Review: Persona 3 Dancing in Moonlight (Reviewed on PS4, also on PS Vita, Japanese version)

Choosing between Persona 3 Dancing in Moonlight or Persona 5 Dancing in Starlight is mostly a matter of preference. Where Persona 5 brings the acid jazz, Persona 3 Dancing in Moonlight brings more of a funk, hip hop flair in terms of soundtrack, which is reflected in the tracks featured from the original game and also in the remixes based off its tracks. Dancing in Moonlight features the same polished rhythm game experience that Dancing in Starlight does, but with a Persona 3 makeover and its characters. Setting it apart is that Moonlight features the most high quality 3D models we’ve seen of Persona 3’s characters in years, so playing this game and seeing the updated versions of these characters felt special as someone who has played the original Persona 3 game as a PS2 classic. Whether you’re here for the dancing or here for more Persona 3, Persona 3 Dancing in Moonlight delivers the polished rhythm game and visual experience that fans of Persona’s Dancing games expect while being a great visual tribute to Persona 3 and its great characters in this rhythm game experience.

Review: Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight (Reviewed on PS4, Japanese version, also on PS Vita)

With its great acid jazz soundtrack, it’s no wonder Persona 5 works so well as a rhythm game. Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight features the already great involved rhythm game mechanics from its predecessor in a familiar form with an updated UI alongside the characters of Persona 5 showing their personalities in dances. While it’s new event-based story mode sets it apart from the last Persona Dance game, there are many events to unlock, on top of costumes, fun challenges and ways to shake up both its core gameplay and its social aspects to keep Persona fans busy. If you like rhythm games and Persona 5’s characters and music as much as I do, Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight is worth a look for story and rhythm game fans alike.

Review: NieR Automata - Route A-E Experience (Reviewed on PS4, also on PC)

NieR Automata is many things. It’s a long game, a short game. A platformer, a JRPG. An action game, a 2D shooter. All of these things come together to make an incredibly unique JRPG like none other. With its striking narrative and story-telling method partnered with great action gameplay and other styles to keep things interesting, NieR Automata’s emotional android world is well worth diving into.

Review: A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV (Reviewed on PS4, also on Xbox One)

Final Fantasy XV loves retro games. The boys of Final Fantasy XV are always playing the retro-style smartphone game King’s Knight and there's also the mini-game Justice Monsters Five in XV. A King's Tale Final Fantasy XV is another nod to this, but adds story into the mix to make the side-scroller a little more than just a side experience. I had fun with the short side-scroller but as a fan of Square Enix’s usual ambitious and cinematic storytelling, A King’s Tale was fun for a free experience but isn't all that memorable in the long run.

Feel free to watch the video version of the review here!

A King’s Tale is part visual novel and part side-scroller. It begins with an adorable exchange between King Regis and a young Prince Noctis sharing a lovely father-son bedtime story moment. Noctis requests for his dad to tell him an epic bedtime story about Regis’ own travels and Regis obliges, with the story being told through the side-scrolling adventure (which I like to think is how the retro-game loving Noct imagines the story). The story told is a little old Final Fantasy with its crystal-chasing shenanigans and a little Final Fantasy XV, with an emphasis placed on the value of friendship.

Since it's shown and implied in Kingsglaive and in XV that Regis had his own hardships, the story is proof of the fact that he had a journey similar to Noctis’ one in Final Fantasy XV. He travels with a crew similar in personalities to Noctis’ group, with the exception of standout Cid being way grumpier than the four guys in XV could ever be, in a good way. It was cool to see Regis and his crew summon and fight well-known Final Fantasy foes together, but other than some nice father son moments and terrible dad jokes, it doesn't really add much to the Final Fantasy XV Universe like I was hoping it would. Other Final Fantasy XV side experiences such as Brotherhood and Kingsglaive were so substantial and I was a little bummed A King’s Tale didn’t follow this trend.

The gameplay in A King's Tale however was pretty fun. Side-strollers aren't something I play regularly, but the retro music and hordes of enemies to take on were challenging enough and I was often rewarded by a cool summon animation in the bigger battles. Seeing some of Final Fantasy XV's places in pixel art style was a nice touch and most of the familiar enemies all needed different combos or attack types which kept me on my toes.

One of my favourite and least favourite mechanics in A King’s Tale was the Armiger, a cool multiple weapon super attack that has the ability to attack 4 times if you use your teammates right. This created a good goal towards, as the Armiger breaks its charge if you get hit and to get maximum damage, you must have used all your teammates attacks at least once before using it. It created an interesting dilemma of sometimes prioritising hiding and running from the hordes of enemies until I could use of the teammates instead of defeating the ones before me and I couldn't help but feel a little mad when I was hit and had to start all over. While it might have been frustrating, I think it was frustrating in a fun arcade style way that made me want to keep challenging my way through until I could unleash my best attack and see Regis’ disco battle victory pose as a small victory.

