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I’m Jonathan Oyama, a 27-year-old freelancer. I have written for Bitmob for two years, before it turned into the GamesBeat.

I specialize in playing Japanese role-playing games. I have played tons of them, old and new. My favorite is still Persona 4.

I also wrote community news for the Laguna Beach Coastline Pilot and the Hermosa Beach branch of Patch.com .

Location:Torrance, CA

stories by Jonathan Oyama

The quest to finish Xenoblade

A writer has finally finished a half-year journey through Xenoblade. Learn how his 190-hour adventure combines cinematic cutscenes and side quests to build an astounding lifetime of memories.

Xenogears’ story deserves a complete makeover

So I sat in a chair … a lot.

I couldn't wait to play through the second disc of Xenogears. The main characters already survived a series of tragic losses. I just had to see how the story ended.

Then …

The yearlong quest to finish Xenogears

This article contains spoilers for Xenogears.

I started Xenogears on my PlayStation Portable, hoping to finish it in only three months time. Instead, the Japanese role-playing game took almost a year to complete.

My lengthy journey is just a testament …

15 More Tunes to Blast While Playing Battlefield 3

I never expected Battlefield 3's official Facebook page to share my Bitmob article of music playlists. I wanted to create a third and final one to please those fans.

After two months of compiling, I finished my third Vicious War …

Corpse Party revives the text-filled horror adventure

I downloaded Corpse Party for the Sony PlayStation Portable to prepare myself for Halloween. Anything with gothic violence and cute anime girls wins in my book.

The Corpse Party narrative soon gripped me with more scares than many other horror …

A run-and-gun retrospective of three modern-day gaming classics

This article contains minor spoilers for BioShock and Fallout 3.

I finally completed three of the most popular releases in my Xbox 360 collection: Mass Effect, BioShock, and Fallout 3. Although I enjoyed every one of them, I think many …

28 vicious songs to blast while playing Battlefield 3

A nagging problem kept bothering me while playing Battlefield 3. It had nothing to do with the server speed or my overheating Xbox 360.

I just couldn't think of a great rock-music playlist to listen to during my sessions.

I …

The perfect controls of Assassin’s Creed

I hate many current action games because their controls are often too complicated. I still can't remember all of Bayonetta's moves unless I have an FAQ file on my computer.

But Assassin's Creed made action games fun for me again …

How Battlefield 3 reminds one player of a lost love

Ever since I first paired a '90s rock playlist with my Battlefield 3 matches, I started thinking about my old friends. I can't help but think of a particular high-school friend I met at a Christian camp.

Somehow, Battlefield 3 …

How The Last Story Captured My Heart

The Wii lineup is dwindling this year, but the last few releases for the system have been incredible. None of them can match the quality of the most recent RPG, though.

The Last Story ties together elements from shooters, spy …

The Logo drawing program brought me closer to my soulmate

A long time ago, I befriended a girl in the third grade as we played a computer game called Logo.  I doubt that she'll remember me today, but I still remember the program.

Logo challenged us to use microcomputers to …

Star Ocean 1: Japan’s First Star Trek Adventure

Star Ocean 1 is an old 16-bit classic that only arrived as a remake in the United States. I really wish I could play the original version, but the PSP version is still remarkable.

For an old game, Star Ocean: …

The beauty of Secret of Mana’s overworld theme

I never invested much time into Japanese RPGs until Secret of Mana came along. The adventure contains some of the best orchestrations I've ever heard.

The overworld theme, "Into the Thick of It," was the first song to show me …

Epic Boss Battle Music in Star Ocean 2

Star Ocean 2 is known for pitting players against the toughest bosses in a role-playing game. However, the music in one of the last battles sets the stage for a major showdown.

The loud synthesizers and the blazing fast drums …

The quest to unlock all of Battlefield 3′s guns

This week, I was laid off from one of my freelance writing positions. I've gotten pretty used to this lately, but the whole experience was pretty exhausting.

Perhaps that's why I set off on a monumental journey to unlock all …

Alien Soldier Pushes Hardcore Difficulty to the Extreme

Alien Soldier looks like a typical side-scrolling shooter for the 16-bit era. All similarities end there though, because this game is tough as hell.

This Genesis title was made to slaughter all the best Contra players with complicated controls and …

Xenogears still stuns with bizarre narrative

Xenogears is still a curious oddity after over a decade. While it isn't as breathtaking as future titles in the Xeno series, it earns its stripes with daring experiments in mature storytelling.

The game's plot draws many similarities with convoluted …

Xenoblade Chronicles defeated my depression with its glory

This article might contain spoilers for Xenoblade Chronicles.

