Week in Review - 6/12/2026

  

I feel invested in Soul Hackers 2 since I bought it during a time where I'm trying not to spend (too much) money on video games. However, the game just really wore out its welcome and I'm struggling to sit down and play it when I only have an hour or so a night (if I'm not too tired). 

It was also a big week in gaming news and reveals. Some of the things I'm most excited about were the smaller projects that got swept away by big reveals like Final Fantasy 7 Revelations, Ocarina of Time and Persona 4 Revival & Persona 6 confirmation. I'm more interested in Castlevania: Belmont's Curse made by the team that did Dead Cells which was a great game inspired by the Castlevania franchise. I dare say Final Fantasy Resonance is about the most exciting Final Fantasy announcement I've seen in years. Brave Exvius was a game that looked awesome and I really wanted to play, but never got a chance - so I would love to see that game play out across Resonance installments. The trend of re-creating quality mobile gacha games into solid single-player experiences (Octopath 0, Another Eden) continues to delight me. 

• Monster Sanctuary (Switch)

I only got to sit down with this game for a few minutes this week, so I don't have much to report. Instead, I will tell you my early game team. I chose Spectral Lion as my Spirit Beast (starter) and his name is Solaris. I'm also using a Blob named Bloop as my healer. A Vaero named Beat as my buffer. I have not invested in my backup crew; they each have 9 skill points I have yet to distribute because I do not know how to build them. The backup crew includes Yetimon the Yowie, Magpi the Magmapillar, and Brock the Rocky. That's really all I have to say about it. I want to beat this game because it's good, but there's also something not-quite-right about it that doesn't hold my attention very long. My previous attempt, I got 24% completion and I'm sitting at 16% right now. 

• Rogue Legacy (PC - Steam)

This is a very fun rouge-lite game. I want to do some kind of challenge log with my son, but I haven't quite conceptualized what to do. The gist of this game is that you're playing a family bloodline that's trying to explore this dungeon. Each death is permanent, but then you choose your descendant to start a new run. Between runs, you build up your local township which unlocks new classes for future generations, increases their stats, or unlocks new items and equipment. The gameplay loop is very satisfying. Each character has a class they're locked into but they are also afflicted with genetic traits that can be positive or negative (and a few completely neutral). For example, if your descendant is colorblind, the entire run will be monochrome. It's very clever. 

Final Fantasy - A Review & Reflection

Final Fantasy - The Journey That Started It All

I first played Final Fantasy when I was seven years old. I probably got it for Christmas in 1987, but the details are a bit fuzzy. Most of my gaming life to that point was spent in games like Centipede or Super Mario Bros. where the “story” lived only in my imagination based on the limited introduction given in the instruction manuals at the time. 

Final Fantasy was different. I knew it was a paradigm shift immediately, even though I wouldn’t know that phrase until Final Fantasy XIII two decades later. The game itself was far too difficult for me to beat at that age, but it captivated me with its sense of discovery and adventure. Meeting kings, rescuing princesses, and stepping into a world full of towns, caves, and monsters felt like a novel coming alive. It was magical. 

By the time I was in 5th grade, I was carrying my Nintendo Power strategy guide to school, studying monsters and dungeons in my free time. I occasionally asked my teacher to explain words to me, which only cemented my nerd status among my classmates. I remember my first party vividly as it remains iconic to this day. 

• Todd the Fighter

• Dave the Black Belt

• Jed the Black Mage

• QT the White Mage

QT was a girl in my mind, but in elementary school giving her the name of a female classmate felt like a bold confession, so I kept it anonymous and generic. Later in life, I would see the White Mage (and moreso the White Wizard) as a male and name him Kiru after my Final Fantasy XI character who was also a White Mage.

It took me nearly a decade to conquer the NES version of Final Fantasy. I was 16 and over-hyped for Final Fantasy VII to launch, replaying all the classics to fill the time over the summer leading up to it. The day I finished it, I felt like I closed a loop that began when I was seven. I finally mastered a game that had introduced me to a lifetime of stories. 

