A great weekend of wrestling is over and what a weekend it was! NXT continues to show the world why it's the best thing WWE has going with another well rounded, great event.
Tyler Breeze can't catch a break as he once again loses on the big stage of Takeover. The guy deserves so much more as he's a fantastic talent but at least he looked pretty good it defeat. The Vaudevillians finally won tag team gold thanks in some part to Blue Pants, who got one of the biggest pops of the night at Brooklyn. It was great match as well, probably the best tag title match ever at a Takeover event. Tye's Perfect 10 gimmick is over as expected but it wasn't enough to stop the debuting Apollo Crews as he wowed and impressed in his TV debut. He didn't do the full Uhaa Combination so that's something to look forward to in the future. Samoa Joe and Baron Corbin beat the hell out of each other in an entertaining war. Corbin came up short obviously but he looked like a star in defeat. No kick out of the End of Days though. Stephanie McMahon came out afterwards and introduced the first of the two main events which was Banks VS Bayley for the title.
I really didn't think that Banks/Lynch from Unstoppable would be dethroned as the best women's match at a Takeover but Bayley and Sasha not only wrestled well but told an amazing story spanning their whole time in NXT. I always say this but without the presence of a mid card male title on NXT, the Divas are put in that position and since the very first Takeover special back in May last year, the women always go on next to last. They lead into the main event. That could be a good or bad thing for the main event, as the women have been putting on some really spectacular matches in the slot. Charlotte/Natalya, Charlotte/Bayley, Charlotte/Banks, Charlotte/Bayley/Banks/Lynch and Banks/Lynch have all had the pleasure of being put in that position and have been great matches in turn but this past weekend's match between Sasha and Bayley may have been the best yet.
The promo for the match told a lot; how Bayley has been left in dust by the other Four Horsewomen of NXT and even when she had opportunities to win the title, she failed. Bayley would then go on her Sami Zayn redemption tour, defeating her tormentor Emma, her greatest challenge Charlotte and fellow Four Horsewomen member Becky Lynch before getting her shot at Sasha. The story was in place to have Bayley finally get her moment but she still had to get through Sasha, who has been on a different level since winning the title back in February. The match itself was a love letter to women's wrestling, saying that it's nowhere near dead. Sasha focused on the injured hand of Bayley for a lot of the match, mixing in plenty of offense to set up for the Banks Statement. Bayley did her best to defend it. There were a lot of OMG moments in the match that you don't normally see in women's matches, like Sasha's insane Somersault Plancha to Bayley on the outside, Sasha stomping Bayley's hand in the ring steps, Bayley plummeting from the top ropes ON HER HEAD from a failed hurricanrana, the sequence for the first Bayley-to-Belly, Sasha furiously stomping on Bayley's hand while she's in the Bank Statement and of course, the ending. It was such an exciting match between two and unfortunately, it wasn't the main event. Everything about it FELT like a main event, especially the Curtain Call after the match, where Charlotte and Becky came to congratulate their friend Bayley, only to have Sasha and Bayley embrace and all four women to hold up the infamous four gesture with their hands. It was really an amazing moment as a wrestling fan, to finally see women have the place they deserve in the WWE. This is easily my moment of the year AND match of the year right now. This is how a wrestling match, not a women's match, is done. There was a fantastic, long build up, the match delivered and the end was touching and fitting. It's going to be interesting to see what's next for the women's division in NXT. All the Takeover specials except the first featured at least TWO members of the Four Horsewomen facing each other. With Bayley beating the three others now and with them on the main roster, chances are Bayley will defend against someone not apart of the group come October 7th. This is going to be really telling if Bayley can hold a match with someone that's not apart of the fabled group. It could even be Eva Marie guys! Bayley really has a lot of people that will be gunning for her title; Eva Marie, Emma, Dana Brooke, Alexa Bliss and even the soon to be debuting Nia Jax. If I had to pick one match I wanted to see most, it would be Bayley/Bliss. I've always loved Bliss and since she's been paired with Blake and Murphy, she hasn't been in the ring as much. Hopefully, that changes. A Bliss/Bayley match would be great but we all know they're building towards making Eva the biggest thing since sliced bread. We'll see how that goes but as of now, everything about this match was spectacular and earns the spot AS OF NOW, as match of the year and moment of the year.
For all the praise I give the women's match, I can't say too much about the ladder match between Owens/Balor. It was good but compared to Bayley finally getting her moment and celebrating with her friends, the ending fell kind of flat. Balor won, that was it. I was actually falling asleep on the main event so it's definitely something I have to look back on down the line. Regardless, I still don't think I'll hold in the same regard as the women's match. Moments like that just can't be surpassed. Balor's still the champ and will likely be feuding with Samoa Joe in the coming weeks.
WWE put on another fantastic SummerSlam event. The show really prospered thanks to Takeover the night before and you could tell everyone was feeling that pressure. Sheamus and Orton had another good opener, The New Day regained the Tag Titles in a frantic and fun Fatal Four Way, Stephen Amell looked fantastic for someone who's never wrestled before and Owens got his first victory at a big WWE PPV. As for the main events, Rollins/Cena delivered as expected. I'll say it until I die but John Cena has amazing chemistry with anyone that can wrestle better than him. They basically make Cena step his game up. The ending of it was weird but it didn't stop it from being a great match. Thanks to the host Jon Stewart and a chair, Seth Rollins retained his WWE World Heavyweight Title while winning his 1st United States Championship. While Rollins and Cena won't be having a rematch for Rollins's WWE World Title, a rematch for the US Title is likely for Night of Champions. Rollins has the task of defending his title against Sting at NOC as well. If Seth can continue this amazing run, he'll win my Superstar of the Year vote in December hands down. I could Sting beating Rollins, only to have Sheamus cash in his MITB and become the new face of the Authority but we'll see come September.
Lesnar and Taker wasn't bad but I just wasn't interested in the match at all. From the great Takeover special the night before, to amazing victories from Rollins and Owens, I was just checked out. And then, they do that horrible ending, basically confirming we'll be seeing a rematch at either the Royal Rumble or Wrestlemania 32. That was infuriating. This match did give Taker his first win over Lesnar on PPV but it still was a horrible finish to what was an otherwise great wrestling weekend. The thing I hate most about it was that there was no long term effects from the match. With Taker and Lesnar now both gone, what was the real point of the match? Yes, I understand they were trying to sell SummerSlam and this was the match to do it but as a fan, that's the only thing I see. Dollar signs! Now, Sting VS Rollins makes much more sense, seeing how Triple H and Sting have had a previous feud. How much of an insult would it be for Sting to take the title from Triple H's protege? THERE'S a feud that makes long term sense. This will also be Sting's first ever shot at the WWE Title, a title he's never won in his long career. As a fan, I'm definitely more intrigued in this match up with all the factor involved, not an uncharacteristic desperation match from a WWE Legend.
Besides Sting, The Dudley Boys came back on Raw in one of the biggest shockers of the year. I guess they're looking to win the tag titles again. If that's the only reason The New Day won the belts back, I'm going to be highly disappointed. Not at the decision to give the Dudleys the titles, but to treat The New Day as an afterthought. If the New Age Outlaws can win the titles again, so can the Dudleys.
