Wednesday 30 April 2014

J-RPG Jungle?! New blog name + the future

Hello everyone! Notice something different around here? If not...I changed the site name!

The new site name is J-RPG Jungle, with the name being inspired by the sheer amount of J-RPGs that exist that are all so different yet share a common theme - the animation style and the crazy stories! Kind of like a jungle and it's different plants and animals, but you would still associate them with a jungle. I'll be honest, the name also just sounded a bit cooler. While TaraPlaysGames wasn't a bad name I felt it made it sound like my opinion is the only one on this site. I would love to welcome a community of J-RPG fans to voice your opinions and to share what you'd like to read about, so I will keep working hard on my posts and this site's content to attract this kind of audience. :)

This isn't to say I won't post about non-JRPGs ever, but I would like to keep this blog's focus in this niche. To be honest, I'm working to make this the exact site that I would visit daily and want to read, as both a gamer and a huge fan of JRPGs. We shall see how it goes, but I'm really enjoying writing lots here and at WTFGamersonly right now. If anyone has any suggestions, please comment below! I'm open to anything constructive.

Now we shall continue normal programming! Thanks for reading!

-Tara
PSN: guittaraxx

Tuesday 29 April 2014

Child of Light today!


I'm quite excited, even if I missed my goal of finishing Final Fantasy X HD (I am so close to the 'Final Summon', dammit!). Every time I hear about this game, it just sounds more and more magical. This is what I've been waiting for on PS4 and next-gen in general. A good, new RPG that is different to the others. I hope this is the beginning of more RPGs and J-RPGs alike on PS4 as well, so I feel like we should all support this game loudly. I know I'll be giving it a good rating on PSN with my fingers crossed tight.

I will get my first impressions blog up hopefully over the weekend, so stay tuned. And the playthrough is apparently roughly 12 hours long, so hopefully that means a review for you guys soon.

Comment below with your thoughts on the game! Especially if you're playing it, it would be nice to share this experience with some people. :)

New Persona project to be announced May 2!



While we patiently count down the days till all of the new Persona games are released, Atlus has decided to dangle a carrot in front of all of our noses - the announcement of a new project.

(!!!)

Atlus will be streaming via NicoNico a 'Dark Hour TV' show on May 2nd at 11:30pm (Japanese time) to hype the release of Persona 3 the Movie #2: Midsummer Knight's Dream (side note: awesome title). In the second half of this show, they have promised the 'super important' announcement of a new important project.

With 4 games in the works, I am somehow still hopeful for another Persona game. They also don't officially mention this will be a Persona announcement, but during a Persona related show I would either think it's a Persona movie, game or a completely new game from Atlus. Of course, I'm just guessing though! We will have to wait until the 2nd of May - dear god I hope someone puts it on YouTube so I don't have to stay up till 12:30am in Australian time.

If you have any speculations on the mystery announcement, please comment below! :)

Sunday 27 April 2014

The Sword Art Online game looks kinda cool!


If you enjoyed the anime of Sword Art Online, you'll be pleased to know there is a game coming to the west. Sword Art Online: Hollow Fragment is based on the series, except you get to experience the land of Aincrad for yourself. The game gives you the chance to clear the game and climb to the top floor yourself, plus meet all of the very different characters and even romance them!

Yes, that's right. You can romance your favourite SAO character.

This game so far looks to be half your typical RPG with battles, leveling and costumes and then the other half is a dating sim. There is no doubt in my mind that people will be looking forward to romancing Asuna or one of the other girls but what I'm most excited for is exploring the world of Aincrad that had 100 floors in the show. I'm curious to see what these floors are like and how many floors they will let us gamers explore.

If you happened to play Infinity Moment (the last Sword Art game), because these games are similar, you will be able to transfer your save to keep your stats. However if you've been waiting for the English release of Hollow Fragment, you can start your own leveling journey and also enjoy the content from Infinity Moment (apparently slightly-modified, although I assume this will only be improvements) for the first time, along with added extras all translated to English this US Summer (Australian Winter). Extras will include a new character, a new story involving the 'Laughing Coffin' group from the anime and online multiplayer features.

If you're in the Europe/Australia region like me, never fear! PS Vita games are region free, so you can order this game from a reliable import game retailer such as play-asia.com .

