Well dudes, i finished Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates last week and I must say, it was a great feeling especially for Dragon Quest VIII since I started that like back in October. In total, I spent 75 hours on DQVIII and 13 hours on FFCCRoF. Both were milestones for me actually, it was the first Dragon Quest game I've ever played and finished it and FFCCRoF was the second ever Final Fantasy game finished when I have got so close to finishing the other Final Fantasy games.
One thing i like about DQVIII was that it was a typical traditional RPG with fairly basic RPG elements. RPG nowadays have so much things happening in them that people get confused and are sometimes also borderline RPGs. Probably the last console RPG I enjoyed playing was Final Fantasy X and from there, the Final Fantasy series just started to get confusing with the Licensing Grid, Active Dimension Battle (ADB) etc. DQVIII's battle engine is very simple and sticks to its original roots very closely while giving everything else a major overhaul. The whole world is cel-shaded but it looks very pleasant and clean compared to 3D RPGs which can have everything looking realistic but muddy looking. Theres no CGI or FMVs, all done with its superb cel-shading technics. Theres voice acting as well, a first for the series and the voices have a British accent to it so it feels like a medieval Europe fantasy. It was a long long game and the ending was completely satisfying, especially if you do the secret ending but the original ending is still very good!
FFCCRoF is a real step up from the original Crystal Chronicles on the GameCube. Ring of Fates still have many problems like interface and your party's AI problems that can be totally frustrating but can be tolerated because everything else is awesome. The story that was missing from the original gets a major overhaul here with an engaging story accompanied by the best graphics the DS can offer and voice acting (for major scenes)! This is how Square games should be, high budget productions. Hope they would fix the interface and AI problems for future sequels then it would be the most perfect Action-RPG on the DS! Pissed off that they removed the Japanese song from the ending credits, would've made the ending a lot more satisfying or at least redid the song in English like what they did with the other Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games! Grab this game anyway guys, we need to support third party games like this when so much time has been put into everything that makes it good!
Well thats two major games out of the way, dunno what console-RPG to put my head into atm. Pondering between Final Fantasy XII, Dark Cloud 2, Chrono Cross, Grandia III and Xenogears. All fairly long games but I am not sure if i want to start another RPG for the time being. I do play other other games while playing RPGs but RPGs do take a lot of time to complete so I take my time with them. On the DS front though, I have started with Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon, Children of Mana and The World Ends With You. At least with DS, I can use my public transport time to play the DS to death without thinking I'm wasting my time when i could be doing something else :)
Oh yeah, Mario Kart Wii comes out next Thursday, just before ANZAC Day! Long weekend to play it. Anyone that has it, give me their Friend Code so we can verse eachother online! So freakin' can't wait! Screw Brawl!
Well here I just want to make a list of games that I have completed through my lifetime and when if possible. As its of my lifetime, I probably will never remember what I have completed... but its good to keep track of what I may forget in the future. Most of these games aren't clocked 100% just story, campaign or main mode finished :)
SEGA Master System II Aladdin Alex Kidd in Wonder World Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse Double Dragon Land of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse Mortal Kombat II Rainbow Islands: The Story of Bubble Bobble 2 Sonic the Hedgehog
Super NES Super Bomberman 3 Super Mario Allstars (incl. Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. The Lost Levels, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3) Super Mario World Super Mario Kart
Nintendo 64 GoldenEye 007 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask Lylat Wars Mario Kart 64 Mario Party 2 Mario Tennis Perfect Dark Pokémon Stadium Pokémon Stadium 2 Star Wars: Rouge Squadron Super Smash Bros. Nintendo GameCube Batman Begins Dance Dance Revolution with Mario Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 Mario Kart: Double Dash!! Medal of Honor: Frontline Metroid Prime killer7 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Master Quest The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition (The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask) Luigi's Mansion Mario Party 4 Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time R: Racing Resident Evil 4 Second Sight Sonic Adventure 2: Battle Soulcalibur II Star Fox Adventures Star Wars: Rouge Squadron 2 - Rouge Leader Super Mario Sunshine Super Smash Bros. Melee TimeSplitters 2 Viewtiful Joe Viewtiful Joe 2
