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Granblue Fantasy Relink Review (PS5) – Pulp Fantasy

By Toby AndersenJanuary 31, 2024Last upadateJanuary 28, 2024

Granblue Fantasy Relink is a strange beast to review in 2024. Originally announced more than seven years ago, entire gaming generations have come and gone in that time – new consoles, new graphical measurements, and entirely new audiences. Is it a product of its time, seven years ago, or is it up to date and impressively so, sitting alongside recent action JRPG hits like Tales of Arise or Xenoblade Chronicles 3?

It’s also strange because of how it was made and where it came from. An action RPG made by a studio that until that time had cut its teeth on a mobile gacha game. They assured fans that Granblue Fantasy Relink would not be gacha in any way and would do away with the entire ethos of the structure of its predecessor. Quite something in the era of Genshin Impact and mihojo’s other microtransaction-filled freebies. It was co-developed by Platinum Games at least for some portion of the seven years, albeit mostly in respect of combat, and seems to have had its own kind of development hell. So it’s all the more impressive that it made it out and kept its original vision largely intact.

And lastly, it’s a strange beast because it wears inspirations very much on its sleeve with a shrug. Music, character design, and a hefty amount of story inspiration have come from Final Fantasy alumni. I mean look at that logo – it has the same issues as Sakaguchi had breaking away from Squaresoft and not naming his games anything like The Last Story. Can Granblue Fantasy differentiate itself from the Final Fantasy inspiration and stand on its own, or does it sit firmly in big brother’s shadow?

Let’s plough these blue skies and see whether it makes it out on the other side.

Relinkedin

Going in, most players’ first question is going to be do I need to have played the gacha game first? Do I need to have watched the anime? Where is this story set in the timeline? The bad news is that Relink starts somewhere in the middle, assuming relationships are established and the crew knows each other. Things start right in the middle of a storm, on the airship, crew all present. However, that said, the good news is you don’t need to play a whole gacha game to glean the necessary information – it’s too simple for that to be necessary.

Somewhat disappointingly, the main points of the previous story are available, but only as spoken word vignettes called ‘Fate’ episodes, that unlock as you play. These detail Gran and Lyria’s origins, how each member of the crew joined up, and other backstories besides. I wish it had been interwoven into the story in a better way, but at least it’s there, and I don’t have to play the mobile game to get the basic info. Even if you aren’t that interested it’s worth cracking through them, or skipping, as they give you stat boosts. Once you’re past the first few for each character they also catch up to the current timeline, feature bespoke individual quests and interlink more like skits from the Tales series.

So going into Relink, here’s your basic synopsis. Lead protagonist Gran and innocent blue-haired doll-like Lyria met at the start of the mobile game. Things went wrong and she ended up sharing her life force with Gran to save his life, leaving them forever linked. They escaped a pursuing empire, got a ship, adopted crew as they sailed between floating islands, and had lots of wholesome adventures. Very little of great import to the wider story happened. It’s episodic and it’s a gacha game, so you collected lots of crew members. At some point they discovered a map to an uncharted area of Skydom called Zegagrande and travelled there. Which is where Relink starts. With the wind in your hair and adventure in your heart. You really don’t need anything else.

As soon as the crew enters the uncharted Zegagrande airspace, Lyria’s bonded primal beast Bahamut is strangely affected and rampages, mauling the ship before they can get him back under control. They set down on the first island they find after falling from the ship and start hearing of other primal beasts, much like Bahamut, running amok. Something is causing them to act strangely. And so our meddling band of adventurers can’t say no to wholesomely helping others and getting involved.

Missing Relink

I don’t want to give too much away, so I will steer clear of some plot elements, but essentially Gran and crew can’t help but gravitate towards anything regarding primal beasts and their control, due to Lyria’s powers. For much of the plot, this involves the machinations of the Church of Avia and their attempts to control primal beats for their own ends. Much like plenty of Tales games plots have been, it’s very much centred around these elemental summon-type monsters, and they form the bosses you will encounter.

There are six crew beyond Gran and Lyria; Vyrn, Gran’s trusty mini-dragon; Rackam, the pilot; Katalina, Lyria’s protector; Io, a young witch; Eugen, an old pirate; and Rosetta, another witch. You’re also joined by a couple of NPCs, most notably Rolan, who is the mayor of the first island you help. Characters are generally pretty shallow, even the ones with more backstory like Lyria. She’s an disappointingly empty-headed innocent who’s meant to be lovable, but just feels like a ‘born-sexy’ fantasy. She’s too perpetually positive to feel real. Most of the crew suffer from these overly sparkly personalities, and while I don’t wish for dour characters, it’s grating when everyone just feels like an anime caricature. That said they do grow on you, and I found myself warming to Katalina, Rackam and Io in particular. Even with a number of grating voices, they aren’t as bad as your average Star Ocean crew.

It’s a fun story, with fun shallow characters, that doesn’t take itself very seriously and is far more concerned with quickly getting you to fun set pieces and spectacular battles than it is with fleshing out anything about lore or worldbuilding. It’s one of the shortest JRPGs I think I’ve ever played with a main quest clocking in at only 15 hours. But those 15 hours never really let up. From storming islands, to boarding enemy airships mid-flight, to taking on massive scripted-battle primals, or mecha in the desert – it was a wild ride. One that I appreciated had done away with most of the dull and time-consuming chaff that often comes along with the package in JRPGs.

Weakest Relink

Granblue Fantasy Relink is an action RPG with battles happening organically across the field and dungeon areas. You can control Gran, but you are able to swap to any other character in the crew. You need to pick your combat team of three along with non-playable help in the form of Vyrn or Lyria. Your player character can dodge, block and jump (virtually as high as John Carter) to your heart’s content. Beyond combat which I’ll cover in more detail, you’ll be finding chests, exploring a couple of towns and a handful of dungeon islands on your way to the credits.

The exploration and field side of Granblue Fantasy Relink can feel a little shallow. There’s only really two hub towns to visit – Folca and the city of Seedhollow a little later. They have a scattering of NPCs offering fetch-quests, and many dozens who don’t, and they can look exceptionally pretty and alive. But that’s it. There’s literally just two of them. The other half-dozen islands you can visit are dungeons – the obligatory ice dungeon, volcano dungeon, desert dungeon etc. It can feel very small for a game about expansive limitless sky and adventure. Where it shone the most was the more plotted airship sections and the great bosses.

Relink betrays its mobile heritage a little in quests. There is a quest ‘guild’ in both towns and they give out little Monster Hunter-like quests, basically go here and fight, or fight this boss again type stuff. Battles are rated with MVPs and raid-like stats, beyond your usual EXP and item screens. It’s all heavily gamified and scripted, and no side quest ever came naturally via some part of the story. There’s also a whole weird level capping and ‘shards’ situation in terms of levelling up your weapons that feels very much like Relink is having to reuse gacha items and episodic caps left over from the mobile game, where none was needed here. I got a real Genshin vibe from this structure, that I did not like.

However, I must stress I never actually encountered a reroll, or a microtransaction, or a chest to get an RNG item/character/weapon. There is thankfully none of that, just these strange holdovers that seem out of place. You can earn and use character cards which unlock one of some twenty characters from the mobile game up to this point, but it’s not random or lootbox based. While these characters get little to no screen time in the plot, they have all been given ‘Fate’ episode so you can find out about their stories, along with their respective unique weapons, skills and combat styles. It’s a big plus if you actually are familiar with the previous game and want to use particular characters, and you have that knowledge and history with them.

Relink to the Past

Combat in Relink is a lot of fun. On the one hand, it’s chaotic – run around the whole field, slashing dodging, multiple skills, fireworks, and magic flying everywhere. On the other, it’s heavily scripted and can often feel like an event, or like your Arts don’t really build up unless you’ve done enough damage. I’ll explain.

You can hit, dodge, and block, and there’s real timing to it, which gives this action RPG some depth. You build up skills over time which you can unleash for more damage, you build to ‘link’ attacks with your teammates, and you build up to ‘Skybound Arts’ attacks for massive damage. Bosses have a stamina gauge that can be broken for a period of extra damage, but if they do well against you, they actually get an overdrive bonus of their own, where it’s pretty much just in your best interest to dodge to the best of your abilities and survive it. Big attacks are telegraphed a bit like a souls game with a big red aura, or a red area on the ground, giving you time to react. Combat is really quite interactive and though you do spend some of it mashing attacks, there was far more to it than some action RPGs.

Though they are called link attacks, there’s little in the way of a link system, or linking with crewmates. When given a prompt, you can help out a party member with a nice powerful link hit, which sometimes slows the enemy for added damage. And if you can all get your Skybound Arts in around about the same window of time, you get a bigger four-way massive attack. That’s all nice, but that’s about it. When I first saw the links and the talk of bonds and the title Relink, I thought this might be more involved, like a Persona-style bond system that increases stats for a particular character pairing, or unlocking attacks for particular characters. Nope, nothing is that complex here. The attacks come and they come no matter who is in the party, and can feel like you did nothing much to make it happen.

Bosses are where the scripted feel really hits home. Battles with bosses have stages and trigger points where you move to a new area mid-fight, or they change attack style. But it can feel arbitrary whether your attacks prompt the build-up of Skybound Arts, and the unleashing of a Skybound Art four-way attack often felt like the trigger for the fight to move on, regardless of how efficient or damaging I’d been. Characters seemed to suddenly earn the rest of their Skybound art gauge in a few nano-seconds when it was needed to pull off a big attack, where they’d had barely anything moments earlier. It all feels a bit staged – staged to achieve epicness, but at the expense of battles feeling genuine.

You can look at it as if you have less control over the battles than you think, or you can appreciate the sheer epic battles for what they are. Climbing up a mega mech in the desert, jumping from your airship to another and knocking it out of the sky, building up to those four-way arts just in the nick of time – these can all feel pretty awesome and as a spectacle, Relink really goes for it. The bosses and set-pieces give Final Fantasy XVI and its recent Dominant battles a run for their money.

Finally, I hope you do enjoy them, because on your way through the final dungeon and its lead-up, you are just fighting the same five or so massive scripted primal beast battles all over again.

Relinkin Park

Graphically Granblue Fantasy Relink is impressive throughout. You can often see great vista for miles in front of you, floating islands heading past, or airships volleying overhead while you’re fighting. Nothing ever really stuttered or got stuck, and the load times were so little I barely noticed them until I started to write this. Animation is also of note. Where JRPGs can often scrimp on animating their character models all that much in favour of putting time and money into long hours of content, Granblue does the opposite, having expressive characters and battles, but much less content.

