JRPGs I Played: Spring 2016!

Spring was a season full of more games than I expected. Much like in Winter, I had planned to crank out Persona 3 after being distracted by games like Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth. But playing the same game for two seasons left me pretty prone to being distracted, so distracted I was by smaller experiences like Platinum Demo: Final Fantasy XV and X-Tactics. In hindsight, I'm pretty glad I tried other experiences in between, because even without these it still would've taken me a few months to finish Persona 3, so the variety broke up the experience well and some of these smaller experiences were my favourite games from Spring. So, here's my mix of tactical, quirky and fantasy JRPGs I played during Spring. Let me know what you played in the comments!

Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS)

Status: Now playing and enjoying!

I only started playing Fire Emblem Awakening this week, but I'm already excited to keep playing. Playing Tactic JRPGs is a very recent thing for me, but it's cool seeing JRPGs done in a different way than the usual turn-based or active battle style I stick to. I'm really enjoying how the social part of the game benefits the battle and improving my skills as a Tactician.

Another thing that feels fresh to me is playing a portable console again, especially since I'm not fully familiar with playing 3DS. It's nice being able to have more options for where and when I play and to be able to play even when the TV’s being used! Seriously forgot how much I love portable consoles and I honestly hope they don't ever go away.

You can pick up Fire Emblem Awakening at Play-Asia.com!*

X-Tactics (iOS, also on Android)
Read the full review here!

Status: Ongoing. Finished all non-event missions, so now I'm playing through events and GPS missions

X-Tactics was a pleasantly enjoyable surprise to me. It was my first tactical JRPG from recent memory and since I'm very loyal to the other two games I play on my phone (Final Fantasy Record Keeper and *shock horror not a JRPG* Hearthstone), I was wondering how it would fit into to my lunch time mobile game time. I'm pleased to say it fits really well with it's fun touchscreen combo making, quirky characters and regular updates that keep making me want to come back.

My main goal in the game right now? Getting the XCoin to buy Kuku.

You can pick up X-Tactics from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android)!

Pokemon Diamond (DS, Japanese Version)

Status: Now playing….kind of.

I was very happy to find a bunch of pre-owned Japanese Pokemon DS games for really cheap and I thought they'd be good for Japanese study. While it's super fun to play with Pokemon I've never played with before, Pokemon Diamond and it's child level Japanese is surprisingly difficult for me to understand. I've gotten lost multiple times because I haven't understood something and because I was planning to play it before bed in place of reading a book, it usually melts my brain so much I just end up sleeping early.

I really want to keep playing it, but will definitely need to find more time to play it or adjust my Japanese study schedule to include it and pull out that dictionary if I want to get through it. Without voice acting and kanji, it's possibly more difficult for me than Final Fantasy X was. Definitely something I will come back to for a good challenge and monster catching fun!

You can pick up Pokemon Diamond at Play-Asia.com!*

Persona 3 FES (PS2 Classic)

Read the review here!

Status: Finished 'the Journey' portion of the game, will play 'the Answer' at some point

I enjoyed this game, but I played it for five months, so I think I'm officially burned out on Persona until Persona 5, which is something I never thought I'd say!

I liked Persona 3, but I didn't love it as much as I expected to. Since Persona 4 Golden was my window back into JRPGs, I had pretty high expectations for Persona 3 which probably killed some of the magic. I enjoyed the dungeon crawling and the story, but would have preferred a better balance between the two. Now that I've finished it though, I'm excited to venture into the world of Persona 3 movies. I know one released recently, so I'm hoping to catch myself up on those and finally play the Persona 3 parts of Persona 4 Arena and Ultimax that I've been avoiding because I didn't want the spoilers. And of course, I'll have to eventually play 'The Answer' part of Persona 3 FES. Persona 3's universe is huge!

Platinum Demo: Final Fantasy XV (PS4)
Read the full review here!

Status: Proudly completed it three times!

During the Uncovered: Final Fantasy XV event, I was absolutely thrilled when it was announced there was a new demo for Final Fantasy XV. I didn't play Episode Duscae, so the idea of playing Final Fantasy XV at all was pretty exciting. Platinum Demo: Final Fantasy XV was incredibly stunning, even if it only gave a glimpse into the gameplay of Final Fantasy XV. I'm really keen to play more when it's finally released in September. In fact, this just reminded me I need to put a pre-order on it, so I'll probably do that sometime soon!