The Wyatt Family welcomed a new member in Braun Strowman. He's from NXT but he never had a televised debut or anything. I can see why though. They've been growing his beard out and wanted to keep his debut a total surprise, which it was. With everyone clamoring for Leo Kruger, WWE gave us a much better and fitting option in Braun Strowman. The guy is MASSIVE! This is a future star if they push him right. He'll fill the void for any big guy WWE needs. I just hope he can back it up in the ring.
It was a great 3 days for WWE, with each night offering something different than the last. Bayley winning the title is still the top moment of all the events but Rollins beating Super Cena, Owen's impressive SummerSlam debut, the debut of Braun Strowman and the returns of The Dudley Boys and Sting all made for a great weekend for Brooklyn and WWE fans everywhere. Good job WWE!
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Saturday, August 22, 2015
Takeover AND SummerSlam predictions!!!
It's finally here! The greatest wrestling weekend of the year! EVERY wrestling fan should be happy this weekend with all the events taking place. The first tapings for Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling happened, while ROH, NXT and WWE will be putting on events in Brooklyn. There's a little something for everybody but this post is going to be focused on the two WWE centered events, namely NXT Takeover Brooklyn and the four hour special that is SUMMERSLAM. Let's talk Takeover first!
NXT has been blowing up recently, just look at the fact that the 13,000+ arena has been sold out for this special event. NXT is a force to be reckoned with and if their last 6 specials are anything to go off of, then we're in for a treat, as well as the 13,000 in attendance. 6 matches on the actual WWE Network Takeover Special while 4 others will be shown on Wednesday's episode of NXT. There's Bull Dempsey VS Elias Sampson, Eva Marie VS Carmella, Charlotte/Becky/Emma/Dana and my favorite, The Hype Bros, Cass and Enzo VS The Mechanics, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable. Gable and Jordan remind me a lot of The World's Greatest Tag Team, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. I'm really pulling for them to become the next big heel team in the business. It looks like they will win here as they beat the team of Neville and Solomon Crowe in an upcoming episode of NXT. Here's hoping for big things!
Uhaa Nation will make his highly anticipated debut under his new NXT name Apollo Crews. He will face The Perfect 10 Tye Dillenger. That's going to be a dueling battle for chants there! Tye's Perfect 10 gimmick is over big. I remember when I first saw it at the show in Philly and he won over the Philadelphia crowd so quickly! It debuted well on NXT TV as well so this should be interesting. Obviously, Apollo will get the win but as a person who has never had to pleasure of seeing Uhaa Nation wrestle, it's all eyes on him to see what he can do. I hope he does his full Press Slam, Moonsault and Shooting Star Press combo. He should call it Apollo's Creed. Just saying...Apollo Crews wins in an impressive display.
Are you ready for a hard hitting and unforgiving fight? Samoa Joe has his first match on a NXT Special when he faces THe Lone Wolf Baron Corbin. This is going to be a war, straight up. Nothing pretty is going to be in this match. Corbin has been on a roll, beating Bull and Rhyno in his last two matches at Takeover and they both were the same; wars. Since this is Joe's debut at Takeover, I fully expect him to win and start making his way up to the NXT Title picture. Balor/Joe in October sounds good to me in the main event. It should be a great match with Joe kicking out of the End of Days. I mean, why not right? Joe wins by tap out.
The Vaudevillians get another shot at the NXT Tag Titles when they face BAMF (Blake Alexa Murphy Factor). Vaudevillians has said they have a solution for Bliss, who has thwarted their attempts at winning the belts before. Does that mean a new Diva will make her debut on the show? That would be awesome as there are a lot of women they haven't called up yet. Of all the matches on the card, this is the one I'm least looking forward to. NXT's Tag division is clearly their weakest but they obviously see that and with all the tag teams forming (Hype Bros, The Mechanics, Gable and Jordan) it looks like they get the message loud and clear. BAMF have been the champs since January so a title change is very likely here, especially with the two great heel teams in The Mechanics and Gable/Jordan. I can't stress enough how much I like Gable and Jordan! Vaudevillians get the win and the NXT Tag Team Titles.
Tyler Breeze, the most underutilized guy in NXT, get the opportunity of a lifetime as he faces Jushin Thunder Liger in a one time special attraction match. This is great and I hope more things like this happen with WWE. Not necessarily singing the talent, but getting them for one off deals. This is the first of hopefully many. Breeze has been NXT since I've been watching the program. He's been on just about every live special and has put on some great matches with Zayn, Itami and Balor in the process. He's STILL on NXT though, for whatever reason while guys like Neville, Kallisto and Owens have all moved on. I believe they came in AFTER him as well so I feel for Breeze but he has a great opportunity to show the world what he can do on the biggest stage that NXT can offer. I haven't seen a JTL match so I think I'm in for a surprise when the 50 year old battles Brreze. I pray that Breeze doesn't have to do a job here so I'm picking him for the win. This should open the show if Crews doesn't. It should be a great match up but Breeze takes the victory in the end.
Kevin Owens and Finn Balor will do their 3rd battle for the NXT Title, this time though, it's a Ladder Match. The last NXT Title Ladder match was average at best but I think with the combined talent of these two, this one can steal the show in Brooklyn. I need to see a Powerbomb on a Ladder. It just need to happen. Ladder matches are very dangerous so the more risks these guys take, the more I'm going to cringe. Common knowledge will tell you that Finn Balor is easily going to retain, due to the fact that Kevin Owens has been hot shot to the main roster and owns a CLEAN pinfall victory over John Cena. For what reason would be need to be NXT Champion? Apparently, Owens enters one of the NXT shows with the NXT Title so I don't know what that means for this match. Title switch or just a theft of the title? Who knows? I just don't think Owens is going to hold the title. WWE just wants him to finish out here and then be fully on the main roster, hence why he didn't beat Cena at Battleground. Vince couldn't have the US Champ beaten by the NXT Champ twice in the same year. After a long and grueling match, Balor will retain and start looking towards either Joe or a returning Itami, who should be appearing on the show in some fashion.
I know it's an impossible dream but storyline wise, Bayley challenging Sasha Banks for the NXT Women's Title should be the main event show closer. It has the most storyline to it and it's really a touching tale of redemption. This is the Sami Zayn VS Adrian Neville match from Takeover R Evolution all over again. Bayley has sat there, watching all her peers pass her by, including Paige, Emma, Charlotte, Becky and even Sasha. All of them have been called up to the main roster before her. Bayley's on a mission though, to become NXT Women's Champion and to prove all of the doubters wrong. Bayley had to beat Emma, her arch nemesis, Charlotte, the best NXT Women's Champion that she couldn't defeat and Becky Lynch, the last person to challenge Sasha Banks. She beat 3 women who were all chosen over her to be on the main roster. Sasha is the last obstacle in the way between her and her dream. This should be a very emotional and trying match for both women. The NXT Women's matches always deliver on the big stage of Takeover and at the biggest one yet, it should be even better. Sasha is on the main roster and doesn't even bring her title out when she competes on television. She doesn't need it anymore. She's outgrown the title, by force I have to add. It's Bayley's time to finally win the title. While I'm a HUGE Sasha supporter, it's time for Bayley to run the division and start to face some new challengers, like Carmella, Alexa, Eva and some of the newer hires, like The Rock's MASSIVE cousin. Sasha losing is going to be hard for me as a fan but she just beat Nikki Bella by submission! I'll get over it. Bayley will dethrone The Boss in MY main event of NXT Takeover Brooklyn.
