Don’t you hate it when one simple design choice ruins an entire game?

As a 3DS Ambassador, I got 10 free Game Boy Advance games via download, including Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones. I haven’t played much Fire Emblem despite owning both Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, but James, editor at Nintendo Life, asked me if I’d review it as my first Nintendo Life assignment. I agreed.

I’m not super into strategy RPGs, but I do love me some Shining Force and Final Fantasy Tactics, and I’d always wanted to really get into Fire Emblem. I liked the look of it and the “rock-paper-scissors” weapon balance was super fun. The writing was good and I loved the character designs. Things were looking good!

Everything was going fine until I ran into what broke the game for me: when a character dies in battle, they’re gone FOREVER. Okay, that’s fine I guess. If someone dies, I’ll just reset! No big whoop!

That worked until one chapter in particular where the field was covered in fog and I couldn’t see anything that wasn’t directly around my characters. Despite moving them in a tight formation, enemies would always pour out of the fog and gang up on one character until they died.

I restarted that mission no less than ten times before completely giving up on the game.

I’ve gone into it a bit before in other posts, but I have weird anxiety issues with games. The thought of letting a character die and NOT resetting almost gave me a panic attack. No, I can’t do that. Then they’re gone for the whole rest of the game. What if I need them? What if they had something important to say later? No, I can’t let them die.

I had to email James and apologize, but I couldn’t play enough of the game to review it. I felt really guilty and embarrassed, since it was my first assignment and all, but that game was paralyzing me. I tried really hard to work through it, to put my crazy aside and be a professional, but my constitution stat wasn’t high enough, apparently.

So it looks like I’m going to have to admire the Fire Emblem series from afar. Have any of you ever had an otherwise awesome game ruined by one design choice?

(Note: I originally published this article on Bits ‘n’ Bytes Gaming on February 8, 2011.)

One of my weird gaming quirks is that I am inexplicably drawn to interesting title screens. Like a moth to a flame, if you show me a cool title screen, I’m more than likely to play your game. That’s part of how I pick which “unknown” games to play on Virtual Console, since all you really get to see are the title screens!

One of the first games I downloaded for the Virtual Console was Neutopia for the Turbografx-16, and I selected it solely based on how amazing the title screen was. Awesome 16-bit graphics, hero in a heroic pose, colorful landscape, it had all I was looking for. I bought it without even knowing what kind of game it was, I just knew I wanted in.

To my surprise, Neutopia is a 16-bit Legend of Zelda clone, and a pretty good one at that. I purposefully call it a “clone” rather than an “homage,” because really, who are they trying to kid? You use bombs to blow up secret passageways in walls. There are piglike humanoids who throw spears at you. There’s a monster that pops out of the water to shoot fireballs at you. There’re bats and skeletons. You have to traverse eight dungeons to find medallions and rescue a princess. There’s an item that stops time. There’s a really catchy, endlessly looping overworld theme. The boss of the first dungeon is even a dragon!

(One major difference, though, is that hero Jazeta has a much girlier sounding name than Link.)

Neutopia is perfect for old-school gamers wishing in vain for another top-down Zelda game. Just like Zelda for the NES, you’re plopped into the game with little direction and a massive world to explore. The nice thing the developers of Neutopia did, though, was give you a compass that will point you in the direction of the next dungeon you need to find. As far as getting there, though, you’re on your own.

But be wary, aspiring adventurers; Neutopia is HARD. In fact, some might even call it Nintendo hard. The game does not skimp on enemies to throw at you, and they do A LOT of damage. You upgrade your armor pretty quickly in the game so you can take a little more abuse, but just as soon as that happens, tougher enemies start showing up to take a chunk out of you.

The combat is exactly the same as in The Legend of Zelda (except, sadly, you cannot shoot your sword with power), but there is some pretty dodgy hit detection, especially against flying enemies. You have to hit them RIGHT ON with your sword or else you miss, while they can touch any part of you and you take damage. As a result, I found myself picking and choosing my fights, hoping to conserve health for enemies I couldn’t avoid.

I can’t recommend Neutopia enough to gamers looking to relive the days of old-school adventuring, but if you can’t take a challenge, stay away. Don’t let the bright colors and cheerful music mislead you, this game is going to fight you at every turn.

