Anouncement- December will be a Month of Final Fantasy

All throughout the month of December, every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, I'll be dedicating every blog entry to analyzing the Final Fantasy series. On every blog entry I'll be giving a brief description of the plot of each game, analyzing the story, and the game elements. Why? Because besides the fact that I'm a fan of the series, Final Fantasy is a series that has, in many ways, influenced the RPG genre. Final Fantasy is one of the highest grossing video game franchises, and one of the most famous as well, so it makes sense to me that I take a short while to analyze the way this series has evolved through the years. Here is the schedule:

December 3- Final Fantasy 1
December 5- Final Fantasy 2
December 7- Final Fantasy 3
December 10- Final Fantasy 4
December 12- Final Fantasy 5
December 14- Final Fantasy 6
December 17- Final Fantasy 7
December 19- Final Fantasy 8
December 21- Final Fantasy 9
December 24- Final Fantasy 10
December 26- Final Fantasy 11
December 28- Final Fantasy 12
December 31- Final Fantasy 13

I am sorry that there is no room for Final Fantasy 14, and that I am only paying attention to the numbered Final Fantasies and not the side games, like Final Fantasy Tactics or Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, but there is simply no time, I'm afraid. It'll have to be for another time.

I'm very excited for this special series, and I hope you will join me in this analysis!

Legend of Dragoon- Did it deserve to become a franchise?

Back in 1997, Squaresoft released a little game on a system called the Playstation called Final Fantasy 7, which helped change the Role Playing Game from a niche genre to a mainstream darling, bringing video game narrative and presentation to previously unseen levels. For a bright, shining moment, the Japanese RPG was seen as the ultimate video game experience, bringing stories and characters that could rival anything that could be found in the best Oscar winning movies. During this time, the market saw a large number of RPG's, ranging in quality from excellent (Suikoden 2, Grandia) to mediocre (Evolution:The World of Sacred Device, Grandia 2) to just plain awful (Time Stalkers). Among this large clout of RPG's, there is one that stands out: Legend of Dragon, the first RPG made directly by Sony. This game was one that took many years of programming and design to make, and was released in America in the year 2000. It is a game that, in spite of the lukewarm critical response, has been considered a cult classic and a consumer favorite, often called one of the best games on the Playstation. But, did the game deserve better? Did the game have potential to be more, to make way for more?

Go go Power Rangers Dragoons!

Cool Boarders 2- A look back

I'd like to take today's entry to just shut my brain off and instead reminisce about a happy time in my childhood. Back in the year 1997, Sears was having a competition for the Playstation, which was back then really started to gain momentum. The first place prize was a Sony Playstation, the second was three free PS1 games of your choosing, and the third was two PS1 games. I came in second and picked 3 games: Final Fantasy 7, Primal Rage, and Cool Boarders 2. Though I am often an enemy of nostalgia, today I want to talk about what that last game meant to me.

Good times.

An Analysis of Suikoden 3

Although I adore Suikoden, I must admit that the third entry in the series is one that is rather divisive; you either love it or you hate it, and there are strong arguments that justify both positions. However, one thing that is not up to debate is that Suikoden 3 tried something very different from its predecessors, and in large parts succeeded in telling a very memorable story via a very unique Perspective system that allows the player to go through several Point of View characters. But what is Suikoden 3 about? Well, let's find out.

Learn from this- Grand Theft Auto 5

More than mindless entertainment, video games often provide us with subtle lessons that the programmers and writers want us to learn. Today, I take a good look at a few lessons that you can learn from that fantastic video game, Grand Theft Auto 5:

The Bechdel Test and Video Games

Today, I want to talk about something that a lot of people are passionate about: the female presence in gaming. Now, I know a lot of you are going to feel rather strongly about this sort of thing, so let's get a few things out of the way here: there are subjective views, and there are objective truths. A subjective view is saying that the gaming industry is misogynistic and ignores the female demographic. An objective truth is that female representation in video games is not to the level of the variety in male representation (less games featuring women are made in several genres, not as many female programmers and directors as men, etc). This is a really big deal for gaming culture, and one that needs a civilized discussion, which I know ALL sides of the spectrum are capable of doing. But today, I am not here to discuss if gaming is misogynistic, or anything similar; really, I just want to talk about the Bechdel Test in gaming.