Dialogue and the overall script is of the TikTok ‘so that just happened’ variety. It’s bad in places. But the voice cast are all dab hands who can deliver completely ridiculous lines without missing a beat or sounding the slightest bit disingenuous. They’ll be a lot of voices you recognise if you’ve played many other anime-style video games, but these are the good ones. Music is good throughout, appropriately epic and nuanced, and even memorable in a few areas. The ice dungeon especially put me in mind of Final Fantasy XIII and its oft-overlooked chime-filled themes.

Relink Later

Granblue Fantasy Relink is a short but sweet JRPG. It respects your time, making everything easy to reach and questing largely automatic. The story jumps from spectacle to spectacle, from impressive boss to action-packed airship boarding, and rarely hits you with any downtime or boredom. Dungeons only really appear in the second half and they’re relatively short and streamlined. It throws EXP and levels at you so you rarely need to grind. Granblue on console is the JRPG for the player who has 20 hours, not 50+. This is high-octane and over the top, and it’s the opposite of something like Persona.

But it doesn’t respect your intelligence much. Dialogue is poor, writing is poor, the explanations are rarely present, and the plot is about as deep as a puddle. You rarely ever meet anyone of consequence and if the lore and history is there, it was buried too deep for this player to find. It’s an adventure, it’s pulpy, and it really just wants to get on with the action.

And that’s fine too. I found Granblue Fantasy Relink really easy to pick up and play and it suits a timetable where you don’t have many hours to play at once. Graphically it’s stunning, and it’s clear much time and effort went into animation where this is often rare in JRPGs. There’s some replayability and end game content after the credits roll, but it was mainly just more Monster Hunter-type quests that got progressively harder, which I didn’t find inspiring.

Because it’s so quickfire and retains some of its mobile heritage, it struggles to be that immersive. You can see the structure and the game too much. It is derivative of Final Fantasy and Tales, and a fair few older RPGs, but I’m not sure that’s a mark against it. If anything it didn’t do enough to scratch the itch it looked liked it was going to scratch. And lastly, seven years is a very long time to deliver a 15-hour experience. What was happening during those years? The animation and the parts of it that are here are impressive, but it’s somewhat disappointing after seven years, that I can finish the whole thing in an intensive weekend.

An intense and fun experience, Granblue Fantasy Relink sits at the short but spectacular end of the JRPG spectrum. Running to some 20 hours all told, and maybe retaining a few too many of its mobile influences, you’ll wonder why it took seven years to release. But hey, with the wind in your hair, the ride is still a sweet one.

Granblue Fantasy Relink is available from 1st February 2024 on PlayStation 5 (review platform), PlayStation 4 and PC via Steam.

Developers: CyGames

Publisher: CyGames

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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18 Massive JRPG Titles We Can’t Wait To Play – 2022 and 2023

By Toby AndersenJuly 19, 2022Last upadateJuly 19, 2022

JRPGs are experiencing something of a resurgence in recent years. With the success of Persona 5, Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Tales of Arise, it seems like JRPGs are back in the mainstream. There’s been a whole load of great new JRPGs announced. It gets you thinking, what will be your next massive JRPG fix!? Huge world-spanning stories, parties of crazy characters with bonkers names, and combat systems with more new rules to learn than the Game of Thrones.

This year is no different – there’s dozens on the horizon over the next 12-18 months, most of which are coming from just one company. To be honest, there’s enough JRPG releases from Square Enix alone, that I might not have enough time to play anything else. For now, I’ll have to settle on listing them. So here it is – 18 of the biggest, baddest, and most beautiful JRPGs looking to sap every hour out of your life in the rest of 2022 and 2023. And yes, I’m sure I’ve missed a bunch more – so let me know in the comments.

Live A Live – 22nd July 2022

Live A Live is a remake of a JRPG from the Square-Enix back catalogue that never made it West back in 1994. Remade in the Octopath Traveller HD-2D style, it looks gorgeous and is coming west next week, only on Nintendo Switch. The game features eight characters in eight small stories each with its own gameplay style and turn-based battles set across far-flung different time periods. Trivia time – Live A Live marked the first director role for Takashi Tokita at Square. Despite its modest sales record in Japan, he went on to direct Chrono Trigger, Parasite Eve, and The Bouncer, as well as contribute story to Final Fantasy 7. He was also lead designer on Final Fantasy 4. Bit of a JRPG legend really.

XenoBlade Chronicles 3 – 29th July 2022

The current and most successful series by Xeno creator Tetsuya Takahashi (Xenogears, Xenosaga 1,2, and 3), Xenoblade Chronicles 3 looks like the biggest JRPG the Nintendo Switch has ever seen. So much so that it got its own dedicated Nintendo Direct last month. Coming out 29th July 2022 Xenoblade Chronicles 3 looks fantastic. Starring a party of six, whom you can switch in and out of battle at any time, the story features characters who live their whole lives in just a 10 year span, overshadowed by a globe-spanning war. Can both sides break free of constant war by working together.

The Diofield Chronicle – 22nd September 2022

Announced back in March 2022, The Diofield Chronicle is Square Enix’s answer to Fire Emblem, XCOM, and Valkyria Chronicle. I mean, it’s in the name even. Both turn-based and real-time combat combined into something the creators call Real-Time Tactical Battle System. This looks to have all the hallmarks of Square Enix’s Ivarice-style work. High politics, unpronounceable latin names, constant warfare, very well-spoken British voice acting, and the faded pastel artwork of FF12, FF Tactics or Triangle Strategy. To say we’re interested is to put it mildly.

Valkyrie Elysium – 29th September 2022

A long-awaited next in the Valkyrie Profile series (last seen on PS2 and Nintendo DS). Valkyrie Elysium is being developed by Soleil, the studio also working on unhinged hack and slash Wanted: Dead. Must be fun to work there at the moment. With a story steeped in Norse mythology, this is the second time we’ll be experiencing Ragnarok this year! A more action-oriented RPG, it has plenty of style and fast-paced combat. This makes it more akin to Square Enix’s own Nier Automata for example, rather than the oft-compared soulslike. But only time will tell. Valkyrie Elysium brings this beloved franchise back on 29th September 2022.

Persona 5 Royal on Xbox/Switch – 21 October 2022 + Persona 3 and Persona 4 soon

One of the biggest gets on Xbox recently was the announcement of Persona 5 Royal on Game Pass subscription. Yes, Persona 5 Royal has been out on PlayStation for a while, but a re-release is a big deal. Players on both consoles could sink 120+ hours of their 2022 Christmas into that sucker. The reason it’s here though is the re-release of Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable on both Xbox Game Pass and Nintendo Switch over the coming 12 months! That’s more Persona than I can fit in one year! So this is a three in one, but what a 3. A great excuse to go back and experience two classics if you haven’t before.

Star Ocean: The Divine Force – 27th October 2022

Technically this is Star Ocean 6 in the mainline series (there’s been one mobile entry, but best forgotten). A beloved sci-fi and fantasy JRPG series from Tri-Ace, before they became part of Square Enix. The Divine Force is hoping to rekindle the series after lackluster recent outings on PlayStation 4. In true Star Ocean tradition, you crash land your spacecraft on an underdeveloped (read fantasy) planet. Open-world for the first time in the series, with interesting flight traversal options, Star Ocean The Divine Force is hoping for divine intervention on 27th October 2022.

Harvestella – 4th November 2022

A surprising one from Square Enix (maybe we shouldn’t be surprised at this point in their bid for world domination). A farming sim ala Stardew Valley combined with the characters and narrative of a quintessential Square Enix style JRPG. Farming sims like this are already massive timesinks, without an emotionally resonant narrative reason to keep tending that garden. It’s got all the hallmarks of Final Fantasy down to the logo. We can’t wait to harvest dozens of Grysahl Greens and log-in every hour to make sure it’s growing nicely. Harvestella is a surprise release at the end of the year.

Front Mission 1st Remake – End 2022

Sometime last year, we heard that Forever Entertainment (Panzer Dragoon remakes) was working with Square Enix on a remake of an old IP. It was all very hush hush. The team spent a good portion of a podcast guessing every old Square property we wished would come back. Then we promptly forgot all about it. Then most of a year later, Front Mission 1st (a remake of the original game) is announced, and hiding in the trailer, with no fanfare, is the Forever Entertainment logo. I for one can’t wait for this, and I also hope it’s good enough that it spawns full remakes of Front Mission 2 and 3 as well. Front Mission 3 was my entry drug into strategy/tactics JRPGs all the way back in 1999. Front Mission 1st is slated for 2022 still, but no sign of a finalised date just yet. Fingers crossed.

Sacrifire – End 2022

Another gorgeous-looking indie bringing back the heyday of nineties JRPGs. Sacrifire has all the style and a lot of the substance of the original Tales and Star Ocean games; a sci-fi and fantasy world intermixing, a freeform 2D on 3D combat system, 2D sprites on a 3D world, and of course that music. There’s a reason it sounds like those games. Sacrifire has bagged none other than Motoi Sakuraba – the legendary composer behind almost every Tales game, every Star Ocean game, The Dark Souls series, Valkyrie Profile and Goden Sun. Another one to go beside the other HD2D titles in this list, Sacrifire is also slated for end of 2022 but is looking more likely to pass into early 2023 at this point.

Chained Echoes – End 2022

More gorgeous pixelart this time, with yet another strong-looking indie on the list. Combining the fantasy aesthetic of Chrono Trigger with the lost technology mechs and sci-fi of Xenogears, Chained Echoes is looking like a very special indie to watch out for. Turn-based battles, mechs quests and politics – the trailer has it all – and if you look carefully there’s even an airship. If it’s not Square Enix continuing their dominance, it’s other devs trying to relive and push the boundaries of the style from the nineties heights. Chained Echoes most recent trailer teases a Q3 *****ber 2022 release – but which month is that?

Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion – Winter 2022-23

Not a complete remake, but a pretty substantial one this – Crisis Core originally came out on the PSP as part of the big Final Fantasy 7 Compilation expanding the story of Zack Fair and how it ties into Sephiroth and Cloud. The backstory of FF7 is one of the most interesting and convoluted so it was great to get a few more pieces of the puzzle. Now its reworked with upgraded modern graphics, a reworked battle system similar to FF7 REMAKE, and other quality of life enhancements all around. Considering the other announcement made at Final Fantasy 7’s 25th Anniversary stream, this is a welcome return of the side story that’s well worth playing. We can get our hands of Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion this winter – but it’s possible that could mean early 2023.

