"Find something to believe in. And find it for yourself. And when you do, pass it on to the future."

What a technological leap this was from MGS1 to MGS2... The wait and anticipation I had for this game was on another level - I eagerly scooped up gaming magazines to read anything I could about Kojima's next generation masterpiece prior to its release. I couldn't wait to play it and experience the full power of the PlayStation 2!

Once I finally got my hands on it, it didn't disappoint. The opening of the game with Harry Gregson-Williams' incredible score playing in the background was spectacular. It is by far the best version of the MGS theme and served to hype up the game even more. The graphics were jaw dropping - seeing Solid Snake in his PS2 debut, the rain/wind/smoke effects, Metal Gear Ray's introduction, etc. made me think graphics were never going to be better than this.

The initial Tanker mission brought back fan favorites Solid Snake, Otacon, and Revolver Ocelot and it was incredible seeing them in all their PS2 glory. The first act lived up to the immense amount of hype I had going into it.

Unfortunately, it didn't last for me... to this day, I will never get over the "bait and switch" after the prologue mission... I'm one who still doesn't like Raiden, and it is all because of his nasally, whiny, annoying self. He is purely the anti-thesis of Snake in each and every way. Whether he is slipping on pigeon shit, getting pissed on, getting felt up by the President of the United States, doing naked cartwheels, or getting into arguments with his girlfriend Rose, I found him to be unbearable. And I still didn't enjoy him in future titles, as I felt they tried to swing the pendulum in the exact opposite direction to try to make him "cool" that it just felt ridiculously forced (just look at his appearance in MGS4 and MG Rising: Revengeance).

This game also got a bit cutscene heavy for my liking... unlike before where I felt they did a much better job in the original MGS1 striking a more perfect balance between story and gameplay. As for the game's story, I didn't like it at all back when I was a kid (especially when it goes off the rails at the end), but after multiple playthroughs and the passage of time itself, I've come to understand and appreciate it much more... especially with how Kojima seemingly predicted the future with the game's messaging and themes: the inherent dangers of the internet, an overwhelming amount of information in a digital world, misinformation and censorship, artificial intelligence, etc. It is really quite good when looking back on it.

The best thing about this game though was the gameplay and technical improvements that were made from the PS1 era - the ability to use First Person makes aiming your weapon much easier, holding up enemies and shaking them down for their dog tags, hiding in lockers, the vastly improved enemy AI, cover mechanics, unique boss fights, etc.

This truly felt like a next-gen title back in 2001 with many unique ideas and game mechanics, and while it isn't at the level of MGS1 or MGS3 in my opinion, this was a required evolution of the Metal Gear series, and is a must-play game for any Metal Gear or Hideo Kojima fan.

The first non-Persona SMT game I ever played. Off the top, this game had me hooked - the game's atmosphere, world, and story immediately captured my attention. I absolutely loved the post-apocalyptic feel and mystery that exuded from this game (which is something, I learned later on, that the SMT series nails really well in most of their titles).

DDS leverages the same Press-Turn battle system that was incorporated within SMT III: Nocturne that preceded it. But unlike that game, it felt like the gameplay was much fairer, well balanced, and easier. No complaints from me there.

Also, the music in this game freakin' rocks! There are so many fantastic tracks in this game that reviewing this game led me to YouTube to listen to the soundtrack. Here are just a few of my favorites.

Sahasrara
My favorite song in the game. Sets the mood of this bleak world perfectly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMIzvf7QuWc

Hunting, Hunting - Comrades, & Big Battle
Badass battle tunes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDb2MxUl31w
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUw9TtJMe7I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruASHMbf9-g

Spider's String 2nd Movement
The definition of "build-up"... pure ascension.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElA8WnIl4d8

Hari-Hara
1:03 - 1:24... love it!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdZ_2QwqwQQ

"I'm no hero. Never was, never will be."

How is it, that in the year 2023, this is still only playable on the PS3?! I would love to replay a remastered version of this...I completed it in what feels like a lifetime ago, when the PS3 and blu-ray discs were still fairly new...

This was an incredibly emotional send-off to the MGS franchise. There were so many great moments & payoffs to the entire series that elevated MGS4 for me. A few of which, that I won't spoil here, I will never forget...

This game was truly a nostalgic experience, especially if you were an MGS fan, and played this entry on release. The music really had a weight and finality to it...

MGS4 - Love Theme
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGf2b1H91JA

Be warned though - this game has some looooong cutscenes, even for MGS standards! You will have to be prepared to strap yourself in for some "Hideo Kojima cinema" in this one. But that ending and epilogue are so worth it...

