Blue Soul Review (Blue Dragon)

Blue Dragon is a really good game that goes back to the root of Jrpg while dragging it kicking and screaming into the next generation of consoles at the time. 


Plot: The game starts with 3 childhood friends, (Shu, Kluke and Jiro) dealing with the infamous purple cloud that has come to plague their village. They gain the power to summon blue familiars to help them fight and save the world from the evil Sorcerer Nene. On their journey they meet Zola and Marumaro and together they find the strength to destroy the evil entity.

Opinion: The plot is pretty standard, calling inspiration from Jrpgs of old while also managing to keep it somewhat fresh. 3/5 Soul

 

Setting and Graphics: The game has a fantasy setting mixed with steampunk technology (e.g the landshark etc) 

The game itself was beautiful for its time but it's not perfect, it has the early xbox 360 and ps3 problem which was play-dough looking graphics. It does not lack in heart though as it's done to the best of its ability. 3/5 Soul



Character(s): The characters in Blue Dragon are...there I guess. They're likeable enough but 4/5 of them are children and there's a lot of limitation to the narrative. It is however supposed to be a coming of age story and thus the characters come together well in the end. 2/5 Soul




Gameplay: The battle system is the ever glorious turn based battle. I love this battle style, and despite turn based battles dying out, the battle in blue dragon never gets stale.

There are a ton of customization depending on each character's familiar, also a very interesting job system more in the veins of FinalFantasy 9. 4/5 Soul


Overall: I really enjoyed Blue Dragon, it's was really nice to play a traditional Jrpg on the Xbox360 and though the game has it's hits and misses, it was still an enjoyable playing experience. 3/5 Soul

Sci-fi Soul Review (Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope)

Where do I start with this one. My reaction while playing it on my xbox 360 was very mixed, I enjoyed and lauded aspects of the game while loathing others. The Star Ocean was a series that mirrored the Tales series in its fast paced battles and anime designs. Let's dive into this one shall we?

Plot: The game starts with exposition explaining and showing the effect World War 3 had on Earth. The amazingly named Edge Maverick (...) is chosen along with his (sigh...) childhood friend Reimi Saionji to find an appropriate environment for humans to move to. They meet and join up with aliens from other planets as they make their from planet to planet with varying technological states.

Opinion: When I went into the previous installment of Star Ocean (3), I went into it with promise of being able to explore various different worlds with different states of technology and politics, instead I was horrified to find out 3/4 of the game was spent in the medieval world. This one actually delivers but falls into a very formulaic style plot with each world being like an episode of a series. It's not exactly a bad thing though, just not for everyone.
4/5 Soul



Setting and Graphics: Oh my god the graphics looks amazing even with 2016 standards. Tri-ace did an amazing job as always. The settings varies according to which world you're currently in and it really works for the game as each world feels really fleshed out and gives the feeling of being in a different time on Earth. 5/5 Soul





Character(s): Okay, here's where the game hits a wall for me. The character designs look very very very very weird! Look at them, they look like a horrible Frankenstein monster of western and anime influences. The little Loli, Lymle scared the hell out of me and they all have dead eyes.

The characters all unfortunately give nothing outside their anime/jrpg archetypes, like the brave but headstrong leader, the childhood friend, the deadpan loli. I was thoroughly unimpressed. Also I only played the Xbox 360 version of the game so I was not given the ability to change to the Japanese audio and let me just say, the English voice acting is atrocious. 

2/5 Soul



Gameplay: The battles is where this game shines. It has a very fast-paced ala Tales series 
battle. Introduced in this series is the Bonus Board and the ability to avoid an attack and move behind an enemy to blindside it. The battle is fluid and action packed, and does not get old even during character grinds.

The pacing of the gameplay is very odd, one minute you have a 3 hour dungeon only to finish it with a 45 minute cutscene. At least it's done beautifully as long as you glaze over Lymle's dead soulless eyes.

