fntm
this is the worst kind of direct sequel. gameplay loop is essentially identical but it has almost nothing to do with the previous game story/continuity-wise.
nintendo has always been allergic to lore but there is no time this has been more obvious than this time around.
they completely tapped out on what was good and what was bad about botw and just made the same game with some added crafting mechanics that can be fun but arent very practical to the core gameplay.
nintendo has always been allergic to lore but there is no time this has been more obvious than this time around.
they completely tapped out on what was good and what was bad about botw and just made the same game with some added crafting mechanics that can be fun but arent very practical to the core gameplay.
1994
This review contains spoilers
“On that day… the world was changed forever…”
And they made this game within the span of a year??
Most cinematic game on the SNES, no contest. I knew this game was influential but I never realized to what degree until I actually made it through myself. After watching my brother play it here and there as a kid, to attempting a half dozen times between now and then, I never fully grasped it. Till now.
This is by a team at the top of their game. If every Final Fantasy before it had growing pains, this was the full culmination of what a JRPG or a Final Fantasy meant, plus bonus points for pushing into new directions. IV had the focus on story but not as much on gameplay, whereas V was the opposite. VI manages to (almost) be the in-between. There’s still a huge focus on story, but I think the magicite system and relics allow some level of customization for your otherwise very distinct characters. You can’t really have IV and V within the same game, but this is a very strong effort to bridge the gap.
I grew up thinking this game was extremely dark and it is… at times. The Doma scene in particular still lives rent free in my mind, but there’s also a ton of goofball humor, possibly even moreso, that balances out all the death and dismay. In addition, there are a lot of fun story scenarios, such as the opera, a town full of liars that you have to deduce the truth from, switching between parties till they meet up at their destination, etc. This cycles through a ton of JRPG standards that every game since has based entire games around.
Square really could have just made the World of Balance and everyone would have considered it a good if not great game, but they added an entire second half (back third?) just because they were ahead of schedule. Damn. And it’s not just some addendum, it’s an entirely new open world to explore and there are still tons of things to do in it (most of it being optional). I think this is what cements it in its place as an all-time classic. It essentially functions like FF IV: The After Years, except you didn’t beat the boss, the boss won.
Almost every dungeon has some weird or goofy gimmick going on, it’s not just run around and grind, there’s probably a puzzle of some kind or some other way to mix things up.
Back to the cinematic feel, this definitely feels like a stage play itself, as I’ve noticed a lot of JRPGs do, but it literally has one within it (okay opera). But there’s also a bunch of on-rails moments (one quite literally) which lends to a sense of urgency and scale.
I can feel the influence on a series like Suikoden, with a rogue band of marauders, some of which you might recruit optionally. If FF VII was “the” JRPG of all time (at least culturally), then this was the game that gave them the chutz pah to make that one as cinematic and as memorable as it was. But this one was still more ambitious. Don’t even get me into all the RPG Maker projects I’ve played that shamelessly ape elements from this game. Every single weird little nuance you can explore within a top-down JRPG was done here. This thoroughly wrote the book on all of it. How do you even follow that up? Well I guess with Chrono Trigger (arguably an even better game?!) and then move to 3D afterward. Square really was IT by the end of the SNES life cycle.
The graphics didn’t age amazingly, but it’s still one of the better looking games on the SNES and utilizes every sort of trick to achieve a cinematic feel on a system that could barely handle it. My only complaint is that some of the character animations could be more fluid, or the occasional crappy tile placement here and there. Honestly it’s just a nitpick and doesn’t bother me, but it’s proof this game isn’t perfect. It’s just pretty close.
And they made this game within the span of a year??
Most cinematic game on the SNES, no contest. I knew this game was influential but I never realized to what degree until I actually made it through myself. After watching my brother play it here and there as a kid, to attempting a half dozen times between now and then, I never fully grasped it. Till now.
This is by a team at the top of their game. If every Final Fantasy before it had growing pains, this was the full culmination of what a JRPG or a Final Fantasy meant, plus bonus points for pushing into new directions. IV had the focus on story but not as much on gameplay, whereas V was the opposite. VI manages to (almost) be the in-between. There’s still a huge focus on story, but I think the magicite system and relics allow some level of customization for your otherwise very distinct characters. You can’t really have IV and V within the same game, but this is a very strong effort to bridge the gap.
