What Draws Me To JRPGs

Whenever I approach the end of a game, even if it's an absolutely outstanding game, I start getting excited for something new. My backlog and my wishlist are both overflowing with so many JRPGs to play next and whether it’s Atelier, old Final Fantasy, Disgaea or Tales of, as vastly different as they are, they're all apart of this genre I love. I'm a fan of all genres of video games, but JRPGs are where I feel my happiest and most at home when gaming. Whether for the quirky characters, the long hour counts or the unique worlds to explore, these are some of the reasons I'm drawn to JRPGs.

Gameplay Systems and Mechanics

JRPGs feature a variety of gameplay systems and mechanics, with well-known ones including turn-based battle systems and skill trees. A lot JRPGs are for having unique stories, but gameplay is equally important and JRPG's focus on stat progression or skill acquisition is one of the most enjoyable parts of playing JRPGs for me. I find leveling and grinding really satisfying, even more so when paired with a good skill tree to pave through or skills to reach for as I level up.

Another big reason I love JRPG mechanics are the variety of them. I can go from playing an active battle system in Final Fantasy XII to a turn-based one in Final Fantasy X. I can play tactical battle systems like the one in Fire Emblem or an action ones like in Kingdom Hearts. There are a bunch of genres blended together in JRPGs and while there are definitely some common elements, the combination of these makes each game feel unique. Blending in different genres such as the visual novel aspect of Lost Dimension, the social sim part of Persona 4 Golden or the roguelike dungeon crawling in Sorcery Saga, it’s this kind of variety that makes playing JRPGs fresh and exciting to me.

Collectibles

Whether it's real life toys or in-game items, I love collecting things that interest me and JRPGs really cater to this. Most JRPGs feature plenty of items, weapons, monsters and even dialogues to collect and unlock through difficult but rewarding side and main quests. In my current platinum trophy playthrough of Final Fantasy X HD (that I'm really neglecting by the way), the hardest part so far has been trying to get the Ultimate Weapons, especially with tasks including dodging 100 lightning bolts and playing way too much Blitzball to wait for a rare item to pop. It might sound tedious, but knowing my characters will have the best weapons in the game and I will have gotten some extremely rare items through my own hard work and dedication is enough to keep me pushing forward in the hunt. This is what makes me what to replay so many JRPGs - I want to unlock all of the Dive scenes in Ar nosurge or try to get all the Digimon in Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth one day, along with all the other various JRPG challenges that stick in the back of my mind. Whether you're a collector or a completionist at heart, JRPGs are an incredibly fun way to indulge in these tendencies.

Game Length

While I assume most people reading this blog already love JRPGs, a point I usually raise to non-JRPG fans who wonder why I’m so into these seemingly strange Japanese games is that I enjoy the length and value of putting 100 hours into one experience rather than putting 20 hours into many smaller experiences. My reason for playing JRPGs isn’t solely because I feel like I’m getting better bang for my buck out of them than other games, but I like really throwing myself into activities and 50+ hour JRPGs are a great way to do this. Some of my absolute favourite JRPG experiences have been games I’ve spent hundreds of hours in, like Kingdom Hearts and Persona 4 Golden, and their long length only added to my investment in the story and my enjoyment of their systems. For some people the length of JRPGs is daunting, but for me it’s one of the most rewarding parts of playing JRPGs.

Story

When choosing a JRPG to play, I'm usually first attracted by the story premise more than gameplay. While gameplay is no doubt important in a video game, the stories of JRPGs are usually one-of-a-kind. I think there’s no other genre of games where I can say I’ve played stories about medieval fantasy, high school students fighting monsters inside someone's heart, a great curry God, being a CPU or making star children in order to stop the spread of monsters. I’ve also had plenty of emotional moments with JRPGs where I’ve laughed or cried, since many JRPGs aren’t afraid to explore really heavy subjects all while mixing in humourous quirks such as talking bears, sometimes crude humour or awkwardness. When a JRPG story gets it right, playing for hundreds of hours flies and I leave the experience feeling like I learned or experienced something new.

There are many reasons to love every game genre, but JRPG's great gameplay, stories and fun collectables are the reason I play them for longer than I probably should without any shame. I love feeling like I’m progressing through an interesting world with complex characters and while you can find that in many genres, paired with JRPG gameplay, story length and scavenging, it definitely feels like the right kind of game for me. Whether it be for fun, an escape or a good story, I'm sure that with these things that appeal to me, JRPGs will continue to be a prominent part in my gaming life for a long time.

