5 Times JRPGs Kicked My Ass

As much as I love video games, I don’t claim to be the best at gaming. While I can pick up most mechanics, my varying degree of skill with some games has made me no stranger to the Game Over screen and I've had to hit the Retry button in some of my most played games (such as my complete inability to complete the Omega Ruins in Final Fantasy X). Recently I’ve been playing the Roguelike JRPG Sorcery Saga: The Curse of the Great Curry God, a fun but tough dungeon crawler that has found me sent back to its town without my items on multiple occasions with a small bit of my dungeon confidence eaten away. This made me think back to some of the many fails I’ve had while playing JRPGs and while these are only a small selection, these are some of the biggest fails I’ve had while playing or more accurately, times I’ve had my ass kicked while playing JRPGs.

Note: I’ve kept spoilers to a minimum by mostly not mentioning boss names and story circumstances, but there are some minor spoilers about significant boss battles in this article. Proceed with caution!

Final Fantasy X’s Final Boss

If there’s one thing Final Fantasy is good at, it’s bosses with multiple forms or stages. I’m not referring to the final boss battle that you pretty much automatically win, I’m talking about the true final boss of Final Fantasy X, the one with more than one stage and an overdrive gauge that can quickly wipe out any unprepared party. There are a bunch of bosses like this in Final Fantasy X but when I played the HD Remaster a couple of years ago, I was reminded of that feeling of total horror when you think you've won the boss battle, but oh no, let's put multiple status ailments on all your characters, shatter a couple for good measure and knock some out because I'm definitely out of Phoenix Downs. It was horrible, but the satisfaction I got after grinding a little more, taking advance of any possible status vulnerabilities, winning and crying like a baby to the ending was definitely worth the struggle.

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

Persona 3 FES’s Final Boss

Persona 3’s boss battle is one of the absolute harshest boss battles I have ever experienced. If Final Fantasy X was bad for bosses with multiple forms, Persona 3’s boss is just plain unreasonable. When I played Persona 3 this year, I assumed that it would be harder than the previous bosses I’d faced, all of which had been difficult but not impossible, but the absolute uphill struggle I faced was definitely beyond my expectations. The final boss really ramps up the difficulty, with over 10 different forms to fight and without a proper strategy, any party will be quickly annihilated. I can’t even begin to tell you how many online guides I read and Youtube videos I watched just to check if winning was a possibility and to work out how to defeat that thing with what I had. I must have tried it over 20 times and definitely saw a lot of Game Over screens, which are just a little more crushing when you're almost at the end of the game. It took a lot of persistence and a little grinding, but eventually I did it. I hope to never face a boss that slays me that hard again.

You can pick up the original Persona 3 FES for PS2 from Play-Asia.com* or pick up the PS2 Classic from the Playstation Network Store!

Final Fantasy IX’s Plant Brain

I think I had a lot of luck when I versed Final Fantasy IX’s Plant Brain for the first time, because I had no problem beating it. However something happened - either my Vita ran out of power or I turned it off without saving - and somehow, I lost my save, meaning I had to do the boss battle again. Fine, I said. Piece of cake, right? Wrong.

Older JRPGs are different to the standard beginning of a modern JRPG. They don’t try to make you feel like a god in the first few battles so that you keep playing. They’re not scared to kick you around and knock out a majority of your party, which is exactly what happened to me. I wasn’t expecting to use any healing items because it was one of the first boss fights in the game and I repeatedly kept getting knocked down and finding myself at the Game Over screen thinking I was a better gamer than this. Going from winning on my first try to absolutely struggling was kind of a shock, but I accepted it was going to be a tough battle, put my pride aside and healed my party. It did however let me understand that Final Fantasy IX was going to be a little more challenging than other Final Fantasy’s I played, so it served as a good introduction for what was ahead.

You can pick up the original Final Fantasy IX for PS One from Play-Asia.com* or pick up the PS One Classic from the Playstation Network Store!

