year of the rpg
Categories: l33t
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One thing about this year is that it really was the year of the RPGs… it all started in spring, with a game we long forgotten, about a tummy laser android and her garter belt…
Xenosaga: Xeno had such hype built up for it that it was destined to fail due to those expectations. Luckily, when the dust settled, what remained was an entralling cinematic RPG that rivals any of the old PS1 generation Final Fantasy games. The main complaint about Xeno has been its heavy use of cutscenes to advance the story– this is nothing new. I still remember not playing FFXII for an hour as Tifa tried to unravel what is the Cloud. The story isn’t shabby either– we’re still waiting for the sequel to this game– and the battle system is fairly solid that requires planning rather than mindlessly selecting “Attack” all of the time. Unlike FF games, the mini-games here are not central to the story, and are only good for unlocking fanservice pics. And the game has fanservice for everyone, whether you’re into tiny schoolgirls, killer androids, or chix0rs with glasses. Of course, all of this was forgetton when we could have chix0rs with lightsabers…
Knights of the Old Republic: I personally hate D&D-type RPGs, having grown up on a steady diet of console type ones. KOTOR has done a marvelous job of blending the two worlds in a tale of Jedi, Sith, and Fett bounty hunters. The game is not as open-ended as I would have liked (for instead, some worlds you just cannot revisit anymore, and if you haven’t done subquests in those worlds yet, you are screwed.) The game’s main limitation is that it is short, like I finished both Dark and Light Jedi paths in less than twenty hours… there’s just something about these D&D games…
D&D Heroes: A fun, abiet, short Diablo-type game on the console… it was short… the next game isn’t…
Disgaea: Probably the most well-written RPG is also the most worth successor to Final Fantasy Tactics. The game drips in fun and subquesting, but it ultimately was drowned out for the following game…
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance: The hype was all on this game, probably because most l33t gamers I know have had some fond memory of FFT. While FFTA is a solid game, it isn’t the best, or even second best, Final Fantasy game to be released this year…
Final Fantasy X2: I felt X2 was just not as worthy a sequel as TA was. TA at least introduced a new world, new characters, and writing that is second only to Disgaea. As fun as seeing the semi-nakkid transformation sequences were, this still isn’t the second best or best Final Fantasy game this year…
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Nothing groundbreaking– in fact, this is basically D&D Heroes that requires an extra $400 of hardware (4 GBAs) to play. But it’s (1) polished (2) fun and (3) makes me glad I take my GBA SP where ever I go. For people lucky enough to have played this game in all its 4p glory, this could be your Final Fantasy game of the year. Of course, for the rest of us who don’t own 4 GBAs…
Final Fantasy XI: Nothing groundbreaking again– it’s Everquest with chocobos and requires a fairly modern (less than 2 year old) PC to run. But it’s (1) polished (2) fun and (3) so true to the original Final Fantasy that I see a lot of black mages running around named “Stabby Death,” “Stabbity,” and “Fightersuxs”. Bar none– this is my favorite FF game since Tactics.
Sadly, next year looks thin. The big games look to be FFXI for the PS2 and Suteki from Microsoft. FFXII, Kingdom Hearts 2, and Xeno2 along with the pseudo-sequel to Disgaea will arrive in Japan next year, which means we’ll see them sometime in 2005.
