Saiyuki: Journey West

A game where Son Goku doens't go super saiyan, what the f...!

Jokes aside, this game is about the tale that "our" Dragon Ball is based on (I think). So we may find a few familiar things and it was the only motivation I needed to keep going through the story.

This is a tactical rpg with a few special features like the elements and transformations and a very traditional gameplay system where there are no surprises but is Very addicting and fun, I think any srpg fan will enjoy it.

I remember there are many recruitable characters but I can't remember if there's any customization to do with them, sorry!

Graphics are good enough, I've seen worst and I acually liked many designs, music is okay.

Did I like it? Yes
I think you will like it if you:
- Like srpg

I rate my experience with a 8 out of 10.

Final Fantasy IX

A shame for me, because the story didn't hook me up at all, I tried to play this game since it came out and always stopped before finishing the first disc, then several years later I finished it and I must say that I didn't enjoy much. Characters are cool and so, but it is missing something, maybe more character development, epic story or a lively world.

The gameplay feels more classical, still turn based random encounters with active time battle but I think that the combat is more simple and repetitive, it also probably because all these years I've been playing lots of rpg and I got used to these fights, but I barely used skills nor invocations, just steal-steal-steal, ok let's finish it.

I didn't have fun with customization either, it reminded me to a light version of Lost Odyssey and skills weren't as interesting for me as in the previous Final Fantasy games.

Of course the game is an excellent Final Fantasy and thousands of people have enjoyed it. A big world map with many things to do and production values are very high, beautiful enviroments, excellent design and a very well done soundtrack. It is just that my tastes or expectations are different to what FFIX delivers.

Did I like it? Yes, but not what I expected.
I think you will like it if you:
- Like jrpg
- Get interested by the story and world

I rate my experience with a 6.5 out of 10.

Breath of Fire IV

The third and last time I enjoyed a Breath of Fire. It feels way cheaper but tries very hard to keep the style, resulting in a very good jrpg.

Graphically doens't look outstanding, world is in ugly 3d polygons but sprite design is very unique. Music production values aren't high but contains many catchy melodies.

With many places to visit that are a joy to explore, a long and entertaining story with many characters to meet. Plus the usual rpg elements like turn based battles that are fun enough to not get repetitive, also we find customization, equipment, shops, magics, skills, combos, transformations, etc.

And of course the (addictive) fishing mini-game.

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

I rate my experience with a 7.5 out of 10.

Final Fantasy VIII

Another of my favorites from my teenage days; an epic story involving students from some kind of mercenary school.

Gameplay is the same good as always, random encounters and turn based combat using the active time battle. This time the customization is based on GF, the old invocations are now some kind of being that can be linked to one of the characters.

By linking a GF the character gains the ability to summon them, the passive bonuses that the GF has gained by leveling up and finally also give stat bonuses that depends on the amount of magic linked to that slot. This magic can be extracted from monsters, giving more things to do on a combat rather than fight.

Ok explained like this the gameplay may look complicated but it is well explained on the game and without the need of a heavy tutorial.

There arent many minigames available but clearly they put a lot of effort into the card game, I love it is really addictive, specially when the opponent has a nice card that I want ^^.

Graphics has improved a lot too, now characters look more human and have textures, backgrounds are pre-rendered (I love it) and combat stages are in 3d. Music is also outstanding.

I loved the characters (Laguna is awesome ^^) and the story is very well done and emotive enough, Cry Count = 5.

Did I like it? Yes!
I think you will like it if you:
- Like jrpg
- Avoid comparisons with VII

I rate my experience with a 9 out of 10.

NIS Special

Disgaea 2

New story, new characters and a few new features. Nice for people who wanted more Disgaea but it is not very refreshing, plus I miss Laharl.

Did I like it? Yes, but...
I think you will like it if you:
- Like srpg
- Don't need a FFTactics story

I rate my experience with a 6 out of 10.

Disgaea 3

Cool story and characters, a whole lot of content but it feels dated, I already know all the tricks, grinding, etc. so I got bored and had to force myself to finish it. Ugly graphics.

Did I like it? I got bored as I progressed
I think you will like it if you:
- Like srpg
- Don't need a FFTactics story
- Aren't tired of the Disgaea combat style

I rate my experience with a 5 out of 10.

La Pucelle Tactics

The game before Disgaea, it is weaker on content and characters but still very funny to play and follow the story. It has some kind of feature similar to "geo panels" that makes it unique too.

Still it has a whole lot of features, way more than the usual srpg but I barely remember them.

Did I like it? Yes.
I think you will like it if you:
- Like srpg

I rate my experience with a 7.5 out of 10

Phantom Brave

This game has the Disgaea style but feels older and more classical. I got bored before I finished it, I think it will pleasure a srpg fan though.