Sorcery Saga: the Curse of the Great Curry God’s Chapter 4 Dungeon

Ah, my week long dilemma. Every dungeon in Sorcery Saga is a little punishing, but with the amount of potential enemies that can surround you, surprisingly strong bosses and devastating traps in the 25 floors of this fourth dungeon, Sorcery Saga is definitely working against me in my quest to win this dungeon. Since Sorcery Saga is a Roguelike JRPG, I’m also starting fresh each dungeon run so if I lose, my next run is even tougher because I may not have my best sword anymore. And even if I go in with the best equipment in the world, there’s potential for it to get cursed or eaten by an enemy or Kuu (your friendly dungeon pet) if he's super hungry. It seems like I need a lucky run and to use Kuu and the area as perfectly as possible. For now, my dungeon crawling confidence is waning, but I will not give up!

(Fun fact: before this article went up, I won the dungeon through excessive grinding on each floor and risking dungeon collapse. Yay! Currently slowly going through the last dungeon so I don't you know...die.)

You can pick up Sorcery Saga: the Curse of the Great Curry God from Play-Asia.com*!

Persona 4 Golden’s ‘Legend of Inaba - Max Out All Social Links’ Trophy

I’ve spoken mostly about getting my ass kicked in battle in this article, but there are plenty of ways JRPGs can make things hard for the player, such as the simultaneously heartwarming and patience-testing Legend of Inaba trophy from Persona 4 Golden. Social Links are an enjoyable part of Persona 4 Golden, but to max them all out in one playthrough requires thorough planning and execution, something I failed at multiple times. This trophy pretty much took me three playthroughs, and with a playthrough of Persona 4 Golden being over 100 hours on average, I don’t need to tell you it was hard work. I had to make sure I said the right things to each character or else I may not be able to fully get them to the next Social Link rank in the next interaction, which would cost more time. Memorising what days characters were available, on top of keeping the dungeon crawling part of the game afloat was a true challenge, but at least it was a fulfilling one as it's probably the most immersed I've felt in a story. Persona 4’s well-written characters thankfully made this worth it and I’m forever happy about the 300+ hours I spent with Persona 4 Golden, even if it was tough.

You can pick up Persona 4 Golden from Play-Asia.com*!

Some JRPGs might be ruthless difficulty-wise, but I never think it’s a bad thing. It’s the persistent battling and desire to beat challenges that make completing a JRPG so rewarding, like I truly worked for the experience I gained. I honestly think sometimes the persistence I’ve had encouraged in JRPGs has also become apart of my everyday life, as I look to be challenged in real life situations and in a weird way I enjoy the struggling challenges presented to me in JRPGs as working them out feels truly satisfying. Knowing that all the challenges in JRPGs are conquerable keeps me going and I’m looking forward to whatever the next JRPG struggle I face is, even if it's a temporary kick to my confidence as a player. In the end, it's worth it.

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Have you had a memorable JRPG ass-kicking? What was your biggest JRPG challenge?

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

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JRPGs I Played: Spring 2016!

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

Fire Emblem Awakening (3DS)

Status: Now playing and enjoying!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pokemon Diamond (DS, Japanese Version)

Status: Now playing….kind of.

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

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

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

Persona 3 FES (PS2 Classic)

Read the review here!

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

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

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

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

Status: Proudly completed it three times!

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

Disgaea 5 Demo (PS4)

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

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

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

Read the full review here!

Status: Complete and platinuming on occasion

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

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

Final Fantasy Record Keeper (iOS)

Read the full review here!

Status: In a strange on and off relationship.

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

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

Read the full review here!

Status: Platinuming like a snail

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

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

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

Summer Game Plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Score: 7.4/10

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

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

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

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

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

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

JRPGs I Played In Winter 2016!

During Winter, appropriate to the indoorsy weather, I played a lot of games. I'm meant to exclusively be playing Persona 3 in order to play it faster, but I got swayed by a lot of cool games. For a start, Final Fantasy Record Keeper got it's hooks in me again, I really wanted to play Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth and I wanted to platinum Final Fantasy X (still going for it!). Persona 3 is long and while it's really good, I wanted to keep trying new stuff. So here's what I played during Winter while I should have been playing just Persona 3. Let me know what you played too!

