If you visit the Japanese site for Square-Enix, there is a countdown timer for a remarkably familiar game to the RPG community. Given the URL, I’m certain it’s what we all think it is. If your computer has sound you can hear the familiar clock ticking. It’s for the DS. I can only hope it’s a sequel. However if it’s a 3D remake, I’m in.

The first true modern Multiplayer game I got into was Final Fantasy Online. I have been a fan of Squaresoft games (now Square-Enix) and figured an online game based on the series would have been, ideal. Unfortunatly, I was in for a rude awakening. I cant explain my experience playing Final Fantasy Online any less than calling it self torture software. I felt like every aspect of the game was built to take up hours and hours of my time achieving nothing and leaving me miserable. This is the only game I ever played where every time I stopped, it left me in such a bad mood I wished you never started playing. (more…)

I know it’s becoming an age old question at this point, but is there life after World of Warcraft (WoW)? In my opinion, WoW took some of the best ideas from all other online games, perfected them and put them in one package. Unfortunately, there still lies a few issues that even WoW hasn’t solved. I’ve dabbled in online role playing games ever since the days of MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons, yeah, that ages me doesn’t it). My next few blog posts will be on this subject. I have such a long history I had to break it up in parts.

My first graphical online game was the first one of it’s kind, Neverwinter Nights on America Online. Back then, the thrill of being online at all was exhilarating enough, let alone playing a role playing game with other people. America Online soon got to expensive for my part time job wages and I had to abandon Neverwinter Nights for good. (more…)

The folks at Penny Arcade have achieved what every video game blogger could dream of… which is get a video game based off of their creations. Today, On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness arrives on Xbox Live Arcade. The characters are alter egos of Penny Arcade creators Mike ‘Gabe’ Krahulik and Jerry ‘Tycho’ Holkins. If your not familiar with the Penny Arcade characters, the web comics are located here. I am looking forward to playing this game.

For a moment, imagine playing a fantasy game where you are an adventurer. You regularly visit the King or townsfolk to get your daily quest. Then you head out to battle through the caves and foreign lands, level up a few times, gain gold to purchase new equipment only to finally return a victor in search of a hefty reward. In My Life as a King, this all happens but you are not the adventurer; you are the King who sits back waiting for the adventurers to return safely with that prized item you requested.

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Shibuya Shopping Center, Tokyo, Japan

Big things definitely come in small packages. I’ve never had so much to say about a little DS cartridge.

When Nintendo first announced the DS, their intentions were to give developers the tools to go beyond current video game ideas. Although many gamers like myself love the idea of porting over, real-time strategy (RTS) games, puzzle games, and other traditional uses of a stylus-based interface, Nintendo was more interested in ideas that had nothing to do with any game currently in the market. In my opinion, The World Ends With You (WEWY) is exactly one of those games. Calling this it a role playing game (RPG) is quite misleading. When I first began to play it I almost hated it cause I was so confused on what’s going on. The truth is, it’s it’s own genre. (more…)

Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings for the Nintendo DS is a spin off of the PlayStation 2 (PS2) Final Fantasy XII (FFXII) game. Square-Enix totally went back to the drawing board on this one. The end result is pretty damn good. Forget all the turn-based mechanics you normally see in Final Fantasy Titles. Similar to Final Fantasy XII for the PS2, The game is real-time. However, this game resembles more of a traditional real-time strategy. Each member of your party is called a group leader. For each group leader, you can summon monsters to fight with them, or espers. Each leader and esper falls under one of three categories, melee, range, or flying. Like most strategy games, one category bests the other. Here we have, melee beats range, range beats flying, flying beats melee. You can mix and match your groups for more advance strategies. (more…)

When I first started playing Baroque for the Nintendo Wii, I was excited to engulf myself in a hack and slash, rpg dungeon crawler. I grinded my way all the way to the bottom level of a tower that is consist of about 20 randomly generated floors. During my journey, I acquired some very nice gear and leveled up to 27. My sword was laced with an electric buff that caused electrical damage and usually gave me one hit kills. When I manage to get to the final floor I felt the usual grand feeling of accomplishment. After the FMV ended, I was sent back out of the tower to the ‘Outer World’ at level 1 with none of my gear and none of the attribute boosts I acquired. First response, “OMFG, WTF!!! What did I do wrong?” After reloading my save file 5 times and realizing no matter what I got the same results. After my frustration waned, I thought further about what this game could about. In the game, there are spheres that you can store up to 5 items. Then it hit me…”Wait a minute…I was meant to die! I was meant to die not once but many times! I played the game entirely wrong!” (more…)