First Impressions: Crystar (PS4, Japanese Version)

Crystar’s trailers portray it as an emotional dark fantasy with fluid action gameplay and unique tear-based mechanics and after playing its first chapter, I’d say that’s pretty accurate. Its swift action gameplay makes running through its maze-like fields a satisfying experience and its mix of animation styles and storytelling ways the story explores make the story feel deeper than its already interesting premise. While I only saw the first chapter of Rei’s story, I still feel one thing for sure: Crystar still has the potential to be an interesting dark, story-based JRPG thanks to its gameplay and ideas so far and with good voice acting and visuals that bring everything to life in its first hours, Crystar is still a JRPG I want to see more of.

What is Crystar? (Premise, Gameplay and More!)

With tears, death and limbo as themes in its trailers and premise, Crystar’s pretty but dark aesthetic and story themes have had me intrigued since months ago when I saw its trailer on YouTube. Since that day, Crystar has received plenty of coverage in Japanese magazines such as Famitsu, more trailers and its publisher FuRyu’s continued promotional support for it has kept me in and wondering if the title will be worth the hype. Although nothing has been said about it coming west yet, with interesting mechanics that incorporate its crying theme well, action gameplay and a story full of an intriguing use of sadness, after looking more into Crystar, I still really want to try the unique mechanics in its pretty, dark world.

Review: Dragon Quest XI (Played on PS4, also on PC)

Dragon Quest XI has a lot of what makes a JRPG a great one. It has a big story journey with captivating moments of accomplishment and struggle, a refined battle system that takes the best part of classic JRPG ones, great character designs in both art style and personality, and a meaty playtime that can easily go beyond 100 hours if allowed to. All of these things are placed in an unfolding world full of plenty of things to find and discover in its journey that create a big difference between everything you can do at the start and end it, and with noticeable story arcs reflected in the world mixed with the humour and charm the series is known for, it really did feel like I’d been on an epic quest by the end of it. As my first step into the Dragon Quest series, I’m pleased to say I was charmed by its story and characters as I had hoped to be and I was also pleasantly surprised how its unfolding mechanics and story made each hour in its world feel meaningful and fun with how well it showed off its polished traditional JRPG mechanics in a modern JRPG world.

The Crazy Concepts of Zanki Zero

If you’re like me and have played the killing game visual novel that is Danganronpa, you could be forgiven for expecting the same kind of death-filled thriller from Zanki Zero. While Zanki Zero does carries similar ideas in its own way, it also brings in its own set of outlandish ideas that set itself apart from the Danganronpa team’s previous work as a unique game of its own. In a post-apocalyptic world that touches on immortality and cloning tied together with characters representing the seven deadly sins and a new duo of quirky mascots, the concepts introduced in its Japanese demo got me very excited for when it comes out thanks to how it took the concepts I loved from Danganronpa and turned them upside-down to make what looks like a new story like nothing I’ve played before.

First Impressions: Yakuza Kiwami 2 (Demo, PS4)

If you’re like me and enjoyed the outrageous combat, outlandish villains and wide-range of mini games available in Yakuza games like the recent Yakuza 6, Yakuza Kiwami 2’s version of these things in its demo makes it look like an intriguing experience. With a new city to explore, Kiwami 2 features a lot of what’s made more recent games in the series feel good mechanically, along with a stylish visual flare that make it easy to forget that Yakuza 2 was originally a PS2 game. With a few new mechanics that save it from feeling too similar to the last Yakuza game and a wealth of new activities in this demo alone that keep the charm of the Yakuza series while adding plenty of new things to play with, Yakuza Kiwami 2 seems to be a satisfying new take on an older game in its series that is easy to pick up for those who’ve played the newer games in the series.

JRPGs I Played in July 2018

With eight story paths to follow and a mid-month release, my July went exactly how I expected it to and was full of a lot of Octopath Traveler and time with my Switch. I began the month on the tail end of Ys VIII and immediately jumped over to Octopath Traveler, so my PS4 hasn’t seen that much love this month but I’ve enjoying playing the Switch both on my TV and with me on the go and the extra time I’ve been able to get into my games. The only other games I played were a few smartphone JRPGs for times like being at work where it would be inappropriate to pull out my Switch and for some special collaborations, but I only put a small bit of time into these because I was into already big games on the go and didn’t feel the need to play much else. So in what was a month full of portable goodness, here are the JRPGs I Played in July.

