The advantages of playing a roleplaying game on hard difficulty. Challenge yourself.

I've often stated that playing any game on hard is the best and only way to play. An RPG is no exception to this rule, these titles are often far more rewarding and satisfying on a harder difficulty.

I am absolutely ashamed at all the gamers I know for choosing normal or easy difficulty. Unless the game is something really Korean and therefore impossible to complete unless you are Asian, then you should always try setting the game on hard mode to see what it is like.

If you play games on lower difficulties, not only are you not challenging yourself to become a better gamer, but you're also never going to be any good at any games, period.

What do you mean by play games on hard difficulty?

It's simple. When you have the option to choose a difficulty on your RPG or any video game, opt for the higher level of challenge. There are countless benefits to playing on a challenging difficulty, which I shall try to cover throughout this article.

When you start a new video game you are often prompted to choose a difficulty. If not, you can usually find a difficulty selection in the menu options somewhere. The most common difficulties include:

• Easy: Easy is the difficulty level that you choose the first time you ever touched a video game. Picking easymode after this point is pathetic, and a bad gaming practice.
• Normal/Casual: Normal is probably the most common difficulty for gamers. Most RPGs are terribly easy on normal, 
• Hard: Hard is usually the difficulty I start with, this is definitely the best way to go.
• Very Hard/Nightmare: Very hard is usually a crazy challenge bordering on masochistic. I will usually put it on this difficulty if hard is a cakewalk.

Bear in mind that sometimes games will use various different names for difficulty, like casual for normal mode or veteran for hard. Nightmare mode is definitely one you might of heard of or suffered through.

Why should I play on hard?

The purpose of playing games depends on the person. You could be playing for story, fun, or just out of boredom. However, if you are playing games, you are completely devaluing the price of your purchase and the quality of the game if you do not select a difficulty level that provides you with a decent challenge. If I'm not connected with the game over screen once in a while, I will get bored. So should you!

Boss battles are meant to be tough. How are you supposed to remember a boss if he didn't kill you and all of your characters 5 times over?

I have played many RPG titles such as Final Fantasy and completed the entire game with barely a single member in my party ever getting KO'd. The most prevalent thing I remember from these playthroughs was that they were easy and boring because of it. The best RPGs are the ones that you struggle against.

Baldur's Gate wouldn't be an epic iconic and classic RPG without the constant wiping and repeatedly getting killed by enemies. It wouldn't be a cult hit, because people loved it because it was brutally challenging and all about perfecting your characters and playstyle.

Playing on hard difficulty makes you exponentially more skilled at games

This is an incredibly accurate statement. When I start a new game with my friends, they all choose normal. Because I pick hard, when we do a multiplayer versus match I win every single time. Why? Because I am naturally used to playing at a higher level. Playing on normal not only sets a lower level precedent for your skill of play, but it also allows you to use redundant mechanics to win battles that you wouldn't be able to get away with on a higher difficulty.

Modern games are increasingly easy

As video games have trended towards mainstream culture, developers have continued to make easier and easier titles. This is for the filthy stinking casuals who rarely purchase and play games. I finished Dragon Age inquisition on hard without dying once, because EA think their games cater better to a wider audience.

I am disgusted with how easy games have become. I don't mind video game developers making a game accessible to noobs, but on a harder difficulty it should always be a challenge. Nowadays, whenever I want a good hearty game to play with lots of losing and increasingly difficult battles, I have to go shopping in the retro market. Even new games notorious for being challenging like Dark Souls just turn to putty in my hands.

Playing RPGs on hard difficulty

Because of my experience on JRPGs and other RPG games, even when I select a harder difficulty I usually make it through the game with minimal deaths. This is less due to skill and more down to pure experience. Check out my beating and breaking RPGs guide to see how I do it.

Don't be intimidated by the higher difficulty levels on games. They are there to encourage you to better your gaming skills. Once you get accustomed to playing games on hard you will benefit from it in several key ways:

• You will learn much more about the RPG by playing it on hard.
• Hard mode will increase your problem solving skills.
• Normal mode is always too easy, it never really issues you a challenge in modern games.
• You will become better at gaming in general.
• Often on RPGs, there is additional content to be found by selecting challenging levels.

Ultimately advantages of playing video games on hard or extreme can be many or few. I personally do it because I do not want to get into bad habits by playing the RPG on easy in the first place.

Conclusion: Almost all RPG titles are better games on hard

If you want to be better at games, if you want to better yourself, play on hard. Relish the opportunity to be challenged, take every game over screen as a lesson. If you have that competitive spirit in you, remember to hold your skills to a higher standard!

If you want to literally decrease your gaming skills, go ahead and pick easy mode. Just remember, if you ever play against me or any other nightmare difficulty gamer online, we will always win. Are you okay with that? Or would you rather put up a fight?

Might and Magic Heroes VI

I've had a copy of Might and Magic 6 for years. I've tried to get into it several times, but failed due to circumstances outside my control or because I just plain couldn't get into it. Recently I decided to rectify that issue, and force myself to sit down for a solid Might and Magic session and finish a couple of campaigns. I gotta admit I really don't like it. It's fun for a couple of hours, but the longer you play the less interesting it gets.

