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The main character, Shulk, grew up in a colony on one such god.  The colonies live in constant fear of attacks from Mechon, robotic beings that developed on the opposing god.  After no small amount of bloodshed, Shulk acquires a weapon capable of defeating these metal foes: the legendary and iconic Monado.  He and his friends go on a quest to seek revenge for their fallen comrades.

The battle system borrows a number of MMORPG elements: all skills have cooldown times, there is an extreme reliance on tanking, and each character has a different way they fight (think different jobclasses).  But Xenoblade does its fair share of innovating as well.  Team attacks, for instance, allow the player to temporarily control their AI followers to unleash devastating combos.  Now, the AI isn't bad, but having direct control allows the player to chain together attacks that build off one another, inflicting increasingly debilitating statuses. Not only does this system feel fluid and stylish, but it can greatly turn the tide of a battle.


The Monado allows its wielder to see the future, and this ability carries over into battle as well: when an ally is in danger of receiving a mortal blow, the player will see a glimpse of the attack before it happens.  There will then be a short amount of time for the player to prevent the doomed character's fate.  This can be accomplished by controlling agro, increasing defenses, or inflicting status effects.  All these elements make for some refreshingly tactical gameplay.

Like nearly any massive RPG, Xenoblade features an equally massive roster of NPCs.  Most of them will ask you to run an errand for them.  Things start to get incredible when, as you quest and speak with NPCs, a massive affinity map is compiled showing how each NPC knows another.  Character A doesn't like Character B's cooking; Character Z thinks Character Y doesn't apply themselves, etc.  Forming these connections increases your party’s affinity in the relative town, unlocking higher level quests and more revealing dialog.  These aren’t one-dimensional NPCs spouting the same nonsense over and over -- they grow, change, and have a purpose.

With the genre struggling for relevance these days, it’s hard to recall the last time I enjoyed a JRPG on the level of Xenoblade Chronicles.  This game shows key innovation to creating what I consider to be a modern classic.
The frequent interludes in an asylum that seems out of place at first gradually begin to make you question exactly where the game is going. The patients and doctors that inhabit this sterile environment becoming more human and relatable even as the events in the “real world” spiral further out of control as cults and eternal wars between light and dark come between protagonist Jackie Estacado’s and his search for redemption for his lost love.

Combat is straightforward and frequent, with enough variation in the types of enemies you encounter in its hectic and often prolonged fire fights to prevent fatigue. The need to devour the hearts of fallen enemies for health is a risk-reward tension at the heart of combat that is more engaging that it sounds and the Darkness tentacles - though reduced in capabilities compared to the original - and the need to stay out of the light give each encounter a twist toward the horrific and tactical.


The Darkness II should be utter comic book hokum, and with its “quad wielding” and tentacle arm executions for the most part manages to achieve that with aplomb and a sense of style. Yet when it tries for pathos it’s largely successful. The Italian-American stereotypes that constitute the Franchetti crime family are larger than life and hard to believe, but at its core The Darkness II is about Jackie and his relationships, with his Aunt Sara, his lost love Jenny and the Darkness itself.

In its closing moment The Darkness II actually lets you decide which of its two realities you want to accept, do you take the hand of Jenny Romano the nurse and slow dance with her in the ward as the credits role to the beautifully apt “I Only Have Eyes for You”, or do you leap from the asylum’s roof to continue your search for the “real” Jenny Romano by descending into hell itself to retrieve her soul?

The Darkness II is at once exactly what it appears to be and something just that little bit smarter than anybody was expecting. It was hamstrung by a short campaign and comparisons to the  Starbreeze developed original, and despite all that it’s a rare video game where you actually grow to give a damn about the characters. For a game about demonic tentacle arms and Italian Mafioso that’s a minor miracle.

Ys Origin was released in Japan in 2006, so it's far from being new, but it wasn't until 2012 that XSEED Games was able to officially license it and release it in North America via Steam. Since it has a bit of unintended mileage on it, Origin is not a graphical powerhouse, but it makes up for that in many other ways. An action RPG with platforming elements and exploration, Ys Origin is like a cross between The Legend of Zelda and Metroid with a dose of character progression added in. It offers a fast-paced, high action experience throughout, so even gamers who don't typically enjoy action RPGs should be at home here, as it lacks the repetitive nature of many of those. Oh, and I can't say enough about the rock inspired  soundtrack from Falcom's JDK band. The music, especially boss themes, are truly outstanding.


There are a few caveats, though, as the difficulty ramps up pretty quickly, even on easy. If you start out and have trouble with the first boss, it's no shame to drop the challenge down to where you can enjoy it. Even on the lowest difficulty the game is far from a cakewalk, but it's always fair. There are also two characters to choose from at the start (with another added once you complete the game), Yunica and Hugo. Yunica is a young girl with a large axe and her playstyle is very similar to series standard Adol. She's all about getting in close and hacking things up. Hugo, however, is much different as he carries a wand and is surrounded by two magical orbs for ranged combat. I felt that his attacks were much faster and even more flexible than Yunica's and it made all the difference.

Ys Origin might not have made a big splash, but it should have. It's a frenetic, action-filled adventure with straightforward, yet not overly simplistic combat mechanics. The soundtrack is outstanding and more than makes up for the dated graphics. The plot might be pretty standard RPG fare, but the characters are likeable (except the villains you're supposed to hate) and it offers a few good twists, at least on Hugo's path. Best of all, it doesn't drag on too long, lasting only about eight hours. If you want an enjoyable and challenging action RPG, check out Ys Origin.