I'm keen for this - the whole idea of Sword Art Online was such an interesting content! I'm also terrible with keeping up with TV series yet I managed to watch all of SAO, so yeah...I liked it a lot, especially the Aincrad segment. Hoping to import this one :)

Friday 25 April 2014

Xseed Games announces FREE Gravity Rush DLC for Ragnarok Odyssey Ace


While you wait patiently for Gravity Rush 2, we can all get a bit of the adorable Kat from the original Gravity Rush back into our lives in Ragnarok Odyssey Ace. Note, she won't be a playable character, this is mostly just a costume.

XSEED Games announced via their Facebook a bunch of new DLC, including the Gravity Rush DLC, plus some new quests. Bonus, it's all free!

More info is on their Facebook page, but to summarise the Gravity Rush DLC will include a costume for Kat and Alias and some special cards to enhance aerial maneuverability and make the Dainsleif mode more efficient (I have no idea what that last part meant. I'm also reminded I need to buy the first Ragnarok Odyssey as the demo was a lot of fun.).

Ragnarok Odyssey Ace is on PS3 and PS Vita. It is already available in North America and Japan. Europe can expect to join in on the fun on the 30th of April.

Rise Kujikawa announced as a playable character in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax!

Persona fans and Rise romancers, GET EXCITED BECAUSE EVERYONE'S FAVOURITE WAIFU IS BACK!




Our favourite Persona idol Rise Kujikawa has been announced as a playable character in Persona 4 Arena Ultimax!

This will be the first time players get to fight at all with Rise. In the last Persona 4 Arena, she was featured in the game, but no arcade mode or story was available in her character. Also in the original Persona 4, she was a battle guide and a social link character and you could level her persona up for battle perks, you could not have her in your battle party.

I REPEAT: THIS IS VERY EXCITING!

Rise is the girl I choose to romance in my final playthrough of Persona (I picked Chie the first time but both girls are great) and I think she's a great emotionally complex character with a lot of flirty spunk. Also, she's downright adorable and a lot of people's waifu so I think fans of the game will be happy.

Persona 4 Arena Ultimax is due out in Fall in North America. No official European release has been announced, so hopefully the game isn't region locked this time round!

MURAMASA REBIRTH COMING TO PLAYSTATION PLUS EU IN MAY!!!!! (plus other games!)

That moment when a game you were going to spend real money on comes to Playstation Plus is OH SO SWEET.
SO VERY SWEET!

I even think this makes up for the fact that the day after I bought the Walking Dead game for Vita, the PS4 remake was announced.

Playstation Europe's blog has announced May's list of Playstation Plus games. Which by the way, is:

Stick it to the Man (PS4)

(I miiiiiight play this after Child of Light. If I'm not playing Final Fantasy X-2 HD.)

Puppeteer (PS3)

(It's funny, Puppeteer is a game I'm pretty sure I like and looks very charming. Yet while I hope I play this game, I don't feel compelled to do it soon. I do like Japan Studio's creativity though, so I expect it will be good and is probably worth a download for fans of quirky games.)

Payday 2 (PS3)

(This will probably be a good one for online or with the boyfriend. Looks like good, stupid fun.)

Muramasa Rebirth (PS Vita)

You can clearly see my excitement above. Anyway, I love games with an Eastern feel and this has it down with stunning artwork and multiple endings. The battle also looks really fun and this will look stunning on OLED, I'm sure of it. Here, have a trailer:




Everybody's Golf (PS Vita)

I've heard this is actually fun, but I just can't see myself playing it. Maybe one day once I've gotten through enough J-RPGs to be satisfied (but I don't know if that's possible).

_______________________________________________________________________

So obviously my pick is Muramasa Rebirth, although Puppeteer could also be good. I would also love Stick it to the Man to be an outstanding game. The PS4 needs some outstanding games.

Leave your picks below and remember to pick these up in May if you have Playstation Plus. If you don't and you can afford it, I highly recommend Playstation Plus. It's really good value (And I'm not being paid to say that!)

Happy gaming!

Thursday 24 April 2014

The In-Game Purchases Debate

It's 9pm last night. I've had a long day at work and I decide 'You know what? If I'm going to review anything, I should try something new! How about that free puzzle game, Vita? This is good, non-wallet harming fun. YAAAY!'