What other surprises do you think are in store for Takeover? Any other debuts? Where is AJ Styles going to be this weekend? I mean, anything is possible now that Samoa Joe is there!
SummerSlam is next!
HUGE four hour SummerSlam this year that features 10 matches on the card. 10!!! It's like tag team match aplooza though. Anyway, let's talk matches.
Ziggler and Rusev will do battle over a woman. Regardless of the dumb set-up, this should be a pretty good match up. Ziggler VS anyone is great as he really brings out the best in everyone he faces. I wish there was a title at stake but the rivalry is enough for now. Ziggler gets the win.
Orton and Sheamus do battle at another PPV. This isn't the first time this two have done battle at SummerSlam as they fought over the WWE Title 5 years ago. It's a rematch from last month's Battleground, which was good but with no added stipulations or anything, it's really a throw away match. Sheamus lost at Battleground so he'll win at SummerSlam.
Arrow star Stephen Amell will compete at SummerSlam! The actor teams with Neville to face Stardust and King Barrett. I don't know how the match will turn out but Amell's spear to Stardust was pretty spot on. Him being a fan is definitely helping sell the story here. Also, Stardust crowning Barrett The Cosmic King leads to believe that they will be doing more teaming together, which would make me very happy as both guys are kind of lost without any direction. Since it's Amell's first match and that he's an actor, Amell and Neville will get the win in a very cartoony but needed gimmicky match.
The Divas take center stage as Team BAD, Team Bella and Team PCB face off in a three team elimination match. This means that Nikki will escape ANOTHER PPV without defending her title. If she reaches Night of Champions with the belt, she'll beat AJ's record. It's not fair, especially seeing how both Charlotte AND Sasha have made her tap out. These feuds are pointless without the title being involved somehow. I'm really looking forward to the Divas getting time to show the world what they can do. I think after what happened on Raw that Team Bella will be eliminated first, since they're really the afterthought in all this and that it will come down to BAD and PCB, specifically, Charlotte and Sasha will the ones in the deciding pinfall. Sasha will be coming off of a loss at Takeover so I'm going with The Boss to secure a submission victory for her team. Charlotte had her time last month, it's Sasha's time.
Kudos for Ryback getting injured to make the IC Title boring again. Actually, it got boring again as soon as Ryback won and his first feud was with Big Show. They HAVE to do better than this if they ever want to make the IC Title relevant again. Ryback wins in the dud match of the night.
Tag Title mayhem! Prime Time Players defend against The Lucha Dragons, Los Matadores and The New Day. Multiple man tag title matches at big PPVs are very common place now. Just look at the last two Wrestlemanias! This will be a fun and fast paced match, especially anytime Kallisto gets some time in the ring. PTP are winless at SummerSlam but I like their reign as champions and if Stardust and Barrett continue to team together, it may be those two to dethrone them eventually. With that being said, The Prime Time Players will retain in a quick tag match.
It's The Shield VS The Wyatt Family: The Abridged Version! Yes, 2014's Match of the Year gets a somewhat reboot here when Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper face Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. Reigns/Wyatt is the feud of the new generation; two guys who's gimmicks are so far on both sides of the spectrum that you have to be interested. Harper and Ambrose are around because they have nothing else better to do. If the battles in the past are anything to go by, this is going to be a war. Maybe not on the level of Elimination Chamber 2014, but still, a great match regardless. Reigns and Wyatt are both undefeated at SummerSlam, with both superstars owning wins over former World Champions, including Kane, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. Someone's O has got to go! Wyatt got the first win so by one-upmanship, Roman Reigns should get the victory here for his team. The two should continue to feud until Hell in a Cell, where their feuds ends inside the ultimate feud ender. Reigns and Ambrose win.
Kevin Owens and Cesaro are going to steal the show at SummerSlam. Two fantastic stars with so much talent in-between them. WHY did Owens not win the US Title? This would have made for a great battle over the belt. Anyway, if given time, Owens and Cesaro will give you a MOTY candidate, mark my words. They both want to move onto the next level of their careers and both guys are obstacles their way. Someone has to fall while the other goes up to the top. Kevin Owens already has the big match experience, beating John Cena back at EC 2015, something Cesaro still hasn't done in his career. Cesaro is on a bit of a career resurgence after Kidd's unfortunate injury. It's good to see, though the way it happened wasn't the best. I expect some finishers to be kicked out of here and after 15 minutes, I expect Kevin Owens rebound from his Takeover loss with a big win over Cesaro in his SummerSlam debut.
Taker/Lesnar has to be No Hold Barred to be good. I really don't want to see this match as it does nothing for anyone. Taker wins, yay, he avenges his only WM loss. He can't get it back. It's not like the loss is erased if Taker wins and he would destroy everything Lesnar has accomplished during his Suplex City run. If Lesnar wins, he beats Taker for what, the fifth time in his career? It ruins the potential for a new Lesnar match, like Lesnar/Sheamus or Lesnar/Owens. I think Taker has to get his revenge though so Taker wins. This is the main event unfortunately.
The REAL main event is the clash between the two best singles champions in WWE; John Cena and Seth Rollins. It's title for title as Cena puts his United States Title against Rollins WWE Title. WWE CLEARLY took this idea for Ring of Honor and are proud of it. To be honest, it's a good match up on paper though so I can't blame them. This is the ultimate test for Rollins career as he has survived through everyone he faced in the past 5 months. John Cena, on the other hand, has made the United States Championship relevant asgain. Defending it against all comers every week makes every defense important and the person to dethrone Cena is going to certainly earn it. This match will be good. Cena has had some amazing match of the year candidates this year. His matches against Owens and Cesaro have been absolutely amazing. Cesaro and Cena battled for 30 minutes on Raw. Rollins/Cena will be no different. Cena's record at SS is not a good one. Amazingly, he's 4-7, with 4 of those 7 loses coming in the last 4 years. His record against Ring of Honor alumni in WWE Title matches is 0-3, losing to Punk twice and Daniel Bryan. So, how does it go down then with all the history against Cena? Well, didn't they just release a new Cena shirt that says he's a 15x champion? Why release that if he's going to win the title Sunday? It could be to swerve the audience but that would be very cheap of WWE to do; to make a new shirt for Cena that plenty of people brought, only to release a new one a couple of weeks later. I don't think WWE would sink that low. I got Seth Rollins walking out with both titles Sunday, but definitely dropping the US Title the next night on Raw. Hell, he might not walk out of SummerSlam with the WWE World Heavyweight belt to be honest...
There you go! Predictions for both huge WWE events this weekend! Go watch and enjoy! I know I sure will!