You can pick up the JRPGs mentioned in this article at Play-Asia.com!

(This link helps support the site, so if you use it or buy something from there, thank you!)

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Why do you play JRPGs? What was the first game that made you love the genre?

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

Review: Lost Dimension (Reviewed on PS Vita, also on PS3)

Lost Dimension combines a lot of things I love: JRPGs with tactical elements, visual novels and finding a suspect from a group of likable characters. In fact, on the surface it draws a large influence from a few of my favourite series, such as the Trials from Danganronpa or the Materia concept from Final Fantasy, which initially gave me some concerns about how original Lost Dimension would be. But after playing Lost Dimension, I found the combination of these elements plus its own mechanics and its story of traitors make Lost Dimension a unique tactical 30 hour experience that remained enjoyable throughout my time with it, even with some imperfections.

As someone who likes stories that make me feel like I need to constantly look over my shoulder, Lost Dimension is right up my alley. Lost Dimension mixes suspicion into the usual ‘save the world’ JRPG plot. The world is being targeted by a man called The End (no really, that’s his name), who gives the world an ultimatum: defeat him at the top of a giant pillar within a limited number of days or else he’ll destroy the world. Lost Dimension’s characters are all members of S.E.A.L.E.D., a secret government group formed to stop The End’s terrorist attacks that all boast special supernatural gifts, such as Teleportation or Superhuman strength, that give them an edge in battle. The group are briefly separated at the start of their mission with no memory of how, meaning they forget an important fact: there are a small group of traitors among them acting as friends to covertly affect their mission. To top things off, The End forces them to try find the traitors as they progress through the pillar’s floors and kill off a suspect on each floor if they want to complete through the tower Each of these story aspects may seem familiar to players of JRPGs or Japanese games, but I've never seen a combination of all of these story elements in one game like this, giving the story a unique feel.

Keeping traitors in your team can be damaging in the long run, so it’s important to try find the traitors as they cycle through each floor/chapter, despite how sad it is to kill your new comrades. After completing missions, the protagonist’s Premonition gift kicks in, letting you hear the other party members inner thoughts to pick out the traitor. It's not that difficult to find suspects, as multiple voices will be distorted and they are supposed to be that floor’s traitor but I like how it added other innocent character's distorted voices to try mislead me. Finding the traitor is all well and good, but Lost Dimension’s Camaraderie System adds emotions into the mix, allowing you to befriend your teammates as you progress through the story in a visual novel style. Since the main story cycles through vague and sometimes flat-sounding lines in order to tell the story no matter who the traitor is in the part, Lost Dimension’s character depth and best story moments lie hidden in this optional Camaraderie portion. The characters are all struggling with something, including loss, morals and even dreams of being an Idol, that all explore the negative sides of their supernatural gifts and with characters that don't follow the usual JRPG tropes, I was able to feel a connection to the characters easily.

Camaraderie was one of my favourite parts of Lost Dimension as it made me feel way more invested in the story than the vague main story did and the complexity of the characters really lifted the main story. This made it hard to weed out the traitor at times, as in my playthrough two of my favourite characters ended up being killed as suspects and it really added a harshness to the trial system. My only concern is that this part of Lost Dimension may get looked over or rushed by players because of its optional nature. Lost Dimension's strength lies in investing you in characters and then taking them away from you, but that may be lost on people who only briefly explore it in preference of battling and racing through the story.

To unlock new conversations with comrades and see Lost Dimension’s main story, it’s essential to complete Lost Dimension's tactical quests to progress through the tower. The tactical battle system in Lost Dimension is easily understandable to those who have played JRPGs or tactical games, but mixes in a few new mechanics of its own to keep things interesting. Character gifts act like classes and dictate the abilities and stats of a character, including their movement and physical strength. I found most characters could be divided into close range tanks, long ranged attackers, support or long distance movers, so as long as I brought a party with a combination of these I was ready to take on most quest's tactical challenge. Enemies are all quite similar and aren't very noteworthy as they all look similar, but with high stats they can overwhelm a party with sheer numbers, which is the real challenge in Lost Dimension's quests. Mixed in with the usual JRPG mechanics is Defer, a unique yet simple mechanic where a turn could be essentially transferred to another character, allowing them to attack again. It's a simple idea but ended up being one of my favourite mechanics of Lost Dimension because of the edge it gave in battle by giving more access to the skill I needed. With a party of six, Defer allowed me to do things such as only use characters with long-range abilities against crazy tank enemies or to teleport and fly long distances from enemies that kept spreading more enemies, and was an interesting new way to think in a tactical RPG.

