Square Enix Game Reviews
Review Octopath Traveler 0 (Switch 2) - A Bit Of A Retread, But Unmissable (And Enormous)
Zero to hero
In 2020, Square Enix released an interesting 'stopgap' in the Octopath Traveler series called Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent. This free-to-play mobile game took the gacha approach to design, regularly launching new units and storylines to interact with as the years rolled by. The company wrapped up that initial version in...
Review Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake (Switch 2) - Rounds Out The Erdrick Trilogy In Style
Erdrick of the tale
After its initial announcement of the Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, Square Enix took a few years before it shared any further significant information on the project, which led some at the time to wonder if it had been cancelled or was facing development issues behind the scenes. When the company finally broke the silence and...
A dark night for Onion Knight fans?
Final Fantasy Tactics is probably, all things considered, my favourite Final Fantasy. As someone who isn't really a huge video game lore person at the best of times, as in I forget most of it because my brain needs the storage space for memories of food, in my eyes it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the...
Review Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster (Switch 2) - A Solid Refresh For A 3DS RPG Gem
Have we been here before?
In 2013 (!), Square Enix released a game in Japan for the 3DS called Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, which (after a modest update) eventually received a Western release as just Bravely Default. At the time, the company had been focusing development resources much more heavily on games it believed would appeal more strongly...
Review SaGa Frontier 2 Remastered (Switch) - A Solid Port Of A Great JRPG
It's about family
Families, huh? They can cause us all manner of headaches. Sometimes they invade your personal space or take your favourite shirt without asking, and sometimes they get banished as a child and return home to try to take their rightful place on the throne. Between all of the turn-based combat and extended cutscenes, SaGa Frontier 2...
Dimengeon divers
Hironobu Sakaguchi needs no introduction. The “father of Final Fantasy” is an industry titan, arguably untouchable in the video game pantheon. But, since 2004, Sakaguchi has been at the helm at Mistwalker, his development studio which has a knack for slightly twisting the traditional turn-based RPG affair. Over the years,...
Review Life Is Strange: Double Exposure (Switch) - Not Quite Picture Perfect On Switch
Double trouble
The Life is Strange series has been an interesting diversion from Square Enix’s typical MO of putting out endless takes on RPGs, instead offering heavily narrative-focused stories exploring the trials of various people who develop supernatural abilities. This series' strong storytelling has garnered a loyal fanbase, it’s also...
Review Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake (Switch) - Square Doesn't Drop The Ball, Just Some Frames
The wait is finally over
A few years ago, Square Enix announced it would be doing a remake of Dragon Quest III in its popular HD-2D engine, but this was then followed by a lengthy period of radio silence where its development status seemed uncertain. While they were at it, the developers decided to go ahead and remake the first and second Dragon...
Two steps forward, one step back
Square Enix has been putting out some AA mid-tier entries for some of its forgotten franchises lately, including Visions of Mana (not on Switch) and not one, but two SaGa games in 2024. The first one was SaGa Emerald Beyond in April and now Romancing SaGa 2: Revenge of the Seven. As a remake of the original 1993...
Review SaGa Emerald Beyond (Switch) - Diverse But Dull RPG Boosted By Excellent Combat
Junction system
The SaGa titles are part of a series that started life as Final Fantasy Legend, named to capitalise on Square’s blossoming juggernaut. Despite being separate creative endeavours, the two franchises have grown up together. While never achieving the superstar status of its sibling, SaGa has carved its own niche over the years. The...
Gotta scout 'em all
While Pokémon has long been the undisputed king of the monster-catching RPG niche, there have always been other releases that have offered up their own distinct take on that unique brand of recruitment gameplay. Megami Tensei, for example, pioneered the concept with ‘Demon Negotiation’ in 1987 and Dragon Quest took a crack...
Review Star Ocean: The Second Story R (Switch) - One Of The Very Best RPGs Of The Year
Come sail on a different sea of stars
The Star Ocean series has always occupied a weird spot in Square’s massive catalogue. This sci-fi-focused JRPG series started off relatively strong, but the last few entries have been middling at best and just plain not good at worst. Nonetheless, those earlier games were really something at the time, and...
The jump hasn't been smooth
The Dragon Quest series is no stranger to spin-off titles, but few are as confusing as Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai. This action RPG is based on an anime adaptation of a manga based on the world of Dragon Quest, but it is never clear who the game is designed to appeal to. The few things it does well...
Six not-so-final Final Fantasies
Few series are as beloved as Final Fantasy, and given how many re-releases, remakes, and remasters we’ve gotten over the years, Square Enix knows this. Often these remakes and re-releases have questionable quality and design choices that diehard fans lament. Enter the Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remaster, which...
More blessing than curse
If you’ve not heard of Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo, then don’t worry. Although this curious visual novel is receiving a worldwide release on the Switch eShop, its reveal was specifically earmarked for the Japanese Nintendo Direct back in February. So while we were undoubtedly smitten over Metroid Prime...
Review Octopath Traveler II - A Confident Follow-Up And One Of Switch's Finest RPGs
Eight roads diverged in a wood, and I... well, I took them all!
