frantisek

Growlanser Wayfarer of Time is the last English entry into one of the most original jrpg franchises you will ever be able to play: its deep plot focuses on politics, war, famine and the mystery surrounding the angels and their struggle against humankind. While the story is indeed well written and really enjoyable and the characters are some of the best seen in the last years, the real greatness of this game is its battle system, a fantastic mix of real time battles, tactical combat and traditional explorations that will satisfy every kind of jrpg fan. With tons of choices during dialogues, you will be able to play the game countless times and witness different events, ranging from some characters' deaths or survival to one of the three main plots to over 40 possible endings. This game is probably the best Japanese RPG on PSP alongside the Trails in the Sky series, and it's a great swan song for this platform's rpg lineup.

This is, without question, the finest J-RPG currently available in the west on high-definition consoles. While it isn't a graphical powerhouse, often betraying its Wii origin, its battle system is easily one of the best ever seen in the genre, combining the depth of turn based games and the fast pace of action games thanks to the Chain Capacity system and providing tons of in-depth options to use your character to build stylish and efficient combos with the side step and guard stances. Free run, while still here, will likely go unnoticed considering how Team Destiny has been able to streamline the usual Tales combats. Another surprise here is the story: the much-hated upon childhood arc is actually just a short prologue meant to show the contrast between the childish dreams of the characters and the real world's harsh reality, and when the real plot kicks it's all about war, politics, betrayal and mistery, easily rivaling Tales of the Abyss for the crown of best Tales story. Asbel himself is a believable hero with a lot of shortcomings that actually make him a real person instead of your cookie cutter hero. I couldn't be more pleased with Tales' return to the west, and I eagerly wait for any other entry in this wonderful series.

Tales of the Abyss, the first game in the series to make use of the free run system for its 3d battles, is probably the best entry in the franchise so far and has aged very well. The world of Auldrant is extremely well portrayed, and the plot is convincing, deep and enthralling till the ending credits, with a solid, likeable cast that will often surprise you with their interactions and they way they develop during the game's events. The game is also filled to the brim with optional scenes that will make a lot of difference if you want to fully understand what's going on, and the Tales series' skits are a nice way to have a constant feedback from your party members. All those features make the game extremely lengthy, too: with all the side material this game can last even more than 100 hours. The battle system is also great, and makes use of the 3d arena by allowing you to freely move your characters and build up combos of skills and magics in extremely fast paced action battles. The PS2 version had some issues, like the unnerving loading times and glitched world map, but this 3DS port completely solved them, making this the definitive way to enjoy this game.

King of Fighters XIII is probably the best 2d fighting experience you can have in the current generation, and one of the best 2d fighters ever created. Not only has the overall package been extremely improved in both quantity and quality, with tons of modes, new characters, beautiful stages that will remind you of the best SNK games on NeoGeo, new systems that actually add a lot of depth to the game (drive cancel, extra versions of special and desperation moves, and many other things) but the game has also a good netcode that, so far, hasn't let me down a single time. KoF13 has already been a favorite in the competitive scene for some time, and it's likely to gather a decent following in order to build a sizeable community in the future. The 4 CD soundtrack provided by Atlus USA surely helps to improve the value of an already exceptional game.

King of Fighters XIII is probably the best 2d fighting experience you can have in the current generation, and one of the best 2d fighters ever created. Not only has the overall package been extremely improved in both quantity and quality, with tons of modes, new characters, beautiful stages that will remind you of the best SNK games on NeoGeo, new systems that actually add a lot of depth to the game (drive cancel, extra versions of special and desperation moves, and many other things) but the game has also a good netcode that, so far, hasn't let me down a single time. KoF13 has already been a favorite in the competitive scene for some time, and it's likely to gather a decent following in order to build a sizeable community in the future. The 4 CD soundtrack provided by Atlus USA surely helps to improve the value of an already exceptional game.

I am really impressed with Totori, I liked Atelier Rorona but personally I found that its lack of narrative focus detracted from the overall experience, while this sequel is able to mix its peculiar gameplay (the mix of traditional JRPG and item crafting the series is known for) with a stronger pacing. The soundtrack is extremely fitting, and the art direction is beautiful thanks to Gust's effort to exploit PS3's potential with better models and textures, something that really shows in battle and cutscenes alike (environments still need some work, though). I really love the direction this series has taken since Rorona, as I find the PS3 Arland games far more unique than the PS2 Atelier Iris ones, not to mention they are overall far more polished titles. Localization is good, and the dual audio (a NIS America habit, by now) is always good to have.

I played the Japanese version years ago, and this is by far one of the best story-driven jrpgs ever created. Its pacing may seem a bit slow at first, but its setting and characters need to be introduced in such a way since this game is only the first chapter in a massive series encompassing many titles (the first three have already been announced by xseed).. The world (aka the Liberl kingdom) is explored directly and is really vast (the cities are especially great because of their details), the setting is so full of lore it rivals some of the best fantasy novels and computer rpgs (you can find informations on practically anything you are interested into, and there are many books to read and newspapers that details the kingdom of Liberl's events), the battle system is a unique and extremely enjoyable mix of turn based combat and strategical depth and the characters can have many possible setups thanks to the quartz, somewhat like final fantasy 7's materia. Somewhat like computer rpgs series like Dragon Age and Mass Effect, Trails allows you to use the final save data in the next game, retaining your levels and slightly altering its events depending on the quests you have done. Every fan of jrpgs with a powerful and deep story, a great battle system and a believable world would do well to buy it and its even more awesome sequel, Trails Second Chapter, when it's released.

Probably the best roguelikes on console this gen, even more addicting than the already awesome Shiren titles. NiS obviously put a lot of effort into this title, and it definitely shows thanks to the plentiful options for customization.

It was a masterpiece back in the days, and this remake is so polished and well thought that newcomers and veterans alike will surely love it. Tactically deep, full of choices and optional contents, challenging while providing ways for newbies to enjoy it, full of post-game quests, extremely good from a narrative standpoint... Tactics Ogre is all of this, and much more. Let's hope Matsuno is able to continue the Ogre series.