Most Impactful Video Games - Part 2 - Gaming Thoughts

What does it mean if something is impactful? Specifically a video game? I think of it as not just something you had fun with, but a game you made memories with. Maybe the graphics weren't the best, or the music the most pulse-pounding, but long after you've set down the controller or walked away from the keyboard, some aspect of the video game in question sticks with you.

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Most Wanted Remakes or Remasters - Part 3 - Gaming Thoughts

This is the third and last of our articles in this series. This is a gathering of the top games in everyone's wish list - and more staff members chipped in than ever on this series. So let's wrap this up!

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Susan

MechCommander

I would LOVE for MechCommander to be remastered. While I often am not a huge fan of reskinning a game, MechCommander was a turn based tactical game like Battletech that I fell in love with. I spent hours outfitting my mechs and trying to complete all of the objectives. Often, my brother would beat mom and I in succeeding at the mission. I remember one particular one all too well... Anyways, the graphics are a little dated if you were to look at it now, but I'd love to have more mech based tactics games because it had a single player campaign mode as well as a multiplayer mode! So, my mom, brother, and I used to play a crap ton of it back in the late 90s. What's also cool about MechCommander is that it was made by FASA Studio who developed games from 1994 until 2007, and made MechCommander 1 and 2 as well as MechWarrior 4, MechAssault, and in its final year, Shadowrun on Windows and Xbox 360. After that, there weren't many mech based tactics games that really grabbed me other than BattleTech. Honestly, it would be great if we could have MechCommander back - so long as it had both the single and multiplayer features.

 

Robert

Final Fantasy VII

You read that right... I'd like to see Final Fantasy VII remastered. Don't get me wrong, Final Fantasy VII Remake is fantastic but that's not what I'm hoping for. A part of the magic of Final Fantasy VII was in its stellar-for-the-time graphics. The Remake doesn't preserve that piece of gaming history (especially because Square was sued and lost for false advertisement) and I'd love to see Cloud's pointy feet in glorious 4k. The pre-renderered backgrounds being re-rendered at modern resolutions would, to me, present some of the best-looking backgrounds in gaming. A simple, straight, 4k remastering of the original content would be such a dream come true that I'd be happy to purchase it all over again. Final Fantasy VII was magical; why not preserve that?

 

Valerie

Descent

This awesome first of its kind 3D 360 degree space first person shooter I really loved to play, and no I have not beaten it cuz of life, ranks as my number one for a remake. Why? Because I would have loved to save my progress and continue on to the end! The story grabbed me from the first and the 3D 360 degree play kept me on my toes all through the levels I got through. Also, I would love to have a crack at the spiritual successor Overlord, but that will have to wait.

Nick

Dragon Force

During a time when I was hooked on turn-based strategy games, Dragon Force stood out as a real-time strategy game that kept me glued to the Sega Saturn. With one of 8 different leaders you can select from, there's a decent amount of replay value to be had here. The RPG elements mixed wonderfully with the strategy elements, and all of it was wrapped up in one of the better stories of the time period. As a bonus? How about bringing over the sequel, which I never experienced, because it was only released in Japan at the time. 

Pierre-Yves

The Legend of Dragoon

But didn't this just drop on the PSN last year? Yes. It did. With a few quality of life improvements in the form of emulation, this classic was made accessible on modern day systems.

But that's not a remake. And while I don't necessarily NEED 4K and 60fps, we all know we want it. But more than that, I would hope for a Final Fantasy Remake and Rebirth treatment. Take what was originally available and expand on it.

The Legend of Dragoon for me was one of the best PS1 entries. It still holds up rather well all things considered. It had a good story of love, loss, and friendship. It also had a great combat system that could be easily refined for modern input speeds. And for the time? The graphics weren't bad either.

Best part? Nigel, he cut off my head. Did you see that?! He cut off my head!!

 

Mike

Tenchu

“Tenchu” the stealth assassin mechanics stood out as one of a kind title. With it's only competition in the unique genre being the early Hitman franchise, Tenchu being remade would spark the love and desire of many who missed the opportunity to dive into the franchise of stealth/action adventure. If they fixed the then buggy and at times cumbersome camera controls, it would rival the likes of “Ghosts of Tsushima” and “Sekiro Shadows Die Twice”

Jim

Xenosaga 1-3

The Xenosaga trilogy to me is a perfect fit for a remaster. These three great RPGs are getting hard and expensive for the PS2. I remember playing the first game and seeing the cutscenes in it and being amazed at how long some of them were. It felt like you would play a little and then watch for 30 minutes! I was young so it was probably a lot less than that 30 minutes, but I love games like that. Story-heavy games are my favorite whether it is RPGs or not. Xenosaga deserves more love from Bandai Namco.

Hamza

Need For Speed II

We'll call this the most conventional of my picks. Originally released in 1997, I stand by the opinion that NFS II remains one of the top installments in this long-running franchise. It’s still a great-looking game, even by modern standards—though the jagged car models, low-res skyboxes, and outdated FMV sequences could definitely benefit from a 4K remaster. Imagine Monolithic Studios and North Country—my favorite tracks—redone with a modern engine.

