Fire Emblem: Engage

The followup to the somewhat divisive Three Houses, Engage goes back to basics in many ways.  While Three Houses felt fairly overdesigned between its class system, school sim elements and just a generally massive cast, Engage goes back to a being a fairly streamlined and linear adventure.  Characters come and go at the whim of the story, the Weapon Triangle returns, and there's no longer a class system in place.  Given that it was also meant as a celebration of the franchise's 30 year anniversary, its plot also incorporates this in the form of Emblems - heroes from previous games who fight alongside this game's protagonists in spirit form.  Characters can equip rings that grant access to Emblems, and filling the meter to activate an Engage grants them new special moves and bolsters their stats for a few turns; a bit similar in premise to Persona (or Tokyo Mirage Sessions).  As characters use their Emblems more their bonds improve and they gain more passive bonuses.  The visuals have seen definite improvement too, with more expressive characters and a lot of visual flourishes on special attacks, giving it an almost tokusatsu vibe.  That said, the actual plot of the game isn't really anything to write home about - an amnesiac hero (or heroine), four countries entrusted with powerful artifacts, a dark dragon threatening to drive the world to ruin again, you've seen it all before.  Still, if you want a Fire Emblem that goes back to basics while introducing a more streamlined design, an interesting new mechanic and paying homage to games of its past, this is one you may want to peruse.

Developer: Intelligent Systems

Publisher: Nintendo

Released: 2023

Platform: Switch

Like a Dragon: Ishin!

A non-canon offshoot of the Like a Dragon franchise set in the Bakumatsu era of Japan, it reimagines most of the central class as samurai and the central conflict becomes a plan to overthrow the oppressive class system of the era.  It utilizes action-based gameplay of the old games rather than the turn-based style of the most recent mainline entry, but changes things up to utilize four appropriate combat styles for the era.  Brawler is most similar to general series fare, emphasizing quick strikes and throws for crowd control; Swordsman has Ryoma wield a sword to do slower but high-damage attacks; Gunman has him use a revolver for ranged combat and elemental shots, and Wild Dancer simultaneously uses sword and gun, focusing on quick attacks and evasion but unable to block.  Leveling up is handled in a similar fashion to the Kiwami games, earning generic orbs that can be placed to unlock abilities on any the four style grids, or style-specific ones that can be swapped in once earned to allocate generic ones elsewhere.  Of course the series' staple of side content is here in full force too, with a lot of side missions to complete, Virtue to collect by fulfilling certain tasks and milestones, and minigames like fishing, singing, chopping wood and even a few anachronistic ones like Mahjong and Texas Hold-Em (and even a top-down shmup).  The feel of the game and most of its story beats and characters are largely familiar (borderline retreads) despite the change in time period, but if you want a decent non-canon tale in the Like a Dragon universe with some creative gameplay change-ups, Ishin is another fun game to spend your time with.

Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Publisher: Sega
Released: 2023
Platform: PC, PlayStation 5, XBox Series

Sylvan Tale

Another obscure Sega IP, with its one and only entry being a late release for the Game Gear exclusive to Japan.  Kind of a shame, as it's a solid Zelda-like for the platform. You venture through various dungeons, find items and powerups that let you get past certain obstacles and reach new areas, upgrade your health with oranges, and battle enemies and bosses.  The plot is pretty minimal, just having your character track down six magic macguffins that can vanquish evil, but it's serviceable enough for a portable game.  The game controls smoothly and plays well, has colorful visuals and smooth animation, and even has some pretty solid music for the hardware, and you can save your game at (almost) any time, which keeps the frustration factor to a minimum.  Sylvan Tale is pretty fun little game while it lasts; maybe not worth the prices it goes for secondhand nowadays, but certainly one to check out emulated, especially since there's a fan translation available.

 Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Released: 1995
Platform: Game Gear

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth

With the franchise's ninth mainline entry, it seems the Yakuza moniker has been dropped from its title entirely and it's to be known by the same moniker as its Japanese counterpart from now on.  It retains the turn-based style of the previous mainline game and introduces many improvements, tweaks and additions, but does it all add up to a more substantial game, or does Infinite Wealth just lack that special spark?

Despite some high and low points, Yakuza (or Like a Dragon now, I suppose) continues to soldier on as a franchise, offering a unique blend of quirky humor, crime drama, relatively small but immersive locales to explore and a lot of surprising humanity in spite of its general concept.  Many fans were worried when the eighth game introduced a new protagonist, changed up the style of the gameplay and seemingly left all the old drama of the series behind, but the tale of Ichiban Kasuga quickly won its share of fans as well.  Its likable cast of characters, inventive take on turn-based combat and being a general affectionate parody of RPG tropes while continuing the same high-quality storytelling and immersive design the series became known for.

Infinite Wealth continues a few years after that story, starring Ichiban and friends as they try to start new lives but ultimately get swept up in another criminal conspiracy.  They deal with some surprisingly relevant issues throughout, finding themselves out of work after becoming targeted by the internet rumor mill and the character assassination that follows.  It's nice to see this handled in a surprisingly realistic way - the heroes have no real way to fight against their haranguing in the court of public opinion without making it worse and just try to make the best of their bad situation.  Even moreso when they encounter their share of opportunists and grifters who don't even care whether the allegations against them are true and just want to punch down even further to score cheap brownie points with whatever clique they're beholden to.  It borders on fourth wall breaking at times, especially after the big gross love letter to mob justice that was Persona 5. 

Granted, it does get undermined a little as the whole hit campaign against the protagonists turns out to be part of the wider conspiracy driving the game's overarching plot, the masterminds of which are the typical straw men supervillains with no redeeming qualities or motives other than just "Being evil".  But still, it's nice to see a modern-day game where real-life problems aren't just made light of with trite speechifying, and some warped form of vigilantism is presented as the perfect solution to all of society's woes.  But even though it fails to stick the landing and veers too hard into sappy nostalgia in its final act for my liking, infectious good nature and silly side-missions and over-the-top moments add levity keep it from getting too grim and depressing.

