Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Available now

Final Fantasy IV has been released at least eight times that I know of, and I might be miscounting. Despite the original North American release featuring simplified difficulty, heavy censoring and a hilariously poor translation, FFIV is widely considered to be the first truly great Final Fantasy; it helped set the standard for all RPGs for years to come. Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection features the fully remastered original game as well as the mobile phone and WiiWare sequel The After Years. An all-new, in-between chapter has been added to bridge the gap between the two, but does this version really make the game worth purchasing yet again?

( read more… )

Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: HexaDrive
Genre: Action RPG
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Square Enix games share a lot of features: fantastic graphics, strange hairstyles and highly dramatic cutscenes, to name a few. But they also frequently get spin-offs, strange games that have little to do with the core series and explore otherwise unrelated or alternate situations in ways only vaguely connected to them. The 3rd Birthday, a tactical over-the-shoulder shooter with RPG elements, is one of these spin-offs. While technically considered part of the Parasite Eve series, 3rd Birthday is definitely not Parasite Eve 3.

( read more… )

Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Genre: Action RPG
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

Square Enix’s Final Fantasy series is one of the most extensive of all time if you count all the side series and spin-offs that bear the name. Dissidia 012 (spoken as “duodecim”) is the second entry in the Dissidia side series. An action RPG/fighting crossbreed, Dissidia is the ultimate Final Fantasy tribute.

( read more… )

Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together has long been considered one of the best tactical RPGs ever made. Originally released in Japan on the Super Famicom in 1995 and North America on the Playstation in 1998, Tactics Ogre was long overdue and more than deserving of a remake. Square Enix has provided one, bringing it to the PSP.

( read more… )

Publisher: Team17 Software
Developer: Team17 Software
Genre: Strategy
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

There’s an old saying that goes, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This is the best way to describe the Worms franchise. There have been numerous Worms games over the years, and while there have been many improvements made, the game is always basically the same. Team 17 brings that tried and true formula back with Worms: Battle Islands for the PlayStation Portable.

( read more… )

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Ready At Dawn Studios
Genre: Action-Adventure
ESRB Rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

God of War is one of the most gory, gratuitously violent game series I’ve ever seen. In an industry driven by scantily clad fan-service (male or female) and trying to force as much carnage into one screen as possible, that says a lot. The original God of War came out back in 2005 and the mayhem hasn’t stopped since. God of War: Ghost of Sparta tells of what happened between God of War and God of War II.

( read more… )

Publisher: Atlus
Developer: Sting
Genre: RPG/RTS
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

I can’t say I often go into a system port expecting it to be as good as it was the first time I played it. The port to the PSP from the DS for Knights in the Nightmare seems puzzling to me, given the nature of the control scheme, which relies almost entirely on the DS stylus. As a unique combination of RPG and RTS, Knights in the Nightmare’s first impression on either system is baffling at best and intimidating at worst.

( read more… )

Publisher: SEGA
Developer: Alfa System
Genre: Action RPG
ESRB Rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

I was surprised to learn that the original Phantasy Star series has been around as long as I have, debuting in North America in 1988 – the year I was born. With such a long legacy behind it, any Phantasy Star game has a lot to live up to. Phantasy Star Portable 2 is the latest action RPG in the series set in the Gurhal system. Does it make the cut?

( read more… )

Publisher: Aksys Games
Developer: Goshow
Genre: Action RPG
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

The time of ancient Rome is one of those historical eras that fiction seems to really like: a fascinating mix of what we would consider highly civilized and savagely barbaric, captivating the imagination of most everyone. Nothing quite embodies that strange combination better than the gladiatorial games, and Gladiator Begins takes a new approach in trying to deliver a satisfying dose of those games in this visceral, bloody action RPG.

( read more… )

Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Genre: Action RPG
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Available now

Square Enix’s Kingdom Hearts series has inspired a kind of rabid, cult-like fan base that few games acquire. The Internet is crawling with cosplayers, fandom, fan art and fevered debates about the nature of the fabled Kingdom Hearts itself. All of this means that the series has a lot to live up to as fans doggedly tear apart anything they don’t feel lives up to their expectations. Birth By Sleep is the first PSP entry in the series and the first that features neither Sora nor Roxas as the main character.

( read more… )

Publisher: Konami
Developer: Climax Group
Genre: Survival Horror
Release date: Available now
Review by: Lieren Teeling

Konami’s Silent Hill series has been popular since the first game’s release in 1999. A pioneer in the survival horror genre, Silent Hill plays a delicate psychological game with its players, in contrast to similar games’ more visceral physical horror. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a drastic reworking of the first game that takes only the basics from the original and twists them into a whole new experience.

( read more… )

Publisher: Atlus
Developer: Atlus
Genre: RPG
Release date: Available now

Persona 3, a popular Japanese RPG, has had a few remakes since its debut in 2006, and its most recent incarnation is for the Playstation Portable. While the story is mostly the same this time around, the combat has been tweaked to make it more accessible for the portable player. Are the changes worth the playthrough, or do they make you want to put an Evoker to your head and pull the trigger?

( read more… )

Publisher: Atlus
Developer: Sting
Genre: RPG
Release date: Available now
Review by: Lieren Teeling

Ah, Atlus and Sting. I could write a small novel on the wealth of great RPGs they’ve brought us, and the ones they haven’t yet localized. My own collection holds many that have claimed a great deal of my life. Hexyz Force is their latest collaboration to arrive in the West, and it bears the signature styles for which both companies are known. Another traditional RPG with a few enhancements, Hexyz Force has a lot to live up to in a genre that’s progressed far past this basic formula.

( read more… )

Publisher: Playlogic
Developer: Hydravision
Genre: Action Adventure
Release date: Available now

A mysterious black flower has sprouted up all over the campus at Fallcreek University. One of the students finds out that inhaling the flower’s spores will induce hallucinations, and soon everyone on campus is getting high off of the school’s supply. This illicit drug use has ramifications worse than any of the students could have expected, however, as the flower causes mutations in most of the students, leaving the school and surrounding area filled with monsters. In Obscure: The Aftermath, you control a group of students trying to escape the carnage with their lives.

( read more… )

Review by: Matthew Frost
Published: May 1st, 2006

The exploits of Capcom’s famed boy robot are pretty darn legendary. Not many characters or franchises achieve the status of being completely synonomous with gaming, but Megaman is certainly one such enduring character. Capcom’s affinity for milking successful franchises ensured that the series would enjoy numerous spin-offs with new and distinct styles of gameplay, some of which have been more successful than others, but Megaman games always comes back to the kind of gameplay that started it all off. ( read more… )