Neutopia is available for download from the Virtual Console service on Wii for 600 Wii points.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is a rad game. You all know how much I was looking forward to it because of the fifty other articles I’ve written about it. It absolutely delivers in every way and is even better than I’d hoped. I’m not going to bore you with more talk about the game today, though. No, I’ve been taking screenshots since I started playing on December 13th (Early Access what whaaat) and I wanted to share them with you. My character is a Mirialan Jedi Knight named Zetharis.

There won’t be any plot spoilers or anything for the Jedi Knight class story, but there will be location spoilers (spoiler alert: You go to Tatooine like in every other Star Wars game!). These are all shrunk down, so click to see them full size. Enjoy!

The Jedi Temple on Tython, where the two Jedi classes start. It’s a super dramatic approach on your way there, and of course the music crescendos appropriately.

Tython is gorgeous. So’s the whole game, really.

Jedi “armor.” Just me, being awesome.

I forget the name of this animal but I thought he was pretty rad.

I just took this shot to commemorate my first group with other players. On each planet there are “heroic” quests that require you to team up with others to beat them. Luckily, my server (Darth Bandon) has a good community on the Republic side and it’s easy to find people to group with.

Finally graduated from the dumb training blade and got my lightsaber. The reason it’s gold with a black core is because if you pre-ordered the game you got a special color crystal for your lightsaber or blaster.

I chose the Jedi Sentinel advanced class, so I get TWO lightsabers. Two is more than one, which by definition makes me a better Jedi than everyone else.

I’m ready for my close up, Mr. Lucas.

The Galactic Senate building on Coruscant, where all the movers and shakers of Galactic politics move and shake.

I made a quick stop at the Republic Fleet and had to inquire who their decorator was, because it looked like they had a lot of wisdom. And courage. And power.

Starting to look more like a Jedi.

(There’s actually a huge outcry in the community against armor for Jedi Knights… there are very few options for us without hoods. There are types of armor without inherent stats that you can modify how you like, however. I went this route, ditching the hooded robe after I quickly became tired of not seeing my character’s hair.)

2 Fast 2 Furious: Coruscant.

The ruins of the Jedi Temple, which was destroyed by the Sith Empire during the Sacking of Coruscant. A moment of silence, please.

Yeah, that’s my ship. It can barrel roll.

Taris sure looks different from the last time I saw it in Knights of the Old Republic. Of course, that took place 300 years prior to this game BEFORE the Sith destroyed it, but whatevs.

I guess Master Kiwiiks never taught Kira to turn her lightsaber OFF before putting it back on her belt.

The traffic on Nar Shaddaa is MURDER at this time of day.

Cheese it, the cops!

It looks like Vegas, but in space.

Wookiee: “C’mon man, my girlfriend’s in there!” Bouncer: “Hey, a LOT of people’s girlfriends are in there.”

It’s not a Star Wars game without Tatooine!

Sure looks like Tatooine.

Yep, definitely Tatooine.

Family Guy fans will know why I love this guy’s guild name so much.

Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter.

I make the Jedi Order look GOOD.

There’s this weird graphical glitch that’s happening to pretty much everyone regardless of what video card they have. I just wanted to document it.

This one requires a little backstory. Hidden throughout the game are datacrons, which bestow a permanent stat boost on your character. Usually they’re tucked away somewhere, but on Tatooine there’s one (which of course is the one relevant to my character’s stats) which requires you to climb on top of a Jawa sandcrawler and ride a balloon for thirty minutes to a different, inaccessible sandcrawler. This guy and I waited about fifteen minutes for the balloon to even make it to us in the first place.

Someone else joined us, who also apparently missed his lightsaber safety class.

On the balloon! Nothing to do now but wait.

Binary sunset.

Then something weird happened: after being on the balloon for twenty minutes (we could see the other sandcrawler!) the balloon just DISAPPEARED and we were teleported to the ground with low health. We didn’t fall, there was no animation, it was just… gone. We were understandably pissed. Even the most disciplined Jedi Knight would have said a bad word.