NXT has been blowing up recently, just look at the fact that the 13,000+ arena has been sold out for this special event. NXT is a force to be reckoned with and if their last 6 specials are anything to go off of, then we're in for a treat, as well as the 13,000 in attendance. 6 matches on the actual WWE Network Takeover Special while 4 others will be shown on Wednesday's episode of NXT. There's Bull Dempsey VS Elias Sampson, Eva Marie VS Carmella, Charlotte/Becky/Emma/Dana and my favorite, The Hype Bros, Cass and Enzo VS The Mechanics, Jason Jordan and Chad Gable. Gable and Jordan remind me a lot of The World's Greatest Tag Team, Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas. I'm really pulling for them to become the next big heel team in the business. It looks like they will win here as they beat the team of Neville and Solomon Crowe in an upcoming episode of NXT. Here's hoping for big things!
Uhaa Nation will make his highly anticipated debut under his new NXT name Apollo Crews. He will face The Perfect 10 Tye Dillenger. That's going to be a dueling battle for chants there! Tye's Perfect 10 gimmick is over big. I remember when I first saw it at the show in Philly and he won over the Philadelphia crowd so quickly! It debuted well on NXT TV as well so this should be interesting. Obviously, Apollo will get the win but as a person who has never had to pleasure of seeing Uhaa Nation wrestle, it's all eyes on him to see what he can do. I hope he does his full Press Slam, Moonsault and Shooting Star Press combo. He should call it Apollo's Creed. Just saying...Apollo Crews wins in an impressive display.
Are you ready for a hard hitting and unforgiving fight? Samoa Joe has his first match on a NXT Special when he faces THe Lone Wolf Baron Corbin. This is going to be a war, straight up. Nothing pretty is going to be in this match. Corbin has been on a roll, beating Bull and Rhyno in his last two matches at Takeover and they both were the same; wars. Since this is Joe's debut at Takeover, I fully expect him to win and start making his way up to the NXT Title picture. Balor/Joe in October sounds good to me in the main event. It should be a great match with Joe kicking out of the End of Days. I mean, why not right? Joe wins by tap out.
The Vaudevillians get another shot at the NXT Tag Titles when they face BAMF (Blake Alexa Murphy Factor). Vaudevillians has said they have a solution for Bliss, who has thwarted their attempts at winning the belts before. Does that mean a new Diva will make her debut on the show? That would be awesome as there are a lot of women they haven't called up yet. Of all the matches on the card, this is the one I'm least looking forward to. NXT's Tag division is clearly their weakest but they obviously see that and with all the tag teams forming (Hype Bros, The Mechanics, Gable and Jordan) it looks like they get the message loud and clear. BAMF have been the champs since January so a title change is very likely here, especially with the two great heel teams in The Mechanics and Gable/Jordan. I can't stress enough how much I like Gable and Jordan! Vaudevillians get the win and the NXT Tag Team Titles.
Tyler Breeze, the most underutilized guy in NXT, get the opportunity of a lifetime as he faces Jushin Thunder Liger in a one time special attraction match. This is great and I hope more things like this happen with WWE. Not necessarily singing the talent, but getting them for one off deals. This is the first of hopefully many. Breeze has been NXT since I've been watching the program. He's been on just about every live special and has put on some great matches with Zayn, Itami and Balor in the process. He's STILL on NXT though, for whatever reason while guys like Neville, Kallisto and Owens have all moved on. I believe they came in AFTER him as well so I feel for Breeze but he has a great opportunity to show the world what he can do on the biggest stage that NXT can offer. I haven't seen a JTL match so I think I'm in for a surprise when the 50 year old battles Brreze. I pray that Breeze doesn't have to do a job here so I'm picking him for the win. This should open the show if Crews doesn't. It should be a great match up but Breeze takes the victory in the end.
Kevin Owens and Finn Balor will do their 3rd battle for the NXT Title, this time though, it's a Ladder Match. The last NXT Title Ladder match was average at best but I think with the combined talent of these two, this one can steal the show in Brooklyn. I need to see a Powerbomb on a Ladder. It just need to happen. Ladder matches are very dangerous so the more risks these guys take, the more I'm going to cringe. Common knowledge will tell you that Finn Balor is easily going to retain, due to the fact that Kevin Owens has been hot shot to the main roster and owns a CLEAN pinfall victory over John Cena. For what reason would be need to be NXT Champion? Apparently, Owens enters one of the NXT shows with the NXT Title so I don't know what that means for this match. Title switch or just a theft of the title? Who knows? I just don't think Owens is going to hold the title. WWE just wants him to finish out here and then be fully on the main roster, hence why he didn't beat Cena at Battleground. Vince couldn't have the US Champ beaten by the NXT Champ twice in the same year. After a long and grueling match, Balor will retain and start looking towards either Joe or a returning Itami, who should be appearing on the show in some fashion.
I know it's an impossible dream but storyline wise, Bayley challenging Sasha Banks for the NXT Women's Title should be the main event show closer. It has the most storyline to it and it's really a touching tale of redemption. This is the Sami Zayn VS Adrian Neville match from Takeover R Evolution all over again. Bayley has sat there, watching all her peers pass her by, including Paige, Emma, Charlotte, Becky and even Sasha. All of them have been called up to the main roster before her. Bayley's on a mission though, to become NXT Women's Champion and to prove all of the doubters wrong. Bayley had to beat Emma, her arch nemesis, Charlotte, the best NXT Women's Champion that she couldn't defeat and Becky Lynch, the last person to challenge Sasha Banks. She beat 3 women who were all chosen over her to be on the main roster. Sasha is the last obstacle in the way between her and her dream. This should be a very emotional and trying match for both women. The NXT Women's matches always deliver on the big stage of Takeover and at the biggest one yet, it should be even better. Sasha is on the main roster and doesn't even bring her title out when she competes on television. She doesn't need it anymore. She's outgrown the title, by force I have to add. It's Bayley's time to finally win the title. While I'm a HUGE Sasha supporter, it's time for Bayley to run the division and start to face some new challengers, like Carmella, Alexa, Eva and some of the newer hires, like The Rock's MASSIVE cousin. Sasha losing is going to be hard for me as a fan but she just beat Nikki Bella by submission! I'll get over it. Bayley will dethrone The Boss in MY main event of NXT Takeover Brooklyn.
What other surprises do you think are in store for Takeover? Any other debuts? Where is AJ Styles going to be this weekend? I mean, anything is possible now that Samoa Joe is there!
SummerSlam is next!
HUGE four hour SummerSlam this year that features 10 matches on the card. 10!!! It's like tag team match aplooza though. Anyway, let's talk matches.
Ziggler and Rusev will do battle over a woman. Regardless of the dumb set-up, this should be a pretty good match up. Ziggler VS anyone is great as he really brings out the best in everyone he faces. I wish there was a title at stake but the rivalry is enough for now. Ziggler gets the win.
Orton and Sheamus do battle at another PPV. This isn't the first time this two have done battle at SummerSlam as they fought over the WWE Title 5 years ago. It's a rematch from last month's Battleground, which was good but with no added stipulations or anything, it's really a throw away match. Sheamus lost at Battleground so he'll win at SummerSlam.
