Gaming off the Beaten Path

  It's amazing how much I've learned from video games over the years. Thanks to Sony, I recently got some practice in prepping for doomsday. I always sort of scoffed at people that hoard important items during the end times, something that seems to have happened a lot in the last year or so. But when Sony announced earlier this year they would shutter the PlayStation Store on the PS3, I started panic buying. You see, the PS3 has tons of "PSOne Classics" for sale that aren't available on the PS4. You have the standard stuff, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, etc. But there are also a ton, and I mean a ton, of rare, expensive JRPGs that can be had for under $10. I love physical media as much as the next person, but at the end of the day experiencing the games is what's really important. Do I want a physical copy of Suikoden II? Yes. Can I afford it for $300? No. But there it is on the PlayStation Store, for the perfectly reasonable price of $9.99. Sony did renege on their...

So, this week we are going to go on a bit of a detour. I wasn’t planning on covering Mega Man 8 this week, but on Father’s Day I asked my son what he wanted to do and he was like “play video games with daddy!”  I wasn’t going to tell him no.  I even told him he could pick the game.  He went right to “Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem,” but when I informed him that that game was just slightly not appropriate for a 3-year old,  he happily picked Mega Man 8 as a second choice.  How fitting, starting his gaming career off with the same franchise I began mine with 25 years ago. By now just about everyone is familiar with Mega Man.  I have touched on some of its more unique games and some parts of the X series, but this is the first time we will jump into the original series.  Released in January of 1997, 8 is the only mainline series title for the Playstation 1 (it also came out on the Sega Saturn).  It would also be the last one we would see for a ...

Kagero: Deception 2 For the first time, I’m not entirely sure how I would classify the game I’m about to review.  It’s not uncommon to find titles that mix genres, even back to the early days of gaming.  It’s a great way to keep stale formulas fresh and try new things.  But I’m not entirely sure what genre Kagero fits into, or if it even fits into one at all.  It’s part third person adventure, part strategy, part survival horror, part RPG and, dare I say, a little bit of a puzzle game.  A lot of games like this tend to become disjointed and incoherent, but that didn’t happen here.  Kagero is an outstanding game, but it comes with a major caveat. I am just going to get it out of the way, Kagero is a very violent and at times, very disturbing game.  It really, really earned its M rating.  As a PS1 game, the blood and gore aren’t really all that shocking.  In fact, the blocky character models and lacking details make the game much easier to st...

For my 10’s, I’ve decided that one post isn’t enough.  Each Tuesday after I write about one, I’m going to do an additional post pertaining to the game or series I covered.  Most of these are going to be lists, rankings, etc.  As always, these are subjective, unscientific and literally just one guy’s opinion.  I do plan on going back and doing one for the two I already covered (Doom and Madden), but for now we are going to stick with FF VII.  I am going to rank the party members based on usefulness, power level and just generally how good they are.  This has nothing to do with how well written they are, how cool they are, etc. its strictly about their combat prowess.  I am also going to be considering how they perform for the whole playthrough, not just maxed out.  That’s a whole different discussion.  Anyway, without further adieu: 9 - Cait Sith - In a lot of Final Fantasy games, characters that are obnoxious or unlikeable actually turn out...

Don’t let the title fool you, I’m not going to start writing about movies any time soon. There are plenty of video game movies out there, most of them terrible.  There are probably even more video games about movies.  But what about video games about movies about video games?  I can only think of one. Street Fighter: The Movie is the fighting game you weren’t sure you needed, or even wanted.  I can’t imagine what was going through Capcom’s head when they green-lit this.  Think of it like this: imagine that someone decided to write a book called “Lord of the Rings,” but it was based on the movie, which is already based on a book.  It wouldn’t make much sense at all.  There would be some differences, sure.  But would it really be worth your time? While you think about it, let’s talk a little bit about the similarities between SF:TM and Super Street Fighter II.  It’s got all the same characters (Sans Fei Long, ...

Happy 2020 everyone!  I figured I would kick the year off with a game that has nothing to do with 2020 in any way, shape or form. I have to say, I had no idea this game existed.  I knew Battle Arena Toshinden got a sequel, but I didn’t realize it had two (actually three, the fourth game only came out in Japan and PAL regions).  The series is certainly obscure, it hasn’t had a new release in North America since 1997.  That being said, it’s a series that holds special place in PlayStation and general fighting game lore.  It was a PS1 launch title and the focus of many of Sony’s early ad campaigns.  It was also one of the first truly 3D fighting games and the first to have a sidestep button.  It may not have been the best game ever made, but it was an important one.  When you think about it, it actually makes sense that this game would get a sequel.  A forward thinking, borderline revolutionary game with some flaws seem...

After a brief break for Thanksgiving, it’s time to get back to work.  Next week I will get back to game reviews, but I wanted to take some time to discuss a major gaming milestone: the 25 year anniversary of the PlayStation. The PlayStation marked a shift in strategy for Japanese tech maker Sony, who previously had been known more for making Walkmans, TVs, stereos and essentially every electronic gadget except video game consoles.  By now, most gamers know the story of how Sony was working with Nintendo to create a CD add on to the Super Nintendo.  After deciding they were unhappy with the terms of the contract, Nintendo officials secretly met with Phillips and created a similar partnership.  On the day the new peripheral was to be announced, the big N instead announced their new deal with Phillips and that they would abandon all previous work with Sony.   Sony considered reaching out to Sega for help before deciding to release th...