#but it also had an ICONIC soundtrack. it had such a developed world and kick ass fight choreography
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Both Hollywood Celebrities AU for hc game?
Ooh, I had to have a good think about this one, and I've written so much here that I may actually have to write this story because it sort of took over my brain for a spell there:
Chrissy gets her start in a teen drama show where she played a stereotype--popular girl with a heart of gold, probably a cheerleader--and has struggled against it somewhat for typecasting in her career; she's been able to move on successfully from TV to film, but it's been mostly to romantic comedies. Romcoms are a ton of fun, and Chrissy honestly really enjoys making them (she's actually really great with the physical comedy bit as well), and does well with them as a leading lady in that space, very America's Sweetheart; the media reports that getting cast opposite her is like a rite of passage for actors. She really doesn't feel like the industry takes her seriously, and wants a role that she can sink her teeth into; an opportunity to shake things up, and show the world exactly what she's capable of.
Eddie's career kicked off with him playing an iconic serial killer in a teen slasher that ended up with a massive cult-following, and he reprised the role in a couple of sequels. He ends up carving out a bit of a niche in the horror world, plus becomes a staple in comic book/video game movies, almost an inevitability like, "Oh yeah, that guy is in everything, and he always dies in like, the first 30 minutes." Eddie loves the gore and the themes and the costumes and the horror and what not, but like Chrissy he keeps putting out feelers for something more challenging, and a real leading role, where he gets real-time in the spotlight.
After delivering stellar auditions, they end up getting cast opposite one another in a Blondie biopic playing Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. There are OPINIONS about the casting, because most people don't think they're up for it, think that they don't have the chops, and think that they're gonna botch it. The widespread belief is that the movie's gonna be garbage. The director is a relatively unknown woman, and the screenplay was also written by unknown women, adapted from Harry's biography Face It; Harry herself has a writing credit and ends consulting on set. When asked about how things are going she says that she thinks 'these kids are gonna blow you all outta the water.'
Eddie and Chrissy both insist on recording their own performances for the film/soundtrack. Eddie lays the guitar tracks; Chrissy takes voice lessons to help her get the sound right.
The end result is that they both kill it. The movie is a huge commercial and critical success. It sweeps every award ceremony; takes home Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Picture nearly across the board. Eddie and Chrissy become media darlings, especially with their flirty, physical interviews. Everyone loves them, raves, etc.
And everyone asks if they're dating. There's tons of speculation, and the questions are constant. And the paps catch them out for lunch and out and about, but there's never PDA or anything physical that couldn't be attributed to them having 'developed a close friendship' on set. And neither of them ever give a straight answer about anything.
And no one really gets one until Eddie and Chrissy show up on the red carpet for the Oscars together, wearing wedding rings, and with Chrissy in a super form-fitting gown that shows off her sweet little baby bump. In their Oscar acceptance speeches they express how thankful they both are to have gotten this opportunity, not only the wonderful recognition for their roles and the film, but also for having met one another and fallen in love. Chrissy proclaims: "No more rites of passage, sorry!" and Eddie says, "Maybe they'll stop killing me in everything now, heh."
Thanks for the ask, anon!
Request comes from this post:
Send Me an AU & I'll Give You 5+ Headcanons About It.
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Just beat Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade. The original FF7 was first released on the Playstation One back in 1997. Considered by many one of the best video games of all time. FF7 was the gold standard for role playing games for a long time. It was remade again just a couple of years ago in 2020 on the PS4. During a time of perpetual remakes, Final Fantasy 7 Remake seemed to live up to the hype and made a great gaming experience even better. Remake Intergrade is the PS5 follow up that appeared shortly after the PS4 release. Not a sequel. More like the "Super Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition EX Plus Alpha Turbo HD" of the Final Fantasy world. A loaded statement for sure. But is Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade a good game? Let's break it down like this...
In a nutshell: Young steampunk Super Saiyan Goku with a big ass sword becomes an eco-terrorist for hire to blow up electric power plants with this crazy dude with a minigun for a hand and a karate hooker, who just happens to be Goku's childhood sweetheart. Don't worry parents; this is an evil corporation, so blowing up their power plants is ok. You hack & slash & punch & shoot your way through hundreds of robots and monsters trying to stop this evil corporation with your dirtbag friends and a cute flower girl. Seems like a simple premise. That is until Goth Albino Axl Rose starts whispering riddles into Goku's ears. Getting all up in your business. You would THINK that was cool, but you find out that Axl is trying to destroy the world. Which is the opposite of cool. At that point you're fighting to save the Earth. Again. But seriously, this game is a lot more layered than how I'm trying to summarize. It's a nutshell full of awesome.
The Good: The original Final Fantasy 7 was pretty amazing. So you're already starting off with a good premise. But the developers took that premise and rebuilt it from scratch with modern developer tools. The end result is pretty fantastic from every aspect. The graphics are simply gorgeous. The assets are so insanely detailed, I would often stop progressing and just look around. The details in the environment. The non-descript chatter from the NPC's made the city of Midgar seem alive. And the characters! The Final Fantasy 7 cast has become almost iconic through the years. Popping up in several other games, movies, comics, etc. We were somewhat familiar with these characters. But the remake really brought them to life. Shout out to the voice acting cast, by the way. Just about everyone played true to their characters' personalities. The quirky banter between certain characters were amusing at times. Which leads to the actual gameplay. Final Fantasy was always about quick turn-based battles and item management with pretty graphics. The remake takes it a step further with more pro-active arcade brawler style battles. All while preserving the quick item management aspect of the original games. It often feels like a juggling act at times. You have to attack, block or parry and dodge enemy attacks like any other 3-D action game. But you also have to manage two other teammates on top of the action. You can add quick commands from their arsenal or let the AI automate while you focus on kicking ass. It's definitely more proactive than the original game. Even the music is fantastic! The original soundtrack was already legendary. How on Earth could they possibly top it? Well, this modern day production crew took something great and added a layer of delicious frosting on top. Taking classic melodies from the original game and giving them full instrumental productions spanning several genres: pop, jazz, EDM, metal, hip-hop, reggae remixes. Amongst others. I had the damn chocobo song in my head ALL DAY. The Happy Turtle jingle is burned in my mind forever. Which is a testament to the greatness of this game's soundtrack. Controls were smooth, responsive and simple. The games menus and materia system might have a bit of a learning curve for unfamiliar players. Definitely not a typical beat em up. But you have tons of options! The UI is simple and provides easy instructions to guide players through. There are so many other good details about this game. I can seriously keep going. But let's flip the script and break out the table salt...
The Bad: If you're getting into this without any prior knowledge of the Final Fantasy experience? You might find yourself a bit confused. There is a LOT going on, with plenty of gaping plotholes from beginning to end. Which I now realize were placed intentionally to throw off fans of the original timeline. They are trying something new and different, which is GREAT! But from a tourist perspective? It's all super-fucking-weird! LOL! I can see the average Fortnite kid getting bored with this game really quick. Not a lot of gamers are patient enough to sit through all the cut scenes (which ARE skippable by the way). There were plenty of cringe inducing scenes that gave me douche chills. Speed Demon Roche and The Honeybee Inn were annoying, amonst others but I respect the developers trying new things and adding more substance to the Midgar experience. And speaking of adding to the experience... I don't like how they added to the game by subtracting 3/4ths of the original narrative out of the presentation. Back in 1997. Final Fantasy 7 came with 4 discs. Different parts of the saga split up, mostly because you can only contain a finite amount of game data on a single disc. Despite the 4 discs, you got the WHOLE STORY. The remake only covers the first quarter of the timeline. Like getting served a whole deep dish pie at first. Now you're only getting a slice? Which raises a LOT of questions I'm not willing to remember in-between the countless games we'll be playing before the next disc comes out. It kills the flow of the narrative. But from a business standpoint, you can see exactly why it would be more profitable to stretch the games out. And add as many spin-offs and DLC's as possible before you shell out another $80 bucks for the next disc. Unfortunately for me, I'm that hardcore Final Fantasy fanboy that will begrudgingly burn another $80 bucks for each stupid disc and download they crank out. Like a true Final Fantasy cuck. God help us if the introduce micro-transactions.
I also don't like how linear this game is. For a role playing game, especially with the freedom of other sandbox RPGs, this game seems pretty shallow. You really can't do much outside of what your character is tasked to do. Pretty weak compared to what's offered on so many other games. But you know what they say, "compare & despair". If it weren't for the iconic characters, the game would seem pretty weak when you're not invested in the lore behind these people. But fortunately, there are millions of fans who went all in on this franchise. The next installment is supposed to offer more freedom? Which seems ideal. But is it the same kind of freedom like you get in Skyrim or Red Dead Redemption? Very unlikely.
Overall: These son's of biscuits at Squeenix took a legendary game. Made it better. And added a Intergrade cherry on top, with more bells and whistles on the side. When you start getting caught up in the mini-games more than the actual story (hello Fort Condor!) you start to get a good video game Inception going on. The best games will make you want to play them again after beating it. But I'm already looking forward to unlock more features on Hard mode. It's Final Fantasy at its peak form.
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The 30 Best GBA Games (Game Boy Advance) of All Time 2021
The 30 Best GBA Games (Game Boy Advance) of All Time 2021
1. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
The Icon of Zelda: The Minish Cover shirts our checklist for a variety of motives: Never-ending allure, fantastic overworld and dungeon layout, clever puzzles as well as wiser challenge aspects. The Minish Cap told the backstory of Vaati, the leading antagonist and important shape in A number of Swords. Right after Vaati petrified Princess Zelda, Hyperlink rescued a wonder sentient head wear using a bird go that, when donned, lets him get smaller into a minute dimensions just like the{Buzrush.com} Minish, the small beings who have did the trick tirelessly to aid take out darkness coming from the planet. The head wear, the game’s central quirk, was designed exploring Hyrule a lot differently than before. It opened up new locations and available new viewpoints, illuminating just how stunning the field of Hyrule actually is. The Minish Limit obtained all the prominent features of a successful Zelda online game, from excellent dungeons to whimsical townspeople for the absolute satisfaction given when launching a jewel chest. And were you aware The Minish Cap was designed by Capcom, not Nintendo? It remains to be one of the better Zelda video games of all time.
2. Golden Sunshine
Camelot Application Organizing, known for Glowing Power and Mario athletics titles, shocked every person with 2001’s Wonderful Direct sunlight, a valiant attempt at providing a unique Final Fantasy-style encounter to your hand-held foundation. And the child performed Camelot at any time to be successful. Wonderful Sunlight starred Isaac and a few other adventurers inside their quest to save the concept {Buzrush.com}of Weyard. It possessed most of the trappings of an Ultimate Fantasy online game - a help save-the-world storyline, random convert-structured battles, and summons - but it also had a good variety of overworld puzzles and much more intense tale owing to a great deal of exposition and dialogue. Its sequel, Wonderful Sunshine: The Shed Grow older, shared the tale with the perspective of the antagonists. The original is not only the best GBA RPG ever; it’s one of the best turn-based RPGs released to this day, even though both games are excellent in their own right. If you missed out on Golden Sun, find a way to play it, such as through the Wii U. A sequel called Gold Direct sunlight: If you want even more Golden Sun in your life, Dark Dawn also came to DS, as well.
3. Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow
The final and third GBA Castlevania video game, Aria of Sorrow, revealed that it had been possible for the collection to attain the level of effectiveness displayed in Symphony in the Nights. That is ideal. First, we said Metroid Fusion was better than Super Metroid, and now we’re putting Aria of Sorrow on the same pedestal{Buzrush.com} as Symphony of the Night. In contrast to its predecessors, Aria of Sorrow got the vampiric sequence into the long term, setting customers within the boots of Soma Cruz, a teen with occult energy who could produce the reincarnation of Dracula. Aria of Sorrow has got the low-linear research of SotN, meaningful RPG mechanics, a handful of great weapons, and a series of daunting but incredible boss struggles. Throw in the Strategic Souls technician, which adjusts gameplay and data by beating foes, and Aria of Sorrow was the richest entrance in the collection currently. It holds right now as one of the greatest Castlevania games, and for a flavor of a related design activity, try Bloodstained: Routine of your Nighttime on Change.
4. Metroid Fusion
It’s no great surprise Metroid Fusion was developed via the similar team that manufactured Extremely Metroid. Fusion almost looked like an not related sequel if this started in 2002. Combination showcased in a similar fashion extended {Buzrush.com}open-society to learn, allowing gamers to review and reveal ways and secrets ahead at their own speed. The team at Nintendo R&D1 highly processed the fight from Awesome Metroid and released several new power-mechanics and ups at the same time. Metroid Fusion is not just one of the best games on GBA; it’s the best 2D Metroid ever made, even though it may be blasphemous to say.
5. The Story of Zelda: A Web Link to the Earlier and A number of Swords
Not much has to be stated regarding a Url to the Past, the common top notch-lower Zelda trip for the SNES. The GBA dock helped bring the mesmerizing Dark and Light Worlds of Hyrule to hand-held correctly. The port also introduced a new element, however, named A number of Swords. This supportive mode allows a 2 to 4{Buzrush.com} player workforce to approximately get rid of puzzles and defeat baddies in dungeons. However the primary strategy is exactly what eventually earns The Link to the Earlier an increased identity within this collection, adding A number of Swords created the GBA version the definitive solution to enjoy one of the greatest games ever, even when compared to Nintendo Change On the internet type available by using a subscription.