Arrow star Stephen Amell will compete at SummerSlam! The actor teams with Neville to face Stardust and King Barrett. I don't know how the match will turn out but Amell's spear to Stardust was pretty spot on. Him being a fan is definitely helping sell the story here. Also, Stardust crowning Barrett The Cosmic King leads to believe that they will be doing more teaming together, which would make me very happy as both guys are kind of lost without any direction. Since it's Amell's first match and that he's an actor, Amell and Neville will get the win in a very cartoony but needed gimmicky match.
The Divas take center stage as Team BAD, Team Bella and Team PCB face off in a three team elimination match. This means that Nikki will escape ANOTHER PPV without defending her title. If she reaches Night of Champions with the belt, she'll beat AJ's record. It's not fair, especially seeing how both Charlotte AND Sasha have made her tap out. These feuds are pointless without the title being involved somehow. I'm really looking forward to the Divas getting time to show the world what they can do. I think after what happened on Raw that Team Bella will be eliminated first, since they're really the afterthought in all this and that it will come down to BAD and PCB, specifically, Charlotte and Sasha will the ones in the deciding pinfall. Sasha will be coming off of a loss at Takeover so I'm going with The Boss to secure a submission victory for her team. Charlotte had her time last month, it's Sasha's time.
Kudos for Ryback getting injured to make the IC Title boring again. Actually, it got boring again as soon as Ryback won and his first feud was with Big Show. They HAVE to do better than this if they ever want to make the IC Title relevant again. Ryback wins in the dud match of the night.
Tag Title mayhem! Prime Time Players defend against The Lucha Dragons, Los Matadores and The New Day. Multiple man tag title matches at big PPVs are very common place now. Just look at the last two Wrestlemanias! This will be a fun and fast paced match, especially anytime Kallisto gets some time in the ring. PTP are winless at SummerSlam but I like their reign as champions and if Stardust and Barrett continue to team together, it may be those two to dethrone them eventually. With that being said, The Prime Time Players will retain in a quick tag match.
It's The Shield VS The Wyatt Family: The Abridged Version! Yes, 2014's Match of the Year gets a somewhat reboot here when Bray Wyatt and Luke Harper face Roman Reigns and Dean Ambrose. Reigns/Wyatt is the feud of the new generation; two guys who's gimmicks are so far on both sides of the spectrum that you have to be interested. Harper and Ambrose are around because they have nothing else better to do. If the battles in the past are anything to go by, this is going to be a war. Maybe not on the level of Elimination Chamber 2014, but still, a great match regardless. Reigns and Wyatt are both undefeated at SummerSlam, with both superstars owning wins over former World Champions, including Kane, Chris Jericho and Randy Orton. Someone's O has got to go! Wyatt got the first win so by one-upmanship, Roman Reigns should get the victory here for his team. The two should continue to feud until Hell in a Cell, where their feuds ends inside the ultimate feud ender. Reigns and Ambrose win.
Kevin Owens and Cesaro are going to steal the show at SummerSlam. Two fantastic stars with so much talent in-between them. WHY did Owens not win the US Title? This would have made for a great battle over the belt. Anyway, if given time, Owens and Cesaro will give you a MOTY candidate, mark my words. They both want to move onto the next level of their careers and both guys are obstacles their way. Someone has to fall while the other goes up to the top. Kevin Owens already has the big match experience, beating John Cena back at EC 2015, something Cesaro still hasn't done in his career. Cesaro is on a bit of a career resurgence after Kidd's unfortunate injury. It's good to see, though the way it happened wasn't the best. I expect some finishers to be kicked out of here and after 15 minutes, I expect Kevin Owens rebound from his Takeover loss with a big win over Cesaro in his SummerSlam debut.
Taker/Lesnar has to be No Hold Barred to be good. I really don't want to see this match as it does nothing for anyone. Taker wins, yay, he avenges his only WM loss. He can't get it back. It's not like the loss is erased if Taker wins and he would destroy everything Lesnar has accomplished during his Suplex City run. If Lesnar wins, he beats Taker for what, the fifth time in his career? It ruins the potential for a new Lesnar match, like Lesnar/Sheamus or Lesnar/Owens. I think Taker has to get his revenge though so Taker wins. This is the main event unfortunately.
The REAL main event is the clash between the two best singles champions in WWE; John Cena and Seth Rollins. It's title for title as Cena puts his United States Title against Rollins WWE Title. WWE CLEARLY took this idea for Ring of Honor and are proud of it. To be honest, it's a good match up on paper though so I can't blame them. This is the ultimate test for Rollins career as he has survived through everyone he faced in the past 5 months. John Cena, on the other hand, has made the United States Championship relevant asgain. Defending it against all comers every week makes every defense important and the person to dethrone Cena is going to certainly earn it. This match will be good. Cena has had some amazing match of the year candidates this year. His matches against Owens and Cesaro have been absolutely amazing. Cesaro and Cena battled for 30 minutes on Raw. Rollins/Cena will be no different. Cena's record at SS is not a good one. Amazingly, he's 4-7, with 4 of those 7 loses coming in the last 4 years. His record against Ring of Honor alumni in WWE Title matches is 0-3, losing to Punk twice and Daniel Bryan. So, how does it go down then with all the history against Cena? Well, didn't they just release a new Cena shirt that says he's a 15x champion? Why release that if he's going to win the title Sunday? It could be to swerve the audience but that would be very cheap of WWE to do; to make a new shirt for Cena that plenty of people brought, only to release a new one a couple of weeks later. I don't think WWE would sink that low. I got Seth Rollins walking out with both titles Sunday, but definitely dropping the US Title the next night on Raw. Hell, he might not walk out of SummerSlam with the WWE World Heavyweight belt to be honest...
There you go! Predictions for both huge WWE events this weekend! Go watch and enjoy! I know I sure will!
Sunday, August 9, 2015
A JRPG resurgence?
2015 has been a great year in JRPGs. The dying genre used to be the king. Remember in the days of the SNES, where Earthbound, Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger were all the rage? How when they jumped to the next generation on Playstation 1 and started to hit their stride? The technology, stories and gameplay would only get better during the next generation on PS2 and Gamecube, giving us great titles such as Final Fantasy X, Wild Arms 3-5 and of course, Persona 4. The seventh generation is where the genre was put on life support. There were no big series making the transition to the consoles. No new Breath of Fire, Shadow Hearts, Wild Arms, nothing. Xbox 360 soon took over as king of JRPGs, with releases of Blue Dragon, Lost Odyssey, Eternal Sonata and Star Ocean IV. Everyone was waiting for the heaviest of RPG hitter, Final Fantasy XIII. When it came, it was met with universal mixed acclaim. There were some many issues with how linear it was compared to the past titles and that for how long the wait was, it should have been a much better game. After that, the only real JRPG fix you could get on consoles were niche titles, like the Atelier and Hyperdimension games. Good games mind you but not without their heavy fan service moments. Tales continued to carry the banner for the generation as Square continued to release more and more FF13 games onto consoles, both sequels also met with mixed reactions. JRPGs were on life support. If you wanted a real fix of JRPGs, you had to do it on the go as the 3DS and PS Vita are homes to TON of great RPGS, including Etrian Odyssey, Shin Megami Tensei IV and the beloved Pokemon series and that's only on the 3DS. Console gamers though, are out in the dust and with another new slew of consoles here, it looked like the continued want for deep console JRPGs is a fantasy. The only real JRPG out right now is Omega Quintet, which is great but once again, has heavy fan service. Where are the JRPGs of yesterday? The ones with compelling stories, deep combat and all the side quests we can do? 2015 looks to be a year to change all of that as MANY titles for the hardcore JRPGer were announced. Final Fantasy XV, Dragon Quest XI, Persona 5, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Tales of Zestiria AND Berseria, Star Ocean V, the Final Fantasy VII remake, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth, The Legend of Heroes, and Yo-Kai Watch are ALL games that are either going to be released in America this year, were announced or made some type of an appearance this year alone. Let's talk about some of the major leaders!
