Final Fantasy XIII for PS3 hits 1 million sales on the first day of release in Japan, increasing the total worldwide franchise sales to 92 million units. The game comes to North America and Europe on March 9th for both PS3 and Xbox 360.

For sad North American Gamers (PS3 gamers only)

FFVIII full game is now available on the PSN Store for $10, joining FFVII in the PSOne Classics section.

Sorry 360 gamers. Not much news for you here.

Girls are complicated. I should know. Being the pimp that I am, managing relationship with multiple girls is a pain. Sometimes it can get you in trouble.

Na, I’m kidding. Readers, you may not believe it, but I’m actually really shy when it comes to women. I am also a hopeless romantic, who watches too many RomComs (that’s romantic comedies to you less civilized men). Why watch romantic comedies? It appeals to an inner sense and desire of many to have a perfect relationship.

Maybe video games are the same way. Immersion and experience of a relationship that’s an escapism from the truth about them. I give to you now my top 5 romantic relationships in video games. How did I determine my top 5 relationships? I used the following two criteria: “How warm and fuzzy did it make me feel?” and “How close did it get to making me cry?” For reference, please refer to the following scales:

How Warm and Fuzzy Did it Make Me Feel?

1 - Aw, that's cute.

2: Man, why can't love always be like this?

3: Awwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!!

How Close Did It Get to Making Me Cry?

1: Man, that sucks.

2: That's. So. Sad!

3: I'M NOT CRYING.

Keep in mind that a good part of my gaming library are RPGs, so this list will also be heavily influenced by the genre. Danger! Spoilers ahoy! Skip over games that you intend to play, but haven’t yet.

5) Welkin and Alicia – Valkyria Chronicles

Nothing Can Stop Us. Our Love Will Demolish That Tank.

Yu’s Warm/Fuzzy Factor: 2

Yu’s Cry Factor: 1

In my opinion, Valkyria Chronicles is one of the most underplayed and underappreciated games of the past couple of years. If you own a PlayStation 3, you owe it to yourself to pick up this game. It has beautiful, gorgeous art direction and a creative blend of a Strategy RPG, Traditional JPRG and a First-Person Shooter.

Welkin and Alicia were made for each other. In the story, they meet under tough circumstances, as their country of Gallia is caught in a struggle between the two military powerhouses, the Imperial Alliance and the Atlantic Federation (based on, and loosely connected to World War II). They are drafted into the military and what transpires is your typical let’s-bond-and-fall-for-each-other. Then the shit gets crazy.

The reason I picked this couple is because of it demonstrates the “power of love.” Alicia is faced with a terrible burden in the game, as she learns that she is a Valkyria, part of a long forgotten race with tremendous and terrible powers. Reaching the climax of the game, she runs off to try to sacrifice herself and save those important to her and the one she loves. Welkin refuses to let that happen and uses the POWA OF LOVE to save her. He then proposes to her, with a ring made of her favorite flower. Stupid, cheesy and unrealistic, but hey, that’s what romances are supposed to be in these kind of stories right?

So what does this relationship say? Love conquers all. That’s a great “aw” message. The epilogue shows the two happily married and with a kid. It’s cute!

4) Garnet and Zidane – Final Fantasy IX

Don't ever leave me again!

Yu’s Warm/Fuzzy Factor: 2

Yu’s Cry Factor: 1

Alright, so it’s another stereotypical story. Thief-kidnaps-Princess, Thief-charms-Princess, Theif-saves-Princess. It was a satisfying relationship to see unfold from resistance, to friendship, to love.

There are two “aw” scenes in the game. At the beginning of the game, Zidane harasses Garnet, constantly teasing her and hitting on her. In the middle, traumatic events leave Garnet mute, and Zidane’s attitude changes completely. A knightly sense of duty to protect Garnet develops, and he does everything in his power to make sure Garnet talks and smiles again.

The second “aw” scene is the ending, where Zidane dives headfirst into a suicidal mission to save his brother. He leaves the rest of the group, including Garnet, in a safe place. The place he runs off to blows up (I think?) and Zidnae is presumed dead.