5/5 Soul

Overall: I liked Star Ocean 4: The last Hope despite it's very questionable character designs. I played it all the way to the end and enjoyed a lot of it. All in all a very solid Jrpg and I can't wait for Star Ocean 5! 4/5 Soul

Top 10 Best Jrpg Openings EVER! (Part 1)

Hello everyone! Rpg Soul here back with another gaming list :D. It's no surprise that Jrpg shares alot in common with Anime. From character archetypes to plot twists and villains, Jrpg is essentially an Anime you can play. 



Along with all the similarities are the Openings, you know? Cool visuals accompanied by upbeat J-pop music or a full blown song with vocals! (essentially an animated music video meant to introduce you to the characters and setting). Unlike Anime openings that plays at the start of every episode, you tend to see Jrpg openings after you've booted up the system and before the main menu (with some exceptions) So let's get to it! 


Number 10: Suikoden 3

The opening for Suikoden 3 is by far the best in the series with beautiful music and visuals that make the game look a lot more exciting than it actually was. It does its job in introducing the characters and to a small extent their background, with some characters running through a dessert while others stand in a forest or city. 

Number 9: Valkyrie Profile

The very underrated Valkyrie Profile takes the 9th spot with ethereal music that quickly turns into a quick tempo electronic track, the start of it matches the Norse Mythology lore of the game. It shows bits and pieces of the game without giving too much away and introduces us to a few of the many many characters in Valkyrie Profile. 

Number 8: Tales of Destiny

I love the visual and the music in this opening for another underrated game from the Playstation 1. I would've placed it higher had the music fit with the rest of the themes of the game, but on it's own it looks and sound amazing.

Number 7: Final Fantasy 8

Unfortunately, the only Final Fantasy that makes the list. Final Fantasy 8's opening sets the tone for the rest of the game perfectly, with foreshadowing and a kick-ass fight with Seifer. Also the chanting is amazing! So much love.


Number 6: Tales of Vesperia

It's no surprise to find another Tales game in this list as the Tales games are known for their amazing animation. Vesperia also has the amazing advantage of having Bonnie Pink record an English version of 'Ring a Bell'. The visuals in this opening looks amazing! I still rewatch this from time to time.

More of the list in the next post!

Anime for the Soul (Charlotte)

Charlotte starts off with an interesting premise then gets confusing and ends the anime in an inconceivable plot hole. It steals heavily from the far superior Puella Magi Madoka Magica in terms of plot in the second half. Without further ado lets begin!

Plot: Yuu is a normal teenager with a twist, he's able to take command of someone's mind for a few seconds. He uses this power to cheat in school exams and try to look up girl's skirts (basically things any teenager would do if they had his power). His life gets turned upside down when he runs across a girl name Nao who blackmails him and his sister into joining a school for people with supernatural abilities. Together with Teen Idol, Yusa and comic relief Jojiro, they form an after school club to try and find other supernatural users abusing their powers in the city.

Opinion: The premise sounds interesting enough until you realize their superpowers are not very interesting. And what starts off as a lighthearted slice of life fantasy anime turns into something much more complicated and darker later on. I personally wasn't a huge fan of the storyline all the way through and found it hard to finish the anime. 2/5 Soul



Setting: The anime is set in modern day Japan and while the animation looks beautiful, a lot of the time the anime plays out in the dull looking high school. Not that an anime mostly set in a high school is bad it's just I would've liked to see the world they live in in more detail. There are scenes in the final episode that go far and beyond the high school. 3/5 Soul




Characters: Many consider the characters in Charlotte to be the weakest link in the show and I have to agree. I'll list them one by one and give my general thought on each.

Yuu: While I found certain problems with the character's writing, I do appreciate the writer trying to show character development with him. He starts as a generally unlikeable character and tries to go through a transformation towards the end.

Nao: The main heroine and the biggest flaw of the series. A weird mix between cheeky and a tsundere, outside of the first few episodes she contributes nothing. Her power is to be able to turn invisible to a single person and she's bullied for it because...(?) 

Yusa: Yusa is a teen Idol and unfortunately her personality doesn't stray too far from what you would expect. Instead character growth is given to her sister who resides in her. I'll explain, she has the ability to play host for the dead, but the dead has to be her sister. When her sister takes over, she has the ability to wield fire. She along with the next character contributes nothing to the story outside of comic relief and a little character drama.

