Archive for Tag: … of the Month
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… of the Month: Star Ocean: The Second Story
Columns by Matt Gardner on Don't let the name fool you, this game stands on its own, meaning you won't have to have played the first one to understand what is going on (which is convenient, since the first one wasn't released outside of Japan, as far as I know). Star Ocean has a customizable battle mode where you can choose if you want to fight in more of a classic RPG style, or a style which involved a lot more free movement and decision making. You can create various items such as armors, weapons, accessories, and items from raw materials you find using skills you gain on your journey. The story itself develops in different ways depending on the decisions you make (the most important of which being what which main character you will choose to control, Claude or Rena), and what mini-events you choose to participate in.
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… of the Month: Final Fantasy Adventure
Columns by Matt Gardner on Game Boy Original Action RPG of the Month: Final Fantasy Adventure Final Fantasy Adventure is more like The Legend of Zelda that it is Final Fantasy, but it is a good game nonetheless. You play as a
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… of the Month: The 11-Minute Mario 3 Completion Video
Columns by Matt Gardner on Now, in case any of you haven't heard the news about this pseudo-miraculous video, it is basically of a person playing through the game of Super Mario Bros 3. in 11 minutes. The conspiracy comes in with whether or not he did this legitimately, or whether he/she cheated in some way/shape/form. One theory is that the person who did it used an emulator, playing the game in a slowed down mode, and then sped it up in the movie to make it seem like his feat had been performed at regular speed. This stems from the fact that some people have seen "jumping" and flashing and whatnot during the video, hinting at such editing.
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… of the Month: Kingdom Hearts
Columns by Matt Gardner on Kingdom Hearts is a collaboration between Square and Disney, and it lives up to the names of both companies. It has the great gameplay, characters, and storyline of a Final Fantasy game combined with the heart-warming stories and loveable characters from your favorite Disney movies. While you play you will run into familiar characters from Disney and Squaresoft, such as Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Aladdin, Hercules, Tarzan, Ariel, Peter Pan, Squall, Cloud, Yuffie, etc. These characters and others will team up with the hero of this story, Sora, to fight a seemingly endless battle against the shadowy, evil creatures known as the Heartless. The gameplay is easy to pick up, and even if you rarely play video games you will quickly be able to master it. If you are a Disney fan, a Squaresoft fan, or even if you aren't into either of them, go out and pick up Kingdom Hearts. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you may even soil yourself from sheer joy.
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… of the Month: Chrono Cross Original Soundtrack
Columns by Matt Gardner on Chrono Cross. Normally in one of these "... of the month" sections I would write about the game, why I liked it, and other such things. This time, however, things are a little different. I am not writing about the game itself, but the soundtrack that goes along with it. The music composed, arranged, and produced by Yasunori Mitsuda is among my favorite of all time of any genre. Each track perfectly represents the atmosphere of the area.. and even if you haven't played the game, when you hear the soundtrack you will feel as if you are traveling through small and large towns, through mysterious forests, over the ocean in ships and into volcanoes, and even through the depths of the ocean. Tracks such as "Time's Scar" and "Star-stealing Girl" are among the greatest of the collection, and stand far beyond the musics of other, similar games. Even if you haven't heard of Chrono Cross (which is impossible if you've read this entire issue) you should pick up this soundtrack, or at the very least (or if your mommy won't give you her credit card to spend 30-40 dollars on imported Japanese music), download a few tracks. It's worth it. Trust me.
