Gaming off the Beaten Path

 Last week, we looked at the 2002 Resident Evil Remake for the GameCube, a game I believe to be one of the greatest of all time. In that review, I talked a little bit about the gaming industry's obsession with remakes, especially in recent years. That led me down a massive rabbit hole, one I wanted to explore a little bit deeper here. There are times where it feels like literally every popular game from the 90's has, or will get, a remake, or at least a remaster. Final Fantasy VII, Secret of Mana, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, the original Resident Evil Trilogy, the list goes on and on. And it's continuing to grow. Remakes of Silent Hill 2, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, The Witcher and a boatload of others are on their way. At this point, it's not even just big-name games either. They are, honest to God, remaking Lollipop Chainsaw. Let that sink in. There's a Joe & Mac remake on the way too. Remember them? Don't get me wrong, I think it's cool that ...

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 rais...

The wait is over, its finally here.  What started as a random tech demo at E3 years ago has finally evolved into a reality: the Final Fantasy VII remake is here.  It took a little extra time for me to get my hands on a copy thanks to the COVID-tastic shipping schedule, but my collector’s edition finally arrived early last week. I’m not going to lie, I haven’t quite finished the game.  Quarantine or no quarantine, putting 40 hours into a game in two weeks is just not something I can do right now.  I thought about going into the history of this game, but I think most hardcore fans already know it and most casual fans don’t care.  I already discussed the original, so that’s out too.  I am going to do a full review next week, but I certainly have enough time in it to give some initial thoughts. My biggest takeaway here: this isn’t really a remake, its more of a re-imagining.  As far as I am in, I’m not sure how I feel about th...