Jojiro: Contributes absolutely nothing to the show outside of a few failed jokes. 

Character wise this anime lacks a lot. You don't care what happens to these characters at all because while there is a semblance of character development, they're not interesting characters to begin with. 1/5 Soul



Overall: It's hard to talk about why I disliked this series as a whole without talking about (and spoiling) the second half of the anime. I decided I would not spoil animes that came out recently (2015,1016) so I just need you to take my word for it, the second half of this anime (especially the final episode) kinda sucked. That does not mean this anime is without merits, the music and the animation is beautiful. 2/5 Soul

Top 10 Soulful Final Fantasy Games (Based on my PERSONAL OPINION) Part 1

Final Fantasy has grown and evolved over the years with the recent games being near unrecognizable to fans of the old installment of the series. With Final Fantasy 15 coming out this year, I've decided to make a top 10 list of my favorite games in the main flagship titles. I will start with...


Number 10

Despite being a sequel, many fans consider this game part of the main series. With bizarre Jpop music and a job changing system involving dresses, the game comes off more like a love letter to the fans of Final Fantasy 10 and boy did we enjoy the journey. Amust play if you're a fan of FF 10 

Number 9

The first FF game to come out for the Playstation 2 and the return to turn based battle for the series since FF3. A jumble of plots and twist, some make sense while some created plot holes. It was a beautiful game for its time but was marred with bad voice acting and strange creative choices. I still enjoyed it.

Number 8

One of two Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game to carry the flagship title. An online game second only to World of Warcraft and boasting upwards of 5 million account subscribed. It helped recoup the loss Final Fantasy 13 had on Square Enix and a good game in it's own right. If you're into MMORPGs, this is a must-try!

Number 7

Notice how I used Ashe's picture instead of one with Vaan for Final Fantasy 12? Had she been the main character I would have placed this game much higher. Vaan had no interesting story or character arc and instead followed Ashe around as the story revolved around her. And yes FF10 had the same concept but Yuna was no main character material, Ashe was. The battle system was hot off the heels of their first MMORPG FF11 and it showed. The game and world felt huge and had a sense of grand adventure.

Number 6

In the number 6 slot is Final Fantasy 4. I know a lot of people, my brother included would place this game a lot higher on their list and honestly I would have too but I was not a fan of switching out the party members constantly to fit the storyline. It's still a very good game and was the first in the series to have a proper narrative and paved the way for the rest of the series.

Number 5

With graphics that leave the games that came before it in tears, Final Fantasy 6 is the title you'll find in the top spot for a lot of Final Fantasy lists. The story took risks and it boasts one of the biggest cast of playable characters in the series. Featuring the first female main character in the flagship titles, Terra had paved the way for stronger and bigger females for the games after it. Kudos FF6.

End of part 1.

Sad Soul Strikes Back (Dragon Quest IX Review)

Let me start this review by saying I liked this game, I played it and finished it but I felt like certain parts of the game failed while the good parts were expected from a flasgship DQ title. There will be no character section for this game and immediately gets a 0/5 Soul from me because of reasons I will state in the gameplay section. Ready? Let's tango!

Plot: The plot for DQ9 is centered around angels and the world tree Yggdrasil. The angels are trying to get into a higher plane via a fruit called Fygg. They earned it but right before take off, the train is shot down by a mysterious force causing the main character to lose his/her wings and ending up in the human realm. It's up to him/her to help the humans, as a human him/herself.

Opinion: I like the story, I love the lore surrounding angels and I think it's done tastefully in this game. Also I like the idea of angels losing their wings and learning to adapt and fight their way back to the top. 5/5 Soul



Setting and graphics: The setting for Dragon Quest 9 does not stray far from it's predecessor. It's a fantasy medieval world that is full of life and cute quirky feeling to them. It's done very well and the graphics looked so well done for a massive game on the Nintendo DS. 5/5 Soul



Gameplay: The game retains most of its charm and adventure from the previous installments. The game feels massive and grand and the areas are beautiful. The towns feel lively with npcs bustling around and has an interesting cast of supporting characters.

