Shadow Labyrinth

I don't think anyone could have guessed what they'd get with Shadow Labyrinth; I certainly didn't.  It just looked to me like a pretty generic Metroidvania with a vague space age horror vibe.  Well, I was correct, but what surprised me is that it's actually a tie in to Pac-Man; you know, the game where you play as a little round yellow guy and eat up dots while dodging ghosts?  Yeah... here he's reimagined as a small floating robot called Puck who aids the protagonist, a phantom-like being called Swordsman No. 8, in battling all sorts of undead creatures and phantoms called G-HOSTS (tee hee).  There are a few callouts to the old games, like being able to travel along walls as Puck a la Metroid's spider ball, collecting little yellow dots (which serve as currency) and, most bizarrely of all, morphing into a giant mostly-invincible monster form to get an edge over powerful enemies.  Said monster from can also eat said enemies to gain materials for upgrade crafting; in fact you'll have to do this quite a lot throughout the game.  You'll also collect little lore bits strewn about as well as basics like health upgrades and the occasional new ability to aid you in combat or reach new areas.  Shadow Labyrinth is a competently made Metroidvania; it's just not very unique or memorable other than the weird use of the Pac-Man license.

Developer: Bandai Namco Studios
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Released: 2025
Platform: PC, Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 5, XBox Series

The Adventures of Elliot: the Millennium Tales (Demo)

Produced by prominent Square Enix producer Tomoya Asano, The Adventures of Elliot: the Millenium Tales is a Zelda/Ys clone made by Claytechworks, who also developed Bravely Default 2.  Utilizing Asano's trademark (and still gaudy and distracting) HD-2D style, the game takes place largely from a top-down perspective, having the player battle enemies, avoid obstacles, do a bit of platforming, uncover hidden secrets and of course take on the occasional boss fight.  It plays competently and solidly enough, but isn't very unique save for a few elements; some good, some bad.  ZL and ZR are map and inventory, respectively, which isn't very intuitive to me as a long-time Zelda player.  One can also parry attacks via a well-timed press of the R button, which can occasionally stun enemies or reflect attacks; I didn't find this very intuitive or useful, though, and just found it more economical to dodge them.  You can find objects called Magicite that can be equipped to boost your stats or abilities, such as letting your arrows hit multiple times per shot.  You also have a fairy sidekick who can be maneuvered around to pick up items or, more usefully, to teleport to her current position by pressing the L button, letting you skip over gaps.  She also affords you a dash power, which seems pretty useless since the environments aren't very wide open and hitting anything brings you to a dead stop.  (She also cuts in constantly with obvious tips and other banter, which is all fully voiced and pretty grating.).  If you die at any point you can either choose to continue right from where you are for a small money cost, or reset to the last checkpoint.   Continuing is dirt cheap and even lets you pick up mid-fight during boss battles, so I see little reason to pick the latter.  The game is overall competently made and plays decently but from the demo I see little reason to recommend it over a good Ys or Zelda title.  Maybe the full version will have a some more unique elements to offer, but from what I've seen here, I'd say wait for a discount.  Or just buy Echoes of Wisdom if you haven't already, which looks and plays great on the Switch 2.

Developer: Claytechworks
Publisher: Square Enix
Released: 2025
Platform: Switch 2

Oh it crashed twice when I played it too.  One literally five seconds after starting the game (though after redownloading the demo, it seemed to work) and the other when I collected a chest and then pressed the R button.

The Black Onyx

 It's a bit hard to believe now, but back in the early '80s RPGs were a fairly unknown genre in Japan; Dungeons and Dragons hadn't been brought over and only a handful of people were aware of computer games like Ultima and Wizardry that were making a splash overseas.  Seeing opportunity, one Henk Rogers (who would later have a very prominent role in introducing Tetris to the wider world) would develop and release a D&D-inspired RPG and release it on the PC-8801.  That game was The Black Onyx and it was a huge hit, selling about 150,000 units (with many more likely playing it through pirated copies) and getting numerous ports and expansions in subsequent years.   It was a pretty full-featured game for the time, too - you could choose a wide assortment of heads and bodies to make custom avatars, and equipped gear would even show up on their sprites.  It had full-3D mazes, enemy groups with their own visible avatars, and even the ability to try and talk your way out of battles.  While there is no magic system or ranged weapons, there were shops to upgrade equipment, pubs and stores to interact with NPCs, and even a bank to store money so it wouldn't get stolen by robbers.  So if you're a fan of Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest or basically any other game that can trace its lineage back to D&D, well, here's a link in that chain you may not have even known about until now.

Developer: Bullet-Proof Software
Publisher: Bullet-Proof Software
Released: 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2001
Platforms: PC-8801, MSX, FM-7, SG-1000, Famicom, Game Boy Color

Jeanne D'Arc

Loosely based on the story of the real Joan of Arc (though with many fantastical liberties), Jeanne D'Arc is Level 5's attempt at making a tactical RPG as well as getting a hit of their own on the PSP.  But does it effectively showcase their talents and provide a worthwhile experience for tactical RPG fans, or is it simply outclassed by its contemporaries?

As a big fan of tactical RPGs and Final Fantasy Tactics in particular, I... oddly missed this one when it launched on the PSP in 2007.  Even more odd considering it was developed by Level-5, a company that ranks among my favorite contemporary RPG developers; I quite enjoyed the Ni no Kuni games and a couple of the Professor Laytons, and Dragon Quest VIII and Dark Cloud 2 still rank among my favorite games of all time.  Odd, I know.

Having played it now, though, I found quite a fun experience.  The game has quite a bit of production value behind it for a PSP game with animated and fully voice-acted cutscenes (pretty well, at that), and Level-5's usual high-quality music and polished design are out in full force.  It makes good use of the PSP's limited control scheme too, utilizing the thumbstick for camera control and the d-pad for menuing and selection, though this does take a little getting used to if you're playing the emulated PS4 port like I am.

