This post is a continuation of the last post about games that I have previously finished prior to this endeavor. Currently, I've been bouncing around to a lot of games and seriously playing
Odin's Sphere (PS2) and
Chrono Trigger (DS). I hope to finish up one of those soon so I can truly start this thing, but for now I have 18 more games to go through before I can get to the present. Here's 10-18:
Final FantasyJuly 12, 1990 -- NES
Finally, a non-current generation game. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the current gaming systems. I just feel like I've neglected some of the older systems, which is exactly what this blog is about.
Final Fantasy is a game that I wish I would've played when I was younger. I was introduced to the Final Fantasy series with the seventh installation, like many people. I was actually later than most; I got
Final Fantasy VII for the PC in 1999. As can be seen by this very endeavor, I've always had a penchant for long quests, complicated systems and small rewards. Younger me would've loved the original. Not that
Final Fantasy is an exceptionally complicated or long game. In fact, it hardly has any of the things that Final Fantasy has become. But, in comparison to the games that I played as a child, it fits into the category nicely.
I bought
Final Fantasy for $20 in 2000 from a Babbage's, before it was gobbled up by Electronics Boutique and then GameStop. I wouldn't get around to playing it all the way through (though I started it many times) until freshman year of college, the winter of 2005. And though that may have been a long time ago, I distinctly remember beating Chaos and accomplishing what I had been trying to do for five years.
Grand Theft Auto IVApril 29, 2008 -- Xbox 360, PS3
Grand Theft Auto IV was the reason I purchased my Xbox 360. It was a disappointment. But, it introduced me to the Xbox 360 and achievements. And now I have an addiction.
I was a big
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas fan.
GTA IV just seemed like it updated the graphics of San Andreas and changed the ethnicity of the main character. It wasn't a terrible game, but it was a game I had already played the hell out of a few years prior.
Halo 3September 25, 2007 -- Xbox 360
Speaking of hyped up games that I never bought into (except I bought into both of them because I own a copy of each). I'm not a huge console FPS fan. I'm not a huge online multiplayer fan. And I'm definitely not a huge Halo fan. I never got it, even when I played the original on the Xbox. That said, I enjoyed playing through the single player of
Halo 3.
Left 4 DeadNovember 18, 2008 -- Xbox 360
Occasionally a game will come along that makes one rethink their opinions about console FPSes and online multiplayer. For me,
Left 4 Dead was that game. I had a blast shooting zombies in the face with three of my IRL friends. Eventually, the gameplay became repetitive, which I'm assuming was the reasoning behind releasing
Left 4 Dead 2 so quickly. Unfortunately, it wasn't just the content but the concept that was repetitive. Still, it's a lot of fun after a few months of not playing it.
LEGO Star Wars: The Complete SagaNovember 6, 2007 -- Xbox 360, PS3, Wii
Why did I 1000 this game? It was a welcome diversion from the abundance of story-driven epics that the current generation of gaming is filled with. Which is a little odd to say about a game that is a LEGO-inspired retelling of all six Star Wars movies. But, it is simple action/adventure gameplay with mindless collection achievements.
Lost OdysseyFebruary 12, 2008 -- Xbox 360
A good, current-gen RPG from Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series, complete with achievements that involve doing ridiculous tasks like maxing out your characters and collecting every item in the game. When I first heard that, I had high hopes for Mistwalker's second outing,
Lost Odyssey. I borrowed the game from a friend and played all the way to the 2nd disc, lost interest and gave up.
Deciding to give the game another shot, I bought it on a whim a couple of years later. It still didn't quite live up to the high expectations I had, but it is probably the most elegant and well-made JRPG on the 360.
Lost Planet 2May 11, 2010 -- Xbox 360, PS3
Lost Planet 2 is another game I bought on a whim, specifically because it was ranked 2010's hardest/most time consuming achievement list on Xbox 360 Achievements. Surprisingly, it turned out to be a fun, eastern take on 3rd person shooters developed and published by Capcom. I will definitely be going back to this game at some point in the future.
I've yet to finish the achievement list, mostly due to giving up after I realized I probably won't be able to be ranked #1 in the world. This in turn makes it so you can't get a particular title (in-game, "mini" achievements of which the game has 300ish) which causes you to not be able to unlock three achievements. I did give it my best shot, ranking 12th in the world on one of the training courses.
Marvel Ultimate AllianceOctober 24, 2006 -- Xbox 360, Xbox, PS2, PS3, Wii
Marvel Ultimate Alliance is a fun action/RPG hybrid. Some of the levels and boss fights drift more towards button-mashing and away from tactical combat, but who doesn't enjoy some mindless fighting occasionally? Plus, comic book characters are badass.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2September 15, 2009 -- Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2
I got this game at the local GameStop midnight release. Being much more polished than the original, it was definitely a worthy sequel. I only played through it one time and am definitely looking forward to going back and playing through it with the pro-registration side.
