Mystaria

A challenging grid-based tactical rpg with strategic turn-based battles.

I remember the battles were very intense, long and challenging where characters have a very interesting customization and unique skills that gave a lot of different choices on the battle. Of course back then it was challenging to me but maybe now I may find it easier, so I guess it depends on the player's experience on srpg.

The story is nothing special, but I'm okay with that because it doesn't interrupt the action, I prefer it this way on tactical rpgs where battlefield is the main attraction and where the player will spend hours and hours.

Graphically uses 3D models with painted polygons, now they look very dated but I had no complains back then, good saturn, characters look very unique. Music is very cool, there are some nice tunes.

Did I like it? Yes
I think you will like it if you:
- Like strategy rpgs
- Don't mind playing old games

I rate my experience with a 7.5 out of 10.

Tales of Vesperia

Tales of Vesperia is the first "Tales of" I finished and the one I enjoyed the most, I suspect it is because everything was new to me.

I liked the plot, it is entertaining and well explained with many turn-overs, what surprised me most is the length because after 60 hours the plot was still going on and in a very intense way.

Characters are cool and I enjoyed their development, I didn't notice the irrealistic behavior than I'm experiencing the many "tales of" I played after this, maybe because it was my first time?

Encounters aren't random (thanks!) and the combat is "staged" real time action where the player controls one character and the Ai the other 3(?), sometimes acting a bit stupid but is doable and is addicting and fresh enough to not get repetitive after +70 hours. Customization and crafting are awesome too.

Graphically looks pretty, nice music, with lot of places to visit, collectibles and secrets to find, skits to view and big enviroments plus an explorable world map!

A long and addictive game very well produced, will I experience a "tales of" like this again? After seen Xillia I don't have many hopes.

Did I like it? A lot!
I think you will like it if you:
- Accept it won't get an english PS3 release
- Like jrpgs

I rate my experience with a 9 out of 10.

Magna Carta 2

This is the game I played after finishing FFXIII for the first time, that means that I was so desperate to play a good jrpg that I think I "overenjoyed" Magna Carta 2.

Technicaly may seem a bit weak but I loved the combats, challenging and with lot of things like combos, special attacks and many other things that are discovered while advancing through the story.

Battles are a mix of tactical and real time action with many options on how to approach a combat, there are some unbalanced combats but it is fully enjoyable.

We can find the usual rpg elements too: character customization, equipment, towns, shops, etc. The exploration is very limited as scenarios are pretty straight-foward, but at least it is way better than FF13.

The story is entertaining enough, again it is a low budget production but I has been well polished.

Did I like it? Yes.
I think you will like it if you:
- Want to try a bit different jrpg

I rate my experience with a 7.5 out of 10.

Enchanted Arms

A correct rpg that has an okay story, nothing spectacular but with some nice events and weird characters.

Graphically is weird, there are parts of the game that use high detailed models and textures while other parts use low detailed ones. I like designs though, enviroments and cities are interesting, there isn't much exploration to do because the development is very linear but it is passable.

Encounters are random and combat is turn-based and uses a grid system similar to the first persona, where enemies and allies have their own grid. They are good and challenging though sometimes can get a bit repetitive due the lack of options.

Customization is okay, the main focus is on capturable Monsters that can be trained and used in combat. This is usually good but I found it pointless, I barely used them because the main characters are strongh enough - and I found myself trapped in a situation where I didn't level up one of the characters and I was on a battle with that character where I just couldn't win, so I had to start over :\.

Overall it is a fun and entertaining game.

Did I like it? Yes
I think you will like it if you:
- Aren't tired of jrpgs

I rate my experience with a 6.5 out of 10.

Lightning Returns FFXIII

It's finally over! The whole story since XIII-2 it's a complete nonsense but I was happy to see it end. Characters feel really empty, like it had nothing to do with previous games. I really prefer to think that the story finished with the original ending (FFXIII).

The gameplay is the only thing that kept me going foward, combat is pretty interesting, it is played as an action rpg and the objective is find and use enemy weakness to get it staggered so it takes extra damage and offering various levels of staggering. The challenge is decent and I loved the last boss! It really made me nervous, like the old times ^^.

The game has many customization options, dresses, weapons and shield that gives Lightning different appearance, active and passive skills, and crafting that involves creating new skills (weapon and shield crafting isn't available in the first playthrough :\). That bad thing is that in 2 hours I already had found a good setup and aside from leveling up my skills, I didn't change anything until 40 hours later to deal with the last boss.

The world isn't really big but it's very open and really incentivates the exploration and quest completion, I loved that. The story development is very open, I appreciated the feeling of freedom while progressing through the main quests. Also there's a very well played time restriction that instead of making me rush around, it made me plan and organize my progression while taking my usual pace.