Richard

The Xenosaga trilogy and Xenogears, by extension

The Xenosaga trilogy is probably the first major non-mainstream JRPG I ever played. I'd love to see it where the second game wasn't handed off to a different department that disregarded the notes and plans from the original department. Replete with an amazing soundtrack, an incredibly interesting story and characters, and a really neat twist to the typical turn-based combat system. I would absolutely love to see a remake of this series.

Hayden

Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe

Going in a totally different direction (as I do), I give you "Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe" (1991). This was the last in a trilogy of WW2 flight sim games from LucasFilm, and took on a very broad scope for its time, allowing the player to control either the Allied or German air campaigns in the war, including a limited set of strategic decisions related to production. Add in a character-developing tour system, a variety of real (and experimental) aircraft types, and you have a 4.5/5 star game at the time of its release.

These days, I don't see much press for entries in the standalone war flight sim market - though perhaps I'm just blind to it - and I'd really like to see what current tech and graphics could do for this classic. Who needs War Thunder when you could have the entire war without worrying about connection lag or weird tier balancing choices?

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Final Fantasy VII Remake Demo - Gaming Thoughts Preview

Final Fantasy VII Remake Demo by developer and publisher Square Enix—Sony PlayStation 4 preview written by Robert with a demo from the PlayStation Network.

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

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I remember where I was in 1997 when Final Fantasy VII came out; after spending months seeing Final Fantasy VII adverts on TV I just needed to have it. I grew up with Final Fantasy and I had a shiny new PlayStation and only a couple games for it so I was itching to get something more. Midsummer, mom and I were out shopping and as any good teenager does, dragged her through the toys section to check out any merchandise that the store might have. Behind this tiny counter was a locked glass display with some neat things like the box, a t-shirt, and the official player’s guide for Final Fantasy, along with a couple words many gamers tend to despise these days … “Preorder today.”

You bet your ass I preordered it; it was the first game I had ever pre-ordered and I felt no shame in plunking down upwards of $80 for a shirt, the game, and the guide. I then had to spend the next few months eagerly awaiting the release. That was hell, but I got through it and was there at 10 AM the day it released (I was “sick” that day), took it home and spent a long weekend exploring the world Gaia with Cloud and the crew. I was floored, funky hands, goofy translations, I absolutely loved it, even if it wasn’t the strongest title in the franchise, I was hooked.

In 2015, nearly two decades after its initial release, Square Enix released the trailer for the Remake, something they had said they weren’t going to do, and the internet went wild. Fast forward another 5 years and a scant month before release, Square releases the demo and I was unsure if I was going to play it or not and finally caved one bored day a week before release. I tossed between wanting to get in and play and not wanting to spoil anything, but alas, I caved and fired it up.

I’m not so sure I should have.

For one, it’s actually spectacular; throughout the short demo (it can be beaten in about an hour) I got some interesting vibes. For one, I kept getting the same feeling I did while playing The Witcher 3; that there is this deep, open world full of exciting yet mature overtones (and that is all from an extremely small slice of the opening act). I was pleasantly surprised that they gave Cloud an actual personality, and really, Square absolutely nailed it with Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie (she’s Best Girl; Aerith/Aeris and Tifa can go stand in a corner – fight me!). I am a bit off-put by Barrett’s voice acting, not because John Eric Bentley isn’t fantastic and fitting for the role, but because I have this mind-canon that Barrett would sound more like Beau Billingslea (who is exactly who I “heard” in later years when replaying Final Fantasy), and because I hear a different voice than what I’m expecting, it sends some weird signals. That’s more my issue than an issue with the game though, and I do have an issue, a pretty big one actually …

The camera angles. They’re horrific. In the demo you’ll fight enemies that are on different “planes” than you, often being higher because they are large or they are flying, and you can’t see the damn thing. I was immediately reminded of the extra-strength garbage called a ‘camera angle’ in Star Wars: Jedi – Fallen Order and that was not a good sign; while Fallen Order was mediocre at best, it’s camera was on par with Castlevania 64 and Bubsy 3D, and those are considered some of the worst camera angles in gaming, so I have some severe concerns. In replaying the demo I think a part of it is the field of view plus the fact that regardless of how close or far the camera is from Cloud, it’s field of view for your locked target never changes and it artificially increases the difficulty via bad design. Fortunately there’s time to change that element, or it’s possible that the full release’s settings allow you to chance camera behavior or fields of view.

All in all though, I’m still incredibly excited for the Remake’s release this week; while I know the original story inside out and backwards, I am wholeheartedly ready to dive back into Midgar to experience it all from a new point of view.

Score: N/A

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Memorable Music in Gaming #39

Well, it has been a few weeks since our last installment. This time we take a very Final Fantasy-centric look at music. Starting with...

