5 JRPGs I Shouldve Really Played By Now

5 JRPGs I Shouldve Really Played By Now

It honestly wasnt until I finished Persona 4 Golden that I understood I wasnt just a fan of weird Final Fantasy games, I understood there was entire genre of these Japanese Role-Playing Games I loved, I just hadnt been paying enough attention to them. I love this genre enough now to talk about it as much as possible, but theres a catalog of classic JRPGs and highly relevant series that I havent touched yet. I always intend to get back to them, but its not that simple sometimes because of life getting in the way and the sheer length of a JRPG, not to mention keeping up with the franchises I already love and want to continue playing. Its hard to balance both. So, as a reminder to myself of my backlog of shame, heres 5 JRPG games I definitely shouldve played by now and hope to play sometime soon.

Tales of... Series

The Tales of series is one of the biggest JRPG series at the moment, both in popularity and series entries, with 16 main entries in the series and no sign of stopping. I used to see Tales of Graces f in the discounted PS3 games section of my local game store and thought it looked interesting and pretty, but I never really went beyond just looking at it until games media sites like IGN started hyping Tales of Xillia. Now I own a few Tales titles, including Tales of Xillia 1 and 2, Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Graces, but I dont really know when Im going to play them as of yet. I love a great story and the Tales of series is known for having great stories, so its something I should probably try more of. I have tried Tales of Xillia, but I didnt finish it because I started another playing another game. Itll probably be the first one I try to concur and I hope that sparks a big love of the series thatll make me play the ones I own.

Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger is legendary in the world of JRPGs, so having not played it yet almost feels like a sin against my love of JRPGs. I was pretty damn young when Chrono Trigger was out, so I missed it but its one of those must play JRPGs as it was revolutionary for its time and has definitely had an effect on JRPGs now. With time travel and multiple endings being featured in the story, since these are some favourite features and kinds of story, Im sure Ill enjoy it, dated graphics and all.

Suikoden Series

Yet another series I became intrigued about due to many people on Twitter and in games media being hardcore advocates for the game. It was people like them that are the reason I signed the petition to bring Suikoden to the PSN. The petition was a great sucess, with Suikoden 1-3 now in the PSN store. I bought Suikoden 1 from the PSN, so its sitting in my backlog waiting to be played. I hear the story is incredibly touching and if the trailers anything to go off, it looks like an intriguing game thats been loved for a reason.

Wild Arms Series

Wild Arms is yet another legendary series I hear so many good things about, but I have mixed feelings about playing it. Its meant to be one of the best JRPGs of all time, but Ive never been interested in Wild West themes in movies or games and thats one of the premises for this story. However, Ive also never played a JRPG with a Wild West theme so maybe Im missing something and I just dont know it yet. With a mix of puzzles and JRPG mechanics, its probably worth checking out as an education on the JRPG genre, but if anyone could sell this to me in the comments, please do!

Dragon Quest

I used to not want to play Dragon Quest, purely because it was once Final Fantasys rival, but nowadays I really dont think thats a reason to not play something! A lot of the games mentioned in this article are ones Im curious about because of what other people have said and while many people say nice things about Dragon Quest, Im mostly listing it here because of my own interest. For starters, turn-based battles and hero saves the medieval looking town is one of my favourites, even if its a bit clich�. It looks like Dragon Age does this in its own way, with cool cartoon monsters and characters. Also the interesting things being done to the series such as Dragon Quest: Builders show that the creators of Dragon Quest are paying attention to whats going on in the world of gaming, but its a series that seems more faithful to its roots than Final Fantasy. Its hard to know where to start with a series like Dragon Quest, so perhaps Ill wait till the next one!

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Which of these games should I play most? Whats a JRPG you wish youd played by now?

Leave a comment below or send me a tweet at @JRPGJungle and lets talk!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Make sure to follow @JRPGJungle on Twitter for updates on content and random, shorter musings on JRPG news and games. Youre awesome! <3

All of the photos used in this article are not my own and are property of their respective creators and companies

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8 Really Useful Ubuntu Unity Quicklists

8 Really Useful Ubuntu Unity Quicklists

I read an interesting article on maketecheasier. Its posted here for your convenience.

One of the useful features in Unity (Ubuntu Natty) is the adding of quicklists to the application icons in the launcher. For example, you can right click on the Google Chrome icon and access the option to open an incognito window, or right click the Gmail icon and select "Compose New Email" option. For those who came from the Windows background, this is very similar to the Windows 7?s taskbar jumplist.

How to add Unity Quicklists?

