Atlus' Weird Dating Sim RPG | Thousand Arms (1998) Retrospective | Gaming Through the Years

Thousand Arms is one of the strangest RPGs to come out of the late ‘90s, and one that’s largely been forgotten. Mixing dating sim elements with traditional turn-based combat, it’s a game full of bold ideas and surprising charm. In this retrospective, I discuss how sometimes a flawed experiment is more interesting than a safe success.

Time codes:
0:00 - Last Time on the Channel...
0:55 - Atlus & the History of Dating Sims
5:00 - Dating & Forging
9:07 - The Logic of it All
12:54 - The Story
16:16 - Tone, Humor, & Localization Changes
25:45 - Game Flow & Exploration
27:33 - The Battle System
30:22 - What I Think Works (and What Doesn't)
34:21 - The Overall Vibe
39:27 - Conclusion

Endcard Artwork by OcaRockaRina (Twitter)

Shin Megami Tensei, Revelations: Persona, Thousand Arms, Persona 3 © 1992, 1996, 1998, 2006 Atlus
Tokimeki Memorial, Metal Gear Solid © 1994, 1998 Konami
Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy X © 1991, 2001 Square
Resident Evil 2 © 1996 Capcom

Dragon Ball Z © 1989 Shueisha, Toei Animation
Digimon Adventure © 1999 Bandai, Toei Animation
Pokémon: Indigo League © 1997 Nintendo, OLM Inc.

Featuring Music by:
Ayumi Hamasaki
Kazuhito Kikuchi
Daisuke Miyachi
Atlus Sound Team
Bentley Jones

This video exists for the sake of analysis and review and is thus protected under Fair Use.