Game Breakdown

Final Fantasy is a short but dense JRPG, beatable in a weekend if you know what you’re doing. The moment-to-moment gameplay loop is simple. You explore towns for hints. You explore the overworld for dungeons. You explore dungeons for upgrades. Those upgrades come in the form of experience to level up, loot from treasure chests, or gil (money) to buy new spells and equipment when you head back to town and thus the loop begins anew. 

The game opens asking you to build a party of four members from a choice of six jobs or character classes. The freedom to choose between warriors, thieves and wizards felt incredible to my young mind. Later learning those classes would go through an optional evolution was even crazier. When my White Mage was finally a White Wizard wielding Thor’s Hammer and could call down lightning with it, my imagination was in full overdrive. 

By modern standards, the story is a bit thin. However in 1987, it felt groundbreaking. The world’s light mythology about crystals, dragons, chaos, and legendary heroes of light was enough to spark my imagination for years (decades) to come. Even being able to name your party members with the four-character name limit became a huge part of the game’s charm. Homages to this would be paid in Final Fantasy XI and Strange of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin years later - even my old Black Mage “Jed” suddenly found himself fighting alongside Jack - at least that’s how it is in my headcanon. 

Even in this early game, the music deserves special mention. Nobuo Uematsu remains one of my favorite composers of all time, and Final Fantasy really planted the seeds of what would become an entire franchise of iconic soundtracks. Although, Uematsu was working with the NES’s limited sound hardware, he managed to craft themes that felt bigger than the gray packaging that contained them. “Prelude” and “Victory” are simple 8-bit compositions that carry that spirit of adventure and transcend the NES hardware. Later games’ soundtracks would certainly outshine in complexity and emotion, but these foundational first tracks on this first score would echo through the entire series. “Chaos Shrine” and “Mt. Gulg” have permanent residence status in my memory and emotions. 

Notable Versions

The NES Original (1987) is punishing but pure. This game had limited spell usage (spell slots) rather than MP pools that later games would adopt. Predicting the party’s lethality is a necessary strategy, because if the Fighter kills the enemy the rest of the team is targeting, then everyone after him will fight that empty space. This is what I consider to be a true “hard mode” version of this game.

The Dawn of Souls on Game Boy Advance (2004) added smoother combat, the modern MP pool, and additional Soul of Chaos dungeons with bosses ripped from other games in the franchise. The 20th Anniversary edition on Playstation Portable (2007) is my personal “definitive” version with all the content from Dawn of Souls and an additional Labyrinth of Time and Chronodia superboss waiting for you at the end. 

We’re currently in the era of Pixel Remaster which boasts sleeker visuals while retaining the original style of the NES version. This version strips out the optional dungeons for a return to form on the original experience. 

If I were guiding the modern player to check out Final Fantasy, I would recommend the Pixel Remaster edition. It’s approachable, charming, and true enough to the core experience that I described as short, dense, and magical. While I still hold true that 20th Anniversary is the definitive version with all the bells and whistles and extra content, the optional content can frankly be a slog and a distraction from that succinct weekend adventure I’m promising. If you end up loving the game, check out the versions with more content later down the road. 

Snapshot

Pros: 

• Short, dense adventure that respects your time (10-20 hours)

• Party building freedom and satisfying upgrades; good for replaying with different combinations of characters to choose from when building a party

• Timeless sense of discovery and nostalgia; see the origin story of a huge franchise

• Pixel Remaster makes it easy for modern gamers to access and enjoy

Cons: 

• Story is dense, but sparse; no cutscenes, no exposition - just the player experience and dialogue from NPCs in towns to build the world, explore the lore and define the narrative

• NES Original mechanics feel clunky and archaic compared to later versions

• Those optional dungeons are more padding than payoff; fighting bosses from future games is cool, but the dungeons themselves are tedious. 

This depends on your values as a gamer, but the game does not hold your hand. It expects you to talk to the town NPCs and follow clues to complete objectives. There is not a shiny line leading you from point A to point B or quest markers over anyone’s head. Exploring and discovery is part of the design. This is frustrating to some, refreshingly old-school to others. 

