#JRPGJuly 2024 – Week 2 Round-Up
Welcome to another year of everyone’s favorite monthly gameathon. #JRPGJuly was created as a community game-along by Anne Lee @ Chic Pixel, and hosted by MDi. Once again, the RPGamer staff is showing their support for the event by playing some JRPGs. If you’re participating make sure to use #JRPGJuly or share your feelings over on the RPGamer Discord server.
The second week of #JRPGJuly sees staff digging deeper into their chosen titles. Let’s see everyone’s progress!
Joshua Carpenter
The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak
One of the biggest changes, other than the setting, in The Legend of Heroes: Trails through Daybreak is the combat system. While the Trails series has long been Falcom’s home for turn-based combat, Daybreak changes things up by introducing action elements. However, this is more of a case of making the overworld and dungeon exploration more engaging rather than completely eschewing its turn-based roots as some series have.
Now, as players explore, there is no longer a straight transition to a battle mode as the party can dynamically attack enemies with their weapons. The combat in this form is straightforward with combos building up a meter that allows players to perform special attacks that can do larger amounts of damage and stun the enemy, giving an advantage upon entering a turn based battle. However, much like the Persona series, enemies can also attack and get the advantage on the player. I’m liking the system because it makes the dungeon portions of the game more interesting from moment-to-moment and it is a completely optional system for those that are allergic to action combat. At any time, the player can press a button and immediately enter turn-based combat. I really appreciate that the system also allows the player to easily get past low-level enemies without having to go through longer turn-based battles that have an inevitable outcome. So far, every part of this new Trails experience is clicking and I can’t wait to see what’s next!
Jervon Perkins
I can’t believe that it’s already the halfway point for 2024’s #JRPGJuly! This week saw me progressing and finishing the main story for Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail. When I started this journey, I thought that it was going to be lighthearted from beginning to end. Sure, there would be bumps in the road, but director Yoshi P promised a vacation, right? Without giving away spoilers, I gravely underestimated the impact of the final act. I’d argue that it’s one of the most human stories within the game’s eleven-year run. It had me reflecting on many different aspects of life, so much so that I started to fall into a depressive slump.
Perhaps this is my fair warning to those who have dealt with heavy things in their lives about the story. I also have PTSD and bipolar disorder, and navel-gazing for so long about the temporal nature of life can be very difficult. But I took a few days to understand the impact it’s had on me, process those feelings, and move forward. I enjoyed the experience, but I’m also glad to be done! Now I’m moving on to leveling Summoner and Scholar classes.
Sarah Ferries
Spoilers for Endwalker
I thought I’d finally get into Dawntrail this week, but alas I’m still in the post-game for Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker. I also thought the depressing parts of the story were behind me, but I was wrong there as well. Having to save Vrtra’s sister from the Void and Golbez seemed to just be another “beat up bad guy, save dragon sister” situation, but since I never played Final Fantasy IV, I did not realize the other layers of meaning. If you have, you would know the outcome of the story with Golbez and the Shadow Dragon.
The whole backstory with Durante and Golbez was heartwrenching. I had to go through first the consumption by darkness and resulting necessary actions, subsequent grief, and the eventual embodiment of darkness and despair that results, but then Zero uses the powers of light to bring things to a resolution. I’m just bawling as all of this is happening. My brain didn’t know whether to be happy or sad. I’m happy how things resolved, but his backstory is incredibly depressing.
Maybe next week will be Dawntrail time, and I’m planning on doing some fun side quests with Pictomancer to take a break from heavy story stuff. Endwalker, even though it’s super depressing, is still better than Stormblood.
Andi Privitere
After completing the initial zone in Unicorn Overlord, I was presented with two options: move into a primarily human-settled desert, or go to the verdant green elf-centric region. I’m not sure what made me think so, but I got the impression that these two options were around the same level (and I figured if that was the case, the levels would adjust based on what I did first, right?).
