posts by chris
chris

Review – Gain Ground

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When Virtual Console was first announced, I have to admit I was really optimistic. I was looking forward to playing several of my favorite classics without having to hook up a half-dozen consoles. For those who hadn’t played them, well, they’d get to enjoy what I did. I am still a big proponent of what Virtual Console can do, but now my original optimism has been lost. I just don’t have the willpower to replay many old games I liked – only the best, if they do get released – but I find that it is a great way to experience the ones I missed.

Four days ago, I had never heard of Gain Ground. On Saturday, a friend recommended it to me when he saw the list of games on VC. I bought it and started playing… and I didn’t stop until I beat it. Oh sure, I was playing on Easy – and the game’s not incredibly long – but I was completely absorbed for an hour and a half. →  Shadow of Read

Random Old Game – Drakkhen

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There are few games that can inspire a sense of true exploration – a feeling of awe at how large or detailed they are. Fewer still are the games that can bring out that feeling even after you’ve beaten them. For some reason, despite being only a so-so game in nearly every other respect, Drakkhen (of a few systems, though most notably the SNES) still holds uncounted mysteries in my mind.

Seems fair.

The most likely source of this awe is simply that the game is so abominably random. I never owned the instruction book, and the introduction only gives vagaries as to the plot (blah blah, 4 elements, 2 poles of power). Fact is, you create a party and start in the middle of the Earth area with little direction. You’re told that you have to collect 8 Tears of Power, and that you should check at the nearby castle first. Oh, the introductory information tells you a decent amount about the game’s system. →  Professor Layton and the Diabolical Post

The Trouble with Tactics

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As I’m sure you can tell by my previous articles, I love RPGs and strategy games. It should follow, then, that I love the Strategy RPG genre. Just like peanut butter and pizza. Although I like some SRPGs, I have some issues with the genre, particularly the Tactical subgenre. By “Tactical”, I mean finer-scale games where you manage each individual taking part in battles.

For example, I started up Shining Force a couple months ago via the wonders of Virtual Console. I began noticing occasional oddities; enemies with low agility would move twice when my high-agility archers never got a move in, for example (Hans was useless anyways). Levels would either be quite useful or really suck.

You can’t tell from this picture, but the priest and thief are horribly under-leveled.

It may be sacrilege (and I expect to be hanged by sundown), but I didn’t especially enjoy it. To be fair, though, I no longer enjoy the original Final Fantasy 1 or the first Mega Man either. →  Shadow of Read

Review – Growlanser: Heritage of War

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The third Growlanser game we’ve received stateside, Heritage of War, is actually the fifth in the series. We received Growlansers 2 and 3 as the last games of the late Working Designs (what is Gaijinworks up to, anyways?) in the Generations package. This game is a more than adequate successor.

Similar to the third Growlanser, Heritage of War is a Strategy RPG with leanings toward the RPG side. You move around the world exploring cities and caves, but when a battle starts, you enter a sort of active-time strategy mode in which you can pause anytime to give orders to any of your allies. For those of you who’ve tried Final Fantasy XII, it’s a lot like that with a faster pace and pausing while giving orders. In random battles, your allies’ AI can usually take care of things on its own. The main character can be commanded by simply moving him/her around and pressing a button to attack a nearby enemy. →  Michigan: Article from Hell

Two years down, too many to go

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In the past two years I have learned, among other things, how much more there is to learn.

First, from meeting and talking with Jay and co. here at videolamer, I learned about all the great RPG, strategy, action and adventure games on the various Sega systems I missed out on. I even tried out Phantasy Star 1 (a mistake, as I have grown soft and weak with puffball RPGs) at Jay’s suggestion, and bought a Sega Saturn, a mod chip, and a few games as well. In fact, don’t tell him, but with a bit more nudging I might start looking for a Dreamcast soon. Due to similarly sinister influences, I have found the “new old Sega console” – the underdog of the last generation, the Gamecube, and will be working on remedying the last 4 years of missing out on an entire system’s worth of good games.

Second, from looking around at various forums and stores I have found dozens of interesting-looking games that never made it over the Pacific. →  Who is that standing behind you?