So I tried again and had a nice conversation with this nice Sith Inquisitor who was also waiting. That’s the nice thing about being on a PVE server; I’m sure on PVP servers this is a popular gank spot for griefers.

HEROISM.

Pleasedon’tglitch pleasedon’tglitch pleasedon’tglitch pleasedon’tglitch

Made it! The odds of successfully acquiring this datacron are approximately 3,720 to one.

Some pervert on the Republic Fleet dressed his Kira up in the dancer’s outfit. I don’t know whether I should shake  my head or high five him.

Alderaan is GORGEOUS, and is my new favorite area in any MMO ever. Sorry, Ranfaure from Final Fantasy XI. You’ve been usurped.

I found out you can take screenshots during cutscenes as well, so here’s me all awesome and detailed.

And this is my companion Kira Carsen. We made out on my ship. (Sshh don’t tell the Jedi Council)

“Darth Vader is Luke’s father? OMG!”

It’s a nerf. I herded it. I’m a nerf herder, albeit not scruffy-looking. Stuck up and half-witted, quite possibly.

This picture would have been awesome if it weren’t for the damn mission text popping up.

Oof. Breathtaking. It’s a damn shame it gets blown up in 3000 years.

I’m riding a flying winged dolphin thing! STAR WARS.

Trying to decide what my next heroic move is.

DAMN MISSION TEXT. Kira looks good though.

So yeah! That’s it so far. How many of those Star Wars references did you get? There were a lot.

This will be a recurring feature considering how much I LOVE THIS GAME, so I hoped you liked the first installment. If not, too bad, there’s more coming!

There’s been three big games released recently, and I’m a lazy good-for-nothing so I haven’t written about them yet. Let me rectify that, as a Christmas gift to you, my handful of loyal readers.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword has been hyped forever, and it’s really good. Christina and I are still only on the fourth dungeon, because we’re playing it together so when we sit down to play it has to be a good time for both of us and we’ve been busy (plus when it’s not my turn I have a bad habit of falling asleep).

The Wii Motion Plus makes the combat definitely more deliberate than past Zeldas, but it CAN be frustrating, especially with basic enemies who block certain directions and seem to be able to react better than you. Also, Skulltulas? Forget about it. The thrusting motion is very hit or miss so you’ll run into a lot of problems.

Still, the game is an absolute blast and the story is fantastic. This game proves the Zelda series doesn’t need voice acting to be engaging because the characters are charismatic and bursting with personality. This game’s version of Zelda is already my favorite.

It’s about as good looking as a Wii game can be, and as much as I hate being a “graphics whore” I can’t help but feel like the game is held back by not being HD. The art design is phenomenal, it’s a shame the resolution doesn’t do it justice.

So yeah, we’re playing it really slowly. That’s okay, though, because it’s still really fun.

Super Mario 3D Land is the first killer app for the 3DS and follows the tradition of Nintendo launching hardware with a new feature that everyone stumbles over until they come in and show how to use it right. The 3D effects are great, especially when looking overhead as Mario makes a long fall through the sky.

The game really combines the best parts of the 2D and 3D Mario games and is some of the finest platforming the gaming world has seen in years. While the early levels will fool you with their light difficulty, as you advance you’ll quickly start cursing in anger as you die over and over and over and OVER. The biggest offenders are the levels with “Nega-Mario” chasing you. Ugh.

The game would have been perfect if not for some of the crushingly difficult levels towards the end, because so many levels pretty much require you to have the Tanooki powerup. Regardless, it’s the best game on the 3DS by far.

Star Wars: The Old Republic. It’s finally here! I’m absolutely loving it. It’s everything I wanted it to be and more. I’m playing a Jedi Knight, Sentinel advanced class and I can’t stop playing. While I’ve been excited about the idea of BioWare’s storytelling combined with a massively multiplayer game, part of me still wasn’t sure if that was as “chocolate and peanut butter” as I’d hoped. But man, it’s SO GOOD. The story is great; right from the word go you feel like a hero and will be attached to your character moreso than in any other MMO. You really start to think about who they are and what they’re like, and when you are able to add the “choice” element into situations where what you do affects other people, it’s an incredibly dynamic new way to approach online RPGs.

