Star Ocean: The Divine Force is Everything Wrong With JRPGs | In-Depth Critique
Can't help but feel disappointed by modern JRPGs? Let's review and take a closer look at Star Ocean: The Divine Force and what it has gotten wrong. Is this Square Enix game worthy of the PS5?
Exploring Like A Dragon: Ishin's Quirky Substories
The substories in the Yakuza or Like A Dragon series are always top-notch, but what happens when the top-notch gets another notch above it? You get Like A Dragon Ishin's substories! The best in the series and a dive into Japanese culture, dialects, cuisine and most importantly...VEGGIES!
Laura Kate Dale's Yakuza: Like A Dragon Critique is Lazy & Dishonest
In a recent video, game journalist Laura Kate Dale criticized Yakuza: Like a Dragon (Yakuza 7) for including stereotypes of homeless people. Is representation & inclusivity something that Yakuza gets wrong or has there been a misunderstanding of this Japanese RPG and the artistic intent of its creators? Let's critique the critique.
Is King's Field II Better Than The Original? | From Software's Second Game
The sequel to the Japanese exclusive King's Field, the first RPG on the Playstation & From Software's first game is said to be better in many ways. Hold on a second, let's take a look in this review of King's Field II.
How FF7's Materia System Works Wonders
The thing about deep turn based combat is, it’s just as much about preparing for battle as it is about the battles themselves and Final Fantasy VII provides a unique and expansive tool to do just that! We’re talking about the fantastic materia system.
Boot Hill Heroes | Review
Boot Hill Heroes is the first game from indie studio Experimental Gamer, a developer which aims to bring elements from classic RPGs such as Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger and breathe life into the genre once again. This very small team had a successful kickstarter campaign in late 2012 and Boot Hill Heroes was released on Steam and XBox Live Arcade in October and December of 2014 respectively. It originally caught my eye because of its striking resemblance to Earthbound and I thought it would be the perfect game to play in the run up to the release of Mother 4.
King's Field Review | PS1
King's Field is a Japanese exclusive PS1 game by From Software that released in 1994, shortly after the launch of the console. In this King's Field review I wanted to go back to a style I tried when I first started The Retro Perspective. A more detailed, broken down look at the individual elements that make this game what it is.
Final Fantasy VII Remake Soundtrack First Impressions
Unfortunately, I never got my review copy of Final Fantasy VII Remake from Square Enix as they know I would actually cover its flaws instead of simply gushing like the majority of reviewers are doing, but what I can do is review the soundtrack! Arranged by Masashi Hamauzu and Mitsuto Suzuki.
Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope | Review | PS3
In 2010, the proper version of Star Ocean 4 was released on the PlayStation 3. It contained both English and Japanese voice-over, a choice of 2 UI styles and an extended soundtrack that was included in the Japanese version, and all on 1 disc instead of a ludicrous 3, which needed to be changed when travelling to different planets. It was also bloody awesome.
Time and Eternity | Review | PS3
Have you fallen out of love with Japanese RPGs lately as I have? Often we have to return to the golden age of JRPG’s to remind ourselves how good the genre can be but a surprising amount of these games flew under the radar during the Playstation 3’s lifetime. I will definitely be talking about Folklore some other time, but for now, it’s Time And Eternity, a game which puts you in the shoes of a newlywed princess Toki whose perverted husband gets assassinated immediately after saying I do. Luckily the princess has the ability to reverse time to the months leading up to the wedding and with the help of her pet dragon and the soul of another woman, Towa, who also inhabits her body, tries to uncover the mystery behind the attack on her wedding in the hopes they can prevent it….did I mention this game is Japanese?
Kingdom Hearts 3 | Review | PS4
In my last Kingdom Hearts video it would be an understatement to say that I was pessimistic. Square Enix’s insistence on releasing games in the series so frequently on every platform imaginable, with massively fluctuating quality in aesthetic and gameplay terms, has left the series in the unfortunate position of having more bad games than good. But I thought I’d give Kingdom Hearts one last chance, knowing all along that if Kingdom Hearts 3 went the way of Final Fantasy XV (a buggy, ugly, unfinished train wreck) I could safely say I would never buy another Square Enix game again. Ever. So unlike a lot of commentators I’ve noticed on social media who outright bum every nonsensical story trailer or screenshot of one of Tetsuya Nomura’s ludicrous cast of Final Fantasy rejects, you can rest assured I’m about to give this game exactly what it deserves.
