Showing posts with label Dragon Quest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dragon Quest. Show all posts

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Six fictional female RPG characters

So here is another blog filler for December! Why six? I honestly have no clue. Probably just got too lazy to continue typing after six and I had to make time to write my review for Devil Summoner as well as other useless December fillers. But any who here is my personal list of the top six fictional female characters in role playing video games.

Ashelia B'nargin Dalmasca
Appearances: Final Fantasy XII, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Until her boy husband gets himself killed in battle, Ashe was the princess of Dalmasca. Thought dead she founded an underground resistance group aimed at liberating her nation from the Archadian empire. At first seeking revenge, she ultimately rejected vengeance and the lure of power of the Nethicite and instead aligned herself with Larsa, the younger brother of the leader of the Archadian empire to seek peace between the warring nations of Ivalice. Personally I find Ashe, not only the most beautiful of all fictional female characters, but also the most powerful. Why else did I make her the party leader of my all-female main party? She wields a powerful sword, is agile, a good healer and her stats are well rounded. Basically a good all rounder and makes for a good tank mage hybrid. The fact that she has the miniest of all mini skirts makes her even more adorable, but beyond that never once did the developers attempted to sexualised her. All hail Queen Ashe.

Etna
Appearances: Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories, Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness
Etna is a super skinny flat chested 1400 year old cute demon class female. She becomes immediately likeable after the first scene where we are treated with her gross method of waking up the slumbering prince of darkness, Laharl. Untrustworthy, Etna is a devious vassal who reveres the late king and her schemes brings much humour to the game. In one of the endings she murders Laharl and snatch the seat to become the new overlord or the Netherworld. Because there are various endings this may not be true for some, but I like to think of this as canonical. The beauty queen also leads the Prinny squad, an army of penguins with bat like wings, whose jobs includes being used as suicide bombers and slaves. A bonus mode based on what if Etna killed Laharl instead of waking him scenario is present in the PSP port of Disgaea, so make sure you buy Afternoon of Darkness.

Hrist Valkyrie
Appearances: Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria

One of the three Valkyries chooser of the slain, Hrist is the elder sister of Lenneth and Silmeria. She isn't a playable character in both games, but she is ruthless and therefore memorable. Her hatred for humans is matched by her demented actions. Loyal to Odin, part of her deeds includes destroying Dipan at Midgard after the events of Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria and before Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth. Her schemes in trapping the fugitive Silmeria is downright cunning. Hrist also happens to appear in both games as a boss, and while not the strongest her appearances are both important to the mythology and storyline. It would be interesting if tri-Ace and Square Enix would eventually develop a third Valkyrie Profile game which allows us to play as the most mysterious of the goddess of fate.

Jessica Albert
Appearances: Dragon Quest VIII: The Journey of the Cursed King
She may not be the best female character from the Dragon Quest series, but Jessica certainly is the most memorable. Part of this is no doubt due to the 3D nature of the game which allows more creative freedom for character development. While short tempered and have a lot of deal with after the death of her brother, Jessica proves very valuable to core gameplay and plot of Dragon Quest VIII, especially when she was briefly possessed. She is primarily a sorcerer although her whip does come in handy. Players can also change the clothings which includes 'Bunny's Costume' and 'Dangerous Bustier'. Her charm attack such as 'Puff Puff' and 'Hip Drop' also works well in lightening the mood as well as proving that the 360 is not the only console that can uhm, render jiggles.

Rydia
Appearances: Final Fantasy IV
As a child Rydia was made an orphaned when Kain and Cecil of Baron gallivanted around and destroyed her village Mist and killed her mother (indirectly). Even at such a young age she has already shown potential by summoning Titan in anger, causing an earthquake that separates Cecil and Kain. She eventually agrees to join a repented Cecil to fight Baron. For a child she has the maturity of an adult as seen in her conversation with a wimpy Gilbert, the spoony bard. However it wasn't long until she was separated from the party when the group was attacked by Leviathan. Fortunately for her she was taken in to the land of summons where due to the different in time flow she aged differently, eventually re-emerging as a healthy, happy and hot adult Rydia. Though she lost her abilities to conjure white magic she has learnt to become the greatest summoner in Final Fantasy lore. The new render of her for Final Fantasy IV DS is hawt!