In terms of gameplay Jeanne D'Arc most closely resembles Fire Emblem than Final Fantasy Tactics, though Fire Emblem than FFT, though thankfully with FE's more annoying elements filed off - there are no permadeaths or breakable weapons or "Weapon triangle", though elemental affinities follow a similar pattern - Sol (Sun) is strong against Stella (Star), Stella is strong against Luna (Moon), and Luna is strong against Sol.  Some new gameplay elements are added though, like "Burning Aura" - striking an enemy creates one in the space behind them, and another character can then stand in it and attack for greater accuracy and damage.  They can also stack up to three times, allowing you to take down some particularly stubborn enemies with chained attacks.  If allies stay in close proximity (within 2 squares) they also get "Unified Guard" whenever an enemy attacks or counter-attacks, reducing their chance to be hit and taking less damage when they do - a good thing as enemies can generally take down characters in two or three blows.  Jeanne (and a couple other characters) also steadily build up points as turns pass, and once they have enough they can Transform into a substantially powered up form once per battle, gaining some quite powerful abilities - Jeanne herself gets Godspeed, which grants her another turn if she defeats an enemy (and can be chained multiple times in a single round as long as you keep getting kills).  It also surprisingly doesn't feel overpowered, particularly as each battle has a turn limit and some stages also end immediately if particular characters (or even any character) should be defeated, so utilizing any advantage you can quickly becomes key to victory.  As expected for a portable game, fights are fairly brisk - maps are generally fairly small and you can finish them in about 15-20 minutes on average, though they do get a bit more involved as the game progresses.

Equipment upgrades are found in shops (naturally), but you also find plenty in the course of completing story battles, and should your levels ever be lagging, you can take part in "free battle" maps to power up, so you shouldn't ever get stuck.  In addition to the usual complement of weapons, armor and shields, you also find plenty of "Skill Stones" that grant abilities for different types of weapons or simply change a character's elemental affinity, making them stronger against certain enemy types and weaker against others.  Skills are generally linked to using certain types of weapons (can't use a sword skill with a spear or a dagger, for example), but there is a surprising variety therein - one sword skills gives all nearby allies an attack boost, another spear skill grants a 7-space linear attack, while a particular dagger skill allows one to steal items from enemies mid-battle.  There are also generic spells that recover HP or equip elemental damage, and can be used with any type of weapon equipped.

All in all, Jeanne D'Arc is well made, quite enjoyable tactical RPG experience.  Maybe not one of the genre's defining classics, but it manages to hold its own on the PSP - a platform that gave it some stiff competition with games like Tactics Ogre, Valkyria Chronicles and Final Fantasy Tactics.  A worthwhile alternative from a company with a lot of passion and talent, particularly as you can get it for dirt cheap nowadays on the PlayStation 4.

 

Developer: Level-5, Japan Studio

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Released: 2007

Platforms: Playstation Portable, Playstation 4

Recommended Version:  As of July 2024 the game is available on the PlayStation 4/5 as a downloadable title, though it's simply an emulated port of the PSP version (with rewind and savestate functionality added).

Bahamut Lagoon

Bahamut Lagoon was one of many late era Super Famicom RPGs by Square that came out just a bit too late to be considered for localization; the Saturn, Nintendo 64 and PlayStation were all out by then and steadily building up their audience, so putting in the time and effort to localize a game in a still-niche genre for a soon-to-be-retired console didn't make much sense from a business standpoint.  Still, the game got attention from fans in subsequent years, getting a fan translation and numerous requests for a remake that have thus far gone unanswered.  Gameplay-wise it feels a bit like a mashup of Fire Emblem and Ogre Battle, with each protagonist leading a squad of up to four units that can engage the enemy from afar with spells, or in turn-based battles in close quarters.  Each squad also commands a dragon; you cannot control it directly, but rather give vague commands to engage, retreat or stay alongside the squad and assist with attacks.  Dragons can also be fed between battles to boost their stats, change their elemental resistances or even alter them into different forms, granting advantages in future battles.  The game is quite impressive visually with its detailed backgrounds, smoothly-animated segmented characters and elaborate spell animations; in fact, it might just be the best looking Square RPG on the Super Famicom, which is no small feat from the company that previously brought us Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger and Super Mario RPG.  It all adds up to a game with Square's usual blend of depth and presentation and a few clever gameplay quirks (like freezing water with ice attacks so land units can cross over it), but the slow pace of it all gets to be a bit annoying - battles can easily take upwards of 30 minutes in the early chapters and only get larger (and longer) from there.  The overall plot is largely formulaic and the characters fall into the usual fantasy tropes, so it's nothing too spectacular there either.  Still, it is at least worth a visit as a mostly-overlooked curio of a legendary company, and I still hope it may one day get a polished-up and rebalanced remake as Live a Live did in 2022.

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

Baldur's Gate: Siege of Dragonspear

A bit of an oddity for sure, Siege of Dragonspear is an interquel/expansion to Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition, released nearly two decades after the original game was on PC and sixteen years after the story was concluded in Throne of Bhaal.  Serving to bridge the gap between the first and second games, it has the protagonist come under attack by a group of assassins under the command of a crusading warrior known as the Shining Lady who threatens the stability of the Sword Coast.  Imoen is unavailable for much of the game for plot reasons (first poisoned, then in an apprenticeship to explain her new status as a mage in 2), but much of the main cast from the first game returns, as do several new characters exclusive to this expansion.  The progression is very linear - you just hop from one area to the next in each chapter, a small contingent of Flaming Fist soldiers accompanying you, selling you items and storing your equipment, and while there are a few optional missions to undertake, the main story definitely takes precedent.  The story itself is serviceable, if not particularly memorable, but the dialog seems to be trying way too hard to be clever/funny and as a result becomes more annoying than anything.   The voice acting is decent for the most part, with many of the original cast returning (including the late David Warner as "the Hooded Man", whose scenes are easily the highlight of the whole package).  Encounters also strike a middle ground, mostly consisting of stronger variants of enemies from 1 with a few from 2 mixed in and it raises the experience cap to 500,000 - just enough to let you gain an extra level or two without completely disrupting the second game's balance, so it feels like a proper interquel in that regard.  All in all, an inoffensive but ultimately inconsequential addon.

