Review: Persona 4 Dancing All Night (Reviewed on PS4 via the Endless Night bundle, also on PS Vita)

When Persona 4 Dancing All Night was announced back in 2015, I was so excited. That excitement led me to buy it in Japanese right when it came out because I was worried if we’d see a localisation announcement and while I couldn’t understand the story parts much as I was a total beginner at Japanese at the time, I played all of the songs and unlocked everything enough to get the Platinum trophy, despite pretty much not knowing any of its story and just enjoy its dancing fun in the Vita version.

With the recent Endless Night collection including the Persona Dance games for Persona 3, 4 and 5, this seemed like the perfect opportunity to get to know the wonderful remixes of the songs I loved from Persona 4 and the Vita version all over again while finally getting to know its story too and after spending almost 15 hours with it, I’m glad I did. The twist on Persona 4’s world and story with an Idol mystery was a great way to see the charming characters from the original paired with some new favourites, and seeing the high quality visuals on PS4 with snappy load times and sharp visuals in its rhythm game moments made the quality of this Persona Dance game feel not far behind the newer releases. If you’re looking to experience a different mystery with the Investigation Team alongside fun new characters and involved dance mechanics that feel just as good as its more recent editions, Persona 4 Dancing All Night is well worth it for fans of Persona 4 and rhythm games, and with it being such good value in the Endless Night collection on PS4, it’s an experience that Persona fans who like more story mixed in with their rhythm mechanics can enjoy experiencing in its best form yet.

JRPGs I Played in November 2018

November was a month of monster hunting JRPGs for me. With the main two releases I was interested in having heavy themes of catching them all in distinct ways, my month of November nostalgically brought me back to this type of JRPG I loved as a kid and the story heavy games I love now with a monster collecting twist, alongside solid turn-based combat systems. While I didn’t play a heap of games in November, but monster collecting games are big so there was still plenty to play, so here are the JRPGs I Played in November.

Review: Pokemon Let's Go (Nintendo Switch)

If you like video games, chances are that at some point you’ve played one of the many Pokemon games that exist on older consoles, ranging from the Gameboy to the Nintendo 3DS and now the Nintendo Switch. The newest Pokemon game Pokemon Let’s Go manages to keep the nostalgic feeling of games like Pokemon Yellow by using similar layouts and the original 151 Pokemon, but updates visuals and everything else to make it feel much better on a modern console. With a mix of streamlined Pokemon catching mechanics from Pokemon Go, clever dungeon puzzles, all those trainer battles and a personalized-feeling gaming experience thanks to the choice of a partner Pokemon, Pokemon Let’s Go combines old and new concepts well to make Let’s Go echo the greatness of its source material while being simple enough to make it enjoyable now, and this easy-to-pick experience in my first return to the world of console Pokemon games is one I’m glad that Let’s Go made me come back to.

Review: World of Final Fantasy Maxima (Played on Switch, also on Xbox One, and PS4 and PC as DLC)

World of Final Fantasy was and still is a great journey. With its light-hearted monster collecting that evolves into an emotional big story that made me both laugh and cry, its story and gameplay is just as captivating to play years after its initial release. The game is full of many nods to the main Final Fantasy series games with its roster of familiar characters that you can now battle as in the new Maxima edition, on top of its interesting original mechanics like its size and stacking ones that are fun to play with all together, even if the frame rate wasn’t always perfect outside of docked mode. Years later, World of Final Fantasy in its updated Maxima form is still a story worth experiencing for fans of Final Fantasy who don’t mind a light-hearted story and for those who like the idea of exploring its unique, fun take on the Final Fantasy universe that now has even more to offer.

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.

JRPGs I Played in October 2018

Thanks to some great new releases, I really enjoyed my JRPG time in October. I was finally able to try The World Ends With You thanks to its Switch release and in the spirit of enjoying games on the go, I also took the time to continue playing other games I’ve been enjoying such as Torna, the Golden Country and started Dragalia Lost so I can have a portable to play on my smartphone too. So with those, two platinum trophies and some new games I was finally able to try, here are the JRPGs I Played in October.

Extended Impressions: Dragalia Lost (Played on iOS, also on Android)

When I first saw Dragalia Lost and the effort Nintendo was putting into advertising it, I thought it looked too good to be a smartphone game. With small areas to run freely in, gorgeous character designs and many different systems to try, it seemed like a high quality smartphone game with depth to rival some console ones and that rings mostly true after playing it. Its main story has lots of good characters that it takes time to develop in both the main story and free side content, and thanks to daily rewards giving free summons, I could level these characters and get new ones without feeling as though I needed to pay. Dragalia Lost is a quality JRPG story for smartphones so far and with its likeable characters, rewarding systems and wealth of content, it’s become my new favourite smartphone game in a while.