While Yakuza: LaD's combat and RPG class system was fun for the most part, it also felt a little rushed in some respects; there was some awkward balancing at times and relatively little of the brutal environmental interactions and improvised weapon actions the series became known for.  Infinite Wealth features both new and returning classes, with each character getting at least one exclusive class and male and females each getting classes exclusive to their gender.  Many other mechanics are added too to make the combat feel more dynamic.  One change, noticeable right away, is that you can actually move around a bit before taking an action within a small circle near the spot that character's turn begins.  This not only allows you to move near breakable objects (bicycles, signs, traffic cones etc) to utilize them on your turn, but getting in close to an enemy before launching an attack will award a Proximity Bonus and do slightly more damage.  In addition, many attacks, now knock enemies around, so proper positioning before attacking becomes vital to getting the maximum effect from that.  Knocking enemies into one another (or environmental obstacles) can quickly deal heavy damage to multiple targets, and propelling them into an ally will award a free hit.

In addition to elemental strengths and weaknesses, other mechanics are adopted too.  Enemies can be "on guard", greatly reducing all the damage they take until a character manages to break their guard, either by attacking them from behind or with a throw move.  Character bonds factor into combat more too; once a character has reached a certain affinity level with another, they will sometimes do a free followup attack after that character's move.  If both characters are in close proximity when one's turn begins, they may get the opportunity to do a Chain Attack, where both characters attack in tandem while only using one character's turn. 

Kiryu is now a playable character, and his gameplay style is heavily modeled on the games where he starred in the past.  He can switch between his three fighting styles while in his default class, effectively trading some stats for others.  Brawler style is the most balanced, and allows him to perform his signature Heat Actions in specific contexts; bashing enemies into nearby cars or railings for example.  Rush Style gives him more movement range and speed at the cost of overall damage per hit, though to prevent abuse, you only get the movement bonus if you start a turn in this style and don't switch during it.  Beast style is the opposite, trading speed and movement range for raw power and making his default attack a throw-type move to break guards.  Later in the game he even gains the ability to temporarily break free of the bounds of turn-based combat and beat up on foes in real-time for a few seconds, which is pretty amusing (and fun).

 As usual, many of the skills in Ichiban's default class run off his social stats, which in the previous game are primarily raised through dialog interactions and the odd side mission.  Here, you have many more options - completing the game's many milestones will give you points toward at least one stat, as will taking certain combat options, building bonds with allies, doing various side-stories and even partaking of completely optional diversions like minigames; each round of Poker or Mahjong or Shogi or whatever else you fancy will boost your social stats by a small amount.  It does still take quite a bit of effort to max each one out, but it's less restrictive this time around.

One of my complaints about the original game was its overpriced downloadable content.  That certainly returns here, with things like costumes, item packs to level up quicker, and bonus fights being tied to paid add-ons.  Other things like item packs and experience boosters are paid extras now too, as are bonus songs to play on jukeboxes or on Ichiban's phone while strolling around town.  But one especially scummy edition is that physical releases of the game do not include a New Game Plus option; you either have to buy the Digital Deluxe or Ultimate editions that are only available as digital downloads, or purchase an upgrade pack to effectively get one of those at extra cost.  Unfortunately locking basic features (and pacing-boosting items) like this behind paid upgrades has become a common practice in Sega's games, and it doesn't look like these lame anti-consumer practices are going to abate (or get much better) anytime soon.  I certainly don't condone the practice of making games grindier just to encourage people to shell out more cash to bypass it, and the New Game Plus change is just lame, especially since it was free in numerous earlier LaD games.  If you can get the Ultimate Edition when it's on sale at a steep discount it's not as much of an issue (I got it for about $33 during one), but at launch you were effectively paying at least $40 extra on top of an already $70 price tag, which just felt predatory.  And more than a bit like they're trying to use sales of their RPG as some terrible precedent to justify price hikes in general.

 The plot starts off promisingly enough, with Ichiban and friends (and Kiryu) being drawn into another major crime conspiracy spanning both Japan and Hawaii, and it recaptures a lot of that Yakuza charm, balancing the drama expertly with the humor and likable cast.  It falls apart quite a bit at the end though, with villains that just devolve into absurd cardboard cutouts and a whole chapter seemingly dedicate to shamelessly milking Kiryu's past adventures for cheap pathos about his current plight.  Considering the last game was a torch-passing of sorts, it just feels a bit cheap to completely undo that in this game's story so they can milk even more sequels out of the character with no end in sight.

Despite those major hangup, though, I can't deny that I've once again had a lot of fun playing through a Yakuza Like a Dragon game.  Ichiban and friends are just a fun crew to hang with, being some of the most relatable, earnest, down-to-earth video game protagonists out there, and always trying to do right by others no matter what kind of bad hand life deals them.  Their adventure here once again shows that there's good to be found even in the darkest corners of society and not to judge others at a glance; there's always an actual person and a story to be told behind initial appearances.  That's honestly way more mature and interesting to see unfold than about 90% of stories out there in the realm of gaming, and Yakuza does an excellent job of it, highlighting the genuine passion of its writers and developers in every tale they spin.  The overall plot is the usual corny series fare, but it's still compelling and fun to experience (for the most part).  So while I'd still say to wait for a discount and pick up a digital edition even as an avowed physical collector, it's a game that's worth that wait and putting up with the scummy corporate baggage undermining its message and themes.

 

Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Publisher: Sega
Released: 2024
Platform: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, PC, XBox One, XBox Series
Recommended Version: All versions seem to be the same in terms of content, though the XBone and PS4 versions seem to have some performance issues.

