You obviously know your tastes and tolerances better than anyone, but maybe take it slow on the Professor Layton? Those games are charming and unlike any other games quite, but they're all very similar. And with the daily puzzles, they're really designed to last. I feel like rushing through them isn't how they're…

I'm the right guy to ask, but I'm afraid that it's too early to say. Wonderflick isn't even out on all platforms in Japan yet, and it's quite buggy on the platforms it has released on. This game may not show up for a while yet for porting, localizing, and polishing. There are some other Level 5 games that I…

Child of Light is coming, and looks like it will be either good or great. The next Xeno game is coming (in theory, my money is on a 2015 release) and Xenoblade was freaking excellent - this is one to put on any JRPG fans radar. That mystery SMT X Fire Emblem game may show itself this year - a weird release to be…

Nah - even if you've been following the franchise, KH 3D combined time travel, an alternate dimension, and the biggest sixth sense style "it was all a dream" silly twist ever. Dead characters came back to life - but only some of them. Sora appears to be a person repository who can store as many people as he so…

There have been a couple of Vita "answers" to Monster Hunter. There's been two God Eaters, Soul Sacrifice, and at least one more that I'm forgetting because I'm sleep deprived. The point is, there are hunting options on the Vita. 3DS by comparison only has Monster Hunter, but that's more popular than everything…

Lol. You misspelled "pray" as "prey" but it turned out to be a pretty funny pun because you were talking about hunting games. You made me laugh. Thanks.

Yes! Amen! This is the attitude I like! "Okay, you can have fun playing this game that you like, and I will continue playing the games that I like".

We'll see Donkey Kong, we'll see Bravely Default, we'll see Mario Kart, and we'll see both Prof Layton and also Layton X Ace Attorney. Those are the easy ones. We'll see that new Kirby game that doesn't look great (I mean, it looks like a Kirby game. Meh. Easily Nintendo's worst franchise formula. Even New Super…

Two years in: What are the Playstation Vita exclusive experiences owners are most proud of? From the outside it seems like all the best Vita stuff is stuff I can enjoy elsewhere. Even most of the first party content is Playstation Vita versions of PS3 games (like the God of War collection or upcoming FF X HD…

I think it's important what the flaws in a game are. Think of the new Zelda. The new Zelda game is a franchise regression in complexity, narrative, ambition, and originality - but a lot of people love it because it controls really well and basically doesn't let anything disturb the puzzle solving monster slashing…

I think they're the human eating, carnivorous sort of Titan. Predators.

Mario and Luigi RPG, Fire Emblem, and Pokemon are all RPGs. 30% of this list is RPGs. What percentage of a top 10 needs to be RPGs to satisfy you man?

Oh yes, he sings. It is clear you are not up on your Animal Crossing. Unlike K.K., Kappn delivers sea shanties as he ferries you to and from the tropical island.

That's a screenshot from the 3DS version. The 3DS version has some black outlines (cel-shading? I'm not sure if this counts) around the characters to help define them on the smaller screen among all the chaos that can go down in Smash Bros. Apparently it was a real problem for them in development for a while.

Ideally he shows up and sings one of his songs and does absolutely nothing. So just like Resetti, but musical and maybe (please) not quite such a long duration.

That is a totally valid point - JRPG character design honestly is an expression of tone and character traits and world building. However, it may be too early to write this off entirely. Two optimistic points:

Are there other Japanese made games without character creators that still pique your interest? I'm just curious if your beef is with the particular character artist who's been working on the last couple FF games or with JRPG character archetypes in general.

I think there are three standouts: IV for the perspective and character changing. V for it's use of time in narrative. IX for the multiplayer.

I'm not sure you're wrong, but there IS precedent for this in the fighting game genre specifically. Back when Mr. Itagaki (whatever the name was, the pervy one) ran Directed games at Team Ninja I know that he only ever handled Dead or Alive balancing himself. Nobody ever adjusted those hitboxes or damage values but…

I too consider acts of terrorism when entertainment companies announce products not suited to my tastes. Rage on my passionate brother!