JRPGs I Played in November 2017

Usually when I sit down to write about the JRPGs I played over the past month, I’m a little surprised at how many games I managed to play and how distracted I managed to get from whatever JRPG I’ve been supposed to be focusing on most. In November however, it appears I was very true to my goal of playing a lot of .Hack// G.U. Last Recode as I only played a few other experiences on the side. Thanks to this, I made a bunch of progress in G.U. and I’m thankful for that, although I did occasionally get distracted by my new favourite JRPG mini-game ever and the time I wanted to put aside to get back to Persona 2 got completely eaten by the Alchemist Code’s surprise release. Even if it makes for a shorter video, I feel very satisfied with my JRPG progress last month, so here are all the JRPGs I Played in November.

Review: Despair Dungeon: Monokuma's Test (Danganronpa as a JRPG!)

Spoiler Warning: This is a video related to content in Danganronpa V3. It will contain no story spoilers, however it is related to end-game content unlocked after completing V3’s story. If you want to keep these features a surprise, you honestly probably shouldn’t watch this video. But these features and mini-experiences don’t tie in with the story, so it’s up to you if you want to proceed at your own risk!

Some of the Best JRPG Trailers of 2015

In honour of the fact I got a PS4 two years ago with Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 3 in mind, I put together this list of great trailers from this year. I'm always truly happy for the developers to take the time they need to make great games, however I'm also crossing my fingers that they will be released next year, because they all look really good so I want to play them. Enjoy and let me know your favourites of this years trailers in the comments!

Final Fantasy XV

Although Final Fantasy XV was not released this year, many trailers were released for both the gameplay and story portions of the game. I'm very excited for the open looking world, epic looking battles and that end-of-day cooking activity.

You can pre-order Final Fantasy XV at Play-Asia now!

Kingdom Hearts 3

The non-release of Kingdom Hearts 3 was no surprise, as Square Enix has been very ambiguous about any release date for Kingdom Hearts 3. But this year's E3 trailer was worth getting hyped for, thanks to the smooth, beautiful and fun looking as the trailer. If the game is even close to how fun the trailer looks, I'm completely on board for whenever it's finally released.

You can pre-order Kingdom Hearts III at Play-Asia.com now!

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 HD Final Chapter Prologue

Kicking Kingdom Hearts 3 out of being the first Kingdom Hearts game on PS4, 2.8 was announced for 2016. With Kingdom Hearts 3 being dateless, I'm assuming this will probably be the first Kingdom Hearts game we see in 2016.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 will feature two previous Kingdom Hearts games, Dream Drop Distance and Back Cover x. The game will also feature Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage, a new part of Kingdom Heart's story told by the character Aqua and set right after Dream Drop Distance. Since I haven't played Dream Drop Distance, I'm very excited to finally play the game and look forward to it hitting PS4 next year.

You can pre-order Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue at Play-Asia.com now!

Persona 5

As an avid Persona fan, I was a little bummed (although not surprised) that Persona 5 got delayed until next year. However, they released this really cool trailer with the news of the delay, so I didn't know whether or not to be mad. With the trailer looking this good, the delay is probably for the best and I can't wait to play what I'm sure will be another top quality Persona game.

You can pre-order Persona 5 (PS3, PS4) from Play-Asia.com!

Gravity Rush 2

After years of people hoping, the news of Gravity Rush (or Daze, depending where you are) 2 was very exciting and a little unexpected. The world in the trailer looks stunning and it looks like Raven may have a more prominent role along side the game's star Kat as well judging by all of the advertising so far.

Danganronpa v3

Although it is a visual novel and not a JRPG, Danganronpa's story is deep enough to satisfy many fans of Japanese games, including myself, so I'm chucking it in here as 'related gaming'. The most recent trailer for Danganronpa 3 generously reveals three characters, but is still keeping a lot of the details of the story hidden. Interestingly though, this will be the first Danganronpa game involving students outside of Hope's Peak Academy, so I'm very interested to see how they will tie in with the story so far.

Ni no Kuni II

In another unexpected PSX announcement, Ni No Kuni II was revealed and it looks incredibly beautiful (as to be expected from Level 5). I'd like to also thank this trailer for reminding me I need to play the first one....hopefully I'll do this sometime next year.

You can pre-order Ni No Kuni II: Reverent Kingdom now at Play-Asia.com!

Final Fantasy VII Remake

After years and years of people begging for a remake, Square Enix granted many wishes with the announcement of Final Fantasy VII Remake coming to PS4. Although there was a little controversy recently with the announcement that it will be released in episodes, the plus side is that we'll only get to see the game sooner if they release it in small portions. If waiting for the Remake is difficult, they also just ported the original game to PS4.

You can pre-order Final Fantasy VII Remake from Play-Asia.com!

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Which game are you most excited for? Did I miss any important ones? When do you think these games will be released?

Leave a comment below and let's talk!

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!