The biggest flaw in my OPINION is the main characters. The playable characters in your party are created by you and have 0 impact outside of battles. I know a lot of people like this feature but I'm sadly in the minority. It felt lonely travelling with hired puppets. This feature was added to encourage multiplayer, but this required having friends with their own Nintendo DS and I never had gamer friends. The only one I had was my brother and we shared the same DS. Big sad face!

As I've already given the character section 0/5 Soul , I will be judging the gameplay separately and give it a 4/5 Soul


Overall: Dragon Quest IX was a fun play and I enjoyed being able to re-enter the world of Dragon Quest. This is not my favorite in the series as that honor belongs to Dragon Quest VII, but it's a solid addition. I wanted to be able to rip into this game (as its supposed to be my bad game review) but I cant. Despite giving the character section 0/5 Soul, I will have to give the overall game 4/5 Soul just for being everything I know and remember from Dragon Quest.

Join me soon as I review Beyond the Beyond (1995) for the Nostalgia Soul Series!

Nostalgia Soul Review (Earthbound Review) (1994)

Where do I start with this game. It was the first game I ever played that was set in present day and I just feel so much love and nostalgia for this game. It was colourful and did a lot for its time. Marketed as Mother in Japan, it has developed a cult following over the years and I can see why. Lezzgo!


Plot and Setting: It's present day America (or a place resembling America) and our young unnamed protagonist (we'll call him by his unofficial name 'Ness') is woken up by a space saucer that crashes in the hill near his house. Upon investigating it he discovers a sinister plan by aliens to take over the world. With his faithful dog by his side and 3 friends he meet along the way. He has to battle evil hippies, politicians and of course aliens to save the world!

Anime for the Soul (Mirai Nikki Review)

I decided to start reviewing anime on the side as well since Jrpg characters often coincide with the stereotypes and archetypes formed and practiced in current anime. Also I enjoy anime :D

I enjoyed this anime despite not enjoying the ending. The thing about anime is I normally end up hating the main character of the anime because they always end up either stupid and strong or weak and whiny. The main character here is no different, without wasting time lets get to it!

Plot: A useless whiny crybaby named Yukki is given a diary in the form of memo posts in his phone that can tell the future. It was given by a god he presumed was a figment of his imagination, and with the help of his psychotic stalker, Yuno, has to hunt down 10 other people with 'future diaries' to win a game designed by god, to become a god.

Opinion: Death games are all the rage these days, from Battle Royale to Hunger Games and even Gantz. We've seen teenagers kill each other in the name of sport and we cheered. It's a fun genre and Mirai Nikki keeps it fresh with diaries that can tell the future, how do you fight someone who's able to tell your next move? is the question put forward and run at them and stab them with the pointy end is Yuno's answer. 4/5 Soul

Setting: Mirai Nikki is set in present day Japan and aesthetically, it's okay looking. Maybe it's because I watched it 4 years after its release and with animes like Fate/Zero and Beyond the Boundaries, I've been spoiled. There are random cgi that clashes heavily with the hand drawn background and characters but it doesn't break the series for me. 3/5 Soul

(Warning: Major Spoilers Ahead)

Characters: There are 12 characters in the death game each with their own specialized diaries. I will list each and explain with SPOILERS what I thought of each of them starting with number 12.

Number 12 (Sentai guy!): I love sentai so I really love this ode to sentai fandom. This guy is a mislead misunderstood blind vigilante whose early death was a crime! He had the power to detect evil deeds happening around him. Love this guy!

Number 11 (Evil Politician): The creator of the future diaries. Honestly his participation in all this makes no sense and felt very shoe horned in like an after thought. Provided the anime with the 3rd last showdown so he's got that going for him. Had the over powered diary of being able to read the other's diary.

Number 10 (Dog chef): The most boring of the villains, did not participate actively in the battle instead relying on his butch lesbian daughter to fight for him. Had the power to tell whats happening around his minion of mecha dogs.

Number 9 (My Waifu): I love this woman, she started off in the 3rd episode looking like the ugliest and oldest looking Loli in anime history. She lost and I thought she was out for the count but no. She kept coming back bigger and better than ever! Had the weakest future diary in the game. She was able to read where the best escape route is.

