2017-01-15

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Yesterday’s Nintendo Switch presentation had a rather healthy offering of JRPGs to show off whether you noticed it or not. Dragon Quest XI might not have shown up and stolen the show, but plenty of other titles did. Whether they got a full segment dedicated to them or just a brief blip in a highlight reel, here was what we saw from the world of JRPGs last night.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

The biggest game of the bunch. Nintendo realizes it has a potentially gargantuan franchise on its hands, and it will continue cranking out these open world beasts with Monolith Soft. as long as the critical scores keep rolling in. We all agreed that this one looks a little too much on the cutesy anime side, a little too much Tales for my taste, but we’re willing to overlook that if it can capture the undeniable brilliance of its predecessors.

Project: Octopath Traveler

If that’s not the greatest name for a video game ever, I don’t know what is. Square Enix, please… just leave it as that. It might be just a placeholder, but I don’t care. That’s the only title I’ll ever need.

The game employs classically stylized 16-bit JRPG sprites and sets them in a side-scrolling 3D world with brilliant 3D effects thanks to countless backround layers. It’s like the parallax scrolling of my childhood has come back with a vengeance. I immediately thought of Final Fantasy VI when the battles fired up in that trailer, and I think that’s what the company is aiming for.

Fire Emblem Warriors

Not really a JRPG in the classic sense, but I know the Fire Emblem crowd will go bonkers over this title. It’s also another one of Nintendo’s leading JRPG franchises, so I’ll go ahead and include it as a spin-off. I’ve survived through one-too-many Omega Force interpretations of franchises I love to get blindly swept up into another one. Still, it’s here for those who want it.

Dragon Quest Heroes 1 and 2 were also confirmed to be joining alongside it. Hopefully, this is more than just a skin change.

Disgaea 5 Complete

Disgaea players were disappointed when NipponIchi said that Disgaea 5 couldn’t be made portable on the PS Vita like its predecessor. Well, guess what… if you want to play Disgaea 5 on a handheld console, the Nintendo Switch is the place to do it. This one was highlighted for three seconds in the presentation, but that’s all fans needed to pick up on its art style and start digging. NipponIchi was more than happy to reply with positive news.

I Am Setsuna

Another little slice of heaven that slipped in between the cracks. I Am Setsuna was one game shy of making the cut on of Game of the Year choices from 2016, but maybe it could have gotten the push over the edge if I was able to take it and play it portably. Well, guess what… just another step in the right direction for this brilliant gem.

I Am Setsuna also got a release date in March, so be sure to give it a glimpse if you need a break from Hyrule.

Shin Megami Tensei

This mysterious title is going to get a lot of people talking. It bares the name of Atlus’ oldest JRPG franchise, but nobody knows exactly what it is. A new game? A remake? Another spin-off franchise? Another Omega Force “musou” action game, for the love of Pete! Really?

Nope, the only information we have so far beyond the title and the host of monsters that appear in the trailer are that it runs on the Unreal Engine 4 and Atlus isn’t sure if it will come to North America or not. Shin Megami Tensei fans better start praying soon.

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