While the battle system of Lost Dimension is pretty fun, I had a few awkward moments with it due to some camera issues while playing the Vita version. Between turns, the camera that was supposed to show me the enemy’s actions occasionally showed me walls while following out-of-sight enemies. I know it's not a huge problem, but it happened enough times for me to wonder how it still remained in the game and ruined the purpose of showing me the enemies actions at points, making it a small waste of time. Another thing that kept me from being totally immersed in Lost Dimension’s world was its story dialogue. While the story itself is interesting, it tends to be a little vague in order to keep the continuity. Since traitors are randomised every time you start a new game in Lost Dimension, the dialogue avoids a lot of direct communication with characters. It’s a sacrifice made to keep the replayability interesting in Lost Dimension and to keep its unique concept, but it’s a clear difference from similar games like Danganronpa where the intercharacter relationships are a huge part of the main story. Luckily, the Camaraderie portion of Lost Dimension makes up for this in many ways, but as someone who loves getting invested into a good plot, the main story wasn’t really skilled at doing that.

With the story-telling method supporting Lost Dimension’s replayability, there is appropriately a New Game Plus system in place so you can find a new traitor without losing your progress from your first playthrough. My playthrough of Lost Dimension lasted a decent 30 hours but I didn’t get the true ending, so I may revisit Lost Dimension in future. In the New Game Plus mode, your Ability points carry over, allowing you to essentially keep your abilities and focus on meeting the criteria for the True Ending. Since I enjoyed the Camaraderie part of Lost Dimension, I’d like to go through and max out my bonds with people who I wanted to get to know more before they sadly betrayed me.

Lost Dimension may use a few ideas from other games, but its traitor concept and battle system make it an original experience. I had multiple moments of sadness when my favourite characters betrayed me thanks to the engaging Camaraderie system, even if the actual main story didn’t give me the same emotional connection. As my first 3D tactical JRPG experience, I enjoyed Lost Dimension’s use of range attacks and the interesting Defer system that allowed me to take advantage of the character’s gifts. It’s not a perfect combination of randomised story aspects, traitors and JRPG elements, but that certainly doesn’t mean it’s not enjoyable. Lost Dimension is a great idea and worth exploring if you're also a fan of these elements.

Score 7.6/10

A unique and fun game of traitors and tactics, albeit with imperfections. I’d love to see a sequel that improves on this idea, but for now, I have to consider replaying it to max out all my bonds!

You can pick up Lost Dimension from Play-Asia.com!

(This link helps support the site, so if you use it or buy something from there, thank you!)

_______________________________________________________________________________

Have you tried Lost Dimension? What did you think of it?

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

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

The Reality of Playing Persona 5 In Japanese When You're Not Fluent

It's not an easy time to be a spoiler-sensitive Persona fan. If you're wanting to go into Persona 5 in February with a clear head, there are hashtags, wikis and preview videos to actively avoid (seriously, avoid the wikis!). My initial plan was to be part of the spoiler-free crowd, but when Final Fantasy XV was delayed I decided to give into my Persona 5 impatience and bear the spoilers in order to fill my September gaming void and play a great game. But as someone only studying Japanese rather than fluent in the language, I was quickly reminded that Persona isn't a light JRPG. I found Persona 5’s story getting hazier as I spent my time focusing on merely getting through Persona 5 rather than fully and easily experiencing it like I normally would in English. At its core, buying Persona 5 before release may seem like a good idea, but if you’re like me and love Persona’s story, getting it in Japanese when you’re not fluent won’t give you the same experience the English release.