Number 8 (Big Head, Big Heart): The owner of an orphanage of FUCKING NINJAS, she was the kindest person in the death game. The last player to survive after 1,2 and 9 and had a giant massive head and tiny body. Started dating the evil politician in the new world. She had the power to create new fake future diaries.

Number 7 (Big Hair, Big Love): Number 7 is occupied by a romantic couple with the ability to read each other's future. They feel a rivalry towards Yukki and Yuno being the other couple in the game. Marries and dies on the same day, honestly wasn't a big fan of either.

Number 6 (The cult that sleeps together...): I'm not a huge fan of rape storylines cos they make me scared and sad. This was a cult leader who was raped by her followers following her parent's death and it was really sad. She died a tragic death and had the ability to forsee the future of all her followers.

Number 5 (Little fuck): I hate kids...this one  was a master of poison. How did he get so knowledgeable in poison warfare? don't ask me. His character made little to no sense, they should've handled him they way they did Rue in the Hunger Games instead of what we got. Hate him, next.

Number 4 (Detective): Betrayed the main characters in the first arc to save his son from cancer or something. Had an alliance with number 9, 1 and 2.

Number 3 (Dead): Dead in the first episode.

Number 2 (Fucking Yuno): Let's be fucking honest! You watched this anime for her. 4 years have past and I still see her as an internet meme! She's fucking crazy and insane and we love her for it. She's no holds bar, obsessive, compulsive and insane! She perfected the Yandere archetype created by School Days. She had the ability to see Yukki's future but honestly she didn't need it. She won the war the first time around and is giving it another go to be with Yuki who tried to convince her to participate in a suicide pact.

Number 1 (Fucking fuck): I fucking hate Yukki. A whiny asshole who did nothing but hide behind Yuno and when he grew tired of her, his friends. Did close to nothing until the end of the series and even when he won and became a god, he spent 10,000 years crying and whining instead of maintaining and rebuilding the world. At the realization that he can't revive his parents as god, he kills his friends and contemplate mutual suicide with Yuno. Even the psychotic teenage girl had the sense to try and kill him to keep the world from dying off without a god. I hate characters like this, they're made to be whiny and a total pussy as an attempt to show growth and change but Yukki did not feel like he grew in the anime. 

3/5 Soul



Overall: I enjoyed Mirai Nikki despite Yukki, up til the final few episodes. It's definitely a 16+ anime with the violence, gore and nudity but I've seen worse *eyes Gantz* Yuno is amazing and is my spirit animal while the rest of the cast help balance out the Yukki bullshit. I give this anime a 3/5 Soul. I'd say watch it despite the main character being as likeable as a torn.

Sad Soul Review (Final Fantasy 13 Review)

Hello again, it's Rpg Soul. I've decided to format my reviews to doing a good game then bad then good again to maintain my sanity after ranting about a bad game like Tales of Xillia. After the nostalgia soul series where I reviewed Vanguard Bandits in a relatively good light, I'll be reviewing Final Fantasy 13...Okay, as a fan of Jrpgs and Rpgs in general I was very excited for the first Final Fantasy to hit the ps3 and xbox360...it is the worst Final Fantasy game I have ever played. And I played Final Fantasy Legends! Let's dive into it then...

Plot: I don't know what the fuck was going on in the plot. It starts with the main character Lightning trying to save her sister Serah from turning into a crystal...because she was a l'cie...*googles the plot for a reminder because what the fuck?* okay so she was picked by a fal'Cie for some mission and gets turned because...Oh god this is so hard. Anyway she meets a buncha people I think...to save her sister.

Opinion: What the fuck! the plot in FF13 makes Final Fantasy Tactic's political subplots feel like a Nancy Drew novel. I kinda just played it for the sake of hype and could not make heads or tail of the story. It was a clusterfuck to me. 0/5 Soul



Setting: The game is set in a modern sci-fi world and I have to admit it looks absolutely beautiful! Every single area looks so well done and polished. (it's a shame you can't explore it fully but more on that later) And at the time of its release, nothing could compare. 5/5 Soul

From Left: Sazch, Vanille (top) Hope (bottom...lol) Lightning, Snow, Serah and Fang.