Final Reflection

Final Fantasy didn’t just entertain me. It really shaped me. It was my first window into how video games could tell real, captivating stories. It merged my love for fantasy, mythology, and adventure into an interactive experience. Even now, decades later, it’s more than nostalgia. It’s the game that pushed me from gamer to storyteller. It was the first spark that would carry me into a lifetime of RPGs and creative writing - endless imaginary worlds would follow. 

If you’ve never played this game, go in expecting a short, charming experience that is basically a time capsule from the dawn of the JRPG genre. For me, everything I love about games today really traces back to those four little heroes on the NES exploring the unknown to save a world. 

Week in Review - 2/19/2016

• Final Fantasy XIV (PC)

Shai Hulud perched over Ishgard

Like many weeks before it, this week I only logged on to raid with my team. Unfortunately, we are not progressing. It pains me to say it, but when we had a pick-up Ninja last week we were doing much better and seeing steady progress. Now we're back to wiping in add phase of Savage Alexander Round 3 (A3S). Next week the game will add new rounds to Alexander and we will push into that new content leaving the old behind. I'm tempted to finish leveling up my Paladin this coming weekend, but I'm not sure I'll have the mental fortitude.

• Pokémon Fire Red (Gameboy Advance)

As a simple Valentine's Day gesture, I moved all my wife's old Pokémon from previous generations up to the Pokémon Bank. Her Blastoise Squirt from Leaf Green to her motley crew in White 2. Now I've turned my attention to a project I've always wanted to do, but will probably never finish. I'm getting all the Pokémon out of their respective games - starting with the original 151 from Fire Red. So far I've got all three starters, Caterpie, Weedle, Pidgey, Rattata, and Spearow secreted away to my new "Pokémon Zoo" project.

• Starbound (PC / Steam) 

This looks nice!

This week Kathmandu stayed up late building the first module of his new research center. I scoured the solar system in order to find some new building materials. Hoping to find an abandoned Apex laboratory with research equipment, instead I stumbled into a USCM base full of robots. I cleaned out the inhabitants and set to work in the lower recesses of the base. I made sure to replace all their light metal and fancy lights with cobblestone and torches. No instead of a futuristic base, it looks like a paleolithic domicile. 

• Valkyria Chronicles (PC / Steam) 

When my wife is too sleepy to focus on TV, but wants to feel happy as she falls asleep, she asks me to play Valkyria Chronicles. This week I finished up Chapter 2 which means I have access to the beginnings of Squad 7. Instead of taking characters who I know are statistically the best in their field, I'm trying to get to know members of Squad 7 that I never really used before. Recently, Rosie proved herself as MVP by climbing up to a rooftop and raining a storm of bullets down into our enemies. Who needs snipers when you have Rosie?



- TOP
@TOPGamingBlog

---

Final Fantasy Record Keeper (Android)

Technically this is not a multiplayer game, but almost every morning TOP & Deez chat for at least an hour about the current and upcoming events going on in FFRK. We did not get a chance to play any other game this week, so we thought we'd highlight a game we definitely share on a daily basis, even if we can't technically play it together. 

This week in FFRK I conquered my 3rd Ultimate boss, Maduin. I have claimed Terra's Pendant as my reward. Previously, I beat Yunalesca and Beatrix. I threw myself at Rubicante, but it didn't go well. The rest of the Ultimates I have skipped out of fear. I did end up using one Mythril, but not out of necessity. After getting to 15% a few times, I thought a little extra boost would help me get over that threshold rather than waiting to get a lucky break. I used Advance & Retaliate with Gilgamesh's Draw Fire while the Barrier is up. Eiko's Emerald Light was key to victory after Mass Dispel was cast on my team around 50%. I love this game.

