Current Events > Post a game you like and if I've played it I'll talk about it

(+) Yeah! (+)

Max three games per post and maybe user idfk just post games

I like talking about games.
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Super Mario RPG
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Knights of the old republic
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Valkyria Chronicles
Final Fantasy X
Heavy Rain
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Tales from the Borderlands
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Shotgunnova posted...

Super Mario RPG

I remember first seeing this at a Blockbuster Video, so that alone dates the fuck outta me. I had no idea what it was even about when I first saw it. The only other RPGs I'd played up until then were Final Fantasy VI and Earthbound, both of which I very much liked. It was actually the RPG part that drew me to the game instead of the Mario (actually it was the Squaresoft logo that did it but whatever, the sentiment is the same).

I rented the FUCK out of the game. Every weekend from a local video rental place (that Blockbuster was near my dad's, which I only rarely visited). And every week I would have this sweaty panic anxiety that somebody would save over my file, which they did, and I always started over. The furthest I got in this cycle was round-a-bout Star Hill. Eventually my birthday came around and I got it for reals along with the Official Strategy Guide. I lost the guide but still own the game .

There's no other ending to this tale other than that I loved it very much. The graphics were fantastic, the world was vibrant and full of life and the music was fantastic, creating such a unique atmosphere (and was composed by Yoko Shimomura, love u gurl). The battle system was turn based but with that twitch kind of "extra hit" mechanic and it felt so good to get that crit on baddies damn. I can still close my eyes and remember how great it felt to stay up late on weekends and just become one with Mario RPG (this also applies to Earthbound and Final Fantasy VI).

I hardly have any real complaints about the game. Getting 200 Super Jumps is fucking bullshit, sometimes it's hard to be precise with jumps and I don't like how even the game tries to make Mario / Peach / Bowser the gold standard. I could complain about how easy the game is, sure, but it's not an RPG for seasoned pros, it's the textbook definition of "beginner RPG". Besides, when I was a dumb kid some fights still challenged me (Birdo in particular because I was too stupid to really follow the whole egg thing).

I love all the little details in the game. All the side quests, the cameos and the writing. This came out at a time when RPG localizations were borderline sketch (Final Fantasy VI was just -fine-) so seeing a strong, Nintendo powered translation was pretty swell. My favorite little detail in the game is if you stay past your time in the Marrymore Hotel you have to actually work off your debt. I stayed for two dozen nights or so once and had to actually sit for twenty minutes to watch Mario work off his incursion. It was just such a wacky detail, I loved it.

Is it mostly nostalgia? Not at all. I mean, sure, it's 25% nostalgia but having recently replayed it, the game is still solid as fuck. It's also pretty amazing that it's gonna be on the SNES Classic, that's a great choice. Man O man...remember reading the wishes on Star Hill? Or fighting Booster's Wedding Cake? Me and my friend would reset and load up the save right before that fight to try and beat each other's times in getting Peach's things. I'd endlessly challenge Marrymore's hill section and went out of my way to do a run with 100% frog coins and hidden boxes (fuck that early missable coin BTW).

omfg I've used the entire first post talking about Mario RPG. Oops.

If you're looking for a number rating to wrap it up it's an easy 9/10. Maybe even a 10/10.
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Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky
Dynasty Warriors 8 (plus Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends because I'm a filthy PS3 peasant)
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Mega Man Legends

WafflehouseJK posted...

Knights of the old republic

I never actually got too far in this. I never had an XBox so my exposure to the game came mostly from playing it at friend's houses. I think the farthest I ever got was to the point where you become a Jedi (which I'm told is not very far at all).

Apparently the game is on mobile now? Maybe it's time to check it out. Though honestly I'll probably get it through Steam or GOG instead of suffering it out on my phone.

BalanceLost posted...

Valkyria Chronicles
Final Fantasy X
Heavy Rain

Despite owning it on two platforms (PS3 and PC) I never got around to Valkyria Chronicles. Which is too bad because I hear nothing but good things about it and it's directed by the folks who made Skies of Arcadia so I dunno why I haven't touched it yet. Also, I'm reading Hitoshi Sakimoto did the music!? At the least I'll listen to that.

