So Begins Final Fantasy XIII-2

Picked up my Collector’s Edition of Final Fantasy 13-2 today.  Sadly I seen a Limited Edition guide sitting there too, so I ended up caving in and grabbing that too.  Oh well.  Just hope I get my moneys worth in the end. So far it seems I will.  The game is still pretty nice looking despite the removal of CGs throughout the game in return for post rendered scenarios.  The game feels well designed and I’m liking the new arc of time travel.   My only real beaf is this stupid addition of “chose your response.”  Like Mass effect vomited on the game.  Do I really need to respond to every conversation? I hope I can get passed the “western RPG” conversions.  I’ll post when I get further along and if I find some tidbits I feel I should share with you all!

Also, to note for those looking to get their Pre-Order DLC. Most codes are entered in the “Redeem Code” button on the PSN Store homepage (top right near search). Once it’s redeemed and downloaded, enter the game and you’ll have it available at different points. I found mine to be:

Summoners Garb: Immediately available when her costume is changeable. Right off the bad I was able to go into menu and change “Outfit”.
Genji Bow: Supposed to be sold for 0 moneys from Chocolina, havn’t confirmed but she should be in Bresha Ruins (if the demo is any indication). I’ll post when confirmed.

Below are some pics of the Collector’s Edition Game and Limited Edition Guide.

2012 Looking Up For JRPGs

Life of a fan of Japanese gaming from the west has it’s ups and downs.  At times you get great games to spend hours upon.  While at other times you go so long wondering if Japan still loves you.  Getting a localization of great titles just seems like pulling teeth at times.  Well, it almost seemed like 2011 was one of those years.

Well, negativity aside, it looks like 2012 is shaping up.  Companies are looking to bring their great titles to the west and JRPG fans are ready to snag them up.  Here’s a lineup I put together to get you all as excited as I am.  Some may debate that some arn’t “RPG”, you get the gist.

Valkyria Chronicles 3 (PSP): While Sega told Gamespot a solid ‘no’ to it’s localization in the west, after a huge signature campagne the question of their minds being changed went up in the air again.  Maybe we won’t see it on PSP, but there’s still a chance for a Vita port which would be amazing.  So.. while most my hopes are shattered, I still keep shred somewhere in the back of my mind.  [Unconfirmed – Unlikely]

Tales of Graces f (PS3): Finally an amazing new Tales title is coming to America.  This installment is the first PS3 exclusive Tales game for the West and it gets the amazing sharpness in graphics to support it.  I may have to get a second PS3 on standby because I may kill my PS3 playing this to death.  [Confirmed March 13 Release Date]

Top Games of 2011

Well, 2011 has concluded, and thus begins a new year.  I can’t help but take a moment and ponder on what games I’ve taken on or taken down this passing year.  I thought I’d take the time to post what my favorite games were of the year.  This doesn’t just keep in bounds with release titles.  No, this blog has always been about embracing games of the past as well as current games.  So here goes nothing!

#5 Portal 2 While I never played the first Portal, I had a gist of what was to be expected. I was dead wrong. This game had me laughing so hard at the pure hilariousness that came from the clever dialog. That aside, the puzzles and use of the A-to-B portals was clever and fun. While it had little replay value, I left the game satisfied.

#4 Final Fantasy IV: Complete Collection (PSP) FF4 is truly a FF classic. Squarenix took this classic and remastered it. Not in some new system and graphics, but rather left it to it’s original feel and updated the sprites and backgrounds. So while the graphics are more appealing to today’s standards, the original nature is still in tact. Not only revamping the original game, but they also brought over the after stories that were only in Japan. Add in some extras like a music player and you have a solid game!

#3 Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep (PSP) I’ve been wanting to get into the Kingdom Heart series for quite some time. However I can’t seem to get passed the outdated mechanics of the PS2 originals (Don’t know why). Enter Birth By Sleep on the PSP. While it’s dangerous spoiler wise for me to play it, I still managed to thoroughly enjoy this title. It didn’t require previous knowledge to really enjoy it. I loved the setting, characters, and style. The gameplay was fast pace and fun.