Did I like it? I got bored
I think you will like it if you:
- Love srpg

I rate my experience with a 4.5 out of 10.

Disgaea

This game came out at the perfect time because there was a heavy lack of srpg on ps2, so it was taken with open hands by the community and got great sales for a japanese title like this one.

The main gameplay is very classic, tactical turn based combat with grid movement. But then I found some very special features that I hadn't seen before:

- Character Throwing: The player can throw away his allies to reach places that aren't easy accessible, or just to get to places quicker. The enemies can also be thrown, for example this can be used to get them closer or away from allies and also can be used to fuse the enemies which increases their level.

- Geo panels/symbols: Colored panels that give a bonus effect on the player that stands on it depending on the symbol it has. Symbols can be moved and broken to change the color of the panels. I'm not gonna explain all the possiblities but it is very entertaining, it is like having a puzzle inside the scenario that can be solved to get more bonus.

- Character creation: It is huge, there's a lot of classes, from the usual mages to weird monsters and can be promoted to superior versions, upgrades, armor, customization (up to lv9999!), huge.

- Item world: Each item has a whole world inside of it and can be explored to improve the item. did I mention that there's a huge lot of items?

- The assembly where new characters, stages and other features can be obtained with the assembly's approval.

The story is nothing special but it is very humoristic and characters are hilarious, I wasn't used to a game like this. Visually looks very ugly though I like the character designs, music has very nice tunes and I liked the english voices.

Did I like it? Haaaa-hahahahahahaaaaa!
I think you will like it if you:
- Like srpg
- Don't need a FFTactics story

I rate my experience with a 9 out of 10

Way of the Samurai

What a surprising game, I was expecting nothing but a crappy game and I found a very well done open world about samurais.

It is short, small and doesn't look very good but it is well done in the terms of action-consequence and that any little choice I made, could change the course of the story. Games like Mass Effect could learn a lot from this one.

Combat is very technical: parries, counter-attacks and with many available styles depending on the equipped sword. Rushing here usually meant dead.

Swords has many parameters, aside from the wielding style there's also level, defense, attack and stamina, the latter determines how many straight hits can be done/received before breaking. Swords can be crafted or looted from the corpses, sometimes the player may choose it is worth killing a npc just for his sword.

Story gets very entertaining because every playthrough is diferent and many things carry over on the next play making it very worth and fullfilling to experience the different endings.

Did I like it? I love it.
I think you will like it if you:
- Aren't a graphics whore
- Like Samurais

I rate my experience with a 8.5 out of 10.

Way of the Samurai 2

A sequel that tries to make it bigger but in my opinion fails.

The gameplay keeps being very good, but there are more story paths, events and a bigger map than before making the story more poor, choices less relevant and many events easier to miss which as a player made me feel a bit lost. Still way better than most of the western rpg.

Did I like it? Yes but not so much.
I think you will like it if you:
- Aren't a graphics whore
- Like Samurais
- Finished the first game

I rate my experience with a 6.5 out of 10.

Nier

A modern action rpg, set in an "semi" open world with some rpg elements like quests, customization, shops, weapons, items, etc. Combat is real time, a bit more technical than the usual hack&slash but not too far from it.

Nier has a beautiful art design and awesome music. Some scenarios look really good while some others have poor detail. Character designs are okay.

The story is very entertaining and not that typical, probably it was the main reason why I keep going foward in this game.

The main problem I had is the game's difficulty: normal difficulty is too easy so combats get boring and plain, hard difficulty significantly increases enemy stats but everything is the same as normal but taking way long to defeat something, making the combats very repetitive and long, therefore boring again.

Did I like it? A bit boring
I think you will like it if you:
- Like action rpgs
- Have fun with easy combat

I rate my experience with a 5.5 out of 10.

Shining Wisdom

This is an action rpg that reminds me to a mix of the Zelda and Enix snes games.

The player controls one character and there's no allies, battles are real time very similar to enix games with attacks and special attacks that are created by combining them with orbs that are found through the world. The combat can get very repetitive and also has some problem with the controls.

The story is okay, about the usual lonely hero saving the day, at least it is very long.

Enviroments look like a snes rpg but a little more detailed and characters have that "Camelot Software Planning" look that makes the very unique. The world is big for what I'm used to see on these game, there are lots of things to do, secrets to find like hidden orbs and dungeons with nice puzzles to explore.

I found the game boring, because the combat is not appealing, easy and repetitive making exploration a pain in the ass. I wasn't motivated by the whole game. Probably If I play it now I would enjoy it way more because it is a very unique and interesting game.

Did I like it? I got bored very fast.
I think you will like it if you:
- Like snes action rpgs

I rate my experience with a 5.5 out of 10.