No, I just didn’t read the choices put before me correctly, so when I finished liberating Elfheim and bopped over to Drakenhold with my core four units at level 25 and everyone else 20 or higher, where I discovered a plethora of level 11-13 fights waiting for me. Whoops! At least the zone was straightforward to finish. Now I just need to conquer the Coliseum before heading north into the lands of shapeshifters, known as Bestrals or as my friend Vale has dubbed it, “Furry Canada”. Wish me luck!
Sam Wachter
I completed Sand Land! I have to say, I had a ton of fun playing this game. While it wasn’t particularly challenging or original in some of its approaches, there is something to be said about games that wear their hearts on their sleeve. Sand Land is charming and wholesome, two words one wouldn’t expect when you look at the game’s exterior.
Honestly, all the boss fights leading up to the end weren’t much of a challenge, and controlling some of the bots was a bit tough. Even so, I can’t deny how much fun I had ramping my motorbike into a mountainside or driving my hoverbot over a cliff and landing in water, taking a lot of damage. The best parts of this game were the silly moments, and I’m happy I gave this game a shot. As for what I will be playing next week? You’ll have to tune in and find out.
Ezra Kinnell
Elden Ring took up a lot of my time this week as I played the new expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree. I’ve really enjoyed the expansion, the map is fun to explore with lots of hidden details and secret paths to take. The areas feel varied while remaining cohesive and FromSoftware remains at the top of its game when it comes to boss and enemy design.
However, it is hard to ignore that the expansion feels a bit clumsily added to the main game. The Scadutree Fragments add an additional leveling system to the expansion that feels incredibly artificial, and the lore reveals aren’t handled with as much grace as I would expect from the studio. That said, the expansion is still top notch and I’ve loved playing it.
Robert Sinclair
Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade
At the behest of my brother, I started up a new game this week. He’s been trying to pump me up on Final Fantasy VII Remake and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, calling them nearly perfect experiences. The beginning, however, is not very flattering. Enemies have way too much health and deal a lot of damage, while you just don’t have the materia when starting out, nor the slots to equip them, to be able to make the battles function the way they should. I could feel that the core game systems have potential but without a full party and a better stock of magic it’s not there.
I have put about 23 hours into it now and I have to say that my initial take was actually quite correct. After getting a full set of party members and a small arsenal of weapons and materia the game really does start to click. If you’re like me just getting into the Final Fantasy VII Remake series then I strongly urge you to play past the first few hours. The game really picks up and is way more fun than the first impression would make you think.
Phil Willis
As I continue my journey in one of the last chapters of Persona 5 Royal, this huge dungeon is sucking away my soul. I’m spending hours just figuring things out and searching every nook and cranny for Will Seeds. Nevertheless, it’s an improvement over previous dungeons in the series, as each labyrinth in Persona 5 has a distinct feel and thrilling design. Thankfully, I have several items and skills that help some of my characters slowly recharge Spirit Points; otherwise, I would have had to break this up into two or three delves. I always try to knock the dungeons out in one or two trips to maximize free days for improving relationships, though it is not strictly necessary.
Along those lines, I am hitting the end (rank 10) of numerous relationships. I really enjoy seeing the resolutions to many of this more minor character plot lines. While I enjoy all kinds of RPGs, nothing hits you in the feels like a JRPG with well-written characters.
Zach Welhouse
The final two chapters of Live A Live really pulled the game together for me. It still isn’t a great pick for anyone who isn’t sure about anthologies, but I’m happy that I stuck with it. Unfortunately, saying too much about either of the final chapters that solidified my opinion would venture too far into spoilers. Suffice to say, I got my desired secret history and more interaction between the eras. It wasn’t in the manner that I expected, but it does explain the ardor of the English-language fans who’ve treasured the game for so long. My criticisms from last week about the vignettes’ brevity still stand, but now I’m conflicted. Since the end is where the magic happens, why shouldn’t the preceding chapters be as short as possible while still communicating their key ideas?