I grew up thinking this game was extremely dark and it is… at times. The Doma scene in particular still lives rent free in my mind, but there’s also a ton of goofball humor, possibly even moreso, that balances out all the death and dismay. In addition, there are a lot of fun story scenarios, such as the opera, a town full of liars that you have to deduce the truth from, switching between parties till they meet up at their destination, etc. This cycles through a ton of JRPG standards that every game since has based entire games around.
Square really could have just made the World of Balance and everyone would have considered it a good if not great game, but they added an entire second half (back third?) just because they were ahead of schedule. Damn. And it’s not just some addendum, it’s an entirely new open world to explore and there are still tons of things to do in it (most of it being optional). I think this is what cements it in its place as an all-time classic. It essentially functions like FF IV: The After Years, except you didn’t beat the boss, the boss won.
Almost every dungeon has some weird or goofy gimmick going on, it’s not just run around and grind, there’s probably a puzzle of some kind or some other way to mix things up.
Back to the cinematic feel, this definitely feels like a stage play itself, as I’ve noticed a lot of JRPGs do, but it literally has one within it (okay opera). But there’s also a bunch of on-rails moments (one quite literally) which lends to a sense of urgency and scale.
I can feel the influence on a series like Suikoden, with a rogue band of marauders, some of which you might recruit optionally. If FF VII was “the” JRPG of all time (at least culturally), then this was the game that gave them the chutz pah to make that one as cinematic and as memorable as it was. But this one was still more ambitious. Don’t even get me into all the RPG Maker projects I’ve played that shamelessly ape elements from this game. Every single weird little nuance you can explore within a top-down JRPG was done here. This thoroughly wrote the book on all of it. How do you even follow that up? Well I guess with Chrono Trigger (arguably an even better game?!) and then move to 3D afterward. Square really was IT by the end of the SNES life cycle.
The graphics didn’t age amazingly, but it’s still one of the better looking games on the SNES and utilizes every sort of trick to achieve a cinematic feel on a system that could barely handle it. My only complaint is that some of the character animations could be more fluid, or the occasional crappy tile placement here and there. Honestly it’s just a nitpick and doesn’t bother me, but it’s proof this game isn’t perfect. It’s just pretty close.
I should have already played all the SOTN RPG-esque Vanias by now, considering how much I liked that particular one. Say what you will about grinding EXP, but adding it to a Metroidvania brings me much joy personally.
I tried playing most of these back around when they came out but I think I was just overwhelmed by how many there were, and the stories just never really grabbed me.
Still can't really say the story is very interesting, there's too many anime-isms , basically any kind of weird stuff without explanations or meh characterization. I'm sure that's just par for the whatever localization, which suffices but isn't much to write home about. Okay, I didn't beat it yet, but I'm not champing at the bit for more story, sorry.
Probably the best aspect to this is collecting monster abilities, albeit I still haven't figured out if it's random or you have to kill a certain amount. Probably somewhere in between. Anyway, GOOD GAME.
Edit: After beating it, my feelings pretty much remained unchanged the entire way through. That's perfectly fine. It's a very good game with a solid formula and decent story. It got pretty challenging at times but grinding a bit could usually solve that. I don't really want to 100% it, but I did get the "good" ending. Looking forward to Dawn of Sorrow.
Final note: there's a classical piece of music that's used here that was also used in Soul Blazer and going through that area feels very odd to me.
I tried playing most of these back around when they came out but I think I was just overwhelmed by how many there were, and the stories just never really grabbed me.
Still can't really say the story is very interesting, there's too many anime-isms , basically any kind of weird stuff without explanations or meh characterization. I'm sure that's just par for the whatever localization, which suffices but isn't much to write home about. Okay, I didn't beat it yet, but I'm not champing at the bit for more story, sorry.
Probably the best aspect to this is collecting monster abilities, albeit I still haven't figured out if it's random or you have to kill a certain amount. Probably somewhere in between. Anyway, GOOD GAME.
