Game:

Chaos Wars (2006)

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Chaos sucks. Anyone who has dealt with Chaos can attest to this. It's highly disruptive and lame, unless its real name is "Jack Garland"... oh, and "Chaos Wars" is a thing too I suppose. If you don't know about this game, you wouldn't be alone; the story behind this one is actually kinda interesting and most who have experienced it have never played it but have come across it through parody videos and memes as it has, without question, one of the most unintentionally funny and screwed up English or "Engrish" localizations of all time. Besides the dub being "bad", it probably stands out so much due to the sheer amount of spoken dialogue.

Originally released in 2006 by none other than the semi-notorious folks at Idea Factory, it's a rather interesting game on paper, serving as IF's first proper crossover title (predating PS3's "Cross Edge" and in-house crossovers like "Spectral vs Generation") featuring characters from IF, Atlus, Aruze, Red Entertainment and ASCII Media Works (featuring the obscure mascot from Dengeki PlayStation). The game went under the radar for many as it never got a PAL release and was sold as a Gamestop Exclusive in the states and published by O~3 Entertainment as their "swansong". However, O~3 Entertainment never localized a game of this scope (mostly dabbling in Milestone shooters and famous for the PS2/Gamecube version of "Alien Hominid") and translating and understanding the game was a herculean task for them. The game was delayed numerous times until it was ultimately released two years later in 2008. However, before they could even localize the game, they were required to include English voice tracks as part of the agreement with Sony, and as O~3 Entertainment were already struggling financially at this point, much of the cast was presented by the CEO of O~3's friends and family to comical results. They cancelled all future projects and went bankrupt the same year.

Before I go any further, I will point out three things:

YOU CAN SWITCH THE VOICES TO JAPANESE.
YOU CAN MUTE THEM ENTIRELY IF YOU WANT.
THE PLOT IS MOSTLY ISEKAI GIBBERISH AND KINDA HILARIOUS WITH MANY TYPOS AND WON'T BE ADDRESSED TO FOCUS ON MORE IMPORTANT THINGS.

That being the case, the game is still not particularly good, but this is for other reasons. At its core, CW is a strategy game that is often considered a barebones version of the output from Nippon Ichi's "Disgaea" and, more specifically, "Phantom Brave" series, and while this is technically fair, it was not trying to be those games. However, it is actually a reskinned version of a game we never got in English, IF's "Rebirth Moon", IF's first "Type Zero" game from 2005. The irony is that "Rebirth Moon" has earned the "kusoge" (crap game) title in certain parts of the Japanese web, but this game apes it and is inferior at the same time. This is to say that I somewhat enjoyed RM and it was more readily ambitious (specifically the Xbox 360 version) than this game but is, like most IF games, as ambiguous as it wants with obtuse elements galore. CW is the same, albeit slightly easier to play and the closest we'll probably officially get to RM in English, so buying and playing it after all this time is a little surreal.

Movement is not grid-based but radial like Phantom Brave. Stats are gained by attacking and using magic (there is no experience system, so it is similar to the "SaGa" games) and skills are primarily learned through the "Skill Shift" system. You can buy skills in the shop, but the idea is to buy basic skills and let them transform into other skills, which happens when you use a skill during combat. A skill will randomly "shift" into another skill. You then keep the ones you like with the "LOCK" system and use it forever or put it away for use later. You gain weapon and magic proficiency by using the same weapon a lot and using any magic. The higher your weapon level, the more advanced skills you can obtain through skill shift. Later on, you can strengthen gear through synthesis, go on various missions, and grind for drops based on rank. Almost all these things are in RM, but CW differs in two major ways: character activation + skill types and combos. As this is a crossover game, there are TONS of characters to find (50 of them, and up to 45 max in a single playthrough) and some of these characters bring skills from their respective series (such as the Judgment Ring from "Shadow Hearts", Avoidance from "Shinsengumi Gunrou-den", Demolitions from "Gungrave", etc.). Combos are done between party members here (up to five) while in RM, each individual character could do a series of long combos.

Parts of the GUI and numerous effects were also lifted wholesale from RM (but less detailed) and even the game's "Realize" (Weapon Awakening System) is lifted from RM. The music is a little better and the characters are a fun nod, but it's not their best work. There's assorted footage of 33% of the game, more info to follow in the comments.