If you're an avid fan of Role-playing games, it's likely that you have some level of text comprehension and reading skill. The genre is not necessarily plagued with verbosity, but it does rely heavily on dialogue and in-game text in order to communicate its narrative. Having a great deal of dialogue can be beneficial to the plot and character development, but the effectiveness of this text is also determined by the tone, level of nuance, and depth of character that it actually communicates.

Video games have evolved in ways previously thought impossible since their inception, largely thanks to the rapid growth and improvement found in iterative hardware and the importance of such devices in the digital era. What was once a rudimentary open-world game like The Legend of Zelda pales in comparison with Breath of the Wild, both games offering freedom and exploration in vastly different ways. Because of the rapidly-changing standards, however, titles that were once considered the highest quality of their era are constantly challenged by newer efforts. What was once hailed as revolutionary is now considered a relic, usually only in terms of aesthetic, nothing more. So when developers claim that they are attempting to evoke a "classic" feeling, what are we to expect from their product? It isn't necessarily the same as what is "retro," which, depending one your tendencies, is anything produced within the previous fifteen to twenty years. As men...

With an HD port in Code of Princess EX and characters appearing in the soon-to-be-released Blade Strangers, it seems that this delightful little action-based Role-playing game is getting some love. Whether or not this is warranted, however, is another story. Code of Princess is, in many ways, a conundrum. Featuring absurd character designs, a wacky localization, incredibly extensive online functionality, and a slew of customization options, this game also suffers from terrible performance issues on the Nintendo 3DS, punishing difficulty, and a bland soundtrack. It is far from a perfect experience, which is perhaps why the prospect of co-operative play and altered enemy A.I. are large pushes- and welcome changes- in the EX package.

Before the Operation Rainfall trilogy, I was not aware of how much I really loved Role-playing games. I had enjoyed a number of titles from the genre in the past, but understanding the need and lack of representation on Nintendo's seventh generation console helped me realize why iterations in the Paper Mario and Crystal Chronicles series that appeared on the Wii were dissatisfying experiences. I longed for numbers-based combat, meaningful character progression and growth, and the wackiness that comes with a good, old, far-fetched Role-playing game. I was not alone in this desire. The power of a vocal community can be a compelling catalyst, though Nintendo themselves would only bring Xenoblade Chronicles to North America after the Operation Rainfall petitioning began. However, localization and publishing company XSEED recognized the potential of bringing these already-translated titles over from Europe, and thus, three of the Rainfall titles headed to North American shelves. While...

There have been many memorable characters spawned by the independent video game industry-avatars with delightful and strange qualities that cater to their gameplay mechanics and motifs. Hand drawn, pixel-based, and three dimensional designs that are able to express and execute on smaller concepts that a full retail game might feel bloated in attempting. As games have become bigger and better, the design sensibilities of earlier titles- focusing on finely-crafted level design and a well-established set of mechanics for a tight and comprehensive experience- has become a standard of independent development, instead. Well, successful independent development, that is. When a team might only have one opportunity to make a statement on a certain platform, they need to ensure their product is as well-executed as possible in order to do so. Fortunately for developer studio Wayforward, they entered the scene at the right point to bypass this risk. They began developing and publishing games in ...