Final Fantasy X, though...oh boy...

I like Final Fantasy. A lot. So much that I'm distraught at the state of the franchise now. Almost unreasonably so. I loved Final Fantasy VI, a lot. A LOT. I loved VII, VIII, and IX. At the time when X was announced, I was at the height of my fanboyism. Seventeen years old, the math says. I didn't even own a Playstation 2 at the time, which was unfortunate because it meant I had to play Final Fantasy X at my friend's house like a pleb. I did it though. Every chance I got I would head on over. On his memory card I got only to about I'd say Killika Woods? Just to where Rikku joins. Not very far.

Talk about memories! My friend was a fan of the then-new Axe deodorant so whenever I smell some of the OG Axe I'm brought right back to that room. It was quite the special moment, starting up that game for the first time. To Zanarkand playing, the slow pan around of all the characters leading to Tidus going to look over the ruins of Zanarkand before the title appears oh my lord. I just rewatched it on youtube and it's still just as effective. The whole story was like that for me. Especially that one scene with Yuna and Tidus in the woods...damn..

A lot of people found Tidus annoying but I never did. Even the laughing scene never bothered me because it had a very defined part of the story. The writing was...okay. Good for the time, but stilted now. I understand why it is the way it is, but still--it's not perfect.

I really enjoy the battle system. Why has Square done more with this? They've certainly exploited the fuck out of the Sphere Grid's node-based growth system with XIII and even XII to an extent, so why not CTB? Goddamn this game has some memorable fights, though. Seymour Flux and Lady Yunalesca and Braska's Final Aeon and that fucking Chocobo Eater and all those monster creations.

X will always have a place in my heart. I love the music, with To Zanarkand, Someday the Dream Will End, Suteki da ne, the Battle Theme, Yuna's theme and even Seymore's battle music. I love Final Fantasy X for not only being in the right place at the right time in my life, but for doing it so well and maintaining itself over the years. The story is fantastic for me to this day. The game, though...I don't like how specifically grindy getting powerful is end-game. Monster collection is dull, fuck blitzball for Wakka (FUCK Blitzball for those reels seriously) and weapon customization always felt somewhat clunky to me. OH YEAH AND YOU CAN'T SKIP CUTSCENES. I dunno if you can in the remaster or not.

I spent another post mostly talking about one game. Expect this a lot. I really like Final Fantasy X. Not only is it heart-warmingly nostalgic, but still a lot of fun to play. It's also the last Final Fantasy in what I consider Square's 'golden years'.

Overall I give Final Fantasy X an 8/10.
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BalanceLost posted...

Valkyria Chronicles
Final Fantasy X
Heavy Rain

Heavy Rain was a great time...the one time I played it.

Me and some friends marathoned it in one night when it came out and it was a boatload of good times. Passing the controller around at each character switch, panicking during tense moments and replaying scenes to get the best ending possible. I loved it. I liked all the characters, the mystery was good and that scene in the shop where you had to remember everything that was touched was great too.

That said, and I'm sure this is a problem with all Davy Cage games, I can't bring myself to ever play it again. That's the problem with both movie-type games and with my situation of 'never getting the moment back'. Still, I can't deny it's a good time and probably the best of his works.

I give Heavy Rain a 7 out of 10, I guess.

sabin017 posted...

Tales from the Borderlands

The Borderlands story and world was always interesting to me, but never really dynamic enough to really affect me. Borderlands 2 had a competent enough tale, but lacked character depth outside of Handsome Jack. In fact, I think my biggest problem with the story is that hardly anybody BUT Jack got any depth. Which, for the game, was fine.

I was excited with the announcement of Tales from the Borderlands because I wanted a genuine story to be told about Pandora and its denizens without the inherent problems a FPS offers that. That, and Telltale was pretty proven at that point to be able to at least tell a decent story (Jurassic Park game be damned).

I very much enjoyed Tales from the Borderlands. I liked the two main characters and, unlike a lot of 'comedy games', this game made me genuinely laugh a lot. I don't want to talk about it all too much because there IS so much and I honestly can't remember too many details other than the stuff that cracked me up and the poignant moments.

Speaking of which...