Disgaea 5 Demo (PS4)

Status: Played a mere 10 minutes of...but liked it!

Being completely honest, I played only 10 minutes of the Disgaea 5 demo with the intention of testing the video capture of the PS4 in case I ever try make video content or reviews for the blog. I really liked Disgaea 5’s wacky humour in the demo, but 10 minutes in nowhere near enough time to properly preview Disgaea 5’s gameplay, so I didn't end up using any of the footage. Despite that, my brother's a big fan of the Disgaea series and it was nice to see a peak at why, so it'd definitely love to come back to the series another time and spend some real time with it.

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth (PS4, also on PS Vita)

Read the full review here!

Status: Complete and platinuming on occasion

I finished Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth early Spring, but I definitely still have great memories of playing it. Cyber Sleuth has opened my life back up to the world of Digimon and monster capture games, their cute creatures and their silly stories, to the point where I now have an Agumon pillow and it makes me happy. I loved the Digivolution mechanics in Cyber Sleuth, which makes me want to try other Digimon games like Digimon World or Re:Digitize to play similar systems. For now, I really recommend the game to any past fans of the series - it's great!

You can pick up Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth from Play-Asia.com!*

Final Fantasy Record Keeper (iOS)

Read the full review here!

Status: In a strange on and off relationship.

So, I've been having a weird time with Record Keeper. I'll play an event to win a character I like, play the next two events to win characters I usually don't know so well, then bail. Then it hooks me right back in with either a character or event for one of my favourite Final Fantasy games and the cycle begins again. A perfect example of this is that I'd previously written here that I was on an 'off cycle' with the game, but recently they put up a Final Fantasy IX event where you can recruit Kuja and I think that's a ridiculous enough reason to return to the game because I clearly need to have him. It's a weird cycle, but it's pretty enjoyable still.

Final Fantasy X HD (PS Vita, Japanese Version. Also on PS3/4)

Read the full review here!

Status: Platinuming like a snail

These days I’ve been having to find a lot of compromise in my gaming time, mainly because there are so many games I wanna play and replay. I feel the need to make really good decisions about which  game I'll play next because JRPGs are pretty long.

I tried to continue my Platinum journey with Final Fantasy X this season, but I was also really determined to finish Persona 3. Because of that, I mostly left Final Fantasy X (and my Vita) untouched during Spring. At this point, I'm not stale on Fire Emblem yet so I have no reason to use trophy hunting as a means to break any potential lost game enthusiasm yet. I definitely still want to get this platinum at some point though, but I'll probably wait till next time I feel like going for it.

You can pick up Final Fantasy X HD Remaster at Play-Asia.com!*

Summer Game Plan

I’ve mentioned it multiple times in this article, but after playing Persona 3 for so long, I’m ready to check out something new. I’ve started playing Fire Emblem Awakening which has been a really nice change of pace since it’s much shorter than Persona 3 was and also quite different, so it’s giving me a much needed new experience.

With Final Fantasy XV and Persona 5 coming out in September and Danganronpa 3’s anime being released, I’m debating whether I should stick to those series or take this in between time as a chance to play other games. There’s Danganronpa Another Episode which I’ve had sitting on my Vita’s home screen for awhile and I bought Final Fantasy Type-0 recently. But, there are also the Atelier games that sit in the back of my mind and I'm reminded of my huge backlog everytime I open my CD folder or look at my PSN downloads, so I definitely have a lot to keep myself busy with.

As much as I like planning my gaming season, I think after having my plan be 'finish Persona 3' for so long, I’m gonna play whatever I feel like playing for a bit. I will likely end up playing Danganronpa Another Episode because I feel like it will heighten the anime, but otherwise, I’m gonna keep things fairly free and hopefully pick the best game I can play.

I'm always accepting suggestions though, so feel free to leave anything you think I should play sooner rather than later in the comments below!

