Review by Matt S. The original Atelier Rorona was an important game, but it was a raw one. It set up the two subsequent sequels (Atelier Totori and Atelier Meruru), and provided the foundations which would also inform the later Dusk trilogy (Atelier Ayesha and Atelier Escha & Logy are…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Battle Princess of Arcadias is what happens when a Japanese developer decides to poke fun at the role of the princess in traditional fairy tales. Coming to us from Nippon Ichi, it’s an attempt by the developer/ publisher to break away from its previous focus on…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Digital Devil Saga has long been the forgotten child of the Shin Megami Tensei franchise. Abstract, cold, and remorselessly dark, this effort by Atlus was supposedly meant to be an accessible game in a franchise notorious for not being accessible at all. From that perspective I’m…
Read MoreReview by Nick H. Dating all the way back to 1990, Final Fantasy III helped to take the storyline and character progression of the series further than ever before. I had always enjoyed the first two Final Fantasy games, but their stories were sparse, relying more on conversations with random…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. There is a classical beauty about Dragon Quest games. Square Enix’s venerable franchise has remained resolutely traditional throughout its long history, even as its stablemate, Final Fantasy, has taken some risks and offended some people in the process. Because the Dragon Quest games have always adhered…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I cannot believe that anyone would take a look at the Persona series, which has surely been one of the most difficult set of JRPGs to create, and think that it was a good idea to copy the theme of those games wholesale. When I say…
Read MoreReview by Pierre-Yves L. Years ago there was an interesting game that was light and fun and had completely taken me by surprise with the depth and emotions that the story brought to me. The game in question was Whisper of a Rose from Rose Portal Games which is the…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Even though the iPad and other mobile devices should be perfect for tactics gaming, we haven’t seen that many Japanese tactics games on the platform. There’s Spectral Souls and a Final Fantasy Tactics port, but there aren’t any new tactics JRPGs coming to the iPad. This…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Yoko Taro, the mind behind the Drakengard series (and, of course, Nier, which is all but a Drakengard game), is one of the industry’s true mavericks. He seems to delight in confounding expectations and delivering games that are thematically unique and remorselessly intense. Drakengard 3 is…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. The challenge that the developer of Mugen Souls Z, Compile Heart, was always going to face was in coming up with a sequel that succeeded in appealing to the same people that enjoyed the original. Mugen Souls was a game that was all about extremes; it…
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