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FFXIV Stormblood

Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood Raises the Bar

Final Fantasy XIV Stormblood

Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood Raises the Bar

Guest Post by Michael Lan at Anime Zeal

When you think of MMORPGs, it’s no surprise for the big three to come to mind: World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, and Final Fantasy XIV. Up until recently, I would say these three have been pretty evenly matched with the exception of Guild Wars 2 not seeing as much popularity as the other two. But with the release of Stormblood, I would say Final Fantasy XIV has taken the lead!

If you haven’t seen the official launch trailer yet, check it out here! read more

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Final Fantasy XV Review

It’s been awhile since we’ve done a review around here with the holidays and all. It’s time to fix that. Having just finished FFXV over the weekend, that seems the best candidate for a review this week. I’ve been a fan of Final Fantasy for a long time, ever since “Mystic Quest” on the SNES. Final Fantasy 6 (3 in America) is still my favorite in the series. I’ve played every Final Fantasy Game since the 16 bit era. And I’m “strange” I know, but I don’t really like FF7, not as much as everyone else seems to be in love with that game. But Final Fantasy in general always holds a special place in my heart. If I had to rank my favorite FF games that I’ve played from best to worst, it would look something like this when using the corresponding Japanese numbers for each title… With the newest game, Final Fantasy XV somewhere solidly in the middle. Although I’ve played 11 and 14, I didn’t include them in the list since they are a different genre (mmorpg) read more

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Top 10 Anime Casino Games

Manga Girls Anime Slots
Manga Girls Anime Slots

Top 10 Anime Casino Games

Many people enjoy the excitement of “winning big” from the comfort of their own home. These games help recreate the feeling of being in a real money casino with exciting slot machine gameplay. You can play some other casino games at Imhighroller

  1. Manga Girls 25 Line Slots.

This game features dozens of cute anime girls across 5 reels and 25 lines. Other features include auto play, free spins, wild symbols, scatter symbols, and a bonus round.

  1. Nine Tailed Ninja.

This slot is unique because it features different seasons and different bonus rounds which correspond to the seasons. You find yourself fighting large demons and monsters in the summer bonus round, while in the winter you must correctly choose between a ninja and a shadow clone. The slot features progressive payouts, free spins, auto play, wild and scatter symbols, and the aforementioned bonus rounds. read more

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Xenogears – Retro JRPG Game Review

Xenogears is easily in my top 10 favorite games of all time. I also enjoy Xenosaga and Xenoblade as well which are spinoffs of this series (and involved most of the same staff). Xenogears was revolutionary for its time because of the extremely dark storyline and incredibly strong religious overtones which were considered to be almost “too mature” for a video game, especially in North America.

It had both scifi and fantasy elements; by that I mean, it really went into depth in some areas explaining the scientific theories and concepts behind certain things – but then other things have a more “magical” feeling that require suspension of belief. It also blended high tech (mecha, A.I., and space travel) with primitive “fantasy” style settings and characters. read more

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Seiken Densetsu 3 | Secret of Mana 3 | Secret of Mana 2 | Retro Videogame Review for Super Nintendo SNES Part 3 of 4

Check Out Parts One and Two of our 4 Part Secret of Mana Series

Part One: Secret of Mana Review
Part Two: Secret of Evermore Review

Welcome to Part Three of our Secret of Mana Reviews. Today’s topic is Secret of Mana 3, a game which we never got to experience in North America, but which was thankfully translated by some dedicated fans. You’re probably wondering how you can play this awesome game so here’s a link to the Seiken Densetsu 3 fan translation.

I really recommend that you purchase a physical copy of the game. You sometimes can find it on sites like Amazon. At time of this writing, it is about $160 but it is so worth it. Buy Secret of Mana 3 on Amazon.com read more

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Secret of Evermore Retro Videogame Review for Super Nintendo SNES Part 2 of 4

Check out Part 1 Secret of Mana Retro Videogame Review for Super Nintendo SNES Here

Hi, and welcome to part 2 of a 4 part series covering Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore, Secret of Mana III, and Legend of Mana. In today’s review we will take a look at Secret of Evermore which is what North America got as a sequel to Secret of Mana, instead of Secret of Mana III.