_________________________________________________________________________

What’s your game plan for Summer? And what did you play in Spring?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up on the JRPG Jungle Facebook page and let's talk!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Make sure to follow the blog here, follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter and like JRPG Jungle on Facebook for updates on content and random musings on JRPG news and games. You're awesome! <3

Any links marked with * are affiliate links that help support the site and make it better, so if you click or shop with any of these links, thank you!

Review: Persona 3 (FES edition, The Journey - PS2 Classic)

Before the hugely popular PS Vita game Persona 4 Golden stole my heart and my gameplay time, there was it’s predecessor, the standout PS2 JRPG Persona 3. Persona 4 set the tone to my journey into the world of Persona games with it’s glaring yellows and talking bears, but this impression of the series shifted when I began Persona 3. Persona 3 may be another high school dungeon crawler, but the glaring yellows are replaced by dark blues hues alongside a darker story when compared to it’s successor, giving it a unique feel of it's own. The two games share a similar structure, but Persona 3 being the older game has a few drawbacks, such as an inconsistent AI which makes the experience feel a little less refined than Persona 4. However with it's complex battle system and an interesting story premise, Persona 3 highlights the Persona series strength of interesting stories and fun dungeon crawling it's own darker way.

The dark tone is set for Persona 3 is set pretty quickly in it's opening sequence with the protagonist entering the town of Iwatodai at night surrounded by coffins. He enters the town during the Dark Hour, an extra hour of the day that occurs every day at midnight. While this extra hour may sound convenient, this extra hour isn't just free time. For starters, most people during the dark hour become unconscious and transform into coffins until the hour is over. Those who remain conscious are preyed upon by monsters called Shadows. It's a pretty chaotic hour, but luckily the people conscious during this time tend to have the potential to fight these monsters using Personas. The protagonist quickly discovers he's a Persona user and quickly joins the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad known as SEES. This group is made up of a group of students from Gekkoukan High School whose job is to protect citizens from these shadows by fighting strong shadows that appear whenever there's a Full Moon and also to explore Tartarus, the mysterious tower meets dungeon that their school turns into during the Dark Hour.

Tartarus is where Persona 3’s dungeon crawling gameplay takes place to prepare for the monthly Full Moon boss and story arc. For those who have also played Persona 4 Golden, learning how to play these dungeons is pretty simple as dungeon mechanics are very similar to those in Persona 4. Battles are turn-based and are fought with the usual JRPG tool kit of magic, elemental and physical attacks. What made me love the battle system in Persona 3 (and Persona in general) is the way it puts it's own spin on regular JRPG mechanics by adding fun, extra mechanics. There's the all important Persona system of course, but an example that was new to me in Persona 3 was the way physical attacks were divided into subcategories like piercing, striking and slashing and correspond with different weapon types and enemy weaknesses. It's a small difference to Persona 4, but I liked having to think about which weapon I was using before using a regular attack, making sure I was always on my feet in battle rather than just hitting 'attack' all the time.

The main thing that sets Persona 3’s battle system apart from other JRPGs is the game’s namesake: Personas. Personas are described as the character’s face used in the face of danger, so fittingly they accompany each party member into battle and provide them with the ability to fight shadow. Persona 3’s protagonist’s ability is extra special because while the other characters are limited to one Persona, he can wield multiple and switch between them during battle. This ability introduces a fun monster collecting element to game, heightened by the ability to fuse Personas together to create new ones and completing Social Links to gain some of the strongest ones. This was another system that was familiar to me because of Persona 4 and I was glad to see that Persona 3’s system was as good as it was similar to Persona 4’s system, so I was able to navigate it with ease.

While Personas are a solid element of Persona 3, the Tactics aspect and AI stood out to me a little too much as it was too varying in success in Persona 3. The protagonist is the only party member able to be fully controlled during battle, leaving the other three party members to think for themselves with mixed results. The Tactics option allows characters to be given general commands, such as ‘Heal/Support’, ‘Conserve SP’ or the seemingly simple option ‘Act Freely’. Through some parts of the game, the AI was relatively smart - my characters were healed when they needed to be, they didn’t use any counterproductive elemental attacks and things were fairly smooth. However as I progressed through Persona 3, I felt like as my party leveled up and learnt more skills, the sillier they got with how they used them. For example, they would neglect using items to use spells and then just not heal once they were out of SP or ‘Wait’ instead of doing a regular attack because they felt they couldn’t use a skill. It wasn’t constantly bad as I definitely got through Persona 3 probably 60% with a decent AI, but the crucial moments when I needed my party to be their best such as the all important final boss I felt like I was fighting to keep the AI working in my favour more than I was fighting the actual boss.