Scooter's death genuinely affected me. I felt really, REALLY bad when he died. His last "CATCH A RIDE" was so bittersweet I really almost teared up. See, that's what Telltale is good at I think. The important moments. Like cyber Jack's final demise.

I'm super glad to have played the game and I hope everything in it stays canon to the eventual Borderlands 3.

I give Tales from the Borderlands a 8 out of 10.
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Kircheis posted...

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky
Dynasty Warriors 8 (plus Dynasty Warriors 8 Xtreme Legends because I'm a filthy PS3 peasant)

I am sorry but I haven't played Explorers of the Sky DESPITE always hearing great things and DESPITE enjoying the GBA games. I also haven't played too much of any Dynasty Warrior game. For some reason they really frustrate me and I dunno why.

Eternal Darkness, though...

Refer to my Final Fantasy X talk to gain intel on the setting. I got a Gamecube shortly after graduating high school and was playing Eternal Darkness just a few months later (in August 2002). Man, what a trip that game was (is). I liked combat--sorta. It always felt like I was banging my weapons off walls. Magic was fun, though. The whole game had this weird atmosphere about it that was so off-putting, like, it was devoid of happiness.

The insanity effects were awesome. I remember both me and my friend shouting like idiots during the bathtub jump or my friend getting to his feet and shouting at me to turn the console off when the game told us it was erasing our save data.

All that said...I don't really remember much about the game. I haven't played it since then and that's...Christ, fifteen years, goddamn. I still have a Gamecube so maybe one day I'll sit back down with it--maybe. I'd have to buy it again...is it available digitally?

Sorry, but I don't feel right giving it a score considering I don't really remember much about the game itself.
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Dungeon Keeper 2
Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen
Panzer Dragoon Orta
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ThisSecretNinja posted...

Mega Man Legends

So

1996-1998 are bad years for me. A lot of shitty stuff happened through them. But, as a shining star in the otherwise black sky, Mega Man Legends was one of a few games that really helped me through it. I rented it from a mom and pop rental place in Coldspring, NY and really just got attached to it right away. The world was vibrant, the cutscenes were so good looking with actual mouth movements, the characters were memorable as FUCK, the music was great, etc. etc.

In reality the controls are stiff and take a lot of getting used to. I bore through it though. The story has just enough mystery to it and the ending with Mega Man Juno was really great. I remember grinding the fuck out of the dog-kick minigame for Zenny, only to find out that my Shining Laser upgrade would cost me literally millions of them. The game actually required a lot of Zenny grinding for no real purpose, as it's not a terribly difficult game.

Not difficult nowadays, anyway. I had a fuck of a time with the Water Dungeon and the last boss. I did manage to get the Max Buster...which I reading now meant I had to beat it on hard mode (or under 3 hours and I know I didn't do that).I guess I wasn't that awful at the game.

I'm glad the game got the cult following it did and that Capcom latched onto it enough before going bananas and shutting down everything to give us The Misadventures of Tron Bonne and Mega Man Legends 2, the latter of which is a huge cocktease at the end.

So Mega Man Legends gets big points for not only being a really fun game, but also really helping me through a trying time. Today, I still think it's a fun, if not clunky, game and I wish Capcom would turn themselves around a little bit to where they were in 1997 (though games have changed, the whole industry is different). It's pretty great that the game is available digitally, even if playing it on a Vita is a pain in my mega man ass due to the control scheme.

I give Mega Man Legends a 7 out of 10
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DigitalCamera posted...

Dungeon Keeper 2
Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen
Panzer Dragoon Orta

I'm sorry I haven't played any of those games except for Orta but that was 5 minutes at a Gamestop kiosk and I farted a LOT while doing so and the whole store smelled like farts when I left.
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Yaridovich posted...

I am sorry but I haven't played Explorers of the Sky DESPITE always hearing great things and DESPITE enjoying the GBA games.

Bruh you should totally get on that. Explorers of Sky kicks Rescue Team's ass in literally every single way. If you liked Rescue Team (the one game in the series where I could never be bothered to finish the story mode due to lacking compelling character development), then you'll definitely love Explorers of Sky.

Yaridovich posted...

Eternal Darkness, though...

