Latest news with #JRPG
WIRED
8 hours ago
- Entertainment
- WIRED
'Persona 5: The Phantom X' Brings The Series To Your Phone—and It's Shockingly Good
Jun 27, 2025 3:11 PM The free-to-play game is the first time the JRPG is available on mobile, offering fans a quick fix with a few hidden costs. Still from Persona 5: The Phantom X. Courtesy of fortyseven communications Persona games are herculean efforts to finish. A single playthrough of any game in the main series, which includes everything from saving the world to studying for finals, frequently clocks in at around 100 hours. Much of that time is spent building relationships with the game's characters and world by hanging out with friends, doing mundane tasks like laundry, or finding new parts of the city to explore. It creates a dedication that leaves many players so attached to each game's cast that they'll eagerly jump into new experiences just to get more time with them. Persona 5 was no exception. Since its launch in 2016, the JRPG has inspired spinoffs across a variety of genres, from rhythm game Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight to the strategy-based Persona 5 Tactica . On June 26, co-developers Atlus, Sega, and Perfect World released Persona 5: The Phantom X —a spinoff for PC and mobile that mirrors the original game so closely, it works as both an easy introduction to the series, and an enjoyable re-entry into Persona 5 's world. Much like with Persona 5 , Phantom X s follows a group of teenage vigilantes known as Phantom Thieves who gain the power to summon powerful entities, Personas, to fight evil forces. More directly, the game feels like Persona 5 , adopting its turn-based battle system, music, visual style, social links, and more to deliver an experience on PC and mobile devices that works surprisingly well for a series with so much to do. While The Phantom X opens almost identically to the original game, it quickly veers away from Persona 5 's cast to establish its own. Something is off in the world of high school student Nagisa Kamishiro, where people are losing the desires that guide their free will and dreams. In order to help people reclaim their lives, Nagisa and his friends will need to crawl through the Metaverse, a foe-filled alternate reality only they can enter, and fight back. The Phantom X is free-to-play, but is a gacha game, meaning it has in-game purchases and relies on randomized pulls for things like characters from other games in the series and items. It's a controversial style that can prompt players to fork over cash endlessly to get the experience they want. Because of that system, The Phantom X is best played at a daily pace, rather than long stretches. The game has daily activities and awards to earn, and developers plan to continue releasing content for it over the coming months. Right now, the game only features Japanese voice acting and English subtitles, which may be a deterrent for some fans. Although the Persona series is available on handheld consoles, like the PS Vita or Nintendo Switch, The Phantom X is the first time the more traditional JRPG version is available on mobile. The game uses touch controls to move through its world and select commands. Its cutscenes work well even on a small screen, and though its menu can feel at times cramped (depending on your screen size) it's an experience that flows seamlessly. Mobile platforms are well-suited to the dungeon crawling aspects of the game especially, allowing for much needed breaks and the ability to quickly jump back in at any time. For players who want to relive the highlights of the Persona 5 universe, The Phantom X is an easy recommendation. Its faithful recreation of the original game's best elements, mixed with a new story, makes the experience feel like a premium one—and a promising look at what a Persona game could look like on your phone.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster (Switch 2) Review
Thirteen years ago, Square Enix released one of the best Final Fantasy spin-offs they'd made to-date but called it by a different name: Bravely Default. Standing on its own merits, it proved to be a cult classic for the 3DS by the time it arrived in the west in 2014, and still stands as one of the Nintendo 3DS' must-play RPGs (alongside its direct sequel, Bravely Second: End Layer). And yet, it still seems to lack the recognition it deserves as an upstanding modern take on classic JRPGs. Now, with as a launch title for the Nintendo Switch 2, this can finally be set right. Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster is a definitive take on the original game, which amalgamates its myriad re-releases and refreshes it for Nintendo's brand new console. Despite taking on the subtitle of the very first edition, Flying Fairy, it's based on the updated For The Sequel edition, which was the version we initially received in English—because what's a Square Enix JRPG franchise without some convoluted names? Naturally the game has been converted to suit the Switch 2's single screen, after originally utilizing the dual screen of the 3DS. This transition has been handled remarkably well, and will hopefully inspire more developers to bring their 3DS gems to Switch 2. Akitoshi Yoshida's character models and the game's beautiful storybook-like environments also translated nicely to both modern TVs and the Switch 2's screen. Though it was, admittedly, a little jarring to see the mouths moving on certain kookier character models, but that's testament to how much clearer the experience is now. While the 3DS' display was fine at the time, the HD, 16:9 presentation is vastly superior, breathing new life into Bravely Default's folksy world of Luxendarc. Most environments are enhanced by the clearer resolution, which shows off the paint-like texture of the landscapes. Even without the touch screen, this almost feels like the way it was meant to be seen. (Missing entirely is the original game's use of the 3DS' gyroscopic camera. This enabled a handful of AR cutscenes which sounded cool in theory, yet were gimmicky in practice, like the intro CG cutscene.) Beneath Bravely Default's fairy tale appearance (no pun intended) lies a well-crafted tale that combines the motifs of classic Final Fantasy, like crystals and warriors of light, with some plot elements from more modern FF, like the corrupt governments and natural resource wars of Final Fantasy VII. The party consists of Tiz, a young man who's the sole survivor of his simple village; Agnès, sheltered cleric of the Wind Crystal; Edea, a defector from Eternia, the enemy state that seeks to destroy the crystals' hold over society; and Ringabel, an amnesiac who hasn't forgotten his womanizing ways and carries a prophetic journal. Guided by the fairy Airy, they seek to restore the four crystals and thus, the balance of nature while thwarting the forces of Eternia along the way. Bravely Default's writing is still incredibly good by modern standards, even if the voice acting (and a late-game slog) will probably remain as divisive to audiences in 2025 as it did in the twenty-teens. The main characters are charming, as are the minor antagonists in their own way, and the world is easy to invest in. Allusions and homages to Final Fantasy are littered throughout, from the recurring names of spells (Fire-Fira-Firaga), to classes (White Mage, Black Mage), and items, to deeper thematic cuts (like the actions of the Water Crystal's Vestal). Squint just right and it could practically be a sequel to Final Fantasy III, but with profoundly more character and plot. Nowhere is that connection to classic 2D Final Fantasy more apparent than in battle. Players unlock up to 24 jobs (called Asterisks here) throughout Bravely Default, by defeating practitioners of that class. In this department, it harkens more to fellow underrated game Final Fantasy V: each job has distinct active and passive abilities, and as a character increases that job's level they unlock more permanent upgrades which can be equipped even after swapping to another class. Tiz might learn Black Magic, for example, then switch to the Time Mage class and keep the Black Magic command and the Pierce ability. This take on job classes is a tried and true system, and I'm glad to see Bravely Default still putting it to good use even if Final Fantasy isn't. It's kept fresh with some original inventions and unique interpretations of classic jobs, each well-earned in battle with the sort of villains you love to hate. If jobs were 'something old' or 'something borrowed,' Bravely Default's 'something new' was the battle system its name stems from. Actions in a fight cost 1 BP, and characters earn 1 BP per turn normally. Outside of the usual conventions of turn-based RPG combat, each participant can 'default' on their turn to guard and store up their BP, or 'brave' to take 2-4 actions at once. This deceptively simple paradigm can have big strategic ramifications. In weaker random battles, characters can go all out with braves and quickly dispatch their foes in one turn—instead of stooping to a 4-turn slugfest. In harder fights, will your opponent default and tank through your biggest assault? Or can you successfully brave when their guard is down and tear them to shreds instead? It's a simple tweak on the usual turn-based format which lends the game a very unique feel. All of the gameplay holds up just as well today as it did at Bravely Default's western debut. Thankfully, the 3DS original's connectivity features remain intact as well. Friends with the game can be added into your file, allowing you to 'link' your character with theirs—so if your friend has a maxed out Monk Edea, you can use the Abililink system to give your Edea some of those advanced, level 9 abilities. As well, the ability to call upon other players has been salvaged from the 3DS. In a similar fashion, players can 'record' their best moves in battle and save them to their profile, so that other players can summon them. (The game also provides fake, computerized 'ally' profiles periodically to avoid leaving behind those with smaller friend lists.) Even the town restoration minigame, where players idly repair Tiz's hometown over time, has made the jump. Once