#2 Little Big Planet 2 (PS3) I love getting the family together for some LBP. We thoroughly enjoyed the first LBP so it was no surprise the second would be a classic. They not only added new equipment to the game, at the same time, they added more laughs. Our family had hours of laughs playing this together which makes it easily one of my favorite games of all time.

#1 Valkyria Chronicles 2 (PSP) I LOVE Valkyria Chronicles. While I bought this game December 2010, it earns the place as my #1 of 2011 because I played it long into 2011. I even bought a second PSP and another copy of VC2 for my dad so he would: 1.Stop stealing my PSP to play VC2, and 2.Play Coop with me. Loads of fun and well worth every minute of the over 200hours I spent on it.

Honorable Mentions:
• Pangya(PSP) for bringing a great PC game to the handheld.
• Gears of War 3(Xbox360) for giving me some fun coop fun with my friends.
• Solatorobo(DS) for being the only DS game I’ve ever enjoyed.
• Disgaea 2(PSP) for being an amazingly huge and complex gameplay
• Final Fantasy Dissidia 012(PSP) for the fun fast action packed bouts of my favorite FF characters.

Great Achievements for Gaming in 2011:
Gaming has come a great way over the years.  Some years it takes steps back in my opinion.  However, here are the achievements I would like to point out for 2011.
• PSP becomes a nearly complete Final Fantasy Powerhouse. After gaining FF5 and FF6 on PSN, it now holds 13 FF titles. Besides 3, it has all FFs from 1-9.
• Xenogears hit PSN bringing an amazing title back to life.
• Zelda Ocarina of Time was remastered to the 3DS, a truly amazing revisit to a classic
• Vita was announced and it’s price tag was starting at $250, a sigh of relief was heard as people anticipated a $400+ price tag.

Final Fantasy V and VI hits PSN

Finally!  Today Final Fantasy VI hit PSN in US.  With that and V hitting last month, the entire library of FF titles on the PSN is staggering.

The version of FFV and FFVI are ports from the PS1 Anthology collection so they have little upgrading and some minor CGs from the Disked version.  Some claim the load times are hardcoded from the CD version so be aware of that.  However the videos I’ve seen of it played on PS3, it looks fine.

I’m happy now as my PSP is a Final Fantasy playing machine.  Besides FF3, it now has all of the FFs 1-9.  With the side titles it has over 13 FF titles on it.

Final Fantasy Type-0 Finally Confirmed?

Well, it’s been quite a long wait.  Screenshot after video after demo of awesome FFT0 content but with no localization in sight.  It’s no wonder being as the sales are so terrible in the west for PSP but couple that with the looming Vita release in only a couple months.

However today after some looking around it looks as if some rumors are getting merit.  First Vandal, a Spanish website, posted an interview that Yoshinori Kitase hinted they were working on US/EU version.  It was then removed.  So noone could really confirm if it was a typo or a cover.

Final Fantasy IX Review

Final Fantasy 9 was one of those titles that I just for some reason, passed by.  I remember subtly playing it back when it came out.  I was so excited for it because it was being hailed as bringing the classic FF back to the new.  The old classes of black, white, blue mages, dragoons, etc.  It also brought back and old style of almost 3D renderings of cartoonish sprites.  Alas, it didn’t last long.  I fell off from it out of disinterest and about that time my interest turned to MMOs and FPSs.

Time to correct the past.  I snagged it on both PS1 but ended up grabbing it on the PSN to play on my PSP.  I jumped right in and started bashing baddies.  Sadly however I ran into a rut again.  For some reason, this game has a very dry start that is hard to get passed for me.  But I pushed through it finally and I’m glad to say it’s finally somewhat interesting now.  So near the end, here is my review.

The Crystal Bearers: First 30

A lot of games anymore come out under the radar unless you’re really looking.  I love to jump on to Amazon.com and check out bargain titles that may be gems.  It’s how I discovered Valkyria Chronicles!  Well, one of those titles I ran into was Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers.  Wow, what a title.  While easily readable, it’s definitely as weird as the recent Final Fantasy Dissidia 012 Duodecim.  I want to give a quick overview of my first moments with the game, and later maybe do a full review.

Upon popping in the game and firing it up, I’m a little scared.  As I never have liked point and shoot on the Wii, and this is supposed to have a lot of it.  Quickly I’m thrown into the air and shooting down dragons.  The visuals look amazing for the Wii console and I’m already engaged.