- TOP           

@TOPGamingBlog

I can't believe this is the first time I'm talking about FFRK! This game has stolen 7-20 hours of my life per week over the past 5 months. I don't have anything profound to say about it this week other than that I love it. TOP and I have long been of the idea that the newer 3D characters needed 2D sprite treatment in the same way that many older 2D Final Fantasy games have been ported to 3DS with upgraded 3D models. Mixing and matching characters to build a team is also great. I'm just pissed I didn't overcome Maduin (Ultimate) this week!

- Deezer

@Deezer509

Realm Reborn Exposé!

Everywhere I turn, I find rave reviews and awards being given out to Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn and its expansion Heavensward. It makes me feel like I'm on crazy pills. I often feel like I'm in some kind of minority, but just logging in and chatting with players I can find dozens of people just like me. This does not include the dozens that I can't find because they've already quit or taken a long hiatus. I want to speak honestly for a moment about what exactly I think is wrong with Final Fantasy XIV as of February, 2016.

First of all, I want to state for the record that I do think FFXIV is fundamentally a good game. I've played it since the disastrous 1.0 launch, all through the reboot of A Realm Reborn, and up until recently. While I've felt discontent for quite a long time, I've never truly given up on the game. I could go on and on about what I think the game does really well, but as I've pointed out there are numerous sites out there singing its praises. In my own opinion, I think the game really shines at the entry level. I wonder if reviewers are loading up the game for the first time, creating fresh characters and running around within the first 45 levels as they write their reviews. Some of the most fun I've had in the game in the last six months is starting up a brand new character and experiencing the early parts of the game - making new friends or running low-level content with my wife. This casual, entry-level content is really enjoyable.

The real problems set in when you hit the level cap and begin the long grind of MMO end-game. Since A Realm Reborns launch, the end-game has consisted primarily of three things. First, you do your daily quests and dungeon roulettes to amass points to purchase gear upgrades. Second, you fight primals - which are instanced boss fights - that typically drop a weapon or accessory to help you upgrade your gear. Finally, there is the end-game raid which has consisted of 4 distinct rounds of boss fights (similar to and often including primal-type monsters). I choose to omit the Crystal Tower and Void Ark style of raiding because this is mostly used to patch in holes and upgrade alternative jobs due to the gear being significantly less powerful than the aforementioned triad of content.

• Daily Dungeon Roulette

The Game Has Great Characters

Grinding points - called tomestones - to get gear upgrades is actually a really great system on the surface. The implementation, however, feels designed to get me systematically hating every single dungeon released into the game. The most efficient way to cap out your tomestones every week is to run what's called Expert Roulette. There are - of course - less efficient ways, but basically 4-5 runs of Expert Roulette (once per day) and you're done for the week. However, despite being called a "roulette" which might imply randomly selecting a dungeon from all "Expert" level dungeons, it really only pools from the same 3 dungeons - now 2 dungeons as of Heavensward - and no other. So as you're doing your Expert Roulette - you're basically playing the same 2 dungeons every single day for four months - or until you get fed up and stop doing it all together.

Typically when new dungeons are released, I run through them like a kid on Christmas. I'm wow! and oh! and neat! every little thing they chose to include in the dungeon. I love the way they construct them in this game, and I love their liberal, lore-sensitive use of previous Final Fantasy monsters and bosses to populate them. The Final Fantasy fan in me eats this for breakfast. But flash forward 3 months and I'd rather jab pencils into my eyes than set foot in these two new dungeons, because the game itself has caused me to hate them one by one. It's painful process to go through, literally every patch. Two new dungeons you'll love, but eventually hate! I feel like this problem would easily be solved if Expert Roulette simply pooled from a bigger selection of dungeons! Instead of 50% chance of the dungeon you just ran yesterday (and 100% chance you'll hate every minute of it), you would see those dungeons less and less the more they added. This alone would alleviate some of the pain.

• The Primals

Have I mentioned I love Shiva?