The Dark Heart of Uukrul

Made as the pet project of Ian Boswell and Martin Buis, it was released in 1989 by Broderbund - a company not exactly known for RPGs.  It got good reviews from magazines, but bue to a lack of marketing on Broderbund's part, it sold less than 5,000 copies and largely fell into obscurity for many years before eventually seeing a rerelease on GOG in 2020.  I can certainly see why it retained enough of a following to get one too; while it is a pretty standard dungeon crawling RPG at a glance, it shows a lot more refinement than many of its contemporaries.  It has a fully-featured automap that even allows the player to add custom notes to specific spaces, and a surprising amount of detail is given to descriptions and prose found within the dungeon, so the puzzles are natural and well-designed rather than feeling like irritating guesswork.  Combat resembles the '80s Ultima titles, though with a bit more polish - each round is broken up into a movement phase and then an attack phase where each party takes actions, and every character sprite has quite a few animation frames.  Character creation seems to take inspiration from Ultima too - while you must have a party comprised of one of each class (Fighter, Paladin, Priest and Magician), you answer a series of unique personality questions to determine their starting stats.  The spell system is given a lot of thought too, with your magician and priest needing to acquire the rings of specific gods/circles of magic to cast certain tiers of spells, and then know the correct prayers/words to use in order to invoke them.  (The gods are temperamental, though, and may refuse to aid priests or even damage them if they invoke too often).  Even little touches like the health bars that go up and down as you take damage or heal it are clever touches, as is the experience system; each character gets a different share, though it's weighted toward getting kills in combat.  It looks like just another dungeon crawler at a glance, but it's immaculately well polished, has a lot of intricate mechanics and genuinely well-crafted dungeon crawling and puzzle solving that rivals the ingenuity of games like Ultima.  It really is kind of a shame it didn't get more attention in its day.  Thankfully it's got a new lease on life with the digital age, so it's definitely one to check out if you enjoy these types of games.

Developer: Digital Studios Limited
Publisher: Broderbund
Released: 1989
Platform: Apple II, PC

 

Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale

Recettear is certainly an odd case when you step back and look at it.  It was released at a time when western RPGs were becoming highly popular and JRPGs were in decline (for comparison, the biggest name in the genre that came out the same year was Final Fantasy XIII... blech), and was the first game of its type to appear on Steam, with little promotion and a localization by a two-man team who met on the Something Awful forums.  Yet somehow this tiny indie RPG was a surprise success, paving the way for other Japanese RPGs and indies to get Steam releases, and ensuring the genre would become a pretty large presence on the platform and not just get relegated to increasingly-niche releases on handhelds.

As the title implies, rather than playing as another RPG hero, you play as that hero's daughter, saddled with his debt and trying to keep up on escalating payments by running an item shop.  While you can simply buy items at wholesale and sell them at a markup, or take advantage of fluctuating market prices to turn a profit, this is a rather slow and not particularly exciting process (and probably won't be enough to meet your quota on its own).   Dungeon crawling thus becomes a key component of the game; gathering items and then selling them in your shop becoming your primary way to rack up cash.  You're not combat-capable yourself, though, so you have to hire an adventurer and outfit them to fight for you.  The action's pretty basic - just move around and attack with special powers that run off an SP meter, avoid traps, collecting treasure chests and fight the occasional boss battle.  Selling items at a profit increases your "Merchant level", which gradually unlocks benefits like being able to expand your store, take custom orders that have big payoffs, and even unlock the ability to fuse items together to create new goods that sell for high prices.  Hirable adventurers also show up at your shop occasionally and will use equipment you sell them from then on, letting you dive deeper into dungeons and score bigger hauls.  It also seems extremely difficult (if not impossible) to hit each week's escalating point total on the first attempt, but if you get a game over and are forced to restart you do keep your shop level, which will steadily allow you to improve your store, wares and customers and eventually complete the game over the course of multiple restarts; a bit like Dragon Quarter with its SOL Scenario system.

Recettear isn't a particularly deep game by any measuring stick, but it's well designed and surprisingly fun.  The gameplay loop from turning profits, upgrading your shop, outfitting adventurers, acquiring new stock and making your way through the game's dungeons is satisfying and addictive enough to keep you invested, and the brisk runtime (roughly 15 hours for a playthrough) ensures it doesn't wear out its welcome.  The game's dialog is also surprisingly  strong, with a lot of sly references and jabs at RPG clichés (including a very prominent Dragon Quest 3 shout-out) and plenty of absurd but funny dialog as Recette and Tear play off one another in their day-to-day interactions.  For those seeking a relatively novel twist on the dungeon crawler format, Recettear is one you should give a try.

There's also a remaster of the game slated to release in 2025 if you want to wait for that!

Developer: EasyGameStation
Publisher: Carpe Fulgur
Released: 2007, 2010
Platforms: PC

Into the Breach

 A clever blend of a roguelike and a turn-based strategic board game.  The object on each map is to have your squad survive for a set number of turns, using your units' unique attack ranges and abilities to defeat enemies while protecting civilian buildings and completing other random objectives such as defending particular structures or guest units.  Buildings serve as a secondary life meter in the form of the "power grid" that persists between each set of missions, so avoiding collateral damage as much as possible is a major priority.  Should all three of your mechs be disabled in a single mission or the grid lose all power across a set, you fail and travel back in time to try again.  While enemy moves are telegraphed, you have too few resources to completely stop them from doing damage, so you'll have to carefully weigh your options and make calculated sacrifices to successfully complete levels and complete long-term goals.  However, you'll gradually unlock new units and upgrades by completing various objectives (called "achievements") and can optionally carry over one surviving pilot's earned experience from a failed attempt, allowing you to refine your team and unlock new equipment and pilot abilities.  Basically, the more you play the better-equipped you become for later challenges, giving it that good old addictive quality.

 The game is a perfect fit for mobile platforms for its short play sessions and pick-up-and-play design, but frustratingly you can't just get it as a one-time purchase on iOS or Android; you need an active Netflix subscription to play it there.  At least the Switch version has no such restrictions, and the PC version also works perfectly on the Steam Deck and similar devices.  You can also stream the PC version on a mobile device via Steam Link, though you'll need a pretty solid internet connection for that.

