Music
Film
TV
Culture
Interviews
Podcasts
CULTURE
Culture Feature

The 9 Best JRPGs of the PS2 Era

JRPGs are forever.

Square Enix

By the mid-2000s, the classic JRPG formula was giving way to new innovations intended to keep the genre fresh.

The best PlayStation 1-era JRPGs were largely defined by the ways that they built upon the turn-based combat a menu navigation mechanics of their predecessors (with the most famous example being Final Fantasy VII's Active Time Battle system, which put turns on an always-running timer instead of a set order).

PlayStation 2-era JRPGs largely benefitted from the fruits of these labors, keeping the things that worked and playing around with the things that didn't. As such, the PS2 featured a diverse catalogue of JRPGs that ran the gamut from classic throwbacks to entirely new combat systems that seemed to throw the entire playbook out the window. These are the best of the best.

Keep Reading Show less
gaming
Culture Feature

Jurnee Smollett Speaks Out on Brother, Jussie, and the Challenges of Being a Black Woman in Hollywood

The Lovecraft Country star has had to learn to stand up for herself, and is sticking by her brother.

Next week Lovecraft Country will be premiering on HBO.

The highly anticipated sci-fi/horror series set in the Jim Crow era of 1950s America—produced by Jordan Peele and J.J. Abrams—is already creating a lot of buzz, and Jurnee Smollett's Letitia Lewis may prove to be the breakout role that she has long deserved.

She's been acting professionally since she was too young to walk—if diaper commercials count—but as she noted in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she has avoided taking roles that she sees as degrading or objectifying. Sadly, as a Black woman in Hollywood, that has severely limited the amount of work she's gotten over the years.

Keep Reading Show less
jurnee smollett
CULTURE

Nintendo Switch Games to Play in Quarantine While You Wait for the Next Day in "Animal Crossing"

There are Switch games other than Animal Crossing, you know?

Nintendo

With Animal Crossing functioning as a substitute for pretty much every aspect of real life during quarantine, chances are that you're already living on your own virtual island.

Considering the massive Nintendo Switch shortage (that's still going on months into quarantine!), there's also a decent chance that you bought the console specifically to play Animal Crossing: New Horizons. But as anyone who has logged 300 plus hours into the game already knows, you eventually reach a point where you've done practically everything you can possibly do on your island...at least until the next day.

Keep Reading Show less
animal crossing
© 2020 Popdust Inc. All Rights Reserved.