In a natural turn of events, I boot up No Heroes Allowed! (No Puzzles Either) on PS Vita. And at first it's fun! Badman is a hilarious character, a real treat to receive tutorials from. The game plays pretty fun too! Not something I would play everyday or platinum trophy, but good for a harmless night of fun. Then during mandatory tutorial time, the words 'cold hard cash' appear in red along with an implication that I can buy something.

This is okay I first think. The developers must get paid somehow for this free game, right? Things my parents have said such as 'too good to be true' and 'nothing ever comes for free' come to mind, but I brush them off. This game is fun, right? Besides, there's no money in my budget for DLC this week.

I continue playing. Another tutorial. Another mention of spending 'cold-hard cash'. Okay, that's a tiny bit pushy. BUT AGAIN. I brush it off.

And in a unexpected twist: the cold hard cash mention happened a third time and it got me thinking: Do I really want to be reminded that I can't afford to help these guys? Or that I don't feel any need to buy what they're selling, but have it thrown at me again anyway?

At that moment was when I decided me and No Heroes Allowed! would not be friends. Which is a little bit of a shame. I know I could have kept playing again if I really wanted to, but from No Heroes Allowed!, I was looking for a casual experience to enjoy beside my other games where my cold hard cash had already gone. I just wanted fun, not to think about my wallet. Even if I'm more of an RPG kind of gamer, I would have been more likely to pursue this game longer and maybe eventually pay money if it wasn't thrown in my face.

A word of advise for future DLC creators:

Advertising is good. Most of us will happily accept a one time mention and place your product and whether or not we need it in the back of our minds. But please! Don't try and sell to me multiple times within a game. I will pay the money if I want to, you don't need to remind me. It is understandable and honourable that you've felt strong enough in your product to put a price tag on extras for it so that you can get paid and do this for a living. I want that for you too, as would other fans of the games. But please understand: if we are going to pay, we will. If we believe in your product enough, we definitely will. Until then:

Mention your in-game purchases once. Then let us decide what we will or can do.
Please and thank you.


Now to brighten up this post, here's a fun photo from the game:


Saturday 19 April 2014

What I've been playing this week+Catch Up! (Let's make this a series....number 1!) (Final Fantasy X HD, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend and Mercenary Kings)

What's up everyone?!

It's Sunday in my home country of Australia and it's also Easter! I managed to have the trademarked Easter stomach ache before 9am because I'm an impatient brat. Well, not really. Me and George (boyfriend/in-house partner in crime) are terrible at giving gifts on the day, so we swapped and started out chocolate last night, leaving me this morning with the perfect amount to eat with breakfast. BAD IDEAAAAA! Parterned with pizza for dinner last night, I feel lethargic...hashtag, weight loss and healthy eating.

Did I mention I haven't gone running in two weeks?

Anyway, down to business. I've been rather faithful to my games this week. On PS4, I played a little Mercenary Kings and a spot of Resogun. On PS3, I'm racing to the end of Final Fantasy X HD. And on PS Vita, I finally found the load button in Story Mode and am trying to finish the Calamity Trigger part of story mode in BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend. Also, I found out BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma is out (found on Amazon here) ! Did Australia get it? I think we didn't! JB Hi Fi and EB Games seem to have no clue that this has come out...I'm not even gonna bother with any other retailers. This scares me a little for my Spring Persona fest. I'm scared I'm gonna have to Play-Asia or Amazon everything and wait a few weeks past the release date. If I hear any spoilers, I will destroy the internet. I may also have to get a US 3DS, but that's probably not so bad....if George has an Australian one and I have a US one, it means no region restrictions (except for Asian games).

I digress. Let's talk more about games!

PS3: Final Fantasy X HD

I've gotten a lot further than my last gaming diary. I'm at Mt Gagazet, reliving the horror of getting through that mountain with just the initial save point. The game is telling me I need to level grind and I am politely flipping it off.

However, I am enjoying this game a lot! It's amazing how after about 10 years, this game is still good. The sphere grid system does not age and I don't think the battle system does either. Now that I'm older, I'm able to think more strategically on how can I make each of my turns count. And the HD cutscenes are stunning. A job well done to Square Enix. I'm even getting a little excited to replay X-2 (I'm a girl, I liked that game), but this will have to wait till after Child of Light (!!).