If JRPGs were wrestlers, let's use this example then. John Cena is to Final Fantasy as Randy Orton is to SMT/Persona. Shin Megami Tensei is a dungeon crawling RPG that started on the NES way after big brothers Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy had alreayd started. SMT was for the hardcore crowd, featuring dangerously hard battles and deep dungeon crawling. In the US, the originals never came over until the 2010s, so our first taste of the series came in the form of Persona, which was met with horrible localization issues. Persona 2 fared better but released during the era where JRPGs were crowding the market and got lost in the shuffle. Final Fantasy has been the KING of RPGs in the West but a small little unknown series started to make it's arrival in the late PS2 era. Shin Megami Tensei started hot in 2004 with Nocturne and ended it's fantastic run with Devil Summoner 2 in 2009. There was no series hotter than SMT during those days. Final Fantasy only released FF 10-12 on the PS2 while SMT released Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga 1 AND 2, Persona 3 AND 4 and Devil Summoner 1 AND 2. A new king was coming but aside from portable games, there was nothing on Xbox 360 or PS3 for them while FF continued to roll. It wasn't until 2013 that Persona 5 was finally announced for PS3 and then eventually PS4. While I still believe that Final Fantasy XV is generally the most anticipated RPG of this generation, Persona 5 is the one I'm looking forward to most. Look at the series' resume, especially at the last addition. P4 was RPG perfection and if P5 can capture the charm of it, we'll have a really deep and amazing RPG on our hands. Atlus has confirmed that Persona 5 will release in the US IN 2015. It's August now so the wait is almost over. It will probably release somewhere in October. Persona 5 is a big series but releasing it in November with heavy hitters such as Call of Duty, Fallout, Tomb Raider and Star Wars would make it lost in the shuffle. October is already filled with some good JRPGs. The Dragon Quest/Dynasty Warriors crossover game releases a day after my birthday and Tales of Zestiria comes out the week after. December houses Xenoblade Chronicles X so maybe a late release in December is more likely. Persona 4 came out in December as well so maybe. Regardless, I'm highly excited to play this game and I'm hoping for a deep adventure with thought provoking topics and decisions. Though we got a confirmation that P5 was coming in 2015, it's looking more and more likely that this might not make the end of the year. With no real details about the game, if it does release this year, it would be a big shock to me. This, to me, is THE RPG to beat. Final Fantasy XV has to work to get to this point. Speaking of FF15...
A demo for Final Fantasy XV was included with Type 0 HD when it came out back in March. The demo showed a little bit of what we're in store for for the real game and I was thoroughly impressed. The battle system is different than most mainstream FF games. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as long as it plays better than the 13 series. It does. While more action oriented, it still feels like everything is automated so it mixes the old school and new school together in great harmony. With a series like this, I understand it has to be hard to keep making characters look different and distinct. Prompto looks just like Cloud, Gladiolus has a Snow/Zell look and Noctis is the stereotypical looking FF main character. That definitely doesn't take anything away from how the game will turn out gameplay wise and mechanically, but it's definitely a pet peeve. Speaking of Final Fantasy, the VII remake was one of the biggest announcements from this year's E3. No gameplay or anything was shown but just the fact that they announced it was enough for FF7 fanboys. There was a report going around that the gameplay is going to receive an upgrade, which it needs. The game came out in 1997. They can't just release it in 2016 or 2017 with the same old gameplay mechanics. It won't work. I just hope it's not all Lightening Returns style. We'll see whenever the game has some gameplay released for it. Regardless, Final Fantasy looks to win back some of the fans it lost with these new two entries in the fabled series.
Dragon Quest isn't as popular in America as it is in Japan. Dragon Quest is basically the poster boy for RPGs in Japan which couldn't be any more clear after they announced a zillion new titles in the franchise in 2015. It's gaining its share of fans though as slowly but surely, Square Enix released most of the main series in America. They even released the monster training games as well. It's deserved because Dragon Quest is a fantastic series. While Final Fantasy is more known, Dragon Quest does the same great things that FF does, just a bit harder. My first taste of the series came with DQ8, which included the demo for Final Fantasy XII with it. That was the main reason I got it in the first place. I got a pleasant surprise though as DQ8 turned out to be way better than FFXII in the long run. I briefly played DQIX on 3DS. It really didn't capture me like 8 did though. I say all of this because Dragon Quest XI was finally announced for PS4 and 3DS. Two different consoles isn't strange but it's the choice of consoles. Why not the PS4 and Xbox One or the 3DS and the Vita? It's very strange to split them up by systems with different graphical limitations. The decision aside, I'm still very happy with the announcement that the game is going back to its turn based roots and not the MMO that DQX, which we didn't even get, came to be. The only thing now is if Square Enix will localize the game. You have to believe they will for a number of reasons. One, the need for JRPGs this generation. The only JRPG currently for next gen consoles is Omega Quintet. It certainly doesn't have the mass appeal of an established series such as Dragon Quest. You release this game in this current drought of JRPGs and they would be very happy that they did. The second reason being they decided to localize Dragon Quest Heroes. DQH is a spin-off game (now series) developed by Omega Force, who has been on a roll lately with putting the tried and true gameplay of Dynasty Warriors with a different franchise. They did it with Zelda and it was well received. DQH must have done well in Japan as a sequel has been announced. They've also developed games based on hit animes, such as Fist of the North Star and One Piece. A game about the hit anime Attack of the Titan is in development. If they would choose this game of all DQ games to localize, one would just believe that they will release Dragon Quest XI. Now, if they did, the question would be if they would give us both versions. DQH is for both PS3 and PS4 in Japan but in the US, it's only coming to PS4. Smart move for people still holding onto their old hardware if you ask me. I'm very excited for a new main title Dragon Quest game. I hope it can capture the magic that 8 did 10 years ago.