It's not a complete uphill battle to play Persona 5 in Japanese though. If you've played a Persona game or two, you can probably work how to play Persona 5 at the very least. Same as the other main series Persona games, gameplay is similar enough between each edition that it’s pretty easy to work out how to play one Persona game if you’ve played another. It’s the same with Persona 5, with the added bonus of it being polite enough to put some of the basic battle controls and main menu interface in English. For dialogue heavy moments, because Persona 5 is such a visual improvement on pre-current gen Persona games, it’s easier to get context from the visuals making Persona 5 a bit easier for international players. If missing plot intricacies doesn’t bother you, mechanical knowledge of Persona and some button mashing through new mechanics is most likely enough to at least get to the end of Persona 5. This is how I played through the first dungeon of Persona 5 and despite wanting to understand more of the story, I was able to have a lot of fun with the battle mechanics and understand just enough of the story for it to be interesting. Dungeons were probably the most stress free part of my dictionary-free run because of the battles and animated cutscenes, so if you’re importing this aspect won’t be too much of a problem and they're a good way to have fun with Persona 5.

My Japanese is....(see above)

If Persona 5 was all dungeon crawler and no dialogue, it wouldn't pose as much of a problem to the non-Japanese speaking player. However a lot of Persona’s core is narrative, with some of the series best and most unique mechanics including Social Links and the new Demon Negotiation using dialogue as an important game mechanic. A lot can be gathered from visual cues, however with Persona’s characters always having well-rounded personalities and long dialogue scenes, it’s easy to miss important plot intricacies with little or no Japanese knowledge. With my lower level Japanese, I could gather a few of these intricacies but I did find when speaking to my boyfriend (who is much better at Japanese), there were still a lot of things I missed. I didn’t fully understand just how evil the antagonists were because of what I missed in the dialogue and there were developments I really wish I had been able to understand for myself. It’s to be expected since I'm not fluent in Japanese, but Persona is so largely story-based that I couldn’t help but feel like I was missing really important things. Social links are another beast, as I found myself matching words or kanji I knew in dialogue choices when I don’t understand what’s going on, with mixed success. By the beginning of Persona 5’s second dungeon, I found myself pretty nervous as I always wondered if I was missing something important I'd been told to do that was vital to the next boss and if I’d be sent to game over town because I hadn't been able to understand what to do.

There is hope though. For the patient and for those with an interest in learning Japanese, my trusty picture translator and dictionary method requires me be much more patient, but works in Persona 5. In my new save file, I’ve been able to look things up to my heart’s content and actually understand what's going on, which makes me feel way happier when I play. It is, however, taking a lot longer; I’m not at the first save point yet and it’s probably been 4 hours in my new save file. But feeling like I know what’s going on is important to me, which is what drove me to write this article. Some people won’t mind getting a glimpse at Persona 5 without understanding everything, but if you love the details of Persona’s stories, actually waiting may not be a bad idea for a game like Persona. If you want to understand how truly evil some of the characters are, you may not get that from a bunch of words you can’t read and some maniac laughter as much as you think, which is what I found in my first save file. I completely understand the impatience of waiting for such an anticipated and consistently great series, but as I said in my previous article about playing Persona 5 before release, localisations exist because of how much dialogue there is to translate and Persona 5 probably has more than ever.

Playing Persona 5 pre-dictionary was like looking at it through a glass door: I could see the coolness of Persona 5 - the gorgeous visuals, the improved battle system - but I was missing a lot of details and those details are what makes a Persona narrative so hard-hitting. I'm going to keep playing Persona 5, but I may abandon my dictionary-free save and take my time learning new words and understanding the story. I can’t promise that playing Persona 5 will be cool for people who don’t speak Japanese and for those who speak it on a lower level like mine as there will be nuances missed out on unless you approach it with patience. But I also understand for a lot of people, merely playing Persona 5 is what they want and they can live without knowing every detail and I kind of envy that in some ways. No matter when or how you play Persona 5, I encourage everyone as its load screen regularly reminds me to ‘Take Your Time’ and enjoy the intricate world that is Persona 5 in the way you can have the most fun possible.

You can pre-order Persona 5 for PS3 and PS4 in English or buy the Japanese version at Play-Asia.com!

(This link helps support the site, so if you use it or buy something from there, thank you!)

_______________________________________________________________________________

Do you play games in Japanese before they're localised? What's your best/worst import game experience?

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

JRPG Appreciation Post: Lost Dimension's Defer Mechanic

If you've ever had a completely overpowered party member in a JRPG, you'll probably know what it's like to wait each turn for your strongest character’s turn in order to cause some havoc on the battlefield. This is also evident when an enemy has a weakness and only one character has the right attack - suddenly the only character that matters is the one with that attack and the other party members become unimportant compared to the one related to my actual strategy. Lost Dimension’s Defer mechanic plays with this idea, essentially allowing party members to give each other their turns if they don't need them. This considerably changed how I thought about my battle strategies in Lost Dimension and gave me a new perspective on turns in tactical battles and how having access to the right skills at the right time can truly be the ultimate battle tactic.

