Dragon Quest VI SFC, Part X - Finale

 

Day 12 of The Twelve Days of DQsmas arrives. Whew, that was a haul.

With the big optional dungeon / superboss still remaining, I've got lots and lots (and lots) of grinding to do.

Dragon Quest VI SFC, Part IX - Demigods and Hungry Ghosts

 

Day 11 of The Twelve Days of DQsmas brings us the grand finale of DQ6.

At the top of Deathtamoor's Castle, the final battle for the fate of the world begins. Which world? I don't know. Probably the Dark World, but also probably one of the other two. Maybe both of 'em. I stopped keeping up a while ago,

Dragon Quest VI SFC, Part VIII - The Oppressive Force of Gravity

 

Day 10 of the Twelve Days of DQsmas is upon us. With Sorrow Town cured, the next one is Greed Town. Wait, so each Dark World town is essentially a personality issue that needs to be fixed? Is this suddenly an Ultima game? Will the next town be Wrath, and I need to cure it by visiting Empath Abbey?

Dragon Quest VI SFC, Part VII - Fine Dining and Culinary Excellence

This was the missing chapter when I did the remake. Here I raise Zenithia Castle and battle Duran Duran, while that Hawk guy continues to hang around.

Dragon Quest VI SFC, Part VI - Land of the Hawk

 

Now we enter uncharted territory with the remainder of this infernal game, after abandoning it for a while.

Previously on DQVI: I defeated Gracos, Demonlord of the Sea, found the legendary armor, and found the legendary shield. Also the hero won a beauty pageant by having the fiercest runway walk. Now, I have to repair a rusted sword and find the legendary helm before I head into the final battle.

Dragon Quest VI SFC, Part V - The Ballad of Clean Ken

 

My God! ...wait, who?

Dragon Quest VI SFC, Part IV - A Very Yuji Horii Christmas

DQ6 continues with more class-leveling! I'm all about the class-leveling in this game. The story really isn't interesting and the game world is a bit bloated, so the strong point of this game is the tree of classes and wealth of abilities to collect.

Need to issue a BIG correction: I said in the past that class mastery bonuses (+10 to a stat, etc) carried over between classes. Since then I've been informed that they don't. So that's unfortunate. Still worth maxing multiple classes to stack up the abilities, though.

Dragon Quest VI SFC, Part III - Glockenspiel

Not quite as breathtaking as the remake, but not too shabby either...

Dragon Quest VI SFC, Part II - Mirror Mirror

 

Today on DQVI: The intro scene finally comes to life as our heroes take on Fort Dragonia Mudo's Palace.

Dragon Quest VI (Super Famicom, 1995)

 

DQsmas continues with me bringing back DQ6 from the dead. I never finished covering the original version so it's my one remaining loose end in the first six games of this series. Covering it the same time as the remake was an experiment and it didn't work out great for the original. Regardless, I'm re-editing the first 60-70% or so that I did, then covering the last 30-40%. Let's go.

I've never been that crazy about this game and definitely put it in the bottom half of the series quality-wise. I've only played the SFC version once before, in 2001, so it'll be interesting to revisit it after all this time. This version never got an official US translation (all of the US releases were based on the remake) so I'm playing it on the same fan-translation from 2001.

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, Finale - End of the Beginning

"Considering as we have the ancient disease of pride which has caused innumerable homicides, the people of Alefgard agreed that no other house should be built higher than the towers of Zoma's Citadel." - Thomas Aquinas, probably

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, Part 6 - Merry DQsmas

 

Previously on DQ3: Our heroes defeated Baramos, only to have Zoma appear with an army of Mystery Drones and fly them menacingly over Aliahan, prompting our heroes to climb down to Hell.

The Crow (2024)

 

A rare movie review, because for some reason I actually had a lot to say about this movie. The original is one of the most atmospheric movies of the 90's, with a powerful performance by Brandon Lee (his last, mind you, which makes the movie even more impactful). It wasn't something that needed to be remade to begin with, and they bungled this one on every level to boot.

My Top 11 Worst Square Game Areas

This started out as a "worst RPG areas" list, but I was drawing a blank on non-Square entities so it became a Square list. Not to dump on Square here, as they're my favorite game developer of all time (with Konami and From Software essentially tied with them, but yeah). These are worst areas, so not limited to dungeons. Can also be overworld zones, provinces, etc. Because I'm limited to Squaresoft, the whole list won't be dominated by Phantasy Star 2 dungeons. Also, this list won out over the competition, "Top 10 Thiccest Dragon Quest Maous" so there we go.

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, Part 5 - Descent to Avernus

 

Today on Dragon Quest: I sail the Santa Maria de la Inmaculate Concepcion to new lands and take on Baramos in what is definitely the final battle of DQ3.

