Wild ARMs

*tumbleweeds pass* ....Wild ARMs. Finished in 30 hours around Level 42. (I think...)

Wild ARMs is turn-based JRPG developed by Media.Vision and published by Sony.

This is a game, that caught me off guard. I bought it and barely played it. Until one day around a year later, I just turned it on and started playing it.

Wild ARMs was an extraordinarily beautiful game that really, really surprised me. It's just a turn-based RPG, but... if you play through it, it's so much more and it's such a beautiful game.

Wild ARMs tells the tale of Rudy Roughknight and his two companions Jack Van Burace and Cecillia. They're chosen to save the dying world they live in called Filgaia from the Metal Demons.

The thing about Wild ARMs is that, these are the only characters you can use and it's brilliant. It's nice and isolated. You get to see how all the characters grow as people and develop in the world.

The gameplay is typical turn-based RPG in the vain of Final Fantasy/Dragon Warrior I, II, and III. Each character has their own abilities. Rudy has his ARM which is like a big gun that he uses. Jack uses a sword and a Fast Draw technique, and Cecillia uses a Rod and Magic abilities.

They also all have "Force" abilities which is kind of like a Limit Break/Mystic Arte thing. But they're four levels to it and it works on a gauge. The gauge goes up as the player does actions in battle. There are 4 levels of the gauge and each ability is different for each level. But for level 2, each character is able to summon spirits that act like the summons in Final Fantasy.

I really enjoyed the story. It's a LITTLE BIT slow in the beginning, but it really starts to ramp up as the story progresses because the characters start to develop. The one thing I didn't like about the game was the puzzles. They were an instant walkthrough for me because they're so obtuse, but I use walkthroughs for every puzzle in every game. That's just me, I don't really like puzzles. (Hence, why I can't play Zelda... But that's a discussion for another time.)

The music in Wild ARMs was really different. It has a Wild West feel, which I thought was unique. But personally, I think one of the greatest segments of the game, was the opening scene with the opening music. It's so beautiful and very special. After I finished the game, I almost cried while watching it.

Overall, Wild ARMs was truly a special game and I can't recommend it enough to RPG fans. It's quite an experience. I loved every second of it. My favorite character was Jack. I feel like his story was the best and I related to him the most.

The most accessible way to play Wild ARMs is on the PlayStation Store. It is a PSOne Classic that is playable on PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, & PlayStation Vita.

There are 6 more Wild ARMs games for me to play and I look forward to them and hope it's a fantastic and classic series.

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Undisputed Verdict: 9/10

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!! ~Gothorita

Rayman 2: The Great Escape

Rayman 2: The Great Escape is a 3D Platformer developed and published by Ubisoft.

Now this is one of those games I owned as a kid and never played past the first level. I even had my digital PSOne copy since 2011. I just never played it cause I thought it was a 20 hour game.

Back in the day, I played the Dreamcast demo of Rayman 2 and it looked so amazing. I still want to play that. It looks like a GameCube game.

However, I beat this on PS3 as a PSOne classic because I recently downloaded it and I didn't want it to be left "unbeaten" from my download list.

Rayman 2 was a simple game. I thought it was 20 hours, but it only has 18 levels. It wasn't hard or anything, the only hard part was finding all the lums/health things on each stage which I didn't do. I played through the game getting what I could and continuing on.

It was a fairly easy game, except for some segments. I liked the cutscenes and the voice acting was okay. I finished it in 7 hours. The main thing I liked about the game was the stages were so large. It made the game feel longer. I'm happy to have finally beaten this game. I know now it's not 20 hours. XD

It's only 6-8 hours. Anyway, I enjoyed it. It wasn't phenomenal or anything, but I really did enjoy my time with it.

Anyway, there's a ton of ways to play Rayman 2. N64, PC, Dreamcast, PSOne, PS2, DS, 3DS, and I feel like I'm missing something there. An easy way to get it is as a PSOne Classic on the PlayStation Store. It's playable on PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, & PlayStation Vita. You can also buy it as Rayman 2 Revolution. Which is a PS2 Classic on the PS3's PlayStation Store.

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Undisputed Verdict: 7/10

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!! ~Gothorita

The Crash Bandicoot Trilogy

This time I will be reviewing Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, and Crash Bandicoot 3: WARPED. I have finished the trilogy and here I will decided which one is my favorite out of the three. The actual "reviews" on the games will be short, while the defining of my favorite will be longer.