Persona 3 was the first of the Persona games to introduce Social Links to the game, a fact that was huge surprise to me considering how crucial they are in the series now. Social Links allow players to get to know the characters while gaining access to more powerful by giving EXP bonuses for Persona fusing and unlocking extra powerful Personas. There are plenty of people to Social Link with, from the main cast of female characters to various classmates from Gekkoukan High and people around town. Each Social Link has a similar structure during it’s 10 stages - getting to know the character, finding their personal struggle and watching them overcome it, all while forming an unbreakable bond with each other. This structure could be described as predictable, but each character’s story is so different and emotive that it doesn't feel that way in action. I really enjoyed how Persona 3’s Social Link character’s stories were all equally interesting, regardless of if they were side characters or the main cast. On top of that, there was enough variety in story content that I found multiple characters I either related to or felt compelled to keep spending time with, making Social Links feel like much more than just a way to get better Personas.

While I really enjoyed the social links, I got the feeling I couldn't get as close to the main party as I'd like to, considering only the female half of them are able to be social linked with in the FES edition I played and also the original PS2 version of the game. I had a good time getting to know female characters like Mitsuru and Yukari, but since the Social Links with the main party seem to take a somewhat ‘dating sim’ style approach, for some reason I wasn’t able to spend time with characters such as Junpei and Akihiko, who I thought seemed just as interesting. The main male characters receive plenty of cutscenes during the main story, but it felt a little strange that I couldn’t get to know them deeply the same way as the female cast. I know I have the option to play through Persona 3 Portable if I really wanted to get to know the male cast, but it definitely feels like something I should’ve been able to do in the first place rather than have to play potentially another hundred hours of another version of Persona 3 to do.

The Social Link aspect of the game serves as a nice booster for the story, but also a good break between dungeons, which is much needed because between the story and dungeons there tends to be a bit of a gap, making the story feel broken up at times. There were many times I would spend 5+ hours in a dungeon and not see a piece of story for a really long time, causing me to feel significantly less immersed in the story. Likewise, after finally getting to a good chunk of story after so long, going back into the dungeon again I felt a little bummed because I knew it would be awhile before whatever conflict had arisen in the story would be resolved. On the other hand, with Social Links I felt like I could keep up with better because I could work towards them in each game day, but since they’re only supplements to the main story this didn't help the pacing feel less spaced out.

At the time of its initial release, I can see why Persona 3 was such a strong game and a great edition to the JRPG genre. The Social Link system gives a great new element to monster collection and enhances the story well as a fantastic way to get to know the characters, which was appreciated considering the spread out nature of the main story. There’s a lot of good ideas in the battle system like different types of weapons and physical attacks and battle tactics, but these are unfortunately let down by an inconsistent AI that was more harm than good in important moments. Because of the AI and the pacing issues I had with Persona 3, although I still enjoyed it, it mostly made me appreciate the fact that Atlus noticed these problems and fixed them in Persona 4 because I didn't notice them at all when I played Persona 4 Golden. For hardcore fans of Persona 4 or those looking for a darker story, Persona 3 may be not be as polished of an experience by today’s standards, but if you can handle it’s flaws, Persona 3’s darker story gave an interestingly different take on what I understood Persona to be may be and is a valuable experience for those who want to understand the series more.

Score: 7.4/10

An interesting story premise and fun dungeon crawler with great Social Link aspects, unfortunately paired with an occasionally silly AI and some pacing issues.

If you enjoyed this review, check out my Persona 3 vs Persona 4 Comparison for the Persona 4 Golden Fan!

