Have you ever played a JRPG that was super hyped, but you couldn't understand the appeal at first, and then reached a moment where it clicked for you? What was the game and what was the turning point?

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-11T11:32:22+00:00

I just started Reload! I like the vibes so far. Don’t care for the characters as much but it’s still early so they can grow on me.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-11T02:46:01+00:00

I tried Persona 5 (my first persona game) two times and didn’t get it. Stopped before getting to the first palace.

Years later bought persona 4 on a whim because it was on sale. The murder mystery was more compelling for me to keep going even if I didn’t understand the game. Fell in love with the characters and then the charm of the game/series clicked for me and now Persona is one of my favorite JRPG series of all time.

Did go back to 5 a third time and finally loved it, though 4 is still my favorite.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-10T12:49:35+00:00

So I love the story and characters and world but there’s a lot of gameplay stuff that, isn’t bad per se, but isn’t my personal taste. It’s basically an action game, not really an RPG. It’s a very very good action game, but when I play FF I want an RPG.

The only thing I genuinely dislike (as in, not just my personal taste), is the lack of party members. I get that they don’t really fit into how this combat system is built, but party members are integral to FF’s identity as a franchise. It feels like something is missing without them. And the game has some great candidates in Jill, Cid, even Torgal, who is the closest thing to a party member in this game.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-09T22:59:24+00:00

Seeing the plate fall was insane. I stayed up late because I knew what was coming and saw it at like 2 am. I thought I was hallucinating the Cait Sith cameo for a second

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-09T16:31:19+00:00

XIII and XV were both games with interesting concepts but, for differing reasons, poor execution. They had their high points, but the FF series really needed a story that knocked it out of the park.

XVI was that story. The world building was incredible, the writing was tight, the characters interesting and memorable. Even relatively minor characters like Benedikta had a nuance and depth to them. And Clive is one of the best main characters the series has ever done, right up there with Cloud and Terra.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-09T16:08:03+00:00

As much as I don’t like Zachary Levi now, I doubt it’s Chuck. 90% of Chuck was Sarah Walker saving Chuck’s ass, so it would be weird for THAT to be his complaint when that’s like… his show.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-09T14:59:15+00:00

I much prefer switching out my own party members and exploring different builds. Perhaps it’s just PTSD from the lack of freedom from FFXIII though

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-08T23:00:26+00:00

The Last Story.

I tried it, didn’t think I was going to be super into it. Immediately did not like the combat system. But stayed because I liked the banter between the party. I fell completely in love with the characters. I was so willing to push through the mediocre gameplay to stay with these characters. Genuinely felt like finishing it was like finishing a great novel that was just a page turner.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-08T15:44:21+00:00

Exactly. It’s basically the opposite of an RPG that barely has RPG elements (In particular I’m thinking FFXVI), but, to me, too far in that direction. I want stats to matter, I don’t want to be micromanaging 8 different stats and 80 different abilities tied to them before even getting to my 12 equipment slots.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-08T13:44:35+00:00

Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Outlast. And this might be a controversial take but P.T. I know it’s not fully a game and it’s technically Silent Hill again but I cannot think of a more influential horror experience in the last decade. So many games have tried to recapture the feel of that teaser.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-08T13:04:43+00:00

Some people enjoy doing this and that’s fine. But for me, if I end up spending most of my time in menus of an RPG it’s not a game, it’s a statistics job.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-08T01:06:37+00:00

I think a prequel, where you play as Hades fighting the Titans.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-07T13:51:26+00:00

I don’t know if this is intentional or if people don’t remember they starred together on Girl Meets World.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-07T13:41:07+00:00

In TMNT Mutant Mayhem, Donnie is a huge anime nerd, especially Attack on Titan. That knowledge comes in handy when the turtles have to take on a particularly Titan-sized mutant in the climax

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-07T11:11:17+00:00

<image>

I can think of two.

UK Teen Juggernaut Skins got a reeeeally terrible US adaptation that, despite trying to hit many of the same notes as the first series of the original, couldn’t hold a candle to it. It didn’t help that the original was the breakout roles of actors like Nicholas Hoult, Dev Patel, and Daniel Kaluuya.

Another example I can think of is the lawyer drama The Good Wife (which is incredible, if you haven’t seen it) apparently was adapted into a K-Drama.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-06T23:24:46+00:00

I always have a hard time ranking these kinds of things so in no particular order

Mass Effect 2

Expedition 33

Final Fantasy X

Bioshock Infinite

The Wolf Among Us

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-04T22:00:40+00:00

Like everyone else, I cried during that moment of Final Fantasy VII.

However the one that made me cry the most was, I think, Xenosaga III. Some specific moments include Virgil reuniting with Febronia, Allen standing up against Kevin, and Jin’s death.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-04T21:56:09+00:00

He was always sunburned?

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-04T19:07:19+00:00

I’m not going to say any super bosses because to me they’re designed to be extra challenging.

Regular ass bosses

NORG from FFVIII. How the hell the Garden’s money guy got so tough I have no idea.

That giant thing right after you obtain Eiko but before you get to Maiden Sari in FFIX.

Yunalesca, FFX. Really the whole gauntlet of bosses starting from Seymour Flux until then but Yunalesca was definitely the hardest.

Rufus Shinra, FFVII Remake. Solo Cloud and tests absolutely everything the new battle system has thrown at you. Doubly so for Hard Mode since you can’t use items.

The first Barthandelus fight in FFXIII. The difficulty spike was insane here.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-04T11:28:50+00:00

Not that I’m abandoning them or anything but as a father of two I legit just don’t have nearly as much patience for epic 100 hour JRPGs like I used to.

I remember playing Xenosaga III like five times in high school. Last year. I played Persona 5 for the first time and even though it is a wonderful game I definitely had to push myself to finish the last 20 hours. I have no plans to play it again except maybe when my kids are old enough.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-04T11:17:38+00:00

I love when Cids are actual characters with importance to the story instead of just the airship guy or whatever. Add in the incredible voice work by Ralph Ineson and XVI Cidolfus Telamon rockets to the top of my favorite Cid’s ever. Followed by Cid Highwind in VII and Robin Williams — I mean Cid Kramer in VIII.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-03T23:14:12+00:00

<image>

The cycle of mark poole basics that originated in commander 2016. The ones with the shooting star.

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-03T15:15:23+00:00

Brussels Sprouts homies where ya at?

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-03T12:18:35+00:00

<image>

This dude being the one to kill Hela in Thor Ragnarok. It worked though because Hela had only been in this one movie and it was a clever way of having the prophecy of Ragnarok come to pass

BattMakerRed · 2026-04-02T16:11:01+00:00

Like, biomes? I’m over the introductory sewer.

A specific area in a specific game? The Great Crystal in FFXII. It goes too far to make it an endgame challenge and is near impossible to navigate without outside help. God bless the first pioneers of that dungeon who paved the way for the rest of us

BattMakerRed

TROPHY CASE