Garnet is heartbroken. She returns to rule as Queen, but just isn’t the same. As Queen, she is presented with a play, “I Want To Be Your Canary.” This only saddens her more, as she was kidnapped by Zidane over the course of the play in the beginning of the game (I know, these stories are messed up). It is then that the protagonist of the play reveals himself to be Zidane! She runs from the balcony and into Zidanes embrace. It’s a sweet scene, but the story does make Garnet seem completely dependent on Zidane. Sounds an awful lot like Twilight, without the glittery vampires. Instead it has monkey people (Zidane has a monkey tail). Monkeys Own Vampires.

Don't fuck with a monkey. A monkey will shank you.

3) Drake and Elena – Uncharted Series

Alright, alright! I'll come shopping with you!

Yu’s Warm/Fuzzy Factor: 2.5

Yu’s Cry Factor: 1.5

Elena and Drake are the only couple from a Western game that is on the list. Maybe the Japanese are a more sensitive people. Hm.

It’s tough for me to tell you why I love the relationship between Drake and Elena. I think a lot of it comes down to the design decisions that Naughty Dog took with the Uncharted series. For those that haven’t played an Uncharted game, it’s basically like playing a super epic Indiana Jones movie. There is a heavy emphasis on character development and story telling. When creating cut scenes, the game designers decided to have the voice actors interact with each other and play out the scene, instead of just letting them talk to each other through headphones in separate sound-proof booths.

From a plot standpoint, what makes Drake and Elena so great? Once again, it goes back to the need for that perfect relationship. They have a chemistry together, made clear through the playful banter executed beautifully by actors Nolan North and Emily Rose. It also has that “bad guy/good girl” dynamic. I’m not sure why we love this in story telling, but it’s used all the time (See: Han Solo/Leia).

If it weren’t for the story telling and great chemistry between the two actors, Elena and Drake would have been another run of the mill couple. However, the folks at Naughty Dog have figured out how to take video game storytelling to a new level, and that shows in Elena and Drake.

The greatest aw moment for the two lovebirds? The ending of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves when Elena asks Drake: SPOILERS FOR REALZ! “So on a scale of 1 to 10, how scared where you that I was going to die?” It was cute, funny and showed that the two were made for each other.

2) Yuna and Tidus – Final Fantasy X

So uh, we're drenched in water and you're wearing a white top...

Yu’s Warm/Fuzzy Factor: 3

Yu’s Cry Factor: OVER 9000!!!!!

Fine, I’ll admit it. I cried like a baby to the ending of Final Fantasy X. The whole game they develop a very strong and very powerful love for each other, only to end up losing everything to the call of duty.

Yuna and Tidus are forced to give up their love to save the world. Tidus is forced to give up his existence in the world as well. He doesn’t just die. He dissipates into NOTHINGNESS. It’s a tough decision, but one that has been explored before in countless other stories. What made this one so powerful?

The way the ending was presented was poetic and really brought home the feeling of sacrifice. They don’t get to hold each other one last time. They are denied even that right. As Yuna approaches the podium to address the millions of people she saved, she remembers everything about the one she lost. In the end, she knows that even though Tidus is gone, his legacy has changed her life, as well as the lives of everyone on the planet of Spira.

Tight.

1) Fei and Elly – Xenogears

Sorry, this was the best I could find. Just pretend the tarot card crap isn't there.

Yu’s Warm/Fuzzy Factor: Over 9000!

Yu’s Cry Factor: 2

Based off the Warm/Fuzzy and Cry Factor criteria, you may be asking, “Why does the pairing of Fei and Elly take the top spot over Yuna and Tidus?” The answer is simple:

Because I’m a nostalgic fanboy.

It’s been a couple of years since I’ve played Xenogears, so if I mess up the story I apologize. The story is so crazy and balls to the wall insane, if you call me out on a mistake, I can only assume you have either the IQ of a Mensa Member or way too much time on your hands.

The reason Fei and Elly are awesome is this: their love has lasted across multiple lifetimes. They are constantly reincarnated throughout time and they fall in love every time they’re born. However, in every single time period, Elly ends up sacrificing herself to save Fei. In Xenogears they finally break that cycle and get to spend their days getting old and having children. They’ve waited over at least three lifetimes for that to happen!

Overall, Xenogears also has a much more mature storyline than most of the other games on this list. There’s sex, blood, murder and all other kinds of juicy goodness. A more mature storyline allows Fei and Elly to be more realistic and realized as their characters develop throughout the course of the game.

What can I say? I love happy endings.

