2017 is already brilliant for fans of Japanese games, and the Switch isn’t even out yet!

The JRPG is a genre that never truly gets old, and 2017 has already seen three big releases from three of its most classic franchises. Tales of Berseria didn’t resound throughout the gaming world, but the fans of the series have taken a much stronger liking to it than the previous game, Tales of Zestiria.

Kingdom Hearts is still doing its thing, releasing mni-sequels and interweaving chapters as we prepare for Kingdom Hearts III. It’s going to take far too many hours to get caught up on this canon, and even the title of this early 2017 release, Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue, scares me.

And yes, my glorious Dragon Quest saw a release several years in the making. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King feels fresher than ever on the Nintendo 3DS, which is saying something about just how ageless this series is. There’s just something special about Dragon Quest that makes its repetitive formula so immortal.

Dragon Quest VIII is where I spend most of my gaming hours on the Japanese trains every day, acting as an anchor to return to when my daily free-to-play routine has expired.

And speaking of which.

Nintendo doesn’t need to release the Switch to claim that it made an impact in 2017. Fire Emblem Heroes easily made up for the disappointing launch of Super Mario Run, and it has managed to make free-to-play fans out of the Nintendo crowd, perhaps the staunchest defenders of traditional gaming consoles that exist. The game has been praised for successfully boiling down the Fire Emblem formula into a light, easy to play package and also making Nintendo a ton of money in the process.

You can bet now that Nintendo has tasted this forbidden fruit, it is never turning back. Fire Emblem Heroes is no Terra Battle, but it’s solid enough to last Nintendo for quite some time.

Oh yeah… the Switch is coming out too, huh? And The Legend of Zelda. And Super Mario Odyssey. And Persona 5. And Fire Emblem Echoes. And even Shenmue III, if we’re lucky! What a great time to be a fan of Japanese video games, huh?

Article source: https://www.technobuffalo.com/2017/02/16/2017-is-already-brilliant-for-fans-of-japanese-games-and-the-switch-isnt-even-out-yet/