Developer: Beamdog
Publisher: Beamdog, Skybound Games
Released: 2016
Platforms: PC, OS X, Linux, iOS, Android, Switch, PlayStation 4, XBox One

Castlevania: Circle of the Moon

Following Symphony of the Night's success on the Playstation (despite Sony's attempts to bury it), there was naturally more demand for the "metroidvania" format.  Circle of the Moon was actually a launch title for Nintendo's new Game Boy Advance system, all but ensuring it an audience, and the fact that it sold over 1 million copies naturally ensured the franchise would find a home on portable machines for years to come.  Circle of the Moon follows the same open-ended roaming as the original, with occasional boss fights and earning new items that allow reaching new areas.  Rather than having an extensive equipment and spell system and a shop like SotN, though, Circle of the Moon has something called the "Dual Setup System" (DSS), which allows you to combine two cards together to create a new effect.  Cards depicting the Greek gods form the base effect while monster cards provide a modifier; for example, Mercury adds elemental damage to your weapon; combining it with Salamander causes fire damage, Serpent causes ice, and so forth.  A lot of these effects are very niche and situational while others are almost comically overpowered - for instance, there's little point to using elemental effects  to target specific enemies when you can just attach a flat 25% damage boost to all of your attacks.  Similarly, summoning orbiting fireballs that inflict continuous contact damage lets you quickly destroy many bosses, much faster than would be possible just using your whip and/or subweapon.  Unfortunately most cards are a very low drop chance from various enemies, so you'll have to do a lot of tedious farming to collect them all.  The high difficulty of many boss fights also ensures you'll really want specific card setups to stand much of a chance, unless you really like naked experience grinding too.  Being limited to only one effect at a time is also a bit annoying, particularly as SotN allowed you to freely mix-and-match weapon types, armors, spells and boost effects while here they're all tied to random drops and/or the DSS.  Two of the strongest cards are also tied to rare drops from postgame bosses at the tail end of a long gauntlet of boss fights, so you'll be doing an arduous amount of grinding if you want to get full completion.

Circle of the Moon is far from perfect, but is a passable first attempt at a portable Castlevania.  Despite the obvious downsizing it retains a good semblance of the open-ended roaming and character building that made SotN fun, and it's got plenty of moody atmosphere, story twists and the same rewarding gameplay loop that made the format a hit to begin with.  Worth checking out, especially since you can get it for a pittance with the Castlevania Advance Collection on multiple platforms nowadays.

Developer: Konami Computer Entertainment Kobe

Publisher: Konami

Released: 2001

Platforms: Game Boy Advance. Also part of the Castlevania Advance Collection for PlayStation 4, Switch, PC and XBox One.  The Advance Collection also has a built-in rewind feature which substantially cuts down on the tedium of farming drops.

Vay

Vay (rhymes with "eye") was released on the Sega CD by Working Designs, which certainly gave it some clout with '90s gamers - having an RPG with animated cutscenes, quality voicework, some touches of graphic violence and Working Designs's erm, colorful dialog embellishments gave those who owned a Sega CD some bragging rights.  Beyond the publisher's name recognition, though, it's a pretty bog-standard RPG in most every respect.  Simple turn-based combat, rather flat graphics and generic music, and quite a bit of slow-paced grinding for equipment.  The titular story element is the Vay Armor, a giant powered armor suit, but sadly all it translates to in terms of gameplay is a powerful piece of armor and weaponry for your main character.  The world design is pretty linear overall - there's pretty much no optional areas, puzzles or deciphering clues to find your next objective, and dungeons are mostly just linear corridors full of monsters to fight.  Vay is competently made in most respects, but not a lot about it stands out even in its time.  Vay also had a very unenviable release window, coming out in North America about two months after Final Fantasy VI and in a release year sandwiched between the release of the two Lunar games on the same platform - all top-of-the-line titles in their genre.  It may have value for a few Sega CD adopters as a nostalgic favorite, but even to them Vay is probably best left as a good memory while other, more worthy RPGs should get the revisit treatment instead.

Developer: Hertz

Publisher: SIMS, Working Designs, SoMoGa

Released: 1994, 2008, 2024

Platforms: Sega CD, iPhone, Android, PC

Wizardry VI: Bane of the Cosmic Forge and Wizardry VII: Crusaders of the Dark Savant

Wizardry VI marked a significant new turn for the series; not least of which because it was actually the first to use a new engine, departing from the one they'd had for five previous games and over seven years.  With it also came a whole new slew of playable races, from Dracons to Felpurrs to Mooks, as well as numerous new classes like Valkyries, Bards, Psionics and Alchemists.  Magic, rather than being simply divided into priest and mage spells, has been similarly overhauled, now comprising the domains of fire, water, air, earth, mental, and holy spells, restricted by class - only Psionics can use all of the Mental spells, for example, while Alchemists get a small handful from every sphere to simulate them brewing various potions and poisons.  There's a limited skill system in place too, with some being tied to a particular class (such as the Bard's music skill) while most others can be used by several classes or even any class; though obviously things like Legerdemain (pickpocketing) and Skullduggery (lockpicking) are best suited to specialized classes like the Thief.  The core gameplay remains quintessentially Wizardry, though - first person dungeon crawling with 90 degree angles, punishingly difficult battles and a whole lot of grinding - but you can at least do proper saves and reloads now rather than having to roll a whole new party each time you die.  There is also no hub town this time - you start off straight in the dungeon itself and make do with whatever you scavenge from treasure chests or battles, or whatever scattered NPCs you can barter with.  Something else relatively unique for the time is that each of the two games also have multiple endings - depending on how you complete the story, importing your party into the next game will start them in a different place in the next one and with slightly different surrounding story events, though the overall story and sequence of events remains largely unchanged.  Still quintessentially old-school, brutally tough, grindy and "primitive" in design even a decade after the series' origins, Wizardry 6 and 7 are for a very niche audience, but those who enjoy their specific school of design swear by them.