Top 7 JRPG Trailers and Announcements from Sony's Pre-TGS 2015 Conference

Tokyo Game Show 2015 has come and gone and has left us many souvenirs in the form of all the wonderful game announcements that have me counting down to 2016 already. While many announcements were made throughout all four days of the show (Persona 5 anyone?), some of the best announcements from TGS were made during Sony's Pre-Show Conference. There were many noteworthy announcement during the conference, including some cool JRPGs, so I made a top 7 list of my favourites from the conference. This is a ranked list, although it was extremely difficult to choose the right ranking (particularly between the last two games) and I definitely want to pick up all of these games at launch. Enjoy the list!

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7. Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna

Since the announcement of Square Enix's Tokyo RPG Factory studio during E3 2015, I've held a little curiosity about what they would do for their first title. Their goal of creating JRPGs like the magical ones that a lot of people grew up with is something I think a lot of people can get excited about, especially fans of long-running JRPG franchises.

Enter Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna, Tokyo RPG Factory's first revealed title for 2016. According to a translation from the game's website (courtesy of Gematsu), the game is promising towns to shop, challenging enemies and a touching ending. The trailer for the 'pure fantasy' RPG resembles a more graphically modern looking version of older fantasy RPGs and I'm looking forward to hearing more about the game's story soon.

You can pre-order Ikenie to Yuki no Setsuna at Play-Asia.com now.

6. 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim

The latest installment from Vanillaware (the developers of Dragon's Crown and the visually stunning Muramasa series) is Sentinel 13: Aegis Rim. Not much information is available other than this trailer, but the trailer shows lots of mechs, a gorgeous art style and a high school setting.

You can pre-order 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim at Play-Asia.com now.

5. Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness 5

I can't say I've ever ventured into playing the Star Ocean series, but every trailer I've seen of Star Ocean 5 has caught my attention and this new trailer is no exception. The colourful characters, beautiful looking galactic-meets-fantasy looking world and action-packed combat make for an interesting looking game.

You can pre-order Star Ocean Integrity and Faithlessness 5 at Play-Asia.com now.

4. Danganronpa V3

Spike Chunsoft has unveiled Danganronpa V3, the next installment to the main story of Danganronpa. This trailer curiously features mostly bears, meaning this will either be a very beary title or perhaps they're placeholders for other characters. Either way, this will be the first Danganronpa game for home consoles with the game coming to PS4, but it will also come to PS Vita as well.

You can pre-order Danganronpa V3 at Play-Asia.com now.

3. World of Final Fantasy

An extended look at World of Final Fantasy was shown during Square Enix's conference during TGS, after the initial announcement of the game at E3 2015. World of Final Fantasy revolves around a brother and sister making their way through the worlds of various Final Fantasy games, which include characters such as Lightning from Final Fantasy XIII, the Warrior of Light from the original Final Fantasy games and favourites from throughout the series such as Cactuar, Chocobos and memorable summons such as Ifrit and Bahamut. The game's chibi art style, all of the familiar enemies and the various worlds make this trailer look like a fun experience for fans of the series and new fans discovering the series for the first time.

You can pre-order World of Final Fantasy from Play-Asia.com now.

2. Gravity Rush 2 and Gravity Rush Remastered

Technically these are two different games, but they're from the same series and were announced at the same time, so I'm gonna to put them together!

The original Gravity Rush (known as Gravity Daze in Japan) was released in 2012 a little after the release of the PS Vita. The Action JRPG took advance of many of the tilting features of the Vita, along with having a comic book-esque story that was complete with the ability to fly. The game was met with plenty of praise, especially in Japan (Famitsu gave it a 38 out of 40) and was surprisingly announced at the Sony Conference that it will be remastered for PS4 (possibly to raise hype for Gravity Rush 2). I loved the game on PS Vita enough to platinum it because of the fun 360 movement and the way travelling through the world felt, so I'm excited to play it on PS4 again. However, I am of course even more excited for Gravity Rush 2.

Gravity Rush 2 has been rumoured for awhile, but I had forgotten about the game long enough to be gobsmacked by the actual announcement of the game. The trailer didn't detail a lot about the story, although it did show some of the landscapes, combat and returning characters. Gematsu's recent translation of the Gravity Daze 2 website's said that the story would be featured in a new world after a gravitational whirlpool sucks the main characters away from the first game's setting, Hekseville.

You can pre-order Gravity Daze (Remastered) and Gravity Daze 2 (both Japanese editions at this point in time) from Play-Asia.com now. 

1. Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue

It may not be Kingdom Hearts 3, but Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue will be the first Kingdom Hearts game in awhile to give a brand new piece of story to the series. The game will feature a remake of Kingdom Hearts - Dream Drop Distance (which I'm particularly excited for, as it was released on 3DS and not Playstation) and Kingdom Hearts Unchained X, which Polygon has said is to be connected to the mobile title. The most exciting part of Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep -A fragmentary passage-, which is a new playable story sequence that will be told from the perspective of Aqua. The story takes place after Birth by Sleep and is meant to link with Kingdom Hearts 3. While the last few Kingdom Hearts remastered games have been on PS3, Kingdom Hearts 2.8 will be the first Kingdom Hearts game to hit PS4 in 2016.

You can pre-order Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue from Play-Asia.com now.

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If you think I missed a super important JRPG from the Sony conference, feel free to leave it and your favourite other TGS trailers in the comments below. 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!

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