Anyway, I really enjoyed the final battle. None of its individual twists was surprising, but they all worked in concert to deliver a memorable clash of wills. Between my goofy attacks and over-leveled shenanigans, the ultimate expression of the story still revealed new heart and contextualized what had come before. Next week I’m back to my promised take on Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and its infinite minigames.
Benedikt Geierhofer
Thanks to the local heatwave, I made less progress than I would have liked in Final Fantasy XIII until I made time for a super stream. I’m still not vibing with the game, however, I can see certain things more positively than when I played it in the past. I hope to get through the game this month but having only reached chapter five out of thirteen, I’m beginning to have doubts.
One of the things that I remembered better from the past was the combat, but replaying XIII, it feels far more on rails and time wasting than I remember. I do hope it picks up but a player shouldn’t have to wait fifteen hours for a game to start clicking. While some people might hate me for it, I’m finding more appreciation for Snow as my opinion of Lightning’s antics makes me like her less. It is interesting what things you see differently as a developer and adult as opposed to just being a young player; the years of experience have made me look at many games differently.
As for my continuous journey through Golden Sun: The Lost Age I finally unlocked the boat. I haven’t used it much but it was a joy unlocking it again after years of not playing it.
Jahwon Corbett
I didn’t get much farther in the story of Octopath Traveler II, so this week I’ve focused on gameplay. Octopath Traveler II uses turn-based combat, which is my favorite type of combat as I can take breaks and strategize during encounters. I enjoy that Octopath Traveler II also has a layer to the strategy by allowing the player to boost their attack rolls by using a constantly increasing resource for every character.
Each character’s in-combat Path Actions are also interesting, as they require thoughtful deployment during battles. Throne’s power allows her to attack twice in the turn, while Osvald can nuke the entire screen with a free magic attack. The only thing that I’m not fond of is the job system, but that’s more due to not having found any additional jobs for my party. I hope that within the next week I’ll be able to progress and have more to talk about in terms of story developments.
Ryan McCarthy
Due to having a rough week, I didn’t play as much Yakuza: Like a Dragon as I wanted. I did manage to reach Chapter 12, where Ichiban has to obtain three million yen. Thankfully, getting it wasn’t as hard as it initially seemed since doing the business management mini-game nets the player a decent amount of cash.
Another highlight of the week included finishing a substory where Ichiban and the gang ends up fighting a giant cleaning robot that goes out of control, which rewarded me with the option to employ cleaning robot in the business management mini-game. A weird yet wonderful thing that happened was that my party gained several levels after doing one of the Part-Time Hero side quests because apparently I happened to fight an incredibly rare enemy. I have to wonder if that’s one of the game’s nods to Dragon Quest.
As always, whenever I play these games, I’ll no doubt continue to do as much of the side content as humanly possible while only making story progress when I feel like it. I’m hoping to finish the game sooner rather than later but considering my pace, I can never be too sure.
Paul Shkreli
Continuing with my playthrough of Final Fantasy XVI for #JRPGJuly, I’m really enjoying the challenge of Final Fantasy Mode. Most ordinary enemy mobs provide a little challenge, but mid-tier and main bosses really pack a punch. I know it isn’t an equivalent to Final Fantasy VII Remake‘s Hard mode, which I found too daunting in the later chapters. Here, Final Fantasy Mode seems more like a match to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth‘s Dynamic Mode, where enemies seemed to scale with the character’s level. Most mobs are only a level or so higher than Clive, providing a challenge and some experience points. It does still feel a little too on the rails though, with Clive typically leveling up after a tough encounter. I’m not sure how possible — or perhaps more accurately, viable — grinding levels in this game is, but playing New Game+ in this new mode helps keep it fresh.
Getting to know Jill and replaying through her storyline is better than I recall, even though I wish we saw more of her powers on display. I wonder how feasible it would be to allow players to control the other Eikons — specifically Jill, Cid, and maybe even Dion. I don’t know how it would work in terms of the story unless each character only had access to their Eikon powers, but allowing players to control them while they are party members would help make the combat truly feel dynamic. It’s something I will keep an eye out for when they announce the PC release date, whenever that is.