I just can't seem to enjoy the battles, they are too repetitive.

Genre: RPG, Strategy
Release Date: 13th October, 2011
Platforms: PC
Score: 3/10
Similar Titles: Sorry, I can't recommend other games this bad because I just don't remember any.

Might and Magic Heroes VI thrusts you into the role of a sovereign in the world of Ashan, a place plagued by many monsters and your usual fantasy creatures. Orcs, Gryphons and Undead: stuff like that. As ruler of the realm your role is to build a large army, capture resources around the map to fund that army, and kill everything that gets in your way. Depending on which campaign you dive into there's a different story, usually something about defending your lands from an invasion or something boring like that. Sadly, the story is one of the redeeming qualities of the game- despite being scarce and short. For example, the first campaign pits you in control of Duke Slava; a young noble allied with the Orcs. Unluckily, people don't like the Orcs so you have to send them a message by putting a sword in their gut. Eventually you kill a few people who are important and some angels get involved, and everything just gets a little bloody. But to be honest, you'd be better off just reading the story on Wikipedia, it's less time consuming and you don't have to actually suffer through the tedium of the game.

The CGI does look amazing, but there's barely any of it.

Both the campaign map and the battles are turn-based in Might and Magic. You have a set amount of movement points each turn on the map, which can be increased by equipment or talents when you level up. When you end your turn your opponents get to move, and every few turns everything on the map gets slightly harder to kill. If you squander enough turns, it becomes impossible to progress further because the armies you have to defeat become far too powerful. This is a nice idea on paper, it forces you to keep making progress. The goal of each mission is to capture and convert the enemies castles, or defeat a specific army. On the way you can collect nodes such as blacksmiths or stables to generate units or resources every turn. Once a month you can recruit new forces at your stronghold, so it's usually a good idea to try and get your hero and his army nearby to pick them up. There are small armies everywhere, most of the time you want to capture something you will have to fight something for it. The campaign map is the least offensive part of Might and Magic heroes, it's not exactly fun to wander around securing places for gold; but it's not awful either. If only you didn't have to spend 10 minutes battling a bunch of peasant Undead every time you want to take control of something.

The campaign map doesn't look that pretty, and the UI can get annoying to deal with.

As for the battles, they start out quite interesting. Your units are stacked together, so you can have 40 crossbow men occupying one tile, or you could split it into 2 individual sets of 20. Each unit can move once per turn, and some of them have special attributes that aid their combat ability. For example, Gryphons can attack from any distance by flying to the target and returning to their original position. However, they are all basically the same. You move your unit into position, and attack over and over again until everything is dead. The only layer to combat on top of that is your hero. While he does not take part in the actual battle, your hero can cast spells and attack every turn from the sidelines. When you level up a few times you can choose from a rather large pool of spells in the talent tree. It's nice to have a large repertoire of abilities to use in combat, but the downside here is most of them are boring. Who wants to increase defense by x for 3 turns?

Attacking strongholds is fun the first time. Can't really say the same after that.

Overall, the battlefield is exactly what turned me off Might and Magic. It's a slow paced affair, even with when you set the computer to do it automatically for you. The problem is that you usually end up fighting a couple of armies each turn, and after a few hours it just gets sickeningly frustrating. Combat in this game is the embodiment of 'I hit you, then you hit me.', this outdated mechanic is something Square Enix have been trying to evolve for years. This is the biggest problem with the game, because why would I waste my time on it when I could just play something else with a story that I'm invested in, or with better graphics and combat?

I just can't believe this is the sixth edition of a game in 2011. It's like a game from the 90's. A bad one.

Despite the incredibly basic warfare, the game has a fair variety of different units to find and recruit. Some of the endgame angels and dragons are really cool and powerful, it's awesome to have them in your army. However, there are only a couple of upgrades for each unit. It would have been far better to give players choices when they want to make their army more powerful, instead of giving us some none-optional power ups that are insignificant for the most part. It's a real shame, because the base combat starts out promising, but it doesn't give you enough to work with as you get further into the game. The Spearmen you have at the beginning are the same as the Spearmen at the end.

The cutscenes are dull. Can't really describe them any other way.

From the small amount of research I've done, Heroes of Might and Magic 6 has advanced in quality from the titles that came before it. It's made progress. But in my opinion, no way near enough. It looks like a cool game and when you first start playing it feels like it too. The Heroes can develop aggressively down the blood path or intelligently up the tears route. The units have been collaborated from a vast collection of fictional creatures. The graphics aren't half bad, and nor is the atmosphere. Unfortunately, after a few hours your opinion of the game deteriorates, and you start to think 'shouldn't there be more to this?'.

Maybe I'm not being fair to a game that's really old. Oh wait, it's only been 2 years since it came out! It feels like it's a game from 2006 or earlier, it's that outdated. Maybe they didn't have the budget to make it better? Well I'm pretty sure Ubisoft had plenty of cash to publish it. That's the problem with this title. It seems to have everything it needed to be a comprehensive modern video game; and yet it plays like something I'd be playing on windows 98 when I was in primary school. This is the most scathing review I have written for a game thus far, and I feel a little guilty about it. So I booted up Might and Magic to give it one another chance. An hour later, I'm back- and I refuse to change a word of it. Other critics have given this game a fairly high score, one that it doesn't deserve.

