Final Fantasy XII for the DS

I was impressed when I saw screenshots of Final Fantasy XII - Revenant Wings for the DS. Just look at it here . It looks great!

Now I don't want to steal the photos of the site so I'll just describe them for you. First off, the art direction looks a little different than any FF before it. The game looks pseudo 3d but maybe it's 2d, though I can't be sure if the DS can really support a full 3d game.

If this game is ported in English, I'll be hard pressed to buy a DS.

GBA - Super Robot Taisen: OG

Man, Super Robot Taisen (or SRW) must be one of the most repetitive game that I've ever played. Believe me, I know repetitive games along the style of Shadowrun (gen). This game p4wn3d me. It literally brought me to my knees in surrender. It's that hard.

This game is a strategy/rpg or simRPG in the tradition of Shining Force. It's a pretty good game but it's not for everybody. If you are a die-hard mech fan, you'd probably love the repetitive cut-scenes in the gameplay (this can be turned off, I know) and the slow pace of the game.

You have about ten Gundams (or whatever crap they call 'em) at your disposal. Cool! But the problem is you have about 25 enemy mechs all gunning to kill you. Granted that your mechs are more powerful, the gameplay is still dog slow. For example, I quit on level 19 when I'm about 137 turns into the scenario. WTF! 137 turns in and there's still about a dozen enemy mechs and 4 bosses that I haven't disposed of. I think that whoever designed this shit thought that slow torture is fun for the gamer.

It's an ok game, I just don't know what is it about it that made me quit. Probably because it's only fun during the first few scenarios and immediately went downhill from there.

SRW fans are probably saying, "You idiot! It's such an easy game to beat." Well, not for me. 19 scenarios out of 42 is enough for me. Going beyond that is insane. I'd much rather play Front Mission (has more depth and better graphics) or Fire Emblem (this one was hard as well but I persisted and finished it). Anyway, I'm not a Gundam or Super Robot fan, and since this game is from the Original Generation, the mecha that I know like Voltes V or Mazingerzi are not included here. It's pretty much useless to me.

Don't get me wrong. This game is solid and long, just not my type of game. I hate games that become a chore after a while. Though I have my share of these types of games, some of them are compelling enough that I find it fun to finish the game. Not so with this one. I give it a 3 out of 5.

Snes Supa Robot games

There's been a lot of Japanese super robot Snes games that came out during the late 80's. I'll make this entry a short list of some of the super robot Snes games that are 100% translated to English.

1. Super Robot Wars 3 (Strategy RPG)
2. SD Gundam - Cross Dimensions (Strategy RPG)
3. Gundam Wings - Endless duel (Fighting game)
4. Mobile Fighter G Gundam (Fighting)
5. V Gundam (Side scroller)

This is just some of the super robot games that has piqued my attention. If you have any idea of any super robot Snes translations, please post in the comments. If you need to have the rom, try searching google or go to the links page of www.fantasyanime.com, you'll find a lot of resources there for you to find the games you want. For the translation patches, just head over to www.romhacking.net.

Another WWW source for GBA roms

Hey, you want to try out the latest and greatest GBA roms? Go to http://www.emuparadise.org/ and go download stuff that is illegal but as unenforceable as pissing on the side streets of Metro Manila. Emudimension prides itself as having all the GBA roms ever released. They also have Bittorrent trackers for PSX iso's and a lot of other illegal emulation stuff, Yaar!

Oh shut up, you hypocrite, I saw you buy your Windows XP in a shady store in Greenhills. Go ahead, indulge. Go download the whole collection before THEY shut it down.

Fire Emblem (GBA)

I think It's accurate to say that Fire Emblem is the first strategy/role playing game ever. It actually came out for the NES during its infancy, preceding even the venerated Shining Force series.

The GBA Fire Emblem is the first english release of this series. There are Nes and Snes roms for Fire Emblem, but they're all Japanese. Some translation groups are trying to make an english version but none has them finished yet.

The cool thing about Fire Emblem is the difficulty. Sometimes, levelling up can be very difficult, not because there's a lack of enemies, but because your strategy may not accomodate proper levelling. This says a lot about the game's need for real strategy. Remeber, once your character dies, you can't use him again in the game.

The game can frustrate players because of its difficulty, but winning a scenario is really rewarding. It's cool to win a scenario not because your characters were more powerful, but because you made good decisions in the battle.

Adding to the dificulty of the game is the fact that you can't buy or sell items after a battle, you actually need to buy/sell stuff "IN" battle. Imagine your swordsman with only 3 more uses for his sword while he's surrounded by enemy knights. He's definitely not gonna appreciate shopping for a sword during that time. Though, this concept adds resource management to this game as well.

Fire Emblem's story is also great. Just the right twist and turns to get you hooked, but just the right length to keep your attention. The cut scenes are simple montages with the character protrait in the foreground with beautiful backgrounds of the scenes.

This is just a capsule review for Fire Emblem. You can visit Gamespot or Gamefaqs for more in-depth reviews. Basically, if you want a solid and challenging game - pick this up now. I give it a 9/10.

Oh wow! I update less and less

Yeah I've been updating less and less. I'm just busy playing the crap out of any old games I can get my hands on. This month alone I've been playing Driver 2, Lord of the rings: The Two Towers, Fallout 2, Ultima 8, F-Zero, and a bunch of other great games that I missed. I love old games!

If you want to play some old games head over to www.abandonia.com. Lots of classics games there to download for free.

I still have Tactics Ogre, Fire Emblem, and Final Fantasy Tactics on my list of must play games this December. So many games, so little time!