Role-playing

Lord of Magna: Maiden Heaven will have you scratching your head in bewilderment on numerous occasions during this short - for Japanese Role Playing Game standards - but dynamic title. To be fair, it is a wonder this game ever made it to retail, since one of the studios involved with this title, and Rune Factory, shut down suddenly. Fortunately, Marvelous picked up the pieces and presented us with this 'different' and exciting JRPG.

So there it is. The news that many of us have been waiting for since 1997. 18 long years. Square Enix announced at E3 2015 that we are finally getting a Final Fantasy VII remake. A proper one. Not just updated graphics or shiny new cutscenes, but a full remake with new gameplay and, so we are told, new story elements to boot.

The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt delivers on almost all of its promises. For a moment, forget that the game doesn't look like the video we saw in 2013. By now, everyone needs to understand the difference between event specific videos and entire games. Despite what some may say, the Witcher 3 Wild Hunt really does look great. Sure, you might be able to find a few blemishes here and there, and outside of the larger cities, I see a lot of NPC character features used frequently. But the game, story, and RPG elements are all on the better side of great!

At a time when fantasy RPG games are dominating the gaming world, smaller games struggle to compete with huge names like Dragon Age and Elder Scrolls to create innovative and beautiful worlds for their heroes to explore. Games like this must continue to be made so that the category is not solely ruled by large franchises; new ideas and creations can be born out of this diversity. One good example is the very fun and very creative ArcaniA: Gothic 4.

There is definitely a learning curve that takes a little while to master, but once you do, the Puzzle and Dragons Z portion of the game can be quickly finished. I found very little challenge awaited me. That is why it is ironic that the game pushes you towards the easier, more user friendly Super Mario Bros. portion; of the two games, I think the Mario Bros. part was more difficult in the long run, and more enjoyable.

Xenoblade Chronicles on the Wii was an underappreciated late-comer to the console. Very few people played it, yet those that did were very vocal about it: the looks of the game, how big it was, and how mainstream it could be, despite falling into the JRPG category. When Monolith Soft announced a remake of this beloved title on the New 3DS - first exclusive to the New handheld - fans began to get excited, and some even purchased the New 3DS just for this.

Recently action-adventure rogue-like games have made a huge comeback. With notable successes recently such as The Binding of Isaac and Nuclear Throne, this game-type is seeing resurgence. The most recent in the line is Overture. Allowing the player to control a 16-bit hero and navigate them through randomly generated dungeons across the world, Overture is fun, fast-paced, and non-stop action.

The combination of wit and traps are the only way to stop the flood of monsters that are breaching our world. The job of guarding against these beasts is a rough one, but these defenders are the worlds only hope. Taking on the fiercest of grotesque hell spawn, each warrior must use his or her wit to devise a clever trail of traps that can lessen the evil armies and prevent as many of these creatures from passing through the gates into our world as possible. An unforgiving and gore-filled game, Neocore Games' new release, Deathtrap is swiftly starting to earn ...

Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are finally here, and having a reaction of these franchise gems - pun intended - is great. Despire issues that have plague every game in this franchise, the update to these games and the nostalgic feeling you get while playing, makes this trip back to the Hoenn region 100% worth it!

Fantasy Life really is a fantasy. But it's a good fantasy, and one that will take up a lot of your time. It's not everyday you get to swap between 12 different occupations, ranging from fighting to crafting to gathering, but in this charming and addictive title from Level-5, you can. Although the game struggles with some pacing issues throughout, the overall charm and depth of the game makes the smaller issues seem unimportant.