For people who enjoyed the vibes of Monster Hunter, but found the challenging, highly technical action combat to be overwhelming, Capcom came up with the Monster Hunter Stories series. The first two were enjoyable, but with Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, Capcom has landed on something really special indeed. It also feels like Capcom’s response to criticism that has…
The game that got me looking at Odencat was Fishing Paradiso, which was an absolute pleasure to review many, many moons ago. Now, the Japanese developer has announced that its acclaimed 2023 RPG Meg’s Monster will launch on smartphones this May, with pre-registration available on both the App Store and…
Another Eden Begins is a time-travelling turn-based JRPG whose development is being…
Dragon Quest VII did need a reimagining. I don’t say this as…
Back in 2019, Koei Tecmo hit it big with Atelier Ryza, and the long-running series went from being one of the most beloved niche properties to being something that suddenly had upward mobility in sales and prominence. Not quite in the leagues of Final Fantasy, Tales, Dragon Quest or Persona,…
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Suikoden might not have quite the same profile as Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, but this is a beloved cult JRPG franchise, stretching back to the original PlayStation. And I really do mean beloved. Many who have played it list Suikoden 2, in particular, list it as one of the…
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The best way to learn a new language is to actually practice that language in real-world context. If you travel around Japan you will, at some point, almost certainly be accosted at least once by a group of school kids who are clutching a workbook and told to practice their…
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Return to Heryon in Edge of Memories, Midgar Studio’s new project set in the same universe as 2021’s Edge of Eternity. The people behind Edge of Memories have great experience under their belts, including character designer Raita Kazama (Xenoblade Chronicles X), writer Sawako Natori (NieR), singer Emi Evans (NieR, NieR:…
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There’s a literary device called the Deus Ex Machina (no, the game series didn’t invent that cool-sounding word), which describes when an author uses a plot device to solve a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story. It’s possibly the most difficult literary device to use, since, if you calibrate it…
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Fans of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes will soon get their chance to uncover more about three characters in the game — Marisa, Seign, and Markus — as each gets paid DLC that shifts the spotlight onto them. The stories feature insight into their perspectives on the events occurring in Allraan.…
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It’s not every day that you get to interview one of your heroes, but that was certainly the case when I got to run a quick Q & A with Hironobu Sakaguchi. For those that don’t recognise the name, Sakaguchi is the one who gave us many of the early…
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If I were to create a laundry list of what I look for in a JRPG, the simple reality is that the Ys series doesn’t tend to check many of those boxes. They’re not known for in-depth narratives, iconic characters (aside from the series protagonist, Adol, who has a very…
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To get this out of the way up-front: We need to be wary about art (games, films, books, whatever else) that depict apocalyptic scenarios where some form of invader from without swarms the world and you’re in control of the last nation standing, holding back the horde. It’s an incredibly…
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Koei Tecmo’s JRPG house, Gust, is a factory for the genre. It’s just as well that their output is a reliably good time, but they are without a doubt a studio that churns out its work. Fairy Tail 2 comes four years after the original (with a whole lot of…
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