Persona 5 Strikers (Switch)

 Persona 5 was an interesting game.  I really did like the story and the characters but it definitely dragged out.  It isn't my favorite RPG and not even the best Persona game I've played.  Given that, I was hopeful this game would be good.  Although, it is a completely different kind of game, it felt very similar.

To get this out of the way, this is a direct sequel to Persona 5.  Instead of being a traditional turn-based RPG, this adopts combat from the Dynasty Warriors (For those that know, it is usually called "musou" gameplay).  This means there are a lot of enemies on screen and you directly control the action of your character.  So you can dodge, target particularly nasty enemies, and use skills to your advantage.  Much like Persona 5, hitting weaknesses and debuffing is key.  This style of combat was adapted really well to the Persona aesthetics and it felt natural.

The biggest hang-up I had with this game is the brutal beginning.  For some reason the first chapter is just absolutely difficult for no reason.  I was playing on Easy and would just one-shotted with very little idea what even happened.  I have noticed this trend from Atlus in particular, it is almost as if they don't understand what an Easy mode should be.  This game is no exception.  It does definitely get easier and less frustrating the further you get but the beginning is incredibly rough.

I really do love these characters though and they are all back.  You don't get as in-depth as you would, there are no social links this time but still, they all grow and feel real.  Even the new characters that were introduced get their own arcs and story bits.  I really grew to enjoy them all over again.  The story is also not as deep but it does have some moments that did make me think.  There isn't a huge twist like in the first game but still a fun ride.

Another positive note, the game looks beautiful.  It hits all the same notes as Persona 5 did with the stylistic menus and tone.  All the personas and shadows look good, especially given how many were on screen at any given time.  The Jails are all unique and thankfully they didn't make any with any super annoying gimmicks like some of the Palaces in the first game.  The soundtrack is also absolutely stellar.  If you enjoyed the first games music, this is pretty much remixes of those with some new tracks thrown in.  The new tracks fit right in though.  

Persona 5 Strikers is a pretty mixed bag.  If you like musou-style combat, it is a must play.  After the first section of the game, it definitely gets better but man, that is an incredibly brutal start.  The new characters and locales are all neat but don't play this without playing Persona 5.  It will ruin the story in that game and you will be confused as to what is going on in several parts of this game.  I recommend this game but just keep in mind, it starts rough and gets better.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection (Switch)

 Growing up when I did, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was a very important part of my life.  I watched the show on Saturday mornings, I had the toys, and I even played lots of games.  This collection was a great way to relive specific moments of my childhood.  Some of the games haven't aged well but a lot of them are here with some I had never played before.

Each game is very well emulated, I didn't experience too much input lag as was reported when the game first came out.  They did a good job porting these and adding some new features.  Although, some things would have made the game so much better.  Not having infinite lives/continues on all the games with those systems was a little baffling.  Some games would have been more enjoyable if I could have turned that on.

Two of the games on the collection, namely the second and third Gameboy games were new to me.  The second one wasn't anything special but the third was great.  It was a hidden gem in the collection.  The fighting games haven't aged well, especially the NES and Genesis versions of it.  The inputs aren't explained well and it is very obvious the CPU was reading inputs or would just constantly block everything.

All in all, this was a great collection.  If you grew up with TMNT or just got into the turtles.  This is a good purchase.  Even for the multiple versions of Turtles in Time is this worth it.  Cowabunga!

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim (PS4)

Vanillaware has always made games that I have enjoyed and this was no exception.  I went in with no expectations and no background which really helps because the story is the key piece to this game.  This was unlike any other game from this developer and it is no wonder why it took so long to make.

Let's get the least fun part out of the way, the combat segments.  Surprisingly, the actual game part of the game is the least interesting but is passable.  There is definitely some depth to the fights but I am absolutely terrible at real-time strategy games like this is or appears to be.  It is an interesting concept but I played on the lowest difficulty because I didn't want this part to get in the way of the better part of the game.  I will say, towards the end of it, I was powerful and I didn't really know why.  I do have to give credit to the final fight though, it definitely was fitting the whole tale and really wrapped everything up.  It was frantic but manageable.

