Review by Matt S. The Etrian Odyssey series of dungeon crawlers, which has been kicking around on Nintendo handhelds since back with the original on the Nintendo DS, faces something of a problem for its future. These are rare games that absolutely have to be played across two screens and could…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Idea Factory games are always smarter than people give them credit for. People see the fan service (which is always copious), but then can’t look past that. It becomes the defining characteristic of the game to them, and that’s disappointing, because there’s always much more to…
Read MoreReview by Ginny W. Fairy Fencer F became an indelible part of the Compile Heart stable upon its original release back on the PlayStation 3. Riffing off the familiar system from Hyperdimension Neptunia and adding its own stylised spin to it, the title has since been remastered for the Switch…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I’ll start this review with a confession: Final Fantasy VIII is one of my favourite games ever. Not Final Fantasy VII. Not Final Fantasy IX. Those are both perfectly fine, but it’s the story of Squall, Rinoa, and the gang (especially Selphie, the original waifu <3)…
Read MoreFeature by Harvard L. The Tales series is by many regards Bandai Namco’s answer to Square Enix’s Final Fantasy. It’s a JRPG series with epic scope and a long line of mainstream titles connected more by common elements than plot or character, which is beloved by its hardcore Japanese fans,…
Read MoreNews by Matt S. Finally! Trails of Cold Steel 1 & 2, on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita were two of the finest JRPGs that have been produced in recent memory. It might not be a series with the mainstream awareness of some others, but both games are genuinely…
Read MoreList by Matt S. Whether it be because of licensing, a developer going out of business, or the industry simply moving on, every generation there are a lot of games that end up “lost” – the original games might be available in some form or another, but the changes of…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Bandai Namco’s Tales franchise has always been good at telling classical JRPG stories, using classical JRPG tropes. From Tales of Phantasia right back in 1995, though to the most recent, Tales of Berseria, released in 2016, Bandai has never strayed too far from the established path in…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. Tales of Vesperia is the first major JRPG release for 2019. I’ve always had a complex relationship with the Tales series for its combat, so in this video I take a short look at the combat system – what I enjoy, and what frustrates me. Be…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I never had the opportunity to play The Last Remnant on its initial release in 2008. It was a console exclusive on Xbox 360, and I didn’t spend much time playing that console at all. I’m so glad that for the remaster Square Enix brought it…
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