Crash Bandicoot is a 2.5D Action Platformer. I don't even know what to call it. The entirety of the Crash series is known as being really fun and addictive, but hard as balls and yes they are. Especially the original Crash Bandicoot.

I finished Crash Bandicoot 1, quicker than the rest. I think it's shorter, as it only has 32 levels. I found this to be hard in the beginning but a little easy in the end. Which was not that great. But I liked the game overall. The first boss is a motherfucker...

Crash Bandicoot 2, seemed pretty difficult. All of the bosses were fairly challenging. It was an okay game. Really only the first world was easy, while the rest was hard.

Crash Bandicoot 3, was a mixture in difficulty. The different types of boards ranged from easy to hard. I liked that it was longer that most Crash games and gave you the opportunity to play with Crash and Coco as well as different types of stages.

Now, here's my verdict on the trilogy as I would rank them:

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back > Crash Bandicoot > Crash Bandicoot 3: WARPED

Now, let me explain.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back was the most difficult. I put it down the most. I didn't really like the boss fights because they were cheap and difficult. Not to say that I didn't like this game, it's just my least favorite of the trilogy. My favorite part was the levels. Some of them were really fun and engaging. But I got tired of this game because it didn't seem to do that much different.

Crash Bandicoot was a good game. It wasn't great. But it was solid and worthy of a first entry. My only pet peeve with it was that you could only save if you got three of a certain item on a board. And if you got a game over, you'd have to start a few stages before. This was annoying because, like all Crash games, it can be irritating difficult because Crash dies in one hit. XD Overall, I liked the game and I would recommend it to those who like 2D Platformers.

Crash Bandicoot 3: WARPED, is my favorite game in the trilogy and in the Crash series. It's also one of my favorite games of all time. It's very well made and polished. I love that you can play as Crash and Coco in many different ways. Most of the stages have a lot of secrets and different pathways you can take which I really liked. The game was difficult, but not so difficult that it made me cuss at the screen like Crash 1 & 2. It was a good difficulty and had plenty of stages. This was the only game where I actually wanted to go back and get all of the collectibles. I'm not sure if I got them or not, though.

I think there's one thing that "corrupts" my list a little. It's that I played the games in reverse. I played Crash 3, 2, then 1. Which I think really effected my opinion on the trilogy. I suggest to those who haven't played a game in the Crash trilogy, they should play the games in order, because I would assume that they get better as the games go on.

Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, & Crash Bandicoot 3: WARPED can all be purchased on the PlayStation Store as PSOne Classics. They're all playable on PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, & PlayStation Vita.

In the end, as I said earlier, Crash Bandicoot 3: WARPED is my favorite of the trilogy.  That said, it is a great trilogy that is a real classic and I think everyone should at least try it out because they are very influential and special games for their time.

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Undisputed Verdict:

Crash Bandicoot - 7/10

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back - 6.5/10

Crash Bandicoot 3: WARPED - 9/10

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!! ~Gothorita

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen! Post-game finished in 48 hours and 55 minutes. The main game was finished in 38 hours and 10 minutes.

Alright, let's get into it.

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen is a classic turn-based JRPG for Nintendo DS developed by Enix. It is a remake of Dragon Quest IV for PSOne which is a remake of Dragon Warrior IV on NES.

Dragon Quest IV tells a story of a hero/heroine destined to save the world from the antagonist, who is known as Psaro the Manslayer. Along the way, the hero/heroine meets all kinds of people. Some of the party members, some of them temporary party members, and others are major or minor characters.

With Dragon Quest IV, you basically have a traditional turn-based JRPG. Tride and true to Dragon Quest. You pick your commands and play them out. Simple. I, like many classic RPG fans, really like this system because there's no riffraff and it's easy. However with newer RPGs, I prefer that you pick the person with the highest agility's command first and they do it upon selecting it like newer turn based RPGs. But I have no problem with the Final Fantasy I through III/Dragon Quest style.