As someone who isn't a huge side-scroller player, my time with A King’s Tale was fun enough. I enjoyed the challenge from the sheer hordes of enemies I faced and the quick peak into Regis’ past, even if it didn't really add much to the Final Fantasy XV universe. It's definitely no replacement for the core Final Fantasy XV game, but A King’s Tale is a fun and different experience for those with a little extra time.

Score: 7.4/10

Don't forget: Regis was hot stuff.

You can download A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV for free on the Playstation Network Store or the Microsoft Store.

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What did you think of A King's Tale: Final Fantasy XV? Do you prefer retro or new style Final Fantasy games?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up on Facebook, Youtube or Instagram and let's talk!

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Review: NieR Automata - Route A Experience (Reviewed on PS4, also on PC)

Let's get this out of the way quickly - NieR Automata is much more than just a game. It’s a work of storytelling art told in unique ways and is pretty much a must for those who love highly original story-based games. NieR Automata’s striking narrative is paired with some great action gameplay and a world that encouraged me to explore it with its multi-altitude areas and environments ranging from beautiful to creepy. There is a lot to be intrigued by in the entire experience and it's one that I'm sure will stay with me for a long time.

(Feel free to watch the video version of this review!)

NieR Automata predominantly follows the story of cool, collected battle unit 2B, one of the many androids made by humans that are tasked with reclaiming Earth from the alien machines that have invaded. She does this with the help of the more emotive scanner unit 9S and their fascinating journey to Earth sees them exploring the way of the machine lifeforms on it while ultimately striving to complete their mission. This exploration of the machines and androids respective homes did a great job at challenging any understanding I had of either, considering I'm pretty sure I didn't meet any humans in Automata yet all the characters (including some NPCs) were complex and relatable in many ways, adding to the already intriguing premise of Automata. I don’t want to spoil anything, but Automata’s story is fascinating and thought-provoking about a lot of very deep subjects.

The story and characters of NieR Automata are heightened a lot by the subtle world-building done both within the story and its world. Whether it's the unsettling words of machines in story battles or a charming NPC talking about their day, it’s easy to get an understanding of the beings in Automata, which adds so much to the story. The fascinating environments show all different interpretations of human ideals and without spoiling too much, Yoko Taro really has made a world in Automata. The worlds range from pretty to creepy to unsettling and are all complemented by one of the best JRPG soundtracks I’ve heard in a long time.

An initial criticism I had of exploring Automata was how often I was getting lost due to not being used to parkouring my way around the world and the map only helps so much. But an NPC explained this was because the map could only be made so much by GPS signals (another example of great world building), so I started to look around the world more and found myself really enjoying jumping across buildings, sometimes falling into holes and finding areas I didn't know about. My favourite area was probably the Amusement Park one shown in the trailer, but there are a bunch of charming and strange places to explore and become immersed in, even if there aren’t as many places to visit as I was expecting. I'm still in awe of the way the story manages to be so much more than what I fell in love with about it in the trailers and it's one of the most interesting Sci-Fi worlds I’ve experienced, whether in games or otherwise.

Some of Automata’s most interesting exploration moments were during its battle moments, with it switching between the usual 3D exploration to side-scrolling to and even top down shooting. Since NieR Automata uses an action-based battle system that's main mechanics range from light or heavy attacks and shooting, the change in exploration style gives the action battles the variation it needs. The enemies in NieR Automata can be pretty challenging, depending what difficulty mode you play with. I'm currently playing on Normal mode in my second playthrough and am quickly finding myself noticing how much the Auto-Chips from easy mode were pretty much fighting battles for me. With difficulties ranging from Easy to Very Hard, there's something for every play style, whether you’re getting through the story or you want an intense challenge.

Conquering difficulty modes isn't the only reason to go back and play Automata again. There are plenty of quests I have left over, weapons to upgrade, androids to chip (you read that correctly) and amusing NPCs I didn't talk to nearly (Nierly?) enough. Also, the fact that ‘end’ of NieR Automata isn't at all the full end with multiple endings to be explored is exciting for someone who craves intricate stories like myself. While I know there's the danger that a lot of players will get to the first ending of NieR Automata and finish the 15-hour campaign feeling like it should've been longer, I can safely say my time with Automata certainly isn't over. I'm itching to go back and see the alternative versions of the beautiful story because it’s just that good.

NieR Automata is a one of a kind Sci-Fi JRPG for story fans. It showed me one of the most thought-provoking worlds I've experienced in games and even though it had a smaller world to explore than I was hoping for, where it lacked in size it truly gave back in quality with the story told through its areas, NPCs and most of all, the fascinating main story. The story of NieR Automata really will be one that stays with me for a while and I’m happy that my first step into the world of NieR was really, really good.

Score: 9/10
I'm ready for Automata to make me cry at least three more times.

You can pick up NieR Automata at Play-Asia!