The primals are subjectively speaking the best part of the game. I love every primal fight so much. Even ones people typically hate, I pretty much enjoy doing above all else. The problem with primals, however, is that they are almost always put into the game as stepping stones to bridge gear gaps. This means they grow obsolete fairly quickly. So there becomes less reason to do them over time (like most MMO content these days) but since they are released with better gear already in the game, they don't become obsolete every new patch, but literally within a week or two. It becomes more and more difficult to get primal teams going when there's very little incentive to do them. Sometimes - as with Bismarck - the fight is obsolete the day it is implemented, because it is a stepping stone to another primal (Ravana).

• End-Game Raids

Bahamut's Teraflare - Epic!

Finally, you have the real end-game raid. For A Realm Reborn this was "the Binding Coils of Bahumut" commonly referred to as Coil. Heavensward basically carbon copied the exact formula but rebranded the content and aesthetics as Alexander - a primal without an interesting primal fight. For a long time - and even today - these end-game, high tier raids are what have kept me interested in the game when everything else has driven me crazy with tedium. The inherent problem with both sets of content is its restricting lock-out system. Originally, Coil could only be done once a week and not again. This restriction lessened over time to a point where you can take people in who have cleared, but you get substantially less of a reward the more of those people you bring. Even still, the level of difficulty and the restrictions on entry force people to group into necessary static teams to clear the content weekly without any decrease in available loot. As a result, outside of the 8-man team colloquially referred to as "your static" there has been very little reason to ever play or interact with other human beings at the end of the game (aside from finding new statics, and replacing static members). It's quite restrictive and adds to a very anti-social mentality for an MMO. While their are guilds and linkshells, the utility of these groupings has been extremely minimal as there is very little these larger groups can do together as a team.

Coil remains one of my all-time favorite end-game raids in an MMO that I've played. It was challenging and the feeling of completing it was sensational. The story made you feel like you were saving the world from utter destruction, and the challenge left you feeling like you'd really proven yourself as a player. Unfortunately, I haven't had either experience with Alexander at all. From its inception, I've been underwhelmed. The story (loosely given reason to even do Alexander) was all crammed into an easy mode - unlike Coil - that was completed in a single day. So there's no surprise victory fanfare for actually completing the end-game tier raid. Therefore this harder mode where the good loot drops offers no in-game motivation to complete. It's just a blatant loot carrot on a stick completely undisguised. The bosses themselves are boring and the final two instances are grueling and unpleasant to even attempt. It remains one of my least favorite end-game raids of an MMO that I've played.

Alexander Core - Derpy!

Not liking Alexander seems to be common, but even if I am in the absolute minority about this content,  I'm extremely distressed that after two years and a major expansion, Final Fantasy XIV has only managed to maintain a status quo. Although a patch comes every 3-4 months, it's like nothing has really changed since first hitting Level 50. Now I'm level 60 and I'm doing exactly the same thing I was doing a year ago. Running dungeons until I grow nauseous at the thought of them has really lost its appeal (if it ever had one). The same obtuse player lock-out systems that Coil had continues to be a burden on actual progression and casual grouping for Alexander. I was hoping for something different, something inclusive. I wanted an end-game that would take time to complete, challenge me, but also allow me to play with a wider variety of people and not the same seven people I always play with. Overall, I wanted things to be fun as they are leveling up.

• Conclusion

Final Fantasy XIV has a lot to offer and a lot to like but over time, it's grown tiresome. The end-game hasn't evolved enough to be anything more than a series of carrots on sticks. Each new carrot invalidating the last, but all the sticks are identical. Nothing ever truly changes, and you plod ever onward on a quest for gear for gear's sake. I know - I know! A lot of people will tell me this is how all MMO are created, particularly successful ones. Does it really have to be this way? I know that for a long time it wasn't the standard in MMO genre. This new style really is not for me, and honestly - despite it's great cast of characters, it's very well balanced job system, and an amazing story and soundtrack - Final Fantasy XIV probably isn't going to be played by me much longer unless they take a stark new direction on their end-game content. I just can't do the same things over and over for another two years hoping that it will change when it consistently never does.

Disagree? Let me know in the comments! I love a good disagreement.

-TOP
@TOPGamingBlog

Week in Review - 2/12/2016

• Pokémon Fire Red & Leaf Green (Gameboy Advance)

Leaf is so cute!