I was feeling depressed.

I had just gotten out of a horrible journalism class about the future of web journalism. The speaker was motivational, but his lecture was full of false get-rich …

Ys Seven Marks Incredible Achievement in Portable Gaming

Final Fantasy 7 is considered one of the greatest Japanese RPGs ever made. Ys Seven is just as incredible, but most people haven’t about the Ys series.

For a portable action adventure, Ys Seven packs in more intensity and high …

Capcom Ports Touch Screen Masterpiece to iPad and iPhone

I missed out on playing Ghost Trick for the Nintendo DS. Thankfully Capcom decided to release an HD version for the iPad.

Ghost Trick is an amazing point-and-click style masterpiece that defies the genre's boundaries with fast touch screen transportation.…

The Joy of Exploding Monsters in Ys Chronicles

I hadn't heard of Ys until a college friend recommended it to me. It sounded like the same old spiel from a Japanese fantasy, until he mentioned the ramming battle system.

Ys 1 and 2 are extraordinary–they accumulate hardcore fights …

Fallout 3: My Life of Luxury

I can't remember very many currency systems that made me want to play a video game.  Fallout 3 gave me a welcome alternative, permitting me to purchase anything I ever wanted.

If you want an example of luxury, just take …

The Quest to Finish Final Fantasy 8: Disc Four

(Warning: This post contains spoilers)

Disc four of Final Fantasy 8 defied all definitions of common sense, by melding everything into one epic happy ending. To be honest, I really didn't understand most of what happened.

Despite the nonsense, disc …

The Greatest Game Box: Lunar Eternal Blue Complete

When I paid $60 for Lunar: Eternal Blue Complete at K-Mart, the clerk thought I was crazy. No one in their right mind would have bothered with such a rare, expensive item.

He didn't realize that this package contained more …

My Divorce From the Nintendo DSi

After a long period of mourning, I was having a divorce with my DSi.

I loved some games on the system. Unfortunately, it couldn't keep up with my appetite for higher quality Japanese games and apps that are actually useful. …

The Quest to Finish Final Fantasy 8: Disc Three

(Warning: This article contains spoilers)

When I started disc three of Final Fantasy 8, I expected that my characters would lose sight of the storyline. Thankfully the adventure took an creative turn as the protagonists ventured into outer space.

Thus …

Persona 3 FES and Thought-Provoking Religious Symbolism

Warning: This post contains spoilers.

Many role-playing games undertake dramatic plot twists, but most never delve into complicated psychological motives and religious ideas. Persona 3: FES takes these concepts to extremes in The Answer, an epilogue to the original storyline.…

Games of the Year: Attack of the Puzzle

My two games of 2011 are actually from a genre that I usually scoff at–the puzzle adventure.

Most puzzles in long games disappoint me. Ever since the Zelda franchise lumped 3D switch-hunting quests into maze-like labyrinths, I've loathed a wide …

Levels of Shame: The Sphere Company in Star Ocean 3

I have a confession to make.

When I picked up Star Ocean 3, I first thought that it was one of my favorite RPGs of all time. However, one of the final dungeons includes the most astronomically unfair enemies in …

The Future of Battlefield 4

I don’t usually like to post videos, but the Battlefield 3 promotions are turning more realistic than ever before. It all started when Freddie Wong first filmed a startling joke video of how Battlefield 4 might look in 2017.

The …

Plants Vs. Zombies Makes War Fun

I realize that many real-time strategy fans would ignore Plants Vs. Zombies as a whimsical casual diversion. The graphics look cute. The cartoon landscapes are hardly realistic.

Hardcore gamers are really missing out on one of the most universally acceptable …

Better Than I Remember: Star Ocean 3

Some time ago, one of the Bitmob editors wrote a comment about Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, also known as Star Ocean 3. I thought it was too frustrating when I first played it.

I decided to buy …

Confirmed: Xenoblade slated for April 2012

After plenty of speculation, Nintendo of America finally confirmed on their website that Xenoblade would come out on April 3, 2012.

The rumor of a possible release started at around 9 a.m. on Dec. 2, when someone posted a photo …

Lifelong Memories of Agarest War

It's been five months since I started Record of Agarest War, a Japanese strategy RPG. Even after 20 hours of gameplay, I'm still on the first part of the game.

In spite of the extremely long journey, I don't think …

The Quest to Finish Final Fantasy 8: Disc Two

The pacing of disc two of Final Fantasy 8 is a little more uneven than the first disc. I've never quite finished this disc until now, because many of the adrenaline-pumping sequences have their share of problems.

I still enjoyed …