Developer: Subset Games
Publisher: Subset Games, Netflix (iOS/Android versions)
Released: 2018, 2020, 2022
Platforms: PC, macOS, Switch, Linux, Stadia, iOS, Android

Rudra no Hihou

Rudra no Hihou ("Treasure of Rudra", rendered as "Treasure of the Rudras" in the fan translation) is another late-to-the-party Squaresoft RPG for the Super Famicom, and while it has gained a small following over the years it remains one of their more overlooked games.  It was relatively unique in its time for being primarily based on elements of Hinduism, though a few Biblical references also appear.  Somewhat like Live a Live, the game follows different characters with separate narratives, though unlike that game, they also all take place in the same time period and interconnect in small ways - one character can leave behind a relic for another to pick up later, for example, and at certain points you can even swap to another character's narrative and come back to the other's later.  The final chapter of the game has you take control of a fourth character, uniting with the other three protagonists to that point in order to face the story's antagonists.  Said storylines are broken up into "days" counting down to the end of the world, though this is simply a measure of progression; resting "overnight" at an inn does not cause it to increase.  Rudras' presentation is a step above most RPGs on the platform, with fully-animated character sprites in battle (including all enemies and bosses) for even mundane actions like using items and normal attacks, and just some gorgeously detailed spritework in general.  The gameplay is pretty standard turn based combat and mechanics, although one interesting twist is that elemental resistances have mutual exclusivities - you can't become resistant to fire and ice at the same time, for example, so tweaking your loadout requires a bit more thought.  The real selling point of the mechanics, though, is the magic system - by entering combinations of up to six katakana characters (or just typing combinations of letters in the translated version), you can create new Mantras with a wide variety of added effects.  For example, "Ig" is a basic fire-elemental attack, but adding "Na" to create "IgNa" will cause it to hit all enemies instead, or "IgRex" will increase the damage it outputs.  As the game progresses you'll learn new prefixes and suffixes to add to a core effect.  Bosses will also frequently give clues to spells you can create and use yourselves and you can even try just punching in random words to see what you get, although more often than not you'll get something weak or outright useless.  Other special words can also be used to create powerful effects, like "Epymetheus" creating a powerful water-element spell that can freeze enemies, "Peace" being a guaranteed flee from battle, or "Saintelmo" for a powerful lightning-element attack.  There are countless possible combinations to find and surprisingly nearly all of them do at least something, so it adds a great deal of experimentation to the game.  While not Square's best RPG of era, it is an interesting game with some unique elements and certainly worth a look.  Hopefully one day it gets an official localization or remake so a wider audience can appreciate it too.

Developer: Squaresoft
Publisher: Squaresoft
Released: 1996
Platforms: Super Famicom

Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance

 Most fans probably wouldn't Circle of the Moon a standout title in the series; while it was a decent attempt to adapt the Metroidvania format to a much smaller medium, the overall design left a fair bit to be desired. Still, it was a strong sellerfor Konami, so a followup (or several) was sure to happen.  Harmony of Dissonance was released the following year, and with SotN's Koji Igarashi writing and producing, definitely feels like a more polished game.  The game feel is definitely more in line with Symphony of the Night, with a heavier feel to its physics and more polished, deliberate action in general; even the protagonist bears a resemblance to Alucard and leaves behind afterimages as he moves despite being a Belmont.  One can also use the L and R buttons to backdash and even forward-dash to quickly evade attacks and close space, so combat in general is much more engaging this time. You only get one main melee weapon (your whip, of course), though it can be equipped with add-ons to give you slightly more damage against certain enemy types, charge attacks to break down certain walls, or add other properties like being able to spin your whip.  The castle's overall design is considerably better, with far less drab hallways and vertical corridors, and far fewer cheap hits from blind-jumping offscreen and landing right on an enemy or their projectile.  Money and shops return, and there's an odd sidequest where you collect furniture to decorate a room.  Magic and subweapons are given interplay in a pretty creative way - subweapons still run off hearts, though when combined with equippable "magic books" they instead utilize your MP meter and take on new properties.  For example, equipping the Ice Book with the fist subweapon results in a forward dash with a large ice spike, while a dagger will fire a barrage of homing icicles.  All in all, a more polished effort in just about every way, and a game certainly worthy of your attention if you love the Metroidvania format.

 

Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo

Publisher: Konami

Released: 2002

Platform: Game Boy Advance.  Also part of the Castlevania Advance Collection for PlayStation 4, Switch, PC and XBox One.

Wizardry 8

 The final game in the Wizardry series and the last game released by Sir-Tech Canada before they ceased operations in 2003, and having spent nearly a decade in development, it also saw the biggest overhaul the series ever had.  With a 3D engine, full 360-degree movement, an overhauled stat and skill system (running to 100 rather than 3-18 like traditional D&D) and even tweaked combat that took place in the very same 3D world you were exploring rather than a separate combat screen (with environmental obstacles, formations and enemy distance becoming new factors as a result), the Elder Scrolls influence is certainly apparent.  They even took a cue from the Jagged Alliance games and gave your created characters voice lines and lots of incidental dialog for battles and just exploring the world so they felt a bit more "alive" and had more personality than just their class.  Some other nice touches also make the world feel more dynamic, like wandering NPCs and weather effects.  Make no mistake, though, it's still very much Wizardry - turn based battles, punishing difficulty that actively encourages savescumming and lots - and I do mean lots - of experience farming, treasure looting and solving arcane puzzles are required to see the end.  Tying in with the previous two games, there are also five potential starting points depending on how you finished Wizardry 7, three potential endings, and even your choices in 6 factor into how the story plays out here if you keep the same party across the whole trilogy.  There's even a nice callback to the series' origins with a few hidden "retro style" dungeons with primitive wireframe graphics, 90 degree turns and teleporter and spinner traps to confuse the player.  It's a shame it was the last western-developed Wizardry, as it's neat to see how one of the genre's keystones evolved over the years and what potential it would have reached had it continued.  At least its legacy lives on, with new spinoff games and rereleases and a recent HD remake of the first game from Digital Eclipse.