Review: Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of DANA (Reviewed on Nintendo Switch, also on PS4, PS Vita and PC)

With the promise of being a big adventure on a deserted island, Ys VIII certainly delivers. Making one island somehow feel like a large world of its own, Ys VIII encouraged me to explore the many inches of its island thanks to its story and its great mechanics that help with exploring that slowly revealed more of this island as I played. But there’s more than just exploring an island to Ys VIII, with the adventurous spirit of its protagonist and the mysterious island making the story bigger than its initial premise and its well-paced reveal made this adventure intriguing throughout its six chapters, with more things to dive into post-game. In this rich island world, Ys VIII captures the spirit of adventure well, and its mysterious world with plenty to see and explore with its smooth gameplay makes it a fantastic fit on Nintendo Switch.

Review: Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time (Reviewed on PS4, also on PC)

Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time’s demo showed me some great things that were the reason I decided to pick it up. It introduced me to the series charming characters, a side-scrolling dungeon crawler that combined JRPG elements into something of its own and a fairly interesting story premise. In its full game however, the unique, quirky JRPG I expected Chamber of Time to be felt different, with its excessively repetitive boss battles making the experience drag on longer than it needed on top of dungeons that feature great ideas and potential that are never fully realised. While it has charming characters and enjoyable story moments that have made me interested in Little Witch Academia’s anime, Chamber of Time’s repetitive design unfortunately didn’t keep me under its spell for very long.

Review: Yakuza 6 (PS4)

I never thought I’d be playing a game called Yakuza for the story, but Yakuza 6’s well-written story and characters made this experience a stand-out in JRPG stories this year so far. With an activity-filled open world and satisfying action combat with familiar stat-building systems, these things ended up being the cherry on top of a story that kept me coming back for more with its deep and emotional look into its tough characters that always had multiple sides. I thought this experience would just be a bunch of fights and open world exploring before I played it, so I’m pleasantly surprised that it ended up having a deep story that hooked me in from start to finish and with many of its side activities and stories still left behind, I’m glad its great demo convinced me to try this deep and interesting world.

How Yakuza 6’s First Hours Pleasantly Surprised Me

I don’t know about you, but when I think of the JRPG genre, the Yakuza series isn’t one of the first that comes to mind. Before that are usually the many fantasy games with deep stories, combat and worlds that the genre is widely known for, such as Final Fantasy and Persona, so if you haven’t tried the Yakuza games, you may be surprised to hear that Yakuza shares more in common with them than you think. When I downloaded Yakuza 6’s demo and played its first few hours, I expected to be running around in an open world, running into fights along the way in a plot with a rough tone but what I didn’t expect was a moving emotional story that can rival some of the big current JRPG stories well. Combined with JRPG systems and a big world, Yakuza 6 is a JRPG that appealed to me way more than I would have expected and has completely drawn me in with its well-written introduction to its story.

First Impressions: Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time (Japanese Demo, PS4, PC)

With colourful magic and an anime aesthetic, Little Witch Academia: Chamber of Time’s unique 3D side-scroller cross JRPG gameplay is an eye-catching experience even for those like myself with no experience with its source material. It combines different gameplay elements to create a beat ‘em up with deep JRPG leveling systems that have the potential to put a thoughtful edge on running through trap-filled dungeons and complemented by eye-popping visuals that mimic the art from its original show, it stands out as a game based on an anime. With this and a group of fun characters made accessible even for first-timers to the series, Little Witch Academia’s first journey into the world of video games seems very promising so far.

Review: Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker’s Memory (Reviewed on PS4, also on PS Vita)

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker’s Memory is both new and a return to what some may know from the original Cyber Sleuth game. It’s new with its own unique and fleshed out story that is set on a familiar backdrop to anyone who played the last game. It features the same monster collecting system that was already great with a few new digital faces that fight with a both an old and new exciting battle system, all to a cool electronic soundtrack that has been remixed more than it’s been recomposed. But if you’re anything like me and have been looking for an excuse to return to Cyber Sleuth somehow, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth - Hacker’s Memory makes it well worth it because despite its familiarity, what it adds in both story and gameplay takes an old game and makes it better.

DLC Review: Episode Ignis (Final Fantasy XV DLC, PS4/Xbox One/PC)

As DLC tied to my favourite character of Final Fantasy XV and two satisfying previous DLC episodes, I had high expectations for Episode Ignis’ story. As expected based on the last two Episodes, Episode Ignis gives unique fighting mechanics to Ignis to suit his fighting style and reveals what happened in a part of the game he was absent. Unique to Episode Ignis however is a special Extra Verse portion that puts a new twist on big moments of Ignis’s story that had a fan of Ignis and XV’s core story like myself captivated in all the right ways. Delivering the kind of quality expected from the last few DLC chapters coming to XV, Episode Ignis mostly delivers and is a story chapter that fans of Ignis and Final Fantasy XV won’t want to miss.