Ubuntu came out with an API for the Unity launcher and anyone can create their own quicklists with a different modification of the configuration file. Currently there is no easy way to add a quicklist item. The following is the summary of the steps required to add a quicklist item:
1. Copy the desktop configuration file to your home folder.
2. Open the desktop configuration file with gedit.
3. Add the quicklist code to the file. The syntax is as follow:

#adapted from Ubuntu wiki. Example is for gnome-screenshot X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=Screen;Window   [Screen Shortcut Group] Name=Take a screenshot of the whole screen Exec=gnome-screenshot TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Window Shortcut Group] Name=Take a screenshot of the current window Exec=gnome-screenshot -w TargetEnvironment=Unity

The X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts code refers to the entries that appear when you right click on the app icon. The following [XXX shortcut Group] is the action for each entry.

Some of the most useful Unity Quicklists

1. Add Private/Safe mode, Profile Manager and your frequently accessed site to Firefox icon.

Copy the Firefox desktop configuration file to your home folder.

sudo cp /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop ~/.local/share/applications

Open the file with gedit.

sudo gedit ~/.local/share/applications/firefox.desktop

Replace the line

X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=NewWindow;

with

X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=NewWindow;Private;Safe;ProfileManager;MakeTechEasier 
#feel free to change the name of your frequently accessed site

Next, add the following code to the end of the file:

[Private Shortcut Group] Name=Private Mode Exec=firefox -private-toggle TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Safe Shortcut Group] Name=Safe Mode Exec=firefox -safe-mode TargetEnvironment=Unity   [ProfileManager Shortcut Group] Name=Start Profile Manager Exec=firefox -ProfileManager TargetEnvironment=Unity   [MakeTechEasier Shortcut Group] Name=Launch MakeTechEasier Exec=firefox "maketecheasier.com" TargetEnvironment=Unity

Save and close the file. Lastly, restart Unity

unity --replace

2. Add New Window and Incognito Mode to Google Chrome

This is assuming that you have installed Google Chrome in your Ubuntu.

Run the command:

sudo cp /usr/share/applications/google-chrome.desktop ~/.local/share/applications sudo gedit ~/.local/share/applications/google-chrome.desktop

Add the following code to the end of the file:

X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=NewWindow;Incognito   [NewWindow Shortcut Group] Name=Open New Window Exec=google-chrome TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Incognito Shortcut Group] Name=Incognito Mode Exec=google-chrome --incognito TargetEnvironment=Unity

Save and close the file. Restart Unity

unity --replace

3. Add Favorite and Bookmarks to Home Folder

This will allow you to access the various folders directly from the launcher.

Run the command:

sudo cp /usr/share/applications/nautilus-home.desktop ~/.local/share/applications sudo gedit ~/.local/share/applications/nautilus-home.desktop

Scroll down the file and replace the line:

OnlyShowIn=GNOME;

with

OnlyShowIn=GNOME;Unity;

Add the following code to the end of the file:

X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=Videos;Documents;Music;Pictures;Downloads;Dropbox [Videos Shortcut Group] Name=Videos Exec=nautilus Videos TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Documents Shortcut Group] Name=Documents Exec=nautilus Documents TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Music Shortcut Group] Name=Music Exec=nautilus Music TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Pictures Shortcut Group] Name=Pictures Exec=nautilus Pictures TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Downloads Shortcut Group] Name=Downloads Exec=nautilus Downloads TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Dropbox Shortcut Group] Name=Dropbox Exec=nautilus Dropbox TargetEnvironment=Unity

Save and close the file. Restart Unity

unity --replace

4. Make the LibreOffice Start Center More Useful

Run the command:

sudo cp /usr/share/applications/libreoffice-startcenter.desktop ~/.local/share/applications sudo gedit ~/.local/share/applications/libreoffice-startcenter.desktop

Add the following code to the end of the file:

X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=Writer;Impress;Calc;Math;Draw   [Writer Shortcut Group] Name=Writer Exec=libreoffice -writer %U TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Impress Shortcut Group] Name=Impress Exec=libreoffice -impress %U TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Calc Shortcut Group] Name=Calc Exec=libreoffice -calc %U TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Math Shortcut Group] Name=Math Exec=libreoffice -math %U TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Draw Shortcut Group] Name=Draw Exec=libreoffice -draw %U TargetEnvironment=Unity

Save and close the file. Restart Unity

unity --replace

5. Add Custom Commands to the Terminal

The terminal is not an application that you will use frequently, but if you do, there will always be a few commands that you use regularly. You can add these commands to the quicklist for quick access.