Yes. You read that correctly. I fired up each copy of this game from 2004 in a Pokémon Project I'd been dreaming up for exactly one year. Unfortunately, I have no way to trade from Fire to Leaf anymore which puts a damper on this super secret project that I will never finish. Also, it appears Fire Red was corrupted or its internal battery is long gone because the save game was deleted and the game crashed when I talked to Mom. Leaf Green is still going strong, though. More on this to come in the future - perhaps. 

• Starbound (PC / Steam) 

Challenge accepted!

Kathmandu's legend continues to grow. Over the weekend I convinced my wife to join him on some adventures around the universe. She rolled up her own Felin (mod race) named Vana Snow. They make a cute couple! Kathmandu showed her the ropes and helped her get her own core fragments. She insisted she progress her own character or he would have loaned her some. He showed her around his secret base, but encouraged her to build her own. Kathmandu does not like sharing.

• Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)

[Insert Joke About Eating Tatsu]

It occurred to me that too much time had passed since my last foray around Mira. I logged into Xenoblade hoping to get another chapter done, but was promptly greeted by a multitude of quests I'd left undone. I began plugging away at them and managed to cap out my Affinity score with Lin. I've replaced her tanking supremacy with L for now, but he's about 15 levels behind Lin. Hopefully, he steps up his game before we have to fight a serious boss. 

- TOP 

@TOPGamingBlog

---

Final Fantasy Explorers (3DS) 

My opinion on this game is evolving. I've changed from Knight to Machinist and spend a considerable amount of time researching and evolving mutations on to my Machinist abilities. The levels of customization in this game are the real shining gem of its gameplay. The way you can define your Final Fantasy jobs and roles within a party is tremendously involved and fun. Once I feel Machinist is established, I hope to turn my attention to Blue Mage. This week also marked the first time both brothers and both wives got to adventure together. It was so much more fun than our duet and trio excursions. I hope we get a lot more full party adventures soon. 

- TOP

Unfortunately, I have not played FFE enough over the past week to form any new stance. I'm still playing with everyone, but the progress I've made hasn't changed my opinion. I still struggle to come to terms with how deceptively shallow the depth of the game is so far. While the Job and Ability system is robust and deep, it's the only aspect of FFE that appears to have gotten special attention. Missions are straightforward and bland. There's no story on the surface to motivate you. At this point, I'm more motivated by the prospect of unlocking new outfits than I am by the actual gameplay. Nevertheless, I will march forward with high spirits in hopes the game will win me over!

- Deez

Week in Review - 2/5/2016

Well, it's been quite a long time since I've done this column.

• Blade and Soul (PC)

Nara Lyn says hello!

My relationship with Final Fantasy XIV feels like it's about to break. Blog forthcoming. That said, Blade and Soul launched at a very opportune time to steal away my MMO attention. It's free and it's awesome. The only problem I'm having with it is that no one else seems to be getting hooked. Everyone has dipped their toe, but no one seems ready to commit to it. The login queues have lightened up and I find myself online for an hour or two every day, but I'm all alone!

• Final Fantasy XIV (PC) 

I don't have pictures of Shai on this PC.

I only log in to FF14 these days to raid with my main team. I was raiding on two teams for over a year, but finally let one of them go. My wife has all but quit, too. For us the game is stagnant and the end game isn't enjoyable. I only play about 4 hours a week - 2 hours 2 days a week - to work on Alexander Gordius progress. It's been insanely slow as people have left the group and the game one by one. We're finally seeing some progress, but an entirely new raid opens up later this month. We won't make it in time. 

• Minecraft (PC)

Not Actual House!

I'm not actually playing Minecraft. I turned my account over to my children along with my old PC. They now disappear into Minecraft every night. I only mention it here because I was in the game showing my daughter how to build herself a shelter and locate her way home. It's funny what they chose to prioritize compared to an adult. It's a neat social experiment to see how they spend their time and resources. One thing I have learned, when the zombie apocalypse comes, they're doomed. 

