Gaming off the Beaten Path

It's been almost a year since I covered Shining Force, a strategy RPG for the Genesis, and it's time to dive back into the series. I had been looking to play a strategy RPG and my options are surprisingly limited. It's been a while since I've played Final Fantasy Tactics, but I've also played it about a billion times and besides, I have other plans for that game later. I decided to circle back to Shining Force instead. I wanted to play the two games in order for continuity and story purposes, though I don't think that was particularly necessary. But I also kind of wanted to play this game first, as I was told it was vastly superior to its predecessor. It's not that I was told the first game was bad (and I certainly didn't think it was), just that the second was far superior in just about every conceivable way. I will say, I definitely think the second game was better, pretty much across the board. It maintains all of the things that made the first game

I have a gaming sin to confess.  Up until this past week, I had never played any of the Diablo games. I know they are iconic.  I know they are right up my alley in terms of gameplay style.  But growing up I just never had a computer that could keep up with them.  PC games were never a major part of my life growing up.  I almost considered completely eliminating them from consideration for coverage, but the few PC games I did play have had a massive impact on my gaming journey.   But Diablo wasn't one of those games.  My experience with it was on a demo CD that came with an issue of "PC Gamer" in 1996.  I remember finding it a bit scary, (remember, I was 8) but also fascinating.  I wouldn't say this was right in the middle of the satanic panic, but it was definitely still a thing.  Aside from Doom, I don't remember any game leaning so hard into the whole hell/Satan/demons thing as the first Diablo. Even with Doom, you had to get pretty deep into the game to actuall

It’s back to the Sega Genesis this week.  What can I say, I ignored it for too long, even in my younger years. It’s no secret that the Super Nintendo was regarded as a haven for great RPGs while the Genesis was widely considered a wasteland for the genre.  But was that really the case?  The first part was certainly true.  There are dozens of really good to great RPGs for the SNES, especially if you include Super Famicom games.  But was it really that much better than the Genesis’ RPG library? Honestly, yes.  But that doesn’t mean the Genesis was the RPG wasteland it was made out to be.  It had a number of solid entries in the genre, mostly from its two main RPG series’.  I already discussed the amazing Phantasy Star IV, a game I never realized was as classic as it was.  That inspired me to look into Sega’s other oft discussed RPG series: Shining Force. Released in 1993, Shining Force was actually the second game in the series, a follow-up to Shining in the Darkness a few years ea

After last week’s appetizer, it’s time for the main course. I’m not going to lie, this is probably going to be a long one.  I know all about the whole “recommended word count” for online articles and this post is going to blow it out of the water.  I can also say for certain there will be spoilers, probably some big ones, for both the original Final Fantasy VII and the Remake.  So, strap in, grab yourself a beverage and read on because its pretty much illegal to go anywhere anyway.   In the first article I posted when I re-started my blog last year, I ranked my top 10 titles from the previous generation, a list that saw “The Last of Us” finish in the number 3 spot.  I talked about how that game set a new standard for how a video game could look, sound and be presented.  It raised the bar higher than I had ever seen on a console before, pushing the PlayStation 3’s hardware to its limits in every way.  Well, the bar has been raised again.  The FFVII remake is un

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 to be useful party members.  That isn’t the

“There ain’t no gettin off this train we’re on...” Happy Final Fantasy VII month!  In case you weren’t aware, the much anticipated remake of the 1997 classic is slated to release April 10, quarantine or no quarantine.  I was going to cover FFVII with my other 10s anyway, but one post can’t adequately convey how I feel about this game and its universe. So, I am going to dedicate this whole month to FFVII, its spinoffs and finally, the remake (If I can actually get my hands on it, that is).  Now is probably the time to mention that there are going to be some serious spoilers, though I am going to actively try to avoid them. What is there to say about Final Fantasy VII that hasn’t already been said?  It was a killer app for the original PlayStation, which was even more impactful for Sony as it flipped one of Nintendo’s key franchises.  It put the PS1 through its paces, setting a new standard for what games could do in terms of graphics, sound and presentation

Last week I discussed my initial thoughts on Phantasy Star IV, a JRPG for the Sega Genesis.  As you could probably tell, I liked it quite a bit and was impressed by what it accomplished technically.  That’s great, but what was it that made the game truly stand out. First, we need to start with the story.  It starts out as fairly simple RPG fare.  You play as Chaz, a young hunter’s guild member on the planet of Motavia.  Once a lush, green world, Motavia has become a mostly barren desert planet full of monsters.  That’s bad news for most civilians, but it also means plenty of work for Chaz and his mentor Alys, a hunter so respected that she has been assigned a critical mission offered by the Motavian University.  That mission sets the pair on a path that will reveal the origin of the monsters, the reason for Motavia’s decline and the true level of danger the galaxy will soon face.     I think the best part of the story is how well it raises the stakes.  Earl