(This is an affiliate link that helps support my JRPG Jungle content, so if you use it, thank you! <3)

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Are you going to pick up NieR Automata? Would you recommend the original NieR (I'm interested in trying it now!)?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up on Facebook, Youtube or Instagram and let's talk!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Make sure to follow the blog here, follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter and Instagram, like JRPG Jungle on Facebook and Subscribe to the mailing list and Youtube Channel for updates on content and random musings on JRPG news and games. You're awesome! <3

Review: Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS)

When I began my tactical JRPG kick, Fire Emblem was one of the first series I wanted to try. As a fan of the Persona series and after enjoying the fun tactical smartphone JRPG X-Tactics, Fire Emblem’s combination relationship and tactical mechanics sounded right up my alley. Fire Emblem Awakening may not be the most recent Fire Emblem game, but it doesn't take away from being a tactical JRPG triumph. With a well thought out and unique tactical battle system and twist-filled plot full of interesting characters, I was captivated with Fire Emblem Awakening from start to finish.

Fire Emblem Awakening’s story begins in the midst of a war between nations as the amnesiac Avatar (the customisable playable character) awakens in a field and is found by the royal family of the Ylisse nation, consisting of the strong-willed prince Chrom, his loyal knight Frederick and the light-hearted princess Lissa. The tactically-skilled Avatar quickly joins the nation's army and becomes a key member thanks to their ability in battle, which begins the epic and emotional story of Awakening. Fire Emblem Awakening goes beyond being a typical war story though, with an undertone of exploring the idea of fate and who can change the future adding uniqueness that style of story. Enhancing the story's biggest moments are the beautiful 2.5D style cutscenes and animation that really raise the biggest moments in Awakening to new heights and Awakening's cast of characters that strike a good balance between being likable and strong.

Complimenting Fire Emblem Awakening’s war story is its interesting and deep tactical battle system. Using Awakening’s large and diverse range of customisable characters and classes, each battle has your army and an opponent's fighting one another to either take out the army leader or the entire enemy army. Fire Emblem is known for its ‘rock, paper, scissor’ system where certain weapons and classes are better against each other, much like elemental spells in other JRPGs. It's an interesting way to decide which weapons to equip as I'm too used to in a lot of JRPGs picking the strongest weapon and dominating for a portion of the game. The new way of thinking when buying and equipping weapons was appreciated and saves some challenge for all parts of the game, whether you've been grinding your characters or not. I also liked that characters can equip up to 5 different spells and weapons, with each of them losing durability after each use making me plan carefully whether using a spell that may break completely was really worth using.

Apart from the fighting part of the battle system, my favourite aspect of the tactical system was pairing characters together to assist each other. This adds another layer to the battle system, with the relationship between the characters deciding how much of a benefit would be received from pairing certain characters. These benefits include how often attacks are stopped by a partner or having a potential extra hit or two on the enemy. It sounds like a lot to think about, but these mechanics work so seamlessly together that even new Fire Emblem players like myself should be able to pick them up easily enough.

Relationships were a big part of my Fire Emblem Awakening experience, especially since I enjoyed the Support System so much. The Support System gives a unique opportunity to get to know the characters and world of Fire Emblem Awakening through bonus dialogues while leveling up your relationship with the character to help in battle. There are many pleasant surprises to this system that I won't spoil, but the characters unlocked were great motivation to continue through the conversations and some of my favourite characters such as amusingly evil Tharja and the sweet-loving thief Gaius wouldn't have left such an impression on me without this exploration into Awakening's well-rounded characters creating different romantic and platonic relationships.

On top of the pleasant surprises found in battle and in its support system, Awakening provides plenty of replayability through gameplay difficulty, modes, a New Game Plus-like system and its various support pairing options so you can enjoy these for as long as possible. There are Normal, Hard and Lunatic difficulties to challenge yourself with, with Normal giving a significant amount more lucky evasion moments and Lunatic requiring a lot more tactical skill and strategy for each level to avoid constant character death. There's also the Classic and Casual game modes, with Casual allowing players to keep their knocked out units, while Classic implements ‘permadeath’, which doesn't affect the story but means the ‘dead’ units can be killed in battle and not used for the rest of the game. I played a combination of Normal difficulty with the Casual setting as it was my first Fire Emblem and still found enough challenge to not feel like I was being babied through the game, but I'm considering going back and trying Classic with the Lunatic difficulty for a true challenge to what most long-time Fire Emblem fans are more used to.

If the gameplay and story weren’t good enough, the cherry on top of the experience would be Fire Emblem Awakening’s beautiful music, voice acting and cool 2.5-D anime style cutscenes. Because the game takes advantage of the 3DS’s 3D functionality, Awakening’s biggest moments are both visually and sonically dynamic. Throughout battles is the great music composed for the game, with epic orchestral pieces in battle making things even more exciting and I literally got tingles hearing the final boss music for the first time. Awakening also offers both the English and Japanese voiceover tracks and both use really great voice actors that portray their characters really well.

