Let me tell you a story. There once was a girl name Hiko. She was the first child born under her family’s curse. Her father was, well, me. Her mother was a low level fire goddess. In her first few months of life, I trained her to use my own weapon: a naginata.

Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines is a turn-based JRPG with an amazing-looking traditional Japanese art style. But that begs the question, does it play as good as it looks?

Back at the Tokyo Game Show last year, I got some hands-on time with Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines. At that time, I said it was the prettiest game I saw at the show. And now, as I play through the full version, I find myself loving the art style more and more.

Much like the Miis on the Nintendo 3DS, the new JRPG Oreshika: Tainted Bloodlines allows you to create a character by taking a picture of yourself with the Vita's camera. Of course, why limit it to being based on your face when there are so many pictures of famous people out there?

Between PS1 Classics and newer games like Persona 4 Golden, the unheralded PlayStation Vita has become an essential beast for JRPG fans and today brings news of more cool Japanese stuff for western gamers.