game as well. Would recommend all three.
13 Sentinels and Unicorn Overlord by VanollaWare are great. There are, of cource, TRPG from PS1-2 generations and emulation... but that's another story.
Triangle Strategy on Switch is also great. There are more, but those are worth checking 100%
Arc rise fantasia was fantastic with the Japanese dub patch. Truly a grind fest but the battle system was very rewarding.
That's why I never listen to the critics, fuck em
Shadow Hearts is a solid and undisputed 10/10
That's what I said every time new Neptunia game came up but people just looked at me weird. Oh well, at least Blanc comforts me...
Personal favorit I have is my favorite Strategi RPG Agarest.
Think it got a 55/100 for being to hard.
Mega Man Star Force got bashed for not being Battle Network. That was unfortunate.
I'm gonna be honest. This video is kinda terrible. I could go into great detail, but I think its better for me to summarize it.
You really don't research these topics well. You purely look at the score and just call it a day. You don’t take the time to read why they're given the scores and possibly verify that for yourself. Instead, you come up with assumptions. Implying that the reasonings are completely unknown.
Furthermore, I can NOT believe you used Xenoblade 2 as a example. That game in particular had a WHOLE controversy go down because of the fanservice. And once again, you're not doing your research on the game because there were legitimate reasons for that score in particular.
The whole "Bland" souls take is horrendous.
Like I mentioned. Instead of you looking into the actual reasons, you use an artificial weird reasons and just gloss over that part and proceed to just call it a day. This video feels incredibly misinformed.
I'm saying... Game journalism about had a aneurysm over Pyra from Xenoblade 2. The hell is he talking about?? Also, souls fans don't like fanservice or big boobs?? Dude, Gwynever has the biggest set of tits out of ANY of these games he just mentioned. And she is one of the most beloved characters in the entire series. Created an entire fanbase and created the most messaged player messages in the entire series.. AMAZING CHEST AHEAD! Dude is so full of shit. Also Fromsoft souls games are influenced by medieval Europe but anyone who knows anything about art design know for a focking FACT that their art design is anything but generic western art. It's uniquely Japanese! Wtf man. Stupid
Yeah it just feels like a salty rant. And Xenoblade 2 got good scores but it's the most divisive entry of the series for stuff like the fanservice.
A quick search for Code Vein reviews shows the story and anime artstyle as good while stuff like the game being easy, repetitive enemies, level design, and clunky combat as negatives which seems like valid complaints for the genre. A game like Xenoblade 2 still has good exploration/combat keeping you engaged even if you're not a fan of the fanservice while it seems Code Vein did not have that for most people.
To me it seems like he's mad some people dismissed Code Vein for the anime aesthetic/fanservice for the same reason he dismisses souls games for the western aesthetic.
The main thing is that Erick is highly forgiving with JRPGs in general. He rates 90% of the games he plays with a score of 8 and above. The whole point of a ratings scale is to SCALE them. No offense to Erick, but I only watch his videos to find out about old, obscure games - not to actually hear his opinions on them.
Diofield and Star Ocean were two bangers from Square Enix but they came out around the time where Square was releasing way too much and they kind of got lost in the shuffle. No where near as bad as Various Daylife or Valkyrie Elysium, they deserved a better fate.
Vanguard Bandits was great. I loved how streamlined the game was with its missions and story. Not a lot of padding and filler. Still annoying how many playthroughs you have to do though. I only ever got the bad ending. I need to replay it to get the other endings.
so with Dio Field, the user scores were significantly less, a critical score of 71 is still definitely decent for a game. But like you mentioned, I bet a lot of people have never had to suffer through truly terrible games like I did growing up in the 90's as a kid and not having anywhere near the resources to learn about games before they were purchased
game journos have not been trustable for many years
I love shadow hearts, all 3. They are the main reason that I still have my ps2 so I can still play them. We’ll them and Xenogears
I noticed that if a JRPG has a lot of Visual Novel elements, has less anime tropes, is low-budget, too difficult / complicated, or not from a well-known developer / publisher, critics always lower the ratings of these games.
i agree with the critics on making games too easy. why don't they just add an easy mode for beginners and have a more challenging mode for those who want it?
i have completely lost interest in modern rpg because every time i googled one it would be the same, people saying it's too easy. they are costing themselves sales by refusing to add difficulty options for those who want a challenge.
I can't comment on most of the games, I don't understand the hate for Star Ocean The Divine Force. I thought that was the best game in the series for me. It had good (but not great) graphics, cool characters, and a super fun battle system where I never wanted to run from a battle. Yes, I found it to be that good. I can understand the original Shadow Hearts scoring so low though. That one didn't have the best visuals, barely any voice acting, and I guess some might felt that the Sanity mechanic might have been to punishing. I say this as a Shadow Hearts fan.
