A lot of fans feel the genre was stronger in the ’80s and ’90s, but not every older game holds up today. While some JRPGs were once considered classics, many haven’t aged well.
While games like Pokémon Red & Blue were groundbreaking for role-playing games, their older features, glitches, and other problems haven’t aged well. Newer games have built on their ideas and improved upon them, making a return to the originals less appealing.
Gamers Need to Admit That Pokémon Red & Blue Have Aged Badly
Pokémon Red and Blue launched a hugely popular gaming franchise, and many players still enjoy exploring the Kanto region. However, because Dark and Steel type Pokémon weren’t introduced until the later games, Gold and Silver, the original versions have some imbalances. Plus, limited inventory space forces players to frequently discard items.
Despite its strengths, the biggest problem with the original Red & Blue games was probably the glitches. While some, like the item duplication bug, actually helped players, others could freeze the game completely. Luckily, excellent remakes of Red & Blue exist, and Gold & Silver even lets you explore the entire Kanto region, giving modern players much better ways to experience the game than playing the originals.
Beyond the Beyond Is One of the Most Dated PS1 RPGs
The original PlayStation wasn’t immediately known for great Japanese role-playing games, or JRPGs. When Beyond the Beyond came out in 1995, it was the first JRPG many Western players experienced, and unfortunately, it didn’t make a good impression. While frequent random battles were annoying, Beyond the Beyond had even more serious flaws.
For a strange design choice, the game Beyond the Beyond allowed players to sell essential items, which could unintentionally lock them out of progress without them even knowing. Adding to the difficulty, save points were very far apart, meaning even careful players could quickly lose a significant amount of progress.
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones Needs a Remake
The Sacred Stones is a divisive title among Fire Emblem players, largely because many find it too simple. While some enjoy its more forgiving gameplay, the game is also plagued by bugs that can detract from the overall experience.
Honestly, playing this game can be super frustrating. Sometimes the animations just lock up, and you’re forced to replay whole chapters! There’s even this weird glitch where you can somehow control the enemy units, which sounds cool, but it often crashes the game. It makes me wish Nintendo would remake some of the older titles like they did with Gaiden. The Sacred Stones especially deserves a remake – it’s a classic!
Golden Sun Has Encounters Every 3 Steps
People still love the Golden Sun games, and for good reason. The way you can play with different elemental classes is really enjoyable, and the puzzles keep the gameplay fresh. However, the original Golden Sun has one major problem: you encounter enemies far too often, which can be frustrating.
Players can reduce the frustration of frequent battles by either purchasing Sacred Feathers or learning the Avoid ability. Without these options, however, they’re forced to fight enemies constantly. Golden Sun is known for its random encounters happening very often – sometimes every few steps – which can quickly become repetitive and annoying.
Lufia and the Fortress of Doom Is a Slog
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals remains a fantastic game and is a standout title. However, the original, Lufia and the Fortress of Doom, hasn’t held up as well over time.
The original Lufia game is incredibly slow, making even simple tasks feel frustrating. It also has random battles happen far too often, a common issue with games from that time. This creates a feeling of struggling against the game itself, and unfortunately, that makes Lufia hard to recommend to modern players.
Secret of Mana Has a Terrible Combat System
Secret of Mana was the game that first brought many players into the Mana series, but looking back, it hasn’t held up very well. The action-based battles feel outdated, with slow and awkward fighting, and a stamina system that drags out each encounter.
Although a 3D version of Secret of Mana exists, it doesn’t resolve all the original game’s problems, including the frustratingly inaccurate hit detection. Unfortunately, it appears the best way to experience Secret of Mana is still by playing the original version from 1993.
The Legend of Dragoon Is Way Too Slow
When The Legend of Dragoon was released for the PlayStation, Japanese role-playing games, or JRPGs, were incredibly popular. Final Fantasy VII had been a huge hit, and players were eager for similar games. This might have led people to not notice some of the issues with The Legend of Dragoon.
While The Legend of Dragoon has a generally okay battle system, it’s bogged down by slow transitions and lengthy animations that can become frustrating. The story is adequate, though it doesn’t reach the heights of the most memorable JRPGs from the PlayStation 1 era. Some players have defended it, but it remains a challenging game to fully enjoy.
Breath of Fire II Has a Ridiculously High Encounter Rate
The Breath of Fire series is a beloved classic in the JRPG world, and fans are hoping for a new installment. While the second game is generally well-regarded, it does have a few frustrating issues. Players often struggle with a very high rate of random battles, particularly towards the end, and the game requires a lot of repetitive travel between locations without any way to quickly move around.
Perhaps the biggest issue is that players can accidentally make it impossible to finish the game. If you’re not strong enough at a certain point in Breath of Fire II, you might be left with only one character who can’t overcome the obstacles. Other games in the Breath of Fire series have aged much more gracefully than this one.
The 7th Saga Is Artificially Difficult
Although the original Japanese version of The 7th Saga remains enjoyable, the North American version is considerably harder. During the game’s translation for Western audiences, enemy stats were significantly boosted, and player abilities were weakened, creating an unbalanced and frustrating experience.
Honestly, playing this game feels like a total grind. There are plenty of tough games on the Super Nintendo, but The 7th Saga just isn’t fun because it’s so unbalanced. The challenges aren’t rewarding, they’re just frustrating, and sometimes it feels like you can’t even win. It’s a real slog to get through, and frankly, it’s more annoying than enjoyable.
Lunar: Dragon Song Has Horrible Microphone Mechanics
After more than ten years, Lunar: Dragon Song marked the return of the Lunar series, and fans were eager to play it. Being one of the first games for the Nintendo DS, the developers aimed to showcase what the handheld could do.
This decision turned out to be a mistake. The game Lunar: Dragon Song uses the DS microphone for commands, but blowing into it makes your team run away from fights. This makes playing outdoors impossible, and even a slight breeze through an open window can cause problems.
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2026-02-07 22:14