6. Upfront Wars
Smart Techniques, the recording studio behind Fire Emblem, have also been powering the greatest transform-based method video game on GBA: Advance Wars. The idea was simple: A glowing blue army face looked out against a reddish army, every single one composed of tanks, infantrymen, and artillery. Boasting difficult proper gameplay, a deep promotion, as well as a chart creator, Progress Competitions got all the things a technique enthusiast could want. Like Fireplace Logo, Advance Conflicts originated from{Buzrush.com} a Japanese exceptional collection named Famicom Conflicts, so we are rather lucky to get it in Canada And America. The GBA also got a sequel in Advance Competitions 2: Black colored Pit Escalating. Whilst great, it observed more like add more-on information due to the actually powerful forerunner, as well as the DS sequels weren’t as vintage since the initial. For your similar practical experience, look at Wargroove on Nintendo Swap.
7. Metroid: Zero Goal
Exactly what do you get if you mix the atmosphere and nostalgia in the authentic Metroid with current mechanics? Properly, a darn great sport. Metroid: No Vision, a reimagining of your 1986 classic, retold the storyline of Samus Aran’s initial venture together with the enhanced fight evident in Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion. {Buzrush.com}Beautiful to view and even far better to engage in, Zero Objective manufactured going back to World Zebes feels fully unique again.
8. WarioWare: Twisted!
Established from the frantic “microgame” formula of WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames! , WarioWare: Twisted! included drive comments - certainly one of only two GBA game titles to possess the feature - and also a gyro sensing unit. The outcome? An event unlike another for the hand held. Microgames are necessary competitors to complete speedy-flame activities within minutes. None of the games were particularly complex, but all of them were entertaining. Also the plan, which associated Wario getting{Buzrush.com}mad with a game on GBA and flinging the handheld at the wall structure, fell completely in line with the game’s irreverent development. If you played it in public, ferociously twisting and turning your GBA like a madman, on a scale of sheer “fun value,” you’d be hard-pressed to find a more satisfying GBA game, especially. Some of the games can also be found in the 3DS generate WarioWare Yellow gold, in conjunction with microgames from the other collection.
9. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga
Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga kicked off of one among Nintendo’s best Mario games and spin off selection. Despite the fact that starting off within the familiarized Mushroom Empire, the video game speedily transitions to Beanbean Kingdom, a substantial world how the bros should traverse to recover Princess Peach’s speech. Split{Buzrush.com} up to the core concept, Superstar Saga had been a flip-dependent part-playing activity. But Nintendo and today-defunct programmer AlphaDream layered the combat by adding timing-structured maneuvers that nodded to Mario’s platforming origins. Controlling Mario and Luigi all at once also contributed to the game’s many fun spot puzzles. Superstar Saga stands apart today as the GBA’s ideal RPGs.
10. Closing Imagination VI
Closing Fantasy VI did not arrive at Game Child Upfront in America till 2007, greater than two year period after the Nintendo DS started. Often, it is introduced like a “thank you” to Activity Boy followers for his or her lengthy-standing help and support. Final Fantasy VI was a pitch-perfect port that brought the epic story, strategic {Buzrush.com}gameplay, and wondrous soundtrack to a handheld device for the first time, as one of the best entries in the long-running role-playing series. Final Fantasy VI rightfully earns a spot on our list, even though the GBA also received great ports of Final Fantasy I & II, Final Fantasy IV, and Final Fantasy V. It is merely the most effective RPGs ever produced and one of many top Closing Imagination game titles in recent history.
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An unsolicited take on the Twisted soundtrack from some bitch that can barely read music
Since we’re at the end of Twisted week I just want to add a quick(ish) note on the soundtrack because while I am so glad that the absolutely glorious and iconic lyrics get so much credit, I think not enough is said about the actual music itself. So, introducing an unsolicited take on the Twisted soundtrack from some bitch that can barely read music.
Twisted is unique among Starkid musicals in that the thing it’s parodying is also a musical and goddam did AJ rise to the challenge. Specifically I think the thing that makes the Twisted soundtrack so good for what it’s trying to do was the decision to sample Disney songs rather than either directly parody them or make them entirely original.
Part 1: Narrative
Firslty, using familiar Disney refrains acts like a shorthand to help you track the narrative, and allow you to draw on those emotions you’ve previously associated with the Disney equivelant of the song, almost like the effect of using a narrative/character trope. Good examples of this are ‘I Want Everything’ sampling ‘Part of Your World’ from the Little Mermaid and ‘Golden Rule’ sampling ‘Hakuna Matata’ and ‘Bear Necesities’ from the Lion King and the Jungle Book, because the Twisted songs fulfil a similar role in the story to the Disney ones they borrow from.
Book marking the narrative in this way, firstly makes it easier to follow what’s going on, which is important when you’re taking long ass detours about some guy fucking a tiger, but secondly it highlights where the plot deviates from the standard Disney narrative which is literally the whole point of Twisted. When Jasmine gets the standard Disney introduction of princess-that-wants-shit it makes it easy for us to connect with the character and understand the tropes she’s drawing from, by using the music to signpost to us that we have met this exact character before, not just in Aladdin, but in literally every Disney princess movie. This meas that the eventual character development she undergoes at the end, which is not typical of the Disney princess character arc, becomes more impactful. This is then where the decision not to rely too heavily on parodies really comes into its own, because (as far as I can tell) ‘The Power In Me’ doesn’t seem to sample any Disney songs, which signals to the audience that Jasmine has broken free from her trappings of her Disney character to become the Twisted character. This point is shown more generally by the fact that the songs in Act 1 sample Disney songs far more than in Act 2, because their role is to set up the tropes of a classic Disney story, whereas the songs in the second half exist to support its subversion.
( Fun note: The Starship soundtrack (my beloved) also uses this same trick. ‘I Wanna Be’ very clealry samples ‘Under the Sea’ from the little mermaid, and also serves a similar role in the narrative, ‘Kick it Up a Notch’ is very clealry in the style of every Disney villain song (and also what every Disney villain song wishes it could be) etc.. (and I do mean etc I could keep going on with this comparison ‘hideous creatures’ -> ‘kill the beast' etc...) )
Part 2: Humour
The contrast between hearing familiar Disney songs from childhood and Starkid style humour, really emphasizes certain jokes and takes them from funny to hysterical. My favourite example of this is the first joke of the musical which is hilarious and sets the tone brilliantly:
Jafar: and all the greatful citizens will say to me
citizens: fuck you, fuck you, fuck you
This joke, while hilarious anyway, is made so much funnier by the contrast between ‘Dream a Little Harder’ very heavily sampling ‘Belle’ from Beauty and the Beast. The sampled song sets our expectations for the kind of response we should expect to follow Jafar’s pronouncement, so then when the very un-Disney response of ‘fuck you’ comes along, still to the tune of the Disney version, our subconcious is taken by suprise which is one of the key ways that humour happens. The same thing is achieved by ‘I Want Everything’ leaning more heavily into ‘Part of Your World’ just as it comes up to some of the key punchlines in the song (e.g.’so the fuck what’, ‘I want the moon, I want to live on the moon, and eat it in a pie, and keep it was a pet, and wear it like a gemstone in my hair’). I also think this is why keeping ‘Take Off Your Clothes’ as a parody of ‘A Whole New World’, and also one of the only direct parodies in the whole show works so well, because the contrast between the words we expect to hear next (because we all subconciously know at least a good chunk of that song) and every single fucking sentence we actually hear makes it so much funnier than jus the lyrics alone ever could.
This is also yet another instance where I think they did just the right amount of sampling, because the contrast trick is an easy way of getting a cheap laugh on the night so would have been easy for them to lean into too much. But, the problem is since contrast jokes rely on a degree of suprise, once the audience starts to expect it (as would be the case if it had just been a soundtrack of 12 straight parodies) then it loses its power so by deploying it responsably and sparingly, it means it doesn’t lose its magic through the course of the musical and even on rewatches. There may come a day when I don’t spit out my drink on the opening joke but last week proved that it is not this day.
In conclusion the Twisted soundtrack is a masterpiece that feels exactly like a Disney soundtrack without straying too close to any actual ones that already exists. I also love the Brittany/Carlos pop cover of ‘A Thousand and One Nights’ as the end credits firstly because it fucking slaps and also because that’s such a Disney easter egg because they literally always do that.
It’s 3 in the morning and I know very little about either Disney or music so I might be wrong about some of the references so please feel free to add or correct any that I’m misidentifiying. Would be interessted to hear which ones other poeple have picked up on.
#starkid#twisted#rewatchers1000#how did this end up as an essay i'm literally an engineer I ahven't written an essay since school
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My Top 30 Favorite Video Games
Inspired by @ultraericthered’s Top 30 Favorite Anime post.
Although I’m doing mine in countdown form, ‘cause it’s more fun that way!
30. Super Mario Bros. - Arguably the first “blockbuster” game to be released, not only does Super Mario Bros. still hold up over 35 years later but it’s a gift that keeps on giving with how many different incarnations, remixes, fan games using its assets, etc. that we have now.
29. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - OBJECTION! While I cherish the entire original Phoenix Wright trilogy of the Ace Attorney franchise, I’ll always be the most partial to the original outing. The sheer audacity and hilarity of the concept, which is grounded by endearing characters and compelling mysteries, shines brilliantly in this little, easily accessible game.
28. Trigger Happy Havoc: Danganronpa - While similar in many ways to Ace Attorney, Danganronpa boasts a variety of more actual gameplay than mere point-and-click text scrolling. But what really makes this stand out, beyond gameplay or even the strength of its concept, story and characters, is the atmosphere it creates. For good and for ill, traversing the pristine, neon-lit hallways of the abandoned Hopes Peak Academy looking for clues as I’m forced to play by Monokuma’s twisted rules is an experience that will stay with me forever.
27. Star Fox 64 - Beyond all the entertainment this game provides through memes, it’s really just a fun, reasonably simple but just moderately complicated enough game that’s accessible to any player even if they usually don’t go for aerial shooters. It’s also one of the earliest console games that I ever played, so of course it’s going to hold a special place in my heart.
26. Batman: Arkham City - It’s an impressive feat when an open world game can still feel so claustrophobic in all the right ways, and that’s what Arkham City accomplishes. This game is essentially The Dark Knight to Arkham Asylum’s Batman Begins, escalating the action, suspense and sheer Batman-ness, providing unlimited opportunities to enjoy yourself playing as Gotham’s defender and facing down the greatest Rogues Gallery in comic book history.
25. Red Dead Redemption - Look, I know that Red Dead Redemption 2 is technically the superior game. But its complicated story, sprawling cast of characters, and vast canvas of a world can be pretty daunting, whereas I feel like the original Red Dead Redemption struck a much better balance. Allowing open world freedom within the confines of the straight-forward story of John Marston’s redemption really makes you feel like you’re in an old Western film, and the way that choices you make as a player impact the way that film ultimately turns out is one of the strongest arguments for video games being worthy of consideration as true art.
24. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - So, ten years ago an open world adventure video game series releases its fifth entry...and to this day, we’ve had no sixth, in favor of expansions and updated re-releases of said fifth entry. But that’s not a sign of laziness; it’s a sign the developers know they hit such a peak in quality that they have no need to rush anything further out the gate, as Skyrim is a gift that keeps on giving. Addictive in how unlimited in possibilities it is, with each playthrough never being the same as the one before, Skyrim is a gaming masterpiece that I don’t think I’m going to get bored with playing anytime soon.
23. Super Paper Mario - This may be an unpopular opinion, but I vastly prefer this game’s action-platform-RPG hybrid gameplay style to the prior installments’ traditional turn-based RPG style, which feels more at home in stuff like Super Mario RPG and the Mario & Luigi series. But gameplay aside, I think this has the strongest story of any Mario game, trading in the usual “save the kingdom/princess” fare for saving all of reality, with legitimate emotion and drama and even character development. It’s one of the Wii’s shining gems, to be sure.
22. Epic Mickey - This game’s graphics are by and large unremarkable, its gameplay is fraught with issues (that camera is unforgivable), and it’s nowhere close to the best on its system or genre. But Epic Mickey is a case study in where the effort put into crafting the game’s world and story, not to mention the obvious love and respect for the material being worked with, pays off. Any Disney fan will love this game for its story, which puts Mickey front and center as an actual character rather than a mascot and dives deep into his history as he meets his “half-brother” Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and its mystical, unique atmosphere - what the graphics can’t deliver, the fucking music more than makes up for. All of the game’s flaws mean nothing compared to the sheer heart on display, and I treasure it greatly as a result.
21. Batman: Arkham Asylum - I already mentioned that Arkham City is the superior game, but as was the case with Red Dead Redemption and its sequel, personal preference strikes again. The simpler story and narrower confines of Arkham Asylum just appeal to me slightly more, and I feel like the borderline horror atmosphere this game has could never fully be replicated by all of its sequels and spin-offs. Also, you can play as the Joker in this. WIN.
20. Metal Gear Solid - And on the subject of Arkham Asylum, it owes much to this game, which created the template of a lone badass hero having to use stealth and weaponry to liberate a government-owned island from the lunatic terrorists that have taken over. Hideo Kojima famously never wanted this game to have any sequels, and I can definitely see his point, as it’s a complete and wholly satisfying experience in of itself and I don’t feel like it’s ever been topped. At the very least, it’s certainly the most enjoyable of the series to me.
19. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - Also, speaking of “borderline horror atmosphere”, we have the freakiest game that the Legend of Zelda series ever put out. What was supposed to just be a gaiden to Ocarina of Time mutated into this beautiful monstrosity that’s become just as iconic. Nobody who plays this game is ever going to forget that fucking moon and all the constant jumping back and forth in time across three days as you try to prevent the apocalypse of Termina. It’s the kind of gaming trauma that’s well worth experiencing.
18. Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories - Like Majora’s Mask, this game is a case study where you can take a bunch of recycled assets and gameplay, and then make something unique from it if you have a well-crafted story with a dark and disturbing atmosphere. It’s hard to experience or appreciate the transition between Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II without playing this midquel, which takes the narrative and characters to deeper levels without being pretentious about it and sets the stage for the proper console sequel perfectly. And if you can’t get into it being on Gameboy Advance, then just play the PS2 remake (which is arguably the superior version anyway) and you’re good! Just...don’t mind the cards, OK?
17. Sonic CD - And now we have another game about jumping back and forth through time to prevent an apocalypse! See the common threads at play here by this point? Sonic the Hedgehog is at his best in 2D gameplay, and I personally enjoy this the best out of all the 2D games in the series. As obscure as the Sega CD was as a system, it was powerful enough to take the blue blur’s speed to its maximum level, set alongside beautiful graphics and a kick-ass soundtrack (well, two different kick-ass soundtracks; and I actually prefer the US one).
16. Pokemon Black & White - While there were advancements made to story and graphics and gameplay features in the third and fourth generations of the Pokemon series, nothing felt as truly ground-breaking as the second generation games until the fifth gen with its Black & White games. This was arguably the game series’ peak in quality on all fronts, but its specifically the story that lands it on this list, as its well-written and paced, subverts many formulaic elements from the previous games, is set in one of the most unique regions in the Pokemon world, and has a timeless message that has only grown more relevant with age.
15. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - The whole series could really go here, but fortunately the most recent entry is the perfect embodiment of said series, with every playable character there’s ever been and then some. The sheer variety is unmatched by any other fighting game out there, and its story mode, “World of Light”, is quite possibly the greatest video game crossover in history given how many characters are featured as both fighters and spirits.
14. Super Mario 64 - I’m pretty sure this game used to be higher in my favor, but replaying it on the Nintendo Switch recently has made me aware of how, as the first game on the Nintendo 64 and the first 3D platformer, it’s poorly aged in several areas. However, I must stress that it is still a very good game. The fun of going to the various worlds within paintings in Peach’s Castle hasn’t changed, nor has how smoothly and seamlessly Mario managed to make the jump from 2D to 3D. Just like Super Mario Bros., the number of games that owe something to this one is too great to count, and that’s an achievement that remains timeless.
13. Dark Chronicle - Also known as Dark Cloud 2. I hadn’t heard a damn thing about this game before renting it on a whim many years ago, and I was caught off guard by just how good it was. It’s got a simple but effective story and likable characters, a timeless atmosphere, beautifully cel-shaded graphics, dungeon-crawling gameplay, action-RPG combat gameplay, literal world-building gameplay, and even a fishing minigame! This game can actually stand besides the Zelda series without shame; it’s truly an underrated gem.
12. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Oh, speaking of Zelda, this game goes full Lord of the Rings-style epic fantasy with it and it is glorious. Between the near perfect gameplay, beautiful 3D graphics, and one of the best stories in the series (with one of the best characters: Midna), Twilight Princess’ most prevalent complaint from critics all the way up to its own developers is that it wasn’t even MORE expansive and awesome given how long it was hyped, and if that’s the biggest issue with the game then I’d say it’s in pretty good shape.
11. Super Mario Galaxy - Super Mario 64 may be held back a little by how its aged, but no such thing is holding back Super Mario Galaxy. Super Mario Odyssey might be as good or possibly even better, but I just don’t hold the same feelings of amazement and respect toward it that I do for this game. From the blitzkrieg-style attack on the Mushroom Kingdom by Bowser to the discovery of Rosalina’s space station, this game had me hooked from the first few minutes, especially with it blaring that awesome orchestral score the whole way through. To this day, I maintain that this is Mario’s greatest 3D adventure. It’s simply magnificent.
10. Final Fantasy X - Ha! See what I did there? This game has caught flak for some of the awkwardness that comes from being the first fully 3D entry in the series, but I think that’s tantamount to nitpicking when compared to all it does right. To me, this was the last really good installment of the main Final Fantasy series, with a story and world so brilliantly developed that the game earned the immediate breakthrough success and acclaim that it found in its native Japan. 20 years later and, as the HD remaster has shown, it still holds up as one of the most engaging JRPG experiences I’ve ever had the pleasure of having.
9. Banjo-Kazooie - At the time, this was basically Rare’s copycat version of Super Mario 64, although considered about as good. Now, however, there’s a difference: the aging issues I mentioned for Super Mario 64 don’t apply for Banjo-Kazooie. Whether replaying it on the Nintendo 64 or on whichever Xbox you’ve got, this game is still just as fun, imaginative and hilarious now as it was back then. It’s quite possibly the greatest 3D platformer ever made.
8. Pokemon Crystal - The definitive edition of the Gold & Silver games of Pokemon’s second generation, taking what was already a phenomenal advancement and improvement to the first generation and making it even better with additional features such as the ability to play as a girl for the first time and a more clearly defined storyline centered around the legendary Pokemon featured on the game’s box art. Pokemon had been written off as just a passing fad up until this point. This was when its staying power as a video game juggernaut was proven.
7. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Talk about a win right out of the gate for the Nintendo Switch! This game returns the Legend of Zelda series to its roots while also applying all that has been made possible in video games since the original game’s release, and the result is an enthralling, addictive, open world masterpiece that has set a new standard of quality for both the Zelda series and for many modern video games in general.
6. Kingdom Hearts II - The Final Mix edition to be precise, although in this day and age that’s basically the only edition people are playing anyway. This game is the apotheosis of Kingdom Hearts as both a video game series and as a concept; filled to the brim with Disney magic and Square Enix RPG expertise and paired with some of the most refined action-based gameplay there is. And when it comes to bringing the original Kingdom Hearts trilogy’s story to a close, does this game ever stick the landing. The series could have ended right here and I would have been completely satisfied (and its reputation would be a lot better off, too!)
5. Pokemon Yellow - While I maintain that this game, the definitive edition of the original first generation Pokemon games, still holds up as fun to play even now, I’ll admit that it’s pure bias that it ranks so high. It was the first proper video game I ever played, there was no way I was leaving it off the top 5! Its blissful nostalgic atmosphere is always such a delight to return to.
4. Banjo-Tooie - Remember when I said Banjo-Kazooie was “quite possibly the greatest 3D platformer ever made”? The “quite possibly” is because its in stiff competition with its own sequel! And personally, I’m in Banjo-Tooie’s corner; something about how inter-connected its worlds are and the addition of so many things to do all while maintaining your full moveset from the original game is just beautiful to me. Both it and its predecessor are like obstacle courses that I never tire of running through, which is the hallmark of brilliant game design.
3. Kingdom Hearts - Another case where the sequel may be the superior game, but my own personal preference leans toward the original. And in this case, it’s a highly personal preference: this game and my memories of playing it for the first time are so very dear to me. The characters and worlds of Disney put into an epic crossover RPG was like a dream come true for me and no matter how far the series it spawned has deteriorated, nothing can detract from the magic of this game. It’s got a certain, indescribable feel and atmosphere that’s never truly been replicated, and that feel and atmosphere still holds up whenever I revisit it. The gameplay may not be the best, particularly when compared to Kingdom Hearts II’s, but the charm of the story and the characters and the world and the very concept more than makes up for that. As far as I’m concerned, it’s one of Disney and Square’s greatest masterpieces.
2. Final Fantasy VII - I was aware of the hype this game got and was totally ready to call it overrated, but damn it, it got me! I don’t know what it is about this game with its blocky early 3D graphics, poor sound quality to its excellent soundtrack, and frequently mistranslated script that proved to be so gripping and enjoyable to play through, but man did it ever Limit Break its way into my heart. This is considered a JRPG classic for a damn good reason.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - Do I really need to explain this one? It’s famous for being frequently cited as one of the greatest video games ever made, and like Final Fantasy VII, its hype is well-deserved and totally justified. Whether you’re playing it on the Nintendo 64, the Gamecube, the Wii, the 3DS, and hopefully the Nintendo Switch in the future, there is a magic quality to this game that permeates through every step you take in its fully 3D world. It’s a triumph that has stood the test of time, cementing the Zelda series as truly legendary.
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Why ‘The Karate Kid Part II’ Deserves More Respect
So guess what film I finished watching today?
Of course, the Karate Kid franchise is considered iconic mainly for its first entry; Wax on Wax off, Skeleton fights, Sweep the Leg and the Crane Kick all cemented its legacy that allowed Cobra Kai to also be such a success. But imagine my shock when the approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes for Part II is 45% - 21% lower than the Jaden Smith ‘The Karate Kung Fu Kid’ version (and Part III is scored 15%, which is also super harsh but hard to debate outside of the magnificence of Terry Silver).
Originally this was just gonna be a general post of how much I enjoyed retreading Part II, but upon seeing that score I had to give it my ‘Deserves More Respect’ posts.
It is an off-chance, but if you haven’t watched this film there will be spoilers within, I encourage you to watch it before reading, and maybe watch it again if you have so it’s fresh in the mind
Let’s start with a controversial point shall we? There are several parts where Part II is actually better than the original.
Now I know! There’s a lot about the original which is iconic, but nostalgia does blind you to other shortcomings and while it’s easy to sell the first part because of its mystique, a sequel has the added pressure of rising above and developing on old and new themes set by the predecessor.
The Premise
In case you decided against refreshing your memory. Karate Kid Part II starts with a recap of Part I, a bit of content that was meant to be Part I’s final scene (in the script, not for filming) and then a timeskip. Ali with an i is gone - brutally dumping Daniel for some Football Player before Senior Prom and after crashing his car, Daniel’s mother is in Fresno for work and Miyagi has received a letter from his home Okinawa in news of his father’s fading health.
The stage is set for Daniel and the audience to learn more about the iconic Mr. Miyagi and the life he left behind.
Okay, so there is bad in this film
Part II deserves respect, but it’s not perfect. It definitely gets messy near the end with Daniel’s antagonist Chozen, he mainly took beats from Johnny Lawrence in physically confronting Daniel when he could with a bunch of no-named goons and he fought pretty similarly to Johnny in catch counters and leg strikes. The opening recap did take a lot of time too, while the ending remained somewhat abrupt having just beaten up Chozen to embrace Kumiko (who had a delayed recovery after being punched once).
While not bad, a fair amount of retreaded content felt like downgrades of the original; Chozen and Sato lacked the charisma of Johnny and Kreese, the crane kick was far more impressive than the drum technique and the Tournament setting was grander than the O-Bon festival.
But, there are Iconic Moments in this film too
Part I may have the Crane Kick and the Skeletons and the Training and Sweep the Leg. But people may forget that Part II had awesome moments too.
Like Daniel chopping through 6 Sheets of Ice! If that isn’t one hell of a power play I don’t know what is. It is a moment genuinely impressive in and outside of the 80s cheese universe of Karate Kid, and it gets referenced in Season 2 of Cobra Kai.
Also referenced in Season 2 is Miyagi vs Kreese. While this is the intended ending for Part I, it certainly acted better at the start of Part II, especially given that is foreshadows the situation Daniel finds himself in at the end of the movie. This moment is equally iconic as it completely encapsulates the character of both senseis - Kreese the confident brute brought to a sniveling mouse when size and power failed him and Miyagi the cool-headed and vastly more intelligent fighter still with the cheeky prankster lightness to him as he honks the scared shitless Kreese on the nose. Perfect.
While I did want to cite the Tea Ceremony as well I think the more iconic moment for Part II had to be Miyagi chopping the log during the storm. The storm itself is a very well-done scene which unmasks several characters in the face of adversity. True tension, worry and stakes are sold as the village are in danger of the cruel whims of nature, an act which is all too real for Sato when the house he’s in collapses on him in the calm before his scheduled deathmatch with Miyagi. Not only is this again some great foreshadowing by the rule of three (Daniel asking if Miyagi can chop a log like Sato is doing with a banner and then Miyagi and Sato meeting and seeing Sato fail to chop a log) it proves a pivotal point where Sato turns from aggrieved antagonist to repenting ally. A great show of power and friendship as Miyagi metaphorically breaks the rift between their friendship that weighs Sato down.
Okay, we hear you, but how is it better?
I do have to preface that I do still love Part I, I have to because in pointing out where Part II is better I have to pick at Part I’s faults. While the ending is messy Part II definitely has much better pacing, until the skeletons scene Part I doesn’t really pick up because it has to set up, Part II while it does recap doesn’t need to worry about it.
Giving Miyagi the main plot was definitely Part II’s strongest suit. Part I profited from Miyagi being the ‘mysterious old teacher’ but learning a lot more about his humanity and history was engrossing and it allowed positive development for Miyagi and Daniel, especially their bond as a surrogate father and son when Daniel personally goes out of his way to support Miyagi on a very personal matter.
The main characters maintain their charm as well, still a lovely array of life lessons in Part II more than just finding balance, Miyagi teaches Daniel through words and action on taking time to breathe, to refocus when imbalanced, to forgive rather than to harbour hate, mercy, selflessness and humbleness
“never put passion before principle. Even if win, you lose.” - Mr. Miyagi
The scenes involving Miyagi and his father were some of the most deep and emotive of the series up until Cobra Kai, some still haven’t been topped such as Miyagi’s dad’s first words to his son or when Daniel talked about when his father died.
