A Fresh Start and Future Plans

Well, it’s been a fun year for me. A few lows here and there, but overall I think this year has gone splendidly. This is easily the best time I’ve had at school, both because of my newfound privileges as a senior and a newfound work ethic that has enabled me to become a far better student than I was during my morose early teen years. I’m currently trying to find a job and plan for college, the next major step in my life, on the path to adulthood.

            It’s strange. I really don’t feel like an adult. It’s easy to look back and wonder where all the time went, but the truth is that I’ve sort of been dreading this moment. I’m deciding what college to go to this afternoon (between Aquinas College and Grand Valley State University), I still have to get my driver’s license, try to find work and earn some money, wrap up the projects my teachers decided to spring on us for the end of the year, study for exams… it’s a lot to take in.

            Fortunately, nobody said I had to grow up entirely. I’m planning on writing a young adult novel over the next couple of years. How well this turns out, I don’t know, but the story I’m hoping to tell is one that myself and a very good friend of mine, Alex, came up with when we were kids, and since then has sort of ‘grown up’ with me. This story defined the play of my childhood, morphed and changed as I did, and now I hope to actually turn it into a clear narrative, one that will (hopefully) span five parts. Then called ‘Mujara’ (some gobbledygook Alex and I came up with), the first book is tentatively called ‘The Paths Between’. The story follows a group of teenage kids who become embroiled in the ancient conflict of Heaven and Hell, and through their proximity to this battle begin to develop magical powers, and eventually are forced to choose a side. It was, and is, heavily inspired by the kinds of fiction I read growing up, and hopefully I can make it into a worthwhile story. I’m not sure if it will ever be good enough for publishing- the story is, technically, about fantastic versions of my friends and I- but at the very least I hope to have it somewhere on the Internet (who knows, maybe even on PG’s Game Room!), and possibly self-publish it.

            Speaking of PG’s Game Room, I apologize for the lack of productivity, but there’s really not much I’m going to be able to do about that. With the ‘Blog As My Senior Project’ thing out of the way, I need to focus on other things, and as I mentioned earlier I simply can’t keep a reliable schedule for new material. Of course, the blog is far from done. New reviews will still be written and posted as I continue to play games (I’m about eight hours into Xenogears at the time of this writing, and I should have a review up sometime in May), and as I work on my story I’ll post some material related to that as well. It may be the start of a new chapter in my life, but I don’t plan on cutting loose the old anytime soon.   

Quick Update

So, it's been a while since I did an update detailing my future plans. Here goes.

1- Final Fantasy! So I finished Final Fantasy XIII-2. I know my review may have seemed unduly harsh, which wasn't my intention, but I will stand by my thoughts on the game. In truth, XIII-2 just seems like a 'filler' game to me. It's something they made in reaction to XIII's criticism, rather than a game they wanted to make, and I think that really hurt the game. Still, the game is very fun, and if you're looking for a good JRPG on a modern console, you can't go wrong with this one.

2- Xenoblade! I probably won't be getting to Xenoblade Chronicles as I had originally planned. It's a shame, because that game looks awesome and you should totally support it, but I don't have access to a Wii on a regular enough basis to invest in an eighty-hour epic RPG. Xenoblade Chronicles looks to be an excellent game, and I will hopefully play it some time in the future.

3- Ni no Kuni delayed! Level 5 and Studio Ghibli's gorgeous looking PS3 RPG has been delayed, from Q1 2012 to Winter 2012. While I'm dissapointed that I don't get to play this wonderful game soon, it seems that they are using the extra time to give the game a superb localization, on par with Ghibli's other work. Definetly looking forward to this one.

4- Game shopping! So, this weekend I get to go to my local game shops (CD exchange, Gaming Warehouse, and of course, Gamestop) and see what I can find. I'll edit this post with what I get when I have the chance, but I'm looking to play the original .hack games if I can.