If you’re looking for a fun, complex yet intuitive tactical JRPG, look no further than Fire Emblem Awakening. The tactical battles were as fun as they were unique, especially thanks to the support system where I could make good use of my time and characters on and off the battlefield. I played Fire Emblem Awakening for 60 hours, but I leave its world greatly looking forward to the next Fire Emblem challenge I play. It's tactically great, has a great plot and is well worth pulling out of the backlog.

Score: 9.5/10

For those with a 3DS and tactical JRPG tendencies, the high quality of Fire Emblem Awakening's battle system and support systems is very satisfying.

You can pick up Fire Emblem Awakening for 3DS at Play-Asia.com!

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What did you think of Fire Emblem Awakening? Which other Fire Emblem games would you recommend?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up Facebook or Instagram and let's talk!

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

A Brave New Record: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius Review (Reviewed on iOS, also on Android)

The Final Fantasy series has really made its way into the mobile gaming market. With a majority of the core Final Fantasy games available as paid apps on smartphones alongside free Final Fantasy apps such as Final Fantasy Record Keeper, there’s an experience for Final Fantasy fans of all budgets and tastes, ranging from the old school JRPG Final Fantasy style to the more modern 3D style seen in recent Final Fantasy games. The Brave Frontier inspired Final Fantasy Brave Exvius take inspiration from the classic Final Fantasy games with its turn-based battle system, pixel art sprites and town exploration that will be familiar to fans of the series. But it isn't all classic Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy Brave Exvius balances bringing a new Final Fantasy experience to the smartphone space featuring an interesting story with witty dialogue reminiscent of the classic games and also brings in the fun collection and turn-based systems featured in other mobile and core Final Fantasy series games of old and new.

As someone who was a longtime fan of Final Fantasy Record Keeper but needed something to hook me in to continue playing, the story in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is a solid answer to this problem. Brave Exvius is set in the world of Grandshelt and explores the protagonists Rain and Lasswell’s journey in balancing Grandshelt's powers of Lapis and Visions. This is the main premise anyway, as the pair seem to get sidetracked frequently, whether it be to save helpless citizens or, in true Final Fantasy style, to meet mysterious girls inside crystals. This kind of more lighthearted storytelling is great for the small story chapters in Brave Exvius as a game that'll live in most people's pockets, so the witty banter between Rain and Lasswell males each chapter feel enjoyable in its under 5 minute length and is a nice way to progress through its 'saving the kingdom' story.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius gets part of its name from Brave Frontier, another popular RPG game by developer A-Lim. But Final Fantasy Brave Exvius also places plenty of importance of the Final Fantasy part of its name, using plenty of mechanics, characters and aspects from Final Fantasy. As someone who hasn’t played Brave Frontier, I still felt right at home with the familiar gameplay elements featured in Brave Exvius. The spells, Espers, limit breaks and explorable towns and dungeons are all very Final Fantasy-like and are a much needed upgrade to the basic character battle used in other Final Fantasy mobile games. Brave Exvius features a touch-based interface that utilises swipes to give a variety of different commands during battle. A swipe to the left will allow you to use skills, a swipe to the right will allow you to defend. This kind of smart use of the smartphone’s touch screen take advantage of the available screen space and allow for a battle system pretty close to the one seen in older Final Fantasy games. Add in Espers and Limit Breaks and battles are pretty exciting. While it does have an Auto function that’s featured in most Final Fantasy mobile games, this kind of complexity encourages players to actually think out their moves and play like they would on a console Final Fantasy game or at least use the Repeat function to automatically use the same command you used before.

A really noteworthy thing in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is its inclusion of towns and exploration maps, something that I really enjoyed in Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ and was glad to see in Brave Exvius as well. Towns allow players to buy a variety of items at stores, including weapons, armour and healing items, along with recipes to craft all these things for those wanting to save gil and use materials in the neat crafting mechanic instead. Also in the towns are NPCs that give quests, an RPG feature that makes the world of Brave Exvius feel much more real and RPG-like than most smartphone RPGs I’ve played. The quests given in towns usually lead to visiting an Exploration area, which features a maze-like map littered with monsters and treasure chests for players to hunt out items for quests, crafting and character upgrades. The exploration is generally simpler than what’s found in console Final Fantasy games, but it’s still one of my favourite aspects of Brave Exvius because it makes it feel like a genuine JRPG world.

Along with finding items for quests and upgrades, there’s plenty to unlock, collect and upgrade in Final Fantasy Brave Exvius whether you’re into character collection or stat building. For those like myself who came from Final Fantasy Record Keeper, the character collection continues with Brave Exvius' gacha system that uses Friend Points accumulated by making friends or having other players assist you in battle to summon extra units to battle with. These units include characters exclusive to Brave Exvius and also characters from old Final Fantasy games, which I was delighted by when I got a Vivi. For those looking to strengthen their battle units, characters can be Awakened (upgraded) up to a 5 star ranking, providing plenty of opportunity for more powerful characters and grinding. Grinding is made easy with Brave Exvius' Vortex quests, which provide either materials, gil or experience depending on the type of dungeon the player chooses for each day. Whenever I was under-leveled for a quest, I really enjoyed how easy it is to find a way to get better units and upgrade my existing characters and found it really easy to understand as a JRPG player.

