The setup for a sequel to Square Enix and Disney’s break-out hit ‘Kingdom Hearts’ was baked into the finale of the original title, both in the final scenes of the main campaign and in the unlockable video that players got for fully completing the game. But few would have imagined that the Game Boy Advance exclusive title ‘Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories’ would have been so impactful on Kingdom Hearts 2.
Kingdom Hearts is perhaps one of the RPG scene’s best known franchises, in part because it features the mix of Squaresoft at its best with the star power of Disney, and in part because of its compelling and rich story.
A quirky little dungeon crawl with some excellent artwork, Green Skin Dungeon Master is one of those rare titles that swaps the traditional fantasy perspective of Humans vs Orcs and instead places you in the shoes of one of the titular Green Skins. Continue reading
Rightfully called one of the best RPGs of all time, Panzer Dragoon Saga finds itself in the highly praised company of ‘Suikoden II’ and ‘Chrono Trigger’, but unlike these staples of the genre it gets a lot less attention and has never seen release outside of its original appearance on the short lived Sega Saturn.
On paper, Monolisk is a perfect fit for mobile, with endless user-created dungeons that can keep you dungeon crawling for years to come. In practice it’s a little bit of a shallow experience that may have mistaken ‘streamlined’ for ‘dull’.
Another Eden is something of a master class in presenting a modern feeling, single player RPG for the free-to-play market of mobile. It looks good, plays solidly and keeps its freemium elements on the down low to the point that they are optional and can be ignored. It’s also perhaps the most obvious love letter to ‘Chrono Trigger’ you’ll ever play.
Overlong title aside, Dissidia: Opera Omnia is probably the fairest and least gated free to play RPG on the mobile market with one of the highest levels of production quality. Square Enix have has a hit and miss love affair with the mobile space and freemium titles in general for some time now, and whilst titles such as ‘Final Fantasy: Record Keepers’ and ‘Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius’ have been out longer, there’s little doubt that this is the most polished offering they’ve produced.
If any game has been a long time coming it’s Kingdom Hearts III, which has seen its life as a series extended through a variety of handheld entries that have been as vitally important to its plot as the main series’ numbered entries. Kingdom Hearts III is the cumulation of not a trilogy, but over 10 games in the current plot thread that all need to be paid off in this instalment. But does Kingdom Hearts stick the landing?
The mighty Dragon Quest series releases infrequently when compared to other franchises, but when a new game does appear they are usually something special within the RPG community. Dragon Quest XI comes triumphantly back to consoles on the heels of Dragon Quest X’s lack of western release on last gen systems and after the successful handheld entry that was Dragon Quest IX on Nintendo DS. Having missed out on playing X, the new game can’t help but make a solid impression as the west’s first HD Dragon Quest offering.
Produced by Level-5 as their new IP following on from the wonderful ‘Dark Chronicle’ (known as ‘Dark Cloud 2’ in America), and their last game for the aging PlayStation 2 hardware before making the switch to the next console generation, Rogue Galaxy is a strange beast that showcases the very best and at times the worst of Level-5’s unique style. Continue reading