And say what you will about Chozen, he does have a lot of Johnny vibes but a lot of the character we believed was Johnny due to nostalgia goggles was more fitting of Chozen’s manner. The story did a great job in making sure Chozen was always an asshole, at times Johnny did at least display honour and grace but Chozen was always sore about stuff and quick to claim dishonour even when he was in the wrong. Contrary to Johnny it’s more about his family than it is about a girl, which allowed a lot more freedom in the plot.
Whether you felt Elizabeth Shue’s Ali with an i was prettier than Tamlyn Tomita’s Kumiko is up to personal preference, but the messy-haired Kumiko definitely had a slightly improved presence in Part II than Ali did, with actual focus on her own feelings outside of attraction to Daniel, her ambition to become a dancer directly linking to the O-Bon Festival - which in turn related to the Drum technique - as well as the delicately beautiful Tea Ceremony scene and actually contributing to the final fight (granted Ali wouldn’t be allowed to). Also Daniel didn’t try to eat her face which is a general improvement to the romantic subplot, extra applause has to go to Tomita here too because this was legitimately her first role - Shue had her second so that’s impressive too - and both women had good careers going forward.
The increased stakes definitely worked in the favour of Part II as well, as sequel culture is forced to do, but by moving to Okinawa (actually filmed in Hawaii) we opened the door to better suit Miyagi’s world while keeping Daniel the fish out of water. I can’t speak too much for appropriation because there is still kinda some ‘white saviour’ undertones but I didn’t feel like Japan was treated negatively in this light, its culture of the O-Bon Festival and the Tea Ceremony was treated with the utmost respect and explained without pandering, the flute music had definitely stepped up its game for the soundtrack as did the imagery. Can also appreciate that Daniel does go for the Crane kick when fighting Chozen but is parried.
Added hat tip has to go to costuming too. A lot of costumes would have to have distinct Kamon such as Sato’s twin fish and Miyagi’s bonsai on a lot of their clothing
Between Sato and Miyagi the colours of their clothes often code their emotions towards each other, with Sato usually in grey and Miyagi in white or cream, when Sato and Miyagi prepare for death they are in black and when Sato wants forgiveness he moves to a lighter shade.
While Part I also used black and white to differ Johnny and Daniel, Part II put Chozen and Daniel in the more Japanese-themed Red and Blue. While both men wear red, blue and whites at time, Chozen’s clothes almost devolve from the white he debuts in as his darker side comes out before flat out embracing yellow after his chance to prove his honour in the storm is refused (and he’s in white then), while Daniel often moves to Red or red tones even in his blue shirt. Kumiko also moves from white to blue, sometimes even purple, in set up to the final fight to have the primary colours stand out in the colourful crowd of the O-Bon festival, but even in the blue Kumiko had red to pair her connection with Daniel. Also her Yukata at the festival is just stunning, the Great Wave off Kanagawa print is a nice touch.
Anything else we should know?
It might not be much else about the film itself I can tell you, but I do appreciate something I’m starting to call ‘The Rocky Connection’ when it comes to Karate Kid. Like Part I’s ‘You’re the Best (Around)’ was shortlisted for Rocky III, Part II’s song ‘Glory of Love’ was shortlisted for Rocky IV’s theme, losing to ‘Hearts on Fire’, Bill Conti also chose to score this film instead of Rocky IV. I like to pair this with Daniel’s Rocky-esque character, he has that same kind of swagger but a lot more naive and childlike.
Martin Kove also gets a nod because those bleeding hands were legit, he had an accident on-set and the footage was kept for the final cut.
Tamlyn Tomita wasn’t the only film debut for Part II, B.D. Wong of...well, several famous roles including but not limited to Shang in the animated Mulan, Dr. Wu in the Jurassic Park franchise, Hugo Strange in Gotham and many more, also had his debut here in a minor speaking role when he’s handing out flyers for the dance party to Kumiko and Daniel before the Ice Chopping Scene.
So, why does it deserve respect
A film that adds to a beloved character in a respectful fashion without having really any god awful moments does not deserve a 4.5/10 rating. It may not have as emphatic an ending or as great a villain but it has a captivating plot and a good pace, better stakes and much more emotionally driven and responsive scenes. A lot of effort and dedication went into this film to explore new dimensions of the main characters in a fashion which was enjoyable and at times heartwarming. And characters are given human moments, even Miyagi confesses himself not to be perfect and it keeps each character grounded. Even to this day parts of Part II are remembered fondly rather than the campness that Part III had outside of Terry Silver and his magnificent ponytail, the fondness also continues to reflect in Cobra Kai with homages and fan theories of Daniel going to Okinawa again and even re-encountering Chozen.
Not to mention it grossed $113m on a $13m budget and got nominated for a Best Original Song Oscar (losing to Top Gun)
Part II was a good and enjoyable film which deserves far more credit than to be rated this low, for that it deserves respect.
#karate kid#karate kid part ii#karate kid 2#daniel larusso#ralph macchio#mr miyagi#pat morita#chozen#yuji okumoto#kumiko#tamlyn tomita#sato#danny kamekona#john kreese#martin kove#johnny lawrence#billy zabka#yukie#nobu mccarthy#cobra kai
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Why The Lost Boys Made Us Want to be Vampires - 05/16/2020
The Lost Boys is one of the most classic and well-known vampire movies ever made. It is also what I feel to be the first representation of the modern vampire. The tagline of the movie says everything you need to know about these vampires: “Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire.”
These aren’t your classic vampires that you’ve seen in movies from years before. More than anything, The Lost Boys shows just how cool it is to be a vampire. You go where you want. Do what you want. Wear what you want and take what you want. Not to mention, you get to ride motorcycles with a pack of friends right off the beach boardwalk. If you were a teenager watching this movie for the first time, there were no cooler vampires than the Lost Boys.
Released in July of 1987 and directed by Joel Schumacher, The Lost Boys tells the tale of two brothers and their newly divorced mom moving in with their grandpa near the fictional beach town of Santa Carla, California; the so called “Murder Capital of the World.” The older brother Michael, played by Jason Patric, soon becomes smitten with the beautiful Star, played by Jami Gertz. Star just so happens to be a part of the local boardwalk motorcycle gang lead by David, played by Keifer Sutherland, and Michael soon finds himself embroiled with the antics of the boys as they make plans to initiate him into their club. Unknown to Michael, it just so happens to be a club of vampires.
Meanwhile, Michael’s younger brother Sam, played by Corey Haim, befriends two local comic book geeks named the Frog Brothers, played by Corey Feldman and Jamison Newlander, who try to warn him about the vampires, and that his brother is in danger of becoming one of them. Michael and Sam’s mom, played by Dianne Wiest, also starts a relationship with the mysterious Max, played by Edward Herrmann, who may have a history with the gang of vampires.
While Sam and the Frog Brothers hunting of the vampires drive the plot forward through most of the final act, it is our first interactions with the Lost Boys that really make the film memorable, and the classic that it has become. When a security guard kicks them off the merry-go-round at the start of the movie, the vampires retaliate by attacking and feasting on him later when he’s alone. The motorcycle ride on the beach with Michael shows the joy that the vampires express by doing whatever they want. They show their complete fearlessness and carefree attitude by hanging off a train bridge as a train goes by, all while trying to entice Michael to join them.
The most iconic scene has to be when they first take Michael to their underground lair, where they offer Michael to join in on having some Chinese food. David then plays some vampire mind games with Michael by making him believe that he’s eating maggots instead of rice, and worms instead of noodles. This is actually a very nice setup that David is playing on Michael, since when he offers him a bottle filled with the blood of their master vampire to drink to start Michael’s transformation into becoming a vampire, Michael then scoffs at Star’s warning that the bottle is filled with blood, believing that it’s just another mind game like with the maggots and worms. He then drinks it thinking it’s probably only just some wine. This whole scene is absolutely great and gets referenced many other times in other media. Most notably recently in the 2014 vampire movie What We Do in the Shadows.
The design of the Lost Boys is also a great influence for future vampire characters and stories. The distinct monstrous brow over their eyes that they develop when they transform their faces right before they feed is a technique also used again most notably in the movie From Dusk ‘Till Dawn, and the Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series. The popular bleached-blonde trench-coat-wearing bad boy vampire Spike from the Buffy series is also quite clearly highly influenced by the character of David from The Lost Boys. Spike was created in the 90’s though, so that glorious mullet that David had was left back in the 80’s where it probably most belongs.
The Lost Boys also has one of the best movie soundtracks ever. The signature song of the movie titled Cry Little Sister has been covered by many different artists and sets the perfect mood for the entire movie, starting with the opening title, and then later with Michael and Star’s sexy love scene. The song Lost in the Shadows that plays during the bike ride on the beach is also another fantastic mood setting song that really makes you want to hop on a motorbike yourself and ride alongside them. Also, no mention of this movie’s soundtrack can go without the truly iconic 80’s performance on the beach of I Still Believe by Tim Capello, who will forever be known to fans as the shirtless greased up muscled sax guy. I got to see Tim Capello perform I Still Believe as well as other songs at a convention recently, and the man still puts on a fantastic show.
The film also offers the viewer a visual lens of becoming a vampire through two different character perspectives. The older brother Michael seeks acceptance with the new crowd and longs for a relationship with Star. The younger brother Sam, influenced by the Frog Brothers and his comic books, sees the vampires as an evil corrupting force against Michael, and sets out to destroy them and the master vampire who may be controlling them. This allows viewers of differing ages to also enjoy the movie in different ways. When I was younger, I viewed the movie through the lens of Sam and wanted him and the Frog Brothers to successfully hunt and slay the evil vampires. Once I reached high school age, I was definitely starting to view the movie through the lens of Michael, and I would want to become the cool and sexy vampire and get the beautiful girl. I also suspect that once I get to the age of the Grandpa, I’ll probably be viewing the movie through his eyes as well. These lenses do a lot to help the viewer enjoy the movie at any age and helped to make the movie the classic that it has become.
It’s interesting to view the movie this way, since the characters of Michael and the vampire gang were supposed to be younger than they were portrayed in the final film. The initial concept of the movie was for it to be a sort of retelling of Peter Pan, only with the twist being that Peter and the rest of the Lost Boys were vampires, which is why they never grow old. Hence the title of the movie. Coming off the success of the Goonies, producers wanted another movie adventure with kids around the same age. It was when Joel Schumacher got directing duties that the decision was then made to age up the vampires and one of the brothers in order to make the movie sexier and to sell better to teens. The reasoning being that vampires are supposed to be creatures and metaphors for sex, and those themes would not play well with preteen characters. This change worked for the movie, since we still have that younger kid adventure story going on with Sam and the Frog Brothers, but we also now get the sexy part of the story with the older brother Michael and the gang of vampire Lost Boys.
The older content provided by the aged-up characters also presents us with some pretty fun and creative vampire death scenes. The scene where the vampires show their fangs for the first time to Michael gives us an intense moment where the vampires feast on a group of punks, with the punks basically being torn apart. The vampire deaths also get graphic with the Frog Brothers taking one of the Lost Boys out with a tub full of holy water. The most iconic death though without a doubt is the “Death by stereo” sequence. It is a moment and line so iconic that it has even inspired a song written about it. The Lost Boys certainly provides the viewer with a great deal of vampire slayage in the final act.
The death of David hits the audience differently though, since he is a very likable and charismatic character. He doesn’t explode when he dies like other vampires, and we’re meant to sympathize with him more. The character was so popular, he was even magically brought back in a comic book sequel to the movie. There’s a reason why the character of Spike from the Buffy series drew a lot of influence from the character of David. David is the absolute essence of cool when it comes to the Lost Boys and being a vampire. He’s the one character who makes us most want to be a vampire, and his death signifies a metaphoric death of that dream of becoming just like one of the Lost Boys.
The Lost Boys would eventually go on to spawn two direct-to-video sequel releases featuring the Frog Brothers in the later 2000’s, about 20 years after the original movie. They’re not bad sequels to watch for fans of the original and can still be entertaining at certain points, but they still come nowhere near to competing with the quality of filmmaking that the original film produced. That original film from the 80’s has continued to stand to test of time as being one of the true classics of the vampire genre. Many other great vampire films have been made since then and will continue to be made, but I doubt that any will quite make us want to become a vampire just as much as that motorcycle gang taking joyrides off a California boardwalk from 1987.
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MID Review (finally)
Now that I’ve had a while to reflect on MID, I feel like I can give an honest, spoiler-free review. This turned out to be a much more in-depth review than I had planned on doing, but you can just read the italics at the end of each section if you just want the gist.
Controls: Okay, so for like the first fifteen minutes (or however long it takes you to adjust), the controls are frustrating. Once you get used to how to move (and it is still point-and-click), you’ll be fine. The only thing that I still didn’t have a solid grasp of by the end of the game was moving Nancy’s head around with the right mouse button--it might have helped to slow the mouse down for this function. That being said, the controls offer a lot to the game. The environments and navigation feel more realistic, and instead of jumping from scene to scene, Nancy slides through the space. It’s weird at first, but it’s ultimately superior. (Just for kicks, I went back and played a bit of LIE as a comparison, and the jumpy movement felt so weird after the smoothness of MID). Controls get a 8/10 for the steep learning curve and the more realistic movement.