Refer to my Final Fantasy X talk to gain intel on the setting. I got a Gamecube shortly after graduating high school and was playing Eternal Darkness just a few months later (in August 2002). Man, what a trip that game was (is). I liked combat--sorta. It always felt like I was banging my weapons off walls. Magic was fun, though. The whole game had this weird atmosphere about it that was so off-putting, like, it was devoid of happiness.

The insanity effects were awesome. I remember both me and my friend shouting like idiots during the bathtub jump or my friend getting to his feet and shouting at me to turn the console off when the game told us it was erasing our save data.

All that said...I don't really remember much about the game. I haven't played it since then and that's...Christ, fifteen years, goddamn. I still have a Gamecube so maybe one day I'll sit back down with it--maybe. I'd have to buy it again...is it available digitally?

Sorry, but I don't feel right giving it a score considering I don't really remember much about the game itself.

I...don't believe it's available digitally, no. Or at least Google turned up nothing conclusive for me. My favorite parts were the between chapter sections where the game throws a bunch of weapons and ammo at you and you just know it's all going to be used eventually, but you have no idea when, which made it all the more effective when monsters did start showing up in the present day. Or at least it would be if enemies were actually threatening, and if you didn't find the Mantorok Rune or complete the Enchanted Gladius sidequest. But I didn't have those the first time around, so that feeling of dread when Alex kept finding weapons and ammo with no payoff, and then finally getting payoff, that experience just can't be replicated, man.
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Kircheis posted...

I...don't believe it's available digitally, no. Or at least Google turned up nothing conclusive for me. My favorite parts were the between chapter sections where the game throws a bunch of weapons and ammo at you and you just know it's all going to be used eventually, but you have no idea when, which made it all the more effective when monsters did start showing up in the present day. Or at least it would be if enemies were actually threatening, and if you didn't find the Mantorok Rune or complete the Enchanted Gladius sidequest. But I didn't have those the first time around, so that feeling of dread when Alex kept finding weapons and ammo with no payoff, and then finally getting payoff, that experience just can't be replicated, man.

You got me interested enough to go watch some videos. I do remember now liking Alex's mansion. They say the sound design is especially impressive for the time and I remember noting something along those lines back in the day. I also remember now the chain of events getting that magic gladius--something about a little statue or something like that being passed down through time.
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Ys: Oath in Felghana

winged_weltall posted...

Ys: Oath in Felghana

Sorry, I've never played it. The Ys series always seemed to pass me by, even though they seem like games I'd very much enjoy
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Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Tales of Symphonia
Soul Calibur 2
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Superman 64
Gex: Enter the Gecko
Blast Corps
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Metroid Prime
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Legend of Dragoon
World of Warcraft
Command and Conquer (And of the series)

Bump. I'll get back to this in about an hour or so
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Xenogears
Final Fantasy IX
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Dark Souls
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Calwings posted...

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Tales of Symphonia
Soul Calibur 2

I always saw Kirby 64 at my local video rental place, but I didn't ever own a Nintendo 64 so I never played it. Maybe sometime in the future. I hear it has a cool take on the power system.

Tales of Symphonia though I played a lot. It was really the only RPG I played on the Gamecube (besides Skies of Arcadia Legends). It was also my first Tales game. I liked it a lot back then. I really liked the cast and still do to some extent today. Sheena is my bae and Collette is adorable. Combat is fun, the skits are always a great way to add a little extra flavor to the world and characters and the music is just...fine. It's just fine. Aside from Star Ocean 2, I've never really been too into a lot of Sakuraba's works. There's nothing at all wrong with his music, but it never really clicked for me.

OH Except for this battle theme I'm listening to right now. Not bad.

I think my final party was Llyod (obvs), Colette, Sheena and Raine. The story was good for when I first played it, but thinking back on it now there were a few things that would irk me, like all the fake-out deaths in the second half of the game. A lot of the animations were really stiff, too and the overall presentation felt the same way. I would later learn that this wasn't just a Symphonia problem, but one that persisted up until Vesperia. It hinders the story a little when you have these great-looking character models being so limited in how they can move and having what movements they do have be so...clunky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdxUU3VODeA

Take a look at this scene (and forgive the aspect ratio) to see what I mean. Also that font choice is AWFUL! Did the other Tales games use that font? I know Vesperia didn't!

