First Time Completion: Phantasy Star IV (Genesis)

Sega Genesis is one of the handful of consoles I never owned. I've mainly owned Nintendo consoles up until Playstation, and only had a Game Gear otherwise for whatever reason. My first Sega console I actually owned is the Dreamcast, and grew up with the 3D style Sonic games. Besides playing Sonic 2 in a game store, and borrowing the console with a handful of platformers for a bit, my experiene with Genesis is limited. I got a more extensive taste of the platform when the Genesis collection on PS2 came out... then later bought the 360 version of it for additional games and achivements. This especially holds true on the Genesis RPG front. There are two particular series that is talked about amongst fans, and perhaps are the only well established Genesis RPGs. They're Shining Force and Phantasy Star games. With Phantasy Star, I kept hearing about IV in high regard so I gave that a shot.

Natrually, since I have a horrible tendency to not finish the vast majority of my games, Phantasy Star IV was another I played partially, but never got far in, despite liking it. Recently, I decided to give it another playthrough and manage to finally complete it. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and yet, I can't put my finger why I don't find it all that amazing though. It's definitely solid at all points with one fault being a lack of explination for skills, and subjectively thinking the music kind of stunk at the beginning. The cast is also cool, particularly Alys and Rune, and I always like the feature of party chat. It's all very sound, and can dig roaming through space to save the solar system from a cosmic entity, but it did not seem to really grip me all that together. I kept being lazy at mid-point and got hooked a little more once I can decimate enemies with superior party members. And for that build out for the ultimate evil, the game felt pretty rushed when the last few dungeons are much smaller after undergoing two epic, complex ones. It's still a fun game for sure, and probably would've been more midnblown if I was fueled by nostalgia.

There are still elements in Phantasy Star IV I find the most impressive and innovative. First is the unique visual style in combat, and effective use of storytelling through the great comic book cut scenes. Having numerous macros to select a set of actions the party does during a turn, and in the order of your choosing is also quite ingenious. I find the gaming industry a field where everyone copies/ripoffs one another for better and worse. It's a shame no one ever bothered to make their own version of these mechanics. I certainly would've liked more comic book cutscenes and macros in my JRPGs.

PS: You've got to love those old covers huh?

First Time Completion: Lufia II- Rise of the Sinistrals (SNES)

US Release: August 31, 1996
First time beaten: June 2012

Back when I was a kid, shopping frequently at a Toys-R-Us, I did a a lot of compulsive gaming purchases. Granted, I still do that now, but I was even more compulsive back than. Anyways, back when Toys-R-Us did that ticket stub thing for available games, I randomly picked up a ticket for Lufia II. It turned out however that it was placed there by accident, and they had no copies of the game. Since it was just something I was interested on a whim, I never got the urge to go get it again.

 I have not heard word about the game until many years later when some online friends start to talk about the greatness of it one day. I gave the game the shot at one point, and playing about halfway or so, I was not all that into it for whatever reason. It's probably because my peers were hyping it immensely, especially with the music, that I expected something more out of it, even if I didn't know what it was. So due to laziness, I eventually stopped progressing. Years later, I felt like wanting to give it another shot. Having played through lots of modern western RPGs, and several other games in different genres, it would be nice to play a good ol' JRPG. This time, I went to play Lufia II with no expectations build, and will go along with what it provides me. Fortunately, I enjoyed it quite more the second time, and got a better understanding of why many liked it.

I still don't find it all that pronominal, but it is fun. The cast certainly have charm to them that I find heavily lacking in a lot of modern JRPGs, and the combat has good pacing. The combat challenge can get way lower due to how easy it is to get super equipment from the side content, but it didn't matter. I can enjoy a game where I take delight on just how badly I can decimate a foe. It's biggest strength has to go to the excellent dungeons. They're puzzle oriented, and are very well implemented. Some are annoying, or a bit out there to figure out, but feels satisfying to overcome them, and made the dungeons feel like, well, real dungeons. Few other games like Wild Arms, implement them well, and was not a feature I liked too much back in the day, but it's an aspect I can get behind now as long as its not too arbitrary. There are still some parts of the game I find overrated, which is mostly the battle music. They're good songs, and sometimes hum to the Sinistral boss theme, but it's not all that amazing. I happen to like Lufia I's (a game I should also beat one day) battle themes overall more.

One last thing to note about the game is the amazing ending. The game got a solid start, but my enjoyment waned a bit when I felt there was a bit too much filler with the excessive dungeons and pointless scenarios between the more interesting bits. Fortunately, it got better towards the end, and it ended on a very high note. The ending is a very bittersweet one, and I cried during it. It's an especially impressive feat since this is not a game I'm nostalgic on.. I did play Lufia I before, so I knew what was going to happen in II, being a prequel and all. It was still powerful and the execution is great. What also got to me is when a certain song is played in the climax. It was only used once, but the timing of it is just perfect, and made the moment used that much more intense. I love it when gaming music used to frequently invoke more emotions into the scenes, and help make some moments greater.

Overall, I had fun with the game. It has its share of dull moments, but the ending alone made the journey worthwhile, and it does deserve the recognition it gets. It does makes me wonder how I would've enjoyed it if I did play it as a kid.

First time Completion: Splatterhouse (TG16)

US Release: April 21, 1990
First time beaten: June 2012

Though I'm aware of the platform, and some of the associated classics, I never did delve into Turbografx games, even with the Virtual Console service. Recently, I decided to play a TG game, and randomly gave Splatterhosue a shot. I heard of the series beforehand, but don't know much about it aside from its horror, gory tone. It seems to have a bit of a cult following, but I expected little of out of it. It didn't turn out to be that great, but it's strangely enjoyable.

The game is a very simplistic beat-em-up where I can only move left to right, punch a baddie, and pick up the occasional weapon. I can't move up or down, and the controls can certainly feel stiff. It's a short game too, but the later half feels a bit rushed. The weapon pickups are nifty, but there were no more of them on the last 3 levels. Some like the shotgun seem like wasted potential when it's only used for a five minute level. The final level and boss also felt very anti-climatic, after having been through some literal hell, and went through a lot of lives and continues just to reach the climax.

In spite of the faults, there is something I find charming about it that made me stick to it. Maybe I was just in a mood for something that simple where I simply wanted to move left-to-right and beat up the undead with no fancy movesets. And it's probably because I never delved deeply into the platform, but I find the visuals to be impressive for the time. I dig the variety of enemies, and the way the way they animate when they just fall apart after killing them. Maybe it's because I also I never saw the arcade version, which has more content and greater gore. I suppose ignorance is bliss since this allowed me to enjoy the TG version more for what it is.

I'm not really a big fan of beat-em-ups, and don't know why some randomly just stick to me. Classics like Double Dragon, Streets of Rage, or Final Fight (except 3) seem to hold my little attention, yet worse games like Splatterhouse do. Maybe the game just has some strange magic to it or it's evilness tampered with my mind into liking it.