 

Developer: Sir-Tech

Publisher: Sir-Tech, ASCII Corporation, Sony Computer Entertainment, Nightdive Studios

Released: 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2013

Platforms: PC, FM Towns, PC-98, PlayStation, Mac OS

I would also strongly recommend you play the DOS version of Wizardry 7 and not the Windows remake "Wizardry Gold"; Gold breaks several important skills and makes the game much more difficult to complete.

Linda³ (Cube) Again

A cult classic game noted for its off-beat design and relatively unique premise; indeed, I learned of it from a cutscene compilation on Youtube and wondered just what all these sequences of bizarre body horror could possibly amount to when it came to an RPG narrative.  The answer, unfortunately, wasn't as deep as I'd hoped.  The "Cube" of the title refers to the fact that rather than being one contiguous story, Linda³ is actually three separate, non-connected takes on the same basic plot, all taking place within the same world and starring mostly the same cast of characters.  The core premise remains the same in all three - collect a specified number of pairs of animals and launch the Ark before a meteor destroys planet Neo Kenya in 8 years - but each story has its own unique subplots, twists and areas to explore.  That said, though, they mostly take a backseat to the core gameplay of collecting animals by defeating them in combat.  Indeed, you don't even need to wrap up the backing plot proper in most cases; once Ken and Linda have cleared their respective hurdles and you have enough animals to activate the Ark, you can set off at any time and view the ending.  The monster catching itself is far simpler than something like Megami Tensei or Pokemon - you just reduce a monster's HP low enough (or just a bit below zero) and they'll automatically be captured.  However, if you inflict too much damage (well in excess of their max HP in a single blow), they'll simply explode instead and you won't capture them nor gain experience, so some creative equipment swapping or skill use may be required.  Some animals also have specific requirements to get them to approach (carrying rotten meat) while others can simply be found or purchased, and your party can contain up to two dogs to aid you in battle, who mostly act of their own accord.  Other interesting mechanics include being able to butcher any animal for meat, which restores HP but may also have negative side effects, or even crafting them into weapons and armor, some of which can be sold for rather ludicrous sums of money.  The game certainly revels in its strangeness with the aforementioned wild cutscenes and an often dark sense of humor, but the fairly pedestrian/grindy gameplay and short, disconnected narrative(s) don't do it too many favors.

I should also note there are three different versions of Linda³ - the original PC Engine CD release, a 1997 PlayStation 1 version that reworks most of the graphics and adds an extra scenario that serves as a one-year time trial (appending the subtitle "Again"), and a third version on the Saturn the following year called "Kanzenban" (Perfect Edition) that adds a bit more content and uncensors some elements of the PlayStation release.  There is a fan translation available for the PS1 version as of 2024.

Developer: Alfa System, Mars Corporation
Publisher: NEC, Sony Computer Entertainment, ASCII Corporation
Released: 1995, 1997, 1998
Platforms: PC Engine CD, PlayStation 1, Sega Saturn

Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance

Shin Megami Tensei V was a return to fundamentals for the series, for both good and ill - its relatively minimal plot and character development, the series' general punishing design and a heavy focus on party management were all brought back in fine form, and the surreal art style and heavy, moody music were quite a sight to behold.  However, it was hampered by its shoddy performance.  Being released exclusively for the Switch - a portable platform with considerably lower capabilities than dedicated HD consoles - and pretty poorly optimized besides, it made my system run hot basically all the time and had a terribly choppy framerate throughout.  Hopes for a patch to fix it never really materialized, but Atlus being Atlus, they did work on and eventually release an updated version a few years later.  Quite a substantial one at that - Vengeance features an alternate story mode with many plotline changes and new characters (though the original is still available to play too), several quality-of-life features like Magatsu Rails to expedite repetitive backtracking, new demons, new areas to explore, all the DLC content from the original packed in as well as some new DLC of its own, and extra features like the Demon Haunt that let you interact with your demons on a slightly more personal level.  Basically, it's a major improvement on the core game in every way.  Well, except one - they don't seem to have optimized the Switch version at all.  Performance is still just as choppy and GPU-taxing as ever, and may in fact be worse owing to the extra content they've added.  So, buy Vengeance on another platform if at all possible; I can personally confirm it runs perfectly on the PS5.

Developer: Atlus

Publisher: Sega

Released: 2024

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, XBox One, XBox Series, Switch

Sand Land

An open-world game based on a somewhat obscure Akira Toriyama manga, Sand Land tells a post-apocalyptic tale set in an expansive desert overrun by dangerous fauna and under an oppressive military rule helmed by a despotic king.  Starring the demon Beelzebub and his companions Thief, Ann and Rao, they seek a mystic spring that could free the world from the military's grasp.  They're a pretty fun crew to hang with and their banter is pretty amusing, although you end up hearing the same handful of conversations a lot if you spend any amount of time wandering in search of treasure.  While there is hand-to-hand combat and dungeon exploration to a degree, the main draw of the gameplay is the vehicles - from two-legged jumper mechs to tanks to cars to motorcycles to battle mecha, you get quite a variety, and all can be customized with different paint jobs, weapon loadouts, armor and "chips" that grant small bonuses like quicker reload times or longer-lasting incendiary damage.  Using these, you follow the main story missions as well as a number of side objectives like bounty hunts, treasure hunting (with only some vehicles able to surmount certain obstacles), repairing radio towers and even racing events, with a larger overarching quest involving recruiting people to rebuild a struggling town and add more amenities to it. Toriyama's quirky sense of humor and imaginative designs once again prove a major highlight of the experience, lending an irreverent charm to the game and its characters, and I'm always impressed by how well his style translates to 3D.  Sand Land isn't a particularly deep game (and doesn't pretend to be either, unlike many pretty-but-shallow modern gaming experiences), but it is a fun one if you just want to spend a few hours driving around, blowing up critters and bandits and customizing your steadily-growing fleet of vehicles, although it hits the point of diminishing returns well before its story ends. Give the DLC (and the Digital Deluxe and physical Collector's Editions) a pass though, as they don't really provide anything substantive for the extra cost.