Also, don’t ask me why Rinoa and Squall aren’t on this list. I didn’t want Final Fantasy to dominate the entire list! I also hate Squall cause he’s an emo kid for 75 percent of the game.

The best fanmade video I’ve seen of Final Fantasy.

Zack’s death still destroys my soul lol ;_;

HKS CT230R is just a few characters, and 53.589 are just a few numbers. But they are the most famous in the Time Attack scene.

The 2009 Rev Speed Tsukuba Super Lap Battle is coming soon and nearly every tuner in Japan is or wants to fight for the number one spot. What I love about this event is that it’s quite unpredictable, every year there are new and more impressive entries and it’s hard to tell who has the edge. HKS has been dominating lately but I feel like things are going to change.

This is by far my favorite event of the year and I’ve watched Video Option’s 2007 coverage dozen’s of times. If only there were a broadcast on TV.

In the mean time, enjoy what is (for me), the most epic moment in the Time Attack scene:

(skip to around 5:00 for THE lap)

Looks like Jordan is getting ready to drop another Air Jordan Force. Using one of the most notable features from the VIII, this Force features the same cross-over straps, ribbed collar, and 3D tongue logo. If you are wondering where the Air Force 1 element is, besides the general silhouette, it is in the translucent midsole. More pics here.

- Source: Hypebeast

I am not a big fan of the AJF line being that I would rather rock the originals, but with that said, I kind of like these! The Air Jordan VIII is not in top ten list to begin with, however I can rock these joints. The AJF combines the best of both worlds from the Air Force & Jordans. From the straps, to the Air Force style shoe box. Look for these joints nationwide sometimes in 2010.

More Pics after the break..

Potter in picture: Lori Buff of Future Relics Gallery. The pie plates in the picture can be purchase on the site.

“To prepare educators for service and leadership by developing their professional competence within a framework of Christian faith and values”

I: Positive student-focused learning environment

II: Challenging and responsive curriculum

III: Efective teaching practices

IV: Assessments to monitor and improve instruction

V: Integrate technology into instruction and assessment

VI: Information to involve students and families

VII: Evaluations and professional improvement

VIII: Professional and ethical behavior

Wow, I am officially ill again :/
Started off yesterday, headache and coughing, now I am extreme coughing, extreme headache and ultra sneezy and snotty…
I hate being ill, it isnt bad enough being ill almost all summer, but winter too… URGH!
Wish I had somebody special to take care of me…

Been taking some allergy pills and painkillers, hope they make me a bit better, wanna go training today really bad…

Bought some new cool clothes today from WESC/JL today.

There was a neighbourhood market and one guy was selling exclusive stuff, so i got a great deal on a set; jacket, hoodie and trousers, brand new for a great price
Winter clothes, check!

So what is there to do when really ill?
I made a little list!

1. Play video/computer games!
-Right now I am looking around online for some game to download.
CounterStrike looks sorta attractive, never played it before TBH, but I want some shooter where I can just practise my skills…even though Cpunterstrike is a very poor such a game I should think.
I love tactics like stealth when it comes to shooting games. Like Soldier Of Fortune 2, sneak attacks are so satisfying.

2. Write something
- Short stories, sketches, poems…anything really.
You dont know how satisfying a good write is once you actually just sit down and let your fanatsy go wild!
I love writing all sorts of things and I find inspiration and ideas usually come very easily.
Many things come to me in dreams, and I try to note them as soon as I get a chance, who knows maybe they´ll be worth something one day!

3. Make something creative
-Like some art, a movie or maybe some music!
For art, I really recommend buying a pen tablet, like a Bamboo Fun from Wacom, very cheap but very good! Great for making art in photoshop or sketches in for example ArtRage, which is included in every purchase.
Make a movie, like an AMV of some game or anime, or maybe record your own shit Its super fun!
If you wanna make some music, mix together something in for example Fruitloops studio, or remix an existing ong. Like me for example, Im experimenting with reversing music and I have found some really cool new hits

-Best FF8 video ever???
I think so

4. Lay in bed and watch a film.
-I like to lie down and watch Family Guy or American Dad when I have nothing better to do, it is very relaxing and very soothing to just fall asleep even.
Here is a website, where you can watch all Family Guy and American dad streaming for free!