Overall, I liked Symphonia. I hear it's on Steam so maybe I'll go give it another look with grown-up eyes (though I was 19 when I first played it--that's still a kid, though).

I give Tales of Symphonia a 7 out of 10


Soul Calibur 2 was a game that I never purchased, but my friend did and we would spend HOURS playing that thing. He got the Gamecube version specifically for Link (who, BTW, was broken as FUCK. He was literally the Aizen of Soul Calibur 2). My pals and I had a lot of good times with that game. I was a Cassandra main, I think just because I have a thing for blondies and swords and got pretty okay at it by the end of the cycle. I never much cared for single-player, though and my affair with the Soul Calibur series ended here. Still, for what it was, when it was, I can't deny the amount of sheer enjoyment it brought me.

I can't really give it a score, due to not really knowing anything about it outside the multiplayer tomfoolery.
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I will name a few off the radar.

Orphan on PS2
Summoner on PS2

Etherealfare posted...

Superman 64
Gex: Enter the Gecko
Blast Corps

I played Superman 64 on an emulator after the AVGN episode came out. It was just as bad as I expected.

Look--I like "bad" games. As long as there's some fun to be gleaned from a title I'll play it, just ask Enter the Matrix and Pac-Man 2 on SNES, but Superman 64 doesn't have any fun in it at all. It's all just frustration.

The only memories I have of Gex: Enter the Gecko are from a summer in high school when I rented it and the disc was fucked up so bad that it either wouldn't load and when it did it was a nightmarish dreamscape of busted polygons and stuttering music. I remembering being in an underwater level and just having Gex's head vanishing completely before the game froze, like it was one of those haunted game creepypastas. It's too bad, too because I liked the other Gex games I played before this.

I never played Blast Corps, sorry. I didn't own an Nintendo 64.
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Kingdom hearts.
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MegaButterfree posted...

Spider-Man 2000. The one on PS1/N64/Dreamcast.

Remember when Neversoft was awesome!? Before Activision did what they do and ground them to dust? Spider-Man on PS1 was a great game. Honestly maybe the best Marvel game on the system (though I didn't play too many others). I loved that first level, I loved how easy it was to crawl around, I liked the totally bananas storyline and the bevy of unlockables. I liked how it catered to both casual Spidey fans (me) and the hardcore and that's all there is to say. It was a really good game. I prefer this to the Spider-Man movie game on Gamecube (but think that Spider-Man 2 GCN was more fun overall).

I didn't even know it had a Dreamcast port. Does it change anything? Hmm.

Anyway, I give Spider-Man on PSOne a 8/10. It was maybe too short and those character models didn't look too great outside of gameplay.

sellerdore posted...

Metroid Prime

Like I'm sure it did with everybody at the time, Metroid Prime really surprised me with how easy it was to play on the platform provided. I wasn't ever really big into Metroid growing up, but I dug Prime. It looked so good for the time and holds up pretty well. Blasting bitches is fun, jumping is pretty intuitive and the difficulty spikes can eat my ass. Granted, it's been about seven or so years since I've played the game, but there were a few parts I remember finding really frustrating, namely anything with Metroids and that Stone Golem boss. Oh and the final boss, too. Maybe I was just bad at the game.

I never got 100% of either scans or collectables. Despite how much fun I had with it, it didn't captivate me enough to warrant that kind of dedication. I still really love that X-Ray visor and how you can see Samus' bones, what great attention to detail. The whole game is kinda like that. I know a lot of people disparage the game for straying from its roots, but as somebody who didn't really have any roots in the franchise to begin with, I thought it was a pretty natural course. Besides, we also got Metroid Fusion and soon after Zero Mission, which are both good.

I give Metroid Prime a 7 out of 10
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Ruvan22 posted...

Legend of Dragoon
World of Warcraft
Command and Conquer (And of the series)

You know, I hear Legend of Dragoon get a lot of praise. When it was released, I remember Electronic Gaming Monthly calling it "Sony's killer of Final Fantasy" or something like that. I bought it just because I liked RPGs.

