Since its humble beginnings on the NES, Final Fantasy has left an indelible mark in gaming, and that legacy has held strong for generations. Recently, the mantle of Final Fantasy has suffered from fan disappointment and a development strategy that can’t seem to decide between tradition and innovation. Although I was a tremendous fan of Final Fantasy XIII, the criticisms over linearity and overwrought story were absolutely justified. Final Fantasy XIII-2, only the second direct sequel in the series’ long history, is Square Enix’s apology to fans for the failures of the last game. With a far more open world, towns, and a story line that lets you hop all over at your discretion, Final Fantasy XIII-2 has a lot of changes, but still manages to feel like an incomplete game. Read the full story

Etheria’s heroes have captured the Old Ones within Etheria Cores, preventing them from spreading their evil across the lands. With the kingdom at peace, the adventurers have set off to confront other dangers, leaving their younger siblings behind to guard the realm. Through unfortunate accident, the evil hordes become aware of the Etheria Cores and begin a merciless onslaught bent on freeing the Old Ones and raining death and destruction across the world. All that stands in their way…is a group of four young adventurers-in-training, the Dungeon Defenders. Read the full story

I’m going to go a bit hipster on you right now. Before it was mainstream and popular, I read comics. Before it was mainstream and popular, I ran around on the playground pretending Rogue was my girlfriend and adamantium claws were popping out of my fists. Before it was mainstream and popular, I was collecting and trading Fleer Ultra cards with my like-minded friends. I am a X-Nerd, and I can’t wait for X-Men Destiny. Read the full story

It isn’t all first-party titles on the Nintendo 3DS’ horizon, some third-party companies are also getting in on the action, companies such as Square Enix and their venture on the 3DS: Heroes of Ruin. The seemingly Action-RPG title does not have a concrete launch date or a set price, but there was a good amount of the features released at E3 by Square Enix. Read the full story

Five and a half years ago, the gates of Oblivion opened and its denizens poured out into Tamriel. Eventually, after dicking around for days, or even weeks in a staggeringly massive open world doing odd jobs, hunting in the forest, and picking random fights with guards, I helped save Tamriel and sealed shut the gates of Oblivion. In November, Skyrim arrives and throws a crap-ton of dragons in your face. Read the full story

I have a love/hate relationship with JRPGs. I cannot tell you how much I adored growing up with Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, all the SNES Final Fantasies, Lufia and so on. I mean, this was a cornerstone of my childhood. But, there comes a time when we realize that those games (old-school Final Fantasy games especially) cater to a market that seems to despise itself. Read the full story

Last month Square Enix announced that a sequel to Final Fantasy XIII would be coming out later this year. While that news was met with applause from some, it also produced a few winces.

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Lately, in the world of RPGs, a particular name keeps coming up, Ys.  Is it “Yeez” or “Whys” or “Yeece”?, I hadn’t even heard of Ys (the last one is correct) until Ys: The Ark of Napishtim, and I hated that game.  Well, hate can be a strong word, but, let’s just say I had the PSP version.  The game was plagued by long load times and plenty of other issues that just destroyed the otherwise AWESOME game.  I always meant to go back and play it on the PS2, but with countless other games I have yet to play, I just never got around to it.  Then, quite recently, I read about Ys: 1 & 2 Chronicles (Ys 12c) from XSeed.  I am totally a sucker for classic-style RPGs, and I can’t ever find enough titles that fit that “top down, action RPG” format, so I decided to check it out. (on another note, Kyle recently reviewed Ys Seven)

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Shrouded Aspect, the first of what will probably be many games in The Pantheon Cycle by Gilligames, is a turn-based RPG for iOS devices. I happen to be a fan of RPG’s, and I do love a good turn-based game (especially Civilization), so I’m having a hard time as to pin-pointing why I couldn’t get into Shrouded Aspect.

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Developed by Reality Pump (TopWare Interactive), and released by publisher SouthPeak Games, Two Worlds II is a direct sequel to, you guessed it, the 2007 game, Two Worlds. Before reviewing Two Worlds II, however, I feel that something needs to be made clear; the most I played of the first Two Worlds game was the downloadable demo. This will be important later on. Read the full story