Romancing SaGa 2, Finale - Live on in Song

 

This is it, the final episode of this very strange, but very good game. Unfortunately, the final boss is horrible.

Romancing SaGa 2, Part 8 - Rocbouquet and the Final Emperor

Previously on RS2: I finally unlocked the Final Emperor, AKA the guy I named at the beginning.

Now, some queen is trapped and our heroes have to save her. Unbeknownst to them but knownst to us, the "queen" is actually Rocbouquet of the Seven Heroes.

In other news "Rocbouquet" is probably the coolest goddamn name I've ever heard

Eighteen Games That Were Huge Letdowns (Updated for 2024)

Today I'm going to look at nine eighteen games that I had high initial expectations for, expectations that were shattered once I got ahold of them. This is a bit different from my Games I Tapped Out On Midway Through and Games I Didn't Enjoy But Still Finished lists in that, whether I finished these games or not, they didn't live up to the hype in any way.

Note: There are a few "no-brainer" entries that won't be on the list (for instance, No Man's Sky) because I haven't played them. Also, there are some games that very much deserve to be on this list (Fable) but won't because I played them well after release (aka after I knew better than to expect anything). In short, this list is limited to things that I played while the hype was still strong, only to find them to be a huge letdown. Also, nothing on this list is necessarily a bad game. Some of them might fall into that category, while others might just be things that didn't jive with me personally.

Note 2: Previously posted in January 2018 with nine entries. Updated with nine new ones.

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, Part 4 - Nothing Good Ever Happens At Zero

 

Today on Riverdale: Boy, this latest season sure has gotten weird.

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, Part 3 - La Santa Maria

 

Today on DQ3, I get a boat at last, and sail from Portoga to the New World.

Romancing SaGa 2, Part 7 - Subier and the Sea Ship

Next Empress is the descendant of Andromeda, and basically the same character copypasted. Look at all those damage-type resistances I'm piling up.

With all of these remakes and revivals, is it possible we may some day see Cheetahmen 3?

Romancing SaGa 2, Part 6 - Bokhohn and the Sand Ship

 

Next generation choice contains Ruby Soho and AN ACTUAL BEAR. (Note: Not an actual bear)

If a furry gets eaten by a bear, is that cannibalism?

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, Part 2 - Kandar's Hentai Empire

 

Realized something after the first post. Where was Ortega? Almost no mention of him, and no intro cutscene of him falling into a volcano. Instead it's just "he went missing". Curious. We'll see what happens.

Romancing SaGa 2, Part 5 - Dantarg and the Maze of Memory

 

Today on RS2! The third of the Seven Heroes, the fearsome Dantarg. Also the sprawling new side-dungeon added specifically for this remake.

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake (Switch, 2024)

 

Funny coincidence here: In the past I played Dragon Quest 3's SFC remake at the same time as Romancing Saga III, and now history is basically repeating itself with me playing this while writing about RS2. In any case, this just came out for a bunch of systems, and I'm playing it on Switch. DQ3 is probably my #1 NES game of all time*, which is a pretty high accolade from me, so let's see how this remake turned out.

* - While DQ4 is a better game overall, I give this one the nod because you have more control over your party. Between that and the classes, this is the one I'm more likely to go back to.

Romancing SaGa 2, Part 4 - Glistening Mermaids

Next is some sort of cliff-based dungeon. I don't even know what this is for, and just kinda wandered into it. They should call this game "Wandering SaGa"

Romancing SaGa 2, Part 3 - Southern Lands

 

RS2 continues with more Emperors! More roaming around the discombobulated landscape! And the party battles the second of the Seven Heroes.

Romancing SaGa 2, Part 2 - Liberation of Avalon

 Our heroes return to Avalon to find the place sacked by monsters, who have defeated Victor. Towns look REALLY nice in this HD port, I gotta say.

Romancing SaGa 2 (Super Famicom, Nintendo Switch, 1993/2017)

 "And lo! Even as he laughed at despair he looked out again on the black ships, and he lifted up his sword to defy them. And then wonder took him, and a great joy; and he cast his sword up in the sunlight and sang as he caught it. And all eyes followed his gaze, and behold! upon the foremost ship a great standard broke, and the wind displayed it as she turned towards the Harlond. There flowered a White Tree, and that was for Gondor; but Seven Stars were about it, and a high crown above it, the signs of Elendil that no lord had borne for years. And the stars flamed in the sunlight, for they were wrought of gems by Arwen daughter of Elrond; and the crown was bright in the morning, for it was wrought of mithril and gold."

Highlander II: The Quickening (1991)

 

Hands-down one of the worst sequels of all time. And with such an incredible poster / cover art, too. This is going to be a large post, because I'm looking at both the theatrical version and the Renegade version that attempted to fix the movie. Did it succeed? Ehhhhh.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, 2nd Half

 

Our Halloween festivities conclude with Soma playing a giant piano. Wasn't able to find a secret to this: It's just a giant piano, and it's there, so you can randomly play it before continuing on your way. These games are so stylish.

Side Note: So it seems that the 1999 battle between Julius and Dracula was actually the final resurrection of Dracula and he's defeated for the rest of time. Julius' 1999 battles being essentially the final battle of the Castlevania timeline (not counting Soma's future antics) makes it even weirder that we never got a game based around it.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow (Nintendo DS, 2005)

 

The direct sequel to Aria of Sorrow and as such, something I should have checked out two months ago. Now out on the Dominus Collection, which is all about dominating, I guess. Look at Julius Belmont all the way in the back. Poor Julius.

Haunted Castle Revisited (Switch, 2024)

 

This is, believe it or not, the first new Castlevania game in like ten years. The last one was also a remake of an early game with Castlevania Adventure Rebirth. This uses basically the same engine and is similarly barebones with mostly left-to-right 2D stages. That said, it's a new Castlevania game. That alone is a big deal. Even though it's another 30 minute long game, it's another nice bonus on the new collection and a vast improvement over the original arcade game.

Haunted Castle (Arcade, 1988)

The notorious arcade version of Castlevania 1 that only in recent years became a subject people were interested in (likely because of the total dearth of new 'Vania, so people are going back and mining what exists). Much easier to play now due to its inclusion on the new Castlevania Dominus Collection. While usually arcade versions came before their console counterparts, this one was actually released after the original Castlevania (or Vampire Killer on MSX2).

Pokemon Leafgreen Finale - Many Pokemen (Wish Death)

 

After going all the way around the world, the first city's gym is finally unlocked. Will LEAF become Royal Crown Chinpoko-Master, or will I hit an impasse and be unable to beat one of the easiest RPGs of the 90's? Will the sixth man Machamp pull his weight? (No.)

The cool thing about Pokemon is that nobody ever dies, they just fly back into their Pokeball until the next time they get summoned for this society-wide cockfighting sport. Just because all of their culture are cockthusiasts and accept this terrible practice doesn't make it ok. #EndPokemonFighting