LogFAQs > #876487232

Kingdom Hearts 2, aka the last real mainline KH game ever made, also came out in 2006. It was a bit more streamlined than the original, easier to play but also the start of some truly stupid story stuff. It rubbed some people the wrong way but most fans really loved it. Final Fantasy finally returned in 2006 after what is basically a five year absence with.. a game without a lot of panache. It was very medieval and orchestral and well not very fantasy-like when compared to previous entries in the series. It had its strong points - the open exploration was welcome - but the battle system felt a little too MMO-ish and the characters and setting were subpar. It certainly has its fans but nothing like you would see from a game in the 6-10 era. The days of FF releases being a huge deal were kind of in the past.

A bunch of good japanese RPGs hit in 2006. My favorite of the bunch was Xenosaga 3. I kept a close eye on the Xenosaga series waiting for it to actually do what I wanted it to do - all the scope but none of the tedium. Xenosaga 3 accomplished that with a simplified battle system, FFX-like skill system and a narrative that finally paid off after two games of build. It's easy to mock Xenosaga for any number of reasons but I loved the atmosphere of the game. It's probably my favorite PS2 game, or close to it. Shadow Hearts released its last entry in 2006, a weird spin-off that's reminiscent of FFX-2 if FFX-2 wasn't totally embarrassing. Suikoden 5 and Tales of the Abyss also hit in 2006 which had its fair share of fans.

The DS didn't have any huge fad games but it had a Mario and Zelda combo. 2d Mario returned with New Super Mario Bros. which was a HUGE game all across the world, probably in the top 10 sales of all time. Phantom Hourglass was a weird touch screen Zelda but people didn't hate it like I would have expected. There was also the usual push of NIntendogs and Brain Age versions for people who liked that kind of thing.

Finally, there were four other games that certainly warrant mentioning. Okami came out on PS2, a Capcom/Clover game that had a lot of Zelda in its bones and was probably more beloved than Twilight Princess in many ways. Guitar Hero 2 set off the rhythm boom that was about to come for the next couple of years. The first Saints Row game came out and was silly open world mayhem, but not quite the silly that we think of today. And finally, Mother 3 hit the GBA in 2006. Mother 3 has one of the most fervent fan followings that I can think of and people are still crying for it to come here even though it's been easily playable for almost a decade now.

2006 is a huge year not for releases - though it had those - but for how the next generation of consoles would take shape. These consoles lasted for about 8 years so 2006 really got the ball rolling on trends that would be hard to move away from for a long time.
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