Gaming off the Beaten Path

Here's another one from the "my son wanted to play video games with me" file. He's been really into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles recently, and when he found out there was a TMNT video game, he was super pumped.  As far as he knows, this is the only Ninja Turtles in existance and honestly, when I was his age I thought the same thing.  It seems most people think of the original TMNT when they talk about Turtles games on the NES and Turtles in Time when they talk about Turtles games throughout history.  But for me, TMNT: The Arcade Game will always be the first one I think of. I don't think the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles need any introduction.  Anyone that grew up in the 80's or 90's had some exposure to these four mutant reptiles named after renaissance artists and their rat sensei.  Whether they were huge fans or casual viewers, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michelangelo were a part of kids' Saturday Mornings everywhere. None of us had any idea...

It's time to roast a sacred cow.   When I started GOTBP a year and a half ago, I was thinking a lot about how video games have come to be perceived over time.  I find that unlike most media, there is a very concrete consensus on which games are good and which are bad.  This is compounded by the fact that there is little room for any dissension from that consensus.  Want to really aggravate a group of gaming nerds?  Easy. "Chrono Trigger sucks!"  There.  Now I'm the most hated person on the internet. Just for the record, Chrono Trigger most certainly does not suck.  It's awesome.  And so are a lot of titles that gamers must dogmatically worship if they want to be included in the club.  I think Super Mario World is as great as the next person, ditto Mega Man X, The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy whatever number, etc.  However, I've made it clear that I have no problem breaking from that groupthink.  I have taken potshots at ...

 Last week I discussed Grandia II and its solid-but-uneven story, well written-but-tropetastic cast and well presented-but-uninspired style.  That's a lot of hyphens and not a lot about actual gameplay. Let's get started with something positive.  Grandia II absolutely nails one of an RPG's most important elements: the combat system.  It's a bit difficult to explain so bear with me here.  You enter (random) encounters with a party of four.  Each party member and enemy combatant are denoted on a scrolling bar, called the IP gauge, at the bottom of the screen.  When it gets to the command section, its time to input your command.  Each party member can use a combo or critical attack, special move, magic attack, evade, defend, use items or change their equipment.  Enter your command and the IP gauge will scroll through its last section, the command section.  If it reaches the end, your character will perform their attack.  The same is tr...

Here's the thing about the past, you can't escape it. You can learn from it, move on from it, grow from it, dwell on it or even downplay it.  But running from it is impossible, it will chase you until you can't run anymore.  For its first two thirds, Grandia II's narrative explores this better than any game has before.   Sure, other games deal with the past of their heroes and villains, but not quite like this one.  Initially released for the Dreamcast in 2000 before being ported (poorly) to the PlayStation 2, Grandia II tackles a theme that is difficult to discuss, something most people hate talking about.  It's entire story is framed around the past of not just its main protagonist, but everyone involved.  Your party members, your enemies and society as a whole.  It's a great, compelling 20 hours of storytelling...until it goes off the rails. In its final 10 hours, Grandia II goes from a pinpoint narrative about the inevitability of the past cat...