My Review- Parasite Eve (PS1)

“They don’t make them like they used to” is a phrase that is becoming more and more relevant as far as gaming as concerned. Looking at a company like Square Enix, it might be difficult to realize that, once upon a time, their non-Final Fantasy titles weren’t relegated to pointless mobile titles and blatant cash grabs, but were instead considered to be some of their best work. In between Final Fantasy titles, gamers were treated to unique games such as Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, and the subject of this review, Parasite Eve. Originally based on a Japanese horror novel, Parasite Eve blended concepts from the newly popularized Survival Horror genre with Square’s well-known style of quality RPG, creating one of the most unique games of the PS1 era. But is this ‘Cinematic RPG’ worth revisiting like other Squaresoft classics?

My Review: Xenogears (PS1)

Tetsuya Takahashi is a game designer I’ve always admired. As someone who enjoys epic storytelling in games, it is hard not to appreciate his work. With his latest game Xenoblade Chronicles making headlines all over the gaming press, I thought I’d finally try to gain a larger frame of reference for Takahashi’s past projects by playing Xenogears, the 1998 mecha-themed RPG that has maintained a large fanbase over the years. Xenogears certainly isn’t lacking for ambition, but does this Squaresoft classic hold up today?

STORY

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Xenogears: First Impressions

So, Xenoblade Chronicles recently saw its US release to great critical acclaim and (so far) success. But, while I did preorder and receive a copy of this wonderful RPG, and play a little bit of it, I simply do not have enough access to a Wii in order to properly sink the required time into a massive title such as Xenoblade. You see, the Wii in our house belongs to my sister, and me being the ever-so-gracious person that I am, I decided not to impose upon her belongings and will wait to play Xenoblade and The Last Story for when I get my own Wii somewhere down the road.

That said, I wanted to start something. So, in the spirit of all things Xeno, I started playing Tetsuya Takahashi’s original masterpiece, the 1998 Squaresoft classic Xenogears. I’ve always admired Takahashi for being such an ambitious storyteller in his games, but I’ve never actually played Xenogears, despite having bought it on PSN shortly after it was rereleased.  So, what are my initial thoughts on this classic? Well, after playing the game for a couple hours this morning, I have come to a few conclusions:

My Review: Final Fantasy IX (PS1)

My Review: Final Fantasy IX (PS1)

It could be said that each generation of consoles put a unique spin on its particular batch of Final Fantasy games. This is particularly evident with the Playstation trio of Final Fantasies VII, VIII, and IX, which are among the most influential games of their genre. Final Fantasy IX is, in many aspects, the end of an era for the series: afterward, the series would go through many radical changes, and IX does seem to be the most recent ‘traditional’ Final Fantasy game. Perhaps this is because Final Fantasy IX was made as a throwback to the classic style of Final Fantasy, but with the design of the PlayStation entries, blending more lighthearted tone and colorful aesthetics with the storytelling and technological panache we expected from Square at the time. Final Fantasy IX isn’t just a great game- it’s a swan song for the entire series, as well as one of the best Playstation RPGs ever made.

STORY

Final Fantasy IX takes place in the world of Gaia, a land enshrouded in a Mist made from the spirits of the dead. In the Kingdom of Alexandria, Queen Brahne lists for power, and is waging war on neighboring kingdoms in order to expand her domain. When Zidane Tribal, a monkey-tailed member of the theater group Tantalus, kidnaps Princess Garnett of Alexandria, he discovers that she intended to escape from her mother, and wants to discover why she is behaving in this manner. Along with Garnett’s loyal knight Steiner, the young black mage Vivi, and a host of other colorful characters, Zidane becomes embroiled in a quest to save the world from Brahne’s ambition, as well as to free Brahne from the influence of an arms dealer named Kuja, and eventually discover the secret of another world linked to Gaia…

It's 2012! Time for a Backlog Update

Well, the holidays are over, and school is about to resume. This means two things- one, my backlog of games has substantially increased thanks to the generosity of my family and friends. Two, my free time is about to be significantly reduced. My to-do list of games may yet expand further as several new releases are around the corner that I am interested in.

NOW PLAYING

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP)
Final Fantasy IX (PS1)

UPCOMING
Final Fantasy XIII-2 (PS3) (preordered)
Ni no Kuni (PS3)
Final Fantasy Type 0 (PSP) (coming to the states?)
Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3) (pls?)
Xenoblade Chronicles (Wii)

BACKLOG (CONSOLE)
Dragon Quest VIII (PS2)
Dark Cloud (PS2)
Ico (PS2/3)
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2/3) (HD Collection w/ Ico)
White Knight Chronicles (PS3)
White Knight Chronicles 2 (PS3)
Xenogears (PS1)
Vagrant Story (PS1)

BACKLOG (HANDHELD)
Final Fantasy I (PSP)
Final Fantasy II (PSP)
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)
Radiant Historia (DS)
Dragon Quest VI (DS)


So, yeah, I'm going to be very busy. And quite happy. :) With the holidays over, I will return to this blog's primary function, which is to publish reviews and tidbits of news I find interesting (hmm, haven't done that for a while). Happy new year!

