Overall, Hexyz Force is a safe effort, bringing barely anything new to the table, but it will be appealing for those who are not looking for something complicated, or those looking for a decent forty hour dual-story epic.

All things considered, Glory of Heracles isn't an amazing game, but it has enough charm to satisfy RPGamers looking for a simple, story-driven JRPG.

Lazy. Generic. Simple. Nostalgic. A light-hearted throwback to 90s gaming. Depending on your viewpoint, Mimana Iyar Chronicle is any or all of those things.

Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light delivers an RPG that has far more in common with early iterations of the Final Fantasy series than anything after V, and slips in a fair number of direct references to them.

Torchlight is an awkward game to assess. On one hand, the gameplay is a major disappointment in that it's worse than Diablo II in every way, but on the other hand it has no major flaws and, even for a hater of easy games like me, gets addicting once the Shadow Vault, an unending postgame dungeon whose enemies are tied to your level, becomes available.

As is, it is a fun timesink for WRPG fans, but don't try it if you aren't enthralled by the genre or if you don't have the time or money to play every WRPG that comes out. This one isn't worth the full price.

Dissidia 012 is a frustrating game. The fundamental parts are quite solid, the graphics and music showcase Square Enix's usual excellent craftsmanship, and the fighting system remains fairly unique even if the game isn't exactly innovative compared to its predecessor. It bungles a lot of the ancillary features though, and some of the flaws seep back into the core of the gameplay.

Ultimately, The Dragon Knight Saga is a game at odds with itself. Its solid writing and quest design has to contend with balance issues and a myriad of other minor problems such as a sporadic autosave function that feels more like an afterthought.

It's cast from a different mould than that of Xenoblade and The Last Story, and while it may not reach the same level as its contemporaries, those looking for a decent adventure should find plenty to like.

As an actual game, Risen 2 is mediocre. The gameplay is primitive and the technical problems alone are more than enough to recommend shying away from it. However, as an experience, Risen 2 is highly entertaining. Players willing to overlook the issues with the gameplay will find themselves sucked into a sweeping, high-seas adventure that's rare for the RPG genre.

At the end of the day, Heroes of Ruin is a fun game with a slew of issues that prevent it from being great. A wealth of multiplayer options make it the closest to a console third-person looter you'll find on any portable system. While it can still be a fun single-player experience, the game is best played with a group of friends. Even so, with repetitive environments, monsters, music, and sound, it is not likely to be a memorable experience.

Though this might seem like a gripe, Darksiders II is not a bad game. Its mechanics are tightly crafted and there are plenty of exciting battles and twisted puzzles to work through. But don't be surprised if everything feels very familiar, and don't feel ashamed if you're inclined to simply turn it off. After all, you've probably played this game a hundred times before.

Unchained Blades isn't unenjoyable, and its subsystems are an inventive take on what less skilled hands would have turned into a bare slog. However, a game as long as this one needs something greater to keep the inevitable hours of filler at bay. Deeper, more nuanced characters would have been been one route. Alternately, a smoother difficulty curve would've limited the opportunities to switch on autopilot.

Sticker Star is an odd beast, and its RPG aspects are actually the most problematic. Many of the most enjoyable parts come when it can be played as a straight platformer, only to be interrupted when aggressive enemies force the player into another battle without a worthwhile reward.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope's drawing power is really its battle system and little else. Despite a solid plot and strong item creation, the shoddy localization and terrible level design mar the experience beyond salvaging.

Neverland Card Battles is indeed unique and the first game to accurately combine a CCG with a TRPG; however, although it is not bad, the execution has just enough holes in it to keep the game from being fun.

Trying to combine peanut butter and jelly into a delicious sandwich, tri-Ace instead takes two very different battle systems and combines them into something like ice cream with poached eggs on top. The tactical parts alone are decent with lots of customizability and strategies to ponder, and the Valkyrie Profile system is about as good here as it is in the first two games in the series, but instead of meshing and working together, they pull against each other as the player is left wishing he had just one system or the other.

My World, My Way is certainly for players who are into collecting items from battles, and very simple, but sometimes challenging, dungeon-crawling.

Black Sigil's unpleasant combat is truly a shame, because just about everything else in the game successfully emulates the feeling of playing a great lost Super Nintendo RPG.

It's cute and I can see certain subsets of gamers becoming addicted to treasure hunting and meeting all of the residents, but there are no new discoveries to be found here.

Bleach: The 3rd Phantom is not going to snare fresh fans for the franchise, but at least it does not fail so completely as to be unplayable.

For some it may be worth trying out, but there are many JRPGs on the DS right now that are more fun, more charming, more worth your time, and more likely to remind you of the good old days of being a young RPGamer.

Unfortunately, while the original game really had a fairly interesting story, this game fell a little short of it.

Fans of Organization XIII will enjoy some insight into their favorite characters' daily lives, but many fans of the series may be turned off by the lackluster controls and odd story directions taken with this portable spin-off.

There is fun to be had in Divinity II, especially in terms of exploration and customization. Unfortunately, the game's poorly plotted story and uneven difficulty will challenge the patience of most players, even those who enjoy parts of the game.

Overall, League of Legends holds a lot of promise, but comes up short as a retail product.

While the game has a lot of potential and is shiny on the surface, it lacks the depth and accessibility that prior puzzle-bending titles have offered and serves up a game that's ultimately a Bejeweled Twist variant done up pretty.

This foundation is shaky at best, so White Knight Chronicles needs some work.