Developer: ICLA

Publisher: Bandai Namco

Released: 2024

Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4, Playstation 5, XBox Series

The Legend of Legacy

While there are plenty of Final Fantasy copycats out there, some of which have become pretty respected franchises in their own right (Shadow Hearts coming to mind), there are very few games that try to copy Square's SaGa franchise.  Maybe not the most surprising thing since it's a far less popular series, but it has been around almost as long as Final Fantasy and continues to have a dedicated fanbase so it was bound to happen eventually.  The Legend of Legacy is one of those rare SaGa clones, and it's a pretty authentic experience considering its development team has several Square Enix alumni in its ranks.  With game design by Kyoji Koizumi (who also designed several of the SaGa games), written by Masato Kato (of Chrono Trigger/Cross and Xenogears fame) and featuring music by Masashi Hamazu, they set out to make a game that felt like a '90s SaGa title and succeeded for the most part.   Set on the island of Avalon, the game features seven smaller stories in a shared setting and a focus on open-ended exploration and strategic combat. Stats and skills level up semi-randomly by participating in combat, and available techniques dependent on each character's type of weapon and their proficiency with it, randomly "Revealing" new techniques or upgrading existing ones (similar to "Sparking" in the SaGa games).  A strategic bent comes in the form of party formations chosen at the start of each turn; for example the Unicorn formation puts one person on point, and if they choose to block using a shield, they will intercept attacks directed at the allies behind them.  HP is also restored to full after each battle, though if a character is KO'd in battle their maximum HP will be reduced until they return to town to rest; further hits taken while downed will further reduce it.  Running from battle also operates differently from most RPGs in that the party will not just escape from their enemies, but retreat all the way back to the entrance of the current map.  Like SaGa, the open-ended design proves to be a double-edged sword; in the course of exploring you can easily stumble across a high-level area, get trapped in a boss fight and wiped out with no prior warning, necessitating a reloaded save and a fair bit of lost progress.  You also do have to pay close attention to clues and story beats and do a fair bit of searching to figure out what do do next, so it's not just a matter of following a marker to hit the next plot beat until you win like most JRPGs.  Still, if you like the unique and off-beat blend of Japanese and western elements that the SaGa series provides, the Legend of Legacy is one you may want to check out too.

Developer: Cattle Call, Grezzo

Publisher: FuRyu, Atlus, NIS America

Released: 2015, 2016, 2024 (HD Remaster)

Platforms: Nintendo 3DS, Switch, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, PC

Final Fantasy Dimensions

Initially released as an episodic title similar to Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (and sharing many of the same developers), Final Fantasy Dimensions is a 16-bit styled Final Fantasy in just about every respect - familiar monsters, job classes and abilities appear, there are numerous familiar character names and story beats, and the combat system feels remarkably similar to Final Fantasy IV and V with its five-character teams, active time battles and customizable character classes.  The story also plays with an idea only briefly touched upon in Final Fantasy III - there being a parallel team of Warriors of Darkness that serve as a counterbalance to the Warriors of Light, splitting the narrative between two separate parties that eventually coalesce into a larger plot.  There are also (quite frequent) random battles and a lot of dungeons to get through, so while the game does last a good 50 hours, it does get pretty monotonous to play.  The game controls adequately for touch-screen based platforms, although talking to wandering NPCs can be a bit irritating, and if you're on a smaller device it's easy to fat-finger and hit the wrong command at a bad moment.  All in all though, Dimensions is a decent 2D Final Fantasy that obviously draws inspiration and numerous elements from the series' roots, but has enough fresh ideas to become a distinct and memorable title its own right.  If you're one of those fans who has lamented the lack of turn based Final Fantasy games in recent years, Dimensions is one you may want to give a try.

Developer: Matrix Software

Publisher: Square Enix

Released: 2010, 2012

Platforms: i-mode, EZweb, iOS, Android

Persona 3 Reload

The fourth version of Persona 3 to be released brings some new features into the fold while controversially omitting several from prior releases and replacing almost its entire voice cast.  But is there enough new here to appease long time fans and newcomers alike, or is this undefinitive-by-choice release one for newcomers only?

Remakes seem to be the flavor of the month in gaming - taking old games that already did well, keeping the familiar elements intact and reworking the rest to modern standards.  In fact, they seem to be more common than original games these days, with companies like Capcom, Sony, Naughty Dog, Square Enix and even Nintendo commissioning them now; sometimes less than a decade after the original game was released. They inevitably draw complaints from fans for not staying "faithful enough" to the originals for any number of reasons (almost invariably longtime fans trying to hold onto whatever imaginary 'cred' they believe they have and vindictively nitpicking every last minute difference they can find to prove how much of a "real fan" they are), though I really don't get that mentality; I mean, if the original game is so 'perfect', why did they even buy a remake in the first place?  And if the remake is really that awful, why did they play through it multiple times just to pick it apart?

That said, the announcement of Persona 3 Reload drew criticism right away from many fans, myself included.  The game has already had three distinct versions - there was the PS2 original, which was followed by an enhanced version called FES which made various design tweaks, added a new social link and an extra story chapter (The Answer) that expanded on the original game's ending. A few years after came Persona 3 Portable - a PSP port which brought several more tweaks and added an alternate story mode with a female protagonist and many new Social Links.  It sadly lacked the Answer chapter and most of the FMVs owing to space constraints on the UMD medium, but it's downright impressive how much content they managed to fit in there regardless.  So with Reload they had a perfect opportunity to collate all the content from FES and Portable into one game, add in some new graphics and voiceover, and create a new, definitive release of Persona 3 at long last.