For me, the best part of the game was the story.  It plays out like an interactive visual novel and it is obvious the developers paid extra attention to making sure everything flowed.  Each story section does weave and out through different arcs and timelines, there are some pretty heavy concepts and it does get confusing but once it gets going and the threads come together.  It is a twisting and winding road but once everything converges at the end, it just kind of clicks.  All the characters were enjoyable and felt real, I really grew attached to some of them and it was hard to see them go.  It does get a little repetitive when you can't figure out the little esoteric trigger to get to the next scene but those were few and far between.  As a whole, the narrative really stands out in the Science Fiction genre and some modern writers could really learn from this game on how best to weave a complicated yet complete story.

The other great thing about Vanillaware is the fact that they always have great visuals.  This game is no exception, it is very apparent that everything was designed in great detail.  The sprites are visually pleasing and the 2D affects are sometimes utterly stunning.  I have to give them props for the soundtrack as well.  The music that plays in the final battle stage especially stands out as you can hear the chanting as you are frantically fighting off kaiju.  It really helped get me into the moment, I felt like I was truly in command.

I went into this game not expecting anything and ended up getting an experience I won't forget.  The combat wasn't my cup of tea but it was passable and luckily didn't hinder progression to the point that I got frustrated. Vanillaware really outdid themselves with this one.  I for one cannot wait for their next title but will be patient for their next title.  I know they take a long time to make but the care and detail that go into them are well worth the wait.  Don't sleep on this title, even if you don't like visual novel style games.  There is something for you.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (3DS)

 I never was into Dragon Quest when 8 was originally released but I do see now why so many people are fond of the title.  Dragon Quest games seem like very basic games but there is a lot of hidden depth and various things to do.  As a player, it is up to you to pick and choose what you do.

The combat is pretty straightforward.  You have a party of four members and you can use various skills, abilities, and spells to win in turn-based battles..  Each character is pretty unique from the powerful mage with Jessica to the physical attacker with Yangus.  Each member fills a role and it is up to you to find how they mesh.  I did unlock one of the new character introduced in the 3DS remake but never used them.  I never needed to.

Characters learn new skills through story progression or when you level up.  You can choose how to spend your skill points and tailor each character to how you play.  Some weapons and skill trees are obviously better than others but most seem viable.

The game's story is pretty standard fair as well.  There are a few twists and turns but nothing too surprising.  That's part of the charm though.  When you play a Dragon Quest game, you know you are in for a fun time.  It is never dull and there is always something neat.  It never takes itself too seriously and provides entertainment throughout the experience.

The visual and music are nice.  Nothing really stands-out but it is not an ugly game.  You really do feel like you are in a fantasy world and everything feels alive.  Towns have various chests and drawers to search.  Monsters roam around the overworld, waiting to fight you.  The music does stand-out as some of the best in the series. The final boss theme was very fitting and really got me into the moment.

If you enjoy RPGs, the Dragon Quest series is a must play.  Each title I have played has been solid and fun.  Although they seem very simplistic, using the various party members and skill builds allows for a lot of depths.  This is not the best Dragon Quest game I've played but definitely a solid title in the series. Cor blimey!

Mercenaries Saga: Will of the White Lions (Switch)

 Part one of a three part saga, the first game definitely is a little rough but a solid strategy RPG.  Although not as deep as something like Final Fantasy Tactics and definitely not groundbreaking for the genre, it wasn't a terrible game.

If you have played Final Fantasy Tactics or a game similar, this will be very familiar.  You command your team around an isometric map.  Moving to strategic points to rout the enemy and win.  Each unit has unique abilities and certain strengths.  They run the typical roles, like warrior or mage.  You can learn skills and use them forever, so your healer can become a figurative tank or the warrior can also use long range wind attacks.  

