I have no particular love for Final Fantasy, a statement that would strip my status as an RPG fanatic in the eyes of some. I had very little exposure to the series in my youth, however, and my first Final Fantasy would actually be a spinoff, the first entry in the Crystal Chronicles series. The action-based, cooperation-focused role-playing systems were extremely appealing to me, and its unique races and more straightforward lore were easy to grasp, serving its rustic sensibilities nicely. I would go on to play each title in the Crystal Chronicles series, witnessing the refinements of its cooperative structure and eventual regression into something utterly weird, before vanishing off the map completely. In its place, I would find another coop ARPG to fill the void: a little series known as Monster Hunter. Its focus on precision movement, intense preparation, and dedication to equipment and weapon builds would enthrall me in a different way than Crystal Chronicles, which featured dung...

If it ain't broke, should you refrain from fixing it? Although a slight rephrasing from the original statement, this question is one we have all probably faced in some shape or form. The idea of rephrasing, or perhaps refreshing, old ideas for a new circumstance is likely another situation we have found ourselves in. Whether you like it or not, this is often the state of combat and game design in role-playing games, where we can see numerous iterative versions of a rather traditional formula. It's a bit surprising that game designer, producer, and scenario writer Hironobu Sakaguchi, one of the creative minds behind the beloved Final Fantasy series, found himself asking the same question after releasing Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. “I have an RPG formula from the 25 years experience I have in the industry,” He told the media, “which is a turn-based, orthodox one.” So if the tried-and-true isn't cutting it, where do you go next?

In the days of the Super Nintendo, Squaresoft and Enix provided the JRPG support and helped tell wonderful stories, among others. But much of that support dwindled in the fifth console generation, leading Nintendo to push for further support through other developers, such as Intelligent Systems, Camelot, and a particular studio named Monolith Soft. While I never did cross paths with the Baten Kaitos duology, Monolith came to my attention in the wake of a peculiar video on Youtube during the Wii era. In seeing the field exploration for their title Xenoblade, I was enthralled, and subsequently delighted to see the efforts of Operation Rainfall convince Nintendo that the title should be brought over to the United States. Ever since playing the first installment in this seemingly ongoing series, I have become fascinated with the way that Monolith Makes Worlds .