Phobos Children's Fun JRPG-Infused Tap Battles

When a friend recommended me indie studio Mirai Labo’s smartphone game Phobos Children, I was pleasantly surprised to see their take on a JRPG-inspired battle system as it was said to be an action-puzzle RPG. Interestingly, Phobos Children makes its own combat style that combines ideas from JRPGs and puzzles with the handy touchscreen to make an involved experience that relies on tapping bubbles to attack in a fun and unique way. As a fan of JRPGs and rhythm games, Phobos Children’s combat reminds me of both in an addictive way that makes me want to keep playing it.

Review - Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan (PC)

Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan is one of the most unique JRPGs I’ve ever played for a lot of reasons. It’s from Kiro’o Games, a game studio in Cameroon, Africa, and it’s based on African mythology, something that I don’t think I’ve ever seen explored in a JPRG world. Reasons like this are probably why it was successfully Kickstarted years ago and would make it a one of a kind experience for any JRPG player looking for something different. Aurion has many highs, such as a deep story that challenges its player to think profoundly throughout the King and Queen of Zama’s story, a fun active battle system and its own different kind of class system. A lack of polish stops Aurion from being a great game, but the variety of gameplay mechanics and philosophical story do make it pretty good.

Aurion centres around King Enzo from the isolated city of Zama, whose world is turned upside thanks to his brother-in-law attacking Zama just after Enzo is wed with his childhood friend and new Queen Erine. This attack results in Enzo and Erine awaking suddenly exiled from Zama and having to find the answers, along with exploring the outside world for the first time. Aurion’s story explores existential questions and the growth of the individual and a relationship, together creating a great sense of purpose throughout the story and the true feeling of going on a journey. The story isn’t afraid to go deep, with the script describing some profound topics such as embracing anger and living with honour. Some of these story moments were let down by a lack of proofreading or varying pacing, but other times there were incredibly strong story moments with such inspiration dialogue that kept me going on my Aurionic journey.

One of the things that drew me into trying Aurion was the mention of a battle system similar to some Tales of games. Aurion features an active battle system in a platforming, brawler-like style that's fun to play if you take the time to master it. There is a variety of shortcuts for commands to perform, whether you're using a regular attack, transforming your class with Aurions or getting help from Erine, who packs just as much of a punch as her husband. These commands can be implemented very quickly in battle when used, but I had trouble sometimes since the commands were so similar instead of getting Erine heal me, I'd make her attack instead even when I was using a controller. I know this problem would’ve been worse on keyboard though, so I definitely recommend using a controller to anyone who plays.

While I found the controls a little tough at time, there’s a fun class system to use in the form of Aurions. An Aurion gives Enzo a set of moves to use, boosts his power and allows him to perform special attacks. Special attacks provide the kind of Dragon Ball Z attack realness that excited the anime fan in me and made Enzo feel like a really powerful character to fight as. The best part is there are so many Aurions to unlock that I was able to find multiple for different purposes, whether for exploiting weaknesses, hitting a bunch of enemies at once on the ground or raining down attacks from above. The best part of Aurions is how they're unlocked, which is either through story moments or by combining them. Even though I couldn't get the battle commands right every time, I was able to get around this by taking advantage of the many cool Aurions at my disposal.

To do battles and experience the story, Aurion’s world full of beautiful art and music must be explored. Exploration is done in many ways: there's platforming, puzzles to unlock blocked areas, the occasional dialogue-effecting choice and even visual novel-style moments to fill in story gaps. Aurion incorporates a lot of different styles into it, which reminded me of older JRPGs featuring puzzles and challenges to move forward. Certain things I loved, such as the interesting and challenging puzzles that used pattern memorization well, but other things were let down by the lack of polish in Aurion. There are certain sweet spots to buttons needed for puzzles and chests that caused to me to be running around in one spot until it let me press the button, text going outside the box and a regularly featured difficult wall jumping mechanic. These small things were regular enough for me to find them in almost every one of my gameplay sessions and while I love the variety in Aurion, I wish the quality of these many mechanics was made a little smoother and better.

Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan is a good first effort for the Cameroon studio, even if it’s a little unpolished. Its profound story features some of the deepest philosophical ideas I’ve seen in games for awhile and unlocking Aurions made its active battle system even more fun. If you can look past the lack of polish, there is a story like no other JRPG in Aurion and a variety of gameplay mechanics to keep things interesting. Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan may not be perfect, but its uniqueness may interest those looking for a new kind of JRPG.

Score: 7.1/10
A unique, unpolished JRPG experience away from the usual JRPG story content complete with Dragon Ball Z attack realness.

You can pick up Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan on Steam
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Will you play Aurion? What's the most unique JRPG you've played?

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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Disclaimer: I received a code for this game from Kiro'o Games, but I can promise this post is 100% honest and written without bias.

