George Yang

Digital Trends • 21st September 2022

The DioField Chronicle review: convincing sequel bait

Square Enix has recently been keen to publish more middle-tier Japanese games, including the likes of Valkryie Elysium, Tactics Ogre: Reborn, and Harvestella, all of which are coming out within mere weeks of each other. The publisher seems to be all-in on new IPs, bolstering its reliable roster of surefire RPG hits. The DioField Chronicle is an important part of that strategy.

Digital Trends • 20th September 2022

The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero review: a standout PSP RPG

Despite being over a decade old, The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero‘s fantastic story still holds up thanks to phenomenal world-building fraught with the political subterfuge and likable characters that the franchise is known for.

Digital Trends • 19th September 2022

Soul Hackers 2 could have been the perfect Game Pass RPG

Atlus created quite a bit of fanfare earlier this year when it announced that the Persona series would arrive on Xbox in October. But that isn’t the only JRPG the publisher had in store for Xbox owners this year. Soul Hackers 2 was a big get for Microsoft, bringing the Shin Megami Tensei style of gameplay to its systems with a fresh release. It launched at the end of August without nearly as much excitement as Persona — Persona 5’s Xbox release date announcement seemed to overshadow Soul Hackers

Tom's Guide • 16th September 2022

Temtem review

Temtem is a strong challenger against Pokémon in the monster-catching genre. The game manages to separate itself by implementing its own twists on a familiar formula, especially in its battle system. There are still similarities between Temtem and Pokémon that veterans will recognize, which might help ease them into the new game.

Variety • 31st August 2022

‘The Last of Us Part I’ Is Great for Both Veterans and Newcomers: Game Review

Naughty Dog has been one of PlayStation’s most prestigious developers, known for franchises like “Jak & Daxter” as well as “Uncharted.” However, Naughty Dog’s magnum opus is arguably 2013’s “The Last of Us” for the PlayStation 3, which blended cinematic action gameplay with incredible storytelling.

Digital Trends • 25th August 2022

The Devil in Me might be the scariest Dark Pictures game yet

With Supermassive finally finding its footing with The Dark Pictures Anthology, I was looking forward to what the next anthology entry and season one finale, The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Devil in Me, offered.

CNN • 24th August 2022

The Xbox Series S now includes a free digital game at Best Buy

Right now, Best Buy is running a promotion in the U.S. where you can receive a free digital game with your purchase of an Xbox Series S. So if you’re looking to pick one up, now is a great time to do it.

Washington Post • 18th August 2022

Review | Set aside Persona comparisons and appreciate ‘Soul Hackers 2’s’ charms

Fans of Atlus games who are coming into “Soul Hackers 2” may need to temper their expectations. In international markets, the JRPG developer has become best known for its Persona series, a less punishing spinoff of its long-running Shin Megami Tensei series, and as such all of its other franchises are inevitably compared with that high bar.

Digital Trends • 15th August 2022

The DioField Chronicle was inspired by League of Legends, not Final Fantasy Tactics

The DioField Chronicle, a new IP developed by Lancarse and published by Square Enix, is the latest in a growing trend of tactical RPG games. While plenty of those kinds of games have come out this year already (including Triangle Strategy, Relayer, and Digimon Survive). The DioField Chronicle intends to put its own spin on the genre and stand out in a crowded field.

Inverse • 9th August 2022

'Digimon Survive' review: Dull gameplay holds back a daring story

As I slumped through several hours of tedious exposition and uninteresting tactical gameplay, I asked myself, “when does this get better?” I’m no stranger to the concept of slow burns in video games. I’ve played plenty of Japanese RPGs that promise to “get good” after the first 10-15 hours. Visual novels occupy a similar space — they are very story-heavy and gradually introduce their worlds and characters over the first several hours. Bandai Namco’s Digimon Survive is a mix between a visual no