Persona 3 FES (PS2 Classic)

Status: 50+ hours in and going strong!

I've spent a surprising amount of time grinding and versing bosses, but I'm sure I have a minimum of another 50 more hours in the game because the story is huge! Usually by this point, I know if what I'm playing is a game that's for me and I'm pleased to say that I'm totally enjoying it. The story, albeit a little slow moving, is interesting and the whole concept of the Dark Hour still feels very mysterious. My opinions of the characters keep changing as I play the game, which is keeping my interest. I will say one thing though, although I'm enjoying it, I still haven't gotten completely hooked by the game, which is probably evident in how many games I've played while playing it. I don't want to say too much because I haven't finished the game yet, so I still have hope it'll suck me in like Persona 4 Golden did.

Final Fantasy X HD Remaster (PS Vita)

Status: finished the story, now platinuming

I'm very proud to say that Final Fantasy X is the first game I've completed in Japanese. I know the story really well, so it may not have been as difficult as playing a story that was new to me, but my Japanese reading and listening skills benefited from playing it again and it was really interesting to hear the Japanese voice staff and see the small localisation differences. (I wrote an article about my experience playing the Japanese version if you want to read more about it!)

Now I'm onto focusing on getting the Platinum Trophy for it, which is going to take some time, I know for sure it's going to take probably another 50 hours since I'm 50% in and I haven't done the lightning challenge yet or started cranking the sphere grid yet. But, since it's not my New Years Resolution to Platinum it this time, it's nice to have it as a casual game between JRPGs and it's a fun way to study Japanese.

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

Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection (PS Vita)

Status: Finished for the second time, considering platinuming it one day.

I really enjoyed playing Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection again! I needed a break from long RPGs and this Neptunia game delivered yet again as a great light game for the weekend. Since it had been a while since playing it for the first time, the story felt fresh again. I had to relearn how to play again, but after 20 in game days (which is probably equivalent to about half an hour of playing), I was right in, remembered my strategies from my first time playing and was laughing at Neptune's witty humour again. You can read my full review here.

You can pick up Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection from Play-Asia!

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth (PS4)

Status: 32 hours in and will probably finish it soon (hoping to review it this week or next week if all goes to plan!)

I'm so pleased to say that a PS4 game finally got it's hooks into me. I've had my PS4 since launch and have been a little disappointed that I had nothing that made me keep the console plugged in for more than a few days. Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth both scratches the Digimon game itch I've had (I played Digimon World on PS One a lot as a kid and it was a big favourite of mine) and means I finally have a worthy JRPG I can play on PS4. I intended to only play the game for a week, but I've been so into the monster collecting and case solving that I may as well just finish it this point.

(I kind of want to get all the Digimon too, so I may try to get the platinum trophy for this one too.... :) )

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

Final Fantasy Record Keeper (iOS)
Status: Playing the Final Fantasy X Jecht Event

I've found a healthy way to play Record Keeper: events only. As I mentioned recently, I got back into the game during the Rikku event and after remembering how much I enjoyed weapon and character collecting, I decided to stay on, but manage my gaming time better. It's good, casual fun at the moment, although I do wish they added something like Conception II's ability to skip battles where you'll win with one hit, as I find a lot of the initial battles are way too easy if your characters are anywhere higher than 20 and while they're quick, the time could be better spent on the later levels. But anyway, I'm having fun after winning Jecht's bandana and plan to win him and maybe Tidus' memory crystal before this week's event is done.

Spring's Game Plan

Despite getting a 3DS LL for Christmas, I've barely touched it other than to check the eShop and for the occasional Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai 2 song. Once I finish Persona 3, I'd like to either jump into Persona Q or Digimon World ReDigitize: Recode on 3DS and keep my PS4 plugged into the TV for awhile. I also currently have Danganronpa: Ultra Despair Girls on my Vita, so that's something I'm interested in completing as well. But the main plan for Spring is to play some 3DS, which should be a lot of fun!