5. Jerk off!

Posted by Audierl

The sole known image of the Mary Rose, depicted in the Anthony Roll

Reuters/Georgina Cooper—Curators of King Henry VIII’s flagship the Mary Rose, a Tudor time capsule likened to a British Pompeii, have revealed thousands of artefacts never before seen by the public, including a nit comb complete with nits from 1545 when the vessel sank.

The fabled warship went down in the Solent off England’s southern coast during an engagement with the French fleet, with the loss of more than 400 crew.

The sinking is thought to have been an accident, but exactly what happened has vexed historians for years.

The vessel was spectacularly raised from its watery grave in front of a global audience of some 60 million in 1982.

What remains of the hull has been on display behind glass ever since, but the thousands of personal items found in the wreckage have been hidden from public view due to lack of a suitable space to show them.

A Tudor manbag

The artifacts include a well preserved leather “manbag” complete with compact mirror and cut-throat razor — the height of Tudor fashion, a giant 4 foot long wooden spoon used to stir the crew’s porridge pot and 70 nit combs, some even holding dead nits.

The Mary Rose Trust displayed the items to reporters to launch a cash appeal for a 35 million pound ($55 million) hi-tech museum, scheduled to open in 2012, in which all the objects will be on show.

“Nowhere else in the world is a single moment in Tudor life captured as it is with the Mary Rose,” said Rear Admiral John Lippiett, Chief Executive of the Mary Rose Trust.

Also recovered was a violin and its bow — which the trust says is Europe’s oldest example — along with blood-letting bowls, canon balls and Tudor tankards.

Rat bones

“It gives us window into a period in time where we have very little organic survival but here we have wonderful very personal mundane objects that would have been thrown out,” curator Alexandra Hildred told the BBC.

“We’ve even got rat bones from the rats that didn’t leave the sinking ship,” she said.

The new museum will house all of the 19,000 Mary Rose artifacts. Its designers say it will resemble a finely crafted wooden jewelry box, clad in timber planks invoking the original ship.


More @

Life Aboard the Mary Rose Re-enactment

The story of the Tudor warship the Mary Rose, complete with re-enactments of what conditions were like on board, plus information about the historical finds yielded after its sunken remains were excavated and raised: almost half of the many finds excavated have now been either restored or conserved; it is a true example of a time capsule as many of the artifacts would not have survived anywhere else; a number of dice and coins were found indicating that gambling was a popular pastime for the crew; the longbows recovered are probably the only surviving examples of the weaponry used to such devastating effect against the French in many of the battles of the time; animal bones excavated from the wreck suggest the food consumed by the crew – beef, pork, fish and venison were all eaten; a gallon of watered-down beer per day was given to each crew member; the officers had music as an extra with their meals.

The History of the Mary Rose

Artists impression of the Mary Rose

King Henry VIII

I know, I haven’t written anything in a while, this is because I got a new job and wasn’t in the mood to write anything after work. Now I have accustomed to work and will start writing again.

My next projects will be Overlord and Overlord 2, Dead Space and Final Fantasy VIII.

I don’t know when exactly I will do them, but it will be within the next month. Please be patient.

With the recent pardon from the British government to Alan Turing, the late computer genius and code-breaker, more historical characters have begun their own campaigns to receive official pardons. The first, by Anne Boleyn, wife of King Henry VIII, demands an apology for ‘Acts of gross indecency during marriage, abuse and eventual execution’. Lawyers for Ms Boleyn report that she is furious at the silence being maintained by the government. She has demanded a full royal apology. Since the demand for an apology from Ms Boleyn, several of the King’s other wives have joined Ms Boleyn in her demands, forming a group, supported by several city lawyers, named Queens 4 Apologies. The effects of the petition are not only being felt in Britain, and in Mongolia, a group has begun a petitions calling for a United Nations Apology for Chinggis Khan, who the group describe as “A great hero of the World”. One of the more controversial groups, The Devil’s Advocates, have called for an official Papal Bull to be issued, apologising for the negative treatment and portrayal of “Our Most Great and Satanical Master, Lord of the Pit and Vanquisher of the Messiah”. So far, no statement has emerged from the Holy See.

Well, time for my first proper London update.

For my first venture out into London, I headed down to the Tower of London, which was only a short trip by bus, almost literally just down the road from my accommodation.

In celebration of 500 years since Henry VIII ascension to the British throne, there was a large Tudor theme running in the various museums, with the White Tower hosting a large display of artefacts from Henry’s reign. This included amour, weapons as well as providing background to his life and his effect on British history.