5- Radiant Historia! I find that I only really have time to play one game during the school year now, and since I was intent on beating XIII-2, Atlus' excellent old-school RPG kind of got put on the back burner. No longer, and Radiant Historia will be the subject of my next review. Spoiler alert: It's fantastic, and if you own a DS, go buy it, now. They're reprinting it soon, so it'll be affordable.

6- Writing! So, the 'one piece a week or so' strategy for this blog is definetly a lot easier on me, and I think it's actually helped the blog produce more quality pieces. At the very least, it's better than clogging up the blog with new posts every day. So, I've got a couple other articles in mind, including a belated 'awards show' for every game I played in 2011, as well as an explanation of my own reviewing style.

I think that about covers it. :) Until next time, dear reader!

Edit: Got three new games while shopping today! No, couldn't find .hack, I'm going to have to go a-hunting some other time. In the meantime...

Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
Resonance of Fate (PS3)
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP)

New Reviews! Eventually.

So I'm FINALLY in the home stretch for Final Fantasy V. The game isn't particularly long by RPG standards, but playing multiple RPGs during the school year made it take twice as long as it should have. I just need to master a couple more classes, then I'll head into the Rift for the (obscenely long) final dungeon and fight Neo Exdeath. As for Final Fantasy VIII, I'm farther in the game than I though I was (I just found the Ragnarok and am about to do that stupid monster-hunting minigame), so that review will be a little longer away. I plan on trying my luck with Ultima Weapon, so hopefully that goes over well.

I'm not sure what I'll be playing once I'm done with VIII and V. I've already decided to save Dragon Quest VI for after the holidays (trying to play a Dragon Quest game during midterms and semester exams would be a BAD idea). I might give Vagrant Story a shot after VIII (I've heard great things about it, and it's relatively short), but otherwise I probably won't play anything else until Christmas as well. Granted, my backlog will grow much larger, but at least I won't be neck-deep in a game when the holidays roll around.  I might use any free time I have to finally read the second Song of Ice and Fire book, though. If I do end up playing anything, it'll most likely just be a replay of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I've kind of has a Zelda itch for a while, and with no way for me to play Skyward Sword right now, I'll have to settle for replaying an old favorite. :)

Old Review- Final Fantasy X (PS2)

I really love this game. It has it's weird moments, to be sure, but it's such a fun RPG. And yes, I still believe that X and XIII are very similar games.

My Review- Final Fantasy X (PS2)

Final Fantasy X marked a change in the Final Fantasy series. It was the first installment to not be directed by series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, who left Square halfway through X’s development. It was also the first fully 3D installment (without prerendered backgrounds), and also the first to have voice acting. Despite this, Final Fantasy X managed to not only evolve it’s series, but also to preserve what makes Final Fantasy great- wondrous storytelling and solid RPG gameplay.

STORY

Listen to my story. This may be our last chance.

Old Review: Final Fantasy XII (PS2)

I wrote this review back in April when I finished the game. It took me two months and well over 60 hours to beat, and I left easily half of the game's content untouched. With all the sidequests, hunts, optional areas, and the huge scope of the world and story, Final Fantasy XII is a truly massive expirience. I still stand by my score here- the game has problems, to be sure, but it's probably one of the best RPGs released on the PS2, and certainly one of Square Enix's best games. I think I could've worded a few things better, but that's about it.

My Review: Final Fantasy XII (PS2)

There is little I can say about the Final Fantasy franchise that hasn’t already been said. Square’s flagship series has been around for fourteen main installments and countless spinoffs, gaining both fame and notoriety with each successive installment. Indeed, the only constant with the series is that with each new game the series’ fanbase will be split into opposing camps of ardent supporters and vicious detractors. In my opinion, the detractors are often mistaken in their feelings towards each game, their thoughts mired in the series tradition and failing to recognize the benefits in the series’ ever-evolving gameplay. Final Fantasy XII was, in it’s time, one of the most frequently derided games in the main franchise. It made significant changes to gameplay, some of which were loved and some of which were hated. Does Final Fantasy XII preserve the series’ spirit or mutate it beyond recognition?