_____________________________________________________________

Have you played Persona 3? Which is your favourite Persona game?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up on the JRPG Jungle Facebook page and let's talk!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Make sure to follow the blog here, follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter and like JRPG Jungle on Facebook for updates on content and random musings on JRPG news and games. You're awesome! <3

Note: I dont have any game capture equipment for PS3, so all of the gameplay pictures in this post are taken from Google Images and I take no credit for them!

Review: X-Tactics (Reviewed on iOS, also available on Android)

X-Tactics is a unique game from the moment you read it's description. By a Japanese indie studio founded by veterans from Square Enix, Sega and Capcom, GAMKIN, Inc's X-Tactics combines fighting game and tactical RPG mechanics in an location-based world full of government spies and secret agents. As someone who plays a lot of JRPGs but hasn't quite ventured much into the tactical side of the genre, I was worried this kind of gameplay initially may be too complicated for my turn-based RPG mind at first, but X-Tactics' use of original and innovative game mechanics made the gameplay intuitive and most importantly, fun. Using a variety of gameplay mechanics, everything blends together into a seamless experience full of challenging levels and humourous characters in X-Tactics' entertaining tactical experience for players on the go.

When I first booted up X-Tactics, seeing the somewhat intricate mechanics in X-Tactics initially had me worried this game was quite complicated. For RPG players, X-Tactics adds a layer of complexity to the usual choose an ability and cast fare, but in a smart and surprisingly intuitive way. Battling with a team of up to four characters, your party works towards various goals, such as clearing a field of enemies or staying alive for a specified amount of enemy waves. When targeting an enemy, a fun timed mini-game begins where you use the touch screen to link together combinations in order to attack or use abilities while dodging any moving blocks from the enemy that could cancel your attack. After this, you need to hit a target at the right time in order to determine how much you'll pierce the enemy's defenses. The rush to get the right combo in the small amount of time was much like the thrilling experience of frantically trying to execute a combo in a fighting game. Thinking about which ability would be easiest to cast for each random boost layout within the time limit was a fresh and exciting approach that felt really unique and I loved how well this kind of system took full advantage of the smartphone's touch screen.

Another unique aspect of X-Tactics is the way it incorporates time and weather. When playing during the daytime on a sunny day, enemies like zombies have Sunburn and are much easier to tackle than if you play at night or on a rainy day when they're stronger. I thought this was another unique and interesting gameplay feature, although it wasn't something that really effected how I played the game. I didn't feel compelled to play at a certain time of day, but I did consider the effect either a welcomed boost or challenging handicap depending on if the effect was in my favour or not.

Missions in X-Tactics are divided into two parts - Story Missions or GPS Missions. Story missions explore the fun adventures of X-Tactics' cast of agents in short conversations between the characters that give context to the missions they're used in. Because of the small length of these pre-mission conversations, the story is fairly light in depth but what's lacking in depth is made up for with lots of quick and amusing humourous banter from the eccentric cast of characters. Every character is a little quirky in their own way, such as Goicci the alien who randomly sprouts Italian phrases like 'Mamma mia!' or the ever so feisty opera singer-turned-agent Astrid and her pet panda KuKu who just so happens to be assassin trained. All characters are complemented by really nice visual character designs that perfectly suit the game's aesthetic and their individual personalities. I usually prefer a deeper story for my RPGs, however I found the shorter scenes charming and better suited to a handheld device since I was usually playing the game on the go.

There's a full party of characters to unlock and enough Story Missions in X-Tactics to amuse those playing the game, especially when you count the extra story missions included in the regularly updated Event Missions. GPS Missions can also be played, which utilize the smartphone's location to generate missions, sometimes including special event missions. Some of Event Missions cost in-game Cash, which can usually be earned from missions, signing in regularly or as a reward for watching small video clips (usually ads for other games). Event Missions give you a chance to try extra characters that can be purchased with X-Coin, the far rarer in-game currency. X-Tactics is playable without paying any money since the app is free, but characters featured in events tended to be Premium Agents, which required spending X-Coin. As of recently, X-Coin can be obtained from GPS Missions or bought with real money. Since X-Coin is uncommon enough that I didn't find any in my time playing, purchasing some of these extra agents may be challenging for those who want to play the game entirely free. However, I do like that it's an option rather than a necessity to pay money for in-game extras, but I hope that more free agents (or ways to win them) are added in future.