delegated to the bottom screen, the Norende Village Restoration is easily summoned with a press of the Switch 2 D-pad, as is the in-game reference book and the encounter rate setting, among other bells and whistles. New to Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster are two minigames using the Joy-Con 2's mouse features. Much like the system's mouse function itself, I found these distractions to be better than expected, though still a little too cumbersome to be a main event. The first, Luxencheer Rhythm Catch, also invokes another Final Fantasy spin-off, Theatrhythm. Bravely Default's take injects a sliver of Beat Saber, turning the Joy-Con 2s into a pair of light-stick cursors on the screen. As notes pass by, players must position those cursors so that the notes are caught between them, or move the correct cursor over the notes and press a button in time. It's more elegant in practice than it sounds on paper, and was actually a pretty fun use of the mouse, though I'm in no rush for Theatrhythm to adopt this approach instead. The other, Ringabel's Panic Cruise, is an airship pilot simulator. Meant to show all the work Ringabel does when flying the party's airship, this minigame tasks players with not only steering the craft horizontally and vertically, but also manipulating various controls to fulfill other character's requests or defending the craft from attackers. Though a tonal shift from the rest of the game—the first level has you fending off ghost pirates, because Reasons—it's another fun little distraction. Neither minigame is worth the price of the remaster's admission alone, though there are a plethora of rewards to be earned from playing them periodically, like more background on the characters and unique costume or special move parts. Each minigame has three difficulty levels and more stages to unlock through main plot progression; higher difficulty means more medals, and faster rewards. Like the original game using the 3DS' camera for AR cutscenes, the new minigames in Bravely Default's remaster make a case for the potential of the Switch 2's mouse controls. Fortunately this makes a better case than the first, and I'm pleasantly surprised with the mouse's application, but I still need a little more in-depth proof of its worth. (Bring on Metroid Prime 4.) My only real nitpick with the experience here is the unreliability of the network connection. Bravely Default isn't exhaustive in its network features, only requiring a passive connection to send or receive friend data. In theory, it's 'set it and forget it.' Yet if the connection is disrupted—say, by taking the Switch 2 off the dock—it can be tedious to reconnect. A small quibble in the grand scheme of things, perhaps addressable through updates, though still a minor nuisance. All in all, I couldn't be happier to see Bravely Default get a second chance in the spotlight with a bigger audience. Over a decade ago it proved that classic JRPGs weren't dead or a taboo—a lesson that studios still need to be reminded of, evidently. The Switch 2 has revitalized that core experience, in some ways revealing a superior form, and any fan of original Nintendo-era Final Fantasy, or even classic PS1 RPGs, should give it a shot. With backward compatibility, fans of the genre can already feast well on Switch 2, and having a strong, classic launch title like Bravely Default helps show how Nintendo's partners like Square Enix can keep that feast going. (For a perfect dessert course, the sequel would be a great fit as well, just saying…)
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Persona 4 Remake Announces Itself With Laughably Short Trailer
During today's Xbox Summer Game Fest event, the long-rumored remake of Persona 4 was finally announced... but that's about all we got from the ridiculously short teaser revealing the upcoming remake. Here's the trailer for Persona 4 Revival, which doesn't have a release date: In the extremely (incredibly) brief teaser released by Atlus during the event, we saw a few seconds of gameplay, got a name for the remake, and a list of platforms that the remake of the beloved JRPG will be available on in the future. Persona 4 Revival has been rumored for years now, with leakers and insiders hinting at the game's existence. And then on May 28, Persona 4 voice actor Yuri Lowenthal posted on BlueSky—in response to fans asking him about the then-rumored remake and his return—saying that he wasn't coming back despite possibly begging Atlus to return. 'And for those who keep asking, no, I will not be returning as Yosuke for the Persona 4 remake,' posted Lowenthal, who also voices Spider-Man in the Insomniac games on PS4/PS5. 'I asked. Maybe I even begged, but they don't want me to come back.' This was a big hint that the remake was happening. And now, courtesy of Summer Game Fest, we finally got a teaser. There's not really much to it, but I suspect fans of the original Persona 4 and the franchise as a whole will be digging into every frame to see what they can uncover. Persona 4 Revival arrives on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in the future. No Switch 2 port was announced. Which is odd, but hey, maybe things will change between now and whenever the remake finally arrives. . For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Digital Trends