Princess Nadia
Appearances: Chrono Trigger
Marle is a tomboy princess of the Kingdom of Guardia, whose bored life was the catalyst for the event surrounding Chrono Trigger when she uses Lucca's teleporting machine and accidentally herself back in time to 600 A.D., creating a ripple in the space time continuum. Marle is pretty independent and strong for a princess as proven by her weapon of choice: the crossbow (yeah!). In one of the many alternate ending she eventually marries Chrono, the hero and main protagonist of the game. I like her because her character reminds me so much of Bulma (Dragon Ball), whose penchant for adventure is similar to that of Marle's. Obviously Marle is far more independent than the technology reliant and whiny Bulma.

So which female (or male) RPG characters rock your boat? Please no Tifa or Aerith.

Monday, July 30, 2007

Dragon Quest IV, V and VI DS remakes!

Via GAF

Dragon Quest IV, V and VI (Castle in the Sky or Zenith Castle trilogy) remakes for Nintendo DS announced. Details not known yet, but hopefully with the same engine that Level-5 developed for Dragon Quest IX (though the developer is likely to be an anonymous developer like TOSE).

With these, Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings and Final Fantasy IV remake on the way I am a very happy RPG gamer.

Square-Enix confirmed richest buggers in the world.

List of S-E RPGs on DS:

Released:
Children of Mana
Final Fantasy III
Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime

Pending (EU & NA):
Dragon Quest IV
Dragon Quest V
Dragon Quest VI
Dragon Quest IX
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker
Heroes of Mana
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance 2
Front Mission: The First

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Hot Dragon Quest slime utensil set



For 1760 yen you can impress your video gaming mates and your girlfriend/wife with this shameless money making Dragon Quest merchandise. Go get em here.

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Five exclusive PlayStation 2 games you should own



With the recent arrival of the PS3, there hasn't been a better time to get a PS2. Unlike Microsoft and Nintendo, the PS2 has yet to be abandoned, a testament to its versatility - despite it being the weakest in terms of raw power of all the last-gen consoles. New games are still being released for the PS2, such as Rogue Galaxy, Valkyrie Profile: Silmeria and Atelier Iris 3.

With many early adopters trading in their PS2 collections, pre-owned PS2 games are increasingly becoming widely available. Just yesterday I saw a guy trading in his almost mint condition copy of Shadow of the Colossus. Inspired by Richard's take on PS2 games, I decided to write this up. It's only five games though as I am just too lazy and tired (shakes angry fist at politicians who thinks British Summer Time is a great idea)!

5. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater / Subsistence
Kojima Productions, Konami (£10-£15 / £25-£40)


The thick forest setting is quite a departure from the mainly urbanised setting of previous Metal Gear games.

While Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was a great game, but if you can afford it, Subsistence is the definitive version to get. With an improved 3D camera (the same one to be used in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid 4), massive amount of additional content and other bonus stuff usually included in a "director's cut", as well as the first two games in the Metal Gear series - both based on the superior MSX 2 releases, there really isn't any point in getting the flawed (but still awesome) Snake Eater.

Snake Eater is set in Russia during the Cold War and centers on Naked Snake (Big Boss), a CIA operative sent to rescue a weapons researcher. Unlike previous Metal Gear games, Snake Eater begins with Snake infiltrating the enemies territory through the jungle, a far departure from the usual urban environment of previous Metal Gear games.

Subsistence also contain Metal Gear Online, and if online multiplayer rocks your boat then go get it. Take note however that the North American server for MGO will shut down next month. It is possible that the European servers would go before the year's end too, so beware. Regardless MGS3 is a solid 3rd person stealth shooter with an amazing plot. It also host what is arguably one of the most memorable boss fight in video gaming culture.

4. ICO
Team Ico (In-house), Sony Computer Entertainment (£15-£35)


ICO's architecture is a marvel to look at, even through the dated visuals and ugly textures.

ICO's failure as a commercial item is a sad affair. To be fair, part of the blame can be attributed to SCE's reluctance to market the game properly, but even then it isn't entirely their fault. Such risk taking can only go so far in a video game market dominated by uninspired titles. Even despite the recent reprinting, the only place to purchase this game today is eBay and online stores dealing with niche products.

At the age of twelve Ico, the game's protagonist who was born with a pair of horns, was taken in by warriors to a castle where they locked him up, offering him as a sacrificing token to keep evil at bay. The boy escapes from his casket. He soon finds Yorda, a fellow captive in the fortress, and together they work together to make way out of the massive fort, solving kindergarden easy to brain busting difficult puzzles and occasionally battling wraiths and ghouls as they progress.