I’m level 27 right now and my Jedi Knight has already been through a lot. He’s incredibly devoted to the Light Side of the Force and will never refuse help to anyone who needs it, but he DOES have a weakness for the ladies that would probably get him in trouble with the Jedi Council if they knew (I made the choice to NOT tell them about hooking up with the Twi’lek Matriarch on Tython).

I play on the Darth Bandon server, so if you want to play sometime look up Zetharis!

So that’s my quick rundown for what’s been going on the past month; Christina and I will be breaking down our top 10 games of 2011 in a podcast early next month. LOOK FORWARD TO IT.

I haven’t written much lately. Looking at this front page, I’ve hardly written anything of substance in the past month! Sorry about that. That’s just like me, saying I’m not going to stop writing and then doing exactly that. In my defense Christina and I have been very busy, she’s been sick and those Blogimations that no one watches are a LOT of work.

Rather than spend another day doing nothing and complaining that I don’t know what to write about, here’s a few quick thoughts on what I’ve been up to.

- I’ve been playing the 3DS a lot lately! I got back into Ocarina of Time 3D. I still insist it’s not a good portable game, but man is it pretty. I also picked up Pokémon Rumble Blast and it’s a really good time. It’s really simple and easy to play and it’s something that I enjoy playing for a little while as I’m winding down and getting ready for bed. If you played the WiiWare original and liked it, you’ll like this.

- Thanks for forumite Hexen, we’ve discovered VGCollect.com. It’s a video game database that allows you to keep track of your collection, and if you own something that’s not listed, you can add it to the database yourself! We have a pretty long list of stuff to add and we’re not even close to done, but you can check out our list so far here.

- Ben Paddon (who is the genius behind GameJournos, formerly GJAIF, don’t ask what it stood for) has started a web show called PortsCenter, where he takes a look at games that have been ported to a multitude of systems, how they’re different and which version is the best. The first episode focused on Doom, with the episode going into detail about why the PlayStation version is the best. It was a great episode and I found the original long-box PlayStation version of Doom in near-mint condition at my local comic shop about a week later. I picked it up and it really is the best version!

Check out the episode on their Kickstarter page, and be sure to toss them a couple bucks so we can see more in the future.

- During a trip to our local anime shop I discovered Kotobukiya’s Bishoujo line of statuettes, where they take icons of American comics and pop fiction and render them in a beautiful anime art style. I bought Jean Grey, and with X-23, Liara T’Soni and Jaina Solo on the horizon they’ll be getting lots of my money. I’ll be reviewing the Jean Grey statuette for Christina’s site Otakuholic pretty soon, so stay tuned for that.

- I’ve talked about the Daizenshuu EX podcast a few times before, and I finally got to cross something off my nerd bucket list because I was a guest on episode 277 to talk about the latest Dragon Ball video game, Ultimate Tenkaichi. Give it a listen, it was a really good discussion! Spoiler, I’m the only one that liked it.

- I think I’m a REAL games reviewer now, because I’ve been getting games in the mail from PR companies! It’s kind of funny that the first game I ever received from a PR company is Grease Dance for Xbox 360, but hey, it actually wasn’t a bad game! I’m such a nerd, though; I saved the packing slip and hung it on my fridge FOR NOSTALGIA.

Not every game I’ve been sent is fun, though.

Also, if you never checked out my first review for KINECTaku for Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster, you may do so now.

- This past weekend I was in the Star Wars: The Old Republic beta test. Legally, according to the fine print in the non-disclosure agreement all I can say is 1) there was a beta test and 2) I took part in that beta test. So guys, there was a beta test and I took part in that beta test.

On a completely unrelated note, HOLY SHIT.

- Finally, we got Super Mario 3D Land yesterday. I don’t want to say much because I’m taking it slow (the game is short, so I’m limiting myself to only one World a day) and I want to give it its own post in the future, but it’s an absolute blast and that THIS is the game that will make you a believer in 3D games.

That’s all I’ve got! Regular updates to resume soon. I PROMISE.

Okay guys, it is ALL ABOUT Skylanders now.

I’ve been following the development of Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure for a while now, because I thought the idea of collecting toys that would then work with a video game was an awesome idea. I’d been dying to play it, and the other night Christina and I picked up the Xbox 360 starter set along with a couple of extra figures.

