QCF: WrestleQuest

sn't it weird how, like Video Games, Pro-Wrestling has had its ups and downs within the Pop Culture Zeitgeist? It's just one of those deals where varying degrees of social stigmas through different generations had just held it back from reaching actual relevance within the mainstream consciousness like it's arguably achieved in today's entertainment climate, and that's because it's so much more than just a "sport" to enjoy. Imagine, for example, a Quarterback running a standard play in a Football game, and the moment they shouted "Hike," they suddenly ran backward toward their own endzone, spiked the ball down to the turf, and then viciously ripped their jersey off only to reveal the other team's jersey underneath it—this is the kind of energy you can expect out of Professional Wrestling. There's no other athletic competition out there like it.

It's a spectacle that's translated very well into the Video Game format, so much so that Wrestling Games are their own little subgenre to play from. Still, it's nearly always a case where developers adapt the rules and conventions of Pro Wrestling into a video game instead of it being the other way around.

Developer Mega Cat Studios pondered that challenge with a JRPG-inspired Turn-based Adventure named WrestleQuest, a colorful fantasy take on the world of Toys and their dreams to make it big in the squared circle. At the core of the concept, any premise can be made into a 16 Bit styled RPG if you have the right systems in place, but WrestleQuest doesn't settle for that and instead delivers one of the finest examples of Ludonarrative Consistency that I have ever experienced. I'm not kidding when I say it's easily one of the best Pro Wrestling games ever released in generations. 

Click to read more ...

QCF: Yakuza: Like A Dragon

espite all of the social and technological advancements we’ve made over the last century, there’s an old saying that still gets thrown in the face of anything progressive to this very day—the tired phrase of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” 

There are merits to the sentiment though—it isn’t often that an open-world action-adventure dynamic like that of the Yakuza series is able to work as well as it has for the last fifteen years, as each entry only worked to improve upon the foundation of the 2006 PS2 original. Fortunately, that isn’t the case here, far from it; Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio's Yakuza Like A Dragon is a revival, unlike anything we’ve seen from a legacy franchise before it, taking the series to a new generation of players while successfully carrying it to new heights for longtime fans all the same.

Click to read more ...

PPR 112

ost kids just care about getting a Victory Royale in Fortnite these days, and then there other kids who don’t even remember anything about their past, and are prophesized to save the world alongside a talking dog, a hitchhiker, and some retired ninja or something—ain’t that a kick in the seat?

Japanese Role-Playing games have always had their ups and downs within the last 25 years of gaming, but they have nonetheless remained a staple genre on the forefront of the western games market, especially now with heavy hitting games like Y’s VIII and Octopath Traveler actually making it over to a major Nintendo platform. Join George, Andrew, and Ser as they go over the their thoughts on the budding mainstream renaissance of JRPGs, along with discussing Gradius II, Panzer Dragoon Saga, podcasting as a life skill, Destiny II, eating edibles at the age of 32, Jackie Chan’s Action Kung Fu, Super Mario Odyssey, Tekken 7, EVO news, and much, much more!

Mail us at our new email Mailbag@presspauseradio.com, leave a voicemail at 469-PPR-TALK, and be sure to stop by at our Forums if you haven’t already registered and post your thoughts about the show. Finally, make sure to rate and subscribe to us on iTunes and YouTube, follow us on Twitch page and Twitter, and finally take part in our Facebook and Steam group!

Click to read more ...

Mudprints Unboxes: Octopath Traveler Wayfarer's Edition

Ser gets his JRPG fix with the exquisite Octopath Traveler Wayfarer's Edition from Square-Enix! It's the game he bought a Switch for... so what's inside?

Click to read more ...

QCF: Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom

nterest in JRPG games is still steadily climbing, and it despite some of the more lukewarm titles recently released that have tried to take advantage of the genre’s resurgence, the demand for the style has not slowed down. Seizing this opportunity, a studio named Enigami took to KickStarter to fund their idea Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom; a game that empathized the traditional nuances of classic 16-bit JRPG with a presentation that boasted the production value of a modern anime.

Receiving additional support from the CNC after their Kickstarter campaign was successful, the game has quietly released on storefronts, with little to no marketing, and to that effect, little to no fanfare either…

Which is a shame because while the title may scream “DeviANT Art: The game” at first glance, the unique combat system, and world-building offered in Shiness: The Lightning Kingdom is something that’s surprisingly memorable, and definitely worth a look for anyone who’s looking for a new JRPG to dump some time into.

Click to read more ...

QCF: Valkyeria Revolution

ven after nearly 10 years since its initial release on the PlayStation 3, the impact of SEGA’s Valkyeria Chronicles still resonates throughout the tactical RPG scene to this very day, continuing to be sold on Steam after the windows version hit the store recently.

Since then though, the property’s transition into a full-fledged series has only propelled it further into niche territory, with two direct sequels releasing exclusively to Sony’s struggling handheld at the time, the PSP, and the other not even making it out of Japan. Hell, there was even some bunk-ass mobile game that didn’t last for more than two years before it was kicked off the market, and servers shut down—Valkyeria’s true claim to fame still bellied onto the original in the states.

Shooting for the chance that lightning will strike twice, as SEGA brings on Media.Vision, the same developers responsible for the Wild Arms and Chaos Rings series to create Valkyeria Revolution; a spin-off sequel to the franchise that’s available on both console, and portable.

While the premise in this venture certainly is interesting, Valkyeria Revolution seems to have left behind most of the qualities that made the Valkyeria experience so charming and likable in the first place.

Click to read more ...

QCF: I Am Setsuna

he status quo of the modern-day JRPG is getting more, and more polarizing by the year—and a lot of that has to do with the two very distinct audiences that the genre has gradually come to cater to. The term “JRPG” generally triggers thoughts of nostalgia for the genre’s heyday on the original PlayStation and SNES in the nineties, but lately, the definition has expanded into different territories that are now more synonymous with the style, with conventions like relationship building, and permanent character deaths.

There aren’t many earnest options around for the old camp of fans these days, and that’s what makes the original JRPG giant’s attempt to recapture that magic with I Am Setsuna so intriguing, and maybe even a little admirable in some aspects.

The new game from Square Enix is one that spares little time in chasing a legacy that most considered long forgotten, and while some of its methods used to deliver that experience are a bit rough, it still manages to be a memorable love letter that charmingly romanticizes the charms that defined what the genre used to be.

Click to read more ...

QCF: Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 2

ot long ago, NIS America released Hyperdimenson Neptunia Re:Birth 1, a full-on remake of the original Hyperdimension Neptunia which saw release on the PlayStation 3 in 2010. The first Re:Birth overhauled and vastly improved the RPG mechanics from the original 2010 release making the 2014 Vita release the best version of the first narrative by far. Continuing this trend, NIS America released Hyperdimension Neptunia Re:Birth 2 on January 27 2015, and the changes are even more dramatic.

Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk.2 was released to the PlayStation 3 in 2011; taking place directly after the events of the original game, the gameplay mechanics in Mk.2 were revamped greaty from the first release and forms the template by which Re;Birth 1 actually follws. Re;Birth 2 returns to this gameplay style—as such, Re;Birth 2 feels very much like a carbon copy of the original PS Vita release with a minor cast shakeup and very few actual additions—let's take a closer look.

Click to read more ...