It's only fault lies with the camera system, which sometimes hamper our ability to marvel at the inescapable beauty of ICO's architecture. The graphics of ICO may seem primitive by today's standard (even back then the lower polygon was somewhat against it - this was a PS1 game), but don't let that fool you as the visual design are still outstanding. The gameplay, surreal atmosphere and architecture is just as majestic as when it was when released. ICO is a beautiful game, and a highly artistic one at that, even down to the surrealist art cover.

3. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
Level-5, Square-Enix (£15-£30)


There never has been a Dragon Quest game where Akira Toriyama's character designs are blown to video game life so realistically, giving the group of protagonists much charm - something that their next-gen photo-realistic counterparts lack.

There is hardly any difference between Dragon Quest VIII when compared to the near two decade old DQ III. Apart from the graphics and plot, nothing much has changed. Battles are still very much and combats are done through the traditional turn based system. This is very much a love-hate game, and it is entirely up to the gamer whether he likes his gameplay old school or otherwise.

The plot is the simple but effective 'once upon a time' and 'they live happily ever after' kind, and can take a massive 70-80 hours to complete (and that is just for the main quest). The game begins with you, the nameless royal guard known as the hero, who has travelled to Farebury, with a mysterious companion known as Trode, hunting for a mysterious jester known as Dhoulmagus. The jester, armed with a magical sceptre, has unleashed a curse upon the kingdom, cursing everyone within including the king and the princess. Only you, the hero, remained unscathed and it is up to you to rescue the kingdom.

Where the game truly shines is the graphical overhaul, all thanks to Level-5. The cel-shaded look is stunning and the overworld is amazingly huge. It compliments the game very well.


Dragon Quest VIII features an excellent translated script as well as brilliant voice acting by European actors.

2. Final Fantasy XII (review)
In-house, Square-Enix (£25-£35)


XII is the first Final Fantasy numbered game to introduce a hybrid turn and menu based combat system. I hope they keep it.

Final Fantasy XII is the direct opposite of Dragon Quest VIII. It eschews jRPG traditions for new innovations, even more so than the pitiful Final Fantasy X-2. Unlike X-2 however, they got many of the new and old stuff right.

The plot, built over from Final Fantasy Tactics' political unrest of Ivalice (although in a different time line), is an acquired taste, as it lacks the individualism of the more popular (but in my opinion over-rated) Final Fantasy games. It is still on an epic scale, providing much relief in the overcrowded angry teens as protagonist RPG market. Final Fantasy XII highlights that there are still people within Square-Enix's internal development team intent on progressing a stale genre and introducing new gameplay ideas.

1. Shadow of the Colossus (review)
Team Ico (In-house), Sony Computer Entertainment (£15-£30)


SotC's visual design is not unlike that of Ico's, with washed out pale colours and majestic architecture.


Ignoring the lack of frame rate and the occasional camera reset, what you have here is the spiritual successor to Famitu Ueda's Ico, times ten. The plot is shamelessly simple. A young man known as the Wander (or Wanda in Europe) has travelled far with his faithful horse Agro to arrive at a temple in the middle of a barren land. In order to restore the life of a girl, he was commanded to slay 16 fabled ancient creatures. You then spend the entire game travelling, climbing, killing and repeating the process ad nauseam, minus the nausea bit.


Travelling through the desolate landscape, said to be the size of Tokyo, is a surreal experience.

Shadow of the Colossus isn't any conventional platforming game. For one the game consists of only 16 'enemies'. And second, the platforming levels are the giants themselves. There are no dungeons to traverse upon, no minions to battle through, just the pure adrenaline rush scaling the giant beasts, admiring the view from the top (and holding on), then slaying them.


You will often feel insignificant when battling any of the Colossi, but not so much after you slay each one of them.

-

There you go, five fantastic exclusives that I recommend you get. Five games that makes owning a PS2 worth it, even if those are the only five games you will ever play.

Other recommendations:

Yakuza (SEGA)
Suikoden III & V (Konami)
Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 (Atlus)
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (Nippon Ichi)
God of War (SCEA)
Devil May Cry 3 (Capcom)
Okami (Clover)
God Hand (Clover)
Soul Calibur III (Namco)

Next week, five exclusive GameCube games you should own... or maybe the Dreamcast...

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

More top something lists

So Eurogamer has started the countdown to the top 50 games of 2006. Can't wait to see the outcome of the forums! This is my list (complimentary to that other list). Only games that I have played, released this year, either in Europe, Japan or America qualifies.