I really enjoyed these songs from the game:

Dragon Quest IV Battle Theme (DS)
Dragon Quest IV Battle Theme (NES)
Dragon Quest IV Boss Theme (DS)
Gypsy's Dance (DS)
Homeland (DS)
Homeland (NES)
Torneko Taloon (DS)

The thing about Dragon Quest IV is that it's story doesn't really revolve around the characters. After I beat the game, I started to realize that the story is kinda told in the music and what happens during the journey. Like, the song "Homeland" which is the hero/heroine's world map theme. Kinda gives you this melancholic feeling like that the hero/heroine is feeling sad and lost from everything that happened in his/her hometown but still needs to press on. Or "Gypsy's Dance", Meena and Maya's battle theme, sort of shows their dancer and fortune-teller personalities in a way that can't really be explained in words. And the song "Torneko Taloon" gives you that feeling of this wandering jolly merchant that's just trying to find money, who stumbles upon caves and fights monsters every now and then. Hard to explain, but it's a really good song. I suggest listening to the version from Torneko's dungeon crawler game on PSOne called Torneko's Last Hope. But anyway, I found some of the themes in the music to be very interesting in Dragon Quest IV.

One thing about the story that made me think was that in Dragon Quest IV, the antagonist, Psaro, is trying to find the Secret of Evolution to evolve into the ultimate being and destroy the world. Psaro's "evolved" form can reproduce/generate it's body parts when they're gone and create new ones as well as enhance it's own body structure and judging from it's design, I think it has wings. It also has a two mouths and four eyes as well as two noses. This made me think that Psaro in that form is able to do everything that is needed to maintain survival. He has evolved to the ultimate state.

The superboss (if you will... I thought it was stupidly easy, but super strong) had a similar appearance. His name is Aamon. After you defeat Aamon, he says that it must be an illusion because he believed that the Secret of Evolution was not supposed to fail.

That made me start to wonder that... What if living organisms are even meant to evolve to a point where they are nothing more than perfection? Maybe because accessing it could essentially destroy your spirit thus breaking you as a person unable to maintain such a form. And maybe if they are, they are ultimately imperfect because such a form of evolution, the "Final" evolution, was not meant to exist. That whole thing really made me think... Just damn...

In the end, I really really loved the entirety of Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen. It's one of the best RPGs I've played in a long time and one of the best games I've played this year. I had to use a walkthrough for the first 4 chapters. And I got some help for the Zenithian Sword quest. but other than that, I played this game completely on my own, which I'm very proud of! ^o^

After I beat the game, I did the bonus dungeon, the Fungeon, on my own and I used a walkthrough to learn how to get Psaro's equipment, finish Hoffman's Town, do the Pirates' Treasure sidequest, and get all mini medals (which I got all of them without the help of a walkthrough except for the ones from Hoffman's Town and the one in the Pirates' Treasure cave).

That is about it for this review! Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen. A FANTASTIC JRPG. One of the best. PLAY IT if you love turn-based JRPGs. I cannot recommend this game enough. It's fucking amazing! The most accessible way to buy this game is on the iOS Store or Google Play Store. The NES & DS versions are fairly high in price and the PSOne version is only in Japanese. It would be nice if Square released the NES version on 3DS's eShop, the DS version on Wii U's eShop, or translated the PSOne version and put it on the PlayStation Store as a PSOne Classic. But that's a topic for another day.

And with that, I leave you with my party's stats. Of you crazy kats don't know, I love to grind. So don't be surprised. XD

BTW, just to give you an estimate of how much I leveled up, I defeated 392 Liquid Metal Slimes and in total, I've gotten 3,939,600 EXP from them. XD

Heidi (Female Hero)

Level: 78
HP: 678
MP: 368
Equipment:
Liquid Metal Sword
Liquid Metal Armor
Zenithian Shield
Zenithian Helm
Ruby of Protection

Alena

Level: 82
HP: 621
MP: 0
Equipment:
Gringham Whip
Angel Leotard
Golden Tiara
Elevating Shoes

Maya

Level: 74
HP: 593
MP: 666 (Oh my goodness. XD)
Equipment:
Falcon Knife Earrings
Angel Leotard
Liquid Metal Shield
Goddess Ring

Psaro

Level: 61
HP: 613
MP: 461
Equipment:
Pandemonic Sword
Pandemonic Armour
Pandemonic Shield
Pandemonic Helm
Meteorite Bracer

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Undisputed Verdict: 9.5/10

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!! ~Gothorita

Suikoden

Suikoden! Finished in 20 hours around Level 50.

Suikoden is a great turn-based PSOne JRPG developed and published by Konami. I don't know why, but I thought it would've been a little average, however, I really enjoyed it and once I got to the 5 hour mark, I couldn't stop playing it. The soundtrack was alright. I liked the victory fanfare which happens to be my ringtone on my phone.