Besides Shin Megami Tensei, Tales has been the only other JRPG series that I've put my most time in in the past 10 years. Once Vesperia was released, it basically became the series I always got on release day. Graces F, Xillia 1 and 2 and of course, the newest entry releasing in October, Zestiria. I was very concerned that I wouldn't be able to play this game. Back in March, GameStop had a trade in deal, offering $175 credit for my PS3 towards a NEW PS4. Bloodborne had just released and I definitely didn't want to pay $400 out of my pocket alone so I cashed in. I ran up to GameStop with my console and only used about $75 of my own money with the other games I traded in. At the time though, Tales of Zestiria was only coming out for PS3. There were rumors about a PS4 version, but nothing was ever definite. I decided to take a chance and believe the rumors. It was a risky move but Tales of Zestiria WILL be releasing on the PS4 a week after my birthday. I'm really looking forward to this as this is really the first new Tales games since the original Xillia. Xillia 2 was great but all it was was a simple rehash with different elements in it. This is a completely new game, new universe and new mechanics, like the Real Map Battles, where you see a monster and instead of going to a separate battlefield, you do battle with your foes right from where you met them. That sounds stupid to most but it's something new and exciting if you ever played a Tales game. They also already announced the next addition to the series called Tales of Beseria, which features a female protagonist that looks eerily like Milla Maxwell from Xillia. Is there more to that? We'll see but first, Zestiria will be releasing in the US on October 20th, a week after Dragon Quest Heroes releases on the 13th. Jam-packed October for the PS4.
With the lack of RPGs in the last generation, when a new Star Ocean was announced, I decided to hop right on it. I played 3 on PS2 but didn't get hooked to it like other PS2 RPGs. I also played 1 and 2 on PSP but still didn't get into it really. 4 had the opportunity to get my full attention, mainly because there weren't any other real contenders to deal with. Star Ocean IV was fantastic though. It didn't have a thought provoking story or deep characters, but the combat was way more than enough to hold me over, along with all the sidequests, arenas and post game content. It took awhile but Square announced that a new Star Ocean game would be coming to PS4 next year. Like I said, Star Ocean isn't my favorite series but it definitely will be fully welcomed with not a lot of RPGs around. Just like with Tales, the game is going with battles on the same map you run into the monsters. No more crazy transitions into a battlefield. They said it will play more like Infinite Undiscovery, which may be a good or bad thing in the long run. I wasn't too big a fan of that game but if they can combine the two series styles, I think we'll be in for a great adventure come 2016.
Xenoblade Chronicles X is really the only hardcore to look forward to for the Wii U. There's no Zelda this year, no Metroid game in sight and Mario Maker, come on! The only game that could rival a hardcore taste would be Devil's Third but who knows when that will be releasing. Anyway, XBX is the sequel to one of the best Wii games ever Xenoblade Chronicles. The sequel looks to improve on the original game's MMO-single player style gameplay. I don't know anything about the game as I like to go into most of the games I play blind. I'm just looking forward to the same things that made the original such a hit, a compelling story, great exploration and fun, deep and rewarding combat. I know that there are Mechs called Dolls that you can control in this game but I don't know if you can battle with them or not. If you can, that will definitely add another dimension to this already deep series. Xenoblade Chronicles X releases on December 4th and might be the last big release of the year outside of Hitman. Will it be the great game its predecessor was or is it a cheap cash in on the Xeno series name? We'll certainly find out.
Those are all the big names in JRPGs that are coming out in the near future. There are plenty of other great ones coming out as well, like Legend of Heroes in November and Yo-Kai Watch and Digimon next year. Personally, I'm really looking forward to Digimon. I loved the Digimon World series, particularly 2 and 3 so a new RPG Digimon experience sounds amazing to me, even as I'm much older than when I played the original releases. The next couple of years should be really telling for JRPGs. This year alone, we should be getting Tales of Zestiria, Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 (hopefully). Those are all heavy hitters in the industry, with Persona 5 having to be the most anticipated RPG since Final Fantasy XIII. Next year the world will be treated to Square Enix's trifecta of RPGs in Final Fantasy XV (maybe), Dragon Quest XI and Star Ocean V. The verdict is still out if we're getting DQ11 but I'm optimistic with DQH getting a release in the West. JRPGs are making a comeback. The genre's big stars are here and better than ever.
What JRPG are you looking forward to most? Sound off in the comments below!
If JRPGs were wrestlers, let's use this example then. John Cena is to Final Fantasy as Randy Orton is to SMT/Persona. Shin Megami Tensei is a dungeon crawling RPG that started on the NES way after big brothers Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy had alreayd started. SMT was for the hardcore crowd, featuring dangerously hard battles and deep dungeon crawling. In the US, the originals never came over until the 2010s, so our first taste of the series came in the form of Persona, which was met with horrible localization issues. Persona 2 fared better but released during the era where JRPGs were crowding the market and got lost in the shuffle. Final Fantasy has been the KING of RPGs in the West but a small little unknown series started to make it's arrival in the late PS2 era. Shin Megami Tensei started hot in 2004 with Nocturne and ended it's fantastic run with Devil Summoner 2 in 2009. There was no series hotter than SMT during those days. Final Fantasy only released FF 10-12 on the PS2 while SMT released Nocturne, Digital Devil Saga 1 AND 2, Persona 3 AND 4 and Devil Summoner 1 AND 2. A new king was coming but aside from portable games, there was nothing on Xbox 360 or PS3 for them while FF continued to roll. It wasn't until 2013 that Persona 5 was finally announced for PS3 and then eventually PS4. While I still believe that Final Fantasy XV is generally the most anticipated RPG of this generation, Persona 5 is the one I'm looking forward to most. Look at the series' resume, especially at the last addition. P4 was RPG perfection and if P5 can capture the charm of it, we'll have a really deep and amazing RPG on our hands. Atlus has confirmed that Persona 5 will release in the US IN 2015. It's August now so the wait is almost over. It will probably release somewhere in October. Persona 5 is a big series but releasing it in November with heavy hitters such as Call of Duty, Fallout, Tomb Raider and Star Wars would make it lost in the shuffle. October is already filled with some good JRPGs. The Dragon Quest/Dynasty Warriors crossover game releases a day after my birthday and Tales of Zestiria comes out the week after. December houses Xenoblade Chronicles X so maybe a late release in December is more likely. Persona 4 came out in December as well so maybe. Regardless, I'm highly excited to play this game and I'm hoping for a deep adventure with thought provoking topics and decisions. Though we got a confirmation that P5 was coming in 2015, it's looking more and more likely that this might not make the end of the year. With no real details about the game, if it does release this year, it would be a big shock to me. This, to me, is THE RPG to beat. Final Fantasy XV has to work to get to this point. Speaking of FF15...
A demo for Final Fantasy XV was included with Type 0 HD when it came out back in March. The demo showed a little bit of what we're in store for for the real game and I was thoroughly impressed. The battle system is different than most mainstream FF games. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as long as it plays better than the 13 series. It does. While more action oriented, it still feels like everything is automated so it mixes the old school and new school together in great harmony. With a series like this, I understand it has to be hard to keep making characters look different and distinct. Prompto looks just like Cloud, Gladiolus has a Snow/Zell look and Noctis is the stereotypical looking FF main character. That definitely doesn't take anything away from how the game will turn out gameplay wise and mechanically, but it's definitely a pet peeve. Speaking of Final Fantasy, the VII remake was one of the biggest announcements from this year's E3. No gameplay or anything was shown but just the fact that they announced it was enough for FF7 fanboys. There was a report going around that the gameplay is going to receive an upgrade, which it needs. The game came out in 1997. They can't just release it in 2016 or 2017 with the same old gameplay mechanics. It won't work. I just hope it's not all Lightening Returns style. We'll see whenever the game has some gameplay released for it. Regardless, Final Fantasy looks to win back some of the fans it lost with these new two entries in the fabled series.