Real honest time: I got to the end of the second disc and stopped. I did enjoy the battle system. Additions were a fun way to spice things up (MORE and MORE) but the game moved real slow, the translation was just...just awful and there really wasn't much going on that interested me. I know this game has a cult following and I'm sorry but it's just not for me. The Dragoon designs looked cool, but it wasn't enough. I can't really speak too much on anything else about the game, nor do I feel comfortable giving it any kind of score as I haven't played it in almost 20 years now and all I can remember are the things I really didn't like.

I did, however, play a lot of WoW. I started just after Wrath of the Lich King came out. It was my first MMORPG and I was lost as fuck in it. Thankfully, I had friends who played and they helped me suss about for good gear and we had good times and overall I had a lot of fun with it. I never took it seriously, I never did any dungeons or raided or got anywhere near end-game, but I liked crafting and shooting the breeze with my pals and doing quests and exploring so it was really a good use of my time regardless. I didn't end up playing for too long, though, stopping just a few weeks before Cataclysm.

I've never gotten into the Command and Conquer series.
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Dead Rising series
House of the Dead series
Professor Layton X Ace Attorney
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Contra 3: The Alien Wars
Asura's Wrath
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
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Hotel Dusk: Room 215
Last Window: The Secret of Cape West
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Soma

Yaridovich posted...

Ruvan22 posted...

Legend of Dragoon
World of Warcraft
Command and Conquer (And of the series)

You know, I hear Legend of Dragoon get a lot of praise. When it was released, I remember Electronic Gaming Monthly calling it "Sony's killer of Final Fantasy" or something like that. I bought it just because I liked RPGs.

Real honest time: I got to the end of the second disc and stopped. I did enjoy the battle system. Additions were a fun way to spice things up (MORE and MORE) but the game moved real slow, the translation was just...just awful and there really wasn't much going on that interested me. I know this game has a cult following and I'm sorry but it's just not for me. The Dragoon designs looked cool, but it wasn't enough. I can't really speak too much on anything else about the game, nor do I feel comfortable giving it any kind of score as I haven't played it in almost 20 years now and all I can remember are the things I really didn't like.

I did, however, play a lot of WoW. I started just after Wrath of the Lich King came out. It was my first MMORPG and I was lost as fuck in it. Thankfully, I had friends who played and they helped me suss about for good gear and we had good times and overall I had a lot of fun with it. I never took it seriously, I never did any dungeons or raided or got anywhere near end-game, but I liked crafting and shooting the breeze with my pals and doing quests and exploring so it was really a good use of my time regardless. I didn't end up playing for too long, though, stopping just a few weeks before Cataclysm.

I've never gotten into the Command and Conquer series.

Fair enough, the translation in LoD was pretty .. spastic. As you got into more and more of the game, the way the story kept rewriting itself was pretty awesome.

Mario and Luigi Partners in Time
Need for Speed Most Wanted 2012
the Professor Layton series
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Zurkon posted...

South Park The Stick of Truth

I find it pretty amazing that it took so long for a good South Park game to be made. South Park on N64 was terrible, South Park racing was boring and I'm sure that whatever other South Park games I'm missing weren't much better. Stick of Truth made me really happy in that not only was it created by the actual creators of the show, but it was also a lot of fun to play.

I'm not a full-fledged South Park fan, but my friends are and through them and watching a decent amount of the show I've gained enough knowledge to really enrich the experience. There are so many references and in-jokes it's amazing. I loved just being able to explore the town of South Park. Even the story is executed well, starting with a simple set-up that focuses around the kids that eventually spirals into world-wide panic. My favorite parts were giving Randy an abortion while that Christmas music was playing or traveling into Mr. Slave's anus, though there were also a ton of other great moments.

As a game it's also a lot of fun. A pretty typical RPG, sure, but with enough new to make it fresh. Using farts was somewhat annoying and for whatever reason it took me a long time to get past the third fart tutorial. Also, the game is damn easy--except for a select few fights. I'm really glad I got to play it, but it's also one of those games where I don't think I'll pick it up again for another few years so I forget a lot about it--it's more fun that way.

South Park: The Stick of Truth gets an 8/10
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Castlevania: Symphony of the Night
Eternal Sonata (PS3 version, even if only for the gameplay and music)
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors
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My Sims Kingdom
Alice in Wonderland
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JosefuJustice11 posted...

