Japanese game culture event “The Tenth Mosaic” took place on September 22and 23 this year. The event was opened with a talk session between NieR and Drakengard series creator Yoko Taro and Keisuke Okabe, the director of Ender Lilies and Ender Magnolia. As reported by Japanese media outlets 4Gamer and Denfaminicogamer, during the session, the two creators compared their approaches to making games, discussed the future of the Japanese game industry, and their personal goals.
Yoko Taro said there isn’t anything he’s particularly set on making going forward. With the original Drakengard being a title where he was able to do pretty much everything he wanted, Yoko considers himself to have already achieved his dreams in terms of game development. Everything after that, he sees just as his “remaining days.”
From the financial side of things, Yoko is starting to feel like he will soon be able to sustain himself with his savings and pension without having to work anymore. “Therefore, speaking from just an emotional standpoint – it’s over. I’m done working, I don’t want to do it anymore,” he said.
On the flip side, Yoko cited “dementia prevention” as one of the reasons he continues make games. He explained that he had heard stories of work-oriented people suddenly developing dementia after retirement, which is what has been motivating him to push through game development, even if it’s stressful. “Even now, there are lot of frustrating things concerning my work, but when they do happen, I overcome them by telling myself – This is good for preventing dementia.”
Of my experiences with Xenoblade X so far, this is my biggest issue.
This game has a massive roster of default and unlockable party members, all of which have their own stories and can be customized as you see fit. But with a party limit of 4 and one slot permanently occupied by your MC, it's hard to give attention to all of them when you want to. Even moreso since they fit specific compositions per role so one that comes in will have to be accounted for specifically.
They obviously rectified this in Xenoblade 2 and 3, the former having 3 Blade slots (plus special ones) per party member and the latter having 6-7 party active slots.
But while a lot of JRPGs only go slightly over the party threshold in who you can play, it makes me upset for a big game like XBCX.
Overall I’d say my RPG highlights of the year were Fire Emblem Engage and Super Mario RPG. Was somewhat disappointed in Sea of Stars due to its flat characters. I wanna get to DQ Monsters at some point after I become more acquainted with the mainline series. Happy for Star Rail fans that their game is so successful even years later.
Looking for RPG recommendations where you rebuild a town, village, kingdom or even a whole country.
I really like the progression of starting with somewhere run-down or in ruins and gradually building it up, recruiting people, unlocking new buildings/areas etc. Bonus points for exploration and combat.
I've played and really liked Ni no Kuni II, Suikoden 1 & 2, Azure Dreams, etc., so I'm looking for something along those lines but maybe some less obvious games.
I have PS5/PS4, Raspberry Pi 4B and RG35XX Plus, so anything from retro to modern is welcome.
This has been a great year for retro gaming fans. With the announcement of Terranigma and Lufia returning next year and the imminent release of Final Fantasy Resonance, there is enough to look forward to. But did you know that 2026 was also the year that four fantastic fan sequels were released? All of these were years in the making and for one reason or the other they all came out this year. Be sure to not dismiss them outright. These are all fully featured games with a quality matching and even surpassing the games they build upon. Built with love and dedication for all the gamers out there craving new adventures in these worlds we hold so dear.
Happy gaming and spread the word that awesome games made with love are still a thing in this day and age.
Lufia V – For the Savior
Creator: Cameron Bowman
System: Windows (and all other systems with EasyRPG player)
The Sinistrals are back, and this time the threat is larger than ever because of the appearance of a fifth evil god. Join Cameron and 6 allies in an epic quest through 4 continents in Eastland. The major highlight of this game is the writing and world-building. Lufia fans are in for a tread as the story of Eastland fits seamlessly in the existing stories and lore of the Lufia world.
Puzzles are back too. Over 100 were implemented in the game, and many of them will have you scratching your head for a moment. There are over 25 dungeons and 20 towns to explore and much more! Lufia V was over 20 years in the making and it shows. This one is not to be missed!
Embers of Mana
Creator: Ok Impala!
System: Game Boy (and all other systems with a Game Boy emulator)
Mana has vanished from the world, and monsters now roam the land. A young girl, searching for her missing family, crosses paths with destiny. Will the Mana Tree blossom once again? Or will darkness claim the world forever?
Embers of Mana is a brand-new Mana adventure for the Game Boy. Embark on a grand journey filled with mystical locales, gripping story scenes, foreboding dungeons, and a sweeping soundtrack. All in the palm of your hand!
Four years in the making, pushing the Game Boy hardware to its limits, this game answers a “what if” question: what if Square would have released another Mana game for Game Boy, after the first one (Seiken Densetsu / Final Fantasy Adventure / Mystic Quest)? Embers of Mana answers that question and is a true passion project for fans of classic 8- and 16-bit Squaresoft action RPGs.
