I remain very impressed with any developer that takes a swing at a Soulslike. In fact, post-Elden Ring, I’m possibly even more impressed by the gonads it takes to try and develop one. This is a genre that is so overwhelmingly dominated by one company’s creative vision, and any other effort is going to be immediately compared to it. I…
Xenoblade Chronicles X was arguably the most ambitious game to land on the Nintendo Wii U (you could argue that Breath of the Wild was, but then most people see that as a Switch game and forget that there was a Wii U version as well… and all this is…
Back in 2019, Koei Tecmo hit it big with Atelier Ryza, and…
Suikoden might not have quite the same profile as Final Fantasy or…
When The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak launched in the West earlier this year, DDNet’s Editor-in-Chief Matt described the JRPG as “a new starting point for a new, epic arc.” That arc has already continued in Japan with The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak II when the people…
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Reynatis’ single biggest flaw is that it tries too many things, and while each of its themes would in itself be worth exploring, piled into a heap together they create a narrative that often seems confused about what it is. Take for example the theme of fascism and resistance that…
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From the creator of Final Fantasy, Fantasian launched via Apple Arcade in two parts during 2021. Even then, I hoped the RPG would be released for PC and consoles. Apple Arcade has a limited pool of potential subscribers and Fantasian was too impressive to stay exclusive to that small percentage…
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Visions of Mana is, almost immediately after you start playing, like a warm blanket to wrap yourself up in. I can already see some elements complaining that it lacks “innovation” or the intricate action combat systems that we’ve become accustomed to in JRPGs. But not every game needs to be…
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At first, when I heard that the revival of The Denpa Men was going to be a free-to-play title, I was disappointed. The three Denpa Men titles that were released in English on the 3DS were favourites. They were nothing spectacular, but as grindy, retro-themed JRPGs with an enormously quirky…
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The basic concept of Tokyo Xanadu is “Nihon Falcom make an action version of Persona. Oh, and it looks like the Trials of Cold Steel games.” None of this is a bad idea by any means, and Tokyo Xanadu has been around for quite some time now. We published our…
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The Legend of Heroes series turns 35 this year, and with 21 titles in it, it is inarguably the most ambitious and largest-scope JRPG property in existence. Unlike Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest, The Legend of Heroes is constant, with every game taking place in the same universe, sharing a…
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I have no idea why the decision makers at ACQUIRE through that C.A.R.D.S RPG: The Misty Battlefield was a good name for a game. It’s hard to imagine anything more totally and utterly generic, and this entire review is so late after the game’s release precisely because even I overlooked…
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Shin Megami Tensei V was already a good game. SMT V: Vengeance adds an entirely different narrative route that, while similar enough in the early stages, diverges drastically deeper into the game. The core is still a battle between angels and demons in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo that your protagonist is…
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You’ll be able to make more JRPGs to share with your buddies right on your Nintendo Switch in just a few months. NISA has announced that RPG Maker WITH will release on October 11 for Switch, with a PS4 and PS5 version coming later in the year. There’s already an…
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