This was my favorite Resident Evil game (and still is my favorite in the old, RE-style) until the release of Resident Evil 2 Remake.
Such an impressive remake of the original game. Graphically it is still impressive to this day, with its static camera angles, lighting, and sound design.
The additions they made to this game, including the terrifying Crimson Heads, and the Lisa character, shark section, etc. were all ingenious. A special game and one of the best the survival horror genre has to offer.

My favorite setting of the golden age GTA games - the 80's Miami aesthetic was gorgeous and beautiful back in the day. The soundtrack in this one is absolutely spectacular, and most likely my favorite in the entire series.

I loved the improvements they made from GTA III, such as the ability to own property, go into certain buildings, and the many different weapons. Things could get incredibly violent with some of the new melee weapon additions.

Looking back on the 3 classic GTA games, I just cannot rank them (truly a 1A, 1B, 1C situation) - they all were so amazing, built off each other, and each have their own claim to be at the top of the list.

So I'm just going based off of my memory here from playing this 20+ years ago... my pre-teen self despised this game with every fiber of his being. All I remember is the gameplay being atrocious, and the game being unbelievably ugly. I especially HATED the stamina/power meter going down as you ran which tied into your attack strength output... I never did get very far in this game though as I opted to play almost any other game I owned instead of this.

Color me shocked as I look and see this was one of From Software's early games... that is a crazy revelation to me. Since now when I think back on it... I see very early pre-Souls like design here. How far From Software has come since these days is honestly incredible...

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

This is a Top 5 Final Fantasy game, and in my opinion, the last great Final Fantasy numbered title (not counting remakes, remasters, or spin-offs).

Looking at the release date of 2001, it is incredibly sad to me that Squaresoft was able to release so many legendary titles within such a short period of time... now as of February 2023, we literally only have 3 new single-player Final Fantasy titles within 20+ years... and none of them hold a candle to the older games.

But enough about that - let's talk about what makes FFX so special! This was the FF that made the leap onto the PS2, and what a leap it was - this is an early PS2 title, and graphically, I still find that it holds up relatively well today, 20 years later. This was also the first FF game to introduce voice acting, and perhaps this is a "hot take", but I thought then, and I still do now, that it was a very solid and well-done dub. Laughing scene be damned! Speaking to that scene for a moment, I just feel people saw the meme and didn't understand the context surrounding the scene... is it cringe/awkward? Sure, but it was supposed to be. It also spawned some hilarious and abominable creations - like someone remaking the entire FFX soundtrack into a Tidus laugh track... I mean, that's just amazing!

The world and setting of Spira is hauntingly beautiful and depressing. Just like the famous Yuna "sending" scene demonstrates, this world is full of death, and is utterly devoid of hope. The people willingly distract themselves with the sport of blitzball, but only the few summoners and their pilgrimage they undertake to defeat Sin, offer a small glimpse of hope for a better tomorrow...

Auron sums it up perfectly with his line: "Spira is full of death. And Sin returns only to bring more death. It is a spiral of death, spiraling endlessly." (I cut it down in its entirety due to spoilers)

I absolutely adored the game's storyline, tone, world/setting, design, music, symbolism, imagery, religious themes, etc. The cast of characters are all great too, and Tidus is honestly the perfect "everyman" and stand-in for the player - as he learns about the world of Spira and how it operates, we do as well.

From a gameplay standpoint, I highly enjoyed the Sphere Grid leveling system. It is somewhat restrictive at first, but eventually opens itself up to a great deal of character customization on how you want to build your party. Also, the ability to switch characters out on the fly, with each party member being strong/weak against certain types of fiends, lends itself to a great battle system. I also love what they did with the summons in this iteration - the "aeons", as they are known in FFX, are vital to the story's plot, and can be summoned by Yuna in battle... and this time it isn't just an attack animation. Now they have their own HP/MP and abilities, and can participate actively in battle.

The only real complaints I have with the game are relatively minor - first, the lack of a world map/airship and the freedom to fully explore really bothered me back in the day. Now, I can say, that while I prefer the older titles and their freedom to explore a world map, FFX does the best job it can with such a limited space to explore. Unlike FFXIII (stares menacingly in its direction)... even if the design philosophy was the same - and they both could be negatively described as "hallway simulators", only XIII feels like one to me. FFX's world feels much more alive and real, that there is just no comparison. It's blasphemous to even compare the 2 titles.

