Final Fantasy II

Combat is turnbased, with the usual setup with enemies on left side and party on the right side. This time classes don't level up with experience but with another method based on the actions and weapons used in combat. Character customization also includes equipment and magic. Also a new feature is the "back row" position, feature that usually allows the character to do/take less physical damage while increasing their ranged damage.

Unlike some modern rpg, there is a enjoyable world map with many dungeons and town with the addition of the chocobos as transport method. The encounters are random but that can be avoided with the chocobo.

The story is a bit more complex but we still find the typical infinite justice japanese heroes, so I didn't enjoy it much but it doesn't hurt as the interruptions are minor. At least this time the characters have names and more personality.

While is not the epic experience that started with FFIV (imo), it is an enjoyable game with addictive battles, that may feel a bit too easy right now. Music has some excellent tunes and graphically looked good at that time, I recomend the psp version now.

Did I like it? Yes.
I think you will like it if you:
- Are curious about the Final Fantasy beginings
- Don't hate jrpg

I rate my experience with a 7.5 out of 10.

Final Fantasy I

The saga start, featuring a nice world map with lots of exploration to do, finding dungeons, towns and random encounters and traveling with different vehicles.

Combats feature a pure turn based system, with enemies on one screen at the left and players on a different screen at the right side. This system was really fun though now feels very dated.

At the game's beginning the player can chooose the 4 heroes between a few classes, these classes are the final fantasy usuals and the choice is very welcome for me. Character evolve with the usual experience levels and customization is just about the different equipment.

The story is very light and characters generic, with no personality and not even a name. Of course this is forgivable on a game from 1987. Graphically looked simple but it has improved with the many re-releases, music has a few tunes that now have reached the epic status.

Did I like it? Yes.
I think you will like it if you:
- Are curious about the Final Fantasy beginings
- Don't hate jrpg

I rate my experience with a 6.5 out of 10.

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.

Kartia

This is the first tactical rpg I played so I have very good memories from it.

The first thing I remember is the Yoshitaka Amano design, that's a win for me, I love how it averts from the usual anime style.

The combat reminds a lot to Fire Emblem and Final Fantasy Tactics, turn based, using single units on a grid with the usual rock-paper-scissors system, but I think Kartia is way easier (which is good for newcomers). Of course it has its own original features.

Spells and equipment are obtained via crafting, as also are the different types of troops than can be summoned to help on combat. They're called Phantoms and are the main feature of the game (to me) as they add some nice variety to the combats.

Story is divided in 2 scenarios one for each character and it's kinda interesting how it evolves, maybe I wouldn't like it much nowadays but back then I really enjoyed it.

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

I rate my experience with a 7 out of 10.

Final Fantasy V

This is probably the less valued Final Fantasy game from Squaresoft's golden age, but for me is my 2nd favorite Final Fantasy and one of the best games I've played (always on my criteria, shoo!).

It has all the Final Fantasy elements: crystals, active time battle, random encounters, different worlds and travel methods, nice graphics, invocations, etc.

The music is awesome as usual, Clash on the big bridge and the main theme are amongst my favorite themes ever.

What makes this game one of my favorites is the Job system, being able to choose the characters class from a original and varied set of different classes with their own habilities which some of them can be shared with another classes.
 This gives a whole lot of different choices and party setups to try, these class possibilities are my favorite thing on a game because it means that there's a whole lot of different strategies and approaches on combats, and I love this!

I enjoyed the story too, some people say it is not as emotive as the other games but I don't remember any FF game with a very emotive story, intense yes but not emotive for me (objection! I still get moved by the song dedicated to Laguna).

Did I like it? Yes!
I think you will like it if you:
- Like jrpgs
- Stop comparisons

I rate my experience with a 9.5 out of 10.

Final Fantasy VII

This is probably the game I've finished more times in my gaming life, it has everything I need to have fun:

Engaging story: I always wanted to keep moving foward to know more about the story, it's on these times that I don't care much if the game is linear.

