Angell Soul (Inside look into Turn Based Combat)

Hello dear readers, Angell Soul here again with an editorial in place of a review this time. With the new FFVII remake announcement and the upcoming FFXV it’s starting to look like turn-based combat is rapidly disappearing from RPGs. Are turn-based RPGs a thing of the past or do they still have a place in today’s gaming marketplace? Even the Final Fantasy series seems to be abandoning the genre.

I think we do have to face the truth of the matter. Turn-based combat has lost its place at the heart of the RPG world. It used to be that the top selling and best known RPGs involved meticulous strategic gameplay. Now the biggest titles are almost all exclusively action RPGs. Action like Dragon Age, Kingdom Hearts, Fallout 4, Oblivion and The Witcher games have been some of the most successful titles in the past half-decade of gaming.

Lately, I’ve heard people argue that turn-based combat is stale and boring. One person argued that turn-based combat was simply a result of technological limitations and bound to be abandoned. I would counter that turn-based combat is one of the most amazingly diverse genres of gameplay out there. Tactical RPGs that require detailed unit placement and consideration of space, classic Final Fantasy Games that require juggling different character skills, and the Mario and Luigi series that mix turn based elements with active input: these examples just go to show that turn-based combat is actually very diverse.

Does the expulsion of turn-based combat from mainstream games mean that those of us who love that kind of combat will no longer be able to experience it in our games? Well, no, but maybe it won’t have a place in the blockbusters of the gaming industry anymore. Turn-based combat is actually doing quite well when we consider the broader picture. PC rpgs are making a comeback and many of them, like the recently released X-COM 2, are showing us that turn-based combat isn’t stale.

In the grand picture of things the niche status of turn-based combat these days provides it the opportunity to grow in new and diverse directions. Developers making turn-based games won’t have to dumb down systems to appeal to casual fans, but can rather work on tailoring their games to be punishing and rewarding for experienced genre-fans. So, while FF XV won’t be revolutionizing turn-based combat maybe a smaller developer than Square-Enix might just do so.

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!

Tales for the Soul! (Tales of Zestiria Review)

Hello everyone, my name is Rpg Soul and this is my new blog discussing games I've loved and hated over the years. I'm mainly an rpg player while sometimes playing the occasional 'every other genre'. Here's how the posts on this blog will work, I will discuss setting, character and plot (if there is any) and finally my over all view of the game along with a rating ranging from 0 to 5 souls (based heavily on my opinion). So let's get started!

For my first post, I will be discussing a game that I have been excited about since, well it was first announced. Tales of Zestiria! This game came out to mixed reviews from fans and praise from critics. In fact my brother warned me against buying it because of some of the things talked about in forums by longtime fans of the series.I will start with the plot segment which will remain vague and spoiler free.

Plot: So Tales games have never been very adventurous with their plot, they stick to an almost formulaic way of telling a story with each installment having a pre-determined checklist almost(and characters for that matter). So without giving everything away, the game starts with our protagonist living in seclusion (ala Milla from Tales of Xillia) He loves exploring ruins and learning more about the world before it was taken over by demons called 'Hellions'. After meeting the presumed Heroine of the game, him along with a buncha angels no one but him can see are taken upon a typical boy saves the world adventure.

Opinion: I like the plot of Zestiria, it's cheesy as hell but fun. Tales has always been this amazing story-telling vehicle and this one is no different. The twists and turns are fun to uncover and the characters (more about that in detail later) keep you invested in what they're doing. All in all i give it 3/5 Soul.

Setting: Not much to say about the setting, as with all Tales games, it's set in a fantasy world with monsters roaming everywhere. The graphics are beautiful and the world feels big with tons of npc roaming even the smallest towns. 3/5 Soul.



Character(s): The characters in Zesteria while still playing to the usual archetype set by the tales of old, played them at their best. I will mostly be talking about the main character as I feel a good or bad main character makes or breaks a game. Here, we have the horribly named Sorey. His Tales archetype is the same one Milla had in Tales of Xillia but done a lot better. He's sheltered but not boring, he also has elements  of the usual shounen manga/anime main character feel. Honestly, in the first few scenes I wanted to hate him as I do most typical Shounen main characters but it shocked me that I didn't. The biggest reason for me is that he doesn't just rush into dangerous situations. He's careful and smart and unlike Milla (who's personality outside of being clueless about the 'modern' world and eating was as interesting as a wall painted white) he felt more fleshed out and real.

Next I'll be talking about two other characters (So I can leave the characters that appear later for you to discover on your own) Mikleo and Alisha. So Mikleo is your standard male Tsundere you'd find in any dollar store yaoi manga shop. He's cold to everyone but Sorey but later warms up to everyone. Honestly, aside from the fact that he provides us the ability to wield a bow (not a spoiler, it's in every trailer for this game ever!) he's the blandest character in the game. Maybe it's just cos I'm just not a huge fan of tsunderes?

And finally Alisha, the most controversial character in the game. The reason so many fans were disappointed in the game. She was in every promotional poster and trailer for the game and was gone for the majority of the game and honestly, I don't see what all the hoopla is about. She's nothing special and her contribution to the narrative and her interaction with the rest of the party during her short stay were pretty meh.

Despite slamming two of the three characters I've reviewed I am giving the characters 4/5 Soul because honestly, the characters that come later and the interaction they all have is incredible!

Next up....


Battle: Okay so what can I say about the battle system in Tales of Zestiria other than it's amazing.
It has a learning curve of sorts, as with all Tales games. It's like meeting a friend you saw a few years ago and finding out they had a nose job but loving them anyway. Also this is the first game where the transition into battle from the field is practically seamless. Gone are the days where the screen would go black and the field would disintegrate into the battle. This time around you get to DNA digivolve with your Angelic party members! 

Digimon World 2

Over-all this is the best a Tales battle system has been since Tales of Graces f and the best part about it is how epic the battle looks and feels. I hope to see more of this battle system in future Tales games. 5/5 Soul.

Overall: I enjoy Zestiria a lot more than I thought I would. I like the characters overall, the plot and the setting. I came into this mindful of all the mixed reviews and some clear hatred for the game and came out feeling happy and content. After the shitfest that was Xillia, I'm happy to come out of a tales game feeling like I accomplished something. A mega amazing 4/5 Soul overall! 

Stay tuned as I review Tales of Xillia next and it's not going to be pretty!