Recent reviews by Xenobia

I've been obsessed with RPG games for almost 30 years.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is not only one of the best RPGs ever made, it's easily one of the very best games ever made in my opinion.

Please play this game.

The original SO2 on the PS1 is one of my favourite games of all time.
And this remake has surpassed it in every way.

Easily one of the greatest remakes ever made.

I'd trust Gemdrops with a remake of Xenogears if this is the quality of their work.

Grandia for the PS1 was one of my favourite games growing up. The unique levelling system (at the time), character sprites, combat system and actual sense of adventure always stood out to me. I've finally gotten around to playing through the HD Remaster after over maybe 15 years since I last finished the PS1 version.

Storywise, it's not bad. It's nowhere near the best story I've experienced, but it was good enough to make me want to progress. The mysteries of Alent and the Angelou civilisation were something I was genuinely invested it, especially back on my first playthrough all those years ago.

The combat system is fantastic, and only gets improved upon in Grandia 2, which has one of my favourite battle systems of all time. The combat system allows you to plan out attacks and spells, with the added risk/reward of cancelling out your enemies attacks if you use a critical hit or another powerful move whilst they're in the middle of their animation or charge up. This goes both ways as enemies can cancel out your attacks if you decide to use a skill that requires a charge up time and you get hit during it.
It was definitely a unique system when the game first released, and even now I think it's aged very well. The only downside I can give to it is that the animations for most spells and some skills take a long time to play out, which can be a real pain when you're trying to level up your spells, as it'll make fights take a lot 3-4 times longer.

The levelling system is something I loved about this game. Whilst you do have your usual exp and character levels like most JRPGs, you also level your weapon skills and magic skills by frequently using them, which also give permanent stat bonuses. For example. Justin is able to use a Sword, Mace and an Axe, and by using them in combat, he can level up the respective weapon skills and and learn new moves by doing so. The same goes for magic. It's s great system that promotes using different weapons and spells to improve each character's stats and learn powerful new moves and spells.

On average, the game should take around 35-40 hours to finish. There are a few optional dungeons, but they vary in length and doing all 3 will probably add around 4 hours overall. They're not in the post game though, and can be missed if you progress too far into the story.

Overall I definitely recommend this game to all JRPG fans, especially if you still appreciate the classics.

Inscryption is one of the best gaming experiences I've had in recent memory.

Inscryption is also best experienced completely blind (I wouldn't recommend watching the trailer either). I can't go into detail about this game so I don't give anything away, but if you're on the store page right now, i urge you to buy the game and play it all the way through. You will not regret it.
If you really want to try before you buy, try the demo instead of watching the trailer.

The best Tales game since Graces F.
I, like many others, were burned pretty badly when Zestiria and Berseria were released. I purchased both full price on their respective release days, and was severely disappointed at how mediocre they both turned out to be. This is coming from a lifelong Tales fan that started with Phantasia on the SNES. After being let down pretty hard, I honestly though Bamco had lost sight of what made the series such a classic series.
Until Arise released.

They've managed to bring back the magic of the series. A fantastic combat system that encourages experimentation and creating your own arte combo strings, as well as timed dodges, incredible arte animations (Especially Boost artes) and a very fair difficulty. All this and more combine into a one of the better combat systems in a JRPG we've had for a while.

The story is good by Tales standards. Enough intrigue to keep you going, and some twists along the way, which is to be expected. The story won't be winning any awards, but by now it's hard for the genre to really surprise you or blow your mind when it comes to storytelling. It's still very enjoyable though.

Tales of Arise is in my opinion, one of the best JRPGs we've had in years. If you're a fan of JRPGs, you owe it to yourself to give this a go.

A garbage free-to-play game, but with a £39.99 price tag.
Avoid like the plague.

I wish I could rate this somwhere in the middle.
As a big Zero Escape fan, it pains me to say that Zero Time Dilemma doesn't reach the greatness the previous two games did.
In the previous games, the amount of intrigue and mystery led me to finish both games and attain all endings not long after I started, as I simply could not put the games down. I was so immersed, and needed to know what happened next.

Unfortunately, there's not NEARLY enough mystery in Zero Time Dilemma. Most, if not all the plot twists and revelations were very predictable, and not once was I surprised by anything that happened. 999 and VLR (The previous games) did everything so much better.
Some characters are likeable, and some are just brain-dead cardboard cutouts.

Not all of it was bad though. Most of the puzzle rooms were very well done. Some had a good amount of challenge, whilst not being so difficult that you'd have to look up a guide. I DO wish there were more puzzle rooms though.
The game WAS an enjoyable experience, so I won't be giving it a negative review, but I regret paying full price for it. I feel a £19.99 price tag would've been a lot more deserving.

I do recommend this game to Zero Escape fans, but it'll be best to wait for a sale.
And I DON'T recommend this game to people who have not played the previous games to completion. Big plot twists from 999 and VLR get spoiled within minutes of starting this game, and why would you start from the 3rd game in a story-focused series anyway?

If you're waiting for a sale, but want to play a game similar to this, I recommend the Danganronpa games. They're developed by the same company as Zero Escape, and Danganronpa 2 is one of the best gaming experiences I've had in years (But obviously, play Danganronpa 1 first).

One of the single best gaming experiences I've had.

Characters are fantastic.
The story pulls you in from the start, and doesn't let go.
The amount of mystery in the game makes it hard to put down.
The murders are really well done.

And for those of you who've played the first game, this one beats it in every aspect, by far.
And for those who haven't played the first game, PLAY THAT ONE FIRST.

Cannot recommend this game enough.

10/10

This game is a work of art. Can't wait for the finished product!