Top 15 Games of 2006



1. Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the King (Square Enix/Level 5, PS2, Japan)
2. Shadow of the Colossus (Sony Computer Entertainment, PS2, Japan)
3. Final Fantasy III (Square Enix/Matrix, DS, Japan)
4. Gyakuten Saiban 2 (Capcom Production Studio 4, DS, Japan)
5. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo EAD, DS, Japan)
6. Elite Beat Agents (iNiS, DS, Japan)
7. Half-Life 2: Episode One (Valve, PC, USA)
8. Metroid Prime Hunters (Nintendo Software Technology, DS, USA)
9. Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (Square Enix/Tose, DS, Japan)
10. Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda, PC, USA)
10. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo EAD, DS, Japan)
11. Trauma Center: Under the Knife (Atlus, DS, Japan)
12. Contact (Grasshopper, DS, Japan)
14. Professor Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo, DS, Japan)
15. Gunpey DS (Q Entertainment, DS, Japan)

For a year when finally all three so called "next-gen" consoles are out, it may be a surprised to some that my list lacked any. Well I couldn't get a Wii. Nintendo decided it needed to screw up the European launch. Hell people with pre-orders dating to early November has yet to received their units this side of Christmas. Sony Computer Entertainment decided that Europe isn't worth it as far as the PS3 is concerned. Hell at £425 I would wait 3-4 years and 4-5 price cuts later, and maybe a PS3 slimline, to even consider getting one. As for the 360, nothing I have seen caught my fancy. I love old fashioned generic FPS and the 360 no doubt will have plenty of it. But I hate playing shooters using the joypad.

DS games dominated my gaming life in 2006, as some of you probably know. Personally one of my mate has got back into gaming via Nintendo's DS and we managed to coax another mate of ours into getting one. She has been having a wild of a time, although she is having difficulty in getting her boyfriend to join.

My PC is pretty out of date so the only game I got to enjoy was Half-Life 2: Episode One. Oblivion was great but I think I will have to upgrade my PC to fully enjoy it. There were a couple of great games for PS2, but the two I am looking forward to (FFXII & Okami) won't be released in Europe until 2007. I never liked Guitar Hero anyway so it is obviously missing from the list. Dragon Quest VIII was only released in Europe early this year but it was worth the wait. Excellent, but not over the top, anime cel-shaded graphics, combined with brilliant British and European voice acting, symphony opera soundtrack, old school RPG menu combat system and old fashioned plot made this a simple but utterly addictive game.

Games personally looking forward to in 2007:



Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft Montreal, PC, Canada)
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (EA, PC, USA)
Dragon Quest IX: Protectors of the Starry Sky (Square Enix/Level 5,DS, Japan)
Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix, PS2, Japan)
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo EAD, DS, Japan)
Lunar Knights (Kojima Production/Konami, DS, Japan)
No More Heroes (Grasshopper Manufacture, Wii, Japan)
Okami (Clover Studios, PS2, Japan)
Rogue Galaxy (Level-5, PS2, Japan)
Shin Migami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 (Atlus, PS2, Japan)
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (tri-Ace, PS2, Japan)
Seiken Densetsu: Dawn of Mana (Square Enix, PS2, Japan)

Top 15 music albums of 2006

1. Appleseed Cast "Peregrine"
2. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah "Clap Your Hands Say Yeah"
3. Dirty Pretty Things "Waterloo to Nowhere"
4. Hot Chip "The Warning"
5. Belle & Sebastian "The Life Pursuit"
6. Camera Obscura "Let's Get Out of This Country"
7. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins "Rabbit Fur Coat"
8. Delays "You See Colours"
9. Islands "Return to the Sea"
10. Muse "Black Hole and Relevations"
11. The Kooks "Inside In/Inside Out"
12. The Killers "Sam's Town"
13. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan "Ballad of the Broken Seas"
14. Guillemots "Through the Windowpane"
15. The Zutons "Tired of Hanging Around"

Some may remember 2006 as the year of the Arctic Monkeys. I did not. Seriously I have never ever seen anything special in the brand of "post-punk" dribble, so I wouldn't even bother to describe my amazement that they even managed to snag the desired but rather pointless Mercury Prize.

Appleseed Cast's Peregrine is an intense but beautiful album. There is a balanced mixture of instrumentals, indie rock with soaring guitars and the odd electronic numbers. Clearly album of the year for me. The Killers

Also went through my blog and deleted most of the numerical ratings that accompanied my reviews, in line with Richard and British Gaming Blog. I say most 'cause some I've left untouched (because the review was so short that a rating probably meant more than the text itself and because I can't be bothered to edit all my posts). Anyway removed said numbers. Texts means more than numbers, and even for an insignificant blog like this, I prefer if people actually read my posts than skimming straight to the rating.