Since then, we’ve been back to the store twice to buy more. I’d say it’s working.

Skylanders, for those of you who don’t know, is an action RPG that comes with an accessory called the Portal of Power. When you place one of the Skylanders figures on the Portal, it appears as your character in game. Any experience, money or accessories you collect on that Skylander is stored on the figure, independent of your save file; if you’re playing on the Xbox 360, you can take your Skylander to a friend’s house and play on his PS3 and your Skylander will be exactly as he was when you last played with it.

(I just wanted to show off the cool glow effect of the Portal of Power. The video doesn’t do it justice, but man, this is an awesome peripheral.)

It seems like a cash grab, and that’s probably true. In levels there are paths that can only be opened by a Skylander of a certain element (there are eight: Magic, Earth, Fire, Life, Undead, Water, Air and Tech). The game comes with three figures: Spyro (Magic), Trigger Happy (Tech) and Gill Grunt (Water) so the first few levels you’re fine. After that, though, you’ll have to buy more figures.

You also collect power-ups for characters that are scattered around the world, and of course they’re for figures you don’t have. When you pick them up the game asks if you’d like a preview of the Skylander in question, and then they show you a short, 15-second video of just how badass that toy you don’t have is.

Again, it seems like a cash grab, but the game’s production values are so high that you can’t really get upset about it.

For one thing, the figures themselves are INCREDIBLY well made. They’re solid, colorful and detailed and look like they can actually spring to life at any moment. Honestly, even if there were no game element I’d want to collect them. The characters are all cool looking too, with some of my favorites being Prism Break (who is a stone golem who shoots lasers from his crystal hands), Eruptor (a being made of lava) and Warnado (a spunky ripoff of Gamera, who unfortunately isn’t out yet). There’s 32 in all, so you’re bound to have a favorite.

Of course there are store exclusives, too; the Air type Whirlwind is only at Target, while Toys R Us has a three-pack of “Legendary” (recolored) versions of Spyro, Chop Chop and Bash. Which we bought, natch.

This would all be moot if the game was no fun, but Christina and I are really enjoying it. We actually have two save games going (so we can both get Achievements; they’re primary profile only) and we’re having an absolute blast. I said on Twitter that it’s some of the most fun I’ve had in co-op since Gunstar Heroes, and those of you that know me know how lofty a statement that is.

The game’s not a cheap vehicle for the figures; the graphics are bright, colorful and bring a whimsical world to life. Supporting characters have fantastic voice acting (including Flynn, who will be your favorite character, who’s voiced by Patrick Warburton). The game is even scored by Hans Zimmer, who you probably know from the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtracks.

It’s a really solid action-RPG, and while it’s not terribly difficult, each Skylander does have their own Challenge level that will even give hardcore players a bit of a tough time. Completing them does bestow upon your Skylander a permanent stat boost, so they’re worth playing as you advance through the main quest.

Oh, and is if collecting the figures wasn’t enough, the game also has enough collectible hats to please even the most jaded of Team Fortress fans.

What really makes the figure mechanic work (rather than just having the characters be something you select from an in-game menu at any time) is the sense of ownership it gives you over your Skylanders. Christina and I each have our own little stable so far and leveling up each of our Skylanders is surprisingly rewarding; knowing that they belong to you gives you a surprisingly strong connection to them, and it gives me a feeling similar to what I’ve gotten from putting together a carefully raised team in Pokémon.

The price of admission isn’t cheap, as the game will run you $10 more than a normal new release ($70 on consoles and $60 on 3DS, and they include the Portal of Power and three figures) and the figures are another $8 a pop. Not to mention there’s “Adventure Packs” for $20 that contain an exclusive Skylander, a new level and a power-up. Doing the math, we’ve easily dropped over $100 on it this weekend, but the amount of fun we’ve been having is absolutely worth it. It’s a game that will bring out the kid in you, the kind of game that will make you smile and get you genuinely excited to see new characters. If you can find a friend or family member to jump in with you, you’re absolutely going to have a great time.

I’m writing about Star Wars: The Old Republic again. Considering that literally about 85% of my day is spent thinking about it, you’d better get used to me talking about it!