Nintendo Wii Mario Kart 64 (Virtual Console) Mario Kart Wii Paper Mario (Virtual Console) Red Steel Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles Sonic and the Secret Rings Super Mario Galaxy Super Paper Mario
Sony PlayStation Chocobo Racing Final Fantasy VII Jackie Chan Stuntmaster The Legend of Dragoon Metal Gear Solid Soul Blade Time Crisis: Project Titan
Sony PlayStation 2 The Bouncer Bully Dead or Alive 2 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 2 Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King God of War Grandia II Guitar Freaks and DrumMania: Masterpiece Gold History's Strongest Disciple Kenichi: Gekitō! Ragnarok Hachikengō ICO Killzone Kingdom Hearts Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny Onimusha 3: Demon Siege Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams Rise to Honour Shadow of Memories Star Wars: Battlefront 2 Tekken 4 Tekken 5 Tekken Tag Tournament Time Crisis 2 Time Crisis 3 Yakuza
Sony PlayStation 3 Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots Time Crisis 4 Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Microsoft X-Box Dead or Alive 3 Dead or Alive Ultimate
Nintendo Game Boy Pokémon Blue Pokémon Red Pokémon Yellow: Special Pikachu Edition Nintendo Game Boy Color Pokémon Gold Pokémon Silver Pokémon Crystal Pokémon Pinball Pokémon Puzzle Challenge Nintendo Game Boy Advance Golden Sun Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past + Four Swords Mario Kart: Super Circuit Metroid: Zero Mission
Nintendo DS Advance Wars: Dark Conflict Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Bomberman Land Touch! Contra 4 Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 Elite Beat Agents Final Fantasy IV Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates Fullmetal Alchemist: Dual Sympathy Jump Super Stars Jump Ultimate Stars The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass Mario Kart DS Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time Mega Man ZX Metroid Prime Pinball Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright: Justice For All Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulation Professor Layton and the Curious Village Project Rub The Rub Rabbits! Sonic Rush Sony PlayStation Portable Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops PC Battlefield 1942 Command & Conquer Command & Conquer: The Covert Operations Command & Conquer: Renegade Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Grand Theft Auto III Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Metal Gear Solid Need for Speed II No One Lives Forever Red Alert Red Alert: Counterstrike Red Alert: The Aftermath Red Alert 2 Red Alert 2: Yuri's Revenge Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos
One thing i like about DQVIII was that it was a typical traditional RPG with fairly basic RPG elements. RPG nowadays have so much things happening in them that people get confused and are sometimes also borderline RPGs. Probably the last console RPG I enjoyed playing was Final Fantasy X and from there, the Final Fantasy series just started to get confusing with the Licensing Grid, Active Dimension Battle (ADB) etc. DQVIII's battle engine is very simple and sticks to its original roots very closely while giving everything else a major overhaul. The whole world is cel-shaded but it looks very pleasant and clean compared to 3D RPGs which can have everything looking realistic but muddy looking. Theres no CGI or FMVs, all done with its superb cel-shading technics. Theres voice acting as well, a first for the series and the voices have a British accent to it so it feels like a medieval Europe fantasy. It was a long long game and the ending was completely satisfying, especially if you do the secret ending but the original ending is still very good!
FFCCRoF is a real step up from the original Crystal Chronicles on the GameCube. Ring of Fates still have many problems like interface and your party's AI problems that can be totally frustrating but can be tolerated because everything else is awesome. The story that was missing from the original gets a major overhaul here with an engaging story accompanied by the best graphics the DS can offer and voice acting (for major scenes)! This is how Square games should be, high budget productions. Hope they would fix the interface and AI problems for future sequels then it would be the most perfect Action-RPG on the DS! Pissed off that they removed the Japanese song from the ending credits, would've made the ending a lot more satisfying or at least redid the song in English like what they did with the other Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games! Grab this game anyway guys, we need to support third party games like this when so much time has been put into everything that makes it good!
