 A few years ago, I made a video going over a few games that were worth a second chance despite a bad first impression. For example, it covered stuff like Super Ghouls and Ghost, which was way too difficult for a lot of people to get into, Breath of Fire 2, which had a lot of grinding early on, and Earthbound, which is just plain weird. I'd like to pick up that train of thought again because there are still a lot of worthwhile games out there that can be difficult to get into, either due to a steep learning curve, no explanation as to what to do or how to do it, or maybe the game is just too damn hard. Or maybe it's all three of those things, like 7th Saga, yes this is easily the toughest RPG on the SNES and one of the hardest games on the system period, but this game has a ton of redeeming qualities. The world you explore is absolutely huge, you have 6 rivals that are working in real time toward the same goals you are, and you run into them here and there, you can even have them join your party, or in many cases you'll eventually fight them. As you recover runes you gain new abilities like teleporting between towns which makes travel easier so you don't have to run into two dozen random battles anywhere you go. The thing to remember is this, block first then attack, otherwise you're gonna die a lot. Well you're probably gonna die a lot anyway, but I'm just saying, don't let that discourage you because there isn't another Super Nintendo game that offers what 7th Saga does, it's open world craziness where anything can happen. I could also nominate an entire category of games, the quote-unquote cinematic platformers like Out of This World, Flashback, and Blackthorn in particular, which I think is the best of the bunch. When you see a 2D action game like this with a dude with a shotgun, many people's first instinct is to go all contra and treat it like a run and gun game, but yeah as you can see that's not how these games work. I understand some people don't like the slow paced games like Blackthorn lock you into, it's one of those games where you have to play by its rules, but Blackthorn is well designed and allows you to get into a good rhythm of dodging and shooting, plus the music and atmosphere here is really well done. This is a well made game that represents its genre very well, so if you've ever wanted to get into a game like this, Blackthorn is the way to go. Here's a game I looked at not too long ago that helped inspire this video, it's Big Sky Trooper from LucasArts, a classic case of a game where you get started, wander around, and then say, what the hell do I do in this game? First you visit a planet via the Skyway map, you blow up all the slugs in an asteroid style mini game, then you stand over this trapped door on the floor, drop down to the planet's surface and blow up all the slugs there too. You come back up, go to the viewport, and put out a satellite relay, rinse and repeat, and do the same thing at the next planet until you're given a new mission. In the meantime, you can upgrade your weapons and your suit, while rescuing prisoners and piecing together a strange story. Big Sky Trooper is kind of a weird one, but it's well worth checking out if you're looking for something kind of off the wall. It can be hard to get into at first, but once you do, you'll be glad you did. Another game like that is Uncharted Water's New Horizons. This game is intimidating at first with all the menus and text and six different characters to pick from and tons of people to talk to and places to travel to. It can be broken down pretty simply, though. What's the fastest way to accomplish your character's goals? Well, money certainly wouldn't hurt, right? And the game offers a few different ways to earn money, whether it's gambling, buying stuff at one port and selling it at another, or simply stealing it from another ship. Once you get money, you can recruit a crew and upgrade your ship or even buy a bunch of ships. And from there, your reputation grows, and before you know it, you're well known in several different countries for better or for worse. New Horizons can be slow to start, but once this game sinks its claws into you, it's a tough game to put down. New Horizons developer Koei had another game that's kind of in the same vein. It's In Nindo, Way of the Ninja. Only this game is much more of a traditional role-playing game. You play as a ninja seeking revenge for your village getting destroyed, so all the usual RPG stuff is here, like leveling up, finding weapons and equipment, but in order to proceed with the game's story, you need to earn allies who will fight alongside you. That's what makes this game worth checking out. Winning people over can be tough in anything as possible. You can get ambushed, you can say hi to a dude at a tea house, and he'll challenge you to a fight on the spot, stuff like that. Yeah, the graphics here aren't the greatest and can be pretty off-putting, but I'm just saying, In Nindo, Way of the Ninja does have the same kind of open-world unpredictability that 7th Saga does, so if that sounds interesting, then this is worth a playthrough too. Weapon Lord is a strange one-on-one fighting game. I mean, just look at these backgrounds, and these sprites look insane, and the amount of blood here rivals stuff like Mortal Kombat. The problem with this game is that it doesn't really play like any other fighting game. It's not a Street Fighter clone, and it has a completely different rhythm from stuff like Killer Instinct. It's an island unto itself, and that makes it a bit inaccessible, especially without a manual or a move list or a walkthrough. There's a parrying system here, there's weapons and moves that can specifically break weapons, a deep combo system, and tons upon tons of special moves. It's just that, like Mortal Kombat, you really need a move list and some practice in order to get used to the timing. All I'm saying is that don't dismiss Weapon Lord as being too difficult. It's just a different style of fighting game, the same way Blackthorn is a different style of action platformer, and if you're able to learn the moves and learn the timing of Weapon Lord, it's a rewarding playthrough because there's not another fighting game like this on any other 16-bit system. Last, there's Evo. Yeah, it's that weird game where you start out as this little fish thing, you eat other creatures and level up, and you get to pick and choose what part of yourself you'd like to improve, jaws, body, tail, and so on. The big downside of this game is that it's very grind-heavy, and the way you grind isn't all that interesting, but I think this game is a perfect example of something that would be best experienced on an emulator where you can utilize multiple save states. That way, you can save when you level up, pick something to upgrade, or maybe go back to that save state and upgrade something else instead, just to play around and see what the advantages are for each part of your character's body. That saves tons of time while maintaining the game's intended replay value. It's just a different way to approach an old game. Alright, I hope this was at least somewhat useful, and maybe you'll give one or two of these games another chance, and maybe look at them in a different light. And I want to thank you for watching, and I hope you have a good rest of your day.