PS4: Mercenary Kings

Pssh.

I'm terrible at this game. It's fun, but I haven't even gotten past the first mission yet. I'm terrible at timing when not to get hit and when to roll....but it's fun. I love the 8-bit soundtrack.

PS4: Resogun

Not much to say other than I can't finish experienced mode yet, but damn I want that trophy. It's been the game I play while George uses the PS3. I love the option to remote play with the Vita and when near the console and wi-fi, I had a very smooth experience.

...but I still lost because I'm unskilled. I'll get there.

PS Vita: BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend

I'm okay at this game! Just don't ask me to perform a combo!

I've always wanted to do the story mode on this game. Arcade mode is great, but it barely touches on what seems to be a very in-depth story. So I've done the right thing and I've started with the Calamity Trigger story and will work my way through all of the characters. This is going to be a big task to get to the true ending, but I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff.

Also, Noel Vermillion is a great character. I really enjoy her voice acting/part in the story so far.

Bonus game: Steins;Gate Lite (Japanese/iPhone edition)

I loved the anime for Steins;Gate and the game offers multiple endings and control over the story...which I am a sucker for. I love seeing how things could go if everything went wrong or if I could choose how the story went. However, I am only a Japanese learner, so I've been using this to learn more Kanji and I'm barely 5 sentences in. I try to translate a sentence a day, so I can't comment too much having only translated a few sentences. However, I enjoy the art style and seeing Okabe's inner-thoughts.

Comment below and let me know what you've been playing...or what I should have been playing this week! And happy Easter everyone :)


Friday 18 April 2014

I pre-ordered.....CHILD OF LIGHT!



To my dear PS4,

I pre-ordered you a game so we can hang out. Please be on time, updated, don't crash and be ready. I will finish Final Fantasy X HD before this so I have no excuse not to hang out with you because we both know...I'm like that.

Here for you buddy,

Tara.


_________________________________________________________________________________

Man, my PS4 is collecting serious dust! Final Fantasy X HD and all the other games I've been playing have been awesome fun, but it's time to give my PS4 some love with a great game coming soon, called Child of Light.

Many things attract me to this game. One of my favourite musicians (Coeur de Pirate, a beautiful French singer/songwriter) wrote the soundtrack. The main character's name is Aurora, which is my go-to name for naming characters on games. The game looks like you're playing a watercolour painting and the dialogue is meant to be very poetic. The artist has done art for Final Fantasy games and the story is meant to be inspired by J-RPGs such as Final Fantasy VI.

SIGN ME UP!

I think this is a promising gateway into PS4 for me and fellow J-RPG fans. While indie games like Resogun and Mercenary Kings are a lot of fun, nothing grabs me like a good story and a good battle system. Trailers make it look like I may have both, which is sweet!

Watch the trailer below and let me know if you pick this up on April 30th!



Tuesday 15 April 2014

Fixing my PS Vita Rookie Error: PS3 + PS Vita Content Manager = How to stick with a 4GB Memory Card but not have to redownload your games.

Okay, let's be real for a second. When have you last played 7 games in one day? And did you enjoy it or concentrate on any of them? If no is the answer and you're like 'But I don't want to redownload my games regularly and use all my data/home wifi', then I hear you. AND I HAVE A SOLUTION!

Me and my 4GB memory card thought we were doomed! I thought I'd never get value out of my free Playstation Plus games because I either had to buy a new memory card or delete something. That 32GB memory card looked mighty fine at this point.

One day while listening to Podcast Beyond (by IGN, available on iTunes and pretty darn awesome!), Greg Miller decided to mention how he only uses his PS3 to put stuff on his Vita now that the PS4 is out and I was like 'hmm'. I've never connected my Vita to the PS3. I should try that sometime.

....holy crap guys.