Final Fantasy IX- First Impressions

It seems odd that, this Christmas, I completed my collection of the main numbered Final Fantasy titles (not including, of course, XI and XIV) when I got a PSP and Final Fantasy 1 and 2 for it. This segues into something completely unrelated, because I'm playing Final Fantasy IX as my current console playthrough after downloading it from the Playstation Network. So, there you go.

Final Fantasy IX is one of the most highly regarded RPGs of all time, one I'd been looking forward to playing for a while. While some people were put off by it's more colorful and cartoony aesthetic, myself and others really enjoy the game because of it's throwback to a more traditional style of Final Fantasy. It's more lighthearted tone and upbeat characters serve as a refreshing breath of fresh air after dealing with ennui-exuding protagonists such as Squall. It helps, too, that Final Fantasy IX is one of the best looking 32 bit RPGs ever made, rivalling Chrono Cross.

The plot stars Zidane, a happy-go-lucky bandit who, along with his band of merry men, tries to kidnap Princess Garnett of the kingdom of Alexandria. They are pursued by her loyal knight, Steiner, as well as a black mage named Vivi. I'm not very far into the story- I only just got out of the Ice Cavern- but so far, while the characters are clearly meant to invoke RPG archetypes (paladin, white mage, thief, etc.), they are still an interesting group of characters, and so far they don't seem generic or boring in the slightest. This is a game where use of classic RPG storytelling tropes serves it well.

Final Fantasy IX also has a very interesting character development system. Character abilities are tied to their equipment- by equiping a piece of armor or a weapon, characters will be able to use the ability tied to that piece of equipment (unless the character is unable to use that ability in the first place). Once enough AP is earned in battle, though, the character masters the ability and no longer needs the equipment to be able to use it- it's theirs to keep. If I could have one complaint about the game so far, it's that the Trance mode, the game's Limit Break system, takes a long time to build up, considerably more than those in other FF games. I've heard there is an ability later down the road which speeds up Trance mode, so we'll see if this remains an issue.

Top Five Favorite Games

I wanted to do a top ten list at some point, but unfortunatly, it's been more difficult than I thought to compile a list of ten favorite games. What I could figure out, though, was my top 5 favorites. Consider this a 'preview' of a top ten list to come somewhere down the road. When I actually make the list in question, I'll describe each entry in detail.

My rules for making a list such as this are simple: I can only have one game per series of games that I like on the list (otherwise, Final Fantasy would completely dominate it). The only exception to this rule is if the games are different enough to warrant their own spot, or if I like them for different reasons.

5

4

3

2

1



My Review: Chrono Cross (PS1)

My Review: Chrono Cross (PS1)

            If you were to ask me what the definition of a ‘perfect’ video game was, I’d probably show you my copy of Chrono Trigger and answer, “This”.  Squaresoft’s Super Nintendo classic combined the talents of prominent developers from both Squaresoft and then-rival Enix, and this mixture of developer talent created one of the most beloved RPGs of all time, featuring a cast of lovable characters, gorgeous graphics, and a fantastic soundtrack composed by Yasunori Mitsuda and Final Fantasy standby Nobuo Uematsu. To this day, there hasn’t been an RPG quite like Chrono Trigger- it’s a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Needless to say, when Squaresoft began working on a sequel for the Playstation, expectations were justifiably high. Chrono Cross, released in 2000, distances itself a bit from its predecessor, featuring several new gameplay and storyline features. This was, I fell, a wise decision, because once it steps out of its predecessor’s shadow, Chrono Cross is just as ahead of its time and imaginative as Chrono Trigger.

            STORY

            Fate has no forgiveness for those who dare stand against it.

My Backlog

Just posting what games I currently have on deck to eventually play. This doesn't include games on my 'to purchase' list, and this list will be bigger after Christmas. xD

CONSOLE

Final Fantasy IX
Xenogears
Vagrant Story

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (I've had this game since I got my PS2, and Ive tried to play it at least three times. I keep getting sidetracked.)
Dark Cloud

HANDHELD
Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation

I'm looking forward to playing all of these games. I'm not sure yet what I'll be playing after Chrono Cross, but stay tuned.

Chrono Cross- Dragons!

High time for another Chrono Cross update, isn't it?

Anyways, my current party is Lynx, Norris, and Fargo. Lynx is fully outfitted with Stone Armor, while the others have a mix of Mythril and Stone equipment (the required materials to forge Stone equipment have so far been hard to come by). I've defeated the Blue and Yellow Dragons, and am in the process of finishing the Mastermune side quest (which will nab me Serge/Lynx's ultimate weapon).

One thing I like about Chrono Cross is the number of different perspectives on the story you can get. Despite having so many potential party members, the story remains cohesive- plot-centric characters will be at important events wether you have them in your party or now, and having certain party members can trigger different scenes (If Norris is in your party at The Dead Sea, for instance, you can find information about Lavos, the parasitic monstrosity from Chrono Trigger). It adds a bit of personality to the game, as the party members you've chosen change the overall feel of the story just enough to develop their characters, but the story as a whole doesn't change. I like this.

