Jrpg Jungle

NieR Automata is many things. It’s a long game, a short game. A platformer, a JRPG. An action game, a 2D shooter. All of these things come together to make an incredibly unique JRPG like none other. With its striking narrative and story-telling method partnered with great action gameplay and other styles to keep things interesting, NieR Automata’s emotional android world is well worth diving into. Feel free to watch the video version here! NieR Automata is set in a world where humans and machines are engaged in a long running war to claim Earth, a war that has forced humanity to flee to the Moon. Fighting on the human’s side are the Androids that are the main focus of Automata, with the three playable characters 2B, 9S and A2 all being androids with their own purpose and abilities. Despite the lack of humans in NieR Automata, the three androids and their supporting cast all have distinct motivations, emotions and missions that ironically make it feel like one of the most emotional game...

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...

I remember getting my PS4 at launch in late 2013, ready to play games like Final Fantasy XV and Kingdom Hearts 3, thinking I would need a PS4 ASAP for their eventual but surely not far off releases. My PS4 was in my home all 2014, but other than the new toy hype and one week playing Child of Light, it was barely used and I found some concern creeping in, as my PS Vita and even my PS3 at the time were getting much more use. The PS4 begun with a lack of JRPG support, with big JRPGs like the Final Fantasy X HD Remaster originally coming to PS3 and not PS4 initially (thankfully, it’s on all current gen PS4 consoles now). Fast forward to now and I’ve only played one of the two games that were my system sellers for the PS4, but I’ve found myself able to keep my PS4 plugged in much more consistently since last year and it has finally become my preferred home console. Here’s a look back at the PS4's journey into not only being a console for the players, but for the JRPG players too. Fee...

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...

There was once a time when video games didn’t support screenshots, a dark time indeed. But enter the social media age and it’s an assumption most games will support them in some way. It’s a feature that has had its effect challenged recently, with some developers implying that a screenshot has the potential to ruin a story heavy experience. At the other end of this is Final Fantasy XV , which embraces screenshots to their fullest potential and helped make a JRPG with a lot of customisation features such as costumes and mostly a non-linear exploration feel even more personal. Feel free to watch the video version here! Since every current gen console supports taking and sharing screenshots in some way, Final Fantasy XV took this idea and ran with it, making one of the core characters, the cheerful Prompto, a photography lover and photography AI. They developed a unique AI system that takes photos in real time and at the end of the day, Prompto (like any good photographer), shows you the ...

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...

On March 10th at 8pm, you can bet I was grinning pretty hard as my platinum trophy for Final Fantasy XV popped. Not only is it my little badge of honour for a game I've had over 100 hours of fun with, it's my first platinum trophy since 2015 and my second JRPG one since I platinumed Persona 4 Golden in 2014. Platinum trophies are my excuse to stay in worlds I don't want to leave yet, and this Final Fantasy XV trophy gave me another 60 hours of gameplay to satisfy my addiction to its open world . The extra time I spent in Final Fantasy XV going through the trophy list and finding out what I needed to do was actually pretty fun and it isn't that difficult of a platinum to get compared to my three (or more? I can't remember) playthroughs of Persona 4 Golden. Final Fantasy XV’s platinum was mostly pain free because it simply requires time and if you waited until the end game like myself to explore the open world, you'll probably find a lot of new things that you di...