Dragon Quest isn't as popular in America as it is in Japan. Dragon Quest is basically the poster boy for RPGs in Japan which couldn't be any more clear after they announced a zillion new titles in the franchise in 2015. It's gaining its share of fans though as slowly but surely, Square Enix released most of the main series in America. They even released the monster training games as well. It's deserved because Dragon Quest is a fantastic series. While Final Fantasy is more known, Dragon Quest does the same great things that FF does, just a bit harder. My first taste of the series came with DQ8, which included the demo for Final Fantasy XII with it. That was the main reason I got it in the first place. I got a pleasant surprise though as DQ8 turned out to be way better than FFXII in the long run. I briefly played DQIX on 3DS. It really didn't capture me like 8 did though. I say all of this because Dragon Quest XI was finally announced for PS4 and 3DS. Two different consoles isn't strange but it's the choice of consoles. Why not the PS4 and Xbox One or the 3DS and the Vita? It's very strange to split them up by systems with different graphical limitations. The decision aside, I'm still very happy with the announcement that the game is going back to its turn based roots and not the MMO that DQX, which we didn't even get, came to be. The only thing now is if Square Enix will localize the game. You have to believe they will for a number of reasons. One, the need for JRPGs this generation. The only JRPG currently for next gen consoles is Omega Quintet. It certainly doesn't have the mass appeal of an established series such as Dragon Quest. You release this game in this current drought of JRPGs and they would be very happy that they did. The second reason being they decided to localize Dragon Quest Heroes. DQH is a spin-off game (now series) developed by Omega Force, who has been on a roll lately with putting the tried and true gameplay of Dynasty Warriors with a different franchise. They did it with Zelda and it was well received. DQH must have done well in Japan as a sequel has been announced. They've also developed games based on hit animes, such as Fist of the North Star and One Piece. A game about the hit anime Attack of the Titan is in development. If they would choose this game of all DQ games to localize, one would just believe that they will release Dragon Quest XI. Now, if they did, the question would be if they would give us both versions. DQH is for both PS3 and PS4 in Japan but in the US, it's only coming to PS4. Smart move for people still holding onto their old hardware if you ask me. I'm very excited for a new main title Dragon Quest game. I hope it can capture the magic that 8 did 10 years ago.
Besides Shin Megami Tensei, Tales has been the only other JRPG series that I've put my most time in in the past 10 years. Once Vesperia was released, it basically became the series I always got on release day. Graces F, Xillia 1 and 2 and of course, the newest entry releasing in October, Zestiria. I was very concerned that I wouldn't be able to play this game. Back in March, GameStop had a trade in deal, offering $175 credit for my PS3 towards a NEW PS4. Bloodborne had just released and I definitely didn't want to pay $400 out of my pocket alone so I cashed in. I ran up to GameStop with my console and only used about $75 of my own money with the other games I traded in. At the time though, Tales of Zestiria was only coming out for PS3. There were rumors about a PS4 version, but nothing was ever definite. I decided to take a chance and believe the rumors. It was a risky move but Tales of Zestiria WILL be releasing on the PS4 a week after my birthday. I'm really looking forward to this as this is really the first new Tales games since the original Xillia. Xillia 2 was great but all it was was a simple rehash with different elements in it. This is a completely new game, new universe and new mechanics, like the Real Map Battles, where you see a monster and instead of going to a separate battlefield, you do battle with your foes right from where you met them. That sounds stupid to most but it's something new and exciting if you ever played a Tales game. They also already announced the next addition to the series called Tales of Beseria, which features a female protagonist that looks eerily like Milla Maxwell from Xillia. Is there more to that? We'll see but first, Zestiria will be releasing in the US on October 20th, a week after Dragon Quest Heroes releases on the 13th. Jam-packed October for the PS4.
With the lack of RPGs in the last generation, when a new Star Ocean was announced, I decided to hop right on it. I played 3 on PS2 but didn't get hooked to it like other PS2 RPGs. I also played 1 and 2 on PSP but still didn't get into it really. 4 had the opportunity to get my full attention, mainly because there weren't any other real contenders to deal with. Star Ocean IV was fantastic though. It didn't have a thought provoking story or deep characters, but the combat was way more than enough to hold me over, along with all the sidequests, arenas and post game content. It took awhile but Square announced that a new Star Ocean game would be coming to PS4 next year. Like I said, Star Ocean isn't my favorite series but it definitely will be fully welcomed with not a lot of RPGs around. Just like with Tales, the game is going with battles on the same map you run into the monsters. No more crazy transitions into a battlefield. They said it will play more like Infinite Undiscovery, which may be a good or bad thing in the long run. I wasn't too big a fan of that game but if they can combine the two series styles, I think we'll be in for a great adventure come 2016.
Xenoblade Chronicles X is really the only hardcore to look forward to for the Wii U. There's no Zelda this year, no Metroid game in sight and Mario Maker, come on! The only game that could rival a hardcore taste would be Devil's Third but who knows when that will be releasing. Anyway, XBX is the sequel to one of the best Wii games ever Xenoblade Chronicles. The sequel looks to improve on the original game's MMO-single player style gameplay. I don't know anything about the game as I like to go into most of the games I play blind. I'm just looking forward to the same things that made the original such a hit, a compelling story, great exploration and fun, deep and rewarding combat. I know that there are Mechs called Dolls that you can control in this game but I don't know if you can battle with them or not. If you can, that will definitely add another dimension to this already deep series. Xenoblade Chronicles X releases on December 4th and might be the last big release of the year outside of Hitman. Will it be the great game its predecessor was or is it a cheap cash in on the Xeno series name? We'll certainly find out.
Those are all the big names in JRPGs that are coming out in the near future. There are plenty of other great ones coming out as well, like Legend of Heroes in November and Yo-Kai Watch and Digimon next year. Personally, I'm really looking forward to Digimon. I loved the Digimon World series, particularly 2 and 3 so a new RPG Digimon experience sounds amazing to me, even as I'm much older than when I played the original releases. The next couple of years should be really telling for JRPGs. This year alone, we should be getting Tales of Zestiria, Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 5 (hopefully). Those are all heavy hitters in the industry, with Persona 5 having to be the most anticipated RPG since Final Fantasy XIII. Next year the world will be treated to Square Enix's trifecta of RPGs in Final Fantasy XV (maybe), Dragon Quest XI and Star Ocean V. The verdict is still out if we're getting DQ11 but I'm optimistic with DQH getting a release in the West. JRPGs are making a comeback. The genre's big stars are here and better than ever.
What JRPG are you looking forward to most? Sound off in the comments below!
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