Developer: Sir-Tech Canada

Publisher: Sir-Tech, Nightdive Studios

Released: 2001, 2013

Platforms: PC

Golden Axe Warrior

Early action-RPGs like Ys The Legend of Zelda proved to be very influential, with numerous other companies trying their own takes on the format - some quite successfully.  Most people know about titles like Crystalis and Neutopia and Lagoon and Wonder Boy, but considerably less well-known is a fairly rare Master System title known as Golden Axe Warrior.  Already having a dark fantasy hit in Golden Axe, it was a fairly simple matter to translate it world and characters to an action-RPG format, and they did an admirable job replicating Zelda's gameplay - the action is smooth and the hit detection solid, though the Master System's two-button controller means you're limited to equipping just one item at a time (used with button 2) and bringing up the menu with button 1 whenever you need to switch.  The hit detection is also a bit spotty - enemies can seemingly clip you almost every time they come near while your own weapons require near perfect precision to land.  There are a few improvements on the original Zelda format, though - one is that there are towns with interactable NPCs and shops, which makes the world feel a bit more alive.  Another is that you have a magic meter, which proves handy not just for attacking enemies at range, but clearing some obstacles from your path.  You're also given two types of melee weapons - axes can chop trees and have a wider swing, but shorter range than a thrusting sword.  A solid, well-made Zelda clone that actually improves upon the original in a few ways.  It's also quite a spendy title these days if you're looking for an original copy, but thankfully there is a cheaper alternative - the game is an unlockable bonus on Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for XBox 360 and PS3.

Developer: Sega

Publisher: Sega

Released: 1991

Platforms: Sega Master System

Princess Maker 2

Brought to us by Gainax (yes, the same company known for producing high-profile anime like Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gurenn Lagann), Princess Maker is certainly an interesting game for a number of reasons. The story opens with your character vanquishing a demon and earning the gratitude of a kingdom that had fallen to pride and sin.  That, however, is not the focus of the game; the narrative then cuts ahead several years to a time when the protagonist is bestowed a child of the gods, whom they then must raise from the ages of ten to eighteen.  To that end, you schedule her to take on jobs for income, undergo schooling and undertake tasks like errantries, combat challenges and other random events to raise some stats and lower others; a format that would later be copied by the Monster Rancher series of games.  There is also a yearly festival to test out her skills in art, cooking, combat or dancing (earning prizes if she wins), and you can also take her on vacations or just give her some spending money to lower her stress and make her less resentful toward you (which can result in her becoming a delinquent).  Once eight in-game years have passed, the sum of her experiences and stats are added up and you're given one of 74 potential endings. These range from becoming an artist, a bounty hunter, a prostitute (yes, really) or even the literal devil, with the most difficult one to achieve being the eponymous Princess, which requires a lot of currying favor and building connections with nobles and royals, not to mention training in elegance, glamour and dancing.  While there are some traditional elements in the game, mostly in the form of occasional combat challenges or errantries (playing out like a miniature dungeon), the focus here is really on playing a role - being a father and trying to shape your virtual daughter's future by maintaining trust and helping her build life skills.  The execution isn't flawless, with many of the jobs and schooling sessions having much greater benefits than others, and changing from the default diet plan doesn't seem to have much benefit at all, but it's a unique enough game to be worth a try regardless.  Even back in the '90s the game caught the attention of western publisher Intracorp, who had fully translated and planned to publish Princess Maker 2; unfortunately they went out of business before the game could be released, but a mostly-finished prototype was leaked online and quickly became the most widely distributed version of the game.

Developer: Gainax
Publisher: Gainax, Microcabin
Released: 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2004
Platforms: PC-98, MS-DOS, FM Towns, PC Engine, Sega Saturn, 3DO, PC, Playstation 2

There is also a remaster of the game on Steam called "Princess Maker 2 Refine", though I have not played that particular version.

Kingsvein

The fourth tactical RPG by developer Rad Codex, and rather than being a mostly linear dungeon crawl or an open world experience, this one goes more for a Baldur's Gate feel, having the player explore large maps with numerous hidden secrets and peppered with occasional battles. There is also a slight metroidvania bent, in that you can venture into an area and reach a new area in an adjacent map by unlocking a door or clearing a path beneath it, and you can collect items or abilities to do things like freeze water or smash down thin walls.  The core combat experience is largely unchanged, albeit with a new set of classes and races to choose from to take advantage of the new, subterranean setting.  Classes include dual-wielding Dragoons, trap-laying Fangers and the Swarm's Eye, a ranged attacker that summons insects to damage and distract enemies.  Another new mechanic is that you get a Mount - one of your character can hop aboard your wyvern to shield themselves from harm and take advantage of the wyvern's extra move range, although due to the fact that they cannot utilize any gear, they tend to be the first to fall in battle as enemies will almost invariably target them by preference.  One also has the ability to craft weapons, gear and augmentations from raw ore and even melt down redundant ones into raw materials for later use, which is quite nice.  The story is fairly threadbare but you do get bits of lore from "fireside chats" - as you rest and recoup strength at your hideout you will sometimes get drawn into a conversation where your characters talk about their pasts.  Unfortunately the game also feels much smaller than Horizon's Gate, with only a few screens to explore and a limited amount of experience to be had, so careful party planning and making every point count is a definite must here.  Yes you can venture out of the main area and fight randomly-generated battles on the overworld, but this just amounts to empty grinding and you're still restricted from revisiting fields repeatedly to level up, so it only helps to a point.  The core tactical action is still strong and the character building has that satisfying Final Fantasy Tactics mix-and-match bent, but it's just not as engrossing an experience as Horizon's Gate was.

Developer: Rad Codex

Publisher: Rad Codex

Released: 2024

Platform: PC

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade "INTERmission"

Released as downloadable content for Final Fantasy VII Remake (but frustratingly not available on the PS4 version), INTERmission is a new chapter of the story starring a relatively minor character from the original version of FF7; namely, Yuffie.  Mostly set around the Sector 7 slums, it has Yuffie ally with a new character named Sonon as they attempt to steal Shinra's "ultimate materia"; a story that unfolds in about 3-5 hours of playtime.  Of course, like the main game there's also plenty of side content to undertake beforehand, with the majority of it going to a new minigame.  Loosely based on the real-time strategy minigame Fort Condor from the original FF7, it plays out as more of a MOBA style minigame this time, having you summon units to defend your three towers and destroy the enemy's (or at least deal more damage) on a three-minute time limit.  It's simple, but fun and surprisingly deep - you'll need to change up your team loadout and tactics quite a bit if you want to conquer every opponent in it.