The Defer system in Lost Dimension pretty simple in practice, but makes a pretty significant difference to strategising in battle. By giving up attacking that turn, the Defer option allows one party member that’s near another party member to attack again. It only works on party members who have previously attacked, but the character movement and skill change is more than enough to give an edge in battle. Defer can be useful when another character has a more suitable attack or ability, when a nearby character is closer to an enemy or when activating special abilities that require another character's Materia. For example, if there’s a nearby item or enemy that is only reachable by passing over a gap, deferring to Agito who can teleport or Nagisa who can fly would be a great move. If you're in a pinch, deferring multiple times to Sojiro who is essentially the healer could get your party back to full health as well, saving you from a retry. While using Defer ends the using character’s turn, it allows for a better quality turn if used correctly and even allows the character to move a little, making the next turn better.

Defer gave me some of my favourite gameplay moments in Lost Dimension because of all the options it gives. In most JRPGs, you're usually limited by each character's skill set but Defer allows you to break out of that by having near unlimited access to all skills. Being a tactical JRPG, this allows for more focus on character placement in the 3D field, which considering Lost Dimension's areas take advantage of platforms and gaps can be a challenge in itself. Although I'm still fairly new to the world of tactical JRPGs, but this mechanic alone made Lost Dimension a really unique experience and I enjoyed playing with this new mechanic quite a lot.

Defer added a really different line of thinking to the way I usually play JRPGs, especially tactical ones. It makes me wonder how it would fare in other tactical RPGs such as Fire Emblem where I had a few instances where I was just shy of defeating the boss with one character. I think the reason why Defer works so well in Lost Dimension is because the enemies either provide pressure in numbers or in crazy brute strength rather than weaknesses, so finding the correct skill to take them down is essential. It’s a tactic that makes Lost Dimension stand out to me as more than just another tactical RPG and is a unique JRPG mechanic that is simple, yet rewarding.

You can get Lost Dimension for PS3 or PS Vita at Play-Asia.com!

(This link helps support the site, so if you use it or buy something from there, thank you!)

_______________________________________________________________________________

What's your favourite part of Lost Dimension? Do you have a favourite tactical JRPG mechanic?

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

Pictures note: Photos are taken from Play-Asia's Lost Dimension page

First Impressions: Persona 5 (PS3, Japanese version)

After a long wait for Persona 5, I can barely believe that it’s out and inside my PS3. While plenty of people are still waiting for the English localisation, other people like myself have bought the Japanese version to get a peek before the slow-approaching February localised release and/or to play it out of sheer impatience (I’m in both parties). Persona 5 has plenty of high expectations to live up to thanks to the generally high quality of Persona games and after playing Persona 5 for over 26 hours (at the time of writing), I think most Persona fans will be pleased with Persona 5 for many different reasons. The gameplay, story, music, artwork and UIs shine in true Persona style and with every character design, transition screen and new game mechanic, it seems like a lot of love was put into crafting the incredibly fun JRPG that is Persona 5.

If you're a Persona fan that’s missed changing Personas on the fly, Social Links or deciding what to do with your after school time, you’ll find all of this in Persona 5 in its finest form. For starters,, as Persona’s first complete main series addition on current gen consoles (the last release was originally on PS2), everything is significantly smoother and more stylish in Persona 5. From load screens to switching Personas, everything in Persona 5 is really fluid, making getting immersed in the gameplay effortless. I’m playing on PS3 and while I’m sure there are more load screens than the PS4 counterpart, all the transition screens are not only fairly short but also tend to be related to the area I’m in some way. Seeing people on the train passing by when commuting to school or the Phantom pulling down a curtain in the dungeon is that amazing attention to detail Persona excels at and makes me feel so much better than just looking at a blank screen between scenes. The 2.5D and animated cutscenes are a huge step up from previous Persona games and are much more in line with Catherine quality visuals than Persona 4 Golden. This vast improvement in visual quality acts like a fresh coat of paint for Persona 5, with all my favourite Persona mechanics still familiar but feeling completely fresh.