As a side note, the scene at the end of The Dead Sea (and the accompanying music, 'Prisoners of Fate') has got to be one of the most haunting moments I've seen in an RPG. The entire Dead Sea section, as a matter of fact, was excellent. Chrono trigger never stopped to wonder if there would be negative repurcussions because of the player's action, and Chrono Cross dives into some pretty deep territory here. Also, Norris is a surprisingly awesome party member. His special attacks are great.

I'll hopefully have Cross wrapped up in a week or two. With exams coming up, I probably won't be playing much next week, but I'll do my best to finish the game and have a review up before Christmas and 2012-RPG release-geddon (XIII-2, Type-0, Xenoblade Chronicles, Ni no Kuni, and Tales of Graces F have been confirmed, and Im holding out hope for The Last Story and Versus XIII as well. I'm going to be a busy gamer).

Chrono Cross: The Dead Sea!

Just a quick Chrono Cross update, I'm on the section where you play as Lynx instead of Serge, which takes up a surprisingly large portion of the game. I just finished the S.S. Zelbess portion of the game, which means it's on to the Isle of the Dead and The Dead Sea next. This is a part of the game I've been looking forward too for a long time, because it sets up a lot of the connections between Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross.

Cross is still an excellent game, and playing as Lynx allows a number of new techniques and party members to be experimented with (FeralCats FTW). My current party is Lynx, Harle, and Norris, all outfitted with Mithril equipment.

Chrono Cross is Out Today

In case you haven't heard, Square's 2000 classic Chrono Cross was rereleased on the PSN today for $9.99.

I just downloaded it and played the first five minutes, and I am very excited. Chrono Trigger remains one of my favorite games, and is perhaps the perfect 16 bit RPG (I like it even more than Final Fantasy VI). Needless to say, Chrono Cross has a high pedigree of excellence to live up to.

With classic Square games, one can expect quality. When a game is a sequel to a masterpiece like Chrono Trigger, quality is essential. I'll have a first impression of the game up once I've played more if it, and I sincerely hope Chrono Cross ends up appealing to me as much as it's predecessor did.

Old Review: Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

My Review- Final Fantasy VII (PS1)

Final Fantasy VII is one of the most famous RPGs in history. Critically acclaimed at the time of it’s release, it has been hailed as both a technical milestone for the role-playing genre, as well as the game which popularized console RPGs in the states. However, it has been more than a decade since this game’s release, and time is rarely kind to classic games. As a fan weaned on newer Final Fantasies, how does FF7 hold up in 2011? If you can believe it, pretty well.

STORY

Final Fantasy VII’s story begins with the protagonist, one Cloud Strife, aiding a group of bioterrorists known as AVALANCHE as they attempt to destroy a reactor belonging to the sinister Shinra Corporation. These reactors, located in the giant city of Midgar, are draining the life energy from the Planet, converting them into Mako Energy to power the city. Cloud and a large array of colorful characters must attempt to save the planet from Shinra Corp., but a more sinister force also seeks the destruction of the planet- that of Sephiroth, a former Shinra SOLDIER that seeks revenge on the company and the world.

Chrono Cross! and Update.

So some new PS1 classics are coming out soon, including a game I've been waiting to play for a long time.

Chrono Cross, the sequel to my all-time favorite RPG Chrono Trigger, comes out on PSN this week. I've already got the money to purchase it in my account, so that'll probably be the next game I play for review. Classic Squaresoft games are some of the best games in history, so I'm very excited to start playing it.

Square, this is why I love you guys. Thanks. :D

Check out the upcoming PSN releases here: http://www.rpgfan.com/news/2011/2388.html

Also, just as an update on what I've been doing, I've mostly been screwing around with a couple of my old favorite games. I played Twilight Princess up to the Forest Temple with the intent of plowing through to the Goron Mines (easily my favorite Zelda dungeon), but with the Chrono Cross anouncement I put that on hold. So in my free time I've been doing some of the hunts on Gran Pulse in Final Fantasy XIII. It's still very impressive just how expansive that area is- it can sustain days of level grinding and monster hunting.

Hopefully I'll start Chrono Cross next weekend.

My Review: Final Fantasy VIII (PS1)

Finally, I have a brand new review up! Well, here it is. A review of an imperfect but still enjoyable RPG from the 32-bit era.

My Review: Final Fantasy VIII (PS1)

You’ve really got to respect Square for being so experimental with their key franchise. Even when following up an enormous hit, they always end up reinventing the wheel with each of their games, when so many other companies would simply release more of the same. When the game you’re trying to succeed is the world-famous Final Fantasy VII, though, you’re going to have a hard time no matter what you do. Square stuck to their guns with Final Fantasy VIII, implementing numerous stylistic and gameplay changes. The important question, however, is not if Final Fantasy VIII can live up to its predecessor- rather, is it a great game on its own?