Don't buy this title unless you like games that are slow-paced, unnecessarily time-consuming and outdated. I'll give it one saving grace: it's playable. But I don't pay for games that are playable. I pay for games that are going to give me an existential life crisis when I run out of content to play.

Mount & Blade: Warband

If you're looking for Warband mods, try Floris or Pendor, they are the biggest and best available.

I have yet to play a better kingdom building game than Mount & Blade. No other title can really provide the same satisfaction of starting out a campaign alone and penniless, forming your own band of mercenaries, rising in power until you're ready to try for the throne. Sure, other games try to create this experience, but none of them do it as well as Warband. As far as single player titles go, this one's top quality bueno.

Things can get a little crazy when the melee starts.

Genre: Action, Third-person, RPG, Strategy
Release Date: 30th March, 2010
Platforms: PC
Score without mods: 7/10
Score with mods: 9/10
Similar Titles: Total War, Chivalry, War of the Roses

Mount and Blade: Warband is the sequel to the original Mount and Blade. It hasn't changed much, it's the same game with buffed up features and some polish. It's not nearly as polished or pretty as it should be, in fact it still feels like a game in beta. Which is why it's strange that Warband is still one of the best games I've ever played.

Taking a hill gives you a pretty overpowered advantage.

There are two sides to Warband. The campaign map and the battlefield. Most of your time will be spent on the map, traveling from city to city looking for quests and enemies to fight. However, once you make a little progress you'll be repelling armies left and right. There is zero story whatsoever, so don't expect any until you start piling on some mods. The battlefield is the fun part of Warband. When the fight begins, you can command your soldiers around the field at the same time as controlling your character. It's essentially third-person action, combined with real-time strategy. It's a great feeling, sending your infantry into the fray whilst charging alongside your cavalry into the flank. It's far more satisfying being in the combat instead of watching it from above.

The overworld map isn't particularly pretty, but then again neither is the rest of the game.

Warband's combat really is something special. You can make use of various weapon types, including swords, crossbows, lances and even stones. Each weapon has limited functionality, so it's quite a hard decision to decide whether to keep that two-handed claymore for sweeping past people on horseback, or trade it in for a bow so you can nail enemies from afar. Moreover, dealing damage is directly related to physics. For example, if you're running at full speed on a horse and land a blow on somebody, they are going to take twice as much damage as they would if you were stationary. You can swing in 4 different directions, and if you swing in the right direction with your momentum, it will do significantly more damage. This is a unique feature that brings a new element of strategy to battle.

Upon starting your new character, fresh with your own backstory, Warband drops you into the lands of Calradia. From the beginning of the game, you are free to do whatever you want. You can try to besiege a castle at level one, if being hit by 40 arrows in the face is something on your list of things to do. Typically it's a good idea to kick off your campaign by recruiting a few peasants and searching for bandits to get early weapons and cash. Completing quests for villages and lords lands you reputation points and money, both of which become important as you progress. Once you have trained your men into competent swordsmen and archers, you become a formidable band of mercenaries prepared to fight some of the larger forces on the map.

Castle sieges can be really difficult with limited ladders to attack from.

The reason Mount & Blade: Warband is so addictive is because you can choose your route to power. If you want to become a peaceful diplomatic, you can help villages prosper by helping them with bandits and buying them grain. Then you can invest that money into various enterprises to turn a profit every week. Eventually you can join a faction and fight for them, with enough reputation your king might even reward you with a castle or city. Or, you can take the quick route to power. Loot and burn villages, ambush lords and ransom them for money. Take a castle for yourself and establish your own rogue kingdom. This is a fast way to piss off all the factions, but if you're prepared to fight them off you can create your own utopia; recruit your own lords to patrol your lands and manage your finances.

Rolling around the map outmaneuvering armies twice your size and crushing them feels like an entire game in itself. However, when you start conquering provinces and owning lands- it becomes a whole different ballgame. Suddenly you're posed with questions of state, who to appoint as a leader, how many troops to leave in the garrison, and even building upgrades to improve your cities and villages. Instead of going from country to country, you're posed with defending your lands all while keeping your own army strong and formidable enough to counter any threats.

Training peasants consists of beating them unconscious until they get stronger.

Even though Warband is definitely better than most of the medieval war games I've had the misfortune of playing, it's still inherently flawed and feels unfinished. Sometimes attacks glitch and miss or hit when they shouldn't have, and walking up hills slows your units down far more than it should. There aren't many quests and they are a chore to complete, which often makes it difficult to farm reputation with a village or person that you want on your side. It's possible to romance lords and ladies of the opposite sex, but it's time consuming and lacks benefit. Although all these features seem hastily tacked on it's justifiable due to the massive branches of options and mechanics in Warband. Even more so considering it was created by a small indie company. With a higher budget and a bigger team, there's absolutely no limit to how high the Mount & Blade franchise could reach.

