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.

T he announcement of Xenoblade Chronicles X was a surprise and delight. Having become one of my favorite titles on the Wii and one of my favorite RPGs, period, I was fully prepared to get lost in a new world. My anticipation spiked within roughly a minute of my awareness of its existence, however, with the reveal of one crucial element: the mech gameplay that would augment exploration and combat. As a huge fan of Japanese mecha, this entry felt primed to become one of my favorite games ever. The wait for Xenoblade Chronicles X (henceforth referenced as XCX)- revealed in February 2013 but released in December 2015- felt unbearable, not only because of the anticipation, but also because of the sorry state of its platform, the doomed Wii U. As the game neared release, more information about its systems and scenario were revealed, and I began to realize that this game would act as a spiritual successor to XC in only a few ways. This was not designed to be an accessible JRPG, ...

The Computer Role Playing Game is, for fans of fantasy, science fiction, stat crunching, or character building, an interactive love letter. It allows them not just to experience a lush setting and cast of characters, but to interact with the game world and sometimes alter or discover the plot in their own way. It enables them to choose from a variety of classes, stats, and party members to create devastating combinations that will ensure their victory- a victory that they would want to see. This genre has had different phases with different popular franchises, and new names emerge as the industry progresses and changes. But there are plenty of mediocre and downright bad entries, as well. I'll cite some of them soon, but I'd like to discuss a difficult trapping of these types of games.