The only other real gripe I have with FFX are the mini-games... honestly, they are my least favorite part of the game. I can't stand them... and in all honesty, the more that I think about them... they may very well be my most hated mini-games of any JRPG. Blitzball, butterfly chasing bullshit, chocobo racing/balloon pickup/ball & bird dodging all while trying to get a time of 0.0, dodging 200 bolts of lightning, some cactuar nonsense in the desert that I can't specifically remember, etc. All of it was pretty horrendous, but it is optional, for the most part (unless you want to power up the team's ultimate weapons).

Mini-games and nitpicks aside though, this is a real gem of a JRPG. I still give it a 5/5 rating, as I feel the positives far outweigh any minor imperfections there may be. I loved this game back when I was in middle school, and I still look fondly back on my time spent in Spira today. It is one of my favorite, emotionally devastating, journeys I've ever undertaken. A special and magical game.

Got to the halfway point in Antarctica, and then stopped playing... looking up reviews, I'm shocked at how well received Code Veronica is. For a huge RE fan, I just don't see it. This game felt clunkier to me than the original trilogy, as it was much more poorly designed - between the pacing, backtracking, artificial difficulty, just everything about it was worse... and don't get me started on the characters and their voice acting... oh god, the voice acting... I thought we left this behind back in 1996 with the original RE...

The game more than overstayed its welcome, as I thought the fight with the Tyrant was going to be it, but to find out that was just the halfway point... at that time, I saved the game, and shut it off permanently without even giving it another go.

If they decide to remake this, maybe I'll try to go back and finish it... and based on Capcom's recent track record, I wouldn't put it past them to take this pile of trash and turn it into a proper RE treasure.

This game just didn't click with me... and most of that can attributed to the game's battle system. I did not enjoy how it played similarly to an offline MMORPG. Then with the addition of the Gambits, it felt like the game was playing itself.

I love Final Fantasy Tactics and the setting of Ivalice, so the game's world and setting knock it out of the park. This might be the only thing I really loved from FFXII. This is easily one of the best looking PS2 game graphically - the towns, cities, and many open areas/dungeons are both diverse and impressive in scale and scope.

Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the game's characters. It felt like it went the FFVI approach without a true lead protagonist, but was done even worse here. There were only a couple of characters I even liked, and even then, none of them were on the same level as FF game's before... Vaan and Penelo are especially poor, that I questioned why they were even there to begin with...

Music was mostly a miss for me, outside of the Empire theme which is an all timer. Didn't like the espers/summons not being FF mainstays (although I understand the Tactics/Ivalice Zodiac connection), wasn't a huge fan of the license board, or the game's Quickenings either...

Now saying all this, I last played this game close to 16 years ago... I'd be willing to give the remastered version on the PS4 another chance, as I've heard it made many improvements to the gameplay/battle/job system, which is where many of my issues with it come from... we'll see, maybe I'll understand and like the storyline better the next go around, because as it stands now, I didn't like this particular Final Fantasy.

Gotta give props to the 2 games that started it all when it comes to this legendary franchise.

Are they the best the series has to offer? Not even close... but I don't regret my short time playing through each title.

Also, I'd like to add that I found enjoyment in what is considered the "black sheep" of the franchise: Final Fantasy II.

I actually really enjoyed playing it for what it was. It was nice to see the leaps they made in storytelling from the first to the second title - from its more action-packed opening, actual characters with names/backstories, introduction of party loss/sacrifice, and some solid world building. While the story was simplistic enough, and leaned heavily on Star Wars Episode IV for inspiration, I thought it was solid enough.

As for its gameplay, this is where I feel FFII gets most of its hate... and I understand why. Gone are the typical levels and experience points from pretty much every RPG in existence. In its place, it is replaced by a list of character stats/attributes, of which, only through repetition, does your party get stronger. For example, the more you get hit, the more max HP that character grows. Or the more offensive magic you use, the stronger it becomes.

On paper, this sounds like a great idea. However, it just doesn't work out all that well in execution. Instead, it incentivizes players to level up their party by attacking EACH OTHER in a battle against low level mobs.

Saying all this though, I really do give them credit for their interesting game mechanic ideas and risks they took to make something new. Comparing it to a different game/series, I'd say it is very similar to MGS3's camouflage system. Cool idea, but flawed in practice.

If you care about JRPG history, I'd still give FF1 and FF2 a playthrough.

One of the dumbest stories and plot twists in all of gaming... retroactively makes everything, including its own franchise, much worse.

Battle system is alright, and breaking the HP limit back then was pretty neat... dying when losing all your MP not so much...

Story, characters, and voice acting range from bad to god awful. Music is good though.

The plot twist through the ending of the game really soured me on the entire experience and pissed me off. I hated it by the end and will never revisit it... nor do I recommend anyone, even diehard JRPG fans, play it.