160 RPGs Later, These 10 Aren’t Worth It!

I played over 160 retro RPGs this year for YouTube, and not all of them were worth the time. Here are 10 RPGs I found the most frustrating, disappointing, or difficult to recommend, despite their ideas, ambition, or reputation. These aren’t necessarily the worst games ever made, but they are the ones that actively worked against my enjoyment through clunky mechanics, brutal difficulty, technical issues, or design choices that just didn’t hold up. I tend to focus on what RPGs do right, but part of loving the genre is being honest about when things miss the mark. If you’re short on time, money, or patience, these are the games I’d suggest skipping—or at least approaching with caution. If you’ve played any of these and had a different experience, I genuinely want to hear it. Thoughtful disagreement is half the fun of talking about RPGs! Thanks for watching, and if you enjoy long-form, reflective discussions on retro RPGs, game design, and genre history, consider subbing! Timestamps 00:00 – Intro 00:34 – Monster Seed (PS1) 05:06 – Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth (PS1) 10:52 – Heimdall (Sega CD) 15:22 – The 7th Saga (SNES) 17:06 – Record of the Lodoss War (Dreamcast) 22:30 – Sudeki (Xbox) 28:05 – Aidyn Chronicles: The First Mage (N64) 35:51 – Might and Magic: Secret of the Inner Sanctum (NES) 42:09 – Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (DS) 49:10 – Traysia (Genesis)