This said, the combat is pretty bare bones.  There are not really flashy attacks, very few attacks that target multiple enemies, or things like summons.  Most battles are decently quick but they get longer as you get closer to the end of the game.  Leveling isn't usually difficult but you can grind if you run into any trouble as there is always a free battle to do.  Some of the units you get through the story, I didn't find a good use for.  The guy that starts with an axe quickly fell behind for me because he couldn't take a fireball.  The thief seemed worthless and didn't really meet any needs I had.  Honestly, the best units I had were the mage, the nun, and her sister who becomes a monk.  Even the main character, Leon, isn't all that useful because magic just destroys anybody who doesn't have high magic defense.  Magic is very powerful.

The game is pixel art based and none of the character designs or enemies really stand out.  The music is tolerable but forgettable.  The story is a complete snooze fest.  They tried to make something epic by allowing the character influence the path you take with certain choices but at one point the game basically asked, "Hey, there is this thing you should go get for this really sketchy dude that we showed you being sketchy in a scene the characters you are controlling wouldn't have seen.  You want to do it and get him the thingy?"  and if you answer "No", it just plays out like your party is insane and doesn't care about doing stuff.  I played it like a true mercenary and the story shows it, the path of least resistance is boring.  I don't think the other path would have been better though.

For a mobile game port to the Switch, this wasn't great.  The frame rate on some of the larger maps is absolutely terrible and there isn't even anything really moving.  The story is forgettable, the music is boring, and the characters are mediocre.  The only saving grace is the two sequels are included in the collection.  If you really like Final Fantasy Tactics and want a short game (I beat it in under 15 hours) to mess with, it is worth it.

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (3DS)

 What do you get when you mix the dungeon traversal, map-making, and combat of Etrian Odyssey with the skill system, characters, and difficulty of the Persona series?  Well, a huge unbalanced mess but also this game.  Persona Q is a blend of various elements from the previously mentioned two series, that strangely works but doesn't work.

To start, the game is canon to the stories of both Persona 3 and 4.  Although, you don't have to played either game to understand what is going on in this game.  It is probably a good idea because you won't understand a lot of the character development.  I will say, the game is very good at blending both the themes of Persona 3 and Persona 4.  Having the two casts meet was really neat and the scenes where the velvet residents are poking at each other is pretty good.  Without spoiling the game, I think the themes are definitely on par with the Persona series.

Dungeon crawling is where the Etrian Odyssey series is mostly seen.  You move through 3D mazes, building your map, finding treasure and shortcuts.  Coming to this game soon after Etrian Odyssey IV, I felt right at home.  The biggest different though, there are many puzzles and especially in the last two dungeons.  They are incredibly tedious and sometimes just frustrating.  Having to deal with the various FOEs as well was just a slap in the face.  They definitely did not hold back in punishing the player for making one misstep.  I am actually very glad I was playing on SAFETY and could just power through FOEs if I needed to because the last puzzle in the last labyrinth was absurdly long and esoteric and just completely unfun.

Having two casts of characters, there are a lot to choose from and each has their strengths and weaknesses in battle.  Once I had my full team though, I never switched it up because trying to raise levels on lower characters was painful.  Just as a tip, if you want an easier time, make sure to have Naoto with you.  You'll figure out soon enough why.  The normal fights range from tedious slogs to downright annoyances.  Bosses are at least a little bit better as you can develop working strategies that don't immediately go off the rails for reasons outside of your control.  In classic SMT fashion though, don't sleep on buffs/debuffs, they are crucial to winning.  Hitting weaknesses was useful until about the midway point when magic becomes pretty much impossible given the SP usage.  Even with good sub-personas and SP boosts, 4-5 fights can easily drain your SP and you are trekking back to replenish.

If you are a fan of either Etrian Odyssey or Persona, this game is worth it.  Don't go into expecting an easy time, even on SAFETY there were times when I just had to bite the bullet and power through, letting my characters continually die just to get through.  It wasn't a fun journey and at the end, I just wanted it to be over.  I really have no desire to play the game ever again and I really don't want to recommend it to anybody.  It really isn't fun to get into a random encounter, be surprise attacked when you have a skill that is supposed to greatly reduce that from happening, and then getting killed in two attacks.  If I had lost progress when that happened to me, I would have given up.  Luckily SAFETY means you are unkillable for the most part.

Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth (PS4)

 Growing up, I had heard of Digimon.  I never truly got into it though.  I could see how they were different from Pokemon and I can respect that they largely filled different roles.  Digimon were just an evolution of the Tamagotchi craze that hit the US when I was a child.  I do remember watching the show for a bit but it never had the long lasting influence on me like Pokemon did.

That said, this was a decent adventure but with a few flaws.  To start off, the story is okay.  It is a pretty standard fair and there are some "twists" but they are often foreshadowed to the point that it is obvious to anybody paying attention.  Although, the story is hampered by weird translation and dialogue issues.  It feels like the game was translated in the 90's but it came out in 2016.  It isn't so bad that you can't tell what is going on but it definitely is funky enough to leave the player scratching their head in a couple scenes.  

I was pleasantly surprised by the soundtrack too.  Starting it up, I was greeted with what sounded like a very familiar theme.  As I went through the game, several tracks sounded very similar to other games I had previously played but I couldn't put my finger on which.  I had to look up the composer for this game and sure enough, it is by the same person that made the excellent OST for the Danganronpa games.  Nothing really stands out but the music was good enough for me to make a note of it while playing.

The meat of the game revolves around two things: the main story plot and the various "cases" you get while being a Cyber Sleuth.  It isn't just part of the title, it is what you are doing in the game.  It helps drive the narrative but there were a couple of times where I did get lost.  Even the two hint systems were confused as to what I was supposed to do, I ended up just wandering around trying to find an NPC with an ! over their head to progress.  A little annoying because the game vaguely told me where to go but the translation kind of messed it up to where it didn't make much sense.  There is lots of side stuff to do as well but they are mostly fetch or kill quests.  I did a few but didn't need to do them to make progress.

The meat of the game is really the Digimon collecting and battling.  You can have a total of 11 monsters in your party at a time, with three in battle.  The key to winning is learning the weakness triangle and exploiting it.  Going up against a boss with a Vaccine type?  Switch your party to three Data types and largely go unchallenged.  This doesn't work for the whole game as about midway through, you start fighting things that just have too high stats and you slog through slow fights trading blows.  Even if you have a really good team, some enemies are boosted to be annoying.  

Collecting Digimon is easy.  You can either get a new one from fighting more and more of them in battle and just making one yourself.  The problem with this is that new Digimon have abyssmal ABI stats.  The ABI stat is only needed to make the best Digimon through digivolution.  If you don't meet the ABI requirement, you can't make some of the best monsters.  It lead to times where I was simply leveling my monsters up and down just to raise that number high enough to get them to a form I wanted.  It felt a little unnecessary as there were other stats that would prevent digivolutions if you hadn't taken care of them or raised them appropriately.  Although annoying, I still ended up with a solid enough team to beat the game.

If you are a huge Digimon fan, definitely pick up this game.  You will surely see a lot of your favorites running around and it is a pretty decent adventure.  If you are looking for a super deep story or gameplay, you won't find it but there is some strategy in some of the fights and near infinite party setups as most monsters are viable in their final forms.  Just don't go into this expecting the best game ever.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Switch)

 It is not very often that I find a game that I will spend a long amount of time with.  Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was a fun 80 hour spin.  What kept me going wasn't simply the good gameplay mechanics and wonderful characters but the sense of exploration.  There was always some new thing to discover, some new place to get to, or even some treasure to dig up.

Let me get this out of the way, I thoroughly enjoyed the game.  The combat is very complex and I never really had a firm grasp on it.  Just like the first game, it falls into the Break, Topple, Whatever cycle.  I never really had the blade setups to be able to utilize this effectively but when I did, it was satisfying.  There were a few really difficult bosses but all in all, I didn't struggle.  Of course, I had learned from my time in the first game that you shouldn't pick fights with things much higher level than you.

What really kept me going in this game was the story.  I grew to love all the characters and never really could guess what was going to happen as I went through the game.  It definitely made a little more sense as I made my way to the ending and the ending was okay.  It did lack impact but I understand why it was the way it was.  To top it all off, they really built the world.  Each area was unique and felt different.  The sense of scale was huge as you are traveling on the backs of giant Titans.  It really makes you insignificant at times, even more than the first game and just how miniscule you were against the Bionis.