Revelation of Arcadia

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It’s not often that a single game has changed my outlook on games so much – especially in the RPG genre, which seems to see only occasional innovation. Usually it’s in the form of a plot twist here or a stylistic change there that is incorporated into a group of cliches. While some carry an idea out a bit better, and a cliche-filled game can still be a lot of fun, many games feel like a string of cliches in a different order with a new battle system.

For a long time, I really thought I didn’t care much. Oh, the first Persona was neat and all, and the Suikoden series’ focus on larger events was cool, but it was the nifty, well-done battle systems that I convinced myself I really enjoyed the most. As a strategy lover, I wanted a game to challenge me, rather than tell me some silly little story when most novels are far better anyway. To summarize, a good battle system will make a solid game regardless of the story, but a good story can’t stand on its own. →  One must imagine video games happy.

Review update – Mount&Blade

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It’s been over a year since my first article here on videolamer, in which I reviewed the PC Action/Strategy/RPG hybrid Mount & Blade. I didn’t mention it in the original review, but good old M&B is still under development. The version I reviewed was somewhere about 0.75; the current version, released just a few days ago, is 0.901.

And what changes have come! In .890, there was a major combat overhaul, the addition of three new factions in “vanilla” (the regular, un-modded game), as well as a troop tree for each faction. The game plays better than it ever has before; combat is quick without feeling unnatural, trading remains profitable, and veteran mercenaries are available early on.

For those who didn’t read my original review, a quick overview: Mount & Blade is a medieval FPS RPG. It looks like Morrowind (or Oblivion) but rest assured; it plays far more like an FPS. You’ve got troops and companions with you, so the battles play out in largish sides and you have control over yours. →  Reading more, assemble!

Destiny of a Fan

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Everyone has a couple of games they particularly like, regardless of how good they are, because of the memories they have of them. Unless, of course, they don’t like video games, in which case they must be card-carrying communists. For me, one of those games is Capcom’s greatest RPG: Destiny of an Emperor for NES.

I have to avoid making this into a Best Game Ever, but I still want to summarize: The game runs very quickly, with fast text speed and auto-battling. You can recruit many enemy generals after defeating them, over 100 in total. The tactic system is somewhat more fleshed out than many other RPGs magic systems, although it can also be more restrictive. The game’s backdrop of China’s Three Kingdoms period makes the world a bit more solid than many other games of the time. What I’m trying to say is, this game still holds appeal for me, and is still pretty accessible after playing all those namby-pamby current-gen RPGs. →  Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Post

Review – Wild Arms 5

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Let me start off this review by telling a little story I think everyone here knows.

There’s this kid, see – well, maybe I should call him a young man, he’s around 15 or 16. He lives in a small village far from civilization, where he lives on his own (his parents are dead or missing). He is brought up with good values, like honesty, kindness, independence, and obliviousness. Soon after we are introduced to him, an incredible event occurs that sends him on the path to solving many of the problems in the world (almost all of them, if you like sidequests).

Along the way he finds a few plucky characters to join him and his pair of love interests on their quest. As he progresses, he confronts the underlings of evil, finding them variously misguided, ignorant, insane, or all three. He sets the good ones free of their delusions or ignorance, and brings happiness wherever he goes.

I see some space that doesn’t have an overlay on it yet.

 →  Are anyone else’s nipples hard?

PS1 games you may have missed: More RPGs edition

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In my last entry I took a break from mentioning RPGs. Since, however, RPGs are my favorite genre, you’re just going to have to live with a few more of them now.

Before we begin, I would like to briefly mention the first two games of both the Suikoden and Wild ARMs series. I have discussed them in more detail elsewhere, but all four are great games.

Lunar & Lunar 2: Originally released on Sega CD, these classic games were once again translated by Working Designs. Therein lies a lot of the appeal of the Lunars: Not only do you get a solid battle system, you also get a fun-filled localization. The voice acting leaves something to be desired, and the translation isn’t always true to the original, but the Lunars were the first games where I enjoyed simply running around talking to people in towns.

The plot is solid, if cliched (possibly because Lunar was a cliche-starter), and overall it’s a great time. →  Now you’re reading with power.