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What did you play during Winter? Do you have any gaming plans for Spring?

Leave a comment below or send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle and let's talk!

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

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JRPG Appreciation Post: My 5 Favourite Weird and Awesome Personas from Persona 3 and 4

Persona's world of characters is vast and interesting. There are the main characters who make great friends to social link with and have enjoyable personalities throughout the story and on the battlefield. They also summon their Personas, the monster form that represents their true selves. For a game called Persona, because there are so many of these Personas, they kind of fall into the background unless they're one of the main Personas . Because of this, I didn't appreciate the character designs and stories of these mysterious characters enough for awhile, unless I saw a really cool or strange one, which is a shame as there are some incredibly interesting designs and stories to be found when it comes to Personas. So, in honour of me trying to smash through Persona 3's story and enjoying combining and creating new Persona's, I threw together a list of some weird and wonderfully awesome Personas to give some appreciation to these cool characters that I like to dungeon crawl with. Enjoy!

*POTENTIAL MINOR SPOILER ALERT: If you're trying to avoid seeing the special Persona gained in the True Ending of Persona 4, there is a photo of it in the 'Awesome Personas' section below. No story details are revealed, but I know some people may want to keep it a surprise. Proceed at your own risk!*

My 5 Favourite Weird Personas

The Jack Brothers

I call Jack Frost and Pyro Jack weird, but they're two of my favourite Personas ever. They're not completely weird - they're more so cute than anything else. However, as soon as I played Persona 3 and saw their fusion spell, it was so weird, cheesy and great that the fire and ice duo earned their place in my favourites for sure.

Dionysus

Dionysus is a powerful Moon Arcana Persona that I'm using a lot at the moment while playing Persona 3. Dionysus's design seems mostly pretty cool, with great use of colour and a very Greek mythology kind of feel, which is completely appropriate when looking into the mythology of Dionysus (you can read about it on the Megami Tensei wikia page). What made this Persona weird to me is the random white underwear and matching white shoes and gloves. It's certainly a good contrast from the rest of it's colour body, but just....the underwear, really?

Underwear on Personas tend to confuse me a lot actually, as not all Personas have it. It makes me think about a team of important people sitting in a room deciding which Personas will and won't have underwear and while that sounds like a hilarious job, my brain can't fully comprehend it.

Orobas

Admittedly, Orobas's name and design is pretty cool and it's a pretty powerful Magician Arcana Persona for wind attacks during earlier Persona 3 dungeons. What gets me with the design is I can't decide if it's more a horse or human. Or is it a centaur? I don't know. It seems like it could be very equal parts of all those things. The Compendium information in Persona 3 says that Orobas is a demon that appears as a human with a horse head, so I guess that answers my question, but nonetheless, it's a very unique and interesting design.

Tomoe

Tomoe is another figure that despite being pretty cool is pretty weird. No one put it better than in the Persona 4 hilarious Hiimdaisy Comic (you can watch the full thing here):

I do like how much it suits Chie though, with her strong body and fighter look. However as soon as I saw the Hiimdaisy comic, Tomoe was ruined for me.

Belphegor

I think the photo says enough for this one. The first time I summoned Belphegor, I giggled a lot. Why is he on a toilet? Why? He's found later in Persona 4 and was quite surprising to me, considering a lot of other Personas are either beautiful, strong or cute. According to his Megami Tensei page, he gives people ideas for selfish and greedy intentions such as becoming rich, so it's suggested by some that he should be worshiped on a toilet, hence his design. I purposely didn't give this list any order, but if I did, Belphegor would take the crown of the weirdest looking Persona for sure.

My 5 Favourite Awesome Personas

Take-Mikazuchi (Kanji's Persona version)

One of my favourite things about Persona 4's Personas is how much they suit their users. Take-Mikazuchi is perfect for Kanji, with his tough and strong exterior suiting the way Kanji deals with most situations in his life by being tough. Interestingly, this design of Take-Mikazuchi is very different from the regular design (which can be seen on this Persona's wikia page), but the story of Take-Mikazuchi being powerful suits Kanji's persona well.

