Jrpg Jungle

With eight story paths to follow and a mid-month release, my July went exactly how I expected it to and was full of a lot of Octopath Traveler and time with my Switch. I began the month on the tail end of Ys VIII and immediately jumped over to Octopath Traveler, so my PS4 hasn’t seen that much love this month but I’ve enjoying playing the Switch both on my TV and with me on the go and the extra time I’ve been able to get into my games. The only other games I played were a few smartphone JRPGs for times like being at work where it would be inappropriate to pull out my Switch and for some special collaborations, but I only put a small bit of time into these because I was into already big games on the go and didn’t feel the need to play much else. So in what was a month full of portable goodness, here are the JRPGs I Played in July. JRPG of the Month: Octopath Traveler Like many other JRPG fans with a Switch, I spent most of my July enamored with the big world of Octopath Traveler. As I t...

When a friend recommended me indie studio Mirai Labo’s smartphone game Phobos Children , I was pleasantly surprised to see their take on a JRPG-inspired battle system as it was said to be an action-puzzle RPG. Interestingly, Phobos Children makes its own combat style that combines ideas from JRPGs and puzzles with the handy touchscreen to make an involved experience that relies on tapping bubbles to attack in a fun and unique way. As a fan of JRPGs and rhythm games, Phobos Children’s combat reminds me of both in an addictive way that makes me want to keep playing it. Video from the Mirai-Labo YouTube Channel The combat of Phobos Children uses a fairly simple concept that ends up being smart in its execution. In order to attack the enemy and defend your army, you must tap the bubbles coming across the screen, specifically three of a matching colour. By doing this, the enemy gets hit and you can avoid damage. If you’re fast, you can execute a lot of these in quick succession to keep your...

A few months ago , I played a Japanese smartphone game called To Whom The Alchemist Exists and was pleasantly surprised by its quality. I had to play its opening chapter to get into the Final Fantasy XV collaboration I’d downloaded it for and found myself absorbed by its voice-acted story, music and combat that seemed too good for a smartphone game. Because I liked it so much, you can imagine my delight when it was announced last week that a localised version called the Alchemist Code will be coming to smartphones in English sometime soon. With this in mind, these are some things I'm looking forward to playing with in the Alchemist Code and why I think it's a mobile experience worth looking out for. Feel free to watch the video version here! Combat If you like tactical smartphone JRPGs, The Alchemist Code’s tactical gameplay doesn't cut any corners just because it's a smartphone game and is probably the deepest tactical smartphone JRPG I’ve played. The Alchemist Code fe...

July was a very simple month in terms of my gaming time. I’ve been trying my very best to conquer the difficult tactical JRPG God Wars: Future Past and have also been trying not to get distracted so I actually finish it because it's taking a bit of time. I touched a few of my favourite console games when I needed a break and I also logged into some new and old mobile favourites to get some character rewards and be reminded I’ll never have enough time to truly conquer them. Although it was a straightforward month of JRPGs, I mostly enjoyed what I played and at the very least having a solid gaming direction, so here are all the JRPGs I played in July. Feel free to watch the video version here! JRPG of the month: God Wars: Future Past Fun fact: While putting footage in the video version, I also noticed the PS4 version of God Wars is much prettier than the PS Vita version Being honest, God Wars: Future Past mostly gets my JRPG of the month by default as I played it almost daily for the...

I didn’t know I wanted to see all of my favourite childhood characters turned sinister until the announcement of NieR Automata director Yoko Taro’s smartphone game SINoALICE. Partnering with successful developers of smartphone games Square Enix and PokeLabo games, SINoALICE has a lot of potential as a quick and fun RPG experience, with bite-sized pieces of dark story that are quick and easy to cycle through, along with weapon-based combat that combines familiar elemental JRPG mechanics with interesting new ones. Although it has a few technical bumps in its current form, what I’ve played so far has given me confidence that with enough support technically and events to keep it fresh, in good time SINoALICE could be the dark and unique smartphone JRPG that the smartphone world was missing. Feel free to watch the video version here! SINoALICE’s characters are all based off fairy tale characters that will be easily recognisable to most players. There’s Alice, Snow White, Cinderella and oth...