NOTE: While maybe not technically correct to refer to it as a sequel, because they had completely different development teams, and stand-alone stories and worlds, the gameplay, as well as the name, are so similar that most squaresoft fans (myself included) hold the opinion that this is (more or less) part of the mana series. Squaresoft however has pointed out numerous times that this is not part of the “mana” franchise. read more

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Secret of Mana Retro Videogame Review for Super Nintendo SNES Part 1 of 4

Secret of Mana Retro Videogame Review for Super Nintendo SNES Part 1 of 4

Secret of Mana is a series of real-time adventure RPGs from the 1990s. The “first” installment, which we’re reviewing today, is Secret of Mana for the SNES. This game was actually the 2nd in the Secret of Mana series, but was the first one to make it overseas. There’s also Secret of Mana 3 (Sometimes mistakenly referred to as Secret of Mana 2) which we also never got in the USA (but which has been fan translated), Secret of Evermore – which is a completely different, but equally fun game, which is what we got in America instead of Secret of Mana 3, and Legend of Mana on the PS1. read more

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Chrono Trigger Squaresoft Retro Super Nintendo SNES RPG Videogame Review

I’m sure the majority of my readers have played this one, but it’s a great game and deserves to be included on our site. I still remember when Chrono Trigger first came out, I was still a child then, and my mother had gone with me to the game store where I was browsing through the games. Nowadays, you can find places that sell used games on every corner, but it was just the one store in my area Since I seemed to be taking awhile, the clerk offered help and my mom told him that I needed a game that would be challenging and last me a long time because I used to beat my games very quickly. The clerk recommended Chrono Trigger because of the high replay value with 13 multiple endings and some challenging boss fights, and the rest is history 🙂 It quickly became one of my favorite and most memorable RPG experiences from my childhood, and still remains a fun game even to this day. read more

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SaGa Scarlet Grace – Coming to PS Vita / PS TV in 2016

I recently read a review for another game, The Legend of Legacy, over on Techno Buffalo, where they continuously compare the game to SaGa Frontier, because some of the same developers went on to work on the Legend of Legacy. Which looks like a great game for the 3DS by the way (after reading their very in depth review, I really want to play the game now too!).

I also have very fond memories of SaGa Frontier and its sequels. But what I was really reminded of was the fact that at this previous Tokyo Game Show (2015), we were treated with a trailer for a new SaGa game, SaGa Scarlet Grace. And it is very likely, we will get this game in the U.S. As well as our friends in Europe, as Gematsu reported that Squaresoft trademarked the name Saga Scarlet Grace for both markets. read more

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Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Tokyo Gameshow 2015

Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter Tokyo Gameshow 2015

PS4 and Kingdom Heart fans are in for a real treat. Kingdom Hearts 2.8 Final Chapter was just announced at the Tokyo Gameshow. Check out the trailer below:

https://youtu.be/1hgsU_WleWI

This game is meant to serve as a prologue of events leading directly to the long awaited and anticipated Kingdom Hearts III.

According to IGN.com “Kingdom Hearts II.8 will contain a HD remaster of Dream Drop Distance, along with scenes from Unchained X called Back Cover, set to tell the tale of the Foretellers and revealing new parts of the series’ history. The final part of the collection is Birth by Sleep 0.2 – A Fragmentary Passage -, which is a completely new part of the story taking place after the events of the original Birth by Sleep, told from the perspective of Aqua” read more

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Life is Strange Review

Life is Strange Review

Title: Life is Strange

Genre: Point and Click Adventure Game (With some Visual Novel Elements)

Publisher: DontNod Entertainment & Squaresoft/Square-Enix

Release Date: Life is Strange is an Episodic Game, where your decisions made in each episode carry over to the next, the first episode was released in January of 2015. There are a total of 5 episodes, and we are still waiting (at time of this review) for episode 5 to be released.

Geeky Factor: 

Sweetie Factor: 

Overall: 65/90 72% C- “Good Game for Girls” read more

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Final Fantasy 7 Remake Revealed at E32015

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Revealed at E32015



Final Fantasy 7 Remake Revealed at E32015. Check out the trailer below and prepare to fangirl over this news. SquareEnix first teased the audience with an overly cute and juvenile new Final Fantasy game on Playstation Vita, titled Final Fantasy Worlds. The rumors were crazy all week long that SquareEnix would announce a full Final Fantasy 7 Remake at this year’s E3 – This is NOT the PC to PS4 port that was announced last year. Oh no, this is a brand new game, built from the ground up to reimagine the cult classic RPG of our generation, for a brand new generation of gamers. Details are scarce. No release date, no idea if it will stick to it’s roots and be a traditional JRPG with turn-based combat, or if it will branch out into newer gameplay methods to attract a wider audience (while perhaps turning away long-time fans). read more

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