To accelerate unit collecting and upgrade material collection is Lapis, a material Grandshelt and also Brave Exvius’ in-game currency that can be bought with real world money. For those wanting to keep their experience free, there are plenty of opportunities to win Lapis in the game through quests and login bonuses and I never found myself to be out of them. A cool thing that Lapis can purchase are the weekly shopping packs released in Brave Exvius that offer materials that are more difficult to get. They also offer some of these packs for purchase with real money as well, but they’re never materials that are impossible to get just by playing the game.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is almost as dense as most Final Fantasy games, yet it fits perfectly on a smartphone due to smart mechanics and plenty of ways to collect and upgrade characters. With story, Espers and exploration, the experience features much of what Final Fantasy players enjoy on the console games in an easily accessible way for players on the go. As someone who was very into other Final Fantasy mobile games such as Final Fantasy Record Keeper, Final Fantasy Brave Exvius feels like a clear upgrade to the mobile Final Fantasy experience and I’m glad I can finally enjoy the Final Fantasy battle system I love with enjoyable banter on days I leave my Vita at home.

Score: 9.5/10
Final Fantasy's best mobile game yet manages to balance great story content, an explorable world and mechanics that fit smartphones perfectly in this on-the-go adventure.

Final Fantasy Brave Exvius is available in both the App Store and the Google Play store.

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Are you playing Final Fantasy Brave Exvius? Who's in your party?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up Facebook or Instagram and let's talk!

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

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.

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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.

Review: Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth (PS4, PS Vita)

If you had a half cyber body, would you dedicate your life to being a digital detective? This unique premise is explored in Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth, but it's not your average story about hackers and detectives because it's a Digimon game. While other Digimon games keep collecting Digimon as the core gameplay mechanic, Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth focuses on the story of the half digital protagonist and the many adventures had uncovering the truth about the Digital World. But don't fret, as this turn-based JRPG boasts killer gameplay, a decent story and it's the most fun I've had evolving creatures in a game in years.

Review: Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection (PS Vita)

Hyperdimension Neptunia is always ready to make it's players laugh. It never takes itself too seriously as it parodies the real world video game industry, replacing the big name corporations with beautiful female heroines called CPUs. My first dive into the series was with this Idol spin-off game, Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection. While Producing Perfection is very different from the JRPG gameplay of the main series, the Idol simulation game is full of funny dialogue and it's simple but fun gameplay and light-hearted story provides the perfect amusement level and length for a light game, being able to be completed in just a few hours. It's a great introduction to the series, especially for players like myself who are new to the series. With plenty of comedic moments, the girls of Hyperdimension Neptunia entertain both with their songs and their humour in this fun-filled Idol story.

The standard Hyperdimension Neptunia games are a parody of the video game world that usually involves JRPG mechanics and the girls fighting for their shares (as in stocks) in a 'console war'. The girls, known as CPUs, along with the areas they rule each represent a console. For example CPU Noire rules Lastation and Vert rules Leanbox, both which have names that match very closely to two real life game consoles. In Producing Perfection however, the story premise is twisted to include Idol culture. Set in Hyperdimension Neptunia's appropriately named world called Gameindustri, the four girls unexpectedly lose all of their hard-earned shares thanks to an Idol boom, which means they will lose their power. In order to keep their powers and their areas alive, they decide to combat this by becoming Idols themeselves. They will be helped by you, their Producer, who has been transported to the world of Gameindustri because of your Idol game prowess.

As an amateur producer, you have the opportunity to work with a single heroine on this journey, with each girl's personality offering different personality quirks to your journey to Idol share domination (or something like that). Neptune is very fun and happy, Noire is the sassy tsundere type, Blanc is somewhat balanced mix of extremely calm and violent and Vert is the most mature of the bunch and an avid gamer, who openly boasts to have the biggest breasts in Gameindustri. While all the girls are different, each story takes advantage of their more amusing, flirty and funnier sides to ensure that no matter which girl you pick, you will have fun. I played all the routes last year and in my recent replay I came back to Neptune, as her fun energy is infectious throughout the silly story.

Each in-game day lets you choose a different Idol or CPU related task. There's options to train to improve stats, have a publicity event to increase fans, spend time relaxing to decrease stress, move your Idol operation to another area or put on a concert (the biggest stat increaser). For the most part, you are completely free to choose whatever you want to do, as long as your Idol isn't stressed (if she's 100% stressed, it's game over). Balancing your Idol and Fan level is the main name of the game, but doing different tasks offer different cutscenes to help you get to know your Idol, so each option is kept interesting and entertaining. There isn't a lot of skill needed in every aspect of Producing Perfection, but I didn't mind as I was busy watching my character's funny antics and gaining fans to progress the story at a nice pace. Because the days are so fast, it's easy to advance multiple days in a manner of minutes. I liked the fast pace, especially since the game's subject manner is light. It stops Producing Perfecrion from becoming repetitive, which is probably best .

