150°

Which Japanese RPGs stood out this console generation?

Friends and the industry in general seem to be talking alot about RPG’s lately. All sparked by the much anticipated Japanese developed Ni No Kuni. So I got to thinking, with this generation of consoles coming to an end, which Eastern RPG’s have stood out as testament to these ageing machines?

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weseeinpixels.com
MmaFan-Qc4529d ago (Edited 4529d ago )

NNK, Tales of Graces f, Blue Dragon, Tales of Vesperia, Eternal Sonata was pretty good in my book.

honorable mention to Valkyria Chronicles even if its more tactical.

GuyThatPlaysGames4529d ago

I honestly haven't experienced a good RPG since FFVII. I really haven't gotten back into RPG's but would Ni No Kuni be a good start for me to get back into it? What else would you recommend?

Lord_Sloth4529d ago

I highly recommend Valkyria Chronicles and Resonance of Fate.

Lvl_up_gamer4529d ago

Lost Odyssey hands down best JRPG released this gen.

If you're a JRPG fan and haven't played Lost Odyssey, then you can't call yourself a JRPG fan. Simply as that.

ChocolateGiddyUp4529d ago

If you dug the old Final Fantasy games, then Lost Odyssey for sure.

4529d ago
fatstarr4529d ago

xenoblade chronicles : so rare and so highly rated.
the last story
tales of vesperia

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DivineAssault 4529d ago

Tales, demon/dark souls, ni no kuni for me.. Most of the others were mehhh

Godmars2904529d ago

Anything which wasn't Final Fantasy, sad to say.

Unless you're talking the anti-thesis for why a JRPG stood out.

AznGaara4529d ago

Demons Souls, Ni no Kuni and Valkyria Chronicles. I'd throw in Disgaea 4 simply because I love that series so much and the HD sprites make it look so good.

I guess you can count FF13 too. It stood out in a sense that it wasn't like every other FF game before it.

knifefight4529d ago

Add to that Xenoblade, Tales of Graces f, Tales of Vesperia, Yakuza 4, Resonance of Fate, and Lost Odyssey for me. There've been some good ones. There aren't as many coming out as there once were, and oh so few use that overworld map mechanic that I love so fondly, but the games we've gotten have been pretty solid.

koehler834529d ago

Definitely Ni No Kuni. Just beat it yesterday. Truly a masterpiece.

I think Lost Odyssey was also notable, although I found much of the story to be too reliant on walls of text.

I also enjoyed Blue Dragon. Ni No Kuni took a lot of cues from that game so I feel it deserves a mention if Ni No Kuni does.

Unfortunately I found Last Story to be very much overrated and have found it very difficult to stay engaged in Xenoblade, though I can see the potential, it desperately needs an option to make everyone shut the hell up during battle.

I quite enjoyed the White Knight Chronicles games but they suffered for being split up into two products that were obviously a single production.

Without a doubt, Ni No Kuni will go down as my favorite JRPG of this generation.

raWfodog4529d ago

Damn, you finished it already. I'm about 25 hours into it and I'm still at Hamelin. Granted, I don't get that much playtime between work, school, and family (wife and 3 kids). But even if I had a lot of time, I'm always exploring the world as I go, grinding, and never go straight to my next objective. I don't want it to end too soon :)

LightofDarkness4529d ago

I've not finished it yet, but I think I can say that so far, Xenoblade is the better game. Unless something changes the game up quite a bit in the next few hours, then it has some unfortunate problems that really hold it back from its potential.

I could go into an awful lot of detail, but I'm still at work, so it's best saved for another time (and when I'm totally finished with it, for posterity's sake).

4528d ago
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200°

Xbox Mass layoffs Are Expected To Hit On July 2, 2025

The previously rumored mass layoffs at Xbox are expected to happen on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, according to a new rumor.

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twistedvoxel.com
14h ago
lukasmain10h ago(Edited 9h ago)

They will have fired close to 20,000 people all up after this round of lay-offs coming, since the ABK deal announcement in January 2022. Shocking really

January 2023:
Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees, which was a significant workforce reduction.

January 2024:
Approximately 1,900 gaming employees were laid off following the Activision Blizzard acquisition.

May 2025:
Microsoft announced a further 6,000 layoffs as part of an organizational shift.

June 2025:
Additional layoffs, including 650 in the gaming business, focused on corporate and support functions

8h agoReplies(2)
Obscure_Observer8h ago

"They will have fired close to 20,000 people all up after this round of lay-offs coming, since the ABK deal announcement in January 2022. Shocking really"

It's not that shocking considering these numbers aren't just Xbox numbers as you're deliberately trying to make it seem for some reason.

Interestingly, another no shocking fact is that whenever Microsoft releases its quarterly earnings reports, you're quick to point out that those numbers aren't exclusive to Xbox. Yeah... go figure.

Ganif6h ago

They also fired around 2500 people across Microsoft's gaming divisions and Zenimax shortly after buying it, and before they closed down 4 studios including Arkane and Tango.

I remember Satya boasting about how compassionate he was for splitting the list 50/50 across the two companies.

6h ago
Obscure_Observer4h ago

"They also fired around 2500 people across Microsoft's gaming divisions and Zenimax shortly after buying it"

Bring your sources. I´ll wait.

1dmj2h ago

He doesn’t have any sources lol

He also forgot that Sony does layoffs too

Hereandthere7h ago

Let's hope its not as bad as socials are making it, good luck to those that unfortunately lose their jobs.