When I take a step back and look at the overall composition of Warband, it's nothing less than fantastic. There are dozens of cities and keeps owned by different factions, all with their own economy. With some memory and a little perseverance, you can make money by transporting the right goods from town to town. Lords recruit armies and trawl across the map, picking off bandits and fighting their enemies. Over the space of a couple of months in game time, factions go to war and try to conquer territory. If you're not careful, you can indirectly help a faction by defeating their enemies, and then they will spiral out of control and take half the map. Dozens of companions can be found in taverns, who level up just like your main character. You can even throw some epic gear their way, if you want them to be a monstrous killing machine. My point being, every individual feature of Mount & Blade: Warband needs work, polish or an overhaul. However, when all those single pieces come together as a whole; it forms a beautiful game worthy of every fanatic collection.

Tournaments are a good way to rack up some cash, if you win anyway.

What's funny is, this is all just the core Warband game. You still don't know about the best part. Mods. Mount & Blade has one of the finest modding communities in existence, rivaling that of the Elder Scrolls and Total War. From small to complete overhaul, if there's something you want- you can find it. You can change the size of battles, add in story elements and even monsters. You can download packs with dozens of new units, or even entirely new maps. Don't like playing games with sub-par graphics? Download some HD textures and voila! Pretty. There are overhaul packs that make Warband feel like an entirely new game.

It's gotten to the point where I physically cannot stand playing the core Mount & Blade. It's a brilliant game, but it reaches near perfect with some of the mods you can download. If you're looking for an overhaul to make Warband so much more; try Floris or Prophecy of Pendor.

Why don't more people know about Mount and Blade?

Mount and Blade: Warband is the kingdom building sandbox experience of a lifetime. I can put this franchise in the 'god-tier' category with confidence. Which is why it's genuinely surprising that it doesn't have more of an audience. In Mount&Blade you can grow from a peasant to a commander, and eventually even a king. What's more, it's got fantastic combat that pits you on the battlefield alongside your troops, allowing you to command your ranks while in the center of the fray. You can tell you're playing something truly amazing when a game has irritating bugs, a distinct lack of polish, and awfully optimized graphics; but you can't bring yourself to stop playing it.

You start out alone in the world. Eventually you can wield an army of hundreds.

There are currently 3 Mount & Blade titles on the market, with the 4th in development. Each game runs on the same engine, with the only changes being various adjustments to improve the quality of play. If you haven't heard of this franchise yet, either do a little digging or just buy Warband. The original Mount and Blade is a little outdated, and the newest edition Fire and Sword has a few unsightly design changes that make it less fun. Warband is the one to buy.

Although the original campaign can easily soak up a good 30+ hours of your time and still leave you with stuff to conquer and finish, what makes Mount and Blade a timeless game of outstanding quality is the gigantic modding community. The base game is a mod enthusiasts paradise. There are so many complete overhaul packs that you're essentially buying a dozen games in one. I've racked up over 200 hours on Warband so far, and I only spent a couple of hours playing it without mods.

The world map is gigantic, and you can conquer all of it.

If you're looking for one of those games that you will never regret buying, look into Mount and Blade: Warband. More specifically, do some research into the mods you can get for it. It's essentially free DLC. Take a look at Prophecy of Pendor and Floris, both are gameplay overhauls that introduce around a gigabyte of awesome changes. If you're interested in multiplayer, you can also try out CRPG. My point is, if you want it; there's a mod for it on Warband. The goal of this article is to raise awareness of an under appreciated franchise. If you haven't heard of Mount & Blade, then take a look and try it out. It's cheap!

Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes

Fallen Enchantress brings the city expansion mechanics from Civilization and influences it in another direction with hefty RPG elements. When a tried and tested game is taken and built upon in the correct way, it can either be worse or better than the original. In the case of Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes, it's arguably a definitive improvement on Civ.

If you don't want to create your own hero, there's a pool to select from.

This is a title that makes you want to clear you schedule for several days; just so you can play campaign after campaign. In my opinion it's a strategy masterpiece, once again proving that the smaller and more driven gaming companies are more reliable at producing top tier video games. I must admit I have an affinity for strategy games with a strong RPG components. Being able to build your own kingdom or empire from scratch is a feature that everyone enjoys.

Early on it's good to try and field a couple of armies to search the map.

Turn based strategy games are uniquely qualified to perform admirably in tandem with roleplaying games. Fallen Enchantress allows you to create your own faction by selecting perks, colors, and banners for your armies and cities. After that, you can customize your main character with weapons, stat bonuses, magical talents among other choices. With a comprehensive and satisfying list of options when beginning your campaign, your army feels like it actually belongs to you. It's what makes this game special. Instead of starting as a predetermined country or race like most strategy games, it feels pretty damn glorious to see your handmade empire conquering cities and wiping out enemies.

Autobattle is really unreliable.

After restarting several campaigns I got to grips with the general rules of play. You begin the game with your commander and a small army. From turn one it's important to explore the map to grab valuable resources and upgrades. You can also take out some of the weaker neutral armies on the map, or complete quests to gather experience and a reward. Early on the map is a very inhospitable place. There are countless dangerous enemies that will get you wiped out. At the same time it's also important to establish your city and choose a strategic approach to how you want to build it. I found that on the higher difficulties it was vital to create pioneers and create several well placed cities early on.  Although your biggest problem at the start is the gigantic lands filled with dangerous monsters, other factions will quickly get in your way and try to cut off your expansion.