To go along with the good story, characters, and setting.  The soundtrack is superb.  Each new area has a fitting theme and really helps you get into the setting more.  From the floaty Leftheria theme to the choir in Tantal, each fit perfectly.  Some of the battle or more actiony themes were awesome too.  It was always great to hear them kick in right before a super cool moment.  

In addition to the wonderful story, there are tons of side-quests.  Many are there to get you more EXP so you don't have to grind.  Which is much appreciated as combat doesn't give a whole lot of EXP to level up.  I actually got to be 2 levels higher than the last boss just doing side-quests and then sleeping at the inn.  It was a wonderful incentive.  Some of the quests were kind of annoying in that they had long tasks or confusing points to get to.  

There are also blade side-quests.  A lot of these are mandatory to continue powering up the blades you have been using.  They range from very well done to completely annoying to finish.  They help tie all the rare blades you connect to the characters.  It is a shame some take a long time to trigger or have really weird specific things you have to do to get them to trigger but for the most part, doing the ones for your favorite blades does pay off.

I really only have three complaints.  The RNG on the blade bonding was a little rough.  Burning through 30 Legendary Cores and only getting one rare blade (on the wrong character) was a little disheartening at times.  I was able to build a decent team but I ended up with a lot of really good blades on the wrong driver.  Overdrives being as rare as they are didn't help much.  This was only a minor complaint though.  It didn't stop me from progressing.

The second complaint is the map.  It was incredibly confusing at times trying to get to a specific marker.  There is no height indicator or guideline, so you can't say mark a spot you want to go to and have it guide you.  I get why but sometimes, especially in Gormott, I would get completely lost trying to get back to a place I had previously been to but couldn't remember where the tiny little opening was.  

The last complaint is also a minor one.  I won't spoil who but the last boss fight needed some tweaking.  Despite being a good level and having a good team setup, I lost twice.  The first time was due to the fact that I couldn't figure out how to hit the boss.  See, the arena is set up in a way that if you move to the logic point, the center right in front, you can't actually hit the boss for most of the fight.  If you take too long, it uses an attack that wipes you.  Once I learned that I had to move to the side of the arena, which looks farther away, I was able to consistently attack the boss.  

The second time I died was completely frustrating though.  At a certain point, the last boss summons some giant additional enemies.  These, while annoying, were mostly ignorable.  At least that's what I thought until I had almost finished off the boss and one of these enemies blew me into the air.  Then I came down outside the arena and it was instant game over. Both of these events really soured the game, right at the pivotal ending.  I had put 80 hours into this game, only to be insulted with a final boss fight that was tedious and frustrating for reasons it shouldn't have been.  

At this point in my life, I have so little time anymore to pour close to 100 hours into a game but Xenoblade Chronicles 2 kept bringing me back.  Just one more blade to get.  Just one more quest to finish.  Just one more place to discover.  It really scratched an itch I had and up until the end, I was really enjoying the game.  I even bought the DLC and will take on Torna - The Golden Country after a break.  With Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in the very near future, as of writing this, I can almost say that if they stick with the same great story and exploration, it is a surefire hit.  Monolith Soft has been putting out great games and I hold them up with giants like Falcom and Square Enix at this point.  Each game has been better than the last.  This is definitely a must play for any RPG fan. 

Mind≒0 (PSVita)

 Do you want to play a game that starts out mediocre and ends terribly?  Do you enjoy slogging through dungeons with the same enemies that are palette swapped after the first dungeon?  Do you enjoy having to cure status ailments, after each and every fight?  Then this is the game for you.

I've played a lot of RPGs but this is by far one of the most memorably bad that I've had in a very long time.  It starts with the absolutely boring story.  It starts out pretty typically but ends up just completely falling flat.  The developers obviously had plans for a sequel but that will never happen.  Which is all the same because the main character is completely unlikeable.  By the end, I just wanted to see it all end so I wouldn't have to play the game anymore.