Izanagi-no-Okami

The first form of Izanagi is pretty cool, but the godly World Arcana Izanagi-no-Okami manages to be even cooler. With the word 'Ookami' in meaning 'God' in Japanese, the white and gold appearance of Izanagi is very fitting to give him a look. One of my favourite things is his weapon, which is significant in the end portions of Persona 4. Also, this Persona looks particularly cool at the end of Persona 4 Dancing All Night playing bass, considering the Persona looks a little rock and roll. He's fittingly cool for Inaba's favourite protagonist.

Pale Rider

Pale Rider is supposed to be one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, with his ghostly, skeleton-y appearance representing this well. I really like all the details on Pale Rider - the crown, the bow, the eyeballs on the horse. While the eyeballs are a little odd, the Death Arcana looks very much like a demon and is perfect for his Arcana.
(Also, it can use Survive Light and this is extremely useful in Persona as the Protagonist!)

Konohana Sakuya

As someone who owns two figures of Konohana Sakuya, I'm clearly a fan of the feminine Persona. It's beautiful and graceful, just like her user Yukiko. Her graceful posture, long body and petals (at least, I think they're petals) all make her look incredibly majestic, all while slightly resembling a cheerleader. She's probably my personal favourite design of all because of how graceful she looks and how striking it is in battle when she moves her petals.

The Four Mitamas

A while ago, I watched a very interesting video about the Mitamas of Persona that kind of blew my mind. It was by Game Theorists and you can watch it below, but in short it describes how each of the Mitamas represent a piece of demons personality. Which is way cooler than just thinking they were funny looking coloured teardrops with faces!

As the video says, the red Ara Mitama represents bravery and rage, the yellow Saki Mitama represents happiness and bounty, the grey Kusi Mitama represents wisdom and special magic and the blue Nigi Mitama represents peace and calm. When these are fused into a Persona, depending which one is used, certain stats will go up and abilities will be given. They may not be the coolest thing to look at like the other Personas I listed, but they represent a lot of what I like about the Persona games in general - the deep amount of thought that goes into it. It's something a lot of people wouldn't notice (myself included before that video), but knowing it makes my gameplay experience that little bit richer and it's very interesting to see a part of Shinto religion used like this.

You can pick up the Persona 3 and Persona 4 games and other related Persona goods at Play-Asia.com now!

(Persona 3 is also available on the Playstation Network as a PS2 Classic for this who don't have a PS2 lying around!)

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Who's your favourite weird and/or awesome Persona? And who's your favourite Jack Brother?

Leave a comment below or send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle and let's talk!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
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.

JRPG Appreciation Post: Final Fantasy X's Sphere Grid

Revisiting old games definitely has it's perks. Not only do you get that cool, video game nostalgia feeling, but you also get to remember why you loved that game in the first place. There are always things that stand out as what we appreciated most about the game and revisiting them can almost feel like being with an old friend again. For me, as I take myself on another Platinum trophy journey, Final Fantasy X HD is being that game for me once again.

Final Fantasy X was a notable change in Final Fantasy's direction, with areas and visuals being beautifully upgraded when compared to it's predecessors and voice acting being added for the first time. I loved the game's story, but with this game being my first 'big kid' JRPG (when compared to something like Pokemon that I played as a kid), the Sphere Grid system was a breath of fresh air from the grind and level up formula I was so used to. Many years and many JPRGs later, I know it's not the only skill tree type leveling system around, but these are a few reasons why it remains one of my favourite leveling mechanics of all time.

It's Linear, Yet You Have Control

For the most part, once the sphere grid is completed, you'll end up with the same stat increases across all your characters, just at a different pace due to the different starting points of the sphere grid. But even though you're bound to the same skills and stats, you do have control over the order you get them. Thanks to Level spheres, you can break the locks that make the standard sphere grid so linear as soon as you get one. This allows you to turn Auron into a mage for awhile or make Yuna a combat beast early on in the game and can make for a very different gameplay experience to the easy path set out. This welcome choice makes leveling much more interesting and creates an importance in choosing the right stats for the right point in the game. I usually find myself following the main path (the one not closed off by locks), but I love that point after finishing the main story of breaking into another characters grid and sharing their abilities with another character.