Sonon is only available as an AI-controlled ally (though you can give him commands), but thankfully Yuffie has more than enough versatility to make up for it.  She can fight both in close-range by slashing with her shuriken, or toss it away and have it spin in place (damaging anything it touches) and fight from afar by using magical bursts, giving her quite a bit of versatility.  Her innate abilities are also quite varied, letting her effectively exploit any elemental weakness without requiring Materia or MP-consuming spells.  Her HP is relatively low, but she is extremely speedy and mobile, so avoiding damage isn't as problematic as you'd think.  Intergrade also introduces a mechanic that would become more refined in Rebirth, namely Synergy - she can Nonon can both spend an ATB bar to unleash powerful attacks, or even both spend a Limit bar at the same time to inflict massive damage.

INTERmission is what you'd expect - an interquel side-story in the form of paid DLC, with a few mechanics (and a major character) that would of course have more prominence in the next game in the series.  While not strictly essential to enjoy the experience it is quite fun, and it doesn't wear out its welcome; you're provided with some fun minigames and a decent enough side-story containing about 4-6 hours of content to enjoy.  Worth a pickup or a bundled buy for sure.

Developer: Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Released: 2021
Platforms: PlayStation 5, PC

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: Treasure of Tarmin

The second Dungeons and Dragons licensed game on the Intellivision.  But whereas the first game was a very loose adaptation of the subject matter with an arcadey bent, Treasure of Tarmin draws far more inspiration from earlier D&D-inspired games like Wizardry, Ultima and even the old mainframe clones like Oubilette and DnD.  With a first-person perspective, monsters to vanquish, traps to avoid, some inventory and equipment management, and six stats to keep tabs on, it's an archetypal dungeon crawler.  Melee weapons and spells you find are single-use, while bows and spellbooks can be used repeatedly (the former as long as you have arrows, the latter as long as you have Spiritual Power), but nevertheless have a chance to break on each use.  Potions appear to restore war/spiritual strength and some special spellbooks can allow you to glance through walls, teleport through them, or power up equipment.  One can also find treasures like coins, crowns, lamps and golden chalices, though these are only used for points.  There's a surprising amount of depth and nuance for a game released where and when it was, and as probably the first game of its time to appear on a console, it's worth checking out from a historical perspective.

Developer: APh Technological Consulting

Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Released: 1983
Platforms: Intellivision, Mattel Aquarius

Shadow Hearts: From the New World

The third (and tragically last) Shadow Hearts game changes up the setting to to a new locale - America - and stars an almost entirely new cast in a story only tangentially connected to the originals.  But does it prove to be a worthy sendoff for a short-lived franchise, or should it just have stayed in the old world?

The third game to bear the Shadow Hearts moniker and the fourth in the series counting Koudelka, though technically it's a spinoff; a Shadow Hearts 3 was planned (which would have been a prequel telling the story of Jinpachiro Hyuga, Yuri's father), though it was unfortunately canceled when Nautilus was dissolved in 2007 by its parent company Aruze.  From the New World debuted in the US the same year, making it something of a eulogy for the series, as well another popular JRPG franchise that unfortunately never got an HD entry.

From the New World bears many gameplay similarities to the second game, with a cast of outlandish characters and accompanying side-quests to power up their unique abilities. Characters can also chain attacks together in battle and form Combos, dealing extra damage the more hits they land in an unbroken chain, and most characters can use a pool of common spells via the use of add-ons - Stellar Charts in this game's case.  Thus, while there is a fair bit of character customization, each character also gets their own unique mechanics and abilities to utilize; again, not dissimilar to Final Fantasy VI.  The series trademark Sanity Points return too; should your sanity drop to 0 or less, that character will go berserk and start attacking allies and enemies at random and will miss out on any experience gained from that fight, unless you restore it before the battle ends.  This can be particularly annoying early on, as many of your characters (even your main one) have very low SP at the start of the game, so you have to be sure to make every turn of theirs count.

But while many of these elements are still recognizable from 2, things do change up a fair bit.  A new mechanic called "Stock" is added, with attacks and taking damage gradually filling a character's bar up to a maximum of two levels.  Once you have at least one level, you can choose to spend one to start a combo chain (with everyone else who joins in having to spend one as well), or use a Double action, effectively getting two moves per turn, though you cannot do the same action more than once per turn.  Spending two Stock bars even allows you to combine both a Double and a Combo in the same turn, so you can chain up to eight actions together and rack up heavy damage.  Thankfully a UI improvement is also introduced - attacks now have lit indicators show the range(s) in which they hit (high, low or mid-range), and if an enemy you're targeting with the currently-selected attack is suboptimal or likely to miss entirely, their name will be highlighted in red, so you can back up and pick a better option without wasting MP.

The Crest Magic system from Shadow Hearts Covenant is also discarded in favor of a new one, utilizing Stellar Charts.  Each character can equip only one at a time, and each comes pre-loaded with a set number of slots and spells.  However, by visiting Bugen the Engraver, one can pay money to customize these slots and add new "Stellars" to them, granting access to new and more powerful spells.  Slots come in three basic types for Offensive, Restorative and Support magic, one of the six elements - fire, water, earth, wind, light and darkness - and four levels of power.  One can also change any elemental slot to a generic colorless slot that accepts any element, though this is much a more expensive option.  One can further add an "Effect Up" augmentation to a given slot to get more mileage out of offensive spells, or decrease MP cost of a spells in that slot by up to 50%, both at further cost.