Run the command:

sudo cp /usr/share/applications/gnome-terminal.desktop ~/.local/share/applications sudo gedit ~/.local/share/applications/gnome-terminal.desktop

Scroll down the file and replace the line:

OnlyShowIn=GNOME;

with

OnlyShowIn=GNOME;Unity;

Next, add the following code to the end of the file:

X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=UpdateUpgrade;XamppStart;XamppStop;   [UpdateUpgrade Shortcut Group] Name=Update and Upgrade System Exec=gnome-terminal --command "sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade" TargetEnvironment=Unity   [XamppStart Shortcut Group] Name=Xampp Start Exec=gnome-terminal --command "sudo /opt/lampp/lampp start" TargetEnvironment=Unity   [XamppStop Shortcut Group] Name=Xampp Stop Exec=gnome-terminal --command "sudo /opt/lampp/lampp stop" TargetEnvironment=Unity

Save and close the file. Restart Unity

unity --replace

6. Create a Google Services Center

If you use Google services as much as I do, this is going to be very useful to you.

Open a text editor and copy/paste the following code:

[Desktop Entry] Version=1.0 Name=Google Services Exec=/opt/google/chrome/google-chrome Icon=/filepath/to/google-icon.png #change this filepath to the actual icon filepath Terminal=false Type=Application Categories=Network;WebBrowser;   X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=Gmail;Contacts;Calendar;Docs;Reader;   [Gmail Shortcut Group] Name=Gmail Exec=xdg-open https://gmail.com TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Contacts Shortcut Group] Name=Gmail Contacts Exec=xdg-open https://www.google.com/contacts TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Calendar Shortcut Group] Name=Google Calendar Exec=xdg-open https://calendar.google.com TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Docs Shortcut Group] Name=Google Docs Exec=xdg-open https://docs.google.com TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Reader Shortcut Group] Name=Google Reader Exec=xdg-open https://google.com/reader TargetEnvironment=Unity

Remember to change the icon file path (You can download the Google icon that I used here.) The code above uses Google Chrome. You can change it to use Firefox or your favorite browser.
Save the file with the name "google-services.desktop" in the folder "/home/username/.local/share/applications folder"
Next, drag this file to the launcher.

7. Add Google Shortcut

Instead of accessing the Google services, if what you want is to have quick access to the various tasks in Google, like composing new email, adding a calendar, open a new doc etc, this is how you can do it.

Open a text editor and copy/paste the following code:

[Desktop Entry] Version=1.0 Name=Google Shortcuts Exec=/opt/google/chrome/google-chrome Icon=/filepath/to/google-icon.png #change this filepath to the actual icon filepath Terminal=false Type=Application Categories=Network;WebBrowser;   X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=Gmail;Calendar;Docs;Spreadsheet;Presentation;   [Gmail Shortcut Group] Name=Compose New Mail Exec=xdg-open https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#compose TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Calendar Shortcut Group] Name=Create New Event Exec=xdg-open https://www.google.com/calendar/event?action=TEMPLATE TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Docs Shortcut Group] Name=Create New Document Exec=xdg-open https://docs.google.com/document/create?hl=en TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Spreadsheet Shortcut Group] Name=Create New Spreadsheet Exec=xdg-open https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?new&hl=en TargetEnvironment=Unity   [Presentation Shortcut Group] Name=Create New Presentation Exec=xdg-open https://docs.google.com/present/create?hl=en TargetEnvironment=Unity

Remember to change the icon file path.
Save the file with the name "google-shortcuts.desktop" in the folder "/home/username/.local/share/applications folder"
Next, drag this file to the launcher.

8. Quick Add PPA in Ubuntu Software Center

Our usual method of adding PPA is via the terminal, but this could be a more efficient way.

Run the command:

sudo cp /usr/share/applications/ubuntu-software-center.desktop ~/.local/share/applications sudo gedit ~/.local/share/applications/ubuntu-software-center.desktop

Add the following code to the end of the file.

X-Ayatana-Desktop-Shortcuts=SoftwareProperties;SoftwareSources;   [SoftwareProperties Shortcut Group] Name=Update Manager Exec=update-manager -c %u TargetEnvironment=Unity   [SoftwareSources Shortcut Group] Name=Add/Edit PPAs Exec=gksu software-properties-gtk TargetEnvironment=Unity

Save and close the file. Restart Unity

unity --replace

The above are only a small fraction of what you can do with the Unity quicklists. You can also checkout AskUbuntu for more quicklists.
Note: If after adding the quicklist code and it causes problems to your system, you can easily restore your system by deleting the respective .desktop file from /home/username/.local/share/applications folder and restart unity.

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