2012 Looking Up For JRPGs

Life of a fan of Japanese gaming from the west has it’s ups and downs.  At times you get great games to spend hours upon.  While at other times you go so long wondering if Japan still loves you.  Getting a localization of great titles just seems like pulling teeth at times.  Well, it almost seemed like 2011 was one of those years.

Well, negativity aside, it looks like 2012 is shaping up.  Companies are looking to bring their great titles to the west and JRPG fans are ready to snag them up.  Here’s a lineup I put together to get you all as excited as I am.  Some may debate that some arn’t “RPG”, you get the gist.

Valkyria Chronicles 3 (PSP): While Sega told Gamespot a solid ‘no’ to it’s localization in the west, after a huge signature campagne the question of their minds being changed went up in the air again.  Maybe we won’t see it on PSP, but there’s still a chance for a Vita port which would be amazing.  So.. while most my hopes are shattered, I still keep shred somewhere in the back of my mind.  [Unconfirmed – Unlikely]

Tales of Graces f (PS3): Finally an amazing new Tales title is coming to America.  This installment is the first PS3 exclusive Tales game for the West and it gets the amazing sharpness in graphics to support it.  I may have to get a second PS3 on standby because I may kill my PS3 playing this to death.  [Confirmed March 13 Release Date]

Top Games of 2011

Well, 2011 has concluded, and thus begins a new year.  I can’t help but take a moment and ponder on what games I’ve taken on or taken down this passing year.  I thought I’d take the time to post what my favorite games were of the year.  This doesn’t just keep in bounds with release titles.  No, this blog has always been about embracing games of the past as well as current games.  So here goes nothing!

#5 Portal 2 While I never played the first Portal, I had a gist of what was to be expected. I was dead wrong. This game had me laughing so hard at the pure hilariousness that came from the clever dialog. That aside, the puzzles and use of the A-to-B portals was clever and fun. While it had little replay value, I left the game satisfied.

#4 Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection (PSP) FF4 is truly a FF classic. Squarenix took this classic and remastered it. Not in some new system and graphics, but rather left it to it’s original feel and updated the sprites and backgrounds. So while the graphics are more appealing to today’s standards, the original nature is still in tact. Not only revamping the original game, but they also brought over the after stories that were only in Japan. Add in some extras like a music player and you have a solid game!

#3 Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (PSP) I’ve been wanting to get into the Kingdom Heart series for quite some time. However I can’t seem to get passed the outdated mechanics of the PS2 originals (Don’t know why). Enter Birth By Sleep on the PSP. While it’s dangerous spoiler wise for me to play it, I still managed to thoroughly enjoy this title. It didn’t require previous knowledge to really enjoy it. I loved the setting, characters, and style. The gameplay was fast pace and fun.

#2 Little Big Planet 2 (PS3) I love getting the family together for some LBP. We thoroughly enjoyed the first LBP so it was no surprise the second would be a classic. They not only added new equipment to the game, at the same time, they added more laughs. Our family had hours of laughs playing this together which makes it easily one of my favorite games of all time.

#1 Valkyria Chronicles 2 (PSP) I LOVE Valkyria Chronicles. While I bought this game December 2010, it earns the place as my #1 of 2011 because I played it long into 2011. I even bought a second PSP and another copy of VC2 for my dad so he would: 1.Stop stealing my PSP to play VC2, and 2.Play Coop with me. Loads of fun and well worth every minute of the over 200hours I spent on it.

Honorable Mentions:
• Pangya(PSP) for bringing a great PC game to the handheld.
• Gears of War 3(Xbox360) for giving me some fun coop fun with my friends.
• Solatorobo(DS) for being the only DS game I’ve ever enjoyed.
• Disgaea 2(PSP) for being an amazingly huge and complex gameplay
• Final Fantasy Dissidia 012(PSP) for the fun fast action packed bouts of my favorite FF characters.

Great Achievements for Gaming in 2011:
Gaming has come a great way over the years.  Some years it takes steps back in my opinion.  However, here are the achievements I would like to point out for 2011.
• PSP becomes a nearly complete Final Fantasy Powerhouse. After gaining FF5 and FF6 on PSN, it now holds 13 FF titles. Besides 3, it has all FFs from 1-9.
• Xenogears hit PSN bringing an amazing title back to life.
• Zelda Ocarina of Time was remastered to the 3DS, a truly amazing revisit to a classic
• Vita was announced and it’s price tag was starting at $250, a sigh of relief was heard as people anticipated a $400+ price tag.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Review

Well, despite my better judgement, I put aside playing the first Kingdom Hearts games to jump into this PSP gem.  While Birth By Sleep is a prequel, and many claimed a player would be lost in it without playing the others, I had little issue with playing only 80% of the first.  However I’d imagine a lot of what’s here is spoiler for the others.  So be careful if you’re in my shoes and want to play the others.  The game has 3 characters and playing each has alternate story viewpoints.  This is based off of completing 100% of Terra, 30% of Ventus, and 20% of Aqua.  Anyhow, on with the review!!

Story: You start off from the viewpoint of one of 3 characters in an academy for Keyblade Masters.  Warriors that yield sword like keys that fight darkness and are able to unlock the hearts of others.  Aqua and Terra are facing finals to see who would get title of Keyblade Master.  While everyone has both darkness and light inside their heart, Terra is seen unable to control the darkness in his heart and fails the exam, while Aqua is deemed worthy.  Shortly after, Terra and Aqua are sent on a mission to find out why beings of shadow are appearing throughout other worlds.