The jokey tone of Covenant is played up even further here, both in its story scenes and in the characters' respective combat mechanics.  One of your first recruits is "Frank", a self-proclaimed ninja with an unidentifiable accent trained in Brazil who wields all manner of bizarre objects as oversized swords; not dissimilar to Joachim from Covenant picking up random objects to use in battle, always accompanied with dramatic speeches.  The requisite Valentine family member is a self-proclaimed superhero, changing form based on how many Calories she consumes; while in Slim form her physical attributes drop while her magic gets stronger, and in "Curvy" form things go the opposite direction.  Shania has a familiar mechanic in her Sanity-consuming monster morphing, though the designs and animations are more over-the-top than ever and extremely fanservicey; more than a little reminiscent of Bayonetta, though this game predates it by several years.  Johnny wields several gadgets in battle and is something of an amalgam of other characters; a cell-phone to summon help, a camera to snap pictures and analyze enemy stats (which then take the form of trading cards as part of a larger sidequest), and eventually gains some monster morphing abilities of his own.  It's all the weirdness and creativity of the series transplanted to a kitschy and exaggerated 1930s America, and it's pretty glorious to behold if you're into that sort of thing.  It is considerably scaled down from the previous game though - understandable since it's technically a spinoff title, but if you're used to the more leisurely pace of Covenant and the original Shadow Hearts it can be a bit jarring.

Shadow Hearts: From the New World definitely feels like a spinoff game - smaller in scale in almost every respect, and as a result it tries to cram more into that smaller space with mixed results.  Combat is slower and tends to drag after a while, particularly late in the game when virtually every enemy inflicts status effects and chains together long, damaging combos if you aren't scrupulously depleting their Stock every time they build it up.  Sidequests feel more than a bit filler-y (particularly Mao's, which requires an awful lot of tedious item farming) and even with all of that, you'll likely have to come through again in New Game Plus to see everything.  The lackluster villains and lack of character development in comparison to previous games feels like a pretty big omission too.  The end result is an enjoyable game that feels like it needed a bit more time to cook - time they unfortunately didn't have as they were closed down not long after its release.  It's a shame the series ends on such a bittersweet note, though, as I think Nautilus had the stuff to become a big name in the RPG field had they had a chance to prove themselves some more.

Developer: Nautilus
Publisher: Aruze, Xseed Games, Ghostlight
Released: 2005, 2007
Platforms: PlayStation 2

Recommended Version: N/A

Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl

 A remake of the original Etrian Odyssey, with several new features added - 3D models for monsters, multiple options for difficulty, some features to streamline the action (like fast-traveling through completed floors), some new enemy types, faster animations and combat, and most substantially, a new alternate story mode with new areas to explore, quite a bit of voice acting and several pre-defined characters and new story scenes, as well as two new classes exclusive to that mode (Highlander and Gunner).  Basically, the original EO with some significant upgrades and new content added.  The only real hangup is that there's only one save slot available, so you can't keep a separate save for the Classic mode and for the Story mode - you have to delete your progress in one to start the other.  That aside, it's classic dungeon crawling action with modern accomodations to trim down on the tedious aspects of its '80s bretheren; if that sounds good to you, Etrian Odyssey Untold is worthy of your time.  

Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Released: 2013
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth

Persona of course is an offshoot of the Megami Tensei franchise, which has its roots firmly in old-school dungeon crawling with strategic turn based combat.  Etrian Odyssey, another Atlus franchise, is much the same, intended as an explicit callback to games like Might & Magic, Wizardry and Ultima and even including map-making (via the DS touch screen) as an integral part of its gameplay.  So it wasn't much of a stretch to attempt something like Persona Q - a game which takes the engine of Etrian and adds in Persona's characters, story beats and a few key mechanics to create a hybrid game.  There are two story campaigns to experience, starring the casts of Persona 3 and 4 (as well as two new characters) venturing through the labyrinth, though other aspects of Persona's gameplay are altered substantially.  One is the addition of a mechanic called "Boost" - by striking an enemy's weakness, that character gets higher turn priority and has the cost of their skills reduced to 0 until they take damage, and having more party members boosted at once grants a greater chance of performing a powerful "All-Out Attack" at the end of a turn or performing a Co-Op attack.  Each character's main persona (and thus, spells and elemental properties) are fixed this time, but they can equip "Sub-Personas" to grant themselves a wider array of spells and augmentative abilities.  The Etrian element covers the rest - collecting item drops to sell and unlock new gear in shops, mapping out dungeons, and battling occasional strong monsters called FOEs that are much stronger than mundane encounters, but also offer substantially greater rewards.  The art style is also an expert blend of both franchises, with Etrian's cute chibi-fied character designs and Persona's bright colors, poppy soundtracks and surreal environments and monster designs.  An expert blend of two franchises that are both steeped in old-school dungeon crawling.

Developer: P-Studio
Publisher: Atlus
Released: 2014
Platforms: Nintendo 3DS

Super Lesbian Animal RPG

Super Lesbian Animal RPG. The name makes it sound like some kind of parody or that it's going to be very over-the-top, raunchy and played for laughs, but I assure you, it's very much done in earnest.  Starring two friends/lovers and several of their other close friends as they attempt to form their own adventuring guild, the game has a few of the silly elements you'd expect from the setup - stat-buffing kisses and love powered magic - but the rest is a genuine adventure with plenty of earnest humor and some surprisingly well-realized characters.  For the player's part (in the role of Melody Amaranth), you're given a career choice of three variants of Paladin, and your choices throughout the narrative do actually make a substantial difference in how scenes play out.  Despite being made in RPG Maker, the game also shows a high degree of polish and effort - I didn't spot any stock assets, and all the new ones showcase some high-quality art, spritework, music and animations.  Little touches like experience meters, custom menus and status screens (complete with a brief character profile) also go quite a long way, as do new mechanics; abilities run off both traditional Magic Points and "Star Power" that charges as the battle progresses.  Other, more substantial additions include a quest log, treasure maps with corresponding puzzles to solve, and of course the usual roundup of RPG sidequests like a bestiary and a few collection quests.  Basically it's a well-made, decently entertaining RPG with a silly title and a lot of clean humor.  And it's gay. Very, very gay.

 

I don't know how much these last few sliders and options actually factor in, but regardless, something I haven't seen before in an RPG.  Gets points for that!