Nier took a pretty bad bashing at the time. I can understand due to some flaws but the overall experience I had with that game was truly special.
I haven't yet worked out what the N in IGN stands for, but I'm convinced that the I and G stand for "ignorant" and "garbage", respectively.
Hey Erick, just wanted to tell you that if you haven't seen it in the PS Store yet, Rise Eterna War is a sequel to Rise Eterna and it came out on 08/22/24 for $9.99 USD, since you enjoyed the first game.
Ragnarok tactics has a lousy battle system for grinding but the story is good.
PS2 era was when I stopped using game reviews to learn about games and started using them to learn about reviewers. "Hmmm... this 'person' might be better off considering a career in fertilizer"
I loved code vein, hoping it ever gets a second part :(
Even ff titles get more hates these days
Critics refuse creativity but when there is no creativity they complain the lack of creativity in games!!!
True, but i think that happens in the own communities too. The fans are the problem... actually the biggest part of the problem, because journalists can be ignored and they aren't even influential on specialized communities (like in certain genre or certain franchise), but when the own community behaves that way it can become a problem.
The veterans have trouble to accept changes in the franchise because of their nostalgia and attachment issues, so they constantly make up arguments to defend that the franchise has to stay formulaic to "protect its identity", and changing the game would mean losing that identity.
I finished Diofield no more than a week ago and I would sadly give it around 7.5. The main character gets the best skill in the game at the beginning of the game. The skill tree is shallow and I praise the story for having no out and out good or evil characters but it’s nearly impossible to tell who is what and it really feels rushed and leaves a ton of loose ends
Why the constant Souls slander dude, i get it, you don't like them for your own reasons, that is very clear
I like souls games, i like a lot of souls likes with all kinds of aesthetics and i am also a massive cultured weeb so i love my waifus
Code Vein was ok, 7 is not a bad score for it, maybe 8 at most if i look at how they handled builds but even that is a stretch
The game had great fan service, sure which i obviously liked but it was kinda clunky, the combat had no impact or satisfying feedback, swinging a greathammer should feel like swinging a greathammer, not a feather like it did in Code Vein and it was so easy that Yakumo, an AI companion, could solo all the bosses on his own
So no, Souls games having european inspirations is not the reason CV got 7/10, Code Vein is
What i agree with you on is Vanguard Bandits, i don't even like mechas and i think it is an amazing game
Do not believe in critics, they knew if a game have the potential to destroy that "mama mia" "pikapika" "an elf who cannot talk" and that "repetitive jumping"😂
I play code vein and the game is at least 9/10 for me. The problems is people say this game is soulslike which it isnt and the steam even tag the game as soulslike. If the game was soulslike then the rating at most would be 7 or 6.5/10. You would be disappoint if you expect this game as dark souls clone. The proper genre for this game would be action rpg like god eater. Fortunately im open minded and treat this game as god eater clone which i enjoy. Solid 9.5/10 for action rpg but 6.5/10 for soulslike genre.
Tbh, I feel like these "professional" critics that review games have no clue how to review games. Like it's very easy to draw comparisons from one said review game with another established game.
I usually like lookin at steam reviews and other user reviews. Because not always but sometimes, people do compare say said JRPG with Final Fantasy, they usually only do minimal comparisons but people tend to see specific game as their own entity.
Like Suikoden 2 was not considered great when it came out but I'm sure it's way different now.
Star Ocean 6 probably took most of its hits off of quality issues. It was clearly not robust in that category and it came out at a time when that was a HUGE issue in the gaming world, because of an over-abundance of severely bad/scuffed releases, so right from the start, people were suspicious of it being yet another one of those. (Unfortunately, people tend to overcompensate when they feel like they've been slighted and will be eager to call out anticipated failures to prove they're too smart to get fooled again.)
Other than that, I find that the hype around some games like Persona 5 being a breakout hit tends to limit what people think of as a 'good' story, and yeah, there are certain themes and character types that people label as signs of lower quality, and looks can definitely be a factor. (That can be its own criticism, of course, but shouldn't be a defining factor.) I'm sure plenty of people overlooked Raymond's effectiveness as a protagonist for his looks, and/or never looked past Laeticia's polite and often deliberately sweet and conciliatory speech to notice just how shrewd she is.
Game journalism is pretty hard to respect most of the time, unless they're simply providing unbiased news. Try not to take it too personally when these journalists have no sense of taste.
I played Star Ocean Divine Force on PlayStation Plus and I didn't understand what people didn't like about it this is why I don't listen to people when it comes to video games anymore.
About to go buy Diofield Chronicle right now
I really want to get into the Growlanser series whats a good starting point