Gameplay in Persona 5 hasn’t only been upgraded visually. The added mechanics in Persona 5 are what really bring the experience to another level and while the original gameplay featured in past Persona games was already great, these changes add depth that take everything to a new level. My absolute favourite addition to Persona 5 so far is the Demon Negotiation in battles. The choosing cards after battles from previous Persona games has been taken out and replaced by asking weakened enemy Personas to become your own Persona or to give you items or money through making the right dialogue choices, similar to Shin Megami Tensei. All of the demons have very amusing dialogues and trying to win them over really suits the social aspect of Persona all while adding a new layer of completing to battles. Other great additions to Persona 5 include being able to jump and sneak behind things in the expanded dungeons, with the sneaking around being a really fun way to catch enemies off guard. On top of this, I just finished the first dungeon and got presented with even more new mechanics to use and I’m sure there are more coming. Players can expect a lot to do and personalise your Persona experience with thanks to all of these enriching new features and I'm looking forward to finding more as I continue on my Persona 5 journey.

A highly important part of any Persona game is story and while my understanding of Persona 5’s isn’t perfect thanks to my lower level of Japanese, I can say the theme and characters are compelling. As Persona 4’s bright yellows echoed the positive vibe and characters, Persona 5’s red theme is equally representative of the darker tone so far. Story events seem to be more sinister, with moments details in the story and the Velvet Room in general echoing this. Despite this, there are quite few appropriately placed humourous moments and exchanges, which I was pleased to see keeps true to Persona’s balanced high school life feeling, making Persona 5 digestible to players who started from Persona 4 and making the characters feel very real. Main characters are engaging thanks to their cool mix of teenage attitude and sense of justice against the antagonists, who are so far interesting with their outlandish personalities in dungeons and their moral corruptness in the regular world. I really like the characters and the surprises the plot has presented so far and the good story pace makes things feel constantly exciting while still giving me the freedom to partake in the day-to-day Persona activities.

Speaking of day-to-day activities, returning to Persona 5 are the fun part time jobs, reading books and making friends (social links) the Persona series is known for, all set in a huge realistic Tokyo with an overwhelmingly exciting amount of things to do. This is one of the aspects I definitely have a lot more exploring to do in, but I will say there are so many people to talk to, social links to find and small places to visit. My hardest decisions so far have been whether to follow the suggestions it gives me (such as visiting the library for the first time to find or checking out a famous restaurant), or to freely explore the modern Tokyo world and its vast amount of stores and people to talk to. It’s overwhelming in the best way and I can’t wait to make friends (social links) with all of the characters that I’ve seen around town so far. Credit also is due to the incredibly accurate portrayal of modern-day Tokyo, from the train announcements down to the slightly altered place names. Being in Japan, I feel a connection to the environment whenever I see somewhere similar to real-world Tokyo (the train stations are particularly familiar) and I'm sure others who have visited Tokyo may have this too.

If you're waiting for Persona 5 to come out in English, there’s plenty to be excited about in Persona 5. As someone who has played Persona 3 and 4, the level of detail added to Persona 5 and the beautiful UI, detailed environments and put-on-repeat music are all cherries on top of great gameplay and story with a new brand new tone. I'm already gearing up to play the English version to understand the finer intricacies of the story, but from the gameplay alone, Persona 5 is worth the wait and must-try for all Persona fans and fans of high-school JRPGs.

You can pre-order Persona 5 for PS3 and PS4 in English or buy the Japanese version at Play-Asia.com!

(This link helps support the site, so if you use it or buy something from there, thank you!)

_______________________________________________________________________________

If you're playing Persona 5 in Japanese, what's your opinion of the game? And if you're waiting, what are you most excited for in Persona 5?

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

Pictures note: Since I don't have any game capture equipment for PS3, most screenshots (other than the all-out attack one which is from Google) were sourced from Persona 5's official website and seem likely to be for the PS4 version of the game

5 JRPGs TGS 2016 Got Me Excited About

Tokyo Game Show last year left me with the biggest grin on my face and so much video game hype that I could burst. While I feel TGS 2016 left less of an impression on me due to the discussion of games that have been shown excessively (I'm sorry Final Fantasy XV, but I'm looking at you), there were a few games that did catch my eye and got me excited for their release. Ultimately, TGS 2016 showed quite a few games and these are some of my favourites of the JRPGs announced and given trailers this year.

Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue

Being honest, my hype level for Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 had really gone down since made it my top game for TGS 2015. This had nothing to do with the game itself, rather that I haven't finished 1.5 Remix so I assumed I wasn't going to play 2.8 until long after I'd finished the 2.5 Remix. This year’s TGS Kingdom Hearts 2.8 trailer may have changed that. The new trailer backed by a nostalgic, fun remix of Utada Hikaru’s Simple and Clean from the first Kingdom Hearts had some gorgeous footage, bringing in some familiar Kingdom Hearts motifs including the star fruit, falling from the sky and of course, keyblades. Adding to the pretty trailer was the game footage from Kingdom Hearts 2.8, particularly from Back Cover and Birth By Sleep: A Fragmentary Passage being newer additions to the series so getting an extended peak of those is always welcomed. I was particularly excited since it showed gameplay from the latter which will likely be a peek at Kingdom Hearts 3’s (one of the main reasons I bought my PS4) visuals and most importantly, the gameplay. The whole trailer was a great tribute to the three games featured in Kingdom Hearts 2.8 and I hope it keeps me hyped up for its January release.

You can pre-order Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue from Play-Asia.com!

NieR: Automata

Where Kingdom Hearts 2.8’s trailer got me interested with what it showed, NieR: Automata was dynamic thanks to what it didn't show. NieR: Automata’s trailer shows glimpses of footage backed by lots of screaming and yelling, a very mysterious and dynamic way to introduce NieR Automata. I've never played a NieR game but I've been curious about the series for awhile. After seeing how interesting the trailer looked, I'll be paying attention to this game more.

You can pre-order NieR: Automata from Play-Asia.com!

Granblue Fantasy Project Re:Link

Granblue Fantasy has had a lot of magazine coverage in Japan recently, so when it was announced in the PS VR portion of Sony’s conference I was quite surprised to see it was coming to VR as I was under the impression it was a smartphone game. The idea of a JRPG (VRPG?) being available on VR without any gimmicks such as gunplay is kind of refreshing since JRPG gameplay is good enough on its own. I’ve never played Granblue Fantasy and there isn’t a lot of information to elaborate on I wouldn’t specifically buy a VR headset for it, but I would definitely play this if I got the chance as it'd be a cool new way to experience JRPGs.

Digimon World: Next Order

If you enjoyed Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth as much as I did, you may want to try Digimon World: Next Order now that it’s been announced for PS4 next year. Although the trailer was too short to show Next Order’s main gameplay, since I'm currently playing Next Order on my Vita, I can say a few hours in I'm liking it and is had all the raise-your-own-Digimon nostalgia from the original Digimon World games. If you like the idea of raising two Digimon to fight together, feeding them meat daily, taking them to the bathroom after training and filling a city with Digital friends, this is the Digimon game to play.

You can pre-order the localised version of Digimon World: Next Order at Play-Asia.com!

World of Final Fantasy

As the potential final trailer before World of Final Fantasy’s late October release, the TGS 2016 trailer gave a cute extended look into the story and more of the characters we'll get to play with in the fun spin-off game. My favourite part of this trailer was seeing all the summons and enemies of Final Fantasy in the unique art style which somehow even makes Malboros look endearing and cuddly. Cuteness aside, it's nice to see World of Final Fantasy will have its own plot full of emotional ups and downs while still paying homage to the Final Fantasy's before it. I'm looking forward to it more than I expected and I'm sure it'll be a nice game to play before Final Fantasy XV's release.

You can pre-order World of Final Fantasy from Play-Asia.com!

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What were your favourite games from TGS 2016? Was there anything you thought was missing?

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

Persona 5 Thoughts from the Day Breakers Anime Special

Persona 5 has been getting plenty of hype lately. Leading up to it's Japanese release yesterday, there were plenty of preview videos appearing online and it couldn't look more stylish and fun. What hasn't been touched upon much is the story of Persona 5, most likely to avoid spoilers since story is typically one of the best parts of a Persona game. But for those like me who don't mind a little extra context before playing a game, a special episode of Persona 5 the Animation was released last week which gives the first extended insight into Persona 5’s story. It's a fun episode that shows off Persona 5’s characters and story premise all while maintaining enough mystery to carry the hype train forward and to satisfy those who wanted a little taste of what's to come in Persona 5.

