August 12, 2005 The worst thing that could have happened to the RPG genre was the Square-Enix merger. This merger united the two RPG giants into a single entity that threatens to monopolize the genre, as only a few giant publishers like Namco can now stand on it’s way. It was not only the worst…
Tag: JRPG
JRPG stands for Japanese Role-Playing Game. This unique genre of game combines the Western RPG or Role-Playing Game genre first popularized by Dungeons and Dragons with Eastern storytelling and cultural references often seen in anime or manga. JRPGs are almost exclusively made in Japan.
Read all of NER’s articles about JRPGs here!
RIP Working Designs
12/25/05 Working Designs closed its offices this month and it is sadly exiting the gaming bussiness. After a decade of playing their games (two of them which are in my ALL TIME TOP TEN BEST RPGS EVER) I must say that this tragic news are most heart breaking, they had the best translations and packaging…
Finally Final Fantasy VII Gets The Remake Everyone Wanted
Can Final Fantasy VII The Remake Surpass The Original Finally after 18 years of unrest and uncertainty Square/Enix finally announced a proper remake of the legendary J-RPG that popularized the genre almost two full decades ago. The question is now that we know that the game is on development, was it a good idea? Considering…
Xenosaga: Episode 1 (PS2) Review
Reviewing Xenosaga: Episode 1 is a lot like reviewing the latest Final Fantasy on the market. Simply put the production values of Xenosaga are only rivaled by those of the FF series. The Xeno series might also be the only series capable of giving the Final Fantasies a run for their money. When Xenogears debuted…
Xenogears (PS1) Review: The Most Ambitious JRPG Story Ever Written
Six years later, and we are still waiting for a true FF7 killer. A lot of RPGs have come and gone since then, some were good, some were bad and a few of them had dared to reach greatness only to fall short of it. In my eyes, the greatest attempt at surpassing the great…
Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii) Review
Xenoblade Chronicles is a Wii game considered by many to be the finest JRPG since Final Fantasy X, which is high praise but also a reminder that the genre has truly deteriorated since the late 1990’s. Xenoblade is Monolith’s latest child, and these are the same people who brought us the truly magnificent but flawed…
World of Dragon Warrior: Torneko: The Last Hope (PS1) Review
Time for the back of the case: “The world of Dragon Warrior returns! Torneko (the tubby merchant from Dragon Warrior IV) takes the best-selling series in new directions as he tries to save his village from the curses of a mysterious treasure. Classic dungeon action. Elegant and addictive combat engine. Over 130 monsters to fight-…
Wild Arms (PS1) Review
Wild Arms is a humble RPG offering developed by Media Vision. The game was published by Sony in the US in 1997, just a few months before the inevitable release of the great Final Fantasy VII. Because of this, Wild Arms pretty much went under the radar for most gamers, but was successful enough to…
Vanguard Bandits (PS1) Review
Vanguard Bandits is a Working Designs PS1 2000 Strategy/RPG, apparently PS1 owners got the worst of the two 32-Bit Generation Strategy/ RPGs released by By Working Designs. Unlike the all time great Dragon Force which was released on the Saturn, Vanguard Bandits while sporting the usual excellent packaging and translation work that Working Designs is…
Time Stalkers (DC) Review
There are some games that need to be reviewed in a certain way to make a point; this is one of them: One Saturday, I went to Electronics Boutique. I had 10 big ones. I didn’t have money to buy Skies Of Arcadia. So, I bought Time Stalkers saying to myself, “Time Stalkers can’t be…