For those that do not know what the Bechdel Test is, allow me to explain. The Test was first proposed by Alison Bechdel, the author of the comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For, (That word is repeated solely because it is the title the author gave her work, no offence is meant), in a strip where one of her characters lays out the rules of the test, which are as follows:

1- The work needs to have two female characters
2- That have at least one conversation
3- About any topic other than a man.

Deep Sleep- a quick analysis

A free to play online game, Deep Sleep is a point-and-click horror game, reminiscent of old school adventure games like Return to Zork. In the game, you collect and use several normal, every day items in order to solve simple puzzles that require little more than logic or trial and error. It is also a very frightening game, one that will most likely give you nightmares. But what is it about?

Pokemon versus Nostalgia

The year was 1998, when I first  heard of Pokemon, and needless to say, I caught the bug. Back then, there were two Pokemon games: Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue. I asked for the Red version because it impressed me more. The generation that was first introduced to Pokemon is all grown up now, facing the world, building the future, so many of us feel nostalgic for old Pokemania. Even today, the first generation is still held up in high regard, still talked about. It is the first generation that has the most famous Pokemon creepypastas (creepy stories that are spread through the Internet), including the story Jessica (about a Pikachu from Pokemon Yellow that becomes sapient), the Lavender Town Syndrome (about how the background theme to a town in Pokemon caused dozens of children to commit suicide) and even the original Pokemon Black (about a haunted game cartridge where the Pokemon were murdered by a mysterious entity known as Ghost, that the player controlled). Yet, why? Why all this nostalgia?

No feels, please

Character design and characters

As some of you may know by now, I consider myself a skeptic when it comes to character designs, especially "sexy" character designs. You guys know the ones: chicks with huge breasts (DD cup and up), long legs, peach shaped rear ends, the works. Guys with toned, slender bodies, natural tans, feathery hair, that kind of thing. Now, I'd like to take this opportunity to clarify something here: I am by no means pulling any third wave feminist mumbo jumbo here, this blog entry is by no means a critique of the industry's tendency to design and market these kinds of character designs. Instead, I just want to ask a simple question: What is the line between a justified 'sexy' character design, and when the design is just gratuitous?

Because I KNOW that the three or four ladies who are reading this blog are gonna be having a fit over the large amounts of sexism that's bound to be found on this entry, I provide for them the beefcake.

Was Cross Edge doomed to fail from the get go?

In 2009, Five gaming companies banded together to make a game. This game was a love letter to the Japanese Role Playing Game genre, a collection of various elements that make said genre stand out in all of gaming. Item crafting, world map battles, a long story, deep dungeons, hundreds of unique skills, several characters with their own personalities and individual skills, menu driven game play, a mix of two dimensional sprites with three dimensional backgrounds, skills that could combine together to create highly cinematic attacks, the works. The cast was a combination of original characters, and characters from several well regarded game franchises. The game was called Cross Edge, and it failed miserably, selling less than fifty thousand copies. What happened?

Don't shoot me, bro!

Surprisingly Better Sequels- Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2

I've spoken before about Sequelitis, the disease that causes good franchises to churn out needless sequel after sequel. However, like all things in this world, there is a Ying for every Yang. The opposite of Sequelitis is the Surprisingly Better Sequel. What makes them opposites? Sequelitis is bad sequels, and the Surprisingly Better Sequel is, as its name states, a sequel that manages to be better than the original work. Maybe the story is better, maybe the characters are more expanded upon, whatever. Today, I want to take a look at a game, and its Surprisingly Better Sequel: Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2.

Can we learn about love from video games?

What is love? Baby don't hurt, don't hurt me, no more. Alright, now that we have that obligatory joke out of the way, I ask again: what is love? Millions of poets, novelists, essayists, philosophers, and Reddit and Tumblr teens have written trillions of words in regards to love. I myself have written about love as well (shameless self promotion here: my Twilight Fan-fic Spring Blossoms). But what is it? Well, I don't know entirely. I've played dozens of games where love is a central theme, but the question is, have they taught me anything?

Did I learn ANYTHING from these two?

Sequelitis- Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts Chain of Memories, and so forth

Sequelitis- when some greedy old executives decide they don't have enough money, so they take a work that is much beloved and make a sequel to it. Ah, but is the sequel as good as the original? Heck no, but it made money, didn't it? Today, I want to look at a game that was very original, very groundbreaking when it came out, and then got a sequel that was none of those things. And then got another sequel. And another. And another... This is Kingdom Hearts.