Characters: Ho boy, this is where the fun starts. The characters are horrible and badly written! Some have questionable design as well. I'll be giving my opinion on each character like I did for Xillia...for bitching purposes.

Sazch: Sazch would have been an amazing character had it not been for his questionably racist character design and certain character traits. They've shown that they can make amazingly badass black characters (eg Barret) so I have no idea how this happened. He has this amazing scene with Vanille half way through that made him my favorite character in the series...then again he didn't have much competition. He fights with guns and has a chocobo living in his hair...because...not even gonna go there.

Vanille: Vanille is the narrator of the entire story and considering I didn't understand the story, not a very good one. She's bubbly and outgoing and I like her character design, people don't like her very much but I do. She and Sazch are the only two I am able to tolerate. She fights with a fugly acme-ish giant slingshot...yea...

Hope: I 'hope' you've picked up from my previous reviews that I don't like a lot of the child characters in Jrpgs. It's hard to pull off and most of the time they can come off annoying and unlikeable...Hope is the living personification of this. It's not to say I don't like child characters, MOMO from Xenosaga is one of my all time favorite characters but Hope does it so wrong. He's whiny and annoying and while he does go through some character development, the damage has been done.

Serah: Hardly in this game except for some over romanticized flashbacks. Not going to bother. Next.

Fang: Vanille cousin and slash lover, very protective over Vanille. Honestly I don't remember her very much so I'm going to move on to...

Snow:...The worst character in the game. My god who thought it would be a good idea to make Snow the way he was. Headstrong with almost no redeemable qualities. He's also very ignorant and a little too happy-go lucky for someone who lost his fiancé in such an unfair way. Spends half the game seperated from the group because he runs into things stupidly. 

Lightning: One word to describe Lightning...Boring! They were trying to make a female version of Cloud and they weren't subtle about it. Well, they failed. She was paper thin as a character and sooooooo Boring! As cool as Cloud from Final Fantasy 7 was, he had interesting arcs and humanizing moments. Remember when Cloud cross dressed to enter a brothel? Good times...

2/5 Soul




Gameplay: Wow okay this is where shit really hits the fan. Gameplay is not the appropriate word for what I'm about to review, it's more like things you do in between cutscenes. If the game was any more linear, you'd have to put train tracks on it. 

Gone are the days of exploration and adventure, in this game you're only allowed to move forward through instances. You want to go shopping or explore a town and talk to NPCs? sorry don't have that. Where are the iconic inns to recover HP? Oh nevermind, you recover after every battle. What the fuck? How did Final Fantasy become this pile of horse dung?

The battles don't fair well either. There is no tactic to them anymore, you have no need for item management when each monster drops 100x potions. It's just pretty lights and graphics. Oh but what about the iconic Final Fantasy summon beasts? Oh they turn into vehicles now that you can't ride because there is no need in a game full of corridors? Fuck you.

0/5 Soul


Overall: Fuck this shit of a 'video game' and an even sadder excuse for a flagship Final Fantasy game. Outside of the jaw dropping visuals, this game has no Soul! It was made on no wits and all hype. Fuck this game, it has 1/5 Soul. There was no heart put into this game, no passion and certainly no soul. Why make a 'game' at all Square Enix? Just make another Final Fantasy CGI movie.


Keep up with me as I review Atelier Rorona: The Alchemist of Arland next!

Nostalgia Soul Series : Vanguard Bandits (1998)

Vanguard Bandits was a game my brother and I played a lot as kids. It had amazing Japanese mechs coupled with branching storylines and colourful characters. So I was surprised to grow up and find out not a lot of people got to play this amazing gem of a game. For the Nostalgia Soul series, I'll discussing everything but the graphics except to note if it stood the test of time and instead of an overall section, it will have 'Does it still hold up' section. Now let's get started!

Plot: The plot to vanguard bandits is a tale of politics and badass mechas! You meet Bastion who lives in seclusion with his father Savaro and in the first scene we see Bastion and his father fighting off bad guys in Mechs called ATACs. They fend them off and meet two girls named Ione and Reyna who join their adventures against the evil Empire. 