Forspoken – 25th January 2023

A few delays now for this game – originally announced as Project Athia at the first PS5 showcase, it was then slated for May 2022, then October, and now 25th January 2023. There’s some speculation Square were advised to move it out of the way, considering God of War Ragnarok’s release. Forspoken is an open-world action RPG, but a lot more western in its design. A black female lead called Frey, from New York, is transported to a dangerous fantasy world filled with dragons and monsters. But she is clearly blessed with magic in the bargain. The trailers have consistently shown off impressive traversal and combat mechanics, and some spinning dodge jumps that would make Spider-Man wince. Plus a magic hoverboard that would make Marty McFly jealous. I’m psyched, don’t know bout you?

Granblue Fantasy Relink – Early 2023?

Announced back in 2017, Granblue Fantasy Relink is the only entry on this list that was also on last year’s. A fantastic looking action JRPG, Granblue looks akin to the recent Tales of Arise in terms of style and art. A JRPG retelling of the incredibly popular mobile game Granblue Fantasy, Relink has been developed by CyGames, but also in large part by Platinum Games, of Bayonetta and Vanquish fame! The battle system might well be awesome! We can’t wait for a solid release date for this, and according to the dev team, it’s effectively complete and finalised, all that’s left is bugs and testing. We expect a release date to be announced in December at the Granblue Fest streamed event, but don’t worry we’ll make sure to cover it here at Finger Guns. Let’s just hope it’s not on next year’s list.

Sea of Stars – Early 2023

Retro-inspired turn-based RPG may be the tagline, but it doesn’t do this game justice. Just take a look at those visuals – the pixelart on display here is absolutely next-level stuff, evoking a kind of Chrono Trigger that never was – I mean it even has the composer from Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross Yasunori Mitsuda. Made by the team responsible for the Shinobi-inspired The Messenger, Sea Of Stars’ narrative forms a prequel to that game, telling the story of the Children of the Solstice. Check out the trailer and you too will not be able to wait for Sea of Stars – early 2023.

Eternights – Early 2023

If Persona was more your kind of JRPG then maybe Eternights might be the best thing on this list. Half dating sim, half action dungeon crawler, Eternights looks to hit that sweet spot of meaningful character interactions and bonds that then further drive the battle system. It’s also got a guy who’s arm is ripped off by a demon, and then gets a wibbly magic arm as a replacement. I mean, what’s not to like? Expect overdone dialogue and lots of very earnest anime tropes, but hopefully there’s a gem of a story in there too. Eternights is slated for early next year, whatever early means.

Eiyuden Chronicle Hundred Heroes – 2023

A spiritual successor to the cult classic Suikoden series, Eiyuden Chronicle was an impressively successful Kickstarter, and is being written by the writer of Suikoden 1 and 2. Suikoden was always about a huge cast of literally a hundred or so heroes, each recruitable to your party if you followed the right paths and quests. Eiyuden Chronicle looks to continue that trend with an epic war narrative and base building to feed and prep your army. This is another heavily influenced by Octopath Traveller HD 2D visuals, and also has visceral moving combat scenes. We can’t wait to play the full game in 2023.

Final Fantasy XVI – Summer 2023

Final Fantasy 16 is going dark. Really dark. Summons are no longer available to all, but each one is bonded solely to one person – this gives them incredible political power if they know how to use it, and incredible magic power on the battlefield. A undisclosed tragedy befalls our hello Clive and his brother, and so begins his adventure, spanning more than one period of his life. Expect incredible clashes of Shiva, Ifrit, Bahamut and the like, and a deep political story, sorely missing in Final Fantasy 15. Speaking of which, 16 really has to bring the series back to the levels of quality we expect after lackluster receptions for 15 and 13. There’s not that long to wait either as Final Fantasy 16 is aiming for a Summer 2023 release.

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth – Winter 2023-24

Finally we come to the biggest recent announcement and yet another Final Fantasy and Square Enix title – the return of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake series, now a trilogy that will continue in Part two, now titled Rebirth. We’ve hardly seen anything of it, just the sneak peek cinematic below, and the slated release date of Winter 2023 – that means potentially 2, perhaps even 3 massive Final Fantasy titles coming in 2023. We don’t know how closely they are going to stick to the story or how different it could be, but last year when Intergrade released, we took stock of the likely path in Episode two, and story beats that will likely remain – you can check it out here.

That’s it, 18 massive JRPG titles. 5 HD 2D pixelart beauties. 3 Final Fantasies. 2 tactics titles. The return of Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile, Suikoden and Front Mission. More Persona than you could possibly play in 12 months. It’s a pretty incredible lineup and I know there are other JRPGs announced and not announced that will release in the same time frame. I said it before, 2022-23 is an absolute bumper year for JRPG fans. A resurgence in the greatest genre around!

I hope you enjoyed our list, but if there are any I’ve missed – let us know in the comments. Now I’m off to finish Triangle Strategy before everything starts releasing!

Edge of Eternity Review (PS5) – On The Precipice of Greatness

By Miles ThompsonFebruary 24, 2022Last upadateFebruary 24, 2022

RPGs are a tough nut to crack even for studios with a wealth of resources, manpower and marketing bigwigs behind them. You need only look at polarizing behemoth Final Fanasty XIII and the furore its direction took to see how attempting to diversify the formula can lead to significant backlash. Bursting with a multitude of mechanics and systems to engross yourself in, Edge of Eternity was a game I found myself invested in pretty quickly. The opening hours are a bit too slow to kick into gear and the story never quite hits its stride, but the important part of wanting to play is definitely there.

With stellar RPG releases in the shape of Scarlet Nexus and Tales of Arise hitting consoles last year, it’s a genre with a strong pedigree that can be difficult to make an impact on, especially for a smaller indie team with a lower budget. Edge of Eternity falls into this category, with a potentially over-ambitious vision being lagged down by stuttering performance and a host of visual oddities that can break the immersive atmosphere the fantastic visual direction achieves.

My review is therefore going to reflect this concoction of both impressive achievements and underwhelming elements, but it’s fair to say I’ve had a good time with Edge of Eternity, so it’s worth exploring more of this fantasy realm to discover if it’ll be for you.

Crippling Corrosion

Any RPG worth its salt is based off the foundation of a great story which pulls you through its world. In this area, Edge of Eternity is some light seasoning – enough to whet the tongue but not in enough quality to raise the appeal of the dish. Our primary leads are Daryon, a young yet already war-torn deserting soldier, and a Selene, an optimistic and believably positive mage. Their relationship as siblings is fleshed out pretty well and has some nice moments that create a solid bond to their plight.

And what a plight they face. The world of Heryon is under siege from an alien force known as the Archelites, robotic foes that are effectively trashing the human military Daryon was a part of. The opening is pretty strong and sets a pretty dire situation for Daryon in particular, so the stakes are established well in the early portion.

Unfortunately, as you progress through Heryon and spend more time with more characters, things start to fall apart a bit. Side characters are far less interesting than our core duo and the voice acting for mostly everything is uniformly bad. Not so bad it’s embarrassing, but just bad enough it had me wincing and losing interest. Some cutscenes and dialogue are quite over-written, with the same plot point explained about 3 times before it’ll actually move on (looking at you, dynamic duo’s mother), but it luckily never descends into being terrible, just not particularly engrossing.

Most of the story beats are taken from other well-trodden narrative tropes so there’s little that will surprise you, but I did ultimately enjoy following Daryon and Selene on their quest to save their mother from the corrosion – a corruptive force slowly eliminating humans, akin to a bio-weapon. I would have liked to see a bit more of a dive into the battle trauma themes it touches on but it tended to slide past this. Much of the dialogue is also delivered via text and static interactions, with some noticeable translation issues in the subtitles too, which didn’t help.

Side quests won’t offer much narratively either – most are uninteresting fetch quests from characters you’ll never interact with more than a couple of times. There are a small number of multi-layered side-quests with returning NPCs, but even these feel like one fetch quest broken up into multiple numbers. The Witcher 3 this certainly isn’t. One exception is with a quest for opening a very specific, mystical chest, whereby an NPC will bargain with you about whether your “addiction” to curiosity is worth the price. It had me laughing quite a bit and was a highlight in an otherwise functional yet uninspired offering of side content.

ATBs For Days

While the story didn’t overly impress me, Edge of Eternity’s gameplay and combat systems absolutely did. My earlier FFXIII example wasn’t just a random pluck out of thin air – Edge of Eternity felt like a nostalgic hit of 2009 life for me. Combat is triggered from set events or from bumping into enemies in the world – a bit like in Pokemon or FF7 Remake. It’s largely avoidable too, should you not wish to bother, as enemies have very poor perception to engage you.

In my case however, I was more than happy to oblige with trading blows. Combat is a hybrid of turn-based action and fluid ATB actions. During a fight, your character’s ATB (think energy/stamina) bar fills at the same time as your opponents. Everything from moving, to attacking, to casting or even defending costs ATB usage, but at differing expense. You may be ready to cast an incredibly powerful spell that can wipe out your foe, only to see that their ATB bar will before your second casting bar will, meaning they can disrupt your spell and expose you. What do you do? Well, you adopt a defensive posture, take the blow, then cast your spell when the enemies ATB is lower.

It becomes a terrifically fun game of tit-for-tat as you predict the oppositions moves to either hit them hard enough early on to eliminate them before they move, or disrupt them from getting up to peak damage. Interrupting a spell or discovering a weakness to an element to exploit kept me engaged for hours and with such a constantly growing roster of foes to face, I always had more things to be thinking about or discovering. Their are numerous elemental statuses you can inflict or suffer from and even the time/weather will alter the impact of different elemental powers.

From battling common fodder beasts, to humans, huge towering boar-like creatures, mythical antelope… things, robotic archelites, husk-akin humanoid creeps (think Mass Effect 2/3), there’s a treasure trove of enemies to face on your travels through Heryon, which is great. Facing off against fewer or lower-to-same levelled enemies however could become an exercise of mundanely hitting attack without much thought, as on Normal your HP and MP regenerate after each fight, so with no real threat to face there’s no incentive to battle inefficiently.

Boss battles and squaring up to higher powered enemies is where the combat truly shines and will provide that satisfying challenge to overcome, as you test out different strategies and are forced to switch up tactics. Whether it be an enemy spawning whipping tentacles out of the ground, a tanky soldier weathering hits while a caster blows your party away with spells or surviving an onslaught of husks using ballistae and turrets, Edge of Eternity has enough to variety and battle setups to maintain its combat system effectively. Provided the enemy group isn’t a pushover, in which case it can be too easy to autopilot.