Edit: After beating it, my feelings pretty much remained unchanged the entire way through. That's perfectly fine. It's a very good game with a solid formula and decent story. It got pretty challenging at times but grinding a bit could usually solve that. I don't really want to 100% it, but I did get the "good" ending. Looking forward to Dawn of Sorrow.
Final note: there's a classical piece of music that's used here that was also used in Soul Blazer and going through that area feels very odd to me.
1998
I think it's time for me to give up on this one. I've tried it numerous times through the years and even got decently far into it once... but it's just not super compelling to me. For being a 3D game with 2D sprites it just doesn't look that great and all around it feels very... almost but not quite. Besides the OST, which may be my most listened to OST after Chrono Cross. It's like this inbetween of CT and CC (probably because it literally was made between them).
I've heard this was originally a FFVII pitch, and then a possible Chrono Trigger 2 at some point as well, and it does have a lot in common with CT, not just the the soundtrack composer.
Anyway, I think I'm going to abandon this as a game and watch a playthrough instead. Considering how inspired by Gnosticism I am in my own projects it seems like a necessity to at least know the whole plot.
Edit: Just collecting my thoughts here while I watch a play-through, but this very much feels like a game completely led by its narrative and everything about it is in support of that narrative. Basically, there are no overly frivolous gameplay aspects, they're all there for the story. This could very much just have been a novel. Not sure how I feel about that, but it is an interesting way to approach a game.
The pacing is also pretty slow and there's a lot of dialogue to not say so much. That feels like a pretty common Japanese poetic choice. A lot of battle scenes feel like 61 episodes of DBZ.
I've heard this was originally a FFVII pitch, and then a possible Chrono Trigger 2 at some point as well, and it does have a lot in common with CT, not just the the soundtrack composer.
Anyway, I think I'm going to abandon this as a game and watch a playthrough instead. Considering how inspired by Gnosticism I am in my own projects it seems like a necessity to at least know the whole plot.
Edit: Just collecting my thoughts here while I watch a play-through, but this very much feels like a game completely led by its narrative and everything about it is in support of that narrative. Basically, there are no overly frivolous gameplay aspects, they're all there for the story. This could very much just have been a novel. Not sure how I feel about that, but it is an interesting way to approach a game.
The pacing is also pretty slow and there's a lot of dialogue to not say so much. That feels like a pretty common Japanese poetic choice. A lot of battle scenes feel like 61 episodes of DBZ.
1999
Ideally there is no sequel to Chrono Trigger. As is, this is about as good as any sequel to that once in a blue moon game had any right to be. As a stand alone game it's also one of the greatest of all time all by itself.
All that said, it had a profound effect on me as a teen/pre-teen whereas Chrono Trigger was the game I played a million times as a kid. They were basically exactly what I needed when I needed them, regardless of whether they were connected or not.
All that said, it had a profound effect on me as a teen/pre-teen whereas Chrono Trigger was the game I played a million times as a kid. They were basically exactly what I needed when I needed them, regardless of whether they were connected or not.
1995
Been dealing with some health problems lately so I'm too sick to work on my own projects but instead have a lot of time for bucket list games. Can't complain (too much).
Terranigma is one of the several "good vibes" SNES games. Others include Chrono Trigger, Soul Blazer, Secret of Evermore, EVO... probably more. But they're the best type of nostalgia imo. Only a few other PS1 games come close to that feel. Can't really describe what that feel actually is, but if you know you know I'd say.
I've tried beating Terranigma twice, but I lost interest about halfway once and the other I think I got stuck on Bloody Mary (that's the boss that everyone complains about so I think that was probably it).
This game is beautiful though. Graphics and music is absolute top notch for the system. Might even be my favorite at times. I don't mind being sick so much if I have Ark as company.
Terranigma is one of the several "good vibes" SNES games. Others include Chrono Trigger, Soul Blazer, Secret of Evermore, EVO... probably more. But they're the best type of nostalgia imo. Only a few other PS1 games come close to that feel. Can't really describe what that feel actually is, but if you know you know I'd say.
I've tried beating Terranigma twice, but I lost interest about halfway once and the other I think I got stuck on Bloody Mary (that's the boss that everyone complains about so I think that was probably it).