Graphics: They’re not that bad, okay? On high render, the environments actually look really good and the characters are decent (low render is an understandably different story). Given the technical reasons behind the graphics looking as the do (full 3D render here versus painstakingly painted video files before), I don’t think that they’re really that bad. Puzzle renders and zoomed-in items/POIs really shine, appearing arguably better than previous games. It’s also important to consider what SCK/STFD look like compared to SEA--MID obviously looks better than SCK/STFD, but it has room for improvement. Just like the development team refined the graphics on their proprietary engine, they will refine the graphics on Unity over time. Again, looking back to the first three games, there is a huge jump in graphics quality between each game, indicating their ability to improve quickly. I’m willing to best that the next game (yes, I believe there will be a ‘next game’) will look much better than MID, and so on from there. Character renders are not as great, but this, too, is likely to improve and is probably also due to the fact that it’s 3D and not a painted video file. Their movements may be awkward, but the fact that they are mo-cap means that they may improve in future games. The only real gripe I have about the characters is the lack of facial expressions. Graphics get a 7/10 for up-close realism and room for improvement.
Performance: If you have a gaming PC or a relatively new device, you should be golden. The game runs smoothly at high render on my 2018/i7/SSD PC, but has some lagging issues at high render on my 2014/i5/HDD PC (issues that all but disappear by adjusting to low render). For those with older PCs or PCs with less processing-power, you may have to deal with way-off lip-syncs and choppy cut scenes if you also want to see the best possible graphics. The game only crashed once on my older PC (and it was more likely due to unrelated background processes I was running), but the autosave feature prevents crashes from being anything more than a brief annoyance. Performance gets a 6/10 for high requirements and the Sophie’s Choice of graphics or speed.
UI: I love the sleek, full-screen appearance and minimalist inventory/phone bar. If I had to ask for any improvements here, I might suggest that the inventory collapse into a bag icon when it’s not in use. UI gets 10/10 for maximizing space and minimizing distractions.
Environment (independent of graphics): HeR definitely stepped up their game (heh) on this front. While there are arguably no more locations to explore than in SEA, the environment is far more expansive and cohesive. You feel like you are in a small town (Salem), and you have the freedom to explore all the relevant places without jumping around or magically transporting. There’s only one location that is distant from the town center, and Nancy travels via car to get back and forth, which adds a dose of realism. We have our usual forest navigation (though it is mercifully straight-forward, unlike DOG or CAP), with the added bonus of looking around and using it to get from one place to another. The game makes good use of each space, though it’d be nice if there was more to do in certain lesser-used locations. Some of the locations really only seemed to be present to flesh out the whole environment--which is fine--but it’d be nice to utilize those locations a bit more. And when graphics are set high, the environments are quite stunning. The lighting and weather also do a good job of reinforcing the current atmosphere in-game. Environment gets a 9/10 for cohesion and light usage.
Characters (independent of graphics, story): This is probably one of the spots where MID won me over. Not only do we have eleven (11!) official characters, we have background characters that make the setting real! I didn’t count, but there were probably 10+ background characters that were present for minor commentary and realistic liveliness. For the first time in a Nancy Drew game, I wasn’t questioning where the rest of the world was. Yes, their movements were awkward and if your computer couldn’t handle the graphics, then their lips were flapping in mysterious ways, but they moved around and interacted with each other in semi-human ways. It is absolutely baffling to me that there are people who think there were too many characters. For one thing, we as fans asked HeR for more characters and that’s what they gave us. For another, the game never felt crowded. There were seven characters that were considered “main” that you interacted with often, three side characters that you interacted with occasionally, and one character that you only interacted with once. If they hadn’t been fully-formed characters with solid backstories, I might be persuaded that the number was an issue, but almost all of the characters were fully- or mostly-developed. Characters gets a 10/10 for quantity and quality.
Puzzles: This is probably the one facet of the game where it is most clear that HeR listened to fans’ requests. We asked for more realistic puzzles that were integrated into the game play and not totally irrelevant. That’s what we got. For some people, I think this made it seem like there were fewer puzzles, but I think there were just as many as before, it just wasn’t always super obvious that you were solving a puzzle (and they all but eliminated chore-type puzzles). The cooking mini game and serving mini game were both fun, nostalgic time-wasters in the best of ways. Another nice thing about the puzzles was that they weren’t super difficult as long as you were paying attention, so there wasn’t any need to google solutions or get frustrated. Puzzles get a 9/10 for fan service and perception (after all, perception is reality).
Story: MID really shines when it comes to the story line. The game delves into the full history of Salem, rightfully choosing to discuss topics that were always skirted in earlier games (prejudice, discrimination, slavery, torture, etc.). My only issue regarding the presentation of history is that a lot of the learning is optional, and can be easily ignored or missed. The actual story line of the game is well-established and doesn’t have any gaping plot holes (at least that I noticed on my first play through). There are multiple crimes to solve, multiple items to recover, and thus multiple endings/outcomes to achieve. I can’t go into too much more detail without spoiling parts of the game, but suffice it to say that the story has depth and gravity that might even place it ahead of previous games. Story gets a 10/10 for more mature themes and multiple, successfully interweaving story lines.
Dialogue: While the content of the dialogue is great and forms the foundation for much of the story, it loses me in presentation. First, the line-by-line captioning system is awkward at best, and a monologue behind at worst. I see no reason not to present the player with sentences or paragraphs at a time as before. Second, dialogue options are not so much options as dialogue tasks. You have questions you can ask, but there is no choice of how to ask them or how to respond to an answer. For the most part, you are just choosing the order in which to ask things. This, in my opinion, is a step backward from the previous games, where Nancy could be optimistic, pessimistic, direct, or passive-aggressive. Lastly, there is a strange lack of subject in Nancy’s sentence structure at times. She says “should do xyz” instead of “I should do xyz,” or “wanted to ask about abc” instead of “I wanted to ask you about abc.” While this isn’t really too weird in the context of modern speech patterns, it is still a little awkward. There are examples of this in previous games when Nancy speaks to herself, but never in dialogue with other characters. Again, this isn’t a big deal, but it crops up enough to make it noticeably strange. Dialogue gets a 6/10 for solid content and poor presentation.
Music: At first, the music seems to be nothing special; the main theme is quiet, unassuming, and a bit repetitive at times. But much like the rest of the game, it gets better as you progress. The music in Luminous Infusions and at the end of the game really stick out as great pieces, although the rest of the tracks are also very well-composed. There is thematic continuity between tracks and the tracks also reflect the game’s current atmosphere well. The music, while from a new composer, is still reminiscent of the old games, particularly the mystical tracks in CUR. I’m hoping HeR releases a soundtrack for MID in the future, but I do know there are no current plans for an official soundtrack (though you can find unofficial ones on YouTube pretty easily). Music gets a 10/10 for quality and cohesion.
Nancy: Nancy finally sounds like the late teen that she is meant to be! Nancy is witty and assertive, no longer speaking with the voice of a thirty-year-old and expressing the thoughts of a thirteen-year-old. The new voice actress is just what Nancy’s voice needed, in my opinion, though I have admittedly been a supporter of replacing Lani since about DED/GTH (don’t get me wrong, I love Lani and she will always be the classic voice of Nancy in my head, but I could also admit that her voice was losing its spark and pep). It takes a little while to get used to the new voice, but once it stops sounding different, it’s easy to fall in love with. Another great aspect of Nancy 2.0 is that she’s willing to get into it with other characters, even if they are in a position of authority. Nancy has always been an assertive character who stands up for what is right, even if it’s not easy to do. We see the return of this kind of Nancy in MID, and I hope we don’t lose her in future games. The only thing that I found a tad bit odd was how sugar-sweet Nancy was toward Deirdre. I like how their relationship was updated in order to model more appropriate/healthy female friendships, but it is a little weird considering the canon interaction model set forth by ASH and DED. Nancy’s other relationships have also matured and improved. Nancy gets a 10/10 for assertiveness and expressiveness.
Physical Copy: Well, almost two weeks after the release date, I finally got my physical copy of MID. This is unprecedented, as I always received physical pre-orders the day of or even the day before release. The long wait drove me to buy the digital download, which I didn’t mind doing, but this could be very frustrating for those not willing to pay for the game twice. I was disappointed to find that the disc art is just a copy of the cover art (which is minimalist at best), and not a characteristic color like the other games. The box art seems like it was put together at the last minute, not unlike the cover art. If it weren’t for my compulsive need to own all of the physical copies, I probably would have skipped it. Physical copy gets a 1/10 for slow delivery and lackluster appearance.
Weird Things to Complain About: Yes, there is one background character whose voice sounds like it was recorded on a Motorola Razr, but she says one sentence that you don’t even have to listen to. Yes, some of the background characters are overt clones, but we’ve never even had background characters to complain about before. Should there have been more to do in the Hathorne House or other one-off locations? Yeah, probably, but we were given a ton of locales to visit. The characters were always bobbing around and breathing, but--surprise!--this is something that real humans do. Did their feet/hands occasionally meld with other objects or the environment? Sure, but why were you looking at their feet during a conversation? Admittedly, Teegan sometimes looked like she was trying to scare off a bear or prepare for flight, even I can’t argue that that wasn’t odd. But for the most part, these are minor, petty issues. There weren’t gaping plot holes, there was actually a mystery to solve (looking at you, MED), and we got a lot of the things that we asked for over the years. There is always room for improvement, and this game is certainly no exception. I expect that the next game will make refinements based on our feedback and be even better. HeR completely changed the Nancy Drew game formula, but they used our input as a guide. They’ll take what we say about MID into consideration with the next game, and hopefully over time we will see the same level of improvement we saw from SCK to SEA. They started from scratch, and even though they had five years to work on it, the first time you try something new is almost always the worst. I don’t condone the way they treated us over the hiatus or how they treated their own staff, but I don’t think it’s time to abandon ship yet. If you play this game with nostalgia goggles on and a closed mind, you’re going to hate it, you’re going to ask for a refund. If you go into it with an open mind and excitement for something new, you might just find that you like MID more than you’d care to admit. Weird things to complain about gets an 8/10 for minor oddities that should be expected in a pilot endeavor.
Conclusion: Change is inevitable. If you were around when TMB came out, you might remember the absolute uproar that came with the UI change. People threatened to walk away from the series because of the new menu screen and bulkier interface. If you’ve played the original SCK and STFD, then you know how drastically the games improved over the span of a single year. And compare those games to SEA and it’s clear that the games are always improving. But you have to start (or in this case, restart) somewhere, and MID is our new starting point. The games will get better, and we’ll still find things to complain about (like we always do), because there is always room for improvement. There’s no point in lamenting about how good the game would have looked on the old engine, because that misses the point. The old engine could not deliver what we as fans desired. It could not handle more than six characters or more than eight hours (this is being generous) of game play. It couldn’t give us more expansive environments or smoother navigation. The new engine gave us all of these things, but sacrificed a bit of graphics. Big whoop. I’m willing to bet that none of us got into the games for their graphics, especially those of use who became fans early on in the games’ history. Bottom line? HeR gave us a good game. Not their best game, maybe not even one of their better games, but it’s certainly better than MED or SCKR. And hey, at least we finally got the game. Midnight in Salem gets an 80%, an admirable B-, because the effort and progress is there, but there are definitely things that they could have done better.
#nancy drew#clue crew#midnight in salem#mid#review#open to feedback#wow this was way longer than i intended it to be
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Things that I loved:
The story - Eco-terrorists trying to take down corporate greed, a one winged harbinger of death, and a parasitic alien. It’s good.
Environmental message - It wasn’t just how the original base message of the game revolves around the government abusing the natural resources of the planet. It was how it affected the environment and the people, too. On the world map, the area surrounding Midgar is completely barren and devoid of grass. Red XIII is the last of his species due to the government. Town’s economies and ways of life have been completely disrupted due to mako reactor explosions. The game constantly reminds you how bad it is to ruin your planet in so many ways and that makes it feel real.
Tifa Lockhart - Tifa is my all time favorite female Final Fantasy character. She’s a true introvert, but also has the ability to punch and kick her way through life. I love female characters who show that you don’t have to have a tough/bad bitch attitude to be strong.
Cloud & Tifa - My ultimate Final Fantasy couple. (For the record, the only other couple who even comes close is Zidane/Garnet.) I know the development team only created Tifa after they decided to have Aerith, the primary love interest, die. However the relationship between Cloud and Tifa was just infinitely more well executed to me. I found it far more organic to watch two characters who both struggle with expressing their emotions and inner turmoil lean on and help each other grow. The entire segment of going through Cloud’s mind space was beautiful and I don’t understand how anyone can claim that this ship isn’t canon.
The cast - VII’s cast is iconic for a reason. It’s definitely top tier in managing its character’s development. They all have distinct personalities and arcs without overindulging in backstories. The thing that really makes the cast shine is that everyone is united against Shinra, but for vastly different reasons. (Let’s say in contrast to the cast in X who are united against Sin because it’s a massive killing machine and needs to be stopped.)
Shinra - I love it when fantasy worlds have a form of government that isn’t a monarchy. This creates a lot of potential for different types of villains and more interesting relationships on both sides. Shinra has so many major players and it was fun to go against characters who all had their own opinions about their jobs.
The soundtrack - I’ve been very familiar with VII’s music for a number of years now. It still deserves a spot on my love list.
Things that I hated:
Cloud & Aerith - At the risk of inciting intense shipping comments from anyone who actually reads this, I couldn’t hate this pairing more if I tried. Their entire relationship was based on telling not showing. Nothing that occurred between them made them, at any point, seem like an inspiring or a natural couple. It didn’t help that the writing was so blatantly rooting for them that it almost seemed forced. To me, Aerith’s romantic pursuit of Cloud honestly just feels like she’s projecting her unfulfilled feelings of Zack onto Cloud. I said what I said.
The polygon models - I know this is unfair. It’s a product of its time. But wow those overworld polygon models are really unattractive. The battle models are at least adequate. (I’m playing the PS4 port so I don’t think I can mod it.)