Gameplay will always be the most important of any game for me, which serves Edge of Eternity well, as the act of fighting challenging foes is a puzzle I liked solving. If you’ve never been keen on ATB style turn-based action however, Edge of Eternity won’t be one for your wheelhouse.

Set Yourself Free On The World

Outside of smacking around helpless beasts like a sadistic fantastical prick, you can wander around the expansive landscape of Heryon to complete side quests, solve puzzle monuments, find chests and materials, or just absorb the gorgeous aesthetic. As mentioned before, many of the planes will have creatures roaming around you can easily navigate around, which I like, as it means you can combat at your own behest instead of being burdened with boring fights endlessly when you just want to explore.

There’s a variety of plants, minerals and items to acquire through exploration, which then allow you to engage with the frankly ludicrous number of systems available at towns or hub areas. Crafting for weapons and armour, vendors selling dozens of varieties of items, upgrading for weapons for each party member, it’s all here and accounted for. At times, the forks in the road collide in hindrance of each other – rarer items can be crafted with ease by just purchasing the rarest materials from the vendor next door, requiring less from the player to go out and earn the reward, undermining the achievement when you deck out your party with high-powered equipment, for example.

However, despite this, I was blown away by just how much there is to engage with in Edge of Eternity. Wanna make Daryon a beast of warfare? Set up your crystals to maximise haste and HP, while equipping a high-powered sword with an ability to give him intermittent shielding from damage. If that doesn’t work, craft a different subset of weapons and armour by purchasing crafting recipes from a vendor. None of this was especially new, but just the sheer amount of options afforded to me at each town became overwhelming and impressive in equal measure. At times, you may be tempted to just think “screw it, it’s too much”, but at others I was spending 20 minutes crafting, buying, sorting, maximising and theorising for my most effective output.

Completing puzzle areas and side quests will additionally reward you with higher-levelled gear and crystals, the upgrading resource. Again, similar to FFXIII or FF7 Remake with materia, crystals act as incremental increases to stats, while unique ones offer abilities for you to utilise in combat, depending on which party member equips them. You can only have so many equipped at once, so you have important decisions to make on how to efficiently beef up your squad, while also contending which abilities or spells they’ll have access to in-battle. As crystals are tied to weapons, you need to level up the weapon through battle to unlock longer and more varied pathways to attach more crystals (and therefore abilities) to a character.

It did occasionally bog down the experience through having to navigate menus often, but it felt more than worth it for the benefit of experimenting with builds. Puzzle areas are a bit less impressive in design and became more draining than anything else, while the abundance of fetch-quest offerings became demotivating the more I accepted hunts and NPC tasks. The open world feels alive, especially as you discover more massive expanses, but what you’re tasked with doing within it feels devoid of soul at times.

Heryon, The Grandiose Beauty

When I say that the world of Edge of Eternity feels alive, I mean this in the highest compliment for the concept artists, visual technicians and level designers. The aesthetics and art direction of the game are phenomenal. On your journey, you’ll wade through lush open fields, trudge through murky, suffocating marshlands, escape the encroaching corrosion, battle through snow-swept peaks and gaze in awe at the grandeur of castles and looming monuments.

The creative spark on display was truly mesmorising and enraptured the feel of this world impeccably. Too many games either fail to use any sort of colour palette outside of bland or in-your-face brightness, but Edge of Eternity nails a sweet spot of each locale feeling distinct with strikingly defined areas mixed with vibrant colour and grounded use of art direction. While I may have tired of the story, I never tired of emerging into a new zone to discover what visual wonders the concept artists had brought to life.

Despite having said all of that however, my largest regret was that Edge of Eternity clearly didn’t have the funding to bring everything else up to the same level. Animations are largely blocky, whether it be traversing the world with an almost constant and pervasive framerate stutter, noticeable object and texture pop-in occurring barely a few meters in front of your avatar or the in-battle animations lacking a sense of power and impact, almost everything shows the limitations that were brought from potentially being over-ambitious with their vision. It’s commendable that even despite the plethora of issues, visual oddities and lack of polygonal prowess I was still able to be so immersed in the world.

Character models, particularly for NPCs, are really poor and repeat ad-infinum in town or city areas, which can really break immersion in cutscenes or during gameplay. The lack of texture quality takes a toll too, as most look like wax-dolls with few defining features. Were it not for different coloured clothing, you’d be hard-pressed to recognise any character just from their model alone. Cracks also show in other areas, like for example when resting at an inn – there are “scenes” between characters all around a table and yet, all you’ll see is their characters staring blankly at each other while text overlay shows their conversation. It looks awkward and was a clear half-measure (though an understandable one). Something that was obviously wanted for inclusion, but not important enough to warrant more time.

Like I said though, even despite all of the poor optimisation and at times lackluster presentation, the actual look and feel of Edge of Eternity was incredible. Normally these issues would decimate my immersion in a game, but in this one, the art direction was simply too stellar to let go of my attention and the developers deserve huge kudos for making a world so unyieldingly large look so beautiful in spite of their resources.

Stepping Back From The Edge

When all was said and done, I reflected on my time with Edge of Eternity more fondly than negatively. This was a small team who took on a huge project and who saw their vision to completion, burgeoning systems and all. All too frequently you’ll stumble on the shortcuts and compromises that were made to stuff everything they wanted into the game, logic be damned, but there’s something about the earnestness of it that almost demands a certain level of respect and appreciation.

Context is everything for me and in the context of the tiny group of people who built this game, I firmly believe it’s worth playing if you’re an RPG fan. It riffs a lot from the already well-established genre and attempts to shovel almost every conceivable element into one over-flowing package. At times you’ll see this bursting away at the seams, but then we’ve all over-indulged in our dreams at times, so who am I to judge?

It’s not a perfect or even a great game, but Edge of Eternity shows what can be done by a group of inspired game designers who had a vision they were willing to trust. Overlook its numerous flaws and financial limitations and you’ll find a package filled with dozens of hours of janky, whole-hearted fun. At £25 and offering dozens of hours of gameplay, it’s a model for generous and honest game design, something which is far too rare in the current AAA space. Plus, it’s gorgeous too. If nothing else, your eyeballs will thank you for giving them the chance to gaze upon the artwork brought to life.

Edge of Eternity is a passion project with a hell of a lot of heart. The art direction is phenomenal, the combat satisfying and the content positively bursting with hours of enjoyment. Poor performance, less interesting side content and a mediocre story keep it from greatness, but the heart of this package deserves its praise and to be revered into the future.

Edge of Eternity is available now on PS5 (review platform), PC and Mac, Nintendo Switch, PS4, Xbox One and Xbox Series S|X consoles.

Developer: Midgar Studio
Publisher: Dear Villagers / Plug In Digital / Maple Whispering

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

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The Game Awards 2021 – The Winners

By Ross KenistonDecember 10, 2021Last upadateDecember 10, 2021

Well that was quite the show, eh? Whilst we all get a little distracted by the massive amount of trailers that get dropped during the show (ALL of which you can watch right here), believe it or not there were some actual awards being handed out.

Fortunately, we feel like each category found its correct winner, and you can find the entire list below in the order they were announced.

GAME FOR IMPACT- LIFE IS STRANGE: TRUE COLOURS

BEST INDIE / BEST DEBUT GAME – KENA: BRIDGE OF SPIRITS

BEST PERFORMANCE – MAGGIE ROBERTSON ‘LADY DIMITRESCU’ RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE

BEST ACTION GAME – RETURNAL

BEST ART DIRECTION – DEATHLOOP
(ALSO WON BEST GAME DIRECTION)

PLAYERS CHOICE – HALO INFINITE

BEST RPG – TALES OF ARISE

BEST MUSIC – NIER REPLICANT

BEST MULTIPLAYER – IT TAKES TWO

BEST MOBILE GAME – GENSHIN IMPACT

BEST NARRATIVE – MARVEL’S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

BEST ACTION / ADVENTURE GAME – METROID DREAD

BEST ONGOING GAME – FINAL FANTASY XIV ONLINE

INNOVATION IN ACCESSIBILITY – FORZA HORIZON 5
(ALSO WINS BEST SPORTS / RACING GAME and BEST AUDIO DESIGN)

BEST FIGHTING GAME – GUILTY GEAR: STRIVE

BEST SIM / STRATEGY GAME – AGE OF EMPIRES 4

BEST VR / AR – RESIDENT EVIL 4 VR

MOST ANTICIPATED GAME – ELDEN RING

GAME OF THE YEAR – IT TAKES TWO

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The Finger Guns Podcast Ep. 124 – Kratos After Ragnarok

By Ross KenistonSeptember 20, 2021Last upadateSeptember 21, 2021

This week on a bumper Finger Guns Podcast Rossko, Sean, Greg, Toby, Miles and Kat get together to talk the weeks news in the gaming multiverse.

First up we recap the THQ Showcase and discuss the exciting titles announced and what’s to come from the mad publisher that seems to own all the classic IP that nobody else wants. We also dig into Cory Barlog’s confirmation that God of War Ragnarok will be the final Sony Santa Monica Kratos game and what that means for the character and the series going forward. What are Santa Monica going to do after Ragnarok and what is Kratos going to do next?

We also talk about the randomness of a possibly Quantic Dream x Star Wars game. David Cage and Mickey Mouse teaming up? Does anybody really want this? Elsewhere there’s a return to the Fastest Finger First Quiz, we talk our games that we don’t like that everyone loves (and it gets very heated. Poor Sean…) and we discuss what we’ve been playing this week. It’s a nice variety including a classic from the previous gen, Life is Strange: True Colours, Deathloop, Tales of Arise and even a legendary N64 shooter.

To download the MP3 right-click here.

It all gets a bit dramatic this week, don’t miss it!

| ALL THE PLACES WE ARE: https://linktr.ee/fingerguns

Theme Music – De Jongens Met de Zwarte Schoenen by RoccoW & xyce. | Edited and produced by Ross Keniston | Published by Podbean.

Team: @FNGRGNS / Rossko – @RosskoKeniston / Paul – @ThePaulCollett / Greg – @GregatonBomb / Sean – @Omac_Brother / Toby – @toby_andersen / Andy – @PsychTyson / Kat – @RainbowDropx | Facebook: FingerGunsUK / Twitch: twitch.tv/fingergunsdotnet / The Official Finger Guns Discord Discord: Join here!

RPG Trailer Fix – E3 2021 Edition

By Toby AndersenJune 18, 2021Last upadateJune 18, 2021

As RPG fans, this was the week that Square Enix dropped the Final Fantasy 7 Remake PS5 Intergrade, and Yuffie DLC expansion Intermission. But I’m here to tell you it was also E3. You know, that big games announcement extravaganza. Things do happen outside of Midgar! It means that when you are done with Midgar a second time and Yuffie has begun to grate, there’s still a shit-ton of brilliant-looking RPGs coming out over the next year or so to get excited about. I’ve tried to keep to new trailers only, so here we go.