Digital Trends • 9th August 2022

The DioField Chronicle makes real-time strategy feel like a JRPG

Japan isn’t exactly known for real time strategy games. That’s why I was surprised to discover that The DioField Chronicle was a real-time strategy game, and not a turn-based tactics one like the Fire Emblem series. In terms of gameplay, this already sets The DioField Chronicle apart from other similar titles in the genre as Japanese strategy games lean heavily toward turn-based and grid-based tactics. In a hands-on preview, I played around three hours of The DioField Chronicle, which consisted

Digital Trends • 5th August 2022

5 JRPGs not from Square Enix deserve the HD-2D treatment

The HD-2D style is a boon for Square Enix’s modern turn-based JRPGs. It takes retro 2D sprites and fits them into beautiful 3D environments with gorgeous special effects. Seeing realistic fire animations, reflections, and more alongside charming old-school pixel art really helps the games that utilize this style stand out from the crowd.

Tom's Guide • 2nd August 2022

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 review

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is an amazing JRPG, with a deep story and fun gameplay that will keep players engaged for many hours. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is the third mainline game in the Xenoblade series. The story is entirely self-contained, and doesn't require any knowledge of the previous games. However, there are plenty of callbacks and references to the previous titles. Not only is the game’s story approachable for newcomers, but it will reward series veterans for their lore knowledge. What's

Digital Trends • 21st July 2022

Live A Live Review: Classic RPG saves its best moments for last

The original Live A Live launched on the SNES in 1994 but never left Japan … until now. A new 2D-HD remake, released exclusively on Nintendo Switch, brings the influential RPG to the West for the first time ever. With a cast of different characters, the game tells eight separate stories before bringing all of them together. When it was first released, this storytelling structure was ahead of its time.

NPR • 20th July 2022

The best games of 2022 so far, picked by the NPR staff

It didn't take long for 2022 to deliver on a deep roster of long-awaited games, from blockbusters like Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West, to breakout indies like Tunic and Norco. We asked NPR staff and contributors for their favorites so far. The resulting list represents a broad swath of tastes that includes games appropriate for kids ("Kid Friendly"), and for folks who may be new to the hobby ("For New Gamers"). Whether you're interested in story-driven experiences or challenges to your wits and reflexes, there's plenty to love in these 30 games.

GameSkinny • 18th July 2022

Stray Review: Being a Cat is as Smooth as Ever

I wasn’t sure what to expect going into Stray from Blue Twelve Studio and Annapurna Interactive. I figured it would at least be a walking simulator where you control a cat. However, Stray is much more than that. It has a touching narrative about hope, wrapped in themes of capitalistic greed.

Digital Trends • 17th July 2022

The Steam Deck is a true successor to PlayStation Vita

It’s hard to imagine that Sony was a major player in the handheld console race less than 10 years ago. The console giant found success with the PSP in the 2000s and looked to push its advantage in 2012 with the PlayStation Vita. That didn’t quite go as planned.

Digital Trends • 9th July 2022

Nintendo's Kirby-flavored bubble tea, a review

Kung Fu Tea in March announced a collaboration with Nintendo on a Kirby-themed drink upon the release of Kirby and the Forgotten Land earlier this year. Now, it’s finally here and it’s called Kirby’s Fruity Flurry. We may never get to experience what Kirby actually tastes like in real life, so this is as probably as close as we can get to eating the puffball — well, a blended version of him, at least. As a video game reporter, it was my duty to head down to my local Kung Fu Tea and drink a cool

Digital Trends • 6th July 2022

Live A Live preview: Unique, but inconsistent, RPG storytelling

Live A Live was originally a Super Famicom game released in 1994 that never made its way out of Japan until now. Remade in a new visual style similar to that of Octopath Traveler and Triangle Strategy, Live a Live is a beautiful game, but it’s not without some inconsistencies.

Digital Trends • 1st July 2022

Yurukill: The Calumniation Games review: Creative, but disjointed

Yurukill: The Calumniation Games tries to mesh two incredibly niche genres together: visual novel and shoot ‘em up (shmup). By incorporating both, developer Izanagi Games risks narrowing the game’s audience down even further. Half of the game consists of reading through mounds of dialogue between characters to get through the story along with some light puzzle solving. The other half has players commandeering a battleship in classic shmup sections and taking down grotesque enemies.