So, Final Fantasy is not what it used to be. Over the last 20 years, the series has lost its luster with critics. Even though most of its games are now multi-platform releases with considerable selling potential, its titles have struggled to sell proportionately well. Thus, the news of Final Fantasy XV finally reaching the…
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!
Games That Will Cost You a Kidney: Suikoden II
Konami’s Suikoden is a respected franchise within the Japanese role-playing game genre. The series has been dead in the west for about a decade and a half as its last title Suikoden V was release in 2006 to little fanfare. As it often happens with dead role-playing game series, its older titles gain monetary…
Throwback Bit Thursday: Alundra is a Grown Up’s Zelda Game
This week, as I continued to play Elden Ring, I began to look back at what games were tough, or tougher than Japan’s newest poster boy. Some of the 2-D Castlevania games were very difficult. Even Castlevania 64 was quite challenging if you went for the good ending. Castlevania 64, in particular, did not…
Games That Will Cost You a Kidney: Skies of Arcadia
The Dreamcast’s greatest Japanese role-playing game, and perhaps the best JRPG of the 2000s, is not as costly as other entries on this weekly series. However, purchasing a working copy (with case and booklets) of Skies of Arcadia remains a considerable investment in both of its versions. Skies of Arcadia the Greatest JRPG of…
Games That Will Cost You A Kidney: Tales of Destiny
It could be said that Namco’s Tales series might have reached its zenith in terms of popularity last year with Tales of Arise (2 million units sold to date). However, what perhaps remains the franchise’s most valuable game is a 25-year-old entry. 1997’s (1998 in the U.S.) Tales of Destiny is a game that will…
Final Fantasy XVI Producer Wants Players That “Drifted Away” From FF Back
As we await for the arrival of Final Fantasy XVI, we recognize that Final Fantasy is, perhaps, the most famous name (aside from Pokemon) in terms of Japanese role-playing games. The series’ fame in the west was largely built in the 1990s with Final Fantasy VII and a few other PlayStation entries which drove the series…
Sakaguchi: Is Square Enix “Okay” After Unveiling a $11K FFVI Statue?
Ah! Final Fantasy VI! To many longtime fans of the series, the aforementioned game is the best in the series. Despite the fact that it didn’t sell well (in contrast to the PlayStation 1 entries) initially, Square Enix would release the game over multiple systems after its SNES release, growing the game’s popularity after its…
Games That Will Cost you a Kidney: Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
For week number two of our new weekly feature “games that will cost you a kidney,” we have another Japanese role-playing game from the genre’s golden decade. The game? Lunar 2: Eternal Bue Complete. While our focus will be on the PlayStation 1 version, know that the original Sega CD version is retailing for $499.99…
Hylics: An Abnormal RPG
My initial introduction to the Hylics series was by watching Hylics 2’s trailers on Youtube. This RPG’s strange and interesting graphics captured my attention, and I enjoyed the music so much I listened to the soundtrack on repeat once it was released on Mason Lindroth’s (the creator) YouTube channel. For a long time, I desired…
Square Enix President: Japanese Developers Shouldn’t Imitate Western Games
It is well known that except for The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, and now Elden Ring, Western RPGs rule the gaming world in terms of sales. Square Enix is a successful company, but its Final Fantasy series has fallen off its “king of the hill” perch over the last two decades with newer RPG games…