Top Ten Battle Music

As promised, here is a second top ten list of video game music, this time focusing on battle themes.

Honorable Mention: The boss battle music from Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga.

While I’m not sure this song was good enough to make the top ten, a friend of mine brought it up recently, and Superstar Saga is an awesome game that deserves at least an honorable mention. What I didn’t know back when I played the game was that the soundtrack was done by none other than Yoko Shimomura. No wonder it’s so good.

Top Ten Pieces of Game Music

Whether you are watching a film or playing a game, music can play a large role in defining the experience. Those memorable pieces stick with us long after we’ve shut our systems off or walked out of the theater, and they’re a large part of what makes visual media so engaging. Being a fan of RPGs, I have heard many wonderful pieces of music from many talented composers. What follows are ten pieces of non-battle music from games I have played. A list of battle music might come somewhere down the road.

10- The Poem for Everyone’s Souls (Persona 3)

7/22/2012 Update

So, in a weekend full of Rising Dark Knights, I've been playing an RPG featuring the original Dark Knight of the RPGverse, Cecil. Specifically, I've been playing Interlude, the brief chapter that takes place between Final Fantasy IV and it's recent sequel The After Years, packaged neatly together in the Complete Collection for PSP (should I ever review the PSP version of IV, I'll probably make an argument as to just how 'complete' said collection really is, but that's not what I'm here to discuss). Honestly, it'd be impossible to recommend The Complete Collection to people who have already played the aforementioned games on the merits of Interlude alone. It's a brief (maybe two hours long) chapter that fills in a tiny gap between the two main games, that takes you through three recycled dungeons from FFIV (including the freaking Sealed Cave).

Meanwhile, I'm still playing Persona 3. While I'm still enjoying the game very much, it is getting a tad long, and I have a feeling I've got a long ways to go. I'm pretty sure now that I won't be moving on to the extra FES content after finishing the main game, or at the least I'll take a break to play Dream Drop Distance for a bit when it comes out.

Deck Profile: Masked Heroes

Ok, I lied. The deck profile AFTER this will be about Malefics.

Credit goes to Youtuber Chroahcresta, Hero user and duelist extraordinaire whose deck ideas helped greatly with the construction of this particular deck.

Elemental Heroes are one of the longest-running archtypes in Yu-gi-oh, making their debut as the cards used by protagonist Jaden Yuki in the second anime series, Yu-gi-oh GX. Heroes have managed to stick arpund in various forms ever since then, with Destiny Heroes and Evil Heroes being introduced throughout GX's run, and with new monsters being introduced in the GX manga. This Hero deck utilizes a unique subset of Heroes introduced in the manga, one that doesn't see a lot of play; the Masked Heroes. Like Batman, these masked avengers are here to win your duels. That is to say, if Batman was a Yugioh player. And he dueled for you. Umm...

Unlike their counterparts, the Masked Heroes don't have enough cards to support an entire deck on their own- counting their key Spell card, Mask Change, there are only five of them available in the Trading Card Game. Still, utilizing these cards in an Elemental Hero deck adds a surprising amount of versatility to the deck.

Final Fantasy VII PC Rerelease: The Fanboys Strike Back

So, Final Fantasy VII is getting a PC rerelease! Yeah, apparently they're adding an achievement system, upscaling the game to HD, and adding an optional feature that'll make the game easier for potential newcomers. Sounds cool, right? I mean, it's a completely harmless gesture by Square Enix to make one of their best games available to more people. A nice little present that nobody is being forced to buy.

Oh, right. I forgot who I was dealing with for a second.

Peter's Dragon Deck

So, I just finished my new Yugioh deck. And, I've got to say, I'm kind of proud of this one. No, it's not the type of deck that you could take to a tournament, but it's my deck, and it's one of the better ones I've had for use against my friends.

After a brief turn to a pretty basic Synchro deck, I decided to return to my more traditional focus on Dragon-types, with the release of the Dragons Collide structure deck serving as the basis. The idea is pretty simple- use Red-eyes Darkness Metal and other cards to summon a lot of powerful dragons and clear away threats from my opponent with powerful Spells and Traps- a fairly basic, if effective, strategy.

I'll put the deck list below, but before that I'm going to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of this deck, along with some of the better cards in it. Consider this the beginning of a semi-regular column on Yugioh decks. I'm not the best player out there, but I've enjoyed this game for a while, and with the advent of www.duelingnetwork.com, it's easier than ever to try out new decks and see what can be done with them.

Persona 3: First Impressions

So, I haven't been feeling the best lately. Aside from getting my wisdom teeth taken out (which went well and I am mostly recovered by now), I haven't been able to muster much enthusiasm for anything recently. What with Rogue Galaxy falling by the wayside and trying to muster up some excitement for college in the fall, I've been very apathetic as of late.

Wait... apathetic? Apathy syndrome?

...here we go.

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.

My Review- Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP)

I’d just like to get this out of the way; I like Final Fantasy VII. No, it’s not my favorite game in the series by a long shot, but even without taking into account its massive role in gaming history as the game that not only changed RPGs forever but also brought the genre into mainstream consciousness, Final Fantasy VII is a game that has what every higher-echelon Final Fantasy game should have. It doesn’t have any of the questionable design decisions or critical flaws of entries such as VIII and XIII, but rather stands alongside IV, VI, IX, and X as one of the best games in the series. But this isn’t about Final Fantasy VII; this is a review of Crisis Core, part of a series of spinoffs known as the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII. A prequel to the original game, does Crisis Core add a worthy new chapter to the Midgar mythos, or is it another mediocre side story?

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.