There aren't that many important nodes to tap into on the map, but they are useful.

Legendary Heroes is an addictive game. Once you get rolling and attract a few heroes to your cause, it becomes a debate on whether you should play defensive and rush your research, or pump out armies to take control of the best resources to get ahead. Leveling up your basic soldiers is difficult when they die so quickly but very rewarding. It's a shame that the auto-battle feature is pretty awful, it doesn't try to keep your units alive. So even when you have a superior force, you usually have to resolve the conflicts personally to prevent losses. They don't take too long but they can get pretty boring.

Out of the many strategy games I've tried, I find Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes one of the forerunners. Up there with titles like Shogun 2 and Warband. From the frantic early game to the empowering endgame it's addictive and enjoyable. It's a shame that it lags pretty harshly between turns and lacks much needed polish. Here's hoping that the sequel steps it up a notch and brings us something for the hall of fame.

Dust: An Elysion Tail

For a project that initially intended to span the space of several months, it's amazing that Dust actually took 3 and a half years to come out of development. It was clearly worth the wait though, because Dust: An Elysion Tail is a brilliant platforming game with some intriguing elements to it. This is one of those games that just has absolutely everything it needs to sit on that throne of the gods. It's all so well put together, that there's no particular feature in the game that bogs it down.

It's hard to call a game pretty when it's sporting 2D graphics, but Dust looks fantastic.

Dust is one of those indie games that I came across on steam whilst having a search around for a new title to play. So I bought it with the simple expectation of it being an acceptable way to kill some time. After playing it for 5 minutes, I could tell it was worth the purchase. The action is fluid and addictive, combined with glorious side-scrolling and some tacked on RPG aspects. It's fun, it's polished, and very memorable.

When you get used to the game, you will probably spend more time in the air than on the ground.

The game is about an amnesiac soldier who is struggling to come to grips with his controversial past. Upon waking up in a glade to meet the talking sword of Ahrah, our protagonist is quickly named Dust by the wise sword and it's impudent guardian Fidget. With no memory of anything and a legendary blade, what is one to do? Set out on an epic quest to save the world and defeat your former allies; certainly. Yes, the plot is undeniably cliched and it's been done a thousand times. However, the delivery is something remarkably unique. The voice actors are convincing, and the dialogue is just fantastic. From the subtle comments that break the fourth wall and the hilariously wacky characters will make you laugh. Reed and his precious box anyone?

This is one hell of a party trick. It's hella fun being able to summon a storm of bolts whenever you feel like it.

Dust plays like any old iconic platform game with a few twists. Think Mario, Sonic, Rayman. Typically you will be navigating levels from left to right, jumping across gaps and slinging together enemies with brutal sword and spell combinations. What separates Dust from the other games is the style of combat. Aside from being able to hack and slash your way through opponents with the sword of Ahrah, you can kick up a Dust Storm by spinning your weapon at incredible speeds. On top of that, your pet companion Fidget can shoot out various magical bolts that you can amplify by using it in tandem with Dust Storm. It's hard to describe, but you get a very satisfying feeling from performing a perfect barrage of sword and sorcery attacks.

Some parts of Dust require you to navigate troublesome terrain, but with your insane maneuverability it's quite easy.

The many other great features of Dust include an inventory and crafting system, which is basic at best, but gives you a nice degree of customization and the instinct to go out and find the materials you need. Killing enough baddies will level you up and grant you new abilities and attributes. It's possible to massively increase your experience intake by keeping your combo going for longer without taking any damage. There are also shops scattered throughout each zone but their only real use is to stock up health potions before going into a dangerous area. The RPG elements to Dust aren't very prevalent, but they are a nice touch that really adds flavor and addiction.

Since you can spin your sword fast enough to create a tornado, I don't really understand why he didn't put this out.

The art style is adorable, and it's nice to see such crisp 2D graphics in high resolution. The characters and the animations are lovingly designed, and the gameplay is a pleasure because of it. It's one thing when a platformer is well designed and smooth, but when the animations are awesome to watch it becomes something else entirely. Instead of just smashing all the bad guys and heading for the next area, every player gets the urge to look cool at the same time. Dust allows you to do just that, you can sail across the screen with a cascade of missiles to barrage you opponent, and with a little practice you can string together devastating combo attacks that make you feel like a champion.

Enemies attacking your caravan? Dust storm! People throwing trash on your lawn? Dust storm! Wife nagging you? Dust storm!

What impressed me was how this title is a solid performance all the way through. It reminded me of playing Crash Bandicoot and Rayman. But if I were to compare all of these games together, Dust would come out on top. Why? Because it brings back all the great features of platforming that generations grew up on, and blends them together with modern techniques and mechanics. For example, save points are plentiful so you don't have to spend an hour scourging the map just so you can take a break. Quests are managed in the log, so you don't have to sit there and think about what you're supposed to be doing. The story is surprisingly immersive, yet doesn't take itself seriously. At no point during my playthrough did Dust, Ahrah and Fidget get on my nerves. I had a lot of fun playing an Elysion Tail, and I value it above the majority of the money-grubbing trash I've bought in the last 5 years.

