Back To The Shelf: Rogue Galaxy.

Pictured: Not my shelf.

So, I decided that I'm not going to keep playing Rogue Galaxy for now. This is unusual for me, because I like to finish everything I start, and it annoys me to have to put a game down. But this is one of the rare instances where a game really isn't doing it for me, and I have to put it away and do something else.

It's not that I think Rogue Galaxy is a bad game. On the contrary, I had some fun with the ten hours I sunk into it. It's just that, for whatever reason, the game wasn't able to hold my attention. The last time this happened to me was with the intensely dissapointing Final Fantasy XIII-2. Despite some redeeming elements that made my time with the game bearable, it just doesn't seem worth putting in the forty or so hours necessary to complete it. For all of Rogue Galaxy's positive elements, what I experienced wasn't enough to make me want to finish it. That's what this new column, 'Back To The Shelf', is about; a sort of mini-review for games I give up on, allowing me to put down exactly what about the game turned me away from it.

Rogue Galaxy First Impressions, Crisis Core, and Updates

This rather large update is on my next couple of games and a change to my reviews. I’ve finally had an opportunity to make some progress (you’d think that school being out would give me more free time), and this is what I’ve been doing for the blog.

First of all, I just started Rogue Galaxy, an action-RPG by Level 5 that’s been on my list to play ever since it came out. Released at the end of the PS2’s life cycle after Squares epic Final Fantasy XII, Rogue Galaxy remains one of the little black box’s RPG classics. In a system known for having a large amount of fantastic RPGs, Rogue Galaxy manages to stand out in a crowded market- it’s arguably Level 5’s best game to date. It’s easily one of the best looking games I’ve seen. Level 5 proved with games like Dark Cloud 2 and Dragon Quest VIII that they were masters of cell-shading, and Rogue Galaxy may end up being their ultimate visual achievement (at least until Ni no Kuni graces us with its presence). Gameplay-wise, while it’s impossible to judge seeing as I’m only an hour into the game, but Rogue Galaxy is a sci-fi action RPG in a similar vein to the Star Ocean games, and features a lot of the item and weapon synthesis elements from the Dark Cloud games (or at least the game’s menu bears a striking resemblance to Dark Cloud 2’s and has similar statistics). What I have played left me with a favorable first impression, and I’m excited to continue.