RPG

The majority of PlayStation role-playing games cling to similar plots where the main character is either struggling with inner demons or suffering from an identity crisis. In Suikoden II, you won’t find your character walking around towns mumbling things like, “I think my name is Cloud,” or “Oh look! My hand is glowing and I really don’t know why.” As with the first Suikoden, the main character (whom you name) is but a small pawn in a gigantic battle. Granted, you do learn a sufficient amount about your in-game persona, and of course, he’ll undergo some serious hardships, but the overall goal of the game is to overthrow tyranny and protect the land. You’re just along for the ride.

To combat the evil forces, you’ll be asked to scour the world and recruit allies. Even though you don’t have to find them all, there are 108 different characters in total. Some of these draftees would like nothing more than to become your ally. However, some of the more valuable characters ask that you perform specific feats or trek on a side quest before they will join your ranks. To accommodate the arrival of new confederates, your castle will continue to grow throughout the course of the game. Every once in a while, a new room will appear or a new wing will be tacked on. At the end of the game, and if you’ve found all 108 characters, your castle will be so big that it appears to reach to the heavens.

Suikoden II’s gameplay hasn’t changed too terribly much. To its benefit, the graphics have been improved, the loading slashed in half, and the overall speed of gameplay increased. Once again, combat takes place within three different turn-based scenarios (Party, One-On-One, and War). Both the One-On-One and War modes have been partially redesigned to include more dynamic play, but the Party combat received minimal changes. Certain characters are now large in size and take up two party slots, and while the graphics remain grainy, the spell attacks look more vibrant.

The original Suikoden made Game Informer’s Top 25 PlayStation Games list, and the sequel will more than likely join it as another great RPG experience.

Final Fantasy VII sucks. Those four words have never crossed the lips of any PlayStation owner in a serious tone. To top what is universally considered the greatest RPG (if not the greatest console game) of all time was the indomitable challenge Square had laid before them. Final Fantasy VIII is its irresistible and undeniable response.

Once again reinventing the FF wheel, Square has added many new innovations to this chapter in the series. Materia and magic points are out the door. Instead, any character wishing to cast spells must first be junctioned (kind of like equipping) with a Guardian Force (GF). Characters will then have the ability to summon forth the GF, doing plenty of damage to the enemy, and the capacity to draw spells from creatures, casting them right then and there or saving them for later. Every monster has different spells to draw, and up to 100 of each can be stocked. This becomes very important since spells can be junctioned as well, bestowing elemental defenses, increased attack power, and more hit points, among many other things.

Hey! Don’t forget that GFs are characters too. As soon as a GF is acquired, it will begin earning experience, going up levels, and learning new tricks. If a player wants their Ifrit GF to know how to Boost his attack or turn people into Cards, they better make sure to tell him that.

Combat has also become a much more interactive experience in FFVIII. After deciding a character’s action, it often pays to keep an eye on what they’re up to. The protagonist, Squall, wields a gunblade that will do more damage with a well placed press of R1. If a summoned GF has learned Boost, jamming on the square button at the right times will power-up the attack. Limit Breaks, while much more rare than in VII, almost always require fighting-styled combos to get the maximum effect.

Don’t fear that Square has forgotten the basics, though. Still present are the lush settings, eye-melting CG movies, cinematic storytelling, minigames (including the elaborate collectable card game, Triple Triad), and involving plot that made everyone love FFVII.

Truly, there is much more to say about Final Fantasy VIII. So much, in fact, that a one page review of it is an injustice. We couldn’t fit a FFVIII Play to Perfection in this issue, but be on the lookout next month for Game Informer’s Final Fantasy VIII Special Edition, which will include details on every minute facet of this soon-to-be RPG legend.

Legend of Dragoon borrows more than just a little from Final Fantasy VII. With the exception of the overland map being so tightly confined, everything from the three character combats to the dungeon and town environments are virtually indistinguishable. Even the FMV clips play a role in the game’s eye candy appeal. Despite these things, Legend of Dragoon definitely has its own feel to it.

The biggest difference is the plot. No one has amnesia. The main character is already in a relationship with the love interest of the game, and the overall theme has a much more deeply mythical feeling to it. While the characters all come from the usual tragic backgrounds, each person’s story and motivations are played out rather than simply providing a backdrop for an otherwise one-dimensional personality.

The primary back story concerns a war that happened between humans and a race of winged humanoids called the Winglies 11,000 years ago. During this time, the two races arrayed a vast lineup of incredible magics and fantasy creatures against one another; the humans learning to tame and harness the power of dragons, the Winglies relying on their innate magical abilities and nasty creatures called Virages. The war was finally won through the efforts of seven human warriors who used the spirits of dragons to transform themselves into powerful Dragon Knights, or Dragoons.