Lingering throughout the game is the time limit that the girls must complete their Idol quest in. If they don't complete this task within 180 days, they will lose all of their shares to MOB48 (a clear parody name of Japan's massive AKB48 girl group) and consequently their power. Once I spent maybe 10-20 in game days learning what would increase my Idol's stats and fans the fastest, this time limit was never an issue. Days pass by quickly and the game is achievable with 50-100 in-game days, depending on your luck or skill. The first time I played the game two years ago, I completed it in about 90-something days. In my most recent playthrough, it took a mere 51 days and about 4-5 real life hours.

The length of the game is either Producing Perfection's biggest fault or biggest success. You won't find a long term idol-simulation in this game, unless you're a completionist or enough of a fan of the Hyperdimension Neptunia series to unlock all events with all girls. If you're looking for a long game, this isn't it. For myself, Producing Perfection was an appropriate length, as there's not enough serious plot or twists to keep this game amusing for more than a few hours. However more replayablity can be found through playing as each of the girls or unlocking extra events. Because of Producing Perfection's short length, I really like that it allows you to play at a pace and seriousness level of whatever you're feeling like at the time.

Because of Producing Perfection's fast nature, most time is spent fleshing out the story. However there are some faults to be found in Concert Mode's gameplay. Concert mode is where Producing Perfection is the closest it gets to being an Idol game - you put on a stage show and it's time to try and win over the crowd. Choosing a costume and stage setting's for my Idol CPU girl was certainly fun, but the lack of song selection can make Concert mode feel repetitive, especially with only cute dancing (albeit very cute indeed) to hide behind since there's no dialogue. Once the Concert has begun, you have to win over the crowd, using stage effects and camera angles or even getting your CPU to use her more mature (both in personality and also visuals, with a noticeable chest enlargement for almost all character's forms) HDD power-up form. HDD mode almost always guarantees a successful show, stage mechanics can be fun to add, but there seemed to be no system to using the camera properly - it almost seemed like if I just moved it around and switched angles enough, my score would increase. I didn't personally mind the lack of overall challenge in Producing Perfection as I was just enjoying getting to know the CPU's, however for fans of Idol games or the JRPG version of Hyperdimension Neptunia, I can see it being potential bothersome to some players.

Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection opens with a message encouraging people to basically 'relax and don't take it too seriously' and it sums up the game well. It's a humourous light Idol simulation game, with the spotlight mostly shining on it's fun dialogues and characters. Although it's day-to-day game life  is fun, it's idol components aren't the most challenging. If you're looking for deeper gameplay, I'd encourage you to look elsewhere (such as the main Hyperdimension Neptunia series), but if you're looking for a fun-filled, quick adventure living in a interesting universe mixed with a little music, Producing Perfection is good fun to fill a weekend or a day or so.

Score: 7.4/10
Not the most challenging game in the universe, but it's full of good quick Idol and Hyperdimension Neptunia fun for on the go or a relaxing afternoon full of cute and amusing characters.

You can pick up Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection for PS Vita from Play-Asia.com now!

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Whose route are you the most interested in - Neptune's, Vert's, Blanc's or Noire's? What did you think of Producing Perfection?
Leave a comment below or send @JRPGJungle a tweet and let's talk!

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Make sure to follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter for updates on content and random, shorter musings on JRPG news and games. You're awesome! <3

Note: This article does contain affiliate links to Play-Asia to help support this site. You can read our Affiliate Link Policy here. Photos in this post are also from Play-Asia.

Review: Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair (PS Vita)

When the first game in a series is incredible, it sets very high expectations for the next one. Thankfully, Danganronpa 2 takes all expectations brought from it's predecessor and hits them with the hard-hitting visual novel mystery that it does best, with added new features partnered with the best ones from the first one. Delivering the epic battle between hope and despair back once again with just as many passionate and colourful characters as last time, Danganronpa 2 is definitely special in it's own right and is worthy of being part 2 of Danganronpa's thrilling mystery.

Giving a new layer to the classic 'stranded on an island' dilemma, 16 students of Hope's Peak Academy find themselves trapped on Jabberwock Island alone with a strange magical rabbit. To begin their school trip gone wrong, the rabbit insists that they must travel the island to collect the Hope Fragments and become friends with one another...that is until Danganronpa's original evil bear Monokuma arrives and takes over, turning it into a tropical killing trip where the students are expected to kill one someone without getting caught. If successful, they can 'graduate', have their classmates punished (killed) and leave the island. If unsuccessful, the killer (known as the blackened) is punished and the rest of the class stays on the island.

