The Entire History of Japanese RPGs

JRPGs have come a long way

0:00 - Introduction
6:30 - The first JRPG?
19:15 - The 8-bit era
43:52 - The 16-bit era
1:12:48 - 5th console gen
1:48:11 - 6th console gen
2:08:59 - The HD era
2:31:33 - The Modern era
2:44:53 - Conclusion

Dates shown on screen are based on first (i.e. Japanese) release.

[Unquestionable]

Okay never watched any of your content before this and honestly seeing the title it felt like it was a massive undertaking that was overselling the coverage. And here I am an hour in and have to stop and comment that this is a damn fine video and definitely going to have to me checking out the rest of the channel. Yeah you very much can't go over every single title in existence but have some excellent highlights and, more importantly, context of how the gaming landscape and genre were changing.

[Ryadic]

Lol, LITERALLY watched your history of RPGs the other day and you mentioned JRPGs and that you would have to do a separate video on it and probably won't. I was pretty upset hearing that. Happy to see this. I'll give it a watch later.

[ArisuBeloved]

Um, IDK when this became a feature but the description now has a "People mentioned" section when you click show more and one person there stands out from the rest LOL.

[PewPew_McPewster]

It's really difficult to overstate how pivotal and important 2017 was as a renaissance for JRPGs. Dragon Quest and Persona proved that there was still demand for turn based games, while Ys, Xenoblade and Nier proved that experimenting with action and realtime could yield success. We ate so much shit in the jump to HD but now that studios had stabilised, JRPGs really came back swinging hard.

I think in recent years, 2024 is the only one to come close to 2017 for JRPGs. Possibly 2022 as well cuz of XC3 and Star Ocean 6. New Star Ocean and new Seiken Densetsu (and the general quality of both) really indicates the amazing health of our genre.

[cherryhazard]

Your content is honestly some of the best in this platform, you have no idea how much joy I got to see that you've posted! Can't wait to watch!

[DoubleSpy]

I very much appreciate the cadence in which you narrate. Very well thought out and easy to follow. Cheers!

[MrGamesaregreat]

California is in Japan if you live in the Ace Attorney world

[jmporkbob]

So, minor correction: the Lunar series was not actually made by Game Arts, but only published by them (in Japan). Studio Alex was the name of the Lunar developers, and they were yet another team who made their exodus from Nihon Falcom in the late 80s. Disagreements about the publishing of the Lunar series resulted in Studio Alex attempting to sue Game Arts, but they would ultimately lose the case which led to them going bankrupt. At that point, Game Arts picked up the Lunar IP and made the catastrophic Lunar Dragon Song, and the series was put to rest after that (aside from ports and remakes).

[josephfallon]

Some of the best long form content on YouTube. Much love.

[wolfgangjost]

The intro section that attempts a definition, only to stumble closer and closer to the realization that each and all definitions either include things one does not want to include, or exclude others that surely cannot be excluded, is slowly becoming my favorite part of NeverKnowsBest videos.

[guyk]

The entire history of Japanese RPGs? Thank you, NeverKnowsBest.

[jmh]

I remember when you said you wouldn't do this, and I'm really glad you changed your mind. It's easy to forget what Persona 5 meant for the genre, so many years removed from it and so many spinoffs and gacha collabs down the timeline that a lot of us are jaded about it, it was a truly historical moment in gaming. The end of the modern era chapter, listing down the sheer number of not just releases but GOOD releases brought a single tear to my eye. What a tale you've woven.

[Taikomo]

Weird to claim that Final Fantasy 3 was the game that moved the series away form more drawn-out dungeons, when that game has perhaps the most drawn-out dungeons of the entire series. The final dungeon in particular has no competition in the entire series, and almost the entire genre.

[ChaoticMeatballTV]

Scott the Woz and Videogamedunkey, eat your heart out. JRPGs are peak. I'd rather play the most obtuse and confusing JRPG over pretty much any genre that isn't a platformer.

(No shade to those guys, I just don't get how there are people who don't see the appeal of a long-lasting story and the concept of "number go up")

[Arckke]

Even though I've drifted away from the genre for years now, JRPGs will always feel like home. Thanks for the video NKB.

[ACameronUK]

Really great point you make about RPG’s and anime. Here in England there was 0 anime in the mainstream during the late 90’s 🤷‍♂️ when people ask what was the first anime you ever saw I have to say FFVII. It was the first piece of Japanese media most people I knew ever saw full stop. All the story elements in it that I now recognise of tropes of the genre seemed amazingly new and exciting at the time. There really was nothing else like it. The idea of a video game that took 60+ hrs to finish would have been completely unimaginable here just the year before, as console kids we just didn’t see video games capable of telling stories like that.

[SimplyMavAgain]

while i can't support this channel on patreon, i again want to appreciate what you've done with this channel ever since the gothic video. I love the direction you've taken this in as every video of yours has been incredibly fascinating

[uhuhyesm]

Dude, I just really want to say I love your content immensely. Keep it up.

[perpetualbloom]

Genuinely get excited when I see a new video drop from you, keep up the good work.

[Skullybot]

Another banger by the long form GOAT. Hope you are having a good weekend man!