Chocobo catching - I found this mechanic to be really annoying and I’m thankful it was only mandatory for one instance.
Unnecessary mini games - Frankly I’m really hoping that the remake will be eradicating most of the mandatory mini games because there were SO MANY and it didn’t really make the game more fun. The vast majority of them were just plain annoying. The soldier marching, sneaking past the Shinra guards, and boulders in the Temple of the Ancients were the most face-palm worthy for me. I hope to not see them and more in glorious HD.
The summons - this is one of the only Final Fantasy games where the summons had no true role in the narrative. In that aspect, I don’t mind that much at all. If there’s no place for magical deities in the story, then don’t force it. But that means there’s really no explanation for these creatures, other than just different manifestations of materia I’m guessing. It almost would’ve been better if there had been entirely new summons created, like they did with XII. This honestly really isn’t a huge deal, but I prefer it when the summons play a role in the universe somehow.
The timer running through battles - Hello anxiety, my old friend.
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Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 Review
Skateboarding games are back. As mentioned previously on this blog, people are hungry for some virtual shred sledding and there are plenty of games coming to fill the void. The thing is, you can't have a revival of skateboarding games without the franchise that popularised it. With that in mind, it seemed only fitting that against all odds, a new Tony Hawk's Pro Skater game would arrive in 2020.
Now, as the name suggests - this isn't exactly a new game. THPS 1&2 is a complete remake of the first two games, combined into a brand new package with a ton of extra content slapped on top. Every level is here, lovingly rebuilt in the Unreal Engine, running at 60 Frames Per Second. All of the pro skaters from the first two games are back, but updated to reflect their modern selves. They even managed to bring back a significant portion of the iconic soundtracks from the first two games!
All of this wouldn't matter if the game played like garbage. Activision have tried to do a remake of these two games before, as well as sequels in the Pro Skater series, and they fell flat just because the controls didn’t feel right at all. As I've said before, THPS gets a lot of flack for being a goofy (no pun intended) arcade game where you can grind power lines, but the controls in the original games were so tight, so perfectly designed, and so addictive that it was an instant classic.
I'm glad to say that THPS 1&2 finally gets the controls right again. This is not an accident: developers Vicarious Visions have a long history with the franchise, and used the original game's source code to ensure the feel of the game was spot on. This is a labour of love and it has paid off fantastically well.
The developers have smartly included all legacy THPS moves from every game that came after THPS2 as well (e.g. Reverts, Spine Transfers, Wallplants). If your memory of THPS was a later game in the franchise, you won’t feel like the moves you are accustomed to are missing. Also, these new moves are now available on levels where you originally couldn’t do them. Having the full bag of THPS franchise moves at your fingertips on all of the levels from the original THPS makes these environments feel brand new again, offering new lines and combos that were previously impossible.
The controls set a firm foundation for a game as addictive, replayable and joyous as the original THPS. In the time since the last THPS game, people have been craving more realistic games - the culmination of this are games like Session, or the recently released SkaterXL. In comparison to these games, THPS 1&2 is a polar opposite.
Personally I think this is a good thing - it's a slick, polished, tightly paced palette cleanser. It couldn't be more different than its competitors, and whilst that was a negative against THPS back in 2007 when Skate released, it proves to be an overwhelming strength here.
THPS unsurprisingly knows it's a video game, and doesn't try to be a simulator. This is the thing I think will turn off many hardcore skateboarders, but for anyone who has spent the last 10 years playing Skate3, this kind of game, when it is done right, is a breath of fresh air. The gameplay loop is quick: you start a run, you rack up points, you complete the objectives of the level, and if you mess up, you restart instantly.
The pace is blisteringly fast, and after playing any other skateboarding game it might be off-putting at first. For anyone who spent considerable time with the old THPS games though, muscle memory will quickly kick in, and you'll be knocking out combos of 200K points and upwards in no time.
For old and new players alike, there is a ton of stuff to do here. As before, you choose a pro skater (or create your own character), and you complete all objectives in every level. This might sound a little simplistic and repetitive compared to modern games, but there is something very rewarding about maxing out your skater's stats and getting 100% completion in all of the levels.
Vicarious Visions have doubled down on delivering a huge amount of content here as well: the roster of pro skaters here is almost doubled compared to the original game's with the addition of some modern day legends to join the original THPS cast. This is a wide and diverse list of modern day shredders: from 2018 Thrasher Skater Of The Year Tyshawn Jones, to Japanese X-Games wizard Aori Nishimura, and the world's first non-binary Pro Skater Leo Baker.
These new additions are notable for very different reasons than the original roster, and show how wide reaching skateboarding, and the original games, have been over the last 20 years. Legends like Elissa Steamer no longer feel like "token" additions designed to tick a box. Next to the likes of Leticia Bufoni and Lizzie Armanto - they feel like they very much deserve to have the spotlight, and their influence becomes obvious.
Each pro in the game has a set of bespoke challenges which allows you to unlock all of their boards, new tricks and alternate outfits. This gameplay is tailored to each pro's strengths and nicely bridges the gap between the stereotypical THPS super heroic combos, and the realistic tone of the game's pro skaters and locations. Some of these challenges are quite realistic in scope rather than asking for 50 trick combos (e.g. Earn 10,000 points from a lip trick and a revert only), which is a great way to use the THPS gameplay to appeal to those craving something a bit more grounded. It's keen to remind you that this is still a game about skateboarding, no matter how unrealistic and wacky that skateboarding may be at times.
On top of these challenges there's a huge library of extra goals introducing an extra level of replayability - completing the base content in both games doesn't take a huge amount of time, so the addition of over 700 challenges to tick off extends the game's lifespan considerably. Some of these challenges are easy and take minutes, some will have you skating for hours. Vicarious Visions are incredibly respectful of the original games and what made them work, and rather than interfere with that core structure, their new challenge system bolts on incredibly well to modernise these games.
All of this gameplay is set to a soundtrack mostly comprising of returning tracks from the first two games. These songs are iconic and, although maybe a tad dated now, are extremely nostalgic for skaters of my age. Skating around listening to Guerrilla Radio by RATM brings back instant memories of when I first started skating, and is a bit of a fountain of youth moment for anyone of a certain age. For anyone who wasn't alive when the first games came out - there are a bunch of new songs that feel on-brand and fit the gameplay extremely well that will doubt become iconic in years to come.
The game's creation features improve upon the original games immensely - as previously mentioned, create-a-skater returns, but create-a-park is also included here. This is a robust level creation tool that lets you build all sorts of mad ramp combos, with the added ability to share them with your friends online. The developers have expanded and improved this feature immensely, allowing you to create huge, sprawling skateparks filled with all manner of crazy Frankenstein obstacles. Considering how impressive creation tools in games have become, these improvements are smart and people are already using Create-a-park to build some incredible monstrosities from replicas of their local parks to roller coasters.
The game also boasts an awesome amount of multiplayer modes for players looking to session with others. Split screen returns from the original PS1 releases, but there is also a great online suite of options allowing you to play all of the classic THPS multiplayer modes with up to 7 other players. This wasn't present or possible in the original games, and they could have just kept parity with THPS2's feature set, but going the extra mile with awesome online features is a great touch and is appreciated.
I honestly can't say enough good words about the phenomenal work Vicarious Visions has done here - I haven't been this excited about a THPS game since the first time I played THPS2. That game had such a long lasting effect on me that it began a long 20 year love affair with skateboarding. This game makes me so stoked to be a skateboarder, and in many ways this sums up all the fun and creativity I know skateboarding brings. It's a triumphant return to form from a video game franchise that inspired millions to start skateboarding, and you owe it to yourself to play it.
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Final Fantasy 7 (PS1) impressions
So, a few months ago I finally managed to finish the classic game that every gamer seems to drench with nostalgic praise and hoist onto the JPRG genre defining pedestal – Final Fantasy VII. And, I think I’ll be joining those gamers with doing that from now on.
Final Fantasy VII is a Final Fantasy that the vast majority of RPG players are familiar with. It is also the only Final Fantasy to have produced a vast range of sequels and extra material, with familiar characters such as Cloud, Sephiroph and Tifa dominating the Square Enix merchandise lines. Even most non-gamers will have at least heard of Final Fantasy VII, for sure. One of the reasons why, seems to be because Final Fantasy VII was released back in the late 90s, before J-RPGs had kicked off properly in the West. The graphics and beautifully rendered cut scenes also make for a more immersive and pleasurable experience. Instead of the sprite characters from the previous 6 Final Fantasy games, we now have three-dimensional characters (albeit with boxy-proportions) with expressive movements and actions. I really loved this game. For me, the overall package of the game, which includes the story, soundtrack, graphics, the battle system, the character development and party dynamic truly should define the JRPG genre, even today.
Firstly, the story is pretty straightforward, but players will have to have a degree of investment in both the backstory and origin stories, in order to fully understand everything. Final Fantasy VII’s game story not only involves the present, but also to a large extent – the past. A lot of the character’s motivations and personalities have been heavily influenced by past events, which are revealed throughout the game. The story initially revolves around an ex-SOLDIER mercenary called Cloud, who (reluctantly at first) joins up with an underground rebellion resistance group called Avalanche. They are rebelling against the evil corporation Shinra, who are using the world’s lifeforce, as disposable fuel, which means they are slowly killing the planet. The reason why the story resonated so much with me was because it has a nice parallel with the world we are living in today. Similar to the Shinra Corporation, we have big corporations in real life which pollute the planet with fossil fuels, without a second thought about the long term consequences for our children’s futures. So, Avalanche opens the game with a literal impact, Cloud’s first mission is to blow up a reactor. The clever part is, that by opening the game with a mission such as this, we don’t think about the consequences, until much later on. I thought it was interesting how Cait Sith brings it up towards the end of the game – “Do you realise how many people were killed in that Reactor explosion?” A small point to make, but it hit me a little bit. The characters in the story go through a journey that questions their principles and beliefs, what’s right and what’s wrong. Eventually, towards the end of the game, Cloud asks them to reflect. He tells them, that to continue fighting, they had to think about the greater goal rather than just themselves. The last dungeon was an especially emotional journey for the cast, with Cloud surprisingly saying things such as “Don’t go dying on me”, which is a stark contrast to his indifference at the beginning of the game. All the characters get their own mini story arc to shine. I especially enjoyed Red XIII’s story and Tifa’s mini arc. I have to admit, that at the beginning of the game I liked Aeris and Cloud’s relationship more than Tifa and Cloud, but that was before I saw the memory scenes and dream/lifestream sequences. I loved how Tifa was the one to help Cloud find his real person, and become stronger. I loved Red XIII’s story because it showed how his misunderstandings shaped his initial beliefs, and once that was broken down – he could move on. Cid’s story was also a nice addition, especially as Cid has never been more than a side character in Final Fantasy games. His desire to see space and the moon are totally believable, and it hits an emotional chord when he actually gets the chance to do this. The soundtrack has some of the most memorable tracks I’ve heard from a game. I am all too familiar with the iconic Aeris Theme, but also, there are other tracks that hit the right emotional chords at the right moments.
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I especially loved Cid’s theme (see above), because when ether it played, it just HIT at the right moments. One Winged Angel was also a perfect addition to the final battle with Sephiroph. It was really fitting, and sounded really good through a PS1 version of the game. Sephiroph’s final form, by the way, is an actual nightmare. I knew Jenova was the destroyer of all planets, but, his special attack takes that all too literally. I had the pleasure of that special attack 4 times, it wasn’t nice at all. Moving onto the gameplay and mini games, what I really liked about Final Fantasy VII was the fact that it included more mini games, and some extra challenges (such as timing jumps and steps, and pressing buttons in the right order) which diversified the gameplay a little. I saw the beginning of this kind of thing in FFVI, for example, with splitting up the party and strategically placing teams to meet enemies at different entrances and exits of a dungeon. FFVII takes this further. The mini games with chocobo racing was fun, a different kind of challenge, and also the dialogue choices which would affect future events, was also good for making the player more invested in the story. With regards to materia and magic, at first I was a bit irritated that materia had a detrimental effect on a character’s stats. For example, for every Summon you equipped, you would lose 10 HP. Imagine equipping all the Summons? But when I understood the story more, I came to realise that it actually makes sense. The Lifestream is really detrimental in large doses, and Materia is pretty much crystalised lifestream, so absorbing too much at once is bad for you – meaning its bad for your stats. Either way, the levelling up system and magic use is pretty straight forward. Materia levels up, rather than the character, which is handy too, because it means that characters can take a Materia that was levelled up by someone else and just equip it, to have the same abilities.
For me, the biggest problem for Final Fantasy VII was the way they ended the game. Judging from the response online, this also seems to be a source of contention for most fans too. The fact that the game ends with no epilogue, showing how the characters are, how they lived their lives afterwards, if they did survive, leaves players with nothing but emptiness. It’s like ending a novel mid-sentence. We know it’s over, but there’s nothing left for us to take away with us. The epilogue after the credits is interesting though, it does suggest that humanity has survived, but we don’t know in what form. The faraway scene of Midgar surrounded in greenery may be interpreted positively. However at the same time, players could easily interpret this negatively, as we do not see any humans anyway. 500 years later – did humans become extinct? The developers clearly wanted players to make their own theories and speculate, but, it still leaves us wondering – what was next? I really hope that they have a more solid ending in the upcoming Final Fantasy VII remake. Even though they have produced sequels and movies, etc, it still doesn’t make up for the fact that the game ending itself was vague and gave us more questions than anything else. Until the remake comes out, we won’t know. However having said that, the game was still a great experience for me and I’m extremely happy I finally got the chance to play the game.
