No entry in the Final Fantasy series is as much maligned as the Final Fantasy XIII trilogy of games. In the years since the first game launched back in 2009, the games under its banner have been extensively (some might even say “wrongly), criticized not only as the weakest in the series, but also as…
Tag: square enix
What Are They Afraid Of?
“Do video game publishers know something that we don’t?” This question has been buzzing around my head ever since I learned about Square-Enix’s plan to retroactively make the upcoming Hitman game into an episodic “experience.” At first I thought it was just another money-grubbing move by a major publisher, but then I watched January 28th’s…
Stay Tuned for the Next Exciting Episode!
It may be a new year, but it seems that AAA publishers are just as determined as ever to show the depth of their contempt for their paying customers. Okay, maybe that’s a bit harsh but after everything we’ve seen from the likes of Konami, Activision, and Square Enix last year, one might have cause…
The Completion of Lightning Returns and a Question
It took about 95 hours, but I am finally done with Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns, and I don’t think I want to play another RPG again for a long, long time. Nevertheless, I ended up having a lot of fun with the game, even if my initial impressions weren’t great. Before I get into…
#Listmas: Gaming’s Chilliest Characters
What’s Christmas without snow? As a result, for my next listmas list, I thought it would be nice to list some chilly things, particularly chilly characters. It’s surprising how many characters are fit for this most festive of seasons, so sit back and enjoy the Duck’s list of chilliest characters in gaming, good and bad. …
Will the New Final Fantasy VII Lure Me Back into the Final Fantasy Universe?
When the Final Fantasy VII remake was officially announced at this past weekend’s PlayStation Experience 2015 conference, I watched in awe and confusion. The gameplay video that was shown was exciting and unexpected. It looked like FFVII, but it also really didn’t. In fact, if it hadn’t been for Cloud’s spiky blond hair and familiar…
A Better Way to Level Up
I have mixed feelings about leveling up in video games. As we all know, this common feature of RPG’s allows us to make our characters more powerful and, in any game that includes it, it is typically a requirement. You simply can’t get through RPGs without leveling up your characters, or else you’ll be doomed…
Lightning Returns and Species Extinction: A Question of Morals
During one of my recent excursions in Final Fantasy XIII: Lightning Returns, I spoke to a strange guy in the Dead Dunes who asked me to exterminate every member of each species of monster in order to invoke the appearance of a Last One, an extra strong and final version of that creature before its…
Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below – Review
Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree’s Woe and the Blight Below[1] (ドラゴンクエストヒーローズ 闇竜と世界樹の城 Doragon Kuesto Hīrōzu Yamiryuu to Sekaiju no Shiro?, literally translated as Dragon Quest Heroes: The Dark Dragon and the World Tree Castle) is a 2015 hack-and-slash RPG exclusively for the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. Released in Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan…
No More Hand Holding
I think it’s safe to say that many gamers find tutorials tedious, whether they be an entire level devoted to teaching the basics of a game or frequent interruptions where we are forced to read pages of text explaining every detail of every action we can perform, even such simple tasks as buying a potion…
VIRTUAL BASTION 