You can probably guess from all that leadup that it didn't happen.  In fact, from the moment it was announced they made no secret that it was going to be a remake of the base game's content only, excluding the Answer and the Female Protagonist route from Portable, with one or both likely to be sold later as DLC or an "enhanced version" a year or two down the road (and wouldn't you know it, fans have since discovered that the Answer will likely be released as paid DLC at some point in the future).  Seems a bit silly and/or money-grubbing to do something like that, especially in a time period where the industry's reputation is on shaky footing with mass layoffs and various scummy business practices.  One of which is that numerous other Sega-released RPGs have started selling you basic features as "premium content" and charging exorbitant prices for it (witness having to buy the $90 Digital Deluxe Edition of Infinite Wealth just to access New Game Plus - a decision that led to me boycotting the game entirely).

All that said, I do endeavor to judge games on their merits here on RPGreats, rather than what I think they should be; I don't always succeed, but I try.  So, putting all the stigma aside, does the fourth edition of Persona 3 have enough to set it apart?  Well, the presentation definitely gets a nice upgrade, adding much more voiceover (with even the social link characters having voiced scenes now) and adding more glitz to the UI, with animated character portraits, some flashier stylized menus and Persona 5 style splash screens for winning via an All-Out Attack.  Cutscenes and FMVs are all redone and brought up to modern standards to show off the game's higher budget, and they even re-recorded the vocals on all the game's music tracks make the lyrics more distinct and less phonetic.  The major voice roles in the game have all controversially been recast, and while I can tell they're trying for the most part, they just don't match up to the originals.  Half the time they barely sound awake, and the auto-advance is really not well-implemented - there's barely any pause between the lines so the characters just sound like they're rambling in every cutscene.  Really guys, give the lines a second or two to breathe; it won't kill you.

In terms of design P3R is is at least not a retread of the earliest versions of its line.  Several new mechanics (some ironically grandfathered in from Portable) make an appearance here, including the option to have full control over your party members rather than giving broad orders, and there are five difficulty selections to allow both newcomers and die-hards to enjoy the game.  New mechanics include "Twilight Fragments" used to unlock certain chests in Tartarus; some are strewn about Tatsumi while others must be found in special, randomly placed floors of Tartarus or earned as rewards for building Social Links from Elizabeth.  Monad Doors also return from Portable, allowing the player to challenge tougher battles against previously defeated bosses for extra rewards.  Similar to Persona 5 Royal's Baton Pass, one can also Shift - effectively passing their bonus turn to an ally - after getting a One More, letting you conserve MP or switch up tactics.  Tartarus in general is also more tightly designed and the combat faster paced, cutting down considerably on the tedium from earlier versions.

Some of Persona 3's core mechanics are reworked too.  Shuffle Time is no longer a minigame and is more consistent (you'll always get one if you finish a battle with an All-Out Attack) and the rewards change up significantly.  A substantial new addition here is Arcana bursts - cards with new, temporary buffs that gradually unlock as you defeat story bosses.  Each character now has something akin to a super move or a limit break in the form of "Theurgy" - each character has a meter that is charged in differing ways (dealing damage, healing allies etc.) and can be unleashed once full to powerful effect.  The game also does away with the pointless tiredness mechanics and party splitting in dungeons, and events that formerly relied on them (like getting medicine from the school nurse) can be done at one's leisure.

All in all, Reload is a decent, if not particularly necessary, remake.  It's worth a pickup if you've never experienced P3 before and the new enhancements are quite welcome, but at $70 for what's essentially another rerelease of a nearly 20-year-old game at this point it feels overpriced.  Not to mention that the Answer will probably be paid DLC and you'll still have to buy Portable too if you want to experience that version's extra content (which, conveniently enough, was made available digitally on all the major platforms a year before P3R launched), Unless they decide to release it as paid DLC in the future too; either way, you'll be paying well over $100 to get the entire P3 experience. To me this all just smacks of Atlus trying to set another really horrible precedent for all future rereleases and remakes in this genre, and considering games are likely going up in price to $80 a pop soon, it's just more of the industry becoming increasingly anti-consumer.  I would love to give a version of Persona 3 a 3.5 or even a 4-star rating, especially as it's one of the games that revived my interest in JRPGs in the mid-2000s; you'd think Atlus would want to give it the best possible treatment too considering how instrumental the game was in making them the powerhouse name they are today.  But alas, Atlus only cares about turning a quick buck for daddy Sega, no matter how low they have to stoop to do it, and this is just another quick-and-dirty cash grab for them.  Wait till it's on steep discount, or better yet, save yourself $80+ and just play Portable instead; if you're going to be stuck with a non-definitive release regardless, you may as well get the one that has the most (and most interesting) content.

 

Developer: Atlus 
Publisher: Sega
Released: 2024
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, XBox One, XBox Series, PC

Recommended Version: All versions are pretty much the same.  The PC version already has a fan mod to reimplement the female protagonist from Portable too, so if that's your jam it may be worth picking up that version.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

The third game in the Deus Ex franchise and the first to be released in nearly a decade promised to be a return to form for series fans.  But does Human Revolution live up to the legacy of the legendary first game, or is it another one to be dropped and promptly forgotten like Invisible War? 

Released almost a decade after Invisible War, Human Revolution thankfully doesn't hit the reset button again, instead opting for a prequel to the first Deus Ex focusing on humanity's newfound fascination with mechanical augmentation.  The main character, Adam Jensen, finds himself an unwitting recipient of mechanical implants after the company he works for falls under siege and he is critically wounded (including a rather graphic headshot as a reference to Robocop).  Per series norms, how he copes with his new life is left up to the player, either enjoying the benefits of augmentation or buying into the counternarrative that he's now less than human and wouldn't wish his fate on anyone.

To its credit, Human Revolution does at least feel more like the first Deus Ex than the second - you're not overly limited by a lack of options or cramped by tiny, narrow level design, and the augs you're given access to are rather extensive and have quite a few new flashy effects.  From softening falls to punching through weak walls to hacking hostile robots to reducing weapon recoil to emitting a powerful explosive attack in a short radius around your character to literal x-ray vision, you get some quite useful and powerful effects.  They're not too abusable, though, as the majority of them run off an limited energy meter that only regenerates partway (one bar in the original release, two bars in Director's Cut).  You'll need a fair number of candy bars and batteries to keep your energy topped up if you want to use your augs extensively.  Like many modern shooters Human Revolution features regenerating health, though it occurs slowly enough that you can't abuse it too much - if you go in running and gunning against large groups of enemies you'll still probably die pretty fast.