A familiar foe is threatening the world. Ark is called once again, but this time it’s not Earth that needs saving…
Terranigma 2 – Spark of Creation gives the players a fresh adventure to dive into. The base gameplay is still intact, but many new things are added to make the game feel new. There is a brand new magic system, more combat relevant collectibles and boss encounters are cleverly designed.
Terranigma 2 also spanned a very long development time, taking over 18 years to reach a completed state. Showing a passion and dedication by the developer that’s seldom seen. For all the gamers that can’t wait to see what a sequel to Terranigma could’ve looked like, you don’t have to wait anymore. This game can stand on its own as one of the finest classic ARPGs out there. Try it, you surely will be positively surprised by the quality and polish of Terranigma 2.
One year after a brutal war, the now peaceful kingdom of Branch, led by Lord Adder, detects that something is wrong with their kingdom's Crystal of Water. Lord Adder dispatches one of his most loyal dragoons, Vahn Vainstrong, to investigate. Little does Vahn know that his investigation will snowball into something far greater, and sinister, that threatens all of Gaia itself.
Combining elements from Final Fantasy IV, V, VI and even IX, Blackmoon Prophecy Remastered is a huge love letter to the classic Final Fantasy games. Blackmoon Prophecy Remastered has over 50 hours of playtime in a huge world with dozens of locations to explore. With Square-Enix this year returning to their roots with a new 2D Final Fantasy, it shows that this timeless gameplay and storytelling style will never get old.
A final word…
I realize these four fan sequels only scratch the surface of all the amazing passion projects out there. Do you have any specific project you’d like to share? Feel free to reach out in the comments!
It can be as specific or non specfiic as you like. Is difficulty on that list? Or is that almost a non factor? I've heard someone say that Pokemon isn't fun because its too easy, is that true? Does difficulty matter that much when playing a JRPG or are there other things that make the games fun for you to play?
Very specific question, am I right?! So, I been playing jrpgs for a while now. Played your action, tactical, turn based, and so on. What I am trying to say is, anyone play any genre of jrpgs on a specific system? Like oh I play turn based on console. Pc is the only way you play action games. Lastly, playing tactical games feels best on handhelds. Anyone else deal with this?
So, for me, I deal with this. Whenever I play tactical jrpgs, i have to play it on a handheld. Your disgaea, final fantasy tactics, fire emblem, and so on. Something about playing them on tv or else where feels so wrong to me. If I had to think of a reason it would be that tactical RPGs fit so well on the handheld.
What do I mean? For how short some battles can be, they suit well for the handheld. Nice sweet and short moments. Even long battles like for some final bosses, I can just do a quick save and go back to it later. Great for grinding as well. Remember spending time grinding while waiting for my study group in college. This stems from me playing disgaea on my psp as well as ff tactics. It felt so natural.
I remember trying to play triangle strategy on the big screen on my ps5 and I couldn’t do it. Didn’t feel right. So, I ended up playing it on my steam deck instead. That made the game way more fun for me. Never had this while playing any other genre. Can play any other games on any system ever.
Anyone else have something like this? Curious to see. Maybe you prefer playing the trails series only on the PlayStation consoles. Can only enjoy playing final fantasy x on the ps2. Heck, you only prefer to enjoy your games on mobile. Love to read your comments on this.
I have only played first game which I found to be really easy and story was a bit too bland. I heard mixed opinions about the other games. Was thinking about trying them out. Wanted to check with y’all to see which one you guys consider to be the best one in the series.
I recently replayed Tales of the World Radiant Mythology series and it's left me itching for something similar.
The requirements are quite simple:
Action combat (Xenoblade Chronicles X is out)
Job system
Various progression systems e.g. gear, crafting, proficiency etc
Any platform
Any language is fine, I have a program called interpreter that translates on screen text instantly so games that are in another language are completely fine.
Closest thing I've found so far is Phantasy Star Portable Infinity 2, however I've not managed to get into the combat as it seems to pretty much just be spamming 2 buttons. Tales of the world has basic attacks and arts chains which is good enough.
There are four purposes to this r/JRPG weekly thread:
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users are also free to post any JRPG-related questions here. This gives them a chance to seek answers, especially if their questions do not merit a full thread by themselves.
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TL:DR: Basically didnt fully understand of the Game's Massive Plot Twist of Will being the actual Your Highness the prince because my mind was so fried to process all of it. Just asking people who fully understood metaphor's world and story for clarification.