Dissidia 012 Review

The first Dissidia released on the PSP in 2009 wielding tons of Final Fantasy characters in a battle royale. I pondered purchasing it but held out for the impending sequel. The sequel released in 2011 with the insane title of “Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.”  Dissidia 012 (also titled Dissidia Duodecim) Features the same characters plus many new ones. It also contains the prequel story PLUS the entire first games story.

Story
The story takes place in a world where a god of harmony, Cosmos, and a god of discord, Chaos, fight an endless battle. They summon heroes from other worlds (Final Fantasy worlds) to fight for them. That’s about it. Yes, there’s some side dialog between the heroes and their original world nemesis. Some characters want to help others. However it’s all drawn out drivel that you’ll eventually just hit the skip button.

Graphics
Now on to the good stuff. The graphics here are some of the best you’ll ever see on the Playstation Portable. Nearly cinematic all the time. The colors are vibrant, motion is quick, and spells are amazing. While there isn’t much to look at outside of combat, and most dialog is exchanged with 2D stills and dialog boxes; it becomes understandable as this game contains a lot of dialog. However with the story as stale as it was, I almost would have preferred to just cut out all the dialog and replace it with more cutscenes.

Controls
As . There are two settings RPG and Action. The RPG mode is what I used mainly. It allows for you to play using a menu. I didn’t think it would work well but it did. Also its why I was able to continue playing as the other mode Action, made me want to hit a wall. You can essentially control everything but the problem is there’s a need for 50 Buttons all of which have to fit on the PSP’s 6 buttons. Ah well. My RPG mode worked fine beating the 012 chapters. I’ve been told that others who have mastered the controls enjoy it.

Sound
The music is amazing as usual. The sounds are great aside the occasional repetitive yelling of the same move.

Appeal
There’s no denying that a huge part of the appeal in this title is fan service. The real meat and potatoes of why someone would want this title is going to be in the Final Fantasy aspects through and through. From the musical scores, the 30 or so playable characters, the hundreds of other characters popping in and out of menus, story references, rivalries; there’s plenty for a Final Fantasy Fan to get from this.

Outside of it being a fighter type game it really does lack a drive to keep playing it. However there is tons of unlockables to drive some players to push on.

Conclusion
Dissidia 012 is a visual masterpiece. Its filled with fanservice galore. However some may be turned off by the lack of story drive or true gameplay. I doubt anyone outside FF fans will enjoy this and suggest it to anyone that is a true fan and wants to see if Cecil or Cloud would win in a fight.

Final Fantasy 12: Revenant Wings Review

So for those that haven’t read my FF12, let me start by saying “I loved FF12.” Now let me also say that this is not FF12 in any way besides some characters and the world it takes part in.

Revenant Wings (RW from here out) takes place after FF12 and follows Vaan, Penelo and some new characters as they venture into sky pirate fun. However they quickly find themselves in the middle of a war between gods beasts angels and pirates.

The story is a decent one. Enough to make it a stand alone from FF12. Besides some returning characters, most who haven’t played FF12 shouldn’t be lost here.

For those that have played FF12 will find Vaan taking the lead for once here. Also the story is a LOT more light hearted and ‘cutesy.’. Although not too cutsey, it can take away from establishing serious moments. But hey, it wouldn’t be the Vaan we know.

Final Fantasy Nostalgia

I guess that’s the correct terminology.  Earlier today I was listening to a podcast for Final Fantasy, and they were speaking on their memories of playing the old Final Fantasy.  So it got me thinking on an interesting subject for a post, and for maybe some feedback from readers.  What is your history with Final Fantasy?  When you started your first FF or what got your hooked if you are.

First FF I played was the first.  I was really young, like 5.  I think it was my Dad who got it, but hard to remember.  I know my older brother was a fanatic, so it was hard not to be in loop for the next releases.  I can’t really recall if I liked it back then, I do know I played through it at some point when I was pre-teen.  I remember most the fun I had compiling a group that was unique everytime I started the game.  Fighter, Thief, Black Mage, and Red Mage.  Think that was my dream team (just thinking about it, I want to go grab my PSP version!)