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 it has running through the game. Set in a modern…
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…
Read MoreThe 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…
Read MoreYou’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…
Read MoreLegend of Legacy is one of the many 3DS titles that deserved to be preserved for hardware that wasn’t dated to a single console. Thankfully, now it has been. This was always a lovely-looking and well-designed, classically-styled JRPG. Now it has not only been preserved across multiple platforms, but it…
Read MoreIf the promise of JRPG-style hijinks across a painstakingly-recreated Shibuya sounds good to you, then you’ll want to pay close attention to Reynatis, the latest FuRyu special that NISA will publish out west. FuRyu continues to be the Japanese studio for creative ideas. If The Caligula Effect and Monark struck…
Read MoreIt’s always a good day when NISA drops a new game announcement, and this is a big one: The publisher is bringing Yx X: Nordics to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5 and PC in Autumn (or Spring for us Aussies) 2024. There’s a neat trailer to go with this…
Read MoreUnfortunately for Crymachina, NieR: Automata exists, and so as a concept “post-apocalyptic world where robots ask existential questions about what it’s like to be human,” is probably a theme that should be scratched from all other developers’ brainstorming sessions. Despite that very prudent advice, the team that took on Crymachina…
Read MoreIt would be easy to dismiss Monochrome Mobius as being a “too-traditional” JRPG, turn-based warts and all. Indeed, that is what far too many other critics have done when covering this game, and that’s doing it a disservice. It seems that just about everyone has missed what makes this a…
Read MoreMonster Menu: The Scavenger’s Cookbook could have been something special. The premise is really quite clever, but unfortunately, it ends up relying too heavily on the roguelike foundations for that premise to really take flight. Survival is meant to be the core of the thing, and in theory, it reaches…
Read MoreThere is a problem when you make something subversive: how do you back it up with a sequel? If the sequel is too familiar and follows in the footsteps of its predecessor, it is no longer subversive by definition. It has lost its creative identity. This is unfortunately the case…
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