It is interesting to note that whilst there are displays dedicated to Henry VIII taking the throne 500 years ago, that the tower itself first began approaching twice that time span.

The White Tower, inside hosted the Henry VII display. Of particular interest we 3 complete pieces of armour worn by Henry VIII at different points in his life. It made for an interesting comparison between his size when in his mid 20s, where he was still bulky, but much slimmer when compared to the armour worn in his 40s.

Tudor style architecture within the walls of the Tower of London. Which still operate as working accommodation for the  Tower managers.

With London having won hosting rights for the 2012 Olympics, the trust responsible for the tower have organised for parts of the White tower to be restored in time for a surge of international tourists and media attention. They are currently going wall-by-wall with one side covered by scaffolding and protective sheets (as well as a massive Henry VIII poster).

The tower is home to the amazing collection of the Crown Jewels and other treasures. I don’t think you’ll so much gold and precious stones in one place anywhere else in the world! Everything had been made at such a massive scale, but also so intricately detailed.

One of the Ravens kept at the Tower of London due to superstition that the tower, and the united kingdom would collapse if they ever left the tower.

The defensive walls, which you can walk along, offer good views of the famous tower bridge.

All up, it made for a very interesting day. Whilst by today’s standards, the Tower of London is a relatively small structure, there is so much history and interesting things to see, that you would need to visit across at least two days to take it all in. It is a place that has played an important role through British history, from the time the first tower was built, through to today, it was very exciting to visit a place with so much history surrounding it.

RPG’s are always seen as being really big in Japan but not so big over here. To an extent that is true because you will rarely see a Japanese RPG sell well anywhere outside of Japan. However the same can be said about Western RPGs which rarely sell well in Japan. It’s reasonable enough to treat them as two different genres though. The basic ideas in the games may be similar but when you take into account everything else they are completely different games.

From this point on JRPG = Japanese RPG and WRPG = Western RPG

The first thing I’m going to discuss is the battle system or the way you fight enemies. JRPGs have a tendency, or at least they used to, to stick to a turn based battle system. Most games had slight variations of it but generally they stuck to the same idea of taking turns to attack, defend, heal etc. I love Turn Based battle systems and think it was perfected in Final Fantasy X but some people argue that it’s dated and shouldn’t be used. However that doesn’t stop games like Lost Odyssey from using it. Random battles are also a feature that often pops up in JRPGs. More often than not you will not see your enemy and the fights will always be random encounters which you have no control in. A lot of games do seem to be changing this now such as Final Fantasy with the 12^th instalment and the more recent Tales of Vesperia. Some games seem to be sticking to it though, mainly Pokémon which still proves to be massively popular in both Japan and the west. This is one of the few exceptions of the rule. Now onto Western RPGs which favour real time combat over turn based. Off the top of my head the only Western turn based game I can think of is Fallout. Fallout 3 also had a real time option along with VATS (Kind of turn based) but the original was turn based. WRPGs don’t have random encounters either, or at least I have never found one that does. Most of them have enemies around the area which you can attack at your own will using whatever weapon you may have.

My next point is the style of the games. JRPGs are nearly always Fantasy. There is the odd sci-fi (e.g. Star Ocean) but apart from that they are all fantasy. A lot of them do it differently though so it’s not much of a problem but it would be interesting to see a different take on a JRPG. Since most of them are fantasy, you will generally be using swords, spears, magic etc but a lot of the time there are some really quirky weapons in them, such as a Blitzball from Final Fantasy X. Even the few that are sci-fi will use swords and magic, both Rogue Galaxy and Star Ocean does this (Both are still great though). I also want tom mention that a lot of JPRGs have anime style graphics/cell shaded. I love anime style graphics. My personal favourite is Okami but it’s not really an RPG so I’ll say Dragon Quest VIII which looks beautiful.  It really adds to the fantasy feeling of the game when you are surrounding by monsters beyond your imagination and environments which you would never have thought of but when it’s cell shaded it just adds that extra layer of fantasy. WRPGs don’t have much more variation than JRPGs. There is Fantasy ones such as The Elder Scrolls and Fable but there are also sci-fi ones such as Mass Effect. The only other type of WRPG I can think of is Nuclear Fallout (Surprisingly Fallout) which could come under sci-fi anyway. This lack of variation in setting can easily be forgiven though because most of the time they are done differently enough to keep you playing. The Western fantasy RPGs will contain similar weapons but none of the quirky ones so you’re looking at bows, swords, axes etc, they may also contain basic guns (Fable 2 done this). The sci-fi games however normally allow you to use guns which can add a lot to the game making an even more different experience than before. You won’t see any WRPGs with anime visuals either. The graphics are often portrayed as realistically as possible to make the game look amazing which Mass Effect pulled off really well while Fallout 3 fell flat on its arse.