Monark

You awaken in a mysterious academy, there’s a lot of very angsty teenagers around, strange red-eyed skeletons and a talking rabbit plushy. It’s JRPG time in High School again. Clearly taking some inspiration from Persona and Shin Megami Tensei, NIS America’s Monark has you on a quest to defeat the seven Pactbearers, battling through deamonic incarnations of your ego in dungeons that look like madness-tinged variants of the academy itself. It’s very concerned with ego, and defeating the irrational, but it’s still a little earlier to know what’s really going on. Monark is due out in Japan in October 2021, and to be localised for a western release in early 2022 on PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam.

Tales of Arise

We’ve covered a fair bit of Tales of Arise before, so I’ll stick to the new stuff. In the new Summer Game Fest trailer, we are introduced to two further party members not seen as of yet, Dohalim (he’s the classic greek myth-looking guy with the lovely red locks) and Kisara (she’s the white-armor-clad knight, and works for Dohalim). That’s now six party members in total – this is starting to actually resemble a Tales Of game! There are plenty more battle teasers, dual-moves, and tantalising bits of disembodied voiceover, but perhaps most intriguing is that our main protagonist wears half a cracked bowl on his head, for what seems the entire game. I have questions! Check out the new trailer below.

Edge of Eternity

Taking clear inspiration from the Final Fantasies of the last generation or two, Edge of Eternity is leaving Early Access this week. It’s final story content and chapters have been added, and the game is now complete. Featuring a combined turn-based and tactical battle system, Edge of Eternity is the story of Daryon and Selene, siblings who must quest to fight the corrosion taking over their planet, and turn it back before its too late. Oh and you can get to ride a mammoth cat thing across the open world map! Take my money! While the graphics seem very PS3-era, the story and design seems very classic and has our interest piqued! PC players can watch the trailer below and then visit Steam and play it today, while console players have been promised the game is coming later in 2021.

Eiyuden Chronicle + Eiyuden Chronicle Rising

Slap bang in the middle of the Xbox E3 Showcase was the welcome news that Eiyuden Chronicle (the spiritual successor to Suikoden that smashed its Kickstarter last year) is now coming to Xbox family consoles. There are new screens and new characters galore in the trailer below, and also the announcement of another game in the franchise – Eiyuden Chronicle Rising. What is it – well we don’t really know just yet, but the release window precedes the release of the main game. 2022 for Rising, and 2023 for the main release. Rising has a single screen – 2D beat-em-up or sidescroller? You tell us. Pixel art RPG lovers rejoice – now the are two of them!

Final Fantasy 1-6 Pixel Remasters

Square Enix’s showcase was the place to be for RPG announcements, and first among them was the Pixel Remaster series of Final Fantasy 1 through 6. All six games will be remastered and re-released – for the moment that seems to be on Steam and Mobile devices only, but who knows what the future holds after that. If, like some of our team, you’ve never played the original games, maybe now is the perfect time to get stuck in. I would personally recommend 4 and 6 as absolute classics.

Legend of Mana Remaster

And next on the Remaster schedule is Legend of Mana – the last of the truly great Mana games back on PS1. This remaster is coming digitally to PS4, Steam and Nintendo Switch in the west, with possible physical copies in Asia. Legend of Mana was a strange and very original RPG where you received locations as items that you placed on a map, thereby creating the world of the game yourself as you played. Its story is very much based on vignettes, but there is an absolutely golden age RPG in there for retro aficionados to discover. Legend of Mana is available from June 24th 2021.

Stranger Of Paradise – Final Fantasy Origins

You may remember there were rumours pre-E3 of a Final Fantasy Souls-like to be announced. Well, the rumours were true, and at the end of the Square-Enix showcase the following trailer arrived; Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins. Developed by Team Ninja (Nioh, Ninja Gaiden) with creative control from Tetsuya Nomura (Kingdom Hearts, FF7R), the game is ‘the story of an angry man’. T-shirt-clad gung-ho tough-guy Jack, and his buds Ash and Jed travel to a strange dark castle burning with resolve to ‘kill Chaos’. He shouts it angrily a lot. Judging by the trailer Chaos is actually Garland – the original boss of the first Final Fantasy game. Featuring intense action RPG battles, it looks more Devil May Cry than Dark Souls. There’s also meant to be a PS5 exclusive demo available now, but the file is corrupted and so far no one has been able to play it. It’s certainly been polarising online, but let’s hope the time until 2022 release window lets us see more encouraging footage.

Monster Hunter Stories 2 – Gameplay + Story

Two trailers for Monster Hunter Stories 2 Wings of Ruin this week. First up is the gameplay trailer from the Nintendo Direct – riding a dragon ‘Monstie?’ across the environments (like the Palamutes in Rise), gathering and crafting materials much like the mainline games, turn-based Monster Hunting battles where you team up with your Pokemon, sorry Monstie to fight, and harvest materials from your enemies. There was also a lot about Monstie-breeding via eggs, to gain more Monsties for battle. The second trailer is a far more in-depth look at the story and its angsty Rathalos-saving characters. Also Palamutes will feature in a first update post-launch. Monster Hunter Stories 2 Wings Of Ruin is due out JUly 6th worldwide on all major platforms.

Shin Megami Tensei V – Release Date and First Gameplay

Originally announced back in the same Nintendo Showcase as the Switch itself (4 years ago), system exclusive Shin Megami Tensei V finally got a release date and a first gameplay trailer during Nintendo Direct. Then quietly after the show Atlus also revealed a second Japanese trailer with even more gameplay. The latest in the series of demon-breeding and battling RPGs in now due out November 12th 2021 – full to bursting with monsters many players will now know best from the Persona offshoot series. You play as a high school student transported to an alternate Tokyo, where you fuse with a Demon-being into the long-blue-haired protagonist now in the trailers below.

Breath of the Wild 2

Yes, you read that right! If you’ve been down a mine for the past week, Nintendo Direct ended with a short trailer of Breath of the Wild 2. The dark Hyrule corruption from the first game is back with a vengeance, and Link has a number of new skills to hand to fight back, including phasing through a floor while the music sounded like it was playing in reverse. By the time the short trailer ends, Hyrule Castle has been raised into the sky, and a number of high-flying areas above the world have been revealed. With a sequel in the mythos of Zelda, how will they introduce a new world to explore, and not just have a copy of the previous game’s world? We will have to wait until 2022 at least to find out – but at least there’s a window now.

That was the week in RPGs – mostly of the JRPG variety. E3 has been fun, hasn’t it? If we missed anything let us know in the comments below, and we’ll see you next time there’s enough new RPG trailers in a short time to make a little list about it.

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Scarlet Nexus – The First Superhero JRPG?

By Toby AndersenNovember 24, 2020Last upadateNovember 24, 2020

JRPGs are powered by magic. It’s tried and tested, it works. Everything from the original Final Fantasy games, Dragon Quests and such, on early consoles where the RPG became what we know it as today, all through the Zeldas, the Tales series, the Xeno games, Breath of Fire, all the way up to modern Ni No Kunis, Ateliers, Kingdom Hearts, and remakes of the greats. Everything is powered by magic. Cure spells, element-based attacks, fire, water, earth and wind, enhancements and debuffs. Some games have zoned in on action, like the Ys series, and some on the summons, like Shin Megami Tensei and Persona. But it’s all still magic. Hell, even Pokemon, where the monsters do the fighting for you; they’re still magical creatures.

What’s interesting is that even in the most high-tech settings like Xenogears or Star Ocean in space, or Final Fantasy 7 and 8 with all their guns and vehicles and tech, their worlds are still steeped in magic, still have characters firing off spells at each other like displaced wizards. It’s a strange thing that has become synonymous with JRPGs and we don’t question it now. We just accept it.

But at the same time as all this magic, in the same decades that JRPGs have never really moved away from that formula, we’ve also seen the rise of the superhero. Marvel and DC comics have been around for almost a century now (Marvel 80 years, DC 85) and though the superhero has been popular, never more so than in the last thirty years. Superman movies, Batman movies, X-Men, Spider-Man, then suddenly the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Iron Man, Captain America, The Guardians, The Avengers. It’s the biggest franchise going. And superheroes can do incredible things. Things that look like magic.

But somehow in all those recent decades where JRPGs and Superheroes have co-existed in the gaming consciousness, never has anyone thought, you know what? Superhero powers, well they’re like magic aren’t they. We could have a JRPG where the characters had powers, instead of just magic. Well, that is, until now.

Enter Scarlet Nexus, Bandai Namco’s reinvention of the JRPG.

In the far future, some lucky humans have developed extra-sensory powers via a hormone in the brain. X-men basically. At the same time, deranged mutant creatures known as Others have descended on our cities with a thirst for our newly expanded minds. Think of it like Limitless, only there are zombies after us because of our increased cognition – they’ve sensed us from beyond the void.

Those with the most acute abilities, known as psionics, are recruited to the Other Suppression Force, the OSF, this JRPG’s version of the Avengers crossed with the Men in Black, tasked with the job of saving humanity no less. It’s a cool setup that stands miles away from Bandai Namco’s other RPG franchises, namely the Tales of series, and instead embraces more of its darker side, only really explored in Code Vein. With Elden Ring and Tales of Arise also meant to be striking a darker tone, this could be the beginning of a whole new chapter for Bandai Namco.

Take a look at the assembled cast of characters in the OSF and their powers – they read like the X-men, unheard of in this genre. Your player character is Yuito Sumeragi, a new recruit, with a powerful penchant for psychokinesis. He’s the one flinging the environment around in the trailers. You will also control Kasane Randall, a female recruit who is also a psychokinetic. Then there’s Kagero, a 12-year veteran who can make himself invisible and Arashi, a girl who’s seemingly spent a lifetime in the OSF, and has the power of hypervelocity. Their platoon major is Kyoka, a master doppelganger who can duplicate herself at will; or there’s Tsugumi, a female clairvoyant who can see the future; or Luka, a young boy who can teleport himself and others. Long-serving Gemma can create shields with his Sclerokinesis, and there’s a quartet with the power over elements which is a bit more familiar; Shiden with the power of Electrokinesis; Fubuki with ice-powered Cryokinesis; Hanabi with her Pyrokinesis; and Nagi with Aerokinesis.

