Game of the Day: Final Fantasy - Dawn of Souls

Final Fantasy - Dawn of Souls

There is something to be said for playing the same game over and over again. I first played Final Fantasy 1 back in good old 1989 (or close to there, it's been a while) and I played the heck out of it. By that I mean I beat it over and over and over, with differing teams of characters and whatnot.

I continued to play it all through my gaming career. Long after Final Fantasy VIII came and went, I would occasionally still boot up my NES to play me a little FF1 (or River City Ransom, whatever was handy). Then, along comes an upgraded version for the PS1. What do I do? Naturally I buy the thing, and have a blast playing it!

So here is essentially the same game all over again, but this time dubbed "Dawn of Souls". Why then am I so excited about it all over again? Is it not essentially exactly the same thing? Well, it is and it isn't.

The first selling point, at least in my mind, is that this baby is portable. While that may not be such a big deal for some of you, when you are on the go as much as I am these days, sometimes the only games I have time to play are portable. Why? Well that's simple, I can play them anywhere! At the in-laws, on the john, at red lights; whenever I can sneak in some time.

Secondly, there are all new dungeons. Now, I know what you are thinking, big deal right? Wrong! When you have gone through the same thing and utterly owned a game over and over again, the ability to fire up a new and exciting challenge (not to mention gather new and improved weaponry) has me drooling all over my keyboard.

Lastly, tack on the not-so-great, but still playable FF2 with all new features as well and you have yourself a winner. The only way I could be more excited about this game is if I could afford to play it on a DS!

Screens (Courtesy of 1up)

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 11.22.2004

Game of the Day: Metal Gear Solid 3

Metal Gear Solid 3

Hello and welcome to day 3 of my game of the day feature. Today's entry concentrates on a game that totally and completely snuck up on me, Metal Gear Solid 3. I can't even believe that it has already been released. With so many great games coming out lately, it seems that I have lost track of some very important and stunning games.

While most people find it hard to argue that MGS2 was a technical marvel, sporting incredible graphics, superior play mechanics and was just plain wicked fun to play, it was spoiled by a few rather large problems. The storyline went from blindingly cool to disgustingly disorientating in a span of a few hours of play. That combined with a certain "guest" hero and MGS2 left a lot of people craving a superior MGS.

That day has seemingly arrived. Sporting even HIGHER calibur graphics than the second game (Wow! Is that even possible?), MGS3 looks to have made the series even better in almost every single respect.

Gone are the completely indoorsy, claustrophobic environments, allowing for lush, huge outdoor environments. This factor alone allows for supreme tweaks to the gameplay including such cool features as camo (hide from your enemies while being in plain site!) and climbing trees (you can surprise anyone by landing on top of them ;)).

Judging from the response of those who have already had the priviledge to play the game, it looks as though the storyline is now much improved as well. This should be a welcome addition to those who loved MGS2 but couldn't get past the head trip of a plot.

All in all, MGS3 totally snuck under my radar and I hope to at least give it a rent this weekend if I can't exactly afford to buy it just yet. Thank you very much Mr. Kojima, it's always appreciated when a developer listens to its fans!

Screens (Courtesy of 1up)

Comments (0) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 11.20.2004

Game of the Day: Metroid Prime 2 - Echoes

Metroid Prime 2 - Echoes

And so begins day two of my game of the day feature. Today I am returning to my old-school, Nintendo loving roots and bringing up the next game I am completely and utterly enthralled with, Metroid Prime 2 - Echoes.

The first Metroid Prime was a delight to play. When I first heard that it would be developed by an American developer who was untrained in such large ventures, I began to lose hope. What I received was quite possibly the most beautiful, stunning and atmospheric video game production I ever had the pleasure to wade through with a controller.

Echoes looks to improve on the parts of MP that some thought could use some improving, add on some extra, fine-tuned elements and then whip them all together into a sequel to be proud of.

MP2 looks to sport rather the same control scheme that some love and some hate, but I personally think works beautifully. There will still be a heavy emphasis on exploration but it looks as though the difficulty has been ramped up a notch. In my opinion this is a great thing; while I truly enjoyed the "helping hand" given to us in MP, I always feel a great sense of satisfaction in figuring out things myself.

MP2 also looks as though they will be combining a little old with a little new. Some series mainstays will be in place including the ever so fun "screw attack" and they will be mixed in with some cool new elements. Particularily interesting are some new forms of visors, suits and weaponry that take on the whole light and dark persona. Hopefully these devices will be put to use in ingenious and clever new ways, allowing the exploration of Aether to be ever more enjoyable.

New to the Metroid series is the inclusion of multiplayer. While obviously not as complex or robust as something like Halo 2, MP2 looks ready to throw some interesting new factors into the mix. Grappling into a room with dark beam blazing looks as though it may throw a new twist on a well-worn genre.

All in all MP2 looks to be the sequel I have been waiting for and more! I have played through the demo more times than is strictly healthy and hopefully I will soon win the lottery and make enough money to afford what looks to be another must have game in a season of must have games galore.

Screens (Courtesy of Nintendo)

And On My Unfinished Game Front...

Yes! I have finally completed the excellent, yet extremely long, Star Ocean 3. By completed, I mean I finished off the final boss (incredibly easily I might add), I have not yet made it through any of the bonus dungeons and I am not sure I will have any time in the forseeable future to do so. Final dungeons aside, the game still took me around 65 hours to plow through. Not bad bang for my buck! In any case, I will have a review together as soon as is humanly possible.

So what is my next project? Why, Phantom Brave of course. I fired it up earlier this morning for a few minutes and the mood set by it has me wanting much, much more. I cannot wait to try and sneak in some gametime this weekend and get into a few more battles. In any case, I will keep you all posted here on how it is going.

Comments (2) | Permalink | Lee Babin | 11.19.2004

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