Final Fantasy VII (PS1) - Tifa's Theme

Emotional with a tinge of the ominous. The sustained notes are brilliant touch at creating so effective a mood with this one.

Final Fantasy IV (DS) - Theme of Love

This theme will instantly make you believe that, yes, love and magic are real and wonderful experiences.

Final Fantasy X (PS2) - Suteki da ne

Once again I will have to say this: I haven't played a lick of FFX, but boy do I enjoy the music immensely. Suteki da ne (which means "isn't it wonderful?") was the first time I heard a song from Final Fantasy that had vocals, and I instantly fell in love with it. I don't often find myself listening to Japanese music a whole lot (with vocals even less), but there's a certain Studio Ghibli-esque vibe to it that I couldn't pass up on!

Final Fantasy X (PS2) - Otherworld

Now this is more like it! Those wailing, cauling guitars; those gruff, growling vocals; those industrial metal-like lyrics. Heavy metal in Final Fantasy? Surely you jest. The last place I'd expected to find such a thrashing, headbanging composition, Otherworld hits you like a spiked wall at full speed.

Final Fantasy VIII (PC) - Don't Be Afraid

This is the kind of tune I used to hum to myself whenever doing something extraordinarily epic and daring:

i.e., ramming my Hot Wheels cars into each other and imagining Michael Bay-esque explosions and John Woo-esque slow-motions.




Article by Hamza

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Memorable Music in Gaming #28

This edition of Memorable Music in gaming comes pretty full circle in a lot of ways. One of our earliest editions was back in March of 2016, when Nick was getting all ramped up for the release of Final Fantasy X, and he picked favorite songs from that particular game. We revisit Final Fantasy X with one of those tunes here, but also pull from the rich collection of Final Fantasy games to reflect on other favorites from the series.

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Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII review

I am an unabashed fan of Final Fantasy. I haven’t played all of them – but I’ve played and beaten quite a few of them over the years – starting with Final Fantasy on the old NES. I was one of the many who had a first day of release copy of Final Fantasy VII and like many thought it was the best game I had ever played at the time. Years later, it’s story and game mechanics are among my most fond gaming memories. So when I heard that a prequel was coming out, I was really excited. That excitement was a bit tempered however when I saw my traditional RPG turn-based systems turned into a more live action game during trailers. I’m happy to say those particular fears proved to be unfounded.

Graphics – 9:

The in-game engine is good, you don’t suffer any breakup and the full motion video scenes that the Final Fantasy series have become well-known for hold up beautifully on the small screen. Don’t let the fact that this is a PSP game fool you – it holds up very nicely in both artistic direction and execution.



Sound and Music – 8.5:

The voice acting was good, though many of the sounds were a bit repetitive after awhile. Final Fantasy games are known for their quality music and this one while not among the best from the series, is still pretty good. I found the combat theme to be surprisingly catchy.



Gameplay – 7:

Sometimes deaths feel cheap. The actual action-oriented combat works well; certainly better than I expected. My biggest complaint from this department though was the camera. Sometimes I just could not get it into a good position, especially in narrow spaces. Also, the combat was a bit predictable in terms of how it was triggered. In earlier games, most combat occurred at random while walking. In later Final Fantasy games you are on an active field with enemies you can engage or try to avoid. Here? It’s things like intersecting hallways that trigger the usually-random group of monsters you fight. You find yourself hugging the walls awkwardly, battling the camera angles if you’re in an area where you don’t want to fight. It’s not all bad though. The action comes in perfectly sized smaller chunks that fit with the handheld platform. I had played this game for nearly a year on and off. I’d just pick it up some days when I had fifteen minutes to kill and do a few missions. The PSP is not one of my primary systems, so its games tend to get neglected, but this one’s content felt just right for on-the-go gaming.



Intangibles – 9.5:

There is a ton to do. The main storyline itself is not terribly long, but there are a bunch of side options to chew up your time. There’s missions that unlock over time or when certain criteria are met. There’s a fusion system in place that lets you upgrade items and materia (think of them as magic, skills and stat boosts). You get emails throughout the game from characters as well. There’s a handful of mini-games tucked in there as well throughout the storyline. To top it all off? There’s a New Game+ mode as well – always a favorite discovery of mine.



Overall – 8.5:

To date this was probably my favorite PSP game. The characters and world were sentimental favorites of mine. The overall production values were high. All of this was expected. The unexpected? That the action-based combat would work so well. That using one character throughout the game instead of a party would feel so involving. That you don’t collect experience and level up in traditional fashion, but that levels, boosts and special attacks are all managed through a perpetually running slot-machine like system that augments the action itself. Last but not least? The ending is fantastic. After I beat the game, I was just really taken with the ending and did some searching on the topic online. I was not alone in my sentiments there. A lot of people out there list it as their favorite ending ever. Mine? Maybe not, but probably top 10 to date, and getting there was a blast.

More Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII News & Previews

Video courtesy of IGN

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