alienjesus wrote:These threads always just make me roll my eyes and wish that gamers weren't so damn negative all the time.
The vast majority of the games on here are fine games, and even if you don't like them youself, don't deserve to be anywhere near a 'worst JRPG list'. The fact that Final Fantasy, Tales, Golden Sun and others are being bought up is a joke.
People need to learn the difference between something being bad and something not being to their tastes.
Considering this came after my post, I feel like it's aimed at me.
It should be noted that, in the four games I mentioned in my last post, Star Ocean Till the End of Time was the highest rated by critics with a Metacritic score of 80%. I based my inclusion on personal experience and the experiences of people around me, none of whom enjoyed it. That said, is it really the "worst" JRPG? No, probably not, despite my inability to find anyone who enjoyed it outside of this forum...but that's where the other titles I picked out do start coming in.
Shining Force EXA has a Metacritic score of 64. Arc the Lad: End of Darkness has a Metacritic score of 59. Last Rebellion has a Metacritic score of 44. Considering the debates we have on how critics skew towards higher ratings, it should be telling that these games are quite lacking. There are others mentioned in this thread that also have lower scores, even if I've personally enjoyed them. Case in point, I actually like Ephemeral Fantasia, but the Metacritic score is 48.
Yes, some of what we have nominated is subjective, and a lot is based on personal experience and its limitations(heck, some of the guys here might only have played Golden Sun and FF7, so the "worst" they have played is limited between those two choices). What ultimately matters is our explanations for why we consider one game the "worst" over another. What does 'X' game do that grates on our nerves or makes it considerably weaker when compared to 'Y' game? And since none of us have played every JRPG in existence, what we consider to be bad might be highly restricted in comparison to the rest of what we have played.
A list of worst JRPGs is not the same as a list of poorly designed JRPGs. Worst can be the worst we have played, but the worst we have played might still be considered excellent overall.