Xenogears
Final Fantasy IX

Oh boy, here we go...

Jump back to May 1999. It had been a pretty bad year and I was glad to be out of school for the summer. I became a kind of lonely bit of human fluff, just floating around and not really doing much other than playing games and sleeping. It was a pretty dismal time. My main rotation was Final Fantasy VII, Grandia and Vandal Hearts--alongside my old SNES games. I'd heard of Xenogears through various gaming publications and while it looked okay, its art style and general appearance didn't really resonate with me at the time (I was fourteen).

Then, I got the game. I was at a Best Buy with my mother and sister and my mom was just like "Let's buy you this!" and gave of me a copy of Xenogears she'd pulled off the shelf. It was a complete surprise. A good one, it turned out. Because I loved the game and it really...hmm...I don't want to say it changed my life, because it didn't, but it was something so different tonally to what I'd been playing that it really opened my eyes, I guess.

As an adult, I can clarify this a little more by comparing the themes of the games I was into at the time: Final Fantasy VII had a theme of light identity on a base of general good v. evil, while Grandia was all about exposing your life to adventure in chase of fulfillment while Xenogears was about staring into the face of your personal 'God' and trying to understand whether or not you exist for it, or it exists for you. It's pretty striking. Not to mention there was a lot of violence and nekked ladies. In fact, I read online (and old BBS for vidya games, I was a brain-dead AOLer) that you saw legit boobs and while that wasn't true, I was excited for it anyway.

I really liked the story, is what I'm trying to say. I'm a fan of all of his works, but Xenogears is my favorite. The cast is great, the world is great and the writing, even if the localization is iffy at points, is pretty good. People say that the story is cluttered, and while I don't disagree, it's not that bad. The biggest fish in the room is certainly that second disc. I liked it, but also really wanted to go through all that stuff. It was kind of a bummer to only get back to the world map so close to the end, but it is what it is. If you're not into the story, I feel the second disc is for sure a bigger killer than it otherwise would be.

Before I talk about gameplay, I'd like to discuss the music. It's fucking incredible. It's the first soundtrack I ever imported. That was pretty great. I used to listen to those discs front to back all the time. It's so good. June Mermaid, Blue Traveler, Star of Tears, Lost, Broken Shards, Flight, Shevat, Bonds of Sea and Fire, Small Two of Pieces and I'm gonna stop here or else I'll just list the whole soundtrack. It's easily in my top 5 video game soundtracks. And the Orchestrated Myth Album was just so perfect oh my lord. I know this is stirring the pot a little, but I think it's better than Chrono Cross' soundtrack when comparing Yasunori Mitsuda works.

I love on-foot combat and I wish the game focused on it a bit more. There was a lot of it in disc one, but disc two and the final dungeon really were Gear-centric. Gear combat is fine, I like it a lot, but on-foot was more vibrant for me, I dunno. Hey! Remember the Ramsus and Miang fight mid disc 2? What bullshit! Or trying to kill Hammer before self destruction? Or Bloody Mary in the sewer!? They were all frustrating fights but memorable as fuck for me.

The graphics are muddy, maybe haven't aged well. The platforming segments are dumb bullshit Babel and there's a lot of slowdown. And the second disc. But I personally can overlook of that. I love this game and probably always will. Sorry I went on for so long.

I give Xenogears a 9/10
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JosefuJustice11 posted...

Xenogears
Final Fantasy IX

This game looks so good for the console it's on, wow. It's Square at their prime, really.

I was into VIII, sure, but there wasn't so much an attachment to the characters. Besides, it got bonkers at the end. And it was also, at the time, the peak of Technological Final Fantasy (which XIII and XV would show up handily by completely abolishing all fantasy aspects). So when IX was announced to be a 'return to the crystal', I was interested.

I love the cast of this game. I cared for them in a way that only about two or three other games done. I was worried when they got into trouble, I was anxious about Dagger's solo adventures, I wanted Vivi to find peace. It's pretty good. The music is just okay, I'll say that now. I don't have too much an attachment to it. I do like Melodies of Life, however.