The story runs over six twist-filled chapters, all compelling enough to have me glued to my PS Vita for about a week straight. The new cast is just as funny and zany as the last, to be expected when the talented cast of characters includes such titles as the Ultimate Team Manager, the Ultimate Yakuza and even the Ultimate Gamer. The characters aren't just amusing though, they're all complex personalities with different backgrounds, therefore reacting in very different ways. Throw in Monokuma and Monomi and you have a cast that perfectly compliments the deep, but cheeky storytelling of the Danganronpa series.

The consistent flow established in the first game continues in Danganronpa 2. Each chapter is divided into two parts, Daily Life and Deadly Life. During Daily Life, the story progresses and you are also given a chance to collect Hope Fragments with your fellow students. Once the story progresses to a climax (when a character has been killed), Deadly Life begins and it's time to Investigate and do a Class Trial to choose who is the blackened. Making friends with characters during Daily Life is encouraged to add more depth to the story, although it can be bittersweet, as you never know if they might be killed by the time it hits Deadly Life.

During the Class Trial, the group discusses at length the murder case in an attempt to weed out the blackened. The protagonist must use his Truth Bullets - facts uncovered during the Investigation - to shoot down or support his classmate's arguments. Supporting character arguments during the Non-Stop Debates hasn't been the only thing added to the Class Trial, in fact for better or worse the whole experience has undergone a revamp, along with some new additions. My favourite new additions were Logic Dive, a cool snowboarding mini-game that utilities ramps as choices when thinking out an argument, and Spot Selection, a simple new feature which presents a photo and you must choose the area being discussed or that is a contradiction.

On the other hand, the revamped Hangman's Gambit seemed much more complicated than it's original form and Rebuttal Showdown was cool, although my Vita sometimes couldn't handle some of the button mashing required of it. Initially when playing, I found the sheer amount of mechanics needed for the Class Trial overwhelming, but the way they are used add for a nice variation during the trial. Another small, but nice addition is that each trial is split into two parts, meaning it's possible to save partway through, which is appreciated when the length of each Class Trial is considered.

Outside of the main story is enough content to put most DLC to shame. There's Island Mode, an item collection cross social/dating game much like the original Danganronpa's School Mode, Magical Miracle Girl Monomi, a mini-battle game where you can fight small island enemies and Monobeasts, a digital novel called Danganronpa IF covering an alternative story line to the first game, unlockable art and movies and even your own Tamagochi like pet to raise during and after the main story is over. I was overjoyed when these features where unlocked at the end of Chapter 6, as the game had not only left me wanting more, but had willingly given me it. There's also a Japanese voiceover option and in-story collectibles that are also an excuse to playthrough the thrilling story a second time, making Danganronpa 2 highly re-playable even after the 40 hour story.

If you loved the first game, Danganronpa 2 does nothing but add to the thrilling story and world from the first game. With many more activities and a gripping story that ties in perfectly to the first one, Dangranronpa 2's mystery kept me coming back for more - and then kept giving me more. If more thrills, chills and kills is what you're looking for in a story, letting yourself become absorbed by Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair's many mysteries is completely worth it.

Score: 9.7/10

A gripping tale and new game mechanics and modes make this game beary, beary good.

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair is available now at Play-Asia,net.

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Did you play Danganronpa 2? Are you itching for V3 as much as I am?
Leave a comment below and let's talk!

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Final Fantasy IX Review (PS One Classic)

In a period of time where we are truly pampered by graphical beauty and high quality stories, voice acting and gameplay (most of the time), when I decided it was time to finally visit the realm of older Final Fantasy IX games, I wondered how much I'd actually enjoy the somewhat older game. When I started playing the Final Fantasy series, I began from Final Fantasy X. Since then, I've only briefly played through I and VIII, so I haven't experienced most of the beautifully pixel-based graphics of the PS One Final Fantasy games yet. Thankfully though, gaming is much more than just graphics and finally playing Final Fantasy IX totally affirmed any thoughts that I'd been missing out on a fun game with a plot worth visiting.

Final Fantasy IX is full of charm, with it's medieval fantasy feeling and unique characters and is topped off with some smart systems that tie into the game's battle system, is worth playing nearly 15 years after it's release. Even with it's old school graphics and feeling, thanks to the story, characters and gameplay, I definitely regret not playing it sooner.

Set in a medieval world complete with a Queen and activities such as watching plays, Final Fantasy IX is firmly set in a perfect setting for a fantasy adventure, heightened by the world's painterly look that makes it look like it's set in a fantasy picture book. The story's hero Zidane is cheeky and strong-willed and is just as humorous as he is kindhearted (and feels just a little like a prototype for FFX's Tidus). He's the perfect leader for the story's oddly fitting group, which includes the knight Steiner, who is far to devoted to his duties, the innocent black mage Vivi who is trying the find his purpose in life and Princess Garnet, who becomes more admirable as the game progresses because of her genuine drive to protect her people. The odd group set out on a journey to find out and resolve many of the problems in the kingdom, including investigating the behaviour of the kingdoms leader, the princesses mother, but they also find more enemies along the way. The story explores deep themes such as life and death and one's purpose and it's villains are just as complex as the main characters.