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FOCUS ON... SIMONE SAULT
Australian Simone Sault, star of stage and screen, has taken time out on her return home to Australia to chat with us.
Hi Simone, how’s your visit home been?
Beautiful thank you. It’s always glorious coming back and seeing my family and friends here in Australia. Plus the sunshine is what I bottle up and take back to the UK, especially this time of year!
You’ve had quite a career. Can you tell us a bit about your earlier life, both in what drove you to choose dance, and the training you completed?
I studied classical ballet from the age of 7yrs at the National Theatre Ballet School. I was blessed to have been taught by wonderful artists and teachers, including the late Kathy Gorham, Gailene Stock, Eileen Tasker, Jonathan Kelly, Joanne Michel, Terese Power, all incredible dancers with Australian Ballet at the time. I trained daily and after leaving school at 14yrs old (I know!) I studied dance, still at the National, full time for 3 years before entering the professional world. As clichéd as it sounds, I don't recall a time where I didn’t want to dance. It just clicked, even at 7yrs old, it felt like breathing.
And you worked quite a bit in Australia with the Sydney Dance Company, what was that like, and how did that help set the foundation for working overseas?
I adored my time with Sydney Dance Company (SDC). I had come from the Australian production of Phantom Of The Opera, back into the dance world (what I had trained for) and I was so consumed by my work, tours, and opportunities that I soaked it up daily for the 7 yrs I was there. My work with SDC was unique in the fact that, under the direction of Graeme Murphy and Janet Vernon at the time, it was a classically based contemporary Company, but with a strong emphasis on the actor/character /personality side of each member. Graeme is wonderful at extracting from you what only YOU can bring to a piece/role with the movement almost seeming secondary. I have always loved the storytelling side to a role. With this in mind, my experience with the Company aided me to continue to pursue my career overseas as I just didn’t have an agenda, I literally landed here in the UK and made a promise to myself, to say yes to any and all opportunities that came my way. Ones that assisted me in furthering my development as an artist…dancer, actor, collaborater, creative. A pact that, thus far, has held me in good stead. -Touch wood-
How do the two compare? Working in Australia versus working overseas?
It’s really hard to compare the two I feel. Something I have always said is, I believe the training in Australia is second to none. However the opportunities are not always there, or indeed as plentiful as they are here in London and New York for example. Hence why I feel very lucky to have the best of both worlds, be an Aussie and take the rest of the world for everything it’s got! London has been so very good to me. There’s not a day that passes where I don't feel humbled, and above all grateful for the jobs and in particular the talent that I work with and for.
You’ve been involved in some major productions, including Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Sinatra and On The Town, productions one can only hope to be involved in. How do you go about preparing for roles, and how do you approach each audition?
Auditions are never easy, nor that enjoyable if I'm going to be honest! Why do we do it to ourselves?! It’s taken me a while to figure it out, but I do honestly believe that if the job/role is meant to come your way, it will, good audition or not. The best advice, the only advice actually is, BE yourself. Prepare of course, but just trust in what will be will be. I find that takes a lot of the stress out it. And what has always been the case for me is, if I have missed out on something I really wanted, something else from left field always shows up and I think, “thank God I didn’t get so and so because NOW I’m doing this!”
You’re also quite an accomplished choreographer, with credits including: Love Never Dies, Strictly Come Dancing and the London Olympic Games ceremonies, what a diverse range of opportunities, what were some of the standout moments from each?
Oh wow, yes, I feel very lucky to be working for Graeme and Janet once again (original Choreographers of Love Never Dies) and working for someone like Danny Boyle for the London 2012 Games was rather surreal I must say. Opening Ceremony with the World watching was as good as it gets I think! That is definitely a highlight, he was/is extraordinary. I love working creatively as it continues to open my eyes to a craft that I have been involved in for a long time now, yet at times, depending on what I’m working on and who with, I feel like the student all over again… keeps you fresh!
We’ve also seen you venture on to screen, both TV and Film. Can you tell us a bit about your work on Alice in Wonderland, particularly working with Director Tim Burton, whom you’ve previously worked with on Sweeney Todd? Other credits of yours include work on Rob Marshall’s Nine, Kath and Kimderella and the TV show Galavant. That’s quite a range of diverse productions, how did you prepare for these varying roles?
Tim Burton is exactly how you think he would be, brilliantly colourful and a real visionary. A gorgeous woman by the name of Francesca Jaynes choreographs nearly all of his movies, we worked very closely with her as well. With Kath and Kimderella, I had just finished working with the incredibly talented Gina Riley on the Australian production of Chicago when she offered me the role of an Hispanic lesbian that flirts with Magda Zubanski’s character, Sharon Strzelecki… as you do! It was short and sweet but I had an absolute blast. My opportunity to work with Rob Marshall on laying down the rehearsal track “Take It All” for his Nine was another surreal moment, recording it with the legend that is Maury Yeston. Rob Marshall was genuine, honest and very normal, which is always a good thing! Can you tell us how you balance work, and your other amazing role in life, being a mother? Arrr, my [not so] little Luca! He’s everything to me! He has just turned 4 and is incredible in every sense of the word. I was pregnant with Luca right through my time working on London 2012 Olympic Games. By the time we wrapped the Ceremonies I was 8 and a half months pregnant! There would be times where I was still out on the field of play rehearsing until way after 1am of a day, and he’d be kicking and hiccupping away like a trooper. The travel and nomadic lifestyle is all he has ever known, so fortunately for me he is a dream when it comes to travel and new places/work spaces. I worked in Russia for 3 months when he was around 9 months old and there has been a lot of further travel and new environments since then. Luckily he loves the theatre, rehearsal space and music, so, so far so good. I literally feel like I strap him to my back and off we go! Having said that though, he started school in September last year, so this requires a tad more planning and organising around work and travel, but fortunately I have a wonderful friend/ Nanny situation so it works beautifully.
We’re about to see you in one of the most highly anticipated films of the year, Beauty and the Beast (BATB). And whilst we know you can’t give too much away, can you tell us what it was like working on set? A little bit about your role and what scenes you were involved in?
On Beauty I worked with the choreographer, Anthony Van Laast, and Director Bill Condon. Working on set for over 4 months was a magical experience. We recorded the soundtrack also, so can not wait for it to release! In the early days, Anthony set us a task of filling in our back stories for our characters which then in turn added to our connection with Belle and within the village where we lived. Gaston’s Tavern (with the delicious Luke Evans as Gaston) was a wonderful scene for us all. I have a lovely moment with him…but that’s if it doesn't end up on the cutting room floor!
What was it like working with Director Bill Condon?
Bill Condon is a complete class act. Knew our names from day one and just a wonderfully genuine, talented man. So much so, that during the filming of Beauty, I lost my beloved Mum, and had to subsequently leave 2 days early. After shooting wrapped, a few weeks later I received a gorgeous email from him expressing his sadness and thoughts and love. I remember how ecstatic my Mum was when she found out that I got the job, so it goes without saying Beauty is for her.
Having worked on stage with a variety of performers from different countries, can you tell us a bit about working with actors and dancers from around the world on the set of BATB?
It really is a case of no matter where you're from and /or what gender, there is an unmistakable bond and kinship with the people you work with. And in this case especially with Beauty. The experience and careers of so, so many are hard to fathom. I arrived on set each day so very humbled, privileged and grateful for the day that lay ahead. You knew right from day one that this was/is a very, very special moment in cinematic history.
And from what we’ve seen on social media, what was the experience like bringing the iconic music to life through dance for the big screen?
Pure Joy! Anthony and Bill worked so closely together and seemed on the same page, with the same vision…which isn't always the case! The movement and staging happened so naturally, in the tavern scene especially Anthony has created a robust, energetic joyous scene. We all had a ball!
Is there anything you can tell us about the film or perhaps one of your favourite moments on set?
All of it really, but Gaston’s Tavern is probably my favourite!
If you could describe the film in three words, what would they be?
1. Life changing (I know that’s two) 2. Humbling. 3. Magical!
What advice do you have for any aspiring performers/creatives?
If you want it, go get it. It’s not written anywhere in this world that you can’t have or achieve what your heart desires. Be persistent, be focused, work your butt off, stay disciplined and be nice to everyone, whether they be directors, creatives, behind the scenes, teachers, dressers, anyone and everyone. We all breathe the same air and you are only as good as your last job!
And finally, what can we expect from you next?
Involved in a show I have worked on creatively and its tour to America this year! Any excuse to head back to NY.
Thank you so much for your time Simone. We can’t wait to see you on stage, TV and on screen in 2017!
Thank YOU lovely Katerina for your time and bravo.
Images courtesy of Simone Sault Instagram
#Alice In Wonderland#Australia#Australian Ballet#BATB#Beauty and the Beast#Bill Condon#Chicago#Dance#Danny Boyle#Film#Galavant#Gaston#Gina Riley#Graeme Murphy#London#Love Never Dies#Luke Evans#Magda Szubanski#Movie#Movies#National Theatre Ballet School#Phantom of the Opera#Rob Marshall#Sharon Strzelecki#Simone Sault#Stage#Strictly Come Dancing#Sydney Dance Company#Exclusive#Tim Burton
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Wasteland 3 Review: The Post-apocalyptic RPG Series Is Back on Top
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There’s a lot to love about inXile’s Wasteland 3. The strategic combat constantly kept me on my toes. I was consistently surprised by the twists the story took and the choices it offered. And I could easily spend a couple dozen more hours customizing the perfect squad of Desert Rangers.
But if I had to pick my favorite part this latest post-apocalyptic RPG, it would have to be God-President Reagan. The AI of the former president is housed in a 50-foot tall, combat-ready statue that’s attended to by a cult that carries out its every whim. And boy, does this statue hate Communists, even though none of the members of the “Gipper” cult can explain what exactly a Communist is or why they’re so evil. It’s in these pitch-perfect satirical moments that Wasteland 3 shines.
Most of Wasteland 3’s early hours take place in Colorado Springs, a city clearly separated between the haves and have nots that’s struggling with a refugee crisis that there are no easy answers to. Overseeing it all is the Patriarch, the iron-fisted ruler of Colorado who drapes himself in the imagery and ideals of the old United States while governing like a brutal dictator.
The Patriarch is actually the main driver of the story in Wasteland 3. At the start of the game, he asks your squad of Rangers for help tracking down his three would-be usurper children: Victory, Valor, and Liberty.
Wasteland 3 has a few things to say about current events, but it never comes across as preachy or loses sight of the fact that it’s there to entertain. There are flat-out hilarious moments like when the Rangers meet a vampire wannabe or when they take a trip to a brothel that caters to…exotic tastes.
As with the previous entries in the series, choice remains at the forefront of the game, and those choices are rarely black and white. The aforementioned encounter with God-President Reagan’s cult can end in multiple and surprising ways that have long-lasting consequences for the rest of your playthrough. Few franchises have integrated player choice into its narrative as expertly as Wasteland and inXile definitely continues that work here.
Player choice extends to your squad of Rangers as well. While you start the game by choosing from one of several pre-determined couples, eventually you can customize everything about your squad from their appearance and names to their weapons, armor, and skills. You want to go into combat as a heavily armored punk mechanic ready to rain down rockets and grenades? You can do that. Want to play through the game as a stylish, machete-wielding expert in toaster repair? I wouldn’t really recommend it, but knock yourself out. Your squad of four can be joined by two more pre-determined companions you meet on your travels, plus two NPC animal companions.
Release Date: Aug. 28, 2020
Platforms: PC (reviewed), XBO, PS4
Developer: inXile Entertainment
Publisher: Deep Silver
Genre: RPG
The biggest new addition to Wasteland 3’s combat is the Kodiak, a fully customizable vehicle that acts as your main form of transportation through the wilds of Colorado and also as another party member in some battles. It’s extremely satisfying to use the Kodiak to roll over bandits or wipe out a group of them at once with its overwhelming firepower. I just wish the game let you use this vehicle more often.
Combat has seen a major overhaul from Wasteland 2, with quicker, more kinetic fights inspired by XCOM 2. Battles remain highly strategic, but things are more fast-paced, too. And while it sometimes felt like attack would miss your enemies for no reason in Wasteland 2, there’s a lot less of that going on in this sequel. It certainly delivers a less frustrating combat experience.
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In fact, if some of Wasteland 2’s mechanics felt really dated to you back in 2014, you’ll be happy to know that Wasteland 3 has streamlined the experience. This is a much more enjoyable and accessible game that still retains the depth of classic CRPGs. For example, let’s say you want to pick a lock on a safe, but you’re controlling a party member with a low lockpicking skill. You click on the safe as usual, and your party member who specializes in lockpicking automatically walks right over and opens it up. It’s these quality of life improvements that make Wasteland 3 stand out in the sometimes frustrating CRPG genre.
There was one quirk in the game that continually annoyed me, though. First, it’s worth noting that the overall soundtrack is outstanding, with some fantastic music choices kicking in during certain battles, and the voice acting is top notch. However, when you’re just walking around the world, some characters will repeat a single line of dialogue over and over again. Expect to hear some rather annoying lines repeated ad nauseam.
If Wasteland 2 was the surprisingly strong (though slightly rusty) comeback for the long-dormant ‘80s RPG icon, then Wasteland 3 is the knockout win in the championship bout that puts the series back on top. This is a sprawling, deep, often darkly hilarious adventure into the post-apocalypse that has ironed out nearly all of the flaws in its predecessor. Wasteland 3 is a must-play for RPG fans.
The post Wasteland 3 Review: The Post-apocalyptic RPG Series Is Back on Top appeared first on Den of Geek.