There's a lot more focus on stealth-based gameplay too, with the player able to flatten themselves against walls or press a button near an unaware enemy for an instant takedown, either lethal or nonlethal depending on how long you hold down the Q key.  Another new mechanic I quite liked is the "battle of words" - at several points in the game you basically get into an argument with another character, and by picking the right choices you can get them to stand down, often ending a confrontation nonlethally or gaining some other benefit afterward; in fact, one of your augmentations plays into this, giving you hints on what to say based on that character's personality traits.  One can also purchase and modify weapons, which once again run on separate ammunition types (hooray!) and for the first time in the series can even sell weapons back for extra cash, which is something I ended up doing quite a lot.  There is an annoying catch, though, in that you can only carry one of any given weapon type at a time - any others you pick up are emptied of their ammo and immediately vanish into the either, so if you want to sell a lot of weapons back you have to drop your current copy and carry them back to the seller one at a time.

A major detriment, at least in the original release of HR, are the boss battles - overlong and generally awful slogs against bullet-sponge bosses that can sustain multiple headshots from high-capacity weapons without flinching, but take you out in only a few hits.  Not to mention this rigid style of design completely disregards the choice-based gameplay everywhere else in the series and even in this game. Apparently the boss fights were actually farmed out to another development studio, and I believe it considering how out-of-step they are with everything else in the game.  Thankfully the Director's Cut does alleviate this to a degree, giving them wider arenas with things like vents to sneak-attack from and automatic turrets to set traps with.  

I don't much like HR trying to rope you into one particular gameplay style, either - getting experience bonuses for nonlethal takedowns (which add up very fast) and a gimmicky hacking minigame that awards more XP and lets you constantly unlock more virtual "viruses" that make future attempts easier means you're basically going to play a stealthy superhacker no matter what, because the alternative is missing out on a huge chunk of valuable points and supplies with no recourse.

Some prominent plot holes and inconsistencies creep in fast as well.  2025 seemingly has much more advanced technology than the 2052 setting of Deus Ex, withs full-body augs and AIs that can easily pass the Turing Test to the naked eye and holograms that don't require bulky projectors.  The ending is somehow even lamer than Invisible War's big dumb faction punch-up, with Adam being taken to an island of essentially mindless aggressors and  literally being led to a room with three buttons and told to pick one to choose an ending.  Pretty weak stuff, especially given how vast, complex and rewarding choosing one of the original game's conclusions was - you were picking a plan of action and carrying it out while outwitting gene-spliced monsters and armed super soldiers, and no matter which path you chose it was pretty epic.  I also felt there was a big missed opportunity by not having any of your prior choices play a role in the final area at all - it just seems that nothing you do before that stage makes any difference going in or affects the outcome whatsoever; also true of the original games, sure, but this was the first Deus Ex of a new generation of consoles and a perfect opportunity to do something new with the format..  Of course, the prequel problem also kicks in, in that you know how things are going to unfold in later games so two of the choices you're given are a purely hypothetical what ifs with no basis in canon, which just kind of makes me wonder why they give you an option at all other than to say "yep, it's Deus Ex and it's all about CHOICE, even if none of it actually matters in the end!".

Human Revolution feels like a "designed by committee" return for Deus Ex - made by people looking to create something that will appeal to fans and turn a profit for their shareholders without quite understanding what made the original work so well.  It hits a lot of the beats and has a few good ideas of its own, but for everything it does right there's something else that feels undercooked or just not implemented very well.  The gameplay gives the illusion of choice but ropes you into a particular playstyle for longterm success, and  everything you do in the plot just feels ancillary, like you're playing out a bit of lore mentioned in passing in some random computer terminal in the original game that ultimately has little bearing on its events.  There are also substantial performance issues even on modern machines, with a lot of stuttering and frame drops at very inconvenient moments.  The end result is a moderately fun experience that doesn't live up to its potential on any front, but does at least recapture some of the immersive design, heavy atmosphere and creative problem solving the original game provided.

Developer: Eidos-Montreal
Publisher: Square Enix Europe
Released: 2011, 2012, 2013 (Director's Cut)
Platforms: PlayStation 3, XBox 360, Mac OS X, Wii U

Recommended Version: All versions play pretty much the same, though the 2013 Director's Cut does feature some substantial improvements to enemy AI, overall gameplay (including much better boss fights) and some core mechanics, as well as improved visuals and including the Missing Link DLC.  The Wii U version also has a few exclusive additions like using the touchpad to display a minimap, input keycodes, interact with computers and activate some augmentation features

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: DragonStrike (NES)

DragonStrike on computers was a pretty novel idea - a D&D-licensed flight and aerial combat sim.  The NES did have a few such games like Top Gun and Airwolf, but they were all pretty primitive, held back by the limitations of the hardware.  So rather than trying to adapt the PC version of Dragonstrike, Westwood chose to make an entirely new game - in this case, a top-down free-roaming shooter.  Given a choice of three dragons to control with slightly differing stats, you fly around large maps, shooting down enemies with projectiles.  One can fly low to attack enemies on the ground by pressing the B button, then switch back to aerial combat to engage other flying enemies like beholders, dragons and wizards on flying carpets.  Every couple of stages you're pitted against a boss, ranging from a giant squid to a fortified castle to a heavily armed ship, and the final battle pits you against big-time D&D baddie Tiamat, the five-headed dragon queen.  The game does look quite nice on the NES, with detailed environments and little sprite flicker, and the music is provided by Westwood alumnus Frank Klepacki, who would become famous for composing the soundtrack to Command & Conquer only a few years later.  A decent if not amazing experience, though it is commendable that they decided to make an entirely new game rather than trying to adapt the computer version onto hardware it wasn't suited for; more than I can claim for some other NES games, for sure.