• Starbound (Steam / PC) 

This is my current desktop background.

I'm getting back into Starbound. It's been two patches since "Jack Unbound" abruptly ended, so a lot of new content for me to explore. You may have noticed me sneak Kathmandu into my blog last weekend and hopefully I can keep you updated on his adventures. Since restarting, though, I've thought long and hard how to get back into Jack's adventure. There are a few fans on YouTube patiently awaiting his triumphant return. I'm still trying to work out the details of that story.

• Valkyria Chronicles (Steam / PC) 

Valkyria Chronicles has been in the news quite a bit recently. There is the upcoming VC Remaster coming to PS4 and Valkyria: Azure Revolution coming out later this year. All this talk about one of my favorite games of all time was enough to push me over the edge. I installed the Steam version I bought long ago (hoping to encourage a VC2 or VC3 port) and began protecting Gallia one more time. The characters and the art is beautiful. The game itself is extremely fun.



- TOP
@TOPGamingBlog

---

Final Fantasy Explorers (3DS) 

Onion Knight!

Seeking a game I could play online with my wife, my brother, and his wife, we all bought this game when it launched last week. The last game we all played together was Fantasy Life and I think compared to that, it has fallen short of our expectations. However, it's fun and cute and my wife and I seem to be enjoying it together quite a lot. I'm tanking on Knight class. My wife is healing on White Mage. The game really pulls a lot of weight with nostalgia. I'm now running around in full Onion Knight armor.

- TOP           

@TopGamingBlog

Monk!

Final Fantasy Explorers has yet to addict me. I was immediately intrigued when TOP introduced it to me, prefacing that it would be similar to Fantasy Life. Between us and our wives, we played the hell out of that game! Unfortunately, I have not been hooked in the same way by FFE. I've played about 4-6 hours, but I find it lacking. Fantasy Life feels immediately limitless, but FFE feels as if it's based solely on grinding. I do feel like I've only scratched the surface and I'm not giving up yet. 

- Deez

@Deezer509

2015 - A Life & Game Review

I'm trying to think back on the games of 2015 and I'm struggling. In February, I moved from Maryland to Hawaii. I bought Tales of Hearts R for the trip, but technically that was a 2014 release. Even still, I ended up going absolutely head first into Pokémon Y (again) and to some extents Alpha Sapphire. Tales of Hearts just didn't hold my attention. The "Tales" series seems to be hit or miss for me - I love some of them, but others bore me. Either way, none of these games came out in 2015. So what the hell did I play in 2015? Looking back, there really weren't that many new titles in my house.

The Bunker Hill Bros played the hell out of some Dragon Ball XenoVerse which is a great game, but not Game of the Year material. I will never forget the rise of (custom character) Potatta and her domination over this game. I was supposed to join the Deez in Star Wars Battlefront but I ended up flaking out and walking away from the purchase. I got Disgaea 5 for my birthday in October, but for the first time ever - a Disgaea game did not hold my attention for much longer than a week. I got much more into a play of Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness earlier in the year- also not a 2015 game.

Flipping through the internet, I see a lot of talk about Fallout 4, The Witcher 3, Metal Gear Solid 5 and even Bloodborne. Surprisingly, all of these were on my "I want to buy" list but none of them were purchased. Particularly surprising is Bloodborne, because I held it in my hands at least ten times and put it back on the shelf - including the day I bought Dragon Ball XenoVerse. I don't really have a lot of excuses for this. I suppose money has been relatively tight, but more so I've just found my large library of older games has really gotten me through the year. When Fallout 4 launched I realized I never fully explored or beaten Fallout: New Vegas and so I loaded her up instead of spending $60. Similarly, when Bloodborne was tantalizing me, I did another playthrough of Dark Souls II. Such was life in 2015 for me.

The only 2015 titles I can think of that I picked up and really sank my teeth into are Final Fantasy Record Keeper and Xenoblade Chronicles X. It feels severely unfair to slap either one with "Game of the Year" title when I really didn't play any other 2015 launch titles to any great extent. It also makes me feel guilty giving Xenoblade the high honors because the only other time I've posted a Game of the Year it was for 2012 and Xenoblade Chronicles won that award.

