April2014
Review Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars (3DS)
Birth of the cool
Brought into the world by Spike Chunsoft — of both Danganronpa and StreetPass Battle/Warrior's Way fame — Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars is a delightfully different affair. The generational suffix refers to its pedigree — a single, Japan-only PSP predecessor — but all you need to know about this standalone...
September2013
Review Etrian Odyssey Untold: The Millennium Girl (3DS)
Don't call it a comeback
When Etrian Odyssey arrived on the DS in 2007, it was something of a revelation. A dungeon-crawler that traded in dusty catacombs for organic, open-air environments and prized cartography and character customization over narrative, it combined the best of pen-and-paper RPGs with Nintendo's new touch-screen hardware to create...
July2013
Review Shin Megami Tensei IV (3DS)
Good Goddess
Atlus has given 3DS-owning RPG fans plenty to be excited about recently, with Etrian Odyssey IV and Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers both released this year alone. Now the latest entry in the mainline Shin Megami Tensei series has arrived to complete the dungeon-crawling hat-trick, bringing its unique brand of demon...
April2013
Review Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers (3DS)
Soul Shakedown Party
As an enhanced port of a 1997 first-person dungeon crawling RPG for the ill-fated Sega Saturn, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers seems like an unlikely release — especially considering the original game never left Japan. Both time and the journey across the Pacific have been kind to this 3DS wünder-port,...
February2013
Review Etrian Odyssey IV: Legends of the Titan (3DS)
Wanderlust
The term "adventure" encompasses many things, but Atlus' Etrian Odyssey series comes about as close as it gets to a pure, digital embodiment of the concept. Blending classic first-person dungeon exploration with a cartographic twist, these games task players with charting out their own maps on the touch screen as they go. The series'...
October2012
A code worth cracking
For a while now, hack-and-slash has been significantly undermined as a legitimate genre in video gaming, but Code of Princess doesn't care about any of that. Code of Princess spits in the face of modern 3D gaming and says “I can do things better,” and then goes out and does it. Being touted as a spiritual successor to Sega...
October2011
Fun to the third power?
Mahjong solitaire has appeared on just about every console since the dawn of video games, though their developers generally remain content with sticking to the basic formula. Mahjong CUB3D takes a different path in exactly the way the title suggests – by wrapping the puzzle around a 3D framework. But does the new take on...
Review Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked (3DS)
Cool as hell
Nintendo 3DS owners don't have many choices when it comes to picking out a new RPG nowadays. Aside from DS games, the only title currently out in the genre is Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked, which is itself a port of a 2009 DS game. Atlus's decision to bring the title over to the 3DS may seem a bit confusing at first,...
September2010
Review Snowboard Kids (Nintendo 64)
You won't get board of this one
Although Atlus is undoubtedly best known for its expertise in the field of RPGs, the Shinjuku-based company does occasionally try its hand at other genres. One such example is Snowboard Kids, released on the Nintendo 64 back in 1998 in cooperation with Japanese development studio Racdym. Best summed up as Mario Kart...
December2009
Bewitching.
The DS has seen some fantastic RPGs released this year, with Valkyrie Profile, Nostalgia and of course Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story, and Luminous Arc II keeps the standard high with a quality Japanese RPG package that is sure to please anyone looking for a tactical fix. The game’s story takes place in the kingdom of...
July2009
Review Jack Bros. (Virtual Boy)
Justifiably well regarded or just overhyped?
Aside from VB Wario Land, if there’s one game that causes people to get excited when discussing the Virtual Boy its Jack Bros.: a spin-off title from the Megami Tensei RPG series that sees players working their way down a series of floors, fighting enemies as a timer ticks down. But is it worthy of...
June2009
Review Knights in the Nightmare (DS)
Strategy-RPG goes bullet-hell in this unique and thoroughly demanding game
Let me put a word to you, folks: hardcore. That's right, hardcore. It's a word used to describe something overwhelmingly tough or resilient, something that crosses a perceived threshold of difficulty and endurance and reaches a level that few others can hope to match. Within...
April2009
Can the Dokapon Kingdom host a party for all ages?
In general, the Wii isn’t well-known for epic role-playing titles, nor is it famous for hardcore games. Though gamers are having fun playing Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, there hasn't been very much to quench gamer's thirst for RPG's. While Japanese Wii owners are getting a several...
September2007
Altus bring us yet another slice of Japanese RPG gaming - but can Luminous Arc present a solid challenge to the best the genre has to offer?
While it’s certainly true that we’re all hardcore Ninty fans here at Nintendo Life, it would be silly to suggest we don’t dabble with rival systems from time to time. One manufacturer that is almost...
January2007
Review Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii)
Doctor, vitals are dropping. Its time to dissect Atlus' new medical drama, lets start the operation..
Only in Japan. Trauma Center: Second Opinion is something you wouldn't expect, over the past 20 years the majority of video games have been about killing things, Trauma Center is one of the many few that is all about saving things, saving peoples...
December2006
Review Dungeon Explorer (TG-16)
Dungeon Explorer is a multiplayer action/role-playing game where up to five players can play at the same time.
When the PC Engine was first released, NEC and Hudson knew that they would have a hard time tempting third party companies to produce games for the machine - Nintendo's NES was still the number one machine and Nintendo themselves had made...
August2006
Review Trauma Centre: Under The Knife (DS)
Get prepped for surgery, stat!
Trauma Centre is one of those games that I never imagined would become a game. You play as a new, rookie surgeon. That's right, a doctor! Using the touch screen, you perform a variety of surgeries on all sorts of patients. From burning away tumors, to massaging someone's heart to resuscitate them. The game's...