The story and characters were pretty interesting. My party was The Hero, Ronnie, Valeria, Sylvina, Milia, and Camille. I loved those characters. Milia reminded me a lot of Milla Maxwell from Tales of Xillia.

Suikoden had an interesting mystical story. It was a tale of political intrigue and mysticism and romance. I liked it because as the main character, recruiting the 108 Stars of Destiny, it felt like I was watching as peoples lives changed because of the war that was going on. It really made me think about just war in general and what it can do to people.

Now, I don't have much to comment on the gameplay, but I will say that I enjoyed the fact that i could have 6 party members in a battle. I've always wanted that in a new RPG because there often a lot of characters I like and the party member limit is usually 3 or 4. But with 6, I can add just two or three more people that I like and I'm satisfied.

I like the idea of the one-on-one and war battles. If they had more quirks and mechanics in them, I think they could both be really cool and engaging.

Anyway, it's obvious, I don't have much to say about Suikoden, but I suggest to play it. I don't know how to put the experience in words. The greatness of the game is really in experiencing it yourself.

If you're interested in buying it, the most accessible way to do so is on the PlayStation Store available as a PSOne Classic so you can play it on PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, & PlayStation Vita.

I feel like this is a "middle of the road" review, but I really enjoyed Suikoden and it's one of the best PSOne RPGs I've ever played. I can't recommend it enough.

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Undisputed Verdict: 8.5/10

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2

"Who do you think...created the demon virus?" Jenna Angel, Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2! Finished in 36 hours around Level 88-90. This review will be shorter than my usual because it this is a continuation of a much longer game.

Right off the bat, with the original Digital Devil Saga, this is one of my favorite games of all time.

This is the tale of the digital devils. The Digital Devil Saga. The first game told a story about a tribe at war with other tribes and whoever was the first to defeat all of them would be allowed to ascend a tower to Nirvana, The Promised Land. The tribe known as the Embryon made it to this point only to be greeted by mysterious demons that speak of things unknown. Upon conquering the tower to Nirvana, the tower perished and the world around it.  The Embryon tribe found themselves in a desert wasteland, vastly different from their home. This was the real world.

I really enjoyed the music in the game. Not as much as the first one, but I loved these songs:

Battle For Survival
Divine Identity
ALIVE
Hunting Betrayal

Digital Devil Saga, told a very interesting story about reincarnation. The final boss, I thought was really fucking epic. My favorite characters were Seraph and Argilla. I felt as though I really identified with many of the things Argilla said and who she was as a character.

The main character, Seraph, made me think a lot about the world because I'm under the impression she's a hermaphrodite. It made me wonder if a hermaphrodite is perfection. One of the bosses in the final dungeon says, "It is not of God's intention for man and woman to be one. It is due to this that I shall split you asunder!" I love Seraph's character because first, she looks fucking badass, and secondly, I think the simple design is sort of showing you what enlightenment is. Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 really made me think and I'm still thinking about it.

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1 & 2 can be bought at a good price on Amazon for PlayStation 2 as well as on the PlayStation 3's PlayStation Store as a PS2 Classic.

Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga was one of my favorite games for PS2 and one of my favorite JRPGs of all time. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 is not as good as it unless if you look at the games as one entity. Or should I say Divine Identity...? Hehehehe... XD *inb4 I get mauled by you krazy kats*

Digital Devil Saga is one of the best JRPG stories you can experience. That's how I view it now. The Digital Devil Saga.

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Undisputed Verdict: 10/10

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!! ~Gothorita

GRANDIA

GRANDIA! Finished in 52 hours at Level 36. I played this on PlayStation 3 as a PSOne Classic.

Let me just start by saying this is one of the best games I've played in a long time. It was an emotional rollercoaster for me. I was crying during a few scenes and there were a lot of scenes where I was upset, happy, or excited. And that.... Is what I love in games. Games that can literally effect me emotionally. Because then it becomes a more personal experience. I loved every aspect of Grandia. The story, the world, the lore/mythos was awesome, the characters, the gameplay, and the soundtrack. This is just a great PSOne JRPG.

Grandia is a JRPG developed by Game Arts abd published by Ubisoft. It tells the tale of a boy called Justin. Justin dreams of being an adventurer and through the course of one adventure to go check out a ruin, it was revealed to him by a woman known as Liete, that a stone that he holds as a memento from his father is actually a Spirit Stone. Liete also speaks of an ancient civilization called Angelou. This sets Justin off on the adventure he's always been waiting for to look for the ancient civilization and find out if it really existed. 