Quite a few millennia have passed since that time, but war and strife once again threaten the peace of the now dominant human nations. Winglies and dragons are all thought to have been extinct for quite some time and the humans are now seemingly content to war on each other. As Dart and friends make their way through the game, however, the truth behind the war and the legends get thrust out of the cloudy past and directly into their faces.

Featuring over 40 minutes of FMV and some remarkably well animated real-time cutscenes, the Legend of Dragoon’s plot is its biggest asset. Combat is the other primary focus of the game. While the character customization options of the Final Fantasys is nonexistent, the characters each have their own unique drawbacks and advantages. Some are slower but hit harder, while others trade off being quick and nasty for a glass jaw. Throw in the Addition combo system and the unique powers of each Dragoon form, and combat gets a lot more interesting than your run of the mill RPG.

Wild Arms is the latest and greatest RPG to grace the PlayStation. Set in the mythical world of Filgaia, Wild Arms has a sort of “wild-west” flavor to it, although it’s really the same old medieval land you see in most RPGs.

Unlike games such as Suikoden and Final Fantasy 3, Wild Arms features only three characters in its cast.The selection is pretty standard RPG fare; you have a wizard, a warrior (of sorts), and a thief (kind of). However, you’ll find that the characters are much more than they seem.

The graphics in Wild Arms are rather good for an RPG – picture Chrono Trigger, only crisp and clean. The monsters all look good in the 3-D battlefield, but the demons will really make your jaw dent the floor.

The core of the game is very much in the style of the old Dragon Warrior series for the NES, which most modern RPGers pay homage to. However, you will be pleasantly surprised at the wide variety of options you have. The cities, dungeons, and towers are all very large, and you will want to peek in every barrel and talk to every character. The dungeons features progressively hard puzzles and traps that your characters can overcome by using their tools – and your brains. The game has a couple of cool (albeit unoriginal) tools like bombs and grappling hooks. Did I mention a sprite rat, with a sense of humor no less?

While solving puzzles makes up a good portion of the game, the combat is not to be missed. If you’ve played the demo of Final Fantasy 7, you have a pretty good idea of what combat in Wild Arms is like. Your characters and the monsters you are fighting run onto a 3-D battlefield. From there, the camera angle randomly shifts around to give combat a cinematic feel. The magic spells and weapons look solid, but not over-the-top. As stated previously, the monsters look great, especially the demonic bosses. In short, combat is “FF7 lite,” but it’s still very enjoyable, and it works. As a sidenote – if the cinematic combat makes you woozy, you can set it to remain fixed at any point of view you choose.

Aside from general gameplay and combat, Wild Arms features a slew of extremely nice extras like the ability to upgrade your ARMs (Ancient Relic Machines, a.k.a. guns). The spell system is also interesting because you get to choose which spells you learn, and you can even name them. You can even draw your own icons to replace the standard ones that Wild Arms uses.

All in all, Wild Arms is an excellent RPG; how can you go wrong when you take the best elements of Chrono Trigger, Zelda, and Final Fantasy 3 and roll them into one game?

I had very high expectations when I heard that Persona was to be released here in the United States. My friends in Japan praised the depth of the game and thus I was prepared for a RPG classic. Yet I was sadly mistaken when I purchased my copy. Persona is disappointing, simply because it is too esoteric to be the deep and ambitious and diverse game that it hoped to be.

First the good. Persona adds a new twist to the RGP world by being situated in a modern-day environment, with characters that remind me of my pubescent high school days. The game has a haunting feel to it (thanks to the eerie music and disturbing sites – try visiting the velvet room or other dimension to catch my drift), and reflects the demonic atmosphere that the programmers tried to create. In addition, it is cool to have such a diverse arsenal of weapons, from swords to guns. The enemies are also diverse, and I really enjoyed being able to talk (or sing!) my way out of situations as opposed to hacking through. These were the good aspects.

Now the bad. I must say that the dialogue in the game is absolutely horrible. I eventually found myself to liking what the demons had to say a lot more than the so-called heroes. In addition, the game provides clues in mere phrases that often lead one astray. Also, the game is composed of various perspectives (3-D dungeons, third-person overhead, and three-quarter battle sequences), which further adds to the messy nature of the game. Rather than succeeding in mixing genres effectively, Persona only detaches the player from both the experience and the characters. The system of combining personas is also confusing and takes some getting used to.