Old Review- Battle for Middle-earth (PC)

The original BFME was my first RTS, and it's still one of my favorite PC games.

My Review- The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth (PC)

The Battle for Middle-earth is a real-time strategy game based on the LOTR films. Like The Third Age, it is a well-done game despite being a licensed product. The Lord of the Rings films are really a perfect for a strategy game, and BFME succeeds both as a LOTR game and as a quality RTS.

STORY

BFME’s story is split into two campaigns- the Good campaign, which more or less follows the events of the films, and the Evil campaign, which is an alternate scenario in which Middle-earth is conquered by Sauron. The story is conveyed through movie clips and short in-engine cutscenes before important battles, but otherwise, it’s pretty simplistic. The game assumes that you are familiar with the LOTR world and provides little background save the opening sequence, which is narrated by none other than Sir Ian McKellon. You progress through the story is a slightly nonlinear way- occasional story missions occasionally must be played to progress further, but you are otherwise able to choose which territories to conquer across Middle-earth and which of your armies to do it with. The game also takes a few creative liberties with the story, such as Boromir surviving the battle of Amon Hen and Gandalf successfully slaying the Balrog without dying. This doesn’t really bother me because the game is fun, and doesn’t sacrifice this fun in order to be more true to a story we already know.

My Review- Star Ocean: The Last Hope (PS3)

My Review- Star Ocean: The Last Hope (PS3)

NOTE- This is a review of the International version of SO4 that was released on PS3. The game was originally released on Xbox 360 in 2009. There aren’t very many differences between the two versions- the International version is on one Blu-ray instead of three DVDs, there’s a slight (miniscule) graphical update, and the option for Japanese audio, but that’s about it.

Tri-Ace is an interesting developer. Most of their games were published by Enix, and now are associated primarily with Square Enix. They’ve made numerous classic games over the years, such as Valkyrie Profile, but their most famous achievement is the Star Ocean series of action-RPGs. Beginning as a Super Famicom game that never saw release in North America, the Star Ocean series has seen installments on the PS1 (The Second Story), the PS2 (Till The End Of Time), and now the fourth game in the series, The Last Hope, see’s it’s release on the 360 and PS3. A prequel to the other Star Ocean games, how does Tri-Ace’s latest fare?

Game Informer WKC2 Review

I'm not the kind of person to get hung up over review scores. At least, not for the reasons most people would. If I'm looking forward to a game, no amount of bad press or word of mouth will prevent me from trying the game out for myself.

Recently, however, I have noticed a disturbing trend with modern video game reviews. Specifically, I have a problem with 'JRPG's getting noticeably lower scores than their western counterparts, for no genuine reason. People often say that JRPGs are stagnating, that they don't provide the innovation that WRPGs apparently provide (which simply isn't true, more on that some other time). However, there seems to be something uglier than that afoot- a simple refusal by so-called 'game journalists' to give these games a fair shot at all, only begrudgingly giving a good game a decent score (see Gametrailer's review of Disgaea 4 for an example), and jumping on the smallest possible flaw. These games are criticised unfairly, plain and simple. A recent example I found was Game Informer's review of White Knight Chronicles II, a PS3 exclusive RPG that came out last month. Now, the original White Knight Chronicles was an average-at-best affair, which was dissapointing coming from the great developer Level 5. I can safely say that White Knight II is a vast improvement on it's predecessor, and in a gaming generation that lacks too many great JRPGs, you can't go wrong with a game featuring a giant midieval robot. Game Informer isn't known for particularly great reviews, but their review of White Knight Chronicles 2 is such an unfair piece of writing, I feel it is worth discussing. I'm going to pick out some lines from the review, and say why I feel they are wrong.