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Hooked on Dragon Quest VIII

Bloody hell, the streets are so quiet. The town is, well, like a ghost town. Everybody has probably just buggered off to live in some airport. I am in Jenni's flat and the whole flat is dead, which is fine cuz we can turn on the volume of the telly up a notch. It is depressing though. Maybe we can go off for a bike ride tomorrow or something.


I also introduced Dragon Quest VIII to Jenni, and after a short tutorial on the logic of menu driven turn based combat system (she is a fan of action based combat), she got hooked into the game. She has since hogged the telly and the only thing I am allowed to do is prepare the meals and sulked in the corner.

Saw a Wii on sale at CEX. They were buying it for £290 cash and are selling it back to the public for 350 quid. Quite the mark-up over the £180 recommended retail price. Apparently it has been there for days. With a day of Christmas shopping to go, hopefully there isn't anybody idiotic/desperate enough to let CEX get away with it.

Top 10 female video game characters of all time

Chun-Li (Street Fighter series)

Jessica Albert (Dragon Quest VIII)



Cate Archer (No One Lives Forever series)



Samus Aran (Metroid series)

Elexis Sinclaire (SiN)

Kasumi (Dead or Alive series)



Jill Valentine (Resident Evil series)

Sniper Wolf (Metal Gear Solid)



Claire Redfield (Resident Evil series)

Isabella Valentine (Soul Calibur series)

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Jon's "Christmas Awards" 2006

EDGE's Christmas issue is due in the shops any day now. With it the annual Christmas Awards were announced, with Final Fantasy XII getting game of the year. Which is great and all but since FF XII isn't out in PAL territory until next year I guess it is all conjecture, at least for me. Here are my "Christmas Awards" for gaming in 2006...

Best Game
Dragon Quest VIII Journey of the Cursed King (Square Enix, PS2)

In many ways Dragon Quest VIII is one of the best games you can ever play in recent history. Sure RPG haters will naturally hate this, but even Jennifer, who traditionaly shun turn based combat games has learnt to love this. At first, due to the narrative, then progressively the combat system. Combined with great visuals, excellent British voice acting and stunning orchestra, this really does deserve game of the year, even if it came here more than a year later.

People
Satoru Iwata (Nintendo)

Console Game
1. Dragon Quest VIII (Square Enix/Level 5, PS2)
2. Shadow of the Colossus (Sony Computer Entertainment, PS2)

Portable Game
1. Final Fantasy III (Square Enix/Matrix Software, DS)
2. Gyakuten Saiban 2 (Capcom Production Studio 4, DS)

Best Innovation
1. Nintendo Wii
2. Professor Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo EAD, DS)

Best Visual Design
1. Dragon Quest VIII (Square Enix/Level 5, PS2)
2. Shadow of the Colossus (Square Enix, PS2)

Best Audio Design
1. Dragon Quest VIII (Square Enix, PS2)
2. Uhm, nothing else strikes me as unique

Best Developer
1. Nintendo EAD (Japan)
2. Square Enix (Japan)

Best Publisher
1. Nintendo Japan (Nintendo Europe gets worst publisher)
2. Atlus

Best Online Experience
1. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo EAD, DS)
2. Gaming blogs and fanboys during E306

Best Hardware
1. Nintendo DS Lite
2. Sony PS2 Slimline (I know it came out in 2005)

Idiot(s) of the year
1. Jack Thompson and anti-gaming lobby.
2. Idiots who started class action lawsuits on Nintendo due to Wii strap 'issue'.

BTW, Jenni just got Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening and she loves it. I had no idea she is into this sort of games!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Sonic/Mario GAME gift cards / Dragon Quest IX on DS!

I don't normally go for GAME stuff but these gift cards are awesome. Great for any fans of Sonic and Mario. Too bad the new Sonic the Hedgehog game blows. Pokemon (Pikachu) and The Sims 2 (bleh!) cards are also available.



Anyone moaning the lack of RPG goodness on the DS platform should send letters to thankfulness to Yuji Horri. After one successful Dragon Quest spin-off and another one on the way, the creator of the series has decided to bring the next major installment (numbered) of the series, Dragon Quest IX, to the DS platform. And it won't be a spin-off either. The early build looks great. Combat will move from turn based to action orientated (ala Mana series), which may enrage some hardcore fans. But to me RPG isn't about the combat system, it is about role-playing. This is why the genre is called RPG (role-playing game).