Check out the Powers trailer for some sweet non-magic action

If you’re looking at that and thinking, that does not sound like a JRPG, then yeah, you’re right. It really doesn’t. Playing as Yuito or Kasane, you will also be able to call on the powers of your teammates, or at least the ones you bring with you on missions. You may have wondered what all the strange tubes and wires are all over the artwork. Well, these are the Scarlet Nexus, or Red Connections. Each time you’re using a teammate’s abilities these red cables appear symbolising the brain-bond between the two members, allowing you to utilize a host of different superpowers at will.

The dev team at Bandai Namco, led by Tales veteran Kenji Anabuki said they had ‘greater freedom’ than ever before to experiment on Scarlet Nexus. Speaking to PCGamesNetwork he said, “Tales of was a series…using, basically, only sword and magic…We have much more freedom in Scarlet Nexus.” He then went on to tell Gamesradar, “We have been thinking of using ‘superpowers’ as one of the main angles of a game, which we have never used before. In fantasy games we can use ‘magic’, but to fit into a more futuristic setting we decided to use superpowers. We want players to perceive the game as a completely new series.”

As well as Tales, Scarlet Nexus’ team is also rounded out with a number of Code Vein alumni, who have said they are bringing lots of the dark aesthetics of that game, and an approach to combat that means that every enemy will require a different strategy. They haven’t given an idea of whether Scarlet Nexus will feature the souls-like gameplay, but from what we’ve seen so far, this doesn’t seem the case.

New IP’s are big risks for publishers when costs run so high these days. With Code Vein and Tales teams leading the way, Scarlet Nexus looks like a strong contender and we can’t wait to play when it launches in 2021 on current and Next-Gen consoles. I for one welcome a dark future from Bandai Namco, and hope it’s the beginning of more experimental IP’s from the publisher.

Can you think of another JRPG crossed with superpowers that has come before? Is Scarlet Nexus truly the first superpowered JRPG? Hit us in the comments if you think you’ve got another.

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8 Massive JRPGs We Can’t Wait To Play

By Toby AndersenSeptember 20, 2020Last upadateSeptember 23, 2020

So I’ve finally finished Persona 5 Royal after 130+ hours and I’m looking through announced games for my next massive JRPG fix. If you’ve also stolen the last heart in P5R, or ridden your bike out of Midgar in Final Fantasy 7 Remake Episode 1, then you are probably looking too, wondering when you can next forget about the world, and get lost in another wonderful story. Well, have we got the list for you!? Only 8 of the biggest, baddest and most beautiful JRPGs looking to sap every hour out of your life in the next year and beyond. These have all been announced and shown gameplay (except one), so I won’t be talking about pipe-dreams like Persona 6, but we can now talk Final Fantasy 16!

Before we even go any further with this list of up and comers, you owe it to yourself to check out our review for 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim, the imminent release from Atlus and Vanillaware coming to PS4 on 22^nd September. It’s a narrative extravaganza, merging the mind-bending sci-fi of at least three Christopher Nolan movies, with the mech and kaiju epics of the anime scene in the 80s, and features 13 lovable characters, as interesting and unique as any in the Persona cast. Piece together the fragments of the past and wage war on the kaiju as commander of a squad of mechs. It is astoundingly good, scoring a 9/10 from us here at Finger Guns.

And so, on with the list!

Genshin Impact

So first up, because it’s likely the first to see release is Genshin Impact, the infamously too-much-like-Breath-of-the-Wild RPG from Chinese studio MiHoYo. Last seen in August on the Sony State of Play, Genshin is self-described as a free-to-play, open-world action role-playing gacha game, that wears its influences on its sleeve. It’s got gorgeous cel-shaded artwork and a world that emulates Breath of the Wild in style, however the content of the game is anything but.

This is the game, that when announced, and because it looked a bit like Breath of the Wild, prompted a few very strange individuals at a convention to smash their PS4s on the floor in protest. Personally I think it looks just as much like the last 3 or 4 Tales of… games.

Both single player and co-op with a four party team, Genshin features element-based combat and special moves where you can combine elements for big damage. There’s some 20 characters, and they say, more to come – this is where the Gacha comes in. Gacha is the Japanese toy dispenser machines with a different tiny toy in every spherical pod. The idea I think, is that you can earn, or more likely buy, your favourite Genshin heroes for use in the game. I hope, despite it being free-to-play and monetized, there is still an epic storyline to discover.

Currently we know that you play as the traveller, male or female, and the quest revolves around finding others who share the same element power and ultimately understanding the truth behind the primordial gods of the game’s world. Exciting!

Granblue Fantasy Relink

So Granblue Fantasy Relink is the second of two games that were promised for console a few years back, by Granblue developers Cygames. What’s even cooler is that for a good portion of development PlatinumGames (of Vanquish and Bayonetta fame) were also involved. Granblue is a big deal on mobile where the original game has been making the rounds for years now.

Combining the music of Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy) with the art director Hideo Minaba (FF 5,6,9), and an epic globe-trotting story, Granblue recently had a release with Granblue Fantasy Versus, a very pretty 2D beat-em-up that Greg reviewed.

Not much about the JRPG’s story is known so far, but we do know it involves the same world as the mobile game, and a new side story set in a new Skydom (like an aerial kingdom). The game features some intense and over the top action RPG gameplay that looks to be very much real-time, and combat heavy.

Cygames have teased that there will be a reveal and release date announcement in December 2020.

Scarlet Nexus

So we are anticipating a early 2021 release for Scarlet Nexus, a very interesting new sci-fi RPG from Bandai Namco, and a major departure from its well-known flagship series, Tales of. Scarlet Nexus is an action RPG sure, but its not the cel-shaded fantasy of Tales. Instead the world is fully sci-fi, and instead of magic, its superpowers.

Scarlet Nexus is set in a world where cyberpunk brain-interface technology is a reality, and the story revolves around the discovery of a psionic hormone in the brain that gives bearer’s ESP and psychokinetic powers. Everyone likes the word Punk at the moment and Bandai are describing this one as ‘BrainPunk’.

As Yuito Sumeragi, its your job to use your new psycho-kinetic powers to save the world from a weird alien threat. You can tear apart the environment in cyberpunk Tokyo and literally throw it at your enemies. Sounds like Control powers, in a JRPG version of Watch Dogs and Cyberpunk 2077.

As a massive fan of the Tales series I can’t wait for this one.

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox

Until the recent release of Ys Memories of Celceta, the Ys series had largely passed me by. However that game was great fun and the promise of the western release of the brand new 9^th in the series has got me hyped.

Another chapter in the long-running tale of Adol Christin, Monstrum Nox sees Adol arrested and incarcerated in prison city Balduq, and awaken to a new power. There he meets others with similar Monstrum powers and together they become the only hope for the city as it is taken over by the shadowy Grimwald Nox.

The coolest thing has to be the fully traversable city, with each member of your team having a different power for you to use to get around. Some can even run up walls and fly. The Ys series is about good simple fun, and the battle systems favour quick fingers and Tales-like power-ups. We can’t wait to roll and dodge our way around this one when it releases in 2021 on PS4.

Final Fantasy 16

So, just this Wednesday gone, the newest in the long-running and badly named Final Fantasy series was announced, slap bang at the start of the PS5 Release date reveal event. Like many I felt Final Fantasy 15 held much unrealised promise and was sorely disappointed a few years back when I got to the end and realised the story was a broken mess.

But a few years have passed, my burning love for Final Fantasy has been stoked once again by the jaw-droppingly awesome remake of FF7, and I am ready for 16.

We don’t know much about Final Fantasy 16 yet, only what we’ve seen in the trailer above, but we can piece together a few things. Summons are back with a vengeance, and combat looks to be similar to FF7R, although at a distance and without playing it its hard not to be worried it could be like 15.

The story seems to revolve around a much darker fantasy world than usual, with elements of western RPGs and a tangible feeling of the Witcher 3 to proceedings. It’s got some of the Ivalice, FF12 and Tactics vibe to it as well. Our heroes must protect young heir to the throne Joshua, who is entirely unprepared to deal with the powers that seem to be bubbling up within him. There’s plenty of political machinations happening, and mentions of Mother Crystals, Dragoons, Chocobos and Shiva. We can’t wait, but this is likely to be a few years away. Hell, we might get 7 Remake part 2 before this.

Tales Of Arise

Another with a darker more brooding aesthetic than we are used to from the Tales series, is Tales of Arise. Bandai Namco originally said this one would be out this year, but it has since slipped to a probable 2021.

Two planets visible in each other’s skies, two civilisations colliding in war and political upheaval, and two heroes, Shionne and Alphen, who must forge a path to peace. One world Rena is far more technologically advanced than the other, Dahna, and treats it’s people as slaves.

Every Tales game gives it’s battle system a new name, and with the Linear Motion Battle System, the much-beloved Tales combat is back. We hope that there will be new gameplay and footage from this one in the coming months, when its likely to suddenly become a PS5 title as well as its projected PS4.

Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers

So Persona 5 took over my life for months, and those characters have become a very familiar and much-loved cast. Imagine then my great delight to realise that the upcoming Persona 5 Scramble wasn’t just a dancing game like Dancing in Starlight – it is in fact a fully-fledged sequel!

Teaming up with Omega Force – the devs behind Dynasty Warriors – P5S has a completely overhauled Musou battle system, based on the Warriors franchise, but a story that is a complete sequel set 6 months after P5R ended. The Phantom Thieves return to Tokyo in their summer break after reports of someone new changing hearts in the city.

I have been a fan of the Warriors games for many years, although they get a bit samey after a while, and require a big commitment for a platinum, but the idea of combining the two has caught my interest.

And I suppose, with it slated for a possible March 2021 release, that I will have had enough downtime to be happy to dive back into P5 once again!

Shin Megami Tensei V

We’ll end with Shin Megami Tensei V, the truly strange and dark demon series, and a game teased and announced back in 2017 at the very beginning of its development cycle, along with the launch of the Nintendo Switch. We are still waiting, but recently the game has been confirmed as progressing nicely and a worldwide release to be happening in 2021.

We still don’t know much about Shin Megami Tensei V apart from the basics. It continues the turn-based combat and much darker tone than its Persona series offshoot. Demons have invaded Tokyo and supposedly this installment brings back the demon raising and fusing earlier games were known for.

SMT III Nocturne is also being remade and released in 2021 – Atlus are going to have an insane year.

And lastly, two honourable mentions, only because there’s nothing much to go on yet.

Eiyuden Chronicle smashed its Kickstarter recently by around 9x its initial ask at $4.5 million funded. Its from two of the team behind the legendary Suikoden series, and features the same ideas – 100 characters to find and recruit, an epic story of sacrifice and war, and a base to personalise and fight from. Don’t expect this until at least 2022.