Yakuza 6 | PS4 | Review
If there's one good thing that has come out of the current generation of gaming it's the huge surge of people realising what they've been missing all these years in the Yakuza series. Ironic then that just as Yakuza explodes into bigger success than ever before, the final chapter in main character Kiryu’s story wraps up. On the other hand, the brand new ‘Dragon Engine’ & promise of future games makes Yakuza 6 both a fresh start & a final curtain. Does it pull it off? Let's find out!
Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom | PS4 | Review
Level 5 took a break from milking their cash cow Yo Kai Watch on the baby DS to do what, In the past, they’ve always done best: put square Enix to shame with another huge JRPG that outright rips off mechanics from a Nintendo game. Ni No Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom is a sequel to the sublime Studio Ghibli collaboration...but Studio Ghibli have unfortunately not contributed this time.
The Legend of Dragoon | PS1 | Review
It was the turn of the millennium & the golden age of Japanese RPGs was still in full swing. Final Fantasy was still enjoying its place at the top but many Playstation fans of the time remember The Legend of Dragoon to be one of the biggest contenders to the throne. Having never played the game myself I felt it was time to go back and see if this game by Sony’s own Japan Studio could hold a candle to the much loved Squaresoft.
Kingdom Hearts III: Should You Be Worried?
Kingdom Hearts, what a unique video game franchise. Despite only having two numbered games in the series so far, Kingdom Hearts has a mind boggling amount of entries across an equally mind boggling amount of platforms many of which are essential to understanding the overarching plot. Kingdom Hearts 2.8 is the latest piece of the puzzle and all of it is meant to contextualise and precede the highly anticipated Kingdom Hearts III.....It’s also a load of old bollocks!
Edge Of Eternity | Interview With The Composer | Cedric Menendez
Cedric Memendez is a composer working with Midgar Studio, a French indie studio currently working on the JRPG inspired Edge Of Eternity. The game was a massive kickstarter success and also reached its stretch goal to bring on help from Chrono Trigger composer Yasunori Mitsuda. In this interview we talk about recording with Mitsuda and the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra. The history of Midgar Studio and their previous games and Cedric Menendez's early Japanese RPG inspirations. As well as some discussion on sound design and finally we change the subject, as I ask about the game itself and the turn-based mechanics of Edge Of Eternity.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness | Review
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is an unfinished game. Not in the way you might have heard before; as a complete product that is 20 hours long (far too short for a JRPG of this type, and in the Star Ocean series to boot) and not in the way that Drakengard 3 was unfinished; that game only needed a few bug fixes, a bit of optimisation and a budget to speak of....No.
Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness is a completely unfinished game.
Final Fantasy X/X-2 & the Awful "Will" Audio Drama
We have two videos for you today! An in-depth discussion and review of Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster and a much shorter video summarising the 'Final Fantasy X -Will-' audio drama. My co-hosts Tom & Luke had never played an RPG before Final Fantasy X and 15 years later, the game remains one of their favourite games of all time.
Undertale | Review
Undertaleis a predominantly one man project created by Toby Fox. Funded with a successful Kickstarter campaign which far surpassed its $5,000 goal, Undertale managed to raise a total of $51,124 and took over 2 and a half years to complete. Earlier in the year I cited Boot Hill Heroes as a perfect example of how the classic RPG genre accredited to games such as Chrono Trigger & Earthbound are both utterly timeless and just bursting with unexplored potential. Undertale takes a sledgehammer the size of the sun and just hammers that point home with the force of a billion stampeding chocobos.
Mother 4 | Interview With The Composers
Following my Shuffle or Boogie article on the music of the Mother series, I had a chance to interview Shane Mesa & Dani Person who are hard at work on the music for the upcoming fan-made fourth entry in the series, Mother 4. While I decided not to badger them for a release date, the answers they gave were both promising and inspiring. It seems the music of Mother 4 is in safe hands.