Moonbloods are a race that are being exterminated by the General Gaius, the antagonist.

Ultimately, Dust: An Elysion Tail is THE best game I have played designed by one brilliant individual. The only pitfall I can honestly complain about is the distinct lack of difficulty. Even the bosses don't provide a shred of a challenge. Once you have the finesse to perform some of the lethal combos, the only time you will die is if you refuse to use any food to restore your health. Other than that, the last thing I can complain about is that it's too short. By no means is it short, you can probably get a good 20 hours out of the game if you go for 100%. Unfortunately, a third of the game had to be cut short due to a lack of time. If that third is released as DLC, god help me I'll buy it. Even though I hate DLC. I will pay cash money to play it.

Game Dev Tycoon

So I've been a little on the fence about this one. A game about making a game, seems a little too close to inception for me. However, after hearing about the publicity stunt Greenheart games pulled on torrent users, I was intrigued. For those of you that don't know, there are fake torrents floating around that will stop you progressing in the game because too many people are torrenting the games you make. I thought it was funny, but I bet there's a few people out there who aren't very impressed.

For the last couple of days whenever I dropped into a group call with my friends, all I would hear is babble about game creation and development. Eventually I caved and bought Game Dev Tycoon. After playing it for 10 minutes and realizing that in reality 3 hours had passed, I knew I hadn't wasted my cash.

Making Final Fantasy doesn't always produce amazing results.

Upon creating your company name and choosing an avatar, you are presented with your office. A garage. Succeeding in Game Dev Tycoon requires you to make as many successful games as you can in 30 years of gaming history. To create a game you need to choose the genre, topic, and platform. Then you need to decide on what aspects to focus on. For example, an RPG generally needs good dialogue and quests. Once you have finished your game it goes onto the market, where it accumulates sales and fans for your company.

It starts out pretty basic at first; make games, make money. But you will quickly become overwhelmed by the creation of new consoles and creating engines to accommodate your new mechanics. Then you have to manage your employees and train them to be useful. You can enter contracts with publishers to fund your games and publicity. The further you progress into the game the more you have to manage and watch out for, and if you make several bad games in a row it can cost you a huge amount of fans and money. Nothing is more depressing than sinking your $1 million budget into the perfect game only for it to get pathetic reviews.

Choosing the best attributes to put your time into is important.

I've had a lot of fun playing this game so far, and every single one of my friends has bought it; which is not a common occurrence in our group. I've made several different companies and most of them have failed before the 15 year mark. In fact, the furthest I got was when I made EA games and ran my company like a bastard tyrant. Anyway, it's a lot of fun and you can put quite a bit of thought into how to market your games.

Game Dev Tycoon is one of those titles you would see as an app on Facebook. However, instead of using special coins purchased by micropayments to make you buy stuff in the game, they've opted for the far more sensible and affordable price of $8. It feels like a flash game you would find for free on Kongregate or Newgrounds. It's the ideal title for your tablet or laptop. Game Dev Tycoon doesn't have intensive graphics, just addictive company management and the fun that comes with making it as your own gaming company. Should you buy it? Yes.

Top 5 PSP RPG titles

After owning a Playstation Portable for several months and buying dozens of games, I've finally decided on my top 5 favorite RPGs. Surprisingly, there's a huge market for roleplaying games on the PSP. I find countless new titles every time I go game shopping.

This list is by no means definitive, it is merely my favorite RPGs on the PSP. If you don't like it, just remember that. If you have any suggestions for games I should include, comment away! 

Top 5 PSP RPG titles:

1- Final Fantasy: Crisis Core

I don't like that Crisis Core is the best RPG on the PSP. Because it's a dying franchise, and it's really 'mainstream' to put a Final Fantasy at the top of the list. However, it's easily the best game on the PSP. The graphics are top notch, the combat is brilliant, and it's got hours of content. It is a healthy prequel to Final Fantasy 7, that anyone can enjoy. Even though I didn't want to put this at number 1, there's no doubt in my eyes that it deserves the spot.

2- Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable

When I came across Persona 3 sitting lonely on a shelf, I bought it without a second thought. It was a brilliant game for the PSX, and it's even better on a handheld. It's got a great story, that can't be fully experienced in a single playthrough. The combat is challenging, demanding that you climb up over 200 floors of enemies in under a year. Persona 3 Portable is basically tied with Crisis Core for first place.

3- Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

Birth By Sleep is the best handheld Kingdom Hearts game. It has addictive and layered combat, a brilliant plot, and 3 separate characters to play the story with. The only shortcoming this game has is that it's too short. That and the Disney part, which I'm okay with. Even if you know nothing about the Kingdom Hearts universe, this game is still worth playing.

4- Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth

I hated this game at first. It was overly complicated, without much explanation. 5 hours later, I was balls deep in dungeons, recruiting new characters and perfecting them before I could toss them up to Valhalla. Although it has a patchy plot and is difficult to pick up, Valkyrie Profile is yet another game from the PSX that made a wonderful transition onto handheld.