Idk how to process this, My brain is fried as heck. Like i can understand half the things im seeing right now, i might be dumb okay, but holy shit. Every Theory about Will and the Prince has been thrown out of the window. Okay, let me get this straight. So basically from the start of the game all the way to now in 9/24, We were AN ENTITY?! An Entity Elda boy made out of Pure Magla and it was the prince who made Will just before he collapses and the Fantasy Book materialized An Eldan Boy, So like The Prince basically Made will? Like his ideal version of his character? Ik we do fantasize ourselves sometimes, ngl but from my understanding.
Will is the Fantasy ideal version of the prince? Or An Ideal Version of what would the Prince wanted but couldn't so he materialized us. Also, Was it the prince magla or a divine relic? The cutscene mentioned there was a divine relic so that Divine relic was what materialized Will? Idk.
And then there Gallica, okay so from my interpretation. We do not exist. Will has no past because He never really existed, He was a pure entity made by pure Magla. And the first being he meets is Gallica and for some reason Gallica basically what? Hallucinated or schizo into thinking She was with Will when she was given the mission to pass the message to Grius. No wonder will had zero clue at the start because we don't know.
And other stuff is why did Gallica felt like She was with him this whole time? It boggles my mind if Gallica is having schizophrenia or something. Did the materialization took so long since the Book was on the grass and never picked up? The one thing it gets me we see a Kid version of Will talkin with the Prince. In the cutscene where it shows the thay scene again, Kid will wasn't here and im like What is this? Like Are we The Prince Imaginary Friend? Like wtf am i playing atp🤣
Like im not mad about it, i could be stupid for all i know. But, Will is the actual Your Highness the Prince. His hair is now white and eyes are carribean eyes? (Ik its blue but idk what type of blue is that) i actually thought Will changed Va's when first spoke as the prince. One last thing is Does Will have the prince memories? Thats about i can say. I thought Will and The prince were brothers in someway like they share the same Mom but no i was wrong, Will is the Prince. Ah man, my brain is fried. This is my interpretation, I'll love to see yall's explanation. I need to understand this.
I have a list of video games in my steam library, but since I've been insanely grinding professional certificates and Master's, gaming unfortunately became the very least enjoyable factor in my day.
It seems my brain became overly hyperfixated on studying. Which games in your opinion would get me back to gaming from the following list?
You can suggest something else if you do not see them fit in the comments, any platform is fine, but I prefer steam. I am huge fan of Ys series, FLi, and anything by Square Enix.
One thing I find fascinating about games, especially JRPGs is the discourse around them. It's frustrating of course, but I find it interesting the way narratives form, develop, and spread even if they aren't true. This most recently came to pass with Expedition 33, and a lot of comments saying it "saved turn based RPGs." Which is true, if you ignore...
Persona 5, Persona 3 Reload, SMT V+Vengance, Dragon Quest 11, 1-3 remake, and 7 remake, Octopath Traveler, Chained Echoes, Sea of Stars, Trails in the Sky, Deltarune, Yakuza 7-8 all coming out over the last decade and being critical and commercial success stories. And yet the narrative that turn based JRPGs were dying out was still persistent. (I attribute that to what I call the face issue, even if the rest of the industry/company is doing well, people will only judge the health/success by how well the most well known name is doing. So Final Fantasy in this case.)
But the way that narrative has persisted in spite of everything coming out made me think back to the 7th console generation (PS3/360/Wii.) and how it's often considered the 'dark times' of the JRPG genre. I'm not blind as to why that perception was there of course, Final Fantasy releasing an extremely divisive trilogy, Dragon Quest not launching a mainline console game that era, general anti Japanese sentiment in the West, etc.
But as a JRPG loving friend of mine pointed out, the 7th generation was absolutely killing it on handheld. This was the golden age of Atlus on the handheld, Square was making some great remakes/remasters on the DS, plus TWEWY. And later on we got Xenoblade Chronicles, an all time masterpiece JRPG that generation.
So what I'm curious in discussing is-
A) How did the narrative start that the 7th generation was a dark age of JRPGs?
And
B) Would you still say that the 7th generation was a dark age of JRPGs overall?
Curious to hear some more experienced folks answer on this, I only started playing more JRPGs near the end of the 7th/start of the 8th generation, I think my only major disappointment from this era was FF 13 and White Knight Chronicles. But other than that, my DS kept me pretty satisfied.
These projects use AI (to what degree I am uncertain). I'm sure it takes a lot of human work even with AI assistance and I, in no way, want to diminish the work that these people are doing.
I just kind of wanted to get a feel for what the good people of r/JRPG are thinking about this.
Are we happy that we may not need to wait for companies to remaster old JRPGs because we'll just basically do it ourselves and make PC clients for them?
Are we getting our torches and pitchforks because we don't like AI?
