If I were to create a laundry list of what I look for in a JRPG, the simple reality is that the Ys series doesn’t tend to check many of those boxes. They’re not known for in-depth narratives, iconic characters (aside from the series protagonist, Adol, who has a very “blank template” look to him), or particularly thoughtful, nuanced combat.…
To get this out of the way up-front: We need to be wary about art (games, films, books, whatever else) that depict apocalyptic scenarios where some form of invader from without swarms the world and you’re in control of the last nation standing, holding back the horde. It’s an incredibly…
Game collections are all the rage these days, and are becoming increasingly…
Koei Tecmo’s JRPG house, Gust, is a factory for the genre. It’s…
Samba de Amigo is a game of pure joy and high-octane energy (with some acid surely thrown in when it was being developed). It comes across as an even more explosive explosion of colour and humour than Bandai Namco’s excellent Taiko the Drum series. In the party context that this…
Read More
Reality is increasingly uncertain, and this is fascinating. Anonymous;Code, the latest in the series that has brought us Steins;Gate, Robotics;Notes and Chaos;Head, is a play on this idea, and it, too, is fascinating. Quite possibly the most fascinating of all this series of visual novels, precisely because it is so…
Read More
There is something fascinating about how frequently the classic JPRG genre has become something that independent game developers have decided to pastiche. It’s more than perhaps any other genre. Yes, there are plenty of modern games that channel retro shooters like Doom, and many independent developers are inspired by Mario.…
Read More
I struggle to think of a more consistent developer than Otomate. The Idea Factory otome specialist developer produces games at such a rate that I’m convinced the only reason we don’t get all of them in the West is that the localisers simply can’t work that fast… and that’s a…
Read More
Tsugunohi has been around for a few years on PC, but despite the developer proudly proclaiming the many, many minutes of streaming time it has chewed up in the promo material (over 100 million video views, apparently!), it’s been niche and exactly that kind of indie horror. Now it’s on…
Read More
I must admit, I never thought I’d see Cricket Captain land on the Nintendo Switch. The Football Manager Touch series does fine, but this is a whole other kettle of niche. In theory, cricket should work nicely for a manager game. Cricket is a sport of statistics and tactics, as…
Read More
Like most people, I grew up with Disney being a real part of my childhood. So, while I find the content of modern Disney to be little more than a corporation demanding money, the classic hijinks of Mickey and Donald and co will always tap into deep nostalgia. Case-in-point: Next…
Read More
Given that Koei Tecmo won’t do anything with its Uncharted property (no, not the Sony one), Sailing Era was something worth paying attention to leading up to its release. With some truly beautiful character art, this promised to be a swashbuckling adventure on the high seas, combining JRPG mechanics with…
Read More
Nobunaga’s Ambition has finally landed on the Nintendo Switch. To celebrate the series’ 40th anniversary, Koei Tecmo has gone all out to make this latest entry in the venerable series assessable, story-driven, and interesting, and the team there has comprehensively succeeded. Related reading: Our interview with the producer and director…
Read More
Dandori is a pretty simple word in the Japanese language. It simply means “plan,” “arrangement,” or “organisation.” A person that’s really effective at organising their time has good dandori. A person that is always late to meetings has poor dandori. For most Australians, dandori isn’t that important. If I could…
Read More