Project Athia was teased at the original PS5 reveal event in June and we only got a few seconds, but it was gameplay and it looked very cool. Square Enix have this going on at the same time as FF16, but this one looks less finished and more nextgen. Check out the trailer, and again, no way before 2022.

These are the ones I’m interested in, but did I miss a massive release? Let me know in the comments.

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Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 Review (PS5) – GENES, MEMES and SCENES

By Miles ThompsonOctober 23, 2023Last upadateOctober 23, 2023

To say Hideo Kojima’s magnum opus series Metal Gear Solid (MGS) is popular would be an understatement of the highest degree. MGS1 revolutionised stealth mechanics and story delivery for video games. MGS2 uncannily predicted the future of information control with an incredible follow-up meta-tale. MGS3 re-contextualised the entire series, with flourishing action and some of the series’ best-written characters.

I’ve made no secret of my adoration for the entire series. They’re my favourite games of all time, without question nor debate. None are perfect, but each of them have their own valid claims and supporters as 10/10 experiences in their own right. As such, it’s no small task to bring these heralded titles out of Konami’s freezer, especially in light of the controversial departure of its creator.

Which brings us to 2023, 36 years after the original Metal Gear released for the MSX, we have the Master Collection Vol. 1. With a remake of MGS3 announced and the series seemingly re-entering the fold at Konami, it made sense to package the original titles together. MGS1 particularly had almost no means of being played outside of backwards compatibility up to the PS3 era.

Solid Snake’s and Big Boss’ origin adventures are back, ready to embark on another stealth mission. Is this the definitive version of a much-beloved franchise, a Metal Gear that stands tall above the others? Or should the series have been left to the archives of technology past, a “meme” that shouldn’t have passed on? Activate your stealth camo and tighten up that bandanna, we’re at the sneaking point.

This Is A Sneaking Mission

Let’s start with the obvious question – what’s new in Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1? Well, not a whole lot. MGS1 is the big hitter here, given that 2 and 3 were ported in the HD collection (the same versions present in this collection). All appear to have been ported directly over to work on current-gen hardware with minimal graphical or performance improvements.

Sadly, while every game has been upscaled to 1080p and 60fps (excluding MGS1 at 30fps), there’ll be no 4K resolution or visual upgrades. Which feels like a bit of a missed opportunity, in earnest. Despite this, the sheer content offering bundled into this collection is enormous. All three Metal Gear Solid games, Metal Gears 1 and 2, plus two fully voiced digital comics, screenplay and master books, a digital soundtrack and everything in between.

MGS 1 and 2 additionally arrive with their ridiculously opulent VR missions, including Snake Tales for 2. Overall then, while there’s not a lot new to the games we know and love, it’s the most comprehensive place to experience them all. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit disappointed to not see these amazing titles further improved in terms of visuals, but the amount to play borders on an infinite bandanna’s worth.

Thankfully, the games themselves are still phenomenal. Despite its pixelated age, MGS1 still basks in the atmosphere of the snowy Alaskan winter. MGS3’s jungles are teeming with wildlife and the imposing sight of Groznyj Grad still looms menacingly on the horizon. The visual direction was always stellar in this series, and they hold up today surprisingly well as a result.

Try To Remember The Basics Of CQC

So, the next important question – how does Metal Gear play in 2023? For the most part, brilliantly. MGS1 will be the most difficult for the majority, owing to old-school tank controls and slightly more obtuse game design. Most of this was due to the limitations of the PS1 at the time, but it’s still not always ideal to play. The section involving the PAL key, or having to backtrack for a sniper rifle, for example, will simply not be appreciated by many in today’s times.

MGS2 holds up superbly, thanks to the depth of mechanics that were introduced and were far ahead of their time. MGS3, to my own shock, was much more difficult than I remembered. Having to consider camouflage, lines of sight and not having any radar system made it much more immersive, and more difficult.

What’s most striking when playing these in the Master Collection, however, is that they’re all so much fun to play. Whether you’re taking on the almost boss-rush design of 1 or collecting dog tags from stubborn soldiers in 2, the MGS series is brimming with organic gameplay. Ironically, given Kojima’s penchant for completely over-explaining even the most mundane details, the devil in MGS’ detail is learning all the intricacies for yourself.

In a time where immersive sims and organic gameplay is heralded for many as the peak of the industry, I can foresee many new fans jumping into these titles and getting completely lost within their sandbox. Not forgetting that Metal Gears 1 & 2 were at the top of the gaming mountain in terms of quality when they were released, too. Now for the proverbial Kerotan in the room, the stories.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 review

We’re Not Tools Of The Government, Or Anyone Else

We all know what the Metal Gear series is famous for, the seemingly never-ending stream of cutscenes, codec conversations and reams of dialogue. As with the gameplay and visuals, Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 takes the hands-off approach Revolver Ocelot would be proud of. The stories are completely untouched, which for me, is a boon, rather than a curse.

Content warnings at the start of each game explain that some elements are outdated. Which, they certainly are, in places. Whether it’s the Meryl in her underwear easter egg, Raiden’s sexuality being repeatedly questioned, or Snake “stimulating himself” to a poster in a locker, the weirder, stranger part of MGS is alive and kicking. While these elements may affect some with sensitivities in today’s world, preserving the original vision – warts and all – is probably preferable to censorship.

Luckily, the narratives and stories themselves can hold up to the weight of their “memes” with much more gusto. Replaying through MGS2’s mind-melting finale, deconstructing the nature of truth and control of digital information is fascinating in light of what we now know about advertisers and big tech, for example. Additionally, MGS3’s emphasis on “scene” and context determining allies from foes feels so much more impactful, in a society which feels far more polarised now than it ever has.

There are still the cringe-inducing dialogue sections, bloated over-explanations and character “quirks” that are off-putting or endearing. Yet, these stories have all aged like a fine clone soldier possessed of all the dominant genes. In some ways, I’m glad Konami chose to simply release these titles in their original state, with few alterations, as it’s fantastic to experience them all over again with new context to draw meaning from them.

These are titles that have a lot to say. If you can stomach the hours of cutscenes, you’ll be hard-pressed not to feel compelled to listen to at least some of its philosophising.

So, You Like To Play Castlevania?

So far then, I’d sum up Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 as an easy win. Five incredible games, all with their stories, visuals and gameplay re-released in their original glory. There’s little to rave about in terms of upgrades, but then, why change a classic? Some load times have been improved (MGS3 is lightning quick) and the additions of screenplay and master books are wonderful.

As a mega-fan of the series, this collection is simply fantastic. All my favourite games, characters and bonus content wrapped up in one Solid package. Also as a fan, though, I expect that given these are relatively easy ports to make, it should be done to perfection. Sadly, that isn’t quite the case, with each game having some minor problems.

MGS1, almost inexplicably, has colossal framerate drops that occur when pressing up against surfaces. The fight against Vulcan Raven was almost a slideshow at one stage due to this. MGS2 locked up on me twice during codec conversations, and MGS3’s upscaling is… wonky, sometimes. Eva’s hair strands went berserk for absolutely no reason during her entrance, and Volgin’s face in one cutscene was inadvertently comical due to it contorting in the strangest of ways.

These are all relatively small issues, but this is a collection of games, two of which have already been ported before. Plus, we’re on current-gen consoles now. Quite simply, these should run perfectly. The fact that they don’t is frustrating and it’s relatively inexcusable. Much like Otacon, they’re an incredibly talented and entertaining being, but they’re prone to pissing themselves when placed under pressure. There’s also still the odd typo in codec conversations too, which is amusing.

Not Yet Snake! It’s Not Over Yet!

The minor bugs and the initial deflation of a lack of significant improvements slowly gave way to the inherent quality of the package, in the end. I thought of nothing else as I raced to get a PSG-1 to save Meryl. I laughed overzealously when I sent Raiden plummeting to his doom as he slipped on bird sh*t. I sang my own praises as I remembered the location to catch the Tsuchinoko in the heart of MGS3’s jungle.

Then there are the series highlights. Taking on Psycho Mantis who can still break the fourth wall like a hammer meeting glass. Going toe-to-toe with a Harrier fighter jet on a bridge, with nothing but a Stinger missile launcher. All the highs, all the emotional lows. Sneaking up on The End or straight up shooting him in the head, way before his boss battle, because that’s a thing you can do.

Kojima was, and is, a master of his craft. You may not always like the stories, the dialogue or the over-burdening cutscenes, but the man just knows how to make thrilling and unique gameplay experiences. Veterans of the series will feel right at home, ready to connect to all of the nostalgic moments. New players get the consummate experience: all of these magnificent titles in one place.

Could Konami have done more to smooth over the titles? Most definitely. Are they still masterpieces of the medium? Absolutely. As a returning fan, I couldn’t be more excited and more emotional to be playing Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1. If Konami were hoping to win back Metal Gear fans, they’ve made a sensationally Solid start here. Fingers crossed for Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 brings together five stellar video games from a beloved series. While a lack of further improvements and minor bugs get in the way, newcomers and die-hard MGS fans alike can find a trove of incredible content in this bundle. Kojima’s masterpieces have been respected, honoured and have demonstrated their quality through the ages, a meme passed down worthy of the title of Big Boss.

Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 is available on October 24th on PS5 (review platform), Xbox Series S|X, Nintendo Switch and PC.

Developer: Konami

Publisher: Konami

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy from the publisher.

For our full review policy, please go here. If you enjoyed this article or any more of our content, please consider our Patreon

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Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree Review (Switch) – Earned Redemption

By Miles ThompsonJanuary 27, 2023Last upadateJanuary 27, 2023

Untold Tales have delivered some unassuming yet spectacular indie experiences in the past few years. From Golfclub: Wasteland, Aspire: Ina’s Tale, Arise: A Simple Story to What Lies In The Multiverse and more, they deliver smaller, wondrous indie titles with fantastic consistency.

Stepping up next to impress is Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree. Originally conceived for mobile devices, it released in 2019 on Apple Arcade, finally making its transition onto Switch in the heady post-COVID days of 2023.

Like previous Untold Tales published entries, it’s design is fundamentally accessible and streamlined, yet it retains enough in its art style, musical score, rhythm based combat and puzzling design to ensure it reaches that same high bar that’s been set, for the most part.

I’m getting ahead of myself, let’s go on a journey of self-discovery to see if Atone really does shine amongst its predecessors.