Developer: ponett
Publisher: ponett
Released: 2022
Platforms: PC

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

Codeveloped by Level-5 and Square Enix, Dragon Quest IX is the first mainline game in the franchise released to implement online functionality and co-op play.  But does it still manage to be a fun time even as a single player experience, or is it an experiment gone wrong?

Dragon Quest IX was the first game in the franchise released exclusively for the Nintendo DS, and per series norms it was a massive success in Japan, selling over 4 million units.  It was something of a cultural phenomenon to boot, with its online component being widely used among its install base and even inspiring the Spotpass and Streetpass features on Nintendo's next handheld console, the 3DS.  It did relatively well outside of Japan too, selling another million units overseas and being lauded as one of the best RPGs on the Nintendo DS; no small feat considering how prolific the genre was on that platform.

Somewhat ironically, Dragon Quest IX began development after completion of the planning stages of what would later be come to known as Dragon Quest X and developed concurrently with it, with the two teams sharing ideas throughout.  As a result Dragon Quest IX feels a bit like an online game despite not being exclusively built as one; there's a character creator, item trading, a much heavier focus on item hunting and the crafting system introduced in VIII, and numerous short, quick-to-complete quests with incremental rewards throughout.  One can find (or have traded to them) numerous maps which unlock Grottos, which are semi-randomly-generated dungeons one can explore to fell foes and collect new equipment. Indeed this was a massively popular feature in Japan, especially with maps that contained valuable goods and/or large concentrations of Metal Slimes.  And of course, there's also a "Party Tricks" command, which works similar to Gestures in many other online games, having your character play a small animation and print out a short message to convey simple communication to other players.

The Vocation system from VI and VII returns here, though in a more restrained form that also works in elements from Dragon Quest VIII.  There are six vocations available at the start (with the player always beginning the story as a Minstrel) and 6 more are unlocked by completing quests as the game progresses.  Each vocation has a skillset unique to it, as well as access to four schools of weapon skills; by gaining levels you earn points to spend in these skillsets to unlock new abilities and stat bonuses.  One can of course change classes at their leisure once they reach Alltrades Abbey - class abilities do not carry over, but weapon skills can if you switch to another compatible class.  Investing 100 points into a weapon discipline will allow you to use that weapon (and associated skills) with any class, which allows for some fun mix-and-match combinations.  Maxing out your level in a given class and then reverting to level 1 grants a medal that, when equipped, grants a significant boost to a stat or other useful benefits (like being able to use gender-specific gear regardless of your starting choice), so while the system is designed to resemble a traditional single player RPG, there's still plenty there for the long-term powergaming intrinsic to online play.

Some other long-standing Dragon Quest design elements have been reworked too.  The equipment system in particular now has much more to it - there are now gloves, pants and boots in addition to the usual headgear, armor, weapons, shields, and accessories from earlier games, and equipped items do show up on your character's model, which is a nice touch.  Evasion is now a separate stat and operates as a flat percentage that can be increased by class abilities and certain types of gear, and there's now separate "Magical Mending" and "Magical Might" stats governing how effective healing and offensive spells are respectively.

The Tension mechanic also returns from Dragon Quest VIII and operates very similarly, though it's now a feature of certain vocations rather than being an ability for all characters to innately use.  The hero gets a unique ability (Egg On) that can be used to boost any character's Tension by one level, and being at maximum grants immunity to all status effects, giving it some added benefit beyond simply hitting harder or getting more mileage out of supportive spells.  Something slightly similar to XI's Pep is given form here with "Coup De Graces" - special abilities that have a small chance to become available each turn based on a number of factors.  These vary by Vocation and have quite a wide variety of effects, from getting guaranteed criticals to stealing items to restoring one's own MP to even gaining more experience after the current battle concludes.  If all four characters in your party enter this state at the same time, you can pull of a powerful combination move called a "Co-Op De Grace", with the choices you're given varying by the current party makeup.

Being built with a focus on the a multiplayer experience does have some downsides, though.  While there is still a main storyline in the game to follow (and it's a good one) and some well-written and memorable characters to take the journey with, your whole active party is comprised of generic characters - whether you create them yourself, ally with other players or pick some pre-fab ones out at the inn, only your protagonist has any active role in the narrative.  A definite downside after the last few Dragon Quests had such well-written and memorable casts integrated flawlessly into the storytelling.  There's also no voice acting this time around, though you do see some quite stylish and well-animated FMVs at key story points.  A bit of the magic is also lost with the discontinuation of the online component and the game being well past its heyday - the ability to connect to Nintendo Wi-Fi and exchange characters and items for one's player-populated inn, is no longer available, and while one can still trade items with other players while the system is in Sleep mode, you're not likely to run across them in the wild anymore.  Said features have also been a sticking point for a modern-day rerelease of the game as they were such a significant component of the core experience back in the early '10s, although developers at Square Enix have expressed interest in seeing the game return in some form.

Even though the game takes a step down to a handheld platform from its previous entry, Dragon Quest IX certainly doesn't skimp on its presentation.  The charming Toriyama character designs are expertly brought to life once again in 3D by Level-5 and Square Enix, and Koichi Sugiyama's soundtrack is once again fantastic, lending an epic mood to the game.  Perhaps as a means to make them easily identifiable, player characters (and major plot characters) are rendered in 3D models while minor NPCs are depicted with 2D sprites - a nice design touch and a clever nod to the older, less lavishly-produced Dragon Quests.

So, while Dragon Quest IX is a somewhat incomplete experience today and may not hold the same appeal as the strictly single-player games in the franchise, it's still a very worthy adventure to undertake.  It's well-presented, consistently charming and retains that timeless charm in its gameplay, retaining turn-based combat but spicing it up with plenty of clever mechanics, varied enemies and no shortage of granular character customization to experiment with.  I do hope Square Enix revives it in some form down the road, as I can imagine it being an exceptionally fun journey to undertake with friends.

Developer: Level-5, Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Released: 2010
Platforms: Nintendo DS

Recommended Version: N/A