7h ago
Lightning776h ago

Could be not as bad could be horrible. But it's Ms so I'm expecting the absolute worst.

-Foxtrot6h ago

Sometimes I feel like they brought in Sarah to take the heat away from Phil.

Phil has always stuck his nose into everything Xbox related when it's something positive or at least neutral but as soon as they went the multiplatform root he's stood back and let Sarah do most of the talking in terms of PR. Now they are doing the same with layoffs.

The person who should be let go is Phil himself.

RhinoGamer883h ago

Phil and his inner circle of circle jerk bros like AG.

Obscure_Observer3h ago

"Phil has always stuck his nose into everything Xbox related when it's something positive or at least neutral but as soon as they went the multiplatform root he's stood back and let Sarah do most of the talking in terms of PR. Now they are doing the same with layoffs."

You have no idea what you´re talking about.

*IF* Microsoft decides to address the upcoming layoffs, Matt Booty will be the one in the spotlight since he is the president of XGS.

Phil will probably be on some bs drama later doing interviews telling people how "devastated" and "sorry" he is for those affected while wiping away his tears with money.

Sarah is the President of Xbox (hardware) so she will be better off taking care of hers business and let both Matt and Phil face the backlash.

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240°

‘I think Xbox hardware is dead’, says Microsoft gaming veteran

One of the founding members of the Xbox team has questioned Microsoft’s multiplatform gaming strategy, and said they believe the Xbox hardware business is effectively “dead"

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videogameschronicle.com
2d ago Replies(3)
Goodguy012d ago

Think that rumor that they'll still make a new console but at a profit at $1000 will be true though. The series consoles will remain their cheap alternative throughout next gen I would say. Keep in mind that game pass and pretty much going 3rd party is their main focus. They want to bring xbox everywhere.

2d ago
GamerRN1d 10h ago

If they don't maintain some kind of console presence, I think they will lose gamepass subscribers and just become a 3rd party publisher who eventually sells everything off

Cacabunga1d 9h ago

Xbox games are releasing on all platforms. Who needs this hardware? PS or PC is all you need

Flewid6381d 8h ago

I've never owned an Xbox in my life and I have GamePass.

thorstein1d 7h ago

The only Xbox I owned was the 360. I have gamepass for my PC.

GamerRN1d 2h ago

Majority of Gamepass users are currently on console...

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crazyCoconuts1d 8h ago

Even if they could get it down to $800 for a box that can run with comparable performance to a PS6 (at, say $200 cheaper) the population of people willing to buy such a thing would be so limited.
It would be the worst of both worlds.

2d ago
Futureshark1d 19h ago

A slow, painful and public death too.

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190°

While Layoffs Hit the Industry, Nintendo Retains 98% of Staff Including 78 With Disabilities

TNS: Based on its most recent ESG data, Nintendo boasts a remarkably low staff turnover rate of just 1.9%, with virtually no reported layoffs.

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thenerdstash.com
Jin_Sakai3d ago

Because Nintendo makes great games.

Yesyes2d ago

It’s unreal that people are downvoting this when they consistently have the best scoring games on metacritic.

3d ago
rlow13d ago

Well it doesn’t surprise me. As much money as they make and how they value their employees. It’s a great company in that regard.

3d ago Replies(1)
drivxr2d ago

Well, when your games remain full price many years after release.

And you make profit off of outdated hardware.

I would be shocked if they couldn't afford to retain their staff.

lodossrage2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I didn't want to say anything but drivxr is right.

Nintendo always sells at a profit because they purposely use tech that's always 5 or more years behind. And it's also true their games hardly ever get price decreases.

Don't get me wrong, it's great they kept most of their workforce, but making a point to have your tech specs behind everyone else affords that luxury.

Darkegg2d ago

I don’t think it’s their purpose to use old tech. It’s their purpose to make value of software and know their value. Nobody makes games like them that’s for sure. I just don’t appreciate their customer unfriendly policy.

It’s not impossible to take their status. Companies need to have a selection of 8-bit and 16-bit. Now imagine a split screen for 8 player game for SNES Mario kart and selling at $9.99. The problem is that it doesn’t make profit. So many companies won’t invest in “old” technology. Everyone guns for triple AAA modern technology software but honestly we can enjoy modernized 16-bit creative ideas that allows 8-player mayhem. It’s a pipe dream, possible but impossible.

Shane Kim2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

If they ended up kicking people out after all of that stated above, it would be truly shameful.

DivineHand1252d ago

Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Tesla and Meta are all trillion dollar companies yet they are laying people off in large numbers.

I believe the reason Nintendo layoffs off less workers may be a result of their culture. It seems Japanese companies believe in giving their workers long term or life long employment opportunities and will exhaust all options before laying off workers. This is something we don't see much of in the west unfortunately.

Rdeal2d ago

might be something to do with the fact all those companies hire more than 20x the employees than Nintendo

LoveSpuds2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

What the hell are you talking about? It has nothing to do with how profitable they are. Its completely cultural, MS and Sony make stacks of cash and still lay folks off. Nintendo chose not to lay off staff for the same reason their execs took pay cuts to increase staff pay instead; because they value their staff and view them as colleagues, and respect them as such.

If Sony weren't so US centric I fancy they'd fare better too, they should get shot of US and European leadership and go back to when Japanese execs were running the show if you ask me!

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