The super deformed characters reminds me a whole lot of the SNES era and this wil solidify the DS as the new SNES. Fixed consoles like the Wii and PS3 may have better graphics than portables, but with people like me always on the move, bringing one of the best series to a (successful) portable platform may actually pay off for Squenix. By the way, it will be developed by Level 5, the developers who made the pretty Dragon Quest VIII.

Waiting for the inevitable special edition Dragon Quest DS Lite. My enamel navy DS Lite is getting seriously needing a replacement. I counted about six specks of dusts under the touch screen. Bloody annoying, especially in the sun.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Top 100 games of all time

Another utterly worthless post to keep this blog from heading down the gutter. This time a top 100 games of all time, that I have ever bothered to play.

I didn't put much thought into the list. Who would? It isn't a serious list, just a list of games I love(d), as of November 2006. It doesn't include pretentious games that many people pretend to like though. Also, not all that made the list, I would even consider twice of playing again. For example F-Zero was great and I had fond memories of it, but will I ever play it again? Hell no. It has aged rather badly me thinks (faux 3D games tends to do that).

I did think hard (for like 10 minutes) of ranking the top 10 games though and why I love them. Commentary on the top 5 (because I am lazy enough not to justify the latter five).

List updated as of May 2008

1. Total Annihilation (PC, Cavedog Entertainment, 1997)
- This is the ultimate game as far as I am concerned. When I first played this many many years ago, I had no idea that it would ever lodge
Red Alert from my top RTS game list, but it did. Incredible graphics (even in this day), soundtrack and huge maps. Enemy A.I. was a bit patchy, but so what? The cool thing about this game was building up a massive army (hundreds) of cyber robots and watching the mayhem as they destroy the pitiful enemies. This game rocks, and still rock hard today. I pity the fools who prefers StarCraft over this.

2. Chrono Trigger (SNES, Square Co., 1995)
- Still the greatest RPG ever made, Chrono Trigger, while short, featured multiple ending due to the non-linear gameplay offered through time traveling.


3. Final Fantasy VI (SNES, Square Co. 1994)
- While not too dissimilar with fanboy favourite
Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VI was without doubt a much better game. Nothing more nothing less. That is of course my opinion.

4. Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (PS2, Square Enix/tri-Ace, 2006)
- Without a doubt one of the best RPG game in recent history. The sequel to the fantastic PS1 game eschews jRPG cliché for a more modern uptake on the stale genre.


5. Final Fantasy XII (PS2, Square Enix, 2006)
- The developers of
Final Fantasy XII with much flair, revamped the series for the PS2's final Fantasy swansong. Purist may hate it, but this is destined to be a classic.

6. Command & Conquer: Red Alert (PC, Westwood Studios, 1996)
- Who could ever forget playing
Red Alert on those creaky Windows 95 Pentium machines, cranking up the speakers to full blast whenever 'Hell March' plays, annoying the neighbours at the same time? The sequel to another masterpiece, gameplay hasn't really aged well, but the graphics (made up of 2D sprites over 3D isometric plane) still hold up well.

7. Rollercoaster Tycoon (PC, Chris Sawyer, 1999)
- It is quite shocking that such a behemoth of a game was developed by a single man who was obssessed with rollercoaster, which in turn turned many of us into obsessed
Rollercoaster Tycoon gamers - with so many sleepless night wasted trying to create the most insane rollercoaster there is.

8. Gyakuten Saiban 3 (DS, Capcom Production Studio 4, 2007)
- An utterly bonkers of a game, yet a fine example that text adventure role playing genre can still do well.


9. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker (GCN, Nintendo EAD, 2003)
- If I was a well known guy and this was a well known list,
Zelda fanboys would be sending threats due to my ranking of Wind Waker higher than Ocarina of Time. Fortunately this is the internet and such a simpleton like me isn't important enough to warrant an assault. Put it simply, in my opinion, OoT has aged rather badly, whereas Wind Waker, like an old Disney classic, still looks stunning (granted it is newer after all).

10. Soul Calibur (DC, Namco, 1999)
- When I got the Dreamcast for the low price of 20 quid, I bought three games with it, all original, and all at a fiver a piece. This was one of it. Beautifully executed moves were a joy to create. Maybe I should start looking for my old Dreamcast again.