My time playing X-Tactics was 90% bug free, which was great since most of the time I played I could enjoy the game without issue. In fact I only encountered my first bug a few days ago after a recent update, specifically a bug that caused a description box to stay on the screen longer than it should have. I'm not too worried about this bug sticking around though, as the game noticed and reported the problem itself. Since X-Tactics is being actively supported with updates and extra missions, I'm confident this shouldn't be an issue for too long and as it was my first error within 6 or more versions of the game (I played between version 3.8 to 4.4), I would still say it's a mostly bug-free experience.

X-Tactics' unique spin on RPG mechanics and it's quirky characters make it a standout mini-RPG for mobile devices. The addicting thrill of putting boosts on my attacks and the fun humour made it an enjoyable experience that had me excited to play it every time. Since the game is regularly updated, I'm excited to see what other eccentric characters and challenging levels will be added in the future. X-Tactics is a great, innovative experience for anyone looking for deeper style of gameplay on smartphones and fun, tactical RPG missions on the go.

Score: 8/10
With it's unique gameplay and colourful character banter, I really liked the way X-Tactics gameplay blends genres into something original. I can't wait to see what's added in the future (and to get KuKu into my party)!

X-Tactics is available on iOS and Android for free!
Click here to find it on iOS and here to find it on Android.

_____________________________________________________________

Will you try X-Tactics? And if you have, what did you think?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up on the JRPG Jungle Facebook page and let's talk!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Make sure to follow the blog here, follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter and like JRPG Jungle on Facebook for updates on content and random musings on JRPG news and games. You're awesome! <3

Notes: In the interest of transparency, information about this game was sent to me for review consideration, but I can promise this review 100% honest and written without bias.
Also, smartphone games are regularly updated and changed. My opinions about this game are based on the condition of the game at the time this review was released and may not cover any future important changes to the app.

My Random In-Game Routines and Habits That Make My Hour Counts Way Too Big

Games give us almost free reign over a fictional world, yet my brain seems to use this as a strange excuse to make weird and wonderful in-game habits. Whether it's leveling up my characters or being a crazy item hoarder, I often find these time-consuming habits creeping into my play time. Some work as good strategies, others are purely habits I should consider changing. I don't know if this is standard for other JRPG gamers or not, but I thought I'd share some of the weird and wonderful things I do while playing JRPGs and other video games.

Training Equally

Training equally is probably my most consistent gaming habit for almost every game I play. If there's a team or party travelling with me in a game, I must train each character at an equal pace. If there's one character that's a higher or lower level than the rest, it's unacceptable and they'll be the first in line for training. I'm honestly probably my happiest in a game when I see a full party of Level 99 characters because I know I did my job right.

See that level 20 Garurumon? It hurts me a little inside.

An example of my training equally method is my current playthrough of Pokemon Diamond. If I catch a new Pokemon I want to carry with me, I'll set the starting Pokemon for battles to be the lowest level Pokemon, train it to be the same level as the rest of my party and switch to one of the lower level ones again and again in order to keep them leveling at a good pace. I remember starting this habit during my very first playthough of Final Fantasy X. I liked all the characters so much and didn't want to neglect any of them, so this seemed logical and proved useful in boss battles when I needed multiple skill types in boss battles or in moments of games when you can't change the party members. When I told my friends about this, they were a little surprised as they just leveled their favourite characters and would specifically not level ones they didn't like. This struck me as unfair and the habit stuck.

There is a minor downside to this kind of training. Games usually take me longer because my characters as a group may be powerful, but as individual characters they level up slower, causing me to be under leveled at points and in serious need of level grinding. However, I've come to find level grinding somewhat relaxing, so it's not something that bothers me much anymore and I feel good inside knowing I have a variety of skills to choose from in battle.

Training Routines

Probably stemming from my training equally habit is the need for training routines. I think this is probably a more normal habit, but it feels a little too in-depth when I do it sometimes. My best example of a training routine I use is from my current playthrough in Persona 3. Once I've gotten to the highest unblocked point of Tartarus, the remaining nights before the full Moon I'll grind from the bottom of the most recent block until the next exit point. From there, I'll go back down to the bottom floor, see if I have any new Persona's to create or party members to switch out and get back to it. While running through the dungeon, I'll also make sure to navigate my way through the dungeon by 90% of the time only going the direction an enemy of an enemy to to maximize experience gained (or something). I'll do this ever other in-game night in Persona 3 (when my character's not tired) so I can be as high of a level as possible before the Full Moon boss.