Visually I like the character detail but hate the enviroment textures, they look really poor, like a low budget game. Music is good but doens't have any emotive new tunes. The replay value is high as it offers many new things on the 2nd run.

Did I like it? Yes
I think you will like it if you:
- Want to know more after FFXIII-2
- Like action rpgs

I rate my experience with a 7 out of 10.

Hunted Demon's Forge

As many people say, this is a medieval Gears of War.

It's a great game for people who want fast action, there's lots of combat with a few rpg elements like different weapons, stats, skills, customization, etc. Exploration is nearly null, just a few hidden places to find, I think this is not a bad thing because this way the pace doesn't get interrupted.

The best thing here is the cooperative multiplayer, I loved it on gears of war and I love it here, the fast pace and good challenge makes an intense and fun experience when played with friends.

The combat is real time action, not mindless hack&slash but is not very technical either. The player can choose between 2 characters offering a different play style, one focused on ranged and the other on melee, plus a few magics and skills. Both characters always participate on the game so the other character will be controlled by the AI or by a second player.

Graphically looks okay enough, it doesn't hurt. It isn't not very long but at least the 2 characters have a different play style so it doesn't get too repetitive.

Did I like it? Yes.
I think you will like it if you:
- Are looking for action
- Don't hate the medieval setup
- Are going to play on cooperative

I rate my experience with a 6.5 out of 10.

Agarest: Generation of War

Agarest is an rpg with very nice classic elements.

Encounters are random, very fun and challenging but sometimes it gets inmbalanced. The combat is tactical and turn based, using a grid system like many srpg and heavily focused on combos. There are lots of skills and diferent parameters that make it very entertaining.

Dungeons are very simple, again it's just about finding the treasures and beating monsters on the way. The world map is nice but uses a waypoint system, so there's no exploration to do aside from choosing which waypoint to go.

Customization is excellent, there are lots of characters to choose from, equipment, crafting, tons of parameters and points to spend on many things.

It looks ugly, dungeons and combat stages are in 3d with horrible textures and characters represented in low detailed sprites. All other locations are represented in 2d backgrounds like a visual novel.

I have complains about the story again, while it's entertaining it contains too much cheap japanese comedy for my taste.

Also the game is very long and intense, I never got tired of its gameplay.

Did I like it? Yes.
I think you will like it if you:
- Love tactical combats
- Don't hate the anime style
- Aren't a graphics whore

I rate my experience with a 7 out of 10.

Hyperdimension Neptunia

An rpg with classic gameplay: turn based combats that reminds me to xenosaga, the usual customization, towns, shops, equipment, magic, skills, dungeons, lots of side missions, etc.

It lacks a few things though:

- There's no exploration aside from dungeons, worldmap, towns and other places are just represented in 2d backgrounds. Low budget, I can understand that.

- Dungeons are easy and straight-foward, it's just about going from point A to point B finding treasures and beating monsters. Also they don't look very detailed.

- Requires too much time to experience the cool things, sometimes multiple playthroughs. It can get very tiring.

- Finally, the story: while it has fun dialog I'm a bit tired of the cheap comedic stories that these developers come up with.

It is an enjoyable game but with many niche details that turn tons of people away.

Did I like it? Yes, but I got tired after the first playthrough.
I think you will like it if you:
- Like turn based rpgs
- Don't hate the comedic anime style

I rate my experience with a 6 out of 10.

Shenmue

I may find lots of defects now but this is probably the highest production game ever made by Sega.

It looks astounding, models are (were) very detailed and proportioned, then add very detailed open world setting that took place on a very realistic japanese town.

It is the first fully 3d open world I've ever seen, everything looked alive because the town was populated with tons of people with their own daily rutine. All this was new to me, so my experience was awesome.

The story is about vengeance, kinda typical but at least it had interesting characters. The gameplay is about exploring and finding clues that lead foward on the quest and fighting when needed. Of course as any good open world offered lots of sidequests, minigames and collectibles to find.

Combat is played as a beat'em up with button combinations that remind to Virtua Fighter, where many new techniques can be learned by training or finding a teacher. There are also many quick-time events that give some gameplay variety.

On the bad say I would say that the game is short and its pace very slow and can get tiring for people who are looking for action.

Did I like it? Yep
I think you will like it if you:
- Want to see what sega and dreamcast were capable of
- Don't mind the slow pace

I rate my experience with a 8 out of 10.

Shenmue 2

This time Sega outdid themselves, they listened their fans and gave us an excellent sequel.

The game is way longer, bigger as it has more than one town this time, with better graphics and more detailed places (the city is awesome!), lots of new things to do and finally a improved pace that make the game way more entertaining.

The only complain that remains is the story being a bit weak, but the setup makes me forget about that.

Did I like it? Yes!
I think you will like it if you:
- Enjoyed the first game

I rate my experience with a 9 out of 10.