Dragon Quest VII Remake for 3DS

Square Enix announced a 3DS remake of Dragon Quest VII: Warriors of Eden, originally released on the Sony Playstation, in the latest issue of Jump Magazine. Not many details are known at this time, but early screens show a 3D graphical upgrade (the original game is similar to the style used for the DS remakes of IV, V, and VI), apparently players will be able to trade 'lithographs' via Streetpass, and the game has a February 7 release date in Japan. No word yet on a US release (what are the odds), but in this case let's be optimistic.

Oh, and Happy Halloween! >:D

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.

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.

Crisis Core: First Impressions, and Updates

SUCCESS!!!

The school year is done, graduation is imminent, and this senior project scored 19 points out of a possible 20! I think it's safe to say that PG's Game Room was more than sufficient as a senior project. Now it's time to see how well I can manage it on my own. >_<

Anyways, I recently started playing Crisis Core, the PSP prequel to Square's legendary PS1 classic Final Fantasy VII. Crisis Core was released in 2007 as part of the 'Compilation of Final Fantasy VII', a series of spinoffs and side stories to Final Fantasy VII that had mixed results. The gorgeous yet bland CGI film Advent Children, and the terrible shooter Dirge of Cerberus, certainly didn't live up to expectations, but Crisis Core is easily the best of the Compilation project, and, if first impressions are anything to go by, one of the best games Square Enix has put out in a long time.

For those who don't know, Crisis Core is an action-RPG akin to Kingdom Hearts, where the player controls Zack Fair, Cloud's mentor in SOLDIER, as he performs missions for the Shinra Corporation. Thus far, the story has managed to be engaging; there's a large amount of winks and nudges to the original game, which is to be expected of a prequel, but the main story has, for the most part, stood on its own well, with Zack and cohorts tracking down a rogue SOLDIER 1st Class named Genesis, who is raising an army to take down Shinra.

I'm still playing Xenogears at the moment, and I'll aim to have that done within a week or two, although I can't guarantee anything. Afterwards, I'm going to start a PS2 game. After Xenogears, I'm not sure I want to play anything incredibly long or slow-paced (Persona 3: FES and Dragon Quest VIII being two backlogged games that come to mind), so Rogue Galaxy is probably next on the agenda. Level 5's PS2 action-RPG has been on my to-do list for quite some time, and I'm looking forward to finally playing it. What little I've seen of the game is absolutely stunning.

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.