The most memorable moments in gaming #4: A night at the opera

Final Fantasy VI (Or III, as it was released in the US) is a pretty remarkable game, and considered by many to be one of the best in the series. The game had a fantastic cast of characters, and one of them, Celes, certainly has one of the most memorable scenes in the entire game. Entering the Opera House for the first time, players are unsure what to expect. It’s certainly a nice change of pace after fighting a boss and going through quite a few dangerous areas. But what exactly was going to happen here? Only one of the most beautiful things players have seen in any game.

Final Fantasy VI master run details

This is a quick post to give the details of the master run I just started. This morning, I had a sudden urge to replay Final Fantasy VI. Why? Maybe because Rebellion wasn’t making any progress in his own playthrough of the game, so I figured I would just play through it for fun. But then, I got an idea: Why not do a master run? I know the game pretty well, it’s my favorite RPG of all time, and I’ve been meaning to try something interesting this time around. So, thanks to some details from Sobou, I am now able to begin my master run.

What is my daring challenge? A natural magic run, meaning only characters who learn magic from leveling up can equip said magic. It’s gonna be an interesting adventure, I can tell you that much.

So, these are the basics:

- No Espers. At all. Ever. Sorry Espers, you’re not allowed this time around

- If a spell is learned by a character via leveling up, said character can equip said spells. Otherwise, it’s all about BARE KNUCKLE BRAWLS!

- There are exceptions, such as Strago’s Lore abilities. I think I’ll be using him a lot.

That’s pretty much it. Sobou will be joining me on this journey, however he started his own file a while ago and will be finishing it. Wish me luck!

Broken Steel: The best way to end Fallout 3, without an ending!

Fallout 3 is a fantastic, beautiful (it’s more “destroyed beauty”), and most certainly addictive. More gamers cannot deny this; I consider it to be one of the greatest games of all time and a landmark achievement in Western RPG development. But it had two major flaws, two things the game did not need. First, there was a level cap. You could only get to maximum level of twenty. Sure, it did take a while to actually get to twenty, but if you planned on doing everything the game had to offer, you would reach it in no time. The second flaw? The game ended. There was an actual ending to the game, and no further progress could be made. So, starting up the last mission was the point of no return. Broken Steel is here, ironically enough, to fix those two problems.

A Look Back #11: Final Fantasy III (VI)

I love Civilization

Sid Meier is a genius for creating one of the best game series that I’ve ever played. This particular game series is one that never fails to get me hooked. And I have finally been able to get addicted all over again with my recent purchase of Civilization Revolution. Honestly, it’s a game I’m afraid might impede my quest to beat my backlog (that and my constant purchases of new games), but it’s all well worth it in the end. Sid Meier’s team has been able to take a series as complex as Civilization and put it on a console perfectly.

Sure, Civilization Revolution isn’t perfect (and it’s far from the quality I’ve seen in excellent and more recent Civilization IV), but since I no longer have a good chunk of my old PC games (including the Civ games), Civilization Revolution is the perfect substitute. People who want a perfect way to get into the series, I highly recommend Civilization Revolution. It’s cheap now ($30, I believe) and it will give you a nice, streamlined introduction into the greatest strategy series in gaming history.

And once you get your fill of that game, and are looking to go for the true Civilization experience, there’s no better way to start than Civilization IV. It’s the best of the entire series, and it combines the best elements of previous games with some fantastic improvements that were definitely needed. It’s one of the best PC games anyone can own, and there isn’t a single game like it on the market that does what it does better.

I love the series, and I personally can’t wait to see what Sid Meier has in store for the next installment, or for whatever his next project is. Civilization V? Please, let it come soon.

Insomniac Games marathon will soon commence!

That’s right, in the not too distant future (probably in June), I will be starting my first official game marathon! I’ve done some in the past, but this is OFFICIAL because it will be the first since joining Backloggery last August. It’ll be an interesting marathon, to say the least, but I hope that I get a few people to join in. I love Insomniac Games, they are one of the very few developers that I trust, and I haven’t played a single game by them I don’t like.

To start, I need to purchase (or re-purchase) some of their original games, such as Disruptor and the first three Spyro games. I can get Disruptor from Amazon for pretty cheap, and I know some of those Spyro games are available for download from the Playstation Store. That shouldn’t be too much of a problem!

I need to actually beat Disruptor, since I’ve only played it briefly. And then, I will replay the original Spyro for fun, and complete the other two Spyro games (since I’ve only beaten them originally). After THAT is the fun part. For all of the Ratchet and Clank games (excluding Ratchet: Deadlocked, which I simply need to complete) I will be doing a wrench only master runs. That’s right, WRENCH ONLY! I’m THAT CRAZY! As much as I love those games and the insane amount of weapons and gadgets there are, the wrench is also incredibly useful.

I think the original Ratchet and Clank will be the hardest to do for one simple reason: the final boss! He’s probably one of the toughest in any of the games, and I think it’ll be interesting to see how useful the wrench really is when facing him. Other than that, I don’t really see any problems. Unless there is a certain situation where I absolutely need to use a specific gun, it’s wrench only all of the way.

So that’s all of the Ratchet and Clank games, excluding Deadlocked, from the original all the way to Quest for Booty. Oh, and to top it all off, I’ll be replaying the original Resistance for fun, and trying my best to complete Resistance 2.This is going to be a long, but very interesting summer.

Anyone interested in joining the marathon, please let me know so I can add you to “the list.” You don’t have to be as crazy as I am, you can just play through any one game I plan on playing, even if it’s just another playthrough for fun. It will count! I know people usually do these marathons relying on a specific series, but I figured Insomniac has such an amazing catalog of games, why not play them all again?

The history of the Ace Combat series (Part five)

The thrilling conclusion to a series of posts that everybody seems to absolutely love! Yeah, and by everybody, I mean nobody. But I decided to stick to this until the end, and so I have. So here we go: Ace Combat 6 and the unknown future of the series.

A look at true beauty (An Eternal Sonata discussion)

Eternal Sonata, released in 2007 for the Xbox 360 and in 2008 for the Playstation 3 has only recently joined my gaming collection. I bought the 360 version, mainly because it was the cheapest and I was a bit short on cash, and now after a good two months of playing it on and off, I’m getting pretty close to the end of the game. A lot of gamers don’t seem to enjoy the game, specifically for its incredibly long cutscenes and sometimes confusing story, but I’ve really found nothing but good things to say about it.

The history of the Ace Combat series (Part three)

This is where things really get interesting. Part three of five will focus on the first two PS2 entries in the series, one of which I not only consider the best among them all, but one of my favorite games of all time. Without further delay, here’s the third part of the history of Ace Combat!

The history of the Ace Combat series (Part two)

Here’s part two in a series I hope to see through until the end! This focuses on the two sequels for the original PS1 and offers a brief summary of my own opinion on both, since they are the two that really got me into the series. Enjoy! Or not!