First Impressions: Legrand Legacy (PC)

If there's one thing that can be said about Legrand Legacy, it would be that it has incredible potential. Just from watching its trailer, the well-rendered 3D cutscenes set it apart from a lot of Indie projects and show the tremendous game Legrand Legacy could be. I’m happy to say this potential shines through in the demo of Legrand Legacy, which shows off its gameplay, cutscenes and gives a glimpse into the beginning of the protagonist’s journey. Although it's a pre-alpha version, the 2-hour demo is an incredibly enticing look at a clear tribute to JRPGs, complete with likeable characters, a nifty battle system and a punishing final boss that kept me keen, on my feet and ready for more.

Legrand Legacy is set in the unique world of Legrand, filled with thieves, desert sands and demonic creatures. The protagonist Finn awakens with no memory of his past and having to fight for his life in an Arena. Luckily he wins against the odds thanks to a power from within him, which leads to him traveling with a mysterious mage and starting his journey without any memories to guide him. The characters that he meets and that accompany him on his journey come across as likeable, thanks to well-written dialogue that gives each character purpose and personality from the get-go. While the characters are more serious than silly, small bits of humour are inserted here and there that give the experience a nice balance of light and heavy moments. While I liked all of the main cast featured in the demo, I was particularly intrigued by Finn’s trusting nature and softness. I was a little critical about him initially as he goes from being the tough guy in an arena fight to being a really soft-hearted character, but his subtle caring nature is a nice contrast to his strong-willed sub-characters. All of the characters had very different personalities and I found myself intrigued by each of them in different ways.

Complementing the interesting story are the beautiful 3D cutscenes and visual novel scenes that tell it. I don't play many PC games but I can say the graphics, particularly the 3D cutscenes, aren't far off what I'd expect from a console game. The version of Legrand Legacy available on Steam is a pre-alpha build, so outside of the cutscenes the graphics aren't perfect but all graphics look good at worst, with the gorgeous cutscenes feeling like a fresh cherry on top. The game map and landscapes are also nice to look at and the desert world is complemented by good music and sound effects. It's the combination of all of these quality aspects that make Legrand Legacy stand out as an indie experience and while it's not completely the same in smoothness and polish as bigger games, for a pre-alpha experience it's doing a pretty good job.

The combat system in Legrand Legacy is a turn-based one that smartly takes advantage of the system its played on to make it unique. Accompanying the usual spells and physical attacks featured in usual JRPGs is Legrand Legacy’s Action Circle Tempo mechanic, which involves hitting a direction key indicated in a circle at the right time to either get a Perfect, Good or Poor attack. While I’ve seen this kind of mechanic in other games (namely the mobile game X-Tactics and most rhythm games), in Legrand Legacy the mechanic adds a nice bit of flavour to a familiar system.

Adding more uniqueness to making the most of combat are Grimoires, which are basically magic. Magic will be familiar to most JRPG players, but the way Grimoires are gained is what I found most interesting. They're unlocked through earning points in battle and giving them to the appropriate skills. For instance, a powerful water spell may involve raising your strength or intellect stats, and another power skill may need strength and luck raised instead. This creates an interesting choice between making your character the most skilled or most powerful and while I couldn't work out which was the better choice (and my inner completionist picked having all of the skills anyway), it was certainly an interesting choice that I liked having.

My feelings about Legrand Legacy are mostly pretty positive, but one thing I did find questionable at times was its difficulty. While I initially found the random battles difficult until I got the hang of the ACT system, the real thing I found difficult was the final boss. Don’t get me wrong: as a JRPG fan I love a good final boss battle, but this one kinda felt borderline cruel. The group attacks and the amount of damage that boss is capable of is seemingly much higher than any of the random battles prepare you for. I found myself having to go grind and really get the hang of the ACT system in order to have any chance of winning. In saying that, I did feel determined to take on the challenge (and I won!) but other players, particularly of more modern JRPGs, may not be used to this kind of difficulty. Legrand Legacy does describe itself as a tribute to classic JRPGs and this tough fight certainly echoes the tough boss fights of old JRPGs and ultimately I felt a huge amount of satisfaction when I won, so I wasn't that bothered by it in the end.

Legrand Legacy is certainly a modern homage to classic JRPGs, but it’s also much more than that. With a modern aesthetic which will appeal to fans of modern JRPGs, its characters and unique gameplay make Legrand Legacy its own unique experience, I felt a good majority of my JRPG needs satisfied, with the best part being I also wanted more once the demo ended, which is exactly how I want to feel at the end of any demo. I want to get to know Legrand Legacy’s characters more, see where the story goes and most importantly, play more with the fun, timing-based mechanics. Legrand Legacy has the ambition and execution to be a unique addition to the JRPG genre and I hope that with enough support, whether through its crowdfunding endeavour or otherwise, that this is an experience I will get to play more of in the future.

Legrand Legacy is on its final day on Kickstarter! If you like the sound of it, considering helping Semisoft reach its goal of funding Legrand Legacy here!

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Will you try Legrand Legacy? And if you already have, what did you think of it?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up on 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, like JRPG Jungle on Facebook and Subscribe to the mailing list for updates on content and random musings on JRPG news and games. You're awesome! <3

Notes: In the interest of transparency, this game was requested consideration, but I can promise this post is 100% honest and written without bias.
Also, digital games are regularly updated and changed. My opinions about this game are based on the condition of the game at the time and with the version I played and may not cover any future important changes to it.