This game is beautiful though. Graphics and music is absolute top notch for the system. Might even be my favorite at times. I don't mind being sick so much if I have Ark as company.
The three GBA games make clear strides in improving upon the last one. If you actually want to enjoy this I would suggest playing it before Aria of Sorrow and just completely skipping Circle of the Moon. This is basically if SOTN was on the GBA and for the time, SOTN on the GBA was cool. Really cool. But now that it's just another Castlevania game, that you can either emulate or play legally on your Switch, it's basically SOTN, but worse. You can probably play SOTN on your Switch if you try hard enough.
I do enjoy this game, my biggest gripe is not knowing what to do next. You can spend hours traversing the entire castle to find the one spot you need to be at. And this happens more than a few times. I never even knew you could teleport till I found a hint somewhere, so it was basically the end of the game when I finally did start teleporting.
This is relatively easy, probably moreso than Aria of Sorrow and I like that I'm not constantly killing enemies trying to get their abilities, as much as I found that aspect of Aria very cool, I like the simplicity of less FOMO. The bosses are just moving blocks that sometimes attack. There's a lot of them too. You'll need very little strategy for most of them and if you utilize your magic and special attacks, as well as maybe do a bit of grinding, you'll barely take a scratch.
By the time you reach the end of the game it's pretty hard not to be overpowered and by now if you don't know the best magic combos (or combo I should say, ahem, wind/cross) there might be something wrong with you.
Overall a solid game with a blah story, huge docking of points for constantly getting lost and having WAY too many dead ends that you can't pass till much much, much, later.
Oh yeah, just because they needed to place more random items to collect, there's a room that you can furnish. Weird side quest.
I do enjoy this game, my biggest gripe is not knowing what to do next. You can spend hours traversing the entire castle to find the one spot you need to be at. And this happens more than a few times. I never even knew you could teleport till I found a hint somewhere, so it was basically the end of the game when I finally did start teleporting.
This is relatively easy, probably moreso than Aria of Sorrow and I like that I'm not constantly killing enemies trying to get their abilities, as much as I found that aspect of Aria very cool, I like the simplicity of less FOMO. The bosses are just moving blocks that sometimes attack. There's a lot of them too. You'll need very little strategy for most of them and if you utilize your magic and special attacks, as well as maybe do a bit of grinding, you'll barely take a scratch.
By the time you reach the end of the game it's pretty hard not to be overpowered and by now if you don't know the best magic combos (or combo I should say, ahem, wind/cross) there might be something wrong with you.
Overall a solid game with a blah story, huge docking of points for constantly getting lost and having WAY too many dead ends that you can't pass till much much, much, later.
Oh yeah, just because they needed to place more random items to collect, there's a room that you can furnish. Weird side quest.
2000
This review contains spoilers
The last, chronologically speaking, version of Mega Man is canonically lost in space forever.
Wish we could at the very least get more games like this. If I had enough faith in my game dev abilities a spiritual successor is definitely a dream project along with a Tomba clone. Maybe some day. As is, I can only throw Tail Concerto and Solatorobo anywhere within the same ring.
Wish we could at the very least get more games like this. If I had enough faith in my game dev abilities a spiritual successor is definitely a dream project along with a Tomba clone. Maybe some day. As is, I can only throw Tail Concerto and Solatorobo anywhere within the same ring.
I don't know if this was Game Freak's first game, but it has all the hallmarks of too much ambition. Some very cool ideas, from strategy based battles with action-rpg elements and platforming, to an overhead JRPG style outside of the action. I don't think it holds together super solidly, but it's a valiant effort, especially compared to a lot of simpler games for the SFC/SNES.
1991
i think this is the game that can make sotn fans realize this series was still pretty solid even before the rpg elements. i'm pretty bad at it but even i can admit it's a game made with a lot of intention.
2006
Yeah whatever I liked this game. Kinda standard first-person dungeon crawler with spell-drawing (ala Lost Magic), with a script by Masato Kato and a soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda; and it's one of his best OSTs imo. Sorry, it's not Chrono Trigger, or even Chrono Cross. It's not trying to be either.
It has two scenarios and the first one with a kid and his dog is pretty meh. The other one about a knight and a girl trapped in crystal is pretty great however, and Mitsuda's "Girl in the Crystal" track is one of his bests and elevates it exponentially.