Anyway, what I’m writing about today is the decision I’ve made regarding what class and faction I’ll be playing. I had originally planned on playing on the Republic side as a Jedi Consular, because hey, it’s Star Wars, who DOESN’T want to be a heroic Jedi character? I had been talking to my friend Matt, trying to coordinate things since we planned on playing together, and he had mentioned that some of his coworkers would be playing as well. He later informed me that they’d be playing Imperial characters.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m terrible at playing the bad guy in video games. In games with moral choices (you know, the games that BioWare are FAMOUS for) I can never bring myself to do the wrong thing. I didn’t want to play on the Imperial side, but I also didn’t want Matt to have to choose between playing with me and playing with his other friends.

Which got me thinking about something I had read in several developer interviews: a character’s faction and morality are separate. You can play as a “good” Imperial, someone who believes in the Empire but tries to make it a better place for its citizens. Likewise, you can play a “bad” Jedi, someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to further the cause of the Republic, including murdering people.

So I started thinking that playing a “light side” Sith character could be VERY interesting from a role-playing perspective. As I’ve mentioned before, when I’m playing a character that is uniquely mine, I’m constantly thinking about who that character is, what their motivations are and why they do what they do, even when the game itself has no room for it. Well, in TOR, your character is DEFINED by these things. I’ve read several first-hand accounts from people in the beta that there’s been times where they’ve had to take off their headphones, stand up from the computer and really THINK about a choice they have to make.

Even Penny Arcade’s Mike “Gabe” Krahulik, notorious for not caring about characterization and often skipping story scenes in games, had this to say (quoted from his post on penny-arcade.com on June 22):

“I’ve had to make hard choices with my Bounty Hunter that have made me honestly think about who he is and what he’s like. At first I intended to play him as a real asshole but some of the moral quagmires these quests put you in just aren’t that black and white. Do I do what gets me the most credits? Do I stay loyal to the person who gave me the job even it means hurting Innocent people? As a result of all this I have a character that is a hard ass bounty hunter who has a soft spot for people in trouble and children. The only thing I could tell you about my WOW character Dudefella is that he was a mage and a hell of a good dancer.”

That sounds SO appealing to me. So I’m going to play a Sith Warrior for several reasons. The first being that the Imperial analogue to the Jedi Consular, the Sith Inquisitor, is going to be BY FAR the most played class in the game due to it being based on Darth Maul, what with the double-bladed lightsaber and the Force lightning and what have you. The second is I still want to play a character with a lightsaber (and since I’ll be playing the Marauder advanced class, I’ll have TWO!), and the third is one of the Sith Warrior’s companion characters, Vette, is a blue female Twi’lek who is voiced by Catherine Taber, one of my favorite voice actresses (you probably know her as Penelo from Final Fantasy XII or Mission Vao from the original Knights of the Old Republic who, coincidentally, was ALSO a blue female Twi’lek). Christina takes some offense to that last one, because she knows of my pre-existing fondness for blue female Twi’leks.

As a kid, Jedi to me were the coolest thing ever. Luke dueling Darth Vader was awesome. Then the prequels came out and it was Jedi overload. I thought they were cool at the time, but as I’ve gotten older… man, the Jedi were jerks. There’s nothing wrong with being peaceful, mind you, but they thought they were infallible. They believed that they had the answers to everything, and looking through Star Wars chronology, before Luke Skywalker brought the Order back every single time the Jedi had a problem it was something they could have avoided by not being so up their own butts about how awesome they were.

That doesn’t mean I’m in the “DARK SIDE WOOOOOOOOOO” camp. In fact, during one of my meditations (read: time at work when I’m thinking of dorky things to keep myself entertained) I’ve come to the idea that there really is no Dark Side or Light Side; there’s only the Force and how you choose to use it.

I am uncomfortable with the idea of playing a character who murders for fun. I’m not going to play my Sith Warrior that way. He’ll kill people, sure; violence is so often the answer in Star Wars. If someone has wronged him and they’re weak, defeated, and no longer a threat, making them live with that humiliation is probably better than killing them. Besides, then they owe you one.

