With no releases I was planning to pick up in August, it was a good time to catch up on JRPGs I’d put aside to play newer releases, at least for the most part, as I only ended up with a bit of gaming time as I tried to get ahead on other things, like posts and recordings for videos. I did finally get back to both games I’ve been playing since January, Persona 2 and Kingdom Hearts, to try get them finished by the end of the year and I also dabbled in a few mobile and console expansions that piked my interest. And of course, I couldn’t help getting back into my favourite JRPG of this year *cough* Persona 5 *cough* so far. Although it was a relaxed August, I did manage to play a few things, so here are all the JRPGs I played in August.
With its beautiful art style, tactical gameplay with some unique ideas and a mythological story, God Wars: Future Past seemed like a promising tactical JRPG after playing its Japanese demo. In reality, my time with the full version of God Wars: Future Past was a lot more mixed. I enjoyed improving my tactical strategies in its many truly challenging battles, but paired with imperfections in other areas and the battles themselves, I walked away from God Wars feeling very different to how I thought I would. Still, the 50 hour plus experience was fairly interesting to watch grow, even if it’s not the first tactical JRPG I’d recommend, and saw me in some of the toughest tactical JRPG battles I’ve ever faced, for better and worse.
July was a very simple month in terms of my gaming time. I’ve been trying my very best to conquer the difficult tactical JRPG God Wars: Future Past and have also been trying not to get distracted so I actually finish it because it's taking a bit of time. I touched a few of my favourite console games when I needed a break and I also logged into some new and old mobile favourites to get some character rewards and be reminded I’ll never have enough time to truly conquer them. Although it was a straightforward month of JRPGs, I mostly enjoyed what I played and at the very least having a solid gaming direction, so here are all the JRPGs I played in July.
Booting up most games these days, I’m met with a decision. A decision that affects important parts of my game experience, such as challenge or the time it takes to play, which has a large effect on my overall game enjoyment. This decision is choosing a difficulty mode. I find changing difficulty modes along the way distracting, so I want to get it right the first time and there’s a very easy way to tackle this decision - choosing Easy mode.
There may be a slight stigma towards playing games on Easy.I imagine some people have thoughts such as "It takes the skill or challenge out of playing", "It’s not really playing the game", "It’s for weaklings" etc etc, or at least that’s the internal dialogue I had with myself the first time I made the switch into easy town. But playing on easy mode has allowed me the opportunity to try more games by giving myself a little speed boost and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting a relaxing experience in one’s gaming downtime.
With the main games and DLC I wanted to play releasing in the later half of last month, my gaming time was pretty free for a bit, so I took the time to play demos, platinum and finish some stuff before new release time. I was kind of all over the place in my gaming time at first, but I did set a few solid goals that I completed. I finished all of NieR Automata’s main routes finally, played SINoALICE, God Wars and Episode Prompto at launch and platinumed Persona 4 Dancing All Night (because why not, right?). Most of all, I tried a few new interesting experiences I'm excited to talk about, so here are the JRPGs I played in June.
I knew nothing about the God Wars series when I jumped into the Japanese demo of God Wars: Future Past. Other than vaguely hearing that it was a JRPG, I was mostly drawn to it from its gorgeous animation style and its old Japan aesthetic. As usual, my limited Japanese kept me from getting any major context from the story, but it seems to be based around Japanese folklore, with a beautiful princess and a journey that had me visiting multiple places in the demo alone. Mixed with a tactical battle system with its own unique twist and pretty visuals, my look at God Wars: Future Past has at the very least made me curious about it.
After comparing what I thought the story was to the press release, turns out I wasn't that far off. Future Past’s demo opens with the Queen of the story’s land of Mizuho sacrificing one of her daughters to calm the spirits that the people of Mizuho had been neglecting. Neglecting the spirits had seen them begin to give natural disasters and this sacrifice was supposed to prevent the spirits from destroying their world. After watching this go down, Future Past switches to the perspective of the Queen’s other daughter Kaguya, who has grown up since being placed in a seal as a backup sacrifice. She's saved by her childhood friend during an attack and they begin their journey together, with the demo taking a look at some of the towns and battle areas that will be found along the way.
One thing I can definitely praise God Wars: Future Past’s demo for is that it doesn't waste much time getting to the action. One of the first tactical battles is fighting to save the princess and that happens fairly early on in the demo. Thankfully, the turn-based tactical battle system will be very familiar to those who have played tactical games before and even with the language barrier, I was able to get the hang of it easily. There are a few things to make Future Past’s battle system unique, such as the Facing mechanic that makes the amount of damage you deal or receive change based on what direction you and the enemy were facing. Reading the website, there's also an interesting sounding Impurity mechanic that makes you more target-able when you attack enemies or heal your party. This mechanic sounds really interesting, although I probably didn't notice it due to the language barrier. Even so, battling was one of the funnest things to do it Future Past’s demo and is one of the most memorable parts of my time with it.
The another part of God Wars: Future Past I really liked were the gorgeous visuals. The beginning moments of Future Past are stunning and detailed anime-style cutscenes, battles look like they were painted and even though outside of cutscenes chibi-style characters are used, it all works together perfectly with the painterly look. The colourful and detailed art style is a true feast for the eyes and really brings the Japanese style world to life.
What I learned about God Wars: Future Past while playing its demo was that it's probably going to be an interesting and pretty way to experience Japanese mythology. The story of gods and sacrifice will likely make it a unique story and I’d definitely love to see more of its beautiful art style. I don't know if I'll be rushing to get it, but God Wars: Future Past’s demo was a decent-sized look at it and I’d recommend giving it a try if Japanese mythology is your thing.
You can pre-order God Wars: Future Past at Play-Asia.com! (This is an affiliate link that helps support my JRPG Jungle content, so if you use it, thank you! <3)
What do you think of God Wars: Future Past so far? Are you going to play it?
Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up on Facebook, Youtube or Instagram and let's talk!