It's Huge and The Whole Process Is Kinda Intricate

With all the level blocks, ability and character placements around the board, completing the Sphere Grid isn't a small feat. And beyond that, limit break (that awesome ability that allows you to deal over 9999 damage) isn't even on the board, adding an important extra step! Even if you goal isn't to complete the Sphere Grid, the sheer size of the sphere grid is just enough to show the amount of stats on the board and it's long journey encourages much grinding and strategy to get as much EXP as possible and as many sphere levels as possible. Then there's going back and filling in the empty nodes with even more stats by using Teleport spheres!

Even Though It Takes Forever, It's Still Fun To Watch The Characters Progress

Each unlocked node or stat shows you exactly what has been upgraded to your character. I love unlocking a stat and noticing the effect immediately in battle. A little bit of extra strength can go a long way, as can an ability or a little HP. Other game's leveling mechanics just show you a quick summary of your characters improves but in the sphere grid, because you unlock it yourself, you're way more involved and it's awesome.

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Feel like a trip down memory lane but in beautiful HD? You can buy Final Fantasy X HD from Play-Asia.com!

What's your favourite JRPG levelling system? Leave it in the comments below, I may just play with it!

Did you this type of post? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter and I'll do more of them!

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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Battle of the Personas! Konohana Sakuya Figure Face-Off (Bandai vs DX)

If you're a fan of the Persona series, then you probably love the games' characters. All the characters have great stories and well-rounded personalities that make them relatable and they're a huge part of the reason why I've spent hundreds of hours playing through the series so far. But there's a group of characters that often get overlooked next to the main cast, yet the main cast need them to survive in all the dungeons that need to be crawled. I'm talking about where the series gets its name, the Personas - the monsters who fight for the characters.

Konohana Sakuya is Yukiko's elegant Persona that boasts gorgeous looking fans and uses fire attacks. Yukiko's my best girl when playing Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, so I was really excited to find a figure of her and the Bandai version of her Persona in Akihabara. Recently though, I found a bigger version of Konohana Sakuya in the form of the DX version of this figure pre-owned for a reasonable price.

Left: DX Konohana Sakuya figure Right: Bandai Konohana Sakuya figure

When I started my figure collection, I said to myself I wouldn't be the person to have multiple figures of the same character, but it happened because both figures are so stunning. Because of this, I thought I'd do a figure face-off style review to decide which figure should take up more shelf space and to help those who are trying to decide between the two.

(A quick note: I did buy both of these pre-owned. To me, they look as good as new, but it's worth noting in case anyone is seriously looking at purchasing one of these that yours may be less faded or something if you buy them!)

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Round 1: Colour

Left: Bandai Konohana Sakuya figure  Right: DX Konohana Sakuya figure

Looking between the figures and a photo of Konohana Sakuya, you can see that both figures are accurate in colour to the original character photo. Both figure's colours feature the vibrant rose pink colour of the Persona, but I would say that the Bandai figure is richer in colour than the DX figure whereas the DX figure is just a little lighter than the photo (on my monitor anyway).

It's interesting to see that both figures opted for a different gold accent tone, with the DX figure using a green-based gold colour and the Bandai figure opting for a yellow-based gold. While the vibrant gold is very eye catching, looking at a photo of Konohana Sakuya, the green gold is more in line with the actual colour of Konohana Sakuya's gold accents.
On the subject of the gold colours, both figures opted to change the colour of the figure's eyes to a different gold shade. I don't understand why, as looking at Konohana Sakuya in photos and the game, I really don't think her eyes are a different colour to the rest of the gold on her. I almost wish I could swap the Bandai and DX eyes so the eyes were consistent to the rest of the figure, but this is a very minor complaint, so I'll survive.