7 Things I Learned More About In Lost Sphear's English Demo

When Lost Sphear’s English demo appeared on PSN, I initially made the assumption that this was just the English translation of the Japanese one I’d already played, so I put off playing it for a little while. When I finally got to it, I realised I was very wrong and that this demo not only showed a new area in Lost Sphear, but also expanded upon a few things I liked about it in the Japanese one. Most importantly, the new Lost Sphear demo did its job of getting me even more curious about it, so here are some things it expanded upon in the demo that makes its world and gameplay seem even more interesting.

My 3 JRPG New Year Resolutions for 2018

Since 2015, it’s been my own tradition to make a few JRPG resolutions to improve my gaming life for the year ahead. I do this to encourage myself to play the experiences I think I don’t have time for and to finally catch up with any JRPG urges I had throughout the previous year that I didn’t take the time to cater to. These resolutions always come with mixed levels of success, but they always help me improve my gaming time and are a fun way to start planning what I want to play each year. While keeping up with new releases is a challenge in itself, there are a few things in my JRPG life I’ve been wanting to do since I found some new things I liked last year and also things I’ve been wanting do for a while and never got around to. With those things in mind, these are my three JRPG resolutions for 2018.

Review: .hack//G.U. Last Recode (PS4, also on PC)

A big four-games-in-one experience like .hack//G.U. Last Recode has the potential to fall down at some point in its long journey. As a package of three games that were released separately when they first came out with a brand new experience on top, I initially wondered if they’d work well played back-to-back, as well as how a much newer addition to the series would feel beside the older ones. Luckily for Last Recode, each volume contained plenty of new things and variation to keep things interesting, with each feeling like a new chapter for the characters and story growing in each one, building to a big story journey that felt very complete. With engaging reactive combat on top and a story with plenty of character growth, Last Recode’s smoothness makes .Hack//G.U. pass the test of time well and is an old story I’m glad I could experience in its upgraded form.

A Look at the Parallels Between Blue Reflection and Persona 5 (Is it Magical Girl Persona?)

If you’re anything like me, anything described as a magical girl JRPG mixed with Persona is almost guaranteed to be something I’ll be interested in. This was how I heard people describing Blue Reflection before I bought it and pretty much sealed the deal for me getting it, but I didn’t realise just how many similarities there would be. When I began to really see these similarities in Blue Reflection, I became a little skeptic at first. While the idea of magical girl Persona was why I bought it, I’m usually not interested in something that blatantly rips off story ideas. Luckily Blue Reflection for the most part makes the ideas it seems to have borrowed original, but I found the similarities interesting nonetheless, so I wanted to talk about the parallels between Blue Reflection and Persona 5 and how the two good games are similar, yet different.

Five JRPGs I Ruined For Myself By Taking Too Long to Finish Them

Taking my time with games like Persona 2 and Kingdom Hearts at the moment has made me remember something about myself: I’m not the best at playing games over a long period of time. I fall in and out of wanting to play them, trying other smaller experiences in between, even if I'm enjoying what I'm playing. Mix it in with life taking up time and it really prolongs my time with certain games. Attempting to get my reviews out faster this year has seen me play and finish some great JRPGs more quickly, proving the fact that if I immerse myself in a game, I'm more likely to enjoy it or more quickly find out which games I'd grow tired of. No matter how long I take to play games nowadays, there are a few games I can look back on and say I temporarily ruined them for myself by playing them at a slow pace and this list is just a few of them.

First Impressions: Lost Sphear (Nintendo Switch/PS4 JP Demo, also coming to PC)

There’s a certain nostalgia to old school JRPGs, but Lost Sphear is thoughtful enough to remember to make it special. With its emotive premise of watching all that you hold dear disappear, this literal take on loss somehow manages to keep things from getting too heavy, with the introduction to the cast being fairly light-hearted most of the time in this demo. This first look at Lost Sphear showed me a peek at the main objective of recovering the lost parts of the world and a new take on the active time battle system, and both seem interesting enough to make me think Lost Sphear is more than just its emotional premise.

Review: Blue Reflection (PS4, also on PS Vita and PC)

Blue Reflection promises a lot at first glance by seemingly drawing inspiration from popular series like Persona, along with taking the wonderful high school magical girl trope into JRPG land. As a magical girl JRPG, it succeeds in a lot of ways with its enjoyable combination of a traditional turn-based battle system combined with active elements and a unique overdrive mechanic. In school life, it's an enjoyable social sim with clear progression that encourages exploration, even if it can feel a little repetitive sometimes. But this didn’t bother me much as between school and magical girl life, Blue Reflection’s enchanting story about emotions and wishes kept me fully engrossed and although it is not without imperfections, there’s a lot to love in this story heavy, magical girl JRPG.