The materia system is also very original, lots of different available materias, combinations, upgrades, mastering, plus being influenced by the character equipment in many ways. I think this is system is very complete and well thought.

The usual active time battle system is even more entertaining thanks to the materia combinations there are lots of skills to try and diferent ways to approach a combat. Boss fights are challenging enough, specially for someone who hates level grinding like I do.

Graphics may have aged bad but I still like them and never had any problem with. Music is just awesome.

To me nearly everything is perfect, but I'm not giving it a 10 because some things feel rushed, character story development is very low on some cases, story sometimes feels too linear and it left many unanswered questions on me. But these are all very minor details, the game is still one of the best.

Did I like it? Hell yes.
I think you will like it if you:
- Like jrpgs

I rate my experience with a 9.5 out of 10.

SMT: Persona 2

It's has been a long time since I played this, so pardon if some of the info is incorrect.

This is composed by 2 games: Innocent Sin and Eternal Punishment which explain a similar story in some kind of parallel/alternate realities but still related between them.

Combat is similar to the first Persona, challenging turn-based random encounters fought with melee,gun and magic attacks where Personas define the strenghts and weaknesses towards different types of attacks and also the magical skills that the character has available. This time the fights use a normal turn-based formation abandoning the grid-formation system from the previous game (which is something that I  forgot to mention in the original review :S).
 Dungeons aren't 1st person anymore, now it has the 3rd person camera view that will continue through the next Persona games.

As for customization, there's the same tarot-card persona creation, fusions and demon negotiation with can end up with the demon fighting back, giving a present, giving tarot cards or spreading a rumor.
 Rumors are a new addition that plays an important role through the story and some also affect on the shops inventary, on the dungeon, and many other things.

The story is very interesting on both games, which one is better is a matter of taste, I think none disappoints. I keep loving the characters, I may like or not their personalities but their behavior is realistic, so disliking some of the characters isn't a bad thing, it happens in real life.

This time music is okay, I don't remember any special tune like in Persona-PSP. Graphics are nothing special with some cool demon designs.

Did I like it? Yes.
I think you will like it if you:
- Like Shin Megami Tensei atmosphere
- Don't hate jrpgs

I rate my experience with a 8.5 out of 10.

Chrono Cross

My 2nd favorite game, I enjoy this game so much that I must play it every few years.

To me it has everything, music and art style are outstanding, the story involving paralel dimensions kept me always super interested, despite some plot holes but I guess I'm dumb enough to not notice them.

The exploration is good enough, the world map is simple but there's 2 of them, one for each dimension and it's fun to find the similarities and differences from the two worlds and their characters. Also there's no random encounters in this game, enemies can be seen (unless they're hiding :P), thanks!

The combat style is turn-based but very refreshing, using stamina to make different attacks by combining powerful but imprecise attacks or weaker but more accurate attacks. Skills/Magic are classified by elements and those elements affect the field to strengthen skills of the same element and weaken skills of the opposite element.

There's also unique techniques for each character, that can be combined with the other party members to create double or triple techniques. The combined technique system can be a bit disappointing because not every party setup can combine techniques and there's a lot of members, more than 40.
 Having such a large cast is suprising (Suikoden appart), lots of them aren't recruited through the main story and require to do some optional activities, which adds value to the game's length. It also adds some strategic value as they have different techniques and weapons.

Customization is based on equiping different element magics/skills bought or found during the adventure and the usual equipment that need to be crafted by giving the materials to a blacksmith.

I had fun with everything on this game and I was moved by the ending, to me it's perfect.

Did I like it? F. yeah.
I think you will like it if you:
- Like jprgs
- Forget about "the other" game
- Are dumb enough to ignore some details and enjoy its story

I rate my experience with a 10 out of 10.

SMT: Persona

(Played on PSP)
I'm in love with this game, probably because is my first encounter with Shin Megami Tensei series.

My first and biggest surprise are the characters personality and its development. Until then I was used to the typical "hero of light and infinite justice", but on Persona I found that the characters are very realistic, I think they behave how humans would, not how they should (not quite sure if my point is clear).

