Jrpg Jungle

PS Vita has been my favourite portable console for awhile. I've had some of my best gaming experiences on it, such as Persona 4 Golden bringing me hardcore back into gaming and JRPGs, playing Final Fantasy X HD as my first game experience in all Japanese, going deeper into the Final Fantasy series with Final Fantasy IX and getting heavily sucked into so many stories that had as much depth as that ones I play on home consoles. Because I was having so much fun on my Vita, I initially had a very low level of interest in the 3DS for a long time. The only thing I was missing without a 3DS was the childhood nostalgia of Pokemon games that I never truly felt like I was missing out because I still had a Gameboy Advance. What finally got me properly interested in the 3DS was when Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance came out, which I was initially annoyed about as it was the first Kingdom Hearts game I couldn't play on Playstation. As much as it annoyed me, when it happened again w...

Ever since I started playing Final Fantasy Record Keeper last year, I’ve noticed mobile games becoming more and more a standard part of my gaming life. This is somewhat surprising to me, since when I used to bring up the topic of mobile games to my friends, they were regularly talked about as lesser experiences when compared to console games. Despite this, when the port of the original Final Fantasy became my first venture into the world of mobile games, my expectations of them became very high very quickly. I was completely addicted to the old school JRPG and the best part was that it lived in my pocket. As much as I love my portable consoles, there's a lot to be said about having everything on one device, so this Final Fantasy experience carved out the beginning of my enjoyment of smartphone games. I had paid money to play the original Final Fantasy game on iOS, so when I saw Final Fantasy Record Keeper was free, I was ecstatic. With a majority of my Final Fantasy experiences on...

I love most JRPGs that allow me to get to know the characters deeply, but I particularly love ones that have their own special systems to do this with. Some of my favourite JRPGs such as Persona 4 Golden and Ar nosurge feature brilliant systems based around Social Events and Interactions that raise the plot while giving an extra gameplay mechanic and I'm happy to say that Fire Emblem Awakening’s Support system is no different. While I’m definitely enjoying the tactical nature of Fire Emblem Awakening, its support system is done in a really meaningful way that closely ties itself to the core story. With well-written dialog featuring humour, friendship and romance, I haven’t unlocked a single scene I haven’t enjoyed yet and it’s become my favourite thing to look at after battles. Making Fire Emblem Awakening’s Story Even Better Photo Source:  JustOneGamr Fellow fans of fun and colourful characters will likely enjoy Fire Emblem Awakening’s Support system since all of the character ...

When Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ was announced, it didn’t feel like a must-play game to me. I was already pretty heavily into Final Fantasy Record Keeper and since Record Keeper didn’t feature any significant story content, I very wrongly assumed that all mobile JRPGs (except for ports) wouldn't feature any compelling story content. While it certainly isn’t as deep as the story found in console Kingdom Hearts games, the nostalgic mini-stories and fun gameplay found in Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ is reminiscent of it’s console counterpart. On top of the surprisingly familiar gameplay, it adds in fun collectibles like character medals and avatars that really appealed to my completionist nature. It’s no replacement for Kingdom Hearts 3 or the other Kingdom Hearts games, but if you’re looking for a light JRPG on the go, Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ is a fun option for Disney and Kingdom Hearts fans-alike. Kingdom Hearts Unchained χ’s story and gameplay is div...

Persona 3 left me with two things: dungeon fatigue and a love of the coolest humanoid robot ever, Aigis. While I think I'm finally getting over the dungeon fatigue, there’s no denying that Aigis is great and interesting character. Even pre-playing the Aigis-central second part of Persona 3 The Answer, her story was one of the highlights of Persona 3, especially during the social parts of the game as she was so different to the other characters in the way she responded to the world and events around her. My first true encounter with Aigis wasn’t Persona 3, rather Persona 4 Arena where she immediately struck my curiosity because she was a robot dressed as a human, and her charming interactions with the other characters really made her stand out against Persona’s already distinct and unique cast. To commemorate mine and my boyfriend’s love of Aigis, we convinced each other it was about time to pick up an Aigis figure for the apartment. A year ago, I saw a huge Aigis figure in Akihaba...

E3 2016 was full of a lot of great surprises, conferences and games and a nice, big handful of them were JRPGs! As I mentioned last year , Tokyo Game Show is usually a better show for JRPG fans, but nonetheless E3 usually has a few major JRPGs mixed in, this year being games such as Final Fantasy XV and Persona 5. It took me about a week to catch up with all the news and announcements and that's because there's a lot to be excited about being released, which you can read about in this article. Akiba’s Beat The next game in the Akiba's Trip series Akiba's Beat was announced for PS4 and PS Vita and is set to come out later this year in Japan and North America. Set in Japan's Akihabara, Akiba's Beat is a new story about the town being stuck as a Sunday and uncovering the delusions and mysterious surrounding this phenomenon around town. Replacing the 'Strip' mechanic in Akiba's Trip is a music based mechanic, which allows the music used in battle to effe...

If you've read my blog for awhile, you probably know I'm a big fan of the Final Fantasy and Persona series. I've bought, pre-ordered, played old and new games from both series, and most importantly I’ve put hundreds of hours of play time into them. So of course, I'm definitely excited about Persona 5 and Final Fantasy XV. Since I can safely say they’re two of my all time favourite JRPG series, I was quite concerned about September being the time where both Final Fantasy XV and Persona 5 were to be released. But with the recent pre-E3 announcement of Persona 5’s English release being in 2017, I can safely say that Final Fantasy XV will be getting the bulk of my gaming time in September this year. But this leaves me with a new JRPG dilemma. As an overly keen Persona fan that wanted to play Persona 5 as soon as possible, I'd already placed a pre-order on the Japanese version in case something like this happened and to make sure I got the cool, special edition (that you...