Otherwise, Persona boasts some average graphics, decent sound, and an interesting storyline. However, this game is definitely an acquired taste and should be rented before considered as a solid purchase because if anything, this game is far from solid.

Xenogears is better than Final Fantasy VII. There I said it– the words that to some diehard fans would be considered blasphemous and impossible. Yet, in nearly every respect, this latest masterpiece from Squaresoft in my opinion tops all the company’s previous efforts.

A lot of players have complained about the graphics in Xenogears being sub-standard and ugly. I could not disagree more. I personally prefer the 3D polygonal backgrounds in Xenogears over the pre-rendered backgrounds in FF7. Not only do 3D backgrounds look much better but they allow for more interaction with the environment then with pre-rendered ones. The backgrounds in Xenogears are nothing less than spectacular. Not only are they incredibly detailed, but also very varied. No two areas look even remotely similar. The ability to rotate the camera in 45 degree increments (as opposed to 90 degrees in Final Fantasy Tactics) allows you to always get the best possible view. The only graphical flaws come with the character sprites, which are a bit pixelated when up close.

If you’ve ever wanted to play a true Anime RPG, then Xenogears is for you. With a plot so detailed (yet confusing at times) you will feel like you’re watching your favorite anime. Never before in an RPG has there been such a detailed, complex, and compelling storyline. While some might complain the game is too linear, it really has to be with the kind of storyline it has. The sheer length of the game (about 60 hours) will make you forget about the linearity.

The battle system, while still turn-based, is very innovative. The fighting game elements as well as the 2 separate battle systems (character and gear) make the battles much more enjoyable than FFVII’s hackneyed system.

If that weren’t enough, Xenogears also gives us more playability by adding platform elements. It’s no longer just “walk, battle, walk, battle” anymore. Now you must jump, climb, swim, etc. and also, in some dungeons, solve platform game type puzzles. Xenogears does this without sacrificing the RPG elements that fans of the genre have come to expect.

That’s not all. Xenogears also has the best soundtrack I’ve ever experienced in an RPG. The music selection is among the best ever, with many different musical styles from Jazz to Rock to Celtic/New Age. I absolutely loved the Middle Eastern folk music used in a couple areas. I also prefer the Anime scenes over the CG FMV of FFVII. It gives the game it’s distinct anime flavor, making it a true anime RPG.

Xenogears is just a spectacular RPG surpassing all previous efforts. It excels in nearly every area, with the possible exception of replay value. The game’s flaws are few and very minor. I recommend this game to all PlayStation owners, even those who hate RPGs. Xenogears is better than Final Fantasy VII. Sorry.

This game is very different from the more “classical” games of the Final Fantasy series. The most obvious example of this is in combat. Your characters usually face a roughly equal number of opponents on a 3D map. Unlike other FF games, you must often take into account the type of terrain on which you are fighting, and there is even a special character class (Geomancer) whose special ability it is to manipulate the different types of terrain in different ways. Moving around on the world map is also different from most of the FF games. Instead of free movement (like FF7), you are limited to “tracks” connecting towns and other areas of interest. Not all of these will be available right away, but will appear as the story unfolds.

Now, all this is not to say that the game is bad. After all, variety is the spice of life, right? As a matter of fact, I personally rather enjoy a game that focuses less on finding where to go or what to do next (the path you are to follow is highlighted), but rather combat. With several different character classes (from knights and wizards to ninjas and samurai), even the same fight can be different depending on which class you choose or which abilities you decide to employ. Another excellent feature is the “fitting room” in stores. Instead of having to check each of your characters for the types of equipment you will need, you simply send them to the fitting room, select “best fit,” and voila!

Of course, there are also some minor downsides. The plot (a scene of which plays out after every major battle) is somewhat confusing. Fortunately, there is an in-game feature that keeps track of everything you have done so far as well as everyone you have met with a short summary. The previously mentioned major battles are often rather difficult, and since you often see a scene beforehand, having to load often can become quite frustrating. I also found myself frequently having to interrupt the flow of the game to go out and spend a few hours gaining levels or job points. This, I would say, is the game’s major weakness. Another downside is a lack of FMV (part of what made FF7 so great). With Final Fantasy Tactics occupying only a single disc to FF7’s three, the only movie I have encountered thus far is the intro, which, however, is so stunning that it almost makes up for being the only one.
Although I’ve compared FFT to FF7 throughout my review, you can’t really compare the two; they are two totally different styles. In fact the only link are the Chocobos which, like in FF7, you can recruit and breed, which is a nice touch. If you are planning to buy this game, beware: your free time is about to disappear!