11. Shadow of the Colossus (PS2, Team-Ico)
12. Dragon Quest VIII (PS2, Level-5/Square-Enix)
13. ICO (PS2, SCEI)
14. Metal Gear Solid (PSX, Konami Computer Entertainment Japan)
15. God of War (PS2, SCEA)

The rest (in alphabetical order):

Advance Wars (GBA, Intelligent Systems)
Age of Empires (PC, Ensemble Studios)
American McGee's Alice (PC, Rogue Entertainment)
Animal Crossing: Wild World (DS, Nintendo)
Astro Boy: Omega Factor (GBA, Treasure)
Battle City (NES, Namco)
Beach Life (PC, Deep Red)
Bubble Bobble (NES, Taito)
Caesar III (PC, Impressions Games)
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (PS1, Konami)
Command & Conquer (PC, Westwood)
Commandos 2: Men of Courage (PC, Pyro Studios)
Contact (DS, Grasshopper Manufacture)
Contra (NES, Konami)
Crazy Taxi (DC, Hitmaker)
Dead or Alive 2 (DC, Team Ninja)
Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive (PC, Spellbound)
Dino Crisis (DC, Capcom Production Studio 4)
Disgaea: Hour of Darkness (PS2, Nippon Ichi)
Doom (PC, id Software)
Double Dragon II (NES, Technos Japan)
Dragon Quest III (SNES, Enix)
Empire Earth (PC, Stainless Steel Studios)
Final Fantasy IV (SNES, Square)
F-Zero (SNES, Nintendo)
God of War II (PS2, SCEA Santa Monica)
Golden Sun (GBA, Camelot)
Gradius (NES, Konami)
Gunstar Heroes (SMD, Treasure)
Half-Life (PC, Valve)
Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town (GBA, Marvelous)
Heavy Metal F.A.K.K. 2 (PC, Ritual Entertainment)
Hexen (PC, Raven Software)
Hitman: Codename 47 (PC, IO Interactive)
Ice Climber (NES, Nintendo)
killer7 (GCN, Capcom Production Studio 4/Grasshopper Manufacture)
Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (GBA, HAL)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES, Nintendo)
The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap (GBA, Flagship)
Lode Runner (NES, Hudson)
Max Payne (PC, Remedy Entertainment)
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC, 2015, Inc.)
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge (PC, Lucas Arts)
Mortal Kombat II (SNES, Sculptured Software)
Mother 2/Earthbound (SNES, HAL)
No One Lives Forever (PC, Monolith)
Okami (PS2, Clover)
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (DS, iNiS)
Outrun 2006 Coast 2 Coast (PS2, Sumo Digital)
Paperboy (NES, Mindscape)
Parasite Eve (PS1, SquareSoft)
Populous: The Beginning (PC, Bullfrog)
Prince of Persia (PC, Broderbund)
Quake (PC, id Software)
Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (Wii, Capcom Production Studio 4)
Resident Evil Code: Veronica (DC, Capcom Production Studio 4)
Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC, Gray Matter Interactive)
Sam & Max Episodes Season One (PC, Telltale Games)
The Secret of Monkey Island (PC, Lucasfilm Games)
Seiken Densetsu: Secret of Mana (SNES, Square)
Sensible Soccer (PC, Sensible Software)
Shenmue (DC, Sega AM2)
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 (PS2, Atlus)
Shogo Mobile Armor Division (PC, Monolith)
Shogun: Total War (PC, Creative Assembly)
SimCity 2000 (PC, Maxis)
SiN (PC, Ritual Entertainment)
Snails (PDA, PDAMill)
Sonic the Hedgehog (SMD, Sonic Team)
Suikoden III (PS2, Konami)
Super Bomberman (SNES, Hudson)
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii, Nintendo)
Super Metroid (SNES, Nintendo)
Street Fighter II (Arcade, Capcom)
Tales of Phantasia (GBA, Namco)
Tetris (GB, Nintendo)
Trauma Center: Under the Knife (DS, Atlus)
Unreal Tournament (PC, Epic)
Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria (PS2, tri-Ace)
Viewtiful Joe (GCN, Capcom Production Studio 4)
WipEout Pulse (PSP, Sony Studio Liverpool)
The World Ends With You (DS, Square Enix)
Xenogears (PS1, SquareSoft)
Yakuza (PS2, SEGA)

DC: Dreamcast
DS: Nintendo DS
GB: Game Boy
GBA: Game Boy Advance
GCN: GameCube
SMD: Sega Megadrive/Genesis
N64: Nintendo 64
NES: Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicom
PC: Windows PC/DOS
PDA: Pocket PC/PalmOS
PS2: PlayStation 2
PSX: PlayStation
SNES: Super Nintendo/Super Famicom


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Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime review


As I was travelling through the Central Line yesterday, a ten year old kid sitting next to me was staring avidly at my 'not-so-shiny any longer' DS Lite. It was rather rude but maybe all those colourful action happening on the bottom screen intrigued him. Maybe.

