JRPG

While there’s no shortage of ways to distract yourself while playing Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, one of the most unexpected minigames is the surprisingly deep piano system. In most of the major hub towns you encounter across the expansive world, Cloud can find a piano to sit down at and tickle the keys. You’re free to play any song you want in free play, but you can turn this system into a full-on rhythm game, almost like Guitar Hero, by collecting sheet music of some of the game’s most iconic tracks. There’s even an…

Chadly has a lot of tasks lined up for you in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Now that the world is far more open and explorable, you’ll have a ton of extra activities to take if you wish, but the first few are a bit more required. Aside from the usual tower climbing and item gathering, one task is to fight specific enemies with a series of requirements. The first one, which asks you to pressure a Thunderclaw, is more troublesome than it should be, even if you understand the system. Not to worry, because we’ve used the…

If you were as a excited as we were for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth then you almost certainly played the demo before release. This gave you a sneak peak at the first chapter of the game where Cloud and Sephiroth are sent to Nibelheim in the flashback sequence. While great, there are a lot of slow moments here that make this section take quite a while so you may want to skip past it when starting the full game instead of doing it all again. Thankfully you can, but you have to do one little thing first that isn't very…

CRPGs are notorious for being very lengthy investments, and Baldur's Gate 3 is no exception. Even in its early access days, players were spending hundreds of hours on just the first act of the game, though just doing the main story would be significantly less. Some people may spend hours just in the character creator choosing their race and speccing out their class, while others may dive in and only do the main quests. In a game this large, your playtime will vary quite a bit, but no matter how much, or little, of a…

Some say it’s the Lifestream that makes the world go round in Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, but we all know the real answer is Gil. Cloud may be on a quest to save the world from Sephiroth, but he’s still a merc who wants to get paid for his efforts. Plus, there are a ton of expensive items to gather up on your journey, such as Materia, Accessories, Armor, and Queen’s Blood cards. You’ll need some very deep pockets if you want to buy everything that catches your eye, but Gil isn’t the easiest thing to come by. We’ve done…

Just like in Remake, you only have one valuable armor slot per character in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. Deciding on what you want to put there is more complicated than you think, since each piece of armor has multiple factors that determine how effective it will be, and you may want to prioritize different things for different characters. New armor will become available as you go deeper into the world of Gaia, and you can even make some yourself with the new Transmutation system, so comparing and contrasting them all…

In Final Fantasy 7: Remake, Cloud was usually alone or with just one or two other companions at a time. Aside from a few instances, mainly combat trails and VR missions, you never had to worry much about party management during the story. In Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, your crew starts out at five and only grows from there. As was the case in the original and Remake, only three characters can be active in a fight at a time, one of which is the leader. While playing as Cloud is great fun, you will be doing yourself a…

Artisan Studios, the developer behind Astria Ascending, has announced their next project. Lost Hellden is an action JRPG that is coming in 2025. Alongside the announcement is a trailer that demonstrates the art style they’re using, which is confusingly called “Deep 2D.” They explain it: “You play in 3D in hand-painted artworks with dynamic lighting and weather.” To me, it looks like 3D polygonal models with hand-painted textures over hybrid 2D pre-rendered backgrounds. Maybe they’re referring to the way the lighting…

After 15 years, the next mainline entry in the cult classic Mana series has finally been revealed. Starting out as Mystic Quest or Final Fantasy Adventure in the West, the Mana games stood apart thanks to their unique approach to inserting action into the JRPG formula. Since it has been dormant for so long, many fans had long given up hope for any form of sequel. The announcement of Visions of Mana has gotten older fans excited, but it shouldn’t be ignored by those who have never touched a game in this series before.…

The February 2024 games list is an exciting explosion of JRPG action and superhero fare. We’ll also be surviving in a car from place to place in a much-anticipated indie. Image via Cygames Granblue Fantasy: Relink (PS4, PS5, PC) Publisher: CygamesDeveloper: CygamesPrice: $59.99Release Date: February 1Trailer Granblue Fantasy: Relink kicks off February 2024 with an anticipated action-RPG. With a stunning watercolor-like look, Granblue Fantasy: Relink is based on the popular mobile game series, which also spawned an anime…