Winner: Bandai - While the DX figure is more colour accurate to Konohana Sakuya, I do enjoy the richness and vibrancy of colour of the Bandai figure. The brightness adds to the figure's majestic look and the vibrant ombre effect on the Persona's fans looks stunning when posed well.

Round 2: Durability

Left: DX Konohana Sakuya Right: Bandai Konohana Sakuya

Looking at reviews online, both of these figures have some issues with durability. However in my own experience, there's a clear winner for this round since the only figure I've had problems with is the Bandai figure.

Because of the Bandai figures ability to be posed, lots of parts can be moved into cool poses, which is great. However, this feature of the figure would be much cooler if pieces didn't fall off so easily in the process. Setting up Bandai Konohana Sakuya's fans has a tendency to feel like setting up dominoes - one wrong move and you may have to set up half the pose again because either one of the hands or one or more of the other fans came off. I've also had legs and the actual discs that hold the fans come off. My figure has never broken permanently, but I find a touch it very gingerly because I'm worried about damaging one of the joints. Also worth noting - there is a small bit of damage on one of the discs that attaches the fans. It's thankfully covered up by the fans and the damage was there when I bought the figure pre-owned, but it does add to my fear of damaging the figure.

Winner: DX - Meanwhile, the DX figure is not poseable and therefore doesn't have this problem. The two joints attaching the fan are solid and even as a pre-owned figure, there are no signs of wear and tear on my figure. I have read online (specifically at myfigurecollection.net) that some people have had issues with the DX figure's fans breaking during transit or by accident, so I'd maybe recommend keeping it in safe area (but I would recommend this with most figures anyway). Since my figure is in perfect condition and I haven't had an fear of breaking it so far, DX Konohana Sakuya easily wins this round.

Round 3: Pose

Left: DX Konohana Sakuya Right: Bandai Konohana Sakuya

Between a figure that is poseable and a figure that isn't, one could think there is no argument in this category. Although this is mostly true, I wanted to talk about the pros and cons of each of the figure's poses and poseability.

What I like about the DX figure that is the pose it's in is the pose I originally wanted when I was searching Konohana Sakuya images when trying to re-pose my Bandai figure. The DX figure's pose was my favourite pose I saw, but I hadn't realised these were two different figures yet. Because the DX figure is built specifically for it's pose, every single angle looks perfect and I don't really mind not being able to change her.

The Bandai figure can be posed in many different poses and can look great if you're patient about the process. It's pretty fun to pose after you get over fear of breaking the figure. When I look on Google Images at some of the images of other people's figures, there are some magnificent looking poses that can be achieved with this figure. Looking at those images and my own, I can confidently say that the Bandai figure can really be a standout in a figure collection when put in the right pose. The only compliant I have about this poseability is the way the fans look. Although they're beautiful, because they can be moved around, they can sometimes look more like connected fan or spike clusters rather than one big fan.

Winner: Bandai - Even though I do like the overall appearance of the fans on the DX figure better because of the smooth look, having a poseable figure is a huge advantage, so Bandai has to win this round. Although I'm not personally able to get the fans looking smooth and how I want them, some people have done a great job in making the figure look incredible and it really does look incredible if you spend them time making it look it's best.

Round 4: Stand

Left: DX Konohana Sakuya Right: Bandai Konohana Sakuya

Both figures boast cool stands featuring the Persona symbol, the DX one being clear and the Bandai one being black and white and fully opaque with some extra details. The actual figures themselves are held on their stands in different ways, with the Bandai figure's stand attaching on the back of the torso and the DX one's feet being molded to the stand. Both stands certainly fulfill their purpose of holding the figures up and displaying them well, but there are some significant differences from various angles due to the difference in stand types.

The Bandai stand, like the rest of the figure, is adjustable, which means she can be posed to be slightly elevated and to look like she's flying, which is pretty freaking awesome. The poseable joints on the stand are a little more steady than the body of the figure and hold most poses really well, although can still be a hassle while posing because they look to come off the figure while you adjust it. Because the stand attaches on the back of Konohana Sakuya, the stand is visable when looked at on a 360 degree angle. This isn't a problem, although if you considering displaying her in a spinning case, it's worth noting that the stand will be visible.