FF9 Screenshot sourced from IGN

The flow of the story ties in with the game well, opening up new features to benefit the gameplay and to continue on the story as each disc/chapter is completed. Without being too specific, I truly enjoyed the growth of all the characters throughout the game, with many of the characters being effected by moments in the story and growing their own story throughout the 50+ hours of the experience. While Zidane is the main character of the story, optional Active Time Events allow the other characters to be followed almost just as closely, giving a depth to the effects of the main story.

Returning in Final Fantasy IX is the familiar turn-based battle system is featured in many Final Fantasy titles, but this time with an option to make things move a little faster with the active setting found in the menu. The active setting allows you to make commands while enemies and characters are executing their moves, a much needed option considering the slow pacing of most battles, due to the long animations for each attack. I usually really love a turn based battle system, but the long animations killed the pace for me. When there's cool characters, great summons and a pumping battle track, I expect to have a fun, satisfying battle. Final Fantasy IX had all of these things, but the pace made some battles feel off and a little laggy, especially by today's standards.

FF9 Screenshot sourced from IGN

This kind of a battle pacing is a shame, as the battle system had a few cool additions, such as the trance system for each character which could be built up to change into a stronger form and some of the unique status ailments, such as the spinning status ailment that was a lot like 'Confusion' from other Final Fantasy games, but uncurable. Unfortunately though, these were not without fault either, with other status ailments sometimes being visually difficult to notice and trance on occasion not being usable at all. Because Trance automatically activates itself once it's fully changed, a character's Trance would often become triggered at the end of a battle,  just as another character was executing their attack and defeating the enemy, rendering the trance meter 'used' and empty for the next battle. Battles are definitely still enjoyable for those who like a turn-based battle system and enemies are challenging enough to make things enjoyable, but I can't say it's my favourite version of the turn-based battle system used in many Final Fantasy games.

Surprisingly, what I found more fun than actual battles was the equipment and ability preparation process. Rather than using a skill tree-like system seen in other Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy IX's equipment system is built around the marriage of equipment and abilities. Each weapon, armour and accessory has an ability that the user can learn after winning the battle with it enough times, helping to create a 'bank' of abilities that the character can use throughout the whole game. When I go into battle in a JRPG, I'm used to typically prioritising strength, so this mechanic quickly added a totally different dynamic to my strategy. Sometimes I really needed strength, other times I was using low power equipment just for an ability. I was also pleasantly surprised when good equipment suddenly became weaker in some areas and I had to switch to lower level equipment because that was how equipment worked in that place. For a genre where in most games you can just level up to become totally overpowered (which I'm sure is also possible in this game too), this was a good dynamic that made the acquisition of new equipment much more interesting.

FF9 Screenshot sourced from IGN

The game features a few side quests, although I will say the story was so big and interesting that I didn't feel the need to explore them too much. The main side quest I tried was Chocobo Hot and Cold, a fun yet time consuming hunting game used to find items and gain points to buy some of the games rare weapons. There's also the game's card game (pictured above), which was fun enough if you're a fan of Final Fantasy's card games (which I usually skip over in favour of other side quests, unless there's a trophy involved).

Despite the battle system's speed needing work, the rest of the game is sprinkled with great music, quality visuals that make the most of the technology of the time that make the experience feel fairly polished. The music is one of the best Final Fantasy soundtracks I've ever heard, spanning beautiful emotional pieces like 'Melodies of Light' along with fun, carnival-like feeling pieces for more comical scenes. Each piece truly helps to create the appropriate mood to each scene. The visuals have of course aged a little when compared to today's Final Fantasy's, but it's obvious when looking at the beautiful, storybook like landscapes and the great cutscenes that the game is still beautiful in it's own way now and made a beautiful looking game for the technology it used.

FF9 Screenshot sourced from IGN

Final Fantasy IX may have some problems with being a little laggy during it's battles, but a majority of the experience resonated with me 15 years after the release, thanks to the strong story, the smart equipment and abilities mechanics and the beautiful environment and musical decisions. For fans of the Final Fantasy series who haven't played the game or older Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy IX is a great reminder of the brilliant stories Final Fantasy is known for. If you're willing to give up some of the visual and speed luxuries of today's video games, Final Fantasy IX's story is a touching story and beautiful medieval world that is worth experiencing for those with a little patience.

Score: 7.9/10

A little laggy at times, but a wonderful that is worth experiencing with a smart equipment and battle system.

You can buy Final Fantasy IX as a PS One Classic for PS3, PSP and PS Vita digitally on your local Playstation Network Store.
If you're a collector of PS One games or happen to have a PS One or PS2 lying around, the physical version of Final Fantasy IX (and other Final Fantasy IX related goods) are available at Play-Asia.com.

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Thanks for stopping by and make sure to follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter for updates on content and random, shorter musings on JRPG news and games!

Note: This article does contain an affiliate links to Play-Asia to help support this site. You can read our Affiliate Link Policy here.