I don't know why this one got crapped on, it's certainly not mind-meltingly amazing, but you can do a lot worse for a first-person dungeon crawl on the DS (albeit you can also do better with the Etrian games).
It has two scenarios and the first one with a kid and his dog is pretty meh. The other one about a knight and a girl trapped in crystal is pretty great however, and Mitsuda's "Girl in the Crystal" track is one of his bests and elevates it exponentially.
I don't know why this one got crapped on, it's certainly not mind-meltingly amazing, but you can do a lot worse for a first-person dungeon crawl on the DS (albeit you can also do better with the Etrian games).
It's not that bad. Honestly wish I played it as a kid, I might have liked it. It might be too odd for kids now, but it's a game that was geared towards being beatable by children. Or American adults. lol
The way it combines Final Fantasy Adventure (Mana 1) with simpler JRPG battles is kinda cool. It's like if Final Fantasy had more Zelda elements. But there's more to it that makes it its own thing and not overly comparable to any other game. It has a lot of charm, almost like a platformer from the time.
The only problem here is calling it a Final Fantasy, it's really not, but then I guess no one would have played it.
The way it combines Final Fantasy Adventure (Mana 1) with simpler JRPG battles is kinda cool. It's like if Final Fantasy had more Zelda elements. But there's more to it that makes it its own thing and not overly comparable to any other game. It has a lot of charm, almost like a platformer from the time.
The only problem here is calling it a Final Fantasy, it's really not, but then I guess no one would have played it.
2000
One of those games that got shit on at the time that I thought was perfectly fine. Haven't actually played it since 2000 to tell if that's true or just my naive peepers thinking everything released early on for the PS2 was heaven incarnate.
I don't consider myself a total weeb (I just like JRPGs a lot, there's probably some other term for that) and I don't get into the waifu thing but Tron Bonne is waifu
1999
WELTORV ESTLEIA
that is all
Okay. Now that I played it a bit, how many PS1 games let you set your height and weight... and I have never seen a game let you choose whether you are left or right handed. Lots of customization.
So I make my guy as tall as possible and as fat as possible. After a brief introduction the game seems to be mostly open, so apparently we have a sandbox JRPG here or moreso than just about any other JRPG on the system I think.
I guess I'll mention that I have played so many JRPGs in my life that I've reached a point where my lack of knowledge in actual Japanese doesn't even matter that much and I can usually find my bearings pretty easily as these "rich fantasy worlds" can get rather predictable at times.
Anyway, I talk to some guy in a bar and buy something for 15000 when I only have 100 and he promptly takes me to jail. Never even gave me the "Sorry you are broke!" dialogue box. Damn.
After waiting awhile I get to leave and I immediately travel south until I've made it past 4 or 5 load screens. I was hoping to find the world map and fight some monsters at this point but instead I run into a very small old man who is lying on the ground (Actually he's probably not that small, I'm just very tall). I take him back to my home and he is my new pet.
to be cont'd
p.s. WELTORV ESTLEIA
that is all
Okay. Now that I played it a bit, how many PS1 games let you set your height and weight... and I have never seen a game let you choose whether you are left or right handed. Lots of customization.
So I make my guy as tall as possible and as fat as possible. After a brief introduction the game seems to be mostly open, so apparently we have a sandbox JRPG here or moreso than just about any other JRPG on the system I think.
I guess I'll mention that I have played so many JRPGs in my life that I've reached a point where my lack of knowledge in actual Japanese doesn't even matter that much and I can usually find my bearings pretty easily as these "rich fantasy worlds" can get rather predictable at times.
Anyway, I talk to some guy in a bar and buy something for 15000 when I only have 100 and he promptly takes me to jail. Never even gave me the "Sorry you are broke!" dialogue box. Damn.
After waiting awhile I get to leave and I immediately travel south until I've made it past 4 or 5 load screens. I was hoping to find the world map and fight some monsters at this point but instead I run into a very small old man who is lying on the ground (Actually he's probably not that small, I'm just very tall). I take him back to my home and he is my new pet.
to be cont'd
p.s. WELTORV ESTLEIA