The battle speed is so slooooow. Even back then! That ATB bar just ticks on its own time, slow as a daisy. The game is built around it though so it's not unfair, but patience is required. I liked that each character was unique in battle, though I didn't care much for Quina and how brokenly powerful s/he could become through Blu Magic. I think for my first playthrough I used Zidane, Dagger (which is stupid because Eiko is OBJECTIVELY better), Vivi and Freya. Maybe Steiner. Steiner without Vivi is lame. But Vivi without Steiner is awesome. Freya is just cool. Armarant or whatever his name was came in a bit too late for me to care, sorry bro. Also, I wish Trance had been an opt-in system rather than being automatic. I hated losing a trance to some rando enemy just a few steps away from a boss.

The game has a great collection of side quests. When I hear that Chocobo Hot and Cold music, my hands automatically tense up in the correct way to find a hidden K-KWEH! spot. I gave myself bruises trying to beat that fat hippo in footraces and lost my temper at jumprope way too much. Tetra Master was in no way as good as Triple Triad and was too convoluted to be any fun for me.

I dug Necron, even if he did pop up out of nowhere. I loved his battle stage and he looked pretty cool. And good for you Zidane, going back to rescue Kuja. That was a great scene. So was that awesome as fuck "Bring me my dagger!"
bit in the ending..

Overall, I really like Final Fantasy IX. It's part of Square's 'Golden Years' that ranged between 1989 and 2007-8.

I give Final Fantasy IX an 9(kek) out of 10.
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Tales of the Abyss
Resident Evil 4
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
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Myst (either that one single game or the whole series if you want)
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Looked over at my shelf with all my games, first 3 I glanced at

Borderlands 2
Fallout 4
Assasins Creed 4 Black Flag
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Monkhood posted...

Dark Souls

Ugh, Dark Souls. Look, I love Bloodborn and I liked what I played of Dark Souls III, but I cannot get into Dark Souls. I don't know why. I've tried a lot of times and I do not have fun at all with it. I get incrementally further each time, but it's always so blaah and I can't make myself play anymore. I really don't like it and I can't pinpoint why, exactly. I don't hate the formula, like I said I loved Bloodborne and DSIII (the little I played) but I just don't know. I doubt I'll ever play it again. Sorry.

slipknirvana posted...

I will name a few off the radar.

Orphan on PS2
Summoner on PS2

I never played Orphan, but I did play some Summoner--though not enough to talk about it, sorry.

When I was in high school though we had a guest come to my video tech class to talk about editing and she was apparently a spokeswoman for the developer as well. That's the end of my ties to Summoner.

Lawlfulcoptors1 posted...

Kingdom hearts.

I get some heat when I say this, but I regard the first Kingdom Hearts game in the same way I do a Disney movie. It has that special magic to it and hit the perfect balance of both Square and Disney.

Imagine for a second, a world in which ONLY Kingdom Hearts exists. Just the first game. It has an incredible score, really good PS2 graphics and an aesthetic that pleases both Disney and Square fans. The gameplay is simple, but involved enough and the worlds are pretty detailed. I guess also I played it at the right time in my life where I was still young enough to be in the dumb ol' halcyon days so looking back at my time with the game is a little more rose-tinted, I guess. I haven't played it in many years as well. There's that remaster out...interesting...

As expected, fuck that Riku fight, fight the Clayton fight, fuck the Gummi ship, fuck Sephiroth, etc. etc. It had a lot of difficult parts, but I still ended up getting 100% in it. I liked it a lot and still do through memory. You know, I'll keep you updated cuz I think I'm gonna play it again.

As of now, I give Kingdom Hearts a 8 out of 10, maybe a 7.
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GiftedACIII posted...

Dead Rising series
House of the Dead series
Professor Layton X Ace Attorney

I only played Dead Rising 2 and that was back on an old CRT TV so I couldn't read the text.

I had fun with it, but time-based games like that drive me crazy eventually. I did very much enjoy the ending though and had a lot of fun destroying zombies. I hear the first one is better, however.

As for House of the Dead...I once spent twenty dollars in quarters to beat an arcade cabinet of HOTD 2. Money...money well spent...;_;

Haven't played any Layton games, sorry.
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