• TOP Game of the Year 2012 (Spoiler: Xenoblade Chronicles)

So let me tell you about the two games I did play to some great extent. 

 

Final Fantasy Record Keeper is a free-to-play iOS and Android game. It's honestly the first mobile game I've ever enjoyed and endorsed. I know part of that stems from my love for old Final Fantasy games, to which Record Keeper gives much fan service. However, it's been more than just a passing fancy. I play Record Keeper every single day. I'm sometimes overwhelmed at the level of strategy and planning the game takes, but it's the cute SNES-style sprites and the level of challenge the game brings to the table that keeps me coming back. 

The game is at its core an All-Star Final Fantasy Battle game. You collect characters from every Final Fantasy title and equip them with equipment and skills to do combat with various monsters and bosses from each title. Although each character can only have 2 abilities equipped at any given time, the battle system itself most resembles Final Fantasy IV and VI. As of today there are roughly 90 characters to collect, level and utilize to complete new events and dungeons. Events come once a week and new dungeons are added twice a month. 

Like most online, money-driven games it does suffer from a steady power creep. I worked extremely hard for about six months to be able to steadily 100% every event that came along. I finally felt like I was on top of the world and could conquer any challenge. Then a new difficulty was released and I was knocked so hard off my pedestal that I felt like I had just been fooling myself into thinking I was the very best like no one ever was. While there are cons to a steady power creep (like invalidating your best arsenal of relic weapons when new, better ones arrive) I like to think that it will keep the game fresh and keep me driven to take my team to new levels. 

Final Fantasy Record Keeper is easily the best mobile game I've ever played.

Xenoblade Chronicles X is overwhelming. Based entirely on my unendingly positive experience with its predecessor in 2012 and well into 2013, I picked up Xenoblade CX the day it was released and I'm still playing it today. I've sank about 60 hours into this game and I'm only on Chapter 6 of 12. The amount of content this game throws in your face is truly amazing. Simply exploring this beautiful, exquisitely detailed, alien planet will probably keep me entertained for another 60 hours easily.

Speaking honestly, during my first hour with the game I felt very skeptical. The custom created "main" character is an awkward, silent protagonist in an age of voice acted cutscenes. The very concept has made me question whether Cloud will translate very well into the Final Fantasy VII Remake - or whether a game like Chrono Trigger should ever be brought into the current generation. However, Xenoblade CX pulls this off pretty well with player input answers that lead you to believe he is participating in conversations (silently). I also wasn't entirely sold on the combat and its utter lack of Monado, but ultimately I'm finding it to be a much deeper combat system than its predecessor.

After that initial adjustment - the realization that no, this is not Xenoblade Chronicles that you remember, but something new entirely - the game just goes into full bloom, in my opinion. There are a ton of playable characters to get to know. There is - what feels like - a never ending list of side-quests to pursue (600, I believe is the official estimate). The "mission structure" to the story is the perfect balance between encouraging you to continue the story, but also allowing you to pause and take in the world at your own pace.

In Xenoblade Chronicles, I remember wanting to stop and get to know everyone and do every side-quest, but the story itself pushed a sense of urgency. It was difficult to justify hanging out in one place for 40 hours just to build local affinity when your [insert plot device] was in desperate need of your help. Xenoblade Chronicles X solves this problem by taking the plot away from character driven narrative and making you feel like you are actually building a new world on the planet Mira. Each side-quest, mission and affinity mission all feels like one more step in establishing humanity's place on this new mysterious world and I absolutely love it. 

With a new console on the horizon, Xenoblade Chronicles X will likely be my all time favorite Wii U release - much like Xenoblade Chronicles is my favorite Wii title ever played. It has breathed new life into a system that mostly my children were dominating until now. 

- TOP

@TOPGamingBlog

PS - Let me know what games you think I really missed out on in 2015!