On the other hand, the DX figure uses a unique way of holding up Konohana Sakuya - her feet are molded to the base. This initially freaked me out when I opened the box - I was so scared of her feet breaking off from the base and ruining the figure. However, it seems to be sturdy as I haven't had that problem, even after attaching the fans to her hands. The base of the stand is thick and I like how the clear design doesn't take away attention from the figure - no stand gets in the way of admiring this figure from all angles. An added bonus to the gear-like design of this stand is that it can also slot the DX Izanagi figure to it or it can look cool without. Options are always a plus.

Winner: DX - While the stands of these figures were definitely not deciding factors when I made my purchase, I like the DX stand best because of how the figure can be looked at from every angle, but both are good stands. This will truly come down to personal preference - if you want to make it look like your figure is flying, I recommend the Bandai figure. If you want to put your figure in one of those spinning display boxes or don't like setting stands up, I recommend the DX figure.

Round 5: Quality

Left: DX Konohana Sakuya figure Right: Bandai Konohana Sakuya figure

Both figures are what I would call high quality - both are painted well, are detailed and look really accurate when looking at photos of the character in the game and the anime. These figures are both however made from different materials and handle certain details of Konohana Sakuya a little differently.

The DX figure is very hard to fault for quality. The figure has plenty of attention to detail, from the size scaling, to the fans, to the muscle definition on her torso. The DX figure is made from PVC, which is a fairly strong material, although as mentioned earlier, has sadly snapped for some people on the attachable fans. I would say between the two figures, the DX figure is the most accurate when comparing to Konohana Sakuya - other than the orange gold eyes, I can't notice any differences between the figure and character photos.

The Bandai figure is made from a mix of ABS and PVC. Most of the body feels like it's made from ABS, which is good because ABS is a very strong material and therefore there isn't much need to fear permanent damage. However, I've mentioned many times in this article my problem with pieces coming off while attaching them, which isn't permanent damage but does making posing it a real pain - I find myself trying to get it in the most practical pose that still looks cool and leaving it for as long as possible. The figures details are very beautiful, with the ombre fans looking incredible. On the fan closest to Sakuya's hand though, the Bandai figure looks a little different to the character photo and design of Konohana Sakuya, changing the flower to look darker and rounder, presumably to provide a contrast in colour because of how small it is compared to the rest of the fan.

Winner: DX - It's a tough decision, as I truly am impressed with the quality of both of these figures and both are made from strong materials. I have to go with the DX figure here though, because I've had no problems with it and that speaks most to me when I think about quality. The Bandai figure is made from stronger materials, but the quality of it's attachable pieces make the figure feel secondary next to the DX.

Recap

Round 1 - Colour: Bandai

Round 2 - Durability: DX

Round 3 - Pose: Bandai

Round 4 - Stand: DX

Round 5 - Quality: DX

Overall Winner: Megahouse DX Konohana Sakuya

I love both figures so much and my Bandai probably won't be leaving my shelf anytime soon, but I can't deny the superior quality and easily displayable DX Konohana Sakuya. The figure is bigger, less time consuming and looks beautiful from every angle. If you are looking for versatility in a figure, the Bandai figure can be posed to look amazing for those more patient than me. But for a high quality, tall figure to display somewhere prominent, I would definitely recommend DX's Konohana Sakuya figure.

Bandai Konohana Sakuya: 7/10

DX Konohana Sakuya: 8.5/10

The DX and Bandai Konohana Sakuya figures are available from Crunchyroll brand new. I did manage to get mine pre-owned for a much cheaper price within Japan, so make sure to shop around and get the best deal you can. Pre-owned versions can of course be found many places online, but always make sure you are buying for a reputable seller!

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Will you be picking up one of these figures? What Persona do you want to see as a figure?
I love hearing your thoughts (and seeing pics of your figures!), so please comment below or send a tweet to @JRPGJungle and follow to keep up our content. :) Thanks for stopping by!