The style of the character and story is also worth mentioning. Japanese culture is a lot different from Western culture so there will obviously be big differences in how the characters behave and appear. Most JPRG characters you see will look about fourteen and have blonde hair. The typical JPRG will have the heroic male lead character, who has blonde hair and his love interest will tag along. The love interest will probably also have blonde hair and she will also look a lot younger than she is supposed to be. Generally though the characters in JRPGs are good and well fleshed out so no complaints go there. When it comes to story there is normally a difference between JPRGs but they will just contain similar characters. There is normally a really evil villain in it that will have about 8 different forms when you fight him at the end, Kingdom Hearts being very guilty of this. The main thing about the style in JRPGs is that they are normally quite camp. This is a hard word to describe but I’ll just say they aren’t very macho. WRPGs aren’t very camp and often have a macho character or two in the games. This character is always the cool, badass one of the group, think Wrex from Mass Effect. It’s a lot harder to describe the character in WRPGs than JRPGs. This is because you normally customize the character yourself, then you will normally progress your personality onto your character. A lot of WRPGs focus on you choosing what to do and this greatly affects your character and the rest of the story (Well most of the time). Both Fable 2 and Fallout 3 do this fantastically. The world around you changes in both of them depending what you do and it adds a lot to the game. There is normally a good/evil metre to go along with this which will change the way people behave around your character and then add to what you think of your character. This can add a lot of depth to the game and made replaying it worth it.

On the topic of worlds, JRPGs and WRPGs also differ here. Like I said before they both normally stick to Sci-fi and Fantasy (They both do these differently though) but I want to talk about the way the world is designed. WRPG normally have a big open map which allows a lot of freedom and immersion. It allows multiple paths to be taken and a lot of exploration to be achieved since there is never a certain path you have to follow, you will need to find this yourself. The Elder Scrolls series is famous for having huge, open worlds.  Morrorwind had an amazing world which was huge. It was filled loads of different towns, cities, forests, cave etc. It was almost too big. Oblivion also had a good world but it wasn’t as big as Morrowind. It was just as immersive however and it was easier to navigate. JRPGs rarely have open worlds to the same extent as WRPGs. They normally have big worlds but they are usually a lot more linear than the likes of Elder Scrolls. They will often have multiple paths to take but they are normally just paths rather than open worlds. The old Final Fantasy games had the world map which was really open but the only way to progress was to go to the specific point. This isn’t necessary a bad thing though as it allows a good story to be told and it was also keep a good pace. Final Fantasy XII had a fairly open world for a JRPG but it was still split into separate areas.

Another thing I want to mention, mainly towards WRPGs, is making RPG the sub genre in the game. This rarely happens in Japan and more traditional RPGs are released but there a few, such as Okami which has a few RPG elements. The West does it a lot more though. Games like Bioshock and Dues Ex are the ones most known for doing it. Both are excellent games that become more than just standard shooters because of these RPG elements. It would be interesting to see a Japanese game (not an RPG) to have an RPG sun genre and see how they handle it.

It’s fair to say that there are huge differences between Western and Japanese RPGs. They both take the same basic idea of filling a role, going up levels, getting experience etc but the other factors are really different. In style, design, setting, ideas, graphics, story, character and more they differ greatly. To show the differences more I’ve made a few comparisons with different games to show this.