A year after the Switch released, Team Asano—who made its name on the Bravely Default games on 3DS—released Octopath Traveler for the Switch. The fascinating HD-2D art style immediately grabbed people’s attention, while the clever implementation of classic JRPG gameplay quickly...
Review Theatrhythm Final Bar Line (Switch) - A Magical Musical Romp Through Final Fantasy History
Feel the Theatrhyhm
If there’s one thing pretty much everyone can agree on, it’s that the Final Fantasy series has some incredible music. With a 35-year legacy and around 100 games bearing the Final Fantasy moniker, it’s not surprising that the music from the series is some of the most recognisable in video game history. Theatrhythm, then, is...
Mini Review PowerWash Simulator - Scrubs Up Well On Switch
Hashtag satisfying
In 1998, The Simpsons made a throwaway gag about Bart refusing to perform yard work at home for his mother, then demanding she let him join the queue for the yard work simulator at a local fairground. It’s funny because who would develop a virtual experience of a chore? Moreover, who would want to actually play it? So anyway,...
ACTIVATING COMBAT MODE
In the mid-2000s, Nintendo may have easily dominated the handheld gaming space with the DS and its incredible lineup, but never let it be said that the PSP didn’t have its fair share of absolute bangers. One of the most memorable PSP titles was Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, a prequel to one of the greatest games Square’s...
An ambitious title that just misses the mark
The world wasn’t ready for Romancing SaGa when it was first released back in 1992. It wasn’t until the PS2 remake in 2005 that the title would make its way to western shores, where it quickly gained a passionate following among fans of its non-linear storytelling, expressive characters, and...
Review Dragon Quest Treasures (Switch) - A Trove Of JRPG Goodness, Perfect For Beginners
Taking the JRPG formula back to basics
The Dragon Quest series is a staple in the JRPG community, continually churning out games of varying quality for more than 35 years. The latest entry in this seminal franchise is Dragon Quest Treasures, a spin-off from the mainline series, with many of the standard Dragon Quest tropes packaged into one of the...
Review Tactics Ogre: Reborn (Switch) - A Decent Remaster Of A 16-Bit Strategy Classic
Onions have layers, ogres have layers
Within the Final Fantasy brand, one of the most famous sub-series is the Ivalice Alliance. Set within the fictional land of Ivalice, the handful of projects that comprised these games were marked by their focus on a more grounded setting that explored the dramatic politics of a magical medieval world. However,...
Review Harvestella (Switch) - A Promising Genre Hybrid That Needs Some Watering
Sowing seeds
These days, it feels like games are very generally cast into either the ‘Indie’ or ‘AAA’ categories, regardless of genre. Square Enix has been a major publisher that’s notably been pushing back against this dichotomy by putting out several games that are smaller in scope than something like Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, but have...
Review NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition (Switch) - A Modern Classic Shines On Switch
NieR-ly perfect
NieR:Automata is perhaps a story of the power of word of mouth. A sequel in an IP with a devoted but modest following by Square Enix standards, it became a notable sales success over time as initial fans convinced neutrals that something special had arrived. Director Yoko Taro was also clever in his approach to storytelling - playing...
Review Various Daylife (Switch) - A Simple Yet Repetitive JRPG Best For Bite-Sized Sessions
Another day in the life
At this point, it seems almost certain that Square Enix is using an AI to randomly generate new titles in its “Underlined Serif Title” RPG series. Triangle Strategy already felt like it was pushing the limits, but we’ve now been graced with the delightful Various Daylife. After an initial exclusive launch on the Apple...
Review The DioField Chronicle (Switch) - A Solid Tactical RPG That Falls Short Of Its Ambitions
It was I, DioField!
Published by Square Enix and developed with assistance from Lancarse, The DioField Chronicle looks and feels like most tactical RPGs out on the Switch in many ways, but with everything just slightly tweaked. The characters are all undeniably stylised, but never quite as much as Fire Emblem: Three Houses. The politics are front...
I choose you!
Fun fact: at this time last year, we had only just learned of the existence of Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars. Not only has that game and its sequel—Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden—come out since then, but we’ve now received yet another sequel in Voice of Cards: The Beasts of Burden. As you’d probably expect, this...
Review Live A Live (Switch) - A Brilliantly Faithful Remake Of A Unique And Influential JRPG
Living our best lives
Early on in Square Enix’s remake of Live A Live, it’s plain to see the influences the game had on Chrono Trigger. From spanning multiple timelines to the inventive area of effect skills, and right down to the simple, sometimes deep story, director Takashi Tokita clearly used 1994’s Live A Live as a springboard for his...
Review The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story (Switch) - A Campy Murder-Mystery From Square Enix
Almost to die for
If you had told us in January that an FMV murder-mystery title would become one of our most memorable experiences on the Switch this year, we’d have looked at you as if you were one of The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story’s prime murder suspects. Directed by Koichiro Ito (scenario designer for Metal Gear Solid V) and produced...
A not-so-radical remaster
Whenever a developer resurrects a decades-old game, the same question arises along with it: does the remaster maintain the integrity of the original while changing enough to warrant a purchase for both newcomers and longtime fans alike? For Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition, that’s tough to answer. A sequel to...