He then broke a long standing rule of travelling on the Tube (as well as for an innocent kid) by talking to me. You shouldn't really talk to strangers but I am sure the curiosity got the better of his judgement. Besides a guy playing a game staring colourful little creatures can't be dangerous, right?

"Is that the new Pokemon?" he asked.

"Nope, it is the new Dragon Quest."

"What's that? It looks like Pokemon!"

"No, it is Dragon Quest!"

"What a rip-off! It looks just like Pokemon" he spurred on. (At that point I wanted to twat the little rascal.)

"No... Look, it stars a blue slime. You don't have slimes in Pokemon do you now? There isn't any little yellow critters here too."

"I like Pokemon more" he answered incredulously (noticed how he has already mentioned Pokemon four times, perfect for me setting a record for typing ‘Pokemon’ in a non-Poke related review). Shrugging, he removed his scratched up GBA from his sack and started playing Pokemon Ruby something.

At that point I started to feel pity for the little guy. He had an old school purple GBA from 2001 with a backlit mod. It is obviously a hand me down from his dad, who is probably playing his DS somewhere, or worse - his PSP. Furthermore he (the kid, not the dad) had Pokemon Ruby something game cart, which is like from ten thousand years ago.

It shouldn't surprise anyone for mistaking the game I was playing with a Pokemon game (actually this is game closer to The Legend of Zelda series than Pokemon due to the action RPG elements). With simple and colourful to graphics to match, the title I am reviewing today was always 'asking for it' (the comparison). Design hark to a time (SNES era) where carefree and cheery looking creatures were the order, not those complex Doom-style horror villains that seems to grace 93.6174% of the newer so called 'next-gen' titles today.

Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is a spin-off of the insanely popular Dragon Quest series. It is the second Slime portable (the first was a Japan only release on the GBA). It stars a Slime (the mascot and one of the easiest enemy in the series) called Rocket, a blue blob who stretches its body to attack other beings, from the kingdom of Slimenia.

One day Boingburg (the city) is attacked by the Plob, who kidnapped all the slimes. Rocket, the only Slime left behind due to mistaken... uhm... identity, must liberate all 100 slimes from a total of seven funnily named locations (e.g. Flucifer's Necropolis).

Like the Zelda series, players has to explore the area and solve puzzles in order to unlock hidden locals. However, unlike later Zelda games however, Rocket Slime adventure portion is extremely easy. On some levels progressing would require you to battle traditional boss (easy) although most would mandate the participation of tank battles (fantastic). Gameplay is as easy as keeping one of your finger squarly above the 'A' button.

I can't help pointing out how much I love tank battles. It involves manning the Scheliman Tank against another a Plob tank. As you advance through the game the tank can be upgraded to enhance its HP level and better weaponry (mixture of weapons/defence). Three slimes can also assist Rocket in tank battles, with each having its own capability.

For example a Slimenian called Holly is adept at infiltrating and sabotaging the enemy tank. Or you could recruit Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fan Tokyo Tom who prefers to turn itself into an ammo and launch at the enemy. Similarly some members of the Plob may try to enter the Scheliman Tank in order to create mayhem. While tank battles may sound simple, you will have a wide option of destroying the enemy tank. My preferred strategy usually involves sending Rocket to infiltrate the enemy tank and disrupting their routine while leaving Rocket's assistants to their job of firing continuously.

As I said before, the graphics are simple yet colourful. It doesn't match The Minish Cap in detail, but as far as portable games goes, Rocket Slime 2D sprites is wonderful and works flawlessly with the spirit of the series. Sound is pretty good too with each levels having it's own unique soundtrack.

The game is hilarious and is littered with countless of references/puns to other games in Square-Enix's portfolio including Enix's own Dragon Quest series and Square's Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy series. Dialogues are often comical too. I haven't played a more witty RPG since Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, and many people knew that was fun.

If there is a problem with the game is the main objective of saving 100 slimes and defeating the Plob is pretty short (roughly 10-13 hours) and easy. You could easily push the game further if you bother improve your stat or to 'gotta catch em' all' Pokemon style. Personally I couldn't care less but even if you won't bother with all the Pokemon inspired stuff you really should at least play the main portion of the game (you know, the saving the slimes and defeating the boss stuff). Go Slime!

8/10

Buy now from Play-Asia