Mohamed Lamine Coulibaly
Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg
The second game I chose to play for #JRPGJuly is Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg, which is the remake of the very first game in Gust’s long-running Atelier series. The title tells the story of Marie, a young woman who failed to graduate from an alchemy school several times. Still believing in the girl’s potential, her teacher Ingrid gives her a final chance to graduate: Marie must manage her own workshop over five years and, thanks to the experience gained, create an item of exceptional quality using alchemy.
There’s no world to save, no promise for big adventure, and therefore no epic scope. However, Atelier Marie Remake doesn’t suffer from the absence of these elements that are so common in many JRPGs. On the contrary, it allows the game to offer a story that is both relatable and lighthearted. Thus, the game is a nice change of pace from these numerous RPGs where saving the world comes at the price of gruesome tragedies. As another selling point for JRPG lovers who have a very busy life: Atelier Marie Remake is a short game!
Robert Albright
Final Fantasy XIV and Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm
This week I made some good of progress with my games since my internet was stable all week and I figured out my issues with Final Fantasy XIV so you can actually catch me streaming.
I reached Chapter 2 in Atelier Iris 3: Grand Phantasm. Last week I griped about the things that annoy me with the game, however, I love just how much passion Atelier games have in the characters, as well as the music. Gust always has amazing music that can be both whimsical while still being true to the atmosphere of the games. I feel like the games don’t get enough recognition in the gaming world for how good the soundtracks are.
As to Final Fantasy XIV, the issue I had with the game crashing has to do with my generation of processor. So after finding a Reddit thread about the issue, I learned I could underclock my processor to resolve the crashes and the game has been running fine since. This allowed me to make a lot of progress and I managed to unlock the first trial in the new expansion. The story has been slightly lackluster, but that’s to be expected as the early part of a new expansion is spent learning about new cultures and the issues they are facing. Overall, I’m having a lot of fun, and the changes to my favorite class — the Red Mage — have kept me on my toes.
Cassandra Ramos
Well, what do you know? I thought I would finish EarthBound by the end of the week and instead I finished it near the middle. I gave up trying to get the Broken Antenna and other rare drops because I was spending hours and didn’t get a thing. As much as I enjoy the battle system, beating up the same enemy repeatedly does get tedious. I’m satisfied with getting the Sword of Kings for the first time. After getting the last two melodies, Ness was whisked away to Magicant to get the big power boost he needs before facing Giygas. A version of Magicant also exists in EarthBound Beginnings, but it’s very different from the one in the sequel. Ness’ Magicant is a wacky land of giant vegetables and Ness’ friends and family randomly standing about. Beginnings‘ Magicant is surreal, but in a dreamy, peaceful way. It’s neat to see the contrast between the similarly named locations back-to-back. As per Mother series tradition, I didn’t so much beat the last boss as prayed it away. I forgot the boss can still take damage, but it cannot actually be beaten without praying nine times. It does feel good to revisit a favorite of mine, and even better to play it right after its predecessor. I enjoyed seeing how the series developed from its beginning to its most popular entry. It would make sense to follow up EarthBound with Mother 3, but I decided to start up a different game.
This week I began Final Fantasy Legend II, originally a Game Boy title, as part of the Collection of SaGa: Final Fantasy Legend release on the Switch. I played the first game a while back, and I thought now is the time to play the next game. I’m still very early on, having visited the Temple of Ki, and I’m on my way to find some ruins for possible relics. I’m currently grinding for GP to obtain some good equipment. Rather than necessarily grinding for experience, I like to get the best equipment early on. My team consists of a human woman named Vin, a mutant woman named Rika, a Baby-D named Drac, and a robot named QT. So far, barring the robot, it plays very similarly to the first Final Fantasy Legend game, but the story seems a bit more involved. I’ll have more to say on the game next week.
That’s all for this week. Let us know what sort of progress you’re making in your #JRPGJuly game in the comments or on social media!
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