The story and atmosphere are pretty dark, I wasn't used to find that on a game either, and I loved it. I wanted to keep going just to find more details about what was happening.

This is a 1st person dungeon crawler, random encounters and combat is turn-based with 3 basic commands: Melee Attack, Gun Attack (ranged) and Skills that uses the Persona skills. Personas are like avatars, each character has one and have their own skills and level growth. The combat system is fun, people complains that the random encounters are too frequent but there's something that helped me on that: I loved the battle vocal song! I just wanted to enter combats to hear it again and again ^^

Another thing that surprised me is being able to negotiate with the enemies, negotiation can end with the monster getting angry and attacking back, running away, giving an item or giving a spell card. There are many kinds of Spell cards and are needed to create new and powerful Personas, which is needed as they became obsolete as the party and enemies level increases. This system is pretty complex because personas can be fused where using items can change the outcome or the skills, and there's unpredictable fusion accidents too.

The rest of details are correct for rpg: usual shops, equipment customization, experience levels, 2d graphics and cool pop music.

Did I like it? Very.
I think you will like it if you:
- Are a dungeon explorer!
- Don't mind abundant random combats
- Don't hate pop music

I rate my experience with a 9 out of 10.

Xenogears

Yet another awesome Xeno game, but my mistake was waiting too much time to play it because I'm already tired of seeing princes, chicks with tendency to get kidnapped and all that usual stuff that happens in japanese rpgs.
 Leaving the clichés aside, the rest of the story is pretty interesting with some dark philosophycal tones but not as much as I was told or expected, at least until the 2nd cd, but I guess that back on 1998 this wasn't common at all.

The gameplay is like any other rpgs, exploration, towns, random turn-based combats. Combat have 2 interesting things: one thing is the combo system that requires chaining attacks and doing key combinations instead of selecting commands though its development is poorly explained. And the other is being able to ride huge mechs with a bit different fight mechanics.

Now, my main disappointment is how the 2nd half of the game is treated, most of it is done like a summary of the events that happen,  explained by the characters in past tense. Text -> battle -> text -> battle, no more exploration or rpg elements. So I felt kinda empty after the end because a lot of things happen and so fast that ruins a bit the experience throwing away the epic setup that this game have.
 The reason behind is the developers ran out of time and money and had to rush to finish the game. This doesn't mean that the game is short, its duration is the usual on rpgs.

Graphics are correct. Music is awesome, lots its tunes are still in my head.

Did I like it? Yes, but It left me a bit disappointed.
I think you will like it if you:
- Want to try an unusual squaresoft title
- Aren't tired of jrpgs
- Play it known that the 2nd half of the game is very rushed

I rate my experience with a 8.0 out of 10.

Vagrant Story

I had my expectations too high, I kept hearing how a masterpiece this game is and I guess it's true but it isn't my kind of game.

The story is so ol' good squaresoft which is excellent but I "had" to quit after 7 hours, I just wasn't having fun.

The game is dungeon based, separated in rooms with a few jumps to do and boxes to move to reach the exit or get a treasure. It is okay though I found no challenge here.

The combat system is like a mix of action and turn based rpg, I could freely move but the action got paused on menus and while executing actions. Combat requires to time button pushes to create combos, to succeed I needed to do huge combos but each weapon type and button had different timings, I wasn't motivated enough to learn that, It was boring for me.

I also needed a lot of preparation for combats, there were like 5 or 6 types of enemies, they required me to find and level a weapon strong for each: "oh here is a Dragon, time to get and train the Dragonslayer"-"oh here is a Pop-Singer, time to get the Pop-SingerSlayer" this is one of the grinding jobs I hate the most :\

Did I like it? Nope and I feel really sad and disappointed that I didn't like this game.
I think you will like it if you:
- Don't have any problem with the weapon system that this game proposes.
- Have fun with the combo system.

I rate my experience with a 3 out of 10.