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.

Rodea the Sky Soldier Review (Wii)

            During the development of the infamous Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, Yuji Naka, one of the original creators of the Sonic franchise, left Sega. He went on to form a company called Prope; it’s here that he developed Rodea the Sky Soldier for the Wii. However, Kadokawa Games, the publisher, delayed in releasing the game in order to create 3DS and Wii U versions. Both of these versions play differently from Yuji Naka’s original vision, and were very poorly received. This review focuses solely on the original Wii version.

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.

Batman: Arkham Knight Review (PS4, Xbox One, PC)

I've never really been a superhero fan. But if you were to ask me now which one was my favorite, the answer would undoubtedly be Batman. Over the past several years, Rocksteady rose to fame by developing the critically acclaimed Batman Arkham series. And now, the series has come to an end with Arkham Knight being the grand finale.

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.