There's a fundamental difference between Japanese and Western gaming that starts at the very beginning of the creative process.

There is nothing in life more important than the birth of new humans. It's how we keep the species going. But as crucial as it is to our continued domination of this planet's food chain (suck it, chimps), it can also be a tiring, stressful and emotional time.

Editor's Note: I'm on vacation today, but since I know you're all craving your regular dose of JRPG goodness, I've enlisted the wonderful Kirk Hamilton to jazz up Random Encounters this week. Be nice! —Jason Schreier

Megami Tensei spin-off series Persona looks great. Its characters are cool. Their clothes are cool. Persona is cool.

Oh look. Just in time for my delayed-thanks-to-a-late-PAL-release playthrough of Persona 4 Golden. It's a terrific figure of Chie, the game's loud-mouthed ass kicker.

Sex sells. Except when it doesn't.

"Oh, I don't really like battles. I just play JRPGs for the story."

I played more games in 2012 than any other year of my life. It was a weird—but thoroughly wonderful—year, and one that upset a lot of my expectations. Games I'd assumed would be amazing fell short of the mark, while others came out of nowhere to become fast favorites.

I hate feeling like a cog in the machine—like my actions don't matter, like I'm wading through tedium before I can get to the 'meaningful' part. Tedium exasperates me, makes me start thinking about depressing things like not reaching my true potential. This is true in both real life as well as in games. So it should…

A fan-made Persona 4 musical. You knew it was going to happen.