Super Earth Defense Force (Super NES, 1991)

 

1991 gave us two massive cultural touchstones that completely shook the world: Highlander II, and this space shooter from Jaleco that I never heard about until recently. Thought it was related to the Earth Defense Force series from 2005+, but nope, totally unrelated it seems. Trying it out anyway, as Jaleco usually makes good games. Also, "Jaleco" is like the most rad-to-the-max 80's/90's video game company title.

This is without a doubt the most attention this game has gotten in a long, long time.

My Top 10 Tedious Boss Fights

 

In honor of Romancing SaGa 2's terrible final boss, today I'm looking at a bunch of tedious boss fights. These are fights that gave me varying degrees of grief, not necessarily because of the difficulty, but because of their tedious elements. You know the type of fight, the kind you want to skip every time you replay a game.

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

Pokemon FireRed: The Let's Play

The whole set of videos on Pokemon FireRed to go with the LeafGreen. Had my girlfriend with me on some of these, and went solo on others. Bear in mind that we recorded these eight years ago, which is how long it's been since I really got into Pokemon on here.

Pokemon LeafGreen, Part 4 - Goro Wins

Some random guy questions LEAF's riding skills, as Pokemon LeafGreen winds towards a close.

Pokemon LeafGreen, Part 3 - Magikarp's Murder Spree

 

LEAF tries going on Tinder to meet girls, but all she's getting is couples trying to double team her. In other news, MYA, if that is her real name, has got it going on. Why are Pokemon women so hot?

Pokemon LeafGreen, Part 2 - Lemmiwinks' Lament

 

At this point I realize that I totally whiffed on getting the Town Map way back at the beginning, and need to make a trek back there through the treacherous Diglett's Cave.

Pokemon LeafGreen (Game Boy Advance, 2004)

 

So Gen 1 first dropped in 1998, years after the Game Boy had stopped being relevant, and single-handedly revived the system. To put that in perspective, it's like if we got a new PS Vita or 3DS game in the last couple years. It shouldn't have worked, but it did, and not only did it work, it started one of the biggest powerhouse franchises in gaming. A mere six years later we got a full-fledged remake of Gen 1, and it pretty much perfects everything that was rough around the edges in 1998.

I was a little apprehensive about covering the Pokemon remakes, as opposed to just the best versions of each original gen, which I did up to Gen 3. However, this game is technically part of Gen 3, so in a way I'm just picking up where I left off. Someday I'd like to do the rest, but who knows.

The remakes are their own beasts, with some new content and new spins on everything. Regardless, the Pokemon posts on this site are their own rare breed, and a bit more adult-oriented than the usual. Nothing is sacred here. Rated M for mature. You've been warned. Enter at your own peril!

Onimusha Tactics, Finale: The True Genma King.

There are a lot of other things I could be doing right now, like watching a Super Eyepatch Wolf video called "How Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Destroys Me" or something like that. But instead here I am finishing Onimusha Tactics. I always finish what I start, unless it's Dragon Quest VI.

Onimusha Tactics, Part 7: Hideyoshi's Last Stand.

 

Episode 43? My goodness. How many damn episodes does this game have?

Onimusha Tactics, Part 6: The Unpatriotic Mitsuhide.

 

Today on Onimusha Tactics: Nobunaga's second-in-command must face the wrath of our heroes!

Onimusha Tactics, Part 5: Let's Fighting Love.

 

Our heroes take on Hideyoshi's giant laser-cannon and and his legion of robo-demons, as we continue the game that Ubisoft calls "a stunningly accurate re-creation of Japanese history"

Onimusha Tactics, Part 4: Onimaru is 100% Pure Rudo.

 

However, Nobunaga Oda is the very definition of efficient.

Onimusha Tactics, Part 3: I Have Vowed To Kill 1000 Monsters.

 

Trying to stop Nobunaga and Hideyoshi? Humiliation.

Much like in 2003, this game is a nice respite from all the struggles and bullshit going on in the real world.

Onimusha Tactics, Part 2: Himeji Striptease.

 

Time for the Game Boy Advance to get Rated M for Mature.

Onimusha Tactics (Game Boy Advance, 2003)

 

This is a tactics game from Capcom that uses characters from the Nobunaga era. A concept that's pretty much impossible to go wrong with, and they didn't. This is one of the more underrated games of the GBA era. Never heard much of anything about it, but it exists and it was pretty cool.

Funny thing is, I played it in 2003-2004 instead of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance because I wanted to save FFTA for later/better times, and this was kinda just its stand-in as "something to do". Then it proceeded to exceed expectations. Meanwhile, when I eventually got to FFTA in 2009 or so, it was a letdown that I never want to play again, and I have way fonder memories of this one in comparison.

Regardless, since I played this in 2003-2004, it's time to take us back. Back...20 years! To a time when I was even less mature! Doodoodoo! Doodoodoo!