He’ll be a Sith because he’ll use the Force to serve himself and his needs. What will make him unique is that he’ll also be using it to serve those close to him, sometimes even ahead of his own needs. At this point in time, Sith are encouraged to try to fight those stronger than them to take their place; my character will prefer to let them all kill each other and then take what’s left.

Anyway, I’ve started the guild website as well. I’ve called it “Speaks Bocce” because I didn’t want some super dark sounding name (all the 14 year olds who are playing have that covered) and I thought a sillier name on an Imperial guild would be funny, especially if it was from a Star Wars quote. If you plan on playing, feel free to join!

Over a thousand words about The Old Republic and why I’m playing the character I chose. Par for the course here at PK Bloggin’!.

I’m going to be topical today! How quaint.

Dragon Quest X was re-announced last night, much to the joy of every single citizen of Japan ever. I say re-announced because it was originally announced back at the same time as IX, but never mentioned again.

Dragon Quest, Square-Enix’s OTHER beloved long-running RPG series is a national treasure in Japan. The Japanese government had to ask Square-Enix (then just Enix) not to release Dragon Quest games during the week because too many people would stay home from work and school. This isn’t a law, like people believe, but this is the internet so trying to convince people that a rumor is inaccurate is like trying to yell at the ocean to stop being so wet all the time.

Anyway, Dragon Quest X: Rise of the Five Tribes is going to be an online game, which has stunned the world. I don’t really know what the reaction is in the motherland, but American fans are in an uproar about it. While Final Fantasy has tried to create crazy new gameplay mechanisms with each franchise iteration, Dragon Quest was loved because it stuck to traditional JRPG customs. Dragon Quest IX on the Nintendo DS broke tradition by not only being the first core Dragon Quest game on a handheld, but it was also the first game in the series to feature multiplayer. Dragon Quest X is taking that ball and RUNNING WITH IT.

(I don’t really know WHY American fans are in an uproar, to be honest… they complain every time a JRPG comes out and chastise it for being “too traditional,” but when a series tries to evolve they treat it like blasphemy.)

From what information’s been put out there, I can’t really tell if it’s an MMO or if it’s something more akin to Phantasy Star Online where small groups are formed and then sent into instanced worlds. My educated guess would be for the latter, as it’s being released for the Wii and Wii U, neither of which seem like a suitable home for an MMO.

I have to say I’m shocked at the reveal. It seemed that Dragon Quest was going to be Squeenix’s “comfort food” (or “security blanket”) while Final Fantasy kept traipsing off into futuristic cyber-worlds with made up languages.

That’s not to say I’m not looking forward to it; I liked Dragon Quest IX okay, although it started wearing thin for me towards the end. If I had had a friend to play it with and people to swap treasure maps with I probably would have had fun with it. However, a proper console multiplayer game featuring Akira Toriyama’s art and lush, colorful worlds? SIGN ME UP. TWICE.

I know exactly why Squeenix is going this route, too. Final Fantasy XI, in its heyday, was a CASH COW for them. It’s been the most profitable thing they’ve ever done. They tried to bottle lightning twice with Final Fantasy XIV, which was a mess. It’s a shame, too, because that game was gorgeous. Now they’re hemorrhaging money on a game that they’re so ashamed of they’re not charging people to play it. What else could repeat, if not eclipse, Final Fantasy XI’s success if not something with the Dragon Quest branding?

It’s too early to tell anything, really, except that the game looks gorgeous and the character designs are rad. It’s set to be released for Wii next year (Wii U is TBA) so we’ve got a long time to speculate.

Last night I was at GameStop buying a copy of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift for PlayStation 3 to play with the super rad WhiteDragonNall when I noticed something strange. This was a pretty large GameStop with high ceilings, so the had shelves above the game racks for bulkier items, like DJ Hero controllers, Dance Dance Revolution bundles and what have you. I noticed they had three copies of the Final Fantasy XIV Collector’s Edition for $25, so after coming home and discussing it with my wife like a rational adult (and fighting to quell the impatient fanboy within me) I went back and bought it today.