I don't think having a training routine is weird for JRPGs as grinding is usually an important part of the game, so it almost seems necessary sometimes.  I started doing my character training in this more rigorous fashion because in a lot of JRPGs recently when I've been a bit more relaxed about grinding, I get a lot of game overs when it's boss time. This kind of routine makes my boss battles go a lot smoother, although definitely ups my game hours!

Dailies

When I'm playing mobile or online games, I like to do my dailies before getting down to business in the game. I'm pretty sure this habit comes from when I was played Neopets as a kid as I used to follow a lot of guides that gave good ideas for things to do daily and it's how I got a lot of Neopoints, so my mind still assumes it works for every game. However unlike the other habits I've mentioned, this is something that as I've gotten older, I've gotten a little less strict about doing. Although I definitely still see the benefit of doing it, since I play mobile games for maybe 10 minutes at a time, I usually just want to get straight down to business. If I spent more time playing Final Fantasy Record Keeper these days, I'd probably do it because now if you do the daily dungeons, you can win both useful materials and points that are exchangeable for valuables which would probably help me get OP faster. But for now, I'm mostly giving this one a miss.

Trophy Hunting

I've talked about having completionist tendencies here before and trophies really appeal to those tendencies. If I can see an easy trophy or a trophy I'm coincidentally close to getting, I feel like I have to get it. Because why not? Even though I could save all this until I've finished a game, sometimes the quick thrill of seeing my trophy percentage go up takes over and I lose valuable time I could've been spending getting to the finish line. I have definitely improved with this more recently though, especially after playing PSOne and PS2 Classics that have no trophies. There was a time where I was trying to platinum Final Fantasy X HD on my weekends, but there's so much to do in that game for the platinum that for now, I'd rather spend that time playing more games considering my backlog.

My brain still can't help having a mental list of games I want to platinum though, including Final Fantasy X, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth and Danganronpa 2, but I want to experience more new games before I experience the same ones again at the moment.

Pointless Item Collecting and Hording

My inventory in Persona 3 is definitely full of things I either don't need and don't know what they do. So is my inventory in Final Fantasy X...And Conception II...And Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth...And countless other games.

I keep every item I may even have the slightest possibility of needing in games if there's no inventory space limit purely because I don't want to get to the point in the game where I desperately need a certain weapon or item for a quest only to find I sold it for sweet in-game currency. I think this habit comes from having experienced such a situation - from times where I've had an almost finished quest, but then the last part of the quest required something I definitely sold. It might mean I scroll through my inventory a lot when I need to find something, but I'm prepared for every possible situation now and I don't have to go looking for items I had in the past.

(To be honest, I think if my apartment didn't have an 'inventory limit', I'd do it in real life with toys and figures too.)

‘Jerk’ Save Files

This one's a little from left field. Playing Persona 4 Golden was the first game I'd played that had really important in-game conversation options that effected how the characters perceived you. I like to be nice to the characters usually, but deep down I was always curious about what they'd say or think of me if I said the bad options. So, a few times I've made a 'jerk' save file for when I feel like seeing what they would say if I use the conversation options that would make me seem (and feel like) a jerk.

It's really not something I've done that much though - I did it for Persona 4 Golden and felt really sad when the characters seemed really sad about what I said. I did it a little in Final Fantasy XIII-2 with a little more success and amusing responses and banter, but it is quite time consuming as you still have to fight boss battles to get to these interactive conversations. I'd like to do it more, but it's another time consuming post-game thing where I could spend my time playing a new game instead.

_____________________________________________________________________

Have you done any of these things? Do you have any of your own strange or random in-game habits?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up on the JRPG Jungle Facebook page and let's talk!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Make sure to follow the blog here, follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter and like JRPG Jungle on Facebook for updates on content and random musings on JRPG news and games. You're awesome! <3