Tag: jrpg
Retro JRPG Chained Echoes is getting a New Game Plus mode
Chained Echoes is a retro Japanese-inspired RPG set in a world of dragons and mech suits. It seemingly already has the scope of the 16-bit games that inspired it, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t post-release updates to come. Its developer is now working on a New Game Plus mode.
Chained Echoes is a JRPG throwback that isn’t scared to throw out old ideas
This JRPG platformer’s amateurish art hides one of 2022’s best and wildest sleeper hits
Harvestella review: a traditional JRPG with a farming twist
Harvestella is a JRPG. This may seem like an incredibly obvious thing to say about a role-playing game from Square-Enix, but it’s the most important thing to know going in. Billed as a life sim RPG, and with a title that evokes farming, you could be forgiven for expecting something along the lines of Harvest Moon or Stardew Valley, but with more monster biffing. Instead, Harvestella sits firmly in the epic quest camp, with your adventuring being supported by your rural activities.
Anyone looking to build a pastoral paradise is going to be sorely disappointed, as the farming elements are somewhat rudimentary. Even calling your property a farm is a bit of a stretch. Even after a few upgrades, my plot is more of a large garden, maybe an allotment, if I’m being generous.
Persona 5 Royal PC secrets reveal unused JRPG game elements
A Persona 5 Royal PC port is finally upon us, giving even more players the chance to experience the Atlus JRPG game for the first time, and others the opportunity to play it on the go via the Steam Deck. The Persona 5 Royal PC port also comes with the opportunity for us to find out even more about the backend of the game, and one YouTuber and modder has been showcasing some of the secrets they’ve already found.
Persona 5 Royal finally hits PC this week and here’s why it’s still the JRPG king
I finished the original Persona 5 roughly four years ago, and it immediately earned my most coveted award: Edders Really Liked This A Lot, Perhaps More Than Anything Else. Since its updated and expanded Royal version dropped on PlayStation some years later, I’ve been afraid to make my return. You’d think I’d be itching to delve back into what’s essentially the definitive version of the Phantom Thieves’ adventure, and yet it’s precisely because it blew me away the first time that I’ve been reluctant to go back.
Now? Now I feel silly. After playing the early portions of Persona 5: Royal, which finds itself coming to practically every remaining platform this week, including PC, my goodness me, it’s wonderful to be back in Shibuya with the gang. Already it’s the Persona 5 I adored, with new cutscenes and pacing adjustments to make it – somehow – even better. Have you never played Persona before? Good! Let me twist your arm. Gi-give, no – give it here!
Jack Move review: a bite-sized JRPG that blends Neuromancer with Final Fantasy VII
It cannot be a coincidence that 1997 is a pivotal year in the world of Jack Move. In the game, it’s the year everything went dark in this turn-based Japanese-style RPG, with a solar storm biffing the world’s electronics. It threw the world into chaos, giving rise to the megacorps that now control the dystopian cyberpunk society where our heroine Noa is trying to make a living. In the real world, of course, 1997 was the year Final Fantasy VII came out, the seminal JRPG that Jack Move owes a great deal to (right down to its menu plink plink sound). Developers So Romantic have said outright that it’s been one of the main inspirations for Jack Move, and its shady corporate powers and grungy urban landscape certainly feel of a piece with ShinRa’s grip on the city of Midgar.
But the bigwigs at MonoMind aren’t out to poison the world and suck the life from it in Jack Move. Instead, they’re more concerned with using their newfound technological powers to find eternal life – a classic ‘upload your mind to the metaverse’ kind of tale you’ll probably recognise if you’ve read any of the cyberpunk 101 novels such as William Gibson’s Neuromancer or Permutation City by Greg Egan. Jack Move’s story doesn’t tread any new ground in this respect, but Noa and her hacker pal Ryder are a fiery spirited pair that make this six-hour tale of espionage and rebellion against its cartoonish villain well worth dipping into. Yes, you read that correctly. A JRPG you can polish off in a single day of play. Bliss.