Mass Effect and Rogue Galaxy

Mass Effect is an amazing WRPG that came out in 2007 and Rogue Galaxy is an amazing JRPG that also came out in 2007 (2005 in Japan though). Mass Effect sold pretty well and managed to top 1 million copies sold. This was only in the West as the game wasn’t even released in Japan. Rogue Galaxy however, sold a lot better in Japan than in the West and though I can’t find an exact amount, the difference was quite big. Both of them have similar ideas though. First of all they are both Sci-fi RPGs. They both let you take a squad a three with you to battle (The main character and two team mates), they both give you control of an airship and they both let you go to multiple planets. On paper they sound similar and they are but in execution they are a lot more different than they sound. Mass Effect is more traditional Sci-fi and has traditional looking aliens and the majority of planets and species are very advanced in terms of technology. Rogue Galaxy, however has a completely different interpretation of Sci-fi and has many planets which are weak in terms of technology. The planets vary more in Rogue Galaxy too with sandy deserts, tropical forests and underwater caverns. The planets in Mass Effect stick to a more realistic approach, examples of this is Noveria, an ice planet with blizzards and Feros, a planet covered with dust and ruins. I know that we can’t find out if this is realistic or not but it is shown in a more realistic way than Rogue Galaxy which adds more fantasy to the universe.  Mass Effect focuses on using guns and biotics (Sci-fi stuff) while Rogue Galaxy mainly has swords and other melee weapons as the main focus, though guns and magic can be used. Both of these games take similar ideas but execute them in very different ways, both are fantastic though and I recommend playing both if you get the chance.

Fable II and Dragon Quest VIII

For those who have played both of these you may be asking why I am comparing both of these games. Well it’s all down to charm. JRPGs always have loads of charm, something that WRPGs often lack. Dragon Quest VIII has the most charm out of all JRPGs I’ve played so I’m comparing it to Fable II which is stacked brim with charm which is unusual for most WRPGs. Part of Fable II’s charm comes from the extremely well designed world and fantastic voice acting, Dragon Quest VIII also deserves credit for the voice acting and world. However Fable II gives you your own companion in the form of a loyal dog who will help you and stick by your side. It really adds to the charm and experience as a whole. In basically every other aspect though, they are really different. They both are based around Fantasy and have a British vibe around them (More so on Fable II’s part). Dragon Quest VIII is turn based and Fable II is real time but both are still great games. Dragon Quest is definitely a typical JRPG and is one of the best due to everything being so refined and polished. Fable II on the other hand is so unique. It is completely different from every other RPG out there (Well maybe not the first game) and manages to over an experience like no other. Sales wise though they were very different. Fable II had pretty good success here in the West but wasn’t even released in Japan like so many WRPGs. Dragon Quest VIII however managed to have tremendous success in Japan and had fairly good sales in the West. We can see that WRPGs haven’t penetrated the Japanese market yet while the bigger JRPGs had had good success in the West.

Elder Scrolls and Final Fantasy

These are arguably the biggest JPRG and WRPG which both have had tremendous success in their areas of origin. Final Fantasy has managed to achieve success not only in Japan, but also in the West too and is normally what people consider to be the biggest RPG ever. The Elder Scrolls series though hasn’t even been released in Japan which most WRPGs seem to do. Japanese gamers seem to stick to Japanese games so any WRPG that get’s released rarely has any decent success. There are similarities between the games though. Both of them are Fantasy games but they both take it on in completely different ways. Elder Scrolls takes it on in a more traditional way while Final Fantasy makes it a lot more unique and adds its own creatures and worlds to it that have never been seen before. It is worth pointing out that some Final Fantasy games also have Sci-fi elements so that allows a bit more of a mix up than the Elder Scrolls which provides a traditional fantasy adventure. With the newer Elder Scroll games they have moved onto open worlds. Morrowind and Oblivion had huge, massive worlds which were really open while Final Fantasy is still a more linear experience (Though FFXII opened it up a bit). The combat is hugely different in both too. Elder Scrolls is a completely real time experience (Well the new ones are) that will have enemies scattered about the world. Final Fantasy on the other hand has been turn based for a long time and has just starting to move towards a mixture of real time and turn based with FFXII. Though Final Fantasy XIII could change this. Random battles are a favourite of Final Fantasy but again FFXII changed this. Both of these games have similarities but the execution is really different. They both have different style and atmosphere which makes the experiences very different compared to each other.

By now you must have realised that JRPGs and WRPGs are not very alike, especially with my repeated use of the word “different”. Now onto the topic of which is better. Well I couldn’t really tell you to be honest. Both are (sigh) very different and even though they have similar basics they don’t offer the same things. It all depends on which you like better but we can all agree that there have been amazing RPGs from both the West and Japan.