You see, even though I’ve heard mostly bad things about Final Fantasy XIV, what disappointed me the most about it was that it was going to be a blemish on my record. I own every numbered Final Fantasy game, some several times. I couldn’t justify a purchase of XIV because it was supposed to be really bad and my computer scored terribly on the benchmark (the lowest acceptable score was 1500… I got 710).

Seeing the Collector’s Edition for so cheap, though, I had to do it. As much of a gamer as I am, I’m just as much a game collector. I wrote an article before the game came out about how I thought it was a bummer that people who bought the CE got to play early and it sucks for people who weren’t able to get one before they sold out. I guess that wasn’t an issue.

Anyway, from what I managed to play before my computer begged me to stop, the game certainly LOOKS nice, and what else would you expect from Square Enix? The character models and environments were fantastic and the music was great. Of course, since it’s Square Enix, I played for about 45 minutes and about 30 of them were cinematics. If I had been able to run it better I probably would have enjoyed it.

Registration was a pain in the ass, though. Even outside of video games Square Enix makes their menus completely impossible to navigate.

Of course, now I know I need a video card upgrade before the MMO I REALLY want to play comes out. Speaking of which, to continue my trend of MMO Collector’s Editions (since I have the CE of Star Wars Galaxies, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and now Final Fantasy XIV) I preordered this bad boy (click to embiggen):

Which reminds me: those of you waiting for The Old Republic, go preorder it now, because a preorder gets you early access based on when you register your preorder on the official website.

I guess this article really has no purpose but to tell you what I did today.

This post is about Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Despite my best efforts, I’m stoked for Old Republic. I deliberately didn’t pay much attention to it until this point, but the trailer shown at E3 (which I guess is the opening movie) blew me away. From there I read into what the game actually entailed, and I’m sold.

My original intent was to just ignore the game and let it go by. There were a lot of reasons for this, and at the forefront was my experience with Star Wars Galaxies.

My friend Matt and I were ALL ABOARD the Hype Train™ for Galaxies. We followed that game for YEARS, excited beyond belief the entire time. We ate up every tidbit of info that leaked out, we read the official forums daily… we were those guys. When the day finally came, we were pants-ruiningly amped. I even bought the $80 Collector’s Edition, which is still one of my favorite pieces of my gaming collection:

The thing was, my computer wasn’t really good enough to play Galaxies and I had never played an MMO before so I wasn’t really good at it. I had a lot of fun just exploring, though. The setting of the game (during the height of the Galactic Civil War) was great, and I had fun running into the odd familiar character here and there (I had pictures of my character with both C-3PO and Wedge Antilles).

By the time I had a computer that could run Galaxies well, they had rolled out their NEW GAME EXPERIENCE, which meant completely wiping out what the game was and pissing off their fanbase by turning the game into something completely different. Before, you felt like a small fish in a big pond: you were just a regular somebody in the galaxy. Now, within the first five minutes of creating your character, you’re on the Millenium Falcon running from Darth Vader, and Han Solo gives you a “best friends forever” charm bracelet and invites you to his birthday party. They completely destroyed what the game was. Not that what was there originally was GREAT, but it was better than what they turned it into.

When they announced Old Republic, I was excited because, hey, BioWare making another Star Wars MMO! Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic was the reason I bought an original Xbox, and to this day remains one of my favorite games. I knew it’d be awesome.

Then I saw the playable races and started to lose hope. Only two playable races from Galaxies were returning, Human and Twi’lek. No Rodians, no Mon Cal, NO WOOKIEES. (I know their inclusion wouldn’t really make sense from a canonical perspective now, but I didn’t at the time. Ssssh.)

So I ignored it for a really long time until I saw the most recent trailer and now I’m interested. I think I’m going to roll a Miraluka because I think they’re pretty cool (they’re a race identical to humans but without eyes… they wear cool wrappings over their eyes and see using the Force. Jarec from Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight has been retconned as a Miraluka) and I think I’m going to play a Jedi Consular, because their playstyle seems to be a heal/support class, and they get double-bladed lightsabers.

A few of my friends who I played Galaxies with are getting excited too, including Matt, so I’m really excited for the chance to get the band back together, so to speak.

Now, as I slowly start to sink back into the Dagobah swamp that is hype for a Star Wars MMO, I wonder how I ever thought I’d get away with not playing it in the first place.