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… of the Month: Neverwinter Nights
Columns by Matt Gardner on Before I start describing this game, I must address the people who have never heard of it. First off, get out from under yer damned rock. Secondly, it is not called 'Neverwinter' because it is never winter, it is a town named after Halueth Never and, before you ask, it isn't always night time. Now that that is out of the way, on with the show. Neverwinter Nights could possibly be the best PC game I have ever played... ever. It has a great storyline, memorable characters, tons of weapons, skills, spells, and anything else you could imagine. Yes, it does have a whore house where you can 'hire' a lady/guy friend for the night, but that is nothing compared to the rest of this spectacular game. NWN has completely customizable characters, allowing you to choose your race, (you can even make up your own race), class, abilities, size, hair color, tattoos, age, voice, deity, etc. If you aren't into making characters, there are premade ones ready for you. The multiplayer mode is quite fun to play if you have any friends, but if not, the single player mode alone makes this game worth getting, with tons of sidequests to complete and places to visit. Now, the coup de grace of Neverwinter Nights: The ability to create and play your very own mods. If you don't know, mods are different games you can make or play through NWN. You can never run out of things to do with the 900 some mods available to you, but even if you do, you can just make one for yourself with the easy to use toolset that is included with the game. Another nice feature of NWN is the Dungeon Master client, which allows you to play games with your friends as if you were playing an actual Dungeons and Dragons game, where the DM would have complete control over all NPCs, monsters, etc. The only downside of NWN, in my opinion, is the ending, which left a little something to be desired. I won't say that it is completely bad yet, though, as there might be an expansion pack for it sometime in the future with a better ending. Neverwinter Nights deserves an A for ahh, what a good game. Do yourself a favor and go out and buy it... along with a better computer so you can actually play it.
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… of the Month: Icewind Dale
Columns by Matt Gardner on Icewind Dale is a cold little place featured in many "Forgotten Realms" based novels, such as the "Icewind Dale Trilogy" by R.A. Salvatore, and now it stars in it's very own game! Icewind Dale uses the same engine (The Bioware Infinity Engine) used to create Baldur's Gate, a nd makes damned good use of it, too. The controls are quite easy to learn, even if you've never played Baldur's Gate before, and the storyline leaves nothing to be desired. You start off your adventure by creating a party of adventurers from 1 to 6 people. Your companions' races can be anything from Human to Half-Ogre, and their classes can be anything from an average fighter to a specialist mage. If you so choose, the multiplayer option allows you to join up with your friends or strangers to take on the 150 or so different monsters that roam the dale using a wide variety of weapons and spells. You explore many different areas, such as crypts full of the walking dead, volcanic caverns, and ice capped mountains. Icewind Dale is one of the largest games of its kind, and rest assured, it will leave you a lot less bored and a whole lot less pissed off than other certain multiplayer adventure/role playing games... Diablo II, for instance. If you liked Baldur's Gate... Hell, even if you hated it, or never even heard of it, check out Icewind Dale. If Drizzt Do'Urden lived there, it's gotta be good, right?
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… of the Month: Lufia
Columns by Matt Gardner on The Lufia series. What words can describe the perfection achieved by three of the greatest games of all time. Oh, I know, "Perfection." Now, granted, perfection is a pretty strong word to use, but if any series deserves the title, it certainly is the Lufia series.
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… of the Month: Mr. Face Advance
Columns by Matt Gardner on Background: A long long time ago, on an ancient, destroyed, website, there lived a happy little smiley face by the name of "Mr. Face." Now Mr. Face was a kind enough soul, never bothering anyone, and pretty much minding his own business. He lived a pretty uneventful life until one dreadful day when some bastard game players like you decided to shoot him... in the face! Assholes. Anyway, one shot to the head was not enough for the psychos, they shot over and over and over until the poor yellow smiley couldn't take it anymore and exploded... That was the last we saw of the lovable face for years to come.
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… of the Month: Dragon-Warrior.com
Columns by Matt Gardner on Although it doesn't contain walkthroughs, cheats, or other elements usually associated with websites based on video games, Dragon-Warrior.com is one of the best, if not the best, Dragon Warrior site out there. Within the confines of this excellent website you will find comics based on Dragon Warrior (Dragon Warrior 101 being the main comic of several, and quite funny), a store where you'll find links to pretty much all dragon warrior related merchandise (games, music, t-shirts, etc), AIM bots, images, fan-made games, message boards, and more! What more could you possibly want? What's that you say? You want to see a mage get stripped naked by a slime? Well, it's your lucky day because Dragon-Warrior.com has that, too! So hurry your dragon hungry self over to Dragon-Warrior.com before it's too late! Too late for what? I guess you'll just have to go there and find out for yourself.