Games reviewed… eventually
It’s time for another round of my early teen nostalgia as we take a dive into where I started with Fire Emblem, Nintendo’s venerable series of tactical anime warfare simulators! Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones (GBA) Released Oct 2004 | Developed: Intelligent Systems | Published: Nintendo Genre: JRPG, Strategy Let’s begin with a brief comment … Continue reading Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
Sometimes you just have to go back to where things all began. Final Fantasy (3DS, Android, GBA [reviewed], iOS, MSX2, NES, PC, PS1, PSP, Wonderswan) Released Dec 1987 | Developed: Square | Published: Nintendo Genre: JRPG I’m sure there must be some folk in the world who aren’t familiar with the Final Fantasy franchise. For … Continue reading Final Fantasy
In the world of cult JRPGs, perhaps one of the most vaunted names you come across is Golden Sun. This tiny franchise remains a series people remember with fondness, despite not getting a game in over a decade, and without any real sign of any future installments. I confess to having been a part of … Continue reading Golden Sun
Next up in a series of games that I have had sitting on my PS4 for literal years and have just constantly put off getting around to playing for no good reason: it’s Ni no Kuni II! I think in this game’s case it was largely because the original game, while still a fine JRPG, … Continue reading Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Here’s something unusual for Pokemon: a sequel! We haven’t had games which are clearly marked as straightforward sequels since Gold / Silver / Crystal, with the series preferring the now expected 3 game cycle for each generation. As sequels Black 2 / White 2 have a chance to carve out a unique niche for themselves, … Continue reading Pokemon Black 2 / White 2
After the lack of interest I had in Pokemon Platinum, I can remember wondering if I’d simply reached the end of my time with the long-running franchise which I had followed since childhood. I passed the success of HeartGold / SoulSilver off as largely down to nostalgia, ready to accept that the next generation of … Continue reading Pokemon Black / White
It seems I’ve been on a big JRPG kick recently; chalk it up to having too much spare time on my hands thanks to shielding indoors from this never-ending global health crisis. Next on my very lengthy JRPGs list then is Rogue Galaxy. Rogue Galaxy (PS2, PS4 [reviewed]) Released Dec 2005 | Developed: Level-5 | … Continue reading Rogue Galaxy
You know what all this time spent waiting for my turn at a vaccine while in another lockdown means? That’s right, it’s time to play a lengthy sequel to an equally lengthy RPG! The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II (PC, PS3, PS4 [reviewed], PS Vita, Switch) Released Sep 2014 | Developed: Nihon … Continue reading The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel II
I have great memories of the JRPG heyday. The NES, SNES, PS1, and their contemporaneous handhelds were absolute goldmines of fantastic JRPGs, and growing up I happily devoured as many as I could get. However, while subsequent generations certainly had their share of excellent games in the genre, I feel like things tailed off slightly … Continue reading Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
JRPGs are one of my greatest gaming loves. They’re definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, with their propensity towards verbose narratives full of junky tropes and slow turn-based battles. I love that kind of stuff though, and every now and again I get the urge to dip into the history of the genre and see … Continue reading The Sword of Hope
