A beginner’s guide to Mario RPGs
Like your Mario games with a bit more story and progression? You’re not alone! Here’s our guide to the many permutations of Mario RPGs, from the SNES days to now.
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JRPG
Review: Sunday, Sunday, someday in Akiba’s Beat
As fans of JRPGs, sometimes it feels like we repeat ourselves. Quests feel oh-too-similar, characters say the same things and, generally speaking, we yearn to escape the loops in which we constantly find ourselves. Akiba’s Beat, the latest from Acquire and XSEED, explores that in a more literal sense: a world in which time loops keep the characters trapped in “be careful what you wish for” delusions in a world of neverending Sunday.
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Review: Exist Archive fits a familiar Profile
What do you do when you want to make a Valkyrie Profile game but you don’t have the license? If you’re Spike Chunsoft, you hire the people who made those games to make Exist Archive, published in the west by Aksys. It’s an homage in so many ways, but does it live up to its spiritual predecessor?
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How Shin Megami Tensei is bridging the skill gap
Two words often come to mind when thinking of Shin Megami Tensei: mature and difficult. The first makes sense; it’s a series that prides itself on its darker themes. The second, while also true, is becoming less relevant in recent years. That’s right, folks: Shin Megami Tensei is finally opening itself up to wider audiences. In fact, it’s been doing it for a while.
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Review: Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse continues the end of the world as we know it
At this point, many people have a vague idea of what playing a Shin Megami Tensei game entails, even if their only connection to the series is the increasingly popular Persona spinoffs. These dark, demon-infused, dungeon-crawling RPGs have maintained cult status outside of Japan since the early 2000s thanks to the release of Nocturne, and have only continued to grow in popularity.
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Video Preview: Delving into dungeons in Stranger of Sword City
Stranger of Sword City is the latest dungeon-crawler from Experience Inc., a developer well-known for just this genre. It’s become notable even before its Western release for its art style, as well as its strict adherence to being a game for die-hard veterans of the genre. Let’s check it out!
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Michibiku Let’s Play: Inazuma Eleven 3!
It’s Michibiku’s first Let’s Play, and we’ve picked a great game that never released in America (but is in English anyway): Inazuma Eleven 3! Check back weekly for new episodes as we guide Japan to the Football Frontier International title.
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Project X Zone 2’s Japan-only cast: a primer
Project X Zone 2 releases next week, and it’s a mash-up of all sorts of Bandai Namco, Sega and Capcom franchises (with a few Nintendo ones for good measure). Some of them haven’t exactly been seen outside of Japan, though! Here’s more on those fighters whose games have yet to hit our shores.
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Review: Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is an engrossing return
Fans of the Digimon series have been starved for a Western release lately, even as Bandai Namco has released many well-received entries in Japan. Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth changes that, meeting fan demand with a full RPG adventure that its supporters have long craved. Developer Media.Vision has become quite adept at shepherding franchises, so even though it’s primarily a Vita project, its scale and quality justify its release on both platforms.
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