Check out our new YouTube channel!

My friend Koi and I have created a Let’s Play channel called whaatthejams! We’ll be doing a variety of content, including the RPGs that this blog is dedicated to. Right now, we’re working on a let’s play of Xenoblade Chronicles 2! Check out our channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFp1I1HHWsakO_VVLMJp2PA

My (Brief) Thoughts on the Gaming Community Today and the Nintendo Censorship Debacle

            The gaming community has grown massively since 1980’s and 1990’s. It still continues to grow today, and many people of all ages and ethnicities play video games. Despite that… I believe this community isn’t as welcoming or friendly to others as it COULD be. Far too many people these days seem to prefer to argue over which consoles or games are “good”, and many online communities can be quite vitriolic. It seems that people seem to have forgotten the most important thing: games are meant to be FUN. Every game does things differently; it doesn’t matter if you’re enjoying something as simple as a Mario game or exploring the grand narrative of the Mass Effect games as long as you’re having fun. People seem to have forgotten about all of that in favor of arguing among themselves over petty things or putting others down due to their gender, ethnicity, or even taste in games.

            That brings me to my next point. Nintendo’s been… a little overzealous in keeping a “family friendly name”. And it makes absolutely no sense for them to do so at all in this day and age. Games like Xenoblade Chronicles X, Fire Emblem Awakening, and the upcoming Fire Emblem Fates and Bravely Second have all been censored to some degree. This is all in spite of games like Bayonetta 2, No More Heroes, and MadWorld existing (2 of those are EXCLUSIVE to Nintendo consoles as well). It’s baffling that they choose to do this, as the things that are being censored are perfectly acceptable for the rating that the ESRB has given the games in question. I agree that this needs to stop, but people are overreacting to all of this (some are boycotting those games until the censorship stops). None of the changes in any of those games really harms the overall experience, and they’re all still great games. You’d be doing yourselves a disservice to skip out on all of those amazing games simply because of localization changes.

            Fire Emblem Fates is scheduled for a February 19^th release, while Bravely Second will be coming to the U.S in April. Xenoblade Chronicles X has been out for a while, and you can see my review of it here.

Xenoblade Chronicles X Review (Wii U)

            Despite how amazing the original Xenoblade Chronicles was, the thought of a sequel or successor being created never crossed my mind since the game was so niche. Prior to Operation Rainfall’s attempts to get Xenoblade Chronicles localized in America and Europe, I had never even heard of Tetsuya Takahashi or his previous titles while working under Squaresoft or Namco. But in January of 2013, Monolith Soft revealed Xenoblade Chronicles X in that month’s Nintendo Direct, where it was only known as “X”. It’s been nearly three years since that initial reveal, but the long wait for the game’s release was well worth it.

Xenoblade Chronicles X: My First Impressions

            To start, I’m about 20 hours into the game, and I still have yet to unlock the Skells. I haven’t gotten very far into the story either, having done a lot of sidequesting and exploring. But so far, I firmly believe that Xenoblade Chronicles X is the best game to have come out this year.

Tales of Zestiria Review (PS3, PS4, PC)

            Ah, Tales of Zestiria. Practically every recent title in the series, especially this one, has seen some form of controversy or another among the fans. I’ve spent the time up until the American release with nothing but mixed feelings about what I’ve been hearing in regards to this title. Now that I’m about 15 hours into the game, I can confidently say that Tales of Zestiria is one of the best modern titles in the series (except for maybe Graces or Vesperia).

A Look at the Modern Tales of… games

            Many would say that after Tales of Vesperia, Namco’s JRPG series began to decline in quality. With Zestiria just recently released, let’s take a quick look at these games and their flaws.

My thoughts on Square Enix's recent actions

Square Enix as a whole seems to be listening more closely to its fans lately. When Final Fantasy Type-0 HD was released, it came with an almost sickening camera system with absurd amounts of motion blur. For a while, there was no hope of it being fixed. But on the day Episode Duscae's patch launched, the camera for Type-0 also got patched, addressing the game's biggest issue. And the fact that Episode Duscae, a demo, got patched at all seems to signify that Square wants to make sure the final game turns out well, and that they don't want to repeat their mistakes from Final Fantasy XIII.

Tales of Symphonia Review (PS3 Chronicles Version)

Tales of Symphonia for the Nintendo Gamecube is often regarded as one of, if not THE best game in the Namco's Tales franchise. And in 2014, it (alongside with its sequel, Dawn of the New World) received a remaster for the PS3 called Tales of Symphonia Chronicles. During the transition, it also received several new bonuses that were previously exclusive to the Japanese PS2 version. Despite the battle system showing its age, Tales of Symphonia is still worth playing.

Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Review (PS4/Xbox One)

In 2011, Square Enix released a PSP title called "Final Fantasy Type-0". Those who imported it claimed it was one of the few modern titles in the series that could be called great, and others went as far as to call it one of the best Final Fantasy games they ever played. But differing opinions aside, everyone wanted the game to be localized on the PSP or Vita. Several years after its initial release, the West finally got the game... on the PS4 and Xbox One.

Tales of Xillia Review (PS3)

            Namco’s Tales series is an Action RPG franchise that started with Tales of Phantasia, released in Japan in 1995. Since then, the series has become one of the most popular RPGs in Japan, just behind Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. In America, the series is much more niche and obscure, with many titles being skipped over completely and unreleased here. However, Namco seems to be striving to change that fact, and we now have Tales of Xillia, released back in August of 2013, and its sequel coming in the same month this year.