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12 Best PS1 Role Playing Games (RPGs) of All Time
Magic, adventure, intrigue, and the 32-bit era of graphics.
When you mention the origins of our favorite role-playing video games, nostalgia runs rampant within us. We all remember our first, our favorite, and everything in between.
Role-Playing games have shaped the expectations of how many of us want to experience our gaming journey. The hardest part is finding which to choose. Which are best? What stories should you invest thirty hours of your life into?
Get ready to have another blast from the past! We are delving deep into the amazing games that made up the epic Playstation Roleplaying genre of the ’90s.
Here is our list of the best PlayStation RPG games ever!
The Best PS1 RPGs of All Time
1. Xenogears (1998)
When it comes to RPGs of such massive scale and scope, Xenogears should need no introduction. The story is all-encompassing and intense. It does not only does it entail the death of a god and dualism. Xenogears also has arching stories of reincarnation, religion, use of mass control, and brainwashing.
Xenogears centers around the main character Fei, an adopted young male in the village of Lahan. Fei was brought by a mysterious man while suffering from retrograde amnesia. During an attack on Lahan from Gebler, Fei pilots an empty gear and fights the enemy, accidentally destroying the village. As a result, Fei and Citan, the village's doctor, leave with the abandoned gear to get it away from the town.
From this point, you meet multiple supporting characters that very clearly also have skeletons in their closets.
Mixing a unique style of 2D animation with 3D backdrops, Xenogears focused on its anime inspiration with fully animated and voiced cutscenes. Gameplay centered around a stamina-based combat system. This is a playoff of the Active Time Battle system found in games such as Chrono Trigger and the Final Fantasy series.
Every character and inch of this game is worth exploring to experience the all-encompassing details and rich storyline. At the time, Xenogears was a groundbreaking game. This is a must-play.
2. Final Fantasy VII (1997)
If you haven’t heard of Cloud, Tifa, or Aerith, you have been living under some very large rubble in Midgar. Final Fantasy VII is considered to be by far the best Final Fantasy game ever made. So let’s talk about why.
FFVII's gameplay, story, and setting are almost unparalleled.
The Materia system was an excellent idea that contributed to altering character stats. The character list is filled with interesting personalities, even if they're not all brought into the open.
The world setting for FFVII is full of mystery and variety, from exploring the ocean depths in a submarine to zipping about the skies in your airship to traveling around on a Chocobo, it was about as dynamic as any interactive world could've been. Each town had a style and persona all its own, each area had a specific appeal, and how each character reacted to each region was also outstanding.
The depth of that story, the levels, and dimensions on which it operates, the pacing that seems just about perfect; it all combines to create a highly enjoyable experience. It has philosophical and psychological angles that few really appreciate,
And Sephiroth remains the greatest villain of all time for one big reason: He has mastered the art of being both sympathetic and completely brutal.
The game was so fantastic; the Final Fantasy VII Remake is the most requested and anticipated remake game of all time.
If you are looking for a fully immersive and enjoyable RPG experience that pulls you in from the moment you begin, then Final Fantasy VII should be the next game to pop into your system.
3. Final Fantasy IX (2000)
It is no surprise with how iconic the Final Fantasy series is that there would be more than one of them on this list. We talked about the iconic Final Fantasy VII, so now let us talk about Final Fantasy IX and why it is so crucial in the series.
There were concerns regarding how modern Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII were with more high-tech robotics and settings. When IX came along, we were transported back to the origin of the Final Fantasy game designs.
FFIX brings us back to pay tribute to its former classics. Traditional medieval fantasy setting and a cast of characters who resembled the classes of old. The characters included Vivi, the Black Mage, and Steiner the Knight, to name a few.
They even made subtle nods and references to previous games to kick that nostalgia up a notch.
The basis of the story? A theater troupe named Tantalus moonlights as a gang of noble thieves. They head to the city of Alexandria to perform their latest play and devise a plan to kidnap the royal princess Garnet. You play as main character Zidane, an actor and thief with a monkey tail. The troupe sets out to capture the princess, only to find that she’s been planning her escape all along.
What follows is a world-spanning adventure involving war, subterfuge, magical crystals, summoned monsters, and lots of clones. If you want to see how it all plays out, I suggest you grab yourself a copy!
4. Chrono Trigger (1995)
The first installment of what is referred to as the Chrono Series is the famous Chrono Trigger. Having been described as revolutionary, some of the elements of the game had never been presented before. These included its multiple endings, plot-related sidequests focusing on character development, unique battle system, and detailed graphics.
Chrono Trigger is a timeless role-playing classic where you embark on a journey to different eras. As the story unfolds, you will travel to the middle ages, future, prehistory, and ancient times. Chrono Trigger gives a new spin to the traveling and monster-killing that you’ll have to do.
The battle system, which is a new take on the “Active-Time-Battle” (or action RPG) system seen in the Final Fantasy games, is enjoyable and unique. You can perform special moves called Techs and even combine with a couple of your party members to perform a triple combo Tech. The use of Mode 7 graphics pops off the screen, and the level of detail is astounding. The overall visuals of the game are brilliant for the time.
Chrono Trigger was the third best-selling game of 1995 in Japan and shipped 2.65 million copies worldwide by March 2003.
It is widely considered one of the most unique RPG’s ever to hit console. It was also very well-deserving of a sequel!
5. Chrono Cross (1999)
Looking for time travel, changing your fate, and the concept of parallel worlds all rolled into one package? Say no more! Welcome to the fantastic must-play sequel, Chrono Cross!
Boasting some beautiful graphics for its time, and an equally brilliant score, it's also one of the first games to offer a ‘New Game Plus' for replayability in an RPG. For anyone that is an RPG fanatic, the replay value for a game speaks volumes.
Renouncing from the traditional turn-based combat system Chrono Cross went with a more stamina-focused approach. They added elemental magic to the mix as a means to sway the battle. You have the option of a large playable support cast wielding different affinities. Having the opportunity to mix different battle group combinations gives the player the power to create a lethal group against powerful foes.
Many say this was not necessarily the best sequel for Cross due to the change in platform. This game the opportunity for new graphics and options that could substantially adjust the game scope. However, it is repeatedly noted as being a brilliant game worthy of precious playtime.
6. Suikoden (1995)
Not long after the launch of the PlayStation, Konami released a 2D role-playing game with a killer soundtrack called Suikoden. Creator Yoshitaka Murayama opted to prioritize storytelling and atmosphere over the fancy 3D graphics that were just starting to take off.
The game centers on the political struggles of the Scarlet Moon Empire. The player controls a Scarlet Moon Empire general's son, who is destined to seek out 108 warriors or 108 Stars of Destiny) to revolt against the corrupt sovereign state and bring peace to a war-torn land.
Suikoden was widely considered the best RPG on PlayStation. It earned this title from fans due to its great premise, fast-paced combat, and emotional story. The game itself was so well received that it was worthy of a sequel.
7. Suikoden II (1998)
Continuing with its traditional 2D graphics, Suikoden II is brilliant in both narrative and storytelling. It avoids traditional world-destroying power/demonic force in favor of warring states and factions. The game itself follows with the same storyline and characters as the original. Unlike other RPGs, the Suikoden games are all set in the same universe, with recurring storylines, characters, and settings.
The game itself contains challenging dungeons and bosses, but there is no grinding necessary! Thanks to the auto-attack option, you can quickly and efficiently level characters, so they are always up to speed.
Not only do you have satisfying combat, a cooking mini-game, a top-ranked villain, and flying squirrels, you also get to run your castle.
8. The Legend of Dragoon (1999)
This RPG is another that has a well-known name, but for different reasons. Gamers found this one appealing and claim it is PS1’s most underrated RPG. That makes this classic worthy of a second look!
While it does offer many similarities and familiar aspects of a “traditional” RPG, Legend of Dragoon added the ability to change the nominal Dragoons into enhanced versions of themselves to aide in combat.
Much like Limit Breaks and Trance in FF, it enhanced combat from being turn-based and straightforward.
It had all the fluff and pizazz of a 32-bit-era Final Fantasy, but the CG cutscenes and pyrotechnics weren’t as up to par with its competition. The battle system also had some technicalities as far as healing and logistics that were a bit questionable. On the flip side, though, many loved how pleasantly straightforward it is.
If you're after something to fill that void between Final Fantasy but don't want to branch too far out, you can't go wrong with Legend of Dragoon.
9. Final Fantasy Tactics (1997)
More Final Fantasy, you ask? Absolutely! They did not earn their title as masters of RPG for no reason! So let us delve into another series gem, Final Fantasy Tactics.
Final Fantasy Tactics begins with Ivalice just recovering from the Fifty Year War against Ordalia. The game's story follows Ramza Beoulve, a highborn cadet who finds himself thrust into the middle of an intricate military conflict. This erupts into a full-scale war known as the “Lion War,” with either side using whatever means possible to secure their place in the throne. This includes bearing an illegitimate child, killing other potential heirs, betrayal, assassination, and false identities.
Pretty intriguing, isn’t it? The plot sounds like a Game of Thrones spinoff!
The battle system is a traditional turn-based and is played out on three-dimensional, isometric fields. In battle, JP is rewarded for every successful action. JP is used to learn new abilities within each job class. Accumulating enough JP results in a job level up; new jobs are unlocked by attaining a certain level in the current job class.
Final Fantasy Tactics received universal acclaim upon its release, and critical opinion of the game has improved further over time. This one is definitely worthy of a spot on the must play list!
10. Castlevania: Symphony of the Night (1997)
Symphony of the Night is a platform-adventure action role-playing game developed and published by Konami in 1997.
Symphony begins during the ending of the previous game in the series, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, where Richter Belmont confronts and defeats Count Dracula. Four years later, in 1796, Richter goes missing, and Dracula's castle reappears. That is spooky enough to get my attention!
The game is non-linear, but most of the castle is inaccessible until various items and abilities are collected, including shapeshifting into a bat, wolf, or mist. It does have RPG based elements in the combat as well. Alucard's hit points determine the maximum damage he can withstand before dying while his magic points decide how frequently a magical attack may be cast. He has four other attributes: strength – the power of his physical attack; defense – his resilience to damage inflicted by the monsters; intelligence – the recovery speed of magic points; and luck – the frequency that enemies drop items.
Symphony has a massive, free-to-explore game world with numerous secrets to uncover. It has been praised for integrating RPG elements without compromising the series' basic gameplay. Multiple critics also made mention of the ingeniously designed enemies and the story's many plot twists.
The game has developed such an immense following that original copies are now considered collectors’ items. It has continued to receive critical acclaim and has appeared on many top games’ lists.
Make sure you grab a copy of this one. You will not be disappointed!
11. Star Ocean: The Second Story (1998)
What landed Star Ocean: The Second Story on this list is the aspect of quality over quantity. It may not be the biggest entry on the list, or even the most popular. What does it have? A story that could rival some of the greatest of those sitting on the throne of the RPG universe.
The overall storyline begins with the main protagonist Claude, son of Ronyx Kenny of the first Star Ocean, being transported to a mysterious world, where he meets Rena and a cast of enigmatic support characters. One of whom, Ashton, is cursed with having two dragon heads attached to his head, that bicker and talk over him. Talk about a permanent headache?
Your progress toward towns, and through dungeons toward the ultimate evil force. This all comes across as a fairly standard base of a PRG story.
The plot twist? This game has 87 different endings.
Some are minor changes, ranging from discovering the identity of one of the bosses, or if you paid attention to certain conversations throughout the game. But this added a new scope than the standard RPG game progression system.
The combat system was also impressive by doing away with being time-based and staying continuously active. It was a refreshing change over selecting through menu prompts.
While this may not be the most popular or classic game on the list, it is definitely one worthy of checking out!
12. Vagrant Story (2000)
Vagrant Story is a beautiful exploration into cult lore, mythology, and ancient magics. It is often referred to as a form of a “spin-off” if Final Fantasy Tactics due to Yasumi Matsuno working on both and set in the same fictional world of Ivalice. Doesn’t that name sound familiar?
Vagrant Story is unique as a console action-adventure role-playing game in that it features no shops and no player interaction with other characters; instead, the game focuses on weapon creation and modification, as well as elements of puzzle-solving and strategy. For many in the know of the ROG universe, this concept was almost completely different.
The gameplay is more of a 3D dungeon explorer, with each area of exploration/combat being broken apart as rooms or small arenas. It utilizes a form of a real-time active battle combat system. Activating combat brings up a personal space bubble, and any offending part of the enemy's anatomy that pierces that is asking for some battle damage. You can also chain together stronger attacks for a combo hit.
These combinations gave a fresh take on the adventure RPG genre. It would pave the way for new gameplay concept to come to light.
Vagrant Story is a lengthy yet wonderful fantasy journey through a largely rewarding game.
Wrap Up
The list of amazing RPGs that were produced and released for the PS1 could go on for ages. Some may even consider this the golden age for RPG releases. It paved the way for amazing remastered games and fresh stories for modern-day gamers!
Original Playstation RPG’s truly take the digital cake for all that they encompass. Unique storylines, bold changes in new combat systems. You name it, and they produced it.
Whether you experienced this fantastic 90’s age of gaming firsthand, or are new to it and looking to explore, you will not be disappointed.
All that is left now is for you to pick a game and play! After all, no story would be complete without the player beginning their journey.
Where Can I find The Games?
Here are some primary locations to obtain these classics:
Playstation Store Classics
LukieGames
DKOldies
GameStop
The Old School Game Vault
Are you looking for more? Check out our list of the Best SNES RPGs of All Time!
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