Jrpg Jungle

Since playing games on PS4 , I’ve really come to appreciate how far graphics have come and just how beautiful some games can look. Even the simplest games are expected to look polished and pretty, and I really enjoy games that go the extra mile to make their menus, text dialogues and cutscenes all look like cohesive, good-looking experiences. Most JRPGs incorporate nice art is some way, with the expectation of nice anime visuals and character art often being a minimum for these kinds of games. The games I’m talking about today take this to the next level, whether it be with their art style, cohesiveness or beauty that make them just as fun to look at as they are to play. World of Final Fantasy Modern Final Fantasy games are generally really nice looking, with well-rendered 3D models and landscapes. Yet in all the modern graphics, World of Final Fantasy is the most visually appealing Final Fantasy game for me. The chibi characters are all adorable and the consistent animation style thro...

This post is apart of a potential series I'm doing called the Spoiler Awards. As the title implies, there will be full spoilers for Persona 5 in this, so continue at your own risk! I thought Persona 5 was brilliant and outside of what I said in my review , there were many special moments that elevated the experience for me. From great dungeons to relatable characters, there are a lot of reasons to love Persona 5. Aside from Best Boy and Best Girl, there were a few things in Persona 5 that didn’t warrant a full post about them, but I wanted to talk about them in some kind of way. So, in what I hope will be a continuing series, here are some things in Persona 5 that I wanted to talk about that are full of spoilers and just for fun, I gave random awards to them. Enjoy! (Spoilers start now, you've been warned! <3) Feel free to watch the video version here! Best Dungeon - Shido’s Palace Making Persona 5’s last true dungeon go out with a bang, Shido’s Palace was the most maze-lik...

When I was nearing the end of Persona 5, apart from leaving characters that had stolen my heart, I felt sad that I’d never experience its dungeons for the first time again. With treasure, platforming, puzzles and stealth, Persona 5’s dungeons amplify the story unfolding while mixing in the exploration experience from past Persona games in an interesting way and left me more often than not in a mild state of awe at the end of each one. Persona 5’s dungeons are a great example of how impactful story dungeons can be and this is a list of the things I missed experiencing for the first time after finishing my Persona 5 journey. Feel free to watch the video version here! The Platforming Platforming in JRPGs is something I generally didn't get too excited for until recently. Jump mechanics are fun and all, but sometimes they’re just there and don’t really add much more than making a world feel more three dimensional. Before playing Persona 5, I wasn’t excited for the platforming, as cool ...

When I started going back and playing the old Persona games, I didn't realise how much more they'd make me appreciate Persona 5. Persona 5 takes a large amount of its influence from older Persona games in the series but makes what it takes way better, making Persona 5 still feel like a Persona game but at a higher than ever quality. The Persona series has a few key themes, such as the use of Demons/Personas, rumours and the social aspects that make Persona unique to its source material Shin Megami Tensei. Persona 5 takes what it can from its roots, whether intentional or not, and in my opinion masterfully succeeds in weaving them together into a fantastic experience of its own. Here are some of the things I noticed from other Persona games that may have inspired Persona 5 and how Persona 5 usually makes them way cooler. Feel free to watch the video version here! Rumours I'm currently playing Persona 2 on my Vita (at a snail's pace) and one of the first things I thought...

With Persona 4 being so important to me, it’s no exaggeration when I say I had sky high hopes for Persona 5. Persona 5’s long and rewarding journey definitely managed to pass and even exceed my expectations, with a deep JRPG story that stole my heart thanks to a masterful balance between deep gameplay mechanics and the rich narrative being the best the Persona series has seen yet. If you’re like me and missed balancing school life, rich dungeon crawling, a great JRPG story and fulfilling relationships on an in-game day-to-day basis, Persona 5 has all of this in a stylish 100+ hour experience that is a standout entry in the series and in the JRPG genre. Persona 5 begins in typical Persona fashion. Between strange dreams about Velvet Rooms and being granted special powers, you’re a transfer student entering a new town ready to start your new life and not get in too much trouble, especially since you're on probation. This is until it comes to light that a bunch of important individual...

One of the first things that stood out to me about Persona 5 when I tried to play it in Japanese last year was the way that gameplay mechanics kept unlocking, even 40 hours in. Playing the English version now, I'm still having the same experience five dungeons in, thanks to the Confidant system in Persona 5. This constant unlocking of new mechanics keeps gameplay varied and gives more benefits than just interesting conversations and Persona EXP for spending time with NPCs, and it manages Persona 5’s depth well. It's one of the many things that keeps Persona 5 deep in its JRPG roots, with the polished gameplay Persona fans know and love. Spoiler note: No story spoilers will be spoiled here, but there may be some mild gameplay spoilers. Proceed at your own risk! Feel free to watch the video version here! Confidants take the familiar social link mechanic for those who played Persona 3 or 4 and puts a spin on it that makes it suit Persona 5 much more. Persona 5’s themes of justic...

Persona 5 has many hours of gameplay in it, so you might as well look cool while doing it...or at least that's what Persona 5’s DLC would like you to think. Persona 5’s DLC schedule has been outlined for the next few months and can be divided into a few categories: aesthetic, gameplay and Persona. Notably Persona 5 doesn't seem to be going down the story DLC route, which is probably for the best as it would likely be met with fan rage, especially since the story of Persona is the main reason why people play it. But without story DLC, there are plenty of opportunities for cool costumes and extra Personas, so here's a look at Persona 5’s upcoming DLC, along with my opinions on whether or not it's good value for what they're offering. Feel free to watch the video version here! Special thanks to  @komeDefur  on Twitter for suggesting I write my thoughts on this! He's an awesome guy who's also talented at design and working behind the scenes on games. Check him o...