5- Star Ocean: First Departure

I've always liked the Star Ocean games, they've been a solid RPG over the years with less appreciation than deserved in the west. First Departure brings some of that old school spice onto the PSP. The combat is a little basic, but the story and the characters are amazing. You can't recruit every character in one playthrough, and there's loads of side content to complete. I really loved grinding on this one.

If you're looking for PSP games, this list might help you. The PSP almost has more RPG titles than I can buy, but I will keep on purchasing the ones that I can. Feel free to comment if you have an opinion on your favorite PSP games!

Game of Thrones

I bet there's quite a few of you out there who didn't even know the Game of Thrones (GoT) RPG existed. Well, it does. Unfortunately, by gaming standards it doesn't hold a candle to other titanic and better developed RPGs. Fortunately, it's GoT. When a game has inherently bad mechanics but an untapped well of lore from one of the greatest book franchises in existence, it's really difficult to see how it will all turn out in the end.

Mors and his fellow watchmen at the wall.

Genre: Action, RPG
Release Date: 15th May 2012
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Score: 4/10
Similar Titles: Star Wars: KotoR, Neverwinter Nights, Risen

The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition

It has been a long time since I've touched the Witcher. I always thought it was a lacking finish, with clunky mechanics. However, that does not change the fact that it was a brilliant game. Spend five minutes on it, and you can tell almost immediately that it is a rich environment with plenty of lore. The combat is smooth and requires a satisfying amount of finesse to master. To start you may have to push yourself to get invested into the Witcher 2, just like in the first game. Eventually it will just pull you in (here is my initial review).

The graphics are really something special.

Genre: RPG, Action
Release Date: May 17th 2011
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Dragon Age, The Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect

Lord of the Rings: War in the North

This game is quite difficult for me to review. I have a great love for Lord of the Rings, yet I have a strong aversion to mediocre games. War in the North is definitely a mediocre title at its best. It has a lackluster skill tree that's less diverse than any game I can remember playing. The combat is fun, for 10 minutes. Oh, and the graphics aren't anything special either. Well, they are special- just not the kind of special you want in a game.

I think the grain effect is intentional.

Genre: RPG, Adventure, Action
Release Date: 25th November, 2011
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Score: 4/10
Similar Titles: Borderlands, Dead Island, Lord of the Rings

Divinity 2

Divinity II is an under-appreciated game that never really stood out among other instant hit titles of the time like Dragon Age or Oblivion. Whilst it may deserve a spot in the sun, its lack of polish earned it a lonely bench in the shade. Even the hardiest of RPG connoisseurs can overlook or miss out on playing the Divinity games, which is a real shame. Just because the franchise was out shined by better publicized and better funded companies, doesn't change the fact that at its greatest moments; Divinity can easily compete and even beat its more popular rivals.

Yeah, I forgot what happened here. Let's just say magic stuff.

Genre: RPG, Adventure, Action
Release Date: 20th November, 2009
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Dragon Age, Kingdoms of Amalur, Oblivion

Dragon Age 2 second playthrough

I've recently been playing a little Dragon Age 2 in my spare time. Although everyone thinks it's a letdown, I still think it's worth a playthrough. It's simple, fun, and very easy. I've taken to playing it whilst I watch television, because it's one of those games that doesn't really deserve 100% of your attention.

3 options, so naturally pick evil every time.

The main gripe that people had for DA2 is the dialogue system. The wide amount of conversation options that made the first such a pleasure to play is dulled down and reduced to three choices at a time. Often in the first game, you would get at least four options to play with; usually more.

Dragons!? In Dragon Age?! They are incredibly rare.

On the plus side, the combat is streamlined and visceral. It's entertaining to watch, albeit way too easy even on the harder difficulties. The abilities are all very interesting, and if you use them in the right order you can often outmaneuver opponents without taking a touch of damage. On the other hand, I missed the frantic pausing to make frequent adjustments in the first game. In the original DA you had to monitor and maintain your entire party to win tough battles. This feature is all but gone, in Dragon Age 2 you can win using one hand and nary a pause the whole game.

Still, if you like to multitask, whack on the television and give Dragon Age 2 a shake. Take a look at my original review if you're curious!

Path of Exile has an enormous skill tree.

I'm level 16 and I've barely made it out of the starting gate.

After spending an entire evening glued to Path of Exile, I've not encountered something I dislike yet. But my favorite part is the skill tree. It's just unbelievably big. It's also remarkably similar to the Sphere grid on Final Fantasy X. Since all the classes share the same grid but start in different places you can head towards another classes zone if you want to pick up some of their talents. It's simple yet complex at the same time.

Maybe I'm biased because I truly do love being able to customize my characters build to be completely unique. Instead of having some douchebag join your party on Diablo 3 and copy your build, on Path of Exile they would have to start a new character. So I've been feeling fairly original whilst carefully designing my build, which is rare for me on a game these days.

I zoomed out as far as I could, and this just about half of the talents in the game.

