Gaming off the Beaten Path

Last week, we looked at the story of PS1 RPG Valkyrie Profile, a game that frequently finds its way onto hidden gems lists and other such conversations. I think I made it clear that while it had its high notes, the story and characters were just a bit disappointing for me. So now, it's time to talk about the gameplay. Could this bring the game up? Or will it knock it down to unplayable status? Well, it definitely won't make the game unplayable, but there is a lot to look at here. You see, VP is very, very different from just about any JRPG of its era. Heck, it's pretty different from most entries in the genre ever. I have to give them a ton of credit for originality, though the expirimentation doesn't always land. But there is not denying that, for better or worse, VP is a different breed in terms of combat, exploration, pacing and structure. First, let's start with the combat. Even here, it's probably where you will spend most of your gameplay time. And that...

Since I started creating gaming content, I've promised myself and the few readers I have that I was going to be as honest as possible. I'm going to do that, even if it gets me in trouble. While I try to avoid really ridiculous hot takes, I'm going to absolutely call out games that I don't really like, even if they are otherwise popular. That goes for the popular selections for "hidden gems" or "underrated" games as well. I don't do it often, but I certainly have demonstrated that I have no problem doing it. I did it relatively recently with Yoshi's Island and I've done it in the past with other games like Alundra or Jet Grind Radio. Some of those games I've liked, just not as much as others. Some of them I have actively disliked despite how well regarded they are. Sometimes I get why these games are so beloved (I hated the controls in Yoshi's Island but my goodness is it beautiful and unique). Other times, I don't (Alundra is...

These days, I'll take inspiration from wherever I can get it. I'm not a huge fan of social media, but I've found myself really enjoying the community on a platform called Channel 3 in recent weeks. It's a really great group of gamers that seem to have a lot of great discourse on gaming. I also like the gameification features, which focus on generating interaction and discussion. One of my personal favorite parts of C3 are the quests, which provide XP for completing a task or answering a question. It was a quest they offered last week that inspired this week's post. Communitiy members were asked about a game series they want to see return after a long hiatus. Since disucssing series' like that was kind of part of my mission statement when I started GOTBP, I figured I would take it a step further and talk about my top 12 series I want to see make a comeback. Before I get into this, I have to set some ground rules as to what series are eligible for t...

By the late 90's, the fighting game boom that categoized the decade was nearing its end. And while some series' stood the test of time, many others sort of faded away. While 3D fighters were still relatively new fare, 2D fighters had become so common it would make your head spin. Since the success of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat early in the decade, developers everywhere were out to get a piece of the pie. And no company took as many pieces of that pie as SNK. This is far from the first time I've talked about SNK, or even an SNK fighting game. But it is the first time in many year's I've revisited a title from one of their most famous franchises: Fatal Fury. If the title was a little confusing, don't worry, it was to me too. Garou is the Japanese title of Fatal Fury. You know, kind of like how Resident Evil is called Biohazard, or Mega Man is called Rockman. But the confusion goes even further here, because the game was released under both titles in North Am...

Since I've started reviewing games, I've always made it a point to be completely honest and transparent when it comes to my opinions, even if they aren't necessarily popular. Frankly, it rarely, if ever, even comes up. For all of the complaints I hear about mainstream gaming reviews, I feel like they usually get some semblance of close to the mark, or at the very least the same mark I have in my mind. Nine times out of 10, games that are rated highly or poorly deserve the scores they get. Maybe the big guys score a game a 10 when it really deserves a 9, but its some semblance of close.  That's why I don't like using the O word anymore. Because even if I don't like a game quite as much as more mainstream critics, I still typically like it. But even saying that about some games is bound to cause controversy.  That's kind of the spot I find myself in with this week's title, a game I don't think needs any introduction. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's ...

With all the hate the 5th generation gets in the internet age, it can be easy to overlook just how important that era in gaming was. For those that weren't there, or those that don't remember, the jump from the 4th generation to the 5th was an absolutely huge deal. Minds were absolutely blown by then-revolutionary 3D graphics and increasingly arcade accurate ports. In North America, this was the first time where CD based consoles were considered the norm, a major change from the cartridge dominated 3rd and 4th generations. But one of the more overlooked aspects of this era, at least for console players, was the massive increase in more adult oriented games. It's not that there weren't 4th, 3rd, or even 2nd generation titles featuring this kind of content, because there were. It's just that they were surprisingly uncommon. Of course, this phenomena was fairly console exclusive, violent games or games with other "adult" themes were pretty dime a dozen on P...

I've been skirting around it for a few years now, but its finally time to add yet another console to the list. A few years ago, I reviewed Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, a Genesis platformer that I didn't really enjoy all that much. I talked a little bit about how Alex Kidd was Sega's mascot before Sonic became a thing and how hyped up I was to give AKITEC a try, having heard so much about the series. That was part of the reason the game fell flat for me, though poor level design and awful boss fights were more than likely the bigger culprits. What I didn't realize at the time was that much of the positive sentiment I had heard about the series had nothing to do with its lone Genesis entry. Instead, much of the positivity was focused on the various entries on Sega's third generation console, a machine that I have been looking for an excuse to play for a long time. For most North American gamers, the Genesis was the first time we interacted with Sega. Many peop...