I tried it a few days ago and got my memory from being nearly full back to 3.6GBs of free space. I just transferred my files to the PS3 via USB (the cable you charge your Vita with) and now I can switch games out whenever space is an issue. I play most of my games on game cards anyway (which saves all of the space), but some games you can't always get on cards or may be cheaper on PSN. I now have room to have 1 card game and (depending on file size), 1 or 2 downloaded games on my Vita. Best of all when I'm done with the game, I just transfer it onto the PS3 using Content Manager. So simple. (Worth noting: I have been uploading all my saves to the PS Plus cloud just in case because I'm paranoid so don't ask me what happens to your save files. From googling I think you'll be fine, but I haven't personally tried it....so yes, disclaimer!)

This saves so much money on a 32GB memory card and I can still get all the games I'm going to play. I think there is a place in your Vita for the 32GB memory card maybe if you're traveling but otherwise, CONTENT MANAGER FTW!

I hope this helps people like me who didn't get this far in reading the manual. Enjoy your Vita card space!

Tara
PSN: guittaraxx

Wednesday 9 April 2014

Quick Blog: The PSN Easter sale is just ridiculous.

Walking Dead: the Complete First Series for $10?!

Sorcery Saga for $22?!?!

Rainbow Moon for $5?!?!?!?

(Prices are rough, not exact FYI)

I am slayed, don't even get me started on the PS3 sales which I can't touch because I'm on a game ban (more on that later). These prices are crazy, nearly half off these games I've been wanting for ages....I'm so happy. Especially for Sorcery Saga. Who wouldn't want to play a dungeon crawler about curry?

This sale goes until next month so I highly recommend at least checking it out and seeing if anything you've been waiting for is on there. It's really good. As if chocolate wasn't enough for Easter!

Happy sale hunting!

Tara
PSN: guittaraxx

A quick note to tell you that Destiny of Spirits is wonderful. (First Impressions)

I felt like I was hit by a bus full of joy when I found Destiny of Spirits smiling at me from PSN one morning. You'll notice I start a lot of my reviews/first impressions like this. The fact is I am on a budget and I often enjoy budgeting/torturing myself by looking at all the lovely games I want to save for. Sometimes it's inspires me to work harder. Other times it's a little soul crushing. But I love when free to play games come up and they are GOOD. Destiny of Spirits is good.

Part MMO, part 'Monster Hunter'-style game, Destiny of Spirits uses your location data to help you unlock spirits to take the evil out of the 'real world' *insert epic fist pump*. The game will determine your location to find your starting point on the map and you go through all the linear but necessary tutorials done by a pretty water sorceress looking lady (I can't remember if her element was water or not, I'm just being shallow.)

You'll quickly find this is a turn based strategy game that uses touch screen, time and an element system of it's own. The battle isn't a strong point, but I play this game usually after a long day at work and I have to admit that being able to battle without thinking too hard isn't always a bad thing. For people who do like strategy, you will find that picking your spirits based on elements and their special attacks will provide you with this satisfaction.

But the gameplay for Destiny of Spirits is made amazing by it's social features. Your spirits can be lent out to other players and you can rent other players spirits. If you become friends with people, you also get to borrow their spirits for a discounted point rate. Also, you can create a spirit at the start of every new day you play and trade spirits. None of this requires even talking to these people - it's just a part of the game! It's what makes this location game feel more like a part of the real world, where everyone helps one another. There are definitely spirits I would not have without my in game friends.

Occasionally, events appear in the game, so far in the form of boss raids that you unlock while playing the game normally and also new summonable spirits from other games - so far Knack and Gravity Rush. They're not amazing events, but your enjoyment on them will be based on whether you like the games or not. (I was pretty stoked to get a Spy Kat.) The only downside to the special spirits is they are random and use Destiny orbs which you can win on rare occasions or they cost real life money. If something costs money, I would prefer more of a choice in which spirit I get. An example is my orc from Knack which I only use because I feel like he's worth money, even though I used my Platstation Plus bonus orbs.

Now I don't normally board the 'WE HATE IN-GAME PURCHASES' train but in Destiny of Spirits it felt somewhat unneccessary. Having Destiny Orbs or not don't effect my enjoyment of the game and I can do most in game things without them, however I would have loved an option to pay $10 extra or something for a season pass and then getting the benefits. Maybe it's not as profitable, but either way, it's only a small problem.