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
Everything announced at Xbox Games Showcase 2025
A lot of us will have our hands full this weekend playing Assassin's Creed Shadows, but Ubisoft's latest open-world adventure may not be to everyone's tastes. Fans of Fallout might have their eye on the upcoming Xbox Series X game Atomfall, which is also coming to Game Pass on release, but that still leaves an entire weekend with nothing to play. Or, it would if there wasn't a nice selection of new titles added to the service ready for you to dive into. This weekend has something for everyone, such as a brand new Roguelike co-op game, a non-violent adventure game staring Greek gods, and a hardcore JRPG. Let's not waste any more time and give you the rundown on the best new Xbox Game Pass games worth playing this weekend. 33 Immortals 33 Immortals - Official Launch Trailer This day one addition is still technically in early access, but we already love what 33 Immortals is doing. This is one of the most creative co-op games yet, with 33 players all working together in a massive raid-like dungeon. 33 players might sound like a lot, but the game is built on your team working in groups to tackle different corners of the map as smaller squads. Each game is randomized to an extent, but the goal is to always complete various challenges and unlock the route to the boss. That boss is no joke, and keeping yourself and as many allies alive until the end is key to taking it down. There's still a lot to be added and polished, but 33 Immortals is shaping up to be another potential co-op darling.
Digital Trends
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
3 new Game Pass games to play this weekend (May 30-June 1)
The month of May isn't ending quietly. Elden Ring: Nightreign is sneaking in right at the buzzer to give souls fans a new way to engage with that hit formula in a co-op setting. Of course, we understand that style of game isn't for everyone and that leaves a bit of an awkward gap before the next upcoming Xbox game. As impressive as the first wave of Game Pass games was, the second is arguably better. Not only are we treated to one of the best games of 2024, but two day one additions. This is the perfect weekend to get a little weird and try out some unique games that might only be possible thanks to Game Pass. Let's kick off the summer on the right foot with my personal recommendations for what you should be playing this weekend. Metaphor: ReFantazio 2024 was an incredibly competitive year for awards. Astro Bot and Balatro took home tons of well-earned trophies, but it would be a crime to ignore just how good Metaphor: Refantazio is. It is clear as day this is coming from the Persona team just based on the core combat system, music, and incredible UI work, but evolves the formula in some meaningful ways. There's a light bit of real-time combat you can use here, but the flexibility in the Archetype system begs you to break the entire thing wide open. If you enjoyed crafting overpowered builds in Clair Obscur, this game will scratch that same itch. Wrap the entire thing up in an incredibly relevant and heartfelt story and this is easily one of the best JRPGs to come out in the last decade. Recommended Videos Metaphor: Refantazio is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. To a T If you like the oddball style of the Katamari games, To a T is the next project from Keita Takahashi. This time the game is a narrative adventure centering around a young boy who is stuck in a T-pose; a term used in 3D modeling for a character's default stance is standing straight up with both arms outstretched in a T stance. Described as a coming-of-age story, you will go through daily tasks to experience the difficulty of doing simple things like brushing your teeth when locked in that pose. Your dog will be your main companion and help you as you go through life in a small town. It sounds absurd, and likely is to a degree, but it has a lot of heart and a great message about living with a disability. To a T is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Spray Paint Simulator Look, we get it, it feels like there's a simulation game for everything at this point. We can't say all of them are winners, but Spray Paint Simulator has captured my attention as a great melding of the zen-like qualities of Powerwash Simulator but with more creative freedom. Again, the premise is in the title here; you're entering levels to spray paint them to restore various locations and objects. The range of missions is great, from normal things like homes to giant robots. You will unlock more tools as you go and build up your business, but can also just jump into the Free Spray mode if you just feel like letting your creativity fly without any restraints. Spray Paint Simulator is available now on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC.