The story and characters aren't the only terrible parts. The enemy design quickly gets re-used.  It is almost as if they gave up making new enemy models at the very start.  Get used to the enemies you see in the first couple of dungeons, because you will see slight variations of them for the rest of the game.  None of the bosses really stand out and I honestly can't remember any of them.  The dungeons are also just bland mazes that often times hide absolutely nothing in the hard to read reaches.  To make matters worse, traversing dungeons takes far too long because the encounter rate is absurdly high in some dungeons.  

The combat system is the only thing that kind of has some sense to it.  Each character has a MIND and they act as your special abilities.  When the MIND is active, it allows the character to use skills and MINDs have their own health bars or the MP bar.  When attacked, the MINDs MP bar will decrease instead of the health bar of the character.  For 90% of the game, there is no reason to not have your MIND active.  In hindsight, it is kind of short-sighted and really drags out some fights when you fight MIND-resistant enemies.  

Skills range from elemental attacks, which the game never explains which elements are weak to what.  Not that it really matters, most enemies you fight can be killed with normal attacks.  You save your big skills for bosses.  There are other support skills like buffs/debuffs, healing, etc. but for the most part, you won't use them much.  The biggest problem is that you are supposed to use skill points (SP) and duplicate cards to power up the cards you want to.  This really leads to picking a select few skills to keep leveling up until they max out and then upgrading them to the next tier and repeating.  I don't know why they felt the need to have the played use other cards and SP to level up skills, it just makes things more tedious as you will often run out of cards before maxing out the card you want.  They could have just had you spend SP, which is also decently hard to get, to level them up.  It wasn't well thought out.

I rarely call a game mediocre and in this case, I feel mediocre is too nice to call this game.  It wasn't fun after a certain point because every enemy would cause status ailments.  Sure, there are items/skills you can equip to negate these but you need every equipment slot and skill slot filled with stat boosting items to survive.  I kept count and throughout one dungeon, I was poisoned over 20 times often after every encounter.  It was really unnecessary and just made the game all the more tedious.  Do yourself a favor and don't pay this game any MIND.  I also never end things with a pun because I don't like puns but I'm going to do it here.  I dislike it that much.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE (WiiU)

 I am absolutely astounded by how much fun this game was once I got into it.  I've played a lot of RPGs and this one was quite surprising.  The setting wasn't the most unique but the characters we well done and the combat system was well thought out and balanced.  If I had to compare this to another game, it is close to Persona 5 but the life simulation aspects aren't as deep.  That isn't a bad thing though, I actually enjoyed this more than Persona 5.

To start, this is definitely a play on a Shin Megami Tensei game.  If you have played any of the games in this series (which includes Persona), you should feel right at home.  Where the combat differs is the use of "sessions."  These allow you to link one character's actions with others in the party and later on with the whole cast.  If you know what you are doing by hitting enemy weaknesses, you can chain sessions together long enough to take out a whole party of enemies.  It is definitely a unique take on the classic SMT style RPG and I enjoyed linking sessions together to complete whole battles without having enemies even get a chance to act.

The story and characters, while not as deep or long as Persona 5, felt better.  Each character in the party grows with the main character and each has their respective story line.  There isn't a social link system but you still get some decent side-stories and learn a lot more about those you will be spending your time with.  Some of the story elements are really corny and the ending is pretty cliche.  The best part though, this game doesn't waste a lot of the player's time.  Rather than the multiple hours between dungeons like in Persona 5, sometimes it is a 15 minute segment and you are onto the next task.  It was definitely much appreciated that I didn't have to sit through hours of nothing to get on with it.

The graphics and music are great for a Wii U game.  All the characters pop and the idol segments were well animated.  There were times I was watching some of the idol cutscenes and wondering if I wasn't playing a rhythm game.  Of course, this was a Wii U game.  So the load times were a little long but nothing that it was a unplayable.

It really is a shame we will probably never get another game like this.  The battle system was fun, the characters were good, and the Fire Emblem references were awesome.  This was truly a very unique game and well worth a play if you want an RPG to get through.  Although not as long as other games in the SMT series, it doesn't waste time and let's you get to where you want with little in the way.  It also has some difficulty, which is expected given the pedigree of the series it is loosely based on.  Definitely worth a play.