2022 will be remembered as one of the finest years for the JRPG genre of all time. Not only did we get new (and excellent) JRPGs to play at an almost staggering rate, but we also enjoyed an incredible range of remasters that made several classics accessible again for the…
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One of the things that made the truly memorable pixel-era JRPGs like Final Fantasy IV-VI, Chrono Trigger, Secret Of Mana and Dragon Quest IV-VI so special was that they backed the classic turn-based JRPG action that people loved with narratives that were genuinely intelligent and had serious things to say.…
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Last week, I covered news that the JRPG-inspired Path of the Midnight Sun will be launching in January. I was pretty excited about it. It has a strong concept: taking care outside of battles helps within battles. It’s like an entire game based on self-care! Well, I’ve now had the…
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Dragon Quest Treasures is a very chill, very laid-back game. It doesn’t ask too much of the player, but gives them a wonderful, vibrant world to explore, filled with sparkly treasure to loot. It would never work as a numbered Dragon Quest – it’s too limited for that – but…
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Parenting is never easy in real life, and the same can often be said of video games. Sure, sometimes the kids just raise themselves – but other times, the player needs to take on an active role in their child’s (or children’s) life. I’m relatively new to games about raising…
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Star Ocean is such a wonderful series, bringing together very classical fantasy JRPG action with science fiction space drama. After a SIX year wait, we finally have a new one, and Star Ocean: The Divine Force is a real return to form for the series. In addition to the full,…
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Star Ocean acts as something akin to the “b-tier” for Square Enix. Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest are, of course, the big guns, but this series is not insignificant. It’s been around for 25 years now, and The Divine Force is the sixth of the main series entries. I’ll tell…
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Valkyrie Elysium isn’t for everyone. The game has a specific tone and structure that has ensured that it will only ever appeal to a small, niche demographic. And yet it shares structural, thematic and aesthetic similarities with, in one way or another, the likes of Chaos Legion, NieR (original, not…
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Valkyrie Elysium seems destined to be one of the rapidly forgotten Square Enix titles… and yet it doesn’t deserve to be. In playing it I was strongly reminded of games like Chaos Legion and NieR (before NieR: Automata convinced people to reassess the original); games that have a loftier aesthetic…
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It’s really disappointing that Square Enix would dump the third Voice of Cards release in the middle of such a jam-packed schedule. Even from Square itself. The company has released DioField Chronicle, NieR Automata on Switch, and Valkyrie Elysium in the span of just a few weeks and it has…
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