Estra-vagant Heart

Atone is heavily influenced by Norse mythology and is rooted in a number of powerful themes. The burden of grief, the pain of betrayal, the impact of loss; Despite the tale being a relatively short one, it follows the template of Aspire and Arise by channelling dark and difficult topics to create an emotional backdrop that carries the narrative.

The heavy tone is set from the off. Our hero, Estra, is now grown after a past tragedy afflicted her home and claimed the life of her father. Bound by a necklace flowing with magical energy passed down from her father, Estra must travel Midgard to reach the Elder Tree and restore balance to the land’s energy.

A curse named the Blue Vein is spreading, corrupting people’s minds and spreading violence where it flows. Using the backdrop of its Norse inspiration, Atone intertwines the fallacy of God’s like Odin and Freya with the exploration of the nature of humans and the conflicts that result.

For the most part, the story is elegantly handled. The emotional moments carried weight and felt impactful, the machinations of the Gods and their inherent flaws felt well realised and Estra is a character we connect to through her blunt refusal of the life inflicted upon her. There’s just enough levity thrown in, like through your talking frog companion Yri, to prevent things getting too overbearing.

Estra’s journey is self-contained and satisfying as a result, with a delicate mix of tough material overlaid with heart, hope and humour. Despite all the legendary names I came across, it was Estra and Yri I felt most invested in, which is a testament to the writing, even if the voiced dialogue is inconsistent.

The Nine One Realm

Estra’s journey to begrudgingly save the land and her people is restricted to Midgard. Consisting of 5 main areas or levels, Atone is a tight affair, if a bit lacking in terms of level variety. The game utilises a top-down view where much of your time is spent guiding Estra through these short but semi-open spaces.

Along the way, you can interact with the locals, including the sinister snake who’ll challenge you at every turn and a nefarious stranger who’ll test your riddle solving capacity, amongst others. Almost every pathway for progress involves a puzzle, some of which are short and tepidly easy and a couple of which had me stumped for longer than I’d care to admit.

Aside from the rhythm based combat, exploration and puzzles are the bulk of the experience. There’s a pretty good variety of brain-teasers here, spanning moving tiles to complete jigsaws to time or move-limited counting tokens corresponding to shapes. Some are genuinely great while the easier ones do border on the “what’s the point here really?” side, but the creativity and endeavour for variety largely work well.

Atone also has a litany of hidden paths you can uncover, Norse statues to find and chests to open. Statues, NPC and combat encounters all provide tokens for your Odal. Foresight will allow you hints for puzzles, Protection aid in combat and Chaos help if you happen to fail a sequence and need a retry. It’s an effective way of making exploration a boon to gameplay. Currency earned from chests can be traded with a merchant for health upgrades and a couple of other goodies, which is nice.

Estra’s navigation is never particularly challenging but the occasional riddle, puzzle or NPC interaction you find off the beaten path can be rewarding. It’s an accessible approach that even if it is lacking an extra bit of depth, I still enjoyed the basic structure.

The Flow of Battle

I mentioned the rhythm based combat before so let’s break down what that actually means in gameplay. Combat isn’t really the main draw of Atone, owing to the fact that through a handful of contextual choices, you can skip stories encounters and entirely miss optional side battles. Which is a shame, because the rhythm-based system is really fun.

If you imagine a Guitar Hero track but with a beautifully rendered and animated Nordic battle sequence going on in the background, you’ll be on the right lines. Atone has 3 difficulties: story, which has no button inputs required. Normal, which uses down on the directional arrows and B on two separate tracks. Then hard, which uses Left and Down, B and A across 4 tracks.

During an encounter, you need to hit the input at the same time as the glowing white shape. Miss too many in a row and you’ll witness Estra take a hit, depleting her health. Hit more notes than you miss or keep up a good sequence, Estra will gracefully smash her opponent with her trusty axe.

There’s no deep complexity or any other factors to be conscious of, just hit the notes. I started on Hard, and quickly had to drop due to the sheer numbers of notes I was missing when frantically smashing the buttons. I must have looked like Hulk trying to thread a needle, honestly. What Atone lacks in depth, the combat system makes up for with sheer ferocity and speed. Which isn’t a complaint, as the flow of the system works superbly.

The input window is relatively forgiving, the notes are synced perfectly with the music and there’s a great balance between having nimble dexterity and forgiving leeway to ensure you don’t fail from a handle of misses. It’s a rewarding system and while the story only has a couple dozen fights, an arena mode opens up post-completion that allows you to hit high scores and enjoy the system to your heart’s content. All-Father be praised.

Tree of Beauty

As with almost all Untold Tales’ published games, the standout element of Atone is the visuals and musical score. Wildboy Studios drew a lot of inspiration from Genndy Tartakovsky (of Samurai Jack and Clone Wars fame) to produce the animations and environments and the talent on display demonstrates this superbly.

While relatively minimalist in terms of detail and pixel count, Atone makes excellent use of vibrant texturing and shades of colour to add depth to the spaces of Midgard. Venturing through a dimly lit cave network, ascending the snowy climbs of the mountain range or loping around a quaint village all feel immersive thanks to the brilliant art style.

Being a rhythm game further means having to nail the sound for a rewarding experience and Wildboy Studios have delivered here too. Many of the tracks in combat have an energetic base to them, both making the music an ear-worm as well as easy to mash the buttons in-sync to. It’s a deft balance to achieve and I found myself sometimes not even needing to see the notes to know when to hit them.

I wouldn’t say the visuals did as much as Golfclub: Wasteland nor does the soundtrack stand out as one to listen to outside of the game itself, but what’s here is brilliant and fully deserving of praise.

Atonement Not Needed, Yet Achieved

Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree is another clever and subtle twist on adventure-fare that’s typical of Untold Tales’ portfolio. Wildboy studios have delivered a thematically deep and simplistically rewarding gameplay experience.

My playthrough clocked in at around 4 hours, but I certainly missed a few secrets, messed up a couple of one-chance puzzles and only reached one of the available endings. As there’s a variety of paths to shape Estra’s journey you can explore, there’s a hearty amount of replayability available to those who want to immerse more into this dark yet compelling Norse world.

I finished Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree much the same way I did Aspire: Ina’s Tale. It’s a short, compact but wholly fulfilling package that’s well worth diving into, even if the rhythm based combat and RPG elements feel as light as Freya’s touch.

Wildboy Studios’ Norse-inspired rhythm combat RPG is captivating thanks to a bright art style juxtoposed against a dark, deep and loss-filled narrative. While fun, the combat, puzzling and exploration don’t quite reach the same levels, but have more than enough to be worthy of your time. No atonement required, Estra’s journey needs no redemption to be recommended.

Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree is available January 27th on Nintendo Switch (review platform).

Developer: Wildboy Studios
Publisher: Untold Tales

Disclaimer: In order to complete this review, we were provided with a promotional copy of the game. For our full review policy, please go here.

If you enjoyed this article or any more of our content, please consider our Patreon.

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The Finger Guns Podcast Ep. 257 – Is Shadow Of The Erdtree Too Hard?

Relinkedin

Missing Relink

Weakest Relink

Relink to the Past

Relinkin Park

Relink Later

Live A Live – 22nd July 2022

XenoBlade Chronicles 3 – 29th July 2022

The Diofield Chronicle – 22nd September 2022

Valkyrie Elysium – 29th September 2022

Persona 5 Royal on Xbox/Switch – 21 October 2022 + Persona 3 and Persona 4 soon

Star Ocean: The Divine Force – 27th October 2022

Harvestella – 4th November 2022

Front Mission 1st Remake – End 2022

Sacrifire – End 2022

Chained Echoes – End 2022

Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII Reunion – Winter 2022-23

Forspoken – 25th January 2023

Granblue Fantasy Relink – Early 2023?

Sea of Stars – Early 2023

Eternights – Early 2023

Eiyuden Chronicle Hundred Heroes – 2023

Final Fantasy XVI – Summer 2023

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth – Winter 2023-24

Crippling Corrosion

ATBs For Days

Set Yourself Free On The World

Heryon, The Grandiose Beauty

Stepping Back From The Edge

GAME FOR IMPACT- LIFE IS STRANGE: TRUE COLOURS

BEST INDIE / BEST DEBUT GAME – KENA: BRIDGE OF SPIRITS

BEST PERFORMANCE – MAGGIE ROBERTSON ‘LADY DIMITRESCU’ RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE

BEST ACTION GAME – RETURNAL

BEST ART DIRECTION – DEATHLOOP(ALSO WON BEST GAME DIRECTION)

PLAYERS CHOICE – HALO INFINITE

BEST RPG – TALES OF ARISE

BEST MUSIC – NIER REPLICANT

BEST MULTIPLAYER – IT TAKES TWO

BEST MOBILE GAME – GENSHIN IMPACT

BEST NARRATIVE – MARVEL’S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

BEST ACTION / ADVENTURE GAME – METROID DREAD

BEST ONGOING GAME – FINAL FANTASY XIV ONLINE

INNOVATION IN ACCESSIBILITY – FORZA HORIZON 5(ALSO WINS BEST SPORTS / RACING GAME and BEST AUDIO DESIGN)

BEST FIGHTING GAME – GUILTY GEAR: STRIVE

BEST SIM / STRATEGY GAME – AGE OF EMPIRES 4

BEST VR / AR – RESIDENT EVIL 4 VR

MOST ANTICIPATED GAME – ELDEN RING

GAME OF THE YEAR – IT TAKES TWO

Monark

Tales of Arise

Edge of Eternity

Eiyuden Chronicle + Eiyuden Chronicle Rising

Final Fantasy 1-6 Pixel Remasters

Legend of Mana Remaster

Stranger Of Paradise – Final Fantasy Origins

Monster Hunter Stories 2 – Gameplay + Story

Shin Megami Tensei V – Release Date and First Gameplay

Breath of the Wild 2

Genshin Impact

Granblue Fantasy Relink

Scarlet Nexus

Ys IX: Monstrum Nox

Final Fantasy 16

Tales Of Arise

Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers

Shin Megami Tensei V

This Is A Sneaking Mission

Try To Remember The Basics Of CQC

We’re Not Tools Of The Government, Or Anyone Else

So, You Like To Play Castlevania?

Not Yet Snake! It’s Not Over Yet!

Estra-vagant Heart

The Nine One Realm

The Flow of Battle

Tree of Beauty

Atonement Not Needed, Yet Achieved

BEST ART DIRECTION – DEATHLOOP
(ALSO WON BEST GAME DIRECTION)

INNOVATION IN ACCESSIBILITY – FORZA HORIZON 5
(ALSO WINS BEST SPORTS / RACING GAME and BEST AUDIO DESIGN)