That's a not very detailed summary of the beginning of the game, but Grandia tells a coming of age story of innocence, love, adventure, and one major thing I liked about the themes of Grandia is that I feel its main theme is that we all have a role to play in this world.

I won't spoil any of the character arcs in the story, but I will say that I really loved the characters of Sue, Guido, Milda, and Liete.

Grandia is a turn-based JRPG that has a very unique battle system that I don't even know how to explain. But in Grandia, in order to get stronger & new magic/abilities, you have to level up your current ones by using them. Each character can use two or three weapons that they can level up. Grandia reminds me a lot of one of my favorite games of all time and that is Final Fantasy II. Specifically the PSP version. In Final Fantasy II, in order to get your Cure magic to Curaja-like status, you have to use it a lot and it gets stronger & levels up, same with weapons. If you attack, then that specific weapon you're using will gain EXP and ultimately level up through continuous use. Also like Final Fantasy II, Justin and a few other party members can learn whatever magic you want them to learn simply by buying it for said party member. That also allows for different experiences each time you play through Grandia or Final Fantasy II. 

Now, the music in Grandia, kinda gives me a bit of a Motoi Sakuraba feeling, but ultimately has its own style. I really like the DISC 1 battle theme, the DISC 2 battle theme, the DISC 2 victory fanfare, and the title screen theme. I got kind of a Fire Emblem vibe from the title screen theme. (For those of you who don't know, Motoi Sakuraba is the composer for the Tales series and Star Ocean series.) I really liked the voice acting as well, especially for Sue. I'd say she's my favorite character.

And finally, I will end this with saying that Grandia was such a great experience... I loved playing it. It's such a beautiful game with a lot of heart. The most accessible way to play is purchasing it on the PlayStation Store as a PSOne classic to play on PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, or PlayStation Vita. I can't recommend this game enough to those who love JRPGs.

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Undisputed Verdict: 8/10

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!! ~Gothorita

Atelier Shallie ~Alchemists of the Dusk Sea~

Atelier Shallie ~Alchemists of the Dusk Sea~! Finished in 42 hours at Level 76! 

Atelier Shallie ~Alchemists of the Dusk Sea~ was developed and released by GUST and KOEI TECMO.  The game features two protagonists similar to Jude & Milla from Tales of Xillia. Shallistera & Shallotte are the two protagonists.  I played Shallotte's story which was a lot of fun. This is the newest game I've played in years. 

Atelier Shallie was my most hyped game of 2015 next to Tales of Zestiria and let me say that it delivered well and was worth the hype! I loved this game from beginning to end! One of the best PS3 games I've ever played.

The story was quite interesting and had some very thought provoking themes such as humanity's ability to make the same mistakes and following your dreams. Shallotte's story really touched me and I'm still thinking about it. The characters had a good development and I really cared for them.

The gameplay was VERY fun and interesting. This is a conditional turn based RPG that allows you to use 6 party members in battle. 3 in the front and 3 in the non-active rear. They can be switched out at anytime. But what I love about the battle system is that more cool features are added as the game progresses and the entire party works together in unison to do coordinated attacks. It's a really fun and intuitive battle system that I'd love to see implemented into more games with more party members. This is by far my favorite battle system. Ever. I really enjoyed it. It would be better if it were active time like Final Fantasy. I'd love to see 6 party members in a battle at once that work in unison in an RPG. That would be awesome. But, I'm rambling now. Moving on...

I really enjoyed the voice acting, art style, and music. After you beat the game, there's an Extra mode on the title screen that allows you to view quotes from the developers and what they think of the game which was really cool to read.

I don't know when I'll play Shallistera's story, probably in 2016, but for now. I'm done with Atelier Shallie. It was an absolutely amazing game. Atelier Shallie is the last game in the Dusk trilogy. (Ayesha, Escha & Logy, and Shallie)

I highly recommend this game to people who wish to get into the Atelier series. It's very quick and easy to learn. 

If you'd like to buy it, it's available physically and digitally on PS3. If you're interested, please buy it as it is a really great game and you also help these companies make money. I suggest to buy it from the PlayStation Store, videogamesplus.ca, or Amazon.

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Undisputed Verdict: 9.5/10

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time! ~Gothorita