Now here's where it gets interesting. During points in the game, if certain criterias or choices are made the game branches off the main storyline into a completely new one with completely different party members, fights, choices and storylines.


Opinion: Vanguard bandits has an amazing amount of replayability for a game made in the late 90s. The first few times I played it as a kid, I only ever went through the main storyline only to accidentally stumble upon one of the other branches replaying it as a teen. Each story line differs considerably from the other and friends you made in one, might try to kill you in another. 4/5 Soul




Setting: The setting for vanguard bandits is weird in a way. Here you have all these amazing fighting robots, and then they fight in a very medieval setting. It's explained that the robots are excavated from ruins of old but other than the robots and ruins, there are no signs of modern technology or even remnants of them.  2/5 Soul




Character(s): I'm not going to talk about each and every character the way I did with my Tales of Xillia review because there are too many to count spanning all the different storylines, so I'll stick to the main character and how he interacts with the rest of the massive cast.

Bastion is a typical mid 90s Shounen anime character, he's hot headed but kind and grows in different ways depending on the branch you pick. The characters that surround him never feel one dimentional aside from a select few like the Loli character who's there to be cute and pilot a massive ugly robot. There's also this amazing princess character who pilots this gigantic blue heirloom ATAC.  4/5 Soul


Gameplay: This game incorporates tactical RPGs ala Final Fantasy Tactics and a dating sim. After every fight you're able to shop in the town you're currently in and interact with each character to improve their impression towards you which may or may not have an effect in the story and their growth. The tactical rpg genre is a dying genre with modern games opting for more fast paced combat and gameplay but if you're nostalgic for the genre, give it a go. 3/5 Soul

How does it hold up? Vanguard bandits is a fun game but I can't sit here and lie to you and say my judgment is not marred by nostalgia because it is. But then again it's the point of the series. My advice is pick it up if you're feeling nostalgic for the genre but have already played and replayed Final Fantasy Tactics a million times and need something new (old). 3/5 Soul

Join me next time when I review Final Fantasy 13!  

A not so Soulful Tale! (Tales of Xillia Review)

Alright! Let's do tales of Xillia. Now if you've read my last post, I think you'd already know the general distaste I have for Xillia. I started playing it immediately after Tales of Graces f (which I completely adore!) and had high hopes for it because of the reviews and the aesthetics. Of course everything stated in this post is my own opinion and I'm well aware that a huge chunk of Tales fans love this game. So without further ado, let's rip into this one.

(Disclaimer: I only played Milla's version of the game as after my 1st play through, I had such a bad taste in my mouth I couldn't play through the game again with Jude)

Plot (spoiler free): The game starts with the player (you!) getting to pick between Jude, or the first ever female main character of the Tales series, Milla. The game starts with Milla (a God) trying to break into a high tech facility with the staple summons of the Tales series, Efreet, Undine, Sylph and Gnome. She comes across the worst character ever created, Jude and for no reason other than 'Plot?' he joins her. They try to destroy a weapon created by an evil king to capture spirits to use their energy as pawns of war (yawn) only to have her 4 spirits stolen from her. Without said spirits, she becomes a normal human being and goes on a quest with Jude (why?) to save them and the world. Also they meet a buncha dull paper thin characters I guess.

Opinion: Okay so the plot is very typical Tales. As usual there was a checklist and they ticked every box for this one. I couldn't shake the feeling of, oh it's just another Tales game with this one. I won't go too deep but like the others, there are twist and turns I just wished I was more invested in the characters to care. While not the worst aspect of the game, it did leave a lot to be desired. 3/5 Soul.

Setting: Alright, I have to admit the setting for Tales of Xillia is good. It's a fantasy setting as usual with Tales but it's mixed in with massive urban cities and areas with technological prowesses. Which makes sense because there's a constant war going on and like in the real world, a lot of money goes into building better machines and weapons. Some areas like the 'dungeons' and the fields end up looking the same though. It felt like a chore having to walk through the same 3 areas (I don't know why but they got rid of the constant puzzle filled dungeons that is a staple to Tales for an obligatory 3 fields/maps and done areas) to get to the next town and I feel it bogged the game down. 2/5 Soul.