Warning: Mild spoilers for the episode follow in this article. I've included as little as possible, but I'd still advise proceeding with caution! Also, despite Persona 5 being out in Japan, this article was written before I played it so it has no influence from it. Enjoy!

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts

Before the anime, it had been revealed that Persona 5’s group of main characters would be part of a group called the Phantom Thieves of Hearts - criminals seemingly fighting for good, but with questionable intentions. With a description like that, I wondered if we could expect to be playing as the good guy or the bad guy in Persona 5, which would be a big jump from the other Persona games. But the Persona 5 the Day Breakers special shows the Phantom Thieves of Hearts targeting a person who is clearly a bad person. The target is abusive to his brother and slyly uses his lock-picking job to break into places for his own personal gain, something a good person wouldn't do. This really paints a much clearer picture of which side the Phantom Thieves of Hearts are on and I think they're definitely fighting for good after watching the special.

And since they’re most likely fighting for good, the practically trademarked stylish action scenes that Persona does so well between the Phantom Thieves of Hearts and their target is complete with heroic speeches about justice, made in a way that each character was able to shine. Complete with cool costumes, the Phantom Thieves of Hearts come off as an incredibly likable mix of teenagers complete with strong personalities and the right amount of attitude. It was particularly nice to see more of Yusuke, considering the protagonist, Anne and Ryuji have been around since the first trailer, but Yusuke has only been revealed in small doses. He comes across as smart and reliable and fits in well with the rest of the team. So far The Phantom Thieves of Hearts are an interesting group and I definitely feel good about being on their team in Persona 5.

The Antagonists

While it was great to see the likely heroes of Persona 5 in the Daybreakers, the episode’s following of a thief gang is potentially a good insight into the type of enemies and stories that will appear in Persona 5. The gang followed in the Daybreakers were a greedy, self-righteous group trying to get as much money and loot as possible through all the wrong methods and with no remorse for their actions. This makes me wonder if this is the kind of morally questionable foe we can expect to face in Persona 5. Interestingly, I noticed the group seemed to have no tie to the supernatural world, making me also wonder if the enemies will be everyday criminals or if it will be revealed later that the criminals are tied to shadows and the supernatural beings usually featured in Persona games. But ultimately, it was very easy to see who was good and bad in the Day Breakers special, so I wonder if this transparency about the enemy will be evident in Persona 5.

The Detective

Note the Persona 4 colour scheme in the background

The most recent character announcement for Persona 5 was Goro Akechi, a high school detective connected to the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. The character was notably announced separately from the main cast of characters and not featured in the official trailer of the game. The anime continues this theme, making him feel even more separate to the group, yet he is said to join the Phantom Thieves of Hearts eventually but last. He appears in the Day Breakers special to be working alone and be rather against the changing of hearts done by the Phantom Thieves of Hearts, which makes me wonder if he is truly friend or foe initially. I’m sure I wasn't the only person who immediately thought of Naoto Shirogane from Persona 4 who was also a high school detective and took some time to join the Investigation Team, so wonder if he will mirror this in Persona 5.

The Velvet Room

The end of the Day Breakers special confirmed the situation and context regarding the Velvet Room. Igor is evidently tougher sounding and the protagonist is a prisoner instead of being a guest like in the other Persona games. Igor’s words “The rest of the story is up to you” to the protagonist carries some interesting potential subtext; is he referring to the in game choices that will be made by the player in Persona 5 or was the protagonist doing this mission as prisoner on Igor's orders? This will probably become clearer in Persona 5, but the special confirmed that this is a different Velvet Room to what Persona fans may be used to.

Persona 5 the Daybreakers may not be enough to tired most fans over until the localisation, but it is certainly a nice look into the world of Persona 5. After seeing the Phantom Thieves of Hearts in action, I’m finally completely excited to play as them in Persona 5 and knowing they’re probably fighting for good makes me like them even more as someone who enjoys taking down JRPG bad guys. The special left plenty to speculate about until the release and localisation of Persona 5, but one thing that’s for sure is the Persona 5 the Day Breakers had all the action, style and heart expected from a Persona game. All we need now is the game.

Photos from Persona 5 the Animation were taken from the Standard Definition version on Crunchyroll, where you can watch the SD version for free (to watch it in HD requires a subscription).

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What do you think of the Persona 5 the Animation special? How much about Persona 5 do you want to know before its release?

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