Developer: Westwood Associates
Publisher: Strategic Simulations
Released: 1990
Platforms: NES

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons: DragonStrike

DragonStrike (not to be confused with the similarly-named D&D board game) is certainly an odd take on Dungeons and Dragons, exhuming RPG design in favor of an aerial flight and combat sim game.  The player is put in the role of a knight riding on the back of a dragon, and over the course of numerous missions they shoot down enemies with dragon breath or defeat them in melee combat using their dragon's claws, teeth or their lance.  There's quite a few of them too - dragons, manticores, wyverns and beholders all attack at various times, and flying too low will put you in range of enemy archers, so that's something to avoid.  Per Westwood standards the game is quite impressive visually with its smoothly animated (albeit undetailed) 3D environments and enemies, and the 2D artwork on display between stages is quite beautiful to behold.  While not a particularly deep game it is fun while it lasts, and if nothing else it's probably the only flight sim that will ever be attached to the D&D license. 

Developer: Westwood Associates
Publisher: Strategic Simulations
Released: 1990
Platforms: Amiga, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, PC-9801, Sharp X68000

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Cartridge

The first official D&D-licensed game to appear on a console and the third made by Mattel overall, with the first two being an electronic board game and a handheld LCD game.  Some sources I've seen (including Wikipedia) also give it the subtitle "Cloudy Mountain", though as far as I can tell this was never included on any actual printings of the game.  As one would expect of an early '80s game console it's not too much to look at and the core gameplay is rather basic arcadey fare.  AD&DC has a fair degree of depth and complexity for its time, however - there are algorithms in play to randomly generate dungeons and the world map, so the experience is a bit different each time you play it.  Several monsters hinder you in the dungeons, each with a distinct audio cue and taking varying numbers of arrows to kill - a lowly rat, bat or spider takes only a single arrow, while tougher monsters like demons and dragons can take two or three (and one, the slime blob, cannot be killed at all).  Your arrows can also ricochet off walls to damage enemies around corners, which comes in handy for dealing with the faster, deadlier critters that can quickly overtake you, though they can also harm you if you don't aim carefully.  In fact, it's often a good idea to take blind shots into rooms or around corners if you hear a dangerous enemy's audio cue, so this can be considered a crude stealth mechanic.  Other twists include having to find keys to open gates, axes to chop down trees, boats to cross rivers, and your ultimate goal once you reach Cloudy Mountain is to find two halves of a crown, each guarded by a winged dragon, which wins the game.  There are also four difficulty settings, though the only major difference between them is that you find fewer arrows in quivers and monsters move slightly faster with each step up.  A simple, but nevertheless fun game that should provide a few minutes of entertainment to die-hard D&D fans and/or retro game enthusiasts.

Developer: Mattel Electronics
Publisher: Mattel Electronics
Released: 1982
Platforms: Intellivision

Baten Kaitos Origins

Released as "Baten Kaitos II" in Japan (and indeed this title still appears in the opening FMV), though it was given an alternate title in North America since it's a prequel to the original game.  They seem to have taken some criticisms of the original game to heart and made strides to greatly improve the game's pacing.  Case in point, the card-based combat is now significantly overhauled.  Rather than having a large stockpile of weapons with differing elemental properties, you're now given generic "attack" cards with numbers that go from 1-7.  Attack cards can now only be used in ascending order, and you can use any number of them in a single turn as long as you follow this rule. One also gets weapon and armor cards, which always have a number of "0"; rather than needing to be used at the moment of an attack, these cards remain in effect or a fixed number of uses before deactivating, with armor naturally reducing damage and weapons dealing extra.  However, you can only have one equipment card, weapon or armor, active at a time - using another overwrites the old one and any remaining charges are lost.  Some cards (like healing items) aren't numbered at all and can only be used on their own in a given turn, while special moves are now powered by "MP", a gauge charged as you play cards; using a special subtracts from your total number of filled MP bars.  There are now only three party members and they all draw from the same deck, which cuts down on micromanagement.  Battles move at a much faster pace, with turns activating on a linear time scale and taking longer to recharge after certain actions, not unlike the ATB system from Final Fantasy IV.  You can discard unwanted cards to stop them cluttering up your hand and don't have to lose turns to "shuffle the deck" anymore, which is quite nice.  "Class levels" are now tied to Technical Points earned from battle rather than items doled out at the whim of the plot, and experience levels are applied after battle so you don't have to run back to the church nearly as often.  The annoying element of having to snap photos of enemies is discarded in favor of simple money drops.  Quest Magnus also have a bit more purpose than simply solving puzzles - if you keep certain types in your inventory slots they'll actually boost (or lower) your battle stats and elemental resistances a bit, and can be used to craft new cards in some shops. Fittingly for a prequel many familiar locales from the first game return, though you also see several new ones, and the story, while not as interesting as the first, is a solid one that builds on the fourth wall breaking gimmick of the first game (with the player once again taking the role of a "Guardian Spirit" whom the protagonists directly speak to).  All in all a much better paced and more refined gameplay experience, and the writing, while still solid, is told through a slow-burn story that takes a good while before everything falls into place.  The world building definitely loses something without Masato Kato at the helm, which makes me wish we could get a reworked version of the first game that uses Origins' gameplay design.  It's a shame the game came out so late in the system's life that almost nobody played it, but hey, at least you can get it at an affordable price on the Baten Kaitos HD Remaster compilation now.

Developer: Monolith Soft, Tri-Crescendo
Publisher: Bandai Namco
Released: 2006, 2023
Platforms: Gamecube, Switch

The version on the Baten Kaitos HD Remaster compilation has some QoL improvements like options for disabling encounters and speeding up the gameplay, though like the original Baten Kaitos, it also loses its English dub and has only Japanese audio with English subtitles.  A bit more of a substantial loss this time as the dubbing was actually well-done in this game.