What could be considered a real pro and a con is the online nature of the game - you need to be at a Wi-Fi area or have a 3G Vita if you want to play this game. I don't know this for a fact, but judging from my experience selling PS Vita's to people, buying one myself and my few friends who have the PS Vita, the Wi-Fi model is more popular as it is cheaper and easier to set up. With this in mind, I wonder if Destiny of Spirits would have been better suited to something like the mobile. The gameplay plus the slight J-RPG feel definitely suits the Vita but 3G is infinitely more common on smart phones and the game's touch battle system doesn't really require a controller. If you do have 3G on your Vita however, I'm sure hunting for spirits would be amazing on public transport and I do envy you a little.

TL;DR Even though Destiny of Spirits use of networking and 3G may be off putting, this simple yet fun game provides an unoverwhelming social experience and a simpler addition to the strategy game genre which is enjoyable, uses the Vita's touchscreen seamlessly and will be one I am sure to continue picking up before bed for a little while. Without finishing the game, I would give Destiny of Spirits at 7.5/10.

Thank you for reading! Back soon!

-Tara
PSN: guittaraxx

Wednesday 2 April 2014

Reasons Playstation Plus is AWESOME!!


When you wake up on a Thursday morning on the first week of every month and see five free games waiting for you, it's hard not to argue that Playstation Plus is the most amazing thing ever since oxygen. Throw in Cross-Buys for PS Vita partnered in with two of these games and I can't find many reasons to not recommend this service! But 4 months ago, I was as skeptical as most people are to any subscription service. I understand the pain of renewing a subscription and the fear your card being automatically charged when you needed that money for food. However, Playstation Plus has never been anything other than a really good value game subscription and I'll tell you as much as I can to help you make your decision.

Instant Game Collection - are they for real? + Game banking

Yes. Oh sweet lord yes.

Every month, games for PS3, PS4 and PS Vita get put on Playstation Plus for you to download for free until the end of your subscription. You basically add these games to you shopping cart (like I did in my photo) and they're yours once you finish the Checkout process.

I'm pretty sure they repeat games sometimes (I saw Uncharted and Gravity Rush for Vita on there multiple times), but ultimately there's at least one new game per console every month. For PS4 users, I think Playstation Plus is brilliant as the game is always a new game and PS4 is currently somewhat lacking in the games department...plus the games they do have cost a pretty penny. In my financial state, I would rather pay $19.95 every three months for a different PS4 game every month than $89 for one game that I'm only buying because Final Fantasy XV isn't out yet. #justsaying
Also, Playstation Plus' game library has introduced me to some great PS4 games such as Resogun and Contrast! I would have shown interest in both these games but I would never have bought them with money. Resogun is one of my favourite PS4 games, so I am eternally grateful for my subscription!

Also - GAME BANKING. I discovered this tip from the Beyond! podcast from IGN (available on iTunes or the IGN website). If you have the Playstation mobile app, you can select all of the games across PS3, PS4 and Vita for Playstation Plus, checkout with them and not download them yet, but keep them for downloading at anytime. This saves hard drive space and gets your most money's worth. I would never play PES 2014, but I keep it in my downloads in case I ever have a friend around who would. And why the hell not, it's free in your subscription!
Bear in mind - pretty sure you lose all these games once your subscription ends. I never let mine run out, but it's up to you. Just don't get too attached if you know you'll be canceling your subscription.

Other features I've used
  • Cloud saving is pretty neat. I'm glad to know my perfect Persona 4 Golden save is backed up on the cloud.
  • Online features for PS4.
  • Discounts at the Playstation Network store: these aren't always substantial discounts and it's not on everything, but not complaining!


Credit Card fears and Automatic Renewal

You can turn off automatic renewal and once that's off, you won't be charged for Playstation Plus once your subscription is over. It will just end if you don't renew it yourself and you'll be a regular PSN User again.

You can subscribe to PSN for 1 month ($9.95), 3 months ($19.95) or 1 year ($69.95) at the moment. I do the three months as I don't normally have a spare $69.95 lying around by the time it's time to renew my subscription, but the one year is the best value. I would recommend using a free trial to see if you like this service or trying a 1 month. If you own a PS3, a PS Vita and a PS4 frankly I think it would be stupid not to take advantage of this service as there are really nothing but benefits!

Back again soon!

Tara
(PSN: guittaraxx)