So if you're going to play Path of Exile, the talent tree is a huge plus. It's got plenty of nifty little features you won't really see in other games. For example, the closest thing to currency in this game is scrolls of identification. What's that you say? No money? Yep. It's more like a barter system. You trade your items to vendors for scrolls and other interesting scraps. Another cool feature is when you die on your hardcore character, it is automatically converted to a normal one. So instead of losing your character, you just lose your bragging rights.

Path of Exile is going to be a great game when it's finally released. If you don't believe me, try out the beta. Sure, it can't sport a high budget like the usual suspects, but that doesn't change the facts. Grinding Gear Games clearly have a passion for games, and the know what Diablo and Torchlight didn't deliver. They are bringing it to Path of Exile.

Open beta on Path of Exile!

For those of you who want alternatives to Diablo 3 or just like the dungeon crawling Hack'and'Slash style of games- Path of Exile is in open beta. Hosting an enormous skill tree and a true challenge, people are flocking to this semi-mmo RPG. I say semi-mmo because in part, you can interact and join other players whilst you're in the towns. It's definitely worth a try, I'm really having fun testing it out.

The graphics aren't half bad.

I've only been playing for 30 minutes so far, but it looks incredibly promising. The witch is the class I am testing, because I'm partial to playing spellcasters. There are currently 6 classes to try out- all of which start on different places in the same talent tree. This mechanic is really intriguing. Essentially, you can start as a warrior and level your way to the healer tree to access restorative talents. Another interesting feature revolves around how your active skills work. They are slotted into your equipment through gems. Weird, right? Instead of unlocking a new ability when you level up, you find a gem in the world and whack it in your armor.

Combat is bloody and brutal, like it should be.

I thought I'd make a quick post in case there is anyone interested in getting in on the free beta. It's not going to cost you anything but a little time and bandwidth, so give it a go! Link to Path of Exile, if you want to test it.

Torchlight 2

There's a reason I'm reviewing the second Torchlight before Diablo 3. Not because it's better, but because Torchlight 2 did not let me down. Sporting cartoon graphics and a simple yet elegant engine, Runic games have done a good job transitioning into a sequel. You will traverse a reasonably long campaign split into acts, basic character customization with detailed and addictive skill/talent system. Also, 6 player multiplayer! So if you have 5 friends instead of 3, screw Diablo and buy this.

Begin your journey and it's raining. Fucking British weather.

Genre: RPG, Roguelike, Hack'n'Slash
Release Date: 20th September 2012
Platforms: PC
Score: 8/10
Similar Titles: Diablo III, Path of Exile, Titan Quest

RPG games are just the best timesinks

Over the years I've partaken in every RPG I've had the opportunity to purchase and play. It is without a doubt my favorite genre. The very fact that almost every new title released today has incorporated elements with Role playing roots is proof of how much influence these games have had on the industry.

Good old Pokemon.

Pokemmo

I've recently had a shared obsession with Pokemon, a lot of my friends and I have been playing Pokemmo; which is essentially Fire Red online. Pokemmo has a line of predecessors, similar online versions; all of which have been shut down or just plain failed. Despite that, it didn't stop these guys from trying.

Awwwww yeah. Pokemans.

It's extremely addictive, being able to play one of my favorite games of all time whilst having access to battle and chat with friends at the same time. In fact, so many of my friends have started playing that I can't keep up with who I need to add to my friends list.

Nostalgia yet?

Whilst the game currently still appears to be in alpha stage, it's very functional and some of the only content you can't access yet involves gambling, breeding, and the elite four. Updates to the game are fairly frequent, so expect to see the game in its full majesty in a matter of no time.

I have more than two badges now.

What's amazing, is being able to undertake your journey to become the master Pokemon trainer- with hundreds of players all swarming around, chatting, trying to do the same thing. The entire world is packed with people, and it makes playing exponentially more fun. For example, I decide to farm my Eevee happiness in a certain spot- only to find a dozen people already there doing the same thing.

I really love this game, it's a brilliant concept and I'm pretty upset they get shut down. I think the people who stop these games from running are probably just upset they aren't making any profit from it.

Everyone gets a Pikachu. Am I right?

It's the same as you remember, catching Pokemon and beating down gym leaders with glory and awesome. If you haven't played any of the games before, I'd get right on it- all you need is a Fire Red rom and off you go!

Risen 2: Dark Waters

Genre: RPG
Release Date: April 24th 2012
Platforms: PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 3
Score: 7/10
Similar Titles: Risen 1, Gothic, Sacred

Our courageous nameless hero.

I shall promptly begin my review of Risen 2 with a rant. Why? Because the combat is inherently broken. From the slightly annoying draw/sheathe system to the incredibly stupid parry idea, the fighting mechanics are a frustrating wall every player will have to overcome.  A developer should not continue creating their title when such a core concept is not functioning desirably. Alas, the challenge I seek in a game was found through battling various badly designed mechanics that made it barely playable.

Not many people can stand progressing through a game that constantly tries to make you quit, but when I persevered through the early stages I really feel I got my money's worth back, a little anyway. So if you like RPGs, pirates, and dying too much, Risen 2 has plenty to offer.