First Impressions: A Story of the End: Revere (Played on PC, also on Mac)

Next to the commonly 3D and realistic animation of modern JRPGs, I can't help but feel nostalgic when playing A Story of the End - Revere. Whether it’s the sprite style characters walking around the map, emotive music or extended dialogues, Revere is very accessible to the average JRPG player. But Revere doesn’t just show more of what we already know about JRPGs, rather it adds its own unique story and battle mechanics to the mix. The intriguing story of a soldier on his quest for redemption in a unique world filled with creatures peaked my interest during its demo, even if it's missing some polish to make the experience as smooth as possible.

Revere is centred around the main protagonist Troy, a Lumerian soldier who is coming to terms with the fact the Empire he works for isn’t what he thought it was and follows his journey to break away from them and do what's right. He wakes up in one of the villages he was sent to purge, being looked after by a human-like rabbit creature, known as a soul beast, named Farrah and a seemingly cold villager and archer named Roland. The serious themes of war and beasts being accepted into human society has humour and banter sprinkled throughout, which nicely breaks up the heavy tone of Revere’s story. However, these interesting themes and funny quips are sometimes let down by unusual grammar and switches from extremely casual speech to overly polite fantasy language that distracted me from feeling fully immersed in Revere’s story. I found myself pausing on some lines just because they seemed slightly off and while it didn't necessarily ruin the experience, it was a little distracting.

The 45 minute demo spends it time showing off its quests and characters, along with a look at the battle system that will be familiar to most JRPG players. Revere features a predominately turn-based battle system and quests in the demo, with weapon upgrading and crafting said to be in the final game. The demo’s main story is progressed by completing the quests on the city notice board, a simple enough system to understand although I found myself lost on one of the three quests available. Since Revere doesn't give many hints or tutorials and the NPCs are busy making funny jokes about being NPCs (my favourite being “I stand next to signs. Please don't judge me.”), these quests mostly left me to my own devices with mixed results. On one hand it made me explore the city and see most of the pretty maps and stores (which are ‘currently closed’ in the demo), and I was able to chance upon two of the quest items I needed. On the other hand I found myself running around for longer than I would've liked to, only to find I'd just gotten unlucky and hadn't randomly encountered the enemy where I was supposed to. While Revere features adjustable encounter rates, not being told where I was to encounter the foe meant running around slightly frustrated for 10 minutes.

The battle system also doesn't have much explanation, although for the most part it doesn't need it since it will be very familiar to most JRPG players. No skills are available to use in the demo, so it's a case of mostly hitting the Attack button and watching common RPG enemies such as Treants and Wolves fall. What adds a new layer to the turn-based is the Overclock system, a system that allows you to execute multiple attacks in one turn by delaying your next one. The Overclock mechanic allows you to take out all enemies in one turn, a powerful attack that seems a bit much on the weak enemies displayed in the demo but could be useful in tough boss battles in the final game. I haven't encountered a system like this before so I found it quite interesting and it'll be fun to see what it's really capable of in the full game.

The main character is part Celestial being according to Revere’s descriptions, which is revealed after an emotional lead up to a boss battle. I found this final boss battle a tad confusing; one minute I was hitting the Attack button hoping for the best, the next the cool-looking Celestial being appears and I'm expected to understand I need to switch to clicking the enemy as fast as possible. Revere’s ‘Read Me’ file included in the download does explain this, but I definitely feel like it would be more immersive as an instruction within the actual game. In saying that, the more active mechanic is a nice way to break up the turn-based system and adds a much needed other layer to battles.

While I didn't have the most seamless time with Revere's demo, the premise and the final story moments reminded me that it has a world I'd like to know more about. The story of the Lumerians and Soul Beasts is given a good foundation in the demo and even with some unusual grammar, the story moments in the demo show the potentially emotional journey that the story could go on. A Story of the End: Revere has a good amount of potential that is suppressed by some language errors and a lack of user-friendliness but I hope that Revere spends more time making sure the quality is on par with other JRPGs. It has the potential to be a complex story in a visually pleasing world with an interesting dynamic and I hope that shines through even more in the final product.

You can try A Story of the End: Revere's demo for free on Steam, for download at Itch.io or Game Jolt.
The full version is scheduled for release in Fall 2017.


Post upload note!: I downloaded Revere from Itch.io about two weeks ago to check it out and play it for this post. Since that time, the game has been updated on Steam with some extra tutorials and some of the English errors I mentioned have been fixed. I encourage anyone who's going to download Revere to play the current version to get the best experience possible!

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Will you try Revere? And if you already have, what did you think of it?

Leave a comment below, send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle, hit me up on 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, like JRPG Jungle on Facebook and Subscribe to the mailing list 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 consideration, but I can promise this post is 100% honest and written without bias.
Also, digital games are regularly updated and changed. My opinions about this game are based on the condition of the game at the time I received it and may not cover any future important changes to it.