From the left, Alvin, Rowen, Jude, Milla, Elize and Leia.

Character(s): Seeing as how this game has been out for a while and I want to bitch and moan. I will be talking about all the characters. They are all Tales/ manga anime archetypes and go no further outside of their designated stereotype (warning: possible spoilers)

Alvin: Probably the only character I liked but was bogged down by shotty/lazy writing that ruined any likability he had as a character.He was cool and he fights with a sword and gun but he betrays the cast like 3 times? by the third I was over him and everything about him. Next. 

Rowen: The voice of reason for the cast ( cos hes old I guess) an ex-militant, he sees the error of his ways and the war and changes to become a paper thin old wise sensei character. He used throwing knifes as a weapon and was the primary mage of the team.

Elize: Omg Elize...okay so she's the designated Loli and dear god was she boring. Normally the youngest character in a Tales game is the one you build the most attachment to (e.g Sophie from Graces and Karol from Vesperia) but not here. Her voice actor was not good and neither was the writing for her character. She was the secondary healer. Also she had a talking doll or whatever and it was super annoying and participated in skits.

Leia: Leia was a sad case of missed opportunity, she had the most character development only for it to amount to nothing in the end. Her stereotype was the god awful childhood friend and boy, do I hate that stereotype! Of course she would be madly in love with her childhood friend, Jude. And outside of a scene where they TELL us they had fun that one time during a birhday party a whole decade ago, Jude treats her very badly which makes me wonder why are they still friends. She was the primary healer of the group which also angered me. Jude is a doctor to be, while she was an inn keeper's daughter who worked at a clinic and mentions many times about her martial art prowess!

Milla: The first ever female main character of a Tales series, she gives off a 'Lightning from Final Fantasy 13' vibe. She had no personality outside of one or two predetermined traits, one of which was being hungry all the time (yawn). Her stereotype was the childlike innocence of never experiencing the outside world and it's as boring as it sounds. She was a God who had to live as a human, where did this go wrong? She fought with a sword but instead of inheriting the swordman's skills from the previous games, she wound up with Pascal from Graces' short range magic....why...

Jude: And we made it to the shit of the shits, Jude. My god where do I start with him. He joins the adventure without a single motivation outside of his love at first sight with Milla and has 0 character development throughout. He's a total wuss and needs to be slapped in his Milla obsessed face. His stereotype is the puppy you can't get rid of. His character is the most shallow of the cast and this is including Elize, it has no depth outside of 'Must Love Milla!!' I might've been able to enjoy this game more had this character not existed. Why was he created? You can have a solo female main character Bandai Namco!

1/5 Soul

Gameplay: In the previous post I had a battle section instead of gameplay, but I'll be using gameplay going forwardto describe and rate the general way the game plays.

Okay so the battle system while not the worst, is a far cry from Tales of Graces f which I considered the funnest system until Zestiria. Xillia is clunky and filled with frame rate issues. You wanna do a cool finishing move? here's a buncha lag. Also back to the clunky comment, in Graces I was hitting 100+ hit combos towards the end of the game while in Xillia I'd maybe do 20 if I'm lucky before it breaks. Maybe I sucked at the combat but that just proves the point I'm trying to make, it's not fun.

This game is not the first to not feature an open world, instead it's list based and that's fine. I liked Graces despite not having an open world but where it fails is they've mostly gotten rid of the multi level dungeons in favor of just having you walk from one place to another in maps filled with monsters. And they ALWAYS come in 3s, everytime you want to get to point A to point B, you always know to expect the same map reused 3 times and it destroys the immersion. Also wheres my cute flying ship??!!

Ba'Ul From Tales of Vesperia

0/5 Soul

Overall: I was very disappointed in Tales of Xillia and if not for my disdain for the game, I would've forgotten every single part of it. The plot was nothing new, the characters were horrible (and forgettable or in Jude's case, unforgettably bad) and the gameplay was not fun. Overall I give it 1/